Parallel Lines - Springtime

This is an update on a previous post, I think!!!!
My poor old blog is playing tricks with me, probably

 because I'm not here often these days! 

Life doesn't always remain on the straight and narrow.
Curves are thrown.
Corners insist on making turns.
Lines spread wider, or narrower.  
Collisions occur.
Predictions don't always come true.
Life is not always how you want it.
Youth is precious.
Aging is not always fun.
There's no place like home.

Growing old takes courage. A lot of courage. Older adults can be overwhelmed by uncertainties.The future sometimes looks bleak. 'Live and let live' is not easy when all around seems to be falling apart and one feels that the end is perhaps nearer than once thought. It may be you, your spouse or partner, a family member, your best friend or neighbor. Eventually we each are faced with circumstances that we may feel unable to manage. We may struggle to adapt and move forward. We help in many different ways best we can. We don't lose hope. We encourage with words and deeds. We smile, laugh, pray.........and sometimes cry when nobody can see us. Life is so unpredictable. We don't plan to get old. We have to learn to adapt, to live one day at a time, and be grateful for kind family and friends. We do what we are still able to do no matter how insignificant those small things are, or how different they may be from what we were used to doing in those magical younger years.

The sun came up this morning and the first thing I noticed was its warmth and welcome in the upstairs hall. I took this photo, came down to my laptop, flipped open the cover, grabbed a cup of coffee and knew this was the day I would at last come back here.

Sadly, it's been far too long since I posted here but as my eighteenth year of blogging popped up recently I'm doing this quick post before this becomes another crazy day and the laptop remains closed down.

Update on Bob:  Bob's health issues continue. He completed the 2.5 months of chemo following major surgery, but the follow up scans show the cancer has reared its ugly head and spread. Following another mini-surgery we are now several weeks into a new treatment plan, immunotherapy. Two weeks on for infusions with one week off between. Lots of labs - he had a chest port inserted as his arm/hand veins are shot. Oncologist and assistant meetings are often. This will continue through early June followed again by CT scans and exploratory surgery.  The cancer center has become our second home. Appointments eat into our time and prevent any travel but we are grateful that the medical staff are welcoming and kind. We will continue to fight together in hopes we can beat this damn cancer.......and continue with gratitude for any years yet to come.

Please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you dear friends and readers. I'll try posting a more upbeat story soon.......on flowers, trees, blooms, the usual springtime notes bustling with garden stories.  We've been busy outdoors with re-painting projects, pruning and tidying up. Some paid help required but we don't mind as long as the garden looks lovely..........we spend a lot of time out there now!

November is flying by -

. . . . . . . .leaves are falling, nights are cooler, mornings often misty, 

and some  people are already putting up Christmas decorations.  

Not here though!

I really wasn't planning to write a post today so this may be brief. I was up early due to the downstairs smoke detector beeping - no fire thankfully but a dead battery. Why does this always happen at night - well early morning in this case? I was still snuggled in my recent change to cozy flannel sheets! As we didn't have an early appointment I thought I could have a little extra sleep/rest. Plans changed. We didn't have a replacement battery - dozens of other sizes but not the required one - so Bob left early for the nearby Target to pick up a pack of 9V.  We decided to also replace the battery in the upstairs detector as it would probably wake us up soon - you know, 'Murphy's Law' and all that!

I've treated myself to several new books recently. They all revolve around food and eating, holiday cooking, and international dishes. I love everything written by British food writer-author, Nigel Slater. I have other books by him and have been meaning to purchase 'Christmas Chronicles' for several years. Whilst pre-ordering his new book 'A Thousand Feasts' I added the other one and they showed up together - that was a wonderful day . . . . . . . now I just need time to read them, preferably curled up by the fire.

This book above was just published and is already a New York Times Best Seller! I had pre-ordered Betül's first ever book because I follow her truly amazing cooking videos on Instagram. Love her recipes and her story of growing up in Turkey. There are some great baking recipes.........and I need more time to try my hand at them. Everything she prepares is beautiful, and the way in which she cooks with older traditional utensils and cookware, wearing clothes from another era in her homeland, is something I've become addicted to and find extremely relaxing.

My Thanksgiving cactus is opening pink blooms and there are many. I've really been giving a lot of TLC to this plant all year. Carried it out to the front porch on warm, sunny days, shielded it from raging hot summer afternoons. Fed and watered, and then brought it in at night. These past 5-6 weeks I put it to bed it in the dark all night. The buds soon appeared at the tip of every leaf. Now they're rewarding me with lovely dangly flowers which hopefully will last a while.

The Cancer Center where Bob is receiving his chemotherapy is quite new. It's a very well designed building and the different waiting areas are laid out to make those of us who wait......and then wait some more, feel comfortable and cared for - just as they do for the patients. I recall our two rushed visits to the ER earlier this year. Just finding seat to wait those long waits until a hospital room was available was not easy. Having art to look at and enjoy wasn't part of the scene. . . . . . . . . watching people was often sad and upsetting. Life is all about health. Good health is the most important thing.

The wing where chemo infusions are given has a really pleasant waiting area with comfortable seating and some awesome art. Paintings are colorful and interesting, North Carolina makers and artisans have donated - or people have purchased their work and then donated it to the Cancer Center - really fun pieces.

I make sure Bob is comfortable in his space with his nurse, then move out to the waiting area so he can relax or take a nap! I actually think know he just chats about our travels all the time to the medical staff! Thankfully they seem to enjoy his company and stories. Their first question to me is always. . . . ."is it true you've been to Antarctica?"  

I take my knitting with me, sometimes a book and read a while. I admit I look at my phone too but my eyes often roam to this favorite item, a figurative clay piece by Lisa Joerling. I love it with the bird perched on her head so I aways sit where I can view it. Small, quiet, lovely things are important to get you through the difficult days.

Thanks for stopping by. I guess this wasn't brief after all!  I hope to be back here soon - I still need to do a least a little Christmas decorating to share in the coming weeks.

Halloween Already!

Yes, it's me at long last..........here for a brief post after far too long. 

Bob is post surgery and now receiving chemotherapy, two weeks on one week off, through early next year. Living without a kidney, going back into the hospital yet again - following the surgery hospitalization - due to an infection, and then so many doctor and hospital visits have definitely taken a toll on us.........but we are managing and doing quite well at present.

It's Autumn and we're almost into November. Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend, the clocks go back and the dark evenings arrive earlier.  Another year is quickly coming to an end. Where did it go? How could it pass so quickly? How come I haven't been anywhere new and exciting? Our lives, this year, have revolved around all those health and medical issues. We haven't traveled anywhere!

Today is Halloween. It's almost hot here - 79F will be the high in another hour. We've had no rain for so long that our lawn areas, back and front, are more like scenes from the days of the 'dust bowl' years on the Great Plains in the 1930's. When rain does come we pray it won't be like the storms of Hurricane Helene and Milton when we were almost washed away.

Today our lawn service is reseeding - hopefully we'll see green again come next Spring. Our tree removal people have done a great job this past week pruning, taking down one small tree, and then removing a gigantic 125 foot tall, 200 year old oak threatening to fall on the house due to a rotting base! Sad to see it go but necesssary..........our next door neighbors are happy too.

The kiddies won't require bundling up this evening as they go trick or treating. Hoping they all have fun and stay safe. My decorating for the season has been minimal this time around. Here you get the idea, my plans were bigger, the end result lesser, but I think OK.

In between all the upheaval I recently had a birthday. I really try to stay young in thought and action but have to admit I've struggled somewhat recently. My favorite times have been small, quiet moments where I managed to sit alone away from noise and commotion. These come to mind. . . . . . . . the koi pond in the peaceful hospital garden; knitting in waiting rooms - especially the ones in the Cancer Center that have no television sets; the front porch late afternoon with a cup of tea or a glass of rosé; the gazebo in the back garden, writing little thank you notes to all the dear people who have sent Bob cards and get well greetings, and me gorgeous birthday cards.

Enjoy your Autumn days. Stay well and be happy. 

August Already!

 

Angela Harding's August art 'The Blackbird'

Freshly gathered figs shared with others. . . . . . . 

. . . . . . those 'others' sharing some tomatoes with me, thanks!

Heavy weekend rains filled the bird baths, revived the shrubs

 somewhat, and definitely grew fresh grass.

As for the fig tree, its bounty is in excess this year.

 It will need pruning again later as it's far too big!

Hope this new month will be a good one.

July weather was disappointing here.  

August is usually very hot but thoughts of Autumn to come

will keep me going.

Time flew by with new friends -

I do like being at home again. . . . . . but getting away and flying across

 the pond was so enjoyable after such a long time.

Seeing family and old friends, and meeting new friends or making

 acquaintances was fun.

Our new friends included a sweet elderly blind man, Monty, from Wales, 

whom we breakfasted with at the hotel on several mornings, and two

 amazing ladies, Myra and Pat who are gorgeous, funny cousins in their

 eighties. They were on holiday from Newcastle. They kept us in stitches

 even when we couldn't quite understand their Geordie accents. 

There was also Wendy whom we met on a bus ride and discovered

 we were at the same school together. We talked about the teachers we

 had and the silly things we did as teenagers. Such as sit in the classroom

 seats next to the French doors and stick our legs out sideways to get a

 tan on those few and far between sunny days of early English

 summer. . . . before the school holidays started and we were

released from uniforms, Panama hats, ankle socks, and uptight

 rules and regulations of an all girls' Grammar

 School back in the 1950's!!!

An evening visit, one of several, to our favorite pub, and luckily

 just a hop and skip away from our hotel, was interesting. We ordered

 drinks and food and settled in to listen to some awesome live music. 

We sat at a table next to two men, one a surgeon, both part of a 

Trauma Team who go to Africa to help provide free surgical care for

 patients with broken bones and traumatic injuries in rural Kenya. 

Very interesting conversation for us as we have visited there and have

 seen how botched, or often no surgery, leave men, women and children

 unable to walk properly, or to use their arms to work and provide for

 their families.

If interested in reading more about, or supporting this worthwhile charity,

go here:  https://www.futurehealthafrica.org/traumateam

Bob outside the Hole In The Wall, favorite Torquay pub.

Bend your head though, the beams are very low!

Torquay's Oldest Pub – Circa 1540

With its cobbled floors and low-beamed ceilings, the Hole in the Wall has been a regular for smugglers and business people alike. Providing a traditional pub atmosphere with great food and quality beer, the Hole in the Wall aims to provide first class service with a great social experience for all. Good selection of ales to include Doom Bar,  Butcombe Bitter, Otter Bitter and with as many as four changing guest beers and traditional real cider too, you will not be short of choice!

I'm busy catching up here at home. Unpacking and laundry, lots of garden chores as lack of rain and very high temperatures - it was 99F when we disembarked our flight in Raleigh - have wreaked havoc on plants and shrubs, and the grass is browning out. However the figs are plumping, daylilies blooming, and some hydrangeas survived and welcomed us back with paler shades of blue.

 Have a great weekend - I'll be around to catch up with you soon, and hope to add more stories from our really fun trip.

Cabbages and roses -

Changes in one's eating plan can sometimes make amazing differences. 

Many of us have tried diets of all kinds for reasons from wanting to lose

 weight, gain weight (though I admit never had that problem!), treat digestive

 problems etc., and apparently to address issues with food allergies.

The Low Histamine plan is completely new to me and, after doing

 it for four days, I have to say good results are already seen. 

I have dropped 3 pounds of that 6 pound COVID weight gain, don't

 feel hungry, and actually feel quite healthy. It's extremely restricted

 though with no dairy, no fermented foods, no alcohol, no citrus, no

 bread or baked goods, no sugar, limited vegetables and fruits. . . in

 fact limited everything really!

All meals must be freshly prepared at home - which fortunately

 is what I'm used to doing - and leftovers have to be discarded.

I don't advise anyone to follow this diet as a way to lose weight,

 and please remember any new diet you consider following

should always be discussed with your physician.

When this recent Polymyalgia (PMR) flare started, my own physician

 decided I should try this eating plan along with the Prednisone as I was

 possibly having reactions to fresh strawberries which I'd been enjoying for

 a couple of weeks as they are in season here and being sold at roadside

 farm stands! Also, it might help with the inflammation caused by PMR.

See that gorgeous Savoy cabbage waiting on my dining room table.

I used it as a centerpiece with some garden roses for the weekend!

It's one of the vegetables allowed - yes, there are even veggies, and

 fruits high in histamine which I cannot eat now!

The weekend weather was perfect here. Other than picking up fresh eggs

 at the Saturday Farmers' Market and taking a short walk, we stayed home

 enjoying the garden, front porch (above), and suppers in the gazebo while

 watching and listening to many birds now with chirping youngsters in tow. 

We have a nest of four baby Carolina wrens tucked into the urn by our

 front steps, and another with five Black-capped chickadees snuggled in

 the old wooden nesting box hanging in the fig tree. 

The jasmine is now in full bloom along the fences and the perfume 

quite intoxicating in the evening air. Hydrangeas are opening, peonies

 and roses budding, grass thick and green, basil, parsley, dill and sage

seeds all germinating in their sun-kissed pots along the front walkway.

Such a lovely time of year.

Enjoy this first week of May.

November Skies. . . . . .

. . . . . . have been beautiful the past week.

Yesterday afternoon they darkened early and the heavy clouds billowed

 in . . . . . . . along with an amazing rainbow which lasted for quite a while.

I might have missed it however my neighbor, who was mowing his lawn,

 tapped on the front door, told me to grab a camera, go into the garden, 

and look up!

It was a beauty.

My knockout roses are still blooming in the side garden . . . . . 

 . . . . . and will need a major pruning as they are tangled up with the

 Japanese maple.

Leaves are turning, falling and blowing.

Today we have heavy rain showers expected to continue until Friday.

Tonight I will take my 'soldier' out to dinner for Veterans/Armistice Day and

thank him yet again for his service to America in the '60's.

This was also my parents wedding day in 1942 when both were serving

 Great Britain in the Royal Air Force during WWII.

I'm thankful for all veterans and their service to their countries.

 

 Today's Veterans Day recognition meal is only

 our second meal away from home since March.

I'll be back in the kitchen tomorrow!

Aftermath of Hurricane Sally -

They said this would be a busy hurricane year, and it looks like they are correct.

 My thoughts are with the people hit hardest by this latest storm. The damage looks terrible and, as always, recovery will take so long, and so many lives already impacted by living during a pandemic will now be even worse.

As always with natural disasters, we question so much and nobody really has the answers.

"Coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle face a daunting recovery Thursday, as ponds of floodwater and chunks of debris surround homes and businesses. Rivers also have spilled over their banks there, and Sally's remnants still threaten more flooding Thursday as they push into Georgia and the Carolinas" 

 . . . . via CNN today

So, although we have nothing going on such as in the atmospheric

 painting above. . . . . . 

. . . . . . here, "in the Carolinas" I'm sitting out in the gazebo, rain constant

 on the roof, pleasant cool at last air, but no wind thankfully, however things

 will get worse later with 100% rain falling steadily for perhaps another 24 hours!

As you can see, our back garden is a disaster. The guy who planned to

aerate and reseed the lawn area, bring in topsoil, bailed on us - he found

 another job.  

Also, we haven't found a landscaper yet who can give us an affordable

 plan to address the water draining from the property behind us, 

which in heavy rains like we're having again, cause substantial back yard 

 flooding for us. This means also the back bed along the fence, although 

cleared of ivy etc., still can't be built back up and new shrubs planted.

The gazebo, with me in it, might just float away by tomorrow!

SOS - send a boat please!

Fog rolled in. . . . . . . .

We don't get fog here often. 

This morning it's quite thick, a white blanket veiling the

 garden and trees beyond. 

 Silence is heavy only interrupted by occasional birdsong.

It should lift by afternoon, get warm and possibly rain lightly.

Snow is not in the forecast here for the remainder of February,

I do believe springtime is on the way.

From the garden - a foggy morning via iPhone

HOME refresh - Part I -

This house - which I usually call "the cottage" due to it's compact size and my

 struggles to enclose it within an English-style garden (difficult here in this much too

 hot climate), is showing it's age, just like its occupants! Now thirty years old, the

exterior is looking somewhat dismal despite painting and fixing every 7 years or so.

Always something requiring attention with a house.

Moving to one-level condos, townhouses, smaller garden/no garden, even

 apartment living with no upkeep by us required, bring heated discussions.

For now we are staying here!

After spending the past several weeks getting estimates for wood repairs and

 repainting, we were somewhat shocked at the bottom line from

 individuals/companies who expected us to fork out money way 

beyond our budget, especially those who wanted a big percentage up

 front, yet would not provide proof of good work, insurance etc. 

Then along came a contractor acquaintance, Mr. B., actually a long time

 friend of our daughter and her partner.

After meeting with him and knowing we would be well taken care of - we

 decided to completely re-side the cottage in Hardiplank thus getting rid of all

 damaged/aging siding, then follow with a lovely new paint job.

Our contractor had just completed similar work on this house above - lower two
 pix - we were able to go take a look. Just happens the owners sold another home
 to our daughter last year so we knew they would not steer us wrong regarding
 the work done by Mr. B.  

We love the Hardiplank siding they used, it has a light woodgrain rather 

than smooth, and no dirt catching bead along the bottom edge of the board. 
Another plus when using this now very popular brand of siding, is that there
are no visible nails/holes as the boards are installed from the bottom up and
 nailed under the overlap. 
I believe it has a 50 year warranty - repainting probably only every 15 years.

I think it will suit our style of house which is similar to the white house

 above with the same dentil molding and similar roof lines.

I hesitate in sharing these pix of the front beds - so sad looking!
The English garden, or whatever garden it was, has been cut down and dug out 
for the most part. Necessary to allow access to the house where wood repairs
are required, and of course making the painting much easier when the time comes.
I do think the hydrangeas will survive, and the climbing jasmines, but it will take a few
 years before they are lush and full again, and I will need to add some new shrubs later.

Well another week begins and I hear the workmen coming up the driveway.
More hammering, drilling and sawing ahead. Thankfully the weather is holding 
up but still very warm - so more chug-a-lugging bottled water by the guys -
my 'frig is well-stocked for the week ahead!
 We look forward to being back to normal by next week perhaps - and are
hoping Hurricane Maria stays away from here as she makes her way now
along North Carolina's coast and the Outer Banks.