My husband's first cancer diagnosis was in 2006. There have been several recurrences and a couple of new cancers since.
It never occurred to us that these health issues might be related to his deployment to Vietnam until I heard a plea for volunteers for our local veterans Stand Down and went to spend a weekend hearing what other veterans were going through. I learned a lot about agent orange and burn pits.
I also became an enthusiastic volunteer and was president of their board for three years.
If you have a Stand Down in your area, they are worth supporting. If you are a veteran, attending is something to consider. I have to say my husband was supportive but never attended himself. I quit the board after getting them on their feet financially.
This weekend is our local Stand Down, and although I am not involved, I wish them much success.
This was me promoting the 2015 event, which was my last.
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Summer is so back to her old cuddly self now that the blue cone pillow is gone.
We waited patiently together over a picnic of kibble and steak with a side of steamed sweet potatoes. My dinner will be later.
The wait paid of with a spectacular sky.
We are thrilled to share our view with our Mastodon friends who expand our horizons and help us to feel like we aren't alone.
#Sunset
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Finally, I got my Covid booster. My seventh covid shot.
My husband gets his in two hours. I had to wait an hour as a walk-in at Costco but have an appointment for my husband at Walgreens. There weren't very many options here in the middle of nowhere, but I was persistent.
My husband was feeling like he really wanted to get his sooner rather than later.
This 2016 plein air painting by Matt Beard is named HBG. I remember the day he painted it because I was very sick. I crawled to Humboldt Botanical Gardens to sit on a retaining wall and watch the painting unfold. I stayed until the painting was up for auction before going home. It was all worth it.
He has painted four of these Botanical Gardens fund raisers. I own two. One year, I was out bid, and there is one that is currently available at the HBGF auction.
It has been about a year since I expanded my collection, so we will see. Originals are so rarely available.
This one, though, is securely on my wall.
Lucky for me.
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My daughter's family already had a resident cat when they decided to adopt two kittens. She is very old but we don't know how old because she was literally rescued from a gutter in the rain many years ago.
Her name is Jones.
She is the queen of the main house, and the kittens run my grandson's house.
No one wanted to stress her. She who doesn't like other cats, so the kittens are banned from the main house for now.
My grandson sent me this photo so she wouldn't be left out of caturday.
#Caturday
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@a3e2a07b
We look at her stitches every day, but as long as they aren't dissolved, the vet says keep it on. Ten days will be October 4th. We will see.
She doesn't seem very bother by it anymore. We take it off a couple of times a day and give her a good brush. She is healing nicely.
My deep dive into Matt Beard's public catalog of his work has opened my eyes to the breadth of his talent.
This studio commission from 2009 feels very Humboldt to me. One of the tags he put in the description was "kinda weird." I think it is fabulously, gorgeously, most vibrantly weird.
I love it.
Somebody who isn't me has a prize painting in their collection.
He named it The Wedding Gift.
#MattBeard
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Our Mastodon community has been so helpful as we help Summer get through this medical procedure and healing bump in the road.
Being a first-time dog mom, I am always afraid that I might do the wrong thing. I am following the list of instructions from the vet. Summer is always patient and knows we love her to pieces.
We try.
She had an ok night sleeping in her giant crate. Usually, she is on the bed. She is much more awake today and ate breakfast. My husband is concerned because she is shaky, but she is missing lots of fur and stopped shaking when I gave her a blanket. I think she was cold.
Beautiful sky on this good morning, Mastodon.
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Wild weather off and on today. Right now it isn't raining but we got lots earlier.
Still, more rain is expected tonight, but we will be asleep if all goes well.
Summer is sitting with me as she seems to want to stick to our routine.
I wish I could read her mind so I would know how to make her more comfortable.
She is a pretty tough cookie.
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@a3e2a07b
She is pretty shaky. My husband is keeping his hand on her for now so we can give her a few minutes without the cone.
No muffins for her.
We will have to see if we can get her to eat with her meds later.
BTW, bacon isn't really good for anybody. It is tasty, though.
Summer wanted to run, so we went out into the drizzle for a bit.
No painting today.
Wet enough to mud her feet.
I guess it's a good day to take care of indoor chores so Summer is supervising while I empty cupboards and clean shelves and drawers.
It doesn't get much more exciting than this, folks.
I took a picture of a rose in the drizzle before we came inside.
I hope your day is more fun than ours.
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When I learned to cook jam as a pretty young kid, there was no buying pectin at the store. Every year, I would have to pick crab apples from the tree in our yard and cook them down to derive pectin. I would need to can the pectin before I could start jam.
Opening a little box makes me feel spoiled.
I was pretty disappointed when I bought my first commercially made jam. I thought it would be better than mine.
Early morning, I tried to get my husband out the door to his MRI. Our closest hospital wasn't an option, so he has a little bit of a drive. He moves at his own pace even when I nudge.
Summer says, "I don't understand why I have to stay home?".
Making him cinnamon bread French toast when he gets home.
Good morning, Mastodon.
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Thanks to everyone who has been listening as I process and adjust to retirement. Too much time for reflection. I do appreciate the friendly venue for my thoughts. It helps.
This evening, I'm keeping it simple and tooting the sunset without a family story.
Right after I took this photo, we were surrounded by thick fog.
Tomorrow, my husband has a very early MRI, which should tell us if his cancer is back. Summer and I will have to fend for ourselves for a bit.
I do believe I have finally learned to wait to worry until I am sure I have something to worry about.
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@12e2f193
My husband grew up in a wealthy, well-known family and attended a private school. As a kid, he and his siblings weren't allowed to go to the west side of the town we grew up in. I lived on the west side of that divide. I also attended the only integrated school in town.
I was born to a Native American mom and a white blue-collar worker dad.
We were born in different worlds in the same town.
It is time to go through the bazillion photos in my cedar chest and put names and dates on the back. Now that I know the grandkids are interested in such things.
This was taken by my daughter right before my husband and I left to go to a black tie dinner. He was a member of a private club when we met. This men's club revolved around the mansion of a local lumber baron.
His fellow members at our table didn't treat me well because they didn't think I was a member of their social class. It was a wake-up call for my husband, who started looking at those people in a different light.
It was worth it.
He quit the club.
Here, we are 35 years later, and he still isn't a member. I don't think he has worn his tux since then, either.
#ThrowBackThursday
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The rest of the story.
This afternoon, I was trying to keep an eye on Summer, who was chasing a gopher and be present for my grandson who was fixing my laptop and backing up my phone.
It sorta registered when my husband put on working clothes that something was up.
Our next-door neighbors were working on replacing a fence that doesn't border our property. My husband was watching when the neighbor laid down in the field.
So away he went to help.
He was able to get the fence at least closed up for now. I was concerned, but he said he had to help. It seems the heat got the best of the same neighbor that complained about the garbage bag on our house.
I am happy that we aren't in the emergency room and that my husband is ok.
He is a good neighbor.
Glad this day is done, whew.
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Summer was soooo happy that Wednesday was grandson day.
She lapped up all the scritches and attention, and while he was here, he was able to transfer the thousands of photos on my phone to my laptop. It had gotten so out of control. I was worried that they weren't backed up anywhere but my phone.
A little bit of house painting got done, too.
It was a good day.
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Summer is smart enough to know that when I go upstairs to change my clothes, I'm probably going somewhere.
She's right.
I'm running out of paint again, so hardware store here I come.
Summer stays at the bottom of the stairs, so I can't get past without her knowing. My husband is only a few feet away.
Not much gets by her around here.
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I am not a people person. I didn't think I was a dog person either.
My job forced me to deal with people daily it was often a struggle.
Staying home to be a caretaker cut off most of my human to human contact, and Covid makes us even more isolated.
Summer has turned me into a dog person, and Mastodon has given me back the desire to communicate with people again.
It has been helpful to write down my thoughts and share our struggles and successes.
Mastodon interactions make me smile, and Summer makes me laugh out loud.
So thank you for that.
Here is some sunset happiness from my home to yours.
Peace.
#Sunset
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Summer is a good sport about our inside afternoon, but she does sit and look out the window longingly.
She really wants to be out in the sun chasing any little leaf that moves with the breeze.
I am not house painting this afternoon in favor of catching up housework that gets behind so fast.
It seemed like yesterday I vacuumed up a whole bag of dog fur.
Oh yeah, it was yesterday.
Maybe it's time to recharge.
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I can tell when I'm about to say something controversial. As much as I try to share the upside of our daily lives.
The good, the bad, and the ugly are unfolding all around us. I feel the stresses of climate change and sometimes lament that we rely on a well for our water.
I save every bit of water I can and use it to water our small garden and try to keep plants that have been here for a generation alive.
That being said, it is painful to watch two of our neighbors water their lawn and the fairly new cannabis farm up the hill add their eighteenth green house and another well. Within a half mile of both of these activities are neighbors whose wells have dried up.
I am all for people living their own lives, but our fresh water isn't an endless resource.
There are no good solutions beyond everyone conserving and working toward the recovery of our water table.
My humble opinion.
My husband beat me downstairs this morning.
By the time I got down here, Summer was excited to work off some morning energy.
My husband says, "You know if you baked me something with sugar, it could give me a little boost to keep up with her."
Hmmm
It all sounded a little bit dubious to me, but I caved and made him his favorite plain vanilla muffins so he could bury them in homemade raspberry jam.
He might seem a little perkier.
He is smiling anyway.
Good morning, Mastodon.
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