A few of my favorite things...

...when the treatment bites, and cancer stings, and I feel so sad ~ I simply remember my favorite things ~ and then I don't feel so bad!!!

This week a year ago, I was discharged after what was basically a 3 week hospital stay that included innumerable miseries, two surgeries, and a new cancer diagnosis of Stage II, ex-goblet cell adenocarcinoma of the appendix (GCC) to add to my existing Stage IV melanoma.  Once home, recovery was slow and followed by 3 months of adjuvant CAPOX chemotherapy treatment which created its own special hell.  It may seem strange having survived 16 years with melanoma, post brain and lung mets, along with a 2 1/2 year immunotherapy trial, to say that this year's insults have been the hardest to rally from. But it is so.  It has been physically exhausting; mentally demoralizing. Still, I am here.  I continue to work to gain strength and normalcy in my life and will be giving you updates on all of that very soon.  Though much in this year has been incredibly hard, I have also been blessed with love and beauty!!! As summer turns to fall, here are a few of what have been my favorite things...

Friends and loved ones near and far have made all the difference.  Hugs and laughter.  Amazing care packages of all stripes.  The best buttons and butt creams.  Bungee jumping workouts.  Calls, notes and emails - of encouragement, shared fears, and plain silliness have seen me through.

This guy!!!  (Seriously.  THIS GUY!!!)

Fun plans and laughs with this crew who never failed to make time to cheer me on no matter their personal challenges, work schedules, and all around busy lives!

Smiles and stories are never better than when shared with this boy!

Who knew his initials "FBM" would end up standing for Frederick Buttermilk Morris????

My personal perennial flower girl!  Bringing love, light and eternal blooms to life for all of us.

Belly laughs are seriously good for the soul!

Enthusiasm and love from friends like my dear Kay is worth more than any gold or medical potion.

My 55th birthday happened!  A surprise event in and of itself, was celebrated in the best ways...

Let them eat cake!!  Bentie hooked me up with apple pie and ice cream!  Yay, for 'warm fruit', right Char????  Plus the coolest little "note" book with a Sherlock motif!  Referencing another summer joy, along with the innumerable times I waxed enthusiastically about it to B, reading the complete collection by Arthur Conan Doyle ~ a literary work I had somehow missed all my life!  Should you indulge, which I highly recommend you do, know that I discovered I am very much aligned with Sherlock in my way of thinking.  Who knew?

I was blessed with surprise cards from many and this one from folks unknown!  Whoever you are, dear sender ~ know that you made my day!!!  Thank you!

Most folks would agree that I am a pretty great gift giver.  I know ALL would agree that I am a HORRIBLE gift wrapper!!!  Sometimes the paper is just too small and the bottom must go unwrapped!  I mean, how does one deal with that???  Ruthie, on the other hand is perfection on BOTH sides of the gift giving conundrum!  When the HAND DECORATED paper is this pretty, does there really need to be anything IN the package????????? 

You guessed it!  A perfect gift was wrapped within that amazing paper!!!  Look how her lovely dragonflies complete my porch!!!  Hope flies on dragonfly wings

Sewing and the sewing community, along with B's indulgence and participation in my efforts, have certainly been a huge part of my recovery this year.

My sewing space is just part of the sanctuary that is my sewing.

My inspiration board lifts my spirit - with cards and tokens from dear ones, my sweet little Granny's pin cushion, and yes, there's a little sewing inspo, too!!  It recently got a re-do!  Check that awesome background paper!

It's a bird!!  It's a plane!!!!  It's an incredible act of kindness!!!!!!

I cannot tell you how touched I was to learn that dear melanoma peep, Laurie, made a donation in my honor to Stand Up To Cancer and in so doing put my name on a plane!!!  Seriously, how cool is that?

And there WERE birds!!!!  As I sat looking out onto our back porch throughout my convalescence, B made sure I was medicated, fed, assisted, ensconced or uncovered with cozy blankets per my whim. Battery powered slippers were available to warm my feet (shaped like fierce dragons no less).  I was catered to in every way imaginable.  In the midst of all of that, he took care of the house, all the daily chores that life requires, AND made sure I had plenty of birds to watch.  He fed and called them daily.  (To the point that today, when he steps out on the porch and whistles, you see them gather in the branches of nearby trees!!!)  He rigged feeders and houses positioned just so, allowing me to watch them easily.  Look what happened...

We watched multiple sets of blue birds build their nests and hatch their chicks!  We even got to see this adventurous little one take his fledgling flight!!!

The poor parents were the hardest workers ever.  Sorry for the slightly sad photos.  Best I could do on my phone.  B's birds played a huge role in my recovery and have certainly been one of my favorite things.  Thanks, B!!

As I got stronger, I found relief and peace working in our garden.  Though a consistent comfort to me, gardening doesn't always turn out as you hope!  Initial enthusiasm for our gooseberries has been a bit dashed and one is even missing!!!  The birds I love ate more of our blueberries than we did and took pecks out of every tomato they could get to.  Whistle pigs pull any plant to the ground and chomp on it whenever they like.  Deer have given my beans and even some azaleas nice trim haircuts!  Still, my efforts to work with nature in all its forms soothed my jangled nerves and provided some successes of which I am inordinately proud.

Having planted my blackberry lilies in too much shade initially, not to mention in the chomping grounds of moles or voles, they were in serious danger of extinction!  Moving them to two sunnier locations this spring has reaped beautiful benefits!  Isn't the bloom lovely?  Glossy seed pods that look much like fat purple black berries are already forming.

But these coleus have been my most surprising favorite gardening thing!  Two bags of bulbs, purchased for a couple of bucks on a whim while in Wally World, then recklessly tossed into a dark spot of the garden under a dogwood, have provided bobbing light and color to what would have been dull shadows of the yard as well as the foggy, dim corners of my spirit.

These silly leaves have made me smile and been a balm to my wounded soul.

Sometimes the smallest gifts, the least effort, can provide the largest benefit to those in need.

There you have it my dear ones.  Know that all of you helped me find me ~ again.  You are always and forever, a few of my favorite things.  Much love, les