Brrrr!

I am waiting for the bathroom to warm up before I take my shower, it is only 64 when I first went in there.  At those temps I could reasonably put the soft drinks outside and shut down the refrigerator.  Anyway, I thought I would get another post going here.

I have a good friend in SanFran that I worked with in the Olllddd days.  I last saw her in 2001 on her yacht/boat and her note this year says she is moving from Hawaii to a gated community in Sarasota, with all the mod cons.  I have to admit, I am a teeny bit envious, but that is life, some are poorer and some are richer.  She invited me down once she got settled.  However, there is the step/stair problem, so I figure I will have gray hair (check) and walk with a cane by then (I wish) before I make it there.

I knocked this computer off and it landed on edge on the squishy carpet, and seems OK now.  The cover was a little loose, but it popped back on and there isn't any problem I can see.  I also knocked over the can of Coke, but it fell directly into the trash basket upside down.  Small mess ensued.  I think I will adjourn for now and get that shower before another mishap.

The laundry is done (mostly by C) and put away.  There is still my gold silk shirt to tackle, unfortunately the stain is on the right side right in the center of the front.  Right now I could wear it under a jacket or sweater, whereas it will be hard to do even that if there is a big hole there.  I have a replacement that looks pretty much a duplicate, but it is made of polyester.  For me that means no dry cleaners; their price doubles the cost of the shirt after one or two trips there.  I just need to have a go at the stain, good or bad, get me off the fence.  It occurs to me we spend more time and effort on our clothes, even when they are cheap or designer made, and use them if they wear out pretty quickly.  My dry cleaners' items stay in their plastic shrouds, except when I need to find something "special".  I wish I could remember how this one got stained.  I have an Oscar de la Renta blouse that I glopped salad dressing on.  When It was cleaned, I warned them, but the result is a large slightly lighter color on the front.  It is completely invisible in low lighting.  At home I wear a cobbler's apron at dinner, or even change to an old t shirt to avoid messing up something dressy.  As if anyone would notice.

C is off to the vet to get the prescription food for the oldest cat.  She is too thin and this food is very appealing to her.  It is $100 for a large (10 pound) bag, so we have to isolate her when the other cats want to check out the new food.   They are very plump, even the one that looks thin until you pick her up, oof!  I counted how many cats we have had over the years, and it is 28, more or less.  You have to  realize this is over 45 years, and always multiple cats at the same time.  The amazing thing is that I can still remember their names;  Luckily I can't remember their vet bills.

All the plants look fine in the upstairs dining room.  They have all done well  without me, all but the Christmas cactus, which croaked.  Years ago when we moved to WV from CA (and never mind what you saw in Horse Whisperer) you can't leave a horse in a trailer for days and days so I arranged a transport with a company that does this all the time (and ignore the bite marks and the raw part of his tail).  So we put the cats in the biggest of carriers, and put the Husky in the trailer with them.  When we stopped for the night, all the beasts came into the motel with us.  Oh, but what I meant to say was I transported all my plants on the hay shelf at the front of the trailer.  Quite a few.  And when we stopped in NM, even though it was April, all the plants were frozen and black the next morning.  I still haven't found some of the types of plants, must be a West Coast biome thing.  Anyway, at that point in time plants were the least of my worries.  I  had R in the intensive neonatal ward in CA, weighing all of 2.5 pounds, another car back in CA that a drive away company would eventually get to us in WV,  our house had been loaded into a moving van, and I had to stay in M's house until they released R and we flew to FL, where mom lived.  I was so stressed, when we met in the AirPort I handed R to mom and said something along the line of "here".  The wonder is that I kept it all together for those incredible weeks.  So the loss of one Christmas cactus is a small matter.

part two

I, once again, have fallen, this time against the sharp corner of the craft table.  It all happened so fast, I think I may have slipped on the newspaper laying on the floor.  I will have a dynamite bruise on my shoulder, and my knee aches like a **** well, a lot.  C had to come and pick me off of the floor, get me onto an ottoman, and from there into bed.  All this happened 20 minutes before leaving for therapy, so I didn't go.  The next appt. is on Friday, I will see how I am doing Thursday night.  I'm not sure I will be able to get onto the massage bench,  not to mention doing the exercises.  I thought I was on my way to using a cane.  HAAA!  I can't even rely on my walker, it goes down with me.  C was supposed to go to the auto dealer to pick up R while her car was being serviced and take her to work, but she got a loaner car.  What would I do if he had been gone during my upset?  Just lay there, I guess.

It's strange to have no horses and no dogs.  Mainly the horses, I looked out my bathroom window and watched Maybe and Willie peacefully grazing, or standing nose to tail so each tail clears the other's face.  It has never been the riding I miss, it is watching the horses as they do their horsey things.  When Willie died, it was Maybe screaming at night that alerted us to see only one horse when there should have been two.  I felt sorry for Maybe, alone every day.  Sometimes when the kids at the neighbor's screamed at a certain pitch, I would see Maybe jerk her head up and neigh back, thinking it was another horse.  As I said before, they are herd animals, and they need their buddies.  Anyway, I miss all three of them, as they went one by one, in their 20s.  It is sad our companion animals live such a short time.

The farrier came on Sunday and took a whole lot of gear and tack, everything from buckets (heated) to blankets.  I am glad they will use them, I am sure the farrier doesn't earn much for very hard work (especially in the winter) and what would I do with it all?  Ebay it all, piece by piece?  He was jubilant every time he discovered another item.  I have no idea where he will put all that he has, he only has a run-in shelter for his horses and not an actual barn/stable.  His wife says they will put most of it in the spare bedroom.  We found one thing in the aisle, a shed snake skin, I was glad to know there are snakes in there and not rats (or mice).  Years ago I told the guys at work on their farm to bring me a gunny sack with a snake inside; I would turn them loose in the corner where the hay sits on pallets, and bingo! no more rats.  For a while.  I am not afraid of most snakes, only the viper ones I leave alone.  Rattlesnakes like: cottonmouth, copperhead all types of timber rattlesnakes, for example.

We should have a smaller water and electricity bill this year, I hope.  They both have their own meters, and the only draw this time is the electricity in the tack room to keep the hose flexible.  Why do we need water now?  Beats me.

I need to lay down and rest my achy bits so I will leave this here.  Bye!

Boom

I fell, reaching for my cell phone a few minutes ago.  Luckily there was nothing behind me when my knee buckled, and the carpet is backed with a very thick pad.  Still it leaves me shaken (or stirred).  Yesterday I went upstairs around 1 pm for the turkey dinner that C fixed.  R was there too.  We had far too much to eat, and I took a Phenergan once I got downstairs again.  I did a little stumble going up, but C steadied me with the gait belt.  But on the way down around 5 pm I had a complete buckle with my "good" knee, and once again C caught me.

So all in all it wasn't too bad yesterday.  But today, wow! both knees are a major pain, undoubtedly due to yesterday's efforts.  I wasn't planning on Black Friday anyway, but after my fall,  I am not stirring from my bed.  Just when I was thinking I was having major mending going on.

 I got a check Tuesday for $32.84 as a settlement on a class action law suit.  The  case involved HP who made some of their models of printer which wouldn't accept any other print cartridges than HP.
I found my model and SN in the list, so I sent back the claiming information, and the $32 was my share of the settlement.  Beats getting a bill.  Too bad it isn't enough to buy a new set of cartridges.

The saddle still hasn't sold yet, but it is early now anyway.  They keep them for 90 days; I think the price drops then.  It looks very nice in the photos.  Update:  the saddle sold in Feb., no money for it yet, the buyer has two weeks to return it, and if not returned, WooHoo.  It actually sold for more than I expected.  

Here is the link to the saddle; when you click on this link, it will show all 5?  6? Photos.  I hope this works.



https://www.horsesaddleshop.com/usbn5111.html


Time for a nap; hope everyone had a good turkey day!

I'm a little slow these last few weeks.

I have apparently damaged my "good" knee, which makes it really hard to get around.  I wish I had remembered that factoid before taking the diuretic, I am really slow getting to the throne when the time comes calling.

I got my life insurance last week, hurrah.  I don't want to leave the kids with no way to manage financially, like N did nearly 4 years ago.  That was the reason I had to sell the Highlander, the payments were absurd.  The only vehicle I own is the p/u truck, which I can't climb inside, never mind drive when my feet are numb and I can't lift my foot far enough to reach the pedals.  What a difference one simple surgery has made.  You know what minor surgery is, don't you?   It's surgery that happens to someone else.

I think I will end up getting knee replacement on the "good" knee eventually.  But I will put it off as long as I can.  My family physician that I saw yesterday, did X-rays of that knee and said that there is still some cartilage in there, even though it sounds like a very creepy door when I stand up.  She also did some blood work, thyroid and so forth to see if there are signs of early dementia, won't that be fine?  Just what I need to hear.

I am keen to get going on the plan to move into a mobile home, the first step is to see the bank, I figure I will need to borrow the purchase money, so we can move from here to there, and then sell the house, after it is empty, and then pay off the mobile home. The only hard part is clearing the house of every thing we don't want to take with us.  The mobile  home is considerably smaller than here, and I have only to look around to see things that will have to go.  And I can't do much other than be an overseer since I can't carry anything.  It will mean a huge effort, and probably I will have to hire someone to help with the furniture, as well as boxes.  What fun.

The show saddle is up for sale at the online horse gear (mostly saddles) place in IN.  I hope it sells quickly, it is the only tastefully trimmed silver saddle there, and it is priced at $795.  I plan on giving the $ to C since he did all the polishing and leather oiling. I hate to see it gone, but it will be good to have someone use it again.

I've got time for a little nap now, so I think I will prop my swollen feet up and rest a bit.  Bye!

saddle up!

This is the last photo, I think, that will be of my western equitation show saddle.  C wore his poor fingers off polishing the silver lacing but it goes out for consignment sale as soon as the box for transport arrives.   The consignment guy sounds very fair;  and of course, the higher price they get on this saddle the larger their share becomes.  God it is a beautiful saddle, and I rode it all over California on the show circuit, although I didn't get the blue very often, still I enjoyed riding this piece of art on my palomino quarter horse, mane and tail flowing white (well, not the mane it is pulled to a few inches long, don't know why, that was the style at the time).

And unlike the ordinary saddle, which I got pitched off a few times, I never fell at all from this one.  Although it was touch-and-go the day the arena was directly next to a field where hot air balloons were being readied for a nice ride.  The noise they make when the burners are going full blast scared me and I knew what it was from.  But Poco, bless his heart, looked, snorted and went on like he'd seen them every day of the week.  That was the same show where the judge had us all lined up in the center, and one by one had us leave the group and make one pass around the arena and then line back up again with the rest.  Poco had no trouble with that either, we were used to riding alone, out and around before returning home.  He was the only one that didn't balk at leaving the group.  Horses, they live in herds in the west, and where one goes they all go.  But it tickled me to see those many mega dollar horses not do something so simple, while my $450 gelding took it right in stride.  The lady I bought him from told me that he trusted his rider to see to it that he was OK.  And she was right.

Tomorrow I am going to open our safe and see if I put the key to the safe deposit in there.  I found the keys to the safe dangling on the key rack next to the hot water tank.  I know where one bank key is, but it bugs me not to have the second one.  I know, I am obsessive,  but someone has to keep us on the path.

Well, it is time to go for the night, good night to all, Bye

Fall is here

Here it is November already, I haven't thought out what to do about Thanksgiving, much less Christmas.  C will have to do whatever is needed as while I can, with help get upstairs, but I can't stand very long and that takes care of stirring, slicing, peeling, and a whole lot more.  Every year it seems like we do less and less.  Christmas is far more manageable since we do steak, baked potato, green beans, and pie.  Maybe a fruit salad in there too.  No left overs, minimal clean up (the broiler has to cool first) and we rarely get to the pie until the next day.

Last night, Nov. 2nd, was trick or treat night here.  The rain was unremitting downpours on the 31st, and on Friday the first, the wind howled through here making umbrellas pretty useless.  Yesterday there was no wind, no rain, but not very many kids either.  We had 31, where last year we had 50.  There were none of the ATVs towing trailers with 4 or 5 kids aboard, most of the littlest kids were pulled in a wagon or a stroller, and the average age was 4.  All had parents with them, some in costume, and for the last 30 minutes there were none.  Boring.  And there I sat with 10 pounds of candy in a big enamel bowl in my lap, yum.  I don't know what we will do with the rest, as it became apparent there would be scads of candy left, I was just scooping up handfuls for each kid.

My new blanket was delivered Saturday by UPS, and I love it.  It is very fuzzy and very large, and C made my bed with clean sheets and two blankets, it looked heavenly after sitting for 2 hours in the cold.  I had a heater by my legs, in addition to coat, mittens, hat and hood.  Still too cold and I couldn't get up and move around, once it got dark we were an oasis of light. Those damned floodlights wouldn't stay on, you could tap  on them (C did) and a minute later they would go off.  Luckily no one fell in the driveway, but it is time for a new light.  One kid said he liked my horses, and I thanked him.  I got by without anyone asking about them.  I was prepared to lie, saying we moved them to another barn, or we sold them, but not necessary.

I offered a print to R when she was moving to her apartment.  She bought a red couch and I said that this print, by Carol Grigg called "The Loss" would look good above her sofa.  She just said Hmmm and changed the subject.  Tonight she texted C to ask if she could have it.  I said sure, but if at some point she didn't want it, to give it back to me.  The frame and matting alone were around $200.  I don't want her to just pitch it.

I wanted to down-size this photo of "The Loss" but for some reason it won't do it and then show the smaller photo.  I give up.

  I can't tell you how long I have fiddled with this image, it is a lot.

I sure hope this will get hung without any drama. Update:  R took the print hung it on the wall over the couch, put a lovely quilt on the back of the couch, and sent photos.  It looks spiffy.

Back to bed, Bye!

Halloween Time

I had my mammogram last week, and I got a nice insulated tote bag in honor of getting my mammo done in Oct.  This was with a new machine that was not as squishy as the old one, and they got it done while I sat in my wheelchair.  (I was in the wheelchair because we were running late and it takes me forever to walk so slowly for any distance.)  Then I saw the surgeon, who gave me the all-clear.  6 months until the next one.  Yay team!

I bought Halloween candy on Amazon a couple of weeks ago.  Usually I wait and get it at the grocery store, but usually there is only old lady candy left, Jolly Ranchers, smartees, and such.  The candy for this year is M & M s and Snickers and Reese's cups and other chocolate types.  I bought a lot.  A lot as in 12 pounds.  So we can sample and not have to buy more candy.  I even bought some full-sized bars, which (ahem) I hope will be left for us.  I didn't give candy out last year, it was a time when I was still missing N, even though it had been more than 2 years since he died.  He always came outside (where I sit because the light is better) to keep me company and look at all the costumes, some are really cute.  One year we had a boy carrying a sword (fake) with a box of Cheerios stuck thru by the sword, and proclaimed he was a "cereal" killer.  Not so funny these days...

I got an email from Chase that my card had been used for something I don't recognize.  I called them right away and they blocked my card and will send a new one ASAP.  It was for 6.99 but maybe just a test run (at a spa) to see if it would fly.  Thanks to Chase, not.  The only thing I charged yesterday was for a blanket, which cost a good bit more than 6.99...

There was an obituary today for R's girl scout leader.  This is the one that led a trip to London for the senior girls (and took R kayaking on the river etc.), other than all the money collected by parking on home football days, car washes, aluminum can collection, and on and on.  R was thrilled to go, I've never been to GB myself.  The leader has family there so they had a picnic (not what they called it, I can't think of what they called it), as well as side trips to various places.  The girls had a blast.  R liked going to a pub the most.  The trip was a really special event, one that years' worth of girls got to take.  I ran into the leader at the grocery, etc., and she always remembered who I was, quite a feat, given the number of moms she knew. She was 84, but still she will be missed by a lot of families.

It's a dull dreary day today, all the fall colors are over as the trees shed their leaves, starting at the top.  It is fall, even though the calendar says there is more to do before winter.  Chris hasn't finished cleaning my saddle, all that is left is the silver to be polished, a boring job.  The leather looks great, like new.   I will have to harass him a little.  What I would need a show saddle for when I can't ride?  It cost a fortune 40 years ago, and I want at least $ 500 for it.  If I don't get it, I will put it in the house (my room) to admire.  It is silver plated, but now they ride with nickel conchos, etc.  because silver trim is so expensive.

C took the phone out of the barn, and I have it here, so I don't have to drag the big black phone around when I am at the keyboard.  It was hit-or-miss if the phone would ring in the barn, and probably C would be using the DR Power wagon and couldn't hear it if it was ringing anyway.

Time to go...Bye!

Trump Truth

books

Back in the day

This is the hoof pick I've had for 35+ years.  When I boarded my Poco horse in Golden Gate Park, the guy that put his shoes on (farrier/blacksmith) would be a regular there for a lot of owners.  He did hot shoeing and had a little furnace-like in his truck.  He would heat them, test them for fit, whack on them on an anvil for a subtle change, try again.  Any time, even now, that I smell coal burning, I would think, "shoer is here.." .  He was quite a flamboyant sight.  He had a long queue of hair, and a mustache that he waxed and twirled so it stood out from his face like the cartoon bad guy.  Hammering, heating, dunking in water to cool, the tourists were there catching it all on film.  So, any time he had a pause in doing the horses, he would make these hoof picks out of old horseshoes, half of one, and give them to his clients.  It was considered a mark of approval to have one of Steve's picks.  The usual ones are made in china, now, and are lacking a point that you need to clean dirt, stones, whatever from the sole of their feet.  The form of these are a big improvement and god forbid you lose yours, and have to ask Steve for another.  He also made custom fence gates, for big bucks,  and probably there are still some in San Francisco even now.

I miss the social part of boarding, talking folks and horses, laughing at bad jokes, riding together.  Of course it is a Lot Cheaper to keep your beasts at home, but a lot more work too.  But the past is past...

I will get C to drive me down to the barn so I can find the things I want to keep, but none as special as this pick.

sorrow

I had the vet come and put Maybe down on Tuesday.  I could not get down there, so I watched from the house window.  It was very quick , and C took her to one side of the barn so there were no sight lines to that area.  When Willie went down, it was much closer to the road, but what could we do?  Thus the neighbors had a plain view of the proceedings.  The kids would have been shocked the most,  as they got up to "treat" them all time (against the posted notice to leave the horse alone).

I have had horse(s) since I was twenty-four yrs old.  44 years.  But no more horses anymore.  Big beautiful barn standing empty.  All the horse gear to be passed on to someone else.  There are few things I want to keep, I have one beside me here now.  Picture to follow.  Still have the show saddle to be cleaned and oiled.  This would have been better if N were here, I think, to oversee each step.  Did I do the right thing?

Achoo!

I am fighting off a sore throat and drippy nose, and there is no condition or mending that can be accomplished with Kleenex and throat lozenges.  I can't wait for the aftermath, so I am out of bed now, sniffling and looking forward to being able to get my passwords sorted out.

Beetles, ugh.  I saw one in the bathroom and gritted my teeth and stepped on it.  I have never seen one in the house before, but it looks like one in the Wikipedia for big black bugs.  With the high frequency gadget in there I thought all the bugs would head out away from the source.  Maybe as time goes on they will clear out.

I am finally agreeing that it is time to put Maybe down.  She has steadily gone downhill since her stroke-like episode several  months ago.  The farrier came yesterday and couldn't trim her feet, she can't stand on just three legs, she might well have fallen on him, she is so wobbly.  My usual vet is recuperating from a bad back condition (I have been there too) and the next closest vet is way pushed to do his patients and Jim's as well.  I have the guy with the backhoe and flat bed truck lined up, only have to give him a day before notice and he will come.  This is my last horse, I am getting too old to do this, I can't even manage to get to the barn, because the ground past the yard is so rough with tree roots, etc.  It will be strange to have the nice barn and all the gear, and not have a horse.  I will ask the shoer what he wants of the gear, for a flat price, I think.

I couldn't ride again anyway, my left knee is in bad shape, and mounting and dismounting risks a fall, even a tumble under the horse if my knee gives out.  I never thought my last ride would be the last one, I would have savored it more.  But with all the new homes built past us, 40 at least, and the drivers zoom past, never mind the 20 mph signs,

it is too dangerous to ride.  I wouldn't even let my kids (if mine were young again) out to play in the front yard, it would only take a few seconds to drift into the road.  Ours was supposed to be the last house on the road, but the contractor started a new one before our paint was dry.  I want to move where the road is level, and someone else clears the snow off.

Here is my plan:  buy a big mobile home and have it set up in the best park.  Move in over several days, maybe get a moving company or someone to help with the carrying, clear out everything here that I want, and get an auctioneer to sell the rest.  Then, with the house empty and clean (painted?), put it up for sale.  Use the money from that to pay off the mobile home.  I would use the balance to pay the lot rent,  or put it with the investment guy.  This house is 38 years old and needs some TLC to get it sale ready, and  remodeled bathroom and kitchen will increase the asking price.

Med Tech.

When I was still gainfully employed I could explain (briefly) what I did for a living.  Clinical labs, OK, that's where all those tubes of blood, or samples of urine go to be tested for this or that.  I worked in the blood bank, testing bags of blood to get a "match" for a patient who needed a fill-up.  People have seen that, bags of blood hanging on a long pole, on TV if not in real life.  I worked weekends and holidays, and my 40 hour job too, so sometimes I worked 14 days in a row.  After 5 years I gave up the blood bank job, I was so exhausted, although the extra money was nice.

But my regular job was working as a research tech.  I worked jobs in physiology, biochemistry or pathology, for a wide variety of principal investigators.  The problem was that for most of these jobs I got paid from a grant, mostly NIH money, and most grants are for 3 or 4 years.  Once they run out, the investigator would write a new grant for another 3 or 4 years.  The results in fund-ability depended on a lot of things; cancer was the main project for many years, and now the top priority is Alzheimer research.  But if the grant ended and there was no money from a new grant, then POOF! I looked for another job.  Every 3 years.  It got really tiresome, never knowing if that new car was manageable when my salary was zero, and so forth.  And there was probably a bunch of other techs looking too.  As I got older, it got harder; I was a whole generation older than the investigator, who felt more comfortable being the boss of a young person and not someone the age of their parents.  And I had to take classes to keep up to date as science evolved into new techniques.  The last 3 years were heavenly, I was the lab safety specialist, paid on HARD money (not a grant) and I enjoyed telling investigators how to shape up, preferably before the OSHA inspections.  But once the mortgage was paid, and N was doing all kinds of consultant work at home for nice money on top of his annuity, I knew this was the time to get out.  Plus, they were building hundreds of new labs, and the thought of having to do so many inspections made me tired to think of it.  My replacement was a tech laid off too, and she was a great one for doing that kind of work.  So we overlapped a couple of months, and then I retired with 35 years of work.  My retirement wasn't much, but I had a nice nest egg laid back.

And I still haven't said what I was doing all those years, have I?  Think mice and rats, and sometimes rabbits and goats (YEW) that were studied for results that would occur mainly in people.  Consider radioactive compounds, and infectious techniques.  I worked one whole year on trypanosomes, the organism that causes sleeping sickness.  Fortunately we don't have tsetse flies in our part of the world, will that change as global warming increases?  Dunno.  Not my problem now.

And so went many years' work, many techniques, SOB bosses (we won't go there; karma will do it)  papers and grants, and some really nice co-workers, many passed away now.  I miss them, but not the  lab.

That is all for now, I'm sure everyone is bored by now, and time for me to go to therapy.  Bye!

Diet? What diet?

side effects

'scrips and horses

I spent over an hour on the phone with Blue cross, CVS pharmacy, and the physician's assistant for my ortho doctor all because the new script was written "either generic or brand" for the pain killer Ultram.  The nephrologist I saw said, oh no, brand only.  He told me that the generic was not the same as the brand; that the generic is a steroid and hard on the kidneys, where the brand was neither of these things.  So when the ortho doctor was about to write the drug, we explained what the nephrology doctor said, and  so he wrote his script.  And damned he wrote "either", and BC/BS sent me this vague letter about coverage for the brand, since the generic was available.  Therefore, phone calls.  Hopefully the ortho doctor will re-write the order.  Meanwhile, what was used to fill the current  supply?  I dunno.

I have had a very sore pair of knees, after my jaunt at the mall.  I am in terrible shape from my last surgery, and it is hard to do much exercise solely in the bedroom, (no jokes, please)  I do them, but I don't see the progress the physical therapist says is there, in small increments.  So I keep doing the ones he told me to do, as well as the ones from the original therapists.  There are subtle differences, but I just do them all.  And seeing the mall nearly empty, of both customers and stores, was sad, although my daughter had told me how little was surviving there.  I got to admit, I buy everything on Amazon or eBay, instead of chasing around trying to find things.  The only exception is heavy stuff, like furniture.

God this is a poor post, whining on about my ailments.  I will tell a better story.

When I was about 12 years old, my grandfather borrowed a horse from the next neighbor for me to ride while we were there (WV) at the farm, on vacation.  I couldn't have been so happy before then, being a horse crazy girl living in a big city (Miami).  He was fun to watch even when I wasn't riding, and he apparently learned what I carried when I showed up (grain).  But toward the end the owner showed up to claim  him again, to move some of his cattle.  The thing was, he was hard to catch.  After Dan and my grandfather had chased him around a bit, I stepped up to the fence (me on the outside) he ran up to me, and I took hold of his halter (a bad thing to do, really).  And so the men came and claimed him, and were suitably impressed with my skill.  All due to horse food.  And my grandfather, a real tightwad normally, indulged me enough to buy a horse brush, and so I learned the old adage, that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man (or a girl!).

Grandad borrowed the horse every year for 2 or 3 more visits, I thought of him as mine.  Until he was sold.  And so I learned (from Ben Franklin) the truth of " neither a borrower nor a lender be ".

Come to think of it, that horse was a blue-eyed paint, much like my Blondie horse.  I had her from 4 years old, to 26 years old.  The only equine I ever sold were the little pony and her two foals.  She was a mean pony, until you had a grip on her, when she gave up until the next time.  And neither of my kids could care any less about horses.  My son even told me he would never have horses because they were too much work.  He has a point.

Silence is golden

Our land-line telephone doesn't work.  It has a dial tone, after dialing it rings once, then silence and some pops and buzz, and nothing after that.  I called the phone company (on the cell phone), and described the situation.  The agent checked the line from her end, agreed that there are "issues" with the line and said she would send an email with information about a technician visit.  When the email arrived, it set a visit for this coming Tuesday, but there is therapy scheduled, and C's jury duty may raise its bumpy head, please no.  We won't be able to plan our schedule until we know about the jury call on Monday night.  All those idle citizens that leap at the $40 a day for every day they are on call, not everyone just postpones things and trots off to the courthouse.  Anyway, the lack of robocalls is amazing, no jumping up to catch the phone before the answering machine picks up.  Very quiet.

The damn stink bugs have once again put in an appearance, clinging to the windows (outside! thank god) and making crunch sounds when they are stepped on.  Hopefully I can get in the car and shut the door before they arrive in the car.  I have a horror of them, the only saving thought is that they are very slow and stupid, easily caught in a tissue, and although they fly, it is done very slowly and with much noise.

The old grey cat has still not been seen, I guess for certain she died.  I just wish we knew for sure that she is not suffering.

I am trying to straighten up the room, but not being able to carry much as I use my walker.  I don't need decisions, only someone to carry things from here to there.  So I sort on the bed, trying to avoid "churning", where what is in A goes to B, B things go to C, and C things go back to A.  Net result; zilch progress.

I wonder, if I donate stuffed animals to Goodwill, will they see the ear tag for "Melissa and Doug" and know this isn't a run-of-the-mill toy?  The single 10 inch rabbit cost $25, and I hate the idea that it will be dragged around by one ear.....

So hard to give things you love to someone else.  I should have thought this through when I bought the rabbit.  Maybe I will donate my new winter coat instead, never worn because it is brown.  Just...brown.  Very warm and puffy.  I'm pretty sure there is an unworn blue coat in the coat closet too, but I can't get upstairs to look.  We didn't have much of a winter last year.  At least, I didn't.  I was in rehab and nursing homes from July 2017 until February 28th in 2018.  My only trips out were in an ambulance to doctor visits, if the weather was cold they left the heater in the ambulance running while they packed me up.  I don't remember snow.

Now I will leave you with a more cheerful item:

Touch ID

I have finally (I hope) mastered the use of the touch pad on my MacBook Air.  I am so very tired of tapping my ID every time I move from one app to another, this fingerprint method on identifying myself is one of the main reasons I got this new MacBook.  When I first started working out the how-to for this feature, I messed it up and shut down all access to everything.  C finally got it sorted, but I became leery of trying again.  But I really had no choice, I changed by MacBook password and didn't apparently write it down correctly (sigh) so off to youTube to find a fix.  It was a breeze to do, I really didn't need all the stress I felt, getting myself into the hole.  So I thought I would re-attempt the fingerprint ID, and it seems to be working, so far, fingers crossed (my it is hard to type that way ).


My site counter just went over 45,000.  I realize there are lots of blogs that get 45,000 in an hour or less,  but I bet there aren't many with a running blog for 15 years.  So if you are just browsing along here, you won't run out of posts to read very soon.  Whether what I write is fun or even OK, give it a trial.  My therapist says this isn't a blog but (jokingly) a memoir.  I re-read them myself, and sometimes correct or add to them too.

Why do I have so much time to devote to this?  Well, back in June of 2017 I made one of the stupidest decisions of my life; I decided to have my knee replaced because it was so painful, I couldn't even completely go around the grocery store without medicating beforehand.  I went home after a week in rehab, and that first night I fell, getting tangled in the wheelchair pedals, and ripped several stitches inside my knee.  So back to the ED to get surgery #2.  With it, I fell at least once a day, and sometimes more; the problem was that my knee buckled, and it moved forward or to one side, while the rest of me headed for the floor.  I had a new physician for surgeries #4, 5, 6.  But here it is 2 years later, still getting therapy twice a week, still falling (tho less than before) and still unable to walk without a walker.  My current goal is to get to using just a cane, that doesn't seem so hard of an accomplishment does it?  Most of the time between surgery #1 and #6  I was in the hospital getting IV antibiotics for the infection I caught.  Number six placed a new knee that works pretty well.  My first physician was caught in a prescription sting, and has more things to worry about than my knee.  My current osteo doctor is terrific, especially having to follow another doctor's mistakes.  Anyway, that is why I have so much time on my hands; I still can't climb stairs without great assistance, and am therefore relegated to the ground floor bedroom.  There is just so much reading, writing, sewing, knitting, and so on, I can do, thus I also sleep a lot.  No pain meds unless I am in dire pain.  If you are considering a knee or other surgery, ask yourself what you will do if you need 2 years of rehab?  And then think again.

Most of the above is detailed in earlier posts, but this is just a paragraph and if you find it boring you can just hop past it.

One of our old old outdoor cats has disappeared, and our guess is that she has gone somewhere private to die.  She must be around 16 years old, ancient for an outdoor cat.  We had made the garage a sanctuary for her and her buddy cat, cool in the summer (not too cool) and warm in the winter, as both of the outdoor cats were drop-offs, just appeared one day at feeding time.  I have only touched them a few times, and no one can pick them up.  We still have 4 indoor cats, all 4 pound kitties, 10 years old now.  When these are gone, and so is the horse (26 now), no more pets.  N used to call the horse a four-legged lawn ornament, which is pretty accurate these days.

Still no calls for C for jury duty, thankfully.  No repair on the Subaru, Monday is the soonest they can work on the brake, so I extended the rental car until Monday (instead of this past Friday).  The logistics of getting all three vehicles where they belong, reminds me of the fox, hen and corn puzzle.

Only more expensive.

Pill catastrophe

We have two cats, unrelated, that have hyperthyroidism that need to be pilled twice a day.  One is not happy with the process, but resigned.  The other cat is a pain to medicate, writhing and struggling, but maybe getting a little better as time passes.  I had a cat several years ago with what I believe is the same diagnosis, but she was impossible to get a pill down at all, never mind twice a day.  In the end, I had her put down, damn it.  It is always the one most loved that goes the first.

We had a car problem.  On Friday, as C was driving home, all of a sudden one of the rear brakes started shrieking.  He called the dealer as soon as we made it home, and they said to bring it in at 3 pm.  They checked it out, and determined that the rear pads, rotors, calipers, drum, is there any other part of a brake system? were in need of replacement.  But, of course, they lacked one of the parts.  C asked if it was OK to drive, and the tech said, "as little as possible".  When C told me, I said "rental".  So we now have a Nissan Rogue 2002 for the week.  Not willing to take a chance with brakes.  It is damned hard for me to get in, as the seat is higher, but getting out is a breeze.  Many visits this week that can't be rescheduled.  Sigh.

Dinner time, bye for now...

attic and trash

We (mostly C) have been stripping the attic.  It has taken place beginning with
Christmas of 2018, with the credo of "anything that comes out of the attic doesn't go back in".  So as the boxes and whatever makes it down, it goes in one of three piles:  keep, pitch, donate.  Donate is mostly bound for Goodwill, but nothing that is nasty, which rules out clothing.  The pitch pile is the largest, and three trips to the transfer trash site have already made the pick-up truck handier than the trunk of a dozen cars.  The keep pile is very small, and goes into the storage unit nearby.  Eventually it will end up in the other two piles, but not now.  Here are examples of what went where:

Keep:  microscope, brass weights for a balance in a lovely wooden box, a small
Christmas tree,  a rocking chair, a section of a modular couch; one of my mother-in-law's oil paintings, surprisingly nice; photo albums; tons of yarn; wreaths and wind socks; old functional cameras that have slowly been sold to KEH camera store; my collection of fountain pens; the cross stitch kits; ceramic glazes; sewing machine and fabric, thread, etc.; taxes, computers (at least 5); for now, R's stuff, until they can be winnowed.


Pitch:  all the baby furniture and car seats, that don't conform to modern safety regs; school books, notes, awards; ( and the books cost a fortune too); 8 track tapes; paperback books; ancient sleeping bags; tents in awful shape; all the nasty clothes; my wedding dress (45 years old), an evening dress (was I ever that thin?), all yellow and Krispy; most of the toys and games and stuffed animals; bowling trophies, all my riding ribbons (photo of the pile); bowling shoes; boxes of "stuff" that were never opened when we moved here 35 years ago; film cameras that are broken; do-dads and souvenirs that I don't even recognize; the list goes on and on.


Donate:  stuffed animals that are still in perfect condition (and there aren't very many);  a few (3) collector's dolls, that were my mother's weak spot and I wish I had given them to my aunt, and then it would have been out of my hands; guitar; keyboard; a huge electric oven, used once; a reel-to-reel tape recorder with tapes; a vinyl to CD machine, used once; all the vinyl records (4 boxes) to a collector in town; books and books and books, to the library (hardback only); the other oil paintings, they are in nice frames; bowling balls (eventually); jigsaw puzzles, never opened; it is hard to find stuff that isn't worn, damaged, or not intact.

It makes me tired just looking over this list.