Thursday, October 6, 2022

Coral & Grey Quiltlet and Vacation

Over the past week or so some have come from Wendy's blog, The Constant Quilter, to see if I've posted a little quilt for September.  I'm late (very late), but here it is.  I finished it on the last day of September, the day we drove home from the ocean, but didn't get it washed, dried, and photographed till this week.
I love those crinkles and I think this close-up photo gives the best view of the colors.  If you haven't been to Wendy's blog yet, I recommend you visit.  She's been ill for several months but she still hosts the miniature link-up and makes a tiny quilt, herself.  
This quilt finishes at about 11¾" x 14¾".   The batting is a piece of thin cloth from who knows where.  I didn't want the quilt to be too thick or stiff because there's already a double layer of fabric in the top itself if I include the seam allowances on the back.

Vacation, Such as It Was.

Sometimes vacations don't go quite as planned or imagined, and this was one that definitely did not.  I told my daughter I thought we should be able to have a do-over.

When we arrived at Dewey Beach, Delaware, on Monday evening, the ocean looked like this.   Beautiful!
On Tuesday, we awoke to clear skies and gentle waves.  Our hotel room faced the ocean so even when we weren't on the beach we could see it.  It was wonderful to have the constant view.
This is the third time we've gone to the hotel where we stayed and we've liked it well enough to return, but maybe not again.  After spending the morning and part of the afternoon on the beach, we left to visit a few shops.  We came back, returned to the beach till sunset, then went back up to the room to collect our things to go back out for dinner.  I came down the steps at the hotel and walked across their low deck toward the room with ice.  I stepped off that little deck not seeing that it was a step down, and tumbled.  Probably a tumble of slapstick quality, if truth be told.  I was able to get up with help, but unable to stand because of the pain.  I sat for a few minutes, my daughter brought her walking sticks, and we continued to the car.  But the pain!  (Some of you are probably shaking your heads....  But I couldn't have made it back up the stairs just then.)

On Wednesday, we took the Lewes/Cape May Ferry to Cape May, New Jersey, only because we'd already reserved spaces for ourselves and the car.  The weather was cooler and breezier than Monday or Tuesday and I was glad to have taken my sweater.  And the walking sticks.  The ocean sparkled.
We didn't have specific plans for Cape May so visited the first attraction we found, the Audubon Nature Center.  They were very welcoming and helpful and gave us directions for other places to visit, including Cape May State Park.  We didn't have binoculars but enjoyed what we saw, including an abundance of Monarch butterflies.

I was especially taken by the shadow of this flower/seed pod on the leaf.  I always think nature is amazing but things like this dazzle me.  I have no idea what plant this is.  Anyone know?
On the return trip from Cape May we were heading west, directly toward Delaware and the sun.  It was the first time I had ever seen an ocean sunset.  Wow!
Thursday brought strong winds—14-20 miles/hour—and boisterous waves.  From our hotel room we could tell it was windy.  See how the grasses are bending?  This is a still shot but they were waving in the wind. 
On the beach it was almost too cold to stay out long.  The sand pelted our legs and the waves rolled in quick succession, one upon the other before the previous had reached the shore.
It was sunny and then it was cloudy.  The ocean fascinates and amazes me.
We planned to go out for dinner around 6:00 or so but went to the beach.  After a while I told my daughter I was going inside.  She stayed out longer.  But not long after I got to the room I started to feel unwell.  My side hurt.  And then it hurt worse.  It reminded me of the pain I had when I had a kidney infection over a year ago.  I sat on the bed, then laid down.  And then I was so hot and in even more pain.  When my daughter returned to the room she insisted we go to the ER.  When we arrived the waiting room was packed and the person at the check-in counter said the wait could be several hours.  But what could I do?  Where else could I go if I had a kidney infection?  After the generosity of a few blankets I eventually fell asleep in the waiting room.  A while later someone came and took me back to a room.  After more warm blankets, an IV, a variety of monitors, pain medication, and a CT scan, I learned that I had a kidney stone.  They released me between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. with directions to pick up prescriptions the next morning and visit my primary care doctor at home.

After four hours of sleep we left to drive home on Friday morning.  And I awoke on Saturday morning missing the sound of the ocean waves.

What a vacation!  (For those of you who said you wished you were also going to the beach, I'm glad you weren't with me!)

Yesterday I learned that there are/were two kidney stones.  Tomorrow I hope to learn whether I fractured a bone when I fell.

What a vacation!
I hope you had a good week!

--Nancy.

8 comments:

  1. Oh Nancy, I'm so sorry your visit to the ocean wasn't more fun. I was going to say "Memorable" but I'm sure this is a vacation your won't easily forget. The sunrise was beautiful. I've never seen an ocean sunrise either. I've seen numerous ocean sunsets because my grandparents lived in LA and we would visit them about twice a year. AND I can't imagine going through that much pain and not being where your familiar medical people are. You are a trooper!!! Hope your foot was just sprained because even though that hurts terribly, it heals faster than a break.

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    1. Thank you, Robin.  Actually, that was a sunset on the ocean.  It's strange to think of seeing a sunset in the Atlantic Ocean, but we were miles and miles away from the eastern shore and were headed west.  It was very strange.
      I was grateful to learn today that there was neither a break nor a fracture.  The doctor told me to take naproxin and let her know if the pain continues after a week or two.  I've been favoring that side in case it was a break but now that I know it isn't, I'll try not to pamper it.

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  2. Oh my goodness, the vacation started out so well. BBut then one mishaps and illness after another. How sad, I know how you love the beach. Wait til you find out your insurance doesn't cover out of state emergency [or any] care. Or maybe that was just my experience.

    First ocean sunset remark made spoiled me smile. Lovely isn't it.

    The plant appears via Google image to be ''hedera helix'' or English ivy/ white berry ivy. Invasive in beach areas, pretty but bad.

    Sweet little quilt!

    lizzy

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    1. Oh, Lizzy, I hope insurance covers the ER visit.  I called this afternoon and was told it would, but now I'm on pins and needles.Yes, that sunset was something.  It seemed to last for quite a while and even after the sun was down, there was an afterglow.  I was pleased to get photos.How sad to learn that that beautiful plant is invasive.  It's a surprise since we saw it at the Audubon Center.  I would have thought they would have eliminated invasive species.  Unless, of course, some bird/animal feeds on it.

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  3. At least you got some time by the ocean and that glorious sunset. If it had been rainy and you'd stayed indoors the whole time AND dealt with the fall and kidney stones, there would have been absolutely no redeeming moments. So sorry things went the way they did. Hope you get relief and healing soon--and that the next vacation doesn't resemble this one in more than glorious weather and sunsets!

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    1. For, sure, Janet. I'm very grateful for the good parts of the trip--the ocean waves, the sand, walking on the beach, etc. Staying indoors might have prevented the fall, but I would have missed everything else!
      Thank you for the good wishes for our next vacation!

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  4. beautiful photos, but what an experience - I hate ER visits

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    1. I'm with you about ER visits, Susan! The photos are not nearly as beautiful as in real life.

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