Gessoed, Tissued Guitar with scary, erie face in the background

I was getting a new assemblage/ decoupage project underway tonite... Yay!! 'bout time, eh?! Anyway, here is a picture of it after I had sanded down the guitar, removed the strings, and other hardware, then gessoed it in preparation for mod podging tissue paper on it, and eventually pictures.


Here is another picture of it after I had partially finished one side of it with tissue paper, mod podged on....so far it's working out just about how I had planned...there is still a lot more to do on it before adding pictures and then coats and coats of polycrylic, and then adding "feet" and "hands", and other things to it.

BUT....what do YOU see when you look behind the tissued guitar? Look toward the top of the guitar handle, to the left on the chair behind the guitar... does anyone else see a FACE?? Click on the picture to enlarge it and tell me if you see a face there... it's really just a light reflection on the leather chair...but, it's kinda freaky how it looks like a face looking back at me...*bwwhahahaha*.


It must be time for sleep here or something..*L*... I think I hear the theme song to the Twilight Zone now too.. yikes!!...*L*

Anyway.... More to come, hopefully tomorrow.....

He's back in the saddle again....

With Apologies to Gene Autry..*S*

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again.

John is back to driving again... back in the saddle, so to speak, again.
The xrays & check up at the surgeon today went well. John is doing very well, and his bones are indeed being made stronger (see the verse from Isaiah that I underlined in my last blog entry). The surgeon told him he could remove the brace, and he won't need to wear it much ...maybe when he's out working he may wear it sometimes, but around the house he doesn't need it. He also doesn't need the walker anymore, and we'll get a cane just incase he'd need a little support. He is still on some pain meds for another 6 weeks, but the doctor said he could drive short distances, near to home.

He can now also lift up to 20 lbs, where before he was limited to under 10 lbs. He can try to do some work, as long as he takes care not to do something that may jar his back.

He asked about going moose hunting in another month, the doctor asked a lot of questions, and told him he probably could go, but that if the riding in the plane or on a bumpy boat on the lakes would be rough, he may want to not go and cause damage to the bones that are healing well now. John then decided he wouldn't go this year after all. I'm GLAD!!

Sooo... John is back in the saddle in many ways again... we may even move the bed from the dining room back upstairs soon.

He goes back for more xrays and another check up in 6 weeks, we are hoping the healing continues and thankful for the good results he is having so far. PTL!!

Long Time No Post....

It's been awhile since I've posted here...

It's been a busy week or so. Getting some bookkeeping caught up on, cleaning the house, and pulling a months worth of weeds in my flower gardens in preparation for our mass birthday party celebration on my side of the family. We celebrated on Sunday all the August and September birthdays on my side of the family, and we hosted the party at our house. Sunday happened to be my mom's birthday too, along with mom and dad, all my sisters and brother and their families were here... most all of them, when everyone is present there are over 55 (lost count..*L*), I think? But Sunday there were just 45 or so that were able to make it. Sooooo, that is now over, but on to other things... end of the month stuff...newsletter...bill paying... ughhhh.

And today, we are heading to the surgeon in Milwaukee to get more xrays of John's back and pelvis, and to meet with the surgeon after that to see how things are progressing. We aren't sure what to expect as far as where John can go from here? Maybe he'll get the go ahead to start driving again? We think he may get rid of the brace he has now and have another kind of brace for the next three months, at least that's what the surgeon said when we left the hospital would happen? Guess we'll find out in a couple of hours.

One thing that was a God-sidence, that I believe was a loving sign from God, concerning John's back and the healing of his bones, etc. happened on Sunday during church.....

I was the first reader during the service and as I was reading the lesson outloud in front of the congregation, I came to a part that I hadn't noticed when I had read thru it fast in preparation for reading that morning. It was all I could do to not start crying as I read the lesson from Isaiah, I managed to finish it, with my voice wavering. When I returned to my seat, I immediately underlined the verse that hit me, and showed it to John. "Did you hear or read this part?", I whispered to our son to ask his Dad. John nodded. Several people asked me during the passing of the peace what had gotten me all choked up while I read. I shared with everyone during our announcement/sharing time at the end of the service what I felt was a promise and a message from God for us (and probably for many who read it too), but especially for John, I felt it was God's loving way of reminding us He cares.

This is the scripture passage from Isaiah 58:11:
"The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail."

Pretty cool, huh? *S* I LOVE when God gives us these little reminders of His great love and caring for us. Praise GOD, now and forever!!

I Miss Doing My Assemblages!!

I hope to post more pictures of the assemblages I've been dreaming up and hoping to get to again soon... the last 4 weeks have been devoted to getting John, my husband, on the mend .. he is doing pretty good. Still slow moving, and on pain meds, but he's cut down a lot on the medicines and is up and walking outside more, has been able to do a lot more bookwork, estimates, blueprints, etc... he misses not being out on the job since actually doing the building & construction is what he really loves... but, maybe in a few more months he'll be able to get back to that too?

Anyway... if anyone is visiting my blog to see assemblages, go to my posts in April, May, June and earlier in July to see more. And please come back and check out my stuff in a week or two, I hope to have more to show.

In the meantime... here's an idea I posted about a month ago, and I am still toying with.... World Peace? Hmmm, not sure... but it's interesting coming up with ideas.

Oh yeah... and here is my latest Good Will find that I love... it goes well with my assembly of boxes, cases, etc. What looks like a brown bag, or purse type of thing is actually a light...this picture doesn't show it as cool as it looks when it's in a darkened room... but take my word for it... it's cool and well worth the $3.99 I paid for it... ahhh, I LOVE supporting the Good Will Mission..*G*

The Goatman Head...bwwahahaha *evil laugh*

Here is a creation by my son Kaine... who is home now after being gone for about 9 weeks as a counselor at a summer camp. He found this skeleton head at a second-hand shop nearby the camp. He added glowing red eyes, bolted on the horns so they wouldn't break off, attached it to a football helmet so it could be worn by some evil camp counselors, added a rug for the hair on the back and tahh dahh, a scary camp legend was re-born... *L*

He told us some funny stories of how the counselors took turns using it in telling stories for the older kids around the camp fire at night and sneaking around in the woods scaring the heck out of the teens. It seems Kaine doesn't remember much how he felt coming home scared to death about the stories around the camp fire when he was a kid at camp..*L*

I bet the Goat Man makes some reappearances around here sometime soon now that Kaine is home... he may just give the Beast of Bray Road a run for his money eh? *L*

Anyway, this mom is sure glad to have our son Kaine home... We've missed him a LOT!!

Penny From Heaven...

Yesterday, while I was straightening up John's bed in the dining room/temporary bedroom, I found this penny laying on the sheet in the middle of the bed. I thought it was odd because John hasn't been wearing any shorts or shirts with pockets that he would have lost a penny when he laid down. And I know I haven't had any coins or change in my pockets at all either. I've changed the sheets just recently, and there was no penny anywhere. Soooo, where did this penny come from??

I mentioned it to John and asked him if anyone came to visit when I was gone and he was sleeping and maybe leaned over him and it dropped out of their pocket? Nope... no one was here when he was sleeping.  I joked that maybe old Mrs. Merrick (previous owner of our home long ago, and someone who, in her old age, had to use the diningroom as her bedroom too), that maybe she left him a gift? *lol*

This morning, when John woke up, he called for me to come in, and told me to try to lay down next to him and see how much the mattress would move and hurt his back... it hardly moved at all... so we had a few minutes to snuggle, not real closely, because his hip and leg are still sore too, and also he is "plugged in" to the bone fusion stimulator thing and it comes unplugged easily if he lays on it wrong or turns the wrong way. But we were talking about that penny... where on earth did it come from? After thinking on it awhile, I said, " It must be a penny from heaven!" *S* John seemed to agree, "Maybe so", he said, "but too bad it wasn't a winning lottery ticket instead! " *L*

Deep down we were both kind of skeptical, ... "Sure, sure, a penny from heaven, uh huh, right! *L* But we had no other explanation of how that penny ended up on his bed?

I mentioned that on the penny, it says "In God We Trust", maybe this was something we needed to remember, in and through all this, TRUST IN GOD and His provisions.. John has a long way to go yet with his healing, but we've seen a whole lot of progress as well. He is worried about the business too (me too), and the possibility of more people pulling out of jobs they were going to have the company do this Fall and Winter... but, in and through all of this, and the plans we need to make to help compensate, we are thankful for this small sign we are believing is from God...and we will remember to keep that trust in God, the lover of our souls.

Words from "Pennies From Heaven" a 1936 American popular song with music by Arthur Johnston and words by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film of the same name.

A long time ago

A million years BC

The best things in life

Were absolutely free.

But no one appreciated

A sky that was always blue.

And no one congratulated

A moon that was always new.

So it was planned that they would vanish now and then

And you must pay before you get them back again.

That's what storms were made for

And you shouldn't be afraid for

Every time it rains it rains

Pennies from heaven.

Don't you know each cloud contains

Pennies from heaven.

You'll find yor fortune falling

All over town.

Be sure that your umbrella is upside down.

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers.

If you want the things you love

You must have showers.

So when you hear it thunder

Don't run under a tree.

There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me

Hallelujah!! Thank God for Milk of Magnesia!

Okay... nothing more needs be said ... it's all in the title here...haha.*L*
And if you don't get it... well, you don't EVEN wanna know...

Things will be better hopefully now... *S* (for John that is.)..well for ME too I guess...*lol*

A Big Fish Story

Here it is... the whopper... old "Walter"! *L* Grandsons Jake & Josh had fun with their dad recently fishing. And these are their big fish they caught!

They are already telling whopper stories of the ones that got away!! *L*

**************************



UPDATE ON JOHN: The results of the CAT scan from last Friday are that John also has a hairline fracture of his pelvis. They said that it needs time to heal, so right now he is just taking pain meds and waiting for the healing to take place. He is still up and walking with the use of a walker, which he is suppose to be doing, it just makes it slow going because of the pain. At least he doesn't have to face some more surgery... we are thankful for that. Small progress can be seen each day.. on Wednesday I took him for some blood work at the local doctor, then we went over to the DMV to see about getting a temporary Disabled Sticker for the car so when he starts driving in a week - 10 days he can park closer to stores, etc. We also went and looked at a few job sites so John could do some estimates too. So, he is up and getting around slowly, but the pain meds cause him to be drowsy a lot too. Hopefully he'll be off some of them in another week.

Amazing Technological Stuff...

Today my husband received a "bone stimulator", called SpinakPak II, it helps with the healing of the fusion of the bones, with the titanium rods and screws, that the surgeon did on John's L1 - L3 vertebrae. It has a battery pack and electrodes that plug into it. The two electrodes are placed on either side of the spine and it uses electric energy to help strengthen and heal the bones.

Electric Energy - The use of electric energy for bone growth dates as far back as 1841. Since then, numerous studies have demonstrated that due to the positive and negative charges of bone, electrical technologies, such as capacitive coupling, stimulate bone growth.

Capacitive Coupling - The Technology - The technology that powers the tiny, yet powerful SpinalPak® is called capacitive coupling. The two wafer-thin electrodes, placed 4" to 6" apart, adhere to the skin on both sides of the spine fusion site to conduct the electrical treatment into the vertebral bone.

Clinical Study Efficacy - A randomized, prospective, double-blind clinical study was conducted to determine whether SpinalPak® increases the frequency of overall fusion success, using the combination of clinical and radiographic assessment. Patients who were treated with SpinalPak® Fusion Stimulator demonstrated statistically significant (P-value = 0.0018) fusion incorporation in comparison to patients that did not receive treatment.

So, John will be wearing this 24/7, except for bath times. We hope it DOES indeed work the way it's intended to work.

We still haven't heard the results of the CAT scan on John's left hip area, and all his staples on his back incision weren't taken out...there is still some healing to do yet, so he goes back next Monday to get the remaining staples out (the nurse did take out a few lower ones), and before then we hope to know more about that CAT scan and what is messing up his left hip and leg.

I look forward to more normal life (I hope) when John is off his pain meds too and able to drive and do more on his own too. We had to tell one of our work crew to sign up for unemployment this week because John and our son, John, are still trying to line up work and keep the customers we already had signed on for major projects coming up in the months ahead. Hopefully they will stay with our construction company once they know John is still very much involved, he just needs some time to heal more.

Hymn of Promise

This morning at church, our worship/music leaders chose a song that seemed to me to be like a kiss from God... the words and meaning touched my heart, especially in the things we've been going through lately, ... the words made me cry, and reminded me of the many promises of God in and through all things...good and bad.

So, here is the song, if you go to this site http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/y/hymnprom.htm you can hear the melody and find out more about this rather contemporary hymn by Natalie Allyn Wakeley Sleeth (1930-1992).

These are the words... I hope they can be a blessing in some way for you too....

Hymn of Promise
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

A Busy Weekend ...

We had a busy weekend considering all that has happened lately... John was feeling well enough between naps and meds to go to a few cook-outs. We were able to stay an hour or two at some on Saturday, had fun at the swimming party...although John wasn't able to swim, and I didn't bring my suit, I still went in with others who decided the water was just too tempting... so we swam in our clothes...(several of us).. it was a fun relaxing time, to forget for awhile, the things going on lately. But we were home early, and both of us took naps, and slept pretty good that night.

Today, John was feeling well enough to get to church, but because he moves very slow, we didn't gage the time well, and we ended up 20 minutes late... at least we got there..*L* But it tired him out so he slept for over 3 hours after lunch.

There was a "Welcome Home" cook-out for our nephew Aaron, home from Iraq (for good) that was this afternoon, so after the nap we headed to the party at my mom and dad's home. John had a long walk to see some things my dad had constructed on the far end of the property..."The NorthWest Look Out".. so that tired him out, but at least he was able to walk pretty far.

I am thinking we will both be sleeping pretty well tonite... after a busy weekend.

Here's a picture of the patient with his walker... we continue to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers... We appreciate them ALL!!

Please keep up the prayers...tomorrow we return to the hospital in Milwaukee to get the staples out of John's back, and hopefully find out the results of the CAT scan he had on his left hip and spine on Friday. He is having some difficulty moving his left leg and he said today that it is more painful than his back is right now.

Thank you everyone,

Love,

Roberta & John and family.

John's New Bedroom - formerly known as the Dining Room

The new look to our dining room... shown at the right. John can't handle the many steps yet up to our bedroom, so we moved another bed downstairs for him to sleep in. Right now I am sleeping in the living room on the couch so I can get up to give him his meds and in case he needs me in the night. As you can see in the picture, "EVE" is also standing watch over him, and the two "ADAM'S" are on the buffet (not shown) watching over him as well...kinda like angels...heh heh.

The first day John was home (Monday) was pretty overwhelming...but yesterday was better, and today better yet.. he still eats very little, although today he ate more than he had in a week in just three meals...things are looking up that way. He still has some problems with his left leg, or left side moving slowly and hurting more, it may be an injury from the fall, he wants to wait and ask about it, if it's still bothering him when we go to get his staples out of his back on Monday.
John was also able to do a little book work this morning before the morphine, Valium and oxycodone kicked in... some jobs lined up for the fall ...now if the jobs for the rest of the summer would work out, it would be a lot less stress for him too.

We are SOOOOO looking forward to this time going by speedily, and wish it were 3 weeks from now NOW! *L*

We are very thankful for all the well wishes and prayers...please keep it up!