Yes, this is the Christmas tree that was on our front porch. We finally got around to taking it down and putting everything away. Things have been pretty delayed around here since I started having major pain issues with my lower back last fall. After PT, several x-rays, steroid shots and many doctor visits, it was decided that my bone spurs that were pressing on the nerves in my lower back had to be repaired with surgery.
My surgery was on Feb.17th, which was Fat Tuesday so no chicken gumbo for me. The surgery was at Northwest Specialty Hospital done by Dr. Yakel, assisted by Dr. Pennings and several others.
It was preceded by many trips to Post Falls and Coeur d' Alene, for pre-op tests, but I am happy to say that the surgery went well and the care was excellent.
My post-op a recovery involved no bending or twisting from my waist for six weeks and of course, no lifting of anything that weighed more than 5 lbs. Just let me say that no bending and twisting was a difficult restriction, but I followed it to the Tee because that was how my fusion of the two vertebrae in my lower spine was going to heal so that I could move again.
At my six week doctor visit last Friday, I was cleared to drive! Hallelujah! Freedom! My restrictions were also lifted, but I need PT to gain back the strength that I lost over the past 5 months. I'm on it!
Jon has been an excellent nurse and has been going non-stop during my recovery. That includes not only taking care of me around the clock, but also picking up doing everything else. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and on and on. He's a much better nurse than I am and the main reason that my healing went so well.
Life went on around us and unfortunately during our last horrific windstorm, we lost at least 25 trees. They're big trees and it is very sad to see all of them on the ground. Over the past month, Jon and our friend Bill have been working on getting them cut up so that Travis can do his thing and get them ready to ship.
While Jon and I were staying home the rest of the family was not. Son JP traveled to Santa Rosa for a week for meetings at his company's headquarters in Petaluma. On the day he was scheduled to fly home, we had the freak snowstorm which included 3 inches of snow in Seattle, so his flight was canceled. He and his colleagues decided to book a direct flight out of San Francisco, so they rented a car and drove there. JP got to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge.
He didn't take a photo of the bridge, but kept sending us photos of all the good food he was eating. This one was Lobster Mac n' Cheese. A major comfort food.
Grandson Dylan traveled to Denver for a conference and went to Garden of the Gods.
The weeks before Easter son David traveled to Lisbon, then Washington D.C. and then spent the weekend in New York City. He took a tour of the Statue of Liberty.
This is the old torch that had to be replaced due to corrosion.
We were all texting as he took the tour and that brought about a conversation about our ancestors and where they emigrated from. The photo below is of my great-grandmother, Sophia, (on the left), who was born on the ship while they sailed from Switzerland. I think the ship left from a port in Germany. My grandmother Ella, ( on the right), came over from England when she was 12, with her older sister. They came into the U.S. via Canada.
I am not certain that any of our ancestors came through Ellis Island, but maybe there were some on Jon's side of the family.
My Great-Grandpa, Julius and Sophia.
I do not have many photos from my dad's side of the family or know much of their history.
This photo is when my dad had recently returned from Grand Island, NE. He contracted polio when I was only a few months old. He spent almost a year in Grand Island in an iron lung machine. I am around a year old.
This is my great-grandma Webb, on my dad's side of the family. I do not know where she was from.
I do know that both the Reinekes' and the Phillips' came over from Germany, but that's about it. It all makes me sad thinking about what we're doing or
not doing about immigration in our country today. We have kicked the can down the road for so long that we are now in a huge mess tearing our country apart and it's all being handled very poorly right now. It is a tragedy in how we are treating immigrants in our country.
That said, it is time to move on and look for the hope of having new people in government after elections next fall. There is always room for change and we need it.
It's also time to enjoy our spring and think of flowers and gardens. I do not plan to grow much this year, but I did get out my Red Robin tomato seeds and my dill seeds. There will be a few plants on the deck.
Some photos from April - 2024 and 2025.
We had our hummingbird feeder out in April of last year and I convinced Jon that he should get his out this year. Yes, it's hanging out there, just waiting for that first little bird to make it all the way back here.
It's not really green here yet, but the snow-on-the-mountain is sprouting along with a few daffodils and crocus.
The Flower Farm is open, but I'm not quite ready for that so here's my photos from last year.
A fuchsia for the hummingbirds. An absolute requirement every year.
Guess what? There will be music on Thursday...
.HEIC)
