Starting with a picture of ‘my dead’ plant to show all is not as bad as it seems. 

Tuesday after I posted my ugly day got uglier.  First Spirit bit my thumb when I tried to put his water dish in his cage.  That was a Neosporin/Band-aid moment but it was nothing to what happened next.  I had asked Jay to empty the dirty clothes hamper and take the contents to the laundry room but when I went into the   bedroom the clothes were still there.  I bent over to pick them up, lost my balance, and fell forward bending the toes on the foot with the cast the wrong way.  All I could think of was only ten days to go and I fall.  I called the doctor’s office for an appointment today because he isn’t in on Wednesday.  I made arrangements with Your Ride to pick me up and bring me home.

Yesterday I spent most of the day in bed to keep my feet up and warm. 

Today a couple of hours at the Doctor’s office, two x rays of the toes (only sprained not broken), a check of my blood pressure and Jay’s meter for accuracy, my lungs and heart and I was given an OK and after waiting for my ride I went home.  Still a little pain but feeling a whole lot better about the outcome.  The good news is even with a cast on my leg I have still lost a bit of weight.  Not a lot but some. 

I have confess that I messed up the other night when I left one of the screen doors propped open on the French doors and high winds took it off.  Oh well I wanted to change them over to storm doors anyway when I can afford it.  The positive results is I was able to get this picture through the glass.

I need a closer view but for now this is a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  We have had a couple of males and a couple of females at the feeder for the last three years but I haven’t been able to get a picture until now.

Oh well everything happens for a reason I just have to figure it out.

It’s an ugly day and I’ve not much to say!  Two days of 40+ degree weather has brought this to my backyard.  The seed scattered on the deck only adds to the dismal picture.  Tonight they tell me will bring two to three inches of snow and 17 degrees.  Lovely pneumonia weather as I see it. 

I’m a grumpy momma this week.  Both my arms insist on waking me with little pains that dictate I switch the whole body to a different position to relieve the discomfort.  This works for a while then it is move again. 

I had scraped my left ankle with my cast and an abrasion was the result.  I used Neosporin and a Band-aid to cover the spot for a couple of days and then removed it but obviously too soon.  The slipper I wear hits on that spot and soon it was hurting again.  So it is back to the bandage again.

Lets see I bit the end of my tongue and that is rubbing against my bottom teeth.  Even though I have the sinus infection pretty well under control the the lower edge of my nostrils are sore.  So my friend this is not a post for sympathy.  It is just to explain my absence the last few days. 

That is why it is an ugly day and I thought I had nothing to say.   

Another look at my “dead” plant.  Blossoms and buds still coming to life to add a little color to a dull winter day. 

Let see I’m on game #32408 of free cell with six games not solved. 

Today was the bedding change, bird cages and covers cleaned (which meant vacuuming after), and three tubs of laundry.  I admit they were small tubs because with sheets, a chair cover, and lined flannel shirts you can’t dry them all at once or it takes all day.

But the highlight of my day was when I got up during the night and found it wasn’t necessary to grab the cane or the walker to get to the bathroom.  This made my duties today a little easier to perform.  Yep just about 13 days more and the cast will be gone——I feel I can’t wait but I know I have to. 

All is right in our world.  The animals bask in the sunshine this afternoon knowing that we are home and doing well.  A trip to the hospital yesterday to tweak Jay’s arm left the house empty because transportation picked up both of us for the trip.  This allowed me to accompany Jay and be there while the surgery was done.  When we arrived home yesterday it was like—wow I’m glad your home.

This is taken from an e mail I received from my niece. It came with beautiful pictures of babies but when I tried to forward it I lost the pictures.  Knowing two very proud grandmas here that visit my blog and I’m sure many more who read it I had to post it anyway.  Hope you enjoy it. 
      Momma

        GRANDMAS AND GRANDPAS

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change,
and they give me a million dollars’ worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just ‘antique’ little girls. ~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
~Welsh Proverb

A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead
of the television. ~Author Unknown

Never have children, only grandchildren. ~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you’re just
a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown

Grandchildren don’t stay young forever, which is good because
Grandfathers have only so many horsey rides in them. ~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.
~ Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just
you all day and now the day was complete. ~ Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies.. ~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our
hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren,
I’d have had them first. ~Lois Wyse

My grandkids believe I’m the oldest thing in the world. And after
two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should
advise every one of you straight away to become one. There is
no fun for old people like it! ~ Hannah Whithall Smith

It’s such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother – that’s why the
world calls her grandmother. ~Author U nknown

Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing
old. ~ Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can explain
it to your grandmother. ~Proverb

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again.
Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly. ~Gene Perret
�

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby’s grandparents. You
feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long
periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida . ~Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have – if only for
self-defense. ~Gene Perret

Grandmother- grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas
are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of
little children. ~Alex Haley

Grandmother – a wonderful mother with lots of
practice. ~Author Unknown

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on
the inside. ~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new
grand baby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove

It’s amazing how grandparents seem so young once you
become one. ~Author Unknown

If your baby is ‘beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses,
sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the
time,’ you’re the grandma. ~Teresa Bloomingdale

Grandparents are similar to a piece e of string – handy to have
around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their
grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I’d like to say
that grandparents are God’s gifts to children. And if they can
but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they
can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby

Grandchildren don’t make a man feel old; it’s the knowledge
that he’s married to a grandmother. ~G. Norman Collie

Faith doesn’t get you around trouble- it gets you through trouble!

It hit us again at least four inches.  The birds were out in droves this morning and although the snow was high the feeder wasn’t.  Only two things to do . 

One—call my buddies at Otisville Glass and see if they would bring me some seed and suet so we could keep the feathered ones fed.  One of the fellows most graciously obliged and now this is the look in our dining room. 

Right inside the French doors for convenience due to the snow on the deck outside.  Sweet Hubby will wade out and fill the compartments as needed and I can sit and watch them eat. 

Two—was of course for Hubby to bring out the tractor.

With two driveways, one roughly 200 feet long downhill to the road the tractor is a must have in the winter.  The other 200 foot drive goes down around the dome and underneath to the garage and basement so that must be kept clear also.  Otherwise we have no where to go and no way to get there so the snow is not a problem. 

Stay warm everyone!

My Royal title

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Duchess Mary the Sentient of Lesser Cheese Winston Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Yesterday with the help of a dear friend and the tenacity equal to what is shown by Brandy in this picture I tackled a big shopping expedition.  I had two lists on my mini clipboard and a plan to hit six different stores.  My friend was there to drive and I didn’t want to have to go by bus to finish what was unaccomplished. 

We started traveling 10 miles to Clio where a visit to Doty’s feed store allowed me to cross cat food (sensitive stomach), large hook bill, and small hook bill off my list.  My animals were taken care of. 

Next it was into Flint to Sam’s Club for an assortment of supplies from printer cartridges to a nice big pork loin to cut up into meal portions.  I was doing fine on my walking so it was on to the next stop.  Around the corner from Sam’s is Gordon Food Service.  Jay asked me to pick up some Belgium Waffle mix there.  My friend was looking for one of those long handle dust pans (like a butler’s dustpan) and we found one there. 

Next we started back towards Clio when I spotted a K mart and remember Jay’s computer lamp dilemma.  He had purchased a small clip on lamp for his computer area and the bulb had burned out just a few days later.  Now $4.00 for a lamp is quite a deal unless you can’t purchase light bulbs anywhere except at a lighting fixture store in Flint or as I later found out on Amazon.  So it was into K mart to purchase another lamp that took standard type bulbs and I bought a package of four bulbs to go with it.  By now my walking was starting to hurt but I still had some things to get. 

So down the street to Vg’s market we went.  In there it was the bread, milk, eggs, and produce type stuff to finish off my second list.  By now both my friend and I are starting to limp.

Our last stop was back in Otisville at Rite Aid to pick up a prescription that Dr. had called in to change my antibiotic to something stronger.  This was the end of my adventure and believe me my ankles were screaming.  But I knew I was set for another 4 or 5 days and that made it worth it. 

This morning however walking is presenting a problem so I may use the wheel chair for the day and not do a whole lot around here.  But I got a lot accomplished and enjoyed the company of my friend so it was worth it. 

Today Brandy went in the YOUR RIDE car with Jay to get her hair cut and a bath.  She was looking to pitiful for words and kept rubbing her eyes and ears.  We just couldn’t let her go any longer so we called and got permission to use the ride service. 

Nothing else new except Doctor Hukill is changing my antibiotic to something stronger.  Also Jay goes down to Southeast Michigan Surgical Wednesday for a fistula gram and possible minor surgery.  The merry go round is starting to move again folks. 

Today was the first day I have been out by myself since November 20, 2007.  My adventure started when my personal physician called on Friday and asked me to come in for a blood pressure check.  I had been feeling down right shitty the last three days so I said I would make arrangement with Your Ride for Monday morning if I could see Dr. Hukill at that time about the coughing, sneezing, runny nose.  (My goodness I sound just like a TV commercial don’t I!) 

So this morning after my ‘bath’ I dressed, gathered my book, purse, and a canvas bag.  You see my Dr.‘s office is across and up front from the VG’s parking lot.
I needed bread, eggs, lettuce, and some fruit for the house.  When I said I would walk, cane in hand, to the grocery store my hubby said it was at least five to six hundred feet away and I wasn’t to walk it.  But I was so close so I stood outside the Dr.‘s office after my appointment and I called My Ride to ask for another 1/2 or 3/4 of an hour to enable me to fill my prescription and sneak in a little shopping.  A young couple had come out of the office just after me and heard me calling.  The woman said she was driving over to the store to cash a check and would give me a ride.  I graciously accepted and in no time I was leaning on my grocery cart and doing my shopping.  I knew I couldn’t get too much because you are supposed to be able to hold it in your lap on the bus.  I planned my trip around the store to minimize the steps.  As I checked out I found that my lettuce, three bananas, and two red pears had to go in a plastic bag because the canvas one was full. I figured I could hold both on my lap as long as my purse was on my shoulder. 

I walked (hobbled) over to the coffee bar area to sit by the window and wait for my bus.  It was only about 15 or 20 minutes and up pulled my ride.  It was a car with three other people besides the driver so she put my two bags and another passenger’s backpack in the trunk and we were on our way.

When I got home I was tired of course but I had my medicine and had saved having to call a neighbor to pick up groceries for me.  The bonus was I got to walk around, see things, and smile at my fellow shoppers.  I’ll do it again if the need arises!!

Oh yes I have a sinus infection so I have my medicine to take and alot of water to drink!