berries and frogs and heartbeats

Well, no thunderstorm, no rain materialized but it did bring us a hellacious wind that left the ground littered with leaves, twigs, and small to medium branches and cooler temperatures and so half the day it seems was spent watering the yard yesterday. The other half sitting out in the nice weather in the shade with my book which I can read in the bright natural light without my glasses. And then the first pick of the ripe dewberries. 

I didn't think we would get many this year as while they bloomed profusely, we haven't had much rain since and the developing berries were small and looked shriveled and this may be all we get even though since the flood the vines have grown monstrously and are taking over around the shop and the fence along with poison ivy and thornless greenbrier and virginia creeper and wild grape vines and dotted with volunteer hackberry and pecan trees. It doesn't help that the guy who mows mows further and further away from the fence every time he mows. I fluctuate between determination to clean it all out and despair, the despair usually sets in after about 10 minutes of trying to clean out one small section. It won't be long before the shop yard is completely surrounded by its own growing wild space.

I have a bromeliad that currently sits outside next to the back door. This morning when I went out a green frog was perched out on the end of a leaf? frond? 

Looking closer, it also harbored a lizard deep in the recess. 

And the little green and brown frog from the post before last was nestled deep in the ginger.

An update on my heartbeat song...

I'd been having two afib episodes a day most days in the week after my last cardiac RNP appointment and prior to getting wired up with the monitor and the day I returned it only one and only one the next day and then 3 days of none and then the next day two. That day she called to give me the results of the monitor reporting the two episodes of 'flutters' (which I took to mean a less severe form of afib which in itself is an improvement) and she wanted to add another med to see if we could get it stopped altogether. OK, I said and went to pick it up later in the day but did not start it because I was not really thrilled about adding another medication. That would make four...one for thyroid that I have taken for years, the blood thinner (doesn't actually thin the blood but slows the clotting function), the beta blocker, and now digoxin which she picked over increasing the dose of the beta blocker because the digoxin doesn't affect blood pressure (she's very concerned that my blood pressure will drop to a dangerous level). Also, can't take this new one with high fiber and it interacts in a moderately negative fashion with the thyroid med so can't take those together and the next day I had no episodes, the next day one, the next five days in a row none. Yay, I thought, the beta blocker is finally doing it's job and I don't need this new drug. Then the next three days in a row, one episode a day and then yesterday two episodes that between the two of them took up most of my waking hours. Totally discouraged me and so I started the new drug last night with dinner and so far today the heart is steady freddy. So we'll see. Still not thrilled with 4 meds but if things work I should be able to quit the blood thinner, because, as I told the RNP, if I'm not having afib episodes, the blood isn't pooling in the upper chamber of my heart and so not creating clots and so I shouldn't need the blood thinner, right? 

Theoretically, she replied.