Chewlee got here and was still working on a blue snow cone that the MAN (her emphasis) put in a plastic cup for her.  I thought that was great because she would have been a mess if he had used one of those paper cones they usually put them in.  She sat quietly, watching Sponge Bob, until she finished it.  She got up, showed me it was all gone, then walked over to my garbage can and threw the cup and spoon away.  Then all she wanted was to sit in my lap and watch TV, which she did.  We sat that way until my legs were numb since she is such a wiggle butt.  I told her it was time for her to go sit in my recliner and she went without any fuss.  Then she said to me, *Grandma....you need to get your baby some food!  Her tummy is empty.*  She then leaned forward with that subtle twisting of head and shoulders and said....*Please????*

I thought she would stay and watch TV while Grandma played servant but she followed along and pet Baron while I gathered together some of her favorite salami (she thanked the Beast for remembering to get it for her), some purple and green grapes, some cheese and crackers then got her a glass of milk.  When she was waiting for me to finish putting it all together, she spotted the big bag of oranges the Beast had bought and inspected it.  I asked her if she wanted an orange but she told me no thank you because she had already had an orange today.  Ditto a banana.

When we got back to my room, she came up to me and, whispering, said, *Grandma....that's a magic bag of oranges.  You need to hide it!*  I asked her why it was magic and why should I hide it, she told me, *If you don't, EVERYONE will eat it and you know that it's just OURS.*  I told her that oranges were meant for EVERYBODY (like who is there except me, the Beast and Chewlee that might eat one?  That's EVERYBODY?).

She spotted the new boxes of bandages and immediately pointed out every boo-boo on her body, hoping to con me into giving her one.  But, when she really looked at the boxes, she got very serious and said, *Oh, no thanks.  I need a Dora bandage.* and that was the end of that!

She did take a bath today and was great helping me both wash and rinse her hair.  She made me wait while she thoroughly rubbed the creme rinse through it.  She made sure she got all the tangles she could find out and then I was allowed to rinse.  I wrapped her up in a big towel and she sat in it for a while before she finished drying off and got redressed.  I had nice clean underwear for her so she can just put her nightgown on when she gets home.  She then sat in my lap and let me brush her hair with nary a protest.  I am amazed at how long her hair is getting.  Even in curls now, she still has a lot of it that reaches her waist.

I kidded her about cutting her hair and she got really upset.  She kept saying, NO! NO! NO! and I had to reassure her I was just kidding.  She put her hands on her hips, got a mad face on and said, *That's not nice, Grandma.  It's not funny!*  Maybe not but she made me laugh anyway.

She sat in my lap for about 15 minutes until her mother got here to pick her up.  While she was on my lap, she told me that she might not come to my house tomorrow.  When I asked her why, she said it was because she wasn't sure if she was going to be good tomorrow and her mother told her she had to be good or she couldn't come here.  So I just smiled and told her to *try* to be good and gave her a hug.  She told me she would try.

This morning when we got up, there were the kind of skies that send you right back to bed and pull the covers over your head.  That's what the Beast did, at least.  I stayed up for a while but then I succumbed, too.  It really looked nasty out so I was prepared for the sounds of lightning and thunder.  It was kind of a letdown that it never happened.  By noon, the skies were getting lighter and even brighter.   We got some sunshine before it clouded over again.  It didn't get as dark as it had been in the morning anyway.  The weatherman says no more rain now for the next few days.  The Beast is happy because he's been worried a lot of rain might make the fungus reappear with a vengeance.

The Princess called me today after she had picked up Chewlee from preschool.  She said she just HAD to tell me her conversation with Chewlee.  When she picked up Chewlee yesterday, Chewlee had a fit because *I* wasn't the one picking her up.  Today when the Princess came to get her, she was disappointed but had an idea.  She told her mother that she really needed to see me so they should go to my house.  The Princess said to her, *But WE were going to spend time together.*  Chewlee kind of shrugged and said, *I see you every day, Mommy.  But I miss grandma.  I know!  You can drop me off at Grandma's and come back and get me later.*  That made the Princess laugh but she said to her, *It's not going to happen.  We are going home but...maybe you can go see Grandma tomorrow.*  Chewlee also told her that she misses ALL her family but she misses Grandma the most (which I loved hearing, of course).    Kids!  You gotta love 'em!!

The Beast decided that, since it doesn't look good for our own personal fruit trees, we need to be eating more fresh fruit.  He went to Walmart and came home with both green and purple grapes, a small round seedless watermelon, some bananas, oranges and red grapefruit.  It made me want to eat some of it all so he might just have a point.  Actually, I think it's something we all start to crave during the spring and summer months.  Then we feel it again about mid-winter and can't wait until we can pick up more fresh fruits and veggies from farmers markets and roadside stands.  I know we can get fruit from stores all year long but it's usually not as flavorful or else it won't ripen.  Worse yet, my experience with peaches during the winter is they NEVER ripen.  They go from hard as rocks to rotted overnight. 

The Beast went garden diving again and found another zucchini.  Yep, another huge one.  I know he's not being thorough in his searches and it makes me nuts.  We women do a much better job of it than most men do.  And I am trapped until this damn foot heals.  Guess I should get it up again and stay off it.  That seems to really help.  I've been doing more of it than usual, partly because Bratfink hasn't been online very much.  She hasn't been well for a while for various reasons.  So, I spend more time in my recliner than normal.

The Princess texted me today to find out if I had veggies that she could come and get.  I told her come and get some!  When she got here, I thought she would faint when she saw the sheer size of the zucchini and the squash.  She told the Best that she usually had to cut up three or four zucchini for her little family but this ONE could feed them and she would have leftovers.  She was glad the crook neck squash was the size it was so she can use just the one for her casserole she makes.  She laughed at the variety of sizes we have of tomatoes.  Some look almost like they are giant cherry tomatoes.  Others are normal.  What she doesn't realize is that we have about six different varieties in our garden.  The small ones might actually be giant cherry tomatoes...LOL.

She just had to take a picture of the zucchini and says she is going to post it on her Facebook page.  She put her hand over it to show the sheer size of it.  I told her I would have some beans for her on Wednesday when she came to pick up Chewlee after work.  Just wait until the sweet potatoes, turnips and beets are ready. 

The Beast actually remembered to buy us some more bandages when he went to Walmart.  I was surprised because he didn't take a list with him.  Howevr, why can't a man pick up just regular bandages?  He got one that says it's waterproof which has this teeny-tiny pad on it.  The other is called classic care plastic but it also has a small pad on it because....tah dah!....it seals wound on all four sides!!!  I really need a regular sized pad on the bandage for my poor baby toe so I ended up cutting the eye patch bandages I have here down to a smaller size (it gives me two bandages that way) although it's still a bit big for the toe.  I figure what the heck.  No one sees it but me because I am wearing socks on my feet every day. 

I was surprised today when I put my foot on the floor and could actually feel my heel.  I mean, it felt normal, not numb.  I told the Beast that maybe that was a sign that the bottom of my feet would actually return to normal, just slowly.  So I am keeping my foot up as much as I possibly can in the hope that it will help that foot heal totally much faster.  I figure if I keep off it as much as possible, it just might be the key.

The Beast is counting down to his next treatment on Thursday.  The only thing that keeps him going is he will only have one more treatment left for this round.  When and IF he has to have another, we have no clue.  But he will have to go to the doctor within a week or so and get that damn camera up his *buddy* so he can look at the bladder.  The doctor is just a bit heavy handed so the Beast is in pain afterward for the rest of the day and a little the next morning.  I feel bad for him but the alternative is a tumor growing and growing and growing.....and him dying from it.  I will say one thing.  He won't miss any more appointments the doctor makes for him.  He learned his lesson with the second tumor.

It really IS miserable to get old.  No one asks for or expects to be hit with so many different aches and pains.  In your m ind, you are still young and ambitious about many things.  But, dammit!  Your body betrays you.  You huff and puff after walking for a while.  Of course, here in our area of Alabama, we contend with it being a hillly terrain and that takes an extra amount of effort climbing up and down depending on where you are.  I love the different falls we have around us but I have gotten so *infirm* in many ways that if I can't see the waterfall from the parking lot, just go and show me pictures later.....LOL.

When the Beast goes to take pictures, he takes Baron.  Baron is in seventh heaven because he just loves the exercise.  He really gets a workout going up and down the pathways and he's much calmer when he gets home.  It's like a  perfect day to him.  It's one of the reasons I really didn't want to get a doberman.  They really need a lot of exercise.  When Baron doesn't get it, he gets antsy and demanding that we play with him.  He has a tug toy that he will pick up and drop the other end in your lap while he's got his end firmly in his mouth.  If you try to ignore it, he will actually swat your leg with it until you grab it and play tug of war with him for a few minutes.  I swear, he could play for hours!  Not me.  Five minutes and I am done.  Same with the Beast.  He would rather jump on the scooter and run Baron around the circle a few times.  I don't blame him for that either.

Last night, Baron decided that I should come to bed.  I think it was because he wanted to know where he could safely and comfortably lay on the foot of the bed without being disturbed.  He can't do that until I take my place on the bed.  When I ignored his little yips and growls, he got even and lay down on my side of the bed with his head on my pillow.  I hate when he does that.  He heats up the pillow and there's doggy hairs on it.  I have to flip it over or hange it for my second pillow when I go to bed.

We had more storms today and the weatherman says the storms tomorrow will be worse.  That means I will probably do without my internet for as long as the storm hangs around.  I don't mind the storms but I hate when the temperature is high along with the humidity.  They say it will go up to around 95 degrees even with it raining.  **Sigh** The Beast will be miserable and complain, complain, complain.  I really do get tired of hearing it.  I can't do anything about it.  Maybe I will just keep my earplugs in. 

It looks like we are going to have one hell of a storm here in an hour or so.  That's why I decided to get this posted before it hits.....if I'm lucky. 

The Princess called me today to find out what in the world Chewlee ate because she was sick today and throwing up every time she stood up.  I told her that I had discovered she had eaten probably two pounds of green grapes all by herself. I found the bag half hidden by her Dora chair.  I was shocked, to say the least.  But...kids are kids.  They will keep eating until they make themselves sick given half a chance.  And, with the way I was feeling early in the day, she had a LOT of chances because I wasn't able to pay attention but I hoped the Beast was.  He knew I wasn't feeling well, mostly because of how I was covered up.....LOL 

The Beast went out today to harvest some more of the food we're growing and came in with a bounty of tomatoes, more overly large zucchini, a couple more crooked neck squash and was harvesting more green beans when the rain started coming down.  Shows you how wrong the weatherman can be.  But, it does look like the storm is fast and furious so I am hoping it passes quickly.   I have lost my internet connection and our television reception, too.  Both are satellite.  **Sigh**

The sheer amount of tomatoes that are ready will force me to start some canning of the veggies.  I am not sure if I want to just put up canned tomatoes or make up some spaghetti sauce.  If the Princess has her say, some of it should be salsa.  She loves my homemade salsa.  I'll decide tomorrow or Tuesday when I get all my stuff ready. Since I can put up a variety of veggies at the same time, I figured I would also do the squash and zucchini.  Like I told the Beast, we can always give the dog the zucchini mixed in with his chicken if we don't like it canned.  I've never seen it in the stores so I'm not sure how it will turn out.  I primarily use any zucchini I have as an ingredient in something else so we will have to do a bit of experimenting.  I might actually put together the zucchini, tomatoes and onions that I make up as a side dish at times and see how it goes.

I heard from not just most of my kids but two of the grandkids today.  All were wishing me a Happy Birthday.  Turning 65 makes me happy for one reason only....Medicare.  Phew!  Solves my worries about paying doctor bills if I have a major problem.  It's the saving grace for us with the Beast's bladder cancer.

My little darling got here around 10 am.  She and the Princess actually woke me up as I was asleep on the loveseat in the living room.  I had awakened at 4am with my toes really throbbing.  I hadn't redressed them after my shower so I decided I needed to do that.  More dead skin to remove, then the antibiotic ointment the Dr. prescribed and the last of my bandages.  Made a note to remind the Beast we need some more.  You would have thought that would make them feel better but NOOOOOOOOO!  They throbbed even worse but I was so tired, I threw my pillow down on the loveseat so there was no chance of Baron stepping on them or laying on them and fell asleep shortly afterward.

I have no idea why, but after Chewlee got here, I was running a slight fever and had the chills.  I helped her start our DVD player with her selections for the day and lay down in my recliner, fully covered up because of the chills.  I dozed off and on while she came over and would lay her head on my chest or my shoulder and I would hug her.  I found her brushing my hair off my forehead at one point and she said to me, *Grandma, did you take your medicine today?*  I hadn't so I managed to get up, blanket wrapped around me while she ran and got me some water from Papa (with ice, after she asked me if I wanted some).  She then stood at my knees and watched me take all my medicine (she knows how many I take and today she noticed I was taking MORE and said so).  I told her the MORE was some aspirin and my vitamin pill and she found that acceptable.  She did warn me, however, that I had to let her know these things.  That made me laugh.

I laid back down for about an hour while she fed me some grapes (*I share* was her comment) and called attention to some of the things she gets confused about in Fern Gully.  (*Where did the mud monster go, Grandma?*).  I was feeling a lot better by this time so I sat up more and watched while she sat in her Dora chair.  She asked me if I was feeling better now and was happy when I told her yes, I was.  We watched Fern Gully when I noticed she was slowly leaning further and further back in her Dora chair until she was fully back and sound asleep.  I HAD to get up and move her.  She didn't look comfortable at all.  When I lifted her up and put her in my recliner, she curled up, put her head on the cushioned arm and went back to sleep.  I put on Madagascar since she likes the music from that anyway.  She slept through that one and Madagascar 2.  I may have to replay those for her when she wakes up but you just never know with her.

She changed Gamera to Rodan because, as she told me, *I* would like the birdies better because there are bugs in it, too.  Don't ask me how she came to that conclusion but, hey, it's her day.  I normally let her pick, although some days she picks out several and tells ME to pick. 

The Beast took some pictures of her today.  I have no idea how they turned out because Chewlee is not really a good model.  She moves too much.  She did insist that her Panda bear had to be part of the pictures.  I know that he just wanted to check out his special setup with the umbrellas for getting rid of shadows and highlighting hair.  I hope he found it satisfactory so I don't have to keep hearing about it.

Bratfink told me today that she was reading on CNN about a popular sportscaster that lost his battle with bladder cancer that he had been fighting for two years.  That kind of surprised me but I hope the Beast didn't read the story.  I sure don't want to see him discouraged but I hope the guy didn't suffer.  I hate when a battle to survive involves suffering of any sort.  I've known too many people who have battled cancer and won but I would have loved to spare them the suffering they went through.  I sure don't want the Beast to suffer.  What he DOES go through right now is bad enough but it doesn't last longer than a day or two.

Chewlee told me she isn't sure she wants to stay here with me tonight.  She told me that she wanted her mommy to come and get her after she was done working.  I don't know why but I do know she will probably change her mind later.  She will often get like that if either Papa or I yell at her about something.  Papa yelled at her twice about flushing the toilet after she poops.  She has a habit of forgetting that.  I usually remind her but I wasn't up to speed earlier. 

The Beast was still recovering from his chemo today and was just trying to relax as much as he could.  He didn't sleep well, which is normal for him after being abused at the hospital.    He swears he's going to bring a gun next time and just say, *Now...we aren't going to hurt each other, are we?*

I decided to make some split pea soup since we have that wonderful ham here.  What's funny is both the Beast and I have been cutting off chunks of it from time-to-time to snack on.  I will cut off a chunk, slice it into smaller pieces and eat it on crackers.  I also made ham and cheese sandwiches, grilled of course, the other night.  We threw on cold slices of tomato for the hell of it (and because we have so many that are perfectly ripe) and they were wonderful.  I could have put it on before I grilled them but it didn't occur to me then.  Color me embarrassed but forgive me since I am blonde. 

The soup turned out wonderful.  The Beast had two big bowls of it and said it was just perfect.  That almost sent me into shock since he rarely compliments my cooking.  He'll thank me for it but a compliment?  Not often.  Tara came by early this evening to drop off some wonderful little desserts for us that she bought at Mrs B's Bakery.  That's the new one that opened last week.  She brought me a key lime muffin (full sized) that actually had key lime whipped cream inside it.  The woman is a genius.  She also brought a couple of the mini-treats that are cake balls, hand-dipped in chocolate and the one I ate had a very light mint drizzle on top.  There are a couple others there that the Beast will eat, I am sure.  If I ate any more, I would go into a coma, I'm sure.  They were wonderful!  She brought them over for my birthday, which is actually on Sunday but her weekends are so busy with the three kids, grocery shopping, etc. since she works all week.  I told her it was fine and wonderful.  It was so sweet of her to remember it.

I get Chewlee tomorrow and I am keeping her overnight.  She and I will have a dvd-fest.  She has already lined them up and that is no joke.  She has Godzilla, Gamera, Madagascar, Land Before Time, Fern Gully and Godzilla 2000 lined up.  She even knows in what order she wants to watch them.  I'll make us some popcorn (the old-fashioned way or else I'll make the Beast break out his popcorn maker thingy) and she will be happy.  The Beast tried to find her some hard salami today at the store but couldn't find any.  He could have gotten some at the deli but the line was long and he wasn't feeling all that great.  Plus, we had the storms roll in this afternoon and one was raging outside while he was there.  He stood out front for about 10 minutes before the rain was light enough to make a dash to the car.

When Tara came over, she saw I had made my soup and just HAD to have some.  She ate 3 bowls of it and said it had been ages since she had any.  I knew her compliments weren't empty ones just because she really couldn't stop eating it. 

The storms we got were real boomers for a while.  I love the sound of thunder and, according to the weather channel, there wasn't any chance of tornadoes.  That meant I could relax and enjoy it even if it did play hell with both the TV and the internet.  The storms are over now, thank goodness, although I do love the sound as I lay in bed at night.  Oh well, you can't order these things up.

It seems this is not going to be a good year for the Brat Farm.  We have now officially lost three trees and the Beast says he is not going to replace them.  One of them was a cherry tree and two were apples.  It occurred to him today that the year we got such wonderful peaches and plums was the first year we were coming out of a seven year drought in this area.  It might have been the drought that was the saving grace.

I have a feeling that the reason the farmer sold off this section of his farm was because of the problem with the fungus.  It's a really tough problem to beat without being able to do some excavation, put in some serious drainage and spray the hell out of what is left.  I told the Beast that we could always build a house on the lot next door and sell it then try to find another place without the problem.  He just looked at me and said, very seriously, *I don't have that kind of time left.*  Sad but probably true.

He did manage to rescue a zucchini in a more normal usage size.  I praised him for that and he actually blushed.    He also found a couple strawberries on his plants.  I told him he needed to cut back the zucchini plants because their leaves were shading them badly.  He said he had done it before but they keep growing back.  Hell, pull out one or two of them, I said but he will do what he wants and just complain.

The corn seems to be doing very well but he was all worried about the silk turning brown.  I told him I really thought that was normal after they had been fertilized but he could try looking it up online like he usually does to be sure.  The ears seem okay.  We just have to wait and see.

I spent most of today flat on my back.  I was so achy everywhere and I kept getting cold sweats.  Thankfully, the Beast let me alone and it seems to have passed now.  I feel more normal and have an appetite again.

He made himself one of the microwave pot pies and I had to laugh at that.  At one time, he was dead set against any of them.  He swore they *tasted funny*.  Now I find the freezer has a half dozen or more all the time.  He likes the fact that it only takes a few minutes and they are ready.  He asked me if I wanted one but I was still battling whatever it was I was suffering from.  I just wanted to take my pills and drink some water.

The Princess and Chewlee didn't make it home today.  They are stuck in Milwaukee overnight, I think.  I texted her to find out if they were given a room but she never texted me back.  I wondered if the bad weather would affect their return but I sure never expected them to end up in Milwaukee of all places.  I hope they get home soon and safely. 

The Beast came walking in today with two monstrous zucchini.  They are probably about 2 feet long and about 4-5 inches wide at the largest part which extends a half foot or so.  I just about died.  He looks at me and says, *I forget what these are but they are some kind of squash, I know.*  I just shook my head and told him they were zucchini and should have been picked when they were slightly larger than the kosher dills he loves to buy at a deli.  He just looked at me like I had no real idea of what they were.

I sighed but decided I had better start cooking some of these things up so that's what I did.  I made up a veggie dish with crooked neck squash, zucchini, onions and some of the firmer tomatoes.  Just a sprinkling of garlic salt and some pepper and it was heavenly.  I cut the squash and zucchini into kind of thick slivers similar to julienne'd veggies but shorter.  There was nothing left once the Beast tasted it.  I had two servings myself but I promised to make more tomorrow.  I'll add some of the baby carrots I have left.

The foot looks better but is still a kind of light purple.  It's been very painful, mostly in the baby toe area.  Having broken that one several times in my life, that part is familiar.  However, I stood on my feet today for way too long while I was working on the veggies and then eating.  The walking to get more didn't help either.  Both my feet started to swell a little so I had to put them up for a while.  I fell asleep for a couple hours so Bratfink was waiting, waiting, waiting patiently for me to get up and back at my keyboard.

The Princess called me today to get the recipe for our family seafood salad.  She actually knew all the ingredients but I don't think she had ever made it by herself before.  She had only helped myriad times.  I guess she made it for a gathering of the clan in Colorado.  I hope they enjoyed it.

She and Chewlee will be home tomorrow evening and I should be seeing my baby on Wednesday.  I did and I didn't miss her if you get my meaning.  I thought about her a lot but I was totally distracted by my foot.  The Beast is just dying to take pictures of her using his new settings and technique.  I just laughed because it will require her sitting still and that might take a sledge hammer. 

I'm looking forward to hearing all she has to say about her *vacation* and all the family she got to see.  The family is from her grandfather's side but family is family.  She just thinks it's incredible how many people love her. 

Time to get this ready and posted.  We are supposed to be getting rain tomorrow so my connection to the internet is going to be spotty.  It also means the Beast will be out early getting all the veggies checked and bringing in what is ready.  I will be cutting up more veggies and getting them ready to be cooked over the next few days.  I told the Beast I was thinking I might just can some of the mixed veggies up for this winter and he said it sounded okay to him.  It cooks up so quickly that I can just can it without cooking it.  The canning itself will do the cooking and keep the veggies firmer.  It really did come out great tasting.

Love you all.  Stay cool.  Stay dry.  Drive carefully.  Pay attention to any tornado sirens.  It was not a good day in Oklahoma today.