Reflections One Year After the Diagnosis

 It's been one year since we heard the word "lymphoma," and what a year it has been!  Tony is slowly gaining strength back after chemo.  He is in remission but still has doctor and hospital appointments to attend.  I'm amazed at the human body and what it can withstand.  I've learned that people don't "bounce back" after cancer.  It's a slow steady retreat from the challenging treatments and side effects, as well as a slow steady move toward a new normal.  

I find myself acutely aware of the things that are comforting buoys in this storm-tossed sea of post-cancer and pandemic.  Here are the ways I've found refuge during these difficult months.  Hopefully they will encourage you to look around for riches you didn't know you had!

I take refuge in my Bible and all my excellent Christian books like never before.  I have tried to use all this extra time wisely and study the commentaries and references I've had on my shelves for years.  I succeeded in annotating my study bible with notes on all 66 books of the Bible.  I cherish these notes and will use this volume for the rest of my days!

I've also taken time to write my thoughts about life into a journal.  Hopefully it will be my voice handed down to my children and grandchildren.  I've never thought seriously about writing before.  But somehow this year has shown me that I can't assume anything, and also that I need to be obedient to God's guidance.  I need to number my days and humbly accept life's fragility.  We all need wisdom and help.  So I'm writing my thoughts down as a legacy.

We were given a gift recently that moved us deeply.  The girlfriend of one of my former students heard about Tony's cancer and decided to pray for us in a unique way.  We've never met her, yet she took the time to send us this amazing gift.  She made dozens of tiny origami swans in rainbow colors, praying as she worked.  And she wrote prayers and blessings on each one with a fine-point pen.  Then she layered them in a lovely jar to send to us.

  As if that weren't enough to move us to tears, she wrote a lovely letter to explain the process.  This is a traditional Chinese way to pray.  Each origami crane carries her sincere blessings, and each color represents a different meaning: 

red- all goes well, orange- full of vigor, yellow- new prospects, green- vitality, blue- fresh & pure.

I'm learning to savor so many little things every day.  A dear friend gave me some Paperwhite flower bulbs to grow and I've been enjoying their progress.

My Christmas cactus was stunning this year, though it should really be called my Thanksgiving cactus!  

I've been lighting candles every day to simply brighten our home.  This one is scented with Thyme!!

When possible I get outside with my precious grandsons and walk.  They remind me constantly of the beautiful simplicity of life, playing, singing, eating, talking...

When Tony and I got married 38 years ago, we didn't have 3 nickels to rub together.  Our first Christmas we made all our ornaments from pinecones and craft paper.  Tony made this drum from a paper towel roll, paint and yarn.  For some reason, it's giving me more joy this year than ever before!

I sent Christmas cards this year, and I took time to pray earnestly for everyone on my list.  It was therapeutic and warmed my heart. It was so good to remember that God loves and cares for each member of my family and my friends. 💛

Thanks so much for reading this blog.  I pray you are blessed and helped along your journey, and that 2021 brings joy and peace to us all.

Digging Up Spreading Plants

 I am a slow learner.  In my gardening journey, I have spent more time than I want to admit digging up vigorous spreaders that I planted.

I don't know why, but I seem to learn lessons the hard way.  For instance, years ago I planted some Lily of the Valley in a neat semi-circle around some bushes in my yard.  Little did I know that they would spread and take over the whole area!  And so began the process of digging up those white tuberous roots and making sure they could do no further damage.

You would think I learned my lesson!  But no, yet again I planted Lamb's Ear in a small space on the side of my house.  To my horror, they spread so fast and began to threaten some beautiful Veronica plants and my Coreopsis.  Once again I started digging up those roots and trying to undo the damage.

A friend gave me some Pulmonaria, and I fell in love with the beautiful pastel flowers of this plant.  When it started its terrorizing spread and began choking my Astilbes, I knew I had to wage war, yet again, with this spreader.  

I'm finally learning to research the spreading nature of any plant I put in my garden.  I have learned to associate the words "vigorous spreader/ground cover" with "attack from the enemy" and I avoid those like the plague.

My most recent adventure in digging up unwelcome guests in my yard was not my fault, maybe.  I may have let a few of these spring flowering Dog Violets linger because of their lovely lavender color.  However, I noticed this summer that they had spread throughout my grass, covered a 6 foot square section of landscape, and almost completely covered the stones around my fire pit.

Thankful for my trusted gloves and weeder, I began digging up hundreds of these predators.  Now I can see my fire pit stones again, and the landscaping isn't in danger of being overtaken.

Hopefully my tale of gardening blunders will keep you from making the same mistakes.  Isn't that the silver lining in our storm clouds?

Let me know if you've done battle with any unwelcome spreaders in your garden!

Fall 2020 Blooms

 It's mid-October and I still have blooms in my garden!

It won't be long before a frost puts my plants to 

sleep for the winter.  

Enjoy this beauty!

Roasted Tomato Pepper Soup

 Now that we have summer's harvest of tomatoes and peppers, we are making lots of roasted soup!  Here's what Tony does.

First he slices his ingredients:

Then he layers them in a shallow sheet pan:

sliced Roma tomatoes

sliced red bell peppers

sliced carrots

chopped jalapenos, seeds removed

10 garlic cloves, cut in half

sliced onions

fresh or frozen corn

Coat all the veggies with a nice amount of extra virgin olive oil.

Season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Ready for the oven!

Roast in a 325-350 degree oven for about 90 minutes.

If you do more than one pan in a convection oven, you need to rotate the pans every 20 minutes and move the veggies to make sure nothing is burning on the top.

Roast them until all the veggies are soft and 

most of the liquid is gone.

Process them in a blender with chicken stock to the thickness you like.  We blended fresh Basil into the soup 

for a fresh element and it was really nice!

When you heat it you can add some cream 

for a smoother texture.

This soup freezes beautifully in containers.

It will be a lovely reminder of summer during our 

cold winter months!

Yellow Tomato Sauce

 We planted one grape tomato vine this year.  To our surprise the tomatoes ripened yellow, not red.  This happened to us once before and we made delicious savory sauce with these tomatoes. Since we have a plethora of them, we will be freezing lots of this sauce before winter comes.

Here's what Tony does:

Slice the tomatoes in halves or quarters, depending on the size.

Lightly brown a LOT of minced garlic in olive oil in a 

heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Add the tomatoes, chopped fresh basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer on medium low heat for about 30-40 minutes.

This freezes beautifully in plastic quart containers.  If you want a creamier consistency, use an immersion blender to pulverize the skins.

I have used this for lasagna, and as a pizza sauce.  It has a lovely smooth taste.