Friday, May 17

Today is my brother's birthday. I'm sad that he must celebrate it in the hospital, after suffering a stroke on Monday.

We were up around 8 p.m., and after breakfast I did stair stepping, resistance bands,and weights exercises. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30.

Before I got ready for the day, I searched for a photo to use as a background for making a greeting card for my brother to let him know we thought of him on his birthday, and we are thinking about him as he recuperates.

I decided on a photo recognition picture...a shot of the three of us taken a few years ago...in hopes he will remember us. Niece said he has not recognized her since the stroke, but sometimes a stroke can damage centers for current memories, but leave past memories in tact.

I printed the photo, and typed a message, and while Mother put the card together, I got ready for the day.

By this time, it was noon. Hubbie had lunch on the table when I got back downstairs...soup for Mother, and sandwiches for us. After lunch, Mother began work on the new jigsaw puzzle I gave her for Mother's Day, and Hubbie and I went to another town for a garden tour.

I was glad it was overcast...cloudy days provide soft lighting for photographing flowers and vegetation.

The gardener who hosted the tour lives on seven acres of land, much of it covered in rocks and boulders. She has used the landscape to her advantage in gardening. She's fond of irises, and a large variety of colors of the flowers is scattered among the rocks. She also loves roses, and has bushes of them around the house. After a morning shower, raindrops decorated the roses, making for some nice shots.

In spaces cleared of rocks, she has used smaller rocks to border individual gardens, with paths leading through and around them, as well as over the flat rocks of the boulder garden.

Along one ridge, which she calls "Memorial Hill," are buried various pets and other animals. She has tried to create paths wide enough to accommodate a lawn mower, but she said she hasn't yet "trained the mower" to navigate certain narrower paths.

Besides the gardens, the front yard is adorned with an inoperable motorcycle that her husband has decorated with found objects. It is literally covered with such objects. It's interesting, though not something I'd want in my yard.

We were back home around 3 p.m. I did this and that until time to prepare supper. Tonight, we had breakfast for supper...Ziplock bag omelets, leftover Parmesan potatoes, and biscuits. Mother helped to get things ready to cook.

After supper, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house. Then he and I watched one-hour shows on TV.

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Notes: last night, I talked with Great-Grandson, grandson of my daughter, who told me he has made the honor roll. We are very proud of him. Today, I sent him a congratulations card and a few bucks reward. I hope he keeps this up.

Yay! My automatic jelly/jam maker came today. When it arrived, I broke into a rendition of "The Wells Fargo Wagon is a Comin'." It'll be fun trying it out next week when Sis comes for a visit.