It's been some time since I visited you all my friends. I hope the new year has treated you well and everyone is healthy and recovering from the experiences with Covid of the last year. Times have been hard here at Hickery Holler. As you all know I took bad fall about the time the pandemic started and was diagnosed with vertigo on top of the injuries to my head from the fall. Then later in the year I took yet another fall and was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in my left knee. Spent time on crutches. Then I took another fall and broke my right foot and ended up in a cast/boot and crutches yet again.
During this time my husband "O Wise One" had cataract surgery on both eyes. I am out of my casts now and recently graduated from physical therapy for my injuries as well as balance therapy for vertigo. I am slowly starting to get back to normal. Truthfully it has been a rough row to hoe. I have just been back to it for a couple weeks.
On top of the health issues I lost my little black male scottish terrier "Riley" last month to liver cancer. For awhile I felt like I should have been buried with him. It just broke my heart. Then 2 weeks later the little female terrier "Gypsy" was diagnosed with cancer in her foot and had to have two toes amputated. Lord does it ever stop?
Apparently not because I buried my third brother last week. I have one left. So for me it has been a rough year or so.
It is time to pick myself up and brush myself off and go on though. I am still here just a bit bruised and emotionally a bit raw. On a positive note I am back in my garden again and that feels wonderful! I find such solace in the rich brown soil and the peace and tranquility of my own little oasis in the midst of all this uncertainty.
I am ever thankful though for the blessings bestowed upon me and the healing I have received. Hickery Holler endures for awhile longer yet.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
I am sorry to hear of how bad your year has been, CQ. I pray for God to grant you strength and heal you in body, mind and soul.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you all. ♥
Prayers are always appreciated and I am trying to concentrate on my blessings instead. We are both doing better and have remained Covid free so that is a plus when so many have lost so much in the last year. I will pray and garden my way through this rough time as I always have. Thank you so much for thinking of us.
DeleteGlad your back but so sorry for your losses, your falls and illnesses, but God apparently wants you around longer! That is good.
ReplyDeleteFresh produce will make you feel better.
Fresh produce always helps. And I bought some new batting this week for a quilt I want to finish. Idle hands and all that !
DeleteThoughts and prayers are with you and know that He never gives us more than we can handle. Take care and be well.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are back, I had been checking all year and had the feeling your year was a rough one. So glad you have persevered through it all. Prayers for you and your family. It has been a crazy year, gardens are great healing places, so glad you have yours to give you peace and comfort.
ReplyDeleteMy gardens are full of not only flowers but I love wind chimes and they hang in all the trees and lots of bird houses and feeders. I also ordered a statue to remember my brother by for my garden to go in one of the beds. I find such solace there and want it full of life and love and memories. My puppy that died is also buried in the garden and my loved ones will be remembered by little plaques and statues.
DeleteSo happy to see your post this morning, but sad to hear the year has been so rough. Losses are hard and it sound like you have had many this year. I'm so thankful for your website. I use it when I am planting and use your recipes when I bring my produce in. Take care and continue to find comfort in your family and in your faith.
ReplyDeleteGranny I am glad you have found the site useful. I may not be here everyday but the site will remain up as long as allowed for those that reference it often.
DeleteYou have had a hard time, but I am so glad to see you back here. Like one of the other commenters here I use your recipes and follow your gardening advice almost daily, and I had been thinking about you and hoping that everything was ok in your world. The last year has just been a real trial with so many losses and changes. We have been trying to prepare for whatever the scary world has in store for us with gardening and stockpiling, etc, and your blog posts have been so helpful. Since we live in Missouri sort of close to your northern "Hickery Holler" home, I plant when you planted and use your posts as a guide throughout the year. So thank you so much for your wisdom, and know that I am sending prayers from Missouri!
ReplyDeleteMy oldest daughter and grandchildren are still in Northern Missouri and my husband still has roots there. We do return from time to time. I am so glad that you can use that information yearly. It is like leaving a little piece of me behind for all you kids to use.
DeleteJust last week as I was planting my garden I was thinking about you and wondering how you were faring. I am sorry to hear that things have been so painfully hard for you these many months! My condolences on all your many hard losses. Praying that the Lord ever sustain you and draw you close to Him in your darker hours and praising God that He has given you many good gifts, even in the midst of hardship- not the least of which is the attitude you convey in your last paragraphs- a spirit of gratitude and fortitude! Much love!
ReplyDeleteCQ - I've been catching up with your blog. So very glad to see you back on here. You have so much to teach all of us and I thank you for always inspiring me with all sorts of things.
ReplyDeleteWanted to especially send my sympathies for the loss of your little Riley. I've always been a pet lover and my daughter once joked to me, "Mom, it's like there's no line between your dogs, cats, and your own human children." At that moment, I knew she was exactly right! You nailed it when you said you felt like you should have been buried with him. Losing pets leaves a void in the heart that only another pet lover can understand. Several months out from losing our dogs in our house fire, it came to me (because I believe in all sorts of signs from heaven) that when I was the most upset, possibly it was because BB and Rosie were close in spirit and I was becoming increasingly emotional because they were worried about me. So, I tell them to go play and to roll in the grass and chase squirrels, that I am just fine. My heart feels better thinking of them playing in the sun and chasing squirrels in heaven and I'm just sure its better for all of us. Not sure if it will help you, but wanted to share.
Prayers also for your family in the loss of your brother. What a tough year it has been. I feel like we hardly can catch our breath when something else starts happening. At the very least, maybe summer busyness, sunny days, and gardening can distract you.
Thanks for the recent posts. I am gardening this year although in central MO, we have had a wide range of late cold weather, then extreme hot, and now flooding rains. So far, my plants are loving the extra water. (I planted the cylindra beets you recommended and need to pull a few to see how they are! :)
Wishing you and your family more joys than sorrows this year. We all need that, don't we?
Thank you Gina for your kind words. It is good to be back here with my friends and sharing. You all are my sounding board and ground me when the world gets ugly. That is why I try to keep this blog noncommercial, nonpolitical and very positive.
ReplyDeleteI am so very sorry to hear of your losses. I remember your post when you got Riley. Hope you're feeling better soon and that your garden is a comfort.
ReplyDeleteSIS you have been here since the beginning then. I do miss that little rascal. He will always be my baby. I am doing better and coping with my losses. 2020 was a rough year for me both personally and health wise but things are improving.
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