FunFoodLife – Page 2 – Julie's Bits

Looking in the rear view mirror

How quickly 2022 passed. . . at least that’s how it feels looking at the year in the rear view mirror.

Mark and I are doing well. We’ve made it through the last couple of years without catching covid. It helps that we are both fully vaccinated against the disease, but being cautious when venturing out into the world again has also helped.

You may know that Mark retired in September 2021. At the time I wondered how he’d fill his days after he retired, but he’s kept himself busy with gardening-related activities. Over the last year, he studied for and passed the Master Gardener’s exam and now he’s a Master Gardener. He spends two mornings a week working at the Master Gardeners’ greenhouse.

In February, Mark’s dad had a stroke. His dad spent several days in a hospital in Asheville, NC and recovered well enough to be discharged to extended care in his neighborhood. Mark’s retirement turned out to be a blessing since he had a great deal of flexibility to help his brother get his dad settled and he’s been able to devote time to sorting out the financial and logistical issues of moving his father into extended care.

Mark worked hard to get our yard ready for the Hydrangea Festival’s tour of gardens in June. This involved laying sod in several spots in the yard where thin, sad grass hardly grew. Almost immediately after laying the new sod a critter started rooting around the sod, messing it up. Mark thought armadillos were the culprits so he set out his trap but didn’t trap anything. So he set up a couple of webcams to figure out what was tearing up the yard. Turns out it was a racoon! He wound up laying netting over the newly sodded areas and this eventually discouraged the racoon enough to allow the sod to take root.

I’m still working for the biomedical company I joined almost 6 years ago where I spend my days pouring over large healthcare databases. Over the years my research has focused on diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and the impacts the use of my company’s products have had on the treatment of DFUs. It’s been a rewarding time for me.

The data mining and analysis I’ve developed over the last couple of years came to fruition in the form of three peer-reviewed articles that are published in The Journal of Wound Care. If you feel so inclined you can click this link to view and download the articles. I am now performing similar analysis on the impact of using our products in the treatment of venous leg ulcers.

I’ve sung with the Douglas County Chamber Singers for more than 20 years, and we were finally able to resume rehearsals after almost two years (covid shut us down right before our 2021 Spring concert). We held our first concert under our new Director in December. The concert was well attended and turned out to be quite an emotional experience for me. After the past two years I had begun to think that covid had silenced the choir permanently since during the many months of covid we lost so many members, including our conductor who decided to retire. It was wonderful for the choir to find its voice again after all the months of silence and I look forward to our Spring 2023 singing season.

I hope you’ve all had a lovely holiday season and offer my very best wishes to you in the coming year.

A Little Bit of Christmas

I’ve been a part of the Douglas County Chamber Singers for about 20 years. The Singers perform two concerts a year, at Christmas and in the Spring. I am one of just a handful of charter members who are still singing with the group.

We suspended the choral group when covid arrived in the United States, in 2020, a week before our Spring concert. Over the many long months of covid lockdown I missed singing with the group and wondered if we’d ever sing together again.

In September, the Singers regrouped and began rehearsing for our Christmas Concert. We have a new director, many new members, and a new name: the Sweetwater Singers.

If you are local, I hope to see you at our Christmas concert :

Douglas County Chamber Singers Announces 2022 – 2023 Season

In August the Douglas County Chamber Singers began rehearsing for our 2022 – 2023 season.

We are kicking off the season under the leadership of our new director Sandra Chandler. During the months of Covid, Vickie Orme, our founder and first director retired and moved to be closer to her family in Utah. We are fortunate that Sandra agreed to take over as our choral director.

During the summer the DCCS board met several times to review our charter and realign the group with our new director’s vision and goals and in the next few months we’ll be making some exciting announcements about the future direction of the group.

We’ve got two performances scheduled before the end of the year:

On October 21st we’ll join the West Side Winds Jazz Orchestra and Myrna Clayton in An Evening Of Music from Broadway Hits

You can purchase tickets to this performance by clicking this link.

Christmas Concert

December 9, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Douglasville First United Methodist Church
6167 Prestley Mill Road
Douglasville, GA 30134

The Christmas Concert performance is free and open to the public.

I hope to see you soon!

Julie

A Final Update on Bert

A few weeks ago, I took Bert to the vet because I was concerned about how thin he had become. He was still eating his pureed food, but he wasn’t maintaining his weight.

The vet examined him and told me his kidneys were failing. “There’s nothing short of a kidney transplant that will keep him alive. It’s just a matter of time…”

I suspected as much but the news still made me incredibly sad. At the time Bert was still able to get around okay, he still enjoyed sitting outside on the porch, nestling in one of the dog beds, and he still intimidated the girls. By all accounts he was still fine…at least HE thought so.

I brought him home and did my best to keep him comfortable and eating. Things went along as usual until last week. On Tuesday he needed some help getting around and I figured he was living his last few days.

Things turned very bad overnight and on Wednesday morning he died. I was with him at the time he passed and up until his final last stretch he was aware and alert. I am so thankful he died at home, surrounded by the things that brought him joy. And I am so glad I was there gently patting him as my remarkable boy – the boy who wandered into my yard 15 years ago, the boy who survived cancer of his mouth 5 years ago, the boy who came to dominate and hold his own amongst my two 80 pound dogs – passed over.

I don’t know what happens after death, but I sure hope to see Bert along with all my other beloved animal companions again some day.

Meet Charlotte

Charlotte joined our family on Saturday when Raven and I drove to a park in Lawrenceville to meet her.

She’s a happy, sweet girl who is currently unspayed and has poor household manners (think 5 month old puppy in a 70 lb big dog body).

We have a lot of training ahead, but Raven likes her and Bert will come around…eventually.

We hope to get her spayed ASAP.

Sanctuary

I dwell in a forest of oak and pine
Where deer trails converge to a single line
That leads to a spring and a pond beyond.
Each night I drift off to peaceful sleep with ease
As Nature plays a rustling breeze
Through the scrubby brush and the tops of trees.
And I awaken each morning to the cardinal’s trill
With a lifted heart and a silent thrill
In knowing I belong to such beauty and grace
As the forest of oak and pine in this place.

I transverse the thoroughfares of working life
Amidst a jungle of concrete and steel, where
So much energy is wasted in the busy-ness and strife
Of productive occupation;
And where I am tossed in a roiling sea
Of mindless conversation.
I armor myself with competency and success
To blunt the blows and mute the stress of meaningless proliferation.

And at the end of a long, hard day,
I am more than glad to be on my way
Home to this forest of solitude and rest
That enfolds me in its loving breast
And fills my heart with home.

Loss

Almost 13 years ago, my sweet Gracie came to live with me.

At the time I was mourning the loss of Winnie, the American Eskimo dog that lived with us for almost 16 years. It was the first time in my adult life that I had been without a dog and I was so lonely.

I had been spending time pouring over rescue group and humane society websites, and I saw a picture of her on Craigslist. She looked perfect to me, so I responded to the listing and the very next day I drove to the North Georgia mountains to meet her.

I’ve always let my animal companions choose me, but she didn’t want anything to do with me. I assessed her current situation…her owner wanted to be rid of her as soon as possible and would sell her to the first person who showed up with his asking price ($100). Even though she didn’t show any interest in me, I knew I would provide her with a good home, so I decided to take her home with me. She was so attached to her current owner and confused when he forced her into my car. As we drove away, she sat in the passenger seat with her back to me and her face pressed against the window. I patted her and told her it would be alright, but my reassurances were unacknowledged. She was scared, confused and devastated.

I wasn’t sure how Gracie would do that first night. She was uncomfortable in the house, with me and she was stressed out and so confused. I didn’t want to disturb Mark’s sleep, so I slept on the couch where I could be near her and keep an eye on her. She finally settled down on the living room floor and I drifted off to sleep. Sometime during the night I woke up, opened my eyes and Gracie was sitting directly in front of me, close, studying my face. I could see the questions in her eyes, “Who are you? Why am I here? Am I safe?” That was the moment I fell in love with her. It took her a little longer to fall in love with me.

Those early days were difficult and heart breaking, but slowly, ever so slowly, she adjusted, started to trust me, became comfortable in her new home. It took quite a few more months for her to get comfortable with Mark.

Once she got comfortable with me, she stuck close to me like velcro. She became my most devoted, loyal, best friend and she loved me unconditionally. She would be laying across the room from me and I would see her steal a quick glance back at me. If she caught me looking back at her, she would raise her head higher and her expression would change to bright alertness. When we would go for walks she would walk ahead of me with her tail high and a confident spring in her step. She was proud to be my girl and I was honored to be graced with her love and confidence all these years.

Over the last year, she slowed down and started showing her age. Her beautiful chocolate coat became mottled with silver on her face, her haunches, her feet. Our daily 3 mile walks became shorter and slower. And her play ended after only 3 runs for the ball.

In June we noticed a change in her appetite. Even after many trips to the vet and despite offering a wide variety of flavorful foods and goodies her appetite continued to diminish. The vet prescribed an anti-depressant in the hopes of stimulating her appetite. We were so hopeful that the drug would jumpstart her appetite but it never did. She choked down the food I cooked for her, often to only throw it up a few minutes later. She got thinner and thinner. She started stumbling around, was restless during the night. When she started having seizures, we decided we had to let her go.

Gracie died on July 27th. I can hardly think of her without my throat tightening, my eyes welling up with tears. Her loss has been overwhelming and ever present. Even now, two months later. I cry most every day. My grief is the only downside of having loved her. I miss her so much.

My other dog Raven misses her too. When Gracie was alive, Raven enjoyed spending time with her. She followed her all around the yard, as Gracie checked her favorite stumps and digging spots. Raven snuggled up to Gracie every night and would often lick her awake in the mornings.

But since she has passed, Raven hasn’t been so keen about going out into the woods to explore their favorite stumps and holes. All of the holes and stumps that were a source of obsession and entertainment have been neglected. When I go to work now I have to lead Raven into the dog pen with a leash and a treat. Last week when I made a quick trip to the grocery, she climbed out of the fence and greeted me as I returned down the driveway.

As we have done with all of the beloved pet companions that we’ve lost, we buried Gracie in the woods on our property in the small pet cemetery we established when our first dog, Muffin, died. The cemetery is where Muffin (American Eskimo), Jubilee (cat), Phoebe (cat), Missy (mixed breed dog), Winnie (American Eskimo), Mama & Handsome (cats) and Milo (rat terrier), several rabbits and now Gracie are buried. In the years the cemetery has existed none of the graves have ever been disturbed until now. Two times Mark has had to shovel soil back over Gracie’s grave, he is sure that Raven has dug at the grave both times. She saw us bury Gracie so she knows that Gracie is there.

Mark finally laid some rocks, wire and logs over Gracie’s grave to discourage any further digging and that seems to be working but Raven still disappears into the woods from time to time to linger at her grave.

Gracie was my special girl – a once in a lifetime kind of dog that can never be replaced. In the first couple of weeks after she died I thought I would wait for the universe to bring me another dog. But now I think Raven really needs a new companion so I’m putting it out there…..I hope to find another young (<= 3 years old) female, blonde or chocolate lab that won’t go crazy around cats…. no dog will ever replace my Gracie, but I have room in my heart and home for another pup.

Rest in peace sweet girl. I sure love and miss that beautiful face and those soulful eyes.

Gracie 12/26/2004 – 07/27/2019

African Violets in Bloom

Here are four varieties of the African Violets that I propagated from leaves that are currently blooming.

This is a Ness’ Blueberry Puff. It’s been blooming for several weeks.

Two “Cajon’s Cherished Hope” African Violets. These were the first that bloomed and have been producing blooms for a couple of months.

An EK-Sady Semiramidy. What a lovely bloom! The bloom reminds me of the Sweet Shrub that blooms in early Spring.

Three Bishop African Violets that started blooming 2 weeks ago. Isn’t it interesting that two of the plants’ blooms are a light pink and the third plant has a darker bloom?

So, for now only four varieties of my African Violets have produced blooms and I have eight more varieties coming along. I’ll post pictures of those when they start producing blooms.