Gentle Rain...48º

The sounds of spring, gentle rain and bird songs, wake me from a sound sleep...Looking out now, it is gray and hazy, sort of dreary...I have to work at being upbeat...Another look tells me the grass has greened up overnight, daffodils are coming into full bloom and with the temperature at 48º, it shouldn't snow today, this morning anyway!

My mind goes to a perfect dinner for today...Leftover ham bone in the fridge, tiny white beans in the pantry, add onion, celery and water, cook in a 200º oven for many hours...Serve alongside a thick slice of homemade bread and a green salad...Simple, satisfying food...Looking through photos from last year, below is a photo of our front yard 2017, much like it looks today.

April 2017

My follow up doctors appointment went well yesterday, lungs and heart both sound good, no negative effects from the blood thinner (so far)...Now we wait up to six months and check again to see if all the clots have dissolved in my lungs and then test my blood to see if it has clotting tendencies or if for some unknown reason, it went into overdrive making blood clots and landed me in the ER.

Pam and I watched two more episodes of the Wild Wild Country yesterday afternoon, leaving two more for today...I was still watching TV back in the 80's when all of this happened, so I remember it but it was 300 miles away and kind of surreal...The enormity of this is brought out in the documentary, but they are leaving many things up in the air, unfinished...I assume and hope they will fill in the gaps, answers the questions and wrap it all up in the final episode...Interesting watching to say the least...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Family visit/Spring Rains...38º

Family (Kim and Diane) arrived Wednesday afternoon, after spending two nights at the Imnaha Motel and the days exploring the Zumwalt Prairie...Diane said, "We are on an adventure."...We spent the evening visiting and eating, then the guys turned in early and D & I stayed up laughing and talking until 10:30, catching up on family news.

Pam and I had an enjoyable Thursday evening at the annual Spring Concert, by the Wallowa Valley Choral...The songs were lively and upbeat, the crowd just right for visiting afterwards and I talked with several people that I haven't seen in some time...As the evening was stormy, P picked me up and delivered me home, so I didn't have to drive after dark.

Yesterday I did my regular stint at the Food Alliance and will continue that through next week, until the regular volunteer returns from Hawaii...Last night P and I watched 2 parts of a 6 part series "Wild Wild Country" on netflix...A documentary from the early 80's when the rajneeshpuram (from India) bought the "Big Muddy" ranch near Antelope, OR to set up a utopia (commune) in the US...Just click on the link,"documentary" or google Rajneeshpuram to get the story...It was a tumultous time in Oregon's history...I seem to feel a little better each day, have a follow up appointment today, so will see what the doctor has to say....Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Buds last night

Blooms today

Garlic Patch

Fun Weekend...39º

I had been looking forward to the musical "Hair Spray," had the tickets all printed for the seven of us that were going to meet at the Saturday matinee...Thursday night I had given up all hope of going and told Pam where the tickets were at my house, so she could take them for Saturdays performance...As things turned out I did get to go, it was a wonderful performance and I encourage all to get on line, order tickets and enjoy the play...Also on my agenda was our usual 1st Sunday of the month, (delayed a week) playing cards with friends...It was a rainy afternoon as Pam and I drove up the Lostine Canyon to Jan's house, Sue joined us and we had a delicious lunch, played cards and laughed a lot...So relaxing, just what I needed.

We have company coming today, niece Diane and husband Kim...I'm so looking forward to that...Thanks to all who chimed in with encouraging thoughts, hugs and smiles...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

The Wallowa river Saturday afternoon

Almost our of the canyon, headed home.

Great show, funny, sad...From the 60's 

and we still struggle with the same

issues today!

Life Surprise...36º

I posted a blog on Thursday last week, it was a busy day, mostly relaxing things, and I only dreaded grocery shopping..."At my age," I wake up on any given day with assorted aches and pains that go away once I get moving...Looking back I had a heaviness in my chest, and when I arrived for my massage and climbed some stairs, I was very short breath...Passed it off as not enough exercise this winter...The massage was good and I went on to water therapy where I floated around on a noodle, exercising arms and legs, hit the hot tub and was soon at safeway...Halfway through safeway, I got really warm, almost sweaty but it quickly passed...When I arrived home, packed groceries from car to house the shortness of breath was back and my chest seemed more heavy.

Not wanting to alarm Herb, I said, "I'll put the groceries away in a few minutes, I just need a little rest."..As I sat resting, thinking 'elephant sitting on my chest,(heart attack) no not that bad, maybe a cow sitting on my chest...I could also feel my heart pounding and when I took a deep breath it hurt deep in my right lung, pleurisy maybe, I thought.'

I picked up the phone, called my Doctor and she said "Idella go to the emergency room."..."But can't I just come to see you?"..."NO, go to the emergency room, they have everything there to take care of you."

I could blather on for several more paragraphs, giving you a picture of the drama in the ER, but I will give you a brief glimpse  of what transpired over the next 24 hours...It was about 3pm when we arrived at the ER...My blood pressure and heart was  monitored, EKG, blood tests, X-rays, endless questions...I could also hear conversations outside my cubical..."We can't get a flight out tonight, but I'm ready to do a ground transport." 'Hmm must be someone in worse shape then me.'  Then Dr Allen (ER doctor for the night) got my attention when she said, "I want to send you out of here, but I have to find a bed (Walla Walla, Tri Cities, Spokane, Boise) and I want to talk to more cardiologist because you could be having a heart attack, but all of the signs aren't there..."I'm feeling better Dr. can't I just stay here for the night or even better go home."

Okay to cut the drama and make a long story short, about 6pm, Dr Allen sent me down the hall for a cat scan of my lungs and the diagnosis pulmonary embolism was assigned to me...It is a serious condition but I did not have to leave Wallowa County...I was admitted to the hospital, started immediately on blood thinners, so I would stop making blood clots...The clots I have are small, but there are many and it will take weeks for them to dissolve, hence weeks of being on a blood thinner, and down the road, more tests to try to determine why my body did this, we may never know WHY...
'Right now I'm thinking about how thankful I am that Herb stuck with his Forest Service job for all of those years so we have good medical and prescription insurance to supplement Medicare...We are very lucky.'

This is not a tale of woe, I'm not looking for sympathy, I know that my friends and family love and care about me and need to know when something crazy like this happens...I'm going to stop here and come back tomorrow and tell you the fun things I did over the weekend...Dr's orders, keep on with the things you always do, just be mindful of any abnormal bleeding (blood thinner) bruising and DON'T overdo...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Looking Back...38º

Memories come up on my face book page everyday and yesterday they featured my blog from April 4th 2012...On that date 6 years ago 4 inches of snow covered the ground.

Yesterday morning, April 4, 2018 was cold and breezy, it later warmed up enough for me to again wander the yard looking for new growth...The Oriental Poppies and Peonies are pushing their way through the mulch, bloom time for them is May/June...The daffodils are budded, just waiting for more sun...Nearly every year we get snow that flattens the blooming daffodils but they are hardy souls and bounce back up as soon as the snow melts...To me they are the sunshine of spring, happy, cheerful and smiling.

A busy day today as I cut Herbs hair, go for a massage, relax at water therapy and then the dreaded shopping at Safeway...Arriving home to fix dinner of leftovers as I clean out the fridge again in the endless circle of daily meals...Hugs To All...OWAV:)

Crocus

Starry Twinkles

Budded Daffodils

Windflowers

Hmmmm?...24ª

A directional sign in Enterprise, Oregon...click on the photo to enlarge...Hugs to All...OWAV:)

Happy Easter...30º

A warm 50 degrees yesterday saw me outside, picking up debris, moving mulch around as crocus and daffodils push their way toward the sunlight...Also some of the garlic plants are having a hard time working through the straw mulch in the vegetable garden...I even got my hands in the dirt, filling trays with potting soil to start a few early seeds of lettuce, arugula and spinach...Seeds of cone flower and bee balm are also in a tray, can't have too many of these, because the deer shy away from them...Five new replacement poppies arrived in the mail yesterday, they sit waiting to be planted.

Pam and I attended the closing program of Women in Art, at the Josephy Center last night...We listened to many local women, accompanying themselves with guitars, mandolins etc. sing songs of courage and strength as they support the fight for women's rights...We sipped wine and shared conversation with friends from all walks of life.

Cienna embarks on a new adventure today...Her parents will take her to Oregon State, where she will continue her educations after graduating a year ago from Portland Community College...New experiences of dorm living, large class sizes, a much different atmosphere...We wish her luck, send our love and encouragement, as she continues this educational journey...Love to All...OWAV:)

The giant bean bag chair

experimenting with new containers

Make shift mini green houses