A Different December -

Les Mois - Décembre

Eugène Samuel Grasset

1845-1917

Cold nights and mornings now.  

The Winter Solstice is today and it will be Christmas in

 a few days.  Where has the time gone?

This year has been impacted by Bob's ongoing health issues

 and he's not out of the woods yet.

Northern Mockingbird

Very little holiday decorating done this year due to time constraints.

Trying to get some baking started now. It will be a rather quiet time

 at Christmas.

Bob returns for another chemo infusion on Boxing Day - Dec. 26 

(usually my favorite day of the year!). As I said, it's definitely a very

 different Christmas this time around.

Sending best wishes to you and your families - have a joyful holiday.

I plan to come back here more frequently once Bob's treatment is 

completed. I've really missed everyone's news.

Happy Christmas to all.

Mary

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. 

DASH Plan -

It was not a good week, the one just gone. 

No glaring details, already far too much negativity hanging

 over us all in regard to the state of the world and its future.

No in depth details about Bob, other than he experienced a health scare

 last Sunday, I drove him to the ER, he was admitted overnight for tests

 all of which turned out well thankfully. He's wearing a heart monitor for

 a couple of weeks until his follow-up visit to a cardiologist.

Because of the above, we are walking more each day - although it's

somewhat difficult with my back issue. If you drive by you might spot me

 hanging onto Bob's arm for a little extra support on the slopes as we

 wander our neighborhood streets, haha!

Our weekly grocery shop on Thursday took an extra hour just to read

the sodium count on every item we took off the shelf. Most were scary! 

 Per the cardiologist Bob is now on the DASH eating plan, and I've

 joined him. Salt is a huge no-no!  Getting used to the loss of a familiar 

flavor and food enhancer is workable. Herbs, spices, apple cider

vinegar will be of help.

Fortunately we are already on a plant-based diet, and have been for

 years (I've eaten no meat or poultry for 45 years, Bob eats meat very rarely).

I cook from scratch daily and since COVID arrived we've only eaten 

a few times away from home.

We feel we can do this. . . . . . . with perseverance. 

Healing with tea, nature and modern medicine!

January brings so many changes. Here, we've only just started having

 real cold winter weather and it will most likely stay chilly until spring.

I feel comfy. I feel satisfied. If I get my mobility back I am ready to

work at much that requires attention inside the cottage.

The garden is on hold until spring. The last 'leaf collection' by the city 

will arrive soon and Bob has raked and blown millions of them down to

the curb. Living in "The City of Oaks" is hard work once autumn arrives.

Bob has replaced that chore by starting on his major downsizing

 'paper chase' and the shredder is working overtime!  

Yesterday's visit to the hospital pain clinic went well. If the lumbar spine

 injections work I should start to have relief from the terrible nerve pain 

down my right leg in a few more days. Fingers are crossed!

Many thanks to everyone who sent good wishes and kind tips on how

 to handle chronic pain.

This is my favorite tea blend made my super friend Jeanne on her

 farm in New Hampshire. Many of you know this delightful, creative

 writer and photographer from my visits to Tahilla Farm, a most 

beautiful place, and from the many years I've followed her blog

Collage of Life 

when ex-pat Jeanne and her family lived in so many fabulous

 countries around the globe.

I saved much of the tea Jeanne shared with me last July when we last

 visited - one of only two trips away from North Carolina due to COVID - 

because I love hot tea on these winter afternoons and I knew

this would be a favorite. It brings back memories of Bob and I sipping 

it iced, at the farm, on a hot summer's afternoon with Jeanne

 and her charming husband Mr. H.

Yes, out come the favorite nature books at this time of year - along with

 cookbooks specializing in winter warming soups, veggie stews and

bowls - all making for interesting reading and menu planning.

My latest go-to cookbook for plant-based recipes is Laura Wright's

The FIRST MESS loaded with fabulous food for any time of day. 

Laura also has hundreds of amazing recipes on her blog HERE.

Yesterday we enjoyed Weeknight Root Vegetable Dal (from the

cookbook) and was delicious. There are so many dishes I want to try 

that my own "COVID stuck in the kitchen much of the time days"

will never be boring thanks to Laura!

Before I leave here and get moving on long overdue comments on your 

blog - just a quick look at the wildlife this morning outside the window. 

Because Bob melted the sheet of ice on the fountain, and scattered extra

 peanuts along the porch rails for the hungry birds, two squirrels decided 

to move in and grab breakfast!  Love them/dislike them but understand 

they're hungry too!

Note the gleam in its eye as I'm knocking on the window and

 shouting - stubborn little devils.

We replenished the nuts for the birds!

Have a great Saturday dear friends.

Thinking and healing with movies. . . . .

Sometimes I think I think too much. Even Bob tells me "stop thinking and worrying so much, it's too stressful for you." I'm healing now from the miserable cold. Coughing still but feeling much better. I've passed the cold along to Bob, sorry dear.  I went grocery shopping yesterday as it was the first day I really felt I could handle public scrutiny - less coughing and nose wiping, more clean and shiny, blown-out hair, red lipstick, earrings and sandals. . . . . as it's back in the nineties here. It rained cats and dogs last evening.

I'm in green and pleasant Ireland in my mind. 
I'm still in slow motion.

I've viewed two amazing movies whilst housebound.  Second time around for the now old, but still wonderful, full of raw Italian post-World War II life. . . . . . Cinema Paradiso. The sub-titles keep you on your toes, eyes wide open, the actors hardly appear to be acting, it's all so captivating, funny, and often so sad.

The textures of life, rough, smooth, coarse, delicate and sturdy, all at once - Irish daisies on the train tracks.

The other movie was The City of Your Final Destination from 2009.  A wonderful James Ivory directed film full of beauty, longing, family, and breathtaking scenery of places not all of us are familiar with. Let's face it, families are different. I don''t think any are perfect. Observing them helps makes one understand more about one's own. Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Omar Metwally, Charlotte Gainsbourg and supporting cast were excellent.  After the first half hour Bob commented it was "slow moving" . . . . I didn't reply because I was loving it so much and did not want my bubble burst. At the end, his first surprising words as the credits rolled were, "that was really great." Yes, he actually loved it.
I said we should do that . . . . . . . pack up, sell up, move to a beautiful place totally distant and new, enjoy the remaining years without ties and tribulations. Ridiculous I know, but escapism is something film has always given us - it makes us see life differently. 
Makes us think!

Being Welcomed Home. . . . . . . . .

We flew in from Dublin to Philadelphia Wednesday evening - a smooth 71/2 hour
crossing of the pond, done so many times now I've lost count - then a short flight
 to Raleigh.
It started to rain as we made our way home by taxi, but rain is what we are so used
 to after almost daily showers and the somewhat foreboding low cloud cover daily.
Ireland's weather is not for lovers of warmth, balmy sunshine, dry days and
 clear blue skies. Here it is halfway through June and no sign of days when one
 can leave off the hooded rain jacket and not stuff the collapsible umbrella into
 bag or pocket.

Ireland is beautiful, greener than any other place on earth perhaps.
 More on all that and the loveliness of the countryside, the towns, even
 the cities of Dublin and Belfast, soon. The trip was certainly a busy one
and we saw/did so much as always. 

So this is front porch, as usual a surprising little space. Arriving home to noisy
 squawking as we unlocked the front door, we realized the House wrens were
 back with a second brood of young in the same hanging box!

You know how much I love our garden birds, gosh sometimes I feel we spend
 more money feeding them than ourselves! We have never encouraged this particular 
tiny bird as they can be very mean to other nesting birds - pecking their eggs
 to destroy them, even flinging newly-hatched babies out of a nest and taking over
 their space.

The above photos I took this morning (pardon my dirty dining room windows) as the
 parents were back and forth feeding their new brood.
Note the long twig protruding from the entrance hole. The parent is apparently
 using it for balance. I read that this particular bird does often leave one twig
like this after building its nest, so I guess that's the reason why.

These earlier photos were taken the morning we were leaving for Ireland and this

 is actually a baby wren, one of five, we saw fledge all within a few minutes - great

 timing and really quite exciting to view.

Certainly didn't expect them to return to the same place even though it's usual

for them to have two broods each spring. Guess they liked their accommodation!

This decorative box has actually hung here at least three years and this is first time 

it has been used by any bird.

Not to be mistaken for the quieter, better behaved Carolina wren, the House wren 

though similar in size and coloring, does not have the white stripe over the eye so

is easy to identify. Their brash chirping is quite annoying and nowhere near as 

sweet as the songs of the Carolina wren.

Once again I've arrived home feeling under the weather - a miserable cold/cough

which hopefully is not another bout of what we now call "the European travel bug",

that one which hangs on for weeks and drags one down. Last day in Dublin I felt

 something was going on so started taking meds which obviously didn't work.  

At least I can't blame the recycled air on the plane this time.

Hope to catch up with everyone soon. . . . . good to be home.

Elsewhere. . . . . . . .

By all rights I should be in Kenya now. 

I'm sad I've missed this trip due to health problems, it was a country I really

wanted to see. I had hoped to view landscapes I've read about in books such as 

Out Of Africa. I wanted to view the rolling green hills where the coffee plantations 

thrive, watch the animals wandering, running, across the vast Mara Plains where 

we'd be staying in a safari camp in the Masai Mara Game Reserve.

However, with two visits to the African continent already under my belt I know

I'm very fortunate. I have seen and experienced the wonders of amazing wildlife 

in their natural habitat, enjoyed the luxuries of the best camps, and the 

excitement of the safari. 

Meanwhile, my heart beats strongly according to yesterday's EKG, but my pain 

problems continue. I'm still on the fence regarding surgery tentatively scheduled 

for next week, so I'm going for a second opinion.

This morning is freezing but the sun is bright and beckons to one, saying, 

"come outside and feel my warming rays". 

I threw down crumbs under the bird feeder, poured hot water on the birdbath 

and fountain to melt the ice. A pair of Mourning doves came first at 7:30 AM, 

toddling about, nibbling, then resting for a while in the beautiful early 

morning sunshine - a good day to be alive no matter where.

Happy life and many thanks. . . . . .

Bob thanks all of you who wished him well. 

Yesterday he came through some quite intense dental surgery 

with flying colors. 

Meanwhile, I continue my role as nurse, driver, and mixologist of liquid

nourishment in all forms, except citrus and booze!

I thank you too my good, dear friends - wishing you good health,

someone to love, and someone who loves you.