BEING HERE AND NOT

 May 21

 

The noise difference between Janet being here and not is quite pronounced. Perhaps we can go down a level of cacophony or two when she gets her hearing aids. Save for the slight ringing in my ears and the occasional cat moving around, it is quite peaceful. Five of the six kitties are arrayed around me, something else that doesn’t happen the same way when Mom is in residence.

I wonder if I am the magnet.

I have a lot of ironing to do. Janet needs name labels ironed into her clothes while she is at the rehab place. Perhaps I just need to set up the ironing board. Generally, I iron many of Janet’s blouses (and some of my own) but I have moved to both of us wearing t-shirts more of the time. Finding clothes to fit Janet is not easy given her low weight countered by substantial breasts. Her shoulders are pretty narrow but she is not small. She has lost 20 pounds since her femur break in November.

The good although likely not permanent news is that Janet is doing quite well. Now that both of her UTIs are cleared up, she is alert, chipper, and far more in the world. Michael and Alicia were down from Oakland this weekend to have eyes on the situation (they were both nurses) and to look at the « exit » documents such as they are. Given my alarm and exhaustion, they were both encouraged as to her progress and likely ability to be at home again.

That’s a big « whew » notwithstanding that things will likely devolve again. I’ve been stopping by with ice cream not every day but at least every other day. Tomorrow, I jailbreak her to an appointment with her neurologist and then we are heading down to the Coffee Cup in Long Beach to have lunch with our dear family friends, Kaye and Charlaine who are driving up from the more southern climes of California to visit her. 

There’s a lot of thumping going on in the darkened dining room. Bebop has a chair that she likes to play in, although it is not easy to figure out just what she is doing. The chair is not entirely even so as she chases her tail and plays through the rungs, there is a good deal of mild crashing about.

The gentle spring blossoms are going to seed, so it is a slow moment for flowers. There are still some sweet peas but most of them are going to pod. The poppies are over, turning dark and grey. The cosmos seem tired, but they are fairly adept at re-seeding so they will likely be around. The sunflowers are about 14 feet tall. Who knew that sunflowers were so prone to powder mold. 

I had a container of mold spray which one screws on to the head of the hose. I had such a hard time getting it to work properly. I think I used most of one bottle in one direction. After some wrassling, I seemed to figure it out and get many plants sprayed. I think the sunflowers are going to need more and constant spraying;

Out of the « way too many » gladiolus bulbs, I have managed to get some into the ground. I had a ridiculous number of them because they were on sale. I cleaned up a bed and popped them in. Bulbs take their own kind of planting and I have yet to have much success with them, but I can’t quite give them up, as the blossoms are so beautiful. I need to spend less time in the garden and more time in the house getting things sorted, (ironed), and generally disposed of. I think I will be spending a fair amount of time posting and hoping to sell things. The stuff is all cool, but finding the proper consumers is not easy.

There was a plan afoot to have a garage/collectible sale next month, but I am not so sure that is going to happen. There is just so much to go through. However, it is essential that I reduced my possession footprint.

I will have about six months here after my mother passes. As I cannot afford to live anywhere in California where I have a pod of friends (not the Bay Area, not Santa Cruz, not here), the current plan is to decamp somewhere in the environs of the Hudson Valley where I will be relatively proximate to some of my friends, and will be able to get into Manhattan and Brooklyn fairly easily. I may well be alone in the immediate town I live in, but it should be relatively affordable.

Sigh.

So, time for Duolingo French and then, hopefully to sleep. Now all six cats are in my immediate vicinity.