This and... that...

A little bit of fun ...

with the Title borrowed from Sandra's blog. After all, it was a This and That sort of day.

I took my Mini-me and Mini-Charlie along with me on our hike on Thursday. I thought it would be fun to show us looking for Fall colors.

Well, Charlie loves to investigate what I am doing. This time he photo-bombed the shot. I didn't mind, he was just checking things out.

I finally did get the shot.

In between cleaning the pasture and other mundane chores, I stopped to do a Halloween photo with my creepy doll head and a Lego Pizza Zombie.

After all, I have to stop once in a while and have a bit of creative fun.

This morning I went to the Farmer's Market. It was the last one for the season. I'll have to wait for May now to get all the goodies I used to get.

I got to see Ruth, she is a Mennonite who has a bake shop in a town about an hour away. Rich used to send me each week for some of her cinnamon rolls and pie. He loved his pie. Her pies are not super sweet but are absolutely delicious. Last year I purchased enough of her fruit pies to get us through the winter so Rich could have his pie!

Ruth was so happy to see me and asked how I was and how Rich was. I hadn't been to the Market most of this year.

I told her that Rich was gone. She stopped packing up the Apple Pie I was going to purchase ... she came around her table with tears in her eyes.

I got one of the longest hugs in the world.

Her hug was real. By that I mean it was long and it felt more than a pat on the back. There was true emotion and feeling behind it. She has never met my husband, but knew what he loved from her bakery. It was all I could do not to start sobbing when she did that.

I pulled out my wallet to pay when she finished putting the pie in a bag. She waved my money away and said it was a gift. She understands loss as one of her sons passed away last summer. She sighed and handed me the pie. I will treasure each bite.

Another vendor is a woman I used to work with as a Security Officer. We've known each other for many years. I purchased some of her wild looking gourds. We've had a booming year for squash, gourds, pumpkins, and anything from that veggie family. She bagged my gourds and then proceeded to add some more to my bag with a wink.

Things that are different now that I no longer feed the Meat and Potato man. My supper consisted of fresh squash along with beautiful yellow cauliflower, red onion, pea pods, kale, little turnips, and other veggies tossed in. I just have a taste for all the vegetables these days. Toss the veggies in a pan and sauté everything then put it over something else. Tomorrow I'll add some bacon to the mix to get my protein. 

The rest of my day included picking up logs and piling them to burn along with cleaning up more garden debris. 

The mules sorted through the garden debris and ate what they wanted from it. They are my garden recyclers.

Tomorrow looks like a nicer day than today. Charlie says he wants to go hiking. I guess we will take care of that. 

Here are a couple pictures of the really cute and gnarly gourds.

They are so pretty and interesting.

Tomorrow morning I may try and take a few shots of them lit up with candle light.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with some of the ornaments Ariel and I did last weekend. I finally got some acrylic glossy spray for them and ... Viola!

They are so pretty!

 

The Hug that saved the Week

What a week.

I really enjoyed my Mobility Classes this week. Our teacher/coach for this class has 10 children. You read that right. 10.

I have her as my weekly and sometimes twice a week coach for work outs to challenge my 'bones' with recommended workouts for people with severe osteoporosis. 

One of her daughters stayed with us at the gym to do Mobility on Thursday evening. Her name is Gracie. Her mom said she could do the movements with us but had to be in a separate part of the gym as the class was for adults.

I'm a sucker for cute kids that are well behaved. Gracie and I ended up near enough to each other to chat while her mom was busy helping some of the other adults.

I made faces when the stretches were hard and Gracie giggled. Hah! Captive Audience.

At the end of the class, the adults gathered to put on their street shoes and get ready to leave and talk. Gracie sat on the couch next to me. I talked to her while I put on my shoes. She jumped up to show me how she could bend over backwards and walk. 

Ahhh, to be 9 again and as flexible as she was!

I stood up and we were all getting ready to leave while the coach's older son ran around and tidied up the gym and got things ready to close up.

Gracie ran across the small entrance area and wrapped her arms around me in a huge hug. It was a true hug. You know, the kind that takes you by surprise and spreads warmth through your heart and soul.

Friday was a whirlwind day. Hubby had his PT class and hadn't been feeling well for his last one. I told him that he had to go with me either to do his class or to see a doctor. His choice was to just quit and go back to bed for the day. I wouldn't hear of it.

Dyspnea means short of breath-difficulty breathing-air hunger-feeling of suffocation. He described it as feeling not quite right, he figured it was the change in meds doses that did it and insisted that he just stop taking a bunch of medications. 

In short, the PT people decided that he was in enough crisis to warrant putting him in a wheelchair and taking him to the ER. 
After a few hours of testing and treatment for dyspnea caused by a COPD Exacerbation, he was released.

I had to explain to him what the doctor had told him a few times. I think he understood when I was a bit more blunt than the doctor. 

He refuses to do his nebulizer because the meds make him a bit jittery. However two sessions of Nebs in the ER brought him right out of his crisis.

I reminded him that when he chose not to do the Neb, and he had an episode of not getting his breath, that he was killing his heart off in chunks. I demonstrated that by making a stabbing motion and an ugly face.

I didn't explain the lab reports that were concerning but expected with his stage of COPD. My job is to make the rest of his life as comfortable as it can be for him. 

Gracie's hug saved the week. The memory of it still makes me smile and feel good inside.