I keep saying I need to visit the internet more often and I really really do. After being off for a few weeks, I learned one of my best friends from college has ovarian cancer. She’s lived in China the last several years and is hoping to return to the states soon. Not sure what will happen to their two cats, but she’ll be home. I read an article she shared about women’s health and was so frustrated and angry. A woman in NY was not feeling good. She’d had pain during sex, her tummy was becoming bloated, and she was experiencing several other things she felt were odd. She visited an OB/GYN who told her that as women age, sex can become painful. Her pap smear was normal and she should return in a year. A bit later, her pain was so intense, she visited an urgent care clinic. The nurse sent her to Emergency and the nurses there had her seen immediately. She had stage 3 ovarian cancer. My friend has had to push hard for several months and through different doctors to try and determine what might be wrong with her.
Pushing doctors to look further isn’t right. Had to do that with mum. Not that they had to look further, but that they would give her different options for pain. (that pain pump was an incredible little machine!) GH (a WP blogger with a quirky sense of humor!) has had to push her physicians to get them to help her. It angers me. For me, I’m constantly told my wonky leg is in my head (ok, that is a GREAT word picture!!) and that I’d be absolutely fine if I lost weight and drank more water. Oddly, I did visit an eye doctor last week. I kept having a shadow appear in my vision and it absolutely drives me bonkers! With or without the glasses, it is there. Turns out that sometimes after a cataract surgery a ‘scar’ can form and it needs removed with another short surgery. I’m glad that doctor saw what I was seeing and found an answer beyond losing weight and drinking water and aging. For me, they also add Diabetes and MS as reasons why my back aches or my hip hurts or I have headaches. I’m always wary of online helps, but I’ve decided to try some supplements. Maybe they might help with neuropathy. I ended up doing some research to learn what might be causing mouth sores. A change in toothpaste helped that, til I bit the inside of my mouth while eating!!!! (Apparently, sodium lauryl sulfate isn’t as good as it might be!)
Meanwhile, the weather has finally changed to summer during the day. Not liking the 90 degrees, but low 80’s and 70’s isn’t too bad. Nights are still in the 50’s, though. Had to plant the beans twice because so few came up. The peas look fairly strong…except for the 3 The Craftsman accidentally used the weedwhacker on!!!! (it was only the tops, but sheesh!!!) The summer flowers are starting to pop out. Was a bit annoyed with the daisies. They aren’t supposed to be taller than 14 inches and are at least 3 feet!!! Which means the underground sprinkler is going to nail them when it is finally turned on. I’ve also decided I want some more poppies. The front beds are scattered with bright CA ones and in back there are orange and white ones. The tiny bed with sweet peas and nasturtiums is just going to have to get some new soil and fertilizer. That strip of ground grows very little and what little that does grow is often spindly. The mock orange was splendid this year and those poppies. WOW! Little Bear thinks they are messy. Because of the dark pollen that falls on the petals! The cucumbers are doing ok and the tomatoes look really good. So far!!!! There is a great deal of time between bud and harvest!!!!! The purple salvia was a rescue plant. One of the best parts of garden stores is rescuing plants at the end of the season.
The squirrels are still entertaining us. There is definitely a love hate relationship with them. They’ve been lax on snacking off the corn cobs lately, so Little Bear affixed some dried fruit to a wire he hung off the cobs. (the fruit was forgotten in the fridge and had gotten a bit grainy) He also caught one of them in the live trap he’d set to capture opossum. Those are considered an invasive species here in the PNW and so far he’s caught 5 little ones near the rabbits!!!! They are so darn cute, but the adults will eat baby bunnies and so he catches them to inhibit their grownup activities.
One of the more interesting things I’ve done lately is frying food. Donuts, actually. They were cake donuts and turned out surprisingly well. The apple fritters weren’t as good, but that was because of the apple part. Seriously, if you need to add an ingredient, please say how much! 2 large apples or even 3 isn’t really a measurement. Not all varieties of apples are the same size! Eventually, I found a site that added 4 cups, but that was after I made the fritters! It was rather easy to fry, not as terrifying as I’d imagined. The worst part was having the correct sized pot. Mine was actually too large and the thermometer was barely sitting in the oil! Actually, the very worst part was getting rid of the used oil and washing the pot! Ended up pouring it into a zip baggie and disposing of it. If only I’d had a Mr. Fusion and could have used it in there! All in all, I’ll stick to muffins and things baked in the oven. (oven baked donuts are not as good at all!) Strider’s birthday is this weekend and even with him on the East Coast, I’ll still make a cake. Probably Red Velvet cake mix with homemade frosting.
Below photos are from Little Bear in May. (they are taking AGES to load!)
Laughing out loud!!!!! We have a black house cricket in a container and he seems to enjoy chirping along to ABBA. Little Bear came home from work and asked why I was listening to Disco. Told him Twain seemed to like it and he just looked at me. Then he said, ‘Should we get him striped bell bottoms for his back legs?’
Around the Korner 
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