first time using autotype

this is my first time to try to write a post using audio. It is because I am pretty much a basket case, since my dear sweet husband passed away one week ago today.

 I realize that there may be problems with this post, but I truly want to tell you how much I loved that man and that he loved me. He was doing fairly well, in the new rehab center. But he was unable to clear his throat when he aspirated. I was not there, and I cannot imagine that this was an easy passing. But it doesn’t matter, he is gone, he is gone, he is gone. My sister has been here with me for the last few days, and it has been invaluable to have her assistance. My eyes have taken a turn for the absolute worst and now I can see very little. I will be taking the transit bus that Ben used, and I am looking for someone to help me to finish moving his things. But it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t need to be done tomorrow. I cannot imagine it being any harder for anyone than it has been for me to go through this. I will have a lot of empathy for others as they move through grief. I don’t know when I will post again, but it doesn’t really matter much to me anymore. I love my virtual family very much, but they’re just gonna have to wait until I am better. I am not well enough to do this again soon. 

He is gone

 Lee Ben Daniels (Skratch nickname)

1942 to 2026

Good bye sweet partner

Rehab Center

Three days ago

I am telling everyone that my eyesight has begun to deriorate significantly in the past few days because I am getting almost no sleep and am in the throes of anxiety over the fate of SG. Today we were able to finally move him from the hospital to the Avalon Rehab center. This picture was taken three days ago, and he is not in better shape now.

I slept only three hours a night ago, but last night my body gave up seven hours. But my eyesight has gotten worse after all the stress. Maybe it will get better again, but I really don't know.

I did manage to get him over to Avalon Rehab Center this morning, out of the hospital,but the rehab center is, well, shabby and disappointing. He is in a bed in a small room with a roomate and a bed that has no side rails, so hen must deal with his disability without much help. But he is finallyout of the hospital and has much healing ahead of him.

Tomorrow I will bring a charter for his phone and a couple pillows that might help cope. I will do my best to get him comfortable and get enough sleep tonight myself. It's a very trying time indeed.

Space Dust

Elysian Space Dust IPA beer

A few months ago, I notice some big trucks had shown up on the streets of Bellingham, with the moniker of Elysian Brewpub on the side. They were advertising a beer I had never heard above before, and I did a little digging and found out about this brewery, based in Seattle, that has been around since 2015. How did a new IPA come out and I missed it?

There are so many local breweries in my part of the country, especially around Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in particture. I guess I'm not the only one who likes her beer a little hoppy on the side, bitter but not puckery. I was once an afionado of dark beer, bur once I discovered IPAs, my tastes began to change.

The Elysian Brewing Company has apparently been around for longer than that: I found this information online:

Three-time Large Brewpub of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival, Elysian Brewing Company operates four neighborhood restaurants and a production brewery in Seattle, Washington. Known both for classic styles and for flexibility and innovation, Elysian has brewed over 350 different recipes since opening in 1996. While Elysian’s brewers use a variety of unusual ingredients, they are seasonally notorious for their pumpkin beers. Each year Elysian hosts the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, where dozens of different pumpkin beers are poured, some of them from giant pumpkins.

 Well, just for grins, I tried a little of the pumpkin variety and thought it was truly awful. I think, for now, I'll just stick to IPAs. Have you ever tried pumpkin beer?

(smile)

Today's snowdrops

Taken February 10, 2026

After showing those wonderful crocuses last week, I put on my winter puffy jacket to explore my nextdoor neighbor's snowdrop collection to share with you. It's a sunny day, with bright blue skies and a bit of a cold breeze, but this is what I saw. Just gorgeous white flowers that sure do look a lot like snowdrops, don't you think?

Every day we gain more daylight and are a little bit closer to the vernal equinox on March 20, now just a wee bit more than a month away. I truly do hope we have a moderate spring and summer and leave the other parts of the country to deal with the extremes. We usually are blessed in this area with moderate temperatures, but with the world turning a little topsy-turvy, who knows for sure?

It's beginning to take more time on my part to write these posts, since my eyesight continues to fail and it gets harder and harder to find the right keys. I struggle with frustratioh. If I didn't have my two days of service at the Senior Center lunchroom, I might find it even harder to cope with these current difficulties. I serve some people who are completely blind and rely on their partners to help. This is probably the best thing I could have done to help me keep perspective on losing these faculties myself. My central vision is going away, but my peripheral vision is better than ever.

Not to mention all the grateful thank you's and pats on the back that I get every single day. When I am lining up the endless number of walkers along the wide wall, I am so glad that I still have the ability to walk without assistance. When the time comes when I need one, I will have already learned all the tricks. Life is a delightful learning experience.

(smile)

Making up for lost time, it's raining

So pretty!

I went looking in my photo gallery for a picture of snowdrops, which are just now beginning to pop out of the ground. But instead, I decided to use this lovely picture of crocus, taken in February a while back, and I was mesmerized by the beautiful purple color, my favorite shade, too.

Do you have a favorite color? And, if so, are you still a fan? When I was a young girl, I remember admiring pinks and purples and noticing the way they shimmered in the sunlight, as opposed to brown and grey colors. But I've never been keen to wear red or orange, which I now associate with old people.

Somehow, I became one of them while I wasn't paying attention, and I realize that I sitll don't wear or look much at those colors. Of course, losing my central vision and losing the ability to appreciate detail has also dimmed my enthusiasm for vibrant colors, and the happy days I spent with coloring books ane crayons. My sister and I spent many hours cutting out and designing dresses for our dolls. Alas, it has fallen away. 

I don't know if I dreamt much last night, but I met John at the coffee shop, and asked him to let me out halfway to my home, so I could listen to a podcast but not have a long way to walk. It's dry once again, after lots of rain.

I allow myself one 12-oz beer a day these days, which sometimes seems like not enough, but it really is. Now I am quaffing the last of it, and getting ready to sign off. Hope you're doing well.

(smile)

Two dry weeks, plus

New Years Day, a few years back

Looking, as usual, for a picture to start out my Tuesday post. Now that I am not hiking with the Trailblazers, I don't have a lot of new scenery to post, but that doesn't really matter, since I have gone to all those places many times over. I found this one in my collection, that's John and me at our old hangout, Avellino's. Now we meet and quaff our coffee at Adagio's, just down the street, but vastly superior in quality. I sometimes miss the people but I much prefer the ambience of the new place.

The picture is more than six years ago, and I think we both look pretty similar to how we look today, except we are missing a few sparkles, which we put in the scene via a spiffy app that no longer exists for such things. Sigh. Things change, but I laughed when I saw this picture and realize I am wearing the SAME SHIRT today. Nobody can say I don't get maximum wearability out of my wardrobe, eh?

I need to say something to my faithful virtual family about the comments on my earlier Sunday blog. Some people posted comments about the second killing that transpired in Minneapolis this past Saturday, after aother earlier one a couple weeks back. Yes, I follow the news and knew about them both, and I cried and felt awful about the killings. I try to keep a positive outlook and attitude and not use my blogs to express my feelings about what is happening. One of my faithful long-time readers expressed her opinion about it, and some other commenters were outraged and said so. I am sorry this spilled over onto my post, but I simply don't have any knowledge of the event to make any sort of public opinion. I have my belief, but that's all I have. And  I do march in solidarity with like-minded citizens at times, but at my age, it's not all that often or all that long. I have lost enough sleep worrying about current events and the country's direction, and the only one who gets personally upset about it all, here anyway, is me. I truly want to experience harmony and peace, that's my goal.

How about you? Do you have any magic way to keep yourself feeling serene? If so, can you share it?