Graduation 2014

Time is passing, oh so quickly.

It's time for the last one.

The high school days are over.

No more running to the school for events, meetings and parent-teacher conferences.  

No more watching the stresses of too many club meetings, tests, art projects and research papers

They say when one door closes another opens.  

My daughter is on to bigger and better things.  

Graduation isn't really the end, it is just the beginning. 

A glimpse of the day.  

Zane--no other explanation needed.  Not in this family anyway.

A crowd of blue. Some where in the middle is mine. 

We are so proud of her achievements.

Family

Our girl.

April/May--Day by Day

So, this is late, very, very late.  I was busy, and hiding, and had writer's block.  

I spent the end of April and up until the middle of May working very, very hard on the flower garden.  I got tired and just couldn't do anything else, and then it was like I was afraid to go back and blog.  I think I was afraid of all the work it would take to crop and number these photos and then remember why I even took them.  

I went to a non-fiction writers workshop this week, and while I didn't admire the woman's style of writing or much of her advice, there were two things I took home with me.  One, was to write a little everyday and the other was to always have some paper handy, so your ideas don't get lost.  

So, I'm taking the bull by the horns and spending an afternoon sorting photos, losing them, editing them, finding them, and blogging them.  

I'm hoping I'll get back into the regular-ish swing of things.  It is hard to get going when you're tired.  

April

6. A familiar sight on the countdown to the end of the senior year.  Research paper time!!

7. Comfort food.  The warm cocoa softens baked goods and makes them easier for me to eat.

8. Signs of spring!! Looks like my pink and purple hyacinths didn't make it over the winter.

9. Still knitting, reversible or double knitting looks worth a try. (and that's all)

10. Bills are still due on the 10th. 

11. Sick girls are no fun.  I can't remember what was the matter, but a fun fact--we had to go in to urgent care for pink-eye on the Sunday before finals week.

12. Scillas, my favorite.  Love that blue.

13. King's Buffet for an early birthday treat.  (not mine)

14. More snow in April.  

15. Finished another baby blanket. 

16. It's hard work sometimes to get two boys to play together nicely.  This time is worked, Barry did the pounding. Christian did the laughing.

17. My car.    I like the way it drives, the way it fits into parking places and it's gas mileage.  Even though I said I would never drive a PT, I like my car.

18. Baked kale chips, easy to make, but nobody likes them here. 

19. Fiery sunrise.

20. My favorite, oh I said that already.  Daffy's are my real favorite.  My birth month flower, but they didn't bloom until April.

21. I planted pansies on the north edge of the shop. It is shady there.

22. Tiptoe through the tulips...with me.

23. Another favorite.  Sigh, I like flowers.  This is a pink almond. When I was a kid we had an almond bush and the blooms where white with a blush of pink. I have never found anything like it.  This is the closest I've found.

24. School program.  My photos were horrible, I think my camera is horrible on anything that moves.  But, anyhow, there's my boy, bowing after a exuberant performance.

25. More of my Grandma A's quilt blocks.  There is a whole quilt worth of these plus the pattern and material for the sashing. 

26. I love me some Christian boy.

27. This mug is my boon companion, except when it is in the fridge, the towel cupboard, on the dryer....

28. Amazing sun pouring down in the evening.

29. I just loved the look of the lowering clouds.

30. I love flowers in the house, even when they are not mine.

May

1. The rows are finished on the rag quilt.  This is the back side.

2. It won't be long until these aren't going out the door together, every school day.

3. Sewing more blocks.

4. First spring harvest.  Our one miserable plant that is YEARS old has nearly enough shoots for a mess.

5. Lilacs!! My other favorite.  One of my favorite smells in other springs.

6. This isn't a very good photo since it was taken through glass and with my phone. I made this shawl during knitting class.  I love it.

7. My Grandma's hat. She loved gardening. I wear it out in the garden to keep the sun off and think of her.

8. Pond in the making.

9. The apple tree is really blooming, will we have more frost?  I hope we don't get that many apples.

10. The chickens are laying bountifully. New eggs don't peel, but a week old ones will. 

Day by Day--March

I started keeping these day by day photos so I could go back over the year and see the kinds of things that happen in those flying months.  I don't know what happened this month because everything got mixed up.  I have several photos for one day and none for other days.  Once in a while I do miss a day and make it up, but this month is such a mess it is more like "I did a lot of ordinary things this month, just maybe not on the day specified."

And really, that is what it is about, ordinary days.

March
2. My daughter (and her family) moved to a great big house in Pleasanton, with four bedrooms. The boys spent most of the first week running through the wide open spaces.
3. Barry is going to school, just like mom.
4. Christian's favorite mess making toy, plus he's cute. I just love that smile.
5. Boot holder-uppers made from old sweater sleeves. The sweater body is a couch pillow. 
6. Two new scarves. These were rather experiments. I've always got something going in the knitting and crocheting area.
7. Christian can walk behind a push toy.  (He's been doing that a little while.) If he runs up against something he goes around the the front and pushed it the other way.
8. Christian can stand alone. He also can open the cupboards and take things out.  I just hope he doesn't drop anything on his feet.
9. March hair, compliments of my daughter. It is so nice of her to help me out with my hair and not mind doing it.
10. Spring is coming!!! It didn't freeze.
11. I'm enjoying the piano again.
12. Our message board. These photos of the message board aren't working. It says, "Dad is gone W, Th and maybe F." Lynette's lunch schedule,
 M-Quesadilla T-egg salad sandwich, W-PB&J (grape), Th-chicken salad (the lettuce kind) and  Lynette's whale.  She draws nice whales.  
13. Barry, at Gramma's.  He has his fingers wrapped because he broken a finger running over it, himself, which the big plastic pirate ship, go figure. 
14. Sisters forever.
15. Sunset, always there, always changing.  One of the beautiful things about our place.
16. My dad gave me 50 un-circulated dollar bills, in consecutive order for an early birthday present.  What will be good enough to spend those on? 
17. This is what makes my nightly cocoa and cookie treat.
18. More boot holder uppers.  Nothing feels so good as using things up.  I also like the thought of helping my boots. The body of this sweater isn't a pillow yet.  
19. Sunrise is a lot later after Daylight Savings Time.  
20. I love to grow something by my sink.  Parsley takes a lot of water but the water globe is a bit a joke.  It's pretty, but not large enough to do any good.
21. 50th birthday cards.
22. Prom night, "Keep me posted, please", picture of sticky note...."I am home".  ha ha ha, good grief.
23. New glasses, she looks so much older.  My youngest is a young lady.  I'm not really ready for this.
24. Christian is now a biped. 
25. Digging in my "appliance manual" file, I found a the original stove manual with a registration card with the old computer punch holes in it.  Does anyone remember those?  We used them my first year at college registration, 1983.
26. Digging in my Grandma's quilting supplies.  Those hearts are material left over from a jumper I made, the diamond pattern from an envelope I sent Grandma.  My handwriting, their address. My Grandma made quilts, lots of them, they are a part of my heritage.  
27. Zane loves to figure things out and see how they work.  This is the mousetrap game which he loves.  I do too, I loved to play with the one my folks . .    had.
28. Another birthday gift!!  It's such a pretty color.  It has a better chance of staying alive living by my sink.
29. Succulent garden planning seminar.  After spending most of my birthday money, I have a cute mini-garden.  I hope this one stays alive.  Last years didn't.
30.   A note to the family about the grocery list says, "What kind of razor refills people!"  And my smart aleck says, "Razors don't refill people. Nothing refills people. They are a single use kind of thing." ha ha ha (serious eye rolling going on here) 
31. This day is the birthday of a very special young man who has beaten a serious bone marrow disease.  I am choosing it as a celebration of victory in life.

April
1. My daughter is an amazing artist in training.  She wants me to provide this disclaimer, "The boy is sad because his features are off."
2. Everyone loves cinnamon rolls!!  Even me, dunked in cocoa.  What am I going to do in the summer?
3. Snow!! In April!! We got a little over an inch with quite a big of melting as it came down. 
4. I need more jelly. I also need to clean up the freezer, so I made strawberry and peach with a touch of strawberry.
5. I really cleaned out the freezer, I made a batch of grape jelly from frozen grapes, tomato juice from frozen tomatoes, and soup puree from frozen zucchini.  I also went to bed totally exhausted.  

March 21, 2014

50 Years 

  I didn't expect that my 50th birthday would find me a cancer survivor, but I'm glad it did.  I want to do a post sometime with what I have now that I didn't have then, but it will be a hard one.  In the meantime, I will enjoy what I have, and here's a glimpse of what the last couple years have  given me. 

  

This is going to be my last monthly hair post.  There won't be much change month by month.
 
It is also another yearly milestone. Last year at this time I was just learning to eat again.  My feeding tube and port were removed early in March, and my options for food were really limited.  My mouth had brand new skin and it was tender so I had to be careful what I ate. My swallowing had improved but had a long way to go. With no saliva to help in the breakdown I had to eat wet things. Many foods would hurt or scratch, so I ate soup.  Lots of soup.  I learned to enjoy it.  It was warm, comforting and easy.   I boiled pounds and pounds of vegetables flavored with chicken broth and ate gallons of it. For a long time I wouldn't try anything else.  As the months went on nothing seemed to change.  I was beginning to get bored with the same old soup all the time.  I was wondering if this would be the way it would be forever.
Then, I turned a corner.  It was another jump forward in recovery.  All of a sudden I could eat just about anything I wanted. I could eat normal supper rather than soup all the time.  I still don't do ketchup, pepper, spicy food, vinegar, breads or dry food very well, but that leaves a lot of other choices.  

I started trying different things. I noticed I was eating more real food and less soup.  If I hadn't tried it post-cancer, I took a bite, some things worked some didn't. I was eating what everyone else was eating for supper, and I was enjoying it. 

I also got some sweet taste back and began to enjoy cookies dunked in cocoa.

Eating for me is so much more about perception than taste.  If I liked it before and it's wet or can be eaten wet, most likely I will like it now.
I also like things that I wouldn't have eaten before like puddingy things and soaked bread.  

If I do pay attention to the way things taste, I look for different sensations that I used to.  Things just don't taste the same.  I try to just eat and not worry about it.   

This feels like a major milestone for me.  I feel like I'm a lot farther along the road to feeling normal again.

The recovery epiphany of today is:

Things change, maybe slower than you think, but they will change.

Day by Day--February

I find it makes a nicer collage to use 5 week format.  This will end up an every 5 weeks blog.

February

2. When the days  begin to lengthen, then the cold begins to strengthen.

3. Egg production is down in the winter months.  Eleven hens, two eggs.  '

4. New recipe--smoked sausage and potato hash.  It was good, too.

5. I love a fire, it's so warm and cozy on these cold days this week.  

6. This is the coldest it's been so far this winter.  We haven't seen cold like this for a decade or more.  

7. Anthony's father turned this wooden plate for me on his lathe. It's my camera's home.

8. Doughnuts belong with snow, even though we haven't had much snow this winter, we wanted doughnuts anyway.  They are pretty good dunked in cocoa for the salivary impaired.  

9. A handsome young couple.

10. Lynette's favorite breakfast.  I make it nearly everyday, and have it down to a fine science.  It is sitting under the griddle to keep warm at 7:45 am.

11. Knitting 101 at the library.  I know how to knit, but wanted to make sure I was doing it right.  I think I know more that the leader of our little group.

12. I HAVE MY COMPUTER BACK AFTER THREE WEEKS FOR REPAIRS!!!! And a pile of stuff to do.

13. Finally, long enough hair to do something with, thanks to my daughter.

14. Happy Valentine's Day.  The ladies in this house both rated roses this year.  Two dozen red for Lynette, 1 dozen pink for me (my favorite).  The man of the house got cashews.  His favorite.

15. I have been scrapping like crazy on Lynette's book.  Hers are done to the end of 2013.

16. Game night with friends.  I love Blokus, but you need 4 people to play, so it's nice to play with someone else.

17. Now I'm working on my book.  I'm done to the end of 2012, and I cleaned up the room which was covered stem to stern with supplies.  I'm waiting on 2013 photographs to start again.

18. Library knitting class, one dishcloth finished another started.

19. I make my own pancake syrup.  I like to seal it so it keeps or to give it away.

20. More snow.  A lovely powdery dusting again.

21. I make homemade noodles for everything except tuna chowder.  I'm not sure why, but that's the way it is.  We had beef and noodles this day, with some leftover for later.

22. Jim is replacing the sheetrock in the garage, ceiling first.

23. Game night again, just Jim and I, waiting for something, but I can't remember what now.

24. The Millers, more scrapping.

25 We had cardinals visiting our tree.  I was sicker than a dog this day.  I had a fever and couldn't go to knitting class, but my camera zoom came through.

26. Sunset, about 6:00

27. Sunrise, 7 am.

28. Finished another graduation afghan.

March

1. My oldest daughter moved closer into a new house.

2. This seems to be the way we start out the month this winter.  March is coming in like a very cold lion.

3. Every week day morning this is my view.  Sunrise through the kitchen window.

4. It's beautiful and a little different every day.

5.Lettuce is good for the heart.

6. Re-purposed sweater sleeves stuffed with plastic bags to hold boots up straight.

7. Life happens, and I didn't take a photo this day.  So Christian gets tomorrow's photos now and then.  He can stand alone, especially when he is holding something. He also is opening cupboard doors, and not falling over while he does it. 

8. He loves to push this little stroller, when he runs up against something, he goes around to the front and pushes it that way until it is clear, then he goes around and pushes by the handle.  

Weather seems to be the main topic of conversation this winter.  It has been colder than it has been for a long time, with very little snow.  We have had a few nice days, too.  It's just that it's been frigid for a few days, then we see 40 degree days, then back again to single digits.  It's the mood swings that are hard to bear.  

  

Imitating Life

All pictures tell a story, and I want to tell you this one.  

Children are little sponges. What they see is what they do.  What happens at home they will imitate.  When you look at this photograph can you tell what is happening at home?  

This little boy's mother is going to school.  She is taking classes online.  She has a little table set up in the corner of her very small living room with her books and her computer waiting for a little time in her busy three-boy life to study.  

So, he studies, too.  He makes little notes with his pencil.  He taps his chin and thinks.  He types a little bit on the keyboard.  

He melts my heart.

I know that is my piano book he's writing in, but it's pencil.  We will find him another book,  

And we won't talk about the next time when he found a green pen, and we weren't watching.  

February Hair...

And a Whole Lot of Other Things

I haven't blogged very much this month.  I wonder if anyone noticed?  

I've been doing other things.  My project list for the new year included getting all of Lynette's pictures in scrapbooks.  So, I have been putting all my time and energy into getting that done.  When I got current on her books, I finished Nathan's.  Now I am working on getting my book current.  I am on a roll, and can't think of anything else.  

I am posting a few photos so you know what I've been doing.  

But, first, February hair!!

It is finally long enough to put up in this half-braid thingy, thanks to my daughter.

This is a quick job, and I have since learned to do it myself.  

I love to have her do it, though.

Side View 

And now, the length. 

Projects, all involving photos. 

Other Projects

Another Afghan 

and Barry.

Actually, it is Jim's project he is playing with, that is conduit for the garage.

Day by Day--January

I had the big idea this year to remember my days.  After living through so many months dealing with the after effects of cancer I wanted my experience to make a difference.  

And it has.

But not as much as I would like.  

I don't know what I expected.  It is hard to have lofty thoughts and high ideals when you still have to slog through normal life.  Organizing, washing, cooking cleaning still have to be done.   I thought I would have more energy by now.  It is discouraging to come to the end of the day and the thought of having to carry the step stool to put something away feels like too much.  

What I wanted was to notice as I go through life, to pay attention to the good things and the good people that are sharing it with me.  It seemed like last year just went by too fast, and I remember so little of it.  

So, I set myself a project.

To remember the days.

Every day has a story. 

December
29. My new camera has a pretty good zoom.  That's about the only thing you can say for it however.
30. We visited Jim's sister in Wisconsin.
31. Zane is 5.
January
 1.  Happy New Year, 2014!
 2.  We enjoy puzzles in the winter time.  My folks were here over New Year's, and we did two 1000 piece puzzles.
 3.  Zane built this house/castle from our blocks. I was impressed by his absolute symmetry.  It was also my daughter's birthday and anniversary, but they went out to eat and I forgot to take her picture.
 4.  We enjoy our fireplace.  This much wood will last a couple of weeks.
 5.  Jim enjoys our fireplace, too.
 6.  Sunrise off the deck, almost 8:00.
 7.  Very Old John Deere Catalog, 1928.  
 8.  First measurable snow of the year, and the winter, too, I think.
 9.  Frost is beautiful on the pines on the north side of our property.
10. My Barry boy has beautiful eyelashes.  I was babysitting while my daughter was registering for classes at community college. Her first steps toward a nursing degree.
11. A good friend turns 50.
12. My amaryllis given by a very dear friend, Gertrud, has THREE blossom stalks.  Unheard of in my experience.
13.  A perfect ice cream cone, and I did it myself.
14. The blossoms are breaking.  There are FIVE blooms on the first stalk.
15. Sunrise a little earlier now.
16. Birthday celebrations with another good friend.  
17. My grandboy Christian wearing a pink romper that his great-grandfather wore.  Christian is 8 mos, yesterday, great-grandpa is 78.
18. Two blooming stalks.
19. I'm starting another afghan. I love blue.
20. I love to write letters, another goal for the year is to send more letters.  
21. Chocolate chip, cookies, my all time favorite, BC.  Now, I've discovered that dipping them in cocoa makes them easy for me to eat, and they are my favorite again.
22. This is in tribute of our Aunt Inez.  One year ago today she was buried.  She loved babies the best.  She was so thrilled to hold this Barry boy, since he was born in her town.
23. Blood oranges...want some?
24. As fully bloomed as that amaryllis is going to get.  The first blossom was fading as the thirteenth was opening.
25. I had an absolute panic this day.  I couldn't find my camera card anywhere.  Someone says, "Could it be in the laptop?" "Oh."
26. January hair.
27. Sunrise, 10 minutes earlier by now.
28. I just love this painting by Lynette.  It lives in my kitchen.
29. Sunrise again, this time with a new moon.  The picture is amazing in a larger size. It is really been cold to go out and take these photos.
30. Credit cards...gone.
31. More snow!! The start of a 4-inch two day snow fall.  The snow is so pretty falling against the red of the barn.
February
  1. Valentine tea, one of my favorite social events of the year.  It brings food, friends and card making together under one roof,  but not mine.

I wanted this to be ready to post closer to the end of January, but since I somehow spilled water on my keyboard, it has had to wait--about three weeks.  I still don't know how the water and the keyboard ended up in the same place.  It was the only time in my life I remembered not to carry the water the the laptop at the same time.  Sigh.

January Hair

This is a hair post and some other things post.  

Here I am in my bed, where I spent so much of my time after surgery and treatment.  The other part of my time was spent on our new couch, and that was it.  

My daughter took this photo, I was trying to get my new camera to flash, but that is another story for another day, and she managed it.  She has the same camera.  I was going to zoom in and use it for my January hair, but I was pleased with the way my corner looked.  It's where I am every night, wrapped in my shawl on cold ones with my lamp going to aid my aging eyes and the book I relax with.  I was in bed early.  Jim had been called out and I had a big day.  My bed is where I go when I'm not going to do anything more that day except decompress.  

Here's my better hair photo.  I couldn't resist the matching colors.  

And the back, and a glimpse in my china cupboard and the glassware I like.  

This is a pretty late January hair, but the photo was taken earlier, but I had an accident with my laptop that involved water.  It is still in the shop, but the hard drive seems to be in order so all is not lost and we are hopeful that it can be repaired.  

I do have another computer, but I don't like it as well for ease of use.   

Our 25th Anniversary

I know these photos are over a year and a half old.  I want to post them because I like them.   

We celebrated our 25th anniversary with my coming home from the hospital after surgery for the now famous sinus tumor.  We had thought about doing something special to celebrate that year.  And if special means something out of the ordinary, we did that.  

My friend Raimie kindly offered us a photo shoot for that year, and we squeaked it in when I was recovered from surgery enough to stand up for a while and before treatment started.  

So, thanks to her, we have some nice photos of us "BC" and our place. 

Thank you, dear friend.