Handicap/Geriatric Clothing Conversion

Grandma has been in the Hospital for some time now and is going to be moved to a Home. (She had an unfortunate fall which included a broken bone. ) She's not as mobile as much now. But I was a little disappointed when I saw  how her personal care was being handled.  Her hair wasn't being done everyday (She has long silver hair that she always braided and wrapped around her head). And her Hospital gown looked a few days old. She was quite anxious when she saw me and fidgeted with her gown and hair quite a bit.
When I worked in a Palliative care floor in a local Home, I saw it important to allow residents to still be well maintained in their clothing and hair and hygiene.  It made the resident, despite their condition, feel less conscious about  themselves and also made the family more comfortable when visiting. It definitely made for happier "endings". But regular clothing is difficult to change on a bed ridden or chair bound patient. Front buttoned gowns are very helpful and look very nice, but are still difficult to maneuver when trying to toilet a patient.  From a care persons vantage, open back dressing is much ore accommodating. There are a a lot of companies that sell dresses made this way, but a completely new wardrobe is not always an option for every patient. So in passing messages between my dad and his sister (who my Grandma was living with) we are hoping to change some of Grandma's  clothing to make it usable for  her. She always wore dresses, so that does give us a in closet selection to choose from.
My Aunt is a quilter, so I have written up a set of directions for sewing panels into the clothing , that I will now share with you!  It is a PDF download, the link will direct you to the PDF I have downloaded to  scribd.com. I am still exploring ways to make it a more direct link.....
Handicap/Geriatric Clothing Conversion 
P.S After a chat with the palliative care director, they are now combing Grandma's hair more regularly. :o)

10 minute Jello Pies

So I ran into this sweet little old lady at the dollar store today in the "grocery isle" and she stopped me with a grin on her face and gave me an unsolicited recipe for 10 min fruit pies. They sell graham cracker crusts at our local $ store and jello which she had in her hand. So here's what she told me....

10 min Jello Fruit Pie
1 cup water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 pkg Jello, favorite flavor
"matching" fruit if desired, fresh or frozen and thawed
1 small graham pie crust ( or GF crust, see directions below)

Prepare fruit and set aside
Boil in a saucepan the water and cornstarch, careful not to burn
as soon as it thickens into a cream, add the jello and then gently turn in the fruit
Pour into the pie crust and set until firm in fridge

Done!!

So of course I had to figure out how to make this gluten free!!
I ran over to recipe zaar for a Graham crust recipe and then improvised with this....

GF Crumb Crust

1 bag of GF arrowroot animal crackers, crushed in the food processor

Combine
1 1/2 cups of crumbs
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 tsp pure vanilla
Salt
5 tblsp melted butter

mix well and press into 2 small pie plates or one large
Bake at 350 F for 5 - 7 min until golden brown Cool before filling

It comes out with a shortbread kind of taste to it. I also intend to freeze my extra crust for later.

I have made a lemon an a raspberry that were fruitless But I would like to try a Raspberry with berries, and a raspberry with fresh kiwi or an orange with frozen mango. And DS wants a cherry done too.

I'm seeing potlucks in the near future!

Proud Moment

Today we took a crazy thought and biked with it! As a youth I biked...ALOT. Usually it was to keep my mom happy as I followed my brother out crazy distances (we are talking towns away from home) to keep her from worrying about him being by himself. But quite frankly, since having children I am out of shape. But I miss my biking days and today was such a nice sunny yet cool day, I talked DH into biking out to Hibou Park where there is a pleasant beach on Georgian Bay. I had our youngest son on a front load carrier, DH had middle son in a bike trailer with all our beach stuff and Dearest Daughter BIKED THE ENTIRE WAY THERE AND BACK!!!
She is just 7 and has never been madam energy, and I worried about her ability to keep up. It is 8.2 km ONE WAY. Some of the way is on 2 lane highway roads and some of it railway line bike trails. But she was awesome!
We had a wonderful time at the beach, sat out on the rocks in the water and learned ASL alphabet and had fun burying the children in the sand. The trip back was pleasant with a cool breeze that blew a our backs. And we ended the afternoon with Popsicles. It will be a day to remember!