January 14, 2021
Time sure flies when you're (not) having fun! I can't believe I haven't posted anything since August! Not that much has gone on, of course, thanks to Covid. We have managed to stay healthy and the best news is we will have our first vaccination next week, on January 20th!! The second one will be on February 10th and then we will feel safe!! Of course, we will still wear masks and take precautions for others but we will feel free to travel, eat out, meet with friends and family! Can't wait.
To catch up, I have a few pictures.
In September, our church had confirmation held outside at Olde Sheldon and we attended to see the entire Harbin family welcomed into our church. This is a very special family to us and we were pleased to be among the few who were able to attend in person.
Bunny and John were in Hilton Head for Labor Day week-end so we drove over and had lunch with them. This was our first meal at a restaurant since last March and it was lovely! Very hot!!
Oliver continued to heal from his back surgery and we made a couple trips to the doctor to have his equipment worked on a bit. Later in September we took a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We had been to every other state and were looking forward to finishing all 50 and this seemed to be a good time to do it so we rented a house on a lake, packed up the dogs and made the long drive. The boyz were perfect in the car, as always. We stopped at Bunny and John's on our way and it was great to see everyone. We stopped at another hotel on the way and coming back stopped just one night. The weather was wonderful and we had a good time hiking the trails with the pups and doing a little fishing.
We went into Hot Springs to look around at all the spas and the little shops.
The first of October we took my car to the dealer to have the oil changed. They said it would be over a 2 hour wait and we didn't want to do that so we left, but stopped to look at the new cars in the lot and.....
Yes, bought a new Lincoln Continental, after looking at Lexus and a few other cars. It is really nice, so very comfortable and has such fancy electronics that I will likely never learn them all!
The rest of the time we pretty much stayed around home, with the exception of church. We had services outside all summer but moved to inside services in September. It is all socially distanced and we all wear masks but it's just wonderful to be back inside our beautiful sanctuary and hear our wonderful choir.
We of course never have trick or treaters where we live but enjoyed Halloween anyway!!
In early November, our church held a Next Steps program outside. This is when we welcome new members and introduce them to the staff of our church. I am in charge of hospitality for these programs so I was busy getting it together. We were lucky with the weather and had a wonderful afternoon.
We had a nice Thanksgiving with turkey and all the fixings. As the evenings started getting colder, we began enjoying our fires on the screened porch and I started enjoying my nightly baths!
We do a Secret Santa gift exchange with the Welsh Terrier group so I shopped and mailed early. Our Secret Santa puppy was in Virginia and we had great fun shopping for Bailey. We received a big box of gifts from Willow and her mom Sue and had a wonderful time watching Quincy and Skipper open their presents! They got along quite well although there were a few presents that they both wanted at the same time!
Christmas Eve found us at church. Oliver and I both ushered and I was on Altar Guild so we were quite busy! After church we came home and enjoyed a quiet dinner. On Christmas Day, we had beef tenderloin and and all the sides and a delicious apple cranberry crumble that Bunny had sent us! We enjoyed talking with family and friends on the phone.
We went to bed early on New Year's Eve as we always do and on New Year's Day we enjoyed a traditional southern lucky dinner.
Please know that this is NOT true!!!!
I decided that I would try to do a cartwheel, just to see if I could still manage it! I got Oliver out in the yard with my phone to record it....and yes, he DID try to talk me out of it but of course I was determined...the first one went well but I was convinced I could improve my form so tried a second one and POP!!! went my hamstring on my left leg. He had to just about carry me into the house where I sat on an ice bag for the next several days. I am now able to get around quite well, up and down stairs, walk outside for a mile or so if I go slowly but every so often I will move the wrong way and that muscle contracts and just about takes me to my knees!! Not the way I wanted start new year!!
I hope this finds all of you well and healthy, I hope 2021 proves to be a better year for us all. With the next entry, I will start a new page called Winter-Spring 2021. Don't want to look at coronavirus any more! God bless you all!
August 23, 2020
Well the past month has pretty much just been one doctor's appointment after another for all my boys. We started with Oliver having his temporary nerve stimulator attached to his spine. They just ran the electrodes through two tiny holes in his back and then taped the generator to his back. The electrodes are about 7 inches long and run alongside his spine on either side. It was a bit of a pain because we had to keep a big bandage taped over it to keep it all in place and he couldn't shower for a week. But it really helped him so we decided to proceed with the permanent placement. The temporary was done in the doc's office but he had to be sedated for the permanent so we went to the hospital for the day. This was a bigger procedure-they put him to sleep and cut about a 3 inch opening to insert to electrodes and then woke him up to do some testing to make sure they had the right areas covered. Then back to sleep to have the generator implanted under the skin on his hip. His blood pressure was a little high so he had to spend some extra time in recovery but eventually we were able to go home. The first couple of days were rough-I have never seen him take anything stronger than an NSAID for pain but he took two of his strong pills the first 24 hours. He's well healed now but we are still trying to adjust the level to relieve his pain. Too little and it doesn't help but too much and it makes it worse so it is a delicate balance. We turned it up 2 notches last night so will be anxious to see how he does today. We made a quick trip to the Mayo Clinic last week to see the chair of the opthalmology department for a second opinion on his retinas. He had surgery on the right eye 3 years ago and unfortunately it left a scar on his retina which affects his vision. We were hoping they could do something but no such luck. The doc says the new prescription for glasses should help some. The good news was his left eye is stable and likely won't ever need the same kind of surgery. Our trips to Mayo are our "dates" - we really enjoy having lunch in their cafeteria and that is the ONLY place we've dined out since March!
We had to take Skipper to the specialty hospital in Charleston to have a biopsy of his spleen. He had an ultrasound after we got back from Vietnam and it showed a spot on his spleen. A follow up u/s showed another spot so to be safe, we decided to have them checked out. Turned out to be just benign spots so all is well with him. Then Skipper developed a skin and ear infection. He gets allergies and then scratches himself and ends up with a staph infection. So he had medicine inserted into his ears which is long term-it melts over the course of a couple of weeks and he also has been on a medication for 10 days and has 5 more to go. It kept him out of the pool for 2 weeks which he hated-he loves to swim!! But he is better now so hopefully no doctor's appointments for any of the boyz for a while. I see my eye doc next month to check my shingles. Hopefully there is nothing going on. I was able to get my second shingles vaccination last week so I was really happy about that!
Mary had her 90th birthday this week and we were so sorry that we couldn't be there but she had a nice celebration with Carol and the family. We'll get up there after Covid goes away for a belated celebration.
Yesterday was a really special day for us. Last year I was on the call committee to find a new Music Director for our church. We hired a wonderful man and in the process of the interview, he brought his wife and son and daughter to Beaufort and we enjoyed a dinner with them. When they moved, we kept the 2 children overnight and had a wonderful time with them. Clara is 10 and Michael just turned 13, They are smart as whips and so sweet and polite-everything is Yes Ma'am and No Sir, and Miss Sally and Mr. Oliver. We have grown quite close to the whole family over the past year and when Clara was set to be baptized, she asked if Oliver and I would be her godparents! Of course we were thrilled and yesterday was the day. Once a year our church does baptisms in the river so w all gathered at a home by the river. 5 older children and 1 adult were baptized for the first time along with 2 babies. Michael had a "remembrance" baptism. It was a lovely day and nice to be with a few people, although the number was limited because of Covid.
We hope all of you are staying safe and not going too crazy. This too shall pass!
These are the holes for Oliver's temporary stimulator
Here is the incision on his spine where they inserted the electrodes. It's all wrinkly from the super glue they used to close the incision
And here is where they put the generator. It looks gruesome but he is all healed now and just has tiny little scars!
Here's a beautiful picture of downtown Beaufort to relieve your eyes!
This little guy visited our pool! He looks huge in the picture but was really only 6 or 7 inches and quite skinny. He was just a harmless bull nosed snake so we rescued and released him.
Hard to believe this lovely lady is 90!!
This is Clara and Michael, after being dunked in the river!
July, 12, 2020
Who would have believed when I last posted that 3 months later, we would STILL be spending almost all our time at home! Yet here we are. We venture out for groceries about once a week, we have both had our hair cut twice and the dogs have been groomed, and thankfully our church is having outdoor services, so we go every Sunday. We have yet to eat out or get carry out. We are saving lots of money but having no fun! Oliver had his physical in person with his doctor but mine was a telehealth appointment. I rarely have anything to discuss with my doctor so neither of us felt we needed to meet in person! We have been to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville twice in the past 2 weeks, once for Oliver's regular urology checkup and once to have his eyes checked. We go back on July 24th to see a retinologist there. He had retina surgery here 3 years ago and hasn't been able to see well out of his right eye since. We are hopeful that there may be something that can be done, but it's not a big chance. This Wednesday we see his pain doctor and he is having a nerve stimulator semi-inserted. They will put 2 electrodes in his back and run the wires to the little generator, which they will tape to his skin. He will have a little device about the size of a cell phone that he can use to control the stimulus...up when his back hurts more and down when it hurts less. If it provides relief, he will have one permanently placed with the generator under the skin. We are so hopeful that this will help him. He continues to work through the pain but it keeps him from doing everything he wants to sometimes. I went to the eye doctor for my shingles checkup and I was FINALLY able to get the vaccine! On August 1, I get the second dose and hopefully, I won't have any more flare ups. I will be on the drug I take for another year but hopefully will be able to stop it then!
Bunny and John, Alex, Whit and the boys, and Spencer and Josh came over for one night a couple of weeks ago. It was so wonderful to actually see people...especially those people! We tried to maintain social distances but weren't too worried as they have been keeping pretty much to themselves as well. We had a great time. The little boys (and the big boys for that matter) really enjoyed the pool so almost all our time was spent outdoors, including dinner on the porch. When they left here, they went to their timeshare in Hilton Head, where they have a private beach and rented a private cabana for the pool. Everyone seems to be fine!
We are struggling with COVID here in South Carolina, as they are in North Carolina and Florida, primarily because of the beaches. So many young people are not being careful and are coming down with it. Everything here is still open but we have a mandatory mask order in all public places and bars and restaurants must close at 11. I'm sure we will have a problem all summer, until the tourists leave. One of our Deacons at church caught it and he was just released from the hospital yesterday. He was home sick for 2 weeks and then was admitted when he worsened. He was a hair's breadth away from being put on a ventilator, and then had a transfusion with plasma from a person who had recovered and within 2 days he started improving. It's such a strange disease-neither his wife not his 2 daughters caught it, although they were all together until he got sick. There's just no way to predict so we ALL need to do what we can to stay safe! We pray for all our friends and relatives, for health and happiness!
On our anniversary we went to Publix to celebrate! We looked at cards and gave each other a Hepatitis A shot as gifts! We had gotten the first one before we went to Vietnam and you need a second one 6 months later so we decidied to make an event of it!
A few of our choir members have gone to "my" nursing home twice to sing hymns for the residents. It was such a blessing to see their dear faces, even from across the driveway. I miss my friends there so very much.
Landon got a ride in Uncle Oliver's Kubota and he loved it!
They all loved the pool!
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020
Well, the world has certainly changed since my last post! Who could have predicted that we were barely home from our amazing trip before we found ourselves under a stay at home order! When we arrived home on March 4, there were 150 cases of Covid-19 in the entire country and none in our county. Today there are over 530,000 cases in the country, and 191 in our county, with 6 deaths. Sadly, the first death in our county was our dear friend George Grove. He became ill with a fever and after a couple of weeks his fever went away but he felt very fatigued. Two days later he was admitted into the ICU and put on a ventilator, where he passed away about 8 days later. George and Mary Lee were neighbors when we lived on Tuxedo Dr. Actually, they are closer to us where we are now-just across the creek. Mary Lee and I co-chair a committee on our garden club and they attended our church as well so it was a terrible loss to so many people. Mary Lee was not able to be with him at the hospital and she was quarantined for 14 days. Her son and grandson came from California to be with her, and now they are quarantined at her house for 14 days. Such a terrible disease.
This was taken at George and Mary Lee's mountain house in North Carolina. We had such a wonderful week-end with them.
We did get a few things done before we had to stay home. Skipper went to the vet as a follow up to his appointment when we were in Vietnam. He had an ultrasound which showed a few problems. His gallbladder was "full of gunk" according to our vet, his pancreas showed that he has had pancreatitis at some point in the past, his adrenal glands are enlarged which probably means he has early Cushing's Disease and he has a spot on his spleen-although she is not too worried about that. Poor boy, he seems to feel pretty good despite all of that! He went on 2 antibiotics for a month and will have a follow up u/s in July. He is doing well though.
I went to a garden club meeting the week after we got back. We were all quite careful to not touch each other-at that time we didn't know about George. We went to church on March 15, the last time we would be there in person. It is all on-line now. The next week I had my hair colored and cut-fortunately, although by the time I get back out it will be a terrible mess, I'm sure. On March 24 we took Skipper and Quincy to get groomed-we felt pretty safe doing that as there is just one groomer there. I of course am not visiting the nursing home and also canceled my piano lessons.
We have been home since those few outings. We went to the grocery store once but now we are picking up our order at Walmart - which works really well - or we are having groceries delivered from Publix. I ordered a case of wine so we are now set until at least the end of the month! Although it seems like we should have time to get things done, neither of us has much ambition these days. I turned the pool heater on and have been doing some swimming and have been keeping up with housework since my housekeeper is not coming til the crisis passes, but I haven't accomplished anything major. Oliver has been trimming trees and working around the yard. I think I probably have several more weeks yet to tackle some projects. Maybe that's why I don't feel like doing anything just now.
We hope that all our friends are staying safe. This pandemic is having such a devastating effect, both in terms of lives and the economy and we pray and trust that we will all see brighter days ahead.
We saw this big alligator on one of our walks. This is how far apart people are supposed to stay!
When they suggested wearing masks to the grocery store, this is the only one I could find!
As you can see, the dogs aren't particularly stressed about the whole thing!
