The Little House on Creek Road

Ojai, Oh My  -  5/21/12

               

Have you ever had the feeling that someone up there was trying to tell you something?  Like, it’s time to slow down, take a deep breath, smell the roses and stop painting and scraping?  Well, evidently I wasn’t listening ‘cause last week I tripped over a metal pipe and dislocated my shoulder.  Fortunately it hurt so much that I reflexively (is that a word?) screamed and popped it back in.  At least that’s what the bone doctor surmised when I told him my story and he looked at the x-rays. 

But back to my story.  There I lay on the ground, on my back (I had managed to flip myself over), stomping my foot because I was so ‘efn’ angry.  Fred saw me from a distance and thought someone had told me such a funny joke that I was laying on the ground, holding my stomach, stomping my foot in hilarity, unable to speak.  Once it finally dawned on him that that wasn’t likely, he came running over to help me.  This I was thankful for because I could not get up without his help or the rental of a mechanical lift. 

Scene of my fall, just a few yards away.

So, that’s my story.  But, let’s make lemonade.  The good part is that it is my left shoulder and I am not left-handed.  That leaves me with one good right hand and arm for painting and scraping.  There, you see, there is a bright side to this story.

But enough of my story (you can tell I really want to talk more about poor me, but that will have to wait until the end of today’s blog – see below).  I promised I would share with you photos of the plants and flowers that adorn our little acre, so here they are.  I have put captions on them if I happen to know what they are:

The beautiful Locust trees.

Locust bloom.

I have had much fun planting flowers and adding "ranch" accents to the yard.



Can't go wrong with Gazanias



Tiger Lilies

 

Something yellow by the metal barn.

Somehow as I was wandering around taking photos of plants and flowers, I found myself next door at what we have always called The Big House, the home where my parents lived for so many years.  My sisters Patrice and Ramona have done a beautiful job of carrying on mom’s tradition of seasonal flowers and shrubs.  Here are just a few:



Mona's perennial garden.



The Iris garden.



Patrice's shade house & koi pond.

 As you may have noticed, there are far more beautiful flowers next door than on our little plot.  The nice thing is that I get to go visit those flowers whenever I get the urge.  It’s a good trade off.  Mona comes over and watches the birds at my bird feeders and I wander through their gardens.

For those of you who would like to know the outcome of my spill, it is this.  An MRI is in the works and in the meantime I am wearing a sling to keep my arm stable.  No more popping out of the socket, thank you very much.  Physical therapy is scheduled to begin June 5^th, which seems a tad far off but I’m sure Kaiser Permanente has more important things on their mind than my sprained shoulder.  I’m not in a great deal of pain except at night when I want to sleep and my shoulder wants to throb.  But they gave me some nice little pills for that.

So I have slowed down.  I am taking time to smell roses and write my blog.  I am trying to practice less zip and more zen.  Yes, I got the message - but couldn't there have been a better way to deliver it?