Fern Update

Tom here...

For all concerned, Fern has sustained a concussion from a fall hitting her right temple. This has resulted in disorientation, confusion, loss of comprehension and some memory. She has difficulty operating equipment like the computer, TV remote, microwave, etc. Because of this, she will not be able to post for some time. How much recovery she will have or how long it will take is unknown.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Tom

When the woman is damaged-- nothing gets done!!!!

am very much suffering

Hello to all Fern's friends.  This is Heidi, mom from Two Goldens and a Wannabe, posting for Fern.  I spoke to Fern this evening, and she wants everyone to know that although physically she is healing from her fall, she did sustain a concussion from falling.  She is having trouble working with the computer, and so has been unable to blog.  The doctor tells her she should bounce back, but she needs to rest and let her brain heal.  I know I was worried about her, and I imagine her other blog friends are too, so I said I would try and get on her blog to let everyone know what is going on.  I hope you will join me in wishing Fern the best and send good wishes for a quick recovery.

I am starting to heal!!

I am still sore from the fall.   I am healing pretty good tho!   I can not see at all tho!  it is so hard to be on the computer!!  I WISH Wish I could blog!!   I so want to blog about the rest of my story!! BUT
Love coming your way, Fern and the cats

I look like I have been used as a punching bag!!

Thank you so much for you all worrying about me.   It was a very bad fall!!  Tom was out shopping and I had started to fix a big salad for our lunch.  I had put a lot of our home grown tomatoes and some red onions and cucumber & carrots in the salad too.  Then I went out  to get some kale and mustard greens we are growing on the back patio. They are so good when young!!  So good in salads!!!
You know I have been dizzy alot lately- Yes??  Days I had been dizzy but not Saturday. I would not have gone out if I had been dizzy!!!  Any way I went out and squat  "sorry can not spell"  to pick the greens  and when I went to stand up everything went round and round!!!!!  I took a face first down on the patio!!!  Blood---  I bleed like a stuck pig!!   no thank goodness I only broke my glasses and probably creaked a rib or two!!  For a 79 year old in December not bad!!!!

Love you all LOTS, Fern and the cats

The Day came to go to the hospital for my second eye surgery

I was staying with my Grandparents  and it was time to go to New York City for my second eye surgery.  We left for the City before day light.  When we got to the hospital Dad and Mom were there-- they probably had not been to bed yet!!  They took us up to where I would wake up after surgery. The room that would be my home for 4 to 5 weeks after surgery. The Doctor came in shortly after we got in that room!!  He came over to me and asked if I was ready to go to surgery and i said I guess!!??~~~~~~~~   The Doctor said he was so ready to FIX my eye!! He said he knew what to do  this time!!   What he had done the first time and he was going to do it better this time!!  He would tie my bad eye to my good eye SO that what ever my good eye did-- my bad eye would do also!!!
My good eye would drag~~~  control my bad eye!!!

Back ground on my Dad!!
My Dad was born sighted.  he went to first grade and second grade and to the third!!  In the forth grade he went blind!!!!!  He was blind until he was 18 years old!!!  His parents had very little education   They both worked!!  Dad had very little to do with himself all day long. He listened to the radio a lot .  They had a paino and he taught himself to play it.   By the time he was 18 he played very well!!   don't know how he got his job with the group of men that he worked for for so long!!!!

I fell Saturday am,,, face first on the back paito!!!   Hurt my self pretty bad!!    I look like and feel like I have been run over with a truck!!  WE didn't have our great week-end like we usually do!!!!
love coming your way!!!  Fern and the cats

A Question has been brought up?

Yes a question has been asked??  Was I going to school while in New York??   NO I was not
All I can say about school is that Since my Dad had not ever go to school as a boy b/c he was blind himself, I guess it was not thought about???  I had gone a few weeks in first grade only.  I had spent only another few weeks in second grade before heading to New York City. So no school for me!!
Have a great week-end. Love you Guys. Fern

I have so much more of the story to tell you

I had many pictures that I had planned to show you of my eyes and me at that time in my life that were in the computer that got hit by lightening so no pictures and I am so sorry about that.
WE were at 4 and a half weeks after surgery where I left off.  Daddy was working so that meant my Mom and Dad  were sleeping all day so my dad called my Grandpa and grand mom to come get me.
My dad's Mom and Dad....   They were always there for me when my dad called them.!!!  I loved them so much!!! They took me home to south new York State with them until Dad  called  to bring me back to the city for more doctors visits.  By that time it was 5 and a half weeks after surgery.

It has just dawned on me that I will at some point have to give you some back-ground--- oh well not now!!
 Let us skip a few weeks~~~~~~.   to 6 weeks after Surgery.  Dad was sure the surgery had not worked.  WE were at the doctors office .   My eye was moving to the left some and a little to  the the right some!!!!  The Doctor was so happy-- he was ecstatic!!!!  He was sure that he had done a wonderful   thing~~~~~~~~~~  he was on the right track!!  But my Dad  WANTED THAT EYE TO LOOK NORMAL AND IT DIDN'T !!!  The Doctor said that it would one-day.  Dad said he wanted it now!!!!!    The Doctor told my dad it was working!!!  That was a miracle !!!!!   The doctor sent us home to come back in another month.   In another month it was not working much better.   Then it was come back in another month!!   My dad was not a patient man!!!  Dad was really upset the next month when we went  and there was still no change!!!
So buy the time it was 6 months after surgery and that eye still didn't look normal   the Doctor said he would schedule another surgery !!!!!!!!!  Another surgery---NO!!!!!
Well sweethearts I am tired but I WILL BE BACK FOR MORE  In a few days!!!  Sorry I can not keep going!!!!   really want to tell you the rest!!!!

Love you lots!!, Fern

I brought in about 12lbs of tomaotes yesterday

And I might get time to make tomato pesto!!   Our tomatoes are so so so so GOOD   People you can not buy them this good any where!! In 2013 we had tons of wonderful  tomatoes=that we didn't even plant.  They just came up on their own.  Then again this year they just came up again and they gave us so many wonderful tomatoes !!!!  Going to make a sauce today too!!

I am seeing really good today maybe I can get back to my story soon!!!  I Hope!!!
Love coming your way, Fern

I am dizzy today but I will try to blog some for you

Franky and her 3 babies!!   Those babies are growing like weeds!!

After 3 and a half weeks my bad eye opened!!!  Of course Dad and I where at the Doctors many times in that 3 and a half  weeks.
When the bad eye finally opened it was not doing what  we had hoped it would do.  But the doctor kept saying it will take time!!!!!   In another week that bad eye did start to move. When I looked to the left!!  It didn't do anything! When I looked to the right it did move kind of  to the right!!!t   My Dad was full of hope!!!  I was happy for him!!!

I have so much more to tell you but I am dizzy today and not working well at all!!  So until I am better I have to say Sorry I can not keep going!!
Love you all Lots, Fern

Finally THE 6 WEEKS WAS OVER--- THE BANDAGES WERE CONNING OFF

FINALLY The 6 weeks was over -- the bandages where coming off!!
The doctor talked with my Dad and Mom for ever!!!!  I could hear most of what he said!!  He was trying to prepare them for failure!!  This was the first time this was ever done.   He did say if my eye did not work right he would do it again in 6 or 8 months.....  Do another surgery!!!!  
After what seemed like hours the bandages did come off.   That bad eye would not even open!!!!  It didn't do anything!!!!  The doctor said it would take time.  Lots of time.
My Mom cried!!  I know the doctor was disappointed too!!!
This is only the beginning of the story!!   We stayed in New York City for a long time after that!!  We had our trailer at a camp grounds out side of the city.  Dad went to work at a night club that one of the men he worked for owned.  After a few weeks my bad eye still would not open!!!!
More to come in a few days
Love coming your way, Fern

I saw this BEST eye Doctor in the US for eye surgery

I remember I really didn't care for him much!!  My dad and this doctor did a lot lot of talking about me??? That Doctor Poked me so very much???   I really didn't under stand just what was going to happened to me but I do remember that this doctor and my dad talked A LOT ABOUT NO SIGHT COULD BE EVER BROUGHT TO THAT BAD EYE!  The whole thing was SO SCARY FOR ME!!

When it came time for me to have surgery I was a trouper tho!! 
This surgery was going to ( or they all hoped ) that my bad eye would look like it was normal!!!  If I looked to the right with my good eye the bad eye would do that too even tho it would not be seething any thing-- it would look like it was.  That was going to be a tall order b/c it had never been done before!!  This was in 1941.  It was a gamble!!!  A gamble for my dad and me and for the doctor!!!
I was in the hospital for 6 weeks!!!  I loved it there!!  I got feed 3 meals a  day!!!  I had never been fed 3 times a day before!!! 
My mom and dad slept all day long most days, b/c my Dad played piano till 3 am in night clubs!!!

I had bandages on my eyes for 6 weeks!!!
But finally the day came to take them off!!

I hope you have a great week-end!!  We plane to!!

More to come next week ....

love coming your way, Fern

I was born with no real sight in my right eye!

That eye would just float around and it didn't look normal.
I Was 7 years old when I was put in the second grade and the kids were awful to me.  They called me a freak!!  I did look funny.
I had not been around children before. I didn't like them much!!  They didn't like me!!

My dad worked for a group of men that owned a bunch of night clubs.  Those men knew of a doctor that was the best eye surgeon in the US.  They thought maybe that doctor could help me.

My Dad WANTED TO GO TO NEW YORK to have this doctor see me.  We were living in Orlando at the time.  It would cost a lot lot of money to go to New York City to see this doctor!!!   My Mother didn't want us to go!!!
  I was in school!!
My mom and Dad talked about it a lot!!  My dad said to my mom Fern is going to be a good looking girl if we can get that eye to look normal.

They took me out of school and we headed for New York City...
This is just the begining of the story!!

The story is about why I can not see very good today........

Love coming your way!!  Fern

Sorry I have not been around lately

I am so sorry that I have not been around lately b/c my eyes are acting up again.  I have spent too much time on the computer and now I am paying the price!!  I will TRY to b a good girl and stay off the puter!!~~~

Love coming your WAY,   Fern

Date night tonight!! YAY!!

Our  kittens!! That will be 2 years old the end of this month!
The picture was taken at least a year ago!!They are very happy cats!
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Go on down please!!
Things are not working good for me today!
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 Tom and I have been together over 32 years and we have had a date night almost that long!!!  We love each-other very much!!  The date night surely doesn't hurt!!!!!!!

Love coming your way,  Fern

We have tomatoes !!!!!!!!!

The first photo was the baby tomatoes...    The second photo was just a few of our tomatoes that just came up all on their own.  we did not plant any of the food you see here growing!!!!
The little cherry tomatoes are SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!  They are to die for they are so good!!!! So sweet!!

The  Jalapeno photo #3 so so beautiful!!  it too just came up on it's own!!  Then photo # 4 the Cayenne!!  They are wonderfully hot -- just came up all on it's own!!  We have so enjoyed them all!!
Thank you Dear Lord for this wonderful food!!  God is good!!!!

There is the mom of the baby coons  Franky!!!

Love coming your way,  Fern

I love the baby coons

I tried to get another picture of the baby coons last night but I couldn't ---sorry!!
Yes if they stay around long enough I will name them.  I only see them in the dark and I don't see well at all in the dark.  It looks like to me now~~~~~~~  and that can change ~~~  there is 2 girls and one male!!  The male is the coon in the background....... in that photo above.

It is Friday and I do so love our week-ends!!   I hope you all have a great week-end!!!!

Love coming your way, Fern

Baby Coons Wednsday

Wednesday night as we were going out to walk this is what we found on our back patio!!  Frankie's babies!! I do not know where Frankie was??????????  Frankie had called her babies 2 nights ago so she said it was OK for me to meet them!! Tom went back in and got the camera and took the photo!  After we walked he went straight to the computer to learn how to put a picture on. We both wanted to show   Sonja the babies!! Once Sonja had a baby coon and she kept him for almost a year.  If you have not been to Youtube lately there is a lot of people keeping baby coons now!!  There is some really cute videos on there!!

Love coming your way,  Fern and Frankie's Babies!!

                    PS--Tom is wearing his truss all the time except when he is in bed. He has two of them
                     We are walking every night except the night I passed out on the first part of our

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         walk.........     We walked only a short walk the next night but tonight we walked our full hour.  Tom is working on some more exercises that we will do a lot more as time gos on.  We are working hard to heal this hernia!!!

Hello dear friends-- trying

Please know if I haven't been to your blog--- I am trying like crazy!  I am trying to learn but IT IS GOING TO BE A SLOW PROCESS!!!
Everything is so fast and I don't read that fast!!!  LOL
I am trying hard but I do have a house and food to make too so bear with me OK???

Love coming your way, Fern

Thank you SONJA

This is my new computer tower--- thanks to Sonja!    I will have no pictures for a long while!!!
 I will not be around much for a while either~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have to learn this new FAST BABY!!!!   I love it!!!!

Love coming your way, Fern

Good morning--new header

Allie --she always has a smile on her face!!!
How do you like the new header photo???   Tom helped me tonight put it on!!!   Allie is the one with a smile on her face!!

They are really happy kittens!!!   Of course they will not be kittens much longer!!

Love coming your way, Circle, Max and Allie-- their mom Fern

Happy Labor Day week-end!!

I do hope you have a fun and happy and safe Labor day week-end.  WE will be getting Tom to rest!!  Our grass is waist high but it will not get cut this week-end maybe not in a long time.  He  really needs to rest and then do his exercise and we will take our walk tonight.
We are finally getting a lots of tomatoes!!!
This will be a do nothing ---go no where--- rest and sleep week-end!!!

Happy fun weekend to you and your family,  Fern & Tom

Walking to heal

Tom and I have been doing lots and lots of inter-net searches on heeling a hernia!!  TOM has tons of work to do to make his inter core stronger--- lots lots stronger or this will just keep happening to him, if he stays in business for himself!!!!!   What would you do if you were him??????
Well


Most people would get out of business for them self----- BUT  but what to do with ALL that equipment????  Sell it???  I know how that gos from when my first hubby and I left the gas station!!!
You can not get what you should be able to get for it so you keep it and you end up paying a ton of money storing it!!!  A TON OF MONEY!!!
What to do???   Tom has to get his inter core STRONG!!!!  That means we have to work very hard!!!!
We have started to walk for 45 minutes every night.  Rain or shine--hot or cold!!!  We will walk.  Tom has started the exercises!!!!!   Every day!!  There are lots of herbs and seeds that can help too!!!

That first picture is a baby quilt top I made years ago for my grand-daughter's first child!!  Turns out she doesn't want a child!! 
OH WELL!!!
Love coming your way, Fern

A new week

Poor Blue-- he is getting Old too!!!  he doesn't look that good now  a days!!!

This is our volunteer hot pepper plant!!!  it will make some hot peppers for us!

volunteer

This is our volunteer tomatoes and they  are giving us some tomatoes but not a lot of them!!  it was so cold in the spring and now it has been so HOT!!!!!

Tom has bought a truss to wear on his hernia and it is helping some!!!!!
Have a good week dear friends.
Love coming your way,  Fern

Remember our lightening strike

I am sure you do remember our lightening strike---yes???    It took out our phone and computer and the DVR and my kitchen stove!!!!  
Well not long after that had happened our hot water tank started leaking and we had to have a new water heater!!!!!

We had had a 30 gallon tank and we never ran out of hot water but Tom being Tom got a 40 gallon one to replace our old one!!!  He installed it him self and he shouldn't have but he did!!  I think that is what made his hernia worse!!!   LIFE!!!   IT GET HARD at times!!!!!

Sonja had sent me a very nice fast computer that that old lightening took out!!!!!! Ever since I have been back on the old one Tom bought for me that was built in 98!!!  It is so SLOW!!!  it has been painful to use after a nice fast one!!!!!!!!   Tom and a friend have been looking for a new computer tower that will give me a new fast one again!!!!!!   They have found one and Sonja is going to send me a check so Tom can get it for me---- I don't know when but maybe in 2 or 3 weeks I will be on a new fast one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU SONJA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Lots of love, Fern

Today wordless--- almost

The kittens when they had been here for 3 days.  Took then to the vets that day!!   Almost 2 years ago now!!

feeding them every 3 or 4 hours when that young--YES!!!

Look what a week and a couple of days does--WOW!!!!

Bengal they are!!!!!  WOW

Max on the left and miss Allie in the right~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``   cute!!


They are such sweet cats --all three we have now are the most loving cats I have ever ever had in 78 going on 79 years!!!  I guess you have to get them really young to get really good ones so loving and there for you all the time!!!  The kittens will soon be 2 years old!!  Circle was 2 years old last May.
Love coming your way,  Circle, Allie and Max and their MOM

Tom for sure has a Hernia !!!

It is worse then the first one also!!!!!   I don't have a clue what is going to happen??????
We NEED YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!!

We are eating so very well maybe his body will fix itself-- wouldn't that be wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He went to work today but said he was only going to do book-work and answer the phone!!!!!!   WE will SEE!!!!

Love coming your way, Fern

Tom is hurting---

We are afraid it is a hernia!!!!!!!  What will happened to us????????? 
Tom says he will live with it!!!
Tom lived with the first one for 3 years and worked ------ BUT  BUT  he can not work like he should -----------

with a hernia!!!

Tom took Friday off and stayed in bed most of the day!!!  It was good that he got some rest!!!

We are eating very healthy food everyday of the week!!! Getting exercise everyday too!!!  Maybe with lots of prayers and the healthy life style it will get all better!!!!   PLEASE Dear Lord!!!!

Love you lots, Fern

My Tom is hurt again

Look at those arms????   Those hands!!!  Beautiful --- yes????????????  He is such a hard worker!!!
BUT  he needs the power of the paw!!!!!  For 2 weeks now he has been complaining about pain in his stomach !!!!  We now are afraid it might be another hernia!!!!   Please LORD -- not another hernia!!!!!
Please pray for Tom.  He needs your help!!! 
We don't have any money any more for anything!!!   I have asked him to take 3 days off from work!!!  He has work at the shop but he needs to heal from this last injury too before it becomes worse!!!!!!!!
Thank you for your help!!!

Love coming your way, Fern

That big truck

Yes that big truck Tom built from the ground up.  People have said, you would have to have a ladder to get in that truck and you are correct!!!  There was a ladder on each side!!!  I never got in to that truck or most of all the others he has built!!!!
In 82-- I think Oct-82 Tom went to work at the Jeep Dealership  here in Tallahassee. At first he was just a mechanic but in short time, he was the Jeep's side's Service Manager for all the Jeeps.  He had 8 men under him.  Larry owned the dealership and he use to say Tom was part Jeep!! LOL
Tom worked there until 1990 when the dealership was sold and Tom left.  Later that year he went to work for a guy that had a 4 by 4 shop and very soon he was building these big trucks from the ground up. Tom really enjoyed the challenge it was to do so. he did that until 96 when the IRS closed the business for un-paid taxes.  Tom had just started this truck you see in the pictures.  We have no garage so the customer kept his truck pieces until Tom opened up his own shop in 97.  For 10 years Tom built a bunch of big trucks and he made good money doing it.  I saved 34 thousand dollars for our rainy day!!! While Tom was making good money I was putting it away!!!
In 07 the bottom fell out of everything!!  Tom hasn't had a truck to build since.
That nest egg I had went for Tom surgery in 2010.   We have nothing to fall back on any more!!!
We live from one job to the other now!!!   Tom is also not the young strong man he use to be either!!!
He thinks if he got a job to built a truck he could-- but  I don't think he is up to that heavy heavy work any more!!!
Those big trucks he use to build were usually put in mud bogs and a coulpe in truck shows!!!!
That is the story of the big trucks!!
Love coming your way,  Fern

Wednesday wordless

Love coming your way!   Fern

a couple more things I made

I made what I was wearing in the two pictures here.  The vest I made right after losing Amanda was to help me with her loss. I called that vest my love vest.  It had roses I embroidered on, you can see in the first photo.

I made what I was wearing here too!!  Getting older here and sicker.
I have a lot of money tied up in my sewing room and I feel so bad about not being able to use my stuff in there!!!!

Love coming your way,  Fern

Never had a pattern

When I made something like a handbag or a pair of pants for myself I never had a pattern to tell me how to do what I wanted.  The fun for me was not having a pattern!!  The fun for me was figuring it out and deciding how big or small I wanted it...  Deciding the fabrics to use and what design on the purse I wanted!!!  Then figuring out how to do what I wanted???? That was the fun!!!  I can still do stuff in the kitchen the way I use to.  I never follow recipes!!!

I am getting old now and I can't figure out things like I use to do!!!!!!  It is no fun to get old!!!  Nothing works for you the way it use to!!! 

I made this wall hanging years ago!!!  This all just came from my head.

The very first quilt I ever did!!

I made what I was wearing there too!!!

I made what I was wearing there except for my hat and shoes and socks!!  I even made the necklace I was wearing!!!!!

I use to make everything I wanted almost!!!  Not any more!!!!!!
 But I can tell you about them and show you some!!!
 Love coming your way,  Fern