Saturday, March 29, 2014

Florence Nightingale tribute at Jordan Hospital, Plymouth


Last fall when I was waiting for my car that had been valet parked at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth where I had taken my Dad for bloodwork, I asked about the old hospital building that was having construction work done on it. The young man told me under the portico of the old building there was a brick from Florence Nightingales home in England. As a nurse, I was intrigued, but didn't have time to go look.

 My 95 year old Dad was taken by ambulance early last Saturday morning to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth. The day after the snow storm leaving the hospital it was sunny and the snow had melted and I decided to go and see if I could find the Nightingale brick. I never would have know that this brick was there, and others that I have mentioned it to never knew the brick was there.

I found the area with the brick with no problem. The brick as you can see is nothing special..just a plain brick, but I was glad that I went to see it. Why, I don't know...other than it brought back memories of my nurse capping ceremony from Sheperd Gill Nursing School, Newbury St, Boston, 1967. Each nursing student in the class carried a small, white, ceramic Florence Nightingale lamp with a candle. The white lamps are hard to see because they blend in with the white aprons of our uniforms. I am in the 3rd row from the front, the blonde 4th from the right. The uniforms were okay but those bibs were heavily startched and very stiff that we wore everyday.

My Dad was discharged home yesterday,and he looks good but will continue on antibiotics for another week. Dad was happy to be back home with my Mom as he worried about her constantly because she was home with round the clock caregivers. I checked in on Mom twice a day, once before going to visit with my Dad, and then before going home. The sad thing is my Mom who has Alzheimer's never realized he wasn't home. 

Have a great weekend everyone. For the next several days we are suppose to get a lot of rain. 
Elaine

Monday, March 24, 2014

Wild Turkeys


All winter long my parents have had a flock of 40 plus turkeys go through their yard several times a day. This past week a big male/Tom turkey has been drumming and strutting for the hens in the flock. I guess it is mating season for the turkeys. I didn't have my good camera with me late this afternoon as I stopped by my parents house to check on my mom, but I did manage to get some photos.













I've also seen several great blue heron, the red wing blackbirds and grackles have also returned. Elaine

Friday, March 21, 2014

3.20.14...snowy owl and right whales on the Cape


Took a ride to Herring Cove Road, Provincetown yesterday morning with my cousin, Cheryl to see the right whales that were feeding off of Provincetown. There were between 6-8 whales in this pod as the whales are starting to mate, usually you will only see 1 or 2 whales together. The whales will be around for another couple of weeks this close to shore..approximately 1/4 - 1/2 mile out. It was fun to see them skimming along. 




sea gull flying towards me

you can see this lighthouse off in the distance from Herring Cove Beach, I think it is the Race Point Lighthouse..Provincetown

On the way home I decided to stop by the West Dennis Beach to see if the snowy owls were still around.  I got to the beach around dusk and was thrilled to see an owl fly off the roof of a house and across the marsh as I was driving into the beach road where it landed and stayed. The bird sat on his evening meal...a bird for the longest time before he started to eat the bird.

Here are the photos I took after the owl landed

 
bird under the owls right foot




















a bird is under the owls feet






              
 eating it's catch
These will probably be the last owl photos because the osprey are starting to return and the owls will be heading back to the tundra. So I was thrilled to have ended up seeing this magnificent bird so many times on my day trips to Cape Cod. 


 
Canadian Geese flying over the marsh

beautiful sunset as I was getting ready to leave the beach

The weather was warm and sunny...we all had a wonderful day. I hope you enjoyed my photos. If so..leave a comment. Thanks. Elaine

Monday, March 17, 2014

Kliban cat Rubber stamped cookbook page


I use to be part of a lot of handmade cookbook and calendar swaps. One particular group that I swapped with we would  Kliban cat rubber stamps on our pages. We made a page for each participant and someone would create a front cover and the back cover would have all the participants names and addresses. I just came across this page that I did for one of the cookbooks. When the finished cookbook would arrive in the mail it was always a wonderful mail day.
                                                                           Elaine