Straw Flowers

I have a very small planter that sits up against the brick on the front of our house, so it gets a lot of sun. When I went to the garden center they didn't have the plant I wanted to use in this planter, so the lady there recommended these. The flowers are stiff & papery feeling, they thrive in full sun and are drought tolerant, so not only are they perfect for me but they're growing well in the little planter. The blooms start out this deep burgundy color, but as they open farther they turn to pink. Big thanks to Anni/BikerBear for her FlowerFriday challenge!
 I dropped Tom off at chemo this morning & went over to see my aunt again. She wasn't in her room (I stand outside her window to talk to her) & so I called the number to see if someone could tell her I was there, and they told me to "call her son". I figured that wasn't a good sign, so I gave him a call and he told me she fell in her room on Wednesday, badly cracking both her head and her knee. They took her to the hospital and after X-rays found she'd broken her knee, which is what's hurting the most. He's hoping she'll be discharged tomorrow, but will be in a 14 day isolation in her room (& just when they were letting her go outside on the patio) with no visitors & the plan is to give her physical therapy each day in her room. My poor aunt! Then I spoke with my middle brother last night, and he's been having runs of a rapid heartbeat. He's already had two heart surgeries and twice has had stents inserted, so that's not good news. And he's not at home, he's at the cottage up north, which is ALSO not good, as there are no large hospitals anywhere nearby. (Years ago, when my dad was up there & had some chest pain, he drove himself to Eagle River Hospital....about a half hour drive....where they did an EKG in the ER, but had to send someone out onto Silver Lake to locate the one and only cardiologist they had, who was out on the lake fishing. It's a little better now, but if anyone needs any kind of intensive care they're sent to a larger city, so you can see it's not the place to be if you have any major issues!) I told him he needs to call his cardiologist and get in to see him & he said--typical male--that's what his wife's been telling him. I'm going to have to increase my prayers to keep my family from physically falling apart!   Hope you all have a great weekend, and stay safe!  :))