Linnean Society Prints

Here at Swedish Hospital I have spent a little time walking around and in the process came across some wonderful botanical illustrations from the Linnean Society from 1792. It got me curious about this society so I looked them up:  http://www.linnean.org/specimen-collections
Here some photos I took of what what hanging in the wall. If you are interested in medicine or art you may find this really interesting.

The View from the 9th Floor

Here at Swedish with Mom. She is comfortably sleeping now. Had a visit from Chaplin John who knows mom from Elder Place. He said she attended services at the adult daycare when she would go to Elder Place on Thursdays, which surprised me. He prayed for her and we had a lovely talk. Every time I turn around someone is coming in and offering their support. Also spoke with 2 docs here at Swedish about potentially moving mom to a hospice place. While I hate the idea of moving her again, it could be a more soothing and comfortable place for her to be. Time will tell. For now I feel blessed just to be here with her and have all this support.

Settled in at Swedish

Mom is now at Swedish hospital. I am home to sleep and will go back in the morning. She is stable and seems to be in a deeper sleep. I feel a bit worried leaving her. But I know she is in good hands. Met the doctor and two nurses. It's a great hospital. She is comfortable and cared for. More tomorrow...

Waiting and waiting...

Here at NW Hospital with my mother. This is our 5th day here, though I have gone home some to sleep. Mom has suffered a stroke and is now in a coma. Her vital signs are stable. She sleeps peacefully most of the time; at times she moves her legs, raises her feet, kicks off the pink fuzzy socks that Sarah brought her, and she may yawn or even make little noises.

We are awaiting her transfer to Swedish Hospital, where she will be cared for by the Elder Place doctors. I wanted her to stay here at NW, but she should be in good hands at Swedish. They did talk about moving her to a family home or nursing home, but I did not want that for her. You have to speak up about these things.

So I am here waiting. Listening to the sounds of the C wing of this hospital, the little hum that goes on here that can be difficult to get used to.

From time to time I hold mom's hand, stroke her forehead and talk to her.

I'm tired of waiting and tired of seeing my mom in this state. But all I can do is be here with her and for her. It is the easiest thing to do and the hardest thing to do.

One Amazing, but Common, Mushroom

When I got home from work tonight, and it was still light out, I went to take a photo of a mushroom growing in the parking strip of our neighbors' yard. It is about 5 inches tall and really amazing looking. I have looked it up and it may be amanita muscaria.

From http://honest-food.net/2011/12/24/eating-santas-shroom/
"No mushroom presents more of an enigma than the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria. It is the most recognizable mushroom on the planet, and is widely known as the hallucinatory ‘shroom responsible for Alice’s trip into Wonderland and quite possibly our beloved images of a red-suited Santa Claus and his flying reindeer. "

I'm not sure if I've identified it correctly or not. But it is really cool looking. And, no, I will not be eating any part of it!

Mushrooms in the Yard

Boy there are a lot of mushrooms in our yard right now. I have done a photo journal of them, though I have to admit I do not know a lot about the different mushroom varieties. But you will be AMAZED at all the mushrooms in our relatively small yard. It's that time of year...warm and moist. Anyone know what these are?

Sweet Dumpling Squash

We ate our first of the squash harvest from our garden. Cut the Sweet Dumpling in half and baked it at 375 degrees F for about an hour, with about a quarter inch of water in the bottom of the baking dish, and the squash placed cut sides down. Then mixed up some melted butter with brown sugar and added some chopped pecans. Spread this onto the halved squash and returned it to the oven for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. It was delicious! Squash is so easy, so tasty, and so nutritious!

Turn, Turn, Turn...

Yes, today I really got out there and pulled out what was left of the vegetable garden. Harvested a small amount of basil–now the kitchen smells like basil. Wonderful!

I cut off the heads of the giant sunflowers (sounds pretty brutal, I know...) and hung them up near the bird feeder. Hoping the birds will find them before the squirrels do. Awe! Just saw a hummer go for the sunflowers, then backed off. Which reminds me that I need to replenish the hummingbird feeders too.

It's been such a great summer. At end of these garden cleanup photos I have posted a photo of one amazing, glorious sunset that occurred on September 21st. When Patrick and I eat dinner in our kitchen we get to watch the sun go down, which is getting earlier and earlier this time of year of course. In September we were often distracted by the glorious sunsets over the mountains outside out window. It's sort of a peek-a-boo view, but great nonetheless.

Harvests

Here are some photos of the summers harvests

Garden Cleanup Begins

Today I will be cleaning and cutting back and pulling out some of the garden plants that are done. The beans and bean structure will come down. The final tomatoes will be picked and I will probably pull out the plants because they are dieing back and falling over. Unfortunately, the second round of broccoli I planted in August didn't do well, so that's coming out too. So sad. Here are some photos from this year's garden.

Breakfast Muffins

I made these breakfast muffins using almond flour, and berries as a sweetener. They are delicious! Also have in them: salt, baking powder, banana, pumpkin, olive oil, 4 eggs, chopped pecans & blueberries (I used frozen). And pumpkin pie spice and extra cinnamon. I am cutting out some wheat, dairy (except eggs, which r not really dairy...) & sugar to lessen my inflammation & reduce pain. (From the Abascal Way Cookbook).

New Blog

I am venturing to update and revamp my blog. I want to focus on gardening, cooking and art. More to come...

Summer 2014 Garden Updates

Well it is September and the garden,while still producing, is winding down and looking rather tired. We have had a great bounty this summer of tomatoes, green beans, yellow squash, magda zucchini, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, basil, and several nice winter squash–acorn, butternut, delicata and sweet dumpling. It's been a manageable harvest throughout the summer, giving us just what we can eat, or can, and a little to give away to friends.

I have one eggplant out there that survived and flowered, but no fruit. Wouldn't it be funny if an eggplant started to grow now, at the end of summer? Maybe I could protect it from the cold and actually harvest a fall eggplant?

I am thinking of putting in some onions over the fall winter period. Will have to look this up to see just when is the best time to plant onions.

More later, with photos...