March 20, 2014 - Happy Spring.....and a Very Good Day it Was

I had an exceptionally good day today.  My arm is stronger, and I actually have regained a bit of use in my right hand.  I'm even using it tonight on the keyboard, with not too many typos!  Son-in-law came this afternoon and we got 36 hills of potatoes planted, plus a double row of snap peas and a row of sweet peas.  My arm and hand were strong enough to balance a hoe or the light weight rake, so I even got a little bit of garden cleanup done.  Not much, but some!  Bryan is such a good helper, but I must constantly preach to him to keep his size 14 boots out of my soft garden beds. The man cannot keep his feet in the pathways!  I think I'm going to have to put the little wire fencing around some of the beds to protect them from "Bigfoot Bryan"!  While we were in the garden, I did get down on one knee to move a seed potato and couldn't get back up, LOL!  Bryan had to come to my rescue.

I also got a small container salad garden started on the patio table this morning.  If it grows, I'll  have a tiny personal space to putter in for a while.  There are a few spinach plants, a bit of lettuce and about a dozen tiny onions in it.  If my fingers are still working tomorrow, I'll try to get a picture or two.  My lunch salad was a big bowl of baby spinach leaves and lettuce from earlier sown seedlings.  It was so fresh and crispy...and I couldn't even taste it!  I lost my sense of taste after yesterday's radiation treatment.  I had lost about five pounds in the past week, so I was looking forward to pigging out.  Bummer that everything tasted like wallpaper paste!  I found I could taste chocolate, so Mr. Granny keeps bringing me Almond Joys and M & Ms.  Daughter Amy baked chocolate chip cookies for me, and I had a couple with a glass of chocolate milk.  I'll probably gain that five pounds back by tomorrow.

Happy Spring!

Love,
Granny

21 comments:

  1. YAY for you! Keep up the fight. I truly believe gardening and working in the soil, nurturing something from seed to harvest is therapeutic. And in the meantime, eat chocolate...on purpose!!! :-)

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  2. Thank goodness you can taste something and chocolate is an awesome thing to be able to taste. What a nice guy Mr. Granny is to make sure you have the one thing that tastes good. What a blessing to have such an amazing family.

    I am so glad that you are keeping your spirits up and looking at the positive. Thinking of you continually throughout the day. I hope you have a great weekend.

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  3. Your post is a ray of warm sunshine and the kick in the pants I need to start planning my garden. I am going to follow your first few posts and have something small. I am on the East coast of NJ where Sandy made landfall. We still have some harsh weather coming in, so I do have some time for my prep work.
    God bless you and your family, Granny. The prayers from all of us are working!

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  4. You are sounding very positive - good for you! Glad to hear that you have been able to do some grdening.

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  5. So happy to hear that you had a good day Granny! What a great son in-law you have! Now, take it easy and enjoy that chocolate! Not a bad thing to still be able to taste :)

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  6. I have to laugh about Bryan and his boots. Everyone wants to step on the garden beds at my place too. Of course my daughter's dog is the worst. He knows to stay off of them since he is a very trainable dog. But you know dogs. They see something and they don't think. They just run to it - with the shortest possible path. So I put up some bamboo with strings around his shoulder level. Now he has something to remind him. It works. Most of the time. As long as a cat or a squirrel don't come around. Or his next door neighbor friend Astro (who was born the same day he was).

    And yeah for chocolate. If I had to keep one taste that might be the one.

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  7. So happy to read that you were able to putter a bit in the garden. My mother had some strange food issues when she was going through her treatments too. Whatever she wanted, we ran to the store to get it.

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  8. Such good news! I am so happy for the improvement.
    They kicked my chemo up a notch as there is still evidence of cancer. But I feel great and am sleeping well. Let's hang in there, you and me! Bless you!

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  9. You are such an inspiration! Keep up the positive attitude, and eat chocolate!

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  10. You've cheered me up! It's so good to hear you're out in the garden again. Homemade chocolate chip cookies -- wow! I can't bake them here because I would eat every single one.

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  11. Very glad to hear it was a good day! And at least you can taste chocolate!

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  12. You , dear lady , are one tough cookie! I knew you couldn't be kept down!
    Hooray for AG!!!

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  13. Keep plugging along! I want to continue to read your blog for a long, long, long time. Chocolate? Probably not a better tasting thing, right? :)

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  14. Happy spring to you and your family too! I am definitely looking forward to many more posts, some containing chocolate too please. :)

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  15. I commented but when I hit the publish button I didn't see the moderation message so I came back to check and see if it ever went through. Don't remember what I said now, lol. Anyway, I'm so glad you're getting more use out of that arm/wrist! Bummer on the wallpaper taste but at least you can taste chocolate.

    The patio salad garden sounds neat! Hope it produces well for you. :)

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  16. We Love You Too!
    What a lovely visit with your Gran Babies. You make us all feel like we were there with you.

    Please forgive me for what I am about to suggest-I mean no ill will, I mean no insult. Please take it in the manner intended. Thanks
    Here's what I'm thinking:
    How about a Pay Pal account? A Place where we can make donations-to help w/ your rehabilitation.
    I happen to know that there are certain expenses, out of pocket expenses,. associated with recovering from a serious illness like this....and every little bit helps.
    I suspect that there are more than a few readers here who would be delighted to help you w/ those sort of expenses.
    A Pay Pal account would probably be the easiest way to do that.
    So, Sweetie, what do you say? Will you allow us to help you?
    I honestly can't think of a single thing that would give me more pleasure than to help you-even if it's not a lot. If you will allow me, it would make me very happy.
    Thanks for thinking about it.
    I send you and Mr. Granny both my heartfelt prayers and fondest wishes,
    Sincerely,
    Barbee Butts
    Forney, Texas

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    1. Barbee, what a kind and generous thing to offer! I am truly touched, certainly not insulted.

      At this point (I've yet to receive my first bill) between Medicare and what we've saved through the years (didn't you suspect I'd be a saver, LOL?), I think we'll be just fine. We don't have any expenses, other than groceries, property taxes and utilities. Our home and car are completely paid for, and the bank account is healthy for now. I've always been frugal (read cheap)!

      Now, when I start getting billed for the chemo, I might come begging! I turned down chemo 10 years ago because it was going to cost at least $62,000 out of pocket just for the weekly injections to protect my blood cells. I'd been given a 99% chance that the cancer was gone and had not spread, so I opted to take my chances. Unfortunately, that 1% got back at me.

      I am in absolute awe at the love and kindness I have received from so many these past couple of weeks!

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    2. You are amazing-and I'm really glad to hear things are okay!
      If your circumstances change, please don't feel awkward about making a move in that direction.
      Take Care, God Bless and keep on amazing the whole lot of us.

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  17. What? Sounds like Tera who has such bad diabetic gastroparesis that she cannot eat most veggies just after growing her love for gardening and getting REALLY good at gardening. It’s crazy. She found she can still have and tolerate zucchini, green beans, asparagus, and one other I cannot remember. We don’t grow asparagus but man does she buy a lot of it. I’ll have to start looking into it. I like the small sitting down personal space garden while the kids help with the large garden idea. You should have a mini garden to mess around with when u need to sit. Otherwise you’ll be going nutty. You can make yourself a few outdoor and patio personal spaces of growing things to enjoy and put chairs or benches, a little table and place to put your feet up and head back in case you feel dizzy (and keep it in the shade). I would suggest getting some portable sources of fluids since you’ll have fluid intake issues from medicines etc and hydration is very important. Ice bucket or a little ice chest like a cooler that you can have someone bring out to keep near your chill out spot would be good and something nice to drink with a thermal bottle and straw. It’ll be granny’s garden health spa! As for bigfoot, I’m sending you a super soaker squirt gun to sit down and zap him with water each time he missteps from your chair. ;) He’s helping which is nice and I’m guessing means no harm. Patience, my dear Watson. I think that’d drive me insane too. I’ve seen community garden neighbors step straight thru others’ gardens and am always astounded that ppl don’t think. People think plain dirt is just that, dirt and don’t consider that maybe it’s PLANTED dirt with germinating tender seeds. lol People who visit the garden and aren’t gardeners truly are really the ones though who ultimately will benefit from it most. It might not be this second but you’re impacting their and their families’ lives in so many ways. In the meantime, squirt him!! lol Don’t feel badly about being weak too. I am weak just from the winter and not being active and having had knee surgery and a long slow recovery. I didn’t hardly walk from Mid december til now so just going into the garden for the first time today and collecting seed starting pots to start was tiring to me. Just do anything. The millions of things you all have gotten done is amazing. You have a truly cool family. Deep breath. If you find you need any special seeds or are looking for things you can’t find there, let us know and i’ll look as i’m out and about this week looking to fill in the space of what we’re needing. I’m going cheaply as Tera lost her job. Bad Spring for news all around. But it’s springtime and our garden will not let us down!

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  18. Better keep those big feet away from the Brandywine's :-)

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  19. Nice to hear you are able to get out and get in the dirt, glad you have family to help

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