Grumbleeze

Hey! Did I tell you about the Walleye Festival? Here is the website. Check it out. If you can come to this event, you won't be disappointed. I promise.

Not the best groomed yard in the neighborhood but it sure is pretty! Hyacinths and violets intermingle with the grass... and behind this is a bit more orderly but not much. The peonies I transplanted are growing! The white roses survived all the torture I've ever let them endure. The dianthus I planted last year came back... and there's a bit of room for a few slightly unruly annuals! You should click the photo and view it larger in order to see the little violets growing all over the place.

My lawn is mowed - Thanks Jack!!!

Remodeling in the 'old' part is begun... the bedroom and closet are framed in - Thanks Dave!!!

My garden perennials are coming back - at least most of them... unfortunately so are the weeds. Boy! I sure need to get out of this boot and out in the garden!

There's a new special event in my life... I call it Fosamax Friday! Losing a bit of bone density... not abnormal at my age, especially since I've never been able to drink milk... ughh! Fosamax is once a week - directions say 'pick a day' - so Friday it is. Not sure I could handle once a month... I'm always forgetting to change my contact lenses (supposed to be a monthly event).

Take calcium regularly, ladies!!! Be sure it's 600 mg + D! The vitamin D helps metabolize the calcium.

Doc still has me restricted... to keep most of my weight off the right foot. Did I mention there are three broken bones... not two? Actually BOTH ankles on the right foot plus that little dealy at the end of my little toe. It's healing well though... will find out in 1-1/2 weeks if I can 'boot' the boot and wear shoes again. I have two pairs of never-worn NEW shoes... got 'em before the break.

My boat WILL be in the water this year... even if I can sell the cottage. Just rented a dockominium. It's nearby so I can use it often. ;-)

...and a bit of Monday Madness! OttO says...
This week's theme is 5 THINGS... Thanks for playing, and have a blessed week! =)
Name 5 Things that:

1. Make you smile: babies, special people,good memories, animal antics, sunshine

2. You can see on your desk right now: an empty Tupperware glass, an orange cat, the TV zapper, a pen, my brains in a jumpdrive

3. Kept you busy this weekend: cleaned out more cupboards & packed a bunch of Tupperware for the rummage sale, Sunday night supper with friends, watered my plants, watched TV, uploaded my Favorite 5 photos for April here at Flickr.

4. You'll be doing this coming week: Having a rummage sale - part of a township-wide event. Since I still can't drive myself anywhere and I still must keep weight off my right foot, I'll still be depending on others to get some things done. I hope I find out I have rented a dock for my boat too! (I just found out! It is mine!!! ;-)

5. You've said to make someone else smile: Please... Thank you.... I love you... I'll be there... Sold!

Springtime in mid-Michigan and this is the first in many years that my forsythia bushes bloomed just the way they always look in picture books!

This one in front of the house - I just had to photograph - even though I'm still hopping around with the walker, trying to keep weight off my broken right foot. Gotta thank Patti for helping me up and down the steps and going to see the doc with me that day!

Over to our right, flowers were brought for my indoor enjoyment because I can't just go outside anytime I want very easily. They've been gracing my dining table since Easter Sunday... when most of the girls brought dinner with them. Usually I like to provide Easter dinner for anybody who can make it to my house on that day.

Did I mention - Monday I had another appointment with my orthopedic surgeon. The previous week he had identified a third break in my right foot - the other ankle! There was a possibility I would need a rod in between ankles to maintain the spacing. Good news yesterday! The foot is healing nicely with no apparent displacement... no surgery necessary! Three more weeks - he will x-ray again... maybe I will be back to normal (???!!)

Meanwhile I have a new 'friend' at my house... OttO's hubby remembered he has an Amigo - it was his mother's and she died early last year so the Amigo was stored at their house. Look at that face! Looks like a friendly little fellow, doesn't it? Well, it is! Even though my doc said he couldn't prescribe one, it certainly is making my final three weeks of one-leggedness more tolerable! It's much easier to take care of myself with my little 'friend' to help me get around the house! I still do some things hopping around with the walker but the Amigo makes dinner preparation and serving much easier. Imagine pouring a cup of coffee and then trying to get it across the room to a table - hopping on one leg! Not do-able. Before Amigo I felt like I was pounding too hard on the new left knee - and my hands were taking a beating hold all my weight on the walker. No sense in beating up the rest of my body in order to heal the foot, right?

Now for a bit of monday madness... a little late but as great as ever.
1. What was the highlight of your weekend?
Four of my daughters brought Easter dinner to my house where we traditionally have Easter dinner. I'm supposed to keep weight off my right foot (broken), so I couldn't prepare it myself.

2. What was the best meal you ate this past weekend?
Easter dinner

3. Did you spend time with anyone special?
Most of my family was present and I enjoyed every minute of it.

4. Did the weekend seem to drag, or go by too quickly?
It was full and fast!

...and I'm not sure but I'll bet there's a nest somewhere in my yard, quite possibly in this Maple tree outside my kitchen window.

Been keeping pretty busy considering I can't drive myself anywhere yet. The broken foot looks fairly normal now; will learn more about it after I see the doctor tomorrow.

Went to David's school play last Friday evening. It was great! The kid is a natural. He played the lead in 'Return of the Bard.' His memory is phenomenal; he projects well and seems perfectly at ease on stage.

Got some shopping done the next day - in one of those little motorized carts. Speaking of shopping, that was the Monday Madness topic this week. Here are my answers:

Do you like to shop? no

IF NO, answer the following:

1. Even though you don't like to shop, where do you find yourself shopping most often? Meijer's - our one-stop shopping store. Occasionally WalMart will do.

2. Do you try to send someone else to shop for you? if so, who and why that person? I used to sometimes write a grocery list for my husband so I wouldn't have to go... but then I found it was better to shop with him so he wouldn't bring home as much 'extra' stuff.

3. do you think shopping online is as annoying as shopping in stores? Yes - overall I'd rather shop at a local store because if something doesn't fit, I can just take it back next time I'm in town. If you have to send back an item purchased online it can be rather costly. I hate paying for something and getting nothing.

4. Does anyone close to you encourage you to go shopping with her (or him)? if so, do you feel tortured and go or just say no? No but if they did I'd probably 'just say no.' An exception, I shopped with a daughter & her husband because I can't drive with my broken foot. It was kind of fun - but took a long time.

My favorite 'designing woman' - Delta Burke - is wearing a boot just like mine!!! Yes she broke her ankle and I saw her wearing the thing on 'Entertainment Tonight' today.

..I just had to share this composite picture with you!

The background photo was taken during a walk on a trail in Byron Center, MI the weekend before I broke my foot. It is actually a photo of the under side of an overpass between the golf course side and the residential side of the trail. Used a bit of PhotoShop Elements magic to define it a bit.

The photo on the dark side was altered via PhotoShop Elements. The original photo can be found here at sherle's photos.

Photo on the light side - taken by yours truly actually IS yours truly. No, that thing on the right (remember this is a mirror image) is not a pegleg - it is really the boot on my right foot. I took this photo a couple of days ago... with the resulting composite in mind. The composition is therapeutic for me... I hope it is for my family as well.

Today I'm feeling quite

Stop by and see my interpretation of the FotoPherrets photo theme of the week - SWEET.

40 mile/hour winds hammered hail against the west side of homes in my area!!! I hobbled over to the back door with my camwalker on and caught this picture of the deck before all that hail melted! Yes, temperature was up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday but the storm blew through and cooled things off a bit for today.

You'd think not getting around I'd have more time to blog.... not so! Been clearing out drawers... sorting through old files... shredding and recycling. Still taking photos every day anyway!!!

The foot is healing nicely. I can see progress because I take the 'beastly boot' off my foot to sleep, shower, and when I'm sitting to watch tv in the evening. The swelling has gone down lots! I still keep my weight off it mostly, using the walker for support... and just know that doing all the right stuff will get me on my own two feet quickly.

Made a little mistake in reporting what was broken... the bones involved are 'distal fibula' and 'proximal 5th metatarsal' - both on the right foot.