I'm Back....Again :-)

I apologize for not being more faithful to blog but I thought my days would get back to normal and slow down a bit. That has not been the case.
Unfortunately my hard working husband has been having terrible back pain. He has been seeing a doctor in Tampa and going through numerous tests. We knew that the doc would suggest surgery after all other attempts had been made. That is the point that Monroe was at. He had taken the epidural shots in his back, he had taken physical therapy....nothing seemed to help. So, last Friday he underwent back surgery to repair a disc and fuse two vertabrae together. The surgery went very well and the doctor was pleased with the results. Now it is recovery time.

The problem is my hubby has a hard time sitting still or in this case lying still. He gets cabin fever very easily. Let's just say that he is keeping me hopping around off and on all day! He will rest for a little bit but then I hear the walker dragging across the floor! He must use a walker when he is up walking. I am having trouble keeping my eyes on him!

I put a chair with cushions and pillows in it on the front porch for him to enjoy the outdoors. Was that good enough? Nooo sir. I looked out to find him in the BARN! He got himself stranded out there though. By the time he made it that far he was too tuckered out and couldn't make it back to the house. So, now we have a chair in the front yard halfway to the barn. He goes to the chair, rests a bit, then heads on to the barn. He is determined. Once at the barn, he has this padded chair on wheels to sit on. He likes to go out and sit in the barn while I work in the garden. He isn't able to stay out long though.

Speaking of the garden, the mustard greens are coming along nicely. I love thinning out the young greens and cooking them. They are so tender and tasty! Have you ever had fried greens? You know, everything we cook in the south is fried!! Actually a more accurate description would be wilted greens. To cook them you take the young and tender greens and pour hot bacon grease over them with a little salt. They only cook for a couple of minutes. That's it, they are done! Of course you must have a slice of southern cornbread to go along with the greens!

This is the row of kale. I haven't thinned this row yet nor have I had time to weed.

My late crop of purple eyed peas is in need of picking as well. See the dark pods? They will probably be too dry tasting, more like a dry bean, if I cook them. So I will not cook them with the yonger pods.

And my poor broccoli is about to get choked out with the grass and weeds. I plan to work on this row tomorrow. I may need to hire a husband-sitter while I work!!!

And this is what happened tonight. The rain started while Monroe was out in the barn and he had to call for help. Brent came to the rescue with a huge beach umbrella that belongs to Brooke (thanks Brooke for not taking it home yet!).

This was a slow walk back to the house because he has to take tiny steps due to the pain and he couldn't stop to rest halfway in his chair this time. He did stop for a small standing break, however. That outing did him in for today! But tomorrow.......

Thankful For Big Brothers

It's nice to have big brothers that remember their little brothers when they find an unexpected treasure. That is what happened one afternoon last week as Brent was coming home from college. He passed this prized possession that someone put out by the road for trash pickup! Imagine that! Disposing of this perfectly good volkswagen car! This family obviously didn't have boys or they would know that when the battery operated cars break is when the real fun begins! So naturally Brent stopped and threw the broken car into his truck. Never mind that it is pink. A little blue and white spray paint will fix that problem.
Now to rig up this fun ride. See the yellow car beside the pink one? Our neighbor saw what a great time the boys were having and donated his granddaughter's broken car to add to the fun.

Off they go!

Bryce would rather drive than be pulled. He is my ONLY child that will not throw caution to the wind and do anything too risky (smart boy).

Bryce does not have to live life on the edge like my other child that is being pulled behind the four-wheeler. By the way, the helmet is mandatory. Dad's rule!

I wasn't able to get a picture of the crashes but according to Brandon (the sometimes not so smart child) that is the best part. He would lean to one side to make the little car flip. Of course that always seemed to happen when Mom wasn't looking....hmmmm.

You know, as I sit here remembering, dare devil Brandon is the son that slightly fractured his toe doing a cartwheel on my carpeted bedroom floor (he was so excited to finally get a cast-remember he is the sometimes not so smart child) while poor Bryce severely broke his wrist a few months ago while carefully swinging on a rope in the back yard. Go figure!