Category Archives: Reflections

From Coping to Managing

Parkinson's Disease, Reflections

I have read a lot of articles lately about how people are coping during the pandemic crises and even had some conversations with family members about it. Today I’d like to share my thoughts on the topic. While the terms coping and managing are often used synonymously they are two very different things.

The following story is how I came to that realization.

It was probably two months after first being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease before I said the words “I have Parkinson’s disease”. Up until that point I was in, what I thought of as, a healthy state of denial. I would say things like “I have been diagnosed with…” or “they tell me I have…” but I was not ready to own it. I guess that was my way of coping.

I remember clearly the day I finally said the words “I have Parkinson’s disease”.  I was alone in the house (I wasn’t  ready to say those words to anyone else) standing at the kitchen sink washing some dishes thinking about what was happening to me. Then I said the words out loud “I have Parkinson’s”. As soon as I said it the voice in my head, God’s voice, said “Yah, you got this.” Then I said, “Yah, I’ve got this. It doesn’t have me. I have it.”

It was then that I remembered that I am the manager of my life. Regardless of the circumstances that come my way, I still get to make decisions about how I respond to them. You might remember from my first post about Parkinson’s disease that I’m not in this alone. I have a wonderful team to support me, but ultimately I am the manager of my life.

My message to you today is, if you find yourself struggling to cope with a situation (COVID 19 or other) remind yourself that you are the manger of your life. Take control, make good decisions for yourself, your family and others around you. Do not let the situation control you – you’ve got this!

Breathe Deep and Carry On!

55 Things # 21 – Favorite Photos

55 Things, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

I just thought I would share some of the things that made me smile over the past week.

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Broody Hens.

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Deer grazing in our back field.

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Trilliums – Remembering Mom on Mother’s day.

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Still some daffodils in bloom.

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Dandelion lives matter.

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Chives getting ready to blossom.

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As are the apple trees.

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I know there’s a rabbit in here.

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Well maybe not.

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I’m a good boy!

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The freezing nights are over so I no longer have to worry about my pansies.

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Precious!

What made you smile this past week?

 

Mystery Picture

Reflections

I know some of you are curious so I decided not to make you wait to long but first I want to say thank you to those who ventured to guess what was going on in this picture. When I looked at the picture this morning I wondered what I would have thought if I didn’t know what it was. I think I might have went with a lightning bolt striking to set the fire or even a meteor falling into the pond. (Not very likely though.)

The short answer is: My husband was burning off the dead cattails in the pond. (Keep reading if you want the full story.)

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The Rest Of The Story

For several weeks my husband has been talking about wanting to get rid of the dead cattails in our pond.  He has even jokingly asked me when I was going in the pond to get rid of them. I know he was joking because he knows that I am not going into the water until it warms up. Nope! Not me! I’m not that crazy!

In past years he has cut the cattails during the winter when the pond is frozen solid enough to walk on, but the unseasonably warm winter we had did not create the proper conditions for him to do so.

I wasn’t surprised on Wednesday evening when he asked me to bring his shorts and a towel to the farm because he was going in the pond and get rid of the cattails. You may remember this post when you learned that my husband has been known to do crazy things.

Rather than cut the cattails he decided to use our propane torch/flame thrower to burn them.IMG_6471 (2)

Since the torch does not shoot the flame far enough to reach the cattails from the bank of the pond, he had to wade into the water, about midway up on his thighs, and stretch the hose across the water to burn the cattails. The photo is the cattails that were still burning after he emerged from the water.

Thanks again for playing along.

55 Things #20 – Full Flower Moon

55 Things, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

You might remember that in March we only had intermittent views of the full worm moon and in April while others were viewing the full pink moon we were treated to a different act of nature. (click the month to read those posts.) So on Wednesday evening when the moon was rising and the skies were clear I headed to the farm to view the nearly full flower moon. It was still 24 hours before peak fullness but I didn’t want to take any chances on missing it. Below are some of the views from that evening.

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The orange glow in the foreground is from the campfire that I was sitting by.

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Sun setting in the west as the moon was rising in the east.

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The sky to the south as darkness falls.

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Before I explain this last picture I thought we would have a little fun and see if you can guess what is going on here. Leave your guess in the comments below. I will provide an explanation in my next post so be sure to follow along.

Did you see the full flower moon?

 

Chicks and Pics

Chickens, Chicks, Hoop House, Pond, Reflections, The Farm,

The Flock

It was nearly a month ago that we decided to get 6 chicks to add to our flock. Supplies of chicks in the farms stores were already running low but when my husband called me from our local Tractor Supply Store and asked me what I thought about getting 6 straight run Australorp chicks. I said “let’s do it”.

Normally we only buy pullets (females) and choose breeds that are good layers. Australorps are one of the breeds we already have in our flock and since we lost our rooster in November buying straight run (unsexed) chicks would give us a good chance of getting at least one replacement rooster.

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Ranger was quite curious about the babies. We could only let him look from a distance because when we let him see close up he wanted to bite or eat them.

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Last week the chicks were mostly feathered out so they made the move to the farm. During the day time they were in this fenced enclosure with netting over top. We also left their crate there in case they need to get in out of the weather. At night time they would go into their crate then into the coop with the rest of the flock. They are adapting well to life on the farm even on these cooler days and cold nights.

For the past few days my husband has left the enclosure open so the chicks could roam around the chicken yard. Last night they all made it into the coop on their own.

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Then this afternoon I found them all hanging out on the roosts in the coop. They are growing up so fast. 🙂

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As they have grown it has become apparent that at least some are not Australorp chicks. The Australorp should be solid black; not black and white striped as the one in the front is.

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They also do not have feathered feet as three of these chicks do. Whatever breed(s) these birds are they seem to be hardy and intelligent, so we are pleased with them so far. It will be a while before we know for sure how many are roosters and how many are hens, but we are hoping for one or two roosters. That would be ideal for our flock. I am looking forward to hearing that cock-a-doodle-doo again.

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The rest of the flock has really been enjoying spring.

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This made me laugh to see them all lined up along this ditch. They were scratching up the dead leaves to find grubs and bugs. Yumm! Good eatin’!

Inside The Hoop House

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The plants in the flats will be transplanted in the garden(s) once the weather breaks.

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The plants in the boxes will be harvested as they grow. I expect to start harvesting small amounts of lettuce and spinach in about 7 to 10 days.

Another Spring Chore

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The weather was warm and sunny on Friday so I decided to clean up the beach area. I needed to rake the leaves out of the water.

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Even though the air temperature was warm, the water was still frigid, so I needed to wear my boots.

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Trooper, on the other hand, thought the water was just fine,

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and after getting a cool drink he decided to relax while I finished the job.

Have you got a garden started?