At One Month Post Op...

I am exactly four weeks post op from having a Triple Arthrodesis Revision.  And according to my surgeon, it was a crazy difficult surgery to perform with lots of manipulation to my foot and bones.  This same time with my last surgery I was still in bed praying for death!  

But this time....

We are hitting the beach!

Doing double header baseball games!

Heading to church for this girl's 

First Holy Communion!

And I'm in the kitchen processing the garden peppers and tomatoes into gallons 

(literally gallons!) of salsa!

I have little to no pain at all, and simply can't remember the last time I had to take any medication for pain.  I have another six weeks, at least, in this cast but I cannot wait to get it off and get walking again.

And when I do...y'all better watch out!

Ice Cream

Who doesn’t love ice cream?  

It’s just one of those summer time staples, like eating watermelon on the back porch and spitting the seeds into the grass.  Traditionally, making ice cream involves churning, buckets of ice and salt, and lots of time.  But I’ve discovered a way to make some pretty rich and decadent ice cream with just a few ingredients and a little time. 

I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but I found it on a wonderful YouTube channel called Mary’s Nest. 

Here’s her simple process:

Beat two cups of heavy cream into stiff peaks using a stand or hand held mixer, then add one can of sweetened condensed milk and mix until just blended. 

That’s it!  That is the basic recipe. 

You can freeze this mixture as a sweet cream ice cream or add in other flavors.  We added one cup of cocoa powder for a rich chocolate, spooned it into a freezer safe container, and freeze for four hours. 

So many possibilities 

So much deliciousness!

ENJOY!

A Very Good Day

This past Sunday was a two-for-one bundle of goodness!

Our Sunday Mass was celebrated with the Confirmation of our number three son, John Paul.

His classes were cut short due to Covid-19, but this month they rallied so that the young men and women in the parish could receive the Sacrament. Kyle, brother number two, was his sponsor. 

We are so happy for John Paul and trust that God will continue to do great things in his life and bless him abundantly. 

Sunday was also Father’s Day. 

All the kids came home, Kyle made a delicious dinner for the family of chicken fried streak and potatoes with gravy. Daniel made Doug’s favorite, chocolate pie, and a banana pudding. 

We have been blessed with beautiful children, a happy home, strong faith, and love for each other.  Today was a very good day to celebrate it all!

Healing

I had my correctional surgery on June 2nd. 

It went smoothly and I spent just one night in the hospital for pain control. 

Since then, my pain has been minimal and all I need now (at just two weeks post op) is an occasional Motrin.  

And now I spend my days watching Netflix like it’s my full time job. 

So far, recovery has been pretty easy. I keep thinking that THIS is how it should have been the first time I had this surgery. I am still so angry that a year of my life was wasted.

I read a quote a few weeks ago that said, You should never ask, “Why is this happening to me?”  You should ask yourself instead, “What is God trying to teach me?”  

God has a reason for allowing bad things to happen. We may never understand His wisdom, but we simply have to trust His will. 

I guess true healing doesn’t mean that the damage never existed. It just means the damage no longer controls our lives. 

I have a lot of healing to do. 

Add caption

Vampire Proofing the House

I have a confession to make. 

I don’t trust my kids...at least in my garden. 

I’m supposed to have surgery in four days and the garden is in full swing. Harvesting ripened tomatoes and peppers is pretty easy, right?  

Just wait for the pretty color changes and pick them. My kids understand this concept. 

But underground crops are a whole other learning curve. 

Garlic is ready in our area some time in July and I really don’t think I’ll be in any state of mind to care what the garlic is doing by then. So to prevent them from rotting in the ground, I pulled up all of my garlic and planted melons in the bed they occupied. 

I debated on drying it for garlic powder or pickling it for burgers. In the end, I decided on something purely decorative. I wanted to make a garlic braid for my kitchen.  

The garlic that was harvested is a hard neck variety but you are only supposed to braid the soft neck varieties (simply because it’s easier). 

I found this awesome YouTube video on braiding hard neck garlic and set to work. 

In about 15 minutes I had finished the "braid"

 and even decorated it with flowers from the garden.  

Now I have a sweet little reminder of the garden 

while I’m not able to work outside for a while. 

Plus, Mary Grace is super excited now that our house is "Vampire Proof!"

I Have Become The Crazy Tomato Lady!

Just call me, "The Crazy Tomato Lady."

I guess I could have worse names.

I am currently obsessed with the hierloom tomatoes growing in the garden right now. 

 If truth be told, I take care of them better than I take care of my children...

I check on them multiple times a day.

Feed and water them religiously.

I play Spotify for them while I'm weeding.  

They LOVE 'Panic at the Disco.'

I lay awake at night worrying if they're being attacked by horn worms.

And I have more pictures of my prized heirloom tomatoes 

than I have of my children on my Instagram account.

So tell me, what would YOU rather look at?

Glorious vine ripened tomatoes lovingly grown from heirloom seed...

Or this motley crew?

It's a tough call.

If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, I’d Have No Luck At All!

So last time I was in this space I was getting ready (for the THIRD time) to have revision surgery on my foot. Well, two days before my surgery I decided to spend the day in the gardens getting them ready for weeks of neglect.

 It turned out to be a really nice day, until....

I dropped a very heavy metal sprinkler on my foot. 

The same foot I was supposed to have surgery on. 

And that damn sprinkler cut my foot on my old scar line. 

Long story short, my physician CANCELLED my surgery. 

I was gutted. 

There was crying.

I may have invented whole new cuss words. 

That all happened a little over a week ago, and now that my physician is sure there is no infection present and my wound is healing well, we have rescheduled the surgery for June 2nd. 

I’m not holding my breath.

There’s no telling what plague will befall me between now and then.

Apocalypse, maybe?

Waste Not...

The weather is getting warmer and the garden is starting to crank out its goodness.  Daily we are harvesting food, and I have to admit, it's never tasted better!  So thankful to be able to grow food in times such as these.  For so many years, we've just had too much to handle in the garden.  We give much of it away, but we also end up throwing a lot of it in the compost bin because I simply didn't make the time to preserve it.  

This year is different,

 I will not be wasteful with this abundant blessing.

I'm about to have a LOT of time on my hands.

And I have a lot of kids to tend my garden while I'm out of commission.

So I think this season is the perfect time to teach my family (and learn a lesson myself!) on not being wasteful and preserving our harvests to enjoy all year long.

 

Time Marches On...

Well, April has come and gone and I STILL 

didn't get the surgery done to correct my foot.  

The hospital called FOUR DAYS before my scheduled date 

(and AFTER I had just paid them a couple thousand dollars!) 

to cancel yet again!  

They said they were working on 
"processes to keep staff and patients safe." 
 I really shouldn't be mad at that but...

UGHHHHH!

Now I'm scheduled for May 21st, 

but I'm not holding my breath!

We'll see if it happens.

Stay tuned...

On the other hand, the cancellation has given me more time to garden and that's always a win-win!

One Week from Today...

One week from today I'm having my triple arthrodesis revision surgery.  I can't believe I'm actually typing that sentence!  My surgery was supposed to happen April 2nd, but got postponed due to the cancellation of elective surgeries due to COVID-19.  I have to admit that I was completely gutted then.  I had been waiting well over a year and it was so close to happening when all of this occurred. But now, with elective surgeries beginning again by the 22nd, there is little chance I'll be cancelled again. 

Am I ready?  

No.

I know exactly what is ahead for me. 

 The recovery is so painful.

Literally, every bone in my foot will be broken 

and reset with screws and pins.

Right now, I'm planning on sleeping the first month away 

in a narcotic induced haze.

Seriously, I'm not kidding.

I know it will get better, and at this point ANYTHING 

is better than what I'm living with now.  

I'm really focusing on be able to walk again normally, 

tending to my household and garden, 

and eventually going back to work full force and with less pain.

Please pray for me and my family,

it's going to be a rough four months!

The New Normal

Our "new normal" is:

Sleeping in on my days off from work.

Having coffee in the garden while being stalked 

by coffee loving dogs.

Watching the hummingbirds fight over the flowers and feeders.

Having the kids trickle outside one by one in the morning.

Long, uninterrupted talks. 

At home haircuts and family meals around the table...

EVERY night.

Pitching practice and games of catch with big brothers.

Picking wild flowers by the side of the road,

because we have no where else to be.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy our "new normal" right now.  When my kids look back on this historical event, I want them to remember that it really wasn't that bad.  That good things did indeed come out of all of this.

I don't want them to remember an anxious mom who constantly worries that SHE is the biggest threat to her family right now.

So PLEASE stay home.

PLEASE be diligent about social distancing.

Wash you hands.

Don't hoard supplies.

And support your medical community with your prayers while you have the wonderful opportunity to be at home safe with your family.

May God bless us all and see us through to the other side of this.

Using What You Have

The recent 'Stay at Home' orders from our governor are wise and prudent with this ever increasing Corona virus....but I'm getting a little stir crazy!  Thankfully the weather has been beautiful and I've been working outside a LOT.  One thing I tackled is a brush pile on the backside of our barn, otherwise known as the neglected compost pile.

Because I was out of commission last summer due to my foot surgery/recovery, we've just been heaping yard waste and kitchen scraps into a huge pile.  No reasoning to it, and certainly no care has been taken.  It has been rotting over the course of a year, and underneath all that woody brush is lush, rich soil and I wanted it!

I began clearing stuff out, burning some, sifting and saving others and what I ended up with is pretty pleasing.  I have a ton of rich, organic compost and I have a whole NEW bed on one side of the barn and a composting system with a watermelon patch on the other side.  WIN - WIN!

My new bed has a fig tree, elderberry tree, and meyer lemon tree as a very small permaculture "orchard."  I nestled in two tractor tires and two old pots as temporary beds for spaghetti squash, malabar spinach, pie pumpkins, and acorn squash.  I filled them in with salvaged compost then the whole thing was heavily mulched with the larger brush pieces.  Now I have increased my growing space and added four new "crops" for FREE!  

Y'all know how much I love free!

The now barren side of the barn will hold a new composting system using hardware cloth bins.  Since the soil was so rich in organic matter, I decided to plant some watermelons there.  Their vines can sprawl all they want without overtaking my lawn. 

This small two day task has increased our home food production, gave me tons of free compost, gotten rid of an eye sore, was a good source of exercise for me, and gave me a killer tan!

Who knew I'd be so good at 

"Sheltering in Place?"

There's Never Been A Better Time to Start A Garden!

With all the craziness in the world right now, there has never been a better time to start a garden!  Now, you don't have to have a green thumb...all you have to be able to do is read.  Read seed packets, read plant tabs on starts, read a book about beginner gardening, or even just look up back yard vegetable gardening on Pinterest.

Some soil, a seed, a little water and sunlight will give you food for your family without having to rely on anyone else for your survival.  It's an amazing feeling to grow your own food!  And now that we've seen how quickly the store shelves can emtpy, it's has become a necessary skill set as well. 

I wrote a blog post a while back about how we made our raised beds for gardening.  You can read all about it HERE.  
We grow food all year long from just a couple of beds for our family of seven.  And even though we can sustain ourselves with our raised beds, I thought it might be a good idea to expand our growing space just a bit more during this uncertain time. 

I don't need anymore permanent garden beds, but I can increase our growing space temporarily by growing plants in five gallon buckets.

Our back porch will hold several buckets with tomatoes, squash, chard, and a few more bean and pepper plants.

It's a super simple process.  Just head down to your local big box store and purchase your buckets.  Drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the buckets for drainage.  Fill the bottom fourth of your buckets with yard waste: sticks, rocks, leaves, whatever you have to encourage drainage.  Next, fill buckets with a good potting soil and then plant your seeds or plant starts.  Make sure your plants get 6-8 hours of sunshine daily and water as needed.

I pray we are never in a true food supply crisis, but if we were, this set up could supply you with a safe and reliable source. If nothing else, try your hand at growing a tomato and/or a pepper plant in a couple of buckets and see how it goes...a home grown, vine ripened tomato tastes better than anything you could buy at the store anyway!