Today Ms. Kate and I celebrate our 58th wedding anniversary. I find that simply amazing because that is something that old people do, isn’t it? Yes we are a bit worn and tattered but I don’t feel that we are “old’ and most days we don’t even look or feel particularly old. A few years ago our “older generation” of parishioners began celebrating 60th anniversaries and we attended their parties, and I remember remarking how wonderful that it was. Now, Ms, Kate and I are only two years away from that! Wow. So Lord, if you are listening —- I’m laying out a goal to go maybe a few years even beyond 60 years. If we can just get Ms. Kate well, and up and running again. 

When Doctor Roberts did Ms. Kate’s surgery he said he anticipated that he would be able to do the “resection” in five or six weeks. Wednesday will be two weeks  so hopefully it will only be four more weeks until we take her back to the hospital and have her “put back together”. Unfortunately my job of handling her wound care has not gone smoothly. But, —- it it is a learning process and you just clean up the messes as you go. On the bright side, I did get her hair washed today which Mae her feel a lot better. 

Yesterday I made a crockpot of vegetable soup and if I may say so —- it is delicious and Ms. Kate says so too. I also baked an Angel Food cake and put an orange glaze on it. It’s our 58th anniversary cake. It’s pretty darn tasty too. 

We sat in the sunporch for quite awhile today watching the birds and enjoying  the fresh air and sunshine. It sure doesn’t feel like a February day and I’m very grateful for that. It’s a spirit lifter kind of day for sure. 

That’s it, Got to tend to0 my bride. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Friday, February 23rd and I am glad to report that Ms. Kate is back home where she belongs. I am even more happy to say that she is doing so very well. We brought her home Wednesday afternoon. I had ordered a Wheelchair through Amazon and it was supposed to be delivered some time Wednesday afternoon but I wasn’t sure when. So, I asked Karen to meet us at home to help me get her in the house. She isn’t up to coming through the garage and using the three steps there so I would have to walk her all the way around the house and come in through the sunporch where there is only about a step and a half. Well, as  good luck would have it. We got home the same time as Karen arrived and at the same time as the mail carrier was delivering the wheelchair. So, we got her in the house and settled in and everything has just been getting a bit better each day. Her strength is improving. We have to get her out of her recliner several times a day to drain her ostomy bag and let her go pee. When we first brought her home she could barely get out of her chair but today she does it fairy easily by herself. All praise to our God who heals. Never doubt the power of prayer. 

Peace. 

 Good evening. It’s Thursday evening and I just got home and settled in from another day at the hospital. Ms. Kate is doing so much better. The first few days were terrible for her. She got so nauseous from taking her Flagyl antibiotic. They tried all kinds of things to get it under control. Sunday they moved her to a regular room, (I think it was Sunday) Yesterday morning I went in and she was all smiles because she had had a great night’s sleep. She was still having some nausea but she refused her last dose of the antibiotic and has been better ever since. They have started her on Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy and she did great on both. Today they taught me how to do wound care at home. And —- it is possible that she will get to come home tomorrow, if not —- I think it will be on Thursday. 

Yesterday we decided that we probably need to get a wheelchair to get Kate in and out of the house for a couple of weeks. She’s not yet ready to try going up our stairs in the garage to get into the house. That means that she will have to walk all the way around the house to the back door which is a long way. I asked a couple friends if they had one and struck out. So — Amazon delivers!!! I bought a new one and it will be here tomorrow. I could have rented one I guess but it is cheaper to buy a new one than to rent one for two or three weeks. 

That’s it for my update. Thank you for all of your prayers. Peace. 

 Thursday — Noon o’clock. I’m sitting in Deaconess ICU with Ms. Kate. She had her surgery yesterday and it was more extensive than was anticipated. They took out 18 inches of intestines and colon. This morning though she is alert and feeling as well as her pain button will allow her to. We expect she will be in ICU until Saturday and then moved to a regular ward room. 

I want to give credit to her nursing staff here in ICU and to her doctors. This room has been Grand Central Station all morning with people coming in and doing all of the things that they have to do to and for her. Her surgery team has been excellent and we could not be more pleased. A loot of people we now seem t think they have to go Indianapolis or some other “big city” to get quality doctors.  We feel that we are extremely lucky and blessed to have the facilities and the medical personnel here that we do. 

So that’s it for today. Thanks for all of your prayers. 

Peace. 

 Good morning on this sunny Tuesday morning. It’s a warming up 48 degrees right now and will rise another ten degrees maybe. I was looking out my kitchen window this morning and I can really see all of the daffodils out there in the center flowerbed. Out front there are lots of daffodils and the hyacinths are up too. I haven’t seen any tulips yet though. Tulips are strange; they don’t seem to last vary many seasons and then I have to replant. If they don’t come up —- I may not replant them. I have enough flowers to take care of. 

I got my potting soil delivered yesterday from Amazon. I will probably wait until Kate gets back from the hospital to fool with all of that. I have enough other things on my plate right now that I don’t need to be worrying about planting tomato seeds in my cups. 

Tomorrow is the day! At long last we have gotten to surgery day. Today is her official “prep and clean-out day’. I feel for her. She takes her first dose of meds at 1400 and life will not be pleasant for the next several hours. But, what ever it takes to get the job done. Her instructions tell her to get a good nights rest but they also tell her that she has to be drinking Gatorade in the middle of the night to replace her electrolytes so I suspect we will not get a lot of sleep tonight. 

I have a funeral visitation to attend this afternoon. Kate said it is just as well that I’m gone for a while this evening. So, I will go to the visitation and then to get something to eat for supper before I come home.   

That’s it for today. Please keep us in your prayers. We have every reason to believe that is all going to go very well and in four to six weeks she will be dancing —— which will be a miracle in itself because she hasn’t danced in twenty or more years. LOLOLOL. 

Peace

 Welcome back to a brand new Monday. I hope you had a great weekend. Ms. Kate and I had a “mixed weekend”. 

We are in the middle of her surgery prep and are only two days away. We have to be at the hospital at 0700 on Wednesday morning for a 0930 surgery. In the mean time, she is now off of her Coumadin blood thinner medicine and I am having to give her Lovenox shots as a “bridge” until after the surgery. She’s having four shots a day and we have given her 10 for far and she has 6 more to go through tomorrow evening. She also has had four days of drinking a “Boost” like product and has one more of those to drink yet today. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day because she has to go through a system “clean-out” similar to a colonoscopy prep. Plus she has to drink a gross amount of her medicine for that mixed with Gatorade. Yuk!! Bless her heart. I’m asking for continued prayers for her once again. 

I got a text Saturday afternoon from my pastor asking if I could fill in for him Sunday morning. His wife, Kari, has Covid so he is quarantined along with her. I pray she doesn’t pass it to him. Of course I agreed to step in. It’s been only six weeks since I last did a service but I have missed it. The service went well. Pastor Shane is lucky in that he has two pastors in the congregation, myself and Pastor Art, who can step in if needed. Of course I don’t hold a candle to Pastor Art. Pastor Art has a Doctorate degree and has been preaching for over 60 years. But, I’m glad and thankful to be of help when I can. 

It is a beautiful sunny but chilly day. It’s hard to think that the forecasters are saying we may be getting rain and maybe even snow yet today. But, not much we can do about it. It is supposed to be in the forties again tomorrow so if we get any snow, it won’t amount to a hilll of beans. (Hmmmm, I wonder where that expression came from? What is a hill of beans worth? What kind of beans are we talking about?)

Peace. 

 I know my thermometer says it is 63 outside but it doesn’t feel like it. The su can’t seem to break trough the clouds and there is enough of a breeze to ring the Corinthian chimes so that makes it chilly. Luckily, we are home fro our running around and don’t have to go back out today at all. The first thing o the agenda today was for Kate to get a haircut. So I took her down for that and sat in the car while she got er hair done. It looks nice, —- and yes, I told her so. 

Next, we went to the east side of town to “Party City” so I could get some clear 18oz plastic cups for my tomato seeds. I got to quit watching videos about planting my tomatoes. I keep finding something else I need. For instance, I bought the red cups and I got them ready to put my dirt in. Remember the other day when I told you I bought grade soil instead of potting soil? Well, my latest video made it clear that I should buy potting soil because it prevents fungus and some kind of gnat. So I got on Amazon and my potting soil will be deliverer on Tuesday. Then I saw aa video that said the outside cup of my double cup method should be clear so I can easily tell when I need to add water. That makes sense of course so I went to Party City and got more cups. 

On the way home from there, we stopped at Penn Station and picked up lunch and brought it home. Now, I’m watching the squirrels look for new places to hide pecans and Ms. Kate is in her recliner and has taken her morning pre-op stuff. Tomorrow I have too start giving her the Lovenox injections. 

That’s it for today. Enjoy your weekend. Peace. 

 It’s another beautiful cold morning but is warming up nicely. It was 35 when I got up and is 45 now and on the way to 60. I’ll take it, thank you very much Lord. 

This morning I am starting to get my stuff organized so I can plant my tomato seeds. Yesterday I went out and ought a LED “shop light” to use as a “grow light”. The problem is that it is a foot too long for where I’m planning to put my seedling cups. So I have that issues to figure out. I told y’all that I’m using the “solo-cup” planting system. It takes two solo cups per seed or couple of seeds. I got my 1/4 inch holes drilled in all of the inside cups to allow water to seep up and roots to grow out of.  (Per a video I saw) and I bought some “river pebbles” yesterday at Lowes and have put a couple of pebbles in each of the outside cups to give a bit of distance between the cups. (Per a different video I saw. —— what would we do without the internet and You Tube to tell us how to breathe?) I also bought some Miracle Gro garden soil to put in my cups to plant the seeds in. I taught about using potting soil instead of garden dirt but convinced myself that the dirt would be a better medium. Of course that decision was based a pure guess.  So, now I have to clean all of the stuff off of the shelf that I intend to put the cups on. One thing always leads to another doesn’t it.

I just got one of those scam phone calls allegedly from “my grandson”. I knew instantly that it wasn’t one of mine because He started out with “Hey Grandpa” and none of my grandchildren call me by that name. They each have  their own endearing name for me, and none of them call me Grandpa. But — I let him tell his tale of woe and then hung up on him. I guess I’m a “bad grandpa”. LOLOLOL

One week from now I will be sitting in a waiting room for the doctor’s to come tell me that they have finished Kate’s surgery. This Friday she has to start with some of her prep stuff including me giving her her Lovenox injections. We are both so anxious about this surgery getting done. Amazingly enough, I don’t think either of us is “frightened” about her having it. We just assume it is going to go well and will take care of the issues she has been having. We have turned this over to God and God will make happen what ever is right. 

So tat is it for today. Have a pleasant day. Say a prayer for all of the people in this world that are facing crises of any kind. Peace

 Another day of waking up to sunshine and clear skies. It like like a great morning to sit out in the sun porch and watch my guests at the Backyard Buffet; —- but it is 32 degrees so maybe not. Not until I go turn on my space heater and let it set for aa bit. 

I was up a little earlier this morning because I was supposed to have an optometry appointment at 0915.  But when I picked up my phone this morning I had a message from the doctor’s office saying that my doctor would not be in today so I would have to reschedule. That works fine for me. I rescheduled for the week after Kate’s surgery. She should be home by then and recovering. Hopefully she will be fine to leave alone, at least that is what we expect. 

So today, Kate is going to try to get in to get her hair trimmed prior to her surgery. I don’t see that she needs a haircut but if she thinks she does — then she does. Now that my day is open I think I will go to ACE Hardware or to Lowes and get my potting soil so I can plant my tomato seeds and get them going. I have never started tomato’s from seeds before so this is an experiment. I have two different kinds of tomato seeds that I ordered and a package of yellow summer squash seeds. I will wait on the squash seeds and just plant them directly in the pots I plan to use after last possible frost. But I wanted to try starting my tomato’s from seeds this year. I’m using the “solo cup” method that I saw in a You Tube video. I reckon I will see what happens. It could turn out to be a lot more trouble than it is worth or I might just end up with a bumper crop and more tomatoes than I know what to do with. 

Kate and I watched one television show last night, the Kid’s Baking Championship and then spent the evening reading our respective books. Art Christmas loaned me a book from his library on Sunday by Wayne Oates. Dr. Oates was one of Art’s professors and mentors in seminary. The book is a good read. I finished a third of it last night. Maybe I’ll read some more of it today while I’m waiting for the temperature outside to warm up. 

Ms. Kate and I filled bird feeders yesterday afternoon and threw out some more pecans for the squirrels. Those are all gone already this morning. 

That’s it for today. I pray your day will be blessed. I ask for the Lord too pass His hand over you and bring comfort to whatever obstacles might be in your path today. Peace. 

 Good morning and happy new week. God has blessed us with another beautiful day which is nice. Kate and I had some running around to do first thing today. She had to go have some blood dawn as part of her pre-operation protocol. Then we had to go to Walgreens and get some clarification on one of the pre-op medications that I have to give her right before surgery. Her doctor will take her off of her Coumadin blood thinner four days before surgery and I will have to give her Lovenox injections twice a day as a “bridge” until she can go back on her Coumadin after the surgery is over. After Walgreens, we went out to the Sunrise cafe and had aa great breakfast. I love that we have so many great breakfast places her e in Evansville since that is one of my favorite  meals. 

Went to church yesterday and the pastor had a good message and we had a chance to see old friends and meet some new people that have joined the church since we have been there. I life-long friend Ron Henze waas in town from Ohio and sang a couple of solos. 

Yesterday evening I actually did do some clean up in my garage. Not that one could tell unless you really looked and knew what was where before. But, in the process I also got the battery fully charged on both of the John Deere’s. I know it is early February but one needs to keep the toys kept in order. One never knows when one needs to just take a mower ride because it’s fun.  I will work on the garage again this afternoon. 

In the meantime, it may be that nap time will raise its lovely head. Have a blessed week my friends. Peace. 

 The weekend. Has arrived. Happy Saturday to you. I’m sitting in my family room recliner cause it is still a bit cool to be in the sunporch. ButI’m looking out at a beautiful day.  The sun is shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky. It looks like one of those days that I should put on my jeans and go outside and do something in the yard. But —- it is 36 degrees so I think I will pull the reins on that thought for a couple of hours. It is supposed to get up to 58 later today. Actually there isn’t  any work to be done outside just yet but I do want to work on my garage and will have the overhead door open while I do that. I have been promising myself that I will try to straighten up my garage for some time. But it gets really cold out there too. 

Did I tell you that we have an actual surgery date for Ms. Kate? It is February 14th. Yesterday we went to the surgery center for her to pick up her instructions and materials for surgery prep. We are eleven days out now. While we aren’t excited about having surgery, we are excited about the expected outcome of the surgery. The really good thing is that she is going into the surgery in much better condition than she was. That in and of itself will help with the healing process. 

Thursday we went up to my sister-in-lw’s house so I could gather some pecans for my squirrels. Karen’s two pen trees have been super prolific this year. I don’t need them for us to eat but I wanted to gather some for my squirrels. I have this super “rollater” pecan picker-upper that make the job easy and fun. I gathered a five gallon bucket to the brim with pecans and I never left her driveway. This is the second “picking” that I have done this winter. I throw a couple of dozen pecans at a time out by my bird feeders and by the next morning they are all gone. It is a win-win situation; Karen gets her driveway cleaned off and I get free food for my squirrels. Her house sits on the Ohio River with an unobstructed view of the river so I take my time. There is a walking trail along the highway that is always busy with walkers and  bicycle riders and I watch the river barges as they approach or pass through the Dam a half mile up the road. It makes for an excellent hour or so especially if the wind isn’t blowing. Thursday was perfect. 

I think it is time for me to visit the kitchen and toast a bagel or something and then get dressed to start my day. I pray you have a wonderful weekend. Please take time to visit your house of worship. God has blessed you a million times this week. Take time to give tanks for that. Peace.