I'm Sorry

Apologies for the double-play on my Valentine's day entries, but when I first hit "publish", nothing happened! I labored to make a second entry, and now I see they both ended up getting published! Well, at least you know I don't BS cuz they both were the same!  hahaha  Small town, small mind, I guess. I am stuck inside with zero temps. Pansy me with cold weather. Not just Benny. My truck never got fixed this week: mixed signals with the mechanic. So I guess I'm still grounded for a while. I feel like I'm 14 again and my Mom said those dreaded words to punish me......"You're Grounded" Hopefully Spring will get here soon, so will my garden cart, and plant orders, and I'll be Loopy once again!!

Happy Valentine's Day

   This is for all of you who get cards, or candy, or roses each year,. Go kiss and hug your sweetie. Then come back to me. .......OKAY?????.........Now. Business as usual. Since I got none of the aforementioned, it's just Benny and me this year. Hell, even the guy I've been chatting with for two months online has been a no-show for two days, I guess it's me and my shadow. I once had a dance recital solo done to that song. Me and my Tap Shoes. So here I go. I got a beautiful violet patterned dish from my friend Betsey. Thanks so much! It was exactly what I was talking about! Your card is in the mail. When I was a little girl, we lived on a dairy farm. I remember a few fond memories. Bringing eggs in from the chicken coop. Amazing, they were always warm from the hens laying on them. And there was all the times I was out in the fields, right next to our cows. Patting them and sitting down next to them in the fields. They weren't "just " cows, they were pets to our family. Maybe it was because we only had 12 or so. It wasn't a huge heard or anything. One day a small girl at the time, I ran in from the barn yelling, "Mom! Come quick!! One of our cows is sick!!!" It was the first time I had ever seen an animal giving birth. Lesson 101 in farm life. So with that out of the way, the real fond memories can begin. Because we had acreage, a company once came to harvest Which Hazel from our woods. Hell, does anyone still USE that stuff? Anyway, they left long roads in our woods. My Mom and I would go walking on them. There was a hollow where there was a small pond. My Mom got flat rocks from the area and we would sit on them. Each spring there were THOUSANDS of violets in there. Most were blue, but some were white. They would cross pollinate and a few would have blue and white on the SAME petal! Quite a memorable experience for a four year old! I highly recommend it for a child. Hell, you might give rise to another Euell Gibbons, or Peter Watson, ya never know...... That was where  my love of all things botanical sprung from. I got email confirmation on my garden cart, and yellow bleeding heart yesterday, Happy Happy Joy Joy.                                                                                                                                                                   
          Now my "gotta have it " list is done. But I think I might have to get a cherry tree. My Uncle Al had one. Each year he would devise ways to scare the birds away from the fruit. My thoughts are, if the tree is 25 feet high, let the birds have the ones on top anyhow if you can't reach them. But each year, he would hang pie plates and Christmas ornaments on the branches to try to keep those birds away. I never saw  any results, but it was fun to watch. I don't know what the big deal was; he didn't CAN or anything! Just didn't want the birds those get one of those cherries,   I guess. Well, guess I gotta get some work done around here, so Ta for now,,,

Happy Valentine's Day

           Well, I got no candy, or cards, or roses this year, and the one guy I've been chatting with for 3 months has dropped off the edge of the earth . So I guess it's just me and Benny for this year! All these Valentine's days have turned out to be let downs . If you are fortunate enough to have someone in your life, go give them a hug and kiss right now ....then come back to me.   OK? Now that that is out of the way, it's business as usual. Very cold today O degrees I think. Benny was out less than a minute. I bet he peed on my tires. He is the second dog I have adopted from down South and one thing is common. They both hate winter. Terrified of snow. Hate the cold. Despise rain. Pansies. Both, I say. I just got confirmation on my orders of my garden cart (JOY) and my yellow Bleeding Heart (JOY again) now my gotta have it list for this year is complete. Got the most adorable violet patterned dish from my friend Betsey. Your card is in the mail, dear. Thank you SSSOOO much. It is exactly what I was talking about!! When I was a small girl, we lived on a dairy farm. My mom and I would stroll down the paths that were created in our woods when a company came to harvest Witch Hazel  that grew in the back of our property. One place had a tiny pond. Frogs would lay eggs each spring and they would hatch into Tadpoles shortly after. Mom got flat rocks and put them around the pond so we could sit there. It was surrounded by literally THOUSANDS of violets. Most were violet, but there were some white in there. The flowers would cross pollinate, and some would have blue and white on the same petals! Amazing for a small child to see. That is where my love of all things botanical came from. I highly recommend this for any child. Hell. You might foster another Euel Gibbons, or Peter Watson. Who knows! Do they even sell Witch Hazel anymore?? I bought all the plastic netting they had at Wal Mart. This year, the birds are really going to have to WORK to get my raspberries, plums, and blueberries. The gloves are Off! When I get a cherry tree, I expect to have confrontations. My Uncle Al had one and every year he would try to keep all the cherries. I don't know why. He didn't can or anything! He would hang pie plates from the branches and Christmas ribbon and all sorts of bizarre things so the birds would not get any.  When your tree is 20 feet tall, I figure  the birds can have  the ones I can't reach .  And his creations didn't ever work anyhow!! But it was amusing to watch every year.  Well, I'm off to do some boring housework, soooo, this is LOOPY signing off for now.....Toodles Diggers
                                                                                                     

A big P.S.

              I just finished writing about MS and forgot to tell you about my 2 new purchases!! I ordered  my yellow bleeding heart, and JOY JOY also ordered a garden cart! I had a large one several years ago and had to sell it because it was HUGE. Well, I ordered one that is smaller yesterday. I can put it in my shed, carry all sorts of things with it, and I have wanted one for about 20 years now! Now I won't look like a bag lady going out to my gardens with my walker all loaded up with tools like shovels, rakes, etc. and plants. I can load everything in this and look normal(?) I found my bleeding heart for half the price it was anywhere else. It pays to get a lot of catalogs each spring. So that's it for now,,,  toodles

Nothing To Do with My Dirt

              Since I cannot play in my "dirt" because it's under a foot of snow right now, I'd thought  I'd go for a deeper topic du jour. Someone once suggested I blog about my life with MS in case someone else had any solutions. to share with me. So here goes.               In 1987 I went to Florida to visit my mom. She lived in Daytona. Before that time, for about a month, I had lost the sensation in my left side of my whole body. Hands were numb, legs were numb. But I didn't tell anyone. Not a soul. When you work in Graphic Arts, and have to handle RAZOR BLADES all day to cut film, it is not something you share with co-workers. Well, here we were, strolling along the beach, and I stepped in a hole. Because there was no feeling in my legs, I went down like a ton of bricks. I had to go to the hospital, and I broke my left foot in 2 places!!  Came home with a wheelchair from the plane! I thought it might be from smoking , so I thought about quitting. Then the sensation came back, and it was life as usual for a short time. And because of my job, I didn't tell anyone. And then I was driving home from work, (second shift) and I lost the sight in my left eye! Completely! I went to my Doctor, and he had me get an MRI. There it was in all my X rays. He said I had MS in my scans. Well, this was very upsetting to me because a few months earlier, I had visited an old friend that had MS and she had a crane over her bed, her husband had left her and her child, and she had to read large printed every thing!!! After my visit, I got word she had passed away. I asked my Doc if that was what I had to look forward to.  Hell, I never HEARD of MS before Mary had it. He told me every case was different. Joy joy. I went for PT and my counselor suggested I have hand controls put in my truck for the "bad days".                                                                                                                                                   I did and have used them every day since. I cannot lift my leg to step on the gas pedal. Or the brake. Wise man for sure. Thank you Alan Holden. Over these last 27 years or so, I guess I have had God's favor. Because I still only need a cane most days to get around. I have 4 of them over these years, and strange as it seems, I keep gong back to my first one every time. It just feels "right" I have 2 different  types of crutches, and 2 walkers. One is the standard aluminum kind, and one is my BEST! It has 4 wheels and a seat! Under the seat is a bag for your pocket book or other things when you go out. I use this one every time I go out to my gardens. I have all my hand tools in the bag, and cold drinks, and my ol trusty cane on top! Around my house I have installed grab bars for help, I did my bathroom over. I used to have a tub. One day, I was trying to get out of it, and....[picture this...fat lady wet and naked... stuck in her bathtub!!!] I had visions of EMT's coming to help me...  No friggin' way! I had the tub yanked out, and a shower stall installed  That ended that problem! I have a handicap entrance for my back door and it seems like my house is pretty well set up for me. I do not expect to go in a nursing home any time soon. hahaha  I have heard that attitude makes or breaks  you and I try to stay happy, sometimes silly to live by day to day. It works for me. A couple of years ago, I fell in my living room. and was on my floor way over an hour. I know because I fell facing the clock! When the EMT's came, I had already gotten over the anger. I was telling them I didn't want them to get hernias by picking me up. (there was the funny side of me again. ) Well one of them had left his sense of humor at home that day, cause   when he called to tell the ER when we would arrive he called me "inappropriately joyful and LOOPY !!!  Can you imagine that! I guess I should have been bitchy and hit him with my cane! That he would have understood!                                                                                                                                                  This has been my life so far, and I think so far I am doing okay. I went to the MS support group at my local hospital once, but left discouraged because every one was depressing and whining. I don't subscribe to that line of thinking. So here I am in my bubble of bliss and doing okay for now. Yes, I have bad days, and stressful moments. I had to go for a week without my injection because the grant money wasn't available. I had to make several phone calls, but I got it!! So as Martin Sheen used to say in THE  WEST WING....."what's next?"