CHKD & Udderly Smooth Pink

Judy Gatlin, Barbara Duke, Hettie Powers Nurse, Lena Self, Nurse
Joy Quilters-First Baptist Church of Newport News VA
Quilts made for the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters

My Social Media Girlfriends understand when I have to go to quilting on Thursday afternoons. They like that I am doing something good for others. I tweet and blog pictures. The quilts go to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters for the children going through chemotherapy. They get to take them home when therapy is finished, so there is a constant need for them. Now we are making lap quilts for nursing home patients who do not have one. We have been talking about making Quilts of Valor for the soldiers in the VA Hospital in Hampton. I told them I do not really think that I can sew full time. It is quite a production on Thursday to set everything up and put it all back in the cabinet, not to mention loading things back in the car. My dream is to convert my garage into a room where I can work on them whenever I want; not just on Thursday. Sometimes, I am so tired by the time we are all set up, I have to take a break just to be able to sew. 

Here is some utterly wonderful news. Our dear friend Linda (@udderlysmooth) on Twitter showed our picture to her dad and he said to send us some Udderly Smooth to keep our hands soft while we are working on our quilts. The really good news is that Udderly Smooth doesn't come off our hands onto the fabric. The last quilt show Judy and I went to had Udderly Smooth for sale in one of the assessories booths. It certainly helps me with my Rheumatoid Arthritis. It reminds me to keep rubbing cream in. Good for my hands and helps keep them flexible. Thank you, dear friends at Udderly Smooth for thinking of us.

By the way, I could use some help. If you know of someone who would like to have me critique their product, I would love to. The one thing about this, it has to be something that I really like and would want to put my confidence in. We are trying to get Ray retired, so I have set up a fund to put any earnings in to help with that.

Ray's surgery came out well. His Rotator Cuff was a real mess and they had to do a lot more than was planned. He has a cold water machine that is velcroed to him 4 times a day to keep the swelling down. He has had a lot of pain. I think the one thing he really wants to do is get in his truck and drive. The doc says he has to wait 2 weeks, but if he is better today, he will probably drive to Williamsburg. Thursday is always the day he goes to Williamsburg. I have also been putting Udderly Smooth Extra Udder Cream on his shoulders so his skin does not dry out. Seems to be working well.

Ray and I are continuing on our wheat-free diet. We are thinking about dairy-free too, since this is making us feel so much better. I bought and downloaded the Wheat Belly book and Elizabeth Hasselbeck's Gluten-free Cookbook to my Kindle Fire. Some really good information in both books. 

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME - GOD IS GOOD!

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Awareness PINK

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you have someone in your life that has or has had breast cancer, please say a prayer for them. I think a lot of money will be collected this month to help with this problem. I am so grateful that I am a Survivor. I am grateful that I am here for my husband, my children, and grandchildren. We have a large extended family, and I am grateful to be here if they need me also. I am so grateful for the prayers said in my name from so many people. God was listening and gave me a few more years to be here and be of service to others. There was a friend at the hospital who was having breast cancer surgery. Thankfully, it was very small, but I am still praying for her. And, I am her deacon also. The other person in my Triberr SweetTweets is Erika Diamond. She has a very interesting article in her blog that I think you would want to see: Fighting the Odds

Ray had rotator cuff surgery and it was more extensive than was planned. It all took place on Friday at Riverside Hospital. The staff there were all very nice and things went along as planned. Not sure I planned on all the work taking care of Ray. I made corn chowder today. It wasn't hard. I kind of made up the recipe and it is wonderful. Ray really liked it and he could drink it out of a cup. Tomorrow, I will add chicken and more veggies.

I sat in the waiting room at the hospital and struck up a conversation with a man named George. His mother was having some surgery. Funny, he knew a lot of people that I know, but I have never seen him before. I introduced him to Ray when we were back in the recovery room picking up our patients. I told Ray that George's parents had owned a restaurant down near the bridge and Ray knew who they were, but he had never met him either. Isn't it strange how you can come on people who know people that you know. The nurse at the reception desk when Ray was checking in looked at our address and told us that her niece lives next door to us. She had even stayed over when her niece was working the night shift and the husband was out of town. Go figure.

The best mathematical equation I have ever seen: l cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

I fixed my Triberr today. I got off of all the Tribes except mine (SweetTweets). I was involved with 2 other tribes and at least 60 people were getting my blog, but only about 10-14 were bothering to send it out. So, I bailed on them. I was getting pretty tired of approving theirs and hardly anyone approving mine. When I joined, I was told that everyone sent out everyone else's blogs. That is just not so. So, I have a Tribe named SweetTweets. If you would like to join my Tribe, let me know and I will send you an invitation. I have some very specific rules. I want people with good morals and integrity. There will be no quoting anyone without a reference. If you copy and paste from other people's blogs, you will be asked to leave if you do not cite your source. There will be absolutely NO plagarism. I prefer people that want to post photos to include where and why the pictures were taken and who took them. If this seems impossible to you, then you don't want to be on my tribe. Not being mean, just realistic this morning. I would love for you to be on our tribe, but since it is mine, I have the right to make the rules.

Today is Sunday:
 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalm 118:24 

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

King James Bible 
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Remember PINKeee

I remember PINK all too well. We are back to October which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Most of you have been with me since I started this blog 3 years ago. It has been a difficult time for me and I am not sure that it will ever end. The cancer is gone, but the ravages on my body have remained. Sometimes it is very difficult to keep a positive attitude. I have mostly been able to keep my attitude on the positive side and it was due to all of you out there who read this blog and my others. You have supported me personally and emotionally. If there were times you didn't hear from me, something was going on that was too painful to write and I had to wait until I could put a positive spin on things. You have been faithful and wonderful. I enjoy the occasional comment and try to reply as soon as possible. I love you all and want to THANK YOU for being there for me these past years.

I celebrated a birthday on October 1. Aren't birthdays fun? Of course, when you get to be my age, they are still fun, but you hesitate to smile because you are afraid it will cause wrinkles. But, to keep on the positive side, smile wrinkles are much more attractive than frown wrinkles. I have never been in favor of plastic surgery or Botox, but I think I am beginning to see why some people might think it is necessary. I was reading an  article in Vogue yesterday about freezing fat, and melting fat. Not sure there is a machine large enough to accommadate my thighs. I have dimples there too. I really think they are past help. I plan to grow old gracefully. It may not be pretty, but I feel good on the inside. The good news is that I had over 300 Happy Birthdays wishes on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, maybe more. This is one of my favorites. The BEATLES  "Birthday" song via @youtube.

I have started helping a couple of ladies try to get their message out. I may be paid in the future. My deal while I a learning how to get their names out, is that if they make it big, they can take care of me in my old age. LOL! I will tell you more about them in the next post. They are so sweet and if we can do something to help them stay home with their children, Hooray for us!

Speaking of staying at home. I could use some help. I am trying to get Ray to the point that he can retire. His business is not doing as well in this time of inflation. I would like to put something on the web to sell, but I am not too sure how to do it. I am taking a course on marketing, but I still am not sure that is what I would enjoy doing. I would like it to be something that I would enjoy doing, maybe Ray could help some, and it would help others. My first priority is always to serve others. Serving Others is really the only way to truly serve God. So, if you have a wonderful idea for me, I would love to hear about it.

Something you could do to help is to subscribe to this blog and recommend it to others. I went over 70K followers on Twitter last weekend. I am so grateful for everyone who follows me. I go through each time I follow back and make sure they are "real" people, so if you would like to follow "real" people, check out the people I am following and follow them. I use Tweepi.com to clear out people who haven't been on Twitter in over 6 months. Chances are they are not coming back. I like to follow those who like to engage.

So follow me here and on
Twitter: http://twitter.com/barbaraduke
Facebook:  http://facebook.com/barbaraduke
Other blogs I have:

http://thoughts-of-christ.blogspot.com

http://thoughts-of-harmony.blogspot.com  w/CresentiWilliams

http://barbara-duke.blogspot.com

http://attitudeaptitude.blogspot.com

http://sweettweetslifeplan.blogspot.com

http://twitter-sweettweets.blogspot.com

http://environmentalhome.blogspot.com

http://lionsgreenroom.blogspot.com

http://nnlions.blogspot.com

I am writing a book also, but that is in the works and I am not ready to reveal.

Lets get Ray retired. He will be 76 soon and it is probably about time. He has been having some health problems and I think that it would take some of the stress off of him.

 If God brought you to it, He'll bring you through it

★ ♡ ♥ KINDNESS ♥ ♡ ★

Love you all. 

And if you see @DabneyPorte on line Friday, wish her a Happy Birthday!

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME

 ALL THE TIME - GOD IS GOOD