The Crazy Things We Do . . .

I am working my way through my pictures but with over 700 taken,  it will be a while before I get them all edited.

I saw my therapist at the lymphodema clinic today.

I've been having trouble with swelling around my knee for the last week or so. (You know . . . since I have gotten busy and started pretending my leg is just fine . . .)

I had been hoping that it was just because of  the muscle being moved but since it is swelling more behind my knee, that is not the case.

It's not really bad, but I have to get a handle on it as it will slowly get worse over the years, unless I find a way to bring the swelling all the way down by the time I get up each  morning.

Some tips and tools for that are:
 a: to wear my new low compression stocking if it's going to be a busy day (next week's Blogwest conference will mean three busy days in a row),
b:  massage behind my knee,
c:  do the yoga pose 'leg up the wall' (exactly what it sounds like!), and
d:  doing my best not to have too many busy days in a row and keeping my leg up when I can.

I am going to have to try a lot harder on some of those things! It wouldn't be so difficult if I didn't like being busy most days!

More prayer needed I think.

And a quick look at the crazy things we do when Tamara and I get together . . .

Why, oh why, do I always end up looking like a goof??? 

I'm Home! Exhausted . . . But Home.

I got back from my adventure late last night.

I had a fabulous time!

 I spent the majority of it with a camera in my hand.

 I spent Friday in Seattle at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show with my sister Tamara and her posse of 'Pink Ladies' .

I, of course, took the opportunity to eat out with two of my sisters . . .

And was unable to keep my sticky fingers off the flower plugs during the greenhouse tour . . .

I have some amazing pictures and stories to share but . . . right now???

I am in desperate need of a nap! Or possibly even two naps!!

If you can't wait to hear at least a bit of the story pop on over to my sister Tamara's blog and check out her post on the Show . . .

See you tomorrow. . . yawn . . .

I'm Going On An Adventure!

I was given a very last minute opportunity to go on adventure for the next four days.

I'm a little nervous. I'm hoping the leg holds up.

I'm excited because it involves flying and I love to fly.

I won't be able to blog while I'm gone but my camera is coming on the adventure with me so. . .

I'll see you all next week sometime with pictures galore!

Hyacinths . . . Solace On A Wintry Day

A Tuesday Chuckle Courtesy Of Marty's Musings

It's been busy around here for the last week or so. I've got big plans up my sleeve and I'm hard at work on them.

It's very exciting. Especially now that I have some expert help! Google Apps will meet their match!

And then there's this Spring's plant sale. Which I had decided to skip this year.

 Because that's the sensible thing to do.

Henry was going to be sooo proud.

While our friend Teresa was over one evening, I mentioned my sensible decision.

Henry's reaction was . . . unexpected . . .

"What?!! But you have to have a plant sale!. I've been telling people about it and they're excited."

"You want me to have a plant sale?? A sale that will make lots of extra work for you, and likely interrupt the steady flow of homemade bread you've been enjoying?!"

"Well, yeah. Just keep it small so it won't be so much work."

Keep it small??

It's been 28 years. You think he'd know me by now . . .

I started the first batch of seeds today Thirteen different flowers. Annuals and perennials. After I stop at Apache Seeds tomorrow I will have fifteen.

Keep it small.

What was he thinking???

Does anyone have favorites that they plant every year? Any requests, if you live here in town? Let me know. I would be happy to add to the list . . .

Keep it small . . . ha!

The Tuesday chuckle?

I found this post through Donna at Funky Junk's Facebook page

Hop over to Marty's Musing's and check it out . . .

How to Survive a Blogging Spouse

1)   Buy the very best computer you can’t possibly afford and then don’t even tell her how to turn it on.  I’m serious!  If you help on that very first night, you have become her Internet Technology Specialist.  And you will rue that day.  Our weapon of choice is a 27” iMac.  With reading glasses on, this thing looks like a roadside billboard.  It has yet to blink, even with 30 trillion pictures on it already

*excerpt reprinted with permission. Click on Marty's Musings link for the full post.

A Valentine Surprise.

Henry doesn't believe in Valentine's day.

He think's everyday is Valentine's day.

So I know better than to expect anything.

Jada and I went for a walk yesterday morning and when we got home, found a surprise in the mailbox.

 We live across the street from an elementary school. A school that works at connecting it's students with the neighborhood.

And this is what I found in my mailbox . . .

How sweet is that?!

When Henry woke me up this morning he wished me a Happy Valentine's Day.

I informed him that it was yesterday . . .

" I know, but everyday is Valentine's Day! And I'm a thrifty dutchman so I'll probably wait until the middle of March to buy you roses. But . . .  maybe not. Because you could just grow your own and that would be way better . . ."

Hmmm . . .

I've decided that he meant I could buy a new rose bush and grow flowers . . .

If I'm Bald The Next Time You See Me . . .

It's all because of Google Apps!

I know I'm not super tech savvy, but . . . when I go to make a simple change, a change I've made before, it should not have been hijacked by Google Apps in the mean time and changed into something requiring some real computer knowledge.

Without the option of talking to a live person on the phone . . . arghhhh!

Although, I think the guy I found on the Google forum after two hair pulling days is real . . .

He just tells me  to do things I don't quite understand . . .

Sigh.

I've spent the last few months doing a little thinking between feeling sorry for myself and reading every book on my book shelf.

I've been re evaluating.

Dreaming.

Lecturing. (myself)

I'm a follow the rules, do things right, take your responsibilities serious, kind of girl.

While I can't help but make the things I do fun or interesting whenever possible, there is always that niggle of guilt.

Because life is serious business people!

Work before pleasure.

You know . . .

Dishes before seed starting. Laundry before taking 100 pictures of the cake I just baked. Scrubbing the bathroom before hand crafting the new tags for my April sale . . .

Let's face it  though  . . the fun stuff almost always won out. And thus the niggling guilt.

But as I sat for all those months, unable to do any of the important, serious, stuff, I started to realize that it still all got done. Somehow.

That, even though I couldn't do all of those important, serious, things, I was still worthwhile. God loves me for who I am. Not what I do.

My family and friends love me for who I am, not what I do.

I began to wonder if in fact my desire to make things, grow things, photograph things, and . . .  and . . . write about things . . .  was so very strong because  those were the talents God intended me to focus on.

Without that niggle of guilt.

But . . . still scrubbing the bathroom once in a while. ( Because otherwise. . . well . . .  that would just be gross. . .)

So, some changes are coming.

One of which I would have shared with you tomorrow . . .  if Google Apps hadn't stopped me in my tracks . .

I finally gave myself a time out late this afternoon and did this instead . . .

Nothing cheers me up like a fresh, apple struesel coffee cake! Or taking numerous pictures of one . . . 

I'm going to get a good night's sleep and tackle the dragon that is Google Apps, again tomorrow.

It's a good thing I'm too stubborn to give up.

 Now if I could just remember where I put that armor . . . I think I'm gonna need it!

The Giveaway Prizes

Some of you may have wondered just what the little extra's the giveaway winners received were.

Other's may have wondered what the 'little something' I found for the extra winner was.

Wonder no more!

Both calendar winners received the same thing, aside from the fact that one was a wall calendar and the other a desk calendar.

A calendar, a Growing Wisdom note book and wrapped in tissue, a tiny tin of the wood butter I had made the day before.

Wood butter?? What in the world is wood butter?

You'll have to tune in later this week to find that out . . .

 Then there was this cute gift tag Val showed me how to make when she had come for a day of creating a few days earlier . . .

I have been seized with the compulsion to find the perfect bible verse for everything lately. (This was a reminder that spring will come. Probably later rather than sooner, but still, it will come.)

My cousin Marie was the extra giveaway winner. I bribed her with a larger gift if she was willing to come into town for a visit. (She lives about an hour away.)

Not only did she come into town, she also took me out for lunch!

Good thing I had something nice to give . . .

These are the bulbs Nicole and I started last fall.

To bad Val hadn't come yet but I still had fun making this gift tag . . .

And because I said a little something extra . . .

She got to pick one of these concrete leaves!

Which one would you pick?

She picked the gray one.

I do love a giveaway!

Multi Tasking At It's Finest

Am I the only one who gets bored waiting for white sauce to thicken???

Henry's Birthday

Henry celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago and has we have done often over the years, we celebrated with our friends Lorne and Nicole.

Nicole's birthday is just a few weeks later than Henry's and they are the same age. . .

So how do four middle aged friends paint the town red?

They hit Chapters when they discover the wait for a table at The Keg is over an hour.

Good thing Chapters was right next door . . .

Guess who left with a new book? hint . . . it wasn't Nicole . . .

A little over an hour later we were ushered to our table.

Henry didn't think I smiled wide enough . . .

Middle age has a few challenges. Reading the fine print in a menu is one of them . . .

It was no challenge to decide what to order . . . I love prime rib!

Can you believe I ate everything on this plate?!!

And then found room to share a creme brulee with Nicole???

Of course neither of us even considered this dessert.

We left that to the men!

It was such a lovely treat to dress up like a normal person and enjoy an evening out with friends.

 Of course, Nicole ended up with my foot in her lap by the end of the evening as I couldn't leave it down any longer, but . . . isn't that what friends are for?

Can You Believe It's Been Three Weeks?!

Of all the things I assumed I would not be able to do after my surgery, blogging was not one of them!

After Morgan and Jesse bought me my tablet, I was positive blogging from my chair would be a breeze. . .

Who knew how hard it would be to type on a tiny touch screen, or that I couldn't load  my pictures onto the tablet?

Who knew that  I would be able to put my own socks on long before I would be able to sit at a desk for more than a minute or two?

However. . .

It's finally happened.

I am once again able to sit at my desk for an hour or so without  serious discomfort.

Whoo Hoo!

So people. . .

I'm back to regular blogging. I won't promise a post everyday because I still poop out by early afternoon but . . .  if I don't start writing some of the posts swimming around in my brain my head is likely to explode!

How am I doing these days???

My drain has been out for just over a month now and I am happy to report that it hasn't caused problems at all.

I went to the lymphodema clinic twice a week for nearly three weeks, first learning how to do the lymph massages for myself and then getting regular massages from the therapists. At my last visit I was told that I may have escaped lymphodema (for now) and I am to visit again at the end of this month for further assessments. I still massage at the end of the day and wear compression bike shorts at all times but there is a possibility that it might not be forever. (And even if it was. . . if that was the worst of it. . . I would be incredibly thankful!!)

I can now do the stairs normally at least once in the day and my leg bends a little further every day. Still can't bend down too far or sit on the ground but . . . everything in good time.

I have been getting out and about, baking, crafting, taking pictures and even doing the laundry again. A fact that thrills Henry to no end.

 Housekeeping is not his forte.

Mine either . . .

See you all on Monday!

Jada LOVES it when I bake.