Sad News and Good News

This morning, 68°f/20°C, windy and mostly cloudy. Thunderstorms and cooling temps expected this evening.

After that hard work on Monday cleaning out the cellar top, I was tired and aching, so I piddled around in the morning with things like changing my decor to Spring, dusting a bit, etc. We sold a table I was using in my workroom, which meant clearing it off and loading it in the van for Larry to deliver. And then of course, straightening the mess left behind! I had another table that I just moved in there. One less thing in the house, so yay!

While I rearranged decor I talked to a friend who had open heart surgery 2 weeks ago for an aortic aneurism.  She was so lucky to survive that. This is the same friend who was in intrusive care for 2 months last summer due to an infection caused by a very rare bacteria---so she has had 2 dramatic brushes with death in the last year. She is bored to death having to stay home and be careful, so we were on the phone for an hour---that reminded me of being a teenager when we spent hours on the phone! But I was able to dust, arrange, etc, so the time wasn't wasted. 

Larry was gone all day, off to Parkersburg for a tractor part, then to Aldi's,  and finally dropping off the table to our friend Bill. (When he goes out alone, Larry takes his time, so he is usually gone several hours, and sometimes, like yesterday, all day. I think he just enjoys meandering along, talking to people, etc. I tend to be more purpose-driven, do what I need to do and get home.)

In the afternoon I got to work on furniture, touching up a corner shelf made from old louvered shutters, then sanding and painting the inside of a  "chimney cupboard", so called because of its tall, narrow shape. These were often companion pieces to Hoosier-style cabinets. Larry and I did some cleanup around the garage before calling it a day. The shower sure felt good.

We had sad news yesterday when we learned of the passing of Larry's friend Ernie. 

Ernie was a good soul, quiet and shy until he began hanging out at Shari's restaurant a few years ago. He soon developed a circle of friends, older single guys like him. It was nice to see him smiling and laughing! Larry usually sits with these guys when we go there, and he and Ernie became good friends. Ernie was our "junk man": we took scrap metal to him because he did recycling with it. It put a luttle extra in his pocket and saved us the hassle of dealing with it ourselves. He had cats too, lots of them! Strays and feral found their way to him, and it wasn't unusual to see half a dozen or more food bowls scattered around. Ernie lived simply; I don't think he had electricity but he did use bottled gas for cooking and heat. He was an independent,  private kind of guy, so I was surprised to learn he had several grandchildren as he never talked about his private life. We know one of his daughters who lives locally, and she always kept an eye out for him, although I doubt he asked for much help. He was a trim, busy man, so it was a shock to learn that a heart attack took him at only 74. He will be missed by many people who appreciated his quiet humor and kind ways.

In good news, I talked with my brother who had a kidney transplant a month ago, and he and his wife are both doing well. She was his donor! How often does it happen that a spouse is a match? Of course, he has a long course of medication and monitoring ahead of him, but he feels great and is sure he will recover fully. As we all know, attitude is an important aspect of healing. These bodies of ours can be tricky, no matter our age!

The flowers are really coming along now, such a joy to see them.

I planted these forsythia in 2024, and they are starting to take off. They were starts from the big bush above.

These that you can just see in the center of the photo were planted years and years ago, but I didnt care for them properly so brush and weeds have mingled in. Still, them bloom every year, stalwart little things. They were also babies from the big bush.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.