Thankful Thursday

It's a rainy morning here in southwestern Pennsylvania and the promise is for rain and thunderstorms all day. It has me feeling a bit sleepy...or maybe it's allergies, since they seem to be worse today. At any rate, I'm going to push through and get my list of things I'm thankful for done and link up with Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand.

On this Thankful Thursday I am thankful for and blessed by...

** This rainy day and the relief from heat that came so early in the season.

** A fun chat with a friend yesterday.

** Leah's enjoyment of flowers and gardening and the finishing (except for mulch) of the little garden area I let her take the lead on what to include.

Leah's "garden" beside our back deck.

The stump of the Catalpa tree we cut down is smack
in the middle of everything. We worked around it. The
shepherd's hook supporting my hanging tomato and
cucumber plants is embedded in the trunk. The tree
actually grew around it. You can also see the little bird
bath I made from a vase and two pieces of cut glass
purchased at the thrift store.

Another look. This one shows the small ornamental fence I had
Tim put up in front of the deck...about a foot out from it. The
sunflower seeds Leah and I planted will (hopefully) grow just
behind it and the fence will help support them. The colorful
flowers are windspinners Leah picked out at Dollar Tree.
They refused to stay standing when she put them in the ground
so I had Tim attach them to the fence with zip ties.

This unattractive set up is the solution to a unique
problem. Later, on the same day we planted the
big pots, I came out to find something had dug in them
and uprooted several of the flowers. I blamed squirrels.
It was actually a little brown sparrow. I caught the 
little stinker red-handed! Fixing the pot back up did
not deter him, he kept returning and digging things up.
I didn't have anything else handy so I used a tomato cage,
a cat toy, and duct tape to create a makeshift
scarecrow. It seems to be working. When the plants
get a little bigger I will take it down.

** Tim is feeling better after finishing the antibiotics. Now if the cough would just go away.

** Colton is seeming more like his old self now that school is out. Now we have to figure out what it is about school that induces such anxiety in him.

** Our great-nephew was approved for stem cell transplant. He has a rare genetic condition that without treatment kills the brain's white matter and results in death within 5-10 years. There is no absolute cure, but if the transplant is successful it will halt the progression and he shouldn't have problems until he's a senior citizen. 

He will be admitted to Children's Hospital in the next week or two. At that time he will undergo two weeks of intensive chemo to kill off the old cells. After that, he will receive the transplant. He will be in Children's for 6-8 weeks then he will move to a Ronald McDonald house so he can continue to be checked daily. It's possible he will have to stay there another two months. Once he is finally able to come home, he will still have to return to Children's two to three times a week for an unknown length of time. If all goes well, he will get to return to school next year in late winter or early spring.

In the meantime, his brother has been tested and the family waits for results. At some point, our niece and her husband have to be tested to see where it is coming from and then the siblings of the one carrying the gene will need to be tested.

** All those who have been praying for the above situation have been such a blessing and God's movement in it has been evident in how quickly everything has fallen into place, the quick approval for transplant, and our great-nephew feeling well and being able to live his life while he waits and do normal little boy things.

** The things I am learning in my Bible studies and the work that is doing in me.

** The stories of good coming out of tragedies.

** Leah was not badly hurt or burned when she fell near a bonfire and in breaking her fall, grabbed a burning piece of wood.  

** Relearning to live simply and frugally in these times of inflation and empty shelves in the stores. I used to be pretty good at stretching a dollar, having grown up in family where everyone had that mindset. I got away from it, though, during all the years of abundance. 

** God always provides enough.

** Of course, I am thankful for and blessed by all of you!