Saturday, January 21, 2012

A New Year

I'm so glad that 2011 is over, it was not a good year here at Draco. After Lyn fell and broke her arm in March, a compound fracture that required plates and screws, her back started to bother her. After months of agonizing pain and many doctors visits and finally surgery, she is almost a hundred percent again. During this time I had to step up and do all the cleaning, washing and cooking and still try to make a living. I didn't realize how much that little woman does around here. I always wondered what the two big white cubes in the shop were for. You can actually wash and dry clothes in them. Who knew?

We have been married for 31 years now and Lyn has exercised every one of those days, always wanting to lose a few pounds. Well, after several months of laying on the couch, getting no exercise and eating my cooking it appears she lost 12 pounds. If her back problems had persisted for much longer I would have starved her to death.

Just when I was able to sneak a post in during September we found out her Dad had lymphoma and would have to start chemo. A few weeks later her mother found out she had cancer in her liver, originating from her breast cancer 16 years ago. While it seems an ingrained tradition to hate your in laws, that is not my case. I have the best mother and father in law that a man could want and feel I should do every thing I can to make their problems better.It's made things a little slow here on the blog but things are starting to perk back up a bit.

The gardens took a pretty big hit this last year with the drought and me not taking very good care of them but it can be fixed. The damage  to the country side around here looks to be permanent. A drive just before Christmas shows the damage.


These are not trees with fall colors but are dead trees. The next three pictures are driving along CR 258 going toward Tejas Camp.


It seemed that the Spanish Oaks were hit the hardest with the Cedar Elms almost as bad. This is a view from Ronald Reagan just north of Hwy. 29.
The damage here at the house wasn't as bad but I will show that here in a few days.
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11 comments:

  1. Linda/patchworkJanuary 22, 2012 at 11:04 AM

    Sorry to hear of all the problems of 2011. Hoping that this new year will be 100% better for all of you.
    Hang in there...

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  2. CatJanuary 22, 2012 at 3:07 PM

    Bob, I sure am glad to hear that your wife is on the mend. That's really good news. Driving through the country-side can be depressing these days...I'm trying to enjoy winter as best I can and focus on what I can improve with what I already have. Speaking of such, I'd like to enlist your help. I've got an iron fence and gate (4ft tall) along the back of our property and I'd like to add a trellis of some type over the gate. Would you be interested in such a project? You can email if you'd like at austinwhimsicalgardener.gmail.com

    Thanks

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  3. katinaJanuary 22, 2012 at 7:23 PM

    Welcome back tothe blogging. Glad to hear that Lyn is doing better. At the end of summer, when Shawn and I were riding along Ronald Reagan while training for the LiveStrong biking challenge, Shawn commented about how pretty the trees looked. I responded that they would look better if the colors were because of normal fall leaf change instead of drought. Sad...

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  4. BobJanuary 22, 2012 at 9:26 PM

    I will email you Cat.

    That Shawn is no plant person Katina, but he's the guy I would go to about bikes though.

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  5. Pam/DiggingJanuary 26, 2012 at 11:41 PM

    I'm glad Lyn is doing better but sorry to hear about her folks' illnesses. And the dying trees in the Hill Country are just too sad. Here's to a better 2012.

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  6. CarolineJanuary 30, 2012 at 10:16 PM

    Bob, it's good to hear from you. Glad to hear Lyn's doing better, but that sure is tough news about her folks -- hope they're doing OK. We saw lots of dead trees on a drive to West Texas and back last year. Good to have a bit of rain around these parts, isn't it?

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  7. TexasDebFebruary 2, 2012 at 7:38 AM

    I have a feeling the results of the current drought -like the aftermath of the last really big freeze - will take a year or more to surface.

    That said, I am glad your sweet wife is better though it absolutely stinks that both her parents are now faced with healthcare struggles as well.

    One nongardening question: will you be releasing your No-Exercise Diet anytime soon?

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  8. Garden seedsFebruary 6, 2012 at 10:06 AM

    Thanks for the post mate you have written it very well.

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  9. ConsciousGardenerFebruary 16, 2012 at 5:48 AM

    Hey Bob, I'm so sorry to hear about Lyn's folks and I hope she is back to %100 now! I need to lose a few pounds buddy, so feel free to swing on by here as well...teehee. Miss ya! Hope to see ya soon...hang in there :)

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  10. scottweberpdxFebruary 24, 2012 at 6:23 PM

    I don't blame you for being glad to see 2011 end. Let's all hope for a better 2012!

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  11. Nancy KrenekFebruary 27, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    Bob, glad to hear Lynn is better. You are one talented dude. Can you call me when you get a chance. I have a new project., plus I want to talk to you about lymphoma as well as flyfishing. Nancy

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