Happy October, Everyone
It rained a lot last week, so we must move a bit faster outside before the snow arrives here in SE Minnesota in a few days; I’d better get my bulbs planted. DH has finished the brick work on our sidewalk and it looks fabulous. There are a few low spots that need to be dealt with, but it is 100% easier to walk on that the broken concrete squares. Now, he must fill in the triangles formed where the sidewalk changed directions, twice, with some colored concrete so we don’t fall into the “holes.” It will be great!
Corsaire: Do you use the wild elderberries, or do you have some cultivated plants for your elderberry syrup? Our elderberries are eaten by the Catbirds before they are ripe enough for us to pick. I was thinking of purchasing a few cultivated ones and hoping enough of the larger fruits will survive for me to do something with. I actually like the elderberry wine/vinegar that we still have around from several years ago.
Thinking about making some fire cider. Have not done so before.
I am sorry to hear that some of us have low energy, or are dealing with health issues – our own or that of others. Why can’t our bodies keep up with our minds? I don’t like this getting old bit. I turn 70 in two weeks. I have too much to learn about and do! Yet, we are getting older and do not have the endurance we had even ten years ago.
One morning while figuring out how many more bricks we needed for a particular section of sidewalk, and how many of what colors to purchase, DH and I had a wasted morning. He told me the area, and I did basic math to figure out we needed 149 bricks. DH has a PhD, is great with statistics and higher math, and he could not do the basic math. He did not trust my numbers for some reason. He eventually came up with 150 bricks. The next day I sat down with him and told him he was having a bad morning and we were not communicating, he had not understood me, and he was confused. I made him write on a notecard saying that we are having a problem communicating and need to take a break. He had agreed once before that if I asked him to “Stop” he would, but he is confused enough that he cannot remember it and tells me to “stop.” This notecard is in his handwriting and we both signed it. I can use for a future incident. He seems to be having trouble with some reasoning skills. He is 80 and in good health; I know he is not as strong and has less endurance, sadly I can see his logic starting to fail. He has trouble with the TV remote. My daughter says it is “Sun-downer Syndrome”, and while I have seen that for several years already, this is something different. He is not as mentally sharp. Period. I don’t know what it is. Tiny stokes? Injured neuro-pathways? Whatever it is, it is a sign of things to come – for both of us.
So, it is not just food and water that some of us are prepping for. Sadly, some of us here are preparing for the failing health of our loved ones. I can handle a “simple” injury such as needing a walker, or watching a diet for diabetes (which I think is coming). I am not sure how to handle the mental decline.
Time to get into the garden. I don’t think the Brussel’s Sprouts will produce much, fortunately they and the broccoli will survive a snowfall. Time to cover the tomatoes. I am still working through some of the September Challenges. Most I will be able to complete.
Talk to you all later.