Oh, Happy Day of Rest

Sunday is the day that brother gets to rest at the spinal cord rehabilitation facility. He's on a 6-day a week rehab plan. Apparently, they are much more strict than the other two facilities where he's been up until now, and while he's grumpy at their strictness, he's also doing much better.

The day of rest means his friends, family (including his daughter -- yay niece-time!) can come to visit and hang out without him being exhausted from medical treatments and physical therapy. Since he isn't exhausted, unlike most nights when I arrive and have to wake him, he gets to be alert and spend the day hanging out and showing off.

Today, the amount of improvement he displayed since last Sunday is so dramatic that I almost can't believe it -- it's such a large change to have him moved from the Skilled Nursing Facility (basically the ICU) to the rehab floor -- they really work him down there. I was so impressed, that I can't wait to see what next Sunday's show-off skills might be!

Saturday, while brother was in therapy all morning, sister took me to my birthday present: the winter gardening class at Love Apple Farm. It was awesome. I spent the whole morning grinning about the classroom and listening to lectures and demonstrations at the farm while my sister was right there with me. We kept hearing and seeing things that made us happy and looking at each other with huge grins. I took 10 pages of notes, and we each sowed a flat of winter vegetables (which I can't wait to watch germinate!!!). I followed the class with a trip to the nursery with E2 to buy transplants of the winter vegetables I want to plant where it's too late to start 'em from seed. Next weekend, I'll be pulling out more of the garden and putting in the transplants. What a great present!

Also, Cynthia informed me that I should harvest my winter squash now. So I did:



That would be the ridiculous fruits from one butternut squash plant grown from seed that took over our patio and fence, two acorn squash plants grown from seed that never really took off, and two orange kabocha transplants that Cynthia donated to our garden at the Tomato Masters Class that were planted fairly late in the season.

I think we've got enough winter squash to get fairly far into the spring, don't you?

In other news, the summer harvests are truly starting to die down now:



After tonight, assuming the process goes as planned, we will have saved all the tomato seeds we should need for next year (coupled with the new arrivals scheduled to come with Knapp's paste tomato mix pack).

My day of rest?

It started, in truth, with my birthday present on Saturday. After the nursery diversion, we went to E2 & J's where they served us a delicious dinner of pork chops in a mustard-bacon sauce over collard greens:



Then, I took the luxury of going to bed at 10:15 PM (I was proud to make it to the double digits) and I slept all night -- an amazing luxury I hadn't had in at least 10 days, I woke early without a computer or access to my email, and did light easy yoga, drank coffee, went for a walk, and eventually sped up to a gloriously beautiful 8 mile run on the cliffs of Santa Cruz and Capitola with E2, then a late morning shower, a huge brunch at a Santa Cruz institution, and a trip to the hospital to do the day of rest afternoon on the sunny patio with brother, his friends, E, sister, and my neice.

From there, as a bonus, sister and I got to go look at wedding dresses for her in the late afternoon. EVERYTHING looks amazing on her. EVERYTHING! I have no idea how she will choose, but it will be gorgeous.

And now, finally, I'm home. Relaxed. I did the harvest. I took out 1/4 of the plants that need to come out for the winter garden. I'm keeping the transplants alive and the seedlings to germinate moist. I'm hiding from the week of work that is looming ahead.

In short, I had a wonderfully pleasant day of rest that was full of good news and celebration. And I am thankful. If Monday morning's approach could slow, I would not complain.