The Summer Gist

 I knew it had been a while since my last post, had no idea it had been so many months! Wow, let me think what's been going on.

Danny finished working on an old friend's boat. He's been decluttering his shop too. A massive job if you ask me.

We've been going to the chiropractors every 2 weeks to keep ourselves moving. Danny had to go back to the pain management doc in July but seems to be better these days. We try to pace ourselves :)

There was a black snake on the front porch. I can't believe I let him talk me into just watching it slither off. Yes, I know they're the good snakes, but they need to keep off the porch. Recently we were moving pine straw around some flower beds and I looked at the previous one we'd just finished in time to see a Red Belly slinking off. Gosh! I wonder where he was while we were working there!!?

Pepper, our new cat, was cured of ear mites and was fixed just in the nick of time. She had 5 little embryos inside her. Luckily without a heartbeat yet. So they are gone. She's gradually working her way into the house, but so far likes her garage domain best.

I've had another one of those annual coughs from hell all summer. That has really been a bummer and has made me fear I'd never be able to sing again. But finally I'm seeing days without coughing and now have hope to warble like a songbird again soon.

We've been visiting various churches but so far seem to enjoy TV sermons the most (probably because we go out for breakfast beforehand). Still, we both feel the need to find a real church home again. We have one we visit often, but for some reason it just doesn't seem to tick all the boxes for us. So, we keep an open mind and keep visiting around. (I do miss my old church a lot and often have dreams of being there).

 Our garden did great and is now beginning to fade as the leaves on some trees begin to turn yellow. 

I think we had the biggest tomatoes we've ever grown this year.

We've had lots of visitors over the summer: turkeys, deer, even rabbits. And let's not forget that big ol' bear we had earlier! The craziest visit was a recent exploration of our deck by a groundhog! Can you believe it? Up on the deck!!!

In addition to my genealogy projects I've also been working on making my hats for the homeless again. I usually donate about 60 at a time so I have to start early to have them ready by December. I'm thinking it's going to be a tough winter based on the berries coming up on my holly bushes. I'm about a third of the way through so far.

That's about the gist of things right now. Danny was delayed by the boat to get the new island painted but it's happening very soon (or so I've been told). Surely it'll be done in time for Christmas though ;)

Crazy Month

 What a crazy month I've had! I recently found two new relatives through Ancestry DNA. That's been a lot of fun, researching and confirming data. One is in Rocky Mount and the other in Oklahoma City. Wow! Who knew?!

We finally got all our garden boxes planted. It's our first time trying Super Bush tomatoes and they are doing even better than the Celebrity tomatoes. I put orange and red marigolds between the plants to keep the bugs down. When we planted we turned the traditional ice-cream cone shaped cages upside down. That was mainly to keep our new cat Pepper from thinking she had giant litter boxes. It worked. An added plus is that the legs that usually go in the ground are sticking up and the dragonflies love perching on them. We have a lot of dragonflies around now to keep the mosquito and fly populations down.

All of our okra plants are doing well, now. It seemed touch-and-go for a while. You-know-who decided they might not make it so he bought six more plants even knowing the crisis was averted. I told Danny this morning that I have spied a 1-inch baby okra coming along already! The peppers and Swiss Chard is doing well as are the tons of basil we have all over the place. I seriously doubt we'll be doing seeds again.

My miniature rose was starting to look a bit bedraggled in the pot so I separated the four plants and put them in a pot outside. Lo, and behold they are all getting ready to bloom again, even the two that I thought for sure were goners!

This past week we tried our hand at making just one square tomato cage. The wire is thin and has 2x3 inch holes, which I figure we can cut some to make bigger. The jury is still out on this experiment. I feel kind of bad since we had to buy a 50-foot roll of wire. But that was all they had. Oh well. I'll use some to corral my gladiolas!

Pepper the cat is still in residence. We had friends reach out to see if we could find her a home but came up empty. Both the dogs are ok with her now so I guess she's a keeper.

Danny's latest project is transforming a big old desk we thrifted into our new upcoming kitchen island. He's finished chopping it up. Last week we bought a dark brown butcher block top for it and selected a sage green to go with our main kitchen counters and tile backsplash.

And our biggest crazy surprise this past month was seeing this fellow in our back yard one morning.

We kept the dogs on leashes for a while and took all the bird feeders down, but things have pretty much gone back to normal now. I mean, it's only been once in over 30 years. Years ago Daddy had one go in his shop and snag all the cookies and snacks he had on his golf cart. Occasionally we see the bear out in the fields. I've always looked for him in the yard but never thought I'd really see him here. Boy, was I wrong! We still keep an eye out for him though. Guess that'll never go away now ;)

Progress No Longer Pending

I used to think that me falling apart and therapy would never end. But both are changing. Therapy ends this month (after over a year) and I am now doing my best to enjoy a new outlook with greater movement than I've had in years. I have abundant joy in simply being able to go up and down steps, or take a shower and reach my ankles... little things that everyone takes for granted. There are so many things I couldn't do for so long. I try to get up early every day and watch the sun rise, just to make my day longer.

Well, enough of that. We recently discovered a dark side to the church we've been attending for the last year. "To the curb, Alice" we don't need to waste time there anymore so that is definitely changing. I guess God has something else planned. I think there were signs we didn't want to see and it sometimes felt like we were trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Now we're listening more closely to His whispers and seeking to follow His guidance better. We learn by doing.

We now have a cat. That's a big change for us. We didn't go get one. We didn't want one.  But someone dropped her out and she happened to take up residence under our green shed. Danny started feeding her because she was so very skinny. She's taken to our little dogs, although the senior doesn't feel kindly towards "Pepper." She is very loving and lonely because she can't come into the house. (Not unless she sees a vet, gets flea meds and probably fixed to boot). But we'd rather see someone else give her a home, perhaps become someone's favorite barn cat. Please let me know if you're interested!!

I recently had laser surgery on an eye lens. There was film or something attaching to the lens I got a few years ago when I had cataract surgery. My vision is no longer cloudy, but I now have a few free-moving floaters that hover around like black gnats. I used to have a flock, but there's just a couple left now. They don't move with my eye, just randomly go this way and that; sometimes I can't see them at all, sometimes I can. Very strange. It's annoying sometimes, but very doable. Now I get to go buy some new photochromatic glasses! I can't wait! The last time I bought glasses I decided to not use those and just get normal glasses - big mistake! I miss them so much!

Now that the enlarged patio blocks are all in place in front of the greenhouse we finally set up our new 4-foot planter boxes this morning. They are going to work so much nicer than the hodge-podge of extra-large pots we used the last few years  for our tomatoes. We still need to add more dirt, but we're taking things slow so we don't hurt our backs. We bought a 3 foot kiddie pool in which to mix the bags of dirt together. That worked great! I'm hoping we get our plants in before "Pepper" decides we made her giant litter boxes!

Even though we stayed home on Mother's Day I had a good day. My girls joined me on a group messenger video chat and we had just the best time! And while I was doing that my sweet neighbor bought me a lovely miniature rose and a card that said I was a blessing to her on Mother's Day and always. Back at ya, Sweet Lady!

Last but not least, one of our biggest changes is that we got a new car with a fabulous deal, to boot! A lot of new toys to play with in that thing!

I am truly blessed. Progress is at every turn. I love waking up every day to see what wonderful things God gives to me. I thank Him for everything. My heart is filled with peace.

So Blessed to be Moving

We were able to finally move our seedlings to a garden bed. This is a huge experiment for us. Unfortunately I couldn't been down long enough to set them out or to get down on my knees to work. Danny had to do all the actual planting while I separated the tiny seedlings from the tray and passed them to him.

While we were busy outside it was beautiful, but oh the smell was terrible! It just so happens that this year they are spreading manure on all the field s surrounding our property. Good grief!!! I could still smell it (or at least I thought I could) when I went to bed last night!

We had a neighbor who shared her hydrangea offshoots with us so we've also been planting a lot of new little bushes. Today was the last one and I'm just so proud of myself to say I actually dug a hole. At least, I started it pretty good so Danny wouldn't have so much to do. It has literally been years since I've been able to do something like that. It's the little things in life, people! ;) Yes, happiness is a hole in the ground!

Speaking of beautiful a few years ago we moved a bunch of bluebells out from under a crepe myrtle tree from the front yard to our back yard. At the time I had thought we had gotten all the flowers moved. I guess I was wrong. The bluebells apparently enjoyed being thinned. There's more under the tree than when we started. We also have a nice showing in the back yard!

It's so nice to be able to get outside and enjoy walking in the yard again. I may be slow but at least I'm not using a cane anymore! All of this has been a long time coming. I am so blessed.

My Brave New Joyful World

 I have released the cane! Yes, I'm finally walking without a stick in my hand and I like it! It has been years in the making and I cherish each day and enjoy even the littlest accomplishments. I try not to take anything for granted, like going up and down steps (still a bit hesitant but much better now).

This past week I helped Danny move a bush in the yard. We divided it into thirds and planted three new bushes. I was grinning like a possum the whole time even though I got so tired so quickly. I was thrilled when he let me use the shovel and push down on it several times. I was very very careful, but gosh it was so much fun!

My neck therapy is going OK. My pinched nerve seems better; it doesn't fire off in my arm like it did in the beginning. Now, if I look up it feels like water running down my arm instead of hot sparks. I doubt if it will ever be normal without surgery, but at this point I'd have to be a lot worse to pursue surgery.

I've cut back on my weekly chiropractic appointments. I'm trying to stretch them out to 10 days now to try and clear our calendar somewhat. Between chiro and therapy we were out just about every day for the past year.

The colonoscopies are over and done with for another 5 years. We both were on cancellation lists and both ended up having our procedures done in the same week. Neither of us had any issues, so check that one off the To Do list!

Of course, I've been crocheting baby hats for the hospital, reading, and doing genealogy research. I've also been changing passwords that I've had since I started using a computer. It was just time to change some things and these days there are more and more people who seem to make it their life's work to steal from others and hack accounts and whatever else they can do to cause trouble. I've been contacting companies I haven't used in years and deleting accounts and personal information. Most have been very easy to do with a few that aren't even in business anymore. I like a good purge, don't you?

Danny has started building my garden boxes from leftover deck materials and it's not a moment too soon. I had recently asked him to get me a package of lettuce seeds. Being the sweet guy he is he came home with lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, basil, and okra along with a seed starting tray and a bag of dirt. Most of the seeds are coming up nicely now and will soon need transplanting.

We finally got our cables installed on the deck and I'm so glad we decided to use them instead of regular vertical rails. Our view of the back yard is not impaired at all!

On Friday we went to visit my cousin and pick out granite counter tops for our bathrooms. It's always good to see Hunter. He's a great guy and I'm lucky to be kin to him. I took him some paintings his mother had done that she had given to mom. I also took a couple of vintage quilts that my great-great and his great-great-great grandmother had made. I'm hoping that his nephews' children may end up cherishing these heirlooms.

We've been praying about church and I think we're ready to commit to the new church we've been attending. At the end of March it will be a year since I was at my old church. With that said, during today's sermon the preacher mentioned that Jesus couldn't do many miracles in his hometown because everyone knew him and thought he was just the carpenter's son. Later, I was thinking how in the church I grew up in it was always a bit intimidating to be bold in praising God. Most people don't raise hands or say Amen there and if you did it felt like you stood out and everyone was watching you. Maybe it was just me, but today's message gave me much to think about of my own praise life. So maybe it's a good thing that God has given us a start fresh elsewhere. I'm excited to see what God does in our lives now.

Aren't these peach blossoms gorgeous?

A New Year, A New Life

 It has been years since I’ve been able to walk around without some kind of issue hanging over me. It’s rather exciting to me to not need a cane anymore. I feel more confident every day and one day soon I will be able to descend steps without stopping to think about it. Life is good!

I recently had a wonderful birthday. One daughter showed up to help me celebrate! Danny surprised me with a beautiful cake and along with my brother and his wife, we enjoyed several meals together. We played catch up and also went to lunch at Coinjock Marina to belatedly celebrate Danny’s October birthday. We didn’t go back then because I’d just had surgery.

I finally finished therapy on my knees. It feels like I’ve been doing therapy forever. I finished knee therapy one week and then started therapy on my neck for a pinched nerve that runs down my arm when I look up. I feel like it’s gotten better since this issue began in early October and if therapy doesn’t get rid of it completely I think I’ll be able to live with it rather than have another surgery. I’m getting very tired of having surgeries!! Counting both eyes and even 2 times for tonsils I’ve had 12 different surgeries!! It gets old after awhile!

Now that my schedule is clearing up some I’ve had more time to work on my genealogy. Here it is years later and I’m still trying to clean p the mess that resulted from a bad merge. Every time I’d sit down and get involved something would happen and I’d have to stop what I was doing…usually heading to an appointment.

One last hurdle to get over and I'm hoping the year will be good. It's colonoscopy time. That's been hanging over my head for a few months now. I have to do them every 5 years and this year I will have a new doctor since mine retired. I'd been seeing him since the 90s. A new guy makes me a bit nervous, but I should be fine. Danny will have his later the same week. Once that's done we'll be ready for a steak dinner to celebrate!

January Tidings

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Both my girls were home for a week, along with their significant others. We ate here and away, we laughed, we enjoyed time together. I truly believe the days of dysfunctional family events is over. Everyone has a great time. This year we were able to get back to our former family tradition of having ribs for lunch. After our favorite rib place closed we spent several years having to make do with other usual meals, including doing brunch a few times (which was not a favorite), as well as the traditional turkey dinner with taters and stuffing. Luckily we discovered a close neighbor has a BBQ business and we got 12 racks of ribs from him on Christmas Eve... heat and eat the next day! It was fabulous!

My 2nd knee replacement recovery is going extremely well even while the therapy is a bit more difficult this time. I've been using the Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit for well over a month now with at least another month to go. Nothing like letting people electrocute you so your muscles will jump, right?! It would be ok if I could just sit there while it worked, but no, I have to stand up, sit down, kick out during the ordeal. But I must say I'm getting better results now than I had with my first knee. Getting better test scores, pushing more weight on the leg press, etc. I have a new TENS unit at home now so I can keep doing these lovely events on my own. What a thing to look forward to!

Since the home church of all my life seemed to have developed an 'out of sight - out of mind' policy and dropped caring about me after my surgeries, we have been going to another church now. I heard from that preacher multiple times to see how I was doing, unlike my former church. The people are friendly and seem to really care if I'm there or not. Maybe God had a plan for us to leave that included a new direction for me and Danny. I don't know, but so far it seems to be the case.

I'm hoping to be able to do some gardening this Spring. Gosh, it seems like it's been forever since I was able to walk around and do much of anything. Last year was such a bust with those crazy knee operations. I'm making planting plans, but it really remains to be seen whether I'll be doing much or if Danny will be my volunteer helper.

I've worked on several cases for the lawyer now. I love doing these searches to find ancient information needed for legal cases. My last one was simply to find a date of death for a husband that was presumed to have died before his wife. It turned out to be an easy find. I've been told it was easy for me. I don't know... it's a natural thing for me anymore. I've been doing genealogy research since I was 16.

Since it's January I've been going through my computer and email programs deleting all the old crapola. I try to do this every year. This year I'm deleting some of my email addresses and the store domain names that go with them. I'll just use the default names from now on. I've probably put a fortune out  paying for all this stuff and for a good number of years it paid off. These days, with Google changing how they operate it's been more difficult to get into search results. So why pay for all this stuff if it's not making a difference anyway? I also changed my investment people over the holidays. Looking forward to seeing what Vanguard can do for me this year!

Speaking of money, Danny dad's apartment finally sold and Danny has finally got paid for that. But once again there are problems attached as usual with anything involving his dad. They made the check out to the "Estate of" instead of the "Trust of" so now Danny has to get with the banks and the lawyer to see what can be done. There is now bank account for the estate. Murphy's law strikes again! So we have a nice bit of change sitting here waiting for the outcome! Maybe I'll get a vacation once this is cleared up!!

We're still cleaning out, throwing out, donating out a ton of stuff. What with the last of Mom's things distributed and all Danny's dad's stuff still housed in our garage things are bordering on cluster. I've inherited some more quilts made by my great-great grandmother and possibly even her mother. I certainly don't want to get rid of them! But goodness, what to do with them! I've got tables that were made by people in the family and I want to keep them, but I'm starting to think I need a bigger house for everything! So we've been swapping out thrift store tables and other items for the family pieces. Thus far, I've been squeezing things pretty good, but I'm running out of ideas.

Yes, a vacation is looking like a very good idea now!

Catching Up

This summer has been an extension of my long recovery-laden Spring. I had my left knee replaced. Being careful and not being able to do things I'd like to, such as working in my garden, has made my days extremely long and lonely. Danny has been able to do things and has kept busy.

In September, right when I was starting to feel normal again I had my right knee replaced. Gosh, but I hated to start the process all over again, but it couldn't be helped. There's just no other way around a rotten knee. Surgery went well; again I came home the same day. But I had a different home therapy team this time and I don't feel like I received the same benefits that I had with the first team. This time my therapist did very little other than push my leg back and forth a few times per visit and have me push his hand down with my foot. Then we'd walk around the outside of the house. I will say that when they did the initial evaluation they said they would have expected me to be walking like I was for another three weeks. That's because I was doing my own exercises before they ever got here!

I also credit my excellent response to the 2nd surgery to my outside therapy team. Pivot helped me through my pain while exercising the first knee and before I was finished with all my therapy they had started doing pre-hab on my right knee in preparation for the 2nd upcoming surgery.

At this point home therapy is finished and I just started back at Pivot again this week. They said my test numbers were pretty much where they were when I'd left so I'm starting off good.

My knees are good, but I have 2 other issues that are impacting my abilities. Two weeks after my surgery I reached for something while standing in my walker but I didn't move my feet. It twisted my leg and I hurt myself just below my knee. I still have a lot of pain when I move or lift my leg, especially when turning over in bed. Pivot will be working with that too.

The 2nd issue is a pinch in my neck that sends tingling down my arm when I turn certain ways. That really sucks. I can't be on my computer too long at all so I'm getting very little done on my genealogy now. This issue has occurred before so I'm hopeful that it will not be permanent this time. Please pray for both of these problems to resolve sooner than later. I'm really hoping that, come January I will be ready to handle a wonderful new year unlike the year I've just had.

Speaking of genealogy I was contacted by the lawyer I'd worked for last year. He had a new case for me to research. Luckily it wasn't too difficult, although I did push myself and made my neck and arm angry. I'd wanted to finish before my daughter visited me this past week.

It was wonderful to see her. She used to come home every other month and it had been over six months since her last visit. We were all going through withdrawal LOL. We had a great visit. I was able to eat out at a couple of restaurants (finally) and we even went to church. My son-in-law wasn't able to come, but they will both be here for Christmas and we can't wait to get together again!

For now life consists of therapy, chiropractor visits and crocheting hats and baby blankets. I've made about 50 hats for the homeless already.

I missed going in September and October, but once a month I get with my old singing buddies and we go to a local nursing home and lead singing along with providing some devotionals. When we went for November we sang patriotic and Thanksgiving songs and hymns. Since husbands participate too Danny even goes! It's really kind of nice.

Our deck turned out great and I've enjoyed many beautiful days sitting outside watching the leaves fall like snow. Danny still has to build some new planter boxes, but that's last on his list right now. After over a year we just learned that his dad's apartment is selling soon. That will be last tie to the senior community and good riddance!

Well, therapy calls me now so gotta run (yeah, like I can run LOL)!

It's a Progressive Life

 It's been quite a while since my last update. However, not too much has changed as far as my weekly activities which includes therapy, reading, crocheting and genealogy research.

I am now in the final stages of therapy for my new knee. I have always enjoyed doing therapy, probably because to exercise on my own means I'll probably cause more problems than I've had to endure over the last 23 years. It's nice having a therapist to guide me. I've always pushed myself to go the extra mile and knee therapy has been no exception. I must say this time has been a lot harder with many a tear shed. I've been leg pressing 125 pounds and have even done 110 on my "bad" leg alone! I've had to stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down so many times it's crazy! But all the work is paying off. I'm stronger now. I've noticed where muscles had seemed to be atrophying are now back and the hollow places are gone. Every time we leave the house I'm working on conquering those steps. Going up is way better than going down LOL! But I'm doing it!

I am still reading my historical romances every day. I love using Library Thing to keep track of books read. I recently finished a couple in a sequence from early 1800s England and this week I'm reading one that takes place after the civil war. The hero is keeping a promise to a fellow prison camp friend who asked him to care for his wife and child as he was dying after a beating by a camp guard. It's one of my shorter books, but it's going to get a 5-star rating from me; it's really good!

Before my surgery a friend who works for my chiropractor gave me about 12 giant skeins of baby yarn. During my recuperation I've been crocheting daily, and am now finishing up the last baby blanket for a local hospital. I previously took her seven to deliver to Leigh Memorial. This time I will have four more using her yarn plus what I make from my yarn.

My genealogy work is progressing nicely. I've spent the better part of the summer  going through every item that has used "The Heritage of Currituck County North Carolina" by the Albemarle Genealogical Society, for a resource.  I'm changing the book resource to an actual reference such as a census, or marriage, birth or death certificate. I used that book years ago when I started my family quest. I had about 900 references to the book and it's down to 265 right now. I still have a ways to go! I have over 10,000 names in my family file!

Meanwhile, we finally got our deck renovation started. It's going to be awesome when our guy Arlan get's finished. It's been so hot that he's only been able to work mornings, even with an air conditioned break room at his disposal! I had thought the boards would be taken off whole, but he cuts across them into 1-foot sections. Danny has been grabbing boards that aren't in bad shape so he can build some planter boxes later.

I'm very excited about new planter boxes. I can't really get on my knees anymore to work low to the ground anymore! Plus we'll have a plenty of stuff to burn over Christmas holidays when the kids are home. We all love burning and sipping!

The garden is doing really well. You may remember that we over-wintered 4 seedlings from last year. They've done so well, along with the two that Danny bought with his beloved okra and basil. The fig that struggled for years in our front yard is doing great in it's 2nd year in a pot! The peppers are on the side of the house. I'm not too sure about those. We're getting peppers but one set of plants is about 2-foot tall while the other set is about 8 inches. I don't think it's a variety thing. He has a few okra over there too and they're not even close in size to the ones by the greenhouse. Itty bitty things! Perhaps they need my touch... I hate being a spectator!

While I've been out I have continued to do my church jobs except for making the bulletins. Thank you Jennifer for taking this over for me! The church year is almost up and I'm ready to turn the rest of my jobs over to the next workers. I've enjoyed serving God and my church community over the years and wanted to stop last year except I was talked into going one more year. I guess God had a plan and everything coincided with my surgery/recovery. Because a 2nd knee surgery is in my future (who knows when), I thought it best to let my jobs go now. I was so sad for a while about having to let everything go, but now I'm excited to see what God has next for me. Plus, it will be a relief to not have so many church emails and notices showing up in my inbox! To prepare, I've changed from using my email to a church email and changed websites from my user name to the church's name. I'm clearing the slate! And the church will progress with new people at the helm. It's win-win.

I'm so grateful to those friends who have kept in contact with me throughout my recovery. I cannot express how much it has meant to me over the past few months. I love you all!!

Tough on All Levels

 "Been busy" does not begin to sum up the way the last two months have gone. I had a total knee replacement on March 29. I surely don't want to have any other things replaced, but I have already been told that I will need to have the other knee done, but at least I will know what to expect.

When I had both of my hips replaced, I could at least stand up on my legs. This time I learned that it's a whole different ball game! You literally don't have a leg to stand on LOL! I have worked extremely hard to build up my muscles again. It's been tough and very painful, but I've been ahead of the curve at every turn because of my tenacity. I've exercised like you're supposed to do on the off days when a therapist wasn't around. In April I had a month of in-home therapy and with the therapist's help was able to reach goals a week or two in advance of the norm. We were all very pleased.

In home therapy was so hard. I couldn't even lift my leg off the table for a while. Now it's better, but I have a long way to go. Lifting and rotating to get into the car has been horrible. Bending the knee felt like the stitches were going to tear apart from the inside out! I can tell you I have cried my way through many exercise sessions. Between the time when home therapy ended and outpatient therapy started, I had Danny help me, mostly for encouragement and to wipe my tears away when I felt like giving up.

I'm now in outpatient therapy three times a week. That's sometimes even tougher than it was at home. It is to strengthen my muscles and increase my endurance. They're working to help me be able to get into the car without Danny having to support my leg's weight. I find I still get very sore if I stand too long. I'm still using the cane but take small walks without it when I'm in the house. I guess I'm a bit extra scared to chance falling. I know it's because I've had so many surgeries, I just don't want to have anything to go wrong.

I've got these big ice packs from when I had previous surgeries that I've used almost daily on my knee. It's kind of funny, but I'll be icing my leg and working on a crochet blanket in my lap to help keep me warm. I'm now on my seventh baby blanket and they will all end up at the Leigh Memorial maternity department one of these days!

You've heard the saying "out of sight, out of mind." I have suffered with a great sense of abandonment through this recovery. I've experienced it before with other surgeries for the same reason, but it wasn't so bad then because I had my parents around to offset the feelings of being forgotten. I know people mean well and have busy lives, but I was really surprised I didn't hear from my church much. I got a card from the church, a 2-minute call from the preacher, and a 3-minute call from a deacon. I'm grateful for receiving four cards from people who speak with me when I'm there. I recently got several phone calls from a church lady who I didn't know that well - it really surprised me. Besides my two crochet partners I've had many visits from a family that my church considers troublemakers. Without those wonderful people I don't know what I'd have done. All I can say is that it's all well and good to want to have new people come to church, but don't forget the ones who have been there all along. Danny doesn't want to go back for this reason. Right now, I seriously doubt I'll go back to my church when I am fully healed from surgery. I just don't want to be around people who don't care if I am there or not.

My Collection of Sticks

I hadn't ever thought to have a collection like this. Unfortunately, over the years I've accumulated an abundance of canes. Even more unfortunate is that I've had too many occasions to use them.

Some were inherited. Several were gifts. Others we found at thrift stores, and one I had to buy at a flea market because I'd forgotten mine and was desperate. They are all very special...

The tan one above came from a little vintage shop near Manhattan, KS on the way home from Colorado one time. It has a lot of carving on it.

The hummingbird is a favorite, but I can't use it everywhere. His snout breaks too easily. As you can see it sporting tape since glue wasn't enough.

   

      

My rabbit cane was hand made by Dave Overstreet. His gift is extra special and was a surprise when I received it. He stamped leaves on sides and even scribed my name down the front!

  

One of the two  adjustable collapsible canes was Mom's. The other was a thrift store need when my body gave out. Too much shopping! The green headed one isn't pretty, but is very sturdy. Works good outside. It was my desperate purchase at a flea market in Florida.

This is my very own authentic Shillelagh Walking Stick! My father-in-law brought it to me from Ireland. It's a bit too tall, but I don't want to trim it in case Danny ever needs one. (All of mine are short).

My two generic wood canes are the workhorses of my group. The light one is my everyday go-to. I love the history the dark one shows of how much it's been used from the wear on the curve.

This has been my view for way too long!

Hopefully my new knee will make this a thing of the past!

    

Hating the Waiting

I'm now less than two weeks out from my total knee replacement. It's driving me crazy. The last week or so has been meeting with my doctor for preop exam, EKG, blood work, all the normal crapola you have to go through. This is my 6th go-round. I pray it's my last.

I've always had the normal pre-surgery jitters but this time is different. It's the first surgery since Mom had her "normal" surgery and didn't survive.  But my Sunday School class prayed for me one Sunday and after that, I haven't dwelt on my fears like I had before they prayed. I am ever so grateful to them for their prayers!

Due to recent stressful events my blood pressure went sky-high and I had to stop going to church. Now I've got medication that seems to be helping. I'm hopeful that taking meds is a temporary fix and after all the stress is gone, that my high readings will be a thing of the past too.

Today I'm scheduled for a massage. That ought to calm me down some! Today is also my brother's birthday so after my relaxation session we'll all be heading out to lunch. He's chosen a new place we haven't been before so it's rather exciting!

Home drama with taxes, lawyers, and investment people in other states is getting closer and closer to being over and done with. Can't wait to see that day come either! Danny can walk in his mancave again now that the many boxes and piles of papers picked up from off the floor and every available smooth surface.

I've been working on my genealogy and making crocheted baby blankets while I have to sit around so much waiting for surgery. I love making these and trying out new stitches. The yellow and purple are both new for me, and they were pretty easy but look hard. Makes me look like I know what I'm doing LOL!

Color me counting the days until I can walk without pain!

Living Blessed

 Let's see what's happened this year. My knee has gotten worse, but I finally got an appointment for knee replacement surgery. It just sucks that the doctor is taking a month off in February. I've never had to wait so long for a surgery before! You know, it hard to use ice on your body when it's winter. Just saying.

Danny is still plodding along with getting his dad's estate paperwork done. I think the last big hurdle will be getting those taxes done. The man was a high-end company vice president in his day and he had a lot of grand investments to deal with. With that said we just kind of look at everything as a bunch of boxes of paperwork that's, more often than not, in the way.

Church is being church. Fairly normal with all the intricacies of a loving, tight-knit family with a few moments of drama thrown in to make sure we keep relying on our God who made us all. (I must say I love all my adopted moms, grand-moms and brothers and sisters out there). We have had a lot of new people over the last few months. I don't get to move around and meet everyone like I wish (that knee thing again), but hopefully soon.

When we took down the old tomato vines last fall we found a few plants that had come up. About 2 inches tall we brought them into the house to see how they'd fair over winter. I totally expected them to keel over, but they have grown to about 18 inches now. They look pretty ragged right now because we set them on the deck during a sunny moment and the wind changed without us realizing it. You get the idea!

I recently had another birthday. It was so very cold that day, being less than 30° that we didn't leave the house. Danny went shopping the day before and had gotten me a dozen roses which were beautiful, along with a lovely card to go with them. On my special day he made one of my favorite lunches - an open-faced turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. Hey, you've got to eat, right?! Beyond that I received a lot of birthday wishes from Facebook friends which always surprises me because I'm stunned to think anyone would care. And at church the day after my birthday my pastor busted me to the congregation and they all sang happy birthday to me. that's one of those things where you feel rather good while you want to crawl into a hole. I chose to feel good and still do. My family birthday meal is yet to come... I'm waiting for a nice day to venture down to Coinjock Marina which should be very soon!

So to all intents and purposes I've just started my own new year. Once my knee gets fixed and healed I'll be rearing to go again! I hope everyone else has a great year in store for them! Here's to living blessed!

Whining and Complaining

I guess it's time for an update. If I posted every time I thought about it, this would be a different blog LOL! But I don't, so you get these widely-spaced updates.

In November and December I was contacted to do some genealogical research for a lawyer who was working on a will from 1944. It was interesting work and I actually went to court to hear the case. Since that success I recently received an email from another legal firm needing the same kind of help. I'm looking forward to starting this next project.

Danny is still dealing with paperwork from two states for his dad's estate. He's had a "bad back" issue that hasn't helped, and it was aggravated by a leak in a wall behind a toilet. That involved removing the toilet, cutting a hole in the wall near the floor, replacing the floor, and making everything fit together beautifully. It took quite a bit to do all this and meanwhile Colorado kept calling.

I've been wanting a handicap toilet for quite some time because of my knees. We bought one a year ago. I'm happy to say I don't have to wait any longer to get that installed! My unplanned new bathroom looks great. I guess we'll replace the counter tops soon too!

Danny's back wasn't helped any when we went from our California king-size heated waterbed to a vintage full-size bed that was my grandmother's. I get up at night so I needed a bedroom by the bathroom on the other end of the house. I didn't want to walk through the house with a cane in the middle of the night! I told him to stay in our bed but he declined, so we endured a tiny bed for a couple of weeks.

We had a great time at Thanksgiving. My oldest and her husband came and we had the big bird at my brother's home. While they were here we also dined at a favorite restaurant and around the fire pit and simply enjoyed being together. I was hoping they could help decorate the Christmas tree before they left but that wasn't to be. But we did get Mom's decorations down from her attic this year. We divided up what we wanted to keep for memories and the rest went to the thrift store or trash (especially if mice had visited).

Even though Danny was overwhelmed with a leaky pipe and paperwork he did get our Christmas tree up, but only because it was in a trunk at the foot of our bed. Our decorations were in the attic. I was kind of bummed at first but I've gotten use to a blank tree with white lights. I put my crocheted do-dads up over the fireplace and added a poinsettia-inspired tablecloth on my table. Since finishing the bathroom Danny has pulled a couple of small boxes from the attic. We've been looking things over and several have gone to the thrift store. This goes along with how we've done presents over the last three years. We eliminated gifts and took all the pressure and drama off of Christmas. Now we just enjoy being together and have a lot of fun with a glass of wine, specialty cheeses, pots of soup and pajama movie night. We definitely down-sized Christmas stress and now keep our focus on Jesus at the Christmas Eve service and family at home.

We will host Christmas this year. Both girls will come at some point and we'll all have a great time being together, eating, talking, having fun, enjoying the memories we make in our own small way. These memories will sustain me until April and make the time go faster, I'm sure. And it's already started. My youngest and her husband arrived yesterday and oddly enough she (the one who hates Christmas decorating), added a glittery snowflake ornament I was going to toss. So now my tree sports that as well as a small ornament spider that I got from Mom's house. She always said it brought good luck to have a spider in the tree. Legend of the Christmas Spider. If that's the case I should have had wonderful luck because years ago, we had a live tree that hatched a gazillion tiny spiders when we put the tree indoors. That wasn't luck at all! I had to vacuum the tree and all the presents under it! 

I'm on a cane full-time now and it really sucks not being able to do things. Bending my knee to get in the car or roll over in bed is awful. We both think this is worse than when I had back surgery or hips replaced. As much as I'm looking forward to getting relief from surgery this time is different. After Mom went in for her 'we do it all the time, piece of cake' surgery and never made it home again I am having more fear. I know there are always risks with any surgery. I guess God and I will have a long talk about it when the time comes. My original knee doctor retired so in May I went to Jordan-Young Institute and met a surgeon who suggested cortisone shots to help. He gave me one that potentially could help six months. It didn't.  So then I thought if I'm going to just get shots I may as well go back to the old practice closer to home. In October I got more cortisone shots in both knees which still didn't help. Weeks later I got gel shots in both knees and again, no help. I didn't have a follow-up appointment scheduled, so I called the surgeon's secretary as to what my next step should be. She mentioned that he only did surgery once an month out of Chesapeake hospital. I don't do Chesapeake hospital. I called Jordan-Young again for a follow-up and am scheduled for a total knee replacement in April. I hope they call with a cancellation so I can go sooner.

Even though walking is good for you, I can't walk much no matter where I am. I try to plan out what I need to shuttle from place to place because I can only carry stuff with one hand (the cane in the other). Bending my knee is always in slow-motion or it feels like a knife in me. I hate feeling like this. I have things I want to do and simply can't. Church is more challenging now. I was in a little Christmas choir with two other ladies and 4 girls. We sang two songs on the Sunday before Christmas. It was nice, but it was a lot of extra walking. On Sunday mornings I try to get in the choir loft before service so I can move across the stage as needed before I have to toddle down to play the keyboard. I quit going to Sunday School class a few weeks ago so I don't have to walk that far, staying in the sanctuary to read or talk with early arrivals for worship. At least I'm still able to sing and I love singing for God.

I've crocheted so much while icing my knee that my hand started hurting. Now I'm in "rest" mode for a while. A couple of weeks ago I took 25 handmade hats to a homeless shelter in Virginia Beach and three days ago we delivered a couple of bags of my hand crocheted blankets, shawls and hats to a Chesapeake nursing home.

While we were out I managed to get some more books to read. The books were just inside the doors of a thrift store so I didn't have to walk far. I hate when I run out of books to read! For several weeks I'd been out. These should hold me for a good while now!

Well, this post ought to get me through to 2023. I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys their loved ones. Don't forget to start a new habit and go to church on Sundays! It'd be the best thing you could do for 2023.

Maybe Next Year

 My last post was made two days before my father-in-law passed away. Since that time it's been as chaotic as I've ever seen it. My garage is full of stacks of boxes that may take a year to finally go through. My FIL kept everything and sifting through the papers is a time-consuming task. Current paperwork for trusts, investments, and various bank and credit card accounts has to be dealt with first. A lot of this is located in Colorado when FIL lived for nearly 30 years. It seemed like a logical thing to shut down credit cards immediately, but we learned the hard way that credits for some things (subscriptions and automatic payments) can only be made back to the card they were set up on. We actually lost some refunds because the cards had already been closed. Live and learn.

When we finally got to email accounts there were hundreds to go through. Because this man had supported several non-profits (some questionable), he had been added to those dreaded spam lists that get sold to unscrupulous people. We had to check each email because we didn't know which were legit and he actually had dealings with and which were bogus (many were). We discovered that when he got the "free" ad blocker (the same one I use) he'd clicked to set up $1.99 monthly support payments forever. Another phone call and discussion. There were a ton of small items like this to deal with.

The USPS mail forwarding service is a joke. Danny has spoken to several people about it from managers to carriers. By their own admission at the facility Claude lived at, the carrier who keeps putting mail in the box "has problems." So why isn't she sorting mail somewhere indoors instead of putting mail in boxes here where she knows people have died. Claude was getting the former resident's mail for over a year. That man left the apartment when he died! And now there are two people with the same address who have died and are still getting mail. So two months later we still have to drive 30 minutes each way to check the mail.

The Colorado investment man that Danny has been dealing with all summer - you'd think that he would have changed the address on correspondence by now, but I guess that would make things too easy.

Anyway, Claude had donated his body to science so we won't have a  memorial service for probably close to a year from now. Maybe by then things will have slowed down.

Meanwhile, the grass has kept growing and needed mowing, the corn around us has been picked, the leaves are falling like snowflakes as the season changes. We were supposed to go visit my daughter in FL for Danny's birthday. It would have been a good time for relaxing over a weekend. But the hurricane came, FL gas was hard to find, water still surrounds some of the places we would have needed to access. Then we discovered a leak in the attic. Oh crap! We can't leave it. As I write we're waiting for the guy that replaced our roof to come by this morning.

So while we stayed home Danny ended up with a cold so we couldn't even go out for his birthday (or our anniversary, which is the same day). We just looked at each other and thought, "Oh, well! There's always next year!"