A Kitchen Table with a History

 

Our dear granddaughter Katie has just moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she will be a professor at Wake Forest University.  I had emailed her yesterday to see how she and her fiance were doing one week into their move and she suggested a FaceTime visit so she could show us their new townhouse. Tonight we were delighted to see her face and hear her voice and see how very lived in their place looks already!

Adding to my delight was seeing their dining room table.  I asked Katie to take off the tablecloth so I could have a closer look.  Yes, that is the table that came from my grandparents’ kitchen 58 years ago.  Jim and I stripped the painted grape leaves from it and varnished it—working in our driveway the month before we got married.  It had a home with us for many years and then found its way to Jeff and Susan’s apartments and now, there it is, with Katie and Eli in North Carolina!  That table has a history and I hope will be the happy place for many more meals for a fifth generation.  

Circumstances Change Roles

 Years ago I think I wrote a blog about how Jim and I fall into fairly traditional roles in our everyday life.  I took charge of household work and he took charge of the yard and finances. However,  Jim has always been good about helping with chores at my request. 

But this “year of the hip” has made a difference in our roles.  Sadly, I still feel uninformed about our finances. Every few months, I try to sit in on the credit card payment and checking account register process so I know where the money is coming from and where it is going.  Happily, there is no yard work to do!

But I have observed that Jim has really stepped up to thinking about what has to be done for the laundry and the grocery shopping.  Today he went over the laundry plan for the next few days before I got to it.  Before we left for Trader Joe’s, he suggested we look to see what we were out of.  I am happy to relinquish my need to be in charge!  And also I am grateful to be able to be less handicapped due to increasing mobility this week. 

The Year of the Hip

 Jim, in referring to the Chinese years of the Rat or whatever, said that this year is my “year of the hip,”. And so it is.  And again, this post will be TMI for most readers but it will be a record of our lives and that is my main reason for writing.

When I had my two month post-surgery appointment for my left hip, I asked for help for my right hip which started hurting the day after I finished my 30 days of post-surgery drugs.  The original x-rays showed arthritis in both hips but the left was “serious osteoarthritis” and thus more in need of help. Dr. Culp did not push another surgery although he said that might be the end result.  Instead he suggested I see Dr. Skeehan for a cortisone injection.  That was not an option originally for my left hip because of some bone spurs whatever they are—they are gone now, removed through the surgery.

I saw Dr. Skeehan on Tuesday.  I was a bit apprehensive about the procedure and also the possible problem with my pre-diabetes status.  He was very reassuring on both counts saying that if cortisone didn’t work, we could try a gel (off label and thus not paid for by insurance).  The cortisone injection can be repeated after three months.  I have to avoid sweets for a week to avoid an insulin problem.  He said that he too liked Klondike bars when I said I could get along without them for a week! 

Dr. Skeehan was very good about trying to make me comfortable.  It was not easy for me to stretch out my leg and to hold still but he said “You are doing fine.”  And it was so good when he said, “Just five more seconds.”  It helps when a medical person is kind and understanding!  

And…I had no pain at all Tuesday during the night and slept well.  I am walking with my cane and sometimes even without any assistance.  It is not totally comfortable but I can walk across the room without wincing and hanging on to the counters or furniture.  I think of Shilpa, my home PT, who told me I had to practice walking with confidence.  After months of hanging on to a walker or more than a year of using a cane, I am uncertain.  

I am so grateful for improvement.  This is not a cure and I may find surgery less threatening after a while.  But for now, today and yesterday were far better days.  I found a way to send a message to Dr. Skeehan on the Princeton Orthopedics Associates website and I hope he knows that he made my life better this week.  

Yes to the Dress!

 

Katie and Susan invited me to accompany them to the final decision and fitting of Katie’s wedding dress.  We drove through the New Jersey countryside to Robbinsville to a Bridal Boutique where there were two dresses that Katie had decided earlier in the week were her favorites.  I told myself to keep my opinion to myself but was glad that Katie’s choice would have been my choice too! 

Katie looked beautiful in the elegant white dress.  I didn’t take photos because it needs to be a surprise for everyone else.  I was sad to see that President Trump’s tariffs were an additional charge for the dress because it is imported from Australia.  It will take several months for it to be made at exactly the right size for Katie.  But the wedding is not until a year from now. 

While we were gone, Jim and Eli played a round of golf.  We joined Jeff for a cookout.  There was some rain and even lightning but the fellows got off the course in time and Jeff managed to cook the chicken in spite of the storm.  It was a good-bye cookout for Katie and Eli who are leaving for North Carolina tomorrow.  

Again, how lovely to be included in these family events and to live just ten minutes away.  I felt honored to be a part of the dress decision.  

Mindfulness Musings

 Jim takes a vitamin D pill every day.  I try to sit in the sun for ten minutes every day instead.  Sadly, there are days without sun and sometimes I wait too long and the sun is hidden behind the roof of Jim’s study.  But I try to make it a habit of sitting on our deck and using that ten minutes for my effort at mindfulness.  

I use as many senses as I can.  I feel the sun on my face and the breeze on my body.  I see a tree and sky and my basil and marigold plants.  I hear far off traffic and the rustling of leaves and sometimes the voices of neighbors.  I strain to hear birds singing and often do hear a mournful coo or more cheerful chirps.  

I use the time for “breath prayers.”  I breathe in healing and breathe out fears; I breathe in gratitude and breathe out worries; I breathe in God’s peace and breathe out anxiety. I wish I could say this time is all I need for peace of mind but it probably does help some for my stress.  

I am thankful to have that little bit of outdoors available to us in our second floor apartment.  

Better World Books Bonanza

I received three packages of books from Better World Books in today’s mail.  Jim had his arms full when he came back from the mailroom!  I don’t know where to start!  All of these books were on my To Read list from Goodreads and were unavailable from the library.  Or in one case, I had returned the Winan book to the library and thought it was worth buying so I could read it at my leisure and underline it.  

Maybe I’ll start with the shortest one by Athill.  Although I wonder if I had read it before. I don’t consider these purchases a waste because I can donate the books to the library when I have read them or rejected them.  

———-I read the Florence Diary by Athill and found it a pleasant easy quick read.  I rejected the book by Maloy—too much drama—in first chapters, two CPR events and then looking at end, a gun incident.  I liked the biography of Joan Chittister—really more than an account of one women’s life because it is the story of the big changes in convents in the 20th century.  

CSA—an Adventure in Eating

 A few weeks ago we decided to sign up for Community Supported Agriculture at a local farm—Stults Farm Market.  We paid a bit over $400 and scheduled Wednesday afternoon pickups from May to October.  A friend said it will be like Christmas every week and in some ways it is.  We don’t know what our half bushel will contain but we have been mostly pleased.  One week it was strawberries and basil plants.  Another week it was strawberries and marigold plants.  The plants are thriving on our little deck.  I have enjoyed tomato-basil salads.

The large bunches of lettuce that we got for three weeks in a row were too much for Jim and me but friends were happy enough to take them off our hands.  Blueberries have been beautiful and I have made blueberry coffee cake. 

Yesterday’s basket was our first mystery.  Jim said he heard someone say it was zucchini but I thought zucchini was always green.  I sent a photo to a few folks asking what they thought.  Some thought summer squash.  I emailed Brian Stults at the farm and he said it was zucchini.  I think I will take Dan and Alex’s suggestion and make what they called “squashy eggs.”  There should be enough left to make zucchini bread later.  

I look forward to frequent offerings of sweet corn but it is too early for that.  So, at age 79, we are trying something new and enjoying the process. 

July 24. CSA is making me more creative about cooking.  We are having a corn salad tonight along with our watermelon gazpacho.  I made zucchini muffins this week.  Don’t know what I will do with the eggplant—except give one of the two we got this week to the folks downstairs.  

July 29. This week’s basket included potatoes.  They were very dirty so we knew they were right from the ground!  When I washed them off and cut into them, I was pleased to see how white and smooth they were.  And they were tasty—as roasted potatoes and tonight as potato salad. From farm to table is great!