LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Friday, August 10, 2018

We Love Our Lucy

We have had a very wet week.  The "scattered" storms seemed always to fall upon us. Our rivers are high and many low-lying roads are impassable when we get these downpours.  Known as "The Land of the Waterfalls," our county is called by locals "The Land Where the Water Falls."

Lucy HATES rain.  She is reluctant to go out and does not enjoy being dried off before coming inside.  She curls up with her pillows and snoozes while the rain falls outside.

Old lady looking rather like a puppy.


While Lucy curls up with her pillows on these rainy days, I curl up with a good book.  For quite a while I had "chemo brain" which interfered with my relatively sharp mind.  I could not focus on the books I would normally have enjoyed.  So I switched to short stories, light British mysteries, and books with simpler plots.  Thanks to Kindle, I did not have to invest large sums of money for these books.  Now my brain has returned to normal (whatever that is) and I can once again enjoy books with complex plots and characters spanning long periods of time.  It is amazing how important that is to me.

I made the mistake of trying to work on a knitting project I had started before chemotherapy.  It was a complex pattern with squares within squares within squares and required constant counting.  I made a major mistake and then made even more mistakes in trying to correct it.  In anger I frogged (knitting talk for ripping out stitches as in 'rippit, rippit, rippit') the entire work and was left winding up the five skeins of yarn I had knitted.  (Yes, hours and hours of work lost)  I seem to have lost my knitting muse along with the work but perhaps that will return as well.

I have started the new chemotherapy regimen with a drug that has few side effects and I have not had any problem.  The infusions are every three weeks and I can drive myself there and back.  Both my car and I enjoy that.

Today's quote comes from businessman and philanthropist W. Clement Stone and seems appropriate for our time.

Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.

I am blown away by the Facebook posts that contain outright lies and are shared again and again. I want to refer the people to the facts.  But they really do not want facts.  They make excuses for our current White House resident, allowing as how he simply "misspoke."  They love to perpetuate the untruths out in cyberspace about former President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton.  I wish they would search for the truth as deeply as they search for false information about immigrants.



HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE
SPREAD THE TRUTH
OR AT LEAST BELIEVE THE TRUTH YOURSELF


10 comments:

Arkansas Patti said...

Ah, my Friday Lucy fix is back. She was so missed. "Frogged" is new to me term but it makes perfect sense and is kind of funny--if you are not the victim. I get what you are saying about all the folks out there --my family included--who dismiss what we see as truth and continue with blind loyalty. Guess they only hear what they want to hear. Sigh.

Cheryl said...

Lovely to see this post. I have missed them.
Nella does not like rain either. We had a months worth of rain in 24 hours yesterday and Nella slept it away.

Life takes us many places. I am honoured and humbled to share your journey with your health issues. I have the utmost respect for those that can share.
I am glad you are able to read the books you love. I understand. I read every day and cannot imagine that being taken away even for the shortest period.


Thinking of you.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Lucy curled on her bed is the picture of contentment. I'm so happy that you're back to reading the books that you really love; amazing what those drugs will do to your sharp brain. Have a nice weekend; hopefully, you'll get some sunshine.

KB said...

I missed the Lucy posts. She looks utterly content, and that's wonderful.

The term "frogged" made me laugh. I'd never heard it before. And, most of all, I'm glad that your brain is getting back to normal. For a sharp person, I'm sure that the fog was disconcerting.

Enjoy your weekend.

Anonymous said...

When I read the words "chemo brain" I was reminded of the effect chemo had on Roger. He had chemo brain as well. It really does clear up and go away for good! I'm so glad the new chemo regime is easier on you. Here's hoping that the rains clear up, Lucy gets to play outside, the mid-terms swing democratic, Trump is impeached, and you are completely cancer-free. Take care, my friend.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Lucy does look content and has the perfect solution to a rainy day, as you do as well. Glad to read that you are able to read books you enjoy once again. Getting back to "normal" can often take longer than expected so my friend who has also undergone chemo has told me. I find myself not watching much of the current knows because it's hard to even know what the truth is these days, so much information is out there. (Thanks for your recent comments on my blog posts about our cross country travels, all are much appreciated.)

Lowcarb team member said...

Lucy looks so contented in that lovely picture … bless her.
Pleased to read that the new chemo regime is a lot easier on you … that is good.
Take care, my thoughts and good wishes to you.

All the best Jan

The Bug said...

Lucy is too cute curled up on her pillow. I'm glad you're able to read what you like again. I have frogged most of a project before - so annoying! I might not mind as much now that I have a yarn winder - well, except for the lost time spent on the project.

Amen to the truth quote. It just boggles the mind what people choose to believe!

Goldendaze-Ginnie said...

I will definitely spread the truth...you can be sure of that. Also sure you will get back your sharpness and reading ability and glad that the new chemo is working better. Thank goodness you've got back to blogging so we can see "puppy" Lucy again. I've missed her.

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

Patti - Yes, they turn a deaf ear to anything they don't want to hear.

Cheryl - Thank you so much for your kind words.

Suz - Yes, Lucy is indeed a happy dog.

KB - I had never heard "frogged" used that way either until I started to knit. I LOVED your moose video!

Robin - It's always good to know that others have gone down this path. Wouldn't it be just wonderful if all your "hopes" came true?

Beatrice - I was blown away when the oncologist told me how long it would take to get back to normal.

Jan - Thanks so much. I do enjoy your recipes even if I'm not diabetic. And I've passed a lot of the on to my brother who is.

Bug - I try to remember that I actually enjoyed the time spent even if I have to frog. OK, that doesn't always work, but sometimes it does.

Ginnie - And I LOVE the way you do spread the truth. Sometimes I laugh and other times I want to cry.