Dot`sThoughts

Update on this post written a week ago.
My son`s op went well. Now it will take some therapy to get the arm moving at the shoulder like it should. Hopefully time and hard work at therapy will take care of that.

First Amerilla`s blossoms have ended and those on the second plant are also about finished for this year. I tried to upload these 2 amerillas pictures, but having trouble. The first one had 4 large blossoms and the second plant had three blossoms. Since I couldn`t upload these from my camera, I have posted the 2 plants that were in bloom at Christmas time. Main difference is the amerilla plant with three blossoms now is a lot darker red color than those posted, but the 4 blossom one is the same color as ones posted.

The evening before Easter I attended a 25th Wedding Anniversary Party for a great nephew and his wife ( on my late husbands side of the family). I feel blessed that since losing Walt his family has continued to include me in all their events. There are so few of his relatives still living- just one nephew and a lot of great nieces and great nephews and their children, plus a few of his cousins children. They had a nice band, good food and it was fun seeing everyone again. The last time we got together was at a Graduation party for a great nephews son in late June. Before that was at my daughter`s wedding in early June. Everyone always has a grand time.

Easter was a nice day. My youngest invited me to have dinner with him, his girlfriend and her parents. He did the cooking at his place. I received a nice compliment from my son. Her parents told him he was a good cook, his girlfriend said he was a much better cook than she was. His reply to them was : I learned from my mother, thanks Mom. I simply said: I guess you must have really listened and he said: I did. No kidding , he is a good cook. I enjoyed spending the evening there. First time I ever met her parents. Ron had first dated this girlfriend when they were still in high school and after 20 years they are back together again. She once told me that her daughter asked her if she was ever in love when she was younger and she told her yes and I still love him. This daughter was dating one of my brothers grandchildren at the time. When my sister-in-law heard, she told the daughter he was her nephew and that is how they got back together again. They both have been thru bad marriages that ended before they met again. They both seem happy now.

I guess that brings me up to date on what is going on in my life since I first wrote on March 18th.
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March 18th, 08

I have two Amerillas in bloom. One has 4 large light red blossoms and the second plant has three of those large dark red blossoms. They are so pretty. Now that two are blossoming, I will need to check the other Amerilla plants more often. I keep them upstairs on a large desk to rest for the winter. In the summer months they are placed out doors. They seem to blossom mostly in the late winter or in the spring or around Christmas and around Easter..

Today while I was getting ready to go to the Hospital Wellness Clinic , I noticed some blood on my right hand- very little, but when I looked all over my right hand there was no cut anywhere. Then I started looking at my left hand and saw I had a tiny cut on the middle knuckle of my pointer finger. It had already stopped bleeding. I washed it off and covered it with a bandaid so I wouldn`t have to worry while exercising. Not sure what I cut it on,-probably when I was forcing the left garage door open enough so I could back my car out. I am still trying to find a place that sells hinges that rise as they open. Those hinges would raise that garage door up away from the driveway as it opens. Just what I so badly need. On sunny mornings, I drive the car out and let it sit in the sun while I come back in the house to eat breakfast. Saves gas by letting the sun warm the car instead of keeping the car running till the car is warm. Looks like spring is on it`s way enough for the sun to be shining.

Went to the clinic where I use the exercise equipment. Today I started with 15 minutes on the Treadmill, then 15 minutes on the Nu-step, and then did another 15 minutes on the Recumbent Bike.
Funny how you can feel tired before you start, work hard and fast for 45 minutes without resting and leave the place feeling better and walking lots faster to the car in the parking lot. Today was the easy day because I did all this also yesterday, plus lots of exercises using the weights and the bands. Most days I add on 15 minutes on the rower and 15 minutes on the arm energizer, plus 60 lb pressure on the foot press and another few minutes pulling down the overhead using 60 lbs. I do sit-ups on the large sized ball, work weight exercises with only 8 lb weights every since my fall that injured my shoulder. I usually work out for 1 1/2 to 2 hours before stopping. But they say you shouldn`t do weights 2 days in a row. So, couldn`t do those today. Hoping for good weather again Friday so I can go back to the clinic for a third day this week. I don`t go out on bad weather days. Right now it is snowing again. Weather report says snow and sleet or freezing rain from now thru the night and up to tomorrow evening. Tomorrow is the first day of spring, and what a welcoming spring is giving us.
I hope tomorrow isn`t as bad as they say because my son is having his shoulder operated on tomorrow. If we get the layers of snow covered with ice and then more snow and more ice like they say, he might not be able to drive to the hospital. Weather report calls for dangerous driving conditions tonight and tomorrow. I am glad this op isn`t real serious in case it has to be canceled and done at a later date. We are hoping the op will find and remove the cause of his bad pain.

Last week I started my indoor planting for my garden plants and a lot of them are already sprouting up. Snowing outside and starting my plants for my spring garden. It has me asking myself- "Is it still winter, or is spring on it`s way? " Last year I didn`t start the seeds till the first week of April, and I ended up wishing I had started them sooner so they would be larger and stronger. So, this time I got the seeds planted the first week of March, giving them an extra 3-4 weeks for growing before re-planting outside. If they grow as well as they are doing now, I should have good luck. The garden last year grew great. Hoping for the same luck this summer.
I grow in the " Earth Boxes " which are sitting up off the ground on the standards I made to hold them. I call it "My stand up garden" because I can stay standing and care for the plants. The newer standards I made last year are lower than the origional ones I made about 5 or 6 years ago. The origional ones were so high that the first year I needed a step ladder to pick the tomatoes and the higher string beans. So, the next year I cut about 5 inches off the legs to lower the boxes. Still too tall. So, the third year I cut another 3" inches off the legs so I could reach the top of the plants without the ladder. I was smarter last year and made the newer standards a better height to work with, making it much easier to take care of the plants. I use potting soil in the Earth Boxes so there are no weeds to pull. The bottom of the boxes has a section for holding water, so only need to refill it every few days. So much less work than we used to do in our large ground gardens. Less work and still lots of fresh veggies to eat and can, or freeze for winter use.


I am so glad I gave in and finally bought a new kitchen stove. It feels good being able to bake again. I have to watch what I bake since there is noone here to help me eat it. All this exercising won`t do me much good if I bake too much, as I hate to see food thrown away. I do send the kids home with over half of what I baked when ever they stop in. I am learning how to make smaller batches, or make things that freeze well. One of the hardest things for me was learning to cook for one. I thought cooking for two was hard after cooking for a large family for so many years, well cooking for one is lots harder.

It will be Easter soon. I used to make pretty Easter dresses for the girls when they were small and later we used to have fun shopping for the new Easter clothes. Those were the good old days when I would cook a lot of eggs, decorate and hide them and let the kids go hunting for them. So much fun listening for the excited laughter as they found each egg. Later when they became Mothers, they repeated it for their children to enjoy. Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter.