Taking It Easy

Today is  going to be a down day for me,I think. Yesterday my eyes started burning,and the rims were sore. I awoke with this yet again,but now I have a scratchy throat,my sinuses ache,and I feel wiped out.Could be allergies,or something else that's going around,though to me it feels and sounds like allergies.I do take allergy meds on a daily basis. Up until yesterday,I felt great,upbeat,and full of energy. My,what a difference a day makes.

Yesterday I did get out some photos out,though the ones I was going to hang on the wall I wound up not doing. I just couldn't decide where to put them. I did hang one photo in our bedroom over the bed. Rick took it when we lived in Dalton,MA waay back in 2001 when I was the manager of the Jockey Outlet in Lee. There was a trail up to the reservoir,and the view was pretty,especially in the Fall:

Unfortunately,the photo I took doesn't really do it justice.I tried to block as much of the glare from the window across from our bed as possible. The colors are much more vibrant than they appear here.

 I  took a photo of  the print I bought at the Wilder Farm in Burke,NY so all my fellow Laura fans could see it. I still need to get down to the store to buy a nice frame with matting for it so I can hang it. It's called "Coming Home" and the artist is Sandra A. Young. I feel in love with it as soon as I saw it and had to have it. It brings back great memories of our trip,and how it felt to actually walk the same yard and be in the same home as Almanzo. Isn't it gorgeous? Like Rick's photo above,the colors are a bit muted in the photo,but you can still see how wonderful it is! It conjures up cozy winter feelings,even in the midst of summer.

While I did that yesterday,as well as puttering around the house cleaning,Rick began the oh-so-ever-fun task of decluttering the garage.When I went outside to take a photo,he had pulled some stuff out of it already and had 7 bags of trash.We are not talking stuff we no longer want,we are talking trash.

We had the garage filled right up to the door. As I mentioned in an earlier post,part of the problem is things are not being put back into their proper place,or trash not being disposed of (chicken feed bags that are emptied into our feed bin seem to never find their way to the trash,they are just thrown off to the side for instance). This is Rick's project. He does not want help.I did ask him what his game plan is and we are on the same page: take everything out of the garage,get rid of trash,and put like items together (tools,garden,camping,etc)He checks to see what is still good,or what is broken,and keeps the good items. He then takes what we are going to keep and organizes it in the garage. A tool bench will be made.Part of the problem of not keeping this area organized is when we try to find certain tools,we can't find them,and then wind up buying a replacement. Then,of course,we find the original. It's a waste of time and of money. That is coming to a halt this year. I will have to try and keep Rick on task as far as putting things back because he forgets.I think having him put that reminder into his IPod will help. He now schedules his days with the IPod that the VA gave him for such things and it has been very helpful. This is to help him become more independent so he doesn't have to rely on me to remind him of everything.I always feel like a nag when I have to remind him of this,or question if he did that. It makes for an odd dynamic-almost like a mother and child,which is not a good thing.

Today he is going to continue on the garage. It was very humid yesterday and he worked hard for a good three hours. He is not fast but he is steady. One thing you learn when you have a spouse with a brain injury is that you cannot rush them. They have to do things in their own time so they don't get overwhelmed.,which can be very easy.Sometimes it can be something very small that will set them into tailspin. I have learned that setting time frames for projects is not necessarily a good thing. It can be sometimes,but sometimes it just puts too much pressure on Rick,which then shows up in his demeanor,and he feels even more scattered than he already does,which I don't want. It's a fine balance,which I am still struggling to find.

We did get a nice surprise treat yesterday. Our neighbor across the dirt road stopped by with a homemade apple pie. She buys eggs from me as soon as my sign goes up,and we give her and her family fish on occasion. Last week she came over and asked if she could buy some! She was going camping and thought her parents would love the fish. We said we are more than happy to just give her the fish,no problem! Yesterday she was baking for her church's bake sale/pig roast which is today and made us a pie to thank us for the fish since we wouldn't allow her to pay for it.. How nice to have  good neighbors!.The pie,by the way, was delicious :)

Today I am going read,work on some Christmas gifts,and just relax.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!