It has been a beautiful August. Just like June and July. The prairie behind our house was burned very late in the season, so it is behind– or it is just different than the other prairie. The river of blue stem came in and matured before the yellows– the coneflowers and tall sunflowers– bloomed. Last night at 8:30 it was nearing the end of a luminous sunset, with lightly colored sky and the burst of yellows on a mellow purple canvas. A camera can’t really capture it, but this comes close enough.
I’m having a late bloom myself. My hair is just starting to come back, mostly white, seemingly straight. It’s soft, like the fleece blanket my sister gave me, or a stuffed animal’s fur. Velveteen rabbit, say.
I’m taking good care of my hands, but then I do something stupid and hurt them. Last week I cleaned and trimmed the garlic, my biggest harvest (planted in October 2015). On my way from the shop to the other barn, where I had another bed frame of garlic drying, I pulled down the garage door from the outside and crushed two fingers. I ignored it, just hoping the fingernails wouldn’t fall off. They’re mighty dark purple (and there’s dirt deep under the nail bed) but I don’t think I’ll lose them.
Someone, my sister or my mother, left these handy rubber gloves in the cabinet below my kitchen and bathroom sinks! Truth is, I’ve never been good at protecting my hands. But now I’ve been bandaging the fingers and wearing the gloves when I harvest in the garden or clean in the kitchen. Both came in handy for yesterday’s canning session. The only canning session I’ll have this year.
Then at the end of it, I opened the steam canner and scalded my other hand!! I put aloe vera on it and it is okay. But what is wrong with me?
impressive, no?
I had to laugh when, after the heat of the kitchen, I took a cool epsom salts bath. There I was, with my two hands held out of the water, soaking. Though cool, it was not quite cool enough for the burned hand, and I wanted to keep the band-aid protected nails out of the water until the end. Hands and feet. I need to be mindful of them. I’m still healing, still coming into bloom, even this late in the season.
Oh my. I love your posts so much. First, you are so pretty without hair so who cares how quickly it returns. I often wonder if I would look as good as you do with no hair. Second, I had neck surgery whereby they replaced 4 discs in my neck in June of 2015 and I cried all summer because I couldn’t get to the weeds in the garden, or pick the harvest that came up even though there were weeds or prepare the ground at the end of the summer for the Fall in preparation of Pennsylvania’s snow fall which came early that year…and here you are getting out there….picking, digging, cutting, prepping. I so admire your drive and the love in your heart for all things in life and this world. The fact that you have destroyed your hands (which I agree…screw the gloves as I have done millions of times) yet you are enjoying a bath. Love you so much and you put a smile on my face all the time. I am sure you have down days and that this is a struggle but you are so strong and I am working so hard to be just as strong. I wish they could bottle what it is you have. Thank you for keeping us in the loop as many of us think about your happiness everyday.
Ouch! Take care.
Great description of your hair:)
And tasty looking food in those jars! You constantly amaze me!
And the photo of the prairie is great.
Thank you for posting!
Love and prayers and take care
Kathy
I love you Susan.
Before you know it you will need SHAMPOO again.
Dont rush it, the summer is HOT.
Love the Garlic, No vampires at your house ! ha ha
Ditto, Christine. You said it best. Thanks for sharing…..both of you??
Aw, Chrissy, thank you so much for this. If you saw the weeds I’m wading through, you might be less impressed! But yes, it is wonderful to put the cans on the shelf and the potatoes and garlic in their bins and think about winter when I will be doing better! this wait for surgery has been SO hard, and it’s easy for the mind to go to dark places and imagine what is going on in there!! but I’m trying to just take it easy and do what I can each day and get good rest and realize I’m jut preparing for the surgery and what she finds will be even more miraculous than the scan showed 🙂