Clematis

About three or four years ago I planted two clematis plants in front of a trellis that had come from my mother-in-law's home.

Clematis Under-Planted with Iris

Today I counted 47 open flowers on the two vines.  There were also partially open flowers and many unopened buds.  These have been so beautiful and yet little upkeep at all.  All I have had to do in two years is keep them watered and tied to the trellis.

Two Plants Cover the Trellis

They were so pretty this year that I bought two more plants for two additional trellis that were empty in my back yard.  They will have white flowers.  I put them on either side of the purple ones that were in the center of the back yard beds.

Close-Up of the Brilliant Flowers

When plants are this easy to care for, I want to have dozens.  When they have to be weeded, fertilized and pruned often, then I want to stop adding plants.  I just want to enjoy their loveliness and not be a slave to them.

Easter Celebrated Simply

This has been a whirlwind week.  After the lumpectomy, I spent Friday night in the ER due to a complication of the narcotics given to me during the operation.  That is all over now and I was able to perform my part in the church Easter drama.  I was part of the marketplace action, the hillside where Jesus taught and the crowd that welcomed Him into the city on Palm Sunday.  Walter was also one of the disciples that slept in the garden while Jesus prayed before the soldiers took him away. 

Church Bulletin Cover

The performance was terrific.  One of the most dramatic moments was when Jesus was hoisted up on the cross.  I don't know how the men managed to build a cross that lifted into place and then down again while the stage had a black-out of only a few seconds.  Secrets of the crew I guess.  I only know it worked beautifully!

I had worked on the costumes for several days alongside several others to be sure all cast had proper coverings.  We had 51 on-stage performers and a dozen or so crew members off stage.  Our Director worked tirelessly and patiently with us since right after Christmas.  The attendance was 502 in the first service and 369 in the second service making a total of 871 people getting to see the drama!

I was so grateful to be able to perform my part after the surgery!  I had never been sure that I would be able to.  We continue to receive good reviews from the congregation.

Due to all the medical and performance issues we had faced, we decided to low-key the actual Easter holiday.  After the performances, Walter and I enjoyed a meal at Panda Express and returned home to catch up on some of the DVR's that we had taped earlier in the month.  The rest was peaceful.  I made a good phone call to my sister, Jean, and then slept for a while.

Flowers Received from Family

I also want to share the colorful sweet flowers that Tracy's family brought to me after the night in the ER.  They are on a table that my mother-in-law once owned that sits next to my television and reading chair.  On either side I put the two cactus that Walter bought me for Easter.  They are in some McCoy pottery pots that belonged to Walter's maternal grandmother, Lucille Harrell.  The lamp was also from my mother-in-law.  Her father, Omar Harrell, made two of them which I think were used as either vanity or bedside lamps.  We have both of them and I use one here.  The mirror was from my mother and hung in her living room for decades.

Surgery

Enjoying My Flowers the Day Before My Surgery

Monday I had a lumpectomy.  I also had Inter-operative Radiation Treatment, IORT, while on the operating table.  I was diagnosed with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, DCIS, at stage zero.  It has been a long trek from my first mammogram which showed an abnormal reading until the lumpectomy was performed.

In October, 2013, I had my mammogram.  In November, 2013, I had a needle biopsy.  Several small calcium deposits were found and removed.  The reading from that was no suggestion of cancer.  I was referred to a breast specialist for further care.  At this time, I was uninsured.

My doctor insisted that I get insurance coverage.  We looked at several coverage plans but were unable to find an affordable package.  When the Affordable Care Act was in such turmoil in early 2014, we decided to try to use it to find coverage as all other companies had refused us coverage due to pre-exiting conditions.  Walter got on the phone and determined with their help that we could get Blue Cross Blue Shield E coverage.  We made the initial payment and our coverage began February 1, 2014.

Ironically this coverage did not include my breast specialist.  A very nice and professionally minded individual in her office offered me the name of another doctor in Nashville who was in that coverage.  The new doctor is wonderful.  Her name is Dr. Laura Dunbar.  She scheduled me for an Excision of the Mass and I went in for the Pre-Admin tests, etc. on a Thursday in preparation for a Monday surgery.  The following evening about 6:30 my doctor called to tell me that another pathologist had performed more tests on my biopsy tissue and that I had cancer.  She canceled the surgery and set up an appointment for me on Monday instead.  I had eight cancer cell areas with the largest being about 1/8 of an inch long.  They were all clustered within the duct and none had gone outside the duct.  So the cancer was not invasive.  My daughter, Walter and I were in her office for approximately one hour as we heard so much about the cancer that she called it our "Cancer College".  She also suggested that I do a genetic test to see if I have the genes that would make me a high risk for additional cancer.  The results for this were negative.

My surgery was changed to a lumpectomy with radiation to follow.  I met with the radiation doctor for counseling about the IORT.  He said I was an excellent candidate for this procedure.  If all went well, I would not have to have external radiation following the lumpectomy.  So I was excited that this possibility existed for me.  So many other women before me have gone through so much.  I can only be thankful for the time and money spent to make breast cancer treatments better and better for everyone.

Today I am a little sore in the upper arm and breast area. I am not taking nausea nor pain medicine.  I am looking forward to a nice warm shower this morning and maybe a trip to get my nails done. 

My prayer today is a simple Thank You for all the wonderful people who have come into my life now.  Everyone who has attended to me has been caring and thoughtful.  All have been professional and calming.  I have my follow-up consultation with my doctor next Tuesday.  I am expecting good news from her.

God is good!

Tulips Are A Hit

All the tulips in our front bed are up and in bloom.  Some are even losing their petals.  This was our first year trying out bulbs in the new flower bed.  We are happy with the results.

Full Sun on the Flower Bed



Flush with Our Home



The Old Stump Remains Among the Tulips

Close Up of the Colorful Petals

We will need to side dress them with a bulb food sometime in the fall to ensure nice blooms again in 2015.

The family members have moved out now and into a friend's home.  Colin can return to his original school where he will be happy.  He has a lot of friends there.  They visited Monday so they got to see the tulips too.

God is good!

Spring is Here

What happened?  All of a sudden the temperature rose to 80 degrees!  We have not been this warm since October, 2013.  The day was lovely.  Our property is teeming with new growth all around the lawn.  Last November, I planted 100 tulips in our new flower bed.  We created that bed in the spring of 2013, one of the first projects we did together after Walter retired.  For a few days we have been watching the bulbs send forth foliage and on some nights when the temperature dropped under 32 degrees, we covered them with a tarp so the frost would not harm them.  But by today most of the tulips were above ground and either have buds on them or have already bloomed out.

Mixed Colored Tulips are Opening

Walter added some potting soil to the bed and then sowed four packages of petunia seeds a couple of weeks ago.  After that he dressed the bed up with a thin layer of black mulch for both water conservation and high contrast against the flowers.  I think they are beautiful. 

Close-up of Cream Tulip

We choose mixed packages of tulip bulbs as we are not expert gardeners and really just love all colors.  I hope they will come back next season and also that the squirrels don't eat them.  By the time the plants are dying down, we hope to have new petunia plants coming in.  We would like to have continuous color for most of the year in the bed.  It is a good testing ground.  We are learning as we go.

Full Plants from our Church Grounds

Additionally, Walter dug up some daffodils from the grounds where our new church was built.  When the notice came out to members to take all they wanted before the ground was leveled, he dug up two small clumps.  He replanted them on either side of our driveway.  They are up now with several flowers.  Of course we are proud to have that history in our yard now. 

Daffodils from Pandora's Yard

In 2006 Walter's mother, Pandora, died.  Her yard was covered in iris of all types and several types of other bulbs.  Before the property was sold, we dug up a few of the bulbs and a couple of rose bushes.  Today several of the daffodils are in bloom.  We never had any flower beds until we took those flowers from her yard.  Now we have a flower bed that runs the entire length of the back yard fence.  When I weed the beds or add mulch or add new flowers, I wonder if she would be proud of us for carrying on her work, if only a feeble attempt on our part to keep the heirloom plants alive.

 

God is good!