Best/Worse &What did I learnt today/Chat with Friends #47

Thought I'd move us over..at about 200 posts on the thread it becomes difficult for some to access us...

Did enjoy our day together...thanks for keeping me company..always appreciated..

Goodness, am I the first to arrive? Hope I not to early. Betty the secret garden is just so nice. Still looking for a place to do one here--beginning to think I might not find it.

Are you thinking of Paul Harvey by chance? Remember him being on the radio what seems like years ago.

Glad you are feeling so good and I totally agree. Had my last on in 2005 told not to come back for 10 years. I was fortunate everything okay.

Well good night everyone. I promised myself I would retire earlier tonight.

Howdy, here are some photos taken when some folks came over to visit and this lady was nice enough to send me the pictures she took of my garden. Thought I'd share them with you folks....

http://gallery.mac.com/sinai#100128&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Paul from Alabama

Hi everyone. Am just getting on the pc - Kind of a stressful night here. I left work and went to my chiropractor appt. Left there and hit the store to get teacher gifts for DS tomorrow. While in the store my cell rings and I see it's my DM. Well, of course when I see her number on my cell, I think "what's wrong". Well, she tells me that she had a little "medical emergency" yesterday and I'm in the middle of the store going WHAT? She says the doctors think she may have ha d a little seizure. I'm freaking out! My mom has never been sick a day in her life, has had every test known to man and she's telling me she's had some kind of seizure. She tells me yesterday (I'm like YESTERDAY????) she was cleaning around the house, going up and down the stairs and came down and picked up a water bottle to water her plants and all of a sudden her limbs would not move like her brain was telling them to. She said she didn't fall, but made it to a chair and by then my dad came down and totally freaked and called the EMT. I guess they didn't take her in cause by then she was fine so she went into the doctors today and had a test (I think an EKG) and is going in next Wed for an MRI. Anyway she cannot drive. I cannot tell you how this just hit me like a ton of bricks! I guess because she has never been sick, I don't think of her as "old". She doesn't act 71 yrs old. She's fiesty and gets around better then some teenagers. It just really hit me that I'm going to lose her one day. So I had a little anxiety tonight. I'm trying to calm myself by telling myself this is not something I can control and I have to have faith that He has a plan.

On top of this, I had to run up to the store and get clothes for DS to wear tomorrow plus 36 cupcakes for DD's art class so just the running around was crazy. It did help me keep my mind on other stuff though.

So dear friends, if you will, say a prayer for my mom when you get a chance. I'm off to bed now and hopefully sleep.

Thank you for being there!

Hugs!
J

Paul,
I really somehow mistakenly believed you had flowers in your garden.

What a show. Beautiful, and thanks for showing us. those ladies sure were lucky, and your Mom looks really proud, as she should be.

Jeannine,
I am sorry to hear about your Mom, but don't panic yet. The older we get the more weird signals our body sends out to maybe slow down a little bit. At any rate, be calm, because if something is wrong or out of kilter, your Mama is going to need you to be tough. You are very strong about everything else, and I know you can be very strong about this.

Of course your mom has our best wishes and most positive thoughts...and so do you along with lots of hugs.
Sharon

Sharran....As they used to say in our local paper in the column written by this lady who wrote about what folks did, parties, vacations, visits.....she always said, "A good time was had by all" and sure nuff it was.......:)

Paul from Alabama

GG sorry to hear about your mom and am including her on my prayer chain for healing for her.

Paul you garden is just lovely! I'm am green with envy, but eventually I'll get mine together. (I hope, LOL) Just beautiful, the rubeckia are just too much!

doccat....Glad you enjoyed the pictures.....those rudbeckia finally found'em a home seems like........

Paul frmo Alabama

What a lovely way to start my morning Paul, beautiful garden, and yes, you are hooked on gardening just like the rest of us...now do your neighbors garden as well or do their lots back onto your grounds and they just take pride in yours..thanks for a chance to visit you this morning...don't mind the hairdo please!

Marion, Paul Harvey is exactly what I imagine Paul to be like...do hope you got that good nights rest...

Jeannine, my heart goes out to you..what a shock! More difficult I imagine when your mom has never been ill you think the day will never come that she will start the ageing process...lets hope her tests today go well and they find just over exhaustion perhaps, hasn't it been extremely hot and humid in her area? Will say prayers for her and for you and family as well, kinow you'll be fretting till she gets a clean bill of health..

So today is end of school is it not? A fun day for the children, remember how that felt..ohhh to be young again (NOT)..lol..my grandchildren don't get out till the end of June..I e-mailed both mom's yesterday to try and get them look at their schedules and try and find 3 or 4 days where I can have to 4 boys..would like to take them across the border to a few theme parks as I did last year ..their schedules are so busy and the purpose is to have all 4 at once..so now let's hope it can be arranged...made sure Judy and Liz that it wasn't my travelling week to Chicago unless of course you'd like 4 charming young men visiting..lol...

Shar, bet your bags are packed and you are sitting anxiously awaiting your flight to Alaska..

Starting to be world travellers, Shar in Alaska, Gita in Latvia for 3 weeks, Liz flying to Chicago, and I get to drive and see some more of your lovely countryside while travelling to meet both girls...soooo we'll have lots of beautiful photo's and write ups shortly..exciting to say the least...

Doc, how are you this morning, feeling better? when I first moved here there was hardly a flower, my neighbor across the street has a garden that would make Heaven proud, wanted one the same, TODAY..but not, takes so many years to get a mature garden...we can only continue to work at it and enjoy what each year brings...

Well should be getting that call to meet Suzanne shortly! Had my coffee and my visit with you, enjoyed the photo's and now perhaps some porridge just might be in order...

morning all,

jeannine, will send prayers to you and for your mom hope all is well with all her tests,

paul, im not getting it... i try to open it, and it tells me the mac server is not available :(

shar, bet your ready to go traveling to.

betty,im telling you reality is finally hitting omgthree weeks boy i better get my act togeather!! i just cant believe all the weather issues on the news oh how i feel for all the terrible losses just awful.
het doc hope your feeling better.

good morning to everyone else

Jeannine prayers going out this morning. What a shock! Sure hope it was just a warning for her to slow down.

Liz calm down! Save it for the last week or you will be all worn out! Have a good day.

Paul beautiful pictures. Nice to wake up to them this morning. I tried growing the yello Echinachea but didn't have any luck. Will have to try again after seeing yours.

Betty sounds as if you will have a busy summer.

Need more coffee.

morning all ,

ok now i have a few minutes..lol

vicki, ok ok i'll only think about the garage sales lol you should see this house looks like im moving lol but in all it is starting to look empty and its feeling pretty good to let go of it!!!

betty, loved the friend thing! and i,ve been meanning to tell you i like the ball you have in the garden with those glass gobs looks really good! so sorry about liz's sil how sad prayers up to her.

bev, that bird is just beautiful! did i hear you say ticks and chiggers oh my makes me itch.

terri, welcome i just figured out we have two dragonflys lol

cat, my goodness you are busy with company! have a nice visit.

jeannine, whoo hoo finally got the bed

ruby, lol thats alot of hot dogs! did you save me the ones that got kinda burnt on one side?

jaye, oh my lol i always threaten with the cast iron frying pan but now i think i like the bowling ball idea better (giggling)

judy, what are you doing? did you get all your weeding done? how was sabrina's bday celebrations...
hello to laura, and dawn and carol

This message was edited Jun 12, 2008 6:18 AM

Good morning everyone. Paul your garden is beautiful.

Jeannine, I understand exactly where you are. When my dad had to have bypass surgery, he had never been in a hsp, never had anything worse than a virus. It knocked the props out from under us all. And then he had problems during and after the surgery. That was a long week. And everyone was kind of shell shocked. That was several years back and he's doing fine now. The weird thing is, my Mom ended up having to have the same surgery and got the same surgeon. She had a rocky month after going home, but they changed her meds and she is feeling much better now.
Somehow, parents are supposed to just always be there. It's a shock to find out they are just human after all, just like us. Hopefully the tests will tell you what happened.

Hello to everyone else and have a super day

Nicely said Cat...oh how much fun I've just had..our Paul from Alabama wrote about his camping trip in moonshine country..OMG it brought back some fun memories...did you know at one time in my youth I was a "MOONSHINER", yep I confess..if DG is being monitored by the Canadian Mounted Police I'm likely to be arrested..lol..please put in your pennies and bail me out...who knows if they read my little story on Paul's thread, they just might laugh along with me....what things we do when we are young and in love...

Ok where is this blog you all keep talking about? I want to read it. Just ready your daylily article Sharon. Your Aunt Bett stories always bring a smile!

Herhttp://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/862048/e is the link with the comments and the link with his stories..

Betty,

My Firefox flashed a window that it can't open the above link--as there is no protocol associated with it?????

Paul--could you re-post your link? Or--do we just click on your name and find it from there?

Thanks, Gita

Gita, you just look under "Back Porch in General Discussion" Paul has several articles..all very interesting and nice comments to each...might be simpler to find...this particular article is called "I went camping"

Morning All, got some much needed sleep last night after doing a little research on the internet on my mom. From what I have read and from what she has told me it sounds like she had a TIA (Transient ischemic attack) or mini-stroke. From what I read, these don't do harm when they happen because they correct themselves right away (that's why she was fine a few mins later), BUT, it could be the signs of something bigger that could cause a full fledge stroke. So, I talked to her this morning and she went square sancing last night and had a ball and feels fine. I told her what I read and I also told her to take 1 baby asprin a day (she hates taking meds!) and she's getting her CT scan next Wed. She said she had an EKG yesterday but the CT will find any bleeds that might be in her brain. So, I feel alittle better - knowing this plus having all of the thoughts and prayers from all of you. I cannot thank you enough for keeping her in prayers!!!!

Just arrived at work from DS's 5th grade graduation. He actually has a half day tomorrow to pretty much do nothing. My neighbor is going to take him and her son to the pool after school today so he will tuckered out!

I walked 2 miles w/ DH last night and it felt really good. I think I stayed around 1400 calories for the day so that was also good.

One thing that will change because of my mom's "illness" is that she will not be able to come up and watch the kids so DH and I can go away next weekend. We could take them down to them but I still just feel like maybe she doesn't need to worry about that right now. So DH and I talked and we decided to put Murphy in the kennel and take the kids with us. We'll be on 4 acres, on a river and the house is about 3500 sq. Jim is also going to get them to SWEAR to be good since they are coming on OUR trip. We also figured we could take them on a walk, give them some bread and water and then see if they can make it back to the house!! LOL! (just kidding!!!).

Did I tell y'all that I am going up to NY (Long Island) on the 24th/25th for work? We have an office up there and will be visiting it plus having a little fun by way of the vineyards up there! We're flying up the morning of the 24th and then back the night of the 25th. I also booked my 'Cruise to Nowhere' for October. We got about 12 girls going so it should be a blast!

Well, off to get some work done. Again, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. They mean so much to me!!

Hugs,
Jeannine

Hi Everyone - I received my Secret Pal goodie box yesterday. It is full of all sorts of goodies. I took a picture of the contents but haven't put on computer yet. Will post the picture later on.

Contents:

A wonderful set of body lotions that smell of Freesia - very yummy
A pair of gardening gloves
Packet of Pencils
A pencil sharpener - I have been needing to buy one, so it was really cool getting one instead of having to buy it
Sample of Dove soap and lotion
A cute, cute, cute little candle holder with dragonflies on it
A note keeping journal which I will definitely put to use also
A package of Doggie Treats which my dogs just love, love, love
Shopping List Note Pad with magnets

Everything is so useful and so thoughtful of my Secret Pal. Thank you so very much for everything. I can't wait to use the Freesia soaps. I will smell so good!!! ha-ha Dogs are loving the treats and I have also used the pencil sharpener already.

Need to run the vacuum cleaner and that will be about all the chores I am doing today. Love you gals and Paul too.

Ruby

How exciting Ruby to get the SP gift...lordy I'm in abut 6 swaps and this one... each and everytime I make the post office I'm jumping up and down, rarely does a 'pressie' make it home without getting opened.. aren't we awful..or perhaps just me..imagine, someone sending 'doggie' treats..how wonderful..were they able to keep it truly a 'secret'? will watch for photo's this evening..

Betty, here is a picture of the castor bean, I think that is what you said you wanted to see. It was planted maybe 3 weeks ago...Thanks Ruby!!!

And more daylilies just blooming today...

Betty remember the daylilies are the ones that have a tall stem for the bloom, no leaves on it. The leaves are the very long thin foliage that comes from the tuber...a lovely plant. The orientals have short leaves on the same stem as the blooms....think we had this conversation last year...
Anyway here is another....I have a lot of reds, and very blackish reds...the difference is slight in the petal, but the throat is always different from mint green to yellow to orange...

and another..this one is huge

Here is a new one, my nursery guy picked it up off his floor leftover from last year, didn't know the color till today.

Last one...years and years old, from my GGmother's garden...

Wow look at those castor beans, can't believe after by baby sitting them, starting them properly that they didn't grow..I so wanted them for in the corner of my deck..maybe next year...how tall would you say the leaves are from the ground..a couple of feet?

I have right now Shar a multitude of yellow lilies alongside the house, in the secret garden and at the back of the property, they must be wild, I didn't plant them they just are...sad thing is they've been open since the weekend and are dying down now..don't get much bang for the area they take...but Shar I did purchase a lovely oriental lily last year, won't be long before it opens, actually it's quite healthy..must purchase a few more before the season ends..how colorful your are..now does Ashley enjoy gardening, will she look after them while you are away? Is it 2 weeks you will be gone?

Cross posted...Shar OMG imagine, having a plant that you've passed down through the years...I'd love to return to grandma's and see if her peony bushes are still there and ask if I replaced one, could I take a cutting..next time I'm in town for the Dr.'s (actually the specialist that I have to see for the results is 3 blocks away) I just might drop in and ask?

The castor bean is about a foot tall, but it will get huge, Betty....I hope, haven't had one in a long time, didn't while the kids were little, and just never did have seeds after that.

People rarely mind giving cuttings.....It wouldn't hurt to ask.

My whites and creams aren't in bloom yet, and yes, Ashley will be sure to water, though I never water the daylilies, they are pretty hardy and rarely need care.

I will be gone from June 16 through the 24th.
I am getting excited!!

lmorning all

jeanine, thinking of you and your mom.....

back still bad so off the the physio and docs today.
cant sit long so sorry for the short post


hugs to all

xx

Jeannine, I am praying for you and your dear mother. I lost mine when I was 12. Wonder take care am praying for you too and all the rest you are all in my thoughts and prayers every night. This is one place you can come to for a lot of moral support.Ruby, How exciting. Your SP must have ESP!!! Shar your flowers are beautiful. Gita and Cat hi! know I missed someone sorry hi!!! Paul what made you so quiet all of a sudden!! Jump in there. Us girls don't take up all the room. LOVE ALL BEV

Gita, this is the link:

http://gallery.mac.com/sinai#100128&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Evening Bev, what a gorgeous flower..do they call it a 'painted daisy'? That was very young to lose a parent Bev...were there many of you in the family? Can't imagine the turmoil for such a young child..was bad enough when I lost Roger and the boys had just turned 20/21...still after effects from time to time..

Shar, don't really remember anyone having these plants, or at least I didn't know what kind of plants they were..another year maybe Ruby will be willing to share a few more seeds...

Laura, could be you are stressing over the birth of the new baby and tensing all your muscles, that sure can create a lot of pain...are you working with the sore back? Do you have something like 'workman's compensation', could be the work you are doing on a daily basis aggravating it..you do a lot of standing right waiting on clients? I KNOW I should know the answer to that but am tired tonight and memory is not serving me well...

Just got home, about 6 ambulances, firetrucks, rescue vans etc. were all at a scene just south of here, not much of the transport left, at least it's on the passenger side so God willing maybe he's alive...not so sure though with all the equipment that there wasn't a car or two underneath..just can't understand it, ramps coming off sideroad going north south and how he ended up in a gully unless going much too fast have no clue how he could be there, but he is...

This aft. highway was closed for 8 transports smashing one into the other..no casualties luckily...

I'll tell you, when you travel our 400 series you definately are playing russian roulette with your life... they now have planes travelling daily the portion of the 400 that I travel in efforts of stopping the 150 - 200 kl. per hour being driven& weaving in and out of traffic by a great number of drivers..Indy 500 drivers could take lessons..

Very upsetting thinking of the family who will get this call tonight..prayers please...

See dog hair coming upstairs so better get that broom out so off I go..

Best of today? travelled back in time when I was first married to Roger..thanks Paul, without your article those memories would have stayed doormant...

Worse of today? the accident of course..shows just how at a flick of a second it can be all over...

What did I learn today? I dropped into the post office to check my mail..have some 'swaps' arriving shortly only to find a letter from Revenue shows I have to pay $2,281.56 more..isn't that wonderful...could have made that my worse, but it's not, that family receiving possible notification of their father/brother/son/husband/friend's death (most likely) is far worse..I'll not complain but thank the Lord that mine are safe...

Betty that is a Blanket Flower and it's name is Goblin. I am the baby out of 12 children. I only have two sisters left. Pray that everyone will be ok with this weather coming tonight and strong storms tomorrow. We are losing a lot of corn in the state if ILL. and not many beans planted yet. You all have a good evening. HUGS BEV

Paul,

All I saw when I clicked on the link you provided was your Photo gallery of garden pictures.
I already saw them.....

I wanted to read your Blog!....:o( Everyone said it was so great!
Will clicking on your name get me there?

Gita

Hi all. I just got back from walk with DH and the phone rings. I see it is my sister's cell number and my heart drops. My sis is always so upbet and it seems like nothing fazes her and that's how she sounded again. I answer and she says hi and I say "what's wrong"? She says nothing and I'm like good cause when calls come at this time of night, it's usually something. She says, "well.... Mom had another episode and she was admitted to the hospital, but she's ok". (I can hear my mom laughing in the background at my sister trying to calm me down), so that did calm me a bit. Anyway, mom gets on the phone and explains that she was watching Jeopardy (dang game show! ;-) and she went numb on her left side and her speech started slurring. So, she had had a mini stroke. She's still got her sense of humor because she said her neighborhood is awfully quiet and they needed something to liven it up (2 ambulances in 3 days!) They've been running lots of tests on her and she's going to be going in for a CT scan so I'm confident that she is in good hands (His and the hospital's). I am just so glad she is there. Now I get to worry about my 74 yo dad driving home alone late at night. GEEZ!

So thank you all for your prayers. I know He was listening and got her to the hospital. Now she needs your prayers so they can find out what's wrong and fix it! :) Thank you my friends......

Much love & hugs
J

This message was edited Jun 12, 2008 10:07 PM

Jeaninine,

First of all--DO NOT take any of these TIA's (Transient Ischemic Attacks) lightly, as they can be pre-cursors for the "big one"....Anyone having these needs to get to an Emergency room asap! Glad your Mom is having tests done. The Dr.'s will tell her what needs to be done. Usually, it is the Carotid Arteries at fault that have clogged up. That can be checked with Angiogram and, if needed, opening them back up with tiny, inserted balloons and mesh stents to keep them open. The Carotid Arteries are the ones that you have on either side of your neck. They supply your brain with the blood-flow it needs. VERY important task!
Many people take their pulses there----I DO NOT! Don't want to push on them--just in case.....I use my wrists....

When a Dr. listens to your lungs and heart-beat--he/she also, often, listen to your neck arteries. If there is any narrowing (due to fatty deposits) going on, they will hear slight gurgling. Most Dr.'s just want to check the Arteries out to make sure they are OK. If they suspect any problems, they will take any necessary measures to correct it.

I am going next Monday to have an Ultra Sound of my neck arteries because the Dr. that did my Varicose Veins surgery checked my neck and he wants to see if anything there is clogged. The good Dr.'s always want to see if anything is "building" that may cause a problem. Be grateful--if you have a GOOD Dr.!

I am also healthy and active--and your Mother's age--exactly! I would NEVER think that there could be anything wrong with me!!!! NEVER! BUT--as we hit the 70's, the idea of something "maybe" going wrong does linger in one's mind. Mortality sure rears it's head when you get in your senior years!!!!

I hope your Mom will be OK! Please encourage her to take these episodes seriously!
Denial will get her nowhere! NONE of us want to think that there is anything wrong with us--but TIA's are serious forbearer's of potential strokes. Next week? Next month? Next year? Who knows!

Best to you all! Gita

Gita



This message was edited Jun 12, 2008 10:43 PM

Gita.......There you are......there is an icon at the bottom of the page called 'archive' and you can see a list of all of them there.


http://web.mac.com/sinai/Site/Blog/Blog.html

Paul from Alabama

hi all

J, i know you must be worried... thinking iof you all.

Shar! your package arrived with fabric!! Im so sorry i live so far away gang and your postage has to be so high. thankyou sl much, the colours are perfect and will be perfect sashing, they go exactly withthe fabrics sent! who has had a hand in this? its an amazing match from you all... hmmmmm

sorry to hear about the tax betty, that will curb spending a little for the time being.

i went to the physio and DR today. i have injured my (cant soell it) sacraeliac.. lol something like that. and torn the muscle. its bleeding inside.... having treatment and should be fine but no work for 5 days.... i could stress a bout no money but that wouldnt help so im not going to...... good huh?!! are u impressed??!! I am.

DD is due tomorrow... we are hoping she will go monday or after as it entitles her to a new free in home care with a midwife the government provides. she can also have the midwife deliver her in hospital and she would really like that.
getting nervous but im not stressing... cant imagine her a mom tho. she is my baby girl....lol

gosh your gardens and flowers are lovely, thankyou for sharing. ours is all but gone due to the drought. we are trying to save the orchids that are worth $1000's or were i should say but its not looking good. oh well.....never mind.

will have another treatment on monday and back to the doctor on tuesday...

see you all later...

*waves at paul.. Hugs J*