From a Thursday’s Child

 

Do you know the poem about the day of the week a child is born? The following from Wikipedia is supposed to be the common “modern version:” 

Monday's child is fair of face, 

Tuesday's child is full of grace. 

Wednesday's child is full of woe, 

Thursday's child has far to go. 

Friday's child is loving and giving, 

Saturday's child works hard for a living. 

And the child born on the Sabbath day Is bonny and blithe, good and gay. 

Both Thomas and Maredith are Tuesday’s children. I am a Thursday’s child, and if my lifetime of travels and moves is any indication…well, no argument could be made against the fairness of the prediction of having “far to go.” 

Still, as of August 4, 2021, just how much further I would be going was thrown into question. I haven’t written much about my health in my blog…heck, truth is I haven’t written much about anything in my blog for a few years now, but since that date it’s practically been the sound of crickets. Well, time to make a 180° change! 

I hesitate to call this about-face a New Year’s resolution, but the timing is too close not to recognize the connection. And I know that resolutions are easier to keep if one eases into motion (hence, starting a few weeks before a new year begins) and if one doesn’t bite off more than one can chew at once (hence, limiting my posts to once a week). And, for that one day/week for my posting…looping back around to the poem…I’ve decided on Thursdays. 

Well…it’s a Thursday, 4 weeks before 2024 arrives…so, here we go…again.

 ===== Photos are this year’s knitted rose ornament for the tree (something I’ve been doing for several years now), modeled on our At Last floribunda rose…which you see Rowan sniffing.

Another Month Begins

July.  The month in the middle, marking the beginning of the second half of the year.  Typically, the 3-H month:  hot, humid, and hazy.  The month of Julius (for whom it is named) Caesar's, our country's...and my...birth.  My month has arrived.

It will probably be a quiet month for me.  I won't be doing a lot of celebrating this year.  Mr. T has hinted at a return trip to our favorite day lily farm in Pinnacle, Daylily Meadows...and maybe a return visit to The Bistro at Childress Winery.  That sounds lovely to me.  No surprises...just a couple of old friends.

I will be doing a lot of contemplating this month, I'm sure:  about the past...and maybe about the present; not so much, the future. You see, I have been working on a tribute album and a tribute video for Mom, and I have looked at...and scanned...lots of old pictures in the past week or so. Who we were...and who we are now.

Not that reviewing the past is a bad thing; it's just not where my head usually is during my month.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I usually ask the question some time...several times, even...in July:  wonder where I'll be this time next year...what I will be doing?  And, I try to follow my own advice to my coaching clients:  review the successes/challenges of the past year and write your New Year's Resolutions on your birthday, not on the first day of the year.  Well, probably not this year...not for me.  This year, I find it difficult to plan what I will be doing tomorrow, much less twelve whole months from now.

Mr. T is off on his Carolina Run, as he calls the week he visits dealerships in Charleston, Columbia, and Charlotte.  During his call home one night, he asked the question: so, what's on your schedule for tomorrow?  I replied that I have no "schedule"...for tomorrow or any other time, for that matter.  I am in this suspended universe where plans and schedules no longer count.  I take each day as it presents itself.

Yeah.  I hate it.  It's downright un-natural for me.  But, sometimes you do what needs to be done, regardless of whether you like it or not.  This is one of those times. Sigh...and get on with it.

Well, N/M/E has had a roller-coaster week.  After a few bouts with poorly-controlled pain, the staff at Hospice Home decided to begin using a morphine pump with Mom:  one that administers a pre-programmed dose at certain intervals on its own...and still allows for her to push a button to get a "break-through pain" dose in between those times.  Sounds like a plan to me!

When they first set up the pump, Mom was O-U-T for nearly a whole day:  couldn't wake up; was almost incoherent when she did.  Scary.  Never fear, the staff made the adjustments to the dosage (way down) to allow her to be more awake.  Uh oh...then she had too much pain.  Not to worry, the staff made the adjustments to the dosage (higher, but somewhere in the middle), plus they re-set the intervals for the break-through pain doses (shorter intervals, smaller dose per interval, while still allowing enough overall). That's been working for a few days now, thank goodness.

As Brother T says "they call it medical PRACTICE for a reason."

Speaking of brothers...both were here for the Fourth weekend:  Bro J with SIL J from Nashville, and Bro T with SIL LaD from KY.  Missy M also arrived for the Holiday weekend, along with my grand-dogs, Dixie and Ella Rae (who chased squirrels to her little heart's content...:).  We even were able to get together for a BBQ on our deck on Saturday, before everyone had to leave on Monday.  Well, all except SIL LaD, who probably over-did it with this visit.  She has her own set of health issues...and every single one of them tried to overtake her while she was in HPNC.  As Momma would say:  "if it ain't one thing, it's 10 others."

Amen, Momma.  Amen.

Quick! To the Grocery for Bread and Milk!!

Well, I'm happy to report that we finally got all the outside Christmas decorations down.  Woo hoo!  Good thing, too.  Weather wonks are predicting rain this afternoon, followed by rapidly falling temperatures and snow for this evening and overnight...and more snow for Monday.  Before I dash out the door to the store (for bread and milk, of course...:), I thought I'd dash off a post.



King Alfred Daffodils
peeking out of the pinestraw

Uh oh.  We may have a problem with that weather forecast.  No, the snow isn't really the main issue.  It's the bitter cold temps that concern me the most.  You see, more than a few of the spring-flowering bulbs (photo, left) and bushes have tender, green shoots and tentative buds popping into view.  The snow actually will protect the new growth...kinda like a blanket.  However, temps going as low as the mid-teens won't help the tender tissue at all.  Not at all. 

[The Phrase Dictionary says that's where we get the expression "nipped in the bud."  The earliest version appeared in 1595 as "nip in the bloom;" the 1607 version became our current phrase.  Who knew?]


Before heading to the grocery, we headed into the garden in the Way Back to check on things there.  Of course in January, there is very little growing activity, but I wanted to see how the strawberry patch was doing under the covers.   In November (a few weeks past the recommended date), I had started two new rows with the runners or daughter plants from the crowns planted early last Spring.  I can only hope they got some roots down before the really cold weather set upon us.


Row covers over the onions

You may recall that I began using row covers to provide protection against chilly temps, in order to help extend our growing season and have a Fall garden.  Wonder of all wonders, thanks to the covers, we were able to have garden-grown lettuces (3 kinds!) and edible nasturtiums for a salad at Thanksgiving.

Now, the covers are protecting the strawberries and three rows of onions...the crops that will over-Winter.  Unfortunately, the broccoli  and cabbage plants I planted (too) late in the season appeared to be much worse-for-wear, since their row cover blew off before the last round of cold temperatures.  Sigh.  Oh well, it will be time to plant broccoli and cabbage in the Spring before we know it.  Then the joy shall return!

Starting this month, I will be fulfilling one of my goals for 2011 by doing the majority of my reporting on the garden in one of my other blogs, Gardening with the Giants.  No worries, I will still include some photos and some chit-chat about playing in the dirt here.  However, I imagine that this year will provide opportunities for more in-depth information that only you gardeners will appreciate.  (I have this image:  you roll your eyes when you see the word garden.  Oh Lordy, here she goes again...:)

In a previous post, I mentioned another 2011 goal:  a "resolve to keep happy," as Helen Keller said.  Now, that really is a difficult resolution to measure, isn't it?  Still, I like the way the quote from HK sounded, so I adopted it when I did my Looking Back, Looking Ahead exercise* on New Year's Day.

A more measurable 2011 goal is "walk 3 times and/or 9 miles/week."  Very specific indeed.  The reason for the specificity?  Well, Mr. T had just read me an article that discussed the correlation between walking 6-9 miles each week with maintaining cognitive (brain) function.  Hey, I'm all for that!



Winter day on the west side of Oak Hollow

My walking route is between 2.2 and 3 miles, depending on how many neighborhood coves I include, and takes me down to Oak Hollow reservoir.  I have created my Walk_With_Me playlist with about 15-18 songs (1.2 hours' worth) for my iPod, including:  "Walking on Sunshine" (the first up-tempo song in the mix...gets me going after my warm-up strolling), "We Didn't Start the Fire" (a good one to get me up this smallish hill on my route...and get the heart-rate up!), and "Walking in Memphis" (Marc Cohn's version...a great one for the cool-down period at the end).  Occasionally, I switch from music to podcasts, with my favorites being Cast On (a knitting-themed show) and Car Talk (what can I say?  I just love Click and Clack...:).  And, very occasionally, I walk to one of my audiobooks, although I typically save these for car-trips. 

Yesterday, I walked to music.  And, as you can tell from the photo (above, left), I took a mid-route break at the lake.  Doesn't it just say "WINTER," in capital letters?  All it lacks is a layer of snow and/or ice...and I think that may be on the way.

I guess I'd better publish this post and be on my way.  The bread aisle will be bare, and the only milk in the cooler will be in those tiny cartons.  We Southerners take our Snow Emergency Preparedness seriously, don't you know?

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*Looking Back, Looking Ahead Exercise:
This is an exercise I suggest that my clients work through, either on New Year's Day (in place of "making resolutions") or on their birthdays (a much more personal time to look back over the past year in order to plan for the one ahead).  It's the topic of this week's post on my Coaching blog.