2019 - Not a good year

Last posted in February. Planted pecan trees & was looking forward to being able to spend the spring in GA. That didn't happen. Here's a recount of the last 10 months.

On March 3rd my 89 year old FIL fell while working in the yard. He suffered a spinal cord injury. It didn't sever but it was bruised, still very serious. He underwent surgery to stabilize the spinal cord so he would have no further damage. He has had several major surgeries over the years & has a very long recovery from anesthesia. This time was no exception.

He spent 6 weeks in ICU, lost a boat load of muscle mass which made (& continues to make) rehabilitation difficult. Then moved to a very intense Rehab hospital that specializes in spinal cord injuries. He spent 6 weeks there but he wasn't in the best frame of mind & didn't cooperate fully so didn't get the full advantage they had to offer. Plus, there were a few medical setbacks he endured as well. He was then moved to a regular rehab facility where he spent 4 months hoping to get well enough to go home. But, therapy was not intensive enough to help & he just kept getting weaker. He has now been moved to a LTC area of the same facility.

He can move his legs but can't stand, he has no use of his left arm or hand. He can move his right hand & can brush his teeth (if you put the brush in his hand) & can somewhat feed himself, if the plate/bowl is placed just right. You have to have 2 people (therapist) lift him using a Hoyer lift in order to get him out of bed into a wheel chair. He isn't able to assist, so he's basically dead weight when moving from one spot to the other.

He was working in the yard in preparation to sell their current home, because they were in the midst of buying a home in a retirement community. MIL decided to go ahead with purchase since the new house was equipped to handle a handicap situation. Greg & I basically remodeled the new house (new kitchen, new flooring, painted, etc.) in anticipation that he would eventually be able to come home. All is done except the bathrooms.

In the meantime, still hoping he would be released, we packed up their current home & moved 85 year old MIL into the new house (figuratively speaking since she isn't living there. Instead she is staying at the LTC facility, sleeping on a cot). She goes there to do laundry once or twice a week.

It gets worse ... My SIL came down from Atlanta several times to help pack up 35+ years of their 'stuff'. During this time, she discovered she had a leaking heart valve. In September she decided to go ahead & have surgery to repair. She had been home about 3 weeks & wasn't progressing as fast as all had hoped. On Oct. 20th she started having trouble breathing & before they could get her to the hospital she developed a blood clot & died. She was 61.

Her funeral was in S. GA & FIL was determined to attend the funeral. We arranged medical transport for him to get to there. It was a lovely but very sad service. FIL spoke from his wheelchair about how much he loved his daughter & wished it was him instead of her.

FIL still thinks he will go home even though he can't lift his head, roll over in bed or sit on his own, much less stand. He has to be lifted by staff to a wheelchair & back to bed after only a few hours. He has run out of Medicare to pay for therapy & refuses to private pay. He thinks that he can do the exercises on his own... he can't. We have filed for Medicaid in order to help defer living costs.

We made it through Thanksgiving. BIL came down & we got medical transport for FIL to come to the new house for dinner. We thought that might be incentive for him to start paying for therapy in hopes that he could eventually go home. But he is still insisting he can get better on his own.

He has weights & balls & bands to use to try to keep his strength in his right hand. MIL tries to help him each day but he isn't working as hard/long without therapy as he thinks he is. He really wants to stand & walk again (that's a good goal) but we keep telling him that he has to be able to roll over, sit & be able to pivot to a chair, basically on his own first. It just isn't sinking in.

The good news ... his vitals are all good & his mind is sharp as a tack.

The bad news ... his mind is sharp as a tack. He is very insistent with each idea that comes to mind. His latest ... bring sit down bicycle from home, to the facility. He thinks a CNA can get him from bed to bicycle & he can do his own exercises. The problems ... 1.) CNA's aren't qualified to transfer him to any sort of exercise equipment, only therapists can do that & guess what, he isn't willing to pay for them to do anything.  2.) The facility isn't going to allow him to bring his own equipment from home. In the meantime, he is getting more frail each time we visit.

Of course, the once healthy MIL is beginning to have issues of her own so we're keeping a close eye on her.

Just taking it day by day. We are planning on going to the country this weekend then come back to spend Christmas Eve with the in-laws & then Christmas Day with my family & then back to GA for a few more days. We have several projects that we began at the end of 2018 that we hope to finish or at least make some progress on.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. And here's to hoping that 2020 will be better than 2019.

I have Passion ... Updated

Fruit ....

I had to come to the Country House for a funeral for a family member that had been sick for quite some time. I drove up for the viewing last night & decided to get a head start on the grass cutting this morning before the funeral in the afternoon.

As I was cutting the lower east side by the branch, I first noticed the passion flowers scattered throughout the heavy brush.

 As I was cutting as close as I dared, something boinked me up against my head. It was this:

About the size of a large lemon.

I then noticed a whole bunch of them scattered around as well. Most are the size of oblong walnuts but many are the size of a large lemon. All are green.

After the funeral, I went down to get pics & to pick one of the smaller ones. There must be about 30 or 40 of them! I didn't dare go into the brush because I had flip flops on, it was hovering around 98 degrees so no boots this time of day.

Anyway, I picked a small one & brought it back to the house to cut into. Here is what I found. No fruit, just a bunch of seeds. Touched my tongue to one, they have a sweet taste.

Has anyone ever grown passion fruit? Will these eventually ripen & firm up to look like the passion star fruit I have purchased at the grocery store? I haven't had time to Google it yet but will definitely put it on my list.

And, I'll be picking Scuppernongs sometime this weekend as well. This pic was taken 2 weeks ago. Almost all are ripe now. I guess the birds left some for me after all.

Blurry, wind was blowing that day.

Update: Boy did I have my fruits wrong. I was thinking about star fruit. From the looks of things it appears as though I do indeed have passion fruit pods. They should turn yellow or purple when ripe. I think this the yellow variety which are a bit more acidic than the purple but still sweet

The next question, will I have enough nerve to actually extract the juice to eat, once ripe? Maybe.

Health benefits of passion fruit

• Delicious, passion fruit is rich source of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fiber. 100 g fruit contains about 97 calories.
• The fruit is a very good source of dietary fiber. 100 g fruit pulp contains 10.4 g or 27% of fiber. Good fiber in the diet helps remove cholesterol from the body. Being a good bulk laxative, it also helps protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time to toxic substances in the colon and wiping off cancer-causing toxic substances from the colon.
• Passion fruit is good in vitamin C, providing about 30 mg per 100 g. Vitamin-C (ascorbic acid) is a powerful water soluble anti-oxidant. Consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against flu-like infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• The fruit carry very good levels of vitamin-A (provides about 1274 IU per 100 g), and flavonoid antioxidants such as ß-carotene and cryptoxanthin-ß. Current research studies suggest that these compounds have antioxidant properties, and along with vitamin A are essential for good eye-sight.
• Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin-A, and flavonoids may helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• Fresh granadilla is very rich in potassium. 100 g fruit pulp has about 348 mg of potassium. Potassium is an important component of cells and body fluids, and helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure.
• Furthermore, granadilla is a very good source of minerals. Iron, copper, magnesium and phosphorus are present in adequate amounts in the fruit.

Preparation and serving method

Cut section of passion-granadilla fruit. (Photo by geishaboy500)

Wash fruit in cold water, and pat-dry them using a soft cloth or paper. Cut the fruit lengthwise into two equal halves. Then, scoop out the juicy pulp with a spoon. Discard the tough shell.

Passion fruits have unique tart, and sweet-flavor and sweet taste. Purple passion fruits are generally smaller but more flavorful than yellow-golden passions.

Here are some serving tips:

• Passion fruit can be enjoyed fresh, especially when the fruit is well ripe. Just scoop out its juicy pulp using a spoon. Its tough shell, anyhow, is inedible.

• Their juicy pulp can also be enjoyed as a refreshing intra-day drink.
• Passions add distinct flavor to fruit salads.
• Passions are used in the preparation of sauce, jellies, and syrups.

• It is employed in various recipes like passion fruit mousse, ice-cream, pizza, desserts, cakes, mousse…etc.

Not a Dry Eye in The House

Yes, we had another death in the family. This time it was one of my first cousin's only son. He was 19 & had been fishing where he shouldn't have been. Although it's kind of a right of passage to fish in the Cobb Pond for all who love to fish. My Dad's crazy cousin owns the property that the pond is on & he doesn't allow anyone but his immediate family to fish on that pond! None of his family even wants to fish it & those that do don't even keep the fish they catch. Oh well, he's an A-hole.

Regardless, Evan & his buddy decided to fish by the light of the moon which they did until around midnight. When they went to get the boat out, it got stuck & he wasn't able to get it out w/the Ranger they had towed it in with. He went back home to get his truck & to drop his buddy off. He didn't want the crazy A-hole to confiscate his boat so he went back to get his boat defore morning rolled around. After he dropped his friend off he had an accident on one of the many back roads. The truck rolled & he was partially ejected, dying instantly. His buddy texted to see if he had gotten the boat & when he didn't hear from him went looking & came upon the accident. They think that maybe a deer had run out in front of him (that road is notorious for deer) & he swerved to miss it & had the accident. All speculation at this point but plausible nonetheless.

He was only 19, had graduated high school last year & had his whole life ahead of him. He was one of 9 who has died from last year's graduating class (can a class be cursed?). He will be sorely missed as he was a very kind, quiet & respectful person. The viewing & funeral were very difficult. But with the faith of the family & community we will all go on with our lives. His Dad is taking it very hard but has a strong faith as well.

Evan was the surpise child of my cousin who thought she couldn't have children. She is the youngest of 4 & her parents (my aunt & uncle) were thrilled, to say the least, when she conceived. He was very close to his grandpa who passed about 4 years ago.

During the funeral one of the songs selected was "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley:

When I get where I'm going, on the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do, is spread my wings and fly

I'm gonna land beside a lion and run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it's like to ride a drop of rain

Yeah when I get where I'm going  there'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going don't cry for me down here

When the following verse was played it made every single person in the congregation weep.

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy

And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left

All so true. I do hope he is sitting on a dock with Uncle Therman & fishing to their hearts desire.