We got that frost they were talking about.  It was a light frost seen mostly on the medal furniture on the deck and on the jeep top.  The flowers on the deck did OK as can be seen by the photo of some petunias.

We have our first frost warning of the season here in paradise.  If we get into the 30's tonight it will be a week earlier than last year. The trees and sky have been telling me that fall was coming.  The trees with their fall colors and falling leaves and the sky with its day time change in intensity and night time stars that bring Orion into my winter sky view.  The deer have already changed into their darker coats that will help keep them warm and safe from predictors. I have brought in all my tropical plants so the bouganvilla and the ficus will be fine.  I will be cleaning the chimney and bringing up wood in preparation for a cold winter. Fall is a time of change, a time to get ready for the winter to come. I love the cool days and cold nights.  I love watching the migrating birds.  I love the cycle of the seasons up here in the mountains.  

moms best friend Lorraine and mom they look almost like sisters

Mom

Today is the last day of summer.  I will say that this summer was not all I had hoped it would be.  I had dreams of spending my time relaxing close to home almost carefree sadly that is not what happened.

Summer started off nice enough but at the end of June my mother became sick and entered the hospital.  This was not that unusual, mom had kidney problems and she would get admitted for a kidney infection, be treated and sent back home.  Often but not always I would pick her up and take her home and spend the first night back with her.  She seemed to get better in fact I was heading her way to take her home when she got much worse.  I got a call from the hospital saying she had a stroke and then coded.  The staff at Norfolk General got her back and again she seemed to get better.

 I went to the hospital and stayed with mom until she was well on the mend.  Things were looking good and at that time she had no neurological deficits and In fact she was so much better that I had come back to the mountains to get a day in at work and then pick up my trailer and head back to Norfolk, mom was going to go into rehab and I wanted her to have her motorized wheel chair hence I needed the trailer.  I got home on Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday morning I called my mom and she seemed fine.  She was looking forward to getting out and going to rehab.  When I tried to call her back around noon I was not able to get her so I called the nurse’s desk and was told that my mom had gone into respiratory and coronary arrest.  She had coded for a second time.

Reviving a person who codes is a very violent thing.  Compressions break ribs and bruise the heart, the brain and other vital organs are denied oxygen which leads to other problems and the meds used can often have long term effects that are hard to fully understand.  When CPR is done out of the hospital to a relativity healthy person there is a survival rate of between 15 and 30%.  In hospital the chances of a person who has been recessitated more than once of going home is less than 10%. There are a lot of factors that enter into this but the plain fact is that a person that is recessitated more that once is most likely not going home.  I am a nurse and I work in the emergency department I know this and watching my mom on the ventilator for the second time was not easy.

I called the family and had those that could come. 

Believe it or not after making the calls mom seemed to get better again. She got off the vent and again with no apparent deficits. She seemed to pick up a bit after my brother and sister and sister in law got there.  Things seemed pretty good; I was thinking mom had beaten the odds.   Her doctor a wonderful man brought me down to earth.  Her lab work was not looking all that great and he suggested palliative care. 

After talking to mom, she was totally oriented and capable of making her own decisions, we decided to stop all care that did not add to moms comfort.  Thursday we contacted home health and made arrangements to get her home.  She was going to go home on Tuesday, three weeks after starting this little adventure, and either get better of die at home.  Friday night mom was in high spirits, she was tired but alert.  Again she seemed to be doing well.  We all went to our rooms; Norfolk General has rooms for family to get a good night sleep, the first time she was by herself in over a week.  At 4am Saturday morning we got a call saying that mom had died.

Mom was born on August 30^th 1933 and she died July 14^th 2012.  She was almost 79 years old.  I will miss her.

The rest of the summer has been spent handling my moms affairs and coming to grips with her loss.  At times mom was the bane of my existence.   She kept me busy with her honey do lists, I never knew when I was done because she never told me all that was on it and the way she spent money drove me up the wall but she was the best mom she could be, she seemed to be happy and she had good friends. Every one I have spoken to has had nothing but nice things to say about my mom.  Mom will be missed.

I am still here.  

As I have said I am going to be staying close to home this summer and with so many great things to do around here it is promising to be a busy summer.  Last night I went to Claytor Lake for their annual Beach Festival, I met some friends who had been there all day so I was able to enjoy an early evening dinner and nighttime fireworks with out having to do any of the work finding a place or setting up. 

My understanding is that Claytor Lake Beach Festival is a yearly event; I could tell from the crowd that it is a successful event.  It is nice to see so many people of different cultures and ages together enjoying themselves.  We were seated next to some foreign Virginia Tec students.  They were perfect strangers but by the time it came to watch the fireworks we were “friends” they were patient with me and answered my nosey questions about their language and what they were studying.  Don’t believe the news the world is full of very nice people.

Yesterday was a busy one. Not only did I go to Claytor Lake but  I built a gate for the garden and cleaned out some “flower” beds.  I have not been that successful with flowers but I do keep trying.  Today looks like another good day; I am going to spend it getting some mowing done and doing some mulching.  I love working outside but I will be needing a rain day soon, the house is getting a little ratty looking……

Today from most places on earth we humans can see a solar rarity called the transit of Venus.  It will not be seen on this planet again until 2117 but from Mars we could see it on August 19, 2030.  Just thought you should know.

NASA - 2012 Transit of Venus

 morning view

farmer Tim getting ready for his long day at work

It’s a beautiful day here in paradise but I will be spending it at work.  At one time I would have said that I work in hell to live in paradise but lately both jobs have been good.  It’s promising to be a good week coming up and after today I have a lot of time off to enjoy it.

There is a lot going on in the world today.  The news as always is just plane depressing and with the election “heating up”, ( boys and girls if you think the political BS has been bad hold on to your hat its about to go to warp), I find myself avoiding the news except in the morning and late afternoon after all I do want to be informed. It is important to have an understanding of what is going on not an obsession with it.  So I have been here in paradise piddling around the property, working in the garden, fixing up this and that and in general keeping my inner self calm.  I am making a conscious effort to remain in place this year and allow my roots to dig in deeper and grow stronger.  I feel at peace on this little piece of land.  I know some of the trees personally.  I can smell the difference in the air from where I live and where I work.  The water tastes good, the birds sing, frogs and crickets croak and chirp and the fire fly’s entertain at night.  I have not been “doing” much this year just living in my little piece of paradise.

I'm still here boys and girls just been keeping busy I have been gardening, hiking and repairing things on the property. Life is good.  I will catch things up soon.

Well hi from paradise it has been a long time since I blogged.  This winter has been very mild here.  I say it is because I bought a wood splitter last year and was ready for winter.  The weather gurus will give you a more technical answer for the mild weather but I still think it is the wood splitter.

To me the mild winter has also lifted the spirits of the folks around me.  I live in a fairly depressed part of the state of Virginia that was hit pretty hard by the present recession.  A mild winter with a lower power bill has helped as had the return of some jobs.  A few factories and plants have opened back up in the area so people are starting to feel a little more optimistic.  The optimism is guarded but it is still there.   

I am feeling the effects of spring fever. I have project plans for the spring starting with a retaining wall in front of my deck.  I want to fill in the slope and terrace it.  That will allow me to walk on the area and get the mower around to the side of the house. It will also allow me to better entertain.  I won’t have to worry about people falling and rolling down the hill.  I’m only raising the area about 2 feet but it will give me about 10 to 12 feet of usable space in front of the deck.  This terrace will step down to another terrace that will hold my bench swing; it should turn out really nice.  It is a lot of work but I enjoy getting out there and working in the fresh air and open sky. 

The girl dog loves the snow

The weather folks told us there would be some flurries last night, the flurries started around 7pm by 8pm there had to be an inch of “flurries” on the ground and this morning there is around 3 inches on my deck.  Guess where the snow shovel is, not on the deck.  The dogs love the snow and I am enjoying my coffee just setting here looking at the winter beauty. I am lucky, I have my warm wood stove and my cozy cabin with big windows so I can enjoy that beauty in comfort.  Of course the dogs and I will have to walk down to the barn to get the shovel. 

When President Nixon signed into law the national 55 mph speed limit it was meant with a lot of resistance.The law was meant to help ease the fuel shortages that were happening in the 70's and decrease the incidence of highway accidents. I know I have a fondness for 60mph and I enjoy that 70mph out there on hwy 81 but for the past few weeks I have been experimenting with my personal gas consumption. This is the World Wide Web so I won’t go into detail with my driving habits but I compared my normal driving habits with driving the speed limit and not going over 55.  The results have not been phenomenal but there is an improvement in my gas mileage. I drive a Jeep wrangler and around here in the mountains I have been getting 17 to 18 mpg. Slowing down has increased that to 18.5 to 19 mpg. As I said not a phenomenal improvement but that is a 5% increase in fuel economy. It takes less than 5 minutes longer to get to work and at 55mph a Wrangler is not as noisy by a long shot as at 60-70mph (interstate 81) so I save a little gas and am more relaxed when I get to work.  Will I always go 55, probably not, sometimes I will have to use the interstate ;-) but I will slow down when I can that 1 extra mile a gallon saves me about $3.00 a tank and since I fill up on average every 5 days that about $220 a year.

It seems that every few weeks a fright train of weather breezes by leaving just enough mixed precipitation to cause trouble then it goes a way and things warm up again.  We had a wicked wind with a mix of rain & sleet last night and now as I write there is a light snow falling.  It will be an interesting drive to work. 

Today it is quite cold and windy.  Today is one of the first truly cold days of this winter season making it a good day to reflect on another year that has gone by. I sit here at my computer watching the sun light up the bark of bare trees and the chickadee’s scuttle about unaware of the lurking cat looking at them from the porch step.  It looks cold outside but it is beautiful and I am thankful to have this view.

This past year has been a busy one; trips to the beach, the mountains and to New Orleans highlighted this year.  There were also many short excursions to places near by but equally fun.  I am very fortunate to have good friends that don’t mind me tagging along on their adventures and who don’t mind tagging along on some of mine. I did not get much done on the homestead this year but there is always next year.

Next year being this year I think I will concentrate more on the home front.  I will stick closer to home.  I do want to take one trip to Florida to visit a dear friend for a few days and I do have to go to the beach at least 2 times this year but other than that I will keep my adventures very close to home. 

Happy New Year. 

There are 10 days left in this year.  In just a few days the “Silly Season” will be over and a new year will begin.  I am reminded of some words from a song by John Lennon “So this is Christmas and what have you done another year over and a new one just begun”.  My past year has been in a word good.  Not every thing I ever wanted in a year but my health held out, I lost a few pounds and made a few more friends.  I don’t mind getting up in the morning.  I have been luckier than a lot of others. I am thankful for this past year and look forward to the new one.

Thought of the day

“An American "tradition" is anything that happens to a baby boomer twice.” http://xkcd.com/

It has indeed been a long time since I last bloged.  I missed the whole month of November and here it is 1/3 through December wow!  Its not that I don’t have anything to say, my god I am Irish I can talk a persons ear off its just that I have been too busy playing and working to write in my virtual journal. Well not really too busy I guess the real word is too lazy.  I have been piddling around the house not really getting any thing done, piddling around the yard not getting anything done and meaning to work on the barn and clean out the shed and not getting it done.  It is like I have hit a lets get things done wall.  I have as of late been doing just enough to get by, no dishes in the sink, floor swept, trash out, laundry done; you know things you have to do if you don’t want to live in a trash heap.  What have I been doing other wise you ask? Reading.  I am trapped in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” books by G. R. R. Martin.  I am in book 3 of the 5 that are out now.  Book 3 has 1128 pages.  I am looking to this series as my “winter read” and I am enjoying it.

I have also discovered that NPR slows me down.  I have been listing to it “all the time” as of late. While it is very informative for some reason it seems to keep me from getting things done.  I turned on some good old fashion Rock the other day and got a lot done!! So for me at least no more NPR during the day, well I am going to limit it to early morning and late afternoon.  The rest of the day it will be Radio Paradise and other R&R stations.

Now not to lead folks on, I am an average reader I can read 50 pages or more an hour if am able to just sit and read BUT I did spend Halloween in New Orleans and Thanksgiving on the Outer Banks.  I have been working more and as always there is wood that has to be cut and friends that must be associated with and volunteer things that must be volunteered so while the barn still needs fixing, the shed still needs cleaning and a million other things do need to get done…… I guess the lesson here is stop doing fun things and get my work done!!!

Whelp I am off to get something done, I don’t know what yet but something.  Maybe I will bake Christmas cookies.

I woke up this morning to the first frost of the year.  Summer is gone and Fall is nearly half way over, heck the year is almost gone!!  For me the year so far has been a good one.  Mountain life suits me.  

This past month so far has been a busy one I went to the Outer Banks at the beginning of the month and it was a very nice visit.  My sister was at the beach so my moms “honey do” list was almost done when I got there, that allowed me to enjoy the family and do a little shopping; you know just relax.  For me mid September through October is a great time to visit the beach. Its not as crowed and defiantly not as hot as the summer is. When I first got there I was a little surprised at the traffic but then I was reminded that it was Columbus Day weekend.  I don’t have any kids in school and I work at a job that is not tied to a  8 hour, 5 day work week so all but the major holidays seem to have been dropped from my radar.  It was one of my better visits since I left the beach. I had a good time but it was nice to come home.

Knights in armor

fairies

 and friends

 Last weekend some friends and I went to the Renaissance Festival outside of Charlotte NC.  I had a good time.  We put renaissance looking things in our hair, a few of us dressed up and we all had a good time. I had my face painted and while it looked great red on a pale face at the renaissance fair did not go well in the long run.

This weekend I will be hanging at home.  I need to get some things done here.  If my garden is not wiped out from this frost I need to mulch it more and cover a few things with plastic. Between work and play I have let the garden go.  The weather has been so nice that I did not even think about frost.  Of course there is the never ending winter activity of splitting wood, stacking wood and bringing wood in the house. In between my little activities I will sit on the couch and read.  Sometimes a little alone time can be great!!!  

I'm gonna love this wood splitter,

I went from this....

to this in just a few hours...

I'm gonna love the wood splitter!!!!!!

Labor Day weekend here in SW Virginia consists of yard sales, yard sales and really big yard sales. I went to Galax through Hillsville Friday and the Labor Day Flea Market & Gun Show was going on. All along 221 there was yard sale after yard sale. This goes on all weekend, Friday to Monday. On my way to Floyd yesterday I had to be very careful of traffic on the road side. People had stopped all over the place to check out the sales and traffic was very slow. Kinda like it is on the Outer Banks in the summer; People going real slow because they don’t know when and where they are going to turn. The yard sales are a bit of a pain for me, I’m not a yard sale person but like the deer and raccoons they are apart of living here and I would not see them gone for anything.

I had plans for the next 4 days that have to be changed thanks to tropical storm Lee. For the past few days my brother down near the Big Easy has been getting some much needed rain and starting tonight and then over the next 3 days we will be getting some of that much needed rain. I had plans on putting a dent into my wood cutting duties. I have bought a new wood splitter and a gas powered chain saw and planed on spending at least 4 hours a day on cutting and splitting wood (I’m not going to kill my self working 8 hours a day with unfamiliar equipment!!). I’m going to go ahead and get started today but I know I wont come anywhere near finishing but we really need the rain and I’m sure I can find plenty of rainy day things to do.

My solution to the deer problem was to put a simple fence around the garden and then I will be putting an electric fence around that. It’s not the prettiest thing I have ever seen but I have seen worse and it is working for now.

It was a long day at work today. Any time there is an inspection it is a long day but I got off a few minutes early and was home in time to enjoy a nice dinner on the deck. Looking at my dinner of a fresh tomato and lettuce sandwich with peach slices it occurred to me that today is September 1^st and the fresh salty/sweet tomatoes will be gone soon as will most of the fresh veggies I have been enjoying these past few months. I only have a few tomatoes left and I will enjoy every last one but ohhhh how I look forward to next year and more fresh tomatoes.