We Have Straw!

And hopefully we are not going to grow straw since our intent was to use it as mulch as many of the garden books say to do!  I have visions of having it sprout up everywhere, but I have been assured that it won't do it.  We.  Will.  See.

Count me not convinced.

So after 13 bails of straw, this is what our garden looks like now:

Beans, cucumber (against the fence), mator, eggplant and pepper side:

Yes, everything is still little bitty, but it is there - I promise!

Okra, Corn, squash, radishes, onions... blah, blah, blah...
 

Closer view of mators and peppers on the right, and if you look real close, you can see onions growing on the bottom left corner:
 

Megan getting the dirt out from under her fingernails.  Yes, she worked!

This is Steve today NOT WORKING right?
 

*sigh*

And him getting caught:
 

Here is Chelsea, who is not keeping her daddy held down like she needs to do:
 

And this is her playing dead when I fussed her for not holding daddy down:
 

I also found some monster mouse practicing playing dead (he learned it from Chelsea) in a full sized lawn chair.  I bet the Monkey cat has gained 10 lbs since he moved here!  He is HUGE!  If you think of it  this way:  a typical sized butt supposed to sit there...

And a picture of Steve, not favoring the arm he has (not) been using nor using healing waters for the pain in his arm and knees:
 

That was what we accomplished yesterday and today.   Lots and lots of straw.

And of course 7+ hours of therapy.  

Tomorrow we have the melon patch to put straw on...

And that straw had better not be growing... 

We Are Trucking RIght Along...

So I guess I will catch you up just a bit.  Steve is doing super!  (Did we expect any less?)  He even has a doggy to hold him down when he is resting:

She sure didn't like him being broken! 

When he first had the surgery his arm looked like this:

We were allowed to take off the bandages and this is all he had:

Talk about over dramatic and over kill!

He got a very special package from Punkin' the other day that had some goodies in it:

But the best part was that it had some pretty drawings in it to cheer him up!

Yes, there is a pink dolphin there!  Did you know Singapore had pink dolphins?  Punkin' loved them when she was in Singapore and always draws a pink one.  I love it!

 And here are the other notes Punkin' sent:

How can you not get better seeing these?  Oh, and we figure the chocolate is great for healing, right?

He sits in his chair for 6 hours every single day.  He has nearly caught up on all the shows we had recorded on DVR - I think he may have to resort to watching soaps, Dr Phil and Rachel Ray soon... lol... 

 

Yes, as you can tell, he is happy.  NOT!  But this is what the chair does:

Well, the stupid video will not load!  Oh well, it is slow as grass growing and boring as h-e-double toothpicks!

I am busy mowing, watering, weeding, and spraying for weeds and insects.  Funny those things don't stop when you have something else going on... 

But life is good, we are healthy and happy and he is healing.  What more can we ask?

My Hubby... Poor Thing...

I am not used to seeing my honey broken.  :-(  

Actually, he is doing very well after surgery.  They shaved off some bone, made room for the tendon it was mashing and removed some spurs.  Praise God there were no torn tendons!  Over all he is doing great (few pain meds), staying awake (fighting anesthesia) and keeping me in line!  Check him out:

Before surgery:

After surgery:

If you noticed he is in some weird contraption, you are right.  He has a Physical Therapy chair to work out in 2 hours a day - 3 times a day -  for a total of SIX hours every day in that baby!  He has to increase rotation and elevation 5 degrees every day.  So far he is doing great.  

He HATES being one armed and seemingly needy, however, when Megan went to bed early last night (she was tired), he came and put up food for me.  *sigh*  He won't sit still or even act like he had surgery for even one day.  Thank you, love, for always being you.

I have to say thanks to everyone who has supported me during all this worrisome time.  It has been a challenge and I appreciate the phone calls and few minutes time you could spare for us.  We are so blessed to have people in our lives who love us and are there when we need them.  

I am off to clean... some little doggy has way too much black hair that seems to be shedding.  She seems to feel the need to hold her daddy down and I have to keep hair off of him, the blankets and the floor.  

And take care of him.  When he lets me.

Oh and PS:  The mushroom my friend has in her yard is an elegant stink horn!
Thanks Steph for finding the answer for me!  WHOOT!

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Work, Work, Work... and Did I Say Work?

Spring is a busy time for us this year.  We are getting the garden in, planting flowers so our house has a personality, and planting trees so they can start growing big and tall to give us shade and beauty.  Wow, have we been super busy!  And today will be no different...

I have to plant our melons, squash and pumpkins and a few flowers.  I have to water all the plants we have in the ground and the ones I have left in the green house and on our patio.  Yes, lots of work... so why am I blogging?

Because I feel the need to catch up, so here goes:

The garden is finished!  Completely planted and on its way to providing us with yummies for the rest of the year:

We have LOTS of tomatoes... too many in fact, but we have them:

Our herbs are coming up and looking good:
 

Bet you cannot tell, but this is okra - and I planted about 24' of it because we love it!
 

And 24' of super sweet corn is coming up - YUM!

Red cabbage is looking great!
 

Green cabbage is looking great:

And did I say tomatoes?  Yes, they are looking great as well:
 

Yes, I know I have weeding to do... that is on the list of stuff to do.  We still have to plant the squash, pumpkin and melon hills - I intend to do that today.  It is on a separate area that is 24' long by a tractor width wide.  We put it in the pasture since I anticipate it taking so much area to grow.  

Now can you see why I haven't blogged??

A friend of ours has been growing something in her yard:

Now we want to know what the heck kind of mushroom is that??  She just noticed it when she went outside - and if you look in the background - she has two of them!  No she didn't plant them!

And now for the rest of the story.  Steve is having surgery tomorrow.  I am not thrilled, but we both know it need to be done.  He has had some problems with his shoulder and has been for years and years.  He finally gave in and went to the Dr.  Tomorrow is the big day - he is having surgery on his right shoulder rotator cuff... and last week they fit him for the sling he will be wearing for a few weeks:

Yeah, he is about as happy about it as he looks.  Neither one of us is looking forward to it, but it has to be done.  We have spent the last week (since he found out) trying to get everything mowed, cars serviced, shop clean so he CAN service the cars, planting gardens, flowers, trees, weed eating... training Megan to help... you name it, we have been busy doing it.  Oh, and did I mention taxes?  Yeah, we had to do taxes the day before they were due.  Not nice.  Very not nice.  He is lucky to be alive to HAVE this surgery.  

Now for the big day... going to buy him jammers (?)  (!)  today because they told him he has to be comfy and easy to dress tomorrow... and we need a shirt big enough to go over that big last 'cast' and sling. 

This oughta be fun.  Keep him in your thoughts and prayers please.  I think we're gonna need it.  Keep me in your thoughts and prayers - this is the first time my handsome man has ever been in the hospital - much less having surgery.  He has never missed work, been ill or had anything like this done.  He is not a big baby though so I don't worry about that.  I have never had to pick up after him, do for him or wait on him.  This will be a first!  Heck, I think I might even have to cut his steaks for a bit - but you know what?  I can do that!  I love him!  

Good luck, Steve!  I will be waiting on your hand and foot for the first time in our 35 years of marriage. Now I can enjoy doing things for YOU finally.  Just take it easy, keep the pain away and heal quickly.  I need my honey back strong and handsome ASAP.

Cause I love you...

Bits and Pieces

Here are a few bits and pieces of what has been going on this last week:

A bird set up house in our propane tank cover - unfortunately, he had to move:

This is not what you want to see:  Our nephew, Gavin, being loaded on a life flight after suffering a prolonged febrile seizure.  They life flighted him after two hours of seizing.  Thankfully he is ok now.  

Yes, that is our brother, Danny, on the left there - he was a medic and they answered all his questions and let him help a bit.  Very scary having him intubated and them breathing for him.  So glad he is ok now.  Such a cute little guy:

Another thing you don't want to see, but we got to this week:

That is the inside looking out of our storm shelter.  Here is what we were looking at:

Thankfully it went on its merry way away from us with no damage.  It was a bit unnerving though!

As I sit here and peer out my drapes, I get to see this:

A wonderful sight on our finch feeder.  Some days the entire thing is filled with gold finches.  Most days I have the curtains wide open, but it wasn't because the storms were passing through.

Our garden is finished!  Gate and fence all installed - I just have 4 more rows to plant!

Very long rows I might add!  48 feet times two rows of just tomatoes!  WHEW!  Are you gonna want any?  I sure hope so!

And our neighbors are harvesting!  I think it is oats, but don't hold me to that.  It was fun to watch though:

 

All of our plants are doing great.  It is so fun to actually be able to enjoy spring... such a long time since we were able to do that.   Course, we have the weather to deal with... you know, the tornadoes... Oh well, hurricanes there, earthquakes over there and tornadoes here... watcha gonna do? 

Steve is going back in to the shoulder Dr tomorrow.  Will see what the outcome of that visit is.  Not looking forward to it though.  Steve is thinking surgery is in the works.  We shall see.

Off to sort pictures and get ready for a family reunion!  It is actually June 9th, but I have some preparations to do!  Looking forward to seeing everyone though!

Later gator!

Have Fence, Need Gate!

And lots of muscle cream.


The garden fence is up now!

Made to keep critters out:

But it didn't work, did it?  

We just need to get a gate installed now then plant our veggies.  I am off today to (1) Going with Steve to his Orthopedic appointment to get his shoulders and knees checked.  His shoulder is really bothering him and has for years...  He finally gave in to go for an appointment.  Wish us luck!  (2) Find a gate for our garden.  Oughta be fun... Trying to beat the weather...

Other than that, we are sore... work is not all it is cracked up to be... lol...

And that is it for today.  Hope you had a great Easter!  

Happy Easter!

Today is a celebration of renewal!  I hope everyone is having a terrific Easter holiday!

Today Steve and I are home alone - and since we have no little ones here to celebrate the joyous day with us, I have decided to just share some pictures of previous Easter holidays.  

I have not edited at all, some are take with a point and shoot, some taken by someone else and shared with me, some from years ago and some are before I started getting really interested in photography - but I am sure you will enjoy them just as well:

Raelee at Granny and Papa's

Grandpa Gary and Grandma Ruth holding Raelee.

Katy, Daisy, Stephenie,

Jeremy and Yvonne

Stephenie holding Raelee

Raelee with Jaci looking on.

Raelee

Granny with Raelee.

MawMaw Evaline Breaux (friend) with Raelee and Jaci looking on.

Raelee and Grandma Ruth coloring eggs

Raelee and her blue hand holding a yellow egg.

Raelee... 

Raelee

Super proud of herself, Raelee.

Raelee

 

 

Raelee at Granny Bon's

Marcus in California

Aedan in California 

I love seeing dyed eggs.. what is it about them that makes me happy?

Easter is so different when you don't have little ones to celebrate with!  Usually we have a big crowd, but today it is just Steve and I - alone.  Not bad, just very odd.  Every stage in our lives take a bit of getting used to... but our love makes us happy that we have each other, our memories (for now... lol...) - and a God that blesses us beyond measure.  

Happy Easter everyone!

Can You Imagine?