therapy, a barn sale, and moving along

I'll be honest with you, I'd been hesitating about doing a post these past couple of

weeks. My life has pretty much been consumed with physical therapy appointments every

weekday. I had mentioned in earlier posts that I was having another medical problem, but

I didn't want to get into too many details on my blog. Long story short, I have primary

lymphedema in my left arm and "they" (doctors, therapists) have no idea why. In the meantime,

I am going through lymph drainage therapy. It's not anything painful, just time consuming. And

the first five days my arm was bandaged in five layers from hand to armpit. Now I'm wearing

a compression sleeve during the day and what I call the "oven mitt" at night. Yes, it's as

uncomfortable and hot as it looks. I'm just thankful I'm having to wear these things while our

weather is cold and not in the middle of summer. I think Monkey is just as perplexed about this

contraption as I am.

So, I felt I had nothing to write about. All over Blogland, people were decorating and

crafting and sewing and cooking and remodeling - and I was doing nothing except going

to therapy and keeping the household stuff going. Reminds me of the old 70's skit from

Cheech and Chong - Sister Mary Elephant. Any of you remember that? Though my
version would be, "The first day of the week, I woke up. Then I went downtown
 to go to physical therapy. Then I went and hung out at home.The second day of the week,

 I woke up. Then I went downtown to go to physical therapy. Then I went and hung out at

home. The third day of the week...

SHUT UP!!"

 

So, life picked up a little bit this weekend and one of the fun things I got to do

was to go to a huge barn sale with a friend of mine at a place called Ginger Blossom

in the far reaches of northwest Illinois. Ginger (yes, Ginger Blossom is her real name)

travels the world and brings back tons of things to sell from her farm: furniture, rugs,

clothing, scarves, dishes, household decor, ethnic and tribal collectibles, drums,

masks, ethnic jewelry, etc.  

 

It was a cold, rainy, dreary day and we got wet and muddy, but we sure had lots

of fun. The pathway to the barn was lined with bare trees covered in lights.

 

Some of the interesting things inside the barn included these Buddhas.

 

I loved all the glassware from Mexico. Someday, I'd like to go back and perhaps get

a set of drinking glasses or wine glasses. They were reasonably priced, at $5 each. 

As you can see, the barn is packed from the floor to the rafters with all kinds

of goods. I really liked those baskets you see in the background, too.

 

The grounds had paths all around that led from one little cottage to the next,

with each cottage stuffed with goodies. My only purchase was a pretty red scarf

from India (only $5!) and then a jar of raw honey and a couple of blocks of homemade

artisan cheese from a local vendor. I told my friend that when I go to places like this,

I get shopping ADD. I get too overwhelmed by all the pretty things and stuff I like

 and then can't make a choice. 

Moving on to today, I know that this week will be a busy one for most of us in the US with

Thanksgiving being this Thursday. I did my grocery shopping this morning, then came home

to start a big pot of split pea soup. I also made cranberry-orange muffins, a pan of my

homemade granola, and a pan of roasted spiced mixed nuts.

 Snow moved in this afternoon and I spied Mr. Squirrel out my living room window enjoying

 a little snack ~ one of the last mini pumpkins I left outside for the squirrel's enjoyment. 

  Here's to a good week!