Jennifer Heller Zurick-pinterest.com
Mary Adams-Akwesasne Mohawk-www.nmai.si.edu
Nothing is EVER Simple…
MatthewMacklin-www.skysports.com
I told you earlier that I was prescribed 4 prescriptions. For the rest of the afternoon I’ve been trying to actually GET them.
First, the doctor called the prescriptions to the wrong pharmacy. I finally figured that out and called the doctor’s office again.
THEN, I got two emails from my pharmacy saying they didn’t have ANY of the medicines I need, but would order them and let me know when they were ready to pick up.
One of the emails listed ONE of the medication’s cost as 60 pills for $706.99. Once I could breathe again, I came into our office, went to the website of my healthcare provider and messed around for about 45 minutes trying to find out if that medicine was covered and what the cost would be if it was. I was delighted to find that I could get 90 pills for $73.99!
I called my doctor’s office back and explained the problem. The wonderful nurse offered to send the prescription to my provider electronically. I haven’t heard anything more, so I’m HOPING that means that all has gone through okay and that my pills will be on the way soon.
I don’t really like to wait, particularly when one of the meds is an anti-inflammatory for my eye, but I don’t need to send us to the poorhouse, either. Hopefully, in another week or so, I’ll have the new meds and refills for the ones I’m using now, and can concentrate on healing, rather than fighting my way through the system.
Tonight, as part of a victory lap, my husband and I are taking three good friends for bowling and ice cream !!!!
Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Health Alert
Yet Another Perk of Getting Older
The good news is that my eye scratches are improving – but may take several weeks to months to fully heal. According to my eye doctor, I’m enjoying one of the many perks of getting older – excessively dry eyes. The oil ducts at the bottom of my eyes have either quit producing oil or are solidifying and clogging up the ducts. I have extremely dry eyes now, and may have allergies, on top of the scratches.
SO – I have another appointment in two weeks, 4 prescriptions and a bunch of eye ‘stuff’ I need to start using on a regular basis, at least until we get me over my current problem.
- To get the oil ducts hopefully open, I need to heat a gel eye mask and put it on my eyes for 10 minutes twice a day.
- To get the ‘goo’, wax, oil, and other ‘stuff’ out of my eyelashes, I’m to use “Lid Scrub” each night.
- I have a prescription for pills to take twice a day to help the situation, but I’m not sure exactly how it does that.
- I have two kinds of drops – one two times a day (down from 4 times
- I have two ointments, one 3 times a day and 1 at night.
- AND all of these things are now for BOTH eyes.
I need a calendar and a checklist to be sure I’ve done everything!
The doc said he would call the prescriptions in to my pharmacy so I could pick them up when I got the other eye stuff. Sadly, the pharmacy hadn’t received a call yet. I’ll need to call them back later this afternoon to see if they have received and filled the prescriptions, or if I need to call the eye doc’s office back and find out what the problem is.
Enough gritching, though. My pain is gone. A LOT of the irritation is gone. I can see. Keeping things in perspective is something I work on all the time. Things could be so much worse. I’m lucky to have access to good health care and to be able to see someone who made the pain go away.
Will start making my checklist now.
Filed under Health Alert
The Eyes Have It
I’ll leave shortly to drive to Fort Smith for my follow-up eye exam. It’s been a week since my husband took me to the E.R. because of pain and irritation in my right eye. The diagnosis was, “Wow. You’ve really scratched up your eye.” The only thing I can think of for a cause was the last session of leaf mulching. The mulcher whirls leaves around, chewing them up and dropping them into the 39 gallon trash bag underneath. In the process, some leaf pieces, twigs, branches, etc., come flying out of the top. I wore my wrap-around sun glasses for protection from that. When I finish working, though, I’m covered with a fine ‘dust’ from the mulching, from head to toe. I can imagine that some of that managed to get into my eye, moving around and causing the scratching. Because of that, I now wear some pretty serious goggles type eye protection whenever I’m even distributing the mulch.
My husband has been putting an eyedrop and a ribbon of goo into my eye 4 times a day since last Monday. Both eyes still feel gritty when it’s time for another treatment, and I’m having to blink a lot because of blurriness. Since both eyes are irritated, I’m suspecting I might be having an allergic reaction to something, as well as dry eye from the bad drought we’ve been having for the past 3 months.
The good doctor will tell me how I’m doing this morning. I’m hoping he can recommend something that will soothe my eyes a bit.
Meanwhile, I hope you’re having a happy day. I’ll talk to you again later. :0)
Filed under Challenges, Health Alert
Mulching, Matilda….
I just finished spreading two of the four large leaf bags of mulch I made recently. I wore Targa 2 “Racing” Goggles we had on hand while I did it, not wanting a repeat of the eye scratches I got when I made the mulch a little over a week ago.
The next step is cleaning out more brick flower planters. THEN I can probably distribute the rest of the mulch.
Exciting, huh.
Actually, I DO find it exciting that I can make my own mulch, cleaning up many of the leaves in the yard as I do, and not have to pay for bag after small bag of mulch I used to buy at the local hardware store each fall. As I remember, it was about $3.00 or so per bag, and I used about 20 of them one year. So I’m saving money, cleaning up, recycling, and mulching my plants for the winter!
And, between the weeding and cleaning out of my square foot garden, plus distributing the two 39 gallon trash bags of mulch, I’ve gotten a good amount of exercise and fresh air today.
If the weather is cooperative tomorrow, I’ll try to get more planters cleaned out, working my way around the yard.
Filed under Arkansas, Bright Ideas, exercise, Gardening, Greenwood
Garden Update 2017-11-26
Amber went out with me to finish cleaning up the garden today. She tried to eat some big faux terra-cotta pots, but that was the only behavior I had to warn her about. Otherwise, when I took a break, I called her. She came every time, knowing she would get a small treat. :0)
5 of the 6 raised bed square foot garden boxes are now cleaned out, ready for the winter. I still have two kinds of lettuce and one spinach plant in the 6th box. When freezes threaten, I now have only ONE box I need to cover with a sheet.
In the spring, I’ll mix a bunch of Mel’s Mix (peat moss, vermiculite, and as many different types of compost as I can get or make (I’m using some I made, cotton boll compost, mushroom compost, and barnyard compost). I’ll fill the boxes up to the rim and then use string (that hopefully won’t deteriorate in the sun as the stuff I used this year did), and I’ll be ready to plant.
I took this to give you a close up of the Mel’s Mix, and part of the irrigation system for the garden.
I’m going to rest a bit and then see if I can get the trio of brick planters between the civilized part of our front yard and the driveway filled with mulch.
I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday.
Filed under Arkansas, Greenwood, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
Your Awwww for the Day – Take 3
animalmlpicturesforkids.blogspot.com
entech4all.blogspot.com
Filed under your 'awwww' for the day
Watercolor Landscapes I Like – Take 22
“Sunrise-after-Fire” -www.paintingwithwatercolors.com
“Vilas Kulkarni” – Steve Hanks-webneel.com
Filed under Creativity, Landscapes I Like
Gardening Odds and Ends – 2017-11-25
When I went out to the garden this afternoon, I had prepared myself for everything to be gone, as we had two freezes while I was in the worst phase of my eye injury. To my delight, my lettuce was still going! I took two pictures because I put the two kinds of lettuce, plus a few leaves of spinach, in the same pile to be washed, dried, and put into two gallon storage bags.
There is Simpson lettuce, which is the frilly, lighter green lettuce; and there is Bibb lettuce, a darker shade of green with more leaf-like shape, and finally the darkest green, the few leaves of spinach I harvested today. I was so pleased that in our Thanksgiving salad, about 2/3 of it was from the garden!
I splurged and bought this mainly for the seeds and plants I’ll have in the greenhouse. I wanted a good mister, and this one got some of the best reviews I saw, plus it’s a burgundy/light purpley color that makes me smile every time I see it. :0)
Besides the harvesting, I cleaned out three of the six raised bed boxes in the garden today. If the weather is cooperative, I’ll try to clean out two more, leaving the one with the lettuces and spinach to cover for the next freeze. I’ll try to get some pics of the garden when it’s cleaned out tomorrow.
Filed under Arkansas, Gardening, Greenwood, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
Swans
“Swans in Love” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Swans” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Call
J.D. Salinger via thebookaholiccat.blogspot.com
There are two authors in this category for me – Nora Roberts, both for her romances and her J.D. Robb/Eve Dallas In Death Series; and Robert B. Parker. I’m now in the process of rereading his Spenser books, of which there are 40. I’m on #13 “Taming a Sea-Horse.” Some of them have been read so many times that they’re falling apart, so I’m ordering ones in better shape to keep my collection intact.
Both of these authors have given me countless hours of pleasure with interesting characters I feel I know and care about. I can dive into a book and leave current worries behind. I feel so lucky to be able to read for pleasure.
When I was about 3 my family was all together one day in the living room. My mom was working a New York Times crossword puzzle and the daily cryptoquote. My dad was reading a book on archeology. My older brother was reading a comic book. I was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room looking at each of them in turn. I suddenly shocked everyone by saying, “I wish to HELL I could read!” There was silence after my brother’s gasp at my language. My parents were torn between washing my mouth out with soap and listening to the desperation in my voice. The desperation won, and my mom sat down beside me and began teaching me to read.
The school system tried to kill my love for reading and almost made it. By the time I got my Master’s Degree as a Reading Specialist, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was read something. For years I read as if I would be tested on it, or would have to write a paper about it. There were a couple of years where I read in order to prepare for teaching, but couldn’t read for pleasure. When I realized what I was doing, I made a conscious effort to get back the gift my mom gave me so many years ago.
I tried to give the gift to others, in the classroom and then in my own reading clinic. I only stayed in the public school system for eight years. I was constantly in trouble for using unorthodox methods, such a playing the guitar to teach phonics to my first graders, or giving out paper certificates under a tree on the playground on Fridays for good work that week. The clinic was a joy. My partner and I changed a lot of lives. We had children cry because they realized they weren’t ‘stupid,’ that they had just missed something they needed in order to make sense out of what they were seeing. We convinced one wonderful young man to go to college. He came back, several years later, thanking us for helping him become a park ranger. We did everything but make a profit, and so we had to shut the clinic down after three years. I feel lucky that we touched several lives.
I find it hard to imagine a life where reading isn’t an integral part, whether learning how to do something on the net, finding out about something interesting, following directions to cook a new dish, figuring out how to put something together, or the simply joy of escaping into different worlds, vicariously visiting places, meeting fascinating people!
I’m not sure what I would SAY to Nora Roberts or Robert B. Parker. I would probably be tongue-tied, trying not to sound like an idiot. Suffice to say, I would say a very sincere, “Thank you” for making my life so much richer.
Filed under Hobbies, Reading is FUNdamental
Beautiful Baskets – Take 12
Ikebana Basket-Japan-zenakruzick.com
Japanese bamboo basket by national living treasure
Filed under Beautiful Baskets, Creativity
Happy Saturday
mulpix.com
Good morning!
We’ve been up for hours, but I’m just now getting time to write. I hope you’re having a great day.
I’m going between ‘have-to’s’ and ‘want-to’s’ today, such as paying the bills and then taking the doggies out to play for a while; or filing paperwork and then giving myself time to look at wonderful stuff on the net. :0)
I think, by the time I go back to the eye doctor on Monday morning, I’ll be completely back to normal. I only have the vestige of a headache and eye irritation today. I’ll ask if there are any SOOTHING drops I can use going forward. My husband says we have some protective goggles I can wear when I’m doing yard work that will hopefully prevent a repeat of this painful episode.
We’re having a spectacularly beautiful day today. It’s 68 degrees and sunny with almost no wind. A perfect day to spend a lot of time outdoors.
Other than playing with the doggies, I’m planning to see if there is anything left in my raised bed square foot garden. We had two freezes while I was incapacitated with my eye injury, and I was unable to cover my plants. If there is lettuce left, I’ll do some harvesting. If not, I’ll start the cleanup-for-the-winter process out there. I have one tomato plant in my dining area window. I’m not sure if it will live or not. I would love to be able to keep it alive over the winter and put it back out in the garden in the spring. I also just started some celery inside. I’ll simply plant it in planters to live in the greenhouse, or bring them in to also live in the window. It will be interesting to see what I can do over the winter.
I think I told you that year-round use of the greenhouse without expensive heating and cooling isn’t in the cards, so I’m concentrating on extending our regular growing season by starting things out there really early for the spring.
I’m still making Christmas gifts for friends, so I’ll try to get up to my art room some time this afternoon.
Have an enjoyable day. Try to make time to do something FUN.
Filed under Favorite Things, Mother Nature
Your Awwww for the Day – Take 2
amazing-creature.blogspot.com
amazing-creature.blogspot.com
Filed under Amazing Animals, your 'awwww' for the day
“Chinese Duck on the Shores”
“Chinese Duck on the Shores” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Watercolor Landscapes I Like – Take 21
“Northwest Sunset” – Susie Short Watercolors-www.susieshort.net
“Road_to_old_Sodbury_Winter” – Tim Wilmot Watercolours
Filed under Creativity, Watercolors I Love
Time to Rest
All I did today was some laundry, some quick errands, and changing sheets on the bed and I’m ready for a nap.
I guess the combination of the trip to the E.R. for my eye, the pain and stress, and then getting ready for Thanksgiving have taken a toll on my depleted reserves. The eye is steadily improving, but it still feels as if I have some serious grit in my eyes. The headache remains. Slow, steady improvement.
I hope you can take some time and do some serious relaxing today, too – this day-after-turkey-day.
Filed under Attitude
Day After Turkey Day
We had a great Thanksgiving and hope that you did, too.
We managed to have an almost completely low-carb dinner, with roasted turkey breast, cauliflower “mashed potatoes,” gravy, a big salad, and deviled eggs. The only ‘carb’ stuff was wine and cranberry sauce.
Amber was her usual puppy self when our friend Nora first arrived, but then settled down and was good the rest of the evening. It made Nora laugh when Amber just walked right up my husband’s front to sit in his lap.
We had lots of good conversation, catching up on what’s been happening since we saw each other last. One piece of entertainment for the evening was when my husband put drops and goo into my injured eye.
When we were getting ready for bed, my husband thanked me for making the deviled eggs – one of his favorite things, and said everything tasted good, particularly the mashed potatoes and gravy. I then told him the mashed potatoes were pureed cauliflower with butter, garlic , salt, and parmesan cheese! He was amazed, admitted he wouldn’t even have tried it if he had known, but admitted he thought it was delicious. I can now feel free to serve it from time to time – with gravy, of course. :0)
Tonight we’ll have one of MY very favorite things – turkey sandwiches! Another thing for which to be thankful.
Filed under Friendship, holidays
Happy Thanksgiving – 2017!
“May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!”
Anonymous
Filed under holidays
Eye Update
mad eye moody-harry potter-pinterest.com
Just got back from seeing one of the docs who helped me with my cataract surgery.
He said, “Wow. You sure scratched your eye all up. I’ll bet that hurts.”
The tech, though, had put numbing drops in my eyes before she did all the preliminary testing, so I was able to tell him that I felt better now than I had since Monday evening.
He didn’t find anything in my eye, or any sign of any other problems. Whew. We decided that it was probably a combination of the dryness we’re having right now plus the fact that I did the last bout of leaf mulching. I probably got some really small bits of leaves in my eyes, even though I wear protective glasses.
Anyhow, he called in prescriptions for an ointment and some eye drops that work to alleviate stinging, irritation, and pain while my eye has a chance to heal. There is no sign of infection. We put the two things in when I got home and I still feel a bit of ‘something being in my eye,’ but none of the stinging and no one is plunging a knife into my eye anymore! Hooray!
So I called my good friend, Nora, and said that turkey day is back on tomorrow. I can handle the amount of discomfort I have now, so should be able to do turkey and all the fixings tomorrow, as scheduled. It’s a good thing my guest is my good friend, Nora, who loves, me because I probably won’t get much cleaning done tomorrow…
Happy Thanksgiving!
Filed under Challenges, holidays
Out of Commission
mad eye moody-harry potter-pinterest.com
We were watching TV last night and suddenly I felt I had something in my eye.
After using two different kinds of eye drops, my right eye was stinging and hurting, like someone was stabbing me in the eye. We ended up in the ER at the hospital at 12:30 this morning. Somehow I got a large scratch on my eye. They were unable to find anything still in there, but I was pretty miserable, to say the least. They put antibiotic ‘goo’ in my eye and put a patch on my eye to sleep in. They gave me a pain pill and made my husband sign that he would be the one driving. We left the ER around 2:30 this morning.
The pill made me really nauseous, but it did help with the pain in my eye. I was pretty woozy by the time we went to bed, about 3:30a.m.
I was still woozy and nauseous when the alarm went off. I slept under my throw in my recliner until 11:30 or so. We did errands – me just riding in the car while my husband handled everything. I have basically slept all day, except for when my husband put more antibiotic goo in my eye and some aspirin. (No more of the pain pills, though we filled the prescription just in case. I can always cut them up into quarters if needed in the future.)
My husband is watching an awful movie on TV. I’ll probably go back and doze off again until it’s time to go to bed. The way I feel, I’ll probably sleep fine all night. I have a patch to put on my eye when I sleep so it’ll be protected.
I have no clue how I hurt my eye, except that apparently I did a reasonable job of it.
Hope you had a much better day than I did. I’m really grateful I have my husband to take care of me, the animals, and the house. He’s truly a keeper. He says I look like Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter (above) when I’m wearing my patch.
Filed under Challenges
Watercolor Landscapes I Like – Take 20
Mt-Wilson-Autumn-colours-by-Joe-Cartwright-www.paintingwithwatercolors.com
Filed under Creativity, Watercolors I Love
Your Awwww for the Day – Take 1
amazing-creature.blogspot.ca
amazing-creature.blogspot.com
Filed under your 'awwww' for the day
Letting Go
purpleclover.com
I’m still feeling hurt and angry at the verbal attack by our family member on my husband’s birthday. I’m re-reading daily what other wise family members told me regarding looking at this with compassion for the source of this, rather than focusing on what was said or how WE feel about it. One thing that is resonating now is that until I can LET GO of this, it continues to harm. Our family member has probably gone on to other things. I’M the one mired in negative feelings.
I’m a bit old to change my stripes at this stage of my life, but I’m NOT too old to nurture feelings already inside. I have a lot of compassion inside that comes surging up when I see bad things happen to good people. I strive to show kindness whenever I can. I usually can see the other person’s point of view – something that has resulted in a lot of ‘differences’ being nipped in the bud even before the disagreement really gets going. This situation is no different, really – only in the ‘personal’ nature of the attack – and the fact we didn’t see it coming and had done nothing to warrant it.
As I do other things, I’m thinking about what our wise family members said. I’m GRADUALLY seeing this as an opportunity to use the good things inside me to help my sweet husband consider the SOURCE of this vicious judgment of his character, his beliefs, his service in the Marine Corps, his performance as a husband and father, his membership affiliations, his politics, his worth as a human being as the judgment of one person who is deeply unhappy and hurting. It’s pretty amazing that the judgment of one other person, in one vicious note, can smash your feelings of self-worth. I WON’T ALLOW IT.
I’ll continue to hang on, try to show my husband in every way I can what a wonderful human being he is and how much I treasure every day with him – even when he makes me angry and ready to strangle him. :0)
I’m reaching inside, past the child all wrapped up in hurt and anger, to the adult who is usually able to deal with bad things in the best way I can. I really wish this person had attacked ME. I could handle that SO much better!
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Encouragement
November
“November 1” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Pink in November” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Romance in November” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Beautiful Baskets – Take 11
Billowing Waves-www.asianart.com
I just LOVE baskets. In fact, I have banned myself from basket stores, plus stores that sell wooden boxes, plus art supply stores, plus office supply stores, plus “fru-fru” stores…..
I think these are absolutely gorgeous.
Egg Basket-africa.si.edu
Filed under Beautiful Baskets, Creativity
creativeartworksblog 