I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Friday, September 15, 2023

Bizarro Land ~ and Mid month Miscellaneous

 


Hi everyone! I'll start with this lovely surprise flower that bloomed this week. 

                             

I thought it was a huge weed--''jack in the beanstalk"--- maybe a mullein or dune cockleburr?


It is huge, with big hairy leaves and odd buds.


You can see why I thought it is a cockleburr, via google:




I was so surprised to find this lovely bright red flower. Maybe it's a form of gerbera daisy? edit: Pia on Instagram kindly ID'd this as a Mexican Sunflower! 





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Newest Perpetual Journal drawing, the dreaded Chinese Lantern Fly. It was only here, very here! one week but I understand they lay their eggs everywhere before perishing on the beach tideline. Really icky, not as pretty as they may look.




Next drawing, just started, is a golden heart leaf I picked up yesterday--similar to this one, but lost in the shuffle, and again, there also will be some butterflies.


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My brother got to go to the big Springfield Ohio Extravaganza Flea today and tomorrow. Color me so green with envy. Maybe he'll send photos for me to share. And yes, I gave him my Christmas list.


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While everyone else seems to be jumping on the Scrappy Ohio Stars sewalong from Taryn at  Repro Quilt Lover, I am still sewing away on my hand applique projects. I finished the first block: White Tulips. 

It's intended for a ''modern farmhouse'' style quilt with the blocks set in natural /off white linen .


Very Lizzy, this block anyway. [the running stitch applique adds dimension and texture].


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Now for my visit to the bizarre world of a hospital emergency room. Or as they now call it the ED, which makes me think of couples in bathtubs, champagne clutched desperately as the  sun sets on their future: ads for ED, erectile disfunction. 


Anyway:

On Wednesday I got a frantic text from the primary care doctor's office after an annual check up. "You must go to the emergency room immediately and get blood transfusions!!!!"

?

"Don't drive, call an ambulance." Let me start with: I wouldn't call an ambulance unless I was dying---was I dying? No. My friend drove me. The wait wasn't too long to be seen--maybe two hours?---but then...I waited 7 hours for the transfusions to start. My friends went home to bed, I was all alone in this scary freezing cold place. 

Now if it was such a crisis, why the long wait? I asked what was taking so long? "Coming from the blood bank." 

"Oh okay, where is the  blood bank?" picturing it being miles away, maybe even in the city? "Oh well it's here, in the hospital."  oh. 

Uh huh.

I was there all afternoon, all night, into the morning yesterday. Of course no way to sleep and in the almost 24 hours I was there, I was so cold and so hungry! This is all I was given to eat, by a kindly nurse who went hunting for food. There's no regular food service in the ED, of course.


This is the night desk.
That wall lights up and jiggles. Is it a heart monitor or art? Plus ongoing ''call' strobes. Migraine time.


Room one in main sector.


A cleaner if barren room two. Private with its own staff of nurses, sort of ER intensive care-ish?


Because omigosh this place is NOT clean at all, only about one in six persons were masked, though i wore my own mask until I was left alone all night with my bags of blood. I hope I don't get Covid!

All this because I hadn't taken my iron supplements for a few weeks [stomachache trigger], and got a bad report on my lab work. Now I'm awaiting a grocery delivery so I can do my food prep / cooking before my  regular IV day on Monday. There's a reason for the word "patient"! LOL.

I will say the nurses and other helpers were efficient and very kind, which is rare indeed. The doctors were---I'll say, "curt''. But again, not really rude. 

Baby Mo had to go stay with friends. He loves kids but is a bit shy.


I'll be back, soon unless we lose power as H Lee saunters by on its way to the Cape.


love

lizzy

gone to the beach...


Hurricane waves, photos from a friend who went to look earlier. 








Click for vid of surf here.

  local waves  https://pix11.com/news/local-news/see-it-big-waves-on-li-as-hurricane-lee-heads-north/


12 comments:

  1. Well I'm thankful that they found the issue and called you before the weekend so you could get the help you needed relatively quickly before the panic over Lee takes over. You mentioned being "patient" and I've been heard to say "there's a reason they call it medical 'practice'." Anyway I hope the rest of your weekend goes well, retina specialist appointment on Monday for me.

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  2. Gosh, I wasn't expecting to read this! Not ideal but at least you are home now and mending again. I can't believe they keep you in for 24 hours and yet there is no food in the place! That sandwich didn't exactly look appetising either.

    Lovely block and I hope you were able to sew outside still. Hoping that H. Lee doesn't cause too much damage.

    Lovely sea views, as always.

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    Replies
    1. Hi! I am home cooking and quilting, lol. I don't feel any better but I don t feel any worse. The crisis mode of the doctor was terrifying, I don t do well with craziness, I am a planner and organizer, not surprises for me.

      The sandwich had two tiny slices of deli turkey. It was edible for a starving me; it was from the hospital cafeteria, the nurse went and got it. Can you imagine selling sandwiches like that to the public. Ick. If I go again, and it sounds like I may have to, I will pick up food on the way. The friend who picked me up afterward, 9 AM, ordered a lovely takeout eggs/ cheese/ bacon roll for me in he village shop. It was so hot and delish! I wanted McDonalds, wanted burgers and fries—who knew they don't have that, early in the morning? Not til 11 a m. Yeesh.


      PS No hurricane here, not even windy.

      love

      lizzy

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  3. Just a lovely Mexican sunflower--that color is so saturated--beautiful gift for you...
    I am happy to hear you are back home--I hope you are starting to feel much better...
    Clouded over here today and much cooler--
    at last;)))
    My son and family are dropping in later this afternoon, so no sewing today here...
    hugs, Julierose Take good care now...

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  4. Oh no! I'm so sorry you had to go to the emergency room/department. And sorrier that you had to go it alone. ER/ED visits are never fun but I think they're worse when one is alert and aware and just wants to go home.
    Oh, that night desk would give me a headache! How can the nurses stand it? Shouldn't hospitals be as calm as possible?
    I'm sorry it was such an ordeal and I hope you don't get Covid, either. I hope you've managed to get your meal prep done for next week.
    Your Mexican sunflower is beautiful. And so is your drawing of the Chinese Lantern Fly. So sorry to hear it's invasive!
    The Springfield flea market is huge! And fun to attend. Maybe another year you could go?
    White Tulips is beautiful. If I saw them anywhere I would think of you.
    I haven't been watching the news but I hope Lee bypassed your area.

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  5. Oh Lizzy, your experience was very disturbing. I suppose it was better to be cautious as your dr was, but distressing, nevertheless.
    Your deck still looks festive and colourful.
    The tulips look so good against the lovely ticking background. It's going to be a stunning quilt. I really enjoy the running stitch appliqué which adds another dimension.
    Please look after yourself and your little 'minder'.

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  6. Comment above went before I logged into Google!! Thinking of you, Penny

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  7. Birzarro Land is right! I had to laugh, I use that word all the time. I'm so sorry there wasn't someone with you to keep you warm, comforted, and fed. What a fiasco. I love the Mexican sunflower, a real beauty. The tulip block is so calming and peaceful. Just really pretty.

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  8. You start out with the pretty flower then the applique basket that I adore then straight to the ER! I am sorry it wasn't more efficient!

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  9. The flower is gorgeous! Too bad about your ER (or ED) visit. That sounds typical. I avoid it if at all possible but since the pandemic our smallish town has no walk-in clinics or urgent care so the ER department is the only option many times which in turns leads to long waits because people are there for things that need to be addressed but don't require an ER department; sadly there is no other option!

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    1. Thanks for commenting! Our hospital was destroyed by H Sandy. We only got a make do ER in its place this past year. I have heard it's good tho. I asked if I could go there but they said that that ER doesn't have blood sourcing . So off I went to the bigger hospital which isn't exactly far but traffic can be dense, bridges can be closed. I guess I needed more than the walk in anyway. I'm home for now, that's what's important. Thx again for visiting.

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  10. Wow, I started out reading thinking what a fun post. I was trying to identify your flower and then so admired your white tulip and then read your incredibly scary ER experience! Thank goodness it all ended so much better than it began. Do look after yourself! Love your pup!

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Hi! I'm allowing comments from everyone, even anonymous for awhile, to see what happens. With comments moderation. Hopefully the awful porn spammer has gone elsewhere. Or you can always email me! I love to hear from everyone.