Okay, it’s time to admit I’m an addict.  I just can’t seem to get enough native plants in my yard!  Joining the Native Plant Society was the first step leading to my disease.  When I went on my first rescue, I was immediately hooked.  Just couldn’t get enough of those plants.  I wanted one of every kind I saw.  Field trips to the Alabama Botanical Gardens and The Pocket added to my woes.

Now, I hit every native plant sale I can find, dig up non natives and replace them with natives, and prowl my yard day and night looking for new blooms or a new plant poking its head up through the ground.

And even worse is plant envy.  When one of my native plant friends gets a new plant that I don’t have, I must admit that I covet their plants.

Here are some of the beautiful plants that are now beginning to bloom, as the earliest spring ephemerals begin to wane.

The Native Redbud tree has been beautiful.  I dug this from the yard of the oldest living Master Gardener in Georgia after doing a garden program at his home near Macon.  Just a sweet Southern gentleman.  I always think of him when this tree is in bloom.

The little Southern Wood Violets are blooming  with great abandon.  Next year, I’ll have dozens of babies to pot up and share.

The Woodland Phlox is just beautiful and has the added bonus of being resistant to the common mildew problem of cultivated phlox.

Whenever I hear the word ‘honeysuckle’ I always think of the yellow and white Japanese honeysuckle of my youth.  I remember us kids walking down the little dirt Saxon Rd. and plucking the blossoms.  We’d pinch the base off, pull out the tallest stamen and lick the sweet nectar from the flower.  Now I think not so kindly of the Japanese honeysuckle, as it seems determined to take over my woods.  Instead, I have planted this beautiful red native honeysuckle.  It is about 6 feet tall, completely covering the obelisk I put there to give it a structure to climb. and has a spread of at least 8 feet.  Right now it is covered with hundreds of buds which will begin to open in the next few days, showing off their bright yellow tips.  The hummers will be arriving shortly for dinner!

Native Columbines can’t be beat for beauty, endurance and care free attitude.  The hummers love it, I love it, and everyone who comes over takes babies home if they want them.  They reseed easily, so I always have plenty to share.

One of my most recent finds- a red chokeberry which has these lovely dainty flowers to be followed by bright red berries.

Merrybells.  What more to say.  They certainly make me feel merry, just seeing the blossoms dangle in the breeze.

The tiny buds of the bell shaped flowers dangle from the stalks of the Solomon’s Seal plants.  The weather this winter and spring must have been the favorite of these plants, as I have dozens of them springing up all over the wooded areas of the yard.

One of the several varieties of trilliums in the yard.  This one is unusual in that it presents its flowers upwards, making them easy to spot.  Tirlliums have three leaves, three sepals and three flower petals, thus it’s name.

The Athens Sweet Shrub was developed at UGA’s horticulture school.  It is sweetly scented with a light spicy smell.

The Catesby Trillium dangles its blossoms underneath the leaves.  This one has a baby nearby from last year’s seed.

Everybody loves the pink Lady’s Slipper orchids.  This is one of two that I rescued from a gardeners pesticide applicator.  It is returning for the third year.  Conventional wisdom says they won’t survive beyond the third year in most transplant situations because of their need for certain microorganisms in the soil and the old pink straw.  I don’t have any pine trees, but I always scavenge pine straw from the woods nearby, or from neighbor’s yards when they rake off the old pine straw and dump it on the street so they can spend money on more pine straw.  Haven’t figured that one out yet1

These cute Dutchman’s Britches have bloomed for the first time in several years.  It got its name from the white flowers, which look like the pantlooms worn by Dutch sailors in the past.

The Serviceberry, the black Chokeberry, the Witch Hazel, Pecan tree, native azaleas, and Spicebushes  all went into the ground this weekend.  Next year, I’ll be prowling the yard every day in the spring, looking for the first signs of blooms.  It’s an addiction, but one I don’t ever want to be cured of!

After six harrowing months for Dianne, she finally has some good news.  Her tumors have shrunk to the point that they have been able to schedule her surgery.  It will be very extensive, with a long recuperation time.

We went to her surgeon’s office today.  This woman is amazing.  She is so focused, but at the same time so cognizant of Dianne’s needs for reassurance and some good news.  Today, she said that she thought the spleen was no longer going to need to be removed.  Her tumor that delayed the surgery for 8 weeks has shrunk, and the doctor said her organs seem to have more independent movement from the first exam.  When she had her exploratory surgery in Nov., her organs in her lower abdomen were all pretty much stuck to each other by tumors.  If the chemo has worked those tumors have shrunk enough to allow the freedom of movement Dr. Carroll noted today.  She said to expect a long hospital stay-probably 10 days or more (that’s Dianne’s guess.  The doctor wouldn’t give a number.)

And the crushing news of the day—she said Dianne probably wouldn’t get to work in her yard for several years due to the risk of picking up and infection or soil borne illness.  She had so looked forward to retiring so she could garden and do all the fun stuff.

But we left the doctor’s office today and went straight to Home Depot where we bought flowers to plant in her yard.

A few years ago, I did a backyard makeover while she was away on vacation as a surprise birthday gift.  She wants shrubbery in her front yard and an island of hydrangeas and hostas.  So while she is recuperating, that’s my goal.  She’ll be able to sit in her chair inside and see the flowers as they begin blooming.

We also went today to look for a new recliner and sofa for her den.  If she’s going to be stuck inside, we want it to be pretty!  We also drew off plans for a major remodel of her house, giving her a larger bedroom and a great bathroom/closet suite with a huge walk-in curbless shower, linen closet and a nice sized walk in closet.  We’ll begin on this when she is far enough along in her recuperation to put up with moving out for a few weeks and staying with someone else.  Mama says her, I say me!

Even if some or none of this comes about, I believe it’s that planning ahead and looking to a better future will serve her well in the coming months, and new furniture and flower beds will certainly lift her spirits.

I look forward to our girl trips together, even though they involve a doctor’s visit, and feel that our friendship and ‘sisterly love’ have benefited from this ordeal.  If there is any way to find something positive about her being so sick, I think that is the lesson learned.  We had let our girl trips lag, had become complacent in thinking there’s always another day to make that call, or visit, or road trip.  Now we savor the thoughts of having the opportunity to do those things together.  So, a word from someone who has learned the lesson-cherish those you love and never let the relationship fall to the wayside, whether it’s a family member or friend.

Nothing quite puts winter to bed than the final weeks of spring training, and the opening crack of the bat.  Scott and I made out trip to Florida this week to see the Braves in action.  It looks like we’re going to struggle some, with so many pitchers on the injured list.

Even though the game was well fought, but sluggish,  we enjoyed our day at the ball park.  And I just happened to snag an autograph from Craig Kimbrell as he was leaving the practice field prior to the game.  He’s such a humble seeming young man.  But, on the field, he’s a dynamo.  Yep, there he is, signing my baseball!

We rounded out our week in the Sunshine state with a trip to Marineland and a pass through St. Augustine especially to get some fresh seafood for dinner.  It was excellent.  Wish I could bring that fresh taste of shrimp home with me to savor at a later time.

The weather was excellent, although we both got a sunburn at the game, even with sunscreen applied liberally.  I’m afraid my feet looked diseased, with the tan line of my flip flops.  Guess I’ll just have to sit at the next game barefooted to even out the lines.

And we have our tickets for our first regular season game, so ‘Let’s Go Braves!”

The daffodils have finished their first flush of blooms, and now hang sad-looking dried heads.  But the second round of blooms have already started taking their place.  I love that I can find something new every morning when I step outside.  Daffodils, crocus, hyacinths, anemones, trout lilies, Bloodroot, Green and Gold.  And tomorrow there will be something new to add to the list.  The honeybees and bumblebees are feasting on the rich nectar and the yellow pollen, as they fly away with their pollen sacs loaded down.  God sure had a sense of humor when he made those plump bumblebees who are so graceful, even though they do ‘bumble around’ in the flowers.

I should have daffodils of one kind or another blooming for at least another month, maybe longer.  And then the summer annuals and perennials will begin their display.  I’m already seeing the buds of the hydrangea leaves and the azalea blossom buds.  The red buds are just beginning to peek out of their hiding places.  The fountain is cleaned, filled and splashing away, drawing in the birds and insects.  If life ever gets better than springtime, I just don’t know if I can survive with my breath taken away for so long!

The Sugar and Spice baby shower was a hit.  We had pink and white decorations all over the house.  Leslie made chicken salad on croissants, lemonade, sugar donut muffins, pumpkin muffins, and had an assortment of candies.  Kristi made a precious tricycle from baby diapers, complete with a teddy bear wearing a tutu riding on it.  I made spiced and glazed pecans and a mixed berry cheesecake trifle.  Needless to say, everyone went home on a sugar high. Carrie got some really great gifts from all the family members who were at the shower, including  a complete game day outfit for her first UGA outing. I never realized until we had these three showers just how many gadgets new moms needed for their babies.

We are out of the shower business until this fall, when we’ll be celebrating the addition of a new granddaughter-in-law.  Shannon and Sam will be married in December, so we’ll host a bridal shower in the fall.  That one will be at Leslie and Bradley’s new house.

The warm days draw me outside, and now the new knee is cooperating.  On Sunday, I planted some broccoli, raked and mulched leaves and pulled weeds for several hours.  It’s been so long since I was able to get out and work, I can hardly tell that I had done anything out there.

However, the daffodils and hellebores are in full bloom so just getting out to admire them is enough to satisfy my gardening soul for a while.  The hellebores are as pretty as I’ve ever seen them, despite the late freeze.  They have been blooming for a couple of weeks, and I’ll enjoy them for several more weeks before they start to die back.

The wood hyaciinths, corcus, and hybrid hyacinths have all opened.  Nothing can compare to the smell of the native wood hyacinths, and several of the daffodil varieties have a wonderful fragrance.  The snowbells have almost completed their bloom cycle, with plump green seed pods forming now

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Some of the early blooming trees and shrubs are looking great right now.  The daphne with its lemon Pledge fragrance and the heady aroma of the edgworthia fill the air.  The smell pervades the yard.  Just follow your nose and you’ll find the flowers!  Scott’s peach tree is in full bloom, and the bees are loving it.  The little fellow in the picture is loaded down with pollen, ready to return to the bee hive.  I’m sure everyone has noticed the red buds forming on the red maple trees.  They are especially noticeable along the bypass near Blandenburg Road.  I love cutting branches of these maples to put into arrangements of daffodils and hellebores.

The fall-planted rutabagas and collards are ready to harvest.   I’ve enjoyed fresh rutabagas and collards with cornbread, cole slaw, and corn several times during the past week.

The broccoli, more collards, lettuce, and cabbage plants are soon to be in the ground.  In a couple of weeks I’ll start some seeds for the summer garden in the basement under the grow lights.   Nothing tastes better than fresh veggies straight from the garden.

Leslie, Kristi and I hosted our second baby shower in the past three weeks, with one more to go in March.  This shower was for baby Zade, Scott’s sister Celia’s grandson.

Leslie chose a Georgia Bulldog/tailgate party theme, so the day was overtaken with red and black.

Here are some pics of the setup and the guests.       A four wheeler made from diapers

Well, knee number two is installed and doing quite well.

I thought an odyssey of the journey to this point might put this in perspective.

About 10 years ago, I had an explosion in my right knee.  As I look back on it, I think I brought on the final demise of the already achy, creaking, popping knee when I decided to show those young whippersnappers at recess how to jump rope, running in and out.  Once I got in, I jumped (on pavement no less) 150 jumps.  The kids could’t believe an old lady like me could still jump rope, and my competitiveness wouldn’t let some 10 year old out do me.  No sirree!!!

That afternoon, as I was walking across the back yard, I fell to the ground when my knee felt like it had exploded.  After a trip to the ER and an xray, I made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor.  He looked at the xray and told me he didn’t see any problem.  After a three month period, I still had extreme swelling in my knee, pain so bad I couldn’t rest my foot on the floor, and the knee cap was locking up when it got caught on the lower leg bone. That’s when the doctor said he didn’t think there was anything wrong with my knee, and point blank told me he thought I was faking it.  I left his office in a daze, and never went back to anyone about the knee for the next 6 years.  By then I had to use a cane to get to and from my classroom every day (too prideful to use it during the school day, so I just have to grit my teeth and bear it).   After a summer of being in a wheelchair, I decided that I just couldn’t work anymore with the pain and agony of just getting into the car.  ( I often called Scott when i pulled into the carport to ask him to come help me out of the car.  I couldn’t bend my leg enough to get it over the car’s threshold.)  I told my principal that I was retiring.  That was the fall of 2004.  I retired in June of 2005.

I spent the first five years of my retirement limping my way along.  Thank heavens for the United Health Care program that assigned a nurse to contact retired teachers to get input on our health issues.  She asked about chronic pain and I mentioned my lower back and knee problems.  She suggested that I have the back checked out and recommended a doctor in Newnan.  After and MRI, Dr. Kessler determined that my back was not causing the knee pain and he referred me to Dr. McMath.  On my first visit, I had an xray and Dr. McMath said I didn’t have any cartilage or fluid left in either knee.  I was basically walking with my bones rubbing against each other.  He tried a couple of stop-gap measures, but neither worked so my only alternatives were grin and bear it or surgery.  I chose to have me knee replaced in 2010, almost 10 years after my trip to the ER.

I had a six hour knee replacement surgery on Wed, that included removing bone fragments from the flesh in  the back of my knee, caused when the knee cap got got on the leg bone and crumbled.  This was probably the sorest place I had.  When I woke up I told Scott that for the first time in over 10 years I was pain free (except of course for the incision and muscles, tissue pain.  But absolutely no joint pain)  I went home on Saturday.  They started the physical therapy the day after the surgery and I was up and walking down the hall by myself by Friday.  When I came home, I had in home therapy for three weeks, then a few weeks at Southern Therapy.   And, yes the therapy is painful, but you get out what you put in, so I really put my whole heart into those hated exercises.  I was walking with a cane by the end of the second week after surgery, and totally unassisted by week three.  And then the night throbs started.  In the middle of the night, I woke up with the most excruciating pain in my knee, and wondered why in the world I ever thought this was a good idea.  A few days of this really nagging pain, and I was back on the road to full knee health.)

I finally gave in to the terrible pain (mostly because it was interfering with my everyday activities and scheduled my second knee surgery.  I have tried to work it around the time when Dianne will have her surgery so that I will be up and able to help her after her surgery.  

The surgery this time was much shorter, and I was able to be up walking by Thursday, even getting myself a bath and putting on my own pajamas that afternoon.  (I think someone was paid a whole lot of money to design a hospital gown that would make patients look like a laughingstock, and couldn’t wait to get out of mine.)  By Friday, I included a trip up and down some stairs to show the therapist that I could get into my house, then I was good to go home. Sat. day 4- The trip home was a nightmare of pain, not from the knee, but from the pinched nerve in my hip.  Once home, I took some pain meds and spent most of the day in bed.

Sunday, day 5-  Made a few steps unassisted by cane or walker, did my exercises, then was totally useless the rest of the day.

Mon. day 6 started in home therapy, but didn’t get to have another session until Fri. due to snow storm.  But I know that most of the work is done on my own, so I kept up with the exercises as much as the hip pain would allow.

Fri. Day 10-  We took our first trip out of the house for dinner Friday night.  The trip was fine, but my hip and knee were begging to come home before we finished our meal.

By Sat. (Day 11), I was up and moving about really well.  Dianne came by and spent the day with me, brought me lunch and we had a great day together. I had a short visit from Joan Bush, who graciously made UGA bulldog mints for our tailgate party themed shower.  Leslie came late in the afternoon to start decorating for the baby shower on Sunday.

Sunday 12, Leslie, Kristi and I hosted a baby shower with 20 guests.  I made it through the day walking on my own, with no walker or cane.  It made me a little sore, so I went back to my walker today.   Jimmy and Sue came by to visit for a while.  Time goes by much faster when there’s someone else around to keep me occupied.

Day 13 I went back to Dr. McMath today to have the staples removed.  He was very pleased with my progress in bending my knee and cut my home therapy down to two weeks and said I’d probably only need about 4 weeks of out patient therapy.  I told him that if I had had him around the throat last Thursday I would have gladly strangled him for getting me into this mess.  He thought that was hilarious.  His patients usually curse him after surgery when they start therapy, but he doesn’t usually hear it directly his patients.  After a quick trip to the fabric store, lunch out, we’re home for the day.   Therapy starts again tomorrow.I thin

I am so glad to have this behind me, and believe that it will improve the quality of my life to be pain free after struggling with this for almost a decade. I told Dr. McMath that I missed the first plant dig of the year and hoped I’d be able to get out there at least by mid March.  He predicted that I’d be back out there by the first of March.  As the old saying goes “Doctor knows best”, so expect posts soon of me and my plant buddies digging in the dirt together again.

I’ve heard that old saying that into each life a little rain must fall.  This was a downpour for me, but compared to what some people suffer, I think I came out on the winning side.  I appreciate all the prayers, calls, cards, and words of encouragement and hope that this will help others decide to take the plunge to take control of their health issues and make them work to your own best advantage.  I’m sure that my life will be even better once the recovery is complete.

Scott wanted a day out to go to a card show, but wasn’t comfortable leaving me here by myself.  He suggested I go down and spend the day with Mama.  But that would entail taking the leg exercising machine, my meds, my heating pad, my walker, blah, blah, blah.  So the solution was for Dianne to spend the afternoon with me after she got her transfusion this morning.  She brought me Chinese for lunch and we had a good long visit, no tv, no phones, just girl talk.  We did a complete virtual remodel of her house, talked some about our plans for our first trip post surgery, and did what sisters do-enjoyed each other’s company.

Also had a nice visit and surprise gift from my dear friend Joan Bush.  She’s always so thoughtful and helpful.  I don’t realize how much I miss old friends until I see them again.  Hope we’ll be able to have another visit together soon.

Now it’s time to get back into the torture machine and stretch that knee, then do my round of exercises, then sit around and moan cause I’m stiff and sore.  But I have been able to take some steps without the walker today, made up the beds, and managed to do some laundry, so things are getting better everyday.

I am blessed to have such a caring family, Scott the babysitter, housekeeper, tote and fetch guy and Dianne who knows how to just be when I need her.

Now awaiting an overnight visit from Leslie as we get ready for baby shower number two tomorrow with a Georgia Bulldog/tail gate party theme.  Looks like it’s going to be really cute.  Shower number three will be in Feb., then we’ll have a break until the next baby boom in the family.