Running Behind and a Sore Back

Posting (and blog reading) has been off this week because  we’ve returned from our 2-week New England road trip and are dealing with house and yard chores, and Grenville’s (very) sore back – OUCH!

Who knew weeds would overrun the garden and everywhere else in just 14 days – maybe the hot and humid weather was to blame?. The cucumbers grew to the size of child-sized baseball bats as did the yellow squash. We have more eggplant than expected, so we’ll be trying lots of eggplant recipes and freezing some we like. The peppers and tomatoes are thriving too. My afternoon’s project today was a batch or homemade tomato sauce.

The trip to RI to meet our first granddaughter and see her older brother and their parents was wonderful. We also lots of fun activities: a trip on the Essex Steam Train in CT, touring Amtrak's 40th anniversary exhibit in RI, and boarding the US Coast Guard Barque, Eagle, training ship when it was docked in New Bedford, MA and open to the public. 

RI was our destination, but not the only stop. Before getting to New England, we visited Beatrice's mom in NJ. During our RI stay, we visited relatives in CT. Our homeward drive included a weekend stopover in Lancaster, PA to visit more family, including a trip to the Lancaster Science Factory (more on this place in another post).

The weather cooperated with warm sunny days, which although hot to New England folks, were quite tolerable to us. The week we left, daytime temps were in the high 90s with heat indices in the 100s. It was 103° when we headed out with a Jeep full of our stuff and veggies to share with relatives. Days of 85-88° were appreciated, especially when we returned to 90°+ temps here.

Grenville has been nursing a pulled back muscle after he twisted it just by getting out of a chair during our last days in RI. A CVS pharmacist there recommended a walk-in clinic, and $95 later, we had  a diagnosis, a prescription for meds, and advice to use heat wraps. All was going well and a full day’s rest in our PA motel helped a lot. By the time we headed home on Monday, Grenville’s back (and mood) were much improved.

That soon ended – a couple hours of picking veggies and pulling weeds and he was wincing again. So, it was another day of heat wraps, meds, and resting on Wed. Unfortunately, medical care in this area leaves much to be desired. Tomorrow, Grenville has an appointment with a chiropractor and hopefully will get some relief