The birthday looms....

I've been singing "When I'm 64" in my head a lot, HAHA!  It's almost here!

Next week, for my birthday, we will be visiting a different state park with cabins.  The cabins have full size kitchen appliances, and actual fireplaces, so we shall see if it's a viable option for our future Thanksgiving retreats.

We haven't got a place reserved for this Thanksgiving yet, but it worked out okay last year, when we did the same thing:  went to Robbers Cave for my birthday, and were still able to book a cabin for that year's Thanksgiving.

This past week, we had many many predictions of rain and storms, but nothing came our way at all, other than some drizzle yesterday.

Unfortunately, though, there was a major tornado out break in the northern part of the state on Thursday night, with lots of serious damage.  Thankfully, no one was killed.

It's been humid, and warm (but not hot), and cloudy for the past couple of days.

We DID get the gardening boxes set up at last, and the seeds are planted.  Now, we wait to see what grows, and what doesn't.

I got a healthy-looking strawberry plant, a tarragon plant (FINALLY), and an heirloom yellow grape tomato plant.  

One box will be the herbs and, hopefully, strawberries, and the other box will be the tomato plant, a red pepper plant, and root veggies to start with.  Once we see if these root veggies grow, I will harvest them and plant again, or maybe try something else.

We can also put scallion and celery roots in between the plants and regrow them to save money at the grocery store!

Dave had a couple of appointments last week, and also got his second shingles vaccination.  His only side effect from the shingles shots has been a sore arm, which is good, because many others have complained of it making them feel miserable.

No appointments for me, but I finished reading "Hamnet," and actually took a few naps during the afternoons, which was nice. 

This past week, and for part of the previous week, I have been having some pretty severe left-hip pain, which felt to me like tendinitis.  My best guess is that I "overtrained" some of my hip flexor muscles, because I found some knots where I never had knots before, HAHA! 

I self treated with rest, myofascial release, yoga/stretching, and heat, and am doing SO much better.  It did, however, throw me off of my routine that was established with the wellness study.

Hopefully, this coming week, I will get back into doing some strength training every other day, without over-working my hips and thighs!!  When I DO work those areas, it will be in different directions.

Thankfully, two full rest days did not diminish the amount of muscle tone I have built up and hope to maintain!

The only thing I will need to do next week is go get my every-three-weeks labs drawn.  We might also go get Covid boosters ahead of going to Chicago for the wedding next month.

Today, I will be making chicken enchiladas with the meat from last weekend's roast chicken, will be doing a bit of tidying and (maybe) dusting, and will work on the next lesson in my spiritual course.

A friend has said she might come by with a birthday gift for me, but I have learned never to rely on her to follow through, HAHA.

Oh well...that's okay, she is who she is, which is completely opposite of me in certain ways.

May you, gentle readers, enjoy a peaceful Sunday, and a lovely week ahead! 

Remembering

 Our dearest friend, Cathy (who died last year of pancreatic cancer) has been on our minds a lot this week.

This week has seen the anniversary of my mastectomy surgery, for which she presented herself as companion, and aid.

She came all the way from Washington state to offer moral support, errands, meal preparation,  cleaning, helping me with my drains, helping me with getting my first shower, etc.

There have been some funny memories, and some poignant ones.  

It's been good to remember her in this way.

We got a little more rain this past week (but no heavy storms), and suddenly, the yard was a jungle, so when the crew came to cut down the dried bamboo (we have that done every few years), we also bade them mow.....it cost more, of course, but now it's done, and we can keep up with it ourselves until it gets too hot out.

My visit with my oncologist was comforting.  She is not at all concerned about my red blood cell and hemoglobin counts at this point, so I will stop worrying so much about them, and just keep trying to eat iron rich foods.

In that effort, I made another batch of the white bean soup that we like so much.  I shared some of it with my friend Annette, who has really helped us out with house sitting, and who also just randomly brings me little gifts.

In the past year or so, he has reminded me that I really do have a friend here.  

Now that the bamboo is cut back, we can see all of the toys from the family behind us, and Dave will be going out there today to toss them back over the fence, HAHA!

Dave will get out behind the shed today, too, to cut down saplings ... again.  Those can be added to the pile of bamboo at the curb for pick up tomorrow. 

HOPEFULLY, in the coming week, we will get the gardening boxes situated and filled.  Dave's procrastination tendencies have gotten in the way, but I think we might get it done now.

Dave sees his new talk therapist this coming week. Hopefully, getting back into therapy will help in his lack of interest in things.

Our friends who came through town a few months ago are back today, and we will meet up with them for dinner tonight.

It should be a gorgeous day here today.... so very rare in Oklahoma.

Have a lovely week!

Nourishment

 In the last 18 hours or so, we have had several rounds of gentle, nourishing RAIN! 

Two periods of showers yesterday afternoon, and then more very early this morning, and again just before I got up.

There is more on the way, so the soothsayers say!

Hopefully, the drought is over now, and the burn ban will be lifted. 

This past week was low key.  I had my blood draw, and now my hemoglobin is low, as well as my red blood cell count, but the nurse didn't call or message, so I guess they aren't worried about it yet.

I see my doctor on Wednesday for my usual check in, and will discuss it with her and the dietician that day.

In the meantime, speaking of nourishment, I made really good cheese burgers for dinner last night, because there were beautiful beef patties on sale.

I've completed the wellness study, and done my exit interview.  I will miss the incentive to do a work out of some kind every day, and hope to be able to continue on my own.

I can feel and see a difference from my dedication to the project over the past eight weeks! There's muscle tone where there was softness/weakness before! 

Next Thursday, Dave FINALLY gets to see a dermatologist.  He has a few very worrisome spots on his neck and face, and had to wait three months for this appointment, and then they delayed it another week.

My thought is he will have to have those spots removed post haste.

We are needing to make plans for our trip to Chicago for a wedding in May, but we need to get this issue addressed first.

Our Annabel developed a cough this past week, and was hiding on Friday morning (which is HIGHLY unusual for her), so we got her in for a vet appointment.

He thinks it's probably allergy related asthma, due to the extreme dry weather, and the high winds we have had.  He gave her a steroid injection that will last a month, and she has not coughed since.

If her symptoms return at the end of the month, we are supposed to get her back in to see the vet again.... which we REALLY do not want to do. She is a TERRIBLE vet patient.  She gets SO very scared, and lashes out.

Anyway, he listened to her heart and lungs, and there was nothing alarming, so that was a big relief. 

Oh, and we finally got the check from Fed Ex, and donated it to the Humane Society.  That was before we knew we'd have to take Annabel to the vet.  OH well.

I am off to make French toast for breakfast....a rare treat around here.  Have a lovely week! 

Rain, glorious rain!

 We had two waves of storms this past week that brought a total of about 3 inches of desperately needed rain! 

Unfortunately, some areas were hit by severe weather, with damaging winds, but our area was spared.

Now that it has rained, we will need to start mowing pretty soon.  I mowed part of the back yard once in March, when the part closest to the house was deep in weeds that were finished flowering, despite the drought.

But soon, the grass will come out of dormancy.  Trees are already greening up, including our willow, which is a relief.

The front flower bed needs to be cleaned out, and the front yard raked.  It's FULL of sweet gum pods from the tree next door.

All of the high winds we've had over the winter, as well as recently, have brought down a never before seen abundance of those pods, and I hate them!!  They're hard as rock, and round, and will turn your ankle if you step on one wrong.

Anyway, these recent weather fronts seem to have brought a change that will last a little while, and we should return to SPRING for at least a week.

Dave got the little bamboo bushes cut down in the spot where I want my cedar gardening boxes to go, so that step is done.  Just need to get some pavers put down for them to set on (the legs that raise them up off of the ground are not capped with metal), put them in place, and fill them with soil!

Dave had his first appointment with his new talk therapist on Friday.  Hope it will be a better fit than the last one, when he gave up due to no progress at all.

Other than that, neither of us had any appointments last week, which was nice.  

We got out to walk a few mornings, despite the wind, and I've lost another pound!  

Hoping to do so again, hopefully every day, this coming week.

If you celebrate Easter, may you enjoy your celebrations, and have a good week.