Week in Review - Ukraine Efforts!
This past week was a bit quieter than the previous two because my husband is still pretty much lying flat on the bed in between when he is up. So, I worked on packing up bundles and taking them to church. Plus I gave 40 away locally to a lady for a group of Ukrainians who need them.
Let’s go back.
Monday - Lydia came in. I got her help and we brought in 6 more of those big Fed Ex boxes to the house and the entry area (3 in each).
Tuesday -
I still had some quilts/pillowcases that needed to be bundled up from the previous group, so I went ahead and did those. It was about 40. I then loaded them into the minivan and we took them to church after dinner.
As my husband and I started leaving the church (I was driving because he has to lie in a reclined position for the most comfort), I heard a flap flap flap - suspiciously like something was wrong in the back. Sure enough, it was a flat tire.
We were already outside of the yard at the church. However, Mike had me back up and back up into the driveway and get close enough to the garage so we could reach it with his air compressor. The extension cord reached long enough and he put air pressure in it. I was s-s-s-s ing though - as the roads were a bit wet - and you could hear the air leak out of the tire. However, Mike knew of a tire shop on the way home - about a mile from there.
We made it there and drove in. The man in charge had time to deal with us then, thankfully. The guy took the tire off and checked it out. He told us it was ruined (couldn’t be fixed) - from driving with too much load and not enough pressure in it - but he would try to get it back on the van so we could get home. He did. At that point I couldn’t hear it sss-anymore, which was a good thing. Mike wanted to order 2 new tires for the back since the tire guy said the one couldn’t be fixed.
We made it home safely and Mike ordered the tires. They would arrive Thurs. or Fri.
There are many things about that story that have been left unsaid but that I see God’s hand in. First of all - the fact that my husband was with me - as I wouldn’t have known what to do - and even though he hadn’t felt all that great, he was willing to go the church and help me stack up those bundles. Then, the tire guy had an empty bay at the time we drove in with our ssss-ing tire. Then, that it didn’t happen early that morning as I drove Lydia to the train to catch it so she could go see her friend across the country. The van doesn’t have a spare at all - so it’s not a question of not knowing how to change a spare - it doesn’t have one.
Wednesday - I went through and opened each of the 6 boxes that Lydia and I had brought in and did inventory and matched up quilts with tops. In doing so, I have to sort through all the boxes and all the misc. things that are in the boxes which included stuffed animals, woven blankets, well-used comforters, fleece, microfiber blankets, afghans as well as quilts, baby quilts, and pillowcases. Each thing had to find a place to be. It took quite a few hours to do this. At the end, I had a new pile of quilts/pillowcases ready to work on.
Thursday -
I did some OTHER sewing today - but we received a LOT of pillows. I’m preparing for when Lydia gets back to our house - which is the day you are reading this. I will need to have things to keep her busy. Maybe we can get quite a few boxes done before she leaves.
This is 13 boxes of pillows!
Friday -
We got the tire changed on the van (the tires arrived on Thurs) - which then made me feel a lot better. Now I felt like I could go somewhere again - even though I had used Mike’s pickup to take a couple of short trips. It’s just TOO BIG and hard to get into and I prefer not using it.
I then kept working on the other project I was working on (sewing). And we got MORE pillows. It’s turned “HOT”! (for Poland)
Friday afternoon we also paid about $45 for a Ukrainian lady to visit a specialist here in Otwock. The medical system is so different, but getting in to see a specialist under the free healthcare is a laborious prospect and she needed to see a doctor quickly. So I said we’d cover it. No photo. Hopefully for her, once she gets in to see a specialist, she can then see other doctors who he/she refers her to without cost. Their system is very slow for first visits. Sometimes people have to wait even up to a year or a year and a half to see someone.
Saturday -
I bundled up another 40 for a lady who needed them for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. She came at about 3:30 pm for them.
Sunday
After Jadwiga left on Sat. I prepared a few other pillows and packaged up another 20 or so I could take them to church on Sunday and get help taking them into the building. (I forgot to take pics of the van - sorry.)
This is how the room looks after those were added.
It is VERY HOT this week - so even though I may be tempted to advertise locally in our “Help Ukraine” group, there might not be many takers for quilts. If I do that, it would be because of the lack of space in this room and the extra help I have! I have been considering reaching out to local refugees - am considering best how to do that.
Mike (my husband) goes to the specialist the day you are reading this. We are hoping for some real help. He has gotten some help from some exercises he has been doing - plus he found out he had been doing some things completely opposite of what he should have been doing (picking up pine cones in our yard is opposite of what he was supposed to be doing as it compresses that nerve when he bends over)…instead he is supposed to bend the other way. Anyway, maybe he will get some help at the doctor.
He wrote a prayer letter last Sunday and had a physical therapist give him some advice - which was great!
He wants to take another trip to Ukraine on July 5 or so - so he needs to be able to sit in his truck and drive all day - he ordered himself a special lumbar pillow. :)
Anyway - that is all as related to Ukraine. This week was all quilts. :)
I did get two tops of my own finished up though, and worked in my garden (pumpkins, corn, sunflowers, and zucchini) - and these things are rewarding.
Thanks for coming along with me on my journey. Have a great day wherever you are reading this!
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