Truly, change is terrifying, or can be. But when I feel happy ............ well, when I have regrets,like I wish I had never married that so-and-so, I realize that if I hadn't married him, I wouldn't be in the right place to meet my beloved husband. You can't have the wonder of the present without the dreary or scary of the past, and if you're IN the dreary/scary right now, I hope you're looking for your next wonder. Does that make any sense?
Vickie, I'm so glad you're feeling happier. Hang on, lady, you'll get through whatever happens next and we'll be with you.
Accessible Gardening thread # 11(?)
Thanks Debra and Carrie. I know you'll be here. You'll never know what a comfort that is.
This camping is really beginnng to be fun. It's got my mind back on my old track. Like why are there fireflys here but not 40 miles due east right now. Earth shattering stuff like that keeps me sane. LOL
I've got to get 2 new tires on my way camping Thursday. It'll be a releif to not worry about old tires.
Yes the unknown is scary.But sometimes it can be excitingly
happy.
Good night or good morning, What ever it is.
Vickie
Everybody who wishes may go to the Real Name = Screen Name thread on this forum.
Hi Everybody,
I haven't posted in a few days.
Our weather is a little cooler than usual. I haven't turned on my air conditioning yet - a good sign and a money saver.
Tony and I are still working on the arroyo and it's going well. He's here now so I'm going to join him and do what I can. Last week was very low energy and I slept all afternoon on Monday. I'm glad to be feeling better. Tony is great about running up the steps if I've forgotton a tool or my gloves. Both of us have become serious Atlas glove wearers since they were recommended to me by a DG friend. Wish they made something for knees!!
Have a great day everyone.
Ted, are you still here? We miss you.
katie
Katie - What is an "arroyo" please?
Hugs,
Sheri
It's the hillside above the valley where all the waqter goes when we have torrrential rains. It is mostly sand and rock with a few very tough plants which is what makes it different from a hillside as it is usually known in more temperate climates.
The challenge in working on it (besides not sliding down it like ice because very dry sand acts similarly) is to get enough nuetrients into the soil to allow more plants to grow; to deal with scortching hot summers; and to get enough plants in and growing so that when the torrential rains do come, the water soaks in instead of running off.
We are far enough along that I have started to put in the vetiver plants They are wonderful for erosion control and also for cleaning up environmental toxins. And actually getting to a point where we can start to put plants in and have some expectation that they will grow.
Still brown bagging in my spare moments!!
katie
If either of you would like to be added to the REAL NAMES/SCREEN NAMES thread, please let me know; I am not arbitrarily assuming anyone wants to be there unless they request it. It got "stickied" at the top of our forum today, I hear!
Hello everyone, I just popped in to say hello and let you guys know I am ok just still busy. I still have my bro here and I am keeping him busy. I am working all day in the yard except when too hot. Trying to get a new yard looking as good as possible before my DD bday party. It is going well but slow because I do not move fast during high humidity and it has been bad here. I am doing all kinds of things from transplanting grass to drying flower seed. I have had to stake plants that are too tall to stand up properly because of a bad down pour knocking them over. When DB gets without a chore he starts saying he is bored and that he can't go without a drink so I come up with a chore. I may have all 16 and a half acres cleared and planted if he does not get better. He has yet to get below8 to 10 beers a day but I keep trying. he slipped off one day when I had to take my DD somewhere and was gone for a few hours. I do not mind him going somewhere but he had been drinking and drove which made me furious. We had a little run in over that one. I told him I could tolerate the drinking but not the driving while doing so and that I was trying to protect him but I know it makes him mad for me to say anything. Man, this is getting harder by the day folks. He went to his GF for the weekend but I drove him . I tried to let her know I am trying to help him and could use some support on her end. I hope she gets it but I do not think she cares if he goes to jail or not. Who Knows? I hope you will all keep me in your prayers for the strength and knowledge to know what to do next with him. He does pretty good if he has something to do so I try to keep him busy but I can't turn him loose around my plants so it is hard to always be right there but he will cut them down with the weedeater or hoe if you turn your back. He acts like it was a mistake but I have explained over and over that if it is surrounded with pinestraw to leave it to me. Anyway, that is the state of things in my world.
Oh yeah, I am not sure if I mentioned this or not but the hubs is working with a woman that talks about flowers all the time and I think it is so funny. She likes wildflowers like myself and so she points them out alot while working in the park. He is surrounded he said with talk of flowers. So not only is he cutting grass which he hates but he is having to work around the flowers that grow there. She will not let him weedeat them down because she says they are so rare. I love that I am not the only one who cares about them. He thinks I am crazy for planting them and moving them to protect them from him. So now he sees that I am not the only one. LOL. I hope he will learn to appreciate the rareness of the wildflowers in our area. So many are going extinct because of building and logging etc. I miss getting to check in everyday but I just get so tired that I am ready for bed when I get through. Take care, love and Prayers, scraps
Katie, never heard of vetiver until reading your post. Looked it up and it seems to be an amazingly versatile plant. Not to mention attractive. :-) I love Ponytail grass and purple fountain grass. The first is used a lot here in landscaping for the tollway systems and the second in residential and commercial building landscaping. As I clear sections of the yard, I want to find places for both. Dunno if the vetiver will grow in my yard. Roots three to four feet straight down? Wow. But worth checking out.
Haven't done a whole lot lately. Doctor visit this past week kinda blew me to my knees for a bit. Says MS is definitely worse, now have diabetes, blood pressure all over the place, and there is something wrong with my eyes. More doctors, more tests, more drugs, more money out, more annoyance from the boss for inconveniencing him, and on and on. Been wallowing and wailing for a few days. Feeling a little more adjusted today. Could face trying the blood monitor for the first time this morning. Think I broke it--put the test strip in backward and now it only gives Error 2....sigh...LOL Since the doc office gave it to me, maybe I can get them to replace it if the silly thing doesn't dry out to be usable.
We've been close to or at 100 degrees for the last 10 days. Did manage through the wailing to keep the Bluestone plants watered. They are still in the tiny ship pots and I would have been really mad at myself if I let them die from inattention. :-) (Did that last summer with some Sky Pencil ilex and Clair de Lune clematis.) Supposed to hit 100 again today, so I am going to try getting out to water the other new plants that did make it in the ground before the heat hit. Don't think I will get too much else done. Maybe wash some linens. Hang most stuff outside during summer, they dry really fast and smell so gooood. That scent makes me feel better all by itself so it's worth the extra sweat. :-p
Debra
oh (((((Debra)))))) I'm so sorry.
I'm back and i sure missed you guys. Surely i was gone a week or more.LOL I came back early. It is hot,humid and i had too much trouble breathing. Have decided it's much more pleasent camping in my back yard with AC privilages when needed. Think my dogs do too.
Things are still the same here. Tho DD and i are talking.
Scraps, You have the patience of a saint. Hope your DB realizes how lucky he is. Have you talked him into going to AA and there is a group for familys of AA for you. I think it's ALANON.I used to go for my DD.
Debra, Never fear about your blood sugar monitor. Drug companys give them away. They make their money on the strips.
Have you been given a diet plan yet? Over the years i've learned the best diet is a common sense diet with a little of everything. there is great sugar free icecream and sugar free candy. Just remember that sugarfree does'nt mean calorie free. LOL
When you get use to watching what you eat, it kinda becomes second nature.(((HUGS))) It sounds like a mountain climber but it's not that bad. Just takes awhile.
There is a diabetis association that helps to belong to. I'll try to find a link for you.
The link
http://www.diabetis.org/
Please tell me this link is not in French!!! Google has been doing this to me since i went looking for geneology stuff in France. I don't know what to do?!!!#&*#*@!!
The BP is new to me so maybe i'll learn along with you.
Please tell us what they find out about your eyes.
I came home to a peachy pink daylilly bloom, immediately thought of you. I love forgetting about and rediscovering my daylillys. I've got one that is a bright yellow, Every single inch of it is bright yellow.My plain orange ditch lillys are blooming their hearts out.
I've got zebra grass and a plain tall grass.
Vickie
This message was edited Jun 6, 2010 11:54 PM
Scraps, my brother is in hospice care, so he can't get to alcohol now, but he used to be much the same in his behaviors as your brother. Both my parents and youngest sister were also alcoholics. It is trying and saddening and frustrating. My brother is the baby of the family and I babied him for years. Went through some counseling and was told my actions were enabling him and to stop. I wasn't doing the kind of constructive redirection that you are and changing MY behavior was hard. This is part of what they told me: "Just remember that positive actions do have meaning even if YOU don't think you see change. That one time you kept him busy and not on the road drunk may have kept someone from getting hurt. That one time you let him know how much you care about his welfare may strike an unrecognized flare of hope somewhere in him that helps light his way much later. But also remember that you can't MAKE another person be well any more than you can keep the sun from coming up in the morning, nor can you or should you be responsible for his actions. You offer the hand up, you offer the love and encouraging support--and all you CAN do is try, it is ALWAYS up to them to after that." Don't know if that will feel helpful to you, just wanted to share it in case...:-)
Vickie, the monitor is fine. It's the operator with the error. :-) Just wasn't using the strips correctly. Got it figured out now. Still having a hard time repeatedly jabbing needles into perfectly good fingertips, but if I go to the ones with the carpal tunnel numbness or the ones the MS got to, it ain't quite as bad. LOL Have had HBP since I was 17 (doc says its gotten wild lately, and have to add a different bp med for kidney protection because of the diabetes) also have a hormonal thing that does weird stuff with my sodium and potassium levels, so pretty used to at least *thinking* about watching what I eat. Now I will simply have to get used to laying off Bluebell Ice Cream and peanut M&M's. One of my best friends works at Mars' headquarters, and I'm going to tell her that my diabetes will cost her her next raise. :-p Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
Carrie, Still wallowing a bit and I know it will be a zigzag adjustment, but am starting to "hitch them britches." Having this outlet to talk about it is a wonderful help. Thank youeveryone. :-)
Debra
0With Tony off on Saturday ad Sunday I overdid on my back yard and was quite wiped out yesterday. It is heating up here and the only time to work outside is early in the morning and very late in the afternoon (maybe). I did very little yesterday but am feeling better today.
I will be leaving for Ca. tomorrow of Thursday.
In my little outdoor plant room I have some coral tree seeds germinating. My friend Jenny tells me they are a weed in Hawaii but I've not seen them here. I found a tree with lots of seeds by a Post Office in Chula Vista and picked up a bunch as they are expensive to buy. I've also got a flame tree or two germinating in my non-fence to the north. They are said to grow quite rapidly. I'll be bringing back lots of Walmart's $5 bouganvillas to use as barriers. My schotia tree is setting lots of seeds and I'm very happy as the place where I bought the original seeds no longer carries them. If I get enough I will be sending them some. Any of you in a tropical or subtropical climate are welcome to a few (she said hopefully). The hotter the better. The JLHudson people - my seed source - told me they have one growing just south of San Francisco but it's not hot enough there for it to bloom.
My little adeniums are growing well. I'll be picking up more seeds when I go north and should have even more success with what I've learned from the first batch. Most of the epi cuttings which I got from a very nice woman in El Cajon (near San Diego) are growing, some of them rampantly.
Tony is good about watering regularly as I often am so distracted by pain that I forget.
We have lots of plumerias blooming. Many of them are together in large pots. In the fall One of the many chores waiting for me is getting them potted up individually.
Got the brownbagging done on the entryway to my bedroom and painted the frame for a big round mirror which I found in an alley in Beverly Hills a few years ago. Tony put it up yesterday. I an thinking the someday I may put yellow glass "petals" around it so it looks like a sunflower. Someday. Maybe.
Time to do a little work. Have to think about what I need to take to Ca.
It is such a blessing to have Tony to take care of things while I'm gone. Don't know what I'd do witout him (probably have another in along line of people who have ripped me off while "helping" me).
Check out www.amma.org to see the person I am going to spend a week with in LA.
hugs, katie
Wait, there's no center listed in LA. Are you spending a week with Amma personally?
LA programs are at the Hilton Hotel. You can find the specifics of where she will be and when under Tours - amma. In LA there are three days of public programs and a three day retreat (I think).I've been seeing her for about twenty years. I make her bouquets of flowers oout of vegetables, watermelon peacocks and when I can get it together I bake sugar-free treats for her. I'm on of her many daughters and our relationship is personal but not one-on-one although it feels that way.
The tour will be coming to the east coast soon. Check the tour schedule if you are interested inmeeting her.
katie
How great for you Katie, I'm glad you have her.
Do you drive a pickup to Calif. Do you have to pay duty on anything you bring back from the states?
You are one busy woman.The trips alone would wear me out.
I'd love to see the vegetable flowers.
Vickie
I'm safely in Chula Vista, tired from the trip up but safe and with a couple of days to take it easy. Will visit a friend in LA on Sunday and start my week with Amma on Monday.
I will be thinking good thoughts of all of you so if you get a lovely light-headed feeling, that's me and Amma visiting you.
Thank you all for being here. More soon.
hugs, katie
A week the the real Amma? Holy cow, or, Holy lady. It looked like all her CA centers were way north.
I'm glad for you Katie!
Ok I made it . LOL
Hi, Sarge. :-)
Hello Debra,
Hay Carrie here's a link to Mid Tenn. Photo's to give you an idea of what it looks like round here .
http://www.mid-tenn.com/
hope you likey.
Sarge
Thank you Sarge, that is about what I had imagined it looking like! A little like WV only not as remote (as the part of WV I visited). Plus that was 40 years ago - everything is more built up than it was 49 years ago! It's funny, our mountains would be bumps to you, but your mountains would be lumps to the Rockies.
Sarge, are you ready to tell us more about yourself?
What ya want to Know? I'm Not hiden anything I blog About my Garden and such quite a bit and chatter a bit on other threads .lol
Sarge
Sarge, do you have a disability? Most (all?) of us do, whether it's chronic pain, blindness, or something with initials like PPS, MS, FMS, MDD, etc. We all have something that keeps us from doing all we might wish we could do.
Carrie,
Yes ,
Sept 6 2009 I was Honorably Discharged from the U.S. Army with Neck & Back Injuries Sustained while in the Army. ( 2 disc in my neck & 4 in my back--cracked up -non fixable) I have filed my VA and SS Disability Paper work and to be able to function financially.
All the gardening I do and write about takes a lot of “Legal Drugs” as well as shots Daily and then I am down for days there after some times a week there are a few young boys that live close to me that help maintain the garden and the fields and field garden when I am down .
I have Migraines, lose my grip on things, fall a lot, get disorientated, forget what I was doing , forget conversations, don’t walk far without losing my breath , pass out & land on my head most of the time, get irritated and that about covers it . most of the time I don’t say much about it to folks though . as I am alive and made it home .
Nope you did not make me mad by asking . LOL
I have a good time on here and work through my difuculties ...
and I have to use MS Word a lot ...my brain misfires alot. so over look the spelling i catch it sometimes and open it up and use it a lot more when i start messen up ;>)
Sarge
If you use Firefox you can set it to catch spelling errors and typos. I used to know how to spell but MS is eating holes in my brain so I can't type w/out FF helping me along. I wish I had some of those boys near me! We are all grateful you made it back alive. Sounds like a lot of pain you live with. DH broke his back and neck 5 years ago so I am a little familiar with the chronic pain part, although he is WAY too busy to garden, or talk to me, or see an MD or anything normal! Sarge is any of that PTSD? DH has that too, from Viet Nam.
So ... I'm seeing my neurologist in July and I'm naturally making a list if what I need to talk to her about.
P: pain, poop, and pills and S: spasms, stiffness and something else I can't remember!
yes some of it is PTSD, some is meds, and the rest is neuro.a list if what you need to talk to her about? if you have any of the things like i have you need to let them know about them it will have an effect on what you can take they gave me a med that stopped my heart deader than 4 o clock 32 min had to shock the shizel out of me 3 times didnt like that still got lil purple marks on me chest where they hit me wit them padles .... the spasams are a daliy thing that i deal with looks like i'm haven fits but they only hurt once in awhile under my armpit areas and acrost my chest ..so write any pain down and tell the doc & keep records good it will only help you later in life .
I guess thats the Militery in me comeing out .;>) The records Thing they get COPIES not the originals you keep them ( they tend to lose them LOL)
Sarge
stiffness, spasms and STEEL! Because at night my legs turn into steel girders!! Stiffer than normal stiffness, like rebar or something. REALLY STIFF.
Mine have the restless leg syndrome thing & feels like pins all through my legs and then may go numb al at once and be hard to walk the rest of the night starts about 8 pm an I end up in bead round 9 – 9:30 pm normally meds up & down all night with night mares and such back up at 5 am and do it all over again . ;>)
Sarg
Sounds like fun - NOT.
Yep we haed to Nash ville Tusday for wifes pre op for her neck. an all day thing and my all day thing at VA to play pin cushen and test to run ....see which one gets finish first. and who is the madest at the end of the day ...LOL they usualy knock me out by the end of the day i am so mad and ready to fight a rattler . i have to be carried out on a strecher and buckled in the van and layed in bed at the house . not wake up for a day or two . abotu once a month they test meds and either up or change them so it is no fun hope they get them right soon . its ruff when they do that for a day or two .. the wife is due to have her ncck cut on and 4 disc fused to one set in a week or so ...a big rig hit her SUV in the rear had not got that setteled yet either .
Hello everyone and Good Morning also,
Sarge, It is nice to meet you, Did they send you to keep us in line around here? LOL. We get kind of rowdy and unruly sometimes and discuss stuff like becoming a gang of granny goons and beating up people who do not do as we think they should. Or are you here to help us with the beating up of bad guys? LOL. We would be dangerous if any of us actually had the energy to be bad. I have been offline alot getting ready for a party but I hope to be able to chat with you more.
I am so happy to be done with the DD's Bday party. It was a huge success but I have never worked so hard in my life getting it ready and will not agree to anything similar in the near future. I would not have had so much to do if it had not been a new house and property that were not ready yet for a big crowd to see. I am paranoid about having everything finished and looking good before company comes. Somethings I just had to give up on because I could not get to them but I did all that I could. I am totally exhausted but I am so glad it is over and that she had a great time with her friends. For 19 year olds or late teens they were a great bunch. Along with family we had about 23 people in all to feed. The menu was fried catfish, hushpuppies, french fries,potato salad, coleslaw, and cake and cupcakes. Plus tons of cold beverages as it was almost 100 degrees here yesterday. The hubs fried fish for 4 hours straight and we wound up with enough that most people took home a "doggie" bag of boneless fish nuggets for lunch today. I tried to tell the man it would not take that much fish but he would not listen. When it is that hot outside people will not eat as much of the fish but will turn to the cool stuff like potato salad and coleslaw, which were all eaten up. The french fries wound up on the teens table and were nibbled up a little at a time. Gallons of sweet tea were consumed as was diet sodas. I walked in and out of the house so many times I thought I would collapse. I had to change shirts 3 times because it was so hot and sweaty. Even my MIL had a touch of sweat on the upper lip.LOL. Even though she wore long pants and a threequarter lenght sleeve shirt on a 100 degree day. The hushpuppies were nibbled up by the young children 4 to 10 in age. The were "sneaking them" off the back of a table behind a big arrangement of flowers. They thought we could not see them through the flowers. I am just glad they all had a good time and that it is over. All I have to do now is clean up because I went to bed and left it with the teens. Of course, it was all right where it was when I went to bed.LOL. Just what I thought. Well, I will try to stay in touch more frequently now. Love and Prayers, scraps
scraps,
Mornin,
I am no shape to be policing folks myself LoL I haven’t been here long either,. Just joined there was a dg Angel that helped me out with an subscription and blessed me .
I must say I was reviving all the freebee sites so I could talk to more folks . (And I still hit them because I made so many friends on them)
Good to meet you
Much love and prayers
The Sarge
Good Evening everyone, I just popped back in to ask for a Prayer request from you guys. The hubs can not stay at the current job much longer because after insurance comes out he makes $16 dollars for 2 weeks work at a hot nasty job doing park work which involves cleaning toilets, weedeating and mowing grass. The insurance is over $500 a month or somebody made a big mistake. he is having someone check into it but that is probably the way it will be.So Pray something great will come up for him.
Sarge, I know what you mean about not being in any shape to be policing, I have fibromyalgia and severe back pain from bulging disc among other health problems but I was a tough tomboy growing up among 3 brothers and all their pals and I like to believe I could at least trip a thug or two if need be.LOL. I do almost everything from a rolling stool or from my golfcart which I call my garden buggy. I just will not give up and get a powerchair yet. I need one for shopping because of my back but I survive by making others(hubs or DD) do most of the shopping.
I have had my brother here about a month and he is an alcoholic who is in need of drying out but it is not going well in my opinion. he just refuses to get below 12 cans of beer a day. It is a hassle But I am making him work while here. he is so tired by Friday he runs off to his girlfriends house for a break. I can't make him stay here because he is an adult but if he gets one more DUI he will probably go to prison. He is really pushing his luck. I wish I knew of a better solution but he will not go in for treatment because the Dr.s ask too many personal questions he says. That is the jest of what is going on in my world today. love and Prayers, scraps
Hi Sarge, Don't let these innocents fool you. Should the need arise. I think any of us would be a reckoning force.LOL
Having said that i have another chronicle of woe from my family.
My grandson that was staying with me. Stole some of my checks and forged them. His brother did the same to me some years ago. But never in a million years did i think this one would. He took checks from the back of my check book, so i did'nt know untill i tried to cash a check at Walmarts and they would'nt cash it. I called my bank and they told me i was overdrawn. Since there was no way i could be, I went on down there. J had'nt even bothered to sign my name but put his. And WALMARTS TOOK THEM!!!! He also stole some jumper cables and a bottle of expensive whiskey from a neighbor. I filed charges. But i don't know where J is.
This happened on my birthday. I was in too much shock to even talk about it untill now. I took some pain meds and more or less slept mostly till today.
I feel like i must be some kind of monster to be hated so much. I'm also paranoid enough to wonder if my whole famly is out to get me. But why? I just don't understand it. I jumped all over him for scattering beer bottles all over and abusing his girl friend when he was drunk. I don't see why that should make him disrespect me. I don't know many people who'd put up with that. OH anyway i'll get over this but it's going to take awhile.
I'm not posting this for sympathy.At the moment i've got plenty for myself!! But i sure did need to rant. Thanks for listening.
Vickie
Vickie,
Ya know
Sometime youngens just need a good ol fashen swichen and their attention got .
Sarge
Sarge, I gotta ask. Were you at Fort Wachuka Arizona? Down on the border. I know Wachuka is spelled wrong. It's been a long time.
Vickie
I totally agree and he never was,however he is now 30 years old.
This message was edited Jun 13, 2010 6:01 PM
Stayed their for a lil while most of the time i was in Tuson ,sell and sasabee