Father's Day at Our House Part II

BEAUTY AND PLEASURE HAVE THEIR PRICE

When we moved into our home some 15 plus years ago, there was this little tree planted by our front door in the middle of a flower bed.  I love trees and I had to look up in the 'tree dictionary' to find out what kind it was.  It turned out to be a Golden Rain Drop Tree.  Today, it is getting too big to be so close to the house...but trees are special to me.   I never could get flowers to grow in the flower bed under the tree....I tried every shade plant I could find and nothing ever did well.   So I had Ken build a little deck around the tree and put the wrought iron furniture we inherited from our Mother on the deck.

But we still have a mega challenge.  The Raindrop trees are beautiful all over the city at this time of the year.  They are round and topped with golden flowers. 

As lovely as our  Golden Rain Drop Tree is, it is so messy, so dirty.  Those lovely golden flowers it produces drop and drop and drop and drop. The wooden deck Ken built is a dirty mess and the iron furniture is a mess as well.  So one wonders, are dirty trees worth the mess?   They are for me.  I just keep sweeping the deck and it never looks like it has been swept.  We have lots of dirty trees.  The native pecan trees drop nuts for the squirrles to bury so that baby pecan trees pop up everywhere in the spring.  And baby golden raindrop seedlings have to been pulled out.

We also have a huge sycamore on the north front side of the house and I love it.  It drops a million fuzzy balls every year.  Ugly balls to contrast the beautiful giant-sized sycamore leaves to offer us shade from the hot Oklahoma sun.

So today is June 12 and here is our front flower bed before the official first day of summer has arrived.  The coneflowers are doing well and finally pink.  In the top right picture on the lower left corner, you can see the Mexican Petunias coming along.  They don't come back in the right places but I cherrish them anyway.  It reminds me of parents and their children, children don't always do what you wanted or ordered, but you love those kids no matter.  And the job of teaching structure and control to your children is challenging but well worth the investment....  So is the garden.

Ken is enjoying the yard this year in a very different way.  He is not able to do the yard work he so loves to do.   Yet he loves the beauty and  is accepting that others can do the work and life is beautiful even when others do it in a different way. 

We  have our dirty trees and we love them.   And we accept that our beloved and much appreciated perennials return in unusual places.    With much gratitude we enjoy the elephant ears which survived a very cold winter without having to dig them up last fall.    Thank you  GOD for giving us gardens to enjoy, and thank you for the lesson in life that we learn from your creation.

My Green Thumb

Cilantro is one of my favorite green herbs.  I love the taste and I love the smell.  So I bought a package of cilantro/corriander seeds, filled a planter with potting soil ... and this is what is coming up.  Anybody know if these are edible?    The plant itself is the corriander and the leaves are the cilantro.   But I am growing a mushroom garden and I don't think I will try eating them.  What should I do? 

A Weekend while visiting the Sick Papa ... who is better now that they are here.

Joel and Blakely have a snuggle together in the hot tub while Papa does his water therapy.   This little swim suite has been worn by seven granddaughters starting with Kayla, Lily, Hailey, Rosie, Ava, Sydney and the last one now, Blakely

Blakely and Babe play tug of war.  They both had such a fun time together.

Mama Jennifer is getting read for an evening out but gives Blakely a good by snuggle.

Daddy Joel is conducting the wedding this evening.   The Quick Trip attendent loved Joels cuff links -- thought he must be a limo driver.  When they got home, they had quiet a story about the wedding experience.

I remember this exact same facial expression on O'Neal.

Playing with the Baby Monitor.

Three cousins on a swing with the Babe.  Rosemary, Sydney and Lily.

A Night Out

Joel came to Tulsa to preform a wedding of a high school buddy. This is Jennifer and Joel right before they left for the wedding.

Syblings getting together.

Kayla, Devin and Hailey have a play date together.  Kayla's parents are out celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.   Kayla also got to have a slumber party with Hailey.And Kayla even took this beautiful photo of Bonita with her two children.

Fifty-Three Years of Marriage

Today is our 53rd Wedding Anniversary.  It was a busy day but not a festive one.  Ken was scheduled to have lab work, the air conditioning people were coming out to service our unit for the summer season, I had a couple interpreting jobs and the Home Health Nurse was scheduled to come check on Ken.  Also, the Occupational Therapist showed up to do an evaluation.   So see what I mean....not exactly a party.    ......................................................................However, when all the required activities were completed, there was a small nap time and then we drove to Fish Daddys for our Anniversary Dinner.   With the Diabetes diet which Ken is finally following, the grilled fish, cole slaw and green beans were  ligitimate food choices.      Good thing for both of us, we like seafood.    

The desert was not this one in the photo but was berries and we loved it.  We ended the evening with a trip to the hot tub.   Happy Anniversary to us -- we are celebrating life today and living one day at a time.

Memorial Day

We are not doing the traditional holiday today.  No picnic, no lake or swimming or grilling.  Just enjoying life today.   I have a deep sense of gratitude that Ken is getting better and all is well with my soul.  So I am celebrating life -- the life surrounding me.

Daisy's in their very beginning.  April planted these daisys in my back yard by the deck steps on Mother's day while I was spending the day at the hospital with Ken.  These are special daisys because Lily planted them from seed about 3 years ago.   Here is proof that daisys love me and my garden, they are beginning to open up.

The day lilies are now blooming.  Here in Oklahoma, you have to look really fast because they do not last very long at all.  So this is what I see this Memorial Day.  With no traditional activities for Ken and me today I decided to take photos of the world around.   I have so much to be thankful for.    First of all, I am thankful to those who gave their lives for our freedom as Americans.    That freedom is being challenged today by the apathy and immorality of our society.  God help us to fight for that freedom.

But even more than American freedom, I am thankful to Jesus, he gave HIMSELF for me.  I don't believe I would be here today without God's love for me and His strength in my weakness.

THERE IS LIFE!    I posted a photos in the spring of the dead stump from Ken's large banana tree which we wintered in the garage and it did not make it.   But from the soil, has sprouted three new baby banana trees.    LIFE AFTER DEATH!  Thank you  Jesus for your promise of life.

Wax begonias are beginning to sprout their muscle and spread just like they are suppose to do.

Hibiscus and they are flowering so beautifully for us this year.  Thank you!

The pot was barren to the naked eye, but beautiful hope sprouted up.    A reminder of Memorial Day celebration.

The Beginning of cone flowers -- what happened to the pink  ??????  Will that come with the next flower?    These cone flowers are coming back from last year.  Thank God for new life.

PEACE

A product of the peace plant COTM sent to Ken in the hospital.

My Godly Man and His Battle Part I

For Ken's Birthday Feb 28th, Kevin and April's families both gave Ken gift cards to Bass Pro Shop.  He bought a hat and a fly fishing rod with his gift card and began to make plans for a fishing trip.  He decided upon Beavers Bend and went on line to make reservations for a little log cabin.  We were excited about our trip April 28th through 30th.  However about two weeks before that date Ken began to have a battle with diarrhea.  Monday, April 26, he went to his doctor who gave him an antibiotic and he said he was feeling better so we left out around noon on the 28th.  He could hardly eat by that time but kept saying he was better, even though by this time he was suffering from nausea and eating tums by the handfuls. We thought the trip might help.  It is a 4 1/2 hour drive and the beauty begins when you arrive in the park area.  The area has a huge logging business and we passed dozens of logging trucks bringing out tall pine trunks.   We were both so happy to be here, the cabin was so clean and cute and nestled in the woods with only chirping birds and babbling brooks.   The story of our two days is documented on my travel blog so I will not repeat that.  In some strange way, we did have a nice time and the place is beautiful.  http://scrivtravels.blogspot.com/search/label/Beaver%27s%20Bend

After growing more and more sick, I was ready to drive him to the hospital on Thursday night but he insisted he was going to have a good night sleep.  So very early Friday morning, I got up and starting packing the car and told him when we got to Broken Arrow, I was taking him straight to the emergency room to get some intravenous  fluids.  He did not resist too much...just a tiny bit by saying why not contact Dr Biddle.....  No way, he is the doctor that writes prescriptions without doing any tests or checking.  Anyway, by noon, we were checking into the St Francis Hospital South in Broken Arrow, not realizing just how sick he was.   We were at Broken Arrow South seven hours before being transported to the main Hospital where all the specialists are.  There we spent another five hours in the emergency room -- a total of 12 hours -- all the while, pouring fluids into his body as fast as they would go..  He was assigned to room 4313 -- Renal floor, diagnosed with kidney failure and possible the pancreas as well.  Here you can see what I tend to do when one sits and waits for hours and hours and hours.  You start by praying, quoting God's promises, fighting the fearful thoughts, praying, waiting, remembering God's Word, believing, fighting the thoughts and finally, the camera comes out and  you shoot at just anything.

My Godly Man and His Battle Part II

So for the next eleven days, fluids were pumped into Ken's body while all medications he was previously on for high blood pressure, diabetes, and knee pain were stopped.  The goal was to get his kidneys working again and thank God, they did.  The side effect was shortness of breath, gaining thirty pounds in 10 days and tremendous pain in his body.  He blew up like a balloon, lost the use of his right arm and both legs.  Physical Therpay taught him to walk with a walker.
Sunday was Mother's Day and I considered my very best gift was a husband who was getting better.  On Monday evening, May 10th, they sent him home with a list of eight brand new medications, all swollen up and told him to pee it out.  His Creatinine level which had been 13 when entering the hospital was now down to 1.6 and the doctor said that was good enough...normal is 1. 
At home he did pretty good for a couple of days considering he had no energy and had a hard time keeping his eyes open.  He was starting to eat again but still had diarrhea.    But the swelling did not go down and on Thursday, he started down hill again.  He was so lethargic that he could not hold his head up or keep his eyes open.  By evening, he could barely move, could not move his head and his arm was swollen and in much pain. I thought he was either reacting to the new medicine or had had a stroke.  Got him in the car with much difficulty and took him back to the emergency room.   The CT scan did not show a stroke but transient ischemic attack (TIA).  After five more hours in emergency, he was admitted....  Next day moved to room 4331 where he spent five more days running tests which revealed no answers.  This time pouring lasix, potassium, magnesium, etc into his body, the swelling began to go down.  And with morphine, finally got some relief from the pain.    He had an inferior hospital doctor who was no help with information,  I think he just did not know what was going on.   The diabetic nurse came and was far more helpful.  I did not want to go home again with no information and no home help.   So Tuesday evening, May 18, I brought him back home with diabetes training, Novolog Insulin pins, and the promise of a home health  nurse, physical therapy and occupational therapy in the home.  This time my Man is doing much better.    While in the hospital,   blood sugars ran in the high two and three hundreds.  At home, it is much more under control and today, Ken for the first time had cabin fever.  We went for lettuce wraps and a trip to WalMart.  Riding in his little cart at WalMart, I asked him if he was having fun and he said it was equivalent to a day at Disney Land.
I have so much to be thankful for: a loving Heavenly Father who gives joy, grace and strength, a Holy Bible which promises hope, fulfilment and life until we are satisfied with it, and the Holy Spirit with power and comfort. 

A Nose Contest

While at Beavers Bend, Ken took photos of the ole' Indian and then of me....He has a thing for noses.   Tell me now, which one of us wins in the nose world?  Or what about those eyebrows -- surely I am the winner.   Maybe mr Chief wins with the lips.