Getting To a New Normal

With all of the changes going on with Carl's parents, I have dropped the ball on the work around the ol' Quarry Garden.  And to add to the chaos, Thanksgiving is only a few days away, oh dear.  You should see my house. (No, on second thought, no one should see my house, it's a total mess.)

Between running up to the hospital and now to the nursing home almost every day, checking on my mother's house on a daily basis and now the addition of Carl's parent's home and reaching out to customers who still have orders for ironwork that Carl's dad did, it's been hectic to say the least.   

On a positive note, my involvement in a study for treatment of chronic Lyme disease has begun again after a hiatus due to a shake up with the study's internal review board.  On a negative note, this means we have to drive an hour one way for the appointments once a week, which means Carl has to figure out how to make this fit in his schedule at work.   I scheduled my appointments for as late in the day as possible, but for Carl, it is a long day indeed.  He usually gets up at 4:30AM on appointment days so he can be to work early and make up some time; and then works through his lunch hour so he can come home earlier. 

Thank goodness Carl can drive me to the doctor's office because the traffic is intense on the freeway, especially at rush hour when my treatment is done and we're on our way home.  We take a county highway as far as we can, but eventually, we need to cross a lake, and the only bridge is the freeway.   I dread the thought of making this trip in the dark in possible snowstorms and icy conditions all winter long with people who somehow think they can still drive seventy miles an hour. 

One solution would be for me to drive myself in to the doctor during the day while Carl is at work.   I realize how needy this makes me sound.  Truth is, I am needy when it comes to driving in heavy traffic.  My eyesight isn't the best lately and I have issues with migraine auras that come on suddenly, causing me to lose parts of my vision with not much warning.  Lately, the auras have become much more numerous and though they pass after about a half hour, the resulting headache is no fun, either.  After my treatment, I often don't feel the best, either.  Carl doesn't mind going with me, as he puts it, "We're a team, and besides, it gets me out of work."  

(And yes, I do realize I am blessed.)

I know we're getting older, but even with our 'team approach to driving' it seems traffic is more and more crazy.  Yesterday we left home at 1:45PM for my 3PM appointment.  We had ample time, the weather was beautiful, almost 50 degrees, and the roads were dry.  We caught up to a string of traffic following a tractor going into a small town on the way, eventually finding ourselves directly behind a shiny black Porsche.  The tractor turned into a farm driveway, and our small traffic jam began to pick up speed, but not fast enough for the Porsche who began to ride the bumper of the car in front of us alarmingly close.  When the car signaled his intention to make a right-hand turn, the Porsche suddenly swerved out into oncoming traffic with a roar of the engine and hurtled at breakneck speed into oncoming traffic.  Luckily for everyone, the oncoming drivers were alert and managed to avoid a collision by swerving and slowing down, but for goodness' sake, really?  

We caught our breath and eventually caught up to the Porsche at the next stoplight who was now in the left lane, waiting to make a turn.  As we were going straight, I managed to get a good look at the driver.  I have to admit, I'd thought he (or she, as stupid drivers can be either gender) would be a young person with the arrogance of hot-blooded youth to blame.  But the driver was much grayer and older than me with a jaunty little driving cap perched on his head.  Old age is supposed to make us wiser; I guess he missed the memo.

My IV treatment went well and we were back on the freeway by 5PM, rolling along at 70+ miles an hour in the dark with all the other harried commuters.  It was so good to finally get to an off-ramp and back onto the much quieter county road again and luckily, avoided all of the deer who are on the move right now, too. 

 By 6PM we were back at the in-law's home, picking up their mail and newspaper, feeding the cats, checking on the answering machine, gathering the items they requested and finally, at 6:30PM arrived at the nursing home for our visit.  

We had a very short visit with Carl's parents and then headed for my mother's house to see if all was well there, finally arriving at home for supper at 7:30PM.  I tossed some leftovers in the microwave and we sat down to eat.  As soon as he was done eating, Carl leaned back in his chair and started to doze off at the kitchen table.  I kept pestering him to wake up and get ready for bed for once he's truly asleep, he's almost impossible to rouse.  

"It's only 8PM, I'm not going to bed now!" he said as he headed for the living room and his Lazy Boy.  I tried to head him off, but it was no use, he was asleep in an instant.  I left him there until I went to bed at midnight.  Carl's right, we do need to work out a better system.

As far as the outside work around here goes, Monday's weather was gorgeous. But wouldn't you know, instead of pulling out dead annuals and cutting back the perennials, I set to work beautifying my urns and planters for the winter season.  In a way, I felt a little guilty working on the project, but it does make me happy to see color all the way up until spring.  

 Never mind I haven't raked the leaves or picked up the shovels or the other junk in the yard, all that matters is the floral display.  (I'll make sure to tell my visitors that on Friday when we celebrate Thanksgiving here, "Hey, be careful where you step and just clear the junk off the chairs, but did you see the urns??")

I do basically the same display every single year, I guess I need some new inspiration, but after I spray paint the dried hydrangeas, they hold up very well in under the eaves of the garage.  We have ample greenery around here to fill in the rest of the spaces, so the only expense is the paint.

The driveway planters are a little different this year where they went from this Pink Bubblegum Supertunia lusciousness:

To this:  removal of the light shade planters and addition of Carl's stainless 'pussy willow' sculptures, my greenery and some fake poinsettias:

I sat in the driveway yesterday afternoon making bundles of greenery for each side of the upright stainless rods, finally wiring the whole shebang together with plastic-coated green wire.  I have to add some more ribbon to the cast iron bases (which have a hole through the middle to support the stainless sculptures) and hopefully all of this will stand up to the ferocious west winds to come this winter.

Not to be outdone, Ernie the Urn also had some changes for the seasons:

Not my best effort, but it will do.  The metal cardinal was a present to my mother from my father-in-law after my father passed away; the steel used to create the bird was from a piece of our old farm equipment.  The cardinal could use a touch of brighter red paint, but Mom had painted in the features of the bird, so I will leave it alone.  

Today's temperatures are not nearly as nice, only in the low 30's, and there's a raw west wind, so I'll have to find a more sheltered place to work.  With a little luck and a whole lot more ambition, we might still have the garden ready for winter.  

 No sense in pouting!

(What about the housecleaning, you may ask?  You may ask, I'll allow questions.)