Monday ! ... it has a pretty bad rep you know and I sure did dread it this morning, starting all over again. For real, I'm glad to be here, but it would be no fun if I couldn't fuss about it a little bit. Fortunately, the work part of it is over, so I'm at the good place where the rest of it is mine to do or not do, as I please. I wonder what will please me after I make this post.
Yesterday when I got to Mom's, there were some little yellow wildflowers growing near her mailbox. I took a photo of them, but I was just taking it with my phone, out of my car window and they were to small and far away to make a good photo, so I left it out !
You can't see this unless it's expanded and then it is still kind of fuzzy, but there is a Mimosa tree growing in the middle of these pines. I love Mimosa tees. It' was pretty and sunny as you can see.
Since I then had my phone out, I rode slowly down the drive, snapping a photo every once in a while.
For some reason I kind of skipped an open part that is a small field. It has some apple trees in it and a dilapidated grape vine. They were all quite beautiful in the days when folks were younger and partners were still here. Now they just produce wildly.
It had been very hot and dry here, but we were on the edge of the storm Debbie the end of last week and for several days got a lot of rain, so everything is now green and lush.... for however long that will last.
Looking up....
A little wild area.
....and more looking up....
This is looking down a very small hill beside the drive. The hole is where the drain comes out that goes under the drive in a low place. If hard rains can't go through, they will wash things away.... because they are going to run one way or another. I have a little video I took one time when water was gushing out, making a river across the yard. It was pretty neat.
Opps ! My phone took a photo while I was driving a little further......my old and reliable car. It's a 2001 Honda Accord. That's right, I drive them till they wear out. No driving a new one a few years and trading it in for me. If it runs great, it stays with me to the end.... and yes, I had a flowery summer dress on. If I knew I was going to be in a photo I would have painted my nails ! 😂
Now we are getting near the house.
She has several Knockout Rose bushes that get so beautiful and they bloom over and over.
A closer look.
Then I was out of the car and looking out in the back yard.
and through to the back deck.
We visited and ate and had a good time. Then when it was time to go, I took a photo of this squash vine, yes, it is only ONE vine ! She did not plant it and is not sure where the seed came from, but it is a whopper ! It also goes a little further to the right of this photo. She has magic soil out there.
The walk from the back deck.
The sun was starting to drop.... time to go !
It's so pretty out there.,,, and peaceful. At 90, she really needs to downsize, but she doesn't really want to leave this place..... and I get it.
Well..... Time to go to the kitchen and figure out what I want to feed myself for supper and see what else the evening will hold.
Hope your week started out well and goes pleasantly.
Love you !
Jacey
I completely understand your mom not wanting to leave her home. I'm in a similar situation and hope I can stay here in the woods until the end.
That squash vine is quite amazing! And her roses, too.
!INDEED
The only bad thing about Mom staying in her house is it is a split level house. The living room and kitchen are on the single level. All the bedrooms upstairs with two bathrooms or the downstairs which is only a huge den and a handicap bathroom we built in when dad was there and the wash room for clothes. My Mom has trouble, not not too terrible yet with one knee. I have some issues with one knee and my older sister has some troubles too. If Mom comes to a time she can't do steps or needs someone to stay there, some of her girls will be out on extended stays with the constant need to do stairs. If it were a one level house, no one would think she would need to change at all, although she is only convenient to one sibling and if she moved closer in, there would be more close helpers.
Although my think-outside-the box ideas aren't too popular, I actually threw out the idea of building a big bedroom, bath and washroom out the back, so everything that was absolutely a must, could be on one level. I mean, I don't care if she borrows against the house and leaves nothing as an inheritance if it meant she could stay there longer. I'm sure that may not be financially the most popular idea, but why not? We all have all that we need.
She hasn't taken my wild suggestions yet though. 😂
That squash vine might be an alien...LOL
A good contractor might have ideas for a design that would work for her. I'm so happy that I thought ahead 20 years ago and bought a one level house with bathrooms big enough to accommodate my mobility scooter.
That's wonderful that you did that.
My Mom has been so spry into her much later years, that I almost think she didn't picture herself not being able to get around. I'm sure it is hard to fathom, but after one fall and some other things, she has gone through a few months here and there where she thought she was broken for good ! Fortunately she wasn't, but still. I would never live in anything but a one level (by choice) again. I get around fine and do steps decent when I have to come and go, but every day, multiple times a day? No Thanks !
My mom will be 91 this year. She is living alone in a very rural tiny mobile home and claims to love it. She is near one grandson, who looks out for her, but far from the rest of the family, a few of who try to make yearly visits. I see it as far from ideal, but she has raised beds for gardening and a riding mower and mows her large average herself. She won't hear of having it any other way!
Thanks !
Nice flat lot she got. Just as you describe, so much rain. And then heat, so much heat.
It's a little higher at the front, but slopes gently, so not too steep. Most of it is pretty flat though as you say.
Yeah, a day or two after it rained, it was so humid it made you feel like you could barely breath in. It was nice inside though. LOL !
Thank you !