My dad is now recuperating from having a pacemaker put in by the fine surgeons at University Hospital. He went from having no energy and not being able to breathe hardly at all to color back in his face, sparkle back into his eyes and increased stamina to live his life! They saved his precious life, and now he is healing. I can't say how amazing this is, to see his transformation. He's not out of the woods with his health yet, there are still many medicines to take, monitoring by doctors and nurses, and dealing with the heart failure and COPD. But to see him up, walking around and being able to spend time enjoying life again is miraculous.
I'm concerned about the little boys (aged 2 to 7, roughly) next door overwhelming my poor parents' house. With my dad being ill, this is getting intolerable. They aren't watched very well and come over to their house waaaay too much. Yesterday was a total fiasco, with them all over their porch, invading like an army, touching/getting into everything, one wanted to paint their window when he wasn't getting the attention he wanted! Dad needs peace and quiet, and they don't know how to be quiet in the least, and don't want to go home when asked to. Mom loves the little boys, but they are invasive and loud, and even she is tired of it, she tries not to let it show, though. I may have to step in if it gets out of hand, but for now, mom tries hard to handle all of them. They need to be home, with their family, not taking over the porch and letting themselves in my parents' house, uninvited. I'm friends with their older sisters, who try to handle them but it's just too much work for young girls to do. Heartbreaking. They should be out playing, not babysitting all the time at that age. I'm so glad I was an only child. The parents are very nice people and are basically friends but passive..there's 11 children and they don't seem to realize how very troublesome the little boys can get..and my elderly parents don't need that stress at their ages. They aren't babysitters. Mom teaches them for free, from the kindness of her heart. She's retired, meaning she should be able to be out in her garden or sit on her porch without being comandeered by an army of little boys to teach them. I just watch..for now..but worry, and will step in if they overstep their bounds much more. The family will be moving soon, so this problem should correct itself without any need for intervention. One day at a time.
As for me, I'm busy with trying to feel better, myself. I'm working to improve my own health, that has been lacking. Doctors monitor me and are concerned, I have to see two doctors in about a week, I hope that I don't end up in the hospital myself. It all stems from an infection started in my teeth that hasn't gone away, hopefully it can be eradicated, so far it hasn't been with multiple courses of antibiotics. I feel sick but am eating healthy and doing my best to repair myself. It's a process and I'm just dealing with it little by little, maybe the new doctors will help get me back to feeling like myself again.
My garden is growing, looking better as time goes on as the plants get bigger. It feels so good to see them every morning. It's fun to see progress, and to take a once barren front yard and bring color, flowers and life into it. I added a new birdfeeder to my other one, and get a good variety of birds coming to it. So far I've seen a white-bellied nuthatch, red-bellied woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, rose-breasted grosbeak, house finches, goldfinches, cardinals, chickadee, black poll warbler. It's fun to watch them come and go. Nuthatches really crack me up as they defy gravity, walking up and down the tree upside down and backwards, shimmying here and there, and raising up and down on their little legs, trying to find the perfect angle to jump on the feeder from! So incredibly cute.
July 4th is coming, and along with it comes festivals and other fun things happening out here in Amish country. To get away from the stresses, my parents and I will enjoy as much of the festivities as we are able. We love living out here in the country, all of us remark frequently on how great it is and how we should've moved out here years ago. It's wonderful to see my dad enjoying himself (when small boys aren't invading the porch) outside, enjoying nature and the birds/animals that come around. Their house is like a little nature preserve. Little chipmunks come practically up to us, birds and critters drink from the birdbath. There's a mother bird with her babies living nearby. Mom's beautiful flowers look so lovely, and bloom all the time. When some plants stop blooming, others start to flower. Her garden is impressive and growing bigger with every year.
