Messy

I have the pseudo bird bath up and filled. The robins have been making the most of this. You know what, they are really messy birds.

It's a delight to watch them splash and bathe in the water. They jump in, 'dive' under and get all wet and then shake it all over. Water goes flying. I've had a pair take turns. One jumps in and bathes while the other watches. Then he or she takes a turn. Eventually, they are going to get used to me sitting there watching and I'll actually be able to get some photos of them.

This weekend, I am going to scrub out this lid and see if I can't get it more balanced on something. I think there is a small hole or a crack in the dry side because, when I filled the lid last week, all the water drained out. Glue and duct tape will fix that. I want to utilize the whole lid for water. I don't want to move it off the deck. I like to see who frequents the bath. The squirrels come to drink, too, and I don't want to inconvenience them. I do need to get it up off the deck a bit so air circulates under and around it so I don't have mold or something, growing on the deck.

I also got another bag of peanuts this past weekend. Time to entice the local wildlife to come visit.

Beverage: English Breakfast tea

Deb

Way Early

The lilacs are in bloom.

Normally, I would be overjoyed. I love lilacs. It's my all-time favorite flower and scent. The smell takes me back to my childhood and conjures a time of ease and peace. It's a shame they are in bloom for only a couple of weeks, but that makes their time all the more delicious when it is here.

But, it's early April and they are more than a month early. My late season tulips are blooming along with the lilacs. We still have a month of dicey weather to get through before I can reasonably decide to fill the pots with fresh soil and hope for flowers. This is moderately depressing.

The lilacs blooming has gotten earlier every year that I've lived in the house. It was after May 15th at first. Then it got to be Mother's Day and, just recently, it's been around the first of May. March's unseasonably warm weather has through nature into a tizzy. It doesn't know what season it really is. I have to bring the geraniums I put out on the deck into the house tonight. We're having 'normal' April weather over the next few days.

So, I'm going to have to relish these blooms now, while I can. May is going to seem empty of scents without the usual lilacs. If you need me, I'm in the bush, smelling the flowers.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Trail Mix By Another Name

I've been looking for something to nosh on while playing World of Warcraft. It's akin to eating while watching a movie or TV. Right hand on the mouse and left hand occasionally pushing buttons or reaching for tea or a snack. The usual accompaniments, chips, crackers, candy, aren't the best for me so I was scratching my head for something better. And then I drove to Ohio.

At the Tiffin River rest stop, I picked up a package of trail mix. Bingo! I can make this, in large quantities, at home and add those things I want to eat. Viola. My first batch.

We called it "gorp" when I was growing up. If you google that word, you'll see it is just another name for trail mix and possibly is an acronym for "good ol' raisins and peanuts" which hikers would carry for a snack.

This concoction is really, really good. I should have bagged it in one cup amounts. Instead, I just grabbed a bowl full and kept it by the computer for the weekend. Yeah. Even healthy food isn't good for you eaten in mass quantities.

Here's my mix:     1 bag Reese's pb chips
                           1 medium bag M&M's.
                            The rest of the raisins in the container.
                           1 bag dried blueberries
                           1 bag dried cherries
                            The rest of the jar of unsalted peanuts.

I really wanted sunflower seeds but no one, not even the manager of the Domincks where I shopped, could find the sunflower seeds. Having eaten a goodly amount of this, I don't think sunflower seeds would have added to it. Plus, being much smaller than the other items in the gorp, they would have been messier to eat.

I'm going to be making some more Chex mix this week, but I think I have a winner in this recipe.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

April Begins with Medication

It's a new month, full of promise. Spring is in full bloom, overbloom, actually. With the greening and growing, a new chapter in my life arrives. Medication. Let's start with the metholtrexate.

It's four pills. I have to take these once a week. I ordered pizza and breadsticks for supper on Friday night. I can't do that every Friday night, way too expensive, but for the first time, it was worth it.

Then, Saturday morning dawns and I go line up the pills for that morning. The green one is a high dose of Vitamin D. I take two prednisone in the morning and one at night. I take folic acid and a calcium/vitamin D supplement and a zinc tablet. It's a lot to remember but I think I have the routine down after 3 weeks of working on it. I have to take the prednisone with milk or it can upset my stomach. Plus, I'd rather eat gravel than taste that pill. Bitter does not describe it.

Dr. Francis said that, aside from the RA, I am very healthy. The bone density scan showed very strong bones. My calcium and vitamin D levels are excellent. This is heartening. It means that there's nothing underlying to worry about. It's only RA that bothers me.

I went grocery shopping on Saturday. I found myself in a different mind set. I read labels. I added more fresh fruits and veggies to the cart. I walked through the soda and snack aisles and didn't give them one consideration. It was automatic. I did long for a beer. It seemed as if there was alcohol on every end cap and it was mocking my inability to have a drink for as long as I take the metholtrexate. But I know, eventually, I won't give alcohol a second thought.

I'm not letting this get to me. It could, in a backhanded way, be the best thing to happen in awhile. Yes, it's daunting to have to remember to take all this stuff, but the way I feel now is so worth it. On the CD I have, "The Best of the Rat Pack", Frank Sinatra sings this song and this is how I feel right now.

I'm gonna live till I die 
I'm gonna laugh 'stead of cry 
I'm gonna take the town and turn it upside down  

I'm gonna live, live until I die 
They're gonna say "What a guy!" 
I'm gonna play for the sky.
Ain't gonna miss a thing, I'm gonna have my fling,
I'm gonna live, live, live until I die.
The blues I lay low, 
I'll make them stay low,
They'll never trail over my head.
I'll be a devil, till I'm an angel, but until then.
Hallelujah!
Gonna dance, gonna fly, 
I'll take a chance riding high,
Before my number's up, I'm gonna fill my cup,
I'm gonna live, live, live, until I die!

It's 11 pills to take over the 24 hours that is Friday night through Saturday night, but I'm on this road and I'm going forward.

Beverage: English Breakfast tea

Deb