Another update and another very HOT day...

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day  

listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds

  float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.   ~John  Lubbock

Hello everyone!  Hubby is still doing great following his heart attack two weeks ago.  He's battling a head cold, but other than that he feels fine.   He will go in for a sleep study for the apnea this week and goes back to the doctor next Tuesday.  

We've haven't gotten very far from home in this heat.  Will it ever cool down?  I think the heat is affecting my brain, I forgot my chiropractor appointment last week!  It's probably a waste of time as I've not been doing the exercises he gave me to do lately....bad girl! 

Hubby has been holding down the recliner and watching a lot of TV since he's off work.  I watch some of the HGTV shows with him and some FOX news.  I can only take the news in small doses because I just get so AGGRAVATED at what I hear.  Politicians!!  Sorry, I'd better not go there.  Speaking of TV:  

Some doctor on TV this morning said the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started.

So I looked around my house and saw things I'd started and hadn't finished.  Then I finished off a bottle of Vodka, a bodle of Baileys, a botle of wum, a pock of Prungles, 1/2 chesecke an a bocs a choclezt.  Yu haf no idr how bludy fablus I feeeel now.  Plaese sned dhis orn to dem yu fel ar in ned ov innr peese.

Ha!  I really love a good laugh and even though I'm not a "drinker", I had to laugh at that one!  Life is full of problems, heartaches, worries and cloudy days...take a moment to find someone to laugh with or something to laugh at when you can. 

Until next time...

Update on Hubby

GOOD NEWS!  Hubby was released at 11 am today and now home and doing well.  The doctor said that he was pleased with the way things were going.  The ultrasound showed a little damage to the lower part of his heart but nothing serious and called it a mild to medium attack, but said that with proper diet and exercise and no smoking he should do fine.  He is also on a blood thinner for at least a year, cholesterol, a baby aspirin and blood pressure medicine and another drug for the heart.  Quitting smoking will be the hardest thing for him to do.  My hubby has been a heavy smoker for a long time.  I'll not talk about the discussions we've had about it prior to this.  :D   That and his not going to the doctor for regular checkups because he thought he was healthy.  The doctor also said that hubby has severe sleep apnea which can be very hard on the heart and needs to be dealt with, too.

My son and daughter are here and we are all happy to have the "big guy" back home.  He will be off work for 2 weeks and then on light duty at work 2 weeks before resuming his normal working routine. 

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and well wishes.  Thanks for the sweet comments and emails. You all are just the best and I love each one of you!
Hugs, Cheryl

Asking for prayer

It's after 11 pm, Thursday, as I write this.  I just got home from the hospital to get some sleep and a shower and change of clothes before I go back very early in the morning.  My husband has had a heart attack.  The doctor says that it was a mild to medium attack, his right artery was completely blocked with the biggest blood clot he said he's ever seen.  His left artery has a little blockage, but the doctor wasn't worried about it at this time.  We'll know more tomorrow when they do an ultrasound about how much damage his heart has.  He has had a stent put in.  I know this wasn't open heart surgery or by-pass surgery so it wasn't as serious as a lot of people have had including my FIL and BIL .  Nevertheless, it was a very frightening episode and I ask for prayer that he will heal quickly and nothing such as infection, etc. comes up. 

Hubby worked most of the night Tuesday night due to the storm we had and with little sleep, went in to work at 6 am Wednesday.  He came home at 2:30 and was called back to work at 4 and worked until almost 7:30.  He had to climb a pole twice which was when he came down and they were finished that he noticed being very short of breath.  By the time he got home, he was sweating and clammy and very, very pale.  He just walked in and laid down on the floor saying his chest was hurting and he wanted to just rest that he couldn't go any further.  I knew something was very wrong and of course my first thought was that he had a heat stroke because it was so very hot and humid, but I went ahead and called 911.  The ambulance was here in minutes and by the time they got him to Columbia to the hospital and went to work on him it was just 2 hours later that the doctor came out of the Cardiac Cath unit and told me the news that he was doing fine and what had happened.  He said that the quickness in getting him to the hospital played a large part in the good outcome.

My daughter and I quickly gathered a couple of things and hopped into the car after the ambulance left and went to Columbia to the Emergency Room and got to see him again before the doctor arrived.   My son drove in from KC and got there about the time Hubby was settled in his ICU room.  I spent the night there with him in ICU and he was moved to a private room around 4 pm today (Thursday).   I had planned to spend tonight there also, but he was feeling so much better that he wanted me to go home and sleep.  

I just wanted to quickly jot this note and say that I may be away from blogland for a while.  If I have time, I will come by for a visit.  Maybe I'll take my laptop to the hospital tomorrow!  The doctor says he will probably release Hubby to go home Saturday if all goes well.  He will be home for 2 weeks and on light duty for at least 2 weeks after that.  I want to caution everyone if they have any symtoms as I've described, not to wait too long and go on to the ER to be on the safe side.  It may save a life. 

I am thanking God that my daughter and I were at home when this happened and that we have ambulance service in our small town and for the quickness in getting him to the ER.  Also I'm thankful for fine hospitals and wonderful doctors.  Most of all, I'm thankful that my Hubby is sleeping comfortably tonight and that I'll get to see him again in the morning.  Take care everyone!  

Until next time...

What I did yesterday...

We had dinner out with friends of ours recently and after dinner we went to their house for dessert.  I always get the urge to decorate after spending time in Ell and B's house.  Since it was just too hot and humid to do much else, I spent too much a good deal of time yesterday and last night on the computer looking for ideas for my house; particularly for ideas for my wall behind the new sofa and also window treatments and just having fun looking at all the many wonderful living rooms.  Also, I looked through my Kitty Bartholomew book that I've had 3 or 4 years.  I used to love her decorating shows on TV.  She has great style and uses a lot of color.  I've decided that the older I get the more color I like, but I want to keep a neutral background in the living room and use color for accents.   I'll show you some of the photos that I particularly liked that I found online. 

This doesn't look like my living room, but aren't the colors great? 

I bought an area rug last week similar to this one, also

a pair of red throw pillows for starters.   

I like the little bookcase that separates the doorway

from the living area.  I see the living room is paneled 

like mine is.  It was that way when we bought this house.

We just painted it and have really never considered taking it off

and sheetrocking.  Too much trouble!  It doesn't bother us at all.

I need some kind of blinds on my large window.  Anyone

have suggestions?  I'd like to get rid of the heavy drapes

and just put up sheers and maybe side panels, but I also need something
to keep out the hot sun and for privacy at night.

A wall grouping similar to this is an idea. 

Ell and I have been friends for a long time.  I've always admired her taste in decorating

and she's also one of the best cooks I know.  She can also sew anything and made the

valances I have hanging in my kitchen.  I call her Marth.a Stewar.t because she 

can do it all!  Oh, to be so talented.  The above photo is very similar to the style

of her living room.  Ell loves her pastels and florals.  Her living room walls are a very pale 

pink and the sofa is a pink and white floral stripe with wing back chairs in a deeper pink.

Her accessories are very elegant and tasteful and she finds a lot of these at

garage sales, thrift shops and estate sales.  If there is a bargain to be had, she'll find it!

Did I mention she has a beautiful soprano voice and used to sing for weddings, etc.?

Ell's a few years older than I am and has had a lot of medical issues and doesn't paint,

wallpaper or even sing anymore.  But she still has the wonderful gift of hospitality.

Anyone who has ever been in their home comes away inspired, and usually with 

a recipe that you'll be begging for.   I'll tell you about her beautiful kitchen and the

rest of her house another time.  Back to my decorating efforts...

I'm going shopping tomorrow to look for a few things.  I'll stop at a couple

of flea markets, the thrift store, Marshall's and Hobby Lobby.  Then, if I have
time, I'll look at window treatments.  If you have an idea to share,

I'd love to hear about it.  Stay cool and have a good day!

All of the photos except the first and sixth ones can be found  here.

Until next time...

Monday memories

On a little drive in the country this weekend, we found this old iron bridge and it brought back memories of years ago when I was riding the school bus.  There was an old iron truss bridge on a gravel road that was part of our bus route.  One of the stops along the route after school had the bus passing by this gravel road and on up the blacktop a couple of miles.  Then the bus turned around to head back and turn down the gravel road.  Often times, when the weather was nice, the bus driver would let remaining riders get off the bus at the gravel road where we would walk to the bridge and cross it to await the bus.  It gave us a chance to stretch our legs and in those days the bus driver knew he could trust us to behave ourselves.  At that time, our bus driver was an older man we were all a little afraid of and we didn't dare do anything to get in trouble.  Can you imagine this being allowed today?  No, I can't either.  

The narrow bridges have wood plank floors and this particular one looked kind of rickety to me.  You could see the creek between the spaces in the boards.  This bridge is on a gravel road that isn't traveled very much, but still in use today.  It is one of the last bridges of it's kind in our area.  The old bridge that I remember our school bus crossing is long gone now, replaced by a new and modern bridge.

Back in the day, I can remember crossing the old iron bridge when the roads were icy and that always scared me silly.  My imagination could just see that school bus sliding over through the railings into the creek far below.  

View from the bridge.

Well, maybe it wasn't that far below to the creek.  But it wouldn't have been a very good landing for any of us should that ever have happened.  Thankfully, it never did.

Speaking of school, I noticed in the big stores this weekend that school supplies are out.  So are faux pumpkins and fall decor.  Didn't summer just begin?   

Until next time...

Faces

 

 Do you see what I see?

If you love white fluffy clouds and frequently look to the skies like I do, then you are sure to see what looks like a face every now and then.  I snapped this the other day.  Today's sky as I type this is cloudless and the sun is shining brightly.   

In other news, what's up with the new Blogger changes?  They've changed Draft Blogger so much that I barely found my way to the compose page.   I think I might have to try to find my way back to the old classic blogger.  Unless I can get used to this new look.  This is kind of like when you just get used to the layout of a department store and then they go and change everything around.  And that's all I'll say about that!  Have a good weekend!

Until next time...

On to Plan B

I recently purchased a bottle of stuff called No Scratch that is supposed to deter cats from scratching furniture, carpet, etc.  The directions said to spray on the fabric and the cat won't like the scent and will stay away.  I tried it out on the recliner, one of Stormy's favorite places to snooze.   As you can see, it's working out really well.  

She didn't want to discuss the situation.  So, tomorrow when I go to Columbia for an appointment, I will also be loading up on scratching posts to hopefully keep her from scratching the new sofa.  Or the recliner.  Wish me luck with this new endeavor.  

Until next time...

The day after...

    

A few photos from last night.  The crescent moon, in the last quarter.  The row of 

street lights competing with the fireworks display.  And on the way inside the house, I stopped to snap a pic of a flower pot with the flash on.  

I was so aggravated with myself because I set up my tripod and got the settings on my camera where they were supposed to be.  Then proceeded to watch the fireworks more than pay attention to the camera and didn't realize until afterward that I'd forgotten to zoom in!   

I am proud to be an American and absolutely love my country.  I love all the red, white and blue decorations and seeing the flags flying everywhere.  I really like the big fireworks displays.  The fun, food and all that goes with celebrating America's birthday...wonderful!  But I have to confess...I'm glad the firecrackers will be silenced soon.  Does anyone else feel this way? 

This is going to be a busy day so I better get going.  Hope all of you had a wonderful 4th!

Until next time...

This and that...and Happy 4th!

We celebrate the birthday of the United States of America on July 4th.  Flags will be flying, towns will have parades, barbeques and fireworks.   We usually end the day by watching the fireworks display put on at the park in our town.  It's pretty good for a small town.  I love watching the displays, but have never liked the sound of firecrackers.  Must have something to do with my brothers loving to shoot them off, when we were kids, underneath my bedroom window at night scaring me half to death.  LOL   However you celebrate, hope your weekend is a fun-filled and safe one!  

The sofa...

Here is the long-awaited sofa.  They told me it would be here in 4 or 5 weeks, it took 2 months and 4 days!  I really like it, but it will take some getting used to as it seems so big in comparison to my old sofa.  It is the same length as my other sofa, but the cushions are definitely thicker and that makes it seem so much taller.  Even the coffee table looks small now.  I need to put something different on the wall behind it, what I have there now definitely doesn't go with the sofa.  That's why this photo has been cropped!   Other purchases need to be made, such as some colorful throw pillows and maybe an area rug in front is in order.  I'll have to live with it awhile and take my time finding just the right accessories.  The carpet is going to be replaced eventually, too.   And the window treatment.  And the....  Is there an end to all this?  Help! 

The daylilies are nearly through blooming.  We have quite a few growing out in the pasture, but they got mowed down this week.  The grass was raked and is being baled as I type this.  I see the tractor has a nice cab which I hope is air conditioned.  It is so very HOT today as it was yesterday.   Hubby will be home soon and we are heading to Columbia for a bit of shopping.  He'll be my chauffeur and drive me up to the door and I'll run in and make my purchases and he can pick me up all the while keeping the car running with the a/c on!  Stay cool wherever you are and enjoy your weekend.  HAPPY 4TH ~ I'll see you next week! 

Until next time...