41 and Counting

The last day in the month of August 

has significant meaning to me.

Each year that passes embraces special memories.

A day to remember.

Today is our Wedding Anniversary.

41 years later…I am pleased that we are still married 

and have built a life together.

HOME LIFE.

The covenant of marriage is 

ordained by a Holy God.

Not to be taken lightly,

d

Seelye Mansion Youthful Bedroom

 One of the Bedrooms in the 25 room Georgian style

 1905 Seelye Mansion in Abilene, Kansas 

was well suited for a Golden Oak Princess Vanity.  

Original furniture through out the Medicine Man's residence.

Brass Bed with porcelain knobs rest

next to the beautiful curved window 

adorned with lace panels.

Perhaps we should sit a while to catch our breath  

before touring all of the rooms.

This is a huge house.

Making a HOME doesn't require

thousands of square footage, 

but having the desire to create a HOME 

takes HEART and SOUL.

Beautiful thoughts.

Blessings,

d

Another Cup Of Cold Coffee

Beautiful day in the Flint Hills with powdered blue skies, a faint breeze in motion with the humming sound of a lawn mower cutting a lawn in the distance.  I finished eating left-over skillet chili for lunch and my hot cup of coffee has gone cold.  Don't mind the cold coffee...I like the stuff.  The chili was good and now all gone.

At 86 degrees outside, I have no air conditioner on and it feels rather comfortable indoors as I've tilted my office chair on wheels backwards to lean up against the tall wardrobe behind me to gaze outside the family room window to look at the gigantic tree outside on the side yard.  Take a deep breath.  Continue...I don't do enough of this...just looking and pausing to do little of nothing.  I have had it in my mind that I must be busy all the time in order to have value of any sort.  I graduated from the public school system so long ago and yet I still think I am going to get a progress report on how I do things around here.  The report card is in the mail.  What an awful way to be.

I suppose performance based people have this issue to overcome as they grow old.  Shamed based and or performance based people are victims to not relaxing as they should.  

The rumbling of a near by train makes my body feel it's presence as it travels to its distination.  I am still alive.

The neighbor man can be heard chatting with a friend about life using a few foul words as they tinker on his automobile that's park in his yard.  I can hear you. 

This morning I occupied myself with paper sorting and laundry.  Like the poor, the laundry is always with me and the paperwork seems to breed.  It could be the other way around...the laundry breeds and the paperwork is always with me.  May the force be with us all.

It is getting easier to toss old papers.  That's progress.

It's midweek in which I buy my local newspaper after picking up the mail.  This particular Wednesday is a slow paced one.  

Yesterday morning a phone call came in from the Ears, Nose and Throat Specialist to inform us that my Husband does not have cancer in his enlarged lymph nodes.  It's still soaking in.  

He has a mercury filled tooth on the same side of the head that these enlarged lymphs are.  In my gut, I know he needs to have this mercury taken out of this particular tooth that is mostly filling and have this refilled with resin.  I'd like to go to a sauna and have toxins steamed out of our bodies as well.  Dentist may still not agree that mercury nurtures unwanted health issues.

ALL aboard the deception train.

Sometime I'll share how Sigmund Frued's nephew Edward Bernays  convinced the American Dental Association that fluoride was good for people when in reality it's a toxic waste product.   He was very good at what he did and called propaganda Public Relations.

Bernays helped the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) find a market for Hexafluorosilicic acid, a byproduct of aluminum production. Working on behalf of Alcoa and various special interest groups, he successfully convinced the American public that water fluoridation was safe and beneficial to human health. This was achieved by using the American Dental Association in a highly successful media campaign.

Edward created most of the corporation manipulation techniques used for advertising.  I had not heard of him until recently though he lived and worked for our President Woodrew Wilson.

I will not embarrass you on how he sold people to use Dixie Cups with subliminal images.  No not gonna do it. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

All in a day's work.
More coffee please.  
Hold the fluoride,
d

Seelye Mansion Library

Many nice features about the Seelye Mansion.

One was the Library.  If you like books like I do, sitting in comfort is always a plus.  

Comfortable furniture, interesting literature, good lighting, being in a quiet room away from loud noises makes for a nice reading room.

This room has an original Edison light fixture

 that shines bright even now.

Beautiful sofa table with leather sofa on other side sets the stage for a nice study.

Original  Edison Lighting

The Library did have its share of leather furniture 
to use for visiting and reading in comfort.

Curtains hang in the passageway between the Library 
and a Sitting room with modern day television.  I understand that the Sisters did not watch television until Terry, the present owner, convinced them it was alright.

 Blessings to you and may your Home be a comfortable place to be.

Thank you for stopping by.

All the best,

d

SOcial LIFE Is a Pain In The Neck

Week-end is just about here. 

The washing machine is running.
Coffee in hand while I am still in my house coat.
Getting ready to run that hot tub of water to soak and have some relaxation time.
Take a deep breath and go ahhhhh.

I have now joined the club of those who identify their social life being filled with doctor's appointments.

Husband's biopsy was to be last Tuesday.  We went to doctor's office and I was wearing my best PINK LIPSTICK that I own.  Forgot the earrings, but I was wearing a blouse and had shoes on my feet so they wouldn't deny us service. 

I waited in the Lobby thumbing through a magazine.  I forgot my own magazines and passed the time looking as if I really cared what the latest fashion trend was.  It was the best magazine they provided so it was the one for me.  The lesser of two evils would have been to just sit and stare.  I think I should have just sat.  I have no cell phone with pics to look at.

It took awhile for my dear Husband to be called into the exam room.  He was gone about twenty minutes before returning to the Lobby and told me because the lymph node was so large, he'd have to have the procedure moved to the Hospital on Thursday.  Sigh.

We went to eat and then go home.

This doctor was aware of the size of the lymph as he told my Husband so in the previous appointment.  Knowing the size of the lymph, he told Husband to come back to have it biopsied.  So he did only to be told that the biopsy should be done at the Hospital.  This doctor got an extra appointment out of him with charge knowing the size of lymph already.  I have lost my faith in doctors.  True, they are just human, but humans can have integrity in spite of being human.  Integrity.  Perhaps he doesn't know what that is.

Husband is having serious pain in the neck.  On some days he is a pain in the neck….that is meant to be funny.  Please keep a sense of humor or I'll cry.

We waited and Thursday came.  He had a ultra sound done and was told they didn't see anything.  He had to tell them that the lymph hides behind his larynx.  He pushed on it and moved it to where the technician then saw it.  It wasn't alone.  There were TWO.  One behind the other and both are enlarged.  Technician snapped shot the lymphs.

When the doctor at the Hospital doing the biopsy just about didn't do a biopsy…Husband spoke up.  They started with a fine needle biopsy and then went to a larger core needle.

Husband fell through the cracks with his endocrinologist and suffered longer than needed to about a huge mass in his thyroid.  After surgically removing his cancerous thyroid, we should not have stayed with the endocrinologist that we have.

We've been way too nice to the doctor... and need to move onto a different endo.  Here we are a year and a half later having issues of enlarged lymphs in Husband's neck.  They were aware of these enlarged lymphs and said nothing to him about the lymph being enlarged.  Flagged him.  Then shared with him months later after surgery.

NOW we know that there two enlarged lymphs…..very concerned about lymphoma.

We wait to find out the results.  A week will go by.  

I am upset,
d  

Kari Jobe - I Am Not Alone (Live)

Come What May

Time to think.

Lil Miss is back in school where her Momma takes her in the mornings and I pick her up after school dismisses for the day.  This allows me to have a very slow start to my mornings.  A load of laundry will go in the wash, coffee time with quiet moments to follow.  Prayer time un-rushed and my soul will swell with joy.  It's been awhile since I felt like I wasn't needing to hurry through.  

I do love the sound of my active Grand repeatedly saying "Grandma Grandma."  It is a sweet name to be called.  Music to my ears from all the grands.  Say it again.  I need this.      

Three months went into childcare with the longer days.  From a quarter to eight in the mornings until four forty in the afternoons.  We stayed busy and I had fun with my Grand daughter.  Almost nine hour days.  A nap here and a snack there.  A little television, a drive about town to get the mail and buy a newspaper.  Seeing the wide open sights of the Flint Hills and shop a tad.  Read and go through old papers to sort.  Walk, talk and day dream.  Nice days.

Now I am ready for Quiet Time.  This week I shall see how it goes.  

Husband has a biopsy this week and then we wait it out to find out what's going on with this enlarged lymph node in his neck.  I cannot keep from thinking what shall we do if this is cancer?  God is with us.  He will help us.  My confidence shall be in the LORD.

Come what may.

I am waiting patiently for the new dose of medicine to help me be better.  It has been a rough road having hypothyroidism take so much out of me.  Walking is difficult and the sweating awful.  The fatigue is life changing.  

This past week-end Husband finished painting the smallest bedroom in our 'ole stone house.  I think it is a very sweet room.  It is a delight to go to this room and see the change that has taken place.  Soon the mattress and box springs will be moved into the room through an upstairs window where I will make up the bed with a green and white duvet.  Throw pillows adds a comfy feel.

Pictures soon.

Certain pieces of furniture have to go through an upstairs window.  Believe it or not.  We're making arrangements and hopefully in a few days this dilemma will be no more.  Our HOME morphs along at a slow pace.  I have to keep reminding myself that we are further along than we were.  

The pictures prove it.  One very nice thing about having before and after pictures.

We ate supper at the newly opened cafe downtown.  Wonderful to have this building reopened for business.  Wish the Grocery Store would open again.  I miss the small town feel of small town businesses.  

Also the BIG EVENT of the SUMMER happened on a HOT NIGHT.  A large car show took place.  I'm running behind with the down loading of pics.  I am not one that has a camera in my phone that I can post within a few seconds.  So the pictures will have to come later.

Snagged this off of the internet.
Snagging.

As we walked downtown and ate on Saturday evening, we viewed autos in the show and walked HOME.  I over heated.  Nearly collapsed on the sofa.  My temperature was 96.7 dripping with sweat on a 82 degree day.  With having no thyroid, I easily overheat, have excessive sweating when my body is actually cooler than norm.  Feels like being in a furnace and it takes longer than average to actually cool off.  Husband is the same way.

With upping my meds, I had heart palpitations that made me ill.  Very uncomfortable and they take one's breath away.  Felt better today and feeling more rested.  

Literature tells me to tell my doctor about these symptoms.  I do.  I do.  I do.  I do.  It goes nowhere. Very  frustrating to still have the symptoms with nothing different done.  SO I research on the internet and get better informed by others that are going through similar things.  Very helpful.  I've been told to ignore the internet….by the ones that are suppose to be doctoring me.  I still can read and reason. Surprise.  I am not completely daft.  Imagine that. 

Hopefully I will get laundry caught up this week and start rearranging the utility shelves for a cleaner pantry.  I have to continue to gather childhood memorabilia for my grown children to give them for their 40th birthdays when the time comes.  That means I have to return to the garage in the heat of the SUMMER to locate items to box and wrap.  Stack them high and wide in the upstairs hallway. Sounds neat, huh. 

Return the Dining room back to her glorious self.  She has been a staging room this SUMMER.  Once again she is cluttered with items that need to find a HOME somewhere else and not in the Dining room. 

The Christmas items must be thinned out.  This makes me cringe to think about it.  Grit my teeth and get 'er done.  Perhaps by the end of September it will be a thing of the past.  It will make me feel so much lighter having this thinned down and out.

After I get caught up a tad, I will attempt to stitch balloon shades for the bump-out.  I have sewn these in my head hundreds of times...now to actually do this.  By Christmas, the four windows will be prettied up with see through panels that greet passerby's that glance at this HOUSE.  I think I need to put hurricane lamps on the window ledges.  How nice this would be.  

These are my late SUMMER projects that need attention.

SO that's: get the laundry caught up.
Utility room shelves reorganized.
Mattress and box springs relocated upstairs.
Children's memorabilia gathered, boxed, wrapped and stacked.
Tidy Dining room.
Christmas items gone through and thinned out.
Stitch Balloon Shades and install.
Wait for the Kitchen to turn into a charmer.
Shall see how it all goes.

SUMMER has been a better place with finished projects.  Helps to calm my nerves.

Husband painted our porch and painted our Guest room this Summer.  What a sweet advancement he accomplished.  I am so grateful to him and for him.  He continues on our Kitchen a little here and a little there.  The day this room is completed I won't know what to do with myself.  The room is too small for me to leap with joy in.  SO perhaps I will twirl in a circle and get really dizzy.  It will be so nice to have this room finished.  I have talked and talked and talked about OUR KITCHEN. Someday soon, I pray.

A Grandson turns ONE this month!  Two other Grandsons start Kindergarten.  Off to school they go.  Two Grandchildren are in Third Grade and one will be a Eighth Grader.
  
Thoughts of Autumn Thanksgiving are manifesting and then Christmas with the Holidays not far behind.

SPA DAY on Fridays will be really popular with me as I soak in the tub, shave my legs and scour my feet.  A facial, tweezing eyebrows, whitening and flossing my teeth will be necessary as I let my hair be conditioned with olive oil.  Then shower off washing my hair to style.  Pretty up the fingernails and toenails.  Refreshing.  We all need time to go ahhh.  Treat oneself with pampering.    

I will smile and rejoice that we are making progress,
d

Seelye Mansion Stairway, Second Floor Landing and One of the Bedrooms

Welcome to the Seelye Mansion Tour.

I waited close to 20 years before touring the Abilene, Kansas 
25 room Seelye Mansion built in 1905 to see this treasure known as one of the architectural wonders.  Worth the wait.

The stylish stairway is state of the art BEAUTIFUL.

NUTCRACKERS are displayed 

throughout the house throughout the year.

Heirloom pictures.

  "Turn on the lights." 

Original saying from having to twist the fixture 

to actually turn on the lights. 

The real mc coy.

Second floor landing.

Most of the home's furnishings 

were purchased at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair. 

The furnishings cost more than the $55,000 

that was spent building the 11,000 square feet Georgian style home.

Tourist from the Ukraine. 

The Daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Seelye 

never married and remained in the HOME 

until their deaths.

You can almost hear them talking.

Some pictures of the girls are on the wall.

Bedroom with Sleigh Bed.

 A sleigh bed is a style of bed with curved or scrolled foot and headboards, thus resembling a sled or sleigh. Often made of wood and quite heavy, the sleigh bed is a result of the French and American Empire period of the early 19th century. The Empire style drew its inspiration from the empires of ancient Rome and Greece.

 The tour continues…..thanks for stopping by.

d

Doors open onto the Balcony Porch.  

How pleasant this would be to sit outside when the weather would be milder and kinder to those who are fortunate enough to be there.

If you were to modernize this just a tad....this room would be enjoyable as a Family room where the windows and doors were open to walk outside in the cool of the evening.  With it being on the front of the house, it would be a people friendly room.

Bedroom Number One 
at the front of the magnificent 
Seelye Mansion.