New Normal, and Picking Figs

I ate lunch (outside, in a stiff breeze, great social-distancing, with a mask when the server was near) yesterday with two friends who are in their 70s. We talked medical stuff. One lady noted that, after age 65, they were doing "maintenance." I think Adam is feeling that already. Since Wednesday we have been trying to adjust to the new normal of his having a serious autoimmune disease that will require diligent, life-long attention.

Adam bought me flowers on his grocery run this morning.

But you can't live there every minute, can you? No!  As much as possible, you cannot let a diagnosis rob you of all your joy. Today, we are watching Hurricane Isaias creep up the coast toward us. I enjoy listening to Mike's Weather Page on facebook look at all the models and guide us through the nervy anticipation of wondering where landfall will occur. This time, I'm hoping for the middle of South Carolina (sorry, SC friends!!!), and giving Ocracoke a break. Those poor people!

I've been picking figs. We have two large bushes, well ... really trees. Our Brown Turkey fig tree is slow to mature this year, but our Mission fig tree surprised me this morning!

The beautiful Mission figs don't have as much flavor as the Brown Turkeys, but together they make an excellent  jam. I have nearly a gallon ziplock bag thus far in the freezer, and if the coming hurricane doesn't strip them all to the ground, I'll have  a  lot more!

After lunch yesterday, we three ladies went to a local farm stand. I bought two heirloom tomatoes, and Adam will make us BLATs again for lunch: Bacon/Lettuce/Avocado Dip/ Tomato

The hens continue to lay well, about 3 or 4 each day. My new rooster is very fine.

I'm practicing painting very thin, translucent flower petals. They are time-consuming but pretty.

Our anniversary was rather a tough day. Adam got his diagnosis that day. So we celebrated small, and went to our favorite gyro place in New Bern. I called ahead for our gyros and we took them  to a park to eat in the car together.

The park is on the Neuse River with lovely views and so  many birds used to being fed. You can scatter your sandwich crumbs out the window and they say, "Thank you." The sandwich shop also has a bakery next door, so we splurged on a chocolate cupcake (for Adam) and  two cookies (for me). The coconut macaroon was so yummy.

That's all from us! Life continues to be challenging right now. I remind myself that it will even out again at some point. Meanwhile, it's good to remain hopeful and thankful.

What We Did on Our Anniversary

On our anniversary last weekend, Adam and I went to Little Washington. That's what North Carolinians call Washington, NC ... to prevent confusion with that other Washington further north.
We took the Aurora ferry.

I loved the gray clouds and wind. That's my kind of weather. Perhaps I should go live on an island off the coast of Scotland. I could take ferries everywhere!

Adam would hate that weather ... so, no.
This was the prettiest house we saw in Washington.

There's some attractive architecture. It looked like these upper floors were being lived in. I've always wondered about these 80 year old buildings with four floors. What did they hope to DO with all that square footage? Storage? Offices? Apartments?

Scarlet O'Hara? Reminds me of the picnic at the Wilkeses' home.

They've a beautiful boardwalk along the Pamlico River. In checking on this river on Google Maps, I find it ends right there in Washington, a little finger of water. But the main body of water that continues under the big bridge is then called the Tar River. I tracked it nearly to the Virginia line, north of Durham.

Aren't the lamps pretty?
Big grassy spaces with gazebos and swings.

Down town is only a block from the water. Alleys like these divide many of the buildings and lead to the water.

I have a thing for old buildings.

A quirky artist's studio nestles in one alley.

On the main street side, this building is just called "The Little Shoppes." But on the water side:

Pretty hairy!
We ate lunch at Grub Brothers Eatery.

 Oyster Po-boy for Adam with fried pickles --

 Chicken tacos for me --

 Later we stopped for ice cream at Scoops:

 

Mine, in the cone, was called Cappuccino Crunch. It is perhaps the best ice cream I've ever had. Adam, bless his heart, is on a new diet (which I shall update you on later) and saved up his calories all week for this date :)

It was a lovely time. Although we've been to Beaufort for many dates and enjoyed their boardwalk and restaurants, we'd never visited Little Washington at all, so it was time. Happy anniversary to us!

Hello Again

I've been absent in recent days. I've had trouble with photos on my computer -- not sure if any of you have similar woes. I used Iphoto, and then it stopped being supported by  Apple, and stopped working for me. So ... I switched to Picasa, since Google seemed to want me to. And boom! -- as soon as I got as many photos as I could salvage out of Iphoto into Picasa, it became unsupported by Google! Argh!

So now, Adam and I have tentatively slid into Google Photos, and are hoping it will work well. But honestly, I have to get into the program and find out how in the world it works. It's like a maze to me, each time I try something new on the computer! I'll try to get a few photos here at the end of the post, and see if it works :)

My personal stress and shocking anxiety of recent days is a bit better. In the past few years I've generally handled it better, but this particular series of events really threw me for a loop, and made me realize how very weak and helpless I am in the face of fear. I wanted to pray for others when I was sleepless, but my mind kept racing, unable to focus or think coherent thoughts. I was panicked. I needed rest, but fear kept me awake. I read the Bible, but my brain found it hard to comprehend the words. I pleaded with God to send His Holy Spirit to fill and calm my own spirit, and He did, over and over, until I slowly began to feel better. Talking with a friend helped. After a while, thinking and reasoning with myself helped too. I drove in the car for about nine hours on Monday, and that gave me time to sort through my fears and examine them.

Our house closing was to happen tomorrow, but probably won't now -- next week, we hope. It's a lengthy, complicated loan, with so many documents to hand in. (sigh!!!) We wait. God usually asks us to wait, and wait, and wait, before He ever asks us to do anything.

I'm also looking for a part-time job, to help make ends meet, but also because my youngest child will soon begin community college, and I want to be busy, and not sitting around the house checking facebook :) You know how it is!

Yesterday was our 26th wedding anniversary.

 Here's Adam, when we were dating. He loved photography.

 Scrounging around in photo albums, looking for pictures from mission trips, I found this one from Poland. I think it was 1988. That's me in the blue turtleneck with a perm! My translator Ewa is over my shoulder. I've always wanted to get in touch with her agian.

 Around the same time I was hanging out with a crowd of fun girls. Oh, we had so much fun! I'm sprawled out in the middle of the couch with my mouth hanging open. I do wonder what we were all watching on the TV. "Princess Bride"? From the time I was 18 until this point, I had clearly come out of my shell.

 And just to show that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and I get that silliness honestly ... here's my mother (in the middle) with two friends, in 1948.

 A few more random photos from the past -- this is in Iowa, about 2000? Cousins, having fun together. It was wonderful when my kids' cousins came to live so near us then. They were very hard days in many ways, but perhaps we didn't see then what we can see now -- that God put us all together there for our blessing.

 Philip and Peter with Philip's good buddy Adam, on the left. You can tell from the landscape that it's Iowa.

 I mentioned it was our anniversary. Celebration was quite low-key this year. We ate breakfast at the local diner. I took photos of us as we start this 27th year together. I can truthfully say I think Adam is cuter now than when I met him, and that's sayin' something! Happy anniversary, darling. Even if we never ever get that little farm, and even if everything else in life falls apart, we still have each other, and that is the very best. I consider my (quite a few now) widowed friends, and I do wonder how in the world they face the troubled days in life without their husbands. I would be so bereft. When I was so fearful and anxious lately, what a comfort it was to sit close to Adam and feel him near. How weak I am. God knows I'm certainly not capable of facing widowhood yet. I admire you ladies who are passing through those dark waters with such grace.
Not to end on a sad note -- Happy end-of-summer to everyone! Autumn will be here before we know it, and I do hope I will be sharing it with you from our little farm.