Plants On The Patio & Sisters

Remember this big blue rooster I got last year from, yes, you got it: my favorite antique mall in Jenks! 

They tell me people come in to shop for the first time and mention me because I've talked about it so much.


I love this big rusty guy.

I mentioned I was going to my ankle doctor yesterday morning. This is what we're trying now. 

First, I have on my anklet that I've been wearing since this accident five years ago. Not the same one. I have two and wash them of course.

Then we have the tape the doctor's wife, Holly, who is my PT person, puts on me. She starts with this very flexible tape under my foot, then brings it around my ankle. 

Yes, Abi must get in the photo. 

She then has me hold my foot a certain way and she tapes it. It helps to protect the tissue while giving my ankle more support. 

She did this for the first time last Wednesday, and I could walk longer!

But it does fall off after about 4-5 days. You can shower but not take a bath with the tape on. 

After I saw her husband, I said I want to be taped again because it really helps. So after he checks me out and puts me in this brace, he sends me to her to tape up again.
 
So here's how high the tape goes up... 

It isn't nearly as hot as wearing the boot, which goes all the way up to my knee. 

I think I only had to wear the big boot once last week. So this tape really helped. Miracle tape! 

I know it looks very convoluted to have all this stuff on, but it does help me walk. And when you have to sit a lot because you can't stand on your feet, you'll do most anything to get moving again.

Now on the patio...

 
My white-flowered clematis has lots of buds that will open any day now. I kind of wish I'd gotten purple because the white flowers don't tend to photograph very well. 

I planted it in this pot my first spring here. Which would have been 2014. I moved here April 2014.

Here's a close up...

 When I came home from the doctor and pharmacy, I called my sister Marietta. We always talk for hours. 

I'm trying to get her to move here where she'd have family close by.

As it is she has her landlady listed on her medical forms as next of kin.

She said she'd never had the benefit of having family close by to call on if she needed them. Well, we could change all that. 

She'd have me.

I don't know what these two different sedums are called, but they came back up vigorously in the pots. I don't recall when I got them, but they're one of the first things to come up in the spring. 

A person should have someone to call on when in need. I worry that Marietta will need someone and I'll be hours away. And I can't drive far with this ankle. 

She said the MS affects her throat. And one day she was driving and started choking on some food. She pulled over and before she passed out, she managed to give herself the Heimlick maneuver. Isn't that scary?

We're born alone. And we die alone. But in between, we should all have someone steadfastly in our corner.

We could help one another. 

So maybe one day she'll move here. We'd have so much fun together!