Return to life, but the Lite version

Having never broken a bone before, I was not aware at the willful lack of linear healing and relief that is at work here.  I mean seriously, if I was feeling a lot better yesterday, does it not stand to reason that I should feel at the MINIMUM as well as before???  TELL me that this isn't a totally reasonable expectation!!!

Be that as it may, I went to the dr. yesterday and had xrays.  Overall, this was a good thing. Especially the part where I went to another Health food store, the grocery store and out to lunch at the ever awesome Island Café.

Ah X-Rays, you are my hero and the bane of my existence.  They hurt like mad and they irritated my arms.  BOOOO  However, I can go back to work on Monday, with some limitations for a while.  So that is good.  I have loads and loads of advice coming at me from many directions, and I will see what happens.  I can't not go to school.  AND I MUST start the play sets.  So, off we will go.  I did figure out some alternative plans for the elementary (putting off clay for a week or two- not just the lifting, it is the issue of manipulating the clay) and will probably go for a test drive today to pick up some dowels for my Plan B for the 4th and 5th grade.  I think I need someone to help me out on Sunday afternoon or morning to drag out the yarn for this, so I may be calling.  Just not sure who to call yet.

So, that mysterious left arm does not have an obvious crack, instead the xray shows that it got smushed down.  I know that is a pretty technical term, but it is true.  You can see below where the right hand radial head has a nice curve down and the one on the left has a weird mushroom cap?  Yeah, that thing is the smush.  Read: fracture of the smushed sort.  AND just for an added moment of excitement, you can look above the smushroom cap almost to the top, there is a little notch.  That little bastard hurts too.

So as if the day didn't actually go super well- I had some visitors who came bearing pizza and wine. Some of my awesome and amazing friends who happen to be colleagues came and entertained me with tales of life.  So nice of them!!!

Fast forward to last night and I could NOT sleep very well.  Things hurt, heart decided to beat fast (could have been the wine!), mind kept spinning.  ugh.

I can do pretty much whatever I can tolerate- but that isn't as much as I thought.  The grip strength and squeeze ability and range of motion is a bit of a problem.  So the beta version of art teaching seems to be on the screen right now.

Today, I have done several small tasks, gentle tasks, so don't get all worked up.  And my arm is toast.  So, it is time for me to rest.  I think I will sit and look at my newest bouquet of flowers, I am constantly astonished at this.  I LOVE flowers, unabashedly, totally and completely.

They, like so so SO many of you  have given me an immeasurable amount of joy!

Just where do I begin??

Well I finally got my pictures downloaded and mostly edited, but the posts I want to do are pretty long! The St. Louis trip is going to need more time than I have right now.  AND tomorrow I am embarking on another adventure, so I better get hopping!

So I have a few odds and ends and some teaser pictures that I will begin this all with.  I want to give my trip south the proper attention that it deserves.

So here are a few glorious cloud pictures- we've had a LOT of scattered showers lately.  Crazy jet stream has perched itself right over head.  Plus some flowers and the cabin in the summer, and just  a dose of pretty.  :)

Tree tops that came down in a storm

Little cabin in the woods

VERY green up here

wild rose

comfy

I hope you enjoy these pix- it's getting late- on to my next adventure!

Gloomy days and purple flowers

It was a grey day here in Northern WI, but I got some sunny shots yesterday!  And there were some that I was really pleased with.

Siberian Iris

It was a bit of a down day for me.  I packed a LOT of living into these last several days- from finishing up school, to traveling north to Lake Superior, to cleaning and working out and walking and biking and gardening.  And today, I was a bit uninspired.  And the weather didn't help any.  I was actually expecting it to be a bit brighter in the morning and was a little let down when it was rainy.  I did manage to get in a bike ride though!  So, I expect to regroup for tomorrow and push on with it all.  In the meantime, I decided that, instead of zoning out in front of the tv, I would post these pix.

First up, one of my bees happened to be visiting the daylily (first one open) that I was photographing.  It was a real happy accident to get that flying bee, and then I snapped several as he was happily gathering pollen.  You will notice how lovely yesterday was in these photos. 

Honey bee in flight

Pollination 

As I went through looking for some of the new blossoms in the flower gardens, I noticed that most of them are mostly purple/blue tones- very pretty!  I knew that it wasn't the best to be shooting pix in this harsh lighting but I love the brightness, and that seems to be how I roll.  

Amsonia

Iris-one of my "fancier" ones.  Naturally the colorful ones are pathetic growers.  Lol- next to it is nepata: catmint

Lupines

Perennial bachelor button- centauria  montana

Perennial geranium sanguineum

chive blossom with bumblebee

Another purple iris opening- not my favorite one, but of course this one gives me tons of blooms.

Another color of perennial geranium-might be Geranium sanguineum “Max Frei” 

So after a busy day of gardening and other stuff, we went for an impromptu ride to escape the mosquitos and ended up down at the park in Fifield.

Flambeau River via Movrich Park

It was such a pretty moment in time!  A beautiful end to the day.  I am hoping to regain my mojo tomorrow and feel like getting things accomplished, as it did not happen today.  I need to have my occasional days to regroup and re-energize.  There are a lot of things coming up in the few short months of summer.  

Until next time, be a joy giver and get yourself a good night's sleep!  

Rainy day foliage

As you can probably see as you go through these few pictures, it was a little bit of a gloomy Saturday.  It began merely cloudy, and so I spent part of the morning cleaning in the house before heading to the grocery store and to get more fly spray for the horsey.  This wasn't the best of decisions because promptly at 9:30 when I donned jacket and shoes to leave, the heavens opened and it began to pour.

Lady's Mantle -Alchemilla mollis 

Ah well.  I took some of these photos in the morning before the deluge and then some I took this evening.  I really like the overcast days for photos, it is WAY easier to expose properly.  In other words,  bright sun and deep shadows are difficult to deal with.  

Assorted hosta

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my study of (mostly) greenery in this lush rainforest of Northern Wisconsin.

Coral Bells- Heuchera 

Siberian Iris

Allium- Globemaster (I think)

Alchemilla mollis

Azalea- Northern Lights

Hostas- full sized and miniature, plus an oriental lily 

It is astonishing the speed and vigor of the plants as they grow right now.  We might not be thrilled with the rains, but the plants beg to differ!

I guess that is looking, rather ironically, at the sunny side of life.  And finding some joy among the water drops.

Late season garden pictures

Zinnia "Zowie"

I have a gardening friend who recently had a traumatic injury and is now forced to be confined to a few rooms in a house that is not hers.  I won't go into any particulars, not that I really know them, other than the fact that this vigorous, healthy,  active woman is now forced into life of stillness, and relative solitude.

Rudbeckia (Goldsturm)

Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis 

Solidago Rugosa "Fireworks"

I've been thinking about this a LOT.  What would I do, what would I feel like, what would happen, if I had a similar outcome to a probably quite ordinary accident?  Would I handle it with grace as she seems to be- I know I could detect in her writing a bit of shock and disbelief at the beginning.

Helianthus

Ornamental Grass (I don't remember which it is!)

End of the flower garden with Karl Foerester grass, Prairie Dropseed, a Miscanthus,  and a Panicum.

I am pretty sure I would have put a blog post up the first day whining and crying and carrying on- maybe not, though.  You just never know.  Being forced into relative silence- probably painful immobility- and being removed from the place that you are comfortable and familiar, not being able to come and go as you wish, and just the general looking at life-as-you-no-longer-know-it in the face, must be something that is a daily, indeed hourly, struggle.

Frosty cherry tomato

A daisy that was given to me by a friend- species unknown

Sambucus nigra "Eva" (Black Lace)

 So to give her a possible boost and to know that I am thinking about her, as well I am sure as are many many people, I want to post some seasonal garden pix for her.

Aster species unknown

Echinacea in October

Echinacea in September

Prairie Dropseed, Miscanthus "Zebra grass", Ladies Mantle (Alchemilla)

She will be happy that she doesn't live in northern Wisconsin, at least.  :)  This is called counting my blessings, in spite of the snow.  Life needs to be celebrated, not bemoaned.

Lola standing stoically through all the things mother nature throws at her

Sunflowers in the snow- beautiful contrasts of seasons.

And a little joy should be shared with those who need it.

I want to do a little shout out to my buddies (and hers) at the Sprout-off forum where we first met.  It is a great, quirky bunch that are always ready to talk all things gardening, and then some!  :) Please visit if you are a gardening person- this is a fabulous group!!