Day 16 - 5th Chemo Cycle

Finally my body is back to normal and working as it should.  So I should feel great for the next 6 days.

This morning I found it harder to get out of bed.  I was very tired, my muscles were achy from trimming the hedge and for some reason my leg muscles were also very achy.  Perhaps that was from all the bending and carrying the waste from the hedge.  I was so tired this morning that I decided early on that the hedge would get a break from the trimming today.

By 11:30 though, I was feeling much better.  It stopped misting outside and the sun started to shine.  So outside I went to enjoy the great outdoors.  While I was trimming the hedge today, I listened to the various birds singing and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.  It was a beautiful Spring-like day.  I even saw a killdeer flying overhead today.  I normally haven't seen killdeers in the area.  This is the second day in a row that I've seen it flying around.  When we lived in the country over 10 years ago, we used to have a pair of killdeer nest in our yard which was 1 acre large.  I love the sound of the killdeer as it flies around.

I didn't do much trimming of the hedge today because my forearm muscles are achy and tired.  I filled the 2 boxes that I've been using to collect the waste and then I took them to the city's composting site.  After I returned home, I just sat outside on the patio and read a magazine.  After I finished the magazine, I was going to read a book that I've just started, but I got distracted by the birds visiting our bird feeder.  A friend of mine takes amazing pictures of the animals that visit her backyard and I was inspired to attempt this myself.  I managed to capture the male cardinal visiting our feeder.  I snapped pictures of mourning doves, grackles and sparrows.  I tried to capture the droplets of sap dripping from my grapevines.  I could see the fat drop expanding and getting heavier.  I wanted to capture the sunlight glinting off the sap droplet but the pictures didn't capture it quite the way I wanted.  Oh well, I had fun snapping pictures.  I even took a picture of our cat, Frodo, sitting on the patio watching the birds.  He is a timid cat but likes to pretend to be the mighty hunter when he's on the patio.

I have always loved nature and it never fails to make me feel calm and peaceful.  Since being diagnosed with lymphoma, however, I find that nature and the animals that inhabit it are even more fascinating and beautiful.  Everything has more colour than before.  Or maybe I'm just paying more attention.  I am always reminded of a hymn that I first learned in Sunday School as a little girl called "All Things Bright and Beautiful, the Lord God Made Them All".  Everything is bright and beautiful.

My husband took me out for dinner tonight to our favourite pub and I really enjoyed my Harp lager along with my honey garlic chicken wings.  He took me to Dairy Queen for my dessert.  I'm back home now and tired but in a good way.  Today was another great day.  I have a friend coming by shortly to deliver a cake that she made for me today.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many caring friends and family.