After the Storm

I had another acute pancreatitis flare up last weekend and spent a couple of days in the hospital.
I should have known last Friday the 21st that it was going to be a long weekend, but with pancreatitis you are used to pain, so you just suck it up and hope the meds will help you out. You limit your diet and try to rest the pancreas. Well my pain level got out of control Sunday afternoon and I looked at George and he knew the routine. Before the kids it was a little easier to just hop in the car and head off to Richmond for treatment, but now we have to plan for the care of two precious gifts given to me through this madness and it's times like these that make me feel an emptiness and helplessness that just makes the pain worse. I've had to put George through this illness and I've seen his face with that look of worry and concern and each time I get sick he always follows my lead and is my biggest adversary when combating doctors and their lack of knowledge when dealing with this disease.

I've seen that look of concern in Nathan and now in AnnaBelle and it just hurts so much. Nathan cried at night for me and asked his Daddy to say a prayer for me. He slept on my side of the bed. It was tough to see them visit on Monday only to leave crying, but if one good thing came from this ordeal, AnnaBelle got some bonding time with her Daddy and that made me happy. She has been stuck to me like a tick since my last visit in June and cries when I'm out of her sight. Now once I'm gone from her sight for a while, she's fine. But this time she really got to chill with her Daddy and cuddle in his big arms in the early morning and evenings.

Yes I am truly blessed to have these two beautiful gifts from God. They brighten my dark days of illness with love, laughter and smiles and I am so lucky to be at home to savor it all.

We planted snaps the day before I went into the hospital and this picture was taken Thursday. Talk about some super soil and the seeds were a 2 year old unopened southern states bag we found in a drawer in the mudroom! Can't wait to can them!

My sweet Miss AnnaBelle Farrar lets me do anything to her hair. She has a tough scalp like her Daddy and loves for me to brush it. It's about as much girly girl as she is because I think I have a tomboy on my hands. She has more scrapes, bruises and cuts than Nathan. He plays so rough with her and sometimes she comes away crying, but its very brief and she often goes back for more!

Yes things are starting to get back to normal around here, well, what normal is at Woodland, it could be different at your home!

I picked tomatoes last Thursday and decided to freeze them for winter soups. This was my first time and it was the easiest vegetable oops maybe fruit that I have done so far. After boiling a few for about a minute I dropped them in a cool bath of water.

The shock of the cold water makes them so easy to peel. I peeled the core and any bruises they may have had.

Once I peeled them I chopped them up into even sized chunks.

Then I put them in quart sized bags and froze them. I put up 10 quarts from the tomatoes I picked. I can't wait for winter soups. We have the butterbeans, snaps, corn and will only have to add carrots. That is the only crop we have not had success with here at Woodland. We are planting collards, kale and red potatoes this weekend. I am going to try making Watermelon Rind next!