And there we have it.

On June 11, I had started a new post entitled "Managing the Inevitable."  In it, I updated Janet's recent and abrupt change and decline in Alzheimer's symptoms. She had become combative, would refuse food and medicine (but could usually be cajoled into them).  She was packing her stuff in a very haphazard disorganized fashion because her nephew (she believed) was coming to take her to her sister's.

We got emergency nursing home placement.  She got sick.  She went to the ER, then ICU.  She recovered some.  We placed her in our first choice nursing home.  The first night she fell trying to get out of bed.  That afternoon she was gone.  June 29, 2015.  I hadn't yet adjusted to her being across town, but at least then I could check in and see her.  Now I can't even do that.

And that's nothing compared to my husband and his sister's pain.

I mentioned before, Alzheimer's is more than just memory loss.  It attacks all parts of the brain; even those parts that are responsible for things like being hungry and breathing and the like.

But...if I am at least grateful for two things.

1.She had a good visit with her son and daughter and granddaughter the day before.  She knew who they were.

2.  She did not decline further.  She will not be in that line of people at the nursing home, staring off into space, not knowing where they are, who they are.  Alzheimer's didn't beat her after all.

The last few weeks...months, really... have been a blur.  But life requires we move on, as it keeps happening regardless.  I see events happening that I may have once been invited to, but care-giving-related invitation declines have seen me fall off many 'must invite' lists.  I need to get back to social life.

AND, back to my garden, which actually has been happening in the midst of all the other.  I could read back to see what I've already talked about, but instead I'll just state where we are.  Today Jim and I staked the tomatoes and peppers.  The tomatoes had outgrown the little thingies I had, so we got proper stakes for them.  The rain has left them loaded with green fruit, so hopefully the dry and heat of this coming week will start the ripening process.  there are blossoms on the peppers, too.  I normally don't stake them, but rain keeps beating them down.

The zucchini and squash are doing .... so-so.  I've gotten two zucchinis and one squash off two plants of each.  It looks the rain just smashed the plants completely, so we'll see what the dry spell does.

I think I am going to have to give up on broccoli.  I never get the big bunches I see in stores, and it bolts really quickly.  The Brussel sprouts are starting to form though.  They seem to take forever, though, so I may want to rethink them both in favor of something that produces well and doesn't take so long.

I did finally plant beans and they have sprouted up nicely.  Allegedly there is no trellising required for these (but we shall keep an eye on that).

Strawberries and raspberries are sort of mediocre this year, but the apple tree is LOADED.  We don't spray so they aren't "pretty" but they are definitely bigger this year than last, and more plentiful.  One of these years we will look at the 'organic apple growing' sites and figure out what we're doing.  Jim also finally planted our grape vine, so hopefully it's not too late for the plant to survive, even if we don't get grapes this year.

Right now the bumper crop is cucumbers, which are following the 'three years to success' model that almost everything else has.  Of course, I was growing them for Janet, who LOVED them.  I see relish in my future.

Also in addition to the tomato stakes on our trip to Lowe's, we got birdseed.  I need to fill the birdfeeder (edit: done) and refill the hummingbird feeders.  Janet was insistent about those.

Herbs are drying in the window, but I need to get those taken down and stored so I can hang more.

The cicadas are singing, signifying for me the beginning of Lughnasadh, and now the hope for having things to can and preserve.  While my hope is only for hobby's sake, it's a small snippet of how people must have felt this time of year.  I know my garden this year isn't going to do much (survival on apples, tomatoes, and cucumbers would not be pleasant!) so already we are planning for next year.  The last remaining pallets will be replaced with actual raised beds, and maybe one more.  I'm also not using straw as a mulch again.  It may keep weeds down, but those that do land get hopelessly tangled with the straw.  But, those are all things for future posts.

Spring Sprang

A while back actually, and I'm woefully behind.

Alzheimer's a terrible, terrible disease.  I know all lingering lengthy diseases are, and most people know that.  Although they'll say "yeah, my mom forgets a lot too."  Or worse, make a joke about how their forgetfulness is early-onset.  Um...no.  No, it's not.  And it isn't funny.  It's more than just forgetfulness.  It's the complete personality transference that takes place from, let's say, a sweet, funny, kind woman to ... well, someone who isn't that.  And who realizes that it's happening, and can't do anything about it.

The latest memory that keeps recirculating is about her father and hummingbird feeders.  She said he would string them along a line from the back of their house out to "that tree."  They have to have multiple feeders because they are "mean little things."  She's not wrong.  They are very territorial.  In February then, I took her to Anderson's and she picked out two more hummingbird feeders.  We put them up this weekend...well, I did.  I showed her a few times where they are and heard the story again and again.  Two are in the flower garden around the deck, and one is hanging in the birch tree.

Planting progresses as we try and time things with the weather.  I bought a grapevine, dill, and parsley from the botany class at school.  We got broccoli and brussel sprouts and onions, and then...well, you know, kinda waited.  Meanwhile life continued.  Then this past weekend "Holy crap, we have to plant that stuff!"

I did try the whole "use water jugs as mini greenhouses" as went around Facebook a while back. While I did get a late start I can now definitively say that it did not work.  Or maybe it did. I'll just keep them together until I don't I guess, just to see if they ever take root.  It could have just been old seeds, I suppose.  I planted broccoli, onions, and tomatoes.  I wrote on the jug, but then rain, snow, and sun have successfully removed the labels so I have no idea what is in what.

We now have the onions in one of the whiskey half-barrels. Dill and parsley are in one pot and going to be transferred to the pollinator garden once we have that earth turned.  Lettuce and spinach seeds are in and hopefully growing under ground because they aren't sprouting yet.  (I planted them a couple of weeks ago).  The strawberries are full of pink blooms and already some little berries are visible.  The apple tree has teeny little apples on it even!  I planted the Brussel sprouts and broccoli yesterday.  This year I got straw (from mom and dad's Thanksgiving yard decorations), and have used that for mulch.  I will add that to the other beds too, and then the rest goes in the compost.

First Harvest!

Well, it has actually been happening for a while now, but the zucchini is putting out fruit like you wouldn't believe and they are BIG.  It's like I'll check in the morning, and there are little or no zucchini, and then later I'll look and holy COW!  I anticipate a lot of zucchini bread in my future.

The raspberries have finally started to come in, but this looks like it will be a low harvest year for those.  Strawberries have stopped, but then there was new foliage and new blooms, so perhaps a second harvest on those.  One of the neighborhood kids LOVES strawberries and has occasionally asked to help me pick them, although I haven't seen him since I got back from Starwood.  He is very interested in strawberry jam, however.  We have also gotten about half a serving of green beans.  And there may finally be sprouts on the brussels.

It is time to take in the last of the lettuce, I think and maybe throw some more seeds out to 'see what happens.'  The tomatoes and peppers are getting a slow start, but I anticipate that will fix itself.  Two of the cucumber plants look like they'll not make it and the bean seeds I planted later only yielded two plants that are just kinda...there.  I do still have a pretty bean pyramid structure ready for them, in case they take off.

Tonight, therefore, we'll be celebrating our first harvest, commonly referred to among druidy parts as Lughnasadh.  The calendar says that is on Aug 1, but in keeping with my plan discussed elsewhere of going with the energy of the land, we're doing it today.  I had hoped to time it with the tomatoes or the sunflowers but as those both got in later than anticipated, that may put it after the Equinox! As part of that, we'll be sacrificing last year's Corn Dolly to the fire, and blessing the new one I just finished making.  Here is last year's:

The shawl she has on was one of my first crochet attempts last year.  She's made of corn husks not from corn I grew (because I don't...yet) but from the area.  Ohio is corn country (some call it maize) and so that's what I use.  Because it's for our land, I augmented it with a piece of bean stalk, and some flowers and herbs we're growing.

Here is next year's.  She is unadorned, as of yet.

Hopefully this will bring on the harvest of many things

Janet had a visit with a social worker to get her on a program whereby they will take her to "adult day care" five days a week and maybe get some other assistance.  It's a temporary fix, however, as she continues to decline.  Today was a good day though.  We went to Goodwill so she could drop of clothes, because "Someone else might get some use out of them."  Then to Walgreen's so she could get some Gas X and finally, Tim Hortons.  Coffee and a doughnut has become our thing while running errands.

I sat outside for a bit after dinner, eating my new favorite dessert of cherries and almonds, listening to the birds.  We appear to have a late nest of robins, as a mother (I'm guessing) and juvenile were bipping around the yard.  They need to get on that eating of bugs they are allegedly so good at.

I had hoped she would participate some in the evening festivities, mainly distributing fairies and placing Elsie.  I purchased the fairies when we bought the house and hoped to decorate the yard with them.  Finally the yard feels like a place worth decorating.

I also found a place for Elsie the Owl.  Elsie had been sitting by the backdoor, looking like an extra cat out of the corner of an eye.  Elsie's head also had the eerie habit of spinning around for no damn good reason.  Sure, maybe it was slightly nudged by someone as they walked by, but it just wouldn't stop.   The first time it did that, Jim said, "Oh, that thing needs to GO."  Agreed, and now she's outside where hopefully she can freak out whatever is eating the flowers.

Regardless, Janet didn't feel good, which she blamed on having to take too much insulin (really it's because her glucose is too high, but whatever.  Picking battles.)  Jim came home and ate, we had a fire, we made offerings and got omens.  The wheel keeps turning.

Dandelions are DANDY

I actually have lots to update, but it requires pictures.  Suffice it to say the back 40 yards or so looks like one might actually be able to get a meal out of there.  Or at least side dishes.  Pictures forthcoming.

I need to write this part down before I forget.  I got a recipe off the Interwebs for dandelion jelly.  Now, my yard has a FINE crop of dandelions in it, so I decided to start ripping their little heads off, for to make some jelly.  I sat in the side yard, pulled however many I could reach and didn't look too new or too old. I also tried to get ones that didn't have ants all over them, but that soon proved impossible.  Our entire subdivision is built on an anthill.  Once I cleared all that I could reach, I'd scootch down a bit and clear another space. I made pretty good progress, but I had no idea how much I had.  I needed two cups of petals, which estimated it at four cups of leaves.  Eventually I got bored in the side yard and moved to the front.

Janet came out and saw me and gave me that look she does.  It's the look Jim and I get when we're doing something that she doesn't recognize as sane.  Like when I explained to her why there were bones sunbleaching on the deck, and egg shells in a plastic container waiting to be crushed.  (Doesn't everyone do that?)  So I explained I was going to make dandelion jelly.  That seemed to sort of be okay with her, and she proceeded to tell me about her dad making dandelion wine.  And he'd hide it all over the place because her mom (who called it "idiot juice") didn't like that he drank it.  And she broke every bottle she could find.  And she and her sister found some and drank it and it sat them on their ass, it did.

Then my friend, Misty, came over.  Misty is a cool horticulturalist who I've added to my list of "why won't this work in my garden!" calls.  Anyway, she stopped by and proceeded to pick dandelion heads and so did Janet.

At this point, I envisioned my neighbors looking out the window, at the weirdo hippies on the curb, peering through their curtain.  "NOW what are they doing?"

We discussed harvesting the leaves of that and the two kinds of plantain I have growing in my yard, but I didn't feel like doing that.  Janet, with a new person to talk to, told of her father and his dandelion wine, and her mother and the idiot juice, and that it would sit you on your ass.  It was the first time Misty heard it all.  For me it was the zillionth.  No matter, it gets Janet remembering, and that's the important part.

We went around back and Misty gave me composting advice.  She actually got me REALLY excited about composting.  In fact, we are rearranging our entire kitchen waste disposal system.  The big trash can is going to become recycling.  The little can (it's probably about a half-gallon in size) is going to be composting scraps.  That leaves one of those free grocery bags you get at Giant Eagle for anything not compostable or recyclable, which I believe is not that much in a given week, but would need to be taken out daily.

Anyway, we raked and small talked and composted, the three of us.  It was a perfectly lovely afternoon.  It's not been exactly smooth sailing in Alzheimer's land the past few days, but that day was about perfect.

I've not made the jelly or the wine yet. (Misty said she had a recipe for the wine which I'm still waiting for *hint hint* :) ) We ended up with about six quarters of dandelion heads, all in the freezer awaiting their fate, and I think that's way more than I need.  Hopefully, the freezer doesn't wilt them too much (but will kill any stray ants), but if it does, I have another crop ready to be harvested.

Stories and pots

Today, I finally got around to planting things with the soil I got from Beth a few weeks ago.  I planted two seeds each of zucchini, squash, and cucumber, and then four seeds of spinach.

The hope, obviously, is they will sprout and I can plant them in the garden when the time comes.  Since that's a good two months away, at least, they should be ready to go, I hope.

The spinach of course can maybe go out earlier, and the jury is still out on the lettuce seeds I planted during one of the thaws.

Lots of hope in that there introduction.  But that is the point of the season.  We hope things will grow that we plant.  We hope we are able to do all the things we've dreamed about doing this winter.  Heck, the way this winter has gone, we just hope it does end, and these few days above 40 degrees aren't just teasers.

But inside needs to be attended to as well.  Jim and I are participating in something called "40 Bags in 40 Days."  It's a Lent-inspired thing, where instead of giving up chocolate or Facebook, people are encouraged to fill one trashbag per day.  We could certainly use the decluttering, that's for sure.  We are starting indoors, the basement and the loft.  So far, despite get a late start, we've filled seven trashbags.  After we are done in here, it will hopefully be more securely warm enough to work in the backyard.  Under the deck and in the shed definitely need attention, and then there's the infamous garage.

The other day, Janet was talking about growing up.  If they didn't raise their own vegetables, she said, they would have starved.  We talked a bit about how people don't do that anymore.  I told her we're trying, and every year we get a little bit better.  She talked about the garden she used to have when she and Jim's dad were first married, and how her dad and mom knew all sorts of stuff.  I could tell she was melancholy; she said "We had a good life." I told her she did.  I haven't quite gotten the whole story memorized yet, but I'm getting there.  She tends to forget she's told me all that before, but it's not like I mind hearing it again.

We talked about what we wanted to plant and how to maybe get the potatoes to turn out better.  She once again said she'd help me, and that she liked to do that stuff.  I reflected back on her amazing ability to be scarce when I was going to go out and do something and smiled to myself, but I still told her that I would really like that.  It's not a lie, after all.

Hope.  Hope that she'll still be able to to help (as she wants) when the spring comes.  Hope that her disease has somehow been misdiagnosed and she's doing just fine, after all.  Hope that we have zucchini and squash to sit down to on a warm summer evening on the deck, with homemade pickles from our cucumbers.

It's all about the hope.

Update on Mom-in-Law and more Winter Garden Dreaming

I suppose, as I am sitting here bemoaning the briefest January thaw ever and wondering how hard Mother Nature is laughing at me about my last 'woohoo Imbolc' post, I should do an update on Janet.

(It also occurs to me, I should have pseudonymed her at some point, but it's too late now...)

She's actually still doing fairly well, all things considered.  She knows her name, knows our names, takes care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner as needed.  She does her laundry, she cleans her room and bathroom.  She can still bathe and basically take care of herself.  We did get her a chair for the shower and a hand held shower head to make it easier on her.  There were a couple of other minor adjustments to living arrangements that I can't remember right now.

She does look to us a bit more for validation.  She will ask to verify the date and day of the week, and nine times out of ten, she is right.  She gets numbers more and more confused in her speech, and possibly in her mind as well.  There have been some near misses involving money.  She misplaces things, and typically I find them for her, usually very quickly.  They just aren't in the first place she looks so she gets mad at herself and just stops looking.  She blames it on her age.  Of course, she laughed the other day when it took me twenty minutes to find my coffee cup.

J:  "Oh, you do that too?"
L:  "Yes...at least three times a day."
J:  "Well, I don't feel so bad, then."

We've taken over helping her to pay her bills, largely because she has cataracts and a hard time seeing.  Those are getting taken care of in March.  The larger issue though is at night, she has gotten very confused over her evening insulin shot.  It's been the same number of units for, well, ever.  However lately we have to help her set the number on the insulin pen, and even one day had to explain to her how the pen is used.  She hasn't had this problem (she says) for her post-meal shots, though.  It's very concerning, as we can't be there during the day to monitor it or help her out if she gets confused.

It would be hard for someone with cataracts to see the numbers on, so we are hopeful that the cataract surgeries will fix it.  If it doesn't, it is shocking how quickly it came on.  One day everything was fine, the next it wasn't.  It makes me wonder what will be next, and if we'll be home to help, or even recognize it when it does.

BUT, we had good holidays I think.  We splurged and bought an upright freezer for the garage.  Janet paid half (at her insistence).  It's large and beautiful and we can see everything in it.  The crappy old chest freezer is dead in the garage.  It had a good life.

Already I am thinking about all the things I can put in it this harvest.  Last year I didn't care too much about yield for freezing because where would we put it?  Now, however, we can put it in the big gloriousness in my garage.

AND...gentle reader, if you have made it this far, I am the proud owner of a PRESSURE CANNER! Thanks to mom and dad for Giftmas.  I'm ever more excited for spring to get here so that planting can happen, then growing, then harvesting and preserving!

In sum: Everyone's hanging in and waiting for spring.

Name Change

I really like "Chlorophyllic Mojolicious."  A lot.  And maybe someday I'll change the name back.  But I hope not for a really long time.

See, some of you who know me know my mother-in-law Janet lives with us.  She has for a really long time, maybe about five years.  Now, most people shuddered when I said she was moving in, and I'll be honest, I thought that this was going to be a disaster.

I was also raised with many examples of parents moving in with their children when they were not able to take care of themselves.  My faith also stresses the importance of family, and not just when family is fun or not-problematic.  (At least, in my opinion.  I've since learned that others' mileages may vary, and that's fine.)

Janet is a quiet woman, for the most part.  She's got diabetes that is difficult to control, so often has blood sugar drops.  She also can't hear, but can only wear a hearing aid in just one ear.  The other one is beyond help.  She has a small dog, Sassy, and I'm not sure which one depends on the other one more.  Janet likes to be industrious, and hates to just sit around, but she also doesn't drive, which means that her independence is tied very much to whether my spouse or I are home and can take her where she needs to go.  We juggle the best we can, and for the most part it's actually worked out.  She takes care of my dog and cat while we are gone at work during the day and the house is generally not vacant then, either.  She does make dinner at least half the time too, which is nice.

Janet was also recently diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimers.  I do have my reservations about her doctor, but they have her on medicine which seems to be helping.  Mostly all she has right now is forgetfulness and transposing numbers.  She also can't find words sometimes, and I either way until she does, or if it's urgent, fill it in for her.

Why I have renamed this blog:  Janet doesn't remember much sometimes, but she does remember growing up in Southern Ohio, in the very Northern fringes of Appalachia.  And she remembers her mother and father growing much of their own food.  And she remembers how to do it, how to preserve and dry, and all the things I would like to do.

One thing that I have read about folks with Alzheimers, dementia, and similar disorders is that keeping them active and engaged is important.  It was with that in mind that I insisted we expand our garden and she is now involved.  She is excited to help me hill the potatoes when it is time, and when we found out we could use the green unripe apples on my tree to still make apple jelly she was pleased.  I got her two cucumber plants for the garden so we can make pickles.

The garden began as a way for me to connect to the natural rhythms of the land around me, bring me closer in tune with the Earth Mother and Sky Father.  If it supplemented our grocery purchases, all the better.  However, now I think I was asked to start if for another purpose, to help Janet stay with us as long as possible.  Hence the name change.  I'll change it back when it's no longer for that, but again, I hope it's not for a while.

So far, I've been getting about half a cup of raspberries a day.  No strawberries yet, but that's to be expected.  I think (and Janet has confirmed) the onions are ready to have their leaves bent over to bulb up, and we might be ready to hill the potatoes.  The cucumbers, beans, and squash are doing fine, but that bed seems to dry out quicker than the others.  We've had several days of rain and it's bone dry.  Two of the three tomato plants have actually come back, but the third is done.  I have a TINY green pepper though. The herbs are just HUGE, so I think I need bigger containers so I can separate them out. The first batch of basil and mint is dried and ready to be unhung, only to be replaced with another bunch, and I think the oregano could probably get some trimming too.

Instead of going to Chillicothe for the family reunion tomorrow, I think I shall stay home and get started on the apple jelly, pole the beans, and maybe see if i can plant those things C. gave me.  They may not survive, but we'll at least give it a shot.