This 'N That

I'm still harvesting carrots every day! They will be gone next week and I finished the kale yesterday. I planted cauliflower, red cabbage and peas in their place. I'm loving my vegetable gardening.






This runaway sweet pea bloomed last week. The rest have a long way to catch up!






I picked one ripe tomato and have tons more!! A green pepper plant is also loaded!

The nasturtiums started blooming this week. I have two varieties in each planter.

I want out of this car seat!!!

It looks like spring has sprung in my back yard!!

Hubby has had it pretty rough the past few days. He has chemo treatments twice a week--blood tests twice a month at the lab--and at each treatment--another blood transfusion, and this will go on for 6 months, at least we hope only for 6 months. Our world changed overnight and we are so grateful that our insurance is paying for everything. And, the Dr. and labs are within 20 miles of our home, so no stress driving!

Life's Clouds Have Lifted A Bit

Good news! The Dr. told hubby that he will be around for a very long time with the treatments he will be starting soon! Everyone has a big smile today!





Great grandson enjoys the swing as much as his great grandma does!






I'm addicted to playing Farmville on Facebook! In fact, I am managing five farms! Friends and family got bored with it all and I picked up their farms from "short sales"! I love all the plowing, planting, gathering eggs, milking the cows, etc., while the background animal sounds draw me back to my childhood memories of farm life. It allows me not dwell on the "what ifs" and other overwhelming thoughts of Hubby's cancer diagnosis. I can't help but stay in a positive attitude when the baby calves or lambs are born on Farmville. It also keeps me from a sugar binge! So I really don't think of it as a waste of time, just a distraction needed from the struggles of life. That, and our family's ability to view humor, are the necessary ingredients to help us to focus on the positive. I'm not hiding my head in the sand--just trying to stay just on the surface of the sand. It's comfortable there.

Great Gifts--26 Years Apart

My sister gave me my most favorite gift for Christmas this year. It is a hardcover book of all my blog pages!





It captured all entries I've done, including all the photos, up to Thanksgiving day. I couldn't believe I had written more than 200 posts, and it was enough to make into a book!

My next favorite gift was....




On Christmas Eve in 1983, I received the latest in communication technology--a "small" Bell Atlantic Special Edition cell phone. It was the last gift I opened, and right when my husband handed me the gift bag, it started ringing! Although the range was limited, having a cell phone was still very unusual, so I felt really cool to be one of the first to get one. I still have the phone and I'm told it might be worth a couple hundred bucks. I would like to use it again in public just to see what response I would get! (That guy on the commercial for FreeCreditReport.com uses one like it after he goes broke because of ID theft, so maybe I could pass myself off as a D-list celebrity!)

We've come a long way, baby!

Huge! In five years, we will think today's cell phones are huge.

Dark Clouds in Pugdeduck's World

Dark clouds are hanging over my world right now. My hubby has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells. We are in a stage of denial right now, and hope to stay there. Treatment includes chemo and blood transfusions. Transfusions have started, and chemo will start next week. We are taking one day at a time with this. Hubby has good days and bad days, and as unfortunate as this news is, at least we finally have a diagnosis that appears accurate instead of all the previous dismissals, misdiagnosis and simplistic, superficial treatments, and we can focus on getting him the right care.



And other bit of sad news; my daughter's family dog Blue, who was deathly afraid of thunder and lightening, became terrified during a recent storm, and trying to get into the house, actually jumped from the outside through a screened window. They were not at home at the time. My grandson, home on leave from basic training, was taking care of the pets during their absence. When he investigated, he found Blue badly injured from the jump and fall and in terrible pain. Pain pills were ordered, and the dog continued to deteriorate. When my grandson took him into the vet's, he determined the pain pills had caused the dog's kidneys to shut down and that death was imminent, so he was put to sleep. My daughter and family are now on the way home from their holiday vacation, and it will be a sad time for them after losing their long-time pet.



2009 has been a year of wonderful highs--the birth of my first great grandchild--and now some very sad lows for us. I do hope 2010 will be better.

Organic Orgy!

This week's find! Organic cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, spinach, onion, celery, sweet potato and celery. And, kale from my own garden.

Mmmmm..... As the temperatures go down , the family demand for my veggie soup goes up! Of course I always save enough for me!

In exchange for the soup my daughter brought over a few ripe figs! The tree is loaded but they are taking longer to ripen now that it's colder.

Runaway sweet pea! Wish the rest would catch up! They are still just kind of sitting there. Odd, indeed.

The carrots from my garden are small and pale but they taste so good! Sometimes I wonder if it's because I grew them or if they are really more favorable.

This little 2-1/2-month-old guy is growing like a weed! Good food, beautiful winter flowers, a healthy and happy great grandson, and Christmas in just eleven days--it's Heaven in Pudgeduck's World!

Winter Inflorescence

I spotted this inflorescence in front of our local Subway. This is the first time I've seen a Twin Flowered Agave bloom! I'm going back in a few days to check and see what it will do next. It looks pretty cool. The shopping center's landscape crew will probably cut it off, so maybe it won't be there when I get back. They have a habit of cutting off blooms on Agaves (which are going to die anyway after blooming) so I imagine they'll cut off the bloom and then dig it out later. Since this type of Agave is solitary, it will need to be replaced.

Notice the squared off Texas Sage in the photo. I don't know why they plant bushes that will definitely be too big for the area, and then shear them like this. You never see any flowers because of the constant shearing. Then, they start getting bare and die. Such a waste.

Chilly for the West Valley, Arizona

My winter garden is looking and smelling good!!! Stocks, petunia, and alyssum are filling in nicely.

The transplanted Rain Lilly likes the pot better than the spot it was in. It has more than doubled in size.

Sunny days and cold nights at the lake. I love being on the swing this time of the year even though I have a blanket just in case. Today it was about 63 degrees and a blanket was utilized!!

Last night I covered a few of my plants- it was down to 36 degrees. I will have to cover them again tonight.

The newly added area to the garden is filled with too many flowers and seeds. By February all seeds will be in bloom--if there is enough room!! I'm still picking the Dwarf Blue kale, and the carrots are so fragrant and tasty! They are still tiny but I keep checking to make sure they are growing without any interference from the bugs and grubs--so far so good!!! I planted beets in the same area and not one of those have come up.

Tomato plant is loaded with blooms and fruit. I covered it last night and hopefully they will mature!

We are already planning our Christmas activities, and this year we will do a round robin. We will start at my youngest daughter's home with appetizers and gifts--then going on to my oldest daughter's for the main course and gifts, and last, at my home for dessert and gifts. This Christmas will be extra special--my grandson will be home from boot camp! He will be here for two weeks before he will be deployed. We are all so excited to see him! I don't want to think of the days of worry that lie ahead.