Eye Update - Improvement!

My visit with the eye doctor yesterday morning went quite well!  He was happy to see that the irritation & inflammation was subsiding.  I am to continue the dilation/antibacterial drops 4 times/day but now have the steroid drops to add to the regimen.  I have another appointment to see him next Wednesday.

I had to continue to keep the eye closed yesterday, but today I am allowed to be a two-eyed person again   : )

The eye is still rather painful, & my vision with it is not very good.  I'm somewhat concerned about the vision.  Hopefully that will return to normal in due time.  If not, I may have to get a new glasses prescription.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!  Please keep at 'em, if you don't mind   : )

Eye Update - Please Pray

My eye doctor appointment yesterday did not go well.  He was dismayed to see that I had not improved as he expected.  Inflammation developed inside the eyeball along with some sort of irritation (I forget the term he used) around the injured area that was spreading across my eye.  He likened it to little hangnails which explained the reason I felt scratchiness & pain while wearing the patch.  Also, my iris, or retina, was spasming.  His words were "You are a mess."

In order to get the iris, or retina, to stop spasming, I had to have dilating drops placed in my eye.  It took three sets of drops before the spasming subsided.  He then gave me a prescription for dilating drops as well as antibacterial drops to place in my eye four times a day for 30 days.  Because of the need for drops he could not patch the eye again, so I had ... & still have ... to purposely keep the injured eye closed.  This takes some concentration, let me tell you   : )

He told me that the antibacterial drops are not the strongest he could prescribe for me, but they are the next best thing.  He said he did not want to prescribe the strongest drops right away because they would destroy the good as well as the bad bacteria in my eye.  He is hoping to avoid having to prescribe those.  He wants to see me again this morning, & if the eye hasn't improved to his liking, he will need to prescribe these stronger drops.

After things settle down a bit, I will then need to add steroid drops to the regimen.

Your prayers are deeply appreciated.

Eye-yi-yi!!!

Tuesday was a warm day ... sunny & dry. Temperatures after Tuesday were predicted to drop like a rock &, God willing, remain that way until spring.  I therefore decided it would be the perfect day to cut down the daylilies & irises & to put the Christmas lights on the little pine tree we bought a couple years ago to plant in the front yard.  I ran into a little problem while stringing the lights.  There were some dead branches on the bottom of the tree.  Not limbs, mind you. Branches. It was only after I put the lights on the tree that I thought I should trim these branches.  I walked back to the garage, took hold of the big pruner, & returned to the tree.  I knelt down & trimmed a few small dead pieces away from the trunk directly in front of me.  Then I don't know where my mind was, but seeing the dead branches to the right of me, I placed the pruner against the trunk of the tree & cut first the upper & then the lower "branch" & was heartsick as I saw the entire bottom right side of the tree collapse to the ground along with the lights that had been strung there.  I hadn't cut the branches ... I had cut the limbs!!!  Our cute little pine tree now looks as you it see in the photo below ... lol!  I can laugh about it now.  A permanent memorial to my stupidity!  

After composing myself ... & imagining John's horror over this when he returned home (he was out doing a bit of Christmas shopping) ... I carried the pieces I had cut from the tree back to where we put such things.  As I was was walking to this place where we put garden debris, I noticed how ratty it looked underneath our large myrtle bush, & so I decided to stop a moment & pull away this ratty growth.  So there I was, on my knees, making my way around the bush, bending closer to pull away this ratty growth, & suddenly a small branch which I did not see ... which was sticking up toward me ... met my eye.  I saw stars.  I blinked & blinked & blinked, then ... yes ... finished pulling away the remainder of the ratty growth, then disposed of it along with the cuttings from the tree.  I then headed into the house where I profusely rinsed my eye with eye drops, then showered & let the water rinse the eye further.  It felt like there was a little something in the eye, & I wasn't seeing very clearly with that eye, & what I was seeing kind of had a little aura around it.  I decided that if things weren't better in the morning, I'd call the eye doctor.  

When I woke up yesterday morning, the eye seemed to be okay at first, then started bothering me again.  I called the eye doctor's office & was told to come in at 10 o'clock.  It turns out that the point of that little branch had poked my cornea & then scraped upward a bit.  This is apparently a bad thing.  Not as bad as a fingernail poking you in the eye, but with what happened to me, there is a real concern for fungus.  Apparently fungus causes major problems with infections.  The debris & whatever else that was on the point of that branch takes a back seat to the fungus possibility.  My eye was slathered with antibiotic ointment & then a nurse put a huge patch on it to keep it shut for 24 hours.  I am seeing the doctor again this morning so he can take a look at the eye again.  I may have to be repatched for a couple days ... something I pray will NOT happen because this patch hurts!  After the patch is no longer necessary, I will then have to bathe my eye in antibiotic eye drops for a week or so.  I was useless yesterday as I couldn't read, couldn't knit, couldn't do anything because it caused pain.  This morning I'm a bit better.  I have my glasses spread open across the patch & I'm writing this post using only my "good" eye ... lol!

Incidentally, John took the tree damage amazingly well.  He said it doesn't look bad at all & that he could think of worst things that could have happened.  God bless him   : )

Luke 11:28

I am not a whiner, & therefore I will not whine about the difficulties that have come into my life over the past 3-4 weeks.  I shared some of them with you a while back.  Some of those things were resolved & then others took their place.  A friend likened them to a cloud hanging over me.  I thought that was a good description.

The things I experienced during this 3-4 week time frame were, of course, nothing compared to the problems that others experience.  Still, they were tiresome, bothersome, annoying, inconvenient, &/or painful.  The painful situation was the most difficult for me.  It involved another person.  Not a friend, but someone others think of very highly. This person, a professing Christian, betrayed my trust. When I told this person how disappointed I was in what they had done, their reaction was far from Christlike.  I was made to feel like the bad guy when I was the person who had been wronged!

I felt physically sick & very discouraged.  I immersed myself in prayer & reading God's Word, & God answered me in my distress.  Five times! The first word I received from Him was in a devotional reading one morning.  The reading focused on Philippians 2:3 ...

"Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy end] or prompted by conceit or empty arrogance.  Instead, in a true spirit of humility [lowliness of mind] let each regard the others as better than & superior to himself."

The reading talked about being obedient to the Holy Spirit, forgiving quickly & frequently, & how we must be generous in our mercy & patience. 

That same morning I also received a word via a Christian radio station.  Their "thought for the day" was Proverbs 23:7 ...

"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."  

The voice on the radio talked about taking captive every thought & making it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) ... a scripture I had been focusing on for quite some time!  

Again that same morning, while I was praying, God spoke directly to my spirit & said "Don't let another person steal your joy."  I realized at that moment that that was exactly what I had been doing ... allowing this person to steal my joy.  Why was I giving this person such power when I had the power of the Living God on my side?!?!?

Later that same day, I was referred to an online devotional by a friend ... the subject being Romans 8:18 ...

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

It is said that God speaks to us in a still, small voice.  I often tell Him that He knows how dense I am, & that when He wants to speak to me He needs to use a great, loud voice.  Well, these four words were, in essence, given to me in a great, loud voice!  There was no denying that He was answering my prayers ... that He was telling me how to get through this particular situation.  

As if His help up to this point wasn't enough, a few days ago I was re-reading one of my favorite psalms, Psalm 103, & when I got to verse 10, I immediately stopped.  

"he does not treat us as our sins deserve,

or repay us according to our iniquities."  

I must admit that, on occasion, a little nagging voice told me that this person should somehow have to pay for what they did to me.  I couldn't tell you the number of times I have read this Psalm, but verse 10 never jumped out at me like it did in this reading.  I immediately thought about how we are supposed to be like Christ ... & how Christ modeled Himself after His Father ... & how if God does not treat me as my sins deserve, or repay me for the things I have done ... then how could I have such thoughts against someone?  I know I'm "only human," but through His strength I am able to do anything (Philippians 4:13). 

This person's betrayal of my trust was devastating, but it ... combined with all the other raindrops this cloud brought into my life these weeks ... brought me even closer to God, & for that I can thank Him, & for that I can praise Him, & for that I can love Him even more.  

More Tea Stuff, a Grievous Error, & a Wonderful Surprise!!!

I am hanging my head in shame because when I did my tea post the other day, I totally forgot the two most famous tea drinkers of all!

Yes, Wallace & Gromit!  How in the world could I forget these two???  I love them so!  Here's Gromit pouring himself a cuppa.

And here's Wallace enjoying a cuppa ... along with some cheese & crackers it looks like!  Another favorite of mine, cheese & crackers.  Wallace & Gromit & I would get along very well if we were neighbors   : ) 

I remember when Wallace thought he had met the love of his life, Wendolene ... a knitting shop owner who I also thought would make a great neighbor   : )

Of course Wallace ended the relationship because Wendolene did not care for cheese   : (

And speaking of knitting ... that's another thing I have in common with Gromit!

And Shawn!

And then there's Babs.  She & I could pass for twins.  Same hairdo, same body build.  They do say that we all have a twin somewhere.  

This is sad, isn't it.  After 5-1/2 years living in The Devil's Playground with unfriendly townfolk & no family nearby, my friends & family have become Nick Park characters.  

Hmmmm ... I seem to have gotten off of the original topic here   : )   When I did my tea post, I forgot to post about some lovely Christmas tea books! If you are interested in learning more about them, you can Google them or look for them on Amazon.  

   

I've saved the wonderful surprise for last.  IT MIGHT SNOW TONIGHT!!!!!  Yes, you read that right!  Snow!  Yep, here's my twin brother again, born in my imagination after seeing his picture online, showing how we BOTH feel about the possibility of snow   : )

I need to think of a name for him   : )

A Long Post About Tea

You may remember that last Christmas, some of the packages John placed under the tree for me contained tea.  All kinds of tea!  I have been having a ball throughout the year trying them all. Needless to say, they are almost gone now, but I purposely saved a box of various Christmas teas to try when this Christmas season was upon us.  I realize that its not even November yet, but I've been fighting off the urge to put out my decorations for a couple months now ... so yesterday I decided to begin sampling them.

These Christmas teas are made by DavidsTea, & each one has a delightful name such as Santa's Secret, White Chocolate Frost, Sleigh Ride, Gingerbread, & Spiced Fig, to name a few.  I didn't think I'd care for those last two, but they are quite good!  As if the delicious teas with catchy names weren't enough, someone at DavidsTea went the extra mile by adding such things as teeny tiny little red & white striped candy cane looking things to the Santa's Secret tea ...

... & gold balls, representing ornaments I'm guessing, to the tea called Glitter & Gold.

I am, of course, looking forward to trying the other offerings in the assortment  : )

After my usual morning routine, I decided to Google some tea stuff ... & what fun I've had!  This looks like it would be a good tea, doesn't it?  I mean, it's a pretty tin, so the tea has to be good, right?   : )  

I thought the following tea looked good as well, produced by adagio teas.  I've never heard of this company so will need to do a bit more research. The photo of the tea looks good, but it is not able to be copied.  The website, however, did have this little extra photo that was able to be, showing the ingredients blended with the black tea ... orange peel, star anise, cloves, & cinnamon.  I'd say that's a great combination ... & that cookie is really yummy looking too!

This was another interesting tea I found.  Not a Christmas tea, & I must admit I'm not an English Breakfast Tea fan (my apologies to my British friends), but I do love the tin   : )

I know that some of you are not tea lovers, & I can't help but wonder how you can't be?  Having a cup of tea can make special times even specialer!  Having a cup of tea can help you feel better when you're sick, or sad, or stressed, or upset.  Even Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory fame knows that "when someone is upset or sad, it is customary to offer them a hot beverage, such as tea."  There is even a Sheldon Cooper tea that I discovered, made by the above-mentioned adagio teas!  It sounds pretty tasty too!  It contains black tea, natural coconut flavor, mango pieces, dried coconut, natural mango flavor, & marigold flowers.

Some people like to drink their tea from a beautiful fine china tea cup, like this one.

Those cups are lovely for tea parties & such, but for me, I prefer a big mug.  I wish I knew where the woman in the following photo got her mug!  I would love to be able to get my hands around a big mug like that.  It's just the right size for me   : )

Of course Christmas tea is very special.  This is a lovely looking one, isn't it?  Alas, the company, TWG, is in Singapore, & I have not been able to find any indication of them shipping or selling it here.

Many women's groups have Christmas Teas each year at churches, restaurants, tea rooms, or in their homes.  How fun it would be to attend one!

I think a couple weeks before Christmas each year, a few ladies here in The Devil's Playground put on clean t-shirts & meet down by the river to share a six pack.    

Look at these delicious Christmas tea cookies I found available!

And these yummy pastries!

Celebrities referenced or pictured above, like Sheldon Cooper, & Mrs. Tiggy-winkle & Lucie, are not alone in their love of tea.  Here are a few more.

Pooh Bear drinks tea sweetened with honey.

Julia Child always unwound with a cup of tea.

The Beatles enjoyed tea.

Paul still does!

And here's the world's most famous tea drinker, starting her day off right   : )

Are you a tea drinker?  If so, please comment & share you favorite teas, tea experiences, etc   : )

Be Thankful

Throughout the difficulties I've encountered recently, various scriptures floated through my mind ... most of all Psalm 107:1.  No matter what happens, the Lord is with me.  I sadly know & have known people who do not have the Lord in their lives.  When they are faced with various difficulties ... 

medical problems, either their own or those of friends or family members

identity theft

a septic system malfunction that floods their floors

you name it

... when they are faced with anything upsetting, their immediate reaction is to complain, scream, curse, blame, cry, worry, get angry, throw things, etc.  I embarrassingly admit that I used to be that way once upon a time.  It was not a good way to be.  

Despite the problems I've experienced recently & the problems that may be looming ahead, I felt & am feeling thankful.  Thankful that I can trust God with my health & well being.  Thankful that God led me to check my bank account the exact morning the first fraudulent charges were shown as pending on my statement.  Thankful that the flooding problems occurred when John & I were home.  

The Bible says to be thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:13).  I remember bad periods of my life when someone would quote this scripture to me & I would wonder if this was some kind of joke.  Be thankful when the doctor tells you that you have cancer?  Be thankful when your house burns down or is destroyed by a tornado?  Be thankful when your child gets involved with drugs? Yes, be thankful ... because if you have God in your life, you can be thankful every second of every day, despite what is happening in your life, because He is with you.  You can lean on Him.  He will help you get through it.  He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good:  His love endures forever!