The time has come

Tomorrow, my dear friend Kathy and I drive to Rochester.  It's a little hard for my mind and heart to embrace..... Tuesday I have surgery.  I've never had surgery before.  The closest thing to surgery was when they put my venous port in for the chemotherapy.  A strange experience.

I think I'm telling myself that the worst is over (chemo) and that the rest is doable.  But I also know myself and I do not like pain.  For some reason it seems to affect not just me physically but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  And frankly, it is usually not for the better.  So I'm apprehensive.

The idea of surgically removing, what look to me, as perfectly good breasts is mind boggling.  But I know it must be done.  It is part of the process of getting better.  Oh to be better.

So think and pray for me this week please.

Peace.

Sense of God's presence and strength.

Successful surgery with meticulous and competent surgeons.

Family, who will be staying home....Ben, Ally and Farmer husband Gary.

Peace.

Thank you.

Today's Journey Joys:  picking up a couple ton of bricks (oh, I'm sore and tired!), hoophouses for a great deal, an amazing husband who works so hard and diligently - never complaining, children who laugh and love, baby kittens at play, showers - both inside and out, and rest.

Views from the farm

We have five new baby kittens!  This one Ally named "Dalmation" 

This little guy is named "Slippers".  He has a brother who looks almost identical whose name is "Boots".  

The Carola Gold potatoes are growing and flowering.  It will be an excellent potato crop this year!

The golden potatoes have a lovely yellow flower.  Our Norland Reds and Fingerlings have purple ones.

This long and frigid winter was hard on many bushes and plants.  Between last summer's drought and the winter's cold very few blueberry plants actually flowered this spring.  We will have no U-pick this year and no blueberries to take to the market.  In a way, it is a good year to rest, recuperate, and make reserves for next year's crop. I will not be in any shape to pick blueberries for a month given that surgery is one week away.

The garlic scapes are beautiful and scrumptious. I  collected about 400-500 of these this weekend.  I will be making garlic pesto and freezing.  The house will smell deliciously garlic.

Today's Journey Joys:  blueberries and black raspberries ripening, potatoes blooming, friend's coming to help me clean prior to surgery next week, finger nails healing, banana muffins fresh from the oven.

Ally and the Zoo

A couple of weeks ago now Ally and I went to our little local zoo.  Our friend Katie and her daughter joined us for the fun adventure.  It was a neat time sharing views of the beautiful animals.  I was having a relatively good morning, in the midst of chemotherapy.  But we stayed for just a couple of hours.  Katie paid for the train tour and the merry-go-round, which was a hit of course with Ally.  It was warm, bright and lovely.

Ally in front of the giraffe enclosure

Hello there.

Couldn't capture a picture with her eyes opened....

I didn't have the strength at the end of our morning to lift Ally girl.  But Katie was up to the task!

It's kind of a goofy picture.  We were sitting on the little train together and I snapped this shot about a foot from her.  It does capture my girl's never ending sense of adventure and fun!

Today's Journey Joys: remembering adventures at the zoo during chemo, Katie - our new friend,  the wonder of beautiful animals, strawberries coming out my ears, potatoes growing and flowering, a beautiful full row of raspberries, and did I mention?  Three weeks since the last chemo treatment!  And getting stronger....Yippee!

Sister and Weeds

"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except how to grow in long rows." (Doug Larson)

The 2000 onions I painstakingly planted this spring were being lost to the weeds.  My wheel cultivator did a great job between the rows, but between the plants and next to the plants, lamb's quarter, velvet weed, creeping charlie, purslane, bindweed, and purple clover were gobbling up the nutrients, water, and sunlight these onions needed to grow.

Cindy, my dear sister, came down from Madison for a weekend of weed pulling, chatting, and loving on my daughter Ally.  In the photo, she (we?) are almost finished with the onions.  Only took us about 10 hours!  Behind the onions are the potatoes ready for their third hilling.  Farmer husband Gary saw some nasty Colorado potato beetles devouring some of the Norland Dark Reds.  So quick as a bunny, I made up some spinosad spray (organic OMRI approved) and got rid of those nasties.

Later that same day Cindy begin the hard task of reclaiming my neglected red raspberries.  I was only able to weed about a third of them this spring.  Those 1/3 look fabulous and are starting to put on fruit.  The rest need light and air and space in which to flourish. So dig, yank, scrape, pull and twist out those weeds.....

And then we were off to the strawberries.  After many hours of work digging and pulling, we got about a third of next year's strawberries weeded. If my fingers heal from this perpetual painful nail bed infection, I hope to get in there and finish the weeding. I was just so thrilled to still see some plants surviving.  What a blessing!

Today's Journey Joys:  making strawberry jam from fresh strawberries in our garden, the pitter-patter of light rain, driver's education and practice for son Ben, dear wonderful friends, and a gracious giving and amazing sister.