Just a nice October day

It's a beautiful fall morning at my house, and a rare kind of day for me lately: I'm off work and have the house all to myself! Gregg was able to resume his Wednesday aquarium maintenance jobs last week, so he'll be working all day, and I'm off this week for fall intercession. I enjoy the occasional day at home alone, especially when the weather is this nice. I expect I'll spend a large part it on the back porch (and maybe the hammock) with a book. I'd also like to take the dogs on some short neighborhood walks. We can all use the exercise, and it's so nice out.

The dental issues Gregg and I have had are getting better. He's adjusting fairly well to the temporary dentures (even with their considerable shortcomings) and now the worst thing seems to be having patience with the healing process. They're now saying he might not get his final implants until March. It seems that the more time you give the bones in the jaw to heal, the better the fit and function of the permanent work. Even if that's disappointing, it's for the best to wait and do everything exactly right. At least he's not in pain, is able to eat a bigger variety of food now, and his smile looks perfectly presentable. My tooth pain has quieted down, thanks to the half-done root canal and an antibiotic. I go to the endodontist to have the root canal finished next week and that afternoon my dentist will place the permanent crown. It's been a lot of trouble over one tooth! Thank goodness it feels better now, though.

I finally pulled out some fall decorations last weekend. Or, rather, I had Gregg climb up into the attic and bring down the fall decorations! Haha. I'm keeping everything pretty simple this year, but I do plan to carve a couple of pumpkins. Here's the simple wreath I made for the front door, along with pumpkin #1:

Later this weekend I want to show you some fall crafts I've been working on, and also some new recipes I've tried. For now, though, I'm off to enjoy my solitary afternoon. 

Have a great day, everyone!

Woe is me!

I had a follow up appointment with the dentist yesterday and found out I needed a root canal. The filling in my molar was very deep and close to the nerve, and an infection had developed. 

They called in an antibiotic for me to begin taking last night, and this morning I was scheduled for the root canal at 8:00. 

The procedure went well as far as pain is concerned; I was comfortable throughout. That was the only thing that went right, though. It turned out to be such a complicated root canal that after two hours of trying the dentist decided he had to stop and refer me to an endodontist (with more specialized equipment) to finish. What luck, huh?That appointment isn't until the 20th of this month, but I have a temporary filling and crown on the tooth to protect it. I also have the antibiotic to finish. 

I'm in a lot of pain tonight which I hope is temporary. If it continues to hurt like this I'll be going BACK to the dentist and I'll be honest with you, I've had my fill for awhile! 

See ya, September

Fall, glorious early Fall, has finally arrived in this part of the world. We will, of course, still have the occasional hot early afternoon here and there, but summer is definitely done. These past couple of weeks temperatures dropped into the high 50s at night, and going to work in the slightly chilly pre-dawn has been heavenly, especially after the summer we just had. Afternoon highs have been in the 80s. Wonderful weather.

Gregg is doing much better. Today he went back to work (he does all his aquarium jobs on Wednesdays) after a two-week absence. He wasn't supposed to lift anything heavy until he got the dentist's approval, but now he's cleared for it. He still hates the temporary dentures, but the pain is mostly gone and he's adjusting to them. The first of the year can't get here soon enough, though. Once the healing is complete and he can get the implants, things will be so much better. (Or better be, considering how much money we've spent).

Speaking of the dentist, last week I had to have a filling and a crown prep on one of my back molars. The cavity ended up being much deeper than it looked on the x-ray, and it took two hours to finish the work. Since then, I've had some harsh nerve pain on that side of my jaw, bad enough that Dr. Thomas called in a very low dose of a steroid for me to tame the inflammation. It's a little better, thank goodness, because if it doesn't resolve soon they'll start talking about a root canal. The dental practice has been making bank on us this month! Oh, well. I remind myself regularly how fortunate we are that we can afford all this expensive care. 

In other news, George and Poppy were both having terrible skin allergy flares and nothing seemed to be helping. Then the other day, I finally figured out why. Fleas!!! I couldn't believe it! I was horrified. We've never had a flea issue before. Since the dogs live inside and don't go out in the yard all that much, it just never occurred to me to look for them. * Now that I think about it, I'll bet I know where the problem comes from:

Yes, we're still feeding two of the (almost grown up) wild kittens that the mama cat left behind.  And look up in the right-hand corner of that photo: they've started bringing a friend. The orange tabby wasn't in the original litter, but he knows a good thing when he sees it. Sigh.

We were dumb to ever start feeding stray cats. Sooner or later we're going to have to do something before they start to multiply. And now they're probably bringing in fleas, too! We knew better but couldn't stand to see them without food or fresh water, and now they show up twice a day like clockwork for their Meow Mix. Gregg and I are such suckers, I swear. 

I have to admit that I really like them, though. This little girl is my favorite. She's the bravest of the three and when I walk out with food she rolls around on the ground in front of me and tries to look as cute as possible.

  I wish I could find someone great to take her. **

My plans for a fall garden haven't come to anything. September has ended up being so busy with all the dental drama that I just haven't had any motivation. Here's one thing my garden did produce last week, though:

My David Austin roses have proven to be troopers, even in terribly hot, dry summers. I've been so pleased with them! And isn't this Eustacia Vye blossom a beauty? There are several more buds about to pop that I'll be cutting and bringing indoors over the next couple of weeks. I may not have gotten many tomatoes this summer, but I'm still cutting roses into the beginning of October and that's something, at least.

*I hightailed it straight to the vet and bought expensive flea medicine that killed all the wee bastards within twelve hours. I don't mess around when it comes to fleas. Nope, nope, nope.

** Between our dogs (who want to chase and eat cats), our bird, and my allergies, there's no way we can really adopt her or any of the others. I need to start actively looking for homes for them. At this point I'd even pay for the spaying/neutering if someone decent would adopt them and take them off our hands.

Tedium (and postcards)

The summer weather has finally begun to break a little, finally. While it's still seasonably hot midday, the mornings are definitely cooler now that the days are getting shorter. Over the next four days or so the temps are finally supposed to drop in a real way, and I'm so ready for it. What a long, hot, boring summer it's been. I'll be glad to see the back of it.

Gregg is continuing to heal, and while he despises the "immediate" dentures (just as he was warned he would), things are better by the day. Food is still something of an issue, but that's getting better too. He's moved on from mashed potatoes, applesauce, and yogurt to things like soft scrambled eggs and bites of grilled cheese sandwich dipped in soup. He's still taking an antibiotic but has almost quit taking pain medication entirely. (Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement and good wishes, by the way).

 I'm feeling a bit stir crazy at the moment. I hate to admit it but I'm sick of hanging around the house day after day, only leaving for work or necessary errands, and trying to help keep things cheerful for a man who's in pain and having a rough go of things. I'm used to periods like this in our marriage, and I know that he'd be right there for me if our situation was reversed, but I could still really use a break. I feel guilty about that, but it's the truth.

One way I've passed some of this boring time is helping my friend Karen write postcards to Texas voters. She's been hosting weekly postcard writing parties at her house this month and several of our book club friends attend. I haven't made it to any of her Sunday afternoon gatherings, but I did go over the night before Gregg's dental procedure (he was working late) and helped write some. I also brought home 50 names on the Texas Democratic voter rolls and some blank postcards to write. It always feels good to know that I'm helping get out the vote. It's my small way of contributing to the cause. During the 2024 election I personally hand wrote and mailed about 600 postcards to swing states. 

For those of you who may be wondering, Postcards to Swing States (and other political postcard writing campaigns) are not trying to change anyone's mind about who to vote for. They're meant to encourage folks who usually show up to vote for the Democratic primaries to vote, period. Preference is given to people who didn't vote in the last election. When and if you vote is public record; how you vote is not, of course. So we're not trying to sway MAGA, we're encouraging and reminding registered voters (that probably lean Democratic) to vote.

God, how I hope James Talarico wins in Texas. 

That's most of the news from my house. I'm sorry I haven't been more present on others' blogs lately! Things have been simultaneously boring and busy, if that makes any sense.

The first three days

So, the issues with Blogger continue. No updated reading lists, no updated sidebar. I wonder if anyone is trying to solve the problem or if this platform is slowly going kaput. I hope not. I'd be willing to pay a small amount to keep it around and to have some recourse when issues like this arise. Oh, well. I hope we can all keep in touch if things continue to go wrong. There's always Wordpress and Substack, I suppose, but I'd sure hate to lose all these years' worth of blogposts and discussions. This has been my life diary for a very long time. I wish I knew of some way to save and back up everything up till now.

Gregg is doing okay. The sedatives they gave him to take prior to the procedure worked so well that he actually fell asleep a couple of times while they did the extractions. Even better, he doesn't remember any of it. Everything took almost three hours, and I was relieved when the nurse texted me that everything had gone well and I could come pick him up. When I got there and first saw him, he was white a sheet, and still high on the sedatives. He just stared at me blankly for a moment...then his lips parted and a stream of blood ran down his chin. Whew! What a sight! The nurse scrambled to wipe his chin and assure me everything was okay. 

He spent the rest of that first afternoon in bed with gauze clamped between his immediate dentures to catch the oozing blood. (This is normal and expected). He was able to take pain medicine (and an antibiotic) with small sips of water throughout the day and did okay. Yesterday morning, though, he woke up nauseous, and, just as I feared, started to throw up and dry heave. The same thing used to happen when he had chemotherapy and got dehydrated or was taking meds on an empty stomach. Luckily the dentist had asked me to bring him back to the office first thing, so he was able to address it right away. He said everything looked good, and for Gregg to get something on his stomach before taking any more pills to help with the nausea. His suggestion was yogurt, and it turned out to be a good one. Gregg ate some in tiny bites over the next hour and also sipped some apple juice, and that did the trick. 

Since then he's had some pain and swelling, but they're both under control. We keep a written log of when he takes his pain medication and antibiotics. He's been able to eat yogurt, applesauce, and mashed potatoes so his stomach has stayed settled. This morning he's restless and a bit bored, but it's still too early for him to do much but rest and heal. I wish I could think of a good distraction, but no movies or books sound good to him and that's the extent of my ideas. He's also feeling really down about this whole situation. It's traumatic to have most of your teeth removed, for a whole lot of reasons, the least of which is the physical pain. I'm doing my best to be supportive and positive, and I keep reminding him that he's going to get through this and the results are going to be great. This is just a rough (but necessary) part of the process. But it's still hard for him. 

One thing that really reassures me in this whole ordeal is how great the dentist, Dr. Thomas, is turning out to be. He's a young Indian guy with the kindest and gentlest demeanor. He's soft spoken and patient and shows so much empathy and care. Late yesterday afternoon he got my phone number from the nurse and texted me to ask how Gregg was doing. That was a real surprise, and I was so grateful.

MVP Patient

Next week Gregg has an appointment coming up that's kind of a big deal. He's getting almost full mouth dental implants, and Thursday will be the worst part of the process: lots of extractions and then temporary "immediate" dentures to wear while his mouth heals. The final placement of the implants won't happen until January, so until then he's anticipating a very rough time. 

We picked the highest rated local practice to do the work. My regular dentist is there, and I've always been really satisfied with them. In addition to everyday dentistry, they do oral surgery and all kinds of dental reconstructive work, and their reputation is excellent.

They're also one of the pricier local options. I tend to think you get what you pay for, and it's worth it to me to be assured that something as major as dental implants will be done right. We have dental insurance, but it only covers about 20% of the total cost. To trim some more off the price, we've taken advantage of the 7% discount they offer if you prepay everything up front with cash or a check. I wrote two large checks last week that cover almost everything.

So. Much. Money. Thousands of dollars. 

We've been planning and saving for this and expecting it, so it's not a shock, but wow. Writing checks that big makes me wince. They've assured Gregg he's going to love the final results, and I sincerely hope that's true. So, with all that being said, this morning an unexpected package landed on our doorstep, addressed to Gregg. We were confused because neither of us had ordered anything. What could it be?

Check this out. Have you ever?

The dental practice sent Gregg a gift basket with candy, cookies, and 

peanuts "with love and gratitude". 

Friends, I howled. That just struck me as the funniest thing ever. "Thank you for spending a ton of money with us, and oh yeah, here's some candy and peanuts....eat 'em while you still can!" Gregg and I both got a good laugh out of that. 

(It's still a nice gesture, though).

Jelly!

This weekend I picked almost 5 pounds of crabapples from our tree out front and decided to try my hand at making jelly for the first time. Crabapple jelly is super hard to find; it certainly isn't on any supermarket shelves!

I wasn't prepared for the level of work the jelly would require. Between slicing off the stem and blossom ends, cutting the fruit into chunks, boiling it with a cinnamon stick to extract juice, tying the whole pot of stewed fruit into cheesecloth and letting it drip into a bowl, cooking the strained juice with sugar until it reached the gelling stage, filling the sterilized jars with hot jelly, and processing them in a hot water bath, this took all damn day. All for this:

Three half pints! (It would have been four, but I spilled some of the juice in the middle of the process. I cursed like a sailor when that happened). Even though it's not a lot of jelly, isn't it beautiful? I'm amazed at the ruby red color, which was unexpected.

 I sure hope it tastes as good as it looks! All in all, it was a fun experience even if it was time consuming. Our tree is still very young, so I expect I'll have the opportunity to make lots of jelly in the future as long as I feel like devoting the time to it.

Late summer Saturday

This morning I attempted to sleep in, but my body is so accustomed to my workday wakeup time of 5:15am that it's really not possible to do it properly. I usually can doze for another hour or two, but I never go back into a deep sleep, plus the dogs start stirring around and wanting their breakfast before long. I don't really mind, because I rarely stay up late. I guess it's probably a good thing to have such regular sleep habits. 

For once I did most of my grocery shopping yesterday afternoon after work, so that's one less Saturday chore I have today. I do plan to go to a small local farm stand I just discovered recently for fresh vegetables and fruit. They've had wonderful heirloom tomatoes, fresh Romaine lettuce (locally grown lettuce is like gold right now with all the "diarrhea lettuce" making headlines around the country) and plenty of other goodies like sweet corn, peppers, summer and winter squash, and okra. For fruit they've had heirloom watermelons, plums, and even figs a few times. Last week, I bought a jar of pickled okra for the first time. I'd never tried it before but wanted to. I love all kinds of pickles, and I like okra in all its forms, so it's no surprise that I really liked it!

When I was at the grocery store yesterday I found some nice-looking raw green peanuts, so I bought two pounds. They're currently cooking in a large crock pot with plenty of water and salt. Fresh hot boiled peanuts are a real treat every once in a while. That probably sounds strange to at least 75% of you reading this! As far as I know only people here in the South eat them, but they're very, very tasty. Especially if you like salt! :)

Beyond going to the farm stand and making a simple supper later on, today is going to be for relaxing. The past couple of weeks at work have simply dragged even though I've been very busy. It's still hot here (although now more "ordinary" hot than "extreme heat wave" hot) and it continues to sap my energy and motivation. I'm craving crisp, cool days and chilly nights where I can finally shake off some of the torpor. September can't get here soon enough!