St. Patrick's Day dawned kind of cloudy, but warm and perfect for the Festivities in Plymouth.  

I got up at 7AM and managed to get lots done before I woke Dick up at 8AM so that I could have him all settled and fed before I left for the CWI meeting at The Exchange Bank.    There were only 6 of us there, but several others joined us at the corner of Highland and Eastern for the Big Walk.  Several of us decided to walk up.   It took a bit longer than we had anticipated so  four of us who started together just joined the parade where we met it.

It was a wonderful walk.   Saw lots and lots of friends.   We got to the Stafford in good time and went in to have our shot of whiskey.   Then we, Celtic Women split up.   Some stayed at the Stafford and several of us went to eat at Antoinettes where it was quieter.    I ordered a Reuben sandwich with sweet potato fries.   I was able to bring half home for Dick.

I got home at a bit after 1PM.    Then I took a nap so that I could be ready for tonight.   However, the best laid plans. 

I went to the 4PM Mass and when I got home, I found Dick had fallen.  He was sitting on his bent over prosthesis again.   No other choice but to call 911.   Those guys are really getting to know us well.   They are so very kind.   Fortunately, he did not hurt himself.  He must have a special, very tired and hard working guardian angel.   Thank God.

So, needless to say.  I stayed home instead of going to the party at Eileen's home.   I went downstairs  and found the Quiet Man movie.  I have helped Dick into bed and am watching the movie over a glass of Irish Creme with a cup of decaf, one of my favorite combinations.

Pray for us.   We have so many needs.   Of course, He knows that.

All my love and Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Good fun things happened today.

Dick had his blood tested and it IS improving.  After today, I don't have to give any more shots.

We had a lot of people in and out of here.  Dick was exhausted and because of that he wanted to go to bed at 7PM which made it easy to go to 52 Stafford to meet my friend Nancy.  Jeff and Kathy did not make it but I had a great time and am looking forward to the Irishman's Walk tomorrow.

So Bless you and make your sleep peaceful

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Another lovely day.   Not as warm as yesterday, but lovely all the same.  We still have the window in the door, but I left the door open anyway so that Roxie could warm her round self in the bright afternoon sun.

We were home all day with only one visitor.   The RN to check Dick's coagulation count.   He is still too low, so I ended up having to give him another shot today.    Rachel, an RN, will be here tomorrow morning to check him again.

It should also be rather quiet tomorrow.   Except.   Jody comes at 8AM.   Rachel at 10AM and Judy the home health aid at 12:30PM.

If Jeff and Kathy come to Plymouth to see Blarney on Friday night, they will call and I will go down to join them for an hour or so.  A welcome Celtic Break.

Janet Bieschke lent me a DVD that Jean Bills gave her summarizing the first Celtic Women Gatherings.   I was at several of them and found it so delightful.   So many people that I have not seen in years and so many memories.    The music Jean Bills used for background made me proud of my music collection.   Though I can still fill it in.

I don't know quite what to do with Dick in the evenings.   He is so restless and seems most distracted then.  How does one ask for help when one does not know what to ask for?

We had cream of cauliflower soup for supper.   It is so good.   A recipe I go from the Pioneer Woman.   Dick ate quiet well too.   I baked brown bread and we had a slice of that with our soup.

Til tomorrow

Dia Dhuit

Mary

"Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible."  St. Francis of Assisi

A reasonably busy day today.   We both got up shortly after 6AM.   Dick had gone to bed at 6PM last night and except for one time to get put together for the bathroom he slept through.    He is aiming for almost the same thing tonight.   It is a bit later, almost 7PM so perhaps he will sleep through.

It got all the way up to the low 80s today and the sun shone in a blue sky too.   Boy.   I have crocuses blooming in the front.berm.

I went to the grocery story early and was home shortly after 8AM.   I had a rather fun time as I bought things to complete the corned beef dinner.    My corned beef is ready to take out of its brine and prepare to cook.  It is so exciting when a plan comes together.    I think I will prepare it for Sunday as I will be gone parading and partying for a portion of St. Patrick's day and won't be able to do it justice.

I am also baking a shamrock shaped cake for Sunday.

Marty, the prosthesist, kindly stopped at the condo on his way from Fond du Lac to the Sheboygan office to help stabilize that right prosthesis.    He also checked the left one and we agree that it was the laying in bed with them on during the procedure on Friday that must have loosened both of them and caused the unsteadiness he had on Friday evening.

Then Sara, the PT, came at 1:30PM and worked on stretching his knees and hips.   She is going to put him on a break from her therapy until we resolve the prosthesis problems and hopefully the weakness and lethergy.    We feel we would rather use those hours when they will do some good.   The home health aids and he and I can keep his muscles stretched and he stands up and sits down at 10 to 12 times a day just transferring.   I get my excercise too but it is not good for my back, I can tell you.

He has visits with the pulminologist and the urologist next week also.   So maybe we will get answers.   I refuse to lose hope.   Please keep praying for us.

Also say some prayers for Kate's husband, Ron,  he had surgery again last night on his heart, a bypass.   He is home already, of course.    Kate and I shared worries today.    We can also share prayers.

So. tomorrow I get to be home all day and the only person who will set foot in the house is the RN to take Dick's INR.   With any luck at all, the count will be 2.0 or better and I will not have to give him any more shots in the tummy.   I don't like that at all.   At least he says that I don't hurt him.   That would really make me upset.

So till tomorrow

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Quite a day.    It was gorgeous outside.   No wind.  Sunshine and the temps were in the mid to high 60s and I got to be out of it for part of the afternoon.

Now, I know that Spring is here.   And here are the three reasons why.

1.  I saw several robins cavorting at the corner.

2.  Two days ago, I saw a red-winged blackbird.

3.  This morning when I walked out to take the trash to the corner, there were worms all over the blacktop.

What more proof do we need?   If you really need more proof, the crocus are also starting to show color.

Ashley, one of the RNs, came to test Dick's INR.   He is still to low to stop the shots.  (Darn.)   But it has come up some.    On Thursday, a nurse will check it again.   Hopefully that will do it.

Dick was very very sleepy today.    Nancy got here at 11:30AM to give him his bath.   Sara, the PT, is also having her do some stretching to keep his hips and muscles from shrinking.  I know shrinking isn't the correct word but it does convey the meaning.

I left as soon as she was done to meet three of my Celtic Women International sisters at Woodlake.    We are not done yet, because we dawdle and are easily distracted, but are visiting the Shops at Woodlake for donations for door prizes at our Spring Gathering on the weekend of April 26-28.    We finished today's work at the Craverie a Chocolatier Cafe.   Doesn't that sound decadent.   It is.   I had a latte and a biscotti, then headed for home.

Dick is still SO exhausted.   It is not quite 7PM and he is already in bed.    I will probably head there myself in the next hour and perhaps read for a while before going to sleep.   I am sure he will be waking up at LEAST once during the night as he has gone to bed so early.    I have some soup ready to just heat for him when he does wake up as he will need something.

A picture of our little Marcus was on Facebook this morning.   He is beautiful and I can see shades of both his mother and father in that cute little face.

The rest of the week is supposed to be about as lovely as today with perhaps some rain on one of them.  But Saturday looks just perfect for the big day and the Irishman's walk.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

A day of mixed blessings.   Still adjusting to daylight savings time, I got up at 6AM so that I could get everything around here done before leaving to have breakfast with Bob Fleming at the Point at 8AM.   Dick woke up at about the same time, which was a blessing.   I always hate to have to awaken him.   This way there was plenty of time to ease him into the day and get his breakfast made.

I just got a call from Bill Smith.  We are great grandparents of little Marcus Jeremiah Limjoco who weighed in this afternoon at 7lb 12oz. in California.    Mother and baby fine and Grandma Leslie exhausted as Bill said she was up for almost 30 hours with Nora and Ernie.    But we are all very happy.   Babies are such joy and we will be most anxious for pictures of the little family.

Bob and I enjoyed our breakfast and our conversation.   He is such a good friend.   He shared the fairy houses that he helped the visitors at The Gathering Place, a ministry by St. Paul's in Sheboygan Falls, for Alzheimer and dementia people.   I want to present the Fairy Houses as a fun thing for Celtic Women to do in the spring.    They are made out of bark and twigs and leaves and grasses and are so cool.   I want to make one for sure and put it at the bottom of my garden.    I need to send the There Are Fairies At the Bottom of our Garden poem to Bob.

Bible Study was well attended.   We finished up the Royal Psalms chapter of our study.  It ended with a reading from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus stresses that the Kingdom he is bringing is not an earthly kingdom.   Too bad Israel and the whole world actually can't feel that way.  

Mom was just fine today.    We paid a couple of bills and had a lovely visit.    Nora and Leif will be here on the 15th and go back to Texas on the 20th.   Will be so good to see them on St. Patrick's Day at Eileen's St. Patrick's Day Party.

I got home shortly before noon.    We had crock pot roast beef with potatoes and green beans.   Then Sara, the PT and Rachel the RN came.   Dick's INR is still too low so I had to give him another shot today.   Pew.   They will check again tomorrow and if it is up to 2.0 I can stop doing that.  He is still sooooo weak.   I contacted his family doctor and the pharmacist independently to have them double check as to if there is some bad interaction with the Many Many meds that he takes.   They both assured us independently that there is none.

We did get a call from Dr. Kream's nurse that there was no malignancy in the fluids that were extracted.  And, so far, there is no sign of bacteria.  This is good news.  

But, we go back to the same question.   THEN WHAT IS WRONG.   He is still weak and tired and seems to be getting more so.

Oh well.   Today, I can stop worrying about it.   It is time to go to bed and dream of snips and snails and puppy dog tails and a little sweet baby that is now a part of our world.

Dia Dhuit

Mary

Fairies

THERE are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
It's not so very, very far away;
You pass the gardner's shed and you just keep straight ahead --
I do so hope they've really come to stay.
There's a little wood, with moss in it and beetles,
And a little stream that quietly runs through;
You wouldn't think they'd dare to come merrymaking there--
Well, they do.

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
They often have a dance on summer nights;
The butterflies and bees make a lovely little breeze,
And the rabbits stand about and hold the lights.
Did you know that they could sit upon the moonbeams
And pick a little star to make a fan,
And dance away up there in the middle of the air?
Well, they can.

There are fairies at the bottom of our garden!
You cannot think how beautiful they are;
They all stand up and sing when the Fairy Queen and King
Come gently floating down upon their car.
The King is very proud and very handsome;
The Queen--now you can quess who that could be
(She's a little girl all day, but at night she steals away)?
Well -- it's Me!

Rose Fyleman

I feel much better today.   My cold is almost gone after two days of sneezing a taking advantage of Friday and Saturday, early to bed and naps.

Today was quiet.   I still took it as easy as I could.   I fixed a nice dinner, did a bit of sewing, cleaned the kitchen and remembered to turn and massage the corned beef.    In just three days I will begin preparing that.

I took a nap this afternoon.  And I went to Mass this morning as I had decided to stay home yesterday.   It almost seems funny to be going on Sunday as I mostly attend on Saturday evening.

Dick is still so very tired and gets out of breath.   He gets unsteady on his prosthesis.   I think the left one is slipping.  Tomorrow I will call Marty the Prosthesist for help.

I will be having breakfast with my friend Bob Fleming tomorrow.   He is such a good buddy.   I am getting some note cards from him.   I love his Patrick and his Francis.

So.  Til tomorrow

Dia Dhuit

Mary

A bit of Irish Wisdom

"I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer."
-- Brendan Behan