Good News

Yes, good news. James is doing so well. It seems there is progress almost every day. 

Sunday Feb 4 Sarah texted with the question whether Papa can walk steps yet. The three steps up to their front door we were certain he could. We were invited to dinner. Of course it was so nice to see them all. Right now it is not that often. 

This was such a cute photo ... until Stella decided to jump off.

A few days later James complained that he can't do much to help me. Oh yes, you can!!!

And going shopping works most of the time too. Costco, Kroger and Target all have electric cards. Yeah!

In that week his PT teacher suggested he should buy a cain but NOT YET USE IT. We did and after the next session he was "allowed" to use his cain at home but NOT OUTSIDE YET. But he got a lot of steps inside the house. 

Saturday the 10th James was picked up for the monthly 9 am men's breakfast. I had asked 2 friends to help me at that time to prepare the fleece for the charity blankets the church women are going to make. 

Fencing with scissors? En-garde! 

Sunday the 11th was the day of a scheduled opera again. We had to hurry after church because we always like to go to the lecture before. Every season there is now a "modern" opera. Premiere of "Sanctuary Road" had been in 2022. We were told last year at a lecture that every opera, even "La Boheme", "Carmen" and the "Barber of Seville" were new and modern once. 

We had called the ticket office a few days before because we were worried about our season seats. They are very good but involve a lot of steps. No problem. We were changed to excellent seats without any steps and at the end of an aisle as well. We were surprised that we enjoyed this new opera very much. 

We had selected several years ago for our tickets to be on the matinee which was very good because it was also "Superball Sunday". Church members gathered after 6 pm to watch the game at a big screen. We could go for a little while too.

And then on Tuesday was the church's annual Pancake Supper (Fundraiser for the youth mission trip) because it was Shrove Tuesday of course ... with a hint of Mardi Gras. 

It seems to me that Ash Wednesday came so fast this year.

Permission to walk with the cain outside now too. On Thursday the sun made the cold less severe and James managed to walk around a whole block. Oh happy day!

When I mentioned to our friend Martha that I am worried that one of our kitchen cabinets is coming away from the wall she immidiately volunteered her son, who had hang cabinets professionally at one time, to take care of it. Jerry came with Christian two days later. This is the before photo I took when she had told me ... and I immidiately emptied it out. It had become much worse even after a handyman had attempted it once a year or two ago.

We were so impressed wth that young man. He was fast and efficient and assured me that the cabinet was now safe. As a bonus he showed me photos of his twin baby girls. So cute.

On Friday we tried out a recommended restaurant we had not been to before: "Brunches". It is only open for breakfast and lunch (hence the name). James had the Hibachi Bowl with chicken and rice and I had the same but with shrimp and noodles. We enjoyed it very much and the server was very nice. 

In the evening James climbed the steps to our loft for the first time since his accident. It's our winter evening place because heat rises. We were happy and comfy and even celebrated with a little bit of wine. 

Oh no, I didn't take a photo when I saw a bit of yellow peak out from underneath this planter. I was too eager to pull it over. Oh no, I had forgotten that there were hyacinth planted at that spot. The flower was already 3 inches long. Everything just yellow. But ... the power of nature.

Other news from our garden: The three newest camelias have just started to open their first blossoms. If it just wasn't so lousy cold. One can't stay there long enough to admire them.

 And that is it for now. A blessed lenten time to you all!

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.