The Bead Mat – November 2020

Happy November everyone and welcome to this month’s edition of The Bead Mat. It has been quite a while since I have been able to catch up with you. I have missed working with you all very much. The last several months have been extremely trying for me and my family. 

First, my son has started experiencing major issues with his seizure disorder. He has had three hospitalizations since July. Thankfully, he now has a new neurologist to help us deal with the recent changes. We are hoping to get him on a new medication and off of the Depakote that interferes very heavily with his Warfarin therapy, As many of you know, he has an artificial heart valve and has to take that life saving medication for the rest of his life. 

Late in September, my sweet angel chihuahua Josie started having some severe health problems and they were too advanced to offer us any alternatives other than to put her to sleep on  October 4th. I admit to you freely that this has had a devastating effect on me. I am still grieving the loss of Josie in my life. 

Right now, my daughter Samantha is in the hospital with complications from surgery she had on Friday for stomach issues. And she is having a very difficult time with pain and a pre-existing heart condition.

As if all this were not enough, my household caught the Coronavirus in mid October. I am totally grateful that neither myself or my roommate had relatively mild symptoms and no fevers. But we were basically confined to our house for two weeks and just took the time to rest and heal. I am also extremely grateful that my son, his baby and girlfriend were not infected by me, as I have spent a lot of time with them due to the above mentioned situation. 

I decided not to bead or make any jewelry during the quarantine and to stay away from my studio as much as I could during this time. I didn’t want to run the risk of spreading the virus into my work area or onto any of my supplies and tools. I have spent the last week disinfecting all of my surfaces and plan to get back to work in the coming week. 

I have several announcements to make in the next few weeks, so keep an eye on your inbox for those. 

Thank you for listening and hanging in there with me over the past months. I am totally looking forward to a new year. This one has been rough. 
Stay safe and take care,
Detrina