howdyholly

February 25, 2023. I am not joining any swaps except the Adventures of the Traveling Post Card because I received one sent to me that I had thought was lost.

October 30,2022. Finally Jack's sores are healing! He continues to be tired and some days his balance is off. But the wheelchair makes a lot of difference. He can move around and do a few things around the house. That builds his self-esteem and confidence. His attitude is positive and now so is mine. Thank you for your kindness and patience.

September 24, 2022. We found a wound care facility close to us. Yea! And we finally got a referral from the doctor. The wounds are healing even though there is a new infection in one wound. Driving 20 miles will be easy since everything is 20 miles from us. We live way out in the boonies! Jack's pain and weakness come and go. Some days he has no pain at all!!! And some days he can get into bed by himself. We are making progress.

September 1, 2022. The treatments are over! Now for the recovery phase. He still has to go to Wound Care, but I've been told there is a local hospital that has a Wound Care facility. It would be so great to find a place within 20 miles! I will be checking with the three local hospitals. That would be awesome to find someplace close.

August 21, 2022. Jack has about 5 more treatments to go. So glad they will soon be over. A new issue is that he had multiple lesions on his forehead where the cancers were. These are still infected and painful and are yucky - you don't need the detail. We see Wound Care one more time tomorrow. Jack is very weak and having a bad day today - trouble walking. Usually he can walk short distances without help but not today. He needed a wheelchair to get from the church to our truck. Then he fell getting out of the truck. Getting him from the truck to the house was a challenge, but he made it.

August 10, 2022. I am getting out of Swap-bot because of my husband's fragile health. Taking care of him is more important than a few swaps. I will be forwarding the on-going swaps to the coordinator as soon as I see a continuing swap I was in. Sorry for the inconvenience I have caused.

July 30, 2022. The treatments leave Jack with pain and fatigue. I was not expecting the pain. I am doing most of the driving. That leaves me tired. But we are hanging in there. Only about 20 treatments to go.

July 13, 2022. My husband has multiple squamous cell cancers on his forehead - 13 of them. He is having radiation treatments 5 days a week.. We travel 70 miles one way. Yep, we are keeping the gas companies in business.

But the daily travel is affecting my response time for swaps. I will be late in many of the swaps I have joined. I am joining only swaps that are ongoing. This will last for another month or so.

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I am bipolar I with depression. I am trying to cut back on my participation in Swap-bot .... depression issues. I will be very selective in the swaps I participate in - mostly postcard swaps. That said, I have lots of stickers, postcards, lace, washi, notecards, and papers. If you would like any, let me know. If you want particular items, again, let me know and I will see what I have.

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I live way out in the country - 5 miles from Rock Island. There is no rural mail delivery out here. Rock Island has about 100 people but I think they are counting legs not people. Mail is slow. Please have patience with my mail. If you don't get your mail from me within a reasonable time, please let me know and I will send it again.

I don't quilt anymore. I sold my long arm quilting machine. And have too much fabric that I am trying to get rid of. I volunteer at the Sewing Lab in a big town (3600 people) where I teach sewing. They are taking some of my fabric. Yea!

I am not doing any other crafts except some Swapbot swaps.

I read fiction...mostly science fiction these days - lots of pandemic and EMP end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it types. I have read the Red Rising series and really liked it. My favorite authors in this genre are: Ryan Schow, Christine Kersey, Jack Hunt, and T.L. Payne.

I also read thrillers and mysteries. Yes, all escapism.

My design style is very simple. If you want lots of decorations, my work will not thrill you. I am trying to find ideas to expand my horizons, but right now I am using paper to tell the story.

What I like in mail:

Color - especially purple, blue and green; and have grown into tans like vintage..

Texture - I LOVE texture.

Shape - All shapes on the project are great.

Other - I like butterflies, birds, cats, frogs and roses, Flowers are good. Plants and other animals are also good.

Religious - I am a Christian and I like religious symbols.

What I DISLIKE: Cutesy - 'sweet'; cartoons; Disney; Confetti, Candy; Glitter; Negative thoughts; Political from any party or group; Tea - I can drink only herbal or decaf teas.

If I receive anything on my "dislike" list but the item meets the swap requirements, then you will receive a 5.

Saw this on a couple of profiles and thought I would give it a try. I got tired of all the room my list took up so I have compressed it.

A - Altered books, Animals, Accordion music, Avocados; B - Blue, Black, Butterflies, Birds, Bipolar II with depression; C - Cats, Cookies, Crochet, Crafts, Catfish fried, Christianity and its symbols; D - Donuts, Dogs, Decaf coffee, Denim; E - EMP (survival Sci-Fi), handmade Envelopes, cheese Enchiladas; F - Friends, Fabric, Frogs (but not as pets), Floral; G - God, Grandchildren, Gmail; H - Holy Bible, Hugs, Handmade items; I - Iced tea unsweet, decaf; J - Jesus the Christ, Jack my husband, Junk Journal; K - Kathleen my daughter; L- Love, Lace, Lap quilt, Lemons; M - Mexican food, Mockingbirds; N - Nuts, Neutral colors; O - Orange, Okra; P - Prayers, Postcards, Purple, Paper, Pinterest, my front Porch, Pecans; Q - Quilts, Quilting, Quality time with my husband; R - Rain, Roses, Reading; S - Sean my son, Smiles, Sunshine, Swapping, Sci-Fi, Sewing, Scrappy quilts; T - Texas, Twinkle lights, Texture; U - Ultramarine; V - Venison backstrap, Vellum; W - Water, Waffles, Wordplay game; X - Xi'an archeological site (I got to visit it and it was breathtaking); Y - Yellow, Yams; Z - Zoos!