WAITING

We hurried to get the house finished and now I'm waiting, waiting, waiting.  Waiting for the heavy sedation drugs to wear off, waiting for John to be able to breathe on his own, waiting for him to look me in the eyes and be in there, waiting for his smile, to hear his voice and his kind words.  


The docs have changed his drug protocol.  They are trying to wean him from the three drug sedation to Precedex.  The Precedex should have less issues with him being so agitated and out of it.  They will again try extubation once the sedation is better.  They can even extubate him while on the Precedex.  This could be as early as today, but most likely tomorrow.  We will see what happens then.  


Thank you so much for thinking of John and for your prayers.  


God bless you as you travel and enjoy your weekend.  

UPDATE - OUR JOURNEY'S DETOUR

John is still heavily sedated and has developed pneumonia.  They did try to take him off the vent, but it was just too early.  

On another note,I came home early today to catch a nap and to mow. Promptly hit a hidden rock and now mower needs repair.  

Other than that.......everything is hunky dorey....

LIFE IN INTENSIVE CARE

Monday, March 26


Being a patient in the hospital is not fun. Oh my, what a stressful place to be.  Being the spouse of the patient is also stressful.  It is the spouse's responsibility to be the patients advocate.  I find that I am like a mother hen hovering over her chick.  I guess he's my rooster chick.  


Right now, John is resting comfortably.  They did try to have him breathe on his own, reducing his sedation drugs and it just did not work.  He just was not ready today.  Tomorrow is another day and they may try tomorrow.  


On the positive side, Dr Duncan stated that when this is all over and done John will be back to the place he was prior to this horrible episode.  What a piece of good news that is!  God at work as usual!


Our daughter Holly the physician feels comfortable enough to proceed with her family vacation time to San Antonio tomorrow.  That in itself is so assuring.  And I encouraged her to go knowing that is what John would want.  


Tuesday, March 27


John has pneumonia.  Holly is on the road.  We are texting and I am wishing she were here.  But she will never know that.  


God is still good.  

UPDATE - OUR JOURNEY'S DETOUR

 First and foremost, I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and kind wishes. The prayers of our friends,  neighbors on our country road, our family and on John's behalf and for my strength have aided in John's beings able to allow the ventilator breathe for him. Therefore allowing the healing of John's lungs and body begin.  
 

It is a shame that we, mainly I did not see how tired and stressed John's body was.  I have been so intent on beginning our new journey that I was blinded and in total denial.  Please don't tell me not to feel badly.  I know that I cannot change things and I am not beating myself over the head for this.  It is a lesson learned. 


God allows us to make mistakes and it is up to us to learn and make a choice.  Will I learn from the mistakes in my life?  Or will I continue to repeat those mistakes?  Well, I now REALLY know the warning signs of John's fatigue and stress level and I will not continue with the pressure.  


John's condition was exacerbated by his Spring allergies, dust created in the house, etc., etc.  Over those things, we have no control.  I'll just take care of my part of the work and let God do his part.  


John chose to smoke two packs of Marlboro every day from college days till he was about fifty years old.  He is now paying the price for that choice.  So am I.  


I ask for you prayers that John will continue to rest and heal.  We definitely are not out of the woods yet.  Maybe, just maybe they will try to take him off the ventilator tomorrow.  If he can breathe on his own and maintain his oxygen levels and get that nasty carbon dioxide out of his lungs, we will be off our detour and back on the road of our journey.  


I have a family member coming to finish the three or four things that John needed to finish.  I still have Cruz our waiter from our favorite Mexican restaurant coming  to spread the ten yards or whatever it's called.  Our lawn tractor will be returned from the repair shop tomorrow or Tuesday and I will be able to mow a little each day before going to the hospital.  


I will sign the listing contract tomorrow and the photographer will be here the end of the week to photograph the interior and exterior of the house and barns and the grounds.  This paves the way for having the house on the market April 1.  


I am fully aware that many times, God has a far better idea.  It is often said that if you want to make God laugh, just tell Him how you have planned your life.  Let's see what happens from now until April first.  It would have to be April Fool's Day, doesn't it!  


My prayer is that at least one of you reading this will find something in your life that you are doing, that just maybe, you need to change in order not to have to "pay the piper" as we did.  For every action, there is a reaction. If you smoke, please consider seeking help to stop.  If you will not do it for yourself, do it for your loved ones.


I'm smiling, I hope you are too.  God bless!  

EMERGENCY DETOUR!

Around eight this morning, John went into respiratory distress.  By noon, he was in the hospital E.D. in respiratory failure.  Now, we are in the ICU.  He is heavily sedated and will remain so until Monday morning when they try to wean him off the ventilator.


I write this to ask you, my friends to join with me and my friends and family in prayer for John's recovery.  


Thanks to you all and God Bless

I DISCOVERED THAT I AM NOT TARZAN'S SISTER OR JANE! two

OK,  Blogger will not let me edit the post....and the meaning of the title of today's Blog is lost.  
 

Sooooo, while clearing out the dead trees, branches etc, I found..........two huge wild grape vines!  You know, the ones that grow up into trees and latch on to be later cut free in order to swing on them.  Swing and drop into a pond if you are lucky.  Maybe you can swing across a huge ravine and come back to "home base".  


Ok....now, you understand Tarzan and Jane..................I hope.!  

I DISCOVERED THAT I AM NOT TARZAN'S SISTER OR JANE!

Oh my!  What a day!  Actually, what a week this has been.  First, John caught a cold.  A cold for him is dangerous.  With his emphysema, it can be disastrous unless he immediately starts on an antibiotic and steroids.  Oh how fun it is.  


Then, there is the continuing work cleaning (not so much) and staging the house in order for it to be listed on the real estate market. 


Today, I have hung one print two times....and am overjoyed to report that it is still too high.   It is not all bad though.  I did get it centered in the area.  I have one of my oil paintings and our Howard Miller wall clock to hang in the family room.  Then I move out my spinning wheel (maybe) and my antique circular sock machine (probably) to the motorhome.   


In addition to the oh so fulfilling indoor work, I moved outdoors the the overly exciting tree line clearing.  How can one say exciting?  Marvelous.  Oh, so life fulfilling....not.  Tiring?  Yes.  


I'm getting too old for ripping out dead branches, raking  fallen twigs, getting stuck in wild rose bushes and smelling of smoke like a hot dog at a wiener roast.  And why is it that all the clip art that I can find is of MEN doing all the work????  


I even had to uncork the wine tonight while John was taking a nap!  Now, that was kinda okay.  


I am really working hard to keep us on track to list our house next week.  My goal was Tuesday, but now I will settle for Friday.  


Heck the ten yards of mulch doesn't even come till Monday morning.  Anyone want to come help spread mulch?  At least the week barriers are down. 


And now, for a more peaceful, relaxing part of the blog, I will share some photos of our place.  


One nice thing about working outdoors is the flowers and the blooming trees.  


This Red Bud was actually a volunteer!  John was going to rip it out and I said "no way."  It leans a bit, mainly due to living out in the open and getting our winds from the southwest.  


To the left of the Red Bud is a huge Bartlett Pear.  A few years ago during an early summer storm a huge branch fell from the center and almost joined me in the family room.  


The mulch path you see between the two trees will take you to the larger of the two barns where the Llamas and Alpaca lived.  The smaller green barn to the far right of the photo was the emergency home for the llamas when the ice would freeze "out back".  

Here is a close up of the blossoms on the Bartlett Pear.  I really do not enjoy the fragrance of these blossoms.  But the tree is totally awesome when it is in full bloom.  


The sad part is that the blossoms do not last long and the waxy, brilliant green leaves take over. 


Last year when we came home from our travels in the southwest, the trees were in late bloom, the blossoms were falling creating what looked like a snow storm.  The leaves were quickly growing and out came the green. 


There was so much bright green around!  The grass! the trees!  The pale blue skies!  Oh my so much green.  I was ready to jump back into the motorhome and head back to the desert!  I love the desert and the mountains with the bluest skies that words cannot describe. 


Okay, one more picture.  This is of our Queen Anne cherry tree.  She is slowly dieing.  Only half of her lives this spring.  It is going to be a battle to keep John from cutting down the entire tree. 


 I vote for giving her a chance.  She is old.  But her fruit is out of this world.  (if the birds don't get to them first.)


These clusters of blossoms are beautiful and are the promise of luscious fruit.


One thing I loved about this place when we purchased it was the orchard.  There are apple, cherry, pear trees.  There were peach trees, but they died of old age.  


Humph,  There is a season to everything, isn't there.  


Have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by.  And may God bless you and protect you as many of you travel to your summer homes.  










  

DO OVERS AND REDO OVERS!

One would think that we just love working on the house more than getting it on the market!  Really, I guarantee you, that it not the case, but it sure looked like it yesterday and Thursday.  


I have not been happy with the baseboard  in the front and dining rooms.  We had continued the color from the family room throughout, but it just jumped out at me and screamed "I'M HEERE!"  That  is not the function of baseboard.  It is supposed to be quiet and just lie there not drawing attention to itself.  


I have spent twos days taping the walls and hardwood floor, repainting the baseboard the color green color of the columns and then repainting them due to the white showing through the first coat.  

note: white baseboard next between door and hall!  Yuck!

I asked John if we were having fun yet and he said that it is mandatory because it is in the "handbook".  I forgot to read that nasty handbook.
Because of the arthritis, when I get on the floor, I plan to remain there until the project is finished.  To move about, I either push myself with my arms or I do a little walk on my tush.  Both types of motion have created 1.  a blister on my elbow,  2.  very sore glutes, and 3. a screeching back.  

Olivia is waiting for her brushing...see the baseboard?

Here you see how the baseboard does not scream at you!  It just blends in, as it should.  


And look at the dining room fixture!  They say that brass fixtures are no longer "in style.  We found a product at Menard's that was made by Rust-oleum.  It is a universal spray, metallic paint and primer in one.  We used the Oil Rubbed Bronze color.  Now the entry, the hall and dining room fixtures are "up to date / in style for the cost of one can.  

I am not the only one that is re-doing.  Poor John.  A few years ago he converted our garage into my art studio and is not reconverting in back into a garage!  That is one huge task.  He is removing walls that he built and putting a wall where he once had his workbench to box in the furnace/utility room that he built.  

Can you say "stuff?"

Here you see the walls that were removed and will be re-purposed. Then you see all the quilting materials and books that are going to be donated to guilds that do charity quilting.  
  
What a job! Tomorrow, I am to pack all quilting "stuff" to be picked up by guild members. Each of the plastic boxes contain the fabric for one quilt!  Each box is labeled and many times has the design that John's mom had planned to create.  If she had lived to be a hundred and ten, she would have never used all that is in the photo.


Well, I'm off to work!  Eagerly looking forward to tomorrow and a day of rest and worship. 


God bless you all! 













  

WHAT HAPPENS TO TIME?

I was amazed when I saw when I last posted.  What happened?  Did I space-out a total week?  Where did the time go?    
I thought I had posted just a couple of days ago.  


No, my last post was a week ago!  


I think we have been very busy, busy, busy.  And it shows around here.  


Last week, we ticked off job after task after task.  Just a small amount of work is left for completion this week.  Little things, like polishing the counter tops, hanging a few paintings, moving a couple pieces of furniture, washing windows, and staging the house for "show and sell."  



If all goes the way we have planned, one week from tomorrow, the house will be listed with Century 21, Scheetz in Greenwood, Indiana.  Dan Nichols will be our agent.  


This past week was a good week.  We sold the truck.  I sold my weaving loom.  We sold quilting fabric!  John sold wood turning tools.  Whew, that sure helps to remove things from our to-do list.  


A lot of quilting fabric remains.  And this makes my studio a bit messy.   I am trying to decide if I just want to donate the fabric to a quilting guild in the area or continue to sell it.  Hummmm, a conundrum it is.  


It is time to move some things into the motorhome.  My Schact Matchless spinning wheel,  the CSM or Circular Sock Machine are waiting to go to their new motorhome home.  


John's Tie Flying materials and equipment will not take up ten percent of what my two occupy. How much space can fishing hooks, feathers, wire, thread, foam and dubbing materials and fur take up?   But to make up for the discrepancy, we are going to buy US a new weaving loom.  It will be a loom that will fit into the motorhome and not occupy a vast amount of space. 


With the weather turning warmer each day, and the daffodils blooming and the grass and weeds beginning to grow, we will be obligated to remain home and care for the farm until we have a sale.  


I think I have John convinced to apply landscape fabric to all flower beds then cover with mulch.  There is no way we can weed all the flowerbeds that he has created in the last few years.  


If we can limit ourselves to a minimal amount of weeding and take care of the mowing of pastures etc., we should be able to get away from here for a few days at a time.  That must suffice for the time being.  


In two weeks, I do have a Crank In (where people with circular sock machines come to crank together, learn new techniques, and just have fun. We will take the motorhome, I will be cranky and John will be in knots (tying flies).  We are so looking forward to getting away from here for the first time since the first of November.  



I believe this brings you up to date.  The Mocking Bird is singing his heart out, the Doves have returned and are cooing, the Wrens are flitting around the birdhouses.  Now we are waiting to hear the frogs croaking in the pond.


Until then,  God bless you all....

AND THE BEAT GOES ON & FRIDAY'S TORNADO IN INDIANA

Another day on our journey to full timing has passed.  We did not accomplish much today.


  A good old migraine has plagued me for the last day and a half.  I am planning on being in good condition tomorrow morning.  You know how exciting Monday mornings are? Don't you?


Oh wait, Monday mornings are just another day to all of us, aren't they.....well .....most of us.  It just dawned on me that every morning is now Saturday morning!  How's that for retirement.... not too bad.


On another note, we have not had a television set in our home for fifteen months.  Seldom do I miss it, but Friday, with the tornadoes, it made us think.  Maybe we need at least a weather radio here in the house.  We need one for the motorhome anyway, so I think that this week, sometime, we will make the purchase.  

The need to purchase a weather radio brings to light the question what kind of weather radio?"  I have no idea.  We have not researched them at all.  We have no clue what to look for when it comes to bells and whistles.  


Speaking of weather radios, tornadoes etc. I have learned that friends of our lost a llama in the tornado.  Their barn was destroyed as well as vast damage to their house.  


 I do have a report on the two year old that was found in a field after the tornado.  She has been identified.  Both her parents, her three year old brother and a seven week old sister we all killed.   She was the only survivor in her immediate family and has been removed from life support and has died.


Her name, was Angel.  

God is good. He did not cause this event, but  He does not promise us that we will live a life without heartache and tragedy and sometimes death.  But He does promise us a way through every life experience.  I know.  I've been there.  I've done that.  


Suddenly, I don't feel like blogging more this evening.  It is time for reflection.  If I were to die tonight, I am confident that through Christ Jesus, I would live forever with Him.  Only He can offer that blessed assurance.


My prayer for each of you tonight, is that you, personally know Christ Jesus as your savior and that whether it be out motorhoming, on the beach, in the desert, city or in heaven we will greet each other with smiles and hugs. 


God bless...............

INDIANA'S WIND, THUNDER, LIGHTNING, HAIL, RAIN, AND TORNADO.

Yesterday, we were extremely fortunate unlike many others about an hour south of us here in Indiana.  We were pummeled with all but the last, the tornado.  Hail covered the ground resembling a layer of snow on the ground.  

The most ironic thing is that all the tornado warning sirens went of as the storm was abating.  Someone really missed the timing on that!  We have learned from past experience, that there is a greenish/grey hue outside just before a really serious storm.  Yesterday, the hue was not present.

So what did John and I do?  We continued hanging light fixtures with one eye on the weather outside.  The light fixtures are up and we are safe.

Some were not as fortunate.  Schools, farms, homes and businesses were pummeled with this spring storm.  

In addition to the material damage, the report is that thirteen lives were lost and a baby girl was found in a field after the massive, tornado spawning storms blew through.  The child and her family's home was about ten miles south of where the baby was found.  Their town was in the path of the storm.  Their county and ten other counties in Indiana have been declared a disaster area.


Our heart and our prayers go out to all involved in yesterday's tragedy here in Indiana and throughout the widespread area.