Hawks and Toes

Mom had a great treat when granddaughter Kyra came over to give her a pedicure. It was especially nice as mom can't get around as well anymore and going out to get one would have been very difficult.


August's visitors included Mary and Jack as well as Uncle Rich, who delighted everyone with childhood stories that Mom wouldn't have (or just hadn't) told us.





We have had a hospital bed delivered, and set up in the living room. The hospice nurses are still coming by regularly , and mom has slowed down quite a bit. We are taking turns staying the night with her - and by taking turns, I mean that we relieve Pattie (our rock) occasionally.

From Mom's bed she can see the tips of the San Gabriel mountains
to the north, but more importantly , still has a good view of the swarms of birds that are attracted to her numerous feeders. There are literally thousands of birds in her back patio daily (or hundreds of birds making constant trips)

This occasionally drops to zero when the neighborhood cat lurks nearby, Or when a winged predator such as a hawk lands. We had just such a sighting a couple of days ago. You can't see it in the photo but, trust me it's there - click on the photo and look in the third (middle)pane on the right , perched right on the chair. Although mother can't stand cats and what they do to birds, she gets a kick out of "her" hawk.

Love to all,

Matt

Mom's Magnolia Tree

FROM Pattie:

Matt,

I don't know if you know the story of the magnolia tree. Mom loves them and when she and dad were first married, they planted one. Then they had to move. Then they planted another one and then they moved again. This went on until Mom finally stopped getting magnolia trees for fear they would move again. When she moved to her house after Dad died, we thought to get her one, but figured she'd think she would have to move...the final move. So we didn't.

When she was diagnosed I thought about it but didn't do it fast enough. I went to Armstrong's and they had a tree (a stick really) that had a few blooms. Next to that was a stick which looked to have some buds that I thought would bloom.

So I brought it home to Mom and planted it. Turns out they were just the leaves. Since I had waited too long, we figured it wouldn't bloom again until the winter. December or January. So guess what I found Thursday on the stick (Mom's term, not mine)? That's right...it appears to be blooming.

Mom is very excited about it. Anyway, I thought you could put these pictures up. The last one is the new double finch sock thing that we got. Mom is loving that too. The birds are all going crazy as usual.