Too many strawberries

Well, it looks like granddaughter overdid with the strawberries.  A bright red splotchy rash showed up on her yesterday afternoon.  She had eaten about 2 lbs by then....what can I say, she really likes strawberries...and paid the price I'm afraid.  Benadryl saved the day but I don't think we will be doing that adventure together again.

Strawberries and estrogen

I have always wanted to go to pick strawberries at Froberg Farms in Alvin and with my granddaughter's addiction to the fruit, we finally went yesterday.  What a gorgeous day...cobalt sky and bright green acres with rows and rows of beautiful plants dripping with the white, pink and red heart-shaped globes.  We were instructed to pick only the reddest and there were plenty of those.  Obviously the birds had also discovered the luscious jewels as we found quite a few they had tasted but they left plenty for the crowd of pickers that came for the afternoon.  I want to go back even though my back was aching last night...so worth it.  Three plus pounds for $7 something fresh off the vine. 
I took Taylor and two of her friends to the skating rink last night.  A safe (I think) place for teens to meet up and hang out along with a little exercise.  At nine I picked them all up and headed at their request to McDonald's for the first of the feedings then home with a car full of screams and giggles.  Certainly brought back memories of my teen years and those of my daughter and son though boys don't seem to gossip or scream and giggle like girls.  Oh my, I heard more about who was kissing whom and who shouldn't have been and why.

Tori, Taylor, Holly (the dog) and Brianna

      So much for the strawberries.  They must feed the estrogen as the house was full of it last night.  At 1:30 they were all in the kitchen having strawberry shortcake.  I peeked at them all asleep in the same bed like a pile of puppies this morning and that was the last I saw of them until we got home from church about 11:00 this morning.  Cute, cute girls.  Even Holly behaved herself.  But I need a nap!  Whew!

The garden is in...tomatoes, peppers, green beans and squash.  We are experiementing with some new tomatoes (Mexican heirloom) and a white scallop squash.  The temp is supposed to set a record today...87 degrees, highest since 1907.  I hope that isn't an indicator of the summer to come and that these plants can survive the heat for a while.  At least we can water since we are no long in drought conditions.  I even washed down some windows yesterday for the first time in months.  The monarch caterpillars are having a field day on the butterfly bushes.  I hope they will build their cocoons where we can watch a couple. 
Granddaughter and I are off to Froberg farms this afternoon to get strawberries.  Yummm...then 2 of her friends are coming to spend the night after skating.  Should be a busy weekend for sure.

Dreaming

Interesting dream last night.  I dreamed in was at a car mechanic's shop getting my car repaired and began talking with a guy whose truck was there.  He told me all about his dark red truck and I told him I wanted to buy it.  He sold it to me for $1500 and drove it away.  I loved this truck's interior with its plush seats and upholstery and was trying to figure out the elaborate setup on the dashboard...lots of buttons and digital stuff.  I drove back to ask its previous owner how to operate it.  He wasn't there but a woman gave me a chain of small different colored plastic fish with different words on them.  She told me I was to insert them in the dashboard gizmo for different stuff to happen.  I thanked her and left with the chain still wondering what I was going to do with all the gadgets.

I so love it when I have one of these really vivid dreams and will spend some time reflecting on what it might mean.

For 15 years I went from doctor to doctor before finally being diagnosed with Lyme Disease and getting proper treatment. Part of my healing process was to paint a series of self-portraits about the disease and my process. I have finally a venue at my church to show these works and will open a show on Dec. 2 with my good friend, Adelyn Cooper, fabulous portrait artist, at the Bay Area Unitarian/Universalist Church.
This portrait I painted showing my frustration over feeling so terrible all the time and not finding a doc that could really help. First I was told I had Chronic Fatique Syndrome. Then maybe Lupus. But then got worse and my heart starting going crazy. I was so tired I could scarcely carry on a conversation and ached all over. Luckily I remembered someone telling me about an infectious disease clinic in Houston. The first thing I was asked after looking at my symptoms was had I ever been a camper. Oh yes, many times. Thank God for Dr. William Harvey, a victim of and a specialist in Lyme Disease who led me through the months of recovery. I continue to have a compromised immune system and an irratic heart but considered myself cured and so lucky.
Lyme Disease has many symptoms and is frequently misdiagnosed. I met some patients in wheel chairs, others had fallen down with seizures, others had cognitive impairment. This disease goes through generations as the borelia bacteria is carried in the placenta. It is not only carried by ticks but also by birds and research shows that it is also sexually transmitted. Testing is more conclusive now and is usually done through blood and/or urine. Treatment is done with heavy duty antibiotics. Some patients are known to go into Chronic Lyme Disease where even though testing does not show evidence of the bacteria, symptoms reoccur.
 Having Lyme Disease is like being the canary in the mine.  Thus the portrait below.

If you are bitten by a tick and a red rash appears around the bite, run, do not walk to a doctor, preferably one informed about Lyme Disease. Believe me, not all of them are.

Hard to believe I'm a Great grandmother but isn't it fun!  Here is that precious Sophie at 10 months.  With both her parents working crazy schedules, we don't get to see her often and she changes so quickly.  Seems like such a short time ago that her daddy was a little older than she is and playing in a sand box in our back yard or with the hose spraying water around.  She will being doing the same soon.
        It makes me feel old seeing how quickly the time has passed.  Goodness, I will be 75 next month and what I used to think of as being a really old lady.  But now I have friends in their 90s which I guess we can call really, really old.
        It is is hard being old in some ways.  I hate the loss of friends I've known for years and family.  My son's sweet father-in-law just passed away after a long, long illness and it seems a month doesn't go by that we don't lose a friend.  Big reminders for me to get off my ass and do all that stuff I said I wanted to do. 
      So what am I doing at 3 am?  Stressing a little over a multitude of things I can't do or fix so I might as well go back to bed.  Not doing too well at this writing stuff either.