Contact Me

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Friday Decluttering Plan

 Earlier this week, I gave up trying to figure out what happened to my friend. Finally, I thought to call her church. She died last year. She was a year younger than I.  

It is a sad story since her husband died young, leaving her with four very small children. When she became ill and bought a house trailer or mobile home. One child moved home with kids and then brought bf. She said they trashed her house, brought animals in and she could never find her medical supplies she needed, some was insulin and some bandages for her legs. She complained she could not get through the house in her wheelchair! 

She had had a store for years. Somehow, she converted one room as a bedroom with bathroom and microwave and lived there. The kid moved the mobile home out back. She had an infected foot, diabetes and in wheelchair, friend moved a cat in her room. I tried to help her one day and she was soaked in urine. She actually needed to be in a facility so her room and wounds could be kept clean and she would have proper care. 

One day this week, we found a woman who needed help. She cried and so did I. Today, we took her two huge boxes of food. She is a very nice woman, working two jobs and needing help. She was ecstatic, going through the two large boxes, oohing and aahing at some of the items. We forgot a bag of food from our pantry that was left in the house. Her children are adults, so we won't move our coat donations to her. 

I gave her the idea to go ahead and cook too much and freeze it for later meals. She had never thought of that. Tommy told her about cooking bags which she did not know. She was relating how she had not had milk in years because of violent reaction and pain in her intestines; I told her about a2milk, the exorbitant price, and how it helped me. I like to spread the gospel of a2milk. 

We finally took a package to UPS to return it. When we pulled up. a woman came out and energetically swept. So, I rolled down the window and asked an obvious question...do you work here? I asked her if she would take a package in for us because of hurting to walk. She was so agreeable and pleasant. I do try to get help for him so we can keep functioning without causing him pain. 

Today, despite our pain and lack of mobility, it has been positive and optimistic. The new antibiotic has quit hurting my stomach, thankfully. The skies have been a clear blue, with a few fluffy clouds blown along by a brisk wind that has not reached to the ground.

The needle I stepped on last night has not caused any obvious problem. I will go to podiatrist Monday. Going from the kitchen to living room, a person has to swerve to the left and back to the right going across the hall. I made a too big swerve to the right with something in left hand and a spoon clutched in my right hand. As I sort of mis-stepped I ran into the door with body and right hand and spoon taking the brunt of the bump. My hand hurts across the back. It is swollen in two places. Yes, I can type through pain.  I never carry a knife. Tommy drives a knife in to me on his walker. 

But, I did not fall!!! 

Dinner: hamburger, slaw, tomato, green beans, I will eat tomatoes every day until the local Farmer's Market no longer has them. And, I will use my curly knife.

I did not take a nap today. I have tried to work my eating and meds so I don't get tired from high blood sugar. I did manage to make two phone calls, even with all the going we did. 

Project for this week--I need to declutter the plants on porch and ramp. We put every plant in the dark utility room. All made it, few bloomed again. Then, I bought a few more plants, some of which are not doing well. I am tired of watering and fertilizing plants that are going nowhere. Some were wildflowers from seed balls. They don't want to come back. This week, some of the pots of dirt and dead plants will go. They are the ones Tommy quit watering because they 'died.' I won't miss them! Everything will be less cluttered and dead looking. 

Have you ever 'decluttered' your potted flowers? Or, do they all survive?

Have you known children who took advantage of ill, elderly parents and cause an early death? 

Do people who need help you can provide ever just show up in front of you?






10 comments:

  1. That was so nice of you both to help that lady. I’m sorry about your friend who passed away. I’m glad you did not fall. My sister fell recently and broke both kneecaps and tore her rotor cuff so now she will have surgery to repair it, so please be careful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Belinda,
      Thank you. I could not NOT help her. And, she seems so sincere and nice. That is horrible about your sister. I saw someone fall who broke on kneecap. The doctor did a poor job repairing her kneecap and she was terrible disabled. Make sure the doctor gets the kneecap flat, not bent. When I saw her on the floor, her kneecap had a corner on the front, not a rounded kneecap. I am trying to be careful. If I had fallen where I ran into the door, it would have hurt.

      Delete
  2. What is it with my comments to you vanishing as I type????Apologies if this is a duplicate. As far as potted plants, I only have three window boxes,and several hanging baskets on shepherd's crooks. They all have petunias. The window boxes on the porch railing have pink and white striped petunias. I wanted a uniform look, and those are my favorite petunias. I was overjoyed when I found them! Somehow, though, some nasturtiums sprouted and bloomed in those boxes too. I really wanted weed them out, but my husband wanted to see what they would do. Well, they are a variety of colors ranging from yellow to orange, with some variegated blossoms too. I am not wild about the color combination, but my tolerance has been rewarded by seeing both the honeybees and some hummingbirds in them when we've been sitting on the porch. Come colder weather I will pull everything out of all the pots. I *might* replace some with pansies which generally bloom throughout winter here. I have also thought about cutting some holly and sticking them in the window boxes. (Not my idea, I saw it done at a public space once, and thought it looked nice. As I am silly with holly in my woods, I figured I would shamelessly plagiarize the idea.) As for decluttering my flower beds, well, let's just say "cluttered" is the look we're going for! If it blooms, it stays.
    Something funny about me is, much as I love gardening, I despise houseplants, and don't allow them in my house, save for the annual Christmas clearance amaryllis we might get to experiment with. I know it may seem odd, but there it is!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am only decluttering dead things, really dead since I put them out. Somedays, I would welcome any flower!

      Delete
    2. I have an Amaryllis that has gone rogue and is in full bloom right now!

      Delete
    3. Janet,
      That is wonderful! I like when that happens and surprises me.

      Delete
  3. Whoa--so glad you caught yourself and didn't fall! Glad to hear it!

    I'm so sorry about your friend's passing, Linda. What a sad story of her life. Scheming, greedy children are a parent's worst nightmare. I'm sure she felt she could not say no to her grandchildren's safety, and their mother took advantage of that.

    Yes, there are children who treat sick parents as nothing more than a cash machine. I don't know any personally, thankfully. All my first cousins on both sides have taken excellent care of their elderly, sick parents, and treated them honorably.

    I have helped out a people who were short at the grocery checkout, or given a few dollars to someone on the sidewalk, but as a rule, nobody really needy has shown up in front of me.

    I never give money to people begging at intersections. I have no idea why police allow them to do that; it's dangerous as hell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue,
      My hand still hurts from clutching a spoon and ramming into the door!
      Yes, I was angry every time she told me things kids and grandkids did. Someone should have helped her, but she grumbled and did not want interference. So, I stayed out of it.
      No, we don't give money to people on the road. Never.
      Checkouts? Yes.

      Delete
  4. that is a sad story. I too have looked up estranged or lost friends only to find they have died.

    ReplyDelete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.