Common Ground Coffee House #116

[Melanie]

What nice folk post here. Ann, I am sorry for you and your husband's church concerns, I am staggered to hear that life can be made so difficult in a Christian environment, however, people can be motivated for all sorts of selfish reasons.

I would not have a clue on how to depose our chappies, I guess one would contact the district superior and the bishop...but no doubt there is a certain amount of unpleasantness in every church.

Typing is quite difficult in gloves so I will not maunder on. I am very glad I no longer live in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia as I found the humid and hot summer months a trial I no longer wanted to tolerate. I love Wanganui as it actually rains here in NZ....it is so green...I adore green and seasonal changes. Queensland and Australia are subject to extremes, and I was fed up with big city living. Wanganui has about 40 000 souls which is a nice size I think.
www.wanganui.govt.nz.
I am left to ponder what a caramel apple is and what it tastes like, presumably a little like a toffee apple with an extreme American makeover...it does sound yummy, Gina.

I must finish the ironing tonight as I find standing at the board for any length of time makes my back ache very much. I am wearing a nifty back brace which helps relieve the pain. I only wear it occasionally and find I benefit with about 30 minutes usage.

I am planning on going for a day trip to see a kiwi (the bird) at a sanctuary whose claim to fame is that he is white. They are beautiful wee birds and their feathers are very soft....very strokeable, providing you have their head pinned under your arm as they have a very long beak.

Finally, someone asked me recently if I thought God had a sense of humour. Of course He has I replied....He gave us the Ornithorhynchus anatinus.

 

[annsni]

Thanks for the kind words.

On another down note, could you guys pray for the son of some dear friends of ours? Vincent was in a skateboarding accident yesterday and sustained a very severe head injury. He has been in surgery and is still unresponsive with very high readings on the pressure in his brain. I'll know more when we get to the hospital but it's not looking good. He's just 19.

 

[Gina B]

So sorry to hear about Vincent! What tragic thing. There's a little girl I've been praying for myself, here's her page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187930064594545
She drowned and things appeared pretty hopeless as early indications showed pretty much nothing, so it's been a joy to watch the updates as more and more hope for her comes round. She's finally gotten to where they're starting therapy...very awesome God we have to allow the bodies of young people to cope. I hold out the same prayer and hope for Vincent.

On a lighter note, it's been extremely hot and dry and all my blossoms are failing to set this year. I have a six foot tall morning glory that still hasn't blossomed. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! Last year, my mini-test gave me hope of having something really nice this year but the weather is too horrid. Not only that, but the extreme heat dries everything out so watering the plants is akin to standing there making mating calls for every single bug on earth, had to use outside bug spray today.

So this year's take so far? Two tiny yellow pear tomatoes that will be ripe tomorrow. Makes me want to pull a Charlie Sheen and climb onto the roof of the building at the county fair agricultural building with my two tomatoes in one hand and my gardening spade in the other, where I'll wave the spade around and scream "WINNING!"

 

[menageriekeeper]

LOL, Gina!

The weather is hot, humid and miserable here too. Evidently just what I needed to turn my black thumb into one that is only charcoal gray. LOL! I guess with this weather I can't over water and kill my plants. And so far I haven't underwatered anything cause its all still alive and green. (well, except the verbena and its recovering)

But I'm not trying to grow food. As quickly as I kill things, I've started small and stayed small this year. I found pots of basil and thyme on clearance at Walmart and put one each into the pots where the strawberry plants umm, failed. They are growing very nicely. My neighbor gave me a fern and since I have 3 hooks on my front porch I decided to buy a couple of more to go with the first and they are still alive, though I find they need to be soaked quite often. Just watering them doesn't seem to do the trick, BUT they are still ALIVE!! That's an accomplishment for me.

And then I have one little basket of flowers on my kitchen window sill and a little container I've started some sage and marjoram(I think) in. The verbena is mixed in with some vincas and some little cottage rose thingy. I think they are all grateful that I saved them from Walmart so they are trying their hardest to keep me from killing them.

I thinking about being adventurous and tossing some seed into my front flower bed just to see if they'll come up. But not today. Today is too hot to do anything outside! 'cept maybe I'll bring the ferns in for a soaking. That's not really outside work.

 

[Gina B]

mk, that's part of the joy of gardening. Nursing stuff back to life after the weather tried to kill it. LOL (it's never our fault you know!)

Today is our last day of just having one kid in the home. My oldest three are coming back from camp tomorrow and although I've enjoyed the quiet, I look forwarding to hugging my babies again and finding out how everything went. There's a damper on them coming back since my 14 year old has an oncology appointment Monday and the close they are to getting back, the close we are to that appointment.

Today I INSIST to myself on getting the bedroom spotlessly clean and organized. I've needed to do it all week but we took one day off for just fun stuff and on all the other days there was other work to do that zapped my energy, which comes in around 10-11 am and is quickly depleted. When it's cooler out, I last longer but it ain't so I don't. LOL

I decided to try to fit in here with these people and bought myself a cowgirl hat. Oh yeah. Now I just need some boots and I'll be set! Hubby and I are part of the church cleaning crew so I wore it there and practiced my "howdy y'all!" on the rest of the cleaning crew. I even learned that I can say it to just ONE person and it's legal here!

Fun fun fun...

 

[annsni]

Good morning all. I'm at church now getting the service together but I'll be heading to the hospital after lunch. Our friends' son was declared brain dead but they are going to do more tests today to confirm that and then the parents will most likely have to make a tough decision. Please pray for them that they will be comforted by God and all of the friends that surround them. They just moved a few weeks ago to Louisiana but have lived here for over 30 years and this is their home. With the accident happening here, they are surrounded by so many friends and family whereas in Louisiana, they have a very tiny support system. I'm grateful that we can be close and try to support them in this really hard time.

 

[menageriekeeper]

Good morning ya'll! (yeah I know it'll be afternoon before I push the send button)

W'eve been working in the front yard all morning! It's just about whooped up on now though, so we broke to eat lunch and then the kids have "stuff" do while I finish up the little that is left. Whew, it was a JOB! Nothing had been done except a little bit of mowing and that was before Chris had his wisdom teeth out a month ago!! It took Cass, Chris, Cade, myself and a neighbor to get rid of the overgrowth. (neighbor got drafted cause she has a real cool tool called an "alligator" that makes short work of low hanging tree branches!) Now, its down to a few little debris piles that need to be moved to the big pile and a little trash pickup (a little MORE trash pickup, I really didn't think we'd shot off that many fireworks on the 4th!). And I want the drive blown off. I can't walk down it here lately without getting something stuck in my foot and I hate that!

Ann, I've been praying for your friends today. Such a terrible decision to have to make. My heart hurts for them. My Cass will be 19 on the 26th and I have to say, 19 years isn't long enough.

Okay, lunch is over, back to work for me!

 

[menageriekeeper]

Done! Yay!

 

[Melanie]

Oh Ann how horrible for those folks and their son. I shall add their intentions to my prayers today....

It has been a filthy day today....tornadoes down the coast, gale force winds, rain tasteing of salt. ( The sea is not far away). It has been unseasonally mild and I have been enjoying my pansies and a few brave daffodils.

I walked down the road to a friend's place for dinner and cards. I also watched the news (a treat, I no longer have a tv). We enjoy playing cooncan 500, but Jane is beating me more frequently now. We intend to revisit Cribbage and Canasta once we locate the rules....the internet is very useful in this regard.

You folks in summer.....keep up your fluids!!

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

Wow! It's been a long time since I've visited the Coffee House! I am still battling a myriad of health issues, but I shall return to you all someday. I miss all of you so much. And this is my favorite place because we are a family here.

I am on hiatus, but if any of you need any help or just need to talk, please don't hesitate to email me.
misskitty62656@frontier.com And THANK YOU for the kind cards I received from you a while back.

 

[menageriekeeper]

Sue! How nice to see you! I seem to be handing out hugs today so here's one for you: (((hugs)))

I killed myself yesterday doing the yard work, but it looks sooo nice today!

I gotta pat my boys on the back. Not only did they put in a day with me in the yard yesterday, but they got EARLY this morning to go play paintball. Early to beat the heat. T and I didn't hardly know when they left they were so quiet. 3 boys and Cass, plus 2 who came in to meet them all in my house and I heard nothing except the dogs. Long about 10:30 the dogs woke me up long enough to let them in and make coffee. About ten minutes later they woke me back up because one of the boys mother was at the door looking for him. (they weren't back yet) She had woke up to a huge water leak at her house. I found him for her, and then when the kids got the paintball course picked up and stowed away, Chris and Cade went over and helped them dig out the pipes! Wasn't that nice of them? I just love it when they act like men even though they are only teens!

Ya'll have a nice Saturday evening. I'm guessing its gonna be quiet around here, cause we've been busy, busy the last couple of days.

 

[Melanie]

Wow! It's been a long time since I've visited the Coffee House! I am still battling a myriad of health issues, but I shall return to you all someday. I miss all of you so much. And this is my favorite place because we are a family here.

I am on hiatus, but if any of you need any help or just need to talk, please don't hesitate to email me.
misskitty62656@frontier.com And THANK YOU for the kind cards I received from you a while back.

Gah...it sounds awful to be on hiatus......eep. Hope the health improves pronto...

 

[Gina B]

Hi Soooooooooo. :laugh: It's about time you dragged your behind in here!

More heat, no seeming break from the 100's and up temps anytime in the future. If I lose my mind completely, blame Oklahoma. I'm taking it personally. The state itself is being mean to me. LOL

Today is the day for Anna's appointment on the oncology unit. I'll be glad to get it over with and hear them say all is well in that department. (I'm right, I'm right, I'm right, so why is the pit of my stomach in my toes?!)

Getting antsy for summer to be over and for the weather to cool down. My morning glories are finally blooming, this is day two, but the blossoms open and then wither and die within a couple hours so none of them ever reach fullness as they can only open the first day they're able, then they die.

Excuse me, I must go listen to the world's tiniest violin. It's playing me a sad tune.

 

[menageriekeeper]

Good morning Everyone!

I got out early and started mowing the field (my back yard). Got about half of it mowed before the heat ran me inside. We're having the same heat wave Gina is experiencing and it is too hot to breathe by 9 o'clock. Tomorrow I'll wake up the kids and get them to help, cause the back yard needs the same treatment as the front got. But its twice as big and I need them to help paint today. The back yard will likely take a week to get in shape in this heat. Ah well, life goes on and it shows in my backyard! For some reason the grass back there didn't see fit to stop growing while Chris was getting his wisdom teeth out and Cass and Jen were sick. hmpth!

Gina I'm praying that Anna's visit goes well and she is found to be absolutely healthy.

As for your morning glories, at least yours are blooming. I haven't had a single bloom, but the vines did grow all through one of my heat pumps. I had to pull them out this morning. But no flowers on them!

Wait until a cloudy day comes along and the blooms will last until about noon. They are called "morning" glories for a reason. The blooms never last much beyond the early morning, especially not in this heat.

A friend of mine had "moon" glories. I don't remember the true name for the plant but they were very similar to the morning glories only they bloomed at night. Those were cool. Don't know if she has them anymore or not.

Ya'll have a good day. I have painting, wallpaper scraping and a quilt that needs working on ahead of me today. You might not see me around until later this pm.

 

[Gina B]

Moon plants I think they're called...love those too!

The morning glories...yes, they SHOULD open in the morning, but then they close and reopen the next morning. These aren't doing that, they're shriveling up and dying while they're still open. One yesterday, three today. Same thing. They're supposed to be deep purple, but the blooms haven't had time to reach that, they're still light purple when they open the first time and obviously not fully mature. (seeds are from the same packet as last year)

 

[menageriekeeper]

Mine do that sometimes. I think the vines just aren't mature enough when that happens. But hey! You have blooms!

 

[Gina B]

Got back from my daughter's appointment today. Somewhere along the line there was a mistake and the desk told us the appointment was at 8:45, not 11:45 and the doctor had already left. Would you believe she actually drove back to the office just for my daughter?! I thanked her profusely. That was more than sweet of her.

She looked over the blood work and such and said things look pretty great! The doctor before said Reynaud's phenomenon, but given the severity of it, this doc said she thinks it a pretty exaggerated case of Reynaud's disease and is doing some testing to check the blood vessels in her hands. Nothing major, apparently it's just something they connect on the fingers and there's no needles or pain or anything involved. They do seem kinda thrown that she has no pain or tingling or anything with it and that heat/cold has no affect on it. What helps is having her take a few good breaths and move around, if that fails she gets a bit of nitro cream.

So it's looking bright and happy, great news! I am curious to know what's causing her to have it to this degree, but apparently it can happen without any known cause.

On a stinky note, I had posted a one sentence prayer request via email and someone saw fit to send me a nasty reply, totally unexpected, basically saying "don't take this the wrong way..." followed up by the accusation that I'm not letting her be a normal kid because of all these appointments! (four in the last three years...the first to her primary as the Renaud's was getting extreme, the other three were referrals as they work to rule out common causes of it, especially since she had a butterfly rash and a positive ANA test accompanying it)

Poor abused kiddo. One of the top students in school, the number one flute player in band, involved in drama both at school and church, just got back from a week of camp. Yep, I'm surely the meanest mom on earth for stopping her from leading a normal childhood. Surely she'll be scarred for life.

 

[Gina B]

We've finally been blessed with rain, and lots of it! Amazingly enough, no associated tornadoes passed through.

When I looked at the week's forecast at the beginning, this wasn't part of it.

It's just what we needed around here. It rained good and hard yesterday and this morning. We're all breathing a sigh of relief! It cooled things down a bit too with the cloud cover and last night's sleep was a beautiful thing as it allowed the air conditioning unit to catch up and finally go down to what we have it set at. That's really something a person can highly appreciate after spending so many sweaty nights that have you up and nauseated.

Thank you Father, for sending rain! BTW, before this started, I looked up at the sky and was surprised to see a cloud in the shape of a rainbow. I thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if that was God's way of promising rain, like a reverse rainbow?" Then it happened! I love these types of spiritual moments whether one could say it was merely coincidence or not. For me, it was reality.

I'm looking forward to a happy day and church services tonight. There's not much to do in the way of housekeeping, so there's no reason to think the day will be anything less than happy and peaceful. I think everyone in this family needs that right now! :godisgood:

 

[annsni]

No rain here but we certainly broke the humidity we had, which is great. So today is warm but not humid.

We had the burial service for my friend's son today and then we had a LARGE luncheon back at the church. We thought 50 would come but we had 130!! OY!! But we had plenty of food and all went well. We're having a night of grief counseling next week for these kids - so many of them need it.

Now I'm sitting on my duff thinking of all of the things I need to do. But I guess I'll do them tomorrow!

 

[Melanie]

Pleeeeease send some warm down here, goodness me it is icy cold. We really do get some weather here......it flies in from the south west or sometimes straight off the Antartica I think...huge weather bombs of gale,tornado,thunder and lightning, torrential rain...

I am amused to hear of the fondness of morning glories in your neck of the woods, they are so pretty but are regarded as a noxious weed in Australia and New Zealand.

My ancient camillias are flowering and surprisingly my pansies and some daffodils as well (very much out of season). Maybe I am whingeing about the cold !!!

I had a beautiful day yesterday where I was spiritually healed of a long term pain that has been much to much part of my life. Amen, amen!!