Hello!
Frosty mornings have arrived here in the Tennessee
Mountains and soon all the leaves will change color. It is the weather for
jackets and sweaters; also boots as we've had some more rainy days. I've picked
the last of the garden tomatoes- even the green ones before the frost hit- to
ripen on my kitchen windowsill and brought all the house plants indoors. One day I harvested a big batch of lemon mint
that I dried and use for tea.
My daughter loves autumn- personally I'll take
spring any day when everything comes alive instead of dying. As the temperature drops I have more
increased bone pain, which slows me down more than I like. I do enjoy seeing
and smelling the wood smoke curling up in the air and sitting beside a warm
crackling fire in the wood stove when the weather is bad.
As the squirrels race around storing nuts for winter
(and eating my bird seed) I too am trying to scurry around and get outdoor
chores completed before it gets too cold. I've been transplanting raspberries,
mums, ferns & hostas and doing some last minute outdoor painting a hunter
green color on my clothesline poles, backyard swing, and backyard pots. That
way I'll still have some green showing when everything is gone. One week I went
around cutting sprouts growing on the trees- that should have been done months
ago (just don't tell anyone)- and picking up branches all around the house to
tidy things up. I even went over to Dwight's apartment in town one morning and
weeded out the small space beside his door that nothing had been done to since
he moved in and to me was a terrible eyesore (after all he is my son) putting
in iris, lilies, mums- that I got from my flower beds- and daffodil bulbs that
will come up and bloom all own their own. When I told Dwight what I was going
to do, he smiled and shook his head at me. I'm sure Dwight has some hidden
"green thumb" genes somewhere inherited like his sister and mother,
who go crazy over plants. What a mother won't do- ha!
This past Sunday, Dana was able to make it to church
finally for the homecoming after not being at church for over three months.
Since his last mini stroke, Dana's oxygen stays low, it is harder for him to
get around, and he has had a couple of seizures again. Then to make life
interesting, his insurance decided not to pay for his increased prescription of
insulin. Can you imagine??? So we were busy on the phone with the pharmacists,
who gave us four boxes of insulin to tide us over while he and the doctor
dithered around with the insurance company. Thankfully after a week they agreed
to pay for Dana’s insulin. It should be outlawed that an insurance company can
up and quit paying for something a person needs to live without warning. Such
is life!
Then I had a scary experience heading to town one
rainy morning. I had a wreck- something that never had happened to me before in
almost 60 years. My vehicle went into a skid around a curve on a side road.
Thankfully no one was coming, I missed a pole at the last minute my vehicle
flipped around, I skidded backwards over a ditch, and landed on a wire fence
that kept me from flipping over while I prayed and hung on. I had to climb out
and over the passenger’s side to get out. The cop said it was a bad morning as
another girl on a curve completely flipped her car down an embankment. I called
Dwight, who was able to pull the Durango out with his pickup. I was quite
shaken. Dwight told me to go back home and he would pick up whatever I needed
in town. I was very thankful to pull back into my own driveway again in one piece.
The next couple of days I had to increase my pain meds. Needless to say I’m
avoiding that side road, whose curves are bad for wrecks, and driving extra
slow when it rains.
The next week I took Dana down another very curvy
road to see a specialist. The very next day when I went into town at the first
stop a fellow told me I had a flat tire. To my shock the tire that had slid
into the bank/fence was completely flat and sitting on the rim. So I called Dwight again and was able to air
the tire up enough to get me to the shop. Like the fellows thought mud had
gotten in-between the rim and tire causing a slow leak. I had noticed that
morning that my blinkers weren’t working so asked Dwight to check them for me
as well. Lo and behold if not only my blinkers, but the brake light was out.
The guys spent a couple of hours trying to run down what was causing the
problem while I kept tabs on Dana via the phone. I left with all the lights
working feeling quite grateful that on the day before the Lord had watched over
me when I drove long distance keeping my tire aired up and the lights working.
I’m so thankful to have a Heavenly Father watching over me! What would we do without the Lord???
Oh yes, Dawn and her family came up for quick visit
one weekend and along with Dwight and our two neighbors, with two chain saws
going full steam and our log splitter three large trees and a smaller one was
cut down, split up, and stacked in one day to clear space for the new chicken
yard! Everyone was busy as bees- even the grand-kids. Six-year-old Katie Dawn
helped me in the kitchen, gather eggs from the chickens, and run water and
snacks to everyone else busy with the trees. What fun having the little Miss
beside me for the day.
And did I tell you about sweet Princess (the only
chick that survived from the batch of chicks hatched out this year) that I was
sure was a hen, has turned into a rooster? Life stays crazy here on the farm. Well
I need to close and get this out in the mail before another month goes by.
dorcas
