Spring/Summer Is Here

 Or at least the temperatures so indicate. We are enjoying a burst of warm (80 degrees) temperatures this week. 

Our local garden store opened on Wednesday with some trepidation, "Last year, when we opened at this time we gt 3" of snow!" Not this year! 

The aspen trees have burst into leaf over night and the hillsides are covered with a mix of red and white haze as the red maples and oaks match them. The flowering trees won't be far behind. Hay fields and pastures are suddenly very, very green. 

That reminds me: I better check to make sure the lawn mower runs. Electric start and all, the battery may have run down over the winter.

I've added a layer of fresh garden soil to three of the vegetable beds and bought some white onion sets to put in the ground ASAP. Except for the lettuce, seeds will wait for Terry's birthday (May 3rd) or Mothers' Day (May 14th). The pepper and tomato plants won't get planted until the first week of June. 

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Paid a visit to Dr. B, my vascular surgeon yesterday. It was my six month check-up on the bypasses I've had in both legs. Testing showed the right leg to be A-OK but a reduction in flow on the left side from 96% to 87% and ultrasound showed a constriction downstream of the stent. This was sufficient for Dr. B to order another "angiogram with possible angioplasty/stenting" to be done on Monday morning. This will be the sixth (?) such procedure since TSHTF back on June 2, 2019. 

Dr. B, once again and with lots of eye rolls, said that I should limit my activities for a month after surgery. No heavy lifting, no strenuous work, yadda, yadda, yadda. Looking at the calendar, there's nothing I've got planned from April 17 to May 17 that might fit those categories. Heck, I usually let at least one generation of dandelions flower and got to seed before I mow the lawn so I should be able to obey this doctor order--this time.

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Terry had an MRI done to try and determine what has been causing the crippling pain she has been having in her back/hip/knee. She's had shots in her back that have produced mixed results. The first provided relief for nearly a year. The second lasted less than a month. She has also had shots in her knees as well as fluid removed from those areas. Those treatments have been good for about six months.

The MRI was a precursor to a visit to a spine specialist (neurosurgeon) and possible surgery for her. All this is reminiscent of my experiences culminating in 10 hours on the table back in 2015. (I still have pain in my lower back despite the scraping out of bone spurs, stenosis, and fusion performed back then.)

*sigh* 

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Fishing trip to Caesar's is once again on the calendar. June 20 is the departure date for Joe and I. We got Ollie to agree to rent us a satellite phone for emergency usage so I would feel better about being out in the back of nowhere for a week. Looking forward to it since my last trip was back in 2018. 

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Terry and I booked a five day visit to Disney World for November. She's been wanting to go to EPCOT for a long, long time and I finally caved. We will also be visiting the Animal Kingdom while we are there. 

Hopefully, what ever medical problems we are experiencing now will be cleared up by then. If not, we may be renting either a wheelchair or a motorized cart--or two.

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That is all for now! 

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Forgot to mention:

I started on next winter's firewood. Dropped a big ash tree and cut it up into firewood lengths. Still have a couple more to drop but they will have to wait until mid-May per doctor's orders. They are clearly standing dead, however, since the bark is peeling off. As a result they won't need much seasoning.