Springing Into Another Hodgepodge…

Happy Wednesday and Happy Hodgepodge, everybody!  The stars have aligned for me, today, and I’m able to see the ‘linky’, so I can ‘officially’ join in 🙂  As always, thank you to our kind and gracious hostess, Joyce, for keeping the Hodgepodge going.  Here are my answers to this week’s questions:

1. Has spring sprung in your little corner of the world? Other than the calendar how would I know? What’s your favorite thing about spring?

Yes, spring has definitely arrived in our little corner of the world!  The grass is green, has already been mowed once, and needs to be mowed again.  Our azaleas have been blooming for so long, I’m wondering if any blooms will be left for Easter.

My favorite thing about spring is seeing all of the trees sprouting new buds and leaves, plus enjoying all of the beautiful spring flowers. Then, of course, there’s all of those glorious, warm, sunny spring days to enjoy outside.

2. Besides the weather, what’s put a spring in your step recently?

Spring is a time for “sprucing up” around our house.  We’ve waxed floors, shampooed carpets, scrubbed porches, cleaned out flower beds, added some new garden decor to the yard, and even planted some of our vegetable garden.  “Sprucing up” makes me happy, and puts a little spring into my step 🙂

new decor for the hen house…because every hen needs a rooster!

3. How does Easter impact you?

On Easter I will be cooking lunch for our family of twelve.  Ed and I don’t attend Easter services,  we prepare lunch, then hide the eggs for an afternoon egg hunt.  Everything is ready when our family arrive from attending their church services.  That being said, as a Christian, I do understand and appreciate the day for what it is really all about.  It’s not about a big meal, new clothes, Easter baskets, or hunting for eggs.  It’s about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, through which he paid the penalty for our sins, so we can have everlasting life, if we believe in Him. I’m a believer.

4. I saw this somewhere on Facebook and thought it would make a fun Hodgepodge question. Which of the following would you find most disappointing…

a just stuffed taco shell breaking open and spilling out before you take the first bite? dropping a just-purchased Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts coffee? opening the peanut butter jar and finding it empty? upending onto the sidewalk a just-purchased ice cream cone? a burnt bagel popping up in your toaster when you’re rushing breakfast? or cutting into an avocado and finding out it’s rotten?

I think I’d be most disappointed if I upended my just-purchased ice cream cone onto the sidewalk!  We usually only buy ice cream cones when it’s hot and we’re on vacation somewhere.  Those cones are expensive, and my anticipation of eating the cold, creamy delight is quite high…so naturally, I’d be very disappointed if I dropped my ice cream cone!!!

5. What’s something held together with tape at your house? Or a paper clip? Or a wing and a prayer?

Ed has everything in good working order, since he retired, so I can’t think of a single thing at our house that needs repairing.  However, a while back, I noticed the drain pipes, under the kitchen sink, at Ed’s parents’ house, were being held together by duct tape!

6. Do you feel underappreciated? In what way?

These days, I can thankfully say, I don’t feel underappreciated, and what a blessing that is! There have been days, in the past, when this has not always been the case.  When you’re raising children, they never fully understand or appreciate the sacrifices you make for them. However, children grow up, and become parents themselves. These days, all of our grown children have expressed their appreciation to us, at one time or another, and we love it!

7. What’s something you’d build if you knew how?

Recently, I saw [on Facebook] where a friend and former co-worker of mine has learned how to build wooden porch swings.  If only I knew how, I’d love to build a comfortable, wooden swing for our porch!

Random:  A Funny story

Every year our family hides plastic eggs on Easter.  I’ve collected plastic eggs for several years, and we now have several hundred eggs.  I store the eggs in a large trash bag.

Recently, I brought the white trash bag full of eggs, out of storage, and placed the bag near Ed’s recliner until I could make time to stuff them.  I didn’t think anymore about them that day.

The following morning, when I got ready to stuff the eggs, I noticed the bag was gone!  I asked Ed, “What did you do with my eggs?”  to which he replied, “I haven’t bothered your eggs.”  Well, it turned out that Ed, being the dutiful husband he is, had picked up the bag, thinking it was trash.  He’d promptly taken the bag [of eggs] out and tossed it into the bed of his truck!  Thank goodness, the bag hadn’t been taken down to the trash dumpster, yet, or we might have had a crisis on our hands!  Scheduled egg hunt will go on, as planned 🙂

Below is an Easter memory from the past, that includes some of those plastic eggs.  That’s little Alex, whom our daughter used to babysit.

 

May you all have a blessed and happy Easter!

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Friday Fragments…

It’s been a fairly uneventful week here in my neck of the woods, but, these days, I consider ‘uneventful’ a good thing!  I’m trying to get back into the habit of blogging more regularly, so here goes…

Ed and I are officially finished with the gardening season of 2015, and it feels SO good!  We canned the last of our tomatoes on Wednesday.  I was bummed when one of our pints of tomatoes didn’t seal, but that happens sometimes.  In all of our canning experiences, that was only our third mishap–and we’ve canned many jars of fruits and vegetables during the past three years.

Ed’s already mowed down almost all of the old garden plants.  Only my zinnias, some old corn stalks, a few peanuts, and some watermelons remain.  We plan to try some of Ed’s ‘home-grown’ boiled peanuts, this weekend!

Ed had a doctor’s appointment, on Tuesday, for his three month’s checkup.  We use the same primary care physician, and while Ed was seeing the doctor, he happened to ask Ed about me and my back problems.  Ed explained that I had been unable to get in to see a specialist, yet.  He went on to explain how the Prednisone I’d been prescribed on my last visit had helped my sciatica, until it eventually wore off.  The doctor then sent me a prescription for another round of Prednisone, to get me through until I can see a neurologist, on July 21.  God bless him!

We’re in the midst of another heat wave.  The rain has left us, and our temperatures are reaching back into the high nineties, again.  Hello, summer!  By 9 o’clock, each day, it’s already hot, but not as hot as it is by 3 o’clock!!!  I’m keeping a high velocity fan blowing in the chickens’ pen, in an effort to keep them as comfortable as possible.  Happy chickens lay more eggs!  Ours must be pretty content because our current egg count, since January, is 988 eggs from nine hens!

Our daughter and her husband FINALLY got their a/c repaired, yesterday.  They’d been relying on a smaller window unit for over a week and a half, since their a/c drain tray  to the central unit had developed a leak and flooded their ceiling.  Did I mention the entire family had been sleeping in the living room for a week and a half, as well?

Last Friday, Ed and I were in a Wal-mart Neighborhood Market when we saw somebody we hadn’t seen in almost two years.  Does anybody remember me blogging about Alex, the little baby boy our daughter used to keep?  Alex who was deaf, but got cochlear implants during the two years our daughter was keeping him?  Alex, whose mother got cancer and died this past March, at the age of 30?  Well, Ed and I saw Alex, who happened to be shopping with his grandparents!  He’s grown taller, but he still looks the same.  Believe it or not, little Alex turned 4 in February. That little fellow sure has been through a lot in just four short years, but, as usual, he was wearing his smile.

There’s a birthday celebration in the family, this weekend.  Our youngest, Brad, will turn 30 tomorrow.  How in the world did that happen?  If all goes well, the family will be gathering this evening to help him celebrate.  Because mamas like to look back and remember ‘the good ole’ days’, I’m re-sharing the birthday video I made for Brad on his 28th birthday.

Happy birthday, son. Just like the words of the song say, “You make your mother proud.”  I love you!

Seven Weeks And Counting…

Today marks the seven week anniversary of Ed’s retirement.  It really doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.  Thankfully, we had four beautiful days in a row, this week, with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s!  Unfortunately, all of that has changed now.  It’s a cloudy 46 degrees!

We’ve had lots of activities going on this week.  First of all, Ed began a new outdoor project.  He’s putting some extra electrical outlets near the places [in our yard] where we  normally place our outside Christmas decorations.  Now we won’t require the use of so many extension cords, and the decorations should be safer, too.  We tripped a few circuit breakers last Christmas!  This project is time-consuming, so I’m counting on it to keep Ed busy for a few more days.

Ed tackled another project, this week, too.  He built a removable partition for one end of the chicken coop.  This will give us a place to keep any hen, who isn’t feeling well, away from the other hens.  Putting up the partition will make an instant isolation coop.  Speaking of the chickens, we’ve had a little more ‘chicken drama’, this week.

For a while, we’ve been noticing our three older hens have what can only be described as a case of ‘the nasty butt’. (sorry if that’s TMI)  I kept thinking time would take care of this, but it kept getting worse.  Finally, I read when this happens, the solution is to wash their behinds, then put probiotic in their drinking water.  Well, I gave them the probiotic, but wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of washing their behinds!  I read if this condition goes unchecked, it can lead to more serious illness, and, sure enough, one of the three eventually got sick.  Unfortunately, there was nothing left to do, but wash some nasty chicken butts!

When it finally warmed up to 70 degrees, on Monday, I decided it would be a good day for tackling the nasty deed.  One by one, Ed and I caught the hens.  I held each hen in my lap, while Ed gently sprayed water on her bottom.  It took a while, but, eventually, Ed got every hen’s behind clean.  (By the way, he wore gloves, and I wore a trash bag, while tackling this nasty job!)  We sprayed the cleaned area with a wound treatment, and each one of the hens went merrily on their way.  I worried a bit about the sickly hen, because she really panted the entire time we cleaned her, but she survived intact.  By the next day, all three butts were fluffy and pretty again!  The sickly hen still isn’t feeling her best, but seems better than she was at the first of the week.  Who knew keeping chickens could be so ‘involved’?!

a blanket nest

In other chicken drama, our rebel hen continues to lay her eggs on the dog’s blankets, under our car port.  Not only that, but she’s fashioned herself a little nest out of part of the blankets and some straw!  It’s quite a sight to see a chicken sitting beside our dog, but neither seems to mind.  Rebellion is contagious, because, on Thursday, a second hen started laying in the blanket nest, too!  Oh, my!  This might be a problem.

Chicken drama wasn’t the only drama going on around our house, this week.  ‘Jo Jo’, the formerly feral tom cat got into a nasty fight with something, and came home with one eye all messed up!  Since he’s formerly feral, he won’t let us do much of anything for his eye, and it looks bad.  We’ll be surprised if he doesn’t lose sight in it.  Hormones are raging, and being one-eyed hasn’t stopped ‘Jo Jo’ from trying to mate with our cat, ‘Baby’!  Thank goodness, ‘Baby’ has been spayed, and just thinks ‘Jo Jo’ has lost his mind, as well as his eye!

squash, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage

Those warm, sunny days, this week, have done wonders for my plants!  The garden peas have begun to sprout in the garden, and the plants I’m keeping in the laundry room have benefited greatly from spending some time outdoors in the sunshine!  I do believe some of them have grown an inch!  Only four more weeks until I can transplant them!

One would think that spring has officially sprung, by some of our activities, this week. First of all, I wore shorts!  Then,  I opened the windows and aired out the entire house! Finally, I had to actually turn on the air conditioner for two whole days! We dusted off the grill, and had bar-b-que chicken for supper one night.  On Thursday, Ed dusted off the lawnmower and cut our grass, too!  It’s too bad  the warm temps didn’t last.  Our high for today is predicted to be 46 degrees!  I’ve put away the shorts, and brought my sweat pants back out. 😦

I hate to end this post on a sad note, but the entire week hasn’t been a happy one.  My long-time readers may remember the little boy named Alex, that my daughter kept in her home, a while back.  Alex stayed with our daughter, Brandy, while his mom worked.  He was with her from just before his first birthday, until about three months before his third birthday.

Alex was born very premature and had a lot of problems because of it.  He was developmentally delayed, had an eating disorder, and was totally deaf.  Eventually, Alex learned to walk, and was able to get cochlear implants so he could hear.  Alex never conquered his eating disorder while he stayed with Brandy, and would often throw up while eating or immediately afterward. Eventually, it became too difficult for Brandy to continue to keep Alex, in addition to home schooling her daughter.  The picture, below, was taken about the time Alex stopped coming.

 

Alex with his mom, October 2013

About a year ago,  little Alex’s mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  We were devastated when we heard the news!  Sadly, she lost her battle with this horrible disease, yesterday.  She was just 30 years old.  I am so distraught for little Alex, who has already had to conquer so much during his short life.  You know, sometimes life doesn’t seem fair.

Alex’s mama will be laid to rest on Sunday.  Meanwhile, Alex just celebrated his fourth birthday.  So sad!

 

 

 

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, It’s Monday!

Today was one of those mornings when I just hated to give up my warm spot in the bed!  I’d been snoozing and listening to the rain on the roof since four this morning, but I finally gave in and got up to join Heather’s meme,  Monday Quiz About Me!  Here are today’s questions:

1. Do you tend to be more logically or emotionally driven in your decision-making?

Ed’s the logical one in our family.  As for me, I tend to sometimes let emotions cloud my decisions, which is not always a good thing.  Together, we balance out–most of the time.
2. Do you take vitamin or other supplements? Do you feel that they actually work?

Yes, I do take vitamins and supplements, and YES they do actually work!  After suffering from a chronic condition for seven long months, and becoming discouraged with the lack of results from pharmaceutical drugs, I desperately turned to vitamins and supplements.  I’ve been very pleased with the results!

3. Have you ever kissed someone and just knew they were not the right person or vise versa?

No

4. Why shouldn’t the woman pay for a Valentine’s Day date?

I still believe in old-fashioned chivalry, but I suppose the woman can pay, if she wants to, and her date doesn’t mind…  I don’t think she should HAVE TO pay though.

My question:

5.  How are you planning to spend Valentine’s Day?

Weekend Re-cap:

In the words of fellow blogger, Joyce, it was a “Ho Hum Weekend” around our house.  Friday was a “sick day” for me.  From the minute I set my feet on the floor, Friday morning, the room appeared to be spinning.  I remained dizzy, and spent the entire day on the couch.  However, there was a bright spot to the day.  Being sick gave me lots of time to catch up on old episodes of my new favorite show, “Downton Abbey”.    I made it through Season One!  I have no idea why I was dizzy all day though.

Our son, Brad, got a thermostat for us, and, on Saturday, Ed installed the thermostat in my new greenhouse.  (Thanks, Brad!) It seems to be working properly, and will help maintain a more constant temperature for the plants.  The marigolds that I planted on Tuesday have already sprouted!  I’ve never been able to grow anything in the winter before, so this is exciting!

I felt a little better on Saturday, so I tried to do the shopping that I was supposed to do on Friday.  I don’t like shopping on Saturdays, especially at Wal-mart!  Boy was I glad to get back home!   Note to self:  skip Wal-mart on Saturdays, especially when you are not feeling 100%!   In fact, skip Wal-mart on Saturday, period!

Before I go, I would like to mention that someone special celebrated his second birthday on Saturday.

Happy Birthday,  Alex.

His name is Alex, and he’s the toddler that my daughter keeps.  Alex has both of his cochlear implants turned on now, and appears to be adjusting well to them.  He’s back to being a busy two-year-old little boy!  Alex has made a remarkable amount of progress during his second year of life.  I can’t wait to see what his third year will bring!

The 109th Edition Of Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Hello again!  It’s time to join up for the 109th edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge.  Many thanks to Joyce for another great set of questions, and here they are:

1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen’s English…here’s the list for 2013-

fiscal cliff, kick the can down the road, double down, job creators/creation, passion/passionate, yolo (an acronym for you only live once), spoiler alert, bucket list, trending, superfood, boneless wings, and guru

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen.

Let me begin by saying, I really enjoyed reading the comments on this page. ( It’s the Lake Superior University link concerning these words/phrases.) Some of the comments were downright funny!  That being said, I’d most like to banish the words “fiscal cliff” because I’m sick of hearing the them.  I hate being reminded of the sad state of financial affairs of our country–and the fact that the majority of our leaders in Washington can’t seem to figure out the most obvious answer–cut spending!

2. When was the last time you rode a train? Where did you go?

The last time I rode a train was at the Jacksonville Zoo, about five years ago.  I rode around the park.  I’ve never been on a train for traveling, except for the MARTA in Atlanta.

3. Bagels-yay or nay? Favorite ‘flavor’? Favorite topping?

Yes, I like bagels.  We used to eat plain ones with butter and jelly.  I don’t much care for toppings.   My favorite bagel flavors are the chocolate chip or the sticky cinnamon ones from Panera Bread.

4. ‘Tis the season of awards shows…if you could star in a movie already made which one would you choose?

One of my all-time favorites–Steel Magnolias.  I think I could play Sally Field’s part (the mother).  I see a lot of myself in her character (and some of Ed in her husband–remember the bird shooting scene?).

5. The move towards single gender classrooms has been making the news in recent months….what say you? Do you think kids perform better if separated by gender and are taught differently or is that discrimination? If you’re a parent, is this something you’d support in regard to your own children?

Oh, mercy!  It’s always something.  The government can never be satisfied  can they?  I believe the classes should continue to be mixed.  I’ve always thought of school as a form of “preparation for life”, and in life, we all have to adapt and get along.  There is no perfect solution.  It’s been my experience, that the best classes have an even mix or slightly higher ratio of girls than boys though. ( I sure wouldn’t want to be the teacher stuck in a classroom filled with only boys!)

6. What’s your favorite thing about staying in a hotel?

Not having to worry about cooking or cleaning.

7. Do you have a ‘word’ for 2013? What’s the story behind your choice?

I don’t have a word for 2013, but if I did, it would be “faith”. The handwriting is already on the wall, and I’m afraid we will soon be entering “the times which try men’s souls”.  I’m counting on my faith (in God) to get me through whatever lies ahead.

Random:

Best Buddies ~ Alex and my granddaughter, Madison, at Christmas

Little Alex, the toddler whom my daughter keeps, will be having his second cochlear implant done tomorrow.  He’s done so well with the first one, I pray  the second one is successful, too.  These days, Alex is a very active little boy, who now looks at people when they call his name.  What a joy!  Every laugh and squeal is a delight to hear, and I can’t wait until he says his first word!

 

Also, I can’t let this opportunity pass without wishing my one and only big brother, David,  “a very happy birthday”!  I love you, and hope you go out and make it a great day!   Here’s a pic from the past…  Oh those were the days, weren’t they?!

me , my brother, and his wife–many, many birthdays ago!

Thursday’s Thoughts ~ Medical Miracles

It’s been quite a while since I’ve mentioned little Alex, and in case you’ve forgotten him, Alex is the toddler that my daughter babysits.  Alex was born very premature, weighing in at about a pound and a half.  As you can imagine, extreme measures had to be taken to ensure Alex’s survival, and unfortunately, some of those treatments resulted in a severe loss of hearing for him.

When Alex first came to stay with my daughter, he was already almost a year old.  However, Alex was quite small, and was still wearing newborn-sized clothing.  Alex had severe eating issues and wasn’t thriving.  He wore hearing aids in both ears, but it was apparent that he couldn’t hear much, if anything.

To say it’s been an interesting year for my daughter and Alex would be an understatement!  My daughter and Alex bonded quickly.  She became the firm, but patient and loving, force that Alex desperately needed in his life.  Her five-year-old daughter, Madison, and Alex quickly became inseparable, too.  Both are only children, and seem to find comfort and joy in each other’s company.

Madison and Alex, several months ago…

Alex steadily continued to grow and develop throughout the year.  First, by learning  to crawl– and soon he was crawling at a break-neck speed!  Next he walked with a medical walker for a time.  Then Alex learned how to climb the toddler slide, and I happened to witness and film the event.

Not long after learning to climb the slide,  Alex began to take steps on his own, by walking back and forth between my daughter and granddaughter.  By the summer’s end, Alex was not only walking–he was  running–and climbing the bigger slide!

Alex’s eating issues continue to this day, but they are better than they were ten months ago.  My daughter has learned all sorts of tricks to get Alex to successfully eat the pureed foods that his mother sends each day–such as sitting Alex in the kitchen sink while she feeds him!  Water distracts him, plus the sink makes cleanup a lot easier, in the event the food comes hurling back up!  Alex has been growing at a slow, but steady pace.

Earlier this year, Alex’s parents pursued the option of cochlear implants for Alex’s hearing issues.  After having a battery of tests done on Alex, then having him turned down  as a candidate for implants, the parents sought a second opinion from a doctor in a neighboring state.  Fortunately, the second doctor agreed to perform the surgery.

About three weeks ago, little Alex had a cochlear implant put in the first ear.  Alex required several days of healing time before the implant could actually be turned on to see if the surgery was successful.  Finally, the day came when Alex’s implant could be turned on to see if it would work–and it did!  After twenty-one months of silence, little Alex heard his first sounds last Thursday!  What a glorious day for Alex and his family–and for my daughter, too.  She cried when she heard Alex’s good news, and was elated to hear Alex babbling his first sounds while talking with his mom on the telephone.

The volume on Alex’s implant is turned very low, so he can gently get used to sounds.  Each week the volume will be adjusted slightly until it gets within the normal range of hearing.

It’s truly a joy to see how much being able to hear has changed Alex!  Before the surgery, Alex seemed to be in his own little world, but now that he can hear, Alex is gradually becoming immersed in the world around him.  There’s also a little sparkle in Alex’s eyes that wasn’t there before–and it’s a great thing to witness!

Alex today…

In a few weeks, Alex will have surgery on his remaining ear, and the same process will begin all over again.  It will require some patience and work to teach Alex how to talk, but the end results will be well worth the efforts!  Thank goodness for medical miracles– and for loving, patient baby sitters, too!

Thursday’s Thoughts ~ A Perfect Pair…

A  few weeks back, my daughter began keeping an eleven month old baby, named Alex.   However, Alex wasn’t a typical eleven month old baby, because  he was born three months early, weighing a pound and six ounces.

You may remember me telling you how small he was–still wearing o-3 months sized clothing, and what a hard time my daughter, Brandy, was having getting him to eat and drink.

Getting Alex to eat and drink is still a big issue, but Brandy is patient and persistent!  Alex will only take his bottle while he is asleep, and even then, it’s a long process!  Many days she successfully gets all three four-ounce bottles into Alex, but some days she does not.  Some days he will eat, only to throw everything back up.

Feeding Alex baby food is also an “adventure”.  He’s having trouble with textures, and he has a strong gagging reflex.  Everything makes him cough and gag.  Brandy says, “thank goodness for those large bibs with pockets at the bottom.”  Brandy recently taught little Alex to sit in a high chair while having his meals–a first for him.

Despite all of these feeding issues, Brandy’s diligence is paying off because little Alex is growing!  He recently moved up to a size six months clothing!  We weighed him the other day, and he weighs 13 lbs, 4 oz.  A few days earlier, he’d weighed in at 13 lbs, even!

The past two weeks have been a little “trying” because little Alex is finally cutting his first teeth!  Two bottom ones have recently appeared, and two top ones are on the horizon.  Yay, baby Alex now has some teeth.

The little fellow turned one a couple of weeks ago, and celebrated with a big birthday party.  Brandy said he would have nothing to do with his birthday cupcake.  In fact, it made him gag.

Alex wears tiny hearing aids in his tiny ears, but we don’t really think Alex can hear much, if anything.  Loud noises don’t seem to affect him at all, but lack of hearing hasn’t slowed Alex down from anything other than talking.

He’s now crawling at “break-neck” speed, in fact we’ve nicknamed him “Speedy”! Alex is, also, walking holding onto the furniture.  He’ll be walking one of these days before long!

The other day Alex did something so totally funny.  He was on his hands and knees, and suddenly he stuck one leg straight out behind him–like he was doing an exercise move–something he’d seen Brandy’s daughter doing!  I cracked up!

I now call my daughter “the baby whisperer” because she’s made so much progress with Alex.  She’s truly amazing with her patience and persistence, and Alex is just blossoming under her care and guidance.  It makes me proud for both of them.