Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Honeysuckle Monday and Tuesday Treasures

I have developed the habit of taking my first cup of coffee with me in the mornings and touring my 'gardens.'
That's a fancy way of saying - I go out and look at my flower beds!


Monday was a little chilly and there was a light shower but I enjoyed my walk about.
I do so love honeysuckle.
It is a favorite memory from my childhood.
I cut enough to make a bouquet along with some fresh mint and rosemary.
I should cut some of my gargantuan parsley!
It is huge!!


I've also been making good hearty breakfasts!
They are served at noon but that works for us.
This one is rice cooked in my nifty rice cooker and bacon.
Everything taste better when you have bacon!


My Blog2Print book came in yesterday.
I did 2010 in two books but 2011 will take 4.
No telling how many I will have to print for 2012!

I spent a good part of Monday sewing face masks.
Since I am running out of elastic, I started using t shirt strings.
When I give these masks out - I try to include at least one of each - elastic and strings.

I'm afraid there was not much sleeping going on here at the Chapman's on Monday night and into Tuesday morning.  I was tired and went to bed before 10:00 only to be woken up at 2:00 AM!
Louis Dean couldn't sleep and got up and went in his music room where he was blasting out some Willie Nelson song! I thought, 'Oh, well......let him play on.'...except it got louder and louder!
I already had the ceiling fan and sound machine on in the bedroom and added my earplugs and I could STILL hear it.
I opened our bedroom door and shouted out - "It's TOO loud!"
He turned it down but by then - I was awake.
And I STAYED awake for another FOUR hours!


This morning I got up with barely 6 hours of sleep under my belt and still made breakfast!
I made egg, ham and cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread.


I knew Summer was having a hard time the last several days.
We are all in hunker down - cope and survival mode - but when you are in constant and severe pain - 
that looks and feels a world of difference.
Both Summer and Sherry (the amazing lady Summer lives with ) and Shanna (our cousin currently undergoing chemo treatments ) remain comstantly in my prayers.
It takes a lot of energy - mental, physical and emotional energy - to connect with other people and sometimes all you can do is use all your energy to just hang on to that thread that is holding you over the dark abyss.....
That's where Summer is.
I know this in my heart and spirit and it's confirmed when I do not hear from her.
I respect her need to use her energy where she needs it.
Rayne and Sabrina hear from her, I hope and if they do - it takes everything she has to make the visit seem more 'normal.' I am her mother. I do not need to be comforted or reassured.
I just need to know she is still hanging on.
So this afternoon I received a Marco Polo......
Summer is the most caring person I have ever met and she knew I needed to see her and hear from her. Of course her surgery to do the spinal cord stimulator has been postponed until this Clovid-19 crisis is over......but I pray Summer can hold on and God will give her some relief until she can have this surgery.


This is Tuesday and my Treasures arrived this afternoon on my front porch!


These are from my sweet neighbor, Tamara!
Just look at all those cute summer tops!
I am so thankful for my good neighbors!


While I don't know ALL my neighbors - I am grateful for the handful that I do.

Louis Dean has spent most of the last several days either in front of the TV or in his music room.
I marched into the den and gave him a few requests that got him out and in the back yard.......


and he found something else he could do!
This is a chunk of our old elm tree.
He tried to cut it up with his chain saw.
He had to repair that!
Then he used a wedge and it got stuck.
So he used something else and IT got stuck.
Tonight we had a campfire for the purpose of freeing the tools!
It worked!


Louis Dean was watching the activity on our Yaupon Holly Tree.......
It was buzzing with bees this evening!
That makes me miss the ranch even more.
Our new bees are to arrive this month.
I would so love to be there when they do.
I missed last year.


However, we are all taking life one day at a time.
A smile helps......


14 comments:

Wanda said...

Hi Linda ~ Enjoyed your posts as usual, but dang all your food looks delicious but full of salt. I love salt, but have been eating like my husband (low,to no sodium) Your bacon and chips and cheese but we are learning to use lots of spices and herbs to help, and lots of garlic...haha.
Today our daughter Michel, brought bags of supplies. She brought too many strawberries to eat, so I sliced half of them and added a little sugar to crystalize and froze them.
I've only printed one blog book, 2009 for my cancer journey. Love that you will have all of your journals printed.

I had to laugh at Louis Dean and "Willie Nelson"....
Have a good rest of the week. Hugs. Wanda

Ginny Hartzler said...

I pray that Summer hangs on. She is a very strong woman! I love the cover of your book - it is full of joy. Your Tuesday Treasures are beautiful.

Vee said...

Praying with you that Summer gets relief. It is difficult to know how much she needs that surgery. There are so many waiting for surgeries these days. This plague needs to go so we all can get on with our lives.

Hope that Louis Dean finds quiet pursuits this Tuesday night. Sounds as if everyone could use a good night's rest.

Beyda'nın Kitaplığı said...

Hanımeli bende çok severim. İyi kahvaltı güne başlamak için mükemmel oluyor. Kahvaltı iyise gün güzel geçer. Sağlıkla kal.

Bluebird49 said...

Ed is the same with his music! Wow, why so loud! It's enough to put one over the edge when one is living in "edge-y" times!
It's so good to have good neighbors, isn't it.
We just picked up supper tonight. We had leftovers we needed to eat.
Hope Summer can have her surgery soon.

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Praying for a quick en to Covid 19 and a return to elective surgeries! Praying for Summer right now.

I had a sleepless night Monday night, so I understand. When I can’t sleep, I pray for people God brings to my mind, and I listen to the Truth For Life app. I figure I might as well listen to something uplifting. It often helps me to go back to sleep.

I know you’re missing the ranch. Thankful you and Louis Dean are both well.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

You've got to love a man who can sing all the old country songs! I hope and pray you both stay well and get some much needed sleep. Looks like you have a few comments that are bad. I know you'll delete them when you see them....just a heads up! Take care....both of you! Hugs from Florida, Diane

MadSnapper said...

bob would not live through playing music while I was asleep. yowsa! we just had WORDS, he is going out to crank up the gas powered chain saw to work on a stump that does not need to be removed. I told him it is dangerous for no reason. that there is a list of things that NEED to be done for him. then he said blowing leaves off the roof was next. I told him about the blogger whose 92 year old father fell off the roof blowing leaves and got a brain bleed. he is making me crazy. this confinement is bad enough without putting up with his dangerous things he is finding to do. none of which is needed. he has gotten a lot of good things done because of sheer boredom with TV... he only has one hobby and can't go to the park for that. he has not been off our property for 3 weeks. at least I go out twice a week for food/drugs. sorry you had a restless night, I did to but nothing caused it, just could not sleep....

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I usually enjoy a good sleep overnight, but last night we had a terrible storm and the thunder just keeps on an don and I woke up and had a time of it getting back to sleep. I'll probably take a nap this afternoon. I'm praying that Summer will soon be able to have her surgery. It seems a necessary surgery to me. You are blessed to get you Tuesday treasures delivered to your door. Such sweet neighbors you have. Your breakfasts look wonderful and so does the honeysuckle. One day at a time is the best way to live. Take care and hopefully soon this will be all over.

The Feminine Energy said...

*haha* Nothing like getting woke up by Willie Nelson!! :-O :-D You have the patience of Job, my dear. If my hubby would have done that... well... let's just say he'd never do it again. In all honesty, he is well aware of how hard it is for me to sleep so if he thinks I'm sleeping, he'll go to great lengths to be quiet. He, on the other hand, can sleep through a siege... and he drops off to sleep in minutes, once his head hits the pillow. Oh how I wish I was the same! I pray for better sleep for you, my friend. I'm reading of so many folks with "sleep issues" during this hard time. I certainly can see why. I've got my Tylenol PMs handy and have used them more than once during all this. Love, Andrea xoxo

Estelle's said...

It's all good at the Chapman house...I love Honeysuckle too....reminds me so much of Summer at our Grandmother's, boy those were such happy days!

photowannabe said...

Prayers continuing for your precious Summer. Praying for pain relief and that the date for surgery will come quickly.
Praying also for your sleep difficulties..made me smile about LD and Willie Nelson in the middle of the night.
Your Tuesday Treasures are delightful and so are your amazing meals.
I think I would be 12 feet wide if I ate all those yummy things.
Take care and I sure hope you can get back to the Ranch some time soon.
Sue

Carole said...

Smiling right back at you! Cheers

BeachGypsy said...

Those blog books you have made are so neat! How many do you have total so far? Love the picture of the honeysuckle......that stuff just smells SO SO SO delicious, doesn't it??! I have some honeysuckle cologne, love it! Avon used to make a good one too. Love your cute new tops! Tell Summer we are thinking of her ok?