Mother nature or climate catastrophe, whichever, but I am through with this Iowa summer. I have struggled to keep my garden, sweet corn and flowers green since our last rain the end of June only to see it all basically destroyed in a vicious windstorm that brought exactly .1 inch of rain! I am going to let everything make it on its own....or not. One exception will be my tomatoes as they basically had less damage and I do LOVE fresh tomatoes. I will keep watering those! We are also starting to worry about our well so I think it best to stop all the endless watering of everything. I have spent all day cleaning up sticks and branches from every single INCH of our property and still have several hours left to do. My back is killing me. Thank goodness Craig came over and sawed up the bigger branches and helped me get them on the burn pile. Mark picked a good time to have knee surgery and miss out on all this fun! :-)
Well, this wasn't a very positive post, was it? Ha! I think I am just very tired of it all right now. On a brighter note, we are going to Lake Okoboji in August with Megan and family and Matt so that will be a glorious time with our very dear old friends Jim and Nancy. Cannot wait. As soon as we return from our lake trip I am heading to Peoria to babysit our new grandson Ryan when Megan goes back to work. Doesn't that sound much better than raking up sticks and trying to keep dying plants alive? Yes! There is a bright light at the end of this tunnel. :-)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Rain please
It is very hot here and it sounds like it is so most everywhere! Day after day of this extreme heat with no relief in the forecast coupled with absolutely no rain makes for a grumpy farmer and his wife! It was good timing to get a knee replaced because you absolutely don't want to be outdoors doing anything!
I watered our sweet corn this morning and this afternoon it appears to be dry as a bone again. I don't think it helped one bit. I water my garden daily but cucumbers and squash could care less. They want to die and wilt no matter what I do. I really love cukes so this makes me sad! The tomatoes, peppers and green beans look good so that is something, I guess. I believe grocery shopping will be even more expensive in the near future. :-(
Mark is doing incredibly well with his new part. He faithfully does his exercises twice a day and yesterday morning was his first meeting with the physical therapist. She was amazed how well he is doing and with the extension and bending that he could do with that new knee. She said there was no need to see her as often as they had scheduled so we cut out one day per week so now he will go on Tuesdays and Fridays instead of three times. The goal is to get the knee at 0 degrees extension and 120 degrees bending and he is already at 0 and 118 six days after surgery. Yay! Next Monday he gets the staples out and she said he will be able to go even further after those are removed.
We are getting a little bored just sitting around here, even in the AC. I can see a shopping trip somewhere inour my near future, just to get up and out of the house! I need absolutely nothing but sure I can come home with something that cheers me up. :-)
Some random pics in closing....
I watered our sweet corn this morning and this afternoon it appears to be dry as a bone again. I don't think it helped one bit. I water my garden daily but cucumbers and squash could care less. They want to die and wilt no matter what I do. I really love cukes so this makes me sad! The tomatoes, peppers and green beans look good so that is something, I guess. I believe grocery shopping will be even more expensive in the near future. :-(
Mark is doing incredibly well with his new part. He faithfully does his exercises twice a day and yesterday morning was his first meeting with the physical therapist. She was amazed how well he is doing and with the extension and bending that he could do with that new knee. She said there was no need to see her as often as they had scheduled so we cut out one day per week so now he will go on Tuesdays and Fridays instead of three times. The goal is to get the knee at 0 degrees extension and 120 degrees bending and he is already at 0 and 118 six days after surgery. Yay! Next Monday he gets the staples out and she said he will be able to go even further after those are removed.
We are getting a little bored just sitting around here, even in the AC. I can see a shopping trip somewhere in
Some random pics in closing....
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| Mark feeling happy before surgery....must have been the drugs! |
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| Taking a snooze while icing his new knee |
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| Our lawns looking really streesed! |
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| Same lawns in May looking much happier. |
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Why I didn't go into nursing
Lots has happened since my last post. The biggest thing is Mark's full knee replacement surgery on July 10, 2012. He is getting along okay but obviously has pain. That pain will increase lots come Monday when he begins going to physical therapy to work that new knee. Until then we are doing at home exercises to keep it moving. I am trying to be a patient nurse but my personality might not be compatible with the word "patient", but I am trying! Now he has swelling in the ankle and my first thought is blood clot! We are icing it and if it doesn't go down we will call for suggestions on what to do. On the whole, he is a great patient and I am a bit surprised as I thought he would be pretty cranky. :-) No matter what he goes through these next few weeks, he will be better off than he was with that old knee!
Before his surgery we travelled to Peoria, IL to spend the 4th with our children and grandchildren. It was very hot there, too, so most of our time was spent indoors keeping cool. New grandson Ryan is doing well and is very precious. Kayley had been battling severe flu but was on the mend by the time we arrived. Drew became sick while we were there but mainly fever and sore throat which motrin seemed to keep at bay and he still enjoyed our visit. Matt came from Omaha so we had a good family reunion those few days!
We are still in a drought and have no hopes of having a bumper harvest. I will be thrilled if we have anything to harvest! Pray for rain! We have been watering our sweet corn and garden so at least we will have some food!
Pics from Peoria:
Before his surgery we travelled to Peoria, IL to spend the 4th with our children and grandchildren. It was very hot there, too, so most of our time was spent indoors keeping cool. New grandson Ryan is doing well and is very precious. Kayley had been battling severe flu but was on the mend by the time we arrived. Drew became sick while we were there but mainly fever and sore throat which motrin seemed to keep at bay and he still enjoyed our visit. Matt came from Omaha so we had a good family reunion those few days!
We are still in a drought and have no hopes of having a bumper harvest. I will be thrilled if we have anything to harvest! Pray for rain! We have been watering our sweet corn and garden so at least we will have some food!
Pics from Peoria:
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| Kayley throwing a popping fireworks onto the cement |
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| Kayley, Grandma and Drew at Mickey's Pizzeria |
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| Grandma and her three favorite people! |
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| Drew loves going to Mickey's! |
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| Uncle Matt and Ryan |
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| Drew celebrating the 4th |
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| Happy Grandpa |
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| Very proud grandparents |
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| Matt with his niece and nephews |
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| Drew at T-ball |
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| Kayley was given a drink by an admiring 5 year old boy...... |
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| Hit the ball to me! |
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| Hmmm.....what should I order? |
First attempt at catching the parachutes
Successful attempt!
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