Payback

We left town for 2 1/2 days to go to Ashland to see some of the Shakespeare Festival. That was great!! We saw 3 of the 4 Shakespeare plays in two days. Ashland is a beautiful place, too. We got back late yesterday afternoon and I went over to Esther's about 6:30 p.m. to see her. Her good friend Leona had moved into her place on the third floor and Esther had gotten several boxes from her and had packed up quite a bit of her stuff. In our short absence she had gotten agitated and wanted her old place back. She was upset that we had not taken her on a trip, and that her phone is still not working. We called her on the cell phone, but she couldn't remember to hold it up to her ear for some reason. She'd open it and hold it like a walkie-talkie and say, "What am I supposed to do?" Then Jerry would yell over and over, "Hold it up to your ear!" Then she'd close the phone. Anyway, she was mad, basically. Dale arrived last evening and he and Jerry are having breakfast with her today. They stopped by on the way home from the airport last night and talked to her a bit. Hopefully the new manager who took over at Vineyard Place will get busy on the telephone problem. Esther said, "I want to go to 135 East Exeter St.", the only problem is that that is not her old address She is not fully functional at all, mentally, and so her two boys are going to help her make this adjustment this weekend. She couldn't stop saying how nice the place is, how good the food it, but she said she "couldn't go anywhere". Well, she still can't walk well because of her pelvic fracture, so she can't go very far anyway. Jerry said to her, "Why didn't you go ride on the shuttle bus?" She has our sympathy, but she has been very naughty--exactly what we expected.

Vineyard Place is Peaceful

We moved Esther last weekend and it has been a whirlwind, feels like much more than a week. We have spent almost every minute with her, helping her to adjust and find her things. The fact that she is legally blind doesn't help. We set her new place up just like her old one, with everything right where she would have kept it, the problem is, she stopped being able to find things at home about 4 weeks ago, maybe more. I am not sure just when she started to have complete lapses in her short-term memory. She used to have a bad day now and then, but now it's most of the day. If she has a few days to think about things, she might remember. Anything that is routine, like mealtimes, is good. It's just the things she asks you and then you tell her. She also has become quite lazy about looking for things. If it's not within reach it's too much trouble. She can't seem to remember her second closet, though she had two at her last place. She didn't remember all her pants were hanging in there. She did remember her dresser drawer full of sweat pants. She had been just stacking things all over the house so if she stumbled upon it she could use it. She loves where she lives though and has already made some friends. In a few weeks when she is more mobile again, she will be in business. For now, she has given up the walker and is using her cane. She still moves rather slowly, but she is much faster than a month ago. The doctor said three more weeks and she should be feeling much better. I feel for her that she has to undergo some tests for her tumor while dealing with a fractured pelvis. She's a sport. Feisty, that's the word. She did not enjoy the scope, and her next test will be next Friday for a Endo-Rectal Ultrasound. I assume that's from the outside, but how they do it, I don't know.

She loves the peacefulness of her place, and the people there. She loves being able to not worry about managing food or cooking it or using it up. She just goes up and gets fed and helps herself to anything they set out for snacks. She went to her first social a couple of nights ago. It was a wine-tasting. She wouldn't have missed that--and a very nice woman who works for Signature Services, which helps those who need extra assistance, knocked on her door to make sure she didn't forget. She had a great time. I have noticed she has become more peaceful and less worried. There is only one glitch in the whole thing. Her telephone is not hooked up yet because for some reason the jack is dead. We have been going back and forth with Qwest. The managers left town until Sunday and he is the only one that can help us now. She is missing her phone. We left her a cell phone so we can at least call her, but it's newfangled. She doesn't like it.

She had to take a shower instead of a bath. She waited until I got there yesterday. I think she didn't know how to turn it on. It was simple. I showed her how turn it on and after her complaining about it-- how she was old-fashioned and was used to a bathtub--once the water hit her she just kept saying, "Oh, it feels so good." She used to take showers when she was younger, she just forgot about it. She has said she is happy that she doesn't have to worry about using too much electricity or water. It's nice to see her relaxing more, and we went to the library and she has 5 audiobooks to listen to, which she loves to do.

The Garden is Still Changing

It's not as exciting to you as it is to us, but I only planted two seeds for Lemon Cucumbers and my, oh, my we can't even count the blossoms and cukes on there--at least 100, more I'm sure. I saw for myself that I had two little sprouts when it began.

I've been busy packing up Esther for her move tomorrow. It's all ready. She's ready. Tomorrow should be a simple move and we can spend time unpacking and putting things in place for her.

Garden in July

With water, we survived some very hot days, over 105 degrees for 3 days, and several days at 95 degrees plus. Here's how the garden looked this morning.

I'm riding the train to Joy's today, and riding back down here with her tomorrow. Good times.