by Diane: Update # 25 for Mini-Art Respite from Caregiving:

A selfie taken by one granddaughter of us and her sister

Monday, September 28

I thought surely I could do Yom Kippur fast and a virtual service. Wrong, today I was care giving for myself because I was certain I had a urinary tract infection.  I tested possitive for a UTI. So have an antibiotic and am drinking a little more water.  Some days I got so busy I didn't drink enough. This is a wake up call. 

Yesterday Fisherman Hubby had to mow the grass with the riding lawn mower. So sad to see through three layers ( tee shirt, heavy sweat shirt, and fleece vest) every vertabrae was countable. Yet he has to have the joy of being outdoors and for him being outdoors means making the yard beautiful. He admits he was pushing it. The mower jerked him around in places and he stretched to open the barn style doors.  As aconcequence he has sore chest muscles. Advil helps. He was concerned about a big bump but turns out it is his rib cage.  He just doesn't see right away the result of not being able to eat because of the fluids and saliva and early satiation. 

His appetite has improved some and I keep working very hard to please his taste buds.

The best part of this week is having my vision cleared of scar tissue. It is going to make a difference. Tomorrow between trying to get a respiratory therapist to check the adjustments to Fisherman Hubby's V-pap, I hope to paint with my sister-in-law while Don's brother does some yard work. Then in the afternoon one of our daughters and granddaughter from Utah are coming for a week.

With my urinary tract infection, I may not report so much about my art work.  but instead write about the pros and cons of having a car. I am debating about selling it and hiring Lift or Uber.

Old age and food

 by Rain Trueax

 

Something that isn't often discussed or at least I haven't come across it is how our body's ability to use food can change with old age. There are probably those who go on their merry way and can eat whatever they want to the end. But that has not proven to the case with me. Old age has made me sometimes almost afraid of food.

by Diane: Update #24 for mini-art respite for caregiving;

 

Wednesday, September 22

In the afternoon before the wind and rain hit us, a granddaughter and her boy friend joined me to paint in the garage. Their paintings are near completion and each reflect their own personality and are entirely different from my coy pond. Then we rushed off to my eye appointment where the scar tissue on my cataract replacement lenses was blasted away.  Had not noticed my eyes were getting so bad. 

Don was doing well so he stayed at home while I doctored. Then we ate Chinese pick up dinner and planned our next painting party. Hopefully the weather will be good enough to go back to the coy pond or other neighborhood painting attraction where social distancing can be carried out comfortably.

Thursday, September 24,

 This is mixed media  on watercolor paper and how it looked before my eyes were cleared of the secondary cataract .  I am itching to get back to it so I can work on the coy eyes and accentuate the net before calling done. This one I believe is headed to being framed.

By Diane: Update #23 mini-art repite from caregiving: Clean air, clean canvases and care changes

Fisherman Hubby so happy to be outdoors after the smoke cleared. I was very anxious about him wanting to ride his lawn mower but he did well and I am now happy for him. He has more energy and a better appetite now that his digestive issue is resolved the past few days. Plus now I am back to doing less than one laundry load per day.

 

Monday, September 21

Today Fisherman Hubby is stable meaning nothing.  Maybe next week I can consider a true stability plateau.  As I write he has a new issue.  I realize that I do not know if during an excessive saliva attack is the right or wrong time to use a nebalizer.  Will the saline in the nealizer  improve his breathing?

Thank you Barbara for the gift of six canvases. I now have a large surfaces for my painting a tryptych , a diptych and a square canvas. So kind of her to give me some from her own stach. Finally this afternoon the whitest canvases have been covered with a tinted gesso.

Tuesday, September 22,

Have so much going, I did not get to paint gesso background tone on the whitest three canvases until this afternoon.  What makes me happy though Is Fisherman Hubby's digestive system is doing well today and his appetite is improving.

Looking forward to tomorrow when one granddaughter and her husband are coming to paint a little. Maybe we will get an hour of painting outdoors before it rains. Afterwards my granddaughter will take me to get the catarac replacement lenses lazer treated for a film covering them.  No more guess work reading drug labels for Fisherman Hubby.

 

 

consequences

 by Rain Trueax

This is a bonus post due to something going on in the political world. That means it's one of my rare political posts. I thought of writing it elsewhere but this seems the better place and I can share it other places if I want.

So, if you don't much care for politics, come back Wednesday or Saturday where they are unlikely to appear-- although politics are sneaky; so you never know for sure. They can crop up unexpectedly like you know in history subjects. 

an important date

 by Rain Trueax

Well, it's come around again-- our anniversary. This time it happens on a Saturday, which was the same 56 years ago. I remember a lot of the preparations that day. It was very much a family operation with flowers done by aunts-- except my bouquet, which my grandmother insisted on buying. The groom paid for my wedding gown as well as contact lenses so I could actually see my wedding. I did my own hair (as you can probably tell). Our attendants were two-- my cousin. She and i went shopping for her dress that she'd be able to use for her high school dances. I had no color requirement and she chose a soft green.

My brother was the best man, something that made him never want a wedding with all the trimmings. My mom sang before the service. Afterward, my father-in-law took the photos, except the one he was in. We had the reception back at my parents' small home with again family serving cake, coffee and punch-- no liquor as this was not a drinking family, and I wasn't 21 yet anyway.

 

by Diane; Update #22 for my caregiving mini-art respite: As the caregiving work load increases

 

Saturday, September 12, I added a hard to see turtle  because sometimes they are hard to spot

Monday, September 14

I am getting joy arranging my paintings to advantage so our home looks beautiful for fisherman Hubby and especially me. Our family can choose what they like to try in their homes.

 Fisherman Hubby's excessive secreations and loss of muscles makes drinking and eating difficult. He is still good at walking around the house inside. So sad to see him just sitting or just going to bed for another nap. Now I see elimination is going to be like an ongoing struggle, so  I strive to make meals like they are his last real food. Foods are now chopped in the food processesor.  My meals are more ambitious than the time I have to prepare them.

     Tonight scoloped potatoes and ham were a tasty success.  But the apple pie was not so good. the juice seeped out and carnelized instead of  being the moist  filling around the apples. The pie caused too much mucus and coughing.

I am getting tired and have mountains of laundry from the two loads today on my bed. I will take it all bato the table in the garage that I cleared this weekend.  I am so thankful we both are down scaling. so we have more room for living.  Some think that downscaling is emotionally hard but I think we both feel liberated and enjoy feelings of accomplishment when our things get to be enjoyed by our family and close friends.

Tuesday, September 15,  is a catch up day. Caught up on a couple of hours of sleep missed from getting up with Fisherman Hubby in the wee hours of Monday. Folded yesterday's two loads of laundry. But dnuck a few minutes to take down one pinting and hang two more.  Set up another table in the garage so I will have space to sort my art work  on paper.

It is  3:00 PM snd I am making lemon meriang pie and maybe take up painting after dark.

What we can do

 by Rain Trueax

If the United States, we didn't have enough pain thrust onto us, fires have become a new attack on the West Coast. We got some of that early this summer when Tucson had the Catalina Mountains hit with lightning and then a long lasting fire that raced across the mountain and led to some evacuations-- as well as smoke that made being outside impossible.

Then came the California fires, also started by lightning to begin. That was followed to what is happening to Oregon with fires destroying small towns, homes and priceless  buildings that even if they can be rebuilt, it'll never be the same. And as I write this, the conflagration is not over. More after the break---

by Diane: Update #21 for Caregiving Mini Art Respite: New repiratory equipment and new art

 

Thursday,  September 10, I looked at my yet to be finished memory painting started last February in Hawaii. I am just getting ready to dig into the center.  Maybe tomorrow!

Between the smokey ash falling and the new equipment to help Fisherman Hubby's neuromuscular repiratory failure, plus sluggish digestive system, I could not work in another wonder ful painting hour with one granddaughter and her boyfriend.  The lighting is so weird, and just trying to keep up with chores, I did not paint today. Instead I changed paintings in the house with paintings I hope will be calming. 

by Diane: Update #20 for caregiver's min-arti respite; Fisherman Hubby had reason to say I have a one track mind

Tuesday, September 8, felt disoriented and uneasy when the bloody sky kept getting darker between something like 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM.  Not getting better until after 9:00 AM.  The pavement still had streaks of bright copper tone. Then through out the day I kept looking through the window watching the dunes of ash swirling and building. I thought how wonderful it would be to collect the ash and see howit would color ceramic glazes or glass to commemorate when people learned that in this world we must prioritize the collective good before deciding what free wishes we can give ourselves without harming others.

     To make us feel better I planned chicken and dumplings in gravy with peas.. Yesterday's gravy was less than I remembered and the bone broth in the pressure cooker would not be ready to make new gravy. so the gravy became chicken soup and the boiled chicken thighs were not as tender as could be. Fisherman Hubby graciously ate the soup except for the dumplings.  With the last chicken in the freezer I promised him that tomorrow I will fry it in oil like he is used to eat since childhood.

   Dear friends who have graciously asked what they can do for us, please make gravies every third day,  Save Fisherman Hubby from baby food.    He needs a gravy  from supper strong bone broth without onions and pepper. This is a wonderful creative challenge. To make a tasty gravy without onions and much spice.

by Diane: Update #19 for mini-art respites from caregiving: Should I return to the discipline of a series?

In our dining area I live with new evolving paintings of granddaughter, boyfriend, and neighbor children these past two Fridays!

Friday, September 4, 

A granddaughter and her boy friend came to work on their paintings at neighbor's fish pond. They plan to come back Thursday, September  10. to maybe finish their paintings. I will stretch their paintings so it will be easier to apply salt effectively. 

Monday, September 7, Labor Day

The scent of baking delightfully fills our home.  Using our new convection oven and practicing to become a good cook, I failed - the first pie shell tossed.

 Unexpectedly, I have more time to think paint and acrtually paint as Fisherman Hubby takes more naps.  Thinking paint when I stir the blueberry filling. Thinking about paint when I do the endless laundry. While I do the mundane chores, my mind perks soaking in the beauty surrounding me leading me to new ideas to try in paint. Not so boring is looking through cook books for easy to chew and swallow ideas. I must change how I manage the time of preparation. Before cooking make step by step plans. I need to cook the sauce and potato even before the salad! Always running out of time to chop the meat even though the Cuisinair food processor works fast.  My cooking is frustrating when Fisherman Hubby cannot eat what I prepare similar to when I am frustrated when a pain goes ill. Life for me is an art problem in need of creative resolution.

Should I return to a  mini-art respitite series like my earlier one of topology knots. Every time I entered the studio decisions of what I should do every daywere limited?

 

 

but never mind

by Rain Trueax

We are told to be peaceful. We are told that nothing is going on and that the demonstrations are peaceful. Those who stick to mainstream cable news probably believe it. If they get all their news from the left and that includes public radio and television, they probably believe it. If they go for more diverse sources, local news, online magazines, and personal accounts, they know it's not that simple. Yes, the entire country is not on fire. Not all of Portland, Oregon has riots. But where they will be, nobody knows except maybe the ones coordinating, that which is not supposed to be organized.

Again, I am giving a break before I go onto cultural issues, which I know some don't want-- besides, not all who read here come from the US. So if it's not of interest, come back another day. 

by Diane; Update #18 for Caregiving mini-art respite: Getting all my ducks in line for an hour of painting

Fisherman Hubby not interested in hospital bed but I am going to put it to good use.

Thursday, September 3

In addition to painting I needed a 15 minute nap at about 3:00 PM today after several nights of trying to be vigilant of Fisherman Hubby's frequent toileting on his own except for me running the soiled washcloths to the laundryroom and a little bleach.

Looking forward to bringing to our out door location some pencils, crayons, white ink and sandpaper to assist with our resolutions of the paintigns started last Friday. Can't wait to see what the young neighbor kids will do when they join us. 

By Diane: Update # 17 for Caregiving Mini-art Respite: Busy, tiring week

 

Fisherman Hubby is needing more help. I am getting a CNA to come once a week and the Hospice nurses have been here for us. Also, family and friends are giving us great support. And sharing memories. We are very, very thankful. It is a good life Fisherman Hubby and I share. I am so thankful I am able to offer him some comfort at this difficult time for us.

Tuesday, September 1,

Why so  tired?  Was it just last Thursday we had a family discussion or was it Friday.  Yes, it was Friday. Or was it two weeks ago Friday.  Yes, time flies. Even when over and over I am disinfecting soiled wash cloths Fisherman Hubby prefers to too small flushable whipes.  Alas, on Monday his impactment broke up. So nice and soothing to look at beauty everywhere - even the kitchen sink view..

It was last Friday that one of our granddaughters and her boy friend painted with me at a neighbor's coy pond. And will come back this Friday to finish our work. This was my start. It needs very very little to communicate coy in an infinate landscape with waterfall and distant vista.