Hot Wheels Grandpa

My husband’s new wheelchair arrived today. It was delivered just before I headed off to work which let him give it a good checking out while I was away.

This chair has spoke wheels and pneumatic tires which enable hubby to be a speed demon while enjoying a smooth-as-silk ride inside the house and out. Its lighter in weight than his original chair which will make loading and unloading easier on me. By the way, you can get a full sized wheelchair into the truck of a P. T. Crusier.

Since getting this new chair is the equivalent to getting a new car for my hubby, he spent the time between my arrival home from work until bedtime expounding all the features and improvements over the old chair.  (It has lots of chrome, too.) This chair can also be accessorized with such goodies as cup holders, attachable trays for working on crafts or to hold a laptop, and other real cool things for an aging amputee.

We both think its pretty cool.

Hurray for Mild Winters

This mild winter has been fantastic. If this is “global warming” I say bring it on. I could really start liking it.

This time last year we had snow on the ground and cold temperatures. So far this year we’ve only had one dusting of snow. The daffodils are up, crocuses and flowering quince are in bloom, and signs of life renewing abound. My biggest worry is that we might get a late winter smack-down and kill everything that has so eagerly gotten a jump on Spring.

I spent yesterday afternoon scrubbing the deck in an attempt to dislodge the green mold that had flourished there for the past few months. The deck faces north and lack of sun, damp conditions, and warm weather all contributed to the icky green mold. When damp it would become extremely slick and I feared a fall.

By nightfall we were receiving a steady rain which finished rinsing the deck. Maybe all the chlorine bleach in my cleaning water will discourage regrowth for awhile.

I’m planning my garden for this year. I can’t wait to get back to digging in the dirt. Maybe I will be able to lose a few pounds once I get back to gardening and the endless trips up and down our hillside. (One can hope anyway.)

Giving Thanks

With 2011 approaching its end, and in the spirit of the season, I am thankful for our blessings.

These blessings include: our wonderful family. . . they love us, warts and all. Our very special friends who live much closer than our children and keep an eye on us when the children can't. Their love and kindness is one of our greatest gifts from the Creator. My online friends and readers of this oh so rarely updated blog. Just knowing you are "out there" means more than I can express.

We have had sorrows and disappointments this year as well.

We lost one of the cats, Tennyson, to kidney failure last month. It broke our hearts. He put up a good fight, but finally gave in and crossed the Rainbow Bridge shortly after midnight on October 13th. We will miss him forever. Be Blessed, "Ten".

The gardens suffered from neglect this year, and yet bloomed their hearts out. I promised them I'd be a better gardener next year.

We plan a happy day of feasting with family on Thanksgiving Day. A day trip off the mountain and down into the foothills to see children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Telling the story of that trip should give me plenty of inspiration for blogging more, much more, than I have had all this past year.

All of us at Shady Hollow wish you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. May your blessings outnumber your sorrows a thousand to one.

Be Blessed.

Help Needed with Vet Bills

 

One of the reason’s I’ve let this blog sit unattended this year has been due to multiple sick animals keeping my hands full.

We lost Tennyson 3 weeks ago to kidney failure and today had to put Amber in the animal hospital with a possible heart issue.

So, we are swallowing our pride and asking for help.

Be Blessed. JMM

 

Vacation

Finally!! I finally have a stretch of time before me in which to do what I want and need to do around the cottage! Oh happy day!

There is so much to do in a landscape that has been totally neglected this spring and summer. The to-do list rolls out like a child's list for Santa Claus.

Weeding (consisting mainly of pulling out pesky wild honeysuckle vine and poison ivy from each and every flower bed and bush), pruning, mowing and string trimming are all on the list.

Will I get it all completed? Probably not. Well, I do have to spend time with the hubby, go shopping, care for the critters, clean the house, get in my computer time….. You know how it is. Don’t you?

My thinking is that if I get most of the garden work done, then I can get the rest done a little bit each day before work. You believe that. Don’t you?

It is a grandiose plan, I know, given my propensity of late to spend way too much time on the computer, wasting time on Facebook mainly. Yep, I’m guilty of falling into the allure of Facebook, and gasp, Twitter. Even though I don’t really have anything earth shattering to report on either.

Maybe I’ll do the before and after picture routine in the gardens. Or, after taking the before pictures, I may be too ashamed to let you see them. In which case I’ll post the “after” pictures of butchered… ugh… pruned shrubs and freshly mowed yard; or neat, weed less flower beds.  Maybe.

Maybe I’ll just wait a few days and write a post about the evils of procrastination.

Be Blessed.

The Gardens Turned Jungle

I have no pictures to post of the sad state of affairs in my garden. I’m too ashamed and any picture right now would look like a solid mass of green foliage anyway.

Almost daily rain from thunderstorms has led to this abundant growth. A case of flu for my husband and myself has caused me to get weeks behind in pruning, mowing and cultivating. 

Never fear though. I can straighten it out with a couple of days effort. The change will surely give me instant gratification.

Now that we are almost recovered from the flu. or creeping crud, or whatever it was things should get back to normal.

I might even manage to post on the blog more frequently.

Be blessed.

Friday Night Update: May 27, 2011

This is the front bed, recently redesigned. The clematis has been in this location for three years now. The variegated hydrangeas' since last fall. I put in the hosta  earlier this spring.

This big pot of catnip was one of the first garden plants to “green up”this spring. . . much to the delight of Thomas T.

This clematis bloomed for the first time this year. It is still very small, but I can see it filling the trellis in years to come.

 

The garden steps, severely overgrown by forsythia. The much needed cut back on the forsythia is awaiting the robin family to move out. I was attacked soon after starting to prune this mass of foliage. Believe me, there really are steps under all that green.

I have lots of overgrown areas right now. I am behind in my gardening. I have some vacation time planned for the first of June… perhaps I can tame the over abundant foliage while off work.

Stay tuned for more photos and the gardening adventure stories I’m sure I’ll be telling.

Be Blessed.