Update, update...update!

I realized that in my last few posts, I have not talked about my volunteer adventures. Last Friday was a pretty slow day. Which is good because not a lot of sick, hurting people. My first visit was to an 85 year old woman. Mrs B. She was having a great day as she was going home. She really missed her garden and her cat. I helped her order her lunch. At first she was not hungry but I helped her look at the menu. I then picked up the phone and placed her order. She wanted a V-8 juice, hot chocolate, beef broth, a turkey sandwich, jello (only if it came without any fruit in it) brownie and ice cream. I went to do a few things and told her I would try to be back when her tray arrived. Got her all ready to eat. Went back the volunteer office and did the paper work for my visit. Food services told me that Mrs B's lunch would take about 30 minutes to arrive. I went to visit a 50 year old named Mrs. K. She had taken a fall and was still pretty sore. Her lunch had just arrived so I helped her open all the packets. She had ordered a taco salad, and I must admit, it looked REALLY good. She wanted to sit facing the window while she ate. She had a great view of the lake, and wanted to enjoy that while she ate. After getting her all set, I went back to check on Mrs B. Mrs B tray had not yet arrived, so we talked about the "olden days." After about 10 minutes a knock on the door and food services was there with her lunch. Oh she sat straight up, ready. Hmmm for someone who was not sure if they were hungry or not. I opened everything up and asked her what she wanted to start with. She gave me a look  and said, "silly, I have to start with the brownie and ice cream...what if the ice cream melts?" Made perfectly good sense to me. So she had a couple bites of brownie and ice cream. Then had some of her turkey sandwich. She thought she better eat something healthy. I sat with her for a while bit while she ate and then her soap opera came on. She was very interested in that, so I left her to enjoy her lunch and her soap. On the way back to the volunteer office, I noticed a lady in the family lounge struggling with her lunch. I asked her if she needed any help and she gave me a big sigh and gladly accepted the help. She did not have silverware or napkin. I gathered those and got her something to drink. I asked her if there was anything else I could do for her, and she touched my hand and asked if I could sit with her while she ate. She was there to visit her sister who was not doing well. We had a very nice visit. She finished eating and sat back and said that was the best meal she has had in a long time. But wished she would have gotten something sweet. Ah...I can take care of that. I went to the nutrition room on the floor and got her some orange sherbet. Took that back to her and the smile on her face was priceless! These are the interactions that make me love my job as a volunteer!
I can't believe how much our garden has grown on the past couple weeks. I will take some pictures later today and update you on that. I helped my friend (and neighbor) can some green beans from her garden last night. We did 4 pints. My beans are not big enough for that...yet. But I am going to try my hand at canning this year! I loved going to my parents and helping them can. Now that my mom is gone, I hope I can keep the tradition of canning and having great canned goods all winter long!
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a GREAT day!
Joan