Great news.........on the tumor !

That big ol' octopus of a tumor that was wrapped around everything it could find was           benign  !! !!! !!! !!

        non-cancerous   ! ! ! ! !

 !  !  !  !  ! PRAISE GOD !  !  !  !  !

Home again, home again,.........jiggity jog !

Well, I am definitely happy to be sitting here today.   What was supposed to be a 1 1/2 to 3 hour surgery turned into 4 hours, and what was supposed to be an overnight stay turned into 5 days. 

The tumor was not the type that the doctor had expected, and it was just wrapped around everything it could find to wrap around, including and especially my jugular vein ! 

I came out of surgery unable to swallow my own saliva.......panicky........and called upon the name of Jesus MANY, MANY times throughout those trying days.  He was everpresent, and put so many angels/saints of God in my path all along the way !  Unexpectedly being able to speak a bit, I found that singing praises to God could bring me out of the most miserable states.  It was off-key, as I lost a lot of range for now, but he's used to some of that out of me anyway, and like the wonderful father he is.........he likes to hear me sing however I can do it .

I have come home with a feeding tube in my nose, and my swallow ......partially prohibited by some paralysis of the back part of the tongue....is slowly returning.   I can swallow a little bit of water, maybe 2 - 4 swallows now.   They don't want me to even try any type of food, as I may aspirate some into my lungs and wind up with pneumonia.  

I am humbled that God finds me worthy of such a trial, and have gained a new empathy for the suffering of others, including and especially my own husband.  He's had swallowing difficulties for nearly 6 years now, since his first stroke, and I had no idea what that was like.  It's one of those things we take for granted, sortof like breathing. 

I KNOW that I am healed, by the stripes of my dear Saviour JESUS, and I pray that this experience will help me to be of some help to another person going through a hard time.   In the mean time, I look forward to each step of that healing's manifestation..........especially being able to sleep someway besides sitting straight up !

Until I post again, my love to you all, as always..............

Surgery week !

My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning, and I am scheduled to have this tumor removed that has been slowly growing under my left ear for several years.   The MRI calls in a paraganglioma, and I've been told that it is a tumor of the parotid gland, probably non-cancerous.  The confusing thing is that my doctor says that he'll most likely have to remove a section of one of my vocal cords, and yet, when I google it, none of the surgeries I find seem to do that.  Mine must show itself to be located differently or something.

So, you who know me know that the thought of not being able to talk scares the bejeebers out of me.  With hubby having so much trouble being understood when HE talks,.......even by ME,  I just keep thinking...................?

Needless to say, I would appreciate  your prayers for a good outcome.......and NO NEED to mess with the vocal chords.....NO facial paralysis, and a quick recovery !
I give it to the LORD and find peace.........and then I take it BACK ! Why do we do that ??????  So silly .......... and so human.

In the meantime, here's a "before" shot.......

Maybe I'll regain my jawline !

Love to you all !

Hi again !

Let's see if I can update this blog just a bit.

 

The vegetable garden took off growing like wildfire after amending the soil with a good manure/compost mix.

God blessed us with enough cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, squash, and peppers to share with a good many neighbors, family and friends !

It is still producing okra and peppers, with a few small tomatoes.

 This plant that I couldn't identify last Spring turned out to be some Canterbury Bells that I had planted from seed and forgotten about. 














I'd never grown them before (or seen them grown by anyone else) so I didn't recognize them.  Many a morning I was tempted to pull the plant, thinking that it must be a big weed.  But patience prevailed, praise God, and here's the sight with which I was eventually rewarded !

 The long flowerbed gave me beautiful Gladioli, Crepe Myrtle blooms, Easter Lilies, Marigold, Lantana, and many, many, MANY Zinnias !

 And if you will notice, we added a carport to the end of the driveway.  Last week, we were also able to have the leaning power pole replaced, much to the relief of my husband.......he was obsessed with that thing, and it turns out that the old one was only in the ground 2 feet !   It's only by God's grace that it didn't fall before having it removed !

I pieced a little baby-sized quilt top yesterday from flannel squares that my sister brought me from California last month (what a wonderful visit we had !)  I hope to be able to finish it and give it to a young woman at our Church who is expecting a little boy !

That's all I have time for right now, I think, but I'll try to get back here again soon !

Love to all you guys !

Hello from the craziest summer !

Just checking in at the library.............really, really fast ! 

Wonderful cooler temperatures around here have me riding my bike again.........not of of NECESSITY, this time, but out of fun !

We're both doing fine, grandkids are good in OK, and daughter is teaching 3rd grade,,,,,,,,,,crazy busy there !
 Hope all is good with ya'll,.........all my love !
Talk to you next time .............  Dolly

Hello from the Library !

This is the first time I've taken the opportunity to use the library's computer since I dropped internet service to my home.  

We're doing fine, enjoying working in the yard together as usual, and have eaten the first couple of cucumbers from our little garden.  The okra has babies showing on many of the plants, and we added another row.    The squash have looked like they weren't going to make it, but this week we have a few little starts of squash fruit, so we're hopeful that we'll soon harvest those for our table.  The tomatoes are EXCEEDINGLY hesitant, too.   We lifted almost every plant in the garden, and worked composted manure into it, so maybe things will come along well now.

I'm going to try to find me some books to read before I go home, so I'll move along now.  No sewing going on, still, but I am knitting a pair of socks, SLOWLY.

Love to you all, in Jesus's precious name !

Happy Mothers' Day

A special Happy Mothers' day goes out to my little girl as she spends this day without her hubby there to help.  I'm told that 9 year-old Zoe fixed grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone (with mommy supervising, of course) so that mommy didn't have to cook.  Way to go, Zoe, I'm so proud of you !

 My son-in-love, Tim, always spoils my daughter as she deserves, but is now deployed once again, so I especially wish that I could have been there for her day.

As far as my mother goes, she passed away in 1988.  I was able to put together a small bouquet in a glass vase to take to her gravestone.  The bouquet included roses, daisies and bachelor buttons.  Her stone was easily recognizable from the road, as the Irises growing behind it were still in bloom, towering over the stone.  Daddy's daisies were also in full bloom.

I can hardly believe that just hubby and I went through that much ice cream this past year !

On the homefront, with this strange Spring we're having we're expecting a frost tonight; so, I dragged every ice cream bucket and leftover potting container I could find to cover the new little plants.  I put a few English Pea seeds and a few watermelon seeds into one area of the garden today, too.

Anyway, sending love and good memories out to all the moms today.  Be sure and stop to smell those red roses !

I guess I have a cold !

It looks like the cable company hasn't pulled the switch on the internet connection yet, so I'll post again.

Just the other day, I was trying to remember what it felt like to have a bad cold.  I heard that my daughter and son-in-love were suffering from sinus attacks, and it made me realize that I hadn't had more than a runny nose in a LONG time.

Well, yep, you guessed it........I've got it now.  This is the first time I've been sick like this since we moved into this home, I think. ( I am truly blessed !)   Full-blown (pun intended) runny/stopped up nose, sinus headache, postnasal drip, slight cough...........phew, what a night I just had !  I'm starting my third day with this mess, so hopefully if it is a cold, it'll be gone in another 4 to 7 days.

In the meantime, my life is easygoing enough, praise God, that I can take naps when the sleepiness from my own naturally-produced antihistamine hits me.   That's usually around noon, it seems.

A family member helped us to bring home a couple of sheets of lattice to finish the rear deck area.  Now we need to wait on a pretty day for painting.  Trimming the old pieces last time was such a joke, balancing them on a wheelbarrow and a lawn chair !   I'm thinking of pulling out my 6 foot craft table and using it for support this time.........I totally forgot about it before.  That should make the job some easier.

The plants in the garden look good except for the cucumbers.   The leaves on them have turned pale and I don't know that they'll survive.  No sign of any sprouts from the okra seed.. UPDATE:  I did a walk-through in the garden, and I counted atleast 14 of the okra seed sprouting !  

 I did plant some Marigolds and some mint in different places, hoping to deter the deer.

No internet for awhile

My package price went up, so I'm dropping internet service to offset the raise in price.  I'll miss journaling, and I'll miss checking all the blogs that I like to keep up with.  

Seems like I do this about every year or so, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out this time. 

I can still check in at the library, so, bye for now !

Thank you, DEE !

Atleast, I think it was Dee, of Dee's Doodles, who sanely suggested using stakes and string to give me straight edges for laying the concrete border in my long flower bed !   I took her advice today, and it worked out really well !

I'm finally resting, but hubby and I started at about 9 a.m. this morning, measuring things off, driving stakes, and using red acrylic yarn for our string.

 By working in spurts, with a rest inbetween, he was able to put a few borders at a time in the wheelbarrow, and deliver them to the flower bed.

  We made quite a team today, I tell you !

The pieces are all in place, but darkness fell before I finished pushing the dirt back into place around them all.

I think that this is going to look quite nice.......I'm excited, and thankful for the strength to do it and the good working comraderie !  Praise GOD !

I want to make a note here that hubby had his quarterly bloodwork done today.

Blooms !

  Anyone who knows me has to know how I love blooming things !   God's creation at it's finest ! 

My Knockout Roses started blooming on Thursday, I think it was, and they are waist high with the most gorgeous full blooms.  

 My deep purple Irises led the way down the front of the trailer-home,

but were quickly followed this past week by these taller, bigger, more ruffly medium purple blooms.   Now THESE are my favorite of my Iris, and somehow I just have to label/mark them so that I know which ones they are when they're NOT in bloom.

These ones that I always call burgundy started blooming down at the end closest to the porch.  I don't care for this color in my yard, but with the 7-9 blooms all at once that were on Mama and Daddy's grave this week, they were quite beautiful.

Wow, this is alot prettier in a photograph than I ever noticed in person !

  Hubby likes this coloration.

I used a few of the concrete borders to shape up this flower area where my Deep Pink Hibiscus has been growing for a year and a half.   I made it big enough to add this Mexican Bush Sage that I just bought.

 It is supposed to become a bush and bloom every Autumn (of course, the nurseries get them to bloom early to show us what we're buying).

       And, here's a shot of the garden once it was planted.   I still have room for 2 more partial rows.  I may want to put in more okra.

We did it.......the garden is IN !

 I'm sorry about the lack of pictures of the actual garden work.  Had a problem with the camera, but wanted to be sure and document today's momentous progress !

This is the only shot I got of the garden before the card needed reformatting.  And since the wedding photos are on it, I couldn't reformat right now, or I would wipe them all out ! 

I couldn't figure out why I had so much trepidation about this garden all Winter long, and it finally hit me today.....I've never made a garden big enough to need walking rows !   Before it was always a patch with a fence on one side for climbing things, and reaching distance on the other side.........maybe 4 ft x 12 to 15 ft.

This plot measures 21 feet x 21 feet !   With hubby's supervision, direction, moral support and encouragement, I tilled, loosened soil for rows, made a plan, purchased plants, planted plants and seeds, erected tomato cages (one of THE most difficult jobs of the entire DAY), and made hills for planting the cukes and squash.  IT IS DONE.

I have one small section that I may fill with potato eyes if I can get it dug a little bit deeper.   And I have most of 2 rows still open for anything that I might want to add later.
I wound up with 8 tomatoes, an entire row of Okra, 6 hills of cucumbers, 6 hills of yellow squash, 4 bell peppers, and 4 banana peppers.

Now comes the concern about deer eating everything I've put into the ground !   I have no fencing or any other deterrent.  I am praying.

In other news, my niece, Mandy, Allyssia's mommy, got married yesterday evening.   I hope they live well and happily together and for Christ.

Another painting day.......and I feel GOOD !

My Centrum Silver must be hard at work ! 

We took one of the pieces of lattice that we had removed, and experimented with being able to trim one down to size with a circular saw, figuring that's what we'll have to do if we buy new 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of lattice.  I had to use the saw !   Yikes, I was fearful !   And even once I got the hang of using it a little bit, that thing spit those lattice pieces out like a machine-gun, everytime a piece was ready to come off !   I know that it probably means that we needed a saw blade with closer-together teeth, but I ran into the house and got my rubber boots on !   Thusly, armed with boots, goggles and a leather glove for my left hand, I was pretty successful completing the cut.  

Then the fun part began.......I told hubby that I wished he had taken the REAL pictures I'd like to post.   I sat on the grass, in the SHADE, praise God, and painted that old lattice piece with a 2 inch roller.  I layed it on a big sheet of plastic first, and with two coats, that worked out well.............NOT FUN, but do-able.  Then hubby painted the 4 x 4 posts while I tackled the lattice that was still attached BEHIND the back steps.  It couldn't be easily removed, but was in good condition.   I reached THROUGH the steps with the roller, painted the lattice, and then proceeded to paint the risers of the steps themselves.  Before I was finished, I actually had to lie down on the grass in front of the steps to get the lowest part of the risers !

Don't let anyone tell you that it's fun to paint latticework.

When the posts and the lattice were dry, we refastened the long lattice piece to the left side of the deck.  It looks pretty good for a redo.  Now we just need to purchase two 4 x 8 sheets, trim, paint and apply to the deck..

The white is a bit bright compared to the trailer itself, but atleast it's crisp and clean-looking.

NOW........how many of you LAUGHED when you saw that I had PAINTED my deck floor boards ?  Be honest now, it won't hurt my feelings.  I ask because, after applying 2 coats of really good exterior paint/stain, my husband scooted around in his lawn chair putting the third coat of white on the railing, and you can just guess what happened .  Yep, peeling paint everywhere he scooted ! 

Bless his heart, he can't stand for long because of the arthritis in that replaced hip, and he was a HUGE help painting those inside rails.   So.........I WON'T whup 'im !    I have retouching to do because of this white painting I did today, so I'll just give the floor a third coat of the orange........and be more careful with it.  
I really wanted to go with weather-proofing, but ..........well, I didn't.

In between painting, I got mowing done around my Irises, and down the driveway by the mailbox.  I am SO PLEASED with my driveway plantings.  The Lilacs are blooming as small as they are........this is their first Spring in the ground.  

And the Daisies are reaching tall for the sun, the Irises are starting to bloom.   The Mums are coming back behind the mailbox, along with a Hibiscus, and Bachelor Button, and some sort of yellow flower.   I am just so very blessed that God entrusted us with our very own place to care for.   

Latest project.......not quilty !

I wish that this past week's blog absence meant that I had been getting a lot of stuff done, but for the life of me, I can't think what it is !

Wanda's comment on the neutral color for the bottom portion of the deck structure really got me to thinking.......that and the fact that they are currently out of the white paint that I had planned to use.  I like the idea of the base fading into the background.  And we haven't yet purchased replacement lattice as we aren't sure how we're going to do it, and we need use of a borrowed pick-up truck to haul it.   That can be arranged, but still thinking.

On the other hand, customer appreciation day came and went yesterday at the local lumber yard and nursery.

I bought 56 of the scallops, and 4 round ones (for who knows what?)

 Since they had concrete borders and round pavers on sale for only fifty cents each, I decided to get enough to edge the long flowerbed that runs along my driveway.   I originally dug it up last Fall because I was tired of mowing in and out between the shrubs, but I'm tickled to have that much planting space to use as I desire.

Here's the problem, though.   I made NO measurements or markers when digging around the shrubs, and I have a very wiggly-shaped bed !

Can you see the wiggliness ?

 I have to figure some way, even if I use a chalk-line, to straighten out these edges BEFORE I can install the concrete border pieces.

So, I've added another project to the growing list.  But first it has to stop raining so that I can dig........right now there's water standing in that flowerbed !

Missing a wood strip

I did replace one of the missing wooden pieces from around the bedroom window.  I still need to go in and touch-up paint all of the brown wooden slats, but this corrected the problem from driveway- viewing distance.

I almost forgot the fact that I got the shed cleaned up and reorganized so that you can now WALK IN once again, instead of just peering in and grabbing stuff.  I guess I have gotten a BIT of work done lately.

On the quilting front, not alot has been done, although I do recall a couple of really comfortable naps that I took under the Goldie quilt (family asked me if I'd like to have it back after she passed away, and I said "yes".)   But, work-wise, I did finish the machine-quilting on the 'pots' quilt, and it is awaiting binding.  I am still thrilled with the open-toed walking foot.

My son-in-love, Tim, left yesterday on his latest deployment.  My brave daughter and grandchildren are starting 9 months of coping without his physical presence, and I am very proud of all of them.  I hope the time passes quickly, and is filled with wonderful things to share with him, (electronically) during his absence and, in person, upon his return in January. 

One step closer ....well, 4 steps, actually !

Today has been a BEAUTIFUL day from the beginning, ON !

Hubby and I started clearing off all the clutter on the back deck, including the hose reel attachment screwed to the side of it, and then we brushed off a lot of accumulated yuck.  We pulled off most of the old latticework from down below-deck, and then hubby and I started cutting in the new porchfloor color.

It was frightening !   So orange !  This was supposed to look like an aged clay pot, I thought !    But it went on so shiny and bright !   I stuck in there and had faith, though, and after two complete coats and a quick drying in the bright sunlight, it now resembles a NEW clay pot...........which really isn't bad at all.   I'm pleased with the finished look.

 I left the big boards under the floorboards unpainted, intending to purchase another gallon of the white, and possibly white plastic latticework.  I'll have to do some pricing before I make my decisions, but I'm thinking that I'd like those boards white.  I didn't want a huge band of orange showing from the yard level.

Anyway, I have chicken thighs slowcooking, potatoes boiling for mashing, and French-style greenbeans simmering with new green onions.  Not bad for a gal who went and tilled some more of that garden spot AFTER finishing the painting......huh ?

Love ya'll !

Railing painted

Hubby and I got the second coat of paint on all of the back porch railing today.........we drained the bucket of paint DRY.  It could use some touch-up in some places, so I may have to buy another quart......another DAY ! 

Gotta love the $3.00 lawn chair I found last weekend !

This one needs a roof over it, too !

I was blessed to find a gallon of paint/stain for the floorboards of this porch.  It was in the orphans at the lumber store and I think that it will work just fine.  It's sortof a terracotta color, and I'll probably  use it for the steps as well.  I hope that one gallon is enough for that !   Be glad when IT"S done !

My Hibiscus are making their  reappearance all over the place in little sprouts.....so excited  (no photo yet)! 

The artichoke plants that produce sunflowerlooking blooms have comeback five-fold, if not more so ! 
My Moss Roses have re-seeded themselves, and I think I've seen sign of the same thing about my Celosia (cockscomb).  This is my absolute favorite time of year........it's like God is just walking me through his greenhouse !   So amazing how it all works, year after year, from the beginning of time and the Garden of Eden !

More painting........

........yesterday, we started first thing in the morning, got the 4 posts painted with their 3rd coat, and then went around to start on the back deck.   I painted the new banister that borders the steps........actually, it was new when we had it built a year and a  half ago, and we should be ashamed for letting it go this long without either stain or paint !   But I got that painted with 2 coats, and then started on the railing around the porch.

I just kept thinking of Tom Sawyer as I painted all of those 'pickets', so to speak.   Not really fun.  But I'm glad that hubby drives me to do these things that need doing, or I'd spend all of my time at the sewing machine.  Hmmmmmm........sewing machine--it's cloudy and wet today, maybe I could re-acquaint myself with the old girl for a few hours !

UPDATE-------I did get to my sewing machine for a while......actually, it was my SECOND sewing machine, because I wanted to try my triple zigzag stitch for machine-quilting now that I can see where I'm going with my open-toed walking foot.


I like it !  Here's a sneak peek.......

Anyway, back to yesterday.........my Irises were blooming when I took my first look outside yesterday morning.  6 blooms, and all of them are this beautiful purple that reminds me of my mama (how she loved them !)

I took a trip out to the cemetery to check mama and daddy's headstone late yesterday evening.   I planted some things in back of it when I moved back home 4 years ago, BEFORE I called to check and see what was allowed.  Turned out, planting wasn't allowed, but it was too late then ~!~  Anyway, there's a beautiful thick patch of Iris and there are 7 buds right now.   On daddy's side, the Daisies are showing buds too.   I always like to think that daddy would laugh at the fact that he's literally 'pushing up daisies" !  (You'd have to know my daddy.)

What does this look like?

I've been wanting to post pictures of this plant that sprung up in my rose bed.  It may be something that I planted from seed.........I'm bad about forgetting WHAT I put WHERE.   It looks like it is about to bloom, so maybe it will be a beautiful surprise, but I fear that it may just be weeds.  Anybody recognize this green growth?

Any clue what this is?

I trim back my striped Monkey Grass every Spring, once I see new growth started at the base of the plants, and I am amazed at how much it grows every day when the sun comes out full force !  I never had this plant before moving to this lot, and I am so glad that it was planted here before I bought this place.    I moved a lot of it out here to the near-woods flower area because of the work being done on the porch last Fall, but I also have it along the front of the trailer with the Irises.