Looking Down With Things Looking Up...

Another three hour trip one way to the place that pulled Hubby away from death's door.  I went armed to talk about attitude.  The doctor had made a miraculous change of attitude since our hospital stay the beginning of this month.  After a little confusion about the front desk having the wrong files we went into test mode.

Body fluid work, pictures of the heart, x-rays, stress tests, oxygen and CO2 tests and other multitude of tests....medicine assessment and pep talks and progress reports.  Sticking to that low sodium diet and the new medicine and THE PRAYERS all you good people sent out have paid off wonderfully.

When he was so seriously sick his cardiac refraction rate was less than ten percent (out of one hundred percent).  In layman's term I think that's the pump pressure and out put.  I never really looked it up.  I didn't want to know what it meant, I just wanted it fixed.

After intense fluid reduction and a loss of almost twenty pounds of fluid the congestive heart failure was delayed...still there but immensely improved.  From ten percent to thirty percent in less than a month's time!  I don't know what you think but that sounds like a miracle to me especially since I had been informed that refraction rate could not improve.  His rate was 35 percent and functional two years ago and 25 percent and then downhill to the morgue was where he was headed. I would say a twenty percent improvement is a good sign.

HUBBY DID NOT MAKE THE TRANSPLANT LIST!  AS OF TODAY HE IS DEEMED TOO HEALTHY TO BE CONSIDERED AS A POSSIBLE RECIPIENT OF A DONOR HEART.  WITH GOOD SENSE, GOOD DIET AND CONTINUING PRAYERS THIS HEART COULD POSSIBLY SUPPLY ALL HIS NEEDS FOR A LONG LIFE.

They have not abandoned him but will keep a close watch on his progress and if there is a downward dip, he can be placed on the list but for now we are celebrating.

We even ate out!!!!  The low sodium choice at Subway's was delicious and not dangerous.

The view of the lobby below our office area.

So Praise God and Pass The Biscuits(even if they have too much salt)   Thank you all for the healing prayers and your patience with my panic.  Neither of us could have survived without your support.

Cock Fights, Football Training, Spring Blossoms and Tails...

Spring is in the air and seems to bring out the party in the animals around here.  Hens setting, roosters jousting to impress the ladies.

Dogs wondering when football begins.  There is a full summer schedule of weight lifting, scrimmaging and young men being yelled at by coaches.  June is the free month.

I dare not count the footballs that have reached this condition.

The fruit trees begin to set their fruit

and the tulips give their last hurrah

The poor fox squirrel hugs the Pecan tree hiding from the dogs.

We leave today for another session with the heart guys

to see if we qualify for the "list"

I fear my mouth may get me in trouble

because the team I've met hasn't been

some one I'd bake cookies with.

And that is the end of our farm tails today.

The Power of Lightning...

The past partially repeated itself last week.  We've had wonderfully generous amounts of rain accompanied by wind, thunder and lightning. Some seemed awfully close as I counted the seconds between the flash and the clap of thunder.

Yesterday preparing to move cattle to greener pastures Hubby "ran" the fence line, not physically but on his Ranger.  He returned to the house madder than a wet hen saying someone had cut the fence!  Are you sure? I ask.  Hubby is one of those who naturally jumps to the worse case scenario and when he solves the problem he is always the hero.

He gathered supplies and returned to repair the hole.

It was not cut!  It was fried! This is brand new barbed wire which takes years to change color or be affected in any way by the weather...except for lightning.

All that remains of four strands of twenty-five feet of fencing.

If you look closely you can see the discoloration

 that could only be made from fire.

Hubby had cheated a little

 and nailed to some trees along the fence line.

All he could find was still attached to a tree.

I'm glad the cattle were not close

like Dad's story above.

This reminds me of that old commercial,

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

The Mag 166

A nonsensical ditty for The Mag

ILLUSTRATION BY HELEN WARD

THE MENU HAD BEEN DISCUSSED

WEEKS AND WEEKS BEFORE

THE TOAD WANTED RESTRAINT

THE BADGER WANTED MORE

THE MEAL WAS CHOSEN

THE SILVER AND THE DATE

ALL LEFT TO DECIDE

WAS WHO SAT FACE TO FACE

THE PLANNERS AND THE GUESTS

WERE DIVIDED BY THE TABLE

NO ONE HAD FAITH

THAT TEMPERS WOULD BE STABLE

THE WEASELS ARRIVED 

CHECKED ATTITUDE AT THE DOOR

THE HOSTS EXPECTED LESS

AND HID WEAPONS IN THE FLOOR

THINGS BEGAN CIVIL

UNTIL MUSHROOMS HIT THE PLATE

THE INTOXICATION

FIRED THE GREAT DEBATE

HEALTH CARE AND GUN CONTROL

WERE SUBJECTS FORBIDDEN

WHEN TWO GROUPS ARE MEETING

FROM BOTH SIDES OF THAT RIBBON

SO CLUBS WERE PULLED

AND TEETH WERE BARED

WAS ANYBODY'S GUESS

HOW EACH SIDE FARED

THE RUMOR IS THE FIGHT GOES ON

TO THIS VERY DAY

EACH SIDE KNOWS BEST

THERE'S NO MEETING HALF WAY

                      

Ode To Amphibians/Save The Frogs Day...

For Real Toads.

Tiny green hidden
Your big voice echoes
Outside my bed room window
I almost wish for silence
Then remember how
The bugs will flourish
If more frogs were gone

The orchestra is different
Than when I was a child
Some sections are missing
Or rarely heard
The Bull Frog is silent
The Old Toad rarely seen
The frog songs are fewer

Only given credit
For delicious dishes
Sticky toes
And loud voices
The salamander and mud puppies
The frogs and toads feed less
Their music replaced by insect song