DonnieBrook's Subtropical Adventures 2

Cats are a delicatessen to them, kinda like chocolates to us humans.

Louise your plants still look great despite the cold snap. Those matos look goooood!

Louise is that Pirl's oregano that came to NJ... to go to NH.. and then to FL???? .. if yes it looks great

love the little dahlia!!! and Sam!!!

Looks like most things will come through pretty well with a little sun and tlc from you. Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, wouldn't it be lovely. Enjoy the warmer temps that are coming your way I hope, then blow some up this way okay.

Its going to be a great melter.

Bill - gardening is a dog-eat-dog Unfair world!!! Didn't you know???? Just come on down here! Karen (nutsfordaylily) and her Dad, Ted, stopped by for a fun visit this afternoon. We all took a walk along the River with the dogs. This pelican was so nice to wait for us......We never heard from Robindog, so she and Doug were missing in action. Despite the severe cold here, Karen and Ted did a lot of fun things. When they left us just now, they were headed to Fort Myers Beach to take in one last sunset before they leave tomorrow. Karen was most impressed with how green my weeds are everywhere! LOL

Thanks, Celeste! And yes, Allison, that is Pirl's oregano! pretty, huh?

I'm definitely jealous! Pelicans, puppies, warm air and green weeds--DonnieBrooks to beat--sounds like a great day! Dunno how Karen & Dad could bring themselves to come back before spring!

Sweet picture

Phoebes - Karen's a working gal, so that's one big reason they are heading back! LOL On our way home, our two scoundrels ran into their sister who lives down the street from us. This is not a great shot, because the three were in constant motion, but it was fun for us all to watch the reunion......

Oh--I know--I'm a working girl too, for the time being, anyway. It's just I can imagine how hard it must be to have to leave...
Adorable reunion!

Great that you had DG company, Louise! Wish I was there!

I wish you were here too, Victor! I did miss having Marilyn and Doug join us too. I hope they are enjoying their month in the Villages. It has been even colder there than here. I had a slam of vertigo last night and was really worried I might have to cancel seeing Karen, but I got the meds in quickly and went to bed, and this morning I was up and at 'em. Whew....would not have wanted to miss their visit!

Glad you're feeling better. I've had that. Not fun.

Thanks, Victor! It is so strange how it just hits me out of nowhere sometimes. No rhyme or reason, it appears. Getting the meds in right away seems to be a key for me.

Short sleeves and shorts,green tomatoes and weeds. Sounds good to me. Sorry about your vertigo and good to hear you knocked it down successfully. I get the spins, as I call it, every once in a while. It sure is a weird feeling. Like being loaded with out the party. Looks like a nice day and visit for all even the doggies.

oh I have Karen envy!!!

We are having the traditional January Thaw. Its 5 AM and 40*
HOOORAY

I posted weather on the Florida thread......Duh! Not enough coffee yet! LOL
Hi Louise!!!!!!!!!!!

This message was edited Jan 15, 2010 6:27 AM

Things are melting here

34° But I have not been outside as yet. Just up because I could not get back to sleep after 4:30.

Welcome to my life.I was up at te same time.

Breakfast meds will send me to sleep however--don't like the quirky schedule!!

Well, I'm home, and boy, were there a lot of posts in my absence. Dad and I had a great time, in spite of the fact that it was cold for Florida. Temps weren't decent until about Tues, when it got up close to 60, then Wed was a little warmer and Thurs downright wonderful. Today was great, but we had to leave. Boo hoo! We didn't want to leave. I'm sure glad I have the next 3 days off before having to go back to work. I need a rest from my vacation. LOL!

Seriously, while it was fun for the most part, traveling with my Dad is a bit wearing on me. It's like traveling with one of my special needs clients. Sad but true. Hate to admit it, but I have clients who are less work than him. Oh, well, he did enjoy himself, and I'll have to print up some of the photos I took so he can relive our adventures. He really wont' remember much, but he will pretend.

Dad and I had a great visit with Hank and Louise. Thanks for your wonderful hospitality, you 2! We loved the Mango Key Lime Pie and fresh squeezed lemonade. Yum! Wish I had a recipe for that pie. And the walk with the pups was great. They were on their best behavior while we were there. Oh, and it was nice seeing your gardens, too, and seeing that beautiful dahlia in person. Your weeds were green, but not very big, so they won't be too terribly hard to get out. Oh, btw, I missed the sunset at the beach, as I took a wrong turn and got all messed up. By the time I found the way to the beach, it was a bit too late to catch the sunset. I did get to see 2 sunsets at the beach while down there.

LOL! Phoebe, the only reason we came back before spring was because we were running out of money, and my employer would have an issue with me not coming back to work all winter. If I had my way I'd travel all over the south for the winter. Believe me, we did not want to come back to the cold and the dark!

Now that I'm back I'm going to begin seriously to start working out and eating healthier. I really have to lose weight and get into shape. I really didn't eat badly while in Florida, as we ate most of our meals in the hotel, because we had a kitchenette, which saved on money. We only had about 3 or 4 lunches out, maybe 5, and only ate dinner out once. For dinner we had low-cal frozen dinners, with extra veggies and salads, and for breakfast mostly cereal and oatmeal with strawberries or bananas. I got more exercise than usual, too, so I may have lost a few lbs. I'll be going to the gym tomorrow morning, so I'll step on the scale there and find out.

Cousin Nut, welcome back from your adventures in the Southwestern USA. Glad you had such a good time. Are you planning on buying a winter home out there? Obviously you know there are burrowing owls in Florida, too, since Louise mentioned them. There was a movie made about them several years ago called 'Hoot', a fictional story about some kids trying to save a bunch of them in Florida. Pretty good story, too. Wow, great DG t-shirt! I love it!

Allison, congrats on getting your pic on that shirt! I like the stuff you put on Zazzle. So you can make stuff on there and sell it? That's really cool! I would like to do that. I'll have to get one of those t-shirts.

Love your kitty painting, JoAnn!

Nice shot of NM, Harper. I may think of moving there myself. My Alaskan sister bought property with a mobile home there last year, and my sis from TX is thinking of selling her place there and possibly moving to NM. If she moves out there, then I will eventually follow. If she stays in TX, then that's the place I will eventually move to. We will see. It's beautiful where my sis bought her place there. She is in Sacramento, which is near the ski town of Cloudcroft, about about an hour from Alamogordo. Problem is there's not much work out there. What part were you maybe thinking of moving to, Harper? I will be visiting out there in April. I love the southwest. Oh, and welcome back home to you, btw.

Like some of you guys, I would like to live in a less populated area, more property, less taxes and expenses, etc. I love the area of TX where my sis currently lives. I'm hoping she will decide to stay there. There would be no reason for me to move there if I have no other family there, but then who knows what the future holds. I have always liked the west. Lived in NV for 17 years, then AZ for 4 years. Loved both places. NV was the cheaper of the two. TX is fairly cheap, depending on where you live. I grew up here, and I do like it a lot, but the winters are a little to long and cold for me, and it's way too expensive here. I would not live in FL! Too humid and buggy for me in summer. I don't mind the dry heat of the SW.

Wish I had a fisher in my yard. Darn tree rats drive us crazy!

Well, time for bed for me. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Nighty night!

Karen

Welcome home Cousin Nut ^_^ We've missed you.

glad you had a safe trip!!!

Welcome back Karen--I missed you! Glad you had a good trip!

Thanks, guys! Here's a few pix from my visit with Hank and Louise.

Karen

Here's Hank, Louise and the pups.

A pelican

I liked the way the clouds looked here. It's close to sunset.

This one the clouds were even nicer.

an osprey nest

Baily and Carly meet up with their sister.

Hi Karen! Glad you got home safe and sound! We enjoyed your visit very much, and your photos are terrific! That's such a good shot of the osprey nest in the river, and the shot of Roxie Pauline with B & C is much better than the ones we got. Sorry you missed the sunset at the beach! Next time! I felt so bad about how weedy my beds were that I got out there yesterday and put RoundUp down wherever I could. Today many of the weeds are magically gone! Come on back now!! LOL

Hi Celeste! You are welcome to post weather here any time!! LOL Drink up!

Victor - yes, a few leaf miners.......good eyes!!! As to the lonely dahlia.....I hope the cold didn't prevent a few more blooms. I think the dahlias might be better off in the ground. This one flower is on a pretty leggy stem, and that's not the norm for this dahlia in NH.

Ngam - so sorry to hear you have vertigo bouts also. It can hit at very inconvenient times. If I am able to get the meds in early enough, I can often control it, but when it hits during the night, I am in for a couple of days in bed until the world stops spinning and the nausea goes away.

Yippee!!! I'm very excited! My sweet husband is going to build the girls a fenced area in the back yard. Yippee!!! Sanity preservation!! We're getting a quote to turn one window in the sunroom into a door into their yard. Fingers crossed that the price comes in at retiree level, everyone!!! Too bad the walls are all solid concrete stucco here! Good for hurricanes, but bad for remodel prices! Oh, please, please, please......no more histrionics in public in the front yard, mummy style! But as one neighbor said, "What will we have to laugh at if you do that?" That pretty much says it all!

Karen, I just looked at the photos again from the River walk we took.....you are a very good photographer! And by the way, Hank and I thought you were so great to take your sweet Dad on a warm weather vacation! It was tough at times with my Mom when she was in a similar place, so we understand it. Your Dad's such a nice man, and he is so lucky to have such a considerate and kind daughter!

great shots Karen

Thanks, Louise and Allison, for the compliments on my photography skills.

Louise, thanks for the compliments on how well I care for my Dad. I do have trouble keeping my patience with him, unfortunately, and I hate it when I lose control. It wears me down, though, constantly having to remind him things, constantly hearing him ask what we're doing, where we're going, etc. I never had any kids, and maybe that's why I don't have a lot of patience. I don't know. Anyhow, I do my best, and I try and go out of my way to do fun things with him, even though he really doesn't always remember what we did. I guess it's like very young kids. They don't remember all the fun things you do with them when they're, say, one or two or three, etc. But that doesn't mean you should do anything with them, certainly.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you will get a good price quoted for that door you want put in. That will be such a great addiction for you guys.

Karen

Karen, having been where you are with your Dad, I can tell you that your frustration is entirely normal. Do not beat yourself up when you lose your patience. It would be superhuman not to feel as you do. The fact that you put yourself through the frustration by choice when you provide fun things for your Dad instead of just avoiding him or leaving him to boredom is truly impressive. When my Mom was diagnosed with dementia, one very valuable piece of information given to us by her doctor was to try to live in her world and not expect her to live in ours. In that way, the forgetfulness and repetition is slightly less frustrating. My sisters would repeatedly try to correct her, and that just led to frustration for everyone involved. Just keep doing what you are doing. No one can do more!

Yep same here. My Mom and I have the same conversation at least twenty times a day. She is rational but no short term memory. Eyes and ears failing even with aides so not much new to talk about. I get very frustrated too. Need a weekend away pretty soon I think. She will be 97 in April so she does pretty well considering. Glad you got a break and also have a few days to recover from your vacation, I always feel that way too. You can only do what you can do and no more, that's how I look at it.

Thanks, Louise and Pat. It helps to have people to talk to who have been there or are there now in the same situation. I have to admit that Dad does get bored at times. Problem is that my sis and I can't keep him occupied 24/7. There's only so much we can do. We also need some time for resting and for our own things (i.e. the internet, watching TV, reading, gardening, etc.). Dad can help in the gardens with some things, but with other things he really needs supervision to keep him on track and focused, cause he forgets so easily.

Dad does go to a day program on the weekdays so my sis and I can work. We can't leave him alone for long. Maybe 1/2 an hour to an hour. We do let him walk the dogs down the street by himself, as he knows the area well and does not get confused. On Sat. I have a young woman come for 2 hours to take Dad shopping, play Scrabble with him, etc. He pays her $20 for that 2 hours. She also comes on Tues. and Wed. afternoons when he gets home from day program so he won't be alone, as my sis and I don't get home from work till about 5:15 or 5:30. She goes through an agency for that, and his Mass Health pays for it. Mass Health also pays for the day program and transportation to and from. It really does help.

I may see if we can get Mass Health to pay for us to care for him, too. Usually they require that he needs assistance with at least 3 ADLs (Activities of Daily Living). So far he doesn't really need much assistance. He can shower himself, dress himself, feed himself. But he can't cook, he needs us to pick out his clothes for the day, he needs assistance shaving because of his poor eyesight, and he needs reminders for a lot of things, like brushing his teeth, showering, taking his meds, etc. We'll see. If they approve for us to get paid, we will get $1,200 a month. That would really help, and we could cut back on our hours at work. I would sure like that. It would give me more time to get gardening done.

Karen

Pat, I think of you often going through this and unable to get away for RUs etc. If you can take a break, that would be so healthy for you too! Unfortunately in some ways, Karen's break from the cold required her to continue the 24/7 care, and that takes its own toll.

Karen, I do hope you are able to get the caregiver pay for the very hard work it is to be a caregiver to a loved one. That would be so helpful. Do you have a legislator that you can write to for some help with this process? You'd be surprised what they can do if you ask them. I have a friend and neighbor here that is a right hand person to a state senator, and I know that they do all they can to help their constituents. Amazingly, people don't ask for help because they think they'll be ignored. There are no guarantees, but it is worth putting on paper what you have been doing, the toll it takes and a request for help in obtaining the financial help you need to care for your Dad without sacrificing your own health. It can't hurt to ask!

Louise, I wouldn't know who to ask, but I could look into it. With all the cut backs our state has been doing these days, though, it doesn't look very promising.

Karen