Catching up on my Days......

Thursday started out nice and easy. The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect day to go for a walk......and that's what I did.

It is exactly 1.7 miles around the snake of roads that form our neighborhood.

Bushes and trees are all blooming, the sky was blue and the air was warm.

This was our day to clean and pack so we could come down to the ranch.

Louis Dean wanted to get his tomato and pepper plants out before we left.

He managed to pot up his cucumber seeds as well as the extra tomato seeds he bought - he really loves tomatoes and cucumbers! However, after he set them all out along the back fence, he noticed he had purchased pickling cucumbers! Not the same thing as the ones he loves so much. I do know how to pickle them, though, so hopefully they will grow well. He planted lots of yellow bell peppers thinking he was buying banana peppers! He gets rattled and said I need to start going with him. He had asked me to but I didn't want to fix my face and hair. Going for a walk only required sunglasses and a hat!

We came in from working in the garden all dirty and grundgy. He took a long, hot, soaking bath while I showered.  I was sitting at the computer working on a quick blog post when our message thread between my siblings and myself popped up a little after 9:00.

The nursing home had called Deanie to let her know Mother's labs had come back with her sodium level critical and they were calling for transport to take her to the hospital. Deanie and Charlie were on their way. Louis Dean and I threw on some clothes and I swiped a bit of makeup on, pushed a cap down on my hair and we were out the door and heading to the hospital. Deanie and Charlie drove up just seconds behind MedStar. Perfect timing. It was about 10:00 when we got up there.

Mother's sodium level was 114 and at the hospital it had dropped down to 113. Normal is around 135.

They have to raise it slowly so the doctor said she would be admitted and would need to stay for about a week. I urged Deanie and Charlie to go home and we would stay with her until she was settled in a room. Deanie was exhausted. The nurse came in and said that normally a room would not be available for 24-48 hours but -unbelievably - there were TWO rooms! She said it was nothing short of a miracle!

They put in a room on the heart floor and said it was close to being an ICU unit.

Mother had been hospitalized with this exact same condition three years ago.

She had nearly died then.

The lady came in to fill out the forms for admittance. She was such an attractive young lady with long blond hair and beautiful nails painted a pretty shade of coral. When I commented on them, she said her eight year old daughter picked the color out. We got to talking and I told her we live in Irving and she said she did, too. She told the general area and it was the same as ours. I said, "Okay! What's your address??" Turns out she lives five houses up from us! Isn't it a small world?

By 4:00 Mother was settled in her room and had calmed down considerably.

She never fails to smile at the camera and then wants to see the pic before I post it!

Not that she could see well. She had left her glasses at the nursing home.

We left her knowing she was in good hands.

Her room and the ER are a half a mile apart. By this time of the morning, they had to call security to pick us up and take us back to where we had parked at the ER entrance.

We were exhausted and decided to stop at IHOP and eat breakfast before going home and to bed.

We got a few hours of sleep and then finished packing and loading and we were on our way to the ranch.

I felt numb and in a stupor. 

Good thing Louis Dean did the driving.

We stopped at HEB to pick up a few things and then it was straight to the ranch.

We had a welcome party of one waiting for us!

Dean and Sherry had left earlier in the day so, after we unloaded the truck, we went up to do our first round of  Critter Chores!

They have started putting the ducks in the peacock pen which is pretty large and still under construction at the top but serves well to keep the ducks safe at night.

There are 23 ducks and only 22 went in the pen.

Louis Dean tried everything and we finally gave up and hoped the lone duck would survive out on his own overnight.

We sat on the front porch in the warm spring air listening to the night sounds.

We heard our first frogs as well as the chirping sounds like crickets make but they're not. 

I wish I knew what makes all these noises at night.

I like listening to them.

I prayed for our mother and the nurses and doctors caring for her.

I prayed for my sisters and brother and I prayed for myself.

It has been an emotional time.

It was 85 degrees on Friday and a cold front came in with icy north winds during the night waking us up with its howling.

It was 37 degrees when we went down to do the morning chores and we were freezing!

Dean and Sherry have five new goslings!

We fed them and made sure their light stayed on both this morning and tonight.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be warmer and we can take them out of the brooder and place them in a portable pen so they can be outside.

We spent the better part of this Saturday napping and reading. Louis Dean played a little music but we stayed inside the camper with the small heater turned up to high.

Summer is doing well in Puerto Rico and Sabrina and Rayne are glad she's there!

The beach is their Happy Place!

It makes my heart feel good to see her feeling better!

I made a batch of pumpkin muffins for Summer to take back to Rayne.

She loves them so!!

This afternoon Deanie sent me this pic of Mother.

Trish and Andie had gone up to see her and then Deanie and Charlie went followed by Nita and Mike. She has lost so much weight. She got new dentures and that's always a pain so I guess she simply quit eating. The nurse told Deanie that she had a good breakfast and was eating her lunch when they got there.

I think she's going to be okay.

Still, it's a sobering thing to fall ill at this age.

Mother is 92 years old.

We went out to do the evening chores and are now back in the warmth of the camper.

The chicken is still up here.

She was on the ladder and when the wind toppled it over - she simply perched on the corner of it.

I brought her back some food since she hasn't been down there to eat with the other chickens.

For our supper tonight we are having homemade chicken noodle soup from the freezer at home.

We may watch a movie before we go to bed.

At home, our circle of activity is large.

Down here, it is very small.

Life is simple here in the country and sometimes I need that simplicity.

I'm so grateful to be able to come here and just be.

Tomorrow is going to be about 30 degrees warmer so we will be  back to doing some of our projects in the new addition. We call it the new room but Louis Dean is trying to think up another name for it.

Wishing you all a blessed and happy Saturday night.......