Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Just wanted to check in quickly to wish you all a wonderful Memorial Day and a safe and restful weekend.

We're still here...

Sorry it took a while to post again. I've started my Hep C treatment and have completed almost two weeks of it. I have some, but not all, of the side effects, but I've got a long ways to go (between 6 and 12 months.) I've been feeling VERY weak and just a few quick steps will send my heart racing. I'm so glad I had an echo cardiogram done before I started these drugs (Incivek, Peginterferon and Ribavarin.)

I've not been online very much, trying to get used to the new me (whatever that means!) On Monday I have to go for blood work to check my hemoglobin to be sure I'm not getting anemic (a very common side effect) and have my Incivek dosage adjusted if necessary. Incivek is the new drug that was just approved for use in 2012 and is designed to knock your immune system down so that the other two drugs can attack the virus and I've been told they have been very successful with this medication. Out of 20 patients at my doctor's office, only one had to abandon treatment because it was not effective.

Meanwhile, everything is status quo! Not much going on here. Romeow still enjoys walking on the leash and climbing trees:

He seems to be driving me more nuts than usual because when I can't take him out for our regular walk, he gets so frustrated and starts to act like a wild child (understandably) but when I'm feeling too tired to go, then we all have to just wait it out. I put him outside in his cage and Weezie on her leash so they can watch the neighborhood and get some fresh air. He's just spoiled rotten and doesn't know when he's got it made. He's almost eight months old now and still bites sometimes! (We're working on it!)

Look, how he has chewed up the outer edge of his basket. That rascal!

Weezie lounging with a squeaky toy!

Weezie continues to be a good, mellow girl and sleeps all day unless she's sitting outside watching people or we're walking around the lake. We still go to the Nursing Home together, but I have missed a couple of visits while starting this treatment. I told them to not write us off and we are coming back next week. Weezie makes up for the hyperness of Romeow, otherwise I would not be able to handle two over active pets right now. They just have to suffer with me through this. I still walk with them, but not as far and often as before. Thankfully this is only temporary. Next month I'm going to the eye doctor for my past due exam. Having visual problems is also a side effect of the medication, but it's reversible or else I would not sacrifice my vision for a Hep C cure.

I still think of my Gizzy boy every single day and miss him when ever I see his face. I just recently started to enjoy nature again and manage to walk around the lake without crying, but it still hurts and I suppose, it always will. My doctor put me on Zoloft, because depression is a very common side effect of the medications that I am taking. I don't feel any different, but as long as I don't harbor suicidal thoughts, then the medicine is working. (I never have had those thoughts before, but the medication is known to do that to people, so we just wanted to take precautions and put me on it during treatment.)

(I remember you every time I walk past this table, Gizzy, and see you sitting there in my mind's eye! You are sorely missed. Mama loves you forever and ever!)

Also, this year, I'm turning 60 on June 16 and I have posted a Birthday Wish on my Facebook account. It's a simple wish of wanting to help homeless animals. If anyone wants to participate and contribute, here is the link:

Causes - Doris Sturm's Birthday Wish

Wishing you all a most wonderful weekend and God bless you!

Blueberries, Frogs and rain shower

On our evening walk around lake Irma, we saw a huge, dark cloud moving in just as we were about half way around. It hovered above the otherwise lovely sunset and I just knew we were going to get wet on the homestretch. Thankfully it was just a few big drops, but it made me hurry and want to get home quickly.

I noticed that the blueberry bushes were producing a good amount of blueberries again. I look forward to them every year. They should be ready by early June. Anyone is allowed to pick these growing at the lake.

The tree frogs serenaded us around the lake and I managed to capture the end of their overture on my video.

That's it till next time...

A walk in the woods

Romeow's doing really well on the leash with his harness and last week, we had a couple of amazingly cool days with a nice breeze that kept the flying insects away. I decided to take my furbies for a walk in the woods on the path less traveled and boy, did they have fun, but Romeow especially - he climbed about three trees on that walk and jumped for joy - unfortunately always on Weezie who was less than pleased about it. 

From now on, I'm letting the pictures do the talking:

 It was a most glorious day for us all!

Happy Easter 2012!

Just wanted to wish you all a very happy and blessed Easter!

Here are some photos of my pets. I hope you like them:

Happy Palm Sunday (re-post from last year)

Last year I had a wonderful Palm Sunday with Gizzy and I wanted to share it - and relive it - again. It was a beautiful day then and it is a beautiful day now...it's just so different. I am blessed with two other lovely pets, but that does not diminish my grief for the boy with whom I shared 11 wonderful years - we went through so much together - and I suspect my heart will be aching for a good long time for his absence is ever present, where ever I go, what ever I do - there he is in my thoughts and heart - so close and yet so far. Wishing you all a blessed Palm Sunday!
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(posted on 3/17/2011)

Today was a beautiful day. The morning started nice and cool with a lovely breeze and it was such a pleasure to be outside.

It looks like full-blown summer here with most of the spring blossoms gone leaving behind the lush, green foliage. We took our walk in the morning, giving the pictures interesting dimensions.

I never get tired of the serene beauty I find in the mornings at Lake Irma walking with my boy and I hope you don't mind me taking photos of this area over and over, but next month I'll have a car (hopefully) and I can go to Bank's Lake and to the park again for diversity in my photography.

Mother Nature surprised me with some berries. At first I got a shock thinking they were raspberries (which I have never seen growing here before) but alas, they were simply unripe blackberries of which there are millions around here.

Past ye ole fishing hole...

...around the bend past the army of little "gnomes" on the ground (that's what the Swamp Cypress roots remind me of.)

With the sun behind me, I got a nice, friendly shot of this side of the lake.

Past the blueberry bushes (if you click on the photo to make it larger, you will see how many there are on this bush.)

Oh, how I look forward to picking those blueberries when they're ready in June or July!

Standing on the bridge of the boardwalk, I can take a lovely scenic shot of Lake Irma (as always!) The water looks so serene.

Back on the home front, Gizzy walks along the rose bed to smell the roses. I received many compliments on my roses this year. I guess the fertilizing and regular watering has paid off. The red ones have a most delicious honey-like scent and make for a wonderful potpourri.

I have to keep snipping roses off this bush because the clusters get so top heavy that they lay on the ground and I'd rather have them inside the house...poor me, right?

Here he is in the flower bed next to the single pedal pink heirloom roses and in front of the Mammoth sunflowers....look how big they have grown. We'll have some 12' flowers this year and the bees and birds will be happy too...

I enjoy looking at my rose bouquet next to my daughter's photo!

Here's my boy sitting next to my Southern Belle dolly whose outfit I crocheted. He's talking to me. Can you tell?

I planted some more sunflowers (8' ones) earlier and plant the rest tomorrow because it got too hot. I'm starting to run out of space, but they sure will look glorious when they're all blooming.

My challenge for this week is to find someone to drive me to the strawberry field of Southern Grace Farms since it has come to my attention that the strawberries are ready for picking. Only I cheat. I can't pick because of my bad back, so I call ahead and see if they have any ready picked berries (which they usually do.) If I can't find someone to take me, then I will go on or around the 3rd, right after I get my vehicle...just in the nick of time for strawberries and later blueberry season.

Wish me luck and I hope you'll have a wonderful week!