The year winds down

 It's December, y'all. Not that one can really tell by the weather. I haven't posted in a couple of months.
Such an eventful year as well, which I am well ready to leave behind.
Since my last blog post...

My Daughter-in-love, Paula, lost her Mom to cancer.

Tom's brother Bob has come to reside on our property. We helped him move, starting to settle on the 1st of November. 

We spent Thanksgiving at Becky and Ben's houses. My mom, Ben, Kimber and I, Dakota, and Althea had birthdays. (As well as several siblings and friends). 

I got to do some 'dives' in Ben and Paula's hyperbaric chamber.

Dan left this morning after visiting us for several days. 

This weekend, I get to fly to Texas to see Chris. I haven't seen him since before CV19 started. It will be a really quick trip down- some Mom and Me time. As I will only be gone over the weekend, Nickole can stay home with Umpaw and Sam.  

Nickole is working hard on school. With so much going on, there are some days we don't get in as much 'book learning', but she's really progressing in life skills. I think she may get to plan & prepare supper Friday evening. (The plan ahead will be this afternoon. Thursday we have AHG and can get anything she needs to make a good meal.)

Speaking of AHG, (American Heritage Girls), Nickole will be receiving several badges she's earned this fall, on the 9th. She's really enjoying getting to be part of a troop. She's adding "Cooking", "Archery", and "Astronomy" to her badges, and will receive a few patches as well.

Upcoming, we have more birthdays ... Chris, Becky,  Katie, Tom (more friends and relatives!)

Daniel is planning a cross country bicycle ride.

Ruby has an interview to get moved to Dallas! We expect her by February.
After Ruby arrives, I think the next 'event' on the calendar is the DC Memorial event in May, where Stephen's name will be added to the Fallen LEO Wall.

No new babies are being added to the schedule, as of yet. 

What's cooking as the garden winds down?

 Before I get into what's cooking...
Today would have been my youngest brother's 56th birthday. Happy Birthday in the Heavenlies, Roger.

Our garden got off to a slow, cold start this year. It suffered neglect, and even abandonment at times, as we dealt with so much going on in tour family.
However, I did get a lot of tomatoes canned. We are still getting a few tomatoes, but for the most part, the tomatoes are finished. Today, I am squeezing one batch of the No Sugar Green Tomato relish out of the slim pickings the vines had left.
Our okra was slow in coming on, to the point we despaired of ever getting enough for a meal. In the past month, we haven't been able to keep up with the bounty! I have a number of jars of pickled okra in the pantry, plus several bags of cut okra to stretch through the long, okra-less winter and spring.
The peppers are what we are harvesting in force! I need another dehydrator to keep up... or perhaps just a bigger one. Currently on our second season with a $30 round one from Aldi Buys. (Pros: It DOES dehydrate! It has variable temperature settings and a built in, adjustable timer. Cons: there are only five racks, and the 'screen' spacing is so large that many things need a liner so they don't fall through.)

I have bone broth cooking. It has simmered for about 36 hours now. One of those 'stupid easy' things we like to keep on hand, as bone broth adds flavor and nutrition anywhere you add it. This batch has bones from an organic chicken we cooked on the grill a few days ago, plus the bones from one of the big rotisserie chickens the local grocery store had for half price. (You can't beat a half price rotisserie chicken for value. Not only does it have meat enough for two or three meals for our family, you also get the bones to make into broth!) ("Recipe": Pull the meat off the bones of a chicken. Place the bones in a crock-pot/ slow cooker. Cover the bones (and skin and such) in water, and as much more water as you can put into the crock-pot without an overflow as it boils. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar. Put the lid on the pot. Turn it on. (I use high in the day, turn to low overnight. but it's ok to cook it on either setting. Let simmer until the bones dissolve. Strain the broth, pour into jars and refrigerate or pressure can... or use right away.)

I have green tomato relish cooking. It's a beautiful way to use up green tomatoes if you already have plenty of chow-chow! I like to use the green tomato relish in my chicken enchiladas.

I am just about to start cutting my jalapenos to dehydrate. The cayennes, tabasco, and Thai peppers are already on their trays, ready to go.
We are praising the Lord that He has provided such a bounty for us again this year.

First Day of Fall!

 It's a beautiful, beautiful day here in NE Oklahoma. The high is supposed to be 73* Windows are wide open for the cool breezes, laden with ragweed and the smell of burning chicken feathers.
Two days ago, we waded Flint Creek in 96* temperatures!
Today is almost too nice for school. Yet, here we are.

Nickole finished weeding Bandi's garden- a task she's been on for almost 3 weeks. Bandi's husband Terry remains hospitalized, on a ventilator... all prayers are appreciated. God hasn't brought him this far to lose him now.
Tom and I are still not back to strength after being sick last month. We get stronger, bit by tiny bit. This morning, I walked a letter to the mailbox . I did it with some energy... which is more than I have had lately.

The house has fallen so far into the pit of despair, I thought it would just have to stay there! But Sam invited guests for supper last night... so I pushed through yesterday. The floors are mopped! The dust was banished. Clutter was gone through, and put away (either in its place, or disposed of). (Ok.. I do admit some stuff was just relocated or stacked neatly.) But the place was, and IS presentable.

The garden is winding down. There are dry beans on the vines, waiting to be picked. A few scraggly tomatoes are hanging on, but no longer producing enough to can. The peppers about died from lack of water, but may bounce back until frost; I continue to dry those for our tri-pepper blend. The okra has finally taken off... I have been getting enough for a meal, or to freeze for later, on a daily basis. 

Since October 2020 marked the start of so much sorrow and woe for our family, I am looking forward to THIS fall being better. (Please don't say it could not be any worse than last year! I am not looking to challenge it!) My Mom and Ben both have birthdays coming right up. The Taylor Family Reunion... set to be Live and In Person! is October 2nd. (So far, ONE of my kids is supposed to come. My Mom, one of my brothers, and one other family of cousins have declared their intentions to attend. It may be the smallest one ever!

Until Next time, May God Bless You and Keep you!

 

Do- Overs, anyone?

 It's the day after Labor Day... the traditional day so many of us grew up with as "Back to School".
Nickole and I will be re-starting this school year today.
Our "best laid plans" went awry when both Tom and I came down with That Which Shall Not Be Named.
Sam was sick for a couple of days.
Tom came up sick on August 15. He was diagnosed on the 17. This was a few days after our neighbors let us know they had both been down sick with  TWSNBN. I came up sick on the 18.
This was like a bad flu, which we began to despair would never end! Each time we thought we were feeling better, it looped around and cut us down again. Tom and I were very sick for about 2 weeks. We are all recovering, slowly regaining strength. (Our neighbor is still sick. He was transported to the hospital ICU, and is now on a ventilator. Our prayers are with Terry and Bandi.)
So, Nickole pretty much had to fend for herself, eating whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Sam cooked some, or brought home take out. Zero schooling was done, though Nickole read a number of her school reader novels.

So, today we are starting over! Nickole began the day by going to help the neighbor. Nickole had asked repeatedly if there was ANYTHING Bandi needed help with. Bandi gave it consideration... and Nickole is helping her weed her fall garden. Since the weather is still QUITE warm, Nickole has been going over early and working awhile. We can school in the heat of the day, and work later on lessons.

Our garden has fallen into neglect. Nickole was sent out to pick a few times, but spent most of that time daydreaming... or something. Sam went out with her later and found a laundry basket full of produce she had missed. (She came in after almost an hour, with three or four tomatoes and a handful of okra.) We are now trying to salvage what we can.
The tomatoes Sam picked are in the freezer. I will need to thaw them and process them down to can. The okra mostly was composted- once it's as big as an ear of corn, you can't really eat it. Tom and I have been to the garden a couple of times. TWSNBN really takes your strength, and it took us each several trips out, resting between, to just get okra, peppers, and tomatoes.

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I was in the garden this morning and came really close to having an encounter with a pus caterpillar. I am VERY allergic to the poison they excrete, so God was looking out for me.

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Hope your day is blessed!

~Tammy~

Beginning of the end... of the first week

 School, day 5.
My mornings have been starting with laughter.
As soon as Sam is out the door, Aurora wants my attention. Never mind that Tom is still here, some days. She comes in and chatters at me in doggy words. I swear, she can almost say her name!
"Au rooo rah" will be part of the string of little yips, barks, and whines. She nibbles at me, paws me, and "talks". It doesn't matter if I am in bed or out. (It also doesn't matter what TIME it is. So far as I can tell, what matters is that Sam has driven away.)

We have quite a curriculum this year. Mostly Sonlight, with Saxon Math, and Pace Spelling. Grammar Ace; Duo Lingo Japanese; a basic sign language course, and on-line Mandolin lessons.  We have American Heritage Girls starting weekly in September. I had thought I could come out less expensive on Sonlight's heavily literatured History curriculum- which is the backbone of their program- by purchasing the readers second hand. This didn't work out so well for the teacher's manual! The copy I got was 20 years old. The readers I had already purchased from the current book list didn't match up. So I now have the brand new teacher's guide on its way. I also discovered that the Sonlight Language Arts course had its OWN list of readers, in addition to the History readers. Our school days look to be VERY full.

My friend Lori and I are already working on a Homeschool group. It has fallen together more by accident than design. Our first gathering will be at Lori's on Sept. 8th. We look to have a diverse age group, so hope all the personalities will mesh well. Lori and I met at our library's summer reading program about three years ago, and were both on the library's original Homeschool group planning panel.

Aside from learning I was NOT completely prepared for our first week back to school, things have gone fairly well. No outright tantrums on either part. I was having a personal meltdown yesterday when trying to deal with the USPS website to file a damage claim... and Nickole wisely decided it was a good time for her to go outside and save her questions for later. (Seriously?... you have < TWO minutes before the USPS claims page decides you are dormant and logs you off? I was scanning documents to upload to their site. It logged me off, NOT saving any of the information I had already entered! I had to start over THREE times before I found the SAVE button, which does save your work, but puts you back to the log in page every time. At least I wasn't starting from scratch every time afterwards!)

I am mixing up what subject we start with each day. We don't do every subject every day. But we will probably do SOME subjects every day.
******

Still having to can tomatoes at least every other day. I began drying peppers yesterday- four full trays.
Today will be tomatoes again.
Lori and I hope to get together next week and make tamales. I have a huge pork roast that needs to be used.
This day to day dull routine of dealing with school, garden, and home are what I have been missing.

First Day of School 2021 Style. (Par for the Year)

 Yesterday was our first day back to school. We hadn't actually intended to take the summer off.
But we start the new year with high hopes.
Nickole and Tom had eye doctor appointments. After last year's fiasco, my appointment is well after theirs (though I did go in last month for a medical related eye issue). They took Nickole's height (63.5 inches) and weight (101.2 lbs)... so we have those measurements on our first day of school!
(She is officially taller than me, as is Tyrel).

Monday is our Errand Day. After the eye Doc (Nickole got good reports), we got groceries. Came home, put things away.
Nickole started the day with mandolin practice. We are staring with just 20 minutes per day to build her fingers back up... she's not opened the mandolin case  since April or May.
She worked on Life of Fred (Fractions). Handwriting... and then we opened the Sonlight Language Arts program.
I thought I was prepared. I have ordered and picked up all of the Sonlight's readers in the curriculum. Some were still on their way, but all the ones we needed were here.
Or not.
I couldn't find the first book we were to start with. I scanned the list from the LA program.
I don't have a single one of the books on this list. Not a single one! I had ordered from the HISTORY list. My History teacher's manual hasn't yet arrived.
Back to the computer... and fresh orders to Once Upon A Time Bookstore over in Tontitown, then Amazon for the ones OUaT didn't have. (OUaT's order can be picked up this afternoon!)
All the books are now ordered. The core Sonlight LA program may be a few days behind the rest of our subjects. My small bookshelf is completely loaded up with readers.
I ordered the "Four Day per Week" program, knowing how hectic Monday's are around here. This is giving us leeway to stay on track, as I intend to school five days a week... but I know we have extracurricular activities that cut into the curriculum time. As long as we can complete the four days a week during any seven day period at a time... we are on track!
Yesterday had me busy, busy, busy. I had tomatoes and other garden produce to deal with, as well as school and errands. I decided on lasagna for supper... using slices of zucchini as lasagna noodles. I peeled the zucchini, sliced them with the mandoline (the tool, not the instrument!) and... where the heck do you put squash to weep when your kitchen is the size of a match box, and every available counter/ table is covered in stacked boxes of tomatoes or appliances for dealing with produce? I opened the oven and covered the oven racks with clean kitchen towels. I spread the squash slices on the towels, salted them down, and left them to cry about their fate.
On to the tomatoes. Sort the ripest from the boxes... cut out stems and bad spots. Into the Vitamix to chop/ puree. I poured part into my stainless steel pot, and part into one of my antique glass kitchen bowls. The pot was turning to spaghetti sauce, the bowl into salsa.
I made a beautiful bowl of salsa.
"Someone" put it away in the fridge when asked to. Unfortunately, the 10" across the top bowl was shoved onto a 4" open space on the fridge shelf, pushing in against several cartons of milks. The door of the fridge was closed, to hold the bowl on the shelf. As anyone might reasonably expect... the  moment the door was opened, the milk cartons had opportunity to regain their shape, and gave the precariously balanced bowl of salsa a good shove.
You know, Gravity works.
EVERY TIME!
The bowl toppled off the shelf, did a flip (of COURSE it DID!) and showered me from kneecaps to sneakers in fresh salsa... which spread rapidly across the narrow band of floor and into the AC vent... and back beneath the fridge. (Thankfully, my bowl did not break.)
Bad words, ugly works came from somewhere. Most likely me.
(In the wide world of words, I doubt most people would consider anything I uttered as more than a mild almost bad word. I believe I shouted "FECAL MATTER!")
Dear Mr C came to investigate... and help with the clean up. The salsa was scooped into a dustpan and then into the trash. (Hindsight, it OUGHT to have gone to the compost). The vent cover was removed and scrubbed. The salsa in the vent and under the fridge wiped up. This led to the horrors of accumulated dust bunnies on the refrigerator coils, and deep into the floor vents.  The fridge coil cover had to be scrubbed. The area was vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed.... the newly generated load of laundry started; and THEN I got to go back to working on the produce.
Once the spaghetti sauce was cooked, I browned ground beef and added enough sauce to it for the lasagna. The rest, I canned... using my reusable canning lids! (Only three quarts worth).
The lasagna was good, though I wasn't really happy with how it cooked in the air fryer. (I was trying not to heat the kitchen up too much).

Today is a fresh day. I will try to report on a more frequent basis.

Sometimes I just have to write

 I have opened the Blog any number of times this summer, and just sat here.
Here's to another try.
Since Stephen was killed in May, I have posted once.
I can't say any of us have come to any sort of handle on his death. Just stumbling along, day by day as more and more Feces goes on. I have described it as not so much waiting for another shoe to drop, as it has been being underfoot a platoon of combat boots on the feet of Irish River Dancers in a competition.

Basic recap of the last 10 months:

6 deaths in the immediate family circle
4 cancers (Two are terminal)
3 with heart issues (defibrillator, pacemaker, bypasses & congestive heart failure)
3 with liver issues (counted one in death, one in terminal cancer already)
6 broken bones
2 severe lacerations
2 car accidents
Beloved House sold

We also had a joyful wedding... but the bride has been unable to immigrate due to Covid closures. I don't even know which list to put this on... the Happiness List, or Not Happy list!

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I have spent so much time away from 'home' this year, it takes me a bit to figure out where I am when I awaken in the night.
Mr C has held down the fort while I have tried to help out with the grandkids in Texas; first in the aftermath of Stephen's death, and second; so that Paula could go with Ben for cancer treatments.

Becky and Stephen had planned to take their kids to the ocean this summer. I went with her instead, as the kids (including Nickole) got a first look at the ocean in the Gulf.

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I've got our homeschool plans laid out for Nickole. This year, I am trying the Sonlight curriculum. I figure I am playing to her strengths... she loves to read, and Sonlight has a strong focus of learning through literature. She needs repetitive math, so we will use Saxon Math. She tested into level 7/6, which I am very pleased with. She's been working hard on Math. Saxon is very repetitive.

My friend Lori and I are discussing various field trips, and I may join her in another homeschool group nearby.
*******

Meanwhile... I'm coming late into the garden. After today's harvest, we MIGHT have enough Okra to eat some as a side dish to a meal. Tom canned green beans and made pickles while I was gone in July. He froze tomatoes, which I am just almost caught up with canning. (The frozen ones, NOT the forty or so lbs. ripening on the table from the past couple of days.
Something has been chewing into and ruining the ripening tomatoes, so we have been forced to pick the moment a tomato starts to show any color at all. They sit in boxes on the table to be used as they ripen. The trouble with picking 15 lbs of tomatoes every day is 1) running out of room for them to ripen, and 2) having more ripe tomatoes than one can use in a day.
So I will be canning the fresh ones as they ripen.... just not today.
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The house has been getting the best of me. Looking at what I admire about other people's homes... lack of clutter. I must divest our house of clutter. THAT will take awhile. It took years to get this way, it will take time to get to where it should be.
That's all for now.
May your day be blessed, and you find Good Things to think on.

Not Blog Fodder

 On the evening of May 10, 2021, tragedy struck very close to home.

My son-in-law, a  Sheriff Deputy Sargent in Texas, was shot and killed. Another young officer and good friend of my SIL Stephen was also killed. An animal control officer was critically wounded.
People hear about these things happening.. It always seemed to be a big city problem, not a small Texas town issue.
We have found it can happen anywhere. It can happen for the STUPIDEST of 'reasons'.
Stephen went out on a dog bite call.
The vicious dogs ran into someone's yard.
The guy didn't want the officers in his yard- even to get dogs that were running around biting people. (It was not the first time these dogs had bitten people.) The dogs did not even belong to this guy.

I'm about to get back on my Social Media Soapbox.

My daughter was getting condolence calls and texts before she had even been notified that her husband had been shot.
She was convinced the people posting on Facebook and sending her texts were making assumptions- because certainly she would be told before  news like this hit Facebook.
It takes time to drive to her house. Of all the horrible, horrible ways to learn something you never wanted to know... being told on Facebook or via text message is the worst.

Before a person goes spreading news... Maybe give the Family a chance to learn of it through proper channels. Let them tell the people who need to know before rushing in to spread the word.
The day of Instant Communication needs PEOPLE to engage their brains and give consideration to those affected by the News they are relaying.

There are two young widows. Six fatherless children. Grieving parents. The media hoopla is moving on. Widows, parents, children are learning how to continue on with gaping holes in their hearts.

Please continue to lift the families of Stephen Jones and Samuel Leonard in your prayers.

A Difficult GoodBye

 In looking at the date, it's hard to realize it's been more than 4 weeks since my beautiful Mother in Love left this realm for the next.

None of the Shoulda, Coulda, Wouldas make any difference at all now. There are layers of grief and anger. Bickering and name calling. It's so, so sad.

Arlene and I were close. By default, I was her favorite Daughter-in-Law. (Bob's been divorced for years!)
I was looking forward to her coming to stay with us.

She bore six children, four girls and two boys. The eldest was Joni. Joni was a beautiful little girl that suffered from seizures, and passed away when she was five years old. Arlene and I talked about losing children. Joni passed when Tom was two,  Angie was three and a half. She didn't have time to process her loss- the chaos of life propelled her forward.

Arlene was 87 years old. She told me many stories of her growing up. She was a handful, as the youngest girl. (She had two younger brothers- one passed away at 7 years old, of something that could of been cured with antibiotics. Antibiotics hit the market some six months later.)
Arlie was a beauty. Vain, by her own admission... she didn't like to see age on her face.
She was strong, and opinionated. Always caring, she was often exasperated at the behavior of her children. "I just birthed them, and did my best. I can't help how they've turned out," she would say as political arguments broke out at the picnic table on her deck. But she loved them all dearly.

Arlene always had a song. From silly little ditties like "She has freckles on her BUT she's pretty!", to old commercials, or classic songs from other eras.
She set an example for me, as a grandmother, to get the cousins together and do fun things with them while they visited. From visits to the beach at Lake Logan, trips to the zoo, the Firemen Festival, or the Pumpkin Show; to visiting state parks and hiking, or simply playing Scrabble around the dining room table... she made memories with the grandchildren. She attended ball games, and traveled hundreds of miles to watch stage performances. She was a regular at the ball games, school events, and GrandParent days of her local grandchildren.

On April 17, two days after Arlie would of turned 88, there will be a graveside memorial service in Raymond Ohio. It will be followed by a Celebration of  Life at the Raymond Community Center.

I  am struggling with grief. As a Christian, I know where Arlene is now. She's beyond our sorrow, renewed in her youth, all cares of this world left behind. We should be happy when our beloved have moved on. Grief is for those who remain here. We miss the place that belonged to those who have left us behind. I don't think it is wrong to mourn our losses.

As Time Goes By....

 It has been 40 full days since my beautiful MIL was remanded to the medical community. Initially, we were told her surgery went well. Apparently, it's what we don't know that gets us.
They completely removed the hip prosthesis. We have (much later) been told that lack of a hip joint is, in itself, debilitatingly painful. The rehab hospital increased her pain medications, as she was screaming in pain.
Once she was over CV19, MIL got pneumonia. For the past month, she has subsisted on sips of water, and an occasional bite of applesauce. Over this past weekend, she was moved to Hospice care. Arlene's health has declined like a rocket sled. Last week, she was given "maybe 2 days" to live.
We have been, like most of the country, locked in to a major weather system. There has been no let up in the waves of cold, snow, and ice since we were told that Arlene will NOT be coming home. Tom's siblings have been to see her, as often as they can.
With a favorable turn in the weather, maybe Tom will be able to make the trip to see her.
My heart holds on to hope. 

Meanwhile, "back at the ranch"... Tom suffered an episode with his  posterior. Our ten minute Doctor Go expertise would say that he had a  Superior Cluneal Nerve entrapment. (We use DuckDuckGo, rather than a more common search engine). The ER Docs believe either this was correct, or he has a bulging disk. He was given several shots and sent home. I had to brave the storm and go back out for the prescription medications, as the pharmacy was three hours from opening when he was released. My white knuckled drive home from the ER was compounded by Tom's pain. The return trip... well. Oklahoma and Arkansas are SOUTHERN states. Quite unprepared for blizzard conditions. The snow and wind had hit in earnest as we had driven home.
I made it back to the pharmacy, discovering I'd left my gloves at home. The entrance I parked closer to, nearest the pharmacy, was now barricaded off. I slipped and shivered my way to the opposite end of the store. I got to the pharmacy... and their "drop off" window was closed. It was half an hour past its opening time. A manager sat behind the counter...  I was informed that the store had suffered a broken water main, and the pharmacy would be closed for the next week. (I burst into tears.) I slipped and slid my way across town to a smaller pharmacy... where the pharmacist jumped through hoops to get the prescriptions transferred. Trust me on this... you don't want to need medication on a Sunday, in a small town coated in ice as the worst storm of this century hits. I made it back home, drugs in hand.
I am so very grateful that Sam had stayed up during the midnight watch with Tom, allowing me a couple of hours of sleep, however fitful they were. I used his All Wheel Drive Subaru both trips to town... and stayed on the road when others failed. (I stayed on where the suggestion of road appeared to be! There was NO visible road.)
Eventually, the steroids reduced the swelling that was trapping the nerve bundle, and Tom was able to move without so much pain.
The snows came. They stopped. They came again. And yet, again. We are entered into the third week of below zero temperatures. (It was -20 two mornings ago. That was NOT counting wind chill.) The snow has been powder sugar fine. We "Only" got about 8" on level surfaces, once the wind quit. Deep drifts. Tom missed one day of work. Sam's boss called them off for 4 1/2 days. During this week, our bathtub drain froze. Tom discovered that it has one place where the drain slopes UP and not down. This caused an ice dam. The TV went out, and our secondary refrigerator failed. But, we have had electricity, and propane, so our house has been warm and we have had water. There are millions without, across the country.
Aurora LOVES the snow. We let her out to 'take care of business', and she doesn't want to come back inside. Jaffa, on the other hand, has dragged his blanket over near the heater, and stays curled up inside of it. He is as "over" the pretty white stuff as I am!

Ai Yi Yi

 Arlene's surgery went well last Thursday. We received word that the surgical team was done with her. She was being released into a rehab facility to regain mobility... supposedly as of today.
We have not heard whether she is actually going to be transferred there today or not... as she tested positive for CV19 last night.

Prayers are appreciated!

Last Friday, with the Third Try Being the Charm... Nickole had the Herbst device installed. It came complete with a voice activated lisp. Eating anything takes 5x longer than it used to... and she has never been a quick eater.

Mr C has started a keto diet. I had been cooking more low calorie meals recently, and was starting to lose some weight. He figures keto will have him shedding lbs. in no time. Thankfully,  I have the Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks. I can make "s" meals, which are pretty well keto.
   Last night I did a deconstructed cabbage roll for supper. Tonight- fish, asparagus, and more salad. The salad is a maybe, if I don't go with  the fish served with sesame seed crust over a bed of wilted spinach and sauteed cherry tomatoes.

Deja Vu ...

 Hello, Faithful Friends!
This  is what was going on a year ago, give or take a week. ( Air cleared ).
Arlene is once again in the hospital with hip problems. They started a surgery Monday (the 11th) and had to close her right back up, due to excessive bleeding. Further investigation, the artificial hip is broken, and pieces have migrated into a conjunction of blood vessels, causing at least some degree of internal bleeding. Once again, there is an elevated degree of infection.
After further testing and a discussion among doctors, the surgery is rescheduled for Thursday, the 14th. They intend to replace the prosthesis. Afterward will be another stint in rehab.

So meanwhile, back at the (not quite a) ranch, my sweet wonderful children and husband intend to prepare a place for Arlene. (A small guesthouse, where she can have her own space, yet be around family and make sure her needs are met.) She had seemed to like the idea, though had not committed to coming before this unexpected hospitalization. Now, she has little choice, which does make me sad. In our discussions over the last few weeks, she had said she KNOWS she can no longer live on her own. Those who might have chosen to stay with her made other decisions. She adamantly does NOT want to go into assisted living, or into a nursing home. (The stint in rehab isn't negotiable!) She needs to keep her two older cats.
  SO! Once she's on the road to recovering, our place will become a whirlwind of preparation. We are discussing putting in a pre-built shell (outer walls, subflooring, & roof, windows, and door(s); and finishing it into a "Granny Pad".
I have several ideas...
*putting the kitty box in an enclosed cupboard/ vanity in the bathroom- it will reduce litter on the floors, thereby reducing slip hazards.
*A step-in shower, floor level, with handrails.
*A tall toilet, with a warm water bidet. (If we are fitting the place out from scratch, running the hot water line a couple more feet should NOT be a problem.) (And handrails!) That should give her a lot more privacy/ autonomy.
*a 'mini-split' HVAC
*She won't need a huge kitchen, but I figure a small fridge, microwave, and induction burner should be included. Unless I am mistaken about induction burners, it would be the safest option out there.
*ramps
*an outdoor sitting area where she can have her picnic table that Jack built for her.

On flooring, I have been looking into the best options for seniors to "age in place". Ben and I discussed the plank flooring, but with an additional layer of the padded underlay.
We really need to make it handicapped accessible, even if she's NOT completely handicapped.
Down the road, the place can be a guest cottage.
While the Granny Pad is under construction, I may need to go stay in her home with her, on a short term basis. (This means Nickole as well!)
I'd like to get starts of all her beautiful flowers, and plant them around the house here. (I have no idea if one can propagate rhododendron... she's got a treasured one in her front yard).

I know I don't have a lot of regular readers, but I would appreciate any input as to things I may need to take into consideration in moving her 800+ miles across country.
I know we will need to set up new doctors, banks, possibly her insurance may change.
Mostly, please keep her in your prayers.