The Pain Goes On

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Chuck

toothpain

I took the full course of antibiotic. Check.

Root canal done, and it went well. Check.

Why does my tooth still hurt? There are obvious signs of infection and I’ll be doing another round of a different antibiotic. I’m hoping (and praying) that this one works.

And still I can be, and in fact am, happy. As my good friend, Vanilla, wrote in his blog today, “Happiness is a choice.” That’s something I’ve been saying for years–not so much to lectures others as to remind myself of that fundamental truth.

Late Afternoon

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Chuck

Late afternoon is a pleasant time of day, perhaps the best. I like that time of the day. However, it’s not the best time of day to take pictures. Nevertheless, I had to try yesterday. My closeup photos were out of focus. I finally remembered how to setup the camera for macro shots. I had to try.

Another variety of daffodil bursts forth in glorious splendor

It worked! You can see the purple-blue blossoms in the back. We call them myrtle, others call them vinca. In England it would be called periwinkle.

I love the richness of the color

Sylvia returned home today. Hooray! Nellie and I are happy.

I was going to report that last Friday, as I was returning from the endodontist, I saw a golden eagle less than three miles from home. It took to wing as I approached and I got an excellent close-up view. No camera, besides I was driving–it wouldn’t have worked if I had the camera with me.

I only see a golden eagle here in the neighborhood a couple of times a year. It is always a happy day for me when I do.

Updates

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Chuck

Bringing beauty & joy to life

I’ve just updated WordPress. This is the first post with the new version. Here we go . . . another learning curve to climb. And that has been the story of my life the last few months.

It started with building a new computer and installing Windows 7. I was happy with XP, but that doesn’t put money in the corporate coffers. :no: So I’m doomed to a new, enhanced experience that I didn’t need or want.

In the past week, my hosting company updated the version of PHP (the programming language that we use for our blogs) to version 5.4. That resulted in a modified appearance on this blog. The background image was behind article text after the change. Woodland in autumn has given way to a solid color. I’ll try to dig deeper into that when I can find some time. (Not easy to do when Sylvia is with her father this week.)

Flash Update

~~While previewing this article before publishing, I noticed that the background problem was solved. I’m glad to see the autumnal woodland background once more~~. I got ahead of myself. Still on the learning curve. Arrrggh!

Continuing

Also this week, I installed MS Office 365 on this computer. That’s the software subscription service that keeps you in the latest version of MS Office (now v 2013). There have been a lot of changes since Office 2003, which I’ve been using for several years now.

Today, it was the WordPress update. Each one of these hardware and software changes has its own learning curve. And the learning never ends. I’m okay with part, but it would be easier at a slower pace. 😎

Playing in the background of all this has been a sore tooth. It started a couple of weeks ago. I visited my visit my local dentist, and after some questions, examination, probing, prodding, and whacking on my teeth, they took an X-Ray image of the area. Diagnosis called for a root canal. I had that done yesterday.

I’m hoping for a better experience next week. Do you know what I mean?

Windy

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Chuck

Oh my, has it been windy of late. I looked out the window the other day and saw a plastic bag hanging on a fence post. Both handles were over the post and it looked like a full air balloon. Only instead of pointing up, it was over on its side.

Later, I took the camera and found that one handle had slid off the post. The bag had now taken on the appearance of a windsock. And the wind was blowing. Hard.

The bag had held some tent pegs, which we use to keep the end fence of the garden down against the road. There are enough wild rabbits around here that our garden would not be “our garden” if left it open.

The bag had split and dumped its cargo onto the lawn. Perhaps you can see an orange peg hanging in the fence.

Tent pegs litter the ground

Another day of wind and the plastic bag had disappeared. Gone with the wind, you might say. I might say that too. :laff:

The weather continues to be damp, cool and, fortunately, not quite so windy. New blossoms coming out in the flower gardens. More on that soon.

The Week That Was

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Chuck

The picture says it all.

I started last week (Monday) with the news that, six months after surgery, I’m cancer free. Monitoring will continue.

Wednesday, I made an unscheduled visit to the dentist. A moderately sore tooth would need a root canal. The procedure is scheduled for this Friday.

On Thursday, that tooth pain had gone from moderate to nearly unbearable. I started taking an antibiotic per the dentist’s instruction.

By Friday, the pain had subsided slightly. I had a telephone conversation with the endodontist’s office. The specialist I talked with gave me pointers on how to manage the pain. It works!

Endodontist . . . how’s that for a job? Nothing but root-canal procedures. I can think of worse ways to make a living.

I had a class at university with a girl whose father was a proctologist. When asked what her father did for a living she’d say, “He’s a can opener.” I suppose the language has changed and that answer no longer makes sense. Or has it?

Bloomers Are Showing

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Chuck

Standard size daffodils give perspective to the miniature variety

Sylvia reminded me that I had failed to include a photo of the miniature daffodils in my most recent post. There are some of them in the upper right (not far upper right) of this photo. To me they look the same, but smaller. Perhaps Sharkey can see more difference that that. She does have a well trained eye. I’ve learned a lot about plant identification by reading her blog.

Miniature daffodils

I had also mentioned that there was only one snow drop blossom in view. Fortunately, that has changed.

Some of the many snow-drop blossoms

I had a very hard time trying to capture an in-focus image of snow drops. The ones in the lawn were most difficult and I even went out in the rain to try for better results. I’m disappointed, but wanted to share what I did get.

These beauties grow out in the yard

It appears I need to read the camera’s instruction manual. But I’m a guy, and guys don’t do that. Do we? Okay, I cheat some times and read instructions. It’s not as much fun, but is frequently less frustrating.

Personal Update

I had a 6-month follow up with my cancer surgeon (urologist) yesterday. Nothing disappointing or frustrating in that. Once again he reported “perfect” test results. We will continue monitoring. And praying.

Easter Beauties

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Chuck

Easter afternoon, with camera in hand, I went in search of Easter beauty and here is what I found:

Only one snow drop growing in the shade

There was a single snow drop in sight. On the others, I could see only green with no hint of blossoms. As I searched for more, I had this wonderful encounter:

I’d forgotten about this lone crocus

I’d forgotten that a single crocus had survived. That was until I saw it in all of its beauty growing quietly behind a pole and some mulberry brush. It certainly brightened my day!

The daffodils are looking great

First there was the one blossom on a single daffodil and a few days later it seems that they are all in bloom. We had a beautiful day to celebrate Easter. And today, Monday, it is even nicer. I’m going to enjoy it as much as I can. Tomorrow, the forecast high is over 20 degrees cooler. (It was good while it lasted.)

Easter

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Chuck

He is Risen!

Good Friday

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Chuck

It is finished

Meanwhile . . .

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Chuck

The first daffodil has ventured forth into bloom. But why is it staring at the ground. Perhaps it’s lonely?

Our first daffodil of 2014

It won’t be lonely for long, there are many more that should be in blossom by week’s end. We’ve still got a lot of work to do out there in the flower gardens.

And in the vegetable garden life is returning. I showed you rhubarb recently. Today, I noticed that garlic is also shooting up.

One of three giant garlic plants that I saw today

I tried to hide as many weeds as possible in the photos. Unfortunately, they seem to thrive. No matter what.

There’s probably a parable in there, don’t you think? It takes work to get the good things to grow in our lives. Unwanted stuff seems to flourish. My maternal grandma always told me, “Pull the weeds while they’re small.” She meant that for a parable too. She was a wonderful woman. (And she loved cats.)

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Secondary Roads

My life away from the hustle and bustle

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