Not having blogged for a long time now, I have a lot of things to write about in order to catch up with everything that has been going on in my life these last few months.

Starting with our late Spring. Wet, too cool for plants to want to come out, or me for that matter

These helped to brighten the garden in april. Not as full as I normally get, but still a delight to see.

A week later I experienced major chest pains that did not want to go away. While I simply hate to go to a Dr. unless I feel it is something I cannot handle or could be really serious, this was definitely in that category, so made an apointment first thing in the morning. Result – I was sent to the hopsital to be admitted immediately. It is apparently the only way now days for any tests to be done, unless I wanted to wait for months. The hospital was full, so I was admitted into the emergency section. What an experience! I have never been admitted for as long as I have lived here, which surprised the staff no end. I became attached to a portable IV, and placed in a movable bed that was then set against the ice machine and supply shelf – I got quite the kick out of being appologised to every few minutes as nurses had to stretch over me to get either ice or their supplies. Not allowed to eat or drink until the test had been completed, I literally lived off that IV for the next few days. It did not take me long either to find out I could walk around and that was actually encouraged. For the next three days I got to know a few of the patients, and my way around the area I could explore, between all kinds of tests. On the fourth day, results came in, I was allowed to have breakfast (which was yucky so I did not eat) and told I was one very healthy lady. The only problem was my GERD which had burnt the base of my eosophagus, causing some ulcerations. And I could let Elmer know he could come and take me home! That was the very best news of all

While I was in there, I just wished I had had my camera – there were some great photos I would have taken on my visits outside to have a smoke, but it was not so.  I had been doing so well in getting my walking up before this, but could not beleive how week my legs were after it. Still one of the things I did on a good day, after getting out was taking a walk to the nearby park for a photo shoot – this is one of the pics. The apple tree just starting to put out leaves and buds.

I was given a prescription for the GERD – Rabeprazole – side effects, weakness, dizziness, headaches, loss of B-12 vitamins, itching, swelling, extreme tiredness. Yes I have expereinced all of these. My legs, instead of getting stronger became so week it was like trying to move double my weight just to get one leg in front of the other, so I have an ongoing affair with the pills. And it hit me within a few days. I stopped taking them for a couple of days, the symptoms improved but my chest pain returned, so went back onto them. It took longer to start the effects again, but soon I had to stop them for another couple of days. At least the headaches are rarer now, and the itching stopped. I do not feel so tired any more, and my legs are not so week, so I feel I am gaining on this, just make sure I take extra B’s every day, along with the other supplements I take regulary anyway.

May – I thought yea! the weather has finaly warmed up and I can put out the planters I bring in over the winter – not a good thing. It froze and the ones I put out were not happy. But they have finaly come back, which made me happy. I am just pleased though I had hesitated to put out my Holiday Cactus, as that would have killed them.

May flowers finaly arrived. The bed against my house suddenly burst into a riot of color. The Iris did me proud this year before aphids attacked them and almost destroyed all the plants in this bed.

and one of my Peonies bloomed for me

I did not get to see the others this year. I was off on a trip to family in Calif and Texas for the month of June when they bloomed.

Here we are – the last of March! Spring is supposed to be here? 

Seems winter just did not want to give up lightly at all. Saturday morning I woke up and looked out my bedroom window, which I usually do as I open the curtains for the day. WOW I was surprised to see this scene

It had all melted by the afternoon, and today they are saying the sun is going to come out tomorrow for the rest of the week, so April is hopefully the start of true spring. Just wish there was heat to go with it   I have started getting my weekly news letters now from my favorite nursery, as they opened last week. Just too early for me to get that gardening feeling though.

It seems I have done little besides sitting around all winter. Lots of reading and talking on the phone, or just playing on the computer. So about a month ago I decided I just had to get moving, even if it was not outside. I am just not into exercise machines (Elmer does have one he uses daily) Hmmm so what should I do? Just out of curiosty I counted how many steps it took me to go from my chair into the kitchen and then around through the dining room and back to my chair. Found out doing this 3 times constituted about 100 steps. Not many! I have no idea what is supposed to be the optimum anount of steps a person should do per day, but obviously I was doing less than 1,000.  One of these days I will fugure out how to use my pedometer, but for now I have to get myself a bit more active. My hip gives me a lot of trouble very quickly when walking. Not good! So what I am doing is taking this circle and walking it about 6 times a day 20 times a shot. During comercials at night is a great time Now if anyone who reads this knows how many steps is optimum I would love to get your imput.

I did take yesterday to attempt to clean up some of the jumble on my main computer. It is amazing how quickly it can get out of hand, as I needed to get regular address, phone #’s and Email addresses organized and updated in my files, graphics I collected over time but never put into their proper folders, photos the same way – still have more to do in this area, as there are months worth that have just been uploaded but not categorized. Took a lot of time. I do a whole lot better when I have many for a series than the odd ones here and there that I have been taking these last few months.

I did take a couple of our painted walls to share

Coming in from our front door, looking up the stairs to the main house – here you can see the blue/white we decided to make the entry way (I still have to decide if I want to put up any pictures or other on the walls as I had before, we gave all our puzzle pics away but one that were there originally)

Here is what we did – two colors of blue. Looks so different from what we had before. I like it, but it is going to take a while to get fully used to it.

As for Easter – daughter Angela and Son John put on a great family feast and invited us. It was so lovely to have all of them together for this event. I so seldom get to see any of their youngsters any more as they are all grown up and leading their own lives now.

This is a pic of us with John and Angela at their home that night

(Elmer would just not smile for that camera! )

I do not look too bad for turning 70 this month

Oh Dear – I miss coming in here for a couple of weeks and find everything is changed! Not sure if I really like this new format, but Oh well, I will live with it

It is Easter Sunday already!  Wishing all a very blessed one.

Life as usual just flying by. I am not sure where all the time goes. I do know Elmer and I finaly decided on the colors I wanted to put on those walls. What a job to paint them all! I think both of us agreed this will be the last time we are painting them. This color, whether we like it or not is what we are going to live with for the rest of our stay here! At least it does look bright and fresh. Very different from the old look.

Here you can see the first of the painted walls in blue, while Elmer is washing down the next section in the front stairwell in preparation of painting that part the same color too.  As you can tell from this it is a radical change! I have not taken a pic the finished walls yet, will have to do that but it is quite hard to show it off properly due to the space and needed distance to get it all in. In fact I just have not been using the camera much at all lately.

I did take it out to record my beautiful crocus during one non rainy period, as they were a sight to see (now all gone again)

The bees also took advantage and were there in droves.

I also found one lonely cluster of Snowdrops from last year

Now I see my Hyacinths are blooming – no pics – but they do not look that good. For some reason they have come up very scraggly and sparse in flowers. Quite disappointing. And I do not know why as I felt I did all the right things to ensure they would be strong and healthy.

At least Spring is trying to burst into flower – I see around town many early bushes and plants putting out their blossoms. Just not that much in my own place. I am still waiting to see what survived the winter and will come up again.

I woke up thinking – WOW it is Febrauary already!!!!!
I really have not been doing anything for the last month where activity online is concerned.
On the other hand it has been quite a month gone by. Snow storms! freezing weather! Watching the temps and weather from here  to across the States – why? Well my children were traveling and I had to know they were going to be safe on those roads. Sheilagh and her family were gone for a week to San Jose for a Hockey tournament for their girls. Jamie stayed home and I had her for Sunday – Hockey game and just being together. The wind outside was way too cold for us to do more than that. I know I enjoyed her company.

Angela and Eugene drove down to Calif. for a little over a week. At least she was able to get online and we could connect most of the days while they were ther via Skype. It turned out to be a great time for them, and perfect too weatherwise. The day after they left the storms came in. As she had returned to Spokane with Eugene, that became another story. Hardly there when they became snowbound and had to cancel any other plans they had made. Not fun to be stuck inside a place and unable to go anywhere. Trever (my grandson) was just delighted though to have his Aunt Angela almost to himself LOL. Again – their connection to the outside world was internet, so we did a lot of talking and visiting this way too.
In the end, it was decided she had to come home at the first break in the weather via bus, as it was just too dangerous for Eugene to drive her back here. That turned out to be quite the edventure for her, while I was keeping close to the phone for those calls from her to let me know she was still safe. What a sweetie – she phoned regularly to keep me updated on her adventure and trip – they did not get too far before they had to pull into the nearest town and sit at a truckstop for the rest of the day and all night – the pass had had an avalanche and all roads were closed due to the storms and snow. It was not till 10.30am the day after she left that the road South at least openned and they were able to continue, going all the way to Portland before coming back to Seattle and then home, arriving 24 hrs later than the original time. I was just so happy to know she was safe and sound and back home again. I think I was way more tense than I thought, as yesterday all I wanted to do was sleep. And the dreams I had! I can only interpret them as my weird way of  putting my fears to rest and letting my subconcious relax and accept all was once again right with my world.

I took this at the beginning of that big snow storm – we had a whole lot more before it was over, and then the freeze came. Now most of it has melted and I can feel comfortable about driving on the roads once more.

On Jan 1st. Elmer and I took the plunge and bought new furniture for our livingroom. It took a couple of weeks to get here, but this is part of it. We have changed the way I placed them too and love our new look. The rest were two recliners in a darker green for Elmer and I – takes a bit of getting used to as our old ones were at the place where they had softened out considerably and the new firmer ones feel different. But I love them! Seems I have taken to green lately as this is the color that appealed the most to me, starting with that new green carpet. Now I am thinking just what I am going to do with those walls   They are not exactly the right colors for my new theme.

December for the last few years  has been a hard month for me. So I am happy when I see the end of it.
This is a week of letting go, and starting to look forward to a New Year. I sit back and think of all the things that have happened for me in the past 12 months, both good and bad. Basicly it was a very good year and I had many very exciting and happy adventures. Yes there were some sad times too, but even they combined the pleasure and love of my family and friends as we shared these times.  Now I wonder what 2008 will bring into my life and the lives of my loved ones. Some things have already been set into motion, and will unfold as time goes by – again some very exciting, while at least one so far will need prayers and support.

I see I do not spend as much time as I used to on the web, neither have I been taking as many pics as I usually do – in fact I have hardly taken any at all this last month, so have none to share today. At this point I do not know if this is a coming trend or just the fact I seem to go into a form of hibernation when it is cold, rainy and very little sunshine. I do not even go outside the house very much and driving on icy wet roads is daunting to say the least. My night vision is not the best either any more (especially if it is rainy or the roads are wet) and I noticed the other night that Elmer too is having trouble night driving in similar conditions.  Hard to accept we are reaching that stage in our lives where we will have to start depending on others for things we took for granted and did without thought before. Again I will have to see how this progresses in this coming year.

Meanwhile I was sent this by a special friend and wanted to share it here with you all too

New Year’s Eve History

I wanted to bring you a little history on New Year’s Eve! I chose to look at a very famous American tradition: the history of the celebration in Times Square.

The celebration at Times Square is an amazing phenomenon that has packed the square full of celebrants since its start in 1904. Even during the depression, the New Year was rung in at Times Square, although they did forgo the lights.

You will find the history of the Times Square celebration here on this Web site. I was really surprised by how much I didn’t know about the celebration and its tradition. It is amazing to me that people travel from all over the world to be in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

You can also check out the Times Square timeline at the bottom of the page. It is pretty nifty! It is an interactive timeline and it dates all the way back to the 1890s. Also, if you’re looking for even more information, you can check out the side menu, where you will find information on the ball itself. The section you want for that is About the New Year’s Eve Ball. I found that section particularly interesting, because you get to discover what the ball has been made out of over the years and the history behind it.

 Wishing you the very best in 2008!

http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_history.html

Oh my but we have had some heavy weather this last week! Temperatures went way below freezing for several days. On Sat. I went to pick up daughter Angela as the two of us wanted to get our hair done and had an apointment with a friend who is also a hairdresser. As I slowly approached her driveway, my car decided to go ice skating down the road. It took a while for it to come to a stop so that I could back up and turn into her home. She did the driving for the trip! No way was I going to attempt it while she was in the car. Then on the way home again the car decided to do some sideways sliding! Scary! I was just pleased to get home safe and sound. No way was I going out again until all that ice had melted.
Then it statred to snow in earnest for the next couple of days. Over 8 inches of snow and very heavy wet stuff for us! Way more elsewhere. Quite the storm! But the guys seemed to love it!  Here were two of them making a pathway across the road to each other’s homes – a lost cause as it just filled up withing minutes again, but they had fun I am sure!

Elmer had to get into the act too   Coming down like crazy and he had to clear off the patio – an hour later you could not see what he had done, but I realized later it did make it easier the next time he worked on it, otherwise it would have been too much to move. I am not sure just how many times he cleaned our driveway, but that too turned out to be a blessing and not just a waste of time for him. Meanwhile he just loved doing it!

A couple of days later we had a Pineapple Express come through with temps in the 50′s F (10+c). Torrential rains for days, flooding and disasters everywhere along the Western coast line, news of freeways closed, main highways and rivers flooded, mountain passes closed because of avalanches, winds of hurrican force blowing down trees and cutting off electricity. We are at the tail end now of this system, and most of the warnings have gone. Next week predicted extra cold again!

With all this going on, and listening to the news predicting the whole of the N. American continent possibly going to have the coldest winter in over 30 years this time, I think of my trip and just wish I was down in the South again. Anywhere there is sun and warmth!

Meanwhile, here is the last of the photos I have of that trip

A fascinating piece from Ripley’s

 and a closer look at the detail of it. Made from Camel bones

Louis Taussards and Ripley
http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/449078385/Ripleys_and_Tousard_Wax_Museum___Texas/

Enjoy!

Not easy to identify, but just maybe someone can?

I have put some of the photos I took while away into albums now for viewing. More to go in yet but these will give you some idea of where I was and what I saw.

Photos of Spokane Nov 2007
http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/449078385/Photos_from_my_trip_to_Spokane_2007/

My Week in Texas
http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/449078385/My_Week_in_Texas_/

I have been doing a puzzle from Jigzone every night, and have been asked to make some of my pics into puzzles – did that for a couple of pics for those who would like to try it too

Gourds of Every color

To solve this puzzle postcard, click on the following
Web address at anytime within the next 60 days.
http://www.jigzone.com/mpc/view.php?252YJGK.06D

Texas Palm Trees Inc.

To solve this puzzle postcard, click on the following
Web address at anytime within the next 60 days.
http://www.jigzone.com/mpc/view.php?C32YJGD.063
 
Enjoy!

WOW as usual the time just flies.
I was away for three weeks, and loved every minute of my vacation.
I fell in love with the area of Texas that we went to – some photos will be downloaded soon to show off what I was able to capture, but for the most part it was just so lovely to be able to spend time with family there.
Within 24 hours of coming home I came down with a doozy of a cold – stuffy head, with a faucet for a nose and eyes just did not feel like doing anything much, but have worked on all the mail I had accumulated.

Thursday evening Elmer and I went to daughter Angela for a delicious meal – even though we may not live in the States, we still honor the Thanksgiving tradition. 

Hope all those who celebrated this had a wonderful  Happy Thanksgiving too.

Just a short one today.

I am posting from Spokane! Yes I am not home right now. Saturday, Angela took me into Bellingam where I met my son. Such a sweetie. He drove all day from here to collect me and take me back to his place. Trever was with him, and let me know he was very excited as I was going to be taking him out for Halloween   We arrived after midnight.  Yesterday he had to work all day, but provided me with a car, and his friend was my navigator so I would not get lost. 
We went to say hi to his ex MIL and FIL. I have not seen them in years so it was great to pop in there and catch up a bit.  We did not stay long then off to Trever’s Mom. I keep in contact with her and this was just lovely to get together with her and see how the other children are doing. From there Mark wanted to check out a couple of places, so off we went driving all around some beautiful residential areas. One problem with being the driver – no photos! The fall colors are just so beautiful here and I could not record any of it!  He also treated me to a lunch. (for some reason I must have clicked something to change this into a diferent font – not sure what I did or how to change it at this time)

All in all I had a great day. Mark is such an interesting person to talk to. Will just have to see how today unfolds.
The weather is cold, but I think I brought the right clothes hard to know just what to pack when traveling to different climates than te one I live in.

Saturday – a wet day. Nothing new lately. The fall rains have settled in for a while now, with a few short sunny breaks. At least it is not that cold for now. I have brought in most of my plants, but a few pots still remain on the patio, and look like they will for maybe another month. But they are doing well, so I am not worried about bringing them in. My Spider plant are in their winter place though – they did so well this Summer

This next one is a new plant I bought at the beginning of Fall, supposedly an annual for this area, but in actual fact a perenial in wamer climates, I have repotted, added a trelis(as it is a climber) and brought in to sit at my front door

This has the odd name of Dipladenia one of the Mandeville Splendens. Looks like it just might survive as it is starting to put out some new tiny buds. I do hope so.

My Cactus are once again blooming too now that they are back in the house – all three of them. This is my oldest baby

The sun broke out for just a short time and lit them up like this – so pretty!

And I had a real gift from my Iris – one of the new ones that had never flowered yet – put out this flower stalk just this last week

It is not supposed to flower till the Spring, but I am not complaining

I do not feel as if I take that many photos, but wen I went to put them into albums to share, found I have quite a lot – too many for my month’s quota in CARE2 which allows me 200 per 30 days. So, I have only 2 new albums there for now

Summer 2007 My Garden Flowers
http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/449078385/Flowers_from_my_garden___Summer_2007/

Summer 2007 Vegetables
http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/449078385/Our_Vegetables_this_summer_2007/

I did make another album here in Xanga for those that would like to look – Fall around Town. Just wish there was a link I could use, but I cannot find anything like that. Seems you have to go to my photos and click on the Album section to see them as a block of pictures.

It seems sad to think the nurseries are now closed till Spring – my girls and I had so much fun visiting them almost weekly, buying their specials to plant and give those bright colorful spots in our gardens for the seasons as they came in. I have run out of space, but Angela and Sheilagh still had quite a bit to fill, so I indulged myself with that, and share theirs   One of the last sales involved Chrysanthemums. Small pots of every shade and hue for $1.00 each – cannot go wrong there!  I spotted some large ones on a clearance shelf and treated myself to one of them, placed just outside my front door.  This too I will eventually bring in and ty to keep it alive over the winter in it’s pot to be transplanted in the Spring somewhere. Meanwhile I just love to look at it every day through the front winidow.

All the buds are open now, so it is an umbrella of blossoms. Beautiful!