Bon

Faith Marie had a CT scan on Friday. She has a kidney stone in each kidney. Other then that, both kidneys look good & there is no cancer!! It was a year ago when she started chemo. 🙏🏻🟠🙏🏻

Faith Marie had a CT scan on Friday. She has a kidney stone in each kidney. Other then that, both kidneys look good & there is no cancer!! It was a year ago when she started chemo. 🙏🏻🟠🙏🏻

Faith Marie had to see a dentist in Pittsburgh last Friday about her teeth. It was just to make sure they were growing in right & no problems from the chemo.
Spacing is good, teeth are coming in fine, very clean, no problems!! 

Faith Marie had to see a dentist in Pittsburgh last Friday about her teeth. It was just to make sure they were growing in right & no problems from the chemo.
Spacing is good, teeth are coming in fine, very clean, no problems!! 

Faith Marie had to see a dentist in Pittsburgh last Friday about her teeth. It was just to make sure they were growing in right & no problems from the chemo.
Spacing is good, teeth are coming in fine, very clean, no problems!! 

Faith Marie had to see a dentist in Pittsburgh last Friday about her teeth. It was just to make sure they were growing in right & no problems from the chemo.
Spacing is good, teeth are coming in fine, very clean, no problems!! 

Faith Marie had to see a dentist in Pittsburgh last Friday about her teeth. It was just to make sure they were growing in right & no problems from the chemo.
Spacing is good, teeth are coming in fine, very clean, no problems!! 

she is getting so big (in a good way)....time flies...such a cutie

What beautiful pictures! The power of Prayer.

And some of her best smiles!

And Faith getting some love from her gramma and her best friend!

New happenings in the world of Faith! She has a medical device called a stander for at home! It helps put necessary weight on her joints and builds muscles and assists with bone growth as well!

Myrtle.

Old Time Gardens Don’t Work Today!
Cheryl J. Shenkle
August 11, 2021
Old time gardens succeeded by development of a fresh patch of soil every couple of years, loads of manure from the family barnyard animals and having a host of kids to plant, weed and water while Grandpa, Mom and Dad called the shots on fertilizing and harvesting. How many of us today have even a fraction of the necessary ingredients for success? It took an intense amount of work and skills. Failure wasn’t an option because the result was an unsatisfied belly in the winter when the pantry got bare.
In today’s gardens, while we envision those treasured memories, we buy and plant way too many seeds. We feel we can still achieve the same results with simple determination.  When strong muscles, ignorance of Mother Nature’s demands and time constraints collide, it results in poor crops, wasted time and eventually, mental and physical pain. 
By late July the huge garden that was eagerly but poorly planted in the spring became a nightmare of weeds, watering and fertilizer demands about which we knew very little.  Physical injuries and the fact of simply growing older began to prove troublesome.  Who needed all those sickly vegetables after all? 
Enter the supermarket!  With it came higher food costs, older foods, poorer nutrition, less healthy outdoor time, chemically contaminated food and loss of a healthy link to food.  I thought I had won a better life with less work not knowing what my family and I were risking.  There wasn’t even a way to fix it that I could imagine or manage.
Becoming a Master Gardener was the breath of fresh, workable ideas that I desperately needed.  How could I not have known all the information Penn State had to share, but where was I to learn it since my grandparents had passed away and my parents had been too busy at jobs to garden. I had few proper garden tools and no knowledge of new efficient and realistic gardening methods.
I quickly found that I had to stop relying on old methods and start putting my mind where my time and muscle used to be.  I laid out a plot plan of our two acres and addressed the structure of a properly located garden.  We had very dry spots, soggy spots, shade, sun, brush-filled areas, disorganization everywhere and I was barely mobile due to severe joint problems.  I bought a used Golf Cart, a small pull-behind wagon, and took everything I needed to the garden where I could work for as long as I chose and have the luxury of a ride back to the house when I got tired!  Plus, I had the Master Gardener Manual!!
What are the tricks of the trade to avoid pain while gardening?
Ergonomics are important to anyone who gardens, particularly those who have health problems or who are getting older.  Young adults would be smart to learn about the correct postures and movements of life. Learn to use tools that fit your body and won’t hurt it. Start small and grow larger gardens each year as you become more accomplished and experienced. Your first garden should be very small and prepared properly a year ahead of time, then soil tested by Penn State in the fall. Learn the difference between a garden guess, a sales pitch and a priceless piece of gardening information.  Start out by first knowing how to succeed. Learn how your garden should look and visit it every day, preferably in the morning and late evening.  Use your walk to stretch, loosen up your muscles and ease your mind.  Be sure to have ergonomic tools at hand, located right where you need them.  Don’t waste energy hauling them from one area to another by hand. Learn the easiest way to do every job in the garden, whether it be posture and balance, a balanced extended tool or when to simply take a break and stop overuse of your body in time to prevent pain. Put a comfy seat near the garden and pace yourself so your gardening experience remains fun and doable.  Take a huge container of water to keep yourself hydrated. Better yet, make your own Haymakers Punch.  Snack directly from your crops for better health and awareness of when crops are ready to pick. Find a way to keep water, fertilizers, tools and equipment right at the garden.  Call the Master Gardener Garden Hotline at your county Extension office. It’s a service of your state agricultural university, which in Pennsylvania is Penn State University.  It’s not a secret that every county provides excellent Horticultural assistance, and it’s all free through trained volunteers.  Come and get it, Master Gardeners are waiting to answer your questions. Think of becoming a Master Gardener as a lifetime experience.  It’s an investment that will net you all of your gardening dreams and which will allow you to share it with others who are searching also.  Happy gardening with much less pain and much more success!

looks like they did her eyes too.....she is such a cutie....keep up the hard work you are doing great!!!!

Not yet, some days her eyes are better than others lol. The eye dr who was going to do her eyes recently moved to Georgia so we have to see a new eye dr and start the process all over again lol

I can’t even be.I’ve April was the last time I posted SMH anyway, so Faith no longer has the NG tube, she has a mic-key button in her belly so she can get her formula, ..it looks the air valve on a beach ball…anyway, she has been going to outpatient therapy weekly and has 7 therapies in home! She’s been busy! But she is making sooo much progress! Plus she is up to 20lbs now! She was down to 15lbs while on chemo so she is bouncing back weight wise! And her hair has gotten so thick!

I have been lax in taking pics of the raised garden i built my mother last year. It has really taken off this year and she already has harvested Celery, Onions and Cabbage. The cabbage took over the small garden and they grew extremely well. I will have to build their own little garden area next year and plant more. I also added a trellis and a potato garden. Here are some pics.
Figured we all needed a break from TL, Consolidation, Biden etc threads.
These first pics are a round 3 foot fire ring that is the strawberry garden. A 8 foot by 4 foot potato garden. A trellis with small gardens on either side. These are all made of live edge lumber I got a few years ago.
More to come
 

pics of the main garden I built last year. These are this years vegetables

Today's pics of the raised garden
 

the strawberry garden, potato garden and the trellis with cantaloupe, cucumbers and watermelon on it. I started today to put weed barrier down and mulch as they were taking over the area. I still need to complete that task.
Pics I had of the cabbage, peppers etc did not show up on my camera apparently I did not hold the button down long enough.

For those that did not see the raised bed last year here it is again.
 

I found one pic of the cabbage and also another of the trellis

Did you try Lowe’s or WM for Bonnie Plants? That supplier usually has really nice plants that are further ahead of the others. Yes you are going to pay a little more, but they are worth it.