May Day...

...despite it's history of unrest and upheaval I prefer to think of May Day as the official start of Spring.

Years ago, before we moved to this house, the neighborhood girls would make May Day baskets, by hand, and deliver them to our front door.   There would be a knock at the door and when answered you could see the smiling eyes and hear the muffled giggles as the little ones waited in a secret hiding place for you to find the basket.  They were always made of construction paper and filled with flowers from our yard...cherry blossoms, tulips, and an occasional dandelion.

I miss those sweet days of little girls with their sweet gifts of Spring.   (I do wonder, now that my daughter has her own yard, if she find dandelions so cute!)

Happy May Day y'all. 

Precious and few...

...are the Tulips in my garden this year.  They seem to be quite late in most of the western state as are all of the bulbs, daffodils and hyacinth.   I spotted these this afternoon while planting some seeds...I just couldn't wait any longer even though we still have frost warnings.  I picked only three of the five that were out there, put them in their own vases and spread them around the house as though they were dipped in gold.

On another note:
the devastation in the South has been heavy on my heart these past few days.  I have not heard word from my Birmingham friends and am keeping all of you affected in my thoughts and prayers.  Be well, be safe, take care.

Life in the fast lane...

...life with a prosthesis is always a challenge, or is that life IN a prosthesis?  On a good day it is bearable, on a bad day it is it's own particular type of hell.  And in between?  Uncomfortable, sweaty, on-off adjustments, funny, compromising, embarrassing, humiliating, unforgiving, hysterical, great story fodder, teary, glamorous (?), and always, always humbling.

And yet, I am truly grateful.

I have a pin and clutch system.  In other words, I "roll" a sleeve onto my little limb.  At the end of this sleeve is a pin, about 2inches long.  Then I step into my prosthesis and the pin locks down holding me all together.  Well, mostly.  The clutch is the section of the 'leg' that holds onto the pin and allows me to lock and go or unlock and remove.  I tend to blow out the clutch rather often.  I don't really know why but I'm sure it has something to do with the frustrating nature of the on and off several times a day to adjust my limb.    Then there is the 'foot' and I have one that is made for an athletic sort of person. 

One of the strangest things I remember about losing the leg was being given a catalog of feet!  You can order all sorts of prosthetic feet depending on your needs, even high heeled ones!  But this is the one and only kind I've had since they are not reasonably priced and insurance frowns on high heeled prosthetics.  I guess if I was Heather Mills famous that would be a different story.

I don't have a cover over my 'leg' as it add several more pounds to haul around and as it is the prosthetic weighs about fifteen pounds on it's own.  I''m not sure how much my real leg would have weighed but it was attached to me and didn't feel like it was something I had to think about.  It is nice to go to the doctor and subtract fifteen pounds from my weight though!!  Yeah, always a silver lining.

Any kind of volume change will change the way of the fit.  Volume changes being weight changes up or down, fluid retention, dehydration, summer, winter, spring and fall, the sunshine, the universe, the tides, the dog....and just about anything else you can imagine.   These changes are usually rectified with the usage of socks that go over the liner and the leg.    Often times there are issues with pressure with no obvious reason why.  Then pressure sores will develop and depending on the area of the limb it could be quite uncomfortable.

I have had a pressure sore on my limb, just below my knee, for several weeks.  Yesterday I started on my third round of antibiotics to be sure that no infection sets in.  Yay me and antibiotics!  I also blew out my clutch again.  So, now we are in the process of getting a new 'leg.'   We, ha...
This is a lengthy process for me and takes several weeks, trips downtown for fittings, and alot of frustration for my prosthetist.  I swear, I am like the Princess and the Pea with my fittings! 

I love my prosthetist.  I used to work with his wife and he and I were friends long before I needed his professional services.  He even got special permission from the hospital board to be present in the operating room with me.  He's come to my house, parking lot, phone booth, where ever I might be, to fix something that has come undone.  On my first 'leg' he laminated some beautiful fabric onto it, and it was the best fitting, cutest leg you've ever seen!  I could walk, run, and go to the gym with that thing.  Unfortunately, it cracked during a tune-up.  I've not had a well fitting leg since...;(

So this is where I am, where I've been...back and forth to see the foot man, back and forth to see the leg man, back and forth to see the PCP and just plain back and forth.  Oh yeah, don't forget the eye doc, the 'c' doc, my children and grand-girl.  Phew...no wonder I'm so tired.

How have you been?

Rejoice...

~~The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.  ~Robert Flatt~

Monday's **snap**...

...just to prove we had some sunshine today,

oh,

glorious sunshine!

and a few out-takes...

Bloomin' Jade...

...we went to the nursery a few days ago

to

look at what Spring

is

supposed to look like!

We

came upon this Jade plant

which

is over 25 years old.

It's

rather difficult to see

but

is quite amazing.

I have been having a LOT of problems with blogger lately.  For several days I couldn't find my blog...then it appeared but I couldn't sign in.
(I even went so far as to start a new one)
uploading photos has been
a process all of itself...oy.  Are you having problems too?

The many faces of Miss M...

...over the course of approx. 45 seconds!  Six weeks old...just over 8lbs.

random thoughts on a Thursday...

...hail!  rain, rain and more rain, hail, wind, rain and an occasional almost sun-shiney moment.  Even for the city most famous for coffee, sunglasses and rain this is getting ridiculous.  We are expecting snow in the morning...yipee.

I have dozens of seed packets at the waiting to be planted.  I don't see it happening any time soon.  Most of them need 70 days to mature, at this rate my plants will be reaching maturity next Fall right about the time for me to dig them back out again.

We had a professional lawn maintenance person come over yesterday.  He was here to give us some advice on how to get rid of the moss that has become our backyard.  It was hailing and windy while he was here and he looked rather forlorn standing under the maple tree.  I don't think he'll be back.

The hubs work hours have been 'adjusted' due to a problem with the mail.  I just want to go on record here and say, I don't like it.

so how is your week going?

Dining in the dining room...

This is a repost from last week...
 ***edited to add***  I am joining Melissa at The Inspired Room gallery wall linky party.  Be sure and check out all the other fabulousness.  Also, forgive me, I don't know how to add her cute little blog button to my post page...hey I'm new..it's a process people!  Also, also, this is my very FIRST home decorating project so please be kind!  Thank you all for visiting.




...picture it...small town-medium sized state...circa 1998, we have just moved into this house after downsizing from our 'family' home.  Our children having had the audacity to grow up, leave home and have lives of their own. 

Our dining room is small, very small.  My mothers' china cabinet and our little round table with four chairs is all that can fit in there.  Although the room is open to the living room and has a large window it is still very dark.  Trying to have a holiday dinner in there is difficult as I can't use the table extension and there is not enough area to move around in.  It's o.k. though as it is more of a place for stuff than a real dining room.  Until now...

 (note to self, make sure all the crap is off the dining room table before you take a picture of the mirrors.)

Recently I have had the urge to make some changes around here and I decided to do over, make over, the dining room.  It didn't need painting as it was done a few years ago and still looks good despite the myriad of tiny nail holes. Formerly this wall had a small plate rack with three plates in it which I have changed out to include the mirrors, a small collection that my daughter left behind, and the frames which are thrift store finds painted white and distressed.  The only cost was the large mirror which was intended for a different room and was $20.  The mercury glass was a gift at Christmas as was the little birdie mirror.  The only thing that doesn't feel right is that little birdie mirror but I will keep it up for awhile and see. 

Yesterday I painted an old shutter  French Blue and after it is distressed I will show you what I have planned for it in here too.  So what do you think?  Too much?  Too busy??  be kind!

Meet me on Monday...

 ...today I am taking part in Java's Meet Me on Monday meme...c'mon and check it out!


from Java's blog:
Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!


1.  If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

     I think it would have to be bread....love, love, love fresh bread...oh, and butter, gotta have the butter.  Yum.

2.  Do you write your blog posts in advance or the day you post them?

     Always the day I post them, always off the cuff, never planned in advance.  Yikes.

3.  Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?

    Unfortunately yes.  Several times.  Once from a car accident when I was in college and a few times with my heart..;(

4.  What is your favorite candle scent?

    Cinnamon Spice...hmmmmm.

5.  Coffee or tea?

    If it's hot I prefer tea, If it's not I prefer coffee.  I know, I know.

Now how about you?