thank you Jan, for commenting with advice a lot have people have given me. and thank you for the update on jessie’s memorial. we miss her so much. we had so many wonderful conservations over dinner at traini’s. I’m so glad you commented at this particular time. we had an interesting thing that happened just the other day. jerry finally decided to take jessie’s name off the phone. 😔 her home phone came off ok. the first try for the cell phone, it didn’t come off. he couldn’t figure what he did wrong🤔. so he tried again, nope🤔. the third time should be a charm, right, no, it wasn’t 🙄. so he waited a little while and tried again. needless to say jessie is still on our phone.😇 we sure want to be there for the memorial.
the pain finally raised it’s ugly head yesterday. while the meds take some of it away, walking on it is a real killer. having the potty chair near me is a real help. i’m going to take the oxycodone every 7 hours instead of 8. the only thing it makes me itch. The ice machine helps a lot to too.
I’m wearing the plasma flow machine 3 times a day. and the ice machine 5 times a day – for at least two months. it seems like i have something on my legs all day.
Jerry’s going to get tired of this real quick.😵💫at least he has midas to talk things over with.
Thank you all for comments and well wishes, and the brownie brittle bites rosemary😋 I’m trying to take this one day at a time. I think that’s the hardest part of all.
The day started out well. i got there on time. most of the paper work was done on the phone the day before so signatures were all that was really needed. The surgery was done at a doctor owned surgery center, not a hospital. I was the only one in the waiting room. they took me back quickly.
i wonder if this will be the new normal?
They start getting you ready as soon as they take you back and then you wait……………………. to be taken in to the surgical suite through that door
When the dr. came in to talk, he asked what knee i wanted done, haha, and then marked it. that was a question asked a lot that morning. also your name and birthdate.
i got back to the recovery room at 2:30 all bandaged up. so glad it was over. no pain yet.
awaiting to be transferred to the chair across the room, but my leg wouldn’t cooperate using the walker. It kept buckling. i had to be wheeled over. they said i needed more time. after awhile they brought me some soup. it sure tasted good.
Then time to stand again. no luck, my leg felt like a wet noodle still. a little later, same thing. i couldn’t put any wait on it. there was only one patient left besides me. she got up walked to the bathroom and they let her go.
i felt sorry for these two nurses, not able to leave at quitting time. They tried again, no luck. i was the only one left, so i called jerry and he was allowed to come in and set with me
They finally decided the pain block on the left side of my knee was not wearing off like expected. they put on a brace and that allowed me to get to my wheelchair ride, still wobbly, at 5:00. but no pain.
they finally decided to let me go. Karen and debbie, the nicest nurses on the planet, gave me so much good care and showed so much patience with me. I’m indebted to them – and all nurses that show so much compassion to their patients.
Karan even took the time, after a long day with me, 8:30 to 5:30, to follow us home and help jerry get me in the house. that was a life saver. jerry wouldn’t have been able to do it alone up those steep steps at the back door.
Got settled in my chair, Had some tuna and egg salad, thank you linda, and at 7:30 still no pain.now i just have to take my meds, use the potty chair and maneuver into bed. a xanax to the rescue.😴
I slept alright. no pain still. Like most of you, you know the routine that surgeries take. now you’ve seen some of mine. ill try not to bore you and post too often. but i am kind of chair bound for awhile😘stay tuned if you dare
Yep, I was going to have my have my surgery at noon tomorrow. But they just called and changed it to 10:30- be there at 8:30. I thought i’d better let you know so you can be sending good thoughts a little earlier. anyway, I’ll walk out of the hospital, actually only a few steps from the transport wheelchair, to the car on a new knee. Wow.
I’ve been cleared by my cardiologist, my primary and my podiatrist. We get our toenails cut, we love him so much it’s an excuse to see him, and he noticed a rash on my leg. It looked a little like a condition with the capillaries that could be heart related. so off to the dermatologist we went. she cleared me too. just for good measure I got an adjustment from our chiropractor. oh, and they suggest having your teeth cleaned also, so no danger of bleeding from your bacteria laden mouth will cause an infection, as they state to your ‘artificial joint’.
I probably scraped it at our garage sale. it never turned purple like a bruise.
I have all my medicine lined up ready for jerry to give to me at the appropriate time.
to help with that task, we get a time table printed out
I have my ice machine, which I’ve been told is a life saver for the pain.
The nurse suggested to fill the 16 oz. water bottles to freeze and use instead of ice cubes. I filled up 8 so i would have spares.
I have seen and visited with almost everyone over the last month. I’m not sure how often I’ll want to socialize, so i made a point to see you all. I’ll keep my progress posted on the blog. sharon might appreciate that, since she is going to have the same surgery soon.
Good luck sharon💗
I have my ‘mother’s day gift puzzle’ from Tony started. 2000 pieces this time. that will keep me busy. I’m loving it already.
So, i’ve taken my shower with special soap and have to do it again in the morning. I will quit drinking water at midnight, if i’m even up then. take a zanax, kiss jerry good night and hopefully fall asleep.
thanks for all your good thoughts and prayers. don’t forget to include the surgeon, dr. kurzweil in them.
Rosemary is in Connecticut, visiting her daughter who just had a baby, congratulations rosemary on another grandchild. glad you got to be there when Robert was born, thanks for sending the picture. i won’t put it here because i don’t have permission, but i don’t think you’ll mind me sharing this one.
What wonderful comments you guys left me, and even a great quote! It’s like Christmas morning. So thank you with all my heart.
while we’re talking about love and hearts, i have a few pictures to share. hearts really are everywhere, in every day things.
when the neighborhood’s lamppost’s needed repainting, the historical society took donations to have it done. for a donation you could have a plaque engraved with names of your choice to put on a lamppost of your choice. we donated to get three lines. we put the heart on the 3rd. i don’t know who the other name is.
we chose the names of our dear neighbors, who we shared the street with for 25 years. mac and lorita. she worked in the business end at schools, and he was a photographer for the LA times. we shared a lot of good times with them, even going camping. i walked the alleys with lorita for years, as she collected aluminum cans to recycle (we had no bins back then). it bought her gas and gave me exercise. we laughed a lot. they traveled the world and always had slide shows when they got home. so i’ve literally seen the whole world through her eyes.
AND YES EMILY, ART IS EVERYWHERE………
I SEE LOTS OF HEARTS IN THE KITCHEN……..
HEARTS IN THE FRONT YARD………
HEARTS GIVEN TO ME….…
HEARTS IN THE BACK YARD……..
THIS POSTER HANGS WHERE I DO HAIR AND MAKE-UP
THE SMALL PRINTSAYS….⬆️…..LOOK FOR IT ~ copyright – 2001, rick ruggles
i hope you see a heart in your day, even when you aren’t looking for one🥰
paula got two references as to her appetizer looking like art, which it definitely did. she is an artist. Here are two sculptures she redid the painting for us. We’ve had this seagull for probably 30 years and it was very weather beaten. paula made it look real again. the puppy matches the big Dalmatian, which joni gave us. we found the puppy in a thrift store, in bad shape. Paula brought him back to life too. thank you paula. i love what you did with them🥰
MIDAS CAME OUT TO BE IN THE PICTURE. HE LOVES TO ROLL IN THE SAND BY ALL THE LITTLE CATNIP POP UPS. THERE IS A WHOLE FLOWERBED OF IT, AND HE CHOOSES THESE. THE WOOD IS FOR HIM TO SCRATCH ON.
but what constitutes art?
i wasn’t positively sure, so i did some googling. i found out a few things. there are 7 elements to art ~ line, color, value, shape, form, space and texture. and 7 major art forms ~ painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, music, cinema and theater. visual art includes ~printmaking, photography, ceramics, computer art, filmmaking, crafts, video etc. and within visual art, there is applied art…….and the list goes on……
i’ve often wondered if some of my projects would be considered art. i do use a lot of the elements and forms within my designs. i don’t to be pretend to be an artist, but i do love color and symmetry.
I wonder if a completed puzzle is art?
How about a mosaic of gift boxes?
or a button collection?
maybe a thread display?
a barbie doll mural?
My garden is a work of art to me. I’ve been gardening for over 50 years, down on my knees planting flowers and pulling weeds. raking, shoveling, and digging. squatting, laying brick, composting, and It’s all been a labor of love. I’ve reaped the benefits of having fruits and vegetables, an abundance of flowers, and lots of compliment’s. no wonder i need a new knee🤔
this is our house 48 years ago⬇️
And this is today⬇️
WE PUT IN HOPSCOTCH’S FOR NEIGHBORHOOD KID’S………ART?
we have another artist in our neighborhood, mike. he is a highly accomplished musician, an artist for sure. he’s had some pretty amazing jobs in his fifty some year career. doing soundtracks for blockbuster movies (star wars was one), playing for top artists and big bands. recorded jazz, classical, chamber music cd’s. performs in major theaters and has done ‘the pageant of the masters’ in laguna beach. had stints in las vegas, and the list goes on. he also makes parts and reeds for various instruments. plus he is a private music teacher now.
i recently sat in on a session of his teaching one of his young students, he does this at home. he lives a short walk ‘two doors down’😉
HAVE YOU BEEN PRACTICING? “practice, practice, practice”MIKE PLAYING STAN GETZ ~ OR WAS IT STAN KENTON? while his student listens HE PLAYS IT BACK AFTER A FEW TRIES WITH NO WTITTEN MUSIC NOTES🎵 “GOOD EAR, GOOD JOB”~ MIKE SAYS.
I discovered mike likes quotes as much as i do. you can see some of his lists on his website, mikevaccaro.com. you’ll see much more about him too.
here are a few quotes about art i found online.
after seeing frank lloyd wrights quote, I wanted to include this picture, as architecture is also a form of art. we were lucky to have visited fallingwater, built by frank lloyd wright, and know this is is a special place like no other. It’s art at it’s finest. Inside and out.
we had popcorn and champagne then opened the box yesterday.
This is so exciting. we really didn’t know what they might look like.This is the demo that we all worked on. i like the red, white, and blue.This is franks, in honor of the ukrain people
This is lindas with colors she liked
jerrys ocean colorsi love this picture. jerrys wearing a shirt from martha and ray. the image resembles midas, and he is gazing into the paperweight, mesmerized. We get to keep the demo~thank you frank and linda💗
and here is mine~the different one.
💗I love it💗its exactly what i wanted💗 may i predict your future~anyone?
aren’t they beautiful? mine now sits on the shelf with my collection⬆️do you see the heart.Their logo stamp we got to put on the bottom to make it flat
it was a great experience, so much fun. I can’t wait to do it again.
you never know what we will do next, so stay tuned
Frank and Jerry are pulling hot glass. a step in the process we would all be be doing later.
Frank and linda treated us to a glass paperweight making adventure in carlsbad. but first we went out for a very nice lunch at an italian restaurant. it was a beautiful day.
i wish you could see the water, it was right across the street. we’re waiting for bread. tracy and tony know i don’t like to wait for bread🙂
this is the steps to make a paperweight
~we start with a ball of molten 1200 degree glass given to us from the furnace-
~dip it in chips of colored glass of our choosing~~put that in the hot box to melt together~ ~start to pull and twist the colors together-which you can’t see yet~ ~it goes back in the hot box, then you start shaping it into a circle~~It will have to cool before the colors show up- its still very,very hot~
Im doing mine a little different-duh
~i’m poking holes in mine, no color~~i’m getting very,very, excited here~and having so much fun~~he gets it hot again; shapes it, and makes a place to cut it off~ ~after it’s off, he gets the bottom hotter and we get to push a stamp in to make it flat~ ~jerry got to do it for real this time~~frank did too~
They had to cool, so we didn’t get to bring them home. we had so much fun and after we were done, we walked across the street and had pizza and beer. a perfect day. except for traffic.
the paperweights should arrive in the mail today. we’re going to open a bottle of champagne and make a toast to our new creations and the whole experience of making them.
I enjoyed all comments from my last post. but how did you know i wear purple panties, ray🤭
we’ve been venturing out more lately. we haven’t gotten our 2nd booster yet, so we still our wear masks.
we saw a great play last month. the lead actor was Bryan Cranston, of ’breaking bad’ fame. he was also the dentist on ’seinfeld’. he did a fantastic job portraying a college professor who invited a nazi sympathizer to speak at the college. the students and faculty rebelled and the play was what took place after that. even though there were no boats in the play, power of sail is a boating term. when two boats meet on the water, the boat with the sail has the ’right of way’, aka-the power of the sail.
we went with frank and linda, who you probably know, are college English professors.
We are going out to dinner a little more and sitting on the porch porch again. we recently had a little get together for paula who just got back from italy. she showed us her fabulous photos and told us all about her adventures. she even made us an italian inspired appetizer that was delicious. we paired it with a bottle of italian wine.
Paula’s career was a high school art teacher. she’s given the grand-girls a few lessons over the years.
this is a sketch she did in italy of a tower, in a city known for them.I’ve forgotten the city. i love that little touch of red on the entrance. only an artist would know to do that. I’m going to have to get you and paula together martha. she would also like to start a blog, ray.😉
We all enjoyed the evening.
Mike and rosemary were there
Frank and linda too
and us. but you’ve seen enough of us
doctors are one place we venture out to often. on a recent trip to our dermatologist she let me take a picture of what she’s been wearing since Covid started.
Sharon, we loved going to your house to meet your new puppy, pepper.
And then having lunch out.
since we’ve had some nice weather, i haven’t been working on the cat puzzle much. it’s a hard one alright. but it is so satisfying to find a piece. if i had got this at a thrift store, i would swear it was missing pieces.
we’ve lost a piece of our neighborhood recently. jessie was a friend and if you remember, a frequent dinner partner. she was a faithful blog reader also. we miss you jessie.💗
spring was officially here march 20th. our yard has been showing its colors ever since. the sweet peas have outdid their bloom from last year, going above the kitchen window. the smell is wonderful as we go in and out the kitchen door.
this ’brandy’ rose first bloom was big and beautiful
The brandy that jerry took a beating from on the other side of the porch did its best. ⬇️
you can see where it was broke off. that did allow the geranium more room to grow. ⬇️
COME ON IN
THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN ⬆️ ⬇️
THE ENGLISH DAISYS ARE ALMOST A HEARTFLOWERS POP UP EVERYWHERECATNIP ANYONEOUR FOUR ARCOSANTI BRASS BELLSOUR NEW CAMPSITE
well, i told you i had more pictures to share🙂
Loved every one of your comments – i💗the puzzle tony – and i💗being compared to garrison keillor martha.
Thank you all💗
this was in sundays paper. yes, jerry still reads it to me. we’ve all had these moments
Once in awhile-now and again-this is us 