When Grandma was Hurt

     I was almost two years old when my Grandma was in an accident where a car ran into the back of her buggy. 
    I don't remember the extent of all her injuries, but I do remember that she had both of her legs broken.
    I remember going to the hospital to see her. It was all so strange. I didn't like it at all. 
    Grandma was supposed to be in her house working in her warm kitchen, baking cookies and letting me lick the spoon, or peeling potatoes and giving me a slice sprinkled with salt to enjoy. I should be sitting on her sink watching her and Mom cook. Or maybe on the living room floor playing with the little castle with the sproing-y flags on top while she and Mom quilted and talked and laughed. That was how it was supposed to be when I saw Grandma. Everything all nice, and happy, and cozy. Not like this - lying in a narrow white bed in a bright white room.
    Dad was holding me in his arms and we went to the side of her bed, He set me next to her and she smiled and talked to me, and then folded back the white blanket to show me her legs. I was horrified. There was a metal contraption on her legs and screws turned into them. It hurt my legs just seeing it. She asked if I want to touch it, but I quickly hid my hands behind my back and said "No!"
    
    That was my first introduction to an injury. I was not impressed! To this day I still don't like seeing or hearing about injuries. 

Melt my Heart

    On my list of favorite things, is the evenings when Kenneth, Paige, and their little guy come over.
    It's a little different since LV got hurt, and is confined to the couch, but that doesn't mean that quality grandpa/grandson time is on hold.
    Being on the couch with grandpa is apparently just as fun as all the other activities they used to enjoy before the accident.

    The quality of this photo isn't the greatest since it's actually a screenshot of a video that I wish I could have uploaded so you could hear him laugh, Best sound ever!

    I'm looking forward to another evening of more fun memories being made with them later this week. 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 1. July 6th is National Fried Chicken Day...are you a fan? Do you make your own or have a favorite place to buy from? Do you own chickens? If not chicken what's your favorite fried food?

I don't make it often, but my recipe for fried chicken is one of my favorites. I don't buy fried chicken though. I've had KFC a few times in my life, the last time was over 15 years ago though. If memory serves correctly I enjoyed it, but I know I'd still rather eat homemade.

We don't own any chickens, but with a chicken house in our backyard it's a subject I've brought up a time or two since we live here.  Would I love to have chickens? Yes and no. I've never sat down and actually weighed out the pros vs. cons of having our own chickens, but at this point I'm quite alright without any.

2.  What's something you're too chicken to try?

Administering shots. Shudder! Thankfully Sharon, with her dream of being a nurse one day, is quite happy to take care of that task.

3. When did you last find yourself running around like a 'chicken with its head cut off'?

Running to and from the hospital while trying to balance everything else going on was enough to make my head spin.

4. Something you've done recently that makes you think 'I'm no spring chicken'? 

Hoisting 44 lb cat food bags reinforced the idea that I'm not as young and strong as I used to be. It's something that LV had taken care of for years already and I never gave it a second thought until I had to take care of it while he is laid up.

5. 'Winner winner chicken dinner'...tell us about something good that's happened in your life lately. 

There have been so many little good things that have happened lately.
~ Some interesting mail arrived.
~ The girls brought some cake scraps home from work.
~ Some dear friends went above and beyond to be here for us during this time (This was pretty big)
~ A variety of birds are hanging out outside the living room window which LV enjoys immensely.
~ I found my missing cast iron skillet, it's in horrible condition, but I was happy to find it.
~ We got some much needed rain.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Steven had given me some pansies for Mother's Day. They were so pretty, and I happily planted them in the flowerbed. 

Not sure what came visiting. A deer, a groundhog, or some other flower loving creature, but what ever it was it ate it down to only a quarter of an inch of stem left. I was so disappointed!

Happenings

     Things have been somewhat of a comedy of errors around here since LV got hurt. There's over a dozen things I could write about, but I'm only choosing three, of varying degrees of oh-no!

    1. I opened the door to one of our lazy susans and spotted fresh evidence of a furry trespasser. 
    It's summer! Mice should be fat and happy outdoors, but apparently the treats I have on hand were more tempting than seeds and what ever else mice feast on outside. 
    I cleaned up the mess, and then Steven rose to the occasion and by the next morning our house was once again furry trespasser free.

    2, I got up to find a text on my phone from Rosie Mae. She had left for work early that morning, but on her way she hit a deer.
    Her poor car received quite a bit of damage, but thankfully she wasn't hurt. The car is now sitting at the auto shop. Meanwhile she has a loaner. It got dinged in a parking garage the first day she used it.           Four years of uneventful driving under her belt and then two incidents in two days had us all shaking our heads in disbelief and sympathy.

    3. We were all doing our chosen evening activities, reading writing, etc when Steven announces frantically. "Look at the ceiling!"
    I went to see, and here the ceiling in our hallway was sagging badly. A few minutes later, it came down.
    The girls and I cleaned the mess up, but the gaping hole in the ceiling will remain until LV is back up and able to make the repairs.
    We have no idea what caused it to come down. So strange!

    It's four weeks already since the accident where LV got hurt, and surgery is finally scheduled. We're all really looking forward to getting to the other side of that and have healing be able to truly begin. As of now he is hoping to be able to walk again by Thanksgiving. 

This ~n~ That

    It's been a week now since I picked up the phone to LV telling me he's been hurt and is on the way to the hospital. 
    He has a shattered heel as well as multiple fractures in his ankle bones. 
    He's at home with orders to keep his leg elevated while we wait for swelling to go down enough that they can do surgery to try and piece everything back together. 
    Having him laid up has shown us how much we take for granted when everything is going well, and also how our house is not handicap friendly - not even a little bit. It has added layers of challenges as I try to care for him to the best of my ability.

~~~~~

    LV has been studying Spanish on Duolingo while he's laid up. I thought I tune most of it out, but then I woke in the middle of the night with the words yo bebo, tú bebes, él bebe running through my mind, which leads me to believe my tuning it all out has not been all that successful.
    Maybe I should take up studying Spanish as well

~~~~~

    Usually when ever I buy avocados I carefully select the ones that seem to be ripe enough to eat, but not mushy. Sometimes my only options are firmer than I would like. I bring them home and wait semi patiently for them to ripen, in hopes that at least one of them will be ready to eat before next weeks shopping trip.
    About a month ago I got half a dozen that were still much too hard to eat. I brought them home, but with no room in the produce drawer in the refrigerator I put them in the fruit bowl on the counter top along with the apples that were already there.
    Much to my surprise, the next morning they were the perfect ripeness to eat.
    I would have to experiment with this!
    The next time I bought hard avocados. Some I placed in with apples. The others I simply placed on the counter top. The ones with the apples again ripened overnight.
    I was thrilled! Finally I had found something to perfectly ripen an avocado in a relatively short amount of time. Once they reached the desired ripeness I put them in the fridge to keep them from over ripening, and enjoyed lovely avocados all week long.
    I felt like something of a scientist inventor until I did a quick internet search and saw that storing them with apples has been a ripening method for ages already and I had simply been behind times. Sigh ... there went my feeling like a genius.

~~~~~

    It's that time of year again when walking up and down the front porch stairs is like walking through a tunnel of beauty. 

    The bush doesn't bloom very long, but I fully enjoy it as long as it lasts. 

~~~~~

    Sharon tried her hand at making miniature three layer lunch box cakes. I thought they turned out delightful. 

    The flavors she chose were delicious as well.
    I love seeing their creativity in the kitchen. Being able to taste it is a fun added bonus.

~~~~~

    On top of next week's shopping list is the word - clock.
    The other evening as I was cooking supper the kitchen clock randomly popped off the wall and came crashing down startling all of us.
    I feel there's a whole assortment of puns available to describe this happening, but I'm too tired to think of anything beyond "time flies when you're having fun."