Never a Dull Moment

Andy has struggled practically all his adult life with chronic prostatitis. Nearly 6 years ago he had a surgical procedure that took care of the problem. What a blessing it has been for him to be in good health, able to exercise, and just feel good! But in the last couple of months, he has had 3-4 infections and gone on antibiotics to take care of the problem. He finished up a round of antibiotics about a week ago. Then on Thursday, he started feeling nauseous and weak and dizzy. He hesitated calling the doctor because he had an appointment with a specialist on Friday, but as the day wore on, he kept feeling sicker and sicker. So he called our primary physician and was told there was an opening. I drove him there because he didn't think he could drive himself in his condition. The doctor told him he should have gone to the hospital, but he would prescribe more antibiotics.

The next day he was no better, and I took off work to go with him to the specialist. I sat in on the visit because I wanted to know what was going on and because in Andy's condition, I was afraid he wouldn't be able to comprehend all the doctor told him. We were told that the surgery he had 6 years ago usually was good for about 5 years. Oh, so that explains it. He's due for another surgery. He has another appointment on Wednesday and hopefully, we'll get more information then.

Meanwhile, it was a rough couple of days for him. Fortunately, his foot is progressing nicely and he is getting around a little better each day. But he spent most of the day on Saturday resting and trying to gain his strength back. On Sunday we had scheduled a picnic in the park with our older singles group (singles in their 30's, 40's and 50's) from church. We weren't too sure if we should cancel or not, considering Andy's health, but he took a nap in the afternoon, and we decided to go for it. It was a lovely evening and a nice time to be in the park. We went to Long Bridge Park in Hainesport. There were about 10 others (not counting Andy and me), with everyone bringing either a salad or dessert. There was a lot of good food and fellowship. I didn't make that dessert, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. It was tasty, too!
After eating, we took a hike down one of the trails to the Rancocas River.

Christy's last blog with all those beautiful pictures of flowers and butterflies inspired me to get my camera and walk around my gardens. So here we go with potted flowers:

and greenery...these ferns are looking really good this year.
white yarrow, from my sister Toot's garden:The beauty berry bushes are blooming...a red lily I got from my mother...Something ate my roses this spring. I didn't notice until the leaves were chewed to bits. But then I got some spray and soaked those bushes. I was happy to note there is new growth on them and hopefully, they'll bounce back and bloom again. I will keep a close eye on them and keep them sprayed until those bugs stay away for good.
I love color and right now, there's lots of it to be seen.

I don't have a lot to say but I just have to update this blog because I get a little sick every time I have to look at the picture of Andy's foot!

There has not been much call for yard work because of a lack of rain. However, I'm expecting that to change since we've had showers the last 3-4 evenings. We were not home yesterday so I was so excited to discover that we'd had a half inch of rain while we were gone! I'm sure that will encourage the grass to grow again (which will then need to be mowed) as well as the weeds (which will then need to be pulled).

Andy's foot is improving and he is finally able to wear a sock. He is also getting around without crutches, being able to put weight on the heel of his right foot. And he is once more driving himself on short little excursions. Fortunately, it's only 1 mile to and from church. So progress is being made. I think he's getting eager to start working around the house again. The kitchen window project is so visible to us - a constant reminder that it is waiting to be completed.

In light of the fact that he still can't do a lot physically, we decided to use our day off to visit Amy & family. We left after our lunch time and arrived early afternoon. Amy was hoping to make strawberry freezer jam and had already started. But Katy was wanting to be held, so I stepped in and helped her with that project. I would have gladly held Katy but she seemed to want Mommy, so Amy was making jam with a baby on her hip. With the 2 of us working on it, we got a lot done - a whole flat of strawberries. I'm sure Amy will be posting pictures.

It was such a nice day, Andy and Chase were able to spend a lot of time outside. I didn't get any pictures of them because of working on the jam, but they played whiffle ball and another game Chase made up of throwing a ball into the empty strawberry flat from the top step of the porch. It's amazing how creative kids can be!

We didn't see much of Joanna because she spent the afternoon and evening in bed due to a discipline issue. But it was one of those instances of several factors working together to create the situation. And it brought back memories of our own parenting and how hard it is sometimes - a good reminder to be faithful in praying for our children as they raise their children.

Amy made a delicious dinner: chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach. I made a salad. I used spring mix as the base and added diced apples and craisins. The other day I was looking in my cupboards and found some barley. I have a very good soup recipe that calls for barley but now that it's summer time, I'm not going to be making soup for a while. So I decided to cook up some barley and add that to the salad, too. I cooked it in chicken broth and it turned out to be quite tasty.

By the end of the evening, Katy was warming up to me and smiled for the camera. Of course, we were across the table from each other, maybe she felt safe!

I took 2 pictures the whole time we were at Amy's and I'm not happy with either of them. I'm afraid I'm not very good at seizing Kodak moments. So this is a picture-less blog this time.

I guess I had more to say than I thought as this turned out to be somewhat wordy.

Surgery, Dawn & Kira, Naomi & Drought

Andy went to the doctor today, 3 weeks after his foot surgery. Progress is being made, the pins were removed today from his 2 toes. So what exactly did the surgery entail? Several things: a bunion was removed from the big toe and 3 screws put in. We're not sure why screws were needed but it was a long and ugly incision to implant them. Those screws will remain permanently. Another part of the surgery corrected 2 toes that were bent. The one toe was a result of being broken years before and it was affecting the toe next to it and making it crooked, too. So the toe that was broken was re-broken with a pin inserted to hold it in the proper position. The toe next to that one was twisted to the proper position, then a pin inserted in that one, too, to keep it straight.

So the prognosis today was: he can get the foot wet now. He can also put some pressure on the heel of the foot. But he will need to continue using the crutches for a little longer. I know he's getting tired of sitting around, but it's all for a good cause. Hopefully, when the healing is complete, he'll be able to walk without pain.

Over the weekend, I got a call from Dawn who told me that Tommy would be away Monday through Wednesday for work. She then asked if she could join us for dinner any night. Of course, we wanted her. So Monday evening she came over and I fixed her favorite dinner: spaghetti. It was like old times except that Kira was with us, too. She adds a lot of interest to dinner time!

Naomi's birthday was Tuesday, so I went grocery shopping in the morning to pick up a few items for things I was going to bring along to their house later. I made turkey burgers, brought rolls, and made a Caesar's salad. We left around 1:00 to drive up to C & C's. We enjoyed an evening picnic on their "new" patio. Fortunately, the heat wave hadn't hit yet, so it was a very pleasant evening outside. Naomi is a joy to give to because she is so dramatic when she opens her presents. Each present is the best she's ever gotten or exactly what she wanted!

On Wednesday, I thought it would be fun to go to Chipotle's with Dawn and Kira, since Tommy was still away, and Andy was also occupied. (He had a dinner appointment.) Well, I didn't do a very good job of taking into account Kira's inability to sit still for very long. That girl is a ball of energy! So it was an interesting dinner. It really was an "eat and run" affair! I looked at the clock as we left the restaurant and it was 5:42 pm. We hadn't even left the house till after 5:00 and it takes 10-15 minutes to get there. We certainly weren't there very long. Dawn was prepared with food and books and toys for Kira, and they worked for a little while, maybe 2 seconds! Then she wanted out of her restraints. Well, after eating we went back to our house and played a little with the toys and dress up clothes.

Wow! Is it ever hot! I was happy to get most of my gardening done before the heat wave hit us. It's looking good in my gardens - weed-less and the bushes are now trimmed to a less shaggy look. But the lawn is so brown...we desperately need rain. I am careful to faithfully water the flowers but our property is so huge, it would be impossible to keep all the lawn watered. It seems early in the season for it to be so dry. Hopefully, we'll get rain soon.

The latest

Several weeks ago, I went to a friend’s house with a number of other women where we received some instruction on making green smoothies, growing our own sprouts and making kiefer. I was inspired and bought the Green Smoothie Revolution book. I found some recipes that appealed to me and have been experimenting. They don’t look appetizing unless you like the color green, but I have to tell you: they are delicious. What an ingenious way to get greens inside you: blend them into bits and add an apple, pear, banana or other fruit to give it sweetness. Very tasty!

Since coming home from vacation, I have been making them every night and refrigerating them for our breakfast. Andy is drinking them, too. We each have a quart every day. So we are now incredibly healthy! They are really delicious, even with such greens added as kale, chard, dandelion greens, beet greens and Romaine.

I have also been growing our own sprouts to add to our salads. I also add them to my sandwich wrap for lunch. I ordered a sample kit of seeds and have enough sprout seeds to last for years, I think.

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend. I had 4 whole days off work and all in a row. I drove up to get my Mother on Saturday morning, then brought her back to our house for a couple of days. We were able to visit and play some games in the afternoon. At 4:00 pm, Tommy and Dawn came over to help us prepare for the picnic we were hosting for the church choir. It was so good of them to help us since Andy is a bit incapacitated on his crutches. So Tommy started the grill and ran over to church to get more chairs and tables to set up in the yard.

At 5:00 people started arriving for the picnic. It turned out to be a nice evening after all. The threatening rain never developed into more than a minute or two of sprinkles. We ended up with plenty of food that people brought. It was a happy evening with about 35 people present.

On Sunday, we went to church, then had our usual Sunday brunch of omelettes and waffles. Mother and I played some more games, then went over to Tommy and Dawn’s so Mother could see their house. They’ve been in nearly a year and Mother still hadn’t been to see it. Kira woke up and we stayed a little longer to play with and enjoy her. She is very entertaining right now.

Andy went with us to drive Mother home on Monday morning. We had a good weekend together, but now it’s back to realty. Monday afternoon was spent cleaning house, I did my usual Tuesday chores one day early this week. I also did some grocery shopping and again, Andy went with me. You know he must be bored if he goes shopping with me!

I'm glad I got all my cleaning and shopping done on Monday, because Tuesday I spent the morning with 3 other women cleaning out the women's ministry shed at church. It was supposed to be the hottest day of the year so far, but we started at 9:00 in the morning and it wasn't too bad. We worked hard for 2 solid hours and got it all organized and cleaned. We can actually walk around in there now. It was a great feeling of accomplishment to get that done. We finished just as the sun was getting high in the sky and we were running out of shade.

I spent almost 2 hours outside tonight after dinner in my gardens. They were getting quite weedy and I had been putting off being out there because of the heat. But it was a very pleasant evening and I got a lot done. Yeah!

Bloom Where You're Planted

Bloom Where You’re Planted is an expression that’s been around for awhile. It’s really a biblical concept, taken from passages like Philippians 4:11: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

It’s always so interesting to me whenever we visit the west, in more arid climates, how tenaciously plants, flowers and trees can grow on any little patch of dirt. Sometimes trees seem to be growing out of the tops of rocks, making us wonder how they can possibly put down roots. But somehow they do. Or like this one...what happened here? This tree's roots are up out of the dirt, making it look like it's walking up the hill!

Then there are the flowers. Andy and I were amazed at the variety of flowers we saw in Utah, a region that gets about 15 inches per year. (South Jersey averages 40-50 inches or rainfall a year.) There were lots of patches of bare rock and dirt, but then at various points, we would see a plant or bush in flower. The desert really has a special kind of beauty, especially when it is blooming.

And so with people. We may be in a dry place and going through a rough time, but if we can keep our eyes on Jesus and display contentment and joy, His beauty shines through.

Spontaneity & Surgery

I was talking to Christy last week and mentioned to her that we got a few things to give to the kids, but I didn't know when we would see them again. "Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" So one thing led to another and it was decided she and the family would come down to see us on Saturday and have dinner with us.

Then a couple days later, I mentioned to Dawn that Christy was coming down. Again, one thing led to another, and I invited her and her family to join us for dinner.

On Friday afternoon...yup...you guessed it, I was talking to Amy and told her Christy and Dawn and their families were coming down on Saturday, did she and hers want to come down, too?

It was a wonderful time of cousins, sons-in-law, daughters - a house full of comraderie and fun. The only downside was that this weekend was when Andy had worship team, so he had to leave for rehearsal by 6:15. He hadn't done worship team since Dec. 26, but had to fill in this weekend because there were a lot of men gone on the Men's Retreat.

We had bought each of the kids a book that was age appropriate to them and applicable to desert and the west. They also like to collect rocks so any time we're away, we look for unusual rocks to bring to them.

Joanna is really into the dress up clothes. Isn't she gorgeous?Could she fit any more bracelets on her arm???And everybody likes to have Grammy read to them.Look at little Katy back there in the corner behind Daddy. She even had a dress up hair band on.
Today was the day for Andy's toe surgery. He had to be at the hospital by 6:00 am, so left the house at 5:00. He didn't get home till after 12:00 noon, but it wasn't because the surgery lasted that long. They didn't take him right away, so he was waiting quite a while to be operated on. The doctor told him the surgery went well. His toe is straight! Yeah! He has 3 pins sticking in his toe which will come out in a week or so. He is currently on pain medication with an ice pack on the foot. Hopefully, he'll soon be good as new, or at least better than yesterday!

Before surgery

After surgery

Utah vacation

We're finally getting back into the swing of things since getting back from vacation. My long to-do list is shrinking. After being gone for 8 days, it was a bit daunting to come back to piles of laundry and mail, not to mention my work at the office. When we drove in the driveway, our yard looked like a jungle and the bushes had become quite bushy. There is still lots to do, but we're making progress.

We left for vacation on Monday, May 2, taking pretty much all day to fly from Philadelphia to Las Vegas, then drive the rental car to our first national park at Springdale, Utah. It was dark when we got to our hotel, but in the morning when we looked out our window, this is the scene that greeted us:
This is Zion National Park. No one is allowed to drive in the park because of pollution and for ecological reasons, but shuttle buses are available at the Visitor Center and they run quite frequently. So we took a bus up into the canyon that follows the Virgin River. There are lots of stops along the way and we got out at one that looked interesting, but it was very cold and windy, so we decided to leave, do something else and come back in the afternoon.

We drove up to the northern end of Zion to the Kolob Canyons. There was a trail there that we found, hiked in about 1/2 mile, then back out. It was at 6,080 feet in elevation so we were gasping for breath. We're not used to that kind of hiking, being from NJ where we always hike on even ground at sea level!

By now it was warming up so we drove back down to our motel, rested a bit, then resumed our exploring back on the shuttle bus. The scenery is amazing with high canyon walls on either side of the Virgin River. The cliffs and rock formations are quite awe inspiring with such names as: The Towers of the Virgin, Altar of Sacrifice, Court of the Patriarchs, The Great White Throne, Angels Landing.

We stopped at 2 places to hike: The Grotto - a 2 mile hike on the Emerald Pools Trail and The Temple of Sinawava, another 2 mile hike along the river. The Emerald Pools Hike was somewhat strenuous, especially since it was up and down. The hike later along the river was easier and more level because it followed the river. It was also easier because it was paved (handicap accessible).

Pictures of Zion National Park

Wherever there's water, Andy has to test the temperature. And this time, he had a good excuse because of his sore foot. He said it was freezing. I took his word for it.
After our breakfast on Wednesday morning, we drove on out to Bryce Canyon National Park. The whole trip was scenic with red rock formations and sandstone rocks.

Pictures along the way:

We got to Bryce Canyon fairly early, then spent the day driving to all the interesting points in the park. We'd get out at each scenic overlook, take pictures and do a little hiking. We didn't really do any long hikes this day - we were a little stiff and sore from the day before.

At Zion the cliffs and rocks were enormous as we looked up at them from the canyon floor. At Bryce we were up on a plateau looking down on the rock formations in the canyon. Being so high made it difficult to do anything very strenuous. Most of the places we stopped to look were well over 8,000 feet in elevation and the highest was 9,115 feet! It was hard to catch enough breath and our bodies felt like lead!

The weather was cool. We saw quite a bit of snow in the highest places, but the roads and trails were all clear.

Pictures of Bryce National Park:

On Thursday, we drove scenic route 12 east from Bryce Canyon to Torrey, Utah, making some stops along the way. One of those was at Mossy Cave and waterfall. It was a fairly easy hike along red rocks and pines that led to a cave and waterfall. One hundred years ago, men had dug twelve miles (all by hand) to allow water to provide for the town of Tropic, Utah.The other place we stopped was at the Kodachrome Basin State Park. We had to take a dirt road back to see Chimney Rock, then another dirt road to a hiking trail. That trail was a very nice hike - 1.7 miles - that looped, going by Shakespeare Arch, a large natural arch. This trail also gave "magnificent views of the Grand Staircase - Esacalante National Monument, which surrounds the park." (from the park literature)My calves were really sore from all the hiking we'd done in the last several days, but it was good to get out and get the exercise. The weather was so nice: the sky was brilliantly blue, the air was cool and the sun was warm.

On the way to our hotel, the road wound around rock formations of all colors, ascended high mountains and descended again. At the top of one mountain, a sign said we were at 9,000 feet. The vistas from up there were so gorgeous. There was still quite a bit of snow in spots. Some of the descents had signs saying it was a 10% down grade!

After breakfast on Friday morning, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park. On the way we stopped at a hike called Hickman's Bridge. The sign said 1.7 miles one way, so we did it. It was a moderate hike with ups and downs that took us past incredible rock formations, enormous cliffs and finally ended at a huge arch.
It was good hiking weather, nice and cool. After that hike, we stopped to observe some petroglyphs, drawings on cliffs made many years ago by primitive people. Andy and I were speculating that they were probably made by teens doing graffiti!The colors on the cliffs are so amazing with lots of red, layers of white, and also gray green rocks. On our way out of the park, we saw a sign for Chimney Rock (a different one from the one in Escalante park), so we decided to check it out. You had to hike out to the rock, and a sign said it was a 3 1/2 mile loop. We decided to go for it. The first mile was very strenuous, mostly uphill. We were huffing and puffing in the rarified air, especially me. I hadn't been able to sleep much the previous two nights, so my legs were so leaden on the ascents. It was a great hike, though, especially on the top of a plateau that we reached. The view from up there was awesome! Well, it was a great feeling of accomplishment to finally make it. Whew!Saturday was another beautiful day for our visit to Arches National Park. It was the hottest day of our week, getting up to around 90 degrees. I'd prefer not to hike when it's so hot, but there was a breeze going most of the time, so it wasn't too bad. We drove all the roads in the park and stopped at nearly all the overlooks. Again, the landscape was so interesting. We saw rock formations that looked like a sheep at the top, 3 gossips, a courthouse, tower of Babel, etc. We hiked at several spots: Balanced Rock (.3 miles), The Windows, (1 mile, plus an alternate return which made it longer), Sand Dune Arch (.3 mile), Delicate Arch, upper and lower viewpoints (100 yards + .5 miles), and Skyline Arch (.2 mile). Each hike resulted in observations of arches formed in the rocks. Altogether we hiked about 1 1/2 miles.

The 3 Gossips

The Windows

We stayed in Green River, Utah on Saturday and Sunday nights, using that as our base to see Arches & Canyonlands national parks. The drive from Green River to the parks is quite desolate and parts of it look like a lunar landscape. The amazing thing is that there are actually cattle out there grazing. I don't know what they can possibly find to eat because the fields are so brown and bare.

The vegetation turns greener, though, as you drive into the park. Canyonlands is also called "Island in the Sky." It's a high plateau sitting above the canyon floor, that was made by the Colorado and Green Rivers. You get a good view out onto all kinds of rock formations, cliffs and canyons. The weather wasn't as hot this day, but it was incredibly windy. At several spots we were getting sand blasted. We stopped at several look out points and hiked, not as much as the day before, but still got some in. At the Grand View Point Outlook, 6,080 feet elevation, we hiked 2 miles round trip. At Mesa Arch, a short 1/2 mile hike, we were surprised to find a beautiful arch at the end of that trail. I suggested we go to the other side to take pictures, because we were facing the sun. But as we got closer - whoa! The arch opened onto a sheer cliff drop off.Another place we stopped was at Whale Rock. We started up the trail and got almost to the top, but the wind was so fierce with no handrails on a somewhat hazardous trail, so we turned and headed back. We estimated that hike to be .8 mile since the entire one was 1 mile.It was a fabulous trip, but our adventures didn't end with visiting the parks. (We crossed 5 more off our list, with only 35 left to go!)

Our plane left from Las Vegas on Tuesday morning. We were going to use all day Monday for travel, then see if we could go visit the Hoover Dam which is only about 30 miles from Las Vegas. Well, the road from Green River, Utah to Las Vegas goes through several passes at pretty high elevations. Our whole week was sunny and nice, but Monday we woke up to rain. We packed up and started on our journey. We drove out of the rain and were enjoying the ride, when we started climbing up into the mountains and the clouds turned dark gray. Then it started to snow. The roads were very slippery and we were both quite scared. The scenery was beautiful but it was difficult to appreciate that beauty because of the danger of driving in such hazardous conditions. We finally drove out of the storm, relaxed and made good time, then drove into another storm. The snow was a little deeper on the road this time, and most of the time, we couldn't see the lines that marked the lanes. We saw several cars in the ditch by the side of the road, one of them even turned the wrong direction. But we finally drove out of that storm, too.We drove to Hoover Dam, made it after six hours of continuous driving. But then it started raining, with lightning and thunder and hail. So we didn't stay. We did see Lake Mead and the bridge over the dam, but didn't get out of the car. Maybe another time...

This has become quite a tome, and there is more to tell, but it will have to wait for another day. We took a little over 400 pictures. It was another winner of a vacation.