Kingfisher Cove

Wild Things

‘Tis the season when I love watching all the drama taking place on our deck. Birds and squirrels (and cats…), OH MY! The squirrels (and, well, the cats…) irritate my soul, though. Squirrels with stealing the birdseed and destroying my deck flower pots, and the cats (Nikki!) for catching birds and bringing them inside to maul and kill and leave feathers and bird parts all over the bathroom. (Why there? I dunno).

Squirrels! My nemesis. (However, they’re pretty cute). Grrr.

That’s a flicker at the birdfeeder (above). I love flickers. I am always so happy to see them. (They’re in the woodpecker family). You can’t tell here, but their underbelly and throat are a scarlet color. They’re just an awesome bird. Often there are two, and they’ll hang out on the deck rail for a while, patiently waiting for all the little finches to fly away, and then they grab on to the bottom of the feeder and partake in one of the seed holes. There is something gentle and wise and graceful about them, even considering that they have to manage the birdfeeder in a rather awkward manner compared to those little finches.

It has otherwise been a trying week. After John’s mom had (apparently?) made a change in attitude about being in the rehab center (with the understanding that it was temporary in order to get her capable and mobile enough to go into Assisted Living, which was her idea that she’s brought up several times this past year but it wasn’t a good time due to Covid), she did another 180° and absolutely insisted that she be released and brought HOME. This was a woman with a mission. It was clear that she wasn’t ready for that. If you can’t get yourself from your bed to the bathroom and then back again, you really oughtn’t be home. She has some friends there to “help” her, but they aren’t trained, and they were not able to get her up after she’d fallen before. BUT, to make a long story short, she signed herself out (against the recommendations of the rehab facility—and John, who is now the “bad guy”—and is now home, via a friend who was willing to transport her.) All we can do is hope that it works out OK for her. I fear another fall, and those accumulative falls tend to be the end game.

John and I have been experiencing some enjoyable NORMALCY now that we’re fully vaccinated. It started when Helen was here and we went out to lunch and then the nursery. The other day, John and I went to Trader Joe’s in Olympia and stocked up on some fun stuff, then Wild Birds Unlimited where I bought a big bag of birdseed (which was expensive and so I’d like a slingshot to aim pebbles at the squirrels…), then out to lunch at Applebees! I’ve had Applebees on the brain lately, mostly because I’ve had a hankering for their famous Oriental Chicken Salad (I’m surprised they still refer to it on their menu as “Oriental.” That’s…rather disparaging!) It was sure yummy, though. Mmmmm.

Then, we were invited to our neighbors’ house for dinner Tuesday evening! And we gave each other HUGS! It was wonderful and so normal! Man, it’s been so long. And so strange. We’ve all been in touch, but this was special and, again, normal. The way we are intended to be. We had a ball. Such a good dinner and such good company.

And, here’s a picture of Quinn at daycare being gentle with a baby chick!

His sweatshirt says, “STRAIGHT OUT OF TIME OUT.”

Ahh, Spring

We had an unprecedented 12+ days of warm, dry, sunny, blue sky/blue water days and we all knew that it was a helluva rarity. That just doesn’t happen in April! Oh, but as what I suspect heroin is like, we succumbed to addiction. When you wake up to day after day of awesome beauty, how can you not? It’s done now. I can’t believe how much my heart has sunk looking out at the gray and the wet. Dealing with a fair bit of withdrawal.

It’s dogwood season, and OMG I love dogwood. To me, it’s art, the white-ish blossoms against the green foliage. The blossoms are stout, generally plentiful. I know that some people feel that white flowers are boring, and I get that. But there is something special about dogwood. At least, it sure does physically affect me! When I see them, growing and blooming wild along every twist and turn along the Harstine Island roads, and along the highway between Shelton and Belfair, I know that it is the BEST of times.

We have one in the wooded area behind our house, but it has struggled since we’ve owned our property (since 2003). It’s surrounded by tall fir trees and we suspect it just doesn’t get enough sunlight. But this year, for the first time, it seems to be relatively happy!

It’s wild. It wasn’t “planted” here. I peer at it every morning through the pantry window while I’m pouring my coffee. When Helen and I returned from our plant shopping and were heading down the driveway, I noticed how dramatic it was! I’d never noticed it from that view before! It sure did make me smile.

My previous post landed on the awfulness of what John’s mom is going through, but things have changed very much for the better since then. (I don’t know; maybe they’re giving her happy pills or something? Because her attitude has done a giant 180°). Her bed is wonderful, she’s sleeping the best she ever has, the food is great, she’s diggin’ her physical therapy, she’s able to walk around, and she’s doing just fine, thank-you-very-much. We can’t visit her to ensure that’s the case, but the phone calls have certainly been positive. Alrighty, then. The goal now is for her to be capable enough to handle assisted living. I believe on Monday John will be on a quest to check local places and how they define “assisted living.”

I’m trying to get into my book club book (“Hamnet”) and I finally am, and am (finally) enjoying it. We’re still trying to figure out a time for the three of us to meet to discuss it (the other two women are very busy with travels!) But I’m fine to wait because they both read the book eons ago and I’m just now about half-way through. I had other books I WANTED to read (and so, did) and I kept putting this one off. I’ll likely be the only one with it fresh in my head when we finally do meet. I think we’ll meet for the last time via Facetime, and then we’ll continue as we did before the pandemic (taking turns at each other’s houses). We’re all fully vaccinated now, and this is how things will start to be! Have already! Getting together with Helen (and the kids when we do) just doesn’t require any thought anymore! Why can’t the covidiots understand that? Isn’t that what everybody’s goal is?

In some ways, I think I will miss some of the Zoom/FaceTime get-togethers. I mean, it doesn’t require cleaning house and preparing food! (I know. I shouldn’t consider those things as “downsides.” But, they really are a lot of work! Work with benefits, but still work.) Then again, I do need reason/motivation to clean and do civil things. I could too easily be a hermit.

Happy about the outcome of the George Floyd murder trial. (Finally, some justice). Happy about how Pres. Joe is handling everything so far. His 100th day will be this coming week, and his approval ratings are sky-high. Aside from the right wing extremists, of course. My god, are they insane or what.

A Streak of Lovely

I do not remember a previous April without tons of rain, and nothing but. These last 10 days or so have been incredible, and while I’ve loved it (and it’s been LOVELY!) I have to wonder if it portends a cooking/fiery summer, because this is very unusual. 80+ degrees for several of those days, or at the least, upper 70s. It’s too easy to feel spoiled, like THIS is how it will be from now on through summer. But, rain and dreariness are on the horizon (like, tomorrow). Oh my. It has been—LOVELY!!

Nate has returned from his “underway!” He left the first part of March and has been out to sea for six weeks, conducting exercises and tests of the ship’s new technologies. I know he’s been in touch with Sandra and Quinn, and I also know (from brief Facebook posts, plus Sandra let me know ahead of time) that they docked in San Diego for a short while. (And he hit buds up for good eats!) But he came home earlier this week and he and Sandra surprised Quinn at daycare. “DADDY!!!”

Helen came to visit Monday and Tuesday of this week and oh man did we have a great time. (Again: awesome weather!) We went plant/flower shopping in Olympia (after having lunch in a RESTAURANT! Being fully vaccinated is AWESOME!)

 

Helen had a lot of beach time and found several agates! We ate well, snacked well, drank well, and talked well. Lots of all of the above. It was a great time. It always goes so fast! I have to say, being fully vaccinated is wonderful!

This morning (into the afternoon) I planted my flowers into my deck pots. It had cooled down quite a bit today, although still dry and not breezy, so it was very comfortable to work out there. As usual, the pots look good and colorful and I know that I will blink my eyes and they will be exploding. This time, John emptied out the hanging baskets and kept them, so I filled them up with potting soil and planted them up with (hopefully) draping flowers. They look RIDICULOUS right now (even PATHETIC), but we’re really hoping that they will puff up and hang loose in short order! I’m considering it an experiment!

And here’s a short video of Nikki the “Jungle Cat” helping me out. Snort.

Throughout much of this, John is dealing with his mother being hospitalized, needing rehab care, having difficulties finding rehab care, finely finding rehab care where Nurse Ratched resides and the “care” is oh-so-sub-par (she CANNOT GET HERSELF TO THE BATHROOM.  But, the television in her room requires getting up and walking to the TV to change the channel. NO REMOTES. And this is for people who are pretty much bed-bound!). No visitors are allowed, plus, she saw only one nurse all day long for maybe five minutes and that is all. She called John: “I want to go home!” I don’t blame her, but she really can’t. She can’t get herself to the BATHROOM. What a nightmare.

Oh, Life

Always ups and downs, right? The “ups” right now include gobsmackingly gorgeous weather (we’ve been into the 80s here in the South Sound); preparing to have Helen come and visit this Monday and Tuesday (and looking forward to acquiring some deck pot flowers!); and my new ring!

I ordered it from Etsy a few weeks ago and it was hand made by Pasha Coba, a jewelry artist in Indonesia. It arrived this week and I am in LOVE! (As I hoped I would be!) It’s an Australian Opal (and sterling silver setting) — I have always admired Australian Opals for their vibrant colors. They make me think of the aurora borealis, of nebulas, of earth itself. It is a small ring, which is fine (kept it affordable) and I am over the moon! (heh)

In preparation for ordering the ring, I got me a cheap ring measuring thingy (because I had no idea what size I needed), and it worked perfectly! The ring is truly the perfect size. Woohoo! (I’ve since filed that ragged finger nail—it’s pretty amazing that I even have nails! I’ve always been a biter, but just haven’t been this past year for some reason. Pandemic?)

So, those are the “ups.” The “downs” involve John’s mom, who is currently back in the hospital after being released a couple of days ago (and we both feel that she shouldn’t have been). Poor John has been driving between here and Olympia numerous times, and yesterday he found a rehab/nursing facility that she can be released to from the hospital. It’s in Shelton, so it’ll be much closer than Olympia. She just can’t be on her own. Not now, anyway. We are holding our breath that all goes well.

We had returned Chibi when John’s mom came home from the hospital the first time, and she is now being cared for by a neighbor. Here she was earlier this week:

She’s actually a good dog, except she’s not really “house trained.” Plus, the cats were not having it and they stayed far, far away while she was here. (When in actuality, the cats are bigger than she is!)

OK, I’ve procrastinated long enough. Time to attack my kitchen! (Ugh!)

You Would Think We Were Harboring A Pit Bull

We are babysitting John’s mom’s dog, Chibi, who is considered a “toy dachshund” but I think is likely a mix of dachshund and chihuahua back at some point in her ancestry. She does look very much like a tiny lil’ dachshund, except she doesn’t have the typical long hound dog ears. She is quite sweet, but you would think that the CATS THINK that a PIT BULL was visiting us. Sigh. Nikki has been hiding out in the glass studio and absolutely refuses to come out, so we’ve moved her food/water and litter box in there. Wylie has been outside this whole time, so we moved her food/water out on the deck. (Wouldn’t surprise me to see raccoons on the deck as a result of that…) Unlike our dogs for the last few years that we had them, Chibi can hear! And so when Wylie tries to sneak in through the pet door in the middle of the night, Chibi knows and barks! Frightening Wylie to turn tail back out through the pet door. Sigh.

So, John’s mom is in the hospital. She has fallen several times recently, and she has some major ongoing (serious) pulmonary + heart issues that have caused her legs and feet to significantly swell, which has likely contributed to her imbalance. Her feet are especially bad (and she has been hiding that fact from John, who has been visiting her every week). There is even discussion that she may lose some toes. Sigh. We haven’t heard much of anything today while they were waiting for test results, but we suspect that she’ll be in there at least a few days and depending on what happens, then a rehab center for a while. She’s talked to John about being ready for Assisted Living, so he’s been looking into that. But until we know more, we’re not sure what level of care she will need, and all of those facilities vary in what care they provide. And communication with the hospital and doctors absolutely SUCKS. (And John can’t visit her because of Covid).

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I do have next week to look forward to: Helen is coming to visit next Monday and Tuesday. And on Tuesday we are planning to visit our favorite (Olympia) nursery and pick up some flowers for our various needs (for me, my deck pots!) Woohoo! Last year, John picked up some plants at Fred Meyer (I think) and we simply dealt with very basic and non-fancy flowers that were absolutely just fine, thank-you-very-much. But this year, being fully vaccinated now and feeling more adventurous, a few fancier things will be fun, and I’m looking forward to finding varieties of thrillers, fillers, and spillers! Woohoo! This house is a PIT (including cobwebs!) and I have a mission to do some major cleaning this week. Yeah, I’ve been too lazy, too long. Now I pay. I wish we’d hear about our neighborhood plan to have that wonderful window-washer come and attack our windows! The sun has been out lately it shows just how horribly bad they are! Ugh.

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I got my hair cut last week and THE JURY IS OUT. Hmm. For the price I have to pay for a “curly cut & style,” I am so far not feeling the value.

The back is much shorter and blunter (which is a good thing), so from the front it looks longer. It’s sort of an “inverted bob,” but due to my fine low-density hair, I feel it’s not rockin’ it. Or else I haven’t figured out yet how to f-ing deal with it. Sigh. Honestly, it’s just a matter of having to deal with the cards I’m dealt. (It will never ever be what I hope for, or imagine in my dreams. You know, like back when I “dreamed” of Farrah Fawcett hair).

And yes. Since I’m on the cusp of turning 65 (and flailing to figure out Medicare…), and seeing friends and family facing frightening diagnoses (or unexpectedly dying), I realize that me and my friends and cousins (let alone aunts and uncles) are entering the realm of Russian Roulette.

Meaning, every single day is a gift. Right?

Sigh.

Daddy’s at WORK! On a SHIP!

Oh, I love this little boy! We got to see him yesterday for the first time in several months (seems like forever) and although I understand that he won’t remember much later on about his life up to now, he certainly does remember US every time he sees us, no matter how much time has passed. (That was even the case when he was a wee thing!)

As Quinn says, “I’m a big boy now.”

John (mistakenly) got me up at 5am yesterday (Easter) morning. The plan was 6am, but he set his alarm wrong and so…5am. Holy crap. But it was probably for the best because it gave us some coffee time before getting ready to head out and catch the ferry. It rained most of the trip, which was disappointing, especially after having a couple of days of nice springy weather. We were well down the road when I said, “Oh, crap. We forgot Quinn’s Easter basket.” It was an outing to gather together all of its components, and we left it on the counter! I was so mad at myself. CRAP.

So, we hunted for a grocery store in Everett and found a Wal-Mart that ended up being FAR WORSE than the one in Shelton! (Unbelievable!) Blech! It was dirty, it was messy, it was godawful! (Makes me realize that, in spite of the often strange patronage, the Shelton Wal-Mart is actually quite nice and CLEAN). And, of course, no more pre-made Easter baskets nor even Easter candy/little toys to gather, plus no plain baskets to do so. Then we hunted for a Safeway (because we also needed to get a pie and ice cream) and was only able to find some candy and a gift bag. Also scored on the pie and ice cream. (We also brought along a nice ham—at least we remembered that). 

What a great meal it was. The ham was so flavorful, and Sandra made gobsmacking sides—I didn’t realize what a fantastic cook she is. A vegetable dish with tiny round potatoes sliced in half, roasted in olive oil, then tossed with small-cut asparagus and sautéed garlic and herbs and cheese. And a salad with baby spinach, thinly sliced cucumbers and apples and strawberries tossed in (I think) a balsamic dressing with toasted nuts and feta. Oh my. And then a little later, a small slice of marion berry pie and a couple dollops of ice cream. Everything was delicious! We also watched a Disney movie (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) and it was so good! (Streaming tears? Who, me?) It was a good day, with Quinn giving John a “tour” of the back yard (after slipping on his boots) — “That’s my dirt. That’s my rocks. That’s my ball and bat. That’s my fence. That’s my squirrel.” I’d worried that he might be missing his daddy (I believe this is the first lengthy “away” Nate has done since Quinn was born), but he seemed quite pragmatic about it. “Daddy’s at WORK. He’s on a SHIP.” They’ve been able to talk to Nate on the phone a few times per week, and I’m sure that has helped a lot! Apparently he’ll be porting in San Diego sometime this week, but they won’t be able to leave the base. He’s due back home mid-month or so.

Papa was a jungle gym!

Just Had To Share

When Nate was about the age that Quinn is now, whenever I went through the car wash I would have to extend my arm back to his car seat so he could grasp my hand or fingers. He hated the car wash, and it scared him, but he would endure it (with some distressed squeaks) as long as he could hold on to my fingers. 

And now, there is THIS! (Oh, the expression!) At the end Quinn says, "I'm not scared. I'm happy." But if you pay attention to his face and all of the thoughts and emotions flitting across it, I think he was a bit scared and was working at convincing himself that he wasn't. 

This just tugs my heart, and brings back those occasions with Nate, grasping my fingers, as we rolled through the car wash. Poor little guy.