Tests that were scheduled for today have been cancelled. The hospital’s imaging equipment is down and in need of repairs. We’ll reschedule once they are back in business. It leaves me somewhat mixed feelings. 
Sylvia was having computer woes, so I bought her a new unit. It worked for two days. After that, it failed to power on. 
Now I have to send it to Texas for repair or replacement. Aargh! 
What’s next?
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Yesterday, Sylvia and I started this season’s efforts on the vegetable garden. Yes, there will be flowers in there too. First we checked on the plants that went in last year.
Giant garlic looking good
The garlic plants are looking strong. These were a gift from Sylvia’s cousin. He’s the one that keeps entertained through items sent to me e-mail inbox. 
We have two varieties of asparagus. The Martha Washington seems to be doing better
Perhaps I should mention that after I put the camera down the serious weeding began. Pay no attention to weeds. Please.
Rosanne asked about the rhubarb that we got from her and Dale. It is doing great. Rhubarb needs a lot of nutrition to flourish so rotted manure is what it needs. Or llama droppings, and neighbor Meghan will supply us with some from her llama, Grace.
Rhubarb or pie plant makes the best pies IMHO
After the photo op, we pulled weeds and tilled the rest of the garden. Today I have a very sore back. But I feel good and am already dreaming of rhubarb pie.
I had expected to take Sylvia out for lunch after church yesterday (Mother’s Day). Saturday evening, she announced that she had some pork ribs in the freezer and wanted to bake them for Sunday dinner.
That’s what she did. She even fixed mashed potatoes! We enjoyed that fine meal together and then spent a few minutes tidying up the house.
Our older son, Bryant, with his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Briana, (aka the 3Bs) dropped in a little later. In addition to the beautiful handcrafted card for Sylvia, they brought pie and ice cream. Wow! How great is that? We had a great visit, as we always do. It was good to get caught up on the latest happenings in their lives.
In the evening we drove to the nearby (5 miles) sandwich shop for a light evening meal. We shared a BLT on whole wheat. It didn’t take much to top off our tanks. Then we returned home and watched Sylvia’s movie selection, Salt with Angelina Jolie. As Sylvia observed, “There’s a lot of action in that one!”
Then, as is our custom of a Sunday evening, we called our younger son, Scott. We had what for us is a short conversation. By then it was bed time and Sylvia said goodnight. I was doing a couple of online chores and would follow shortly after . . . but sleep would elude me until very late.
Yet today is a good day. The sun is shining.
Yesterday, Sylvia went with me to visit the urologist. We already knew the outcome of the biopsy. The doctor had asked us both to come so that he could go over the results and analyze them for us. He also talked about pros and cons of various treatment options.
It is prostate cancer and it is of an intermediate to aggressive type. (Not all prostate cancer is slow to develop.) It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but considering how fast my numbers had risen, I wasn’t greatly surprised.
Next Friday, I’ll be going in for CT and bone scans. The purpose is to see if the cancer has spread beyond the edges of the prostate. The good news is there is an 89% chance that it is limited to the prostate. I think we caught this one early and that bodes well for a good outcome.
We’ve had a lot of info to process in the last 30 hours. However, we have a few weeks to think, talk and pray our way to a treatment decision.
Sylvia summarized the situation well when she observed, “Well, this is going to put a crimp in you summer plans.” She is right, but the survival rate for this is very good. And we are both optimistic and confident about what lies ahead.
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Nellie and Mr Mousie
I found the key to Miss Kitty’s (aka Nellie) heart. It’s catnip. I gathered a half dozen large leaves of it and vigorously rubbed them on Nellie’s toy, Mr Mousie. The remains, I stuffed inside Mr Mousie. (He has a Velcro closer that allows me to do that.) I left the toy on the floor in the family room. Then I waited.
Soon Nellie was following her nose into the family room. Without hesitation she headed straight for Mr Mousie. She hopped on him. Hugged him. Licked him. Bit him. Rolled on him. Then she hugged him and licked for a long time.
Kitty loves catnip and I’ve got lots of it growing just outside my back door.
In the last couple of weeks, Nellie has also become much more tolerant of her human companions. She no longer runs to the far end of the house at our slightest movement. She has been with us less than 100 days, but has made much progress during that time. I’m pleased to see fear and distrust giving way to confidence.
Sylvia has just returned from a stay with her father. Last week, while she was there, she told me that her cell phone’s battery was nearly flat. She had left the charger here at home. She also wanted a couple of other things. I offered to take the items to her.
While I was at her dad’s, I took some time for a stroll around the house. With camera in hand, I went in search of . . .
hyacinth. I found some growing in the lawn near the driveway. Aren’t they lovely?
As I shot that photo, I saw a tulip blossoming in the ditch beside the road. The tulips at home would open the next day.
From the ditch, I walked to the back side of the house. On that side, there is a pergola that is covered in wisteria. Our friend Vanilla had posted a photo of his wisteria in full blossom. This far north, it takes longer for those blossoms to develop.
I activated the camera’s flash to provide light on the back-lit scene. I was rewarded with an interesting effect.
It was April 20, and the sun shone bright on new fallen snow. From the office window I could see the miniature daffodils peeking through the snow. Sylvia took the camera and captured an image.
When I noticed that the camera settings were off a bit, it was too late to try again. I used PhotoShop Elements to give the scene a water color look.
The size of these beauties does not come through well. You can see that blossoms and stems are not in the same proportions as full-size daffodils, but that’s only part of the story. Two days later, I captured another photo after placing my cap on the ground beside the flowers.
I’m not participating in Wordless Wednesday this week. I thought these images needed a few words of explanation. Here’s hoping you enjoy them.
My friend Roy had sent me an e-mail with the subject line “The Last Photo in the Camera.” There were some good ones in the collection of shots. One of them fit particularly well with a post that Lin had published on Duck & Wheel with String.
I sent the photo on to Lin with a couple of lines that I knocked together. Today she posted photo and text. Stop by and comment on her post “This is Why . . .” Be sure to tell her that I sent you. Thanks!