Flowers don't bloom where no seeds have been planted. If you want kindness, be kind. If you want acceptance, be accepting. If you want encouragement, be encouraging. If you want forgiveness, be forgiving. If you want love, be loving. If you want respect, be respectful. We should not expect from others what we fail to give to them.

 Tom Krause

A friend gave me this young bulb last summer, it was left outside after the first few frosts.  I thought it was dead, but brought it in anyway and my man closed it up in a cardboard box.  My dear husband checked it for me every time he watered the lemon and lime trees.  It threw up three tiny leaves, we put it in the sun. It has four blossoms.  I have never had one rebloom before.

Today, we enjoyed weather in the 60s, in February.  In celebration, my Granddaughter and I planted amazing tulip bulbs.  Granted, I began and my hands would not cooperate.  I gave instructions and she did a fantastic job.  I am very proud of her!  My dear husband gets credit for the soil work.

I hope we really will have an early Spring.  The hellebores are not blooming yet but we have tulips and daffodils are coming up.  The fig tree, as well as the cherry and peach are pliable.  Chives, all three kinds, are coming up, the cats have catnip coming up.  I am wondering if I will be able to garden this year.  Need to be stronger.

As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat. Ellen Perry Berkeley

As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human mind.

 

Cleveland Amory

Schuster has been my companion for a few years, almost 18. When she was 16, her vet told me she had the body of a 6 year old.  Pretty cool.  She has been there through good times and bad.  She loves my Husband and he loves her.  That was one of the ways I knew he was a good man.  Love me, love my cat.

And now for Freddie Peepers, peeping at us through the French door.  When we first met him, he was so thin you could see all his ribs and you could count his spinal vertebrae.  My soft hearted man started feeding him.  Outside.  In return, Freddie Peepers was pretty much responsible for decreasing the mole, vole, groundhog, and chipmunk population on the property.  We haven't even had many squirrels!  He is a keeper.

Until he started limping.  We were afraid we might have to put him down.  We worried and fretted until he finally tripped the trap.  The vet had him for about 4 hours, his wound was cleaned, he was tested for diseases, all negative.  He was neutered (sorry about that, Peepers, but who wants those child support payments anyway?).  He was vaccinated and spent the night in one of the sheds.  He is so much better now and we are relieved.  Love him, Love his cat.

2016

“A woman’s strength isn’t just about how much she can handle before she breaks, it’s also about how much she must handle after she’s broken.”

STRENGTH

 

This year, I am doing something new.  I have been thinking about it for weeks.  I have read about it in blogs. I read the Daily Guidepost, a gift from my parents.  The January 3rd entry was written by Debbie Macomber, one of my Mother's favorite authors.  I have chosen a word for 2016, Strength.  I am going to work to take back some of the things that MS has stolen from me.  I have been reading about nutrition at the cellular level.  My friend, Marge, and her daughter are using turmeric, with good results.  After reading and learning, I want to give it a try.  Dr. Terry Wahls has a diet called the Wahls Protocol.  She was also confined to a tilt recline wheelchair but can walk and ride a bike again, she gives me hope.  I am stepping up my exercise and stretching.  I want to knit more.  I have a cabinet full of wool, I want to teach my Granddaughter how to make pennies.  I want to walk again, that is the goal.  This year, I need strength to fight.  I will definitely need strength.





It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Joseph Addison

It has been a long while.  Loss is always hard to cope with.  I have been married to a wonderful man for a little over a year now.  He helps me, he loves me.  He is my soulmate.  He talks to me, he hugs me.  We do everything together.  From the beginning, we agreed to never fight, life is to short.  I am so blessed!

This man loves Christmas!  I mean he really loves Christmas.  I have teased him for years about his 'blow-up dolls' that decorate his yard.  He has Santas and snowmen, he has angels and stars.  This year, thanks to a wonderful woman one town over, I have helped him branch out into vintage wicker.  He restrung new lights inside this little guy and he is marvelous!

He even has a sleigh and a few reindeer.  We added a little lit squirrel to the porch rail.  We have been blessed with unseasonably warm temperatures, we are still pulling turnips, chard, carrots, beets, kale and salad greens out of the garden.

For the first time since I was alone on the farm back in 2005, my nativity is up.  Our nativity.  He was excited to see each one as it came out of the box.  He was my photographer. My ladies, my Christmas present from last year, look like they are rejoicing.

I am in a wheelchair full time.  It took a while to knit my last sock.  18 months.  How hard was that? Thanks to Rox over at YouTube, I have learned different way to use my fingers to knit.  I believe this second sock will only take about 3 months. She also has a group over on Ravelry, Rox Rocks. It has an unbelievable amount of tips, hints and instruction.  Grab a cup of tea (or coffee or cocoa) and set aside some time for interesting reading, 

We are all settled in and we are all happy. Life is better and I want to start journaling it here again.  Time to start over.

God bless and Merry Christmas.

New Beginning

“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!” 

 
― C. JoyBell C.

 

 

I did it!  I married a good man.  I married a man I have been friends with for a lot of years.  It is time to start again fresh.  Fresh and happy.  We married in my parents living room, they signed as our witnesses.  All my sisters and my brother were there.  Most of their spouses made it, too.  Some of their kids.  My daughter and granddaughter were there.  It was a wonderful day.  One I hope to remember all the days of my life.  I want to remember how lucky I am to have him.  This is the man I want to look at every morning and smile.  We deserve this.  We deserve now.  I hope you are all as blessed as we are. 

 

 



Death, New Life and Marriage...Life Marches On

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Robert Burns



I have sad news.  My best friend passed away in August from small cell lung cancer.  She fought valiantly for a year before it stole her away from us.  She and I were supposed to grow gracefully into old age, sharing events and secrets and just life in general.  I loved her like a sister and still do today.  I always will.  I still talk to her and sent her emails to tell her wonderful and disappointing things.  I am not sure how to heal from this.  I know it will take time. She won't be here for my wedding...more on that in a minute.

Meet my Great Grandparents on my Mother's side.  William and Queen Victoria. 

 

Let me tell you a story.

 

On October 11th, I was marrying the love of my life.  His name is Bruce, I have known him for years, and he is a very good man.  When we found out 5 years ago that I have a very progressive form of Multiple Sclerosis, I was afraid it would scare him off.  He said "We will get through this together."  He meant it.  He has been changing his house for me, moving into the main level bedroom, adding a ramp for my wheelchair, widening doors.  My Grandmother, Lillian, told me to marry my best friend.  This time I listened.

 

He lives a two day drive from me.  He was one day into the drive, 12 hours on the road, when he decided to spend the night in Indiana.  Early the next morning, I checked my messages to find his beautiful daughter's water had broken early.  I told her I would turn him around and I did.  He didn't make it in time for the birth of his first Granddaughter, Cassidy, she was in a big hurry to meet her Mother in person.  He did get there soon afterward.  He is a very proud Grandpa!!  My daughter is calling Cassidy the wedding crasher.  lol.  We have postponed our marriage one month to November 8th.  I am excited to meet this little girl!  This was the perfect reason to delay starting my life with my soulmate. 

 

My best friend won't be standing with me.  Her name is Penny.  I have ordered a special necklace from Etsy.  It has a silver disk with her name and the year.  It has a penny and then a heart on top.  I have asked her husband for a penny from her purse.  My Dad and Bruce will use my Grandfather John's handmade drill press to drill the hole in Penny's penny and we will exchange the pennies in the necklace.   I will show you when it is done.  I will have her with me on my wedding day.

 

Things are busy around here.  Sorting, donating, throwing away, packing and moving!  I have spent a long time being afraid to marry after a bad marriage.  I have spent a long time healing.  I am ready for my happily ever after.  :)



Loss

I cannot say and I will not say
That she is dead, she is just away.
With a cheery smile and a wave of hand...
She has wandered into an unknown land;
And left us dreaming how very fair
Its needs must be, since she lingers there.

 

And you-oh you, who the wildest yearn
From the old-time step and the glad return-
Think of her faring on, as dear
In the love of there, as the love of here
Think of her still the same way, I say;
She is not dead, she is just away.

 

James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (1849 - 1916)

 

 

30 May 1952 - 11 August 2014