Strange Looking Plant

Have you ever seen blooming hens & chicks? This one had a spurt of growth and look what happened! Bizzarre....

Easter Weekend

Leah came back to visit and this time she brought Jacob, Camille and Laura! Leah spent a lot of time cooking food and then freezing it for me and Granny to eat later. Thanks Leah--it really is convenient! We still found a little time for fun--Saturday was beautiful so we went out to Hot Springs for a quick visit. Then afterwards we took some pictures in the family room while watching TV. Easter Sunday Camille dressed up and hammed it up for the camera. (ain't she cute?) Also got a few candid shots of Jacob--yep--those are pretty accurate--and the last one couldn't be more typical of a teenager, right?

Spring Break Plantings

Just planted:Looking even better:

During spring break, Barbara helped to plant a lot of things to add color to the house. In addition to planting the garden--tomatoes, herbs, and peppers, she also cleaned out a section in the front yard and transplanted iris and various flowers to the back yard in a raised bed along the side of the yard. Then, adding potted geraniums and hanging petunias to the front porch, it made spring look a bit brighter. (click on any picture to see closeups)

Here are some more before and after pictures--before was 3/22; after was 4/11.

Yes, the garden has grown! Herbs are in front & sides. 6 tomato plants--all but one currently with blooms. And 5 pepper plants.

So, how's this for added color in the backyard now?

Thank you, Barbara!

Spingtime Visitors

Well, looky who's visiting! My precious neice Laura Clausen -- 3 months old.

Here is our 4-generation picture: Mom Leah, Grandma Barbara, Great-Granny Delia, and Laura.

These pictures were taken yesterday 3/20 at the Daffodil Festival in Wye, Arkansas.

And these pictures were taken today 3/21 before church!

Ok--I have to stop...SOMEBODY is getting annoyed with all the dang flashbulb lights.

1 more week

So, got one more week of radiation treatments to go. I'm getting very red and itchy on the treated side. I look like I'm 70 years old on one side and 30 on the other--is very wierd. I've got "age spots" where the skin has darkened, some hardening in spots, mostly over the scar tissue from surgery. Just not a real pleasant experience at the moment, but it always gets worse at the end. Looking forward to next week when I'm on vacation...yea!!! Probably won't feel like doing anything, but will be nice to not be rushing back and forth to work and treatments and all that mess.
Granny wasn't feeling very good yesterday and spent most of the day in bed. Is hard to tell these days if it's the weather, allergies, or something else going on. Today has got to get better--supposed to be good spring weather here in Arkansas. The flowers are starting to bloom more prolific so it adds cheer to the day!

So many leaves ....

Been trying to rake up the leaves in the backyard for some time now--starting to make real headway. I can fill about 4 bags and then I have to stop because I start to sweat. That leads to my radiation marks getting messed up which is bad, not to mention my side starts to get sore. I got about 12 bags over last weekend done--as you can see, all the neighbor's yards are clean and starting to go green. You can see very well the sections I haven't done yet--and now that it's raining, will have to wait even longer.

Since Granny got sick last November, the leaves have been solid over the entire back yard. I've been told to just LEAVE them...but that is killing the grass. I'm a little worried it may be too late for a lot of the areas I have finally gotten cleared.

Here are our first flowers in the yard--not quite out yet. The neighbors have jonquils in full bloom already. Mine are still struggling to get through the leaves! I'm hoping to do some planting over spring break--maybe liven up the place a bit with some color.

As for me, I've got 9 more radiation treatments to get through (including today). I have the day off work and we are expecting thunderstorms later this evening. I'm scheduled with H&R Block to get my taxes done today--yikes, wish me luck!

More worries...

Nico has been sick--stomach had been hurting her and I could tell she was having pain. Took her to the vet last Wednesday and he did some diagnostics--xrays and blood count. Only thing he found was elevated white blood cell count. He was going to do an ultra-sound, but opted not to since she seemed to be doing better. Ended up keeping her 3 days and never did figure out what exactly the problem was, but since she started eating and seemed to be doing better, I was able to bring her home Friday night. Vet bill ended up being $544 with Nico getting better on her own. Ouch. Thing is, I don't think she is totally over whatever it is. Monday she was starting to act funny and she never really got her appetite back until Tuesday. Again seems to be doing ok, but perhaps it is a "condition" I have to watch out for now--something to do with her digestion. She is getting older--8 now (that's 57 in dog years).



I popped home at lunchtime following a radiation treatment -- here's Granny! Yummy lunch, huh?