The Rest of January

On one hand we don't seem to be able to do that much because James is not very mobile yet. On the other hand we are very busy with a lot of things, some very unexpected. Some good ... and some not so good.

Monday January 15 we were surprised with snow. It wasn't much though. Not enough to make snow cream. Unfortunately because I like it very much and you can even put most of it in the freezer to enjoy later. It tastes exactly the same as it was when you made it.

 

Not much snow but some streets were quite hazardous which meant schools/meetings etc were either cancelled or delayed. We were sorry that we could not help with our grandsons. 

Instead we took it very leasurely breakfast with soft-boiled eggs and toast with marmalade. 

During our breakfast we could see a squirrel have its. We let it feast for just a little while.

We could admire the flowers on our camelia from the livingroom window.

After Christmas we had a lot of reports on TV what to do with your Christmas tree if it is a “real” one, not artificial. 

On Wednesday I heard this story in the news: give it to somebody who has goats. It said that the trees give goats lots of fiber and vitamins they would not get elsewhere … like antioxidants and vitamin C … and because goats eat everything it is also a natural dewormer for the goats.  A win win!  I liked it and researched it to include it in one of our letters to William.

On Saturday we were scheduled to help at the church to make sandwiches for shelters with people who need help. We really like participating in that. Besides doing something good for others we are also having time with some of our friends. I had left James for the first time home by himself. He is really getting around quite well and insisted that it was not a problem. 

While there someone gave me the following photo she had found inbetween some church stuff. William and Caleb at a pancake supper at church on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday but I don't know which year. Isn't it a great photo?

Monday the 22nd James had his 3rd MOHS surgery. It had been scheduled last fall which seemed to us as a long time. Dr. Rausch was sure it wouldn't be like the aweful 1st one but it was a little bit larger than she had expected. Nevertheless, we had been quite nervous about it with everything else going on. Levelheaded Christa must have experienced some stress because on the weekend before I ended up in the emergency room with a sky-high blood pressure. The surgery went well and both of our blood pressures are by now under control. 

The first few weeks after James came home from the hospital after his accident he had "home care". A nurse and a physical therapist named Michelle, who was wonderful, came to our house. It was extremely helpful. But by now he was scheduled for outpatient physical therapy. This meant that after his sessions we also could take care of some shopping. Ha-ha, we favor shops with electric cards. It is most helpful.

Oh, and I should not forget to talk about the yoyo weather. Just last Friday it was so lovely warm that James sat for a while on the back patio. I wore sandals that day.

Not sure whether this yoyo weather is hurting our plants: one day very very cold, the next sunny and warmish. The daffodils don't seem to care. 

Ha-ha, last but not least ... I had to learn how to put tennis balls onto James' walker. It is not as easy as you think. I consulted "Dr. Google". Good thing the package had three balls in it. The recommended x was not so good as just a slit. Much better. 

Btw, to mount tennis balls was recommended by James' PT. She was sure it would help him.

And for those who love our church newsletter, here is the link to The February Cloak. This one was not made by me. I was so happy that Ashley volunteered to help. So lucky that she also has an apple Mac which made it so much easier. She came one day and was very eager to see how I do it. We figured out how to send the gigantic files forth and back and solved several other things. She just took it from there. It was a huge relief to me that I did not have to worry about it this month.

With all what has happened these past 7+ weeks we are happy and grateful to the Lord. So many good and nice health care people and so many nice and helpful friends. We feel blessed.

Every day living ...

It is great having James at home. I think he likes his personal nurse. Admittedly I was a bit worried since health related issues are not really my forte but all has gone quite well. We found very quickly which chairs and which places are best for him and have a pretty good routine now. 

New Year's Day! Our friends Martha and Jerry came over. I had a pizza in the fridge and Martha "insisted" that we had to have black-eyed peas and cornbread for good luck. It's not what either James or I are really used to and it is not part of our tradition. It is a USA thing. I will have lots of good luck in 2024 because I ate a big portion. They were really delicious. Thank you, Martha!

We had a very nice and fun evening but this was the only photo I took.

James unfortunately had been deprived much of the daily Advent calendar puzzle. It had been quite therapeutic for me on some days when I had come late from the hospital. After Christmas and back home James had volunteered to take the puzzle apart and put the pieces for each day back into the right box. 

Since I feel a little homebound and want to be downstairs too in case James needs me, I decided to get my "traveling" sewing machine out. I have things to do for the WE Quilters Group. The January meeting is next week (if we don't get that forecasted snow). 

I called this BOM pattern (Block of the Month) "Happy Flowers".  This is a charity effort of our group. Those who want to make 2 blocks, one for the charity pile and one for the raffle. For each 2 you get a ticket for the raffle. The adventage is that you can try a pattern and see whether you like it enough to make a whole quilt. Chances are that you learn a new technique. This will make a very cute quilt. 

Here are my two blocks.

The weather is like a yoyo. Blue sky and puffy white cloud one day and rain like from buckets the next. If the sun is not out it is very cold. It is winter. Oh well... 

James is very good getting in or out of either of our cars. He had his first check up with his surgeon. They took an expay and showed it to us. The doctor was very happy that there is already new bone growth. 

Lots of hardware. I wonder how checking into our next flights is going to be. 

And then there were excitements I really didn't need. The master bedroom toilet broke. In a moment I had the handle to flash in my hand. I sent the photos as requested to son-in-law Wade who bought the part in his lunch time and put the new handle on, which was very nice. 

But it seemed it was not the only problem. I had seen some water around the toilet base a few days earlier and thought it was something I did. But right after this fix it happened again. I had to do more investigating and when figuring it out we decided that a new whole thing was cheaper in the long run. 

Searching the internet. Higher and elongated! Big question: where is it available the fastest?  I could have picked it up that same evening at 8 pm at a Lowes, cheaper then Home Depot. 

Next day James was sent to a lab for blood samples and the pick-up was within less then half a mile. Good job arranging, Christa!

Our plumber was abailable soon too. There were more hick-ups but I spare you the details. At the end we were happy.

What else is there to report? I am neglecting my garden, but we do enjoy the birds from the breakfast table and from the sunroom. But I had a quick look today. 

The parsley is still growing. 

Daffodils are peaking out of the ground in several places. And hyacinth too.

James is making progress every day. He had Home Care people come several times in the week. Everybody is so caring and we got lots of good advice. The PT Michelle is wonderful and James does his "homework" faithfully.

Yes, we thank the Lord. 

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PS: you know I love comments. If you do, please make sure I know who you are. Thank you, Susan, for your comment on the last blog. I do know several Susans though and it is not clear to me to whom I could respond.

How do I ... ?

How in the world do I keep my promise when things like this happen? What happened? 

December is always a very busy month. I had committed myself to several workshops at our church. Usually, I must say, I love it. But maybe not so much happening in so short a time. And then there is always the monthly newsletter. Something else which challenges me but also in a good way. Here is the link to the December Cloak if you are interested. Needless to say that James and I love our church family. 

With Advent starting, we slowly started decorating our house. The Chrismon tree first. James always put the trees up and added the lights. The "German" tree is second. All straw ornaments. And we love all the nativities collected on our travels. All so different. The third tree in the bay window was still "empty", that one holds all the memories, the ornaments the girls made when they were little etc etc.

Monday December 11 started quite well. There was some snow in the morning which quickly disappeared. 

JoAnn fabric store had a really great sale and I had permission from the church women's group to spend quite a nice amount of money to buy material to make blankets for cancer patience at a couple of meetings. Had already bought some material in the store close to us but James and I went over the river to the newer store which usually has a larger sellection. James is excellent in helping me to find matching fronts and backs.

When we were almost done I received a text from Sarah whether we could pick Owen up from the school because he might be having "pink eye". I told her that she was in luck because we were already almost there anyway. So we picked him up, took him to her workplace to get some drops into the eyes and went to our house. 

We had a really nice time with him until he and Papa went to the mailbox in the afternoon. James tripped and fell on the concret driveway. I was inside speaking with my friend Corry in Germany. Owen came running inside shouting that Papa fell.

I run outside and immidiately called the ambulance. Nice neighbors stopped and help. Owen kept running inside retrieving a hat and blanket etc for Papa. We did not move him at all which was a very good thing. He had broken his right hip. The surgeon told me later that it was not like a scheduled replacement but a more complicated repair and he had to insert an extra long rod. 

I was very happy when he was out of surgery and smiling at me.

While waiting to hear and playing with my iphone I found this photo on Facebook. Somebody's elf on the shelf. Sarah told me that their elf could not do that in her household. The boys were too upset about Papa being in the hospital.

Three days later they visited and all were happy.

James and I tried to make the best of it. And yes, I did bring the cards into the hospital. Nurses were always interested who was winning.

It took a while until PT could start. In the beginning his blood pressure went rock bottome every time he stood up. Finally the doctors got it under control. 

Sunday December 17 was the pageant at our church. Our three were the Kings (or wise men). James and I watched it on my computer. Our church streams all our services online.

And life goes on. One evening Sarah called with Owen on her lap because one of the dogs had "hurt" the stuffed animal he sleeps with. We convinced him that "Squishmallow" had to go to the hospital. Sarah took it to her workplace where I could retrieve it before going to James.

I fixed it while keeping James company and Sarah could pick it up in the evening before going home.  All good.

Decorating had come to a halt but it looked like Advent already anyway. 

Helen and William had given us an Adventcalendar before Advent had started. James and I had opened one of the little boxes every day. It was a lot of fun. Now, after James' accident, I would do one day by myself in the evening when I didn't feel like doing anything else. 

Ah, how we were happy about every little progress which seemed a milestone.

On December 21 I could pick up Helen and William from our airport. Their visit had been planned quite a while ago. We were sorry that we couldn't do things as we had hoped but we had a good time anyway. It was so nice to see them and spend time with them. Helen and Sarah had sister-time and William had time with his cousins. They love him so much.

December 23: looking so much better. 

Our children were so sweet and caring. Sarah had changed the Christmas dinner to Holy Eve after the 5pm service. All of them went to the Christmas service at church. William and I watched the service with James in the hospital on my computer. It is actually fun when they and others waved at us (the camera) especially during the peace. 

It was arranged that afterwards I would drive with William to their house. I had found some British Christmas crackers in my "stash" and we had fun with them after the meal which, of course, had been very delicious.

Helen and William spent the night there. Cousin time is so important. They all love it. 

I went back to James for a little while and we read some of the jokes from the Christmas crackers. 

Next day, Christmas Day, in the afternoon, I had to bring Helen and William to the airport. It was great seeing them. They liked the direct flight RIC to BNA.

Thursday December 28 I finally could take James home. Needless to say ... we were happy.

Our mantra: One day at a time! Make the best of it! 

We played our card game. I finished the puzzle. James promised to take it apart again after Christmas. It would be fun to do it again next Advent time.

When the sun is shining our sunroom is a perfect place for James to read. We found three chairs in our house with armrest which are perfect for him. 

Saturday the 30th Sarah announced that they would be coming for lunch. It was such a lovely sunny day that I asked her whether she would cut Papa's hair. I know he wanted it so badly. Of course she would. And she did. The sunny patio was the perfect place. James was so happy.

Ha-ha, the boys helped. Caleb took the blower and blew everything off the patio. He was beaming when I asked him to do it.

They also had brought birthday cake for me. So nice of them. Who doesn't like to hear the song and blow out candles?

New Year's eve was the anniversary of our church wedding. We are so grateful for 48 wonderful years. One day at a time!

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I had to write this blog because my sister Ute called from Germany. She had searched my blog but could not find whether I had reported about James.

She also was happy to report that she had tried and was able to leave a comment on the previous blog. 

She knows that I like comments. Thank you Ute! Well done!

And since I have just today finished (late, sigh) the January church newsletter, you can find the LINK HERE!