Author: Jo Mayne Casey

Posted in 2019, Autumn at Sonnystone Acres

Autumn Garden Journal #3

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Though today is sunny and the high temps will reach to nearly 60 degrees, we’re going to be slammed with Frigid Air and possible Snow tonight and tomorrow morning.  The leaves are falling quickly and Casey has been mulching them up as well as using them to cover the roots of our vulnerable roses.  I’ll bring in the mums from the porch today and I’m done for the growing season; time to watch the Birds, just as I dreamed back in the Spring.

I’m working on re-potting my African Violets and Spider Plants, searching around for the correct containers and such.  Whilst researching proper replanting techniques, I discovered that I’ve actually been doing everything wrong with the violets. Since they have grown and bloomed 2-3 times a year for the last 6 or so years, I never suspected.  Now I’m worried that if I do what the experts say they’ll up and die, so I’m dragging my feet. My spider plants just need to be divided, so I’ll start there.

It’s Zoo Member Appreciation Day and we’re going to pick up Olivia and Samantha and go out and be Appreciated.  We’ve been members for Years, but have never attended this event.  They’re pretty vague about what to expect, but there’s supposed to be Animal Encounters and Snacks, so I’m up for it.

Fire up the Woodstoves!  Wintry Air Blasts Expected!

Peace

Posted in 2019, Autumn at Sonnystone Acres

Just what you wanted to read…

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Good Times here at The Acres!  It’s Colonoscopy Week!  I started my prep yesterday for tomorrow’s procedure; Casey will follow along with his prep on Sunday, procedure next Tuesday.  We are both polyp-prone, so these things are an every-3-year occurrence.

I always dread the Prep..doesn’t everybody?   I used to hate the All of it until they started using  Propofol.  Now I’m like all excited to be stoned out of this Galaxy.  You can’t grow that stuff at home…

So I’m left to only complain about clear liquids for two days, drinking a gallon of powdery gross stuff, pooping my brains out, then pooping some more.

Actually, it’s not that bad.  People do this On Purpose and call it a Detox.  Nothing clears your Ama like a colonoscopy prep, though.

It’s like a clean slate to eat healthier, but I admit I will grab any solid food I can after I wake from that Michael Jackson Sleep.

Everyone should do colon cancer screenings, before and after they are age 50.  If you have a first-degree relative (Mom, Dad, sibling) who had colon cancer you should start getting them at age 40 or 10 years earlier than the age the relative was when diagnosed.  If you’re just at average risk, it’s still a good idea to do a fecal occult blood test starting around 40.  All you do is smear poop on a card and send it off to the lab.  If all is well with that, you’re good to wait till age 50 for the scope and then every 10 years until you’re too old to die young (around 85).

The body is very marvelously and wonderfully made.  We do what we can to take care of it, but aging takes its toll.  Don’t put off this important procedure just because everything was okay when you got checked 10 years ago.  I let 13 years go by between checks and developed 12 angry polyps.  Could be those last 3 years is what made them so mad.

Just like when I fly, I do give a thought to the possibility that this may not turn out well. Odds are that I have grown some more polyps, but by screening often, I should be able to catch anything more sinister before it grows out of hand.

Thanks to Obamacare, insurance companies are required to pay for colon cancer screenings in toto.  (if doctors find something wrong – polyps or a biopsy – you can be charged for that, but not for the procedure itself, saving you about $3000 on average).  So what’s your excuse?

I’ve got some errands to run and I’m not looking forward to driving through the fragrant food smells down at the shopping center.

 The broth just cries out for saltines.

Peace

 

 

 

Posted in 2019, Autumn at Sonnystone Acres, growing every season, Photos

Autumn Garden Journal #2

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Yesterday I slept in, lulled back to sleep by the relentless rain.  It carried on all day and by mid-afternoon had morphed into a Big Wind that littered the ground with branches and leaves. We had some Strong Gusts and I’m curious to see if any trees came down in the woods.   By sunset, we could see the sun and today should be okay.

These pictures were taken Friday, Before the Storm…

The roses are blooming away.  The purple coneflower is still a bird-magnet.

All that’s left of the edible garden:  Pineapple Sage and Asparagus ferns.

The birds have been frolicking in the bird bath. I so enjoyed watching that I didn’t catch a shot of them splashing around…

It’s predicted that Jack Frost will arrive to paint our trees their best oranges, reds, and yellows on Halloween.  I love his work and the trees are primed…

Keep on Growing…

Posted in 2019, Autumn at Sonnystone Acres, blogging

The Writing Life…

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

I’m in a slump… >sigh<  I want my Words to Flow effortlessly from my fingertips.  I want every stroke of the key to reveal a sentence that is perfection.  I want each of my Elevated Thoughts to be expressed so exquisitely that you gather at my feet enraptured by my Wokeness.

Being a Writer is an old, old dream that I cooked up six or seven Lives ago. Through the years, I scribbled in notebooks and journals, but always thought that if I only had the time that Great American Novel would write itself.

I’ve blogged for 15 years now, but being a blogger is not considered to be the same as being a Writer.  In fact, I’ve been told by several writer/friends that it is my blogging that gets in the way of my writing.  Actually, I feel like the time I spend working on the book just gets in the way of my blogging.

I guess I’ve put some ancient expectation on myself that I have to publish a book in order to be a Writer.  In this day of self-publishing, how difficult could it be to satisfy my ego with a published book?  So I’ve written some chapters and re-written them and put them away.  I get them out and re-read them and think, that’s not bad, just finish it.  Then I end up editing them and putting them away again, on a loop.  It feels forced and Not Fun and sort of depressing.  Currently I want to burn it all…

I realize that I’m not a conventional blogger who monetizes her blog and cranks out the “5 things you can’t live without” posts.  I know that my following is meager.  Still,  the idea of not blogging gives me the existential heebie-jeebies.  For the most part, I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these 1000+ posts over the years.

Thanks to the Feeling of Freedom that has persisted since our trip, I’m letting go of the worn-out dream of Being a Writer aka writing a NYT bestseller (but I’m not going to burn the pages I’ve written).  I’m letting go of the daydream that I’ll be a hit on all the late-night shows (but I’m still preparing clever repartee, just in case).  No more guilt or feeling like I’ve not lived up to…something.  I’m sticking with what I enjoy, no matter how hard it is…even if I have to blog about doing the laundry or cleaning the house…even if nobody reads it.

An interviewer once asked one of my favorite authors, Ursula LeGuin,  advice for writers, and she replied: “I am going to be rather hard-nosed and say that if you have to find devices to coax yourself to stay focused on writing, perhaps you should not be writing what you’re writing. And if this lack of motivation is a constant problem, perhaps writing is not your forte. I mean, what is the problem? If writing bores you, that is pretty fatal. If that is not the case, but you find that it is hard going and it just doesn’t flow, well, what did you expect? It is work; art is work.”

Look out!  The Blogger is Back.

 

Thanks for reading!

Peace

 

Posted in 2019, Autumn at Sonnystone Acres, updates

Falling for Fall

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

The weather is chilly with bright sunshine and last night’s Full Moon was spectacular.

Though my foot is still tender (it was a bad sprain) I’m up and at the decorating and gardening.  A lot of Time has been spent Being Here Now — watching the birds, going about my chores, and taking time to prop up my feet.

 

I haven’t felt like writing and I apologize for my absence.  These last few months have been physically challenging but mentally strengthening. The former is fading as the healing of the tendons and ligaments progresses.    The latter is not easy to discuss…  I just feel Free…

That Freedom is currently manifesting itself by being outside.  Tugged along by the Autumn changes, I’m walking through crunchy leaves, feeling the pull of the season from hot and green to cool and orange, My usual cardinals have now been joined by migrating birds at the feeders and bath.  I’m too busy Watching to take very many pictures, but I’m sure that will pick up since I got out the Nikon.

 

Peace

Posted in 2019, Autumn at Sonnystone Acres, updates

Post-Op

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

I had surgery on Monday.  I went in with a small, still draining cyst on my inner right thigh.  I knew the thing had been full of infection last July, but I wasn’t prepared for how extensive the tunneling had been.  I have a 5-inch incision and a lot of bruising now but at least the damn thing is gone.

The first two days were spent in a hydrocodone-haze, feet up and ice bag on hand.  Yesterday, I decided to be well and got up and strode around, using ibuprofen only.  Sitting in my office chair is not necessarily comfortable. Six hours later, I was back on my ass, ice-bag on and whining for a tab.  Today I am pacing myself, 3 hours on, 3 off.  I hate it.  I can’t drive for fear of pulling stitches, so I’m stuck here. I have no interest in watching TV, but I do have my soaps recorded, so there’s that.  It’s a good time to catch up on the movies I haven’t watched and the books I’ve been meaning to read.

What’s keeping me patient is planning the Fall Garden Work that will give us an outline of the Bird Garden.  It’s gone through some changes as I stared out my window, but I believe we have the final layout figured.  Casey is taking care of some other projects (and me) right now, but if weather (and my leg) is co-operative we should be starting in a couple of weeks.

I got some mums before the surgery and brought down our motley assortment of fall decorations.  It doesn’t feel like Autumn yet, that’s for sure, but by the time I’m back on my feet we should feel the changes.

Wink loves Fall

Peace