A Birthday & An Anniversary

It was a busy weekend...at least for us. Katy's 5th birthday was yesterday, Oct. 10. Of course, we had to make the trip up to deliver her present. It was such a beautiful day, and we were able to enjoy it by watching Chase's baseball game. We sat on the bleachers in the sun, which wasn't too hot because there was a cool breeze blowing. 
 

We didn't stay very long after the game..just long enough for Katy to open her present.

 I think she likes her Frozen Palace lego set! Win, win!

While at Amy's, we had to see Joanna's bunny. It's just a ball of fur. Where are its eyes?

 

Then today after church, Andy and I drove down to The Crab Trap in Somers Point where we met up with Andy's mom and dad, his brothers and sister. The occasion? To celebrate Mom and Dad's 65th anniversary. What a milestone!

We had a good lunch and enjoyed the time with the family, but I have to admit that the driving both yesterday and today was pretty stressful. Andy gets so tensed up and nervous with my driving. He says I drive too fast, although I'm really going the speed limit and cars are whizzing by me. I told him to close his eyes, but he says he just can't do that. He feels the need to see what's happening. I'm not sure what to do about this. Should we stop driving on the turnpikes and parkways? Those are the roads that make him nervous. He seems to be ok when we're driving on the back roads through the pine barrens where there is so little traffic. 

As I was driving home this afternoon, Andy asked me if I knew how to get home. I told him I did and I didn't need my Waze app to tell me how to go. Then he said, "Phyllis has this map thing on her phone." Huh? I'm Phyllis. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. I asked him if he meant me. And he said something like: "oh, yeah...you have that map thing...you're Phyllis." Yikes!

Earlier in the week, we took one of our hikes in the Pine Barrens. We tried to find a new park but when we finally found the place, it was just a small parking lot next to a creek. The brochure said there was a trail, but it certainly wasn't marked because we couldn't find it. And it wasn't for lack of trying! So since we weren't that far from the Stavola Beechwoods Preserve where we had hiked during the winter, we went back there and walked along the Rancocas Creek. This time the trees had their leaves and there was no ice on the creek or snow on the lane.

Another thing I did on Tuesday last week was get a new phone. Can't you tell by how nice my pictures are in this post - even for such an amateur like myself?

I was experimenting a little with my phone this afternoon on my berry bushes. The winterberry bush has lots of red ones and the beauty berry bushes are loaded with purple berries. The birds will have plenty to eat this winter.

 

All this partying takes its toll. But we don't have anything on the agenda for this week, and we may not be able to go out on Tuesday. The forecast is calling for rain. Time to get out another puzzle. 

Mid-Altitude

Life is full of ups and downs and we've been through plenty in the last couple of years. It seems like more downs than ups, but recently I feel like we're more just cruising along. That's not bad. Actually, I am thankful for the gift of the routine, the predictable, the break from the intensity of all that comes with hard times. Granted, the euphoria of heads in the clouds is exhilarating, but who can stay there? On the other extreme, who can bear the strain of the bottom dropping out and living in the depths of despair? 

So I'm thankful for where we are right now. I feel like there's some breathing room. Oh, I'm not bursting with energy and accomplishing myriads of chores and great things. But I am managing to do what needs to be done and enjoy life again. This is only possible by the grace of God, of course. He constantly reminds me of his presence and care for us.

A couple of weeks ago, I opened a card that came in the mail. Inside was a $100 gift card to Shop Rite and a note signed by the "40-10'ers". A verse was included: Psalm 40:10 ~ 

 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
    I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
    from the great assembly.

I have been overwhelmed at the goodness of God toward us. Granted, it is becoming harder to communicate sensibly with my dear husband. But I sense God's presence with me on this journey in a remarkable way. He is the delight of my heart and soul. God's grace does not always mean relief from trouble and hard things. But it does mean enablement to endure and see God's care in the midst of trouble.

Andy has been enjoying watching a set of 6 dvd's: The Wonders of God's Creation. He watches them over and over, continuously. He has always been fascinated by the wonders of creation. These dvd's are really well done and are so interesting. I'm glad he loves watching them, because it's given him something to do while I do other things. Yesterday, though, after watching the one on space, he told me he wanted to go visit a satellite. I had no idea what he was talking about and he couldn't explain it to me, either. In hindsight, I probably should have just gone along with his idea because in another hour or so, he would have forgotten all about it. But I tried to understand and then talk him out of the idea. This is a pointless and fruitless endeavor, and I should know that by now - but I, too, forget. I'm just not used to this way of interacting with him.

Then on Friday when I got home from work, he said we got an invitation to a friend's birthday party. He has been friends with this man since they were in high school together. The party is this afternoon from 5:00 - 10:00. I called the man's wife and told her we wouldn't be able to attend. I had to make the decision as to what I felt was best for us, and Andy wasn't happy about it. He really wanted to go. However, he hasn't mentioned it since, and I don't think he even knows that the party is today. 

In the last couple of days, we endured a nor'easter and got 5 inches of rain. The sky is still gray today but we ventured out. Fortunately, the rain is done and at one point, the sun "tried" to peek through. We went to Oswego Lake in the Pine Barrens, another park to cross off our list.

Andy felt he had been there long ago and he may have been, but it didn't look familiar to me. It was a huge lake and we drove to it on sandy roads. The weather was refreshingly cool with a nice breeze, and thankfully, it didn't rain on us.

 

And we're seeing some fall color...orange leaves on the sassafras trees!

So for now, we'll happily cruise along in mid-air, neither up in the clouds nor down on the ground...Just somewhere in the middle.

Out with the Roses, in with the Nandina

We have so much yard work to do right now that we didn't go hiking on Tuesday or Saturday this week. As well as yard work, on Tuesday, Andy had a doctor appointment with his neuropsychologist. It had been 6 months since he had seen this doctor, who is the one who diagnosed the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. He says Andy's Parkinson's symptoms are still pretty mild. That made me wonder how bad it's going to get because he already has significant shaking at times, especially when he's eating or drinking. I wonder how he can possibly get a drink without spilling it all over himself. 

After the doctor's appointment, we just worked around the house. I had decided to get rid of the knock out roses in the front of the house. They bloom all summer which I really like, but they are not as effortless as everyone says they are. At least, not for me! Every spring, the bugs just eat their leaves so that there's hardly anything left. Then this summer, I noticed there was a lot of dead wood on them. So I'm not going to put up with them any more. 

They looked good for a while.

 

This summer.
 

Yup, as you can see...something needed to be done with that space.

I wasn't sure what I wanted there, except that I wanted color against the white porch. On Tuesday afternoon, Andy and I dug out the roses. Actually, Andy dug them out. I should have done it, though, because he was exhausted the next day from all the digging and chopping (of the roots). 

Yesterday, we took a drive to Perennial Gardens - one of my favorite places to buy plants. We looked around and found these pretty Heavenly Bamboo Nandina bushes. In talking to the man at the garden center, we were convinced these were a good buy. There is lots of color in the fall, with berries that last all winter to attract the birds. And they don't lose their leaves, so there's color all year.

We bought 3 of them and it was a good time to buy because they were 60% off!

I dug the holes myself and planted them because I didn't want to risk Andy overdoing it again. It wasn't that hard because the ground was pretty soft there. I like the way they look and I think in time, with a little patience, they'll fill out the space nicely.

The weather turned decidedly cooler and we just couldn't stay home today. So after lunch, we checked out our brochure to see if there was a new place to explore. We chose Whitesbog. It took about 35 minutes to drive there. In the early 1900's, Whitesbog was the largest cranberry farm in New Jersey. It is a historic village with a few families who still live there. We stopped in the Whitesbog General Store to get a hiking map and ask some questions. It is still a working farm, harvesting cranberries as well as blueberries.

 The trails through the woods were very pretty.

 

This tree is leaning precariously across the trail. Maybe I should hold it up so Andy can walk safely under it.

 

 

 Not sure what this is supposed to be???

 Some hints of fall color

It was a lovely afternoon. Some day we'll have to go back because there were many more trails to be explored.

Today's reading in  Paul Tripp's New Morning Mercies spoke to my situation. He wrote that there is "no need to fear what God will ask of you, because in the asking is always the promise of grace to empower your heart and hands." He spoke of God's call on Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses actually argued with God and tried to get out of it, but think how successful he was in the end. God has a lot of commendations of Moses in the Scriptures but when you think about it, it wasn't because of Moses' great abilities, but God who was with him empowering and enabling him to do the work he was called to.

I feel the same way, like I am totally inadequate to care for a husband with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. This feels overwhelming and impossible to me. But I am encouraged that if God has called me to walk this path, then he will be with me every step of the way. 

Paul Tripp's final paragraph in today's reading: "Because [I am] God's chosen child, [I am] never, ever alone. Because [I am] God's child, God will never send [me] on a task by [myself.] Hope for [my] success is not to be found in [my] personal strength and wisdom, but in the expansive glory of the One who sent [me.] Remember today that when God sends, he goes too!"

And another verse to remember is: "The one who calls you is faithful and HE will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24. Oh, how I need him.

The Jersey Shore

I'm very thankful we live where we do. Many people may think Jersey is the "armpit of the nation," but New Jersey has many redeeming qualities. I heard a message once where we were admonished to be content in whatever state we were in. And there are many things to be thankful for when it comes to living in New Jersey. 

One of those is our proximity to the ocean and "the shore." This past week, C & C were spending their vacation there with their family and were gracious enough to encourage us to join them when we could. So on Tuesday, our day off, and yesterday, Saturday, we made the trip down and spent those days with them. It takes us an hour and a half to drive the distance but it's so worth it when we finally get there. The drive itself is beautiful because we go "the back way" through the Pine Barrens where we hardly see any other cars the entire time.

It was a perfect week for them in regards to the weather, with blue skies, hardly any wind and temperatures in the 80's. Even the waves were calm on Tuesday.

The kids are happy at the beach, playing in the surf and sand all day.

Yesterday, there was a little more wind and the surf was rougher, but it was still a joy to be there. There's just something about sitting and watching the waves that restores the soul.

Andy did well with the break from routine. He spent a lot of time in the water and playing with the kids. He's so gentle and tender with them. I love that about him.

He has a 6 month check up with his neuropsychologist on Tuesday. I think his memory is getting worse. He is having more difficulty in finishing his sentences, forgetting what he was going to say or coming up with the word he needs to express himself. He is still engaged, though, and enters into whatever we are doing.

I'm having a hard time not worrying about the future and the unknowns of our situation. I know in my head that God has promised to provide for our needs, but I have no idea how he is going to do that. I know I don't need to know. My life of faith only requires me to rest in him and not fret about the future. So that is my current struggle. 

I was pretty tired out from all our excursions this week but Andy really wanted to get out this afternoon and not sit around all day. He kept after me until I finally relented. I went out on the deck first of all and wow! What a nice day. The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze. So I decided to take us over to one of our favorite parks close by. 

It was a nice leisurely walk on the gravel path and when we went up on the Rancocas overlook, we were pleasantly surprised by a field of yellow flowers!  It was gorgeous - and now I was glad I made the effort.

And then, of course, there's golden rod everywhere.
 

It was a good reminder to get out in nature and enjoy all the color because soon enough there will be only gray and brown.

Duke Farm

It's been a long hot summer...too hot for hiking. But just as we can get "cabin fever" in the winter because of being cooped up inside in bad weather, so we were feeling like we just had to get out. A week or so ago, someone had posted an article on facebook entitled 14 Secret Spots in New Jersey where Nature Will Completely Relax You. Doesn't that make you want to get right on this and make sure you visit all these wonderful places?  Along with the article and with each of these 14 spots, a lovely picture was posted. 

So I explored some of these places, trying to decide if there was one fairly close by that we could visit. Then I saw this picture:
 

Wow! A field of sunflowers! This was it...I just had to go there.  So I made our plans. I checked the map - Duke Farm is in Hillsborough, NJ which is only an hour's drive from our house. That didn't sound too bad. We packed a lunch and plenty of water and away we went.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as beautiful as the picture. For one thing, it was incredibly hot that day - in the 90's. It wasn't too bad in the shade, but there wasn't much of that in the middle of the day. For another thing, the sunflowers were pretty much done. We were about 3 weeks too late.  Here is the real picture:

Pretty pathetic, huh???

The grounds are beautiful though, and we had a very nice walk even though we were extremely hot and uncomfortable. 

 

Duke Farm is one of the largest privately-owned parcels of open land in NJ.  Created by James Buchanan Duke and preserved by his daughter, Doris Duke, the property is rich in ecological, agricultural and horticultural resources. The farm is a parcel of land more than 2,000 acres.

There's an "orchid range" conservatory on the property and we went inside to see if it was any cooler inside. It wasn't! Orchids are always beautiful so we enjoyed them before looking for more shade.

 We were impressed with the property in spite of the heat. We felt it wasn't a wasted trip because now we know it would be worth while to re-visit in cooler weather, especially in the fall or spring.

The rest of the week continued hot and humid with the weather finally breaking on Friday when it rained all day. 

After church this morning, we were pleasantly surprised by how pleasant it was walking to our car in the parking lot.  There was such a nice cool breeze with fluffy white clouds and blue sky - a good day for a hike. I had several things planned, but a hike in cooler weather would be so nice, so why not go for it.

Andy never seems to care where we go, so I chose Pakim Pond. It was perfect. We walked about 2 miles into the woods from the pond. There were lily pads on the pond with even some flowers.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take any more pictures the rest of the hike which was a shame because the woods seemed especially green and full of vegetation. There were a very few leaves starting to turn orange and yellow so Autumn is on the way!

For some reason my iphone froze after this one picture of the pond, and I had a black screen till we got back in the car. I've been trying to take more pictures with my iphone instead of carrying my camera along on every trip. I am such an amateur when it comes to photography with a less than creative eye. I'm hoping to get a new phone soon with a better, more sophisticated camera. We'll see if that helps me to get better pictures. I'm told that you can't go wrong with these new phones. Actually, I probably can - but I'm willing to give it a try. 

Labor Day Sunday, 2015

It had been too long since we had all been together as a family. So it worked out for everyone's schedule to come down to our house on Sunday afternoon, Labor Day weekend. Oh, it was so good to be together again. I love our family. We are so blessed.

The Wallin "girls"

 

The whole gang

 It was gorgeous weather with beautiful people! Our hearts were full.