Last Post of 2025

 Wish I could say I was sad to see the year end, but that is not the case for me. 

I wish you a very happy 2026!

My sister in law is still hanging in there. She needs a new valve once infection is over. Hopefully in two weeks. But, in mean time she must have all her teeth pulled. And yes, you did read that right.  The cardiologist thinks the infection is hiding in her teeth. This I guess is a common problem.  My husband had to get all his teeth pulled before they could start treatments.  I guess teeth can cause so many problems.  Sad, but my husband is doing fantastic with his new dentures.  He can eat again and he feels great. So it is just a process of life.  You have to go through the torture to get better. It can be done. It is not impossible.  I feel like this year has been the most difficult.  I really have no idea how I did it.  Being a caregiver, working and holding down the fort was a lot, but I made it. I am looking forward to better days in 2026 for sure. 

I will leave you with another proud sourdough bake. I think I may have finally figured it out. 😁

Take care. 

It Has Been A Year

 On the 12th it marked one year since the ordeal with my husband.  It seems the treatments are working so that is good news. He does however have a spot that has showed up on 3 PET scans , although smaller each time, on his prostate. He has been referred to a urologist for consultation. It seems like we can't have a week without a tragedy.  

On December 1st my sister in law was rushed to the hospital.  My brother had to call 911 when he woke up and found her non responsive.  They had been watching t.v. and he fell asleep. 

They did many tests and found out she had sepsis, a staph infection, pneumonia and a bad heart valve.  They got her on antibiotics and she showed some improvement, but after a few days started having more problems. She has had at least 10 CT scans, 2 MRI's multiple blood test etc. She continued to go down hill. A couple days ago she had 2 mini strokes and last night a blood pressure medicine they gave her had an adverse effect. They did a chest xray and found lungs and heart had fluid. They drained 2 liters out. She is now in ICU. It will be 3 weeks this Monday since she went in.  They have now discovered she has endocarditis.  They have started more antibiotics for that and are waiting to see how it goes. 

She is very weak and due to mini strokes has about 75 percent of her left side working.  The whole thing has been extremely stressful as you can imagine. And at the same time as last year with my husband.  We are all praying for a miracle.

So my absence from blogging has been difficult this year. I keep hoping things get back on track. 

I wanted to update you all and wish you all a Merry Christmas  and Happy New Year!

Praying for a healthy year!

Sourdough

 Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed your friends and family. I had a nice day.  I wanted to share something because for some reason I never tried this before.  I read putting dough in the oven with oven light on would help the dough rise.  Yes, it works. Inside my oven with just the light on, got up to 80 degrees. I had to turn light off a couple of times. 77 degrees seems to be the perfect temperature for rising my sourdough.  Anyhow, I thought I would share that info incase you are struggling with cold temperatures this winter and getting bread to rise.  I am very happy with the results. I have tried it twice and both times bread was perfect. 

First one is today. Second picture from last week. 

 

Today is my husband's PET scan. Please Say a prayer for it to be clear of cancer. 

Thank you!

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Happy Thanksgiving

 Seriously where does time go? One day it is the first of the month and the next it is the last day of the month.  November is always a busy one for me and more so now with all the appointments for my husband.   It's been stressful and I keep hoping things calm down, but seems there is always more to worry about around the corner. 

He had his 3 month check up with the ENT and he has referred him to UCDavis for a procedure.  His airway is not open enough to breathe fully and until it is he can not have his trach removed. The problem is there are possible complications that can happen with the procedure like losing his voice completely.  So more prayers are needed.  No idea when he will be getting procedure done. I will let you know when I find out. 

Tomorrow is his last physical therapy appointment.  They feel he is doing  great and doesn't need that anymore. So that is great news. 

December 1st is his 6 month PET scan. So we are praying the cancer is gone.  He is still doing immunotherapy every three weeks. 

I hope you are getting in the spirit of the season. 

There is always a reason to be grateful.  

I have been working on a few things when I have time. 

I made a pumpkin pie garland. I saw one online and decided to make one.  I am happy with how it turned out.

It was fun to make and I can't wait for the grandkids to see it. 

I have been cleaning and getting ready for the feast.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Checking In

 I hope everyone is enjoying fall festivities. I have been busy as usual. Work, appointments etc.  Last weekend I made a pumpkin pie. I forgot to take a picture, but it was yummy.  I made sourdough as usual too.  The kids came over for a visit and we had baked potatoes.  It was a nice day.

My brother and I all dressed up for Halloween. 

Is it just me or does time fly by for you too?

I hope you have an extra special week !

September is Coming to the End

 As I say goodbye by to September, I remember a dear friend who's birthday was the 29th. I will wish him another heavenly birthday.

October was my Grandmother's birthday month. I will also think of her on her special day. 

Of course Halloween will be finishing up the month and it is also one of my favorite times of the year. I love Fall and all the colors. 

We had a very stressful week at school last week.  Due to the assassination of Charlie  Kirk.  One of our teachers at school made some terrible comments online regarding the incident and a few more on other online posts.  Of course he was fired. It took a few days, but he will no longer be teaching children. 

I am hoping this week goes better. I really hate working when things at school at so stressful. 

My husband is starting immunotherapy on Tuesday. It was talked about in June then decided after testing he was not a candidate,  but after we saw another new doctor last week he said he was a candidate for therapy. He highly recommended it so that is the next step on our long journey.

The saying, another day another doctor pops into my mind. Each one with a new opinion. I am grateful and I do thank God everyday, but I sure could use a stress free week! 

I am new to this whole thing so I will keep you posted on how it goes. 

I hope you have a fantastic week!

Sourdough

 It's been a while since I posted sourdough. I am sure you were wondering if I was still baking.  Yup, I am. When I can. 

I am still enjoying eating it too.

My husband had good news on his recent PET scan. No new tumors and the one he had is fading away. They said that the tumor doesn't disappear right away and they continue to do PET scans every three months. Praying for complete healing.

He still has coughing and mucous, but that has slowed down a lot. 

The radiation burns have been fading away and his skin looks pretty good for the most part.  

He has a dentist appointment tomorrow to get dentures. That will be a huge step in his recovery. He will be able to eat food again.  He has been going to therapy for his swallowing. That has helped a lot too.  So hopefully after gets his chompers He will be good to go. 

We are getting a lot of thunder here tonight. Maybe rain too. Will be happy to see rain. We sure do need it. 

Baylee hates the thunder. He is very scared. Lucky thingvit doesn't stay long. 

My granddaughter Klara got her first cell phone. She has been calling me and chatting. It has been so fun. Her and her brother and sister have all had the flu, strep and colds, so we haven't seen them in a month. 😭  Now I found out today, she has a spot of impetigo on her elbow. Poor kid can't get a break. Hopefully she is better soon and we can get together. 

I guess that is it for my update. 

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Meet Goree

 

Goree is my latest creation. I haven't had time to make much this past year, but a couple weeks ago I drew a face on my gourd and and my husband cut it out for me.  

I painted around the openings with black paint.  

I decided to make her a sunflower dress.  I added a dried sunflower and a vintage gold pin with a G on it that was my Mom's.

  Goree also has bloomers under her dress and an apron made out of a dish towel which says happy halloween.  Since she is a scarecrow she has raffia hands and feet. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing Goree all made up and ready for the Fall season. 

It's That Time of Year Again

 That, being school!

I just talked to my daughter about this the other day. 

When my kids were little I always cried on the first day of school. (All the way home after I dropped them off, of course.)  Other Mom's were celebrating.  I was weird I guess, because I never liked back to school time. 

I enjoyed being a Mom. 

My Mom was one of the Mom's who celebrated my brother and I heading back to school. I guess she liked her freedom. 

I loved volunteering at school in their classes. And later, I loved being able to work at their school. I'm still there and  I still enjoy it for the most part. 😁

And now, on the first day of school, I say goodbye to summer and look forward to the next one, when time can be simpler and slower.  Until then, time marches on through the year.  Each month like a new chapter of a book, waiting to be read.

I can't wait to see how the story unfolds. 

 

Vince 1st grade❤️

Klara 6th grade❤️

Charlotte 11 months. ❤️

First Day Back to Work

         I had to rush this morning to get Baylee walked and things ready. I didn't have time to feed the wild critters. When I got home Cashew came to the front door for his snacking!  I called him and he came running.  Maybe he prefers a set table ?🤣

            The First day is always early and always a rush to get there. Rest of year will be normal.  So will have time for wild critters. 😁

The kids will be back on Wednesday. I am sure the year will fly by as usual. Hopefully I  have time to enjoy it. I hate always rushing . 

Enjoy your last days of summer vacation with your kids!

Hey Cash

                                                            He is giving the thumbs up! 💖
 

In the Midst of the Chaos

Back on April 1st it was a very windy stormy day. My husband had a blood draw and we ventured out.  The wind blew so hard and it poured rain. Pretty miserable. We got the blood draw done and came home.  The next day my husband found a tiny baby squirrel in the back of my son's truck bed. It was cold out and the baby squirrel had definitely been there for some time. It was near death.  He brought it inside wrapped it in a little cloth towel and waited for me to get home to decide what to do. 

When I got home I knew if we didn't get it fed it would not make it. I ran to PetCo and bought a bottle. I had goat formula so I made that and fed the baby squirrel a bottle.  He was very lethargic.  I was not sure he would survive, but I did my best.  I got a cage out and set him up with a warm bed and waited.  I figured he was about a month old according to the online info.   

I have fostered many animals over the years. I even fostered a squirrel when I was a teenager. It was not a great experience because he grew up and bit me all the time. I was happy to let him go.  He was happy too. LOL. No idea why that squirrel we called Elvis was so aggressive towards me. He liked everyone else.  

Anyhow, we named our new foster squirrel Cashew. He continued to improve and grow. 

He loved his bottles.  As time went on he also loved nuts.  Cashews being his favorite,  but he also loved pecans.  He eats other nuts too, but those remain his favorites.  During these months my husband was going though chemo and radiation.  Coming home after that and carrying for Cashew gave me something to look forward to. After work I would come home feed him his bottle and head off to radiation.  Those were very long depressing days, but knowing Cashew was home waiting for me made the day less stressful.

You are probably thinking what about Baylee and the bird? Well of course they were waiting for me too. 😁  And yes, surprisingly they all got along.  We all enjoyed Cashew. 

I loved watching him sleep. He slept like a dog. It cracks me up whenever I look at the pictures. 

And yes, he likes chewing on things.  Whenever he was running around the house I would have to watch him, so he did not chew on furniture.  I added a big log in his cage and a deer antler to chew on. He also chewed on his plastic box he slept in. 

        Soon it was June, school was out and I thought I would have lots of time to spend at home.  That never seemed to happen, because we had to go to hydration 3 days a week and see doctors etc.  But everyday Cashew was waiting when I got home.

July came and I knew it was time to get him ready for the great outdoors. He is after all a squirrel. We took many trips outside together. He ran up and down the trees. Everytime he was ready to go back inside. Until  Sunday the 27th.  On that day he decided to stay outside. It was sad for me. I worried about how he would sleep. Where he would sleep etc.  In the morning I went out to check on him and he was doing fine. Each day I checked on him and took him nuts. Each time he came to me and got the nuts, but he did not want to stay.

During that week he even started building a nest.

On Saturday he decided to come over and see me. We visited for 30 minutes at least.  He even let me hold him. It was so nice to get to hold him again.  Since then he has let me hold him everyday for a few minutes. He likes back scratches. 😁🥰

So his rehab was a success. I am very happy for him. I'm so glad I can still visit with him and enjoy him. He has several new friends that he runs around in the trees with. It has been a complete joy to have this opportunity.  I am very blessed. 

Welcome August

 It is almost that time of summer again. Back to school time I mean. So many happy Mom's and Dad's celebrating their kids moving up a grade level and many parents celebrating their free time! I always cried when my kids went back to school. We were always so close and it was more of a separation anxiety for me. Until my daughter went to high school. Then it was something else. Whatever that was I was glad to see it go. 🤣  My son never treated me bad. No slamming doors. Always a goodbye. Yes I will call when I get there and never snubbed me when I said drive safe!  He did drive his sister to school. It was a difficult time for all of us. I really don't miss that part of raising kids. 

 My dear Granddaughter who got to hang out with me the other day and enjoy rootbeer floats,  is turning 12 in December.  She is starting Jr. High this year. Do they even call it that anymore? I just hear it called middle school. I like Junior High better.  

Klara is so precious to me. I love her so much. We have a lot of fun together. We always have. She always makes me laugh. We think alike. I can look at her and I know we are thinking the same thing. Both of us will laugh. We have always had that connection from the day she was born. She is the best of the best. 

But, those teenage years are coming soon. Guess we will see how that goes. 😁

Speaking of growing up, my other Granddaughter is turning 1 on September 1st. 

Charlotte has had a busy year growing. I feel like I missed it all. It has been a crazy year. I hope next year we can spend time together.  ❤️

My grandson turns 7 on September 12th. 

Vince is starting 1st grade. Big milestones for all.  ❤️

They will be celebrating today with a big swim party. My daughter says once school starts someone will probably be sick by their birthdays and not be able to celebrate.  So a month early is the plan.  

When I was growing up we had a birthday party at home with a couple of friends from the neighborhood. Now days parents go all out and rent places. Its a huge ordeal. I was lucky to have cake and icecream.  Yup, I am that old. 🤣  

Next week looks like will be our last week of hydration.  I have spent 3 days a week at the hospital all summer. The rest it seems were doctors appointments or related stuff. I will be going back to work in a week with no fun filled, carefree days to think about. I guess that is life.  Maybe next summer will be better. 

My husband still can not eat. He is drinking some better. Still using feeding tube for shakes. Still no teeth. He sees the oncologist in a week for checkup. Maybe doctor will have some good news. I know things take time. It is just hard to wait it out. I have been told many times by my husband I am not a patient person.😁 I try. Sorry. 

 

In the garden news we are getting wheelbarrows' of veggies. We have been taking tomatoes, cantaloupe, cucumbers,  zucchini and peppers to the hospital for the nurses. They are all so kind and work so hard. I will miss them when we finish our last day next Friday. I won't miss going there though. For obvious reasons.

My flowers have suffered so much this summer. I have spent every extra time and energy I have helping with the veggie garden. Normally, my husband does veggies and I do the flowers. I haven't had time to even enjoy the flowers. Even when I have a few minutes I am too tired. This ordeal has wiped me out. My brain is fried from stress. 

The grasshoppers ate a lot of stuff. Things are just now growing again.  We also have a family of deer that are visiting at night. 

These pictures are from the security camera. 😁

They can not get into the veggie garden since they can not fly. 🤣  I think they like roses better anyhow!😬

Well that's it for my update! I hope you have a wonderful stress-free August!

Another Day, Another Update

 Another week has flown by. Still going to hospital oncology 3 days a week for hydration.  Hubby saw doctor on Monday and doctor said he did not have markers for immunotherapy.  So once he can eat and drink he can be done with hydration then no more trips. Yipppeee.  He has a PET scan in August. And follow up.  Monday he saw the cardiologist pacemaker tech.  He is doing good there. Has a monitor to monitor his sleep. Saves on trips to cardiologist every 3 months so that is good too.  Next week another check in with pulmonary doctor.  

Seems like summer has been spent at hospital or going to doctor appointments.  Soon I will be back at school cooking for the kids.  I have missed them. I will enjoy seeing everyone there. 

 We had several people retire in June. It will be different there for sure. 

This morning we picked a ton of veggies. We have been taking a bunch with us to oncology to share with the nurses.

We picked two cantaloupe today too. They happened to be next to the nesting turkey. 

I made her upset when I tried to grab the cantaloupe near her. 

I am guessing her eggs will hatch soon. Then she will be off cruising around. It will make it easier to go in the garden and pick veggies for sure. 

I hope you are doing well. 

Enjoy your remaining days of July!

Another Week

 The weeks seem all the same to me.  Same things go on.  No news to share, just same as last week. 

I made soup with some zucchini  and tomatoes from the garden.

It is my favorite minestrone soup. 

Supposedly a Olive Garden knock off, but honestly it is so much better then Olive Garden. I make it every week. It is my favorite thing to eat.  It is fast to make and re heats well.

The turkey Mom is still sitting on her eggs!

It seems like most of the grasshoppers are gone. So maybe my plants can grow back now. 🤞

Here are a few blooms to enjoy.

Maybe things will perk up here and the remainder of the summer will be good. 

I hope you are doing well.