bugnut's Blog

How Time Flys
Feb 20, 2010 | 7:03 AM PST

Hello all, I can't believe that I have not written a blog since Nov. A lot has happened since my last one.. I have such a love for my (our) country, that I felt obligated to try and do my part and try to save what we have left. During the process my mission has improved my health to a point that my Doctor said that in my next visit we will talk about deleting several of my meds. I feel at the present time I have done everything I physically can for our country. So now my time can be spent on my love, second only to my wife,Mary, which is gardening. I am not going to grow a huge veggie garden as I did several years ago, but, none the less, I am going to grow some veggies. But I am mainly going to concentrate on finishing my fish pond, and my existing flower beds. The beds have been neglected for a couple of years, but I have great intentions.

I will admit I have checked out a couple of different Gardening sites, but I have yet to find one with the honest friendship, plant knowledge, especially the friends who aren't afraid to pray, and offer a shoulder or a hug, now or then. I am sure I left something out, but I am back with a healthier body and with a new out look on life, which is so precious. I could go on but I had better shut up for now. I must warn you, but you will hear a lot more from me.

(((HUGS)))  to all

John

LAST INSPECTION
Nov 14, 2009 | 3:30 AM PST

 

THE FINAL INSPECTION >

 

The Army Soldier stood and faced God,

 

Which must always come to pass.

 

He hoped his shoes were shining,

 

Just as brightly as his brass.

 

'Step forward now, Soldier,

 

How shall I deal with you?

 

Have you always turned the other cheek?

 

To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,

 

'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.

 

Because those of us who carry guns,

 

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

 

And at times my talk was tough.

 

And sometimes I've been violent,

 

Because the world is awfully rough.

 

But, I never took a penny,

 

That wasn't mine to keep....

 

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

 

When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

 

Though at times I shook with fear.

 

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

 

I've wept unmanly tears.

 

I know I don't deserve a place,

 

Among the people here.

 

They never wanted me around,

 

Except to calm their fears.

 

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

 

It needn't be so grand.

 

I never expected or had too much,

 

But if you don't, I'll understand.

 

There was a silence all around the throne,

 

Where the saints had often trod.

 

As the Soldier waited quietly,

 

For the judgment of his God.

 

'Step forward now, you Soldier,

 

You've borne your burdens well.

 

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

 

You've done your time in Hell

Home again
Sep 28, 2009 | 5:14 PM PST

I just returned home today after another 8 day tour in the hospital. I went in for a regular echocardio gram last monday morning and wound up in ICU. I knew I wasn't feeling too well but didn't realize how bad. I didn't even get to start the test.. It is a long story but they worked on me for three days in ICU, then to a regular bed. They preformed so many tests gave me a blood transfusion and they have so many more to go. They have not found where my blood is going.

But I feel fairly well at the moment, and I did make it home just in time to see my brugmansias starting to bloom. They will be opening any day now . They are my favorite plant, but have not bloomed yet this year. They really like this cooler weather.

I will explain a lot more later.

John

The Power of Prayer From Family and Friends
Aug 30, 2009 | 8:31 AM PST

I have had visit from my in home nurse everyday this last week, as well as 2 therapists, everyday.

Yesterday was such a nice cool and cloudy day, and I felt so good, I went to work on reshaping my fish pond.

When it was dug, the plant shelves were way too narrow and sloped inward towards the water, which made it difficult for my plant pots to remain in the upright position and they kept falling in the pond.

So I removed all the plants and rocks from the right side of the pond, drained the water down to the bottom of the shelves. I then took a long board and rolled the liner in toward the pond, which exposed the bottom of the shelf.

I then dug the edge of the pond out another 6 to 8 inches, and leveled the bottom. I cleaned it up real good and then rolled the liner back over the edge, flattened the liner on the shelf so now it is wide and level enough to place my larger pots.

Now I have only the left side of the pond to do.

I took it slow and had enough oxygen line to reach every where I worked. I couldn't believe I had it in me.

Mary was so proud of me, not because of what i had accomplished, but I had the will to even attempt it, because she has been so used to seeing me in such a depressed state.

I owe it all to the good Lord responding to all the prayers from my family and my super good, loved friends here on GardenGuides.

Ya'll have a wonderful weekend, whats left of it, and thank you all for being such thoughtful and loving friends

John

An August to Forget
Aug 24, 2009 | 5:41 AM PST

Since my last blog, I have been admitted 2 more times in the hospital. Once for 2 days and another for 3 days. They are doing all they can. Today as long as Mrs Dash don't get me so upset I feel really great.

As some of you guys told me, with a little water, some of my plants are showing some life.

Thank all of you so very much for being such good friends.

John

Trying One More Time
Aug 12, 2009 | 8:42 AM PST

This is the 5th time I am trying to post a blog. I was released from the hospital again Friday, the 7th of Aug, after 6days of confinement with another bout with pneumonia. The docs took care of it and made several changes to my meds, including different pain killers and a couple of electronic devises, which seem to help.

The bacteria that I have in my lungs is called 'Pseudomonas aeruginosa' It is  resistant to all antibodies, and very deadly when in the lungs and/or the bloodstream.

I asked them to change me from Hospice back to in-home health care. Which they did. Hospice kept me so depressed I had about given up.

My beautiful wife, Mary, was spread so thin, me being 70 miles away, and taking care of her 83 year old Mom. That she forgot to water my plants, both in and out doors, so I have lost most everything, including most of my fish in my little pond.

GG has not let me post to any threads or blogs. So I am trying once more.

I sure hope everyone is doing great.------John

Is Gardening in My Future?
Jan 18, 2009 | 5:58 AM PST

YOU BET, this is another chapter in my life. As you all know I have had a couple of rough years, to the point that I was about ready to give up. I battled severe lung problems and depression. But my beautiful wife, Mary, was not ready to give up. She got my doctor to get me in home help. She read avidly on my problems, she started me on GeriTol and cod liver oil, coupled with in home therapy. I am proud to tell you that I have been off oxygen for three weeks, and my oxygen saturation remains at 97 to 98, and I still smoke two pack of cigarettes a day, that will be next to quit. Oh, I forgot to say that I also quit drinking alcohol on the first day of Nov. I drink four or five glasses of water a day. I am also lifting weights and completing an hour of exercising a day. I have dropped 20 pounds. I feel as if I am growing younger!!!  And I plan on being a tiger in my yard and gardens this year. I have already bought my veggie seeds and am planning a large garden. Thats enough about me, I hope everyone is doing well and keeping warm. See you in the forums.

John

Old Man
Dec 30, 2008 | 8:57 AM PST
As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open. The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away. I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too and took a few steps towards him. I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying, "You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age." And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot. I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine. He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man. He saw me coming an stood straight and as I got near him I said, "Looks like you're having a problem." He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back. I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him. The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman. When I shook hands with him earlier he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, "What outfit did you serve with?" He had mentioned that he served with the first Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal . He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card. He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all round again and I said my goodbye's to his wife. I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help , but they refused to charge me. One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then, that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off. For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name........ "Congressional Medal of Honor Society." I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence. " Remember, old men like him gave you FREEDOM for America " America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall. If you don't stand behind our troops, PLEASE feel free to stand in front of them!

Frog Wisdom
Dec 20, 2008 | 10:57 AM PST
Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs.... who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.... The race began.... Honestly: No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!" "They will NEVER make it to the top." or: "Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!" The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one.... Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.. The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.... But ONE continued higher and higher and higher.... This one wouldn't give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out.... That the winner was DEAF!!!! The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic....because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart! Always think of the power words have. (There's life and death in the power of the tongue - Proverbs 18:21.) Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore: ALWAYS be.... POSITIVE! And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams! Always think: God and I can do this!

New Addition
Nov 11, 2008 | 10:12 AM PST

I now have a new Great Grand Son, named, Elija, born last Thursday to Bugnutsgranddaughter.

Jo
hn

To all my Friends
Aug 11, 2008 | 10:16 AM PST
Posted: Aug/11/2008 8:55 AM PST

I would like to begin by giving thanks to God, and to thank all of you who thought about me and my family with your prayers and best wishes. My train of thought is not very good but I will try and tell what happened.
I had not been feeling too well for some time and being so hardheaded I refused to go to the doctor. I waited until I was coughing so severely that I fractured 2 ribs, and ripped a hernia in my groin. My oxygen level in my blood was down to 72% and I was in and out of the real world. They started all the meds and started morphine for the pain because when I coughed I would pass out. They put me on 10 litres of oxygen with an oxeginator, which doubles the amount of o2 to the lungs. After 5 or 6 days my breathing improved but my body would not get rid of the morphine, which kept building up in my system. The morning of the overdose they had switched me over from the morphine shot to a morphine pill, which lasts even longer in the body. I started to lose conscience and the called a code red, every thing was popping the room full of doctors and nurses my wife was 60 miles away. The were trying to keep me awake which I was off and on. I remember them giving me a shot in the heart, which later I learned they had to give me 4 of them. I remember asking the doctor just to keep me alive until my wife got there, I was so scared They had me pretty much stabilized in ICU when Mary came in, and I once again saw my reason for living. I love her so much! Any way that is just a little of what happened, I didn't even scrape the surface of the ups and downs but I felt I needed to explain the need for the morphine in the first place.. Again thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. I have so many PM's that it may take me a while to respond to all of them, but please be patient with me, because I will answer them all. Thanks so much guys for being such good friends.

John

Just to Put a Smile on Your Face
Jun 23, 2008 | 4:44 AM PST

 
 
 
A very old man lay dying in his bed. In death's doorway, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookie wafting up the stairs.
He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame,  gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven.
There, spread out upon newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.
Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his  devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table. The aged and withered hand, shaking, made its way to a  cookie at the edge of the table, when he was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.
'Stay out of those,' she said. 'They're for the funeral.'

 

Have a nice day,        John 

My Greatgranson
May 2, 2008 | 6:32 PM PST

A Birth in May
May 2, 2008 | 9:09 AM PST

I just received a call from my grandaughter,  The one that is a member here, she informed me that my oldest grandson and his wife just had my first great-grandson. Just born this morning at 9:37.AM. The Army let my grandson come home from Iraq for two weeks so he could be here for the birth, boy how the military has changed, she will post pics tonight. Now she is so anxious to have her baby but will have to wait a few months. I can hardly wait to be able to hold the new one. While I was typing this I just thought I didn't even ask what they named him. more to come.

 John
 

Watch what you wish for
Apr 26, 2008 | 1:54 PM PST

I planted my Malanga out on Sunday and I hoped for some rain, well Wed, night we got 5 inches of rain plus a lot of hail. This is what my Malanga looks like today. There is a new leaf  growing so maybe it will survive.

John