Saturday, June 29, 2013

Early Summer Flowers

Hydrangeas
Hibiscus in the sun and after a rainstorm
                                            Peonies and hosta....

67 comments:

Coreen said...

A sampling of some of the flowers that have bloomed...the hydrangeas are out now, picked them outside a friend's, the peonies a couple of weeks ago at another friend's home, hosta salad for the deer, hibiscus in pot on the porch not a native plant must be taken in in the fall...

jan said...

Coreen, beautiful flowers. Love them all. Peonies are one of my favoites.

jan said...

Carol, I did see my PCP on Thursday. I had blood tests and X-Rays. The knee pain has decreased but have tenderness alongside the tibia. I still have pain at night that keeps me from sleeping, despite the Aleve. Doc said the night time pain is concerning. I have another appt with him next Fri. Yesterday, it was so much better that I walked w/o the cane and probably overdid it b/c I was in terrible pain last night. Today, hurts more than yesterday - so am taking it easier.

We are predicted to have rain. But not happening yet.

My DIL is fine. She saw her doc this week and after tests, they have decided she has a fibroid in her uterus that caused spotting.

DIL said she "knew" it was nothing serious. I was greatly relieved. On the other hand, she and Bill are consumed with worry about their younger son who is having seizures. He will see his neuro doc on Mon.

jan said...

Just wish they could "fix" GS. He is very anxious about the seizures. He says he has no forewarning as to when a seizure will occur. This is what is causing a lot of anxiety for all of them. My DIL doesn't want him left alone and does not him to even go out for a walk by himself.

DIL and Bill have agreed to see about a service dog for him. They really need some good patient and family education. Apparently there are some classes for this at the UNiv hosp. I am going to try and find a support group for him & parents and brother. His brother is very worried too. They are all pitching in to get him back and forth to work.

jan said...

Please excuse all this about family issues. Family issues and pain have consumed me lately.

Carol said...

Love the post Coreen. I was hoping someone had something. All I have around here is steam rising off everything. It's not as hot as it's going to get but I'm already not tolerating it very well.

Carol said...

Jan, the fact that you are having so much pain at night and when not using your leg concerns me also.

Carol said...

I really feel for your GS Jan. Can't imagine what he's going through.

Carol said...

Love those flower pics.

RebelliousRenee said...

Coreen.... BEAUTIFUL!

Jan... I am sending love and prayers your way.

Coreen said...

Thanks guys, it was time for a post & you know I do love flowers anytime...

Jan, sorry about all the medical issues you and family are experiencing...hope they will soon be remedied...

It's been pretty murky around here too Carol...the good thing is that so far the temps are only up into the 80s...so it doesn't seem as steamy as when it goes to 90s...

Renee, any chance you will take a pic of your gift to Craig & David, I remember you were working on it in your 'spare' time...

RebelliousRenee said...

Coreen...
yeah I'll take a picture of the afghan. But I won't be taking any pictures of what's happening in Gloucester today. Just as Rick and I were packing, a phone call came from his dad. His mother has been taken to the hospital. They think she's having a stroke.

Rick and his brother have gone with their dad to the hospital. I'm here at home holding down the fort and calling other relatives.

I feel for them all. I remember when the phone call came about my mother falling. It was a looooong day. I do hope my mother-in-law will be ok. She's a very nice person.

Coreen said...

Renee, so sorry to hear that news...my thoughts & prayers are with you & yours...

Unfortunately life has a way of shocking us into reality most of the time...

I will be going to a wake this afternoon for a 42 yr old woman, who was the secretary for the attorneys I work with...she died suddenly on Wednesday from apparently a heart attack...she decided to be a stay at home mom, was raising 2 young girls...her husband came home from work asked the girls where's mom, they thought she was doing something in another part of the house, he didn't find her, went outside & he found her dead in the yard...reality of life getting in the way of one's plans...

jan said...

Renee, Hope your mother in law does ok. Sending good thoughts in your direction.

jan said...

Thanks to you all for your kind words. All good thoughts and prayers are very welcome.

jan said...

Coreen, 42 is so young to die. Sorry to hear this. Sad for her young children and husband.

Carol said...

What terrible news. Hope Rick's mom does OK. Sorry about your friend
Coreen.

Carol said...

It's still warm here but today the humidity is lower and that makes a big difference. It actually feels good outside right now.

RebelliousRenee said...

Coreen... 42 is way too young... so sorry for your and that family's loss.

Rick called from the hospital... his mother definitely had a stroke. Looks like she'll be moved to a stroke center north of here.

The hard part now is going to be taking care of his dad. He has some kind of dementia and can be very cranky. He relied on Rick's mom for everything. Looks like Rick's retirement just took a turn.

I did call Craig on his cell phone. It was great to hear his voice. I hope he and David have a great party this afternoon.

jan said...

Renee, so sorry you missed Craig's & David's party. I hope all goes well with Rick's mom and dad.

jan said...

Our AC went out last night just before bed. We turn it off at night at bedtime and sleep downstairs because the basement rooms are cool. They stay about 70 degrees without AC. We called the local plumb/heat co we have used for 9 years. He was just here and it was a capacitor that was out. He replaced it in a few minutes and now we have cool air. The name of the co. is TLC. Interesting name. It is supposed to get to 98 degrees today.

jan said...

An older couple live across the street. I think they are in their late 80's. He has some dementia and has been known to get out of the house and wander away. She has had to have the police look for him. Fortunately, most people around here know him and have brought him home. He is now on some meds and has not wandered off in several months. She is in fairly good health and takes care of him. I go over and check on them every so often. Others on the block do the same. They have 2 daughters - but one lives out of state and the other lives in a town about 75 miles away.

I have several friends here who have aging parents they care for. I know it is a difficult thing to do.

Carol said...

So sorry Renee. How old are Rick's parents? Do you know what her functional capacity is at this time? Strokes can manifest differently in every person. Her being a caregiver was a big stress on her.

RebelliousRenee said...

Jan... taking care of elderly parents isn't easy... I did it for my parents. And I remember reading Carol's trials here with her step father. I was very glad that I was there for my parents despite the difficulties... we had a good relationship.

Carol... His mother is 83 and his father is 86. Once they got her to a local hospital, they had a medivac helicopter take her to a hospital in Massachusetts. Rick has called several times. She can't talk or walk... and when they are through with the tests they are putting her in intensive care. That's all I know at at this time. My father in law is a very high maintenance person... I honestly don't know how she did it.

Carol said...

How far away from you guys do they live Renee?

Carol said...

And how far away is the hospital where she's being treated?

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol... we live in the town next door... they live about 5 miles from us. The hospital is a little over an hour away. She's not in Boston. She's in a stroke center in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is located in central MA and is the second largest city of the state.

The towns we live in both border Massachusetts. Rick and his brothers chose to have her flown there because it's closer than the facility in NH.

The doctors told Rick that they do a 24 hour evaluation. That will be up this afternoon and then they can have more definitive answers. But it doesn't look good. It wouldn't surprise me if she winds up in a nursing home.

RebelliousRenee said...

BTW... we are not alone in this. Rick is the oldest. His youngest brother lives in our town. Both of his adult children live in towns nearby. The middle brother lives in Maryland and works in D. C. for the government. He gets a ton of time off and has already said he'd come up next week to stay with their father.

My MIL went to the local Catholic Church since childhood. I know I can say some harsh things about that church.... but they do a good job of helping people.

Carol said...

My heart goes out to you guys Renee. I was wondering if it might not be time for your FIL to also go into a nursing facility. Caring for someone with dementia is pretty much impossible unless you have a big staff of round the clock people to share the work.

Carol said...

Anyone see Under the Dome? I watched the rerun of the first episode last night. I heard the interview of Stephen King on CBS morning show yesterday and they were talking about it. I found it pretty interesting. The second episode is tonight.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol...
I didn't mean to make it sound as if my FIL is helpless. My bad. He does have some form of dementia... but as you know, there are different degrees. My MIL took care of a lot of his needs because that's what women of her age do.

My FIL still drives. He's capable of doing many things physically. He just gets confused at times. We used to refer to it as senility.... where the hell has that term gone to.

He will need help sorting out his medications. And Rick will now take over paying the household bills. He will have to learn how to do some things for himself... but he is capable. He's really not near ready for a nursing home yet.

RebelliousRenee said...

I read Under the Dome during a vacation at the beach.
Loved the first 800 pages. The ending, IMO, sucked.

I won't give the ending away. And I hope you do enjoy watching it. Up to when it turned silly.... it was a great psychological thriller.

Coreen said...

Following along the paula deen expose...it spreads to even non celebrity celebrity...

Renee, this is likely of more interest to us because it concerns a contestant on Master Chef....Krissie, who is how shall I say this...coarse at best, the thorn among roses...

I do have a question why did this
newsperson decide to search this woman's old tweets...

what are her chances of lasting beyond the next show, now that this has been made public?...she already has had dustups with the judges often enough...

Masterchef contestant in hot water for racially charges tweets


jan said...

Renee, good to hear that your FIL has the ability to care for himself. Sometimes people get "cranky" and difficult to get along with when they are dependent on someone else. It may be good for him to be a little more independent.

jan said...

We taped the 1st episode of "...the dome" last night. I will check to see if 2nd episode is on tonight.

jan said...

Renee,Thanks for info on ....Dome. I am curious.

Carol said...

Renee, good to hear that your FIL is doing that well and at 86.

800+ pages, wow. That's a long book. There was some discussion by King that the TV series is not the same as the book but King was cool with the changes.

RebelliousRenee said...

Coreen.... how unfortunate for Krissie. Yeah she has a mouth on her... and I didn't see her winning. But com'on... she's just a contestant for heaven's sake.

Jan... my FIL has always been a crank. He's just getting worst as he ages.

Carol... the book is a little over 1,000 pages.
My FIL has always been active. He was still skiing and hiking until 3-4 yrs. ago. At the age of 70, he climbed Mt. Washington to ski the headwall as a birthday present to himself. If you're curious, google "Mt Washington headwall". His problem is getting confused and the fact that he's never cooked a meal, never ran a washing machine, never cleaned up after himself, never made a bed, etc. etc. And if he can persuade one of his boys to do this type of stuff for him, he'll let them.

RebelliousRenee said...

Coreen.... OMG! I just clicked on your link and read what Krissie tweeted.... she is one nasty chick. And,IMO, not very bright.

I think that Ramsey keeps people on that show and Hell's Kitchen just for the dramatic effect. You can see it happening... where week after week you think "my god, how did that person survive yet another week".
But that person never survives to the top 5 people.

Carol said...

I've never watched that show but with a name like Hell's Kitchen, that lady should fit right in.

jan said...

Carol, we just watched Big Bang... it was the episode where Howard and Kuthrapoli go roller skating in their skinny pants and shiny shirts; Sheldon is stuck on a problem so looks for a menial job to free his prefrontal cortex. He finally is bussing tables where Penny works. Seen it several times. Funny every time. I love the woman in the employment office - she is great, never cracks a smile. The writers of this show hit a home run every time. Also like the music by the Bare Naked Ladies.

jan said...

I also checked out the link you posted Carol. In reading comments, so many people were rude in making statements about her size. Is that Karma?

Carol said...

Jan, Coreen put up that link but I also read some of the comments and they did make fun of that lady's weight. I'm sure she's not the only one who they talk about like that. That's also very rude and hurtful. Think about this.... when people use racial slurs it just makes the people using them look uncouth and classless. The people who use them usually ARE uncouth and classless people. I don't think those racial slur makes the person who it is used against, these days, feel bad about themselves in any way. It's just a skin color, a color that many of us lighter skinned people have spent time baking in the sun to achieve. Use of those words makes everyone feel disgust toward the user, not toward the victims of that kind of language.

When people call people fat and make fun of them, it's hurtful and obesity is an hereditary condition no different than skin color is. Often, it's not how much or what a person eats. With the same amount of food, some will lose weight, some maintain, and other gain weight. It's not fair.

All the nasty words people use to describe people are equally mean and whether those words be fat, ugly, queer, fag, etc. they should also have consequences.

Also, rap music using those racial slurs should not be marketed. Those songs make the singers/writers tons of money but an old woman who used the same words in her past has lost an entire hard earned empire. There's so much hypocrisy and inequity in doling out the consequences. And I'm not excusing Paula.

Carol said...

Yes, I have seen that episode of Big Bang. I've probably seen all of them by now, at least once. I still can get a good laugh at them. I watch the show so often that I feel like I'm one of their roommates/friends. They have BB marathons on TBS almost every evening. I'll burn out eventually.

Carol said...

They were talking about PD tonight on HLN's Showbiz Tonight. Many are starting to say that her punishment has been grossly excessive.

Carol said...

I went out for the evening to the casino with my neighbor. I won't go alone anymore even though playing a slot machine is pretty much a solitary activity. When I do go alone, I can spend too much money...trying to get back what I lost. That doesn't work. I'm not looking to win money but just for a little distraction from boredom. I'd be happy as a peach just to break even but I'm never lucky.

My neighbor asked me a while back to let him know if I was going but I didn't want to go and we couldn't coordinate our schedules. Finally tonight we could. I got on this machine that I like but it usually just eats money. Tonight, it just kept feeding me. Finally we had to come home so my neighbor could get to bed but I don't think it was finished giving me money. I came out with close to a thousand bucks, minus what I put in and not counting the 100 bucks of the winnings I gave him for bringing me better luck. He lost that money. I think I cleared about 700 bucks in the end. I don't think that will ever happen again but it was fun while it lasted

I missed tonight's episode of Under the Dome. I did record it at my house. I can watch it when I go feed the cats or online.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol...
good for you! It's always nice to have a little luck thrown one's way. If it were me, I'd buy myself something nice with half the money.... I'd save the other half.

Yes words can be unfair... but remember only sticks and stones can break my bones.

I'm sure they made changes to Under the Dome. I bet they cut a lot of it out.... with a 1,000+ page book... lotta stuff happening.

Coreen said...

Nice going Carol...always good to
walk away a winner at a casino...

Coreen said...

Growing up completely in the 'car culture', not sure if this is really what is happening or just
wishful thinking on the part of
some...and the constant traffic around here & up & down the east coast somehow doesn't ring true with the premise...
End of the Car Culture

jan said...

Congrats Carol. Glad you won some money. How generous of you to share with your neighbor who went with you.

jan said...

Coreen, sorry I attributed your link to Carol. I read through all the comments and sometimes I make a comment much later after reading - I am not good at details. Never have been. Would never have made a good attorney.

A week ago I was completing my re-license form for Nursing. I have learned to ask someone to read through this sort of document to be sure I have not missed anything. Sure enough, there were 2 areas I forgot to address.

jan said...

Coreen, good article about car culture. I had read some similar articles recently. I was particularly interested in young people's interest in cars. One article I read said that when teens and young adults were asked which would they choose to give up if they had to choose between a car and their cell phone - most chose giving up a car over cell phone. We live close to the University and the law and med schools. Have lived here 7 years. The number of bicycles has increased considerably in 7 years. I think the cost of the car, plus increased cost of gasoline and insurance have made cars an impossibility for most young people when good jobs have decreased at the same time.

jan said...

Carol, I stopped taking the Aleve. I found it was causing me insomnia. The pain has lessened in daytime so I am just doing without med then and took an ibuprofen before bed last night. I actually slept 5 hours without waking. Had some pain in leg but slept through it.

Coreen said...

Jan, I think in a controlled environment such as a university setting, not needing a car is easier since most necesssities are
within a short trip...not to mention that most people today phsyically couldn't ride a bike any distance...bike riding by the majority flies in the face of the 1/3 obesity claims made by the medical profession...

the more practical reason would be as always....money...as you mentioned the cost of cars, of gas, not to mention insurance all work against the younger gen...

Coreen said...

Do any of you frequent Starbucks...
9just talking about the stock on cnbc)

I for the life of me don't get it...I have had a couple of their
drinks the fruit things...totally not impressed...

the one across the road from my office has people there all day, so much so that they use the parking spaces that others would use to go to the other stores in the center...

oh parking another thing that leads me to not buy into the end of the car culture...in any city around here, parking is impossible...same with suburban
centers, like malls, grocery stores, commercial office parks...parking is rarely adequate...or maybe its just that everyone wants to park at the door of where they are going...not me...being one of those that value their car, I park as far away from the door to avoid as much as possible some idiot knicking my car...

Carol said...

Sad thing Renee is that there's nothing I want to buy.

Coreen, we couldn't make it around here with an automobile.

I never liked Starbucks. We have a couple around here but not close to where I hang. When I visited my big sis in Seattle, they were everywhere. If I got a coffee there, it was a mocha latte. A little chocolate and milk can fix just about any coffee.

Jan, glad your knee is a little better. Have you heard anything from your doc?

What's the status of your MIL Renee? Her condition may change a lot from how she first was. Hopefully that will be in a positive way.

RebelliousRenee said...

Carol...
now you can save all the money... not a sad thing at all, IMO. Yesterday, Rick said his mother was worse... the day before she could at least answer yes and no... but she couldn't even swallow let alone talk yesterday.
What today brings... he'll tell me when he gets home.
Tomorrow I'm planning on going with him.

The nearest Starbucks is about an hour's drive away. I have tried their coffee... too strong for my taste.

Couldn't live here without an automobile. The nearest grocery stores are a half hour's drive in either direction. I can understand why kids in cities don't want to own cars.... but here, they can't wait to get a set of wheels.

Carol said...

I find that kids want everything and somehow, they usually get what they want. We used to have to wait until we could afford things. That doesn't stop young people these days.

jan said...

Coreen, Yes - in the area we live, grocery,drug store and many eating places are within a mile. That is one reason I wanted to live here. When I was teaching full time, I walked to work.

jan said...

Coreen, I have never cared for Starbucks. I drink tea. If I drank coffee I would not go to Starbucks. Too much money for a cup of coffee. John brews his own coffee. Our kids all like Starbucks coffee. I think it is a generation thing.

jan said...

Renee, sorry to hear your mother in law is not doing well. As Carol said, being a caregiver is a very difficult and stressful job.

jan said...

Carol, I see my doc again on friday. I had some blood work and XRays done last Thurs. I stopped taking the Aleve about 36 hours ago. I think it was causing some insomnia. I slept better last night than I have in 2 weeks. I did have pain about 4 am and got up and took ibuprofen. Did not go back to sleep. The pain has lessened for sure. I wonder if I have a stress fx in the tibia. It is very tender in about the middle third of my lower leg.

RebelliousRenee said...

Just got home from an all night vigil at the hospital.
Rick got home last night about 9:30 from being there all day. At 10:00 the hospital called to say they didn't think his mother would last the night. We immediately drove there with his brother and father. His mother is still alive, but just barely. She's on morphine... so it's just a matter of time.

I came back home with my niece and nephew. Rick, both his brothers, and father are still there. If she doesn't go today, they are talking about moving her to a local nursing home and getting her hospice care. I hope she goes quickly for all of their sakes.

jan said...

Renee, Prayers for your family.

Carol said...

So sorry Renee. I doesn't sound like it will be long now.

Coreen said...

Thoughts & prayers to you & your family Renee...

Coreen said...

New post...