I Ain't Dead! (Yet.)

Go ahead. Say it. "Rich, you're a slacker!" Yeah, I am. I last posted here back on October 18th when we had our first dusting of snow. Then I fell into hibernation/slacker mode from which I'm just now arousing myself.

I say "just now" but I've been creeping back into a little more active life for about a month. It started with Joe and I going to the Great American Outdoor Show down in Harrisburg back on February 11th. We went with the express purpose of confirming our reservation with Caesar's North Camps for this coming June.

When we got back I started messing around with my fishing tackle and trying to figure out a way to store my stuff more neatly. (Just jamming the poles in a five-gallon bucket wasn't cutting it any more.) So I ended up in the workshop building a rod holder and moving a set of shelves into the utility room on which to stack my six(!) tackle boxes and the boxes holding reels and line.

That led me to start sorting the wood that I had stockpiled. Which, in turn, led to me trimming some old drawer wood of its dovetail ends and mortised edges. And THAT left me with lots of little 1/2 inch square pieces about a foot long.

Well, that little bit of woodworking got me itching and I started building some birdhouses. Starting with this log/timber home using those cut offs from the drawers.

And then I decided a log cabin needed an outhouse.

And, since a log cabin is often found in the mountains, the neighbors might have a chalet.

 That last one was a pip! I had to rip all the 1/2" wide pieces for the decorative "timbers" on the table saw and then used the bandsaw and sander to get the angles just right. I almost succeeded too!

All that sawing and sanding was putting lots of sawdust in the air and it was ending up everywhere. (One of these days I'll get some wiring done and install the air filter I bought two years ago.) I had an open shelf just below the workbench for storing some of my power tools and started to think about how best to close that up.

Doors seemed the logical solution, so I built some using select grade 1x2 and 1x3 pine and 5/32" luan plywood. I used my biscuit joiner to hold the frame together and glue and corner braces to attach the luan to the frame. They ended up looking like a hollow core door and would have been if I had added luan to the back sides. I got interrupted by another project for a couple of days (I'll explain shortly), bit finally hung the doors this afternoon.

I think they came out pretty nice.

About that other project....

As I was building the doors (and creating sawdust), I got to thinking...I had open shelves holding all kinds of stuff including boxes and boxes of nails and screws and hardware and they were both unsightly and (saw)dust collectors. I started to think about building cabinets in which it store/hide all this stuff. I drew up some plans based on the same principles as I used in building the doors: a 1x3 frame with luan sheath. Then I did a little calculating and came up with about $130-150 for materials for one 30" wide, 12" deep, 72" high cabinet.

Saturday I decided to go online and see what Lowe's and Home Depot had in storage cabinets. Lowe's didn't have what I wanted in stock and I didn't feel like waiting. Home Depot had a plastic, snap together cabinet measuring a near perfect 27x15x72 for just $80. And, the best part, they had several in stock at the store in Painted Post (just west of Corning and "only" 45 minutes away). (Bad news was I wold have to pay NYS and county taxes--and I hate paying anything to NY.) Terry and I went and picked one up on Sunday.

It took me a couple of hours to snap that cabinet together. The directions were hieroglyphics with very, very few words but things could only snap in place one way so there was that.

I liked the look so much, I went up on Monday to pick up another. This time I also picked up some 1/4 plywood to put on top of the plastic shelves so as to better distribute the weight and prevent sagging. (Each shelf was rated to 44 pounds but I had a lot of nails and screws. A. Lot.) This second cabinet went together easily but I spent more time preconstruction de-buring the injection molded plastic parts. (It was easier to do prior to construction and ensured a better fit for some of the parts.)

So I now have two matching cabinets where the open shelves used to be.

Look at that second picture. See the coffee can? Right behind it is the belt/disc sander and it shoots sawdust right at those cabinets. That's why the shelves had to go. Maybe I should look into a dust collection system? If I could ever figure out a good layout.

For now, it's a matter of sorting and storing all the stuff and trying to decide what to do with all the extra tools I've got. Besides those hand saws on the wall (seven of them), I've three back saws, two coping saws, three keyhole saws, three sets of metal snips (and by sets I mean one set has three snips: Straight, Left and Right), two orbital sanders, two hand held circular saws, wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc. up the whazoo, and enough fasteners of all types and sizes to open a hardware store.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to besides some birding off the deck, picking up the bird feeders after the bears knock them down, going on some bird walks, getting a pre-molar extracted and a post put in for a cap.

For now I've got my eye on either building more birdhouses or figuring out what to do with this:

Boxes and boxes of baseball cards, painting materials (brushes, rollers, trays and drop cloths), and several boxes of craft paints. And there are cans of paint and stain under the stairs on the right. Maybe I'll be building a cabinet and a few roll-out storage units soon.

How I Spent My Father's Day Weekend.

Good grief! I just now realized that I didn't tell about what we did in Anaheim beyond that we delivered Jess' stuff to her.This should also explain the reference to "kidney stone" I made in the previous post.

Well, Terry and I spent Friday with Jess at the Discovery Hall in Santa Ana. Jess thought they were going to have an "explosive" exhibit from the Myth Busters, but that didn't start until Saturday. Still, it's a very interesting, kids' oriented, hands-on place that was very entertaining...until the kids showed up. Then it got loud. As loud as four or five school bus loads of sixth graders can make it. And trust me, that's LOUD!

We beat feet and traveled over to the Bower Art/History Museum. Much quieter. They had a gallery dedicated to the works of Chuck Jones. But "that's [not] all folks!" They also had a special display on the mummification of animals as votives to the gods. There was also a presentation about blood sacrifice made by the Mayans and other cultures. And another about the early history of Upper California. And no little humans making lots of noise.

******

Saturday, Terry and I traveled south to Carlsbad, CA just north of San Diego to visit with old friends Ellie and Wayne whom we had not seen in over 30 years. (Thank goodness for the internet and Christmas card letters!) It was like we had never parted.

I wasn't feeling well, however, and felt worse as the day went on. We went to take a walk around one of the lagoons that's been set aside as a nature preserve and then to a mexican restaurant for lunch. By then I ws nearly doubled over with pain in my lower back and nausea, too boot.

I ordered a bowl of tortilla soup ("guaranteed to cure all that ills you" according to the menu) but got only two spoonfuls of broth before it was decided that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. Lunch was bagged up and off we rushed to the ER at Scripps.

I was in the door less than two minutes before I was swept into a bed, had my vitals examined and had blood drawn. I was administered a shot of morphine and whisked off for a Cat Scan.

The first dose of pain killer didn't work and my pain went from 8-9 on a scale of 10 to 11. A second shot of morphine was given and a diagnosis came back that I had a 4 mm diameter kidney stone that had (at the time of the Cat Scan) almost passed into my bladder but was hung up in the area of the sphincter muscle that prevents urine from flowing the wrong way. The ER Doc was amazed I wasn't complaining of even more pain than I was. (They consider a 5 mm stone the maximum passable size.) "Most people with a stone that size," he said, "come in to the ER saying it feels like they've been shot."

In any case, the second shot of morphine--or the quick ride back from radiology--jarred that sucker lose. Soon after I was feeling fine. (Maybe that was the morphine too, but by then I didn't care.)

Scrips in hand, Wayne took me to a local CVS where I got more pain killer and a generic form of Flowmax. Now I felt no pain, but had to pee every two hours.

Being under the influence of prescription narcotics, Ellie and Wayne insisted we stay with them for the night. (Did I mention that Wayne is an attorney?) So we went to their home and finished the doggy-bagged meal we had started seven hours earlier. (Maybe the tortilla soup did do me some good after all.)

By Sunday morning, I was feeling fine and, after breakfast, Terry and I bid farewell to Ellie and Wayne and headed back to our motel room in Anaheim.

******

Sunday we had a lovely lunch/dinner with Jessica before she had to go to work. Terry and I then sat in the motel spa for half an hour and then packed the truck for an early Monday departure. I was feeling fine with no after effects from the kidney stone and had stopped taking the prescribed pain pills.

I'm baaaaack! (Sorta)

It’s been more than a month since I posted here. No excuses just not much drive to post upon the multitude of idiocies that have been going on in the world.

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The Tundra got its new brain. It took just a bit over an hour for the mechanic to install the (very expensive) computer. Everything seems to be going well.

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Dallas Seavey won the Iditarod by 2 minutes over Aliy Zerkle. The 2013 winner, Mitch Seavey, (Dallas’ dad) finished third more than three hours later.

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A plane disappeared somewhere in the Indian Ocean and the 24/7 cable news channels do nothing but speculate as to its fate. Day. After. Day. After. Day. (I’m glad I don’t bother to watch TV news unless it’s an occasional peek at what passes for local news here in the middle of nowhere.) 

Searching “Flight 370” (with the quotes) on the CNN website produces 754 results. A similar search on the MSNBC site yields 134 hits. And FOX News gives 149.

Speculation, and that’s all it really is and continues to be, as to what happened runs the gamut from mechanical failure to black holes. 

Meanwhile those same stations virtually ignore political corruption and gun smuggling occurring from coast to coast.

@Mayorof Charlotte resigns after public corruption, bribe charges

(He’s a Democrat, but you’d have a hard time finding that tidbit in this article.)

@Fewcan reconcile Leland Yee with the charges against him 

(He, too, is a Democrat and a California State Senator—who strongly pushed for strict gun control. You’d be hard pressed to find that in this article.)

 ******

My sister hosted a family reunion party at her house in New Jersey. Descendants of my Mother and her sisters gathered from Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Cousins, their kids and grandkids along with various spouses got together. Those on the west coast and the south didn’t make it but we had a great time just the same. 

****** 

Baseball season has started and I'll be following my Mets--at least until July fourth, longer if they start doing well. Unfortunately, my TV contract does not have MLB access and recently dropped the YES network. (I don't mind the latter unless the Mets are playing the Yanks.) I can watch the Pirates, Phillies and even the Cubs on a fairly regular schedule. 

I lost the nail on my frostbitten finger. A new one seems to be growing. It’s slightly deformed but we’ll have to see if it becomes more “normal” with time.

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The bears are back. We have had two visits: one from a mamma and her yearling cub and one by a two year old. As a result, the bird feeders have to come in at night.

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My knees were doing very well until about a month ago. Then I suddenly developed a sharp pain in the right knee just above the joint. It only happens when climbing or descending stairs but it’s enough to make me go to the orthopedist tomorrow.

 I started doing yard work in the form of felling a couple of trees along the edge of the yard, limbing them, cutting the larger into fire place lengths, and using the new chipper/shredder to clean up the smaller branches.And I slipped on some of the snow that was on the ground while I was cutting down the trees. Didn't think I hurt myself at the time, but ever since the pain has been getting worse.

I might have pushed too hard in the warm weather we’ve had in fits and spurts. I started doing lots of birding doing several walks on consecutive days.

 ******

As far as birding goes, I did have a good time going to various spots in Tioga County, PA and even got up to the southern end of Seneca Lake (Watkins Glen) in New York. I took lots of photos and will be posting some of those in the days ahead. The birds that migrated south have begun returning and/or passing through on their way north so there’s plenty to see. I missed a few that have already gone by, like the Snow Geese (although I may have seen a flock or two wing overhead), but there are more showing up every day.

 The Goldfinches are getting more and more yellow, a sure sign of Spring(?) even if the peepers aren't sounding off and the Woodcock haven't returned to the mountain. (Some have been seen down in the valley, however.)

 ******

Finally, March Madness has culminated in UConn vs. Kentucky for the National Championship as I type. On the women’s side it’s two undefeated teams (Connecticut (37-0) vs Notre Dame (35-0) squaring off in the title game Tuesday night.

Week 16, Terry's Travels, and SNOW!

My knees celebrated their 16th week yesterday and I put them to good use as I finally got around to cutting the other half of the lawn and spread some lime. Good thing I got that done too, as last night the temperature dropped to 20 degrees and this morning there were one and a half inches of snow on the deck and the lawn was covered--the driveway too, as yesterday's temperature was low enough to suck the remaining heat out of the dirt and rocks.

******

Terry got home yesterday about noon. She covered just about 2700 miles from California to home chewing off 700 or so miles a day as she drove dawn to dusk.  Dead heading like that is not fun. It was a long, eventful three weeks with across-country round-trip flight thrown in for good measure. SAGA Convention near Dallas, visit with daughter in Anaheim, funeral for Mother in NJ (on the opposite coast from the daughter), a second visit with daughter (again in Anaheim), visits with niece and sister on the north end of SF Bay, and a long drive home. She made it safely and with no unusual road stories.

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We have had problems with our well since day one. Very fine red clay (colloidal in nature) comes out of the shale with the water and into the well. About once a year that red clay overwhelms our filtration system (with a 1 micron filter) and fills the cistern with red water. Turn the faucet on and it's a scene out of Psycho with red water swirling around the drain. At that time I need to drain the cistern and flush the entire well before slowly refilling the tank. That takes time and filters. Lots of time and many filters. I've only got four on hand and that ain't enough. I've ordered more but for now it looks like a run to Wally World for bottled water for cooking and drinking.

Week 15

Yesterday was the 15th week after surgery and all is going well.

With all the running around this week, my exercise routine has gone down the tubes. It doesn't seem to have affected my knees too much, however. Perhaps going up and down the stairs at Mom's house, all the standing and sitting during the wake and mass (I don't/won't/can't do any kneeling) has replaced some of the exercises. Whatever, things are feeling pretty good. The knees are doing well. In fact, the only real pain I've experienced came from standing too long, and that was back pain at the belt line.

Football Is on Hold Because....

....life happens. Or, sometimes, death.

Terry's Mom passed away suddenly on the night of Monday, October 28th.

Mom called Terry to say she wasn't feeling well. She said she had the shakes, felt nauseous, and was unsteady on her feet. Terry, who was somewhere between Frisco, Texas and Anaheim, California, told her to go to the doctor. "He's on vacation." "So go to the ER," said Terry.

Luckily cousin Nancy and cousin Pat (a visiting care nurse here in PA) were in New Jersey and they went over to see Mom. They called 911 and had Mom taken over to Rahway Hospital. There, they started a battery of tests and gave her loads of fluids via IV saying she was dehydrated. Mom is never dehydrated. Between coffee, OJ, milk and water she regularly meets her minimum daily requirements. Even with all the fluids, she wasn't urinating--a sign that her kidneys may have been failing. For several hours Mom joked with and complained to the doctors and nurses. She talked with Nancy and Pat who in turn kept Terry and her sister, Lucille, in the loop via cell phone.

They moved Mom upstairs around sundown. Later that night they were starting to intubate her when they called a Code Blue. Exactly what happened--blood clot or a heart attack--we may never know. She died quickly and without pain in the company of two very competent, smart, friends and relatives. Just the way she wanted.

Tuesday, Terry continued on to Anaheim where she stopped to give Jess all the stuff she hauled on her way out. She booked a flight back to New Jersey and then dropped the Jeep at a dealers to get the oil changed and a maintenance light taken care of and arranged for them to keep the vehicle until she returned. She arrived in Newark on Thursday.

Lucille, who had booked a flight out of San Francisco as soon as Nancy had called her to say Mom was in the hospital, arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Early Tuesday morning I arranged for a cat sitter. Then, after my pool session of therapy, I hopped into the Tundra and drove into NJ.

Lucille and I, and later, Terry arranged Mom's funeral. Meanwhile Mom's grandkids started arriving from Oregon, Wisconsin and California.

Then there was the wake, the funeral and the cleaning up of Mom's house. Friday night was the wake. Saturday was the funeral mass. Sunday, with four out of five grandchildren in attendance, we did lots of sorting and cleaning of Mom's stuff. With all that was going on and what with the shuttle service back and forth to the airport, I didn't even watch one football game this week.

Slowly everyone dispersed late Sunday and Monday until by Monday evening, I was the only one left. Terry was back in Anaheim and Lucille north of San Francisco/Bay Area with Laura and Adam. Brian and Vicki were back in Milwaukee. Rick and Sandy were in Portland, OR. Today, with a packed Tundra, I boogied home. For the time being.

******

Mom did make things a bit easier for us. She not only had a will, she had a couple of annuities clearly labeled for her girls, a savings account labeled "For My Funeral." Her safety box contained all the papers we needed and before she went into the hospital she told Nancy where the key was located so there was no searching involved. Mom also wrote her own obit and, with just a little bit of editing, that's what we put in the paper.

******

Terry will be back home Sunday or Monday. The week after that Terry, Lucille and I will be back in Linden to do some more packing and cleanup of the old homestead and--hopefully--engage a real estate agent to sell the house and transfer the car title to Grandson Brian who did all the long distance driving on the 10 year-old Chevy Malibu with only 25K miles. (If there ever was a chance to list a car as "owned by a little old lady who only drove it on Sundays" this is it.)

Week 14

After a couple of days of aches and pains due in part to the very changeable weather we were having, the knees are behaving very well today. I've been able to walk up and down stairs with only a little reminder of my surgery.

Everyone keeps telling me that if I continue to do my exercises, either at home or at the therapists, I should see major improvement between six and eight months. And, after a year, I should need to be reminded that I had surgery. That would put it around the middle of January (six months) at the earliest.

Believe me when I say that I will be doing my exercises on a regular basis.

13 Weeks

My knees turned 13 weeks old today.

My visit to the surgeon's on Friday morning was extremely positive. He told me that the one-month xrays were perfect. Everything was where it should be and the flexibility I demonstrated was excellent. The pain I'm still experiencing--especially going down stairs--is normal. It will take time and exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knees and one day, about three or four months from now, POOF! the pain will be gone! (Yeah. Right.)

Meanwhile, I'm feeling pretty good...except for when I'm going down the stairs. Elite Physical Therapy has been very, very good for me. Except for the pain part.

And she's off!

With the Jeep packed to the gills (mostly Jess' "stuff"), Terry has just departed for Frisco, TX and her SAGA (Smocking Arts Guild of America) convention. From there, she'll head to Anaheim, CA and then up the coast to American Canyon, CA (north end of SF Bay). Visits to Jess, Laura, and Lucille are in the very near future.

She should be home sometime around November 9 or 10. Until then, it's just me, my knees and the cats at the Aerie.

Quiet at the Aerie

Been kind of quiet around here with just me and the cats.

Terry was in Louisville for an Embroiderer's Guild of America convention. She returned last evening and said she had a good time but complained of a knot in her shoulder blades from holding her stitching materials too long.One of her classes was a beading class and she returned with a very pretty necklace.

She'll be hitting the road again next weekend heading to Texas (Smocking Arts Guild of America) and then California (Anaheim for Jess and north of SF Bay for her sister and niece). As we tend to do when not in a rush, she's driving. It's a great way to see the country and appreciate the beauty and size of the US of A. First she took her little yellow Aveo to Kentucky. Next, because she will have to haul some stuff out to Anaheim, she'll be taking the Jeep Compass. And the 4-wheel drive might be necessary as she heads up to American Canyon, CA before turning east and heading through the mountains and the plains to come home in early November.

Me? I'm the stay-at-home cat carer. I've also been rehabbing my knees (12-weks old tomorrow). And they are doing better now that I'm sure to do my exercises daily. I'm still having pain as I head down the stairs, but depending upon the day--and time of day--it's better. Going up stairs is much better but still slow going. Flat surfaces are a piece of cake and even walking over some uneven surfaces (the lawn, not the woods) is relatively painless.

This week I've two sessions of physical therapy, a visit to the surgeon (last follow-up session), an Audubon Club meeting, and the RV has to be taken to get a couple of things done. Other than that, there's not much happening.

Knees Things I Want to Talk About.

My new knees were ten weeks old on Monday, but after the workout they got during Friday's physical therapy session and the swelling and pain I felt all weekend, I would have pegged them as only 6 or 7 weeks of age.

A lot of the pain and suffering was a result of me being lax vis-a-vis my exercise habits while off to Portland for 5 days. Yeah, I did some stretching and spent time on the stationary bike at the hotel, but it obviously was not enough.

This morning I had a session in the therapist's pool and things went pretty well. There's still some pain going up and down stairs even with the water providing some support, but walking on the submerged treadmill--mush of the rest of the workout--was relatively painless.

I'll be back on dry land for Friday's PT bu this time I will have two days of long exercise sessions done at home to support me. Hopefully I'll see some progress, I'm told insurance will only cover PT through the 16th (approximately three months).

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The leaves around the Northern Tier are really starting to turn. There's lots of purples, reds and oranges showing up. The bright yellow of aspen and maple haven't really "popped" yet with the exception of a few trees here and there. If the weather continues nice, I may have to go back out to Leonard Harrison SP at the Grand Canyon to snap a few pictures.

The forecast is for clear skies the next few days and highs approaching 80 degrees by the weekend so, if you're a leaf peeper, this might be a good time to hit the road--or, if you're lucky enough to live in the midst of the fall bounty, take a long look around. I figure you've got about two weeks max.

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Terry and I went out passed Wellsboro yesterday to a produce stand on Rt. 287 to pick up some Cortland apples. Bruce and Sue had brought about a peck of Cortlands with them when they visited a few weeks ago and apples were available at the farmers' market in Mansfield last weekend. We didn't do anything with Bruce and Sue's supply until to day when Terry baked an apple pie with a few of them. The apples at the farmers' market were a tad pricey for me but Pagomar's had the Cortlands for $17 a bushel. I'll turn them into apple sauce within the next day or two. Should produce at least 24 pints for storage.

We also took inventory of our canned goods. Plenty of relish, garlic dill pickles, regular dill pickles, peaches, strawberry jam, blueberry jam as well as some grape jelly still on the shelves alongside the quarts of tomato sauce. Since some of the pickles and jams are several years old, I'm hoping they aged well. I KNOW they will be eaten now that we're more aware of their presence.

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I hear there's a government "shutdown" going on. From the list of agencies and personnel furloughed, all I can say is, "Good! Change the locks while they're away." And while they're at it, there's plenty more under the heading of "Czar" that could probably be slashed--permanently.

I also hear that today was the first day to sign up at the exchanges for Obomacare. Many of the websites designed for that have crashed. Talk about not ready for prime time! Whether because so many people are trying to sign up or are curious about whether they have to sign up; or because the sites were poorly designed, a crash is indicative of the whole ACA. From "We have to pass it to find out what's in it," to the myriad of broken promises ("If you like your healthcare, you'll get to keep your healthcare." "This is going to lower the cost of healthcare in America."), to the number of exemptions granted--illegally--by the administration, this whole thing has been one major screw-up.

Quiet Day At the Aerie

Friday morning was my first back at physical therapy in a week. Oh, I got some exercise (mostly walking with some stationary bike) and some hot tub time while Terry and I were in Portland with Rick and Sandy, but it was a far cry from what I should have been doing. And therapy being of the dry land exercise type proved even more that I missed my workouts. Afterwards my knees ached and were noticeably swollen.

This being the Fabulous 1890's Weekend in Mansfield (celebrates the first night football game), there were all kinds of events going on. I would have gone to more if my knees were feeling as good as they did prior to PT on Friday. Terry and I limited ourselves to a visit to the farmers' market before going to the church's turkey dinner on Friday. Then we went to the firemen's breakfast this morning.


I spent Friday evening applying ice to my knees. I continued doing that this morning and saw/felt some improvement, but this afternoon, while watching football, I opted for heat. That seems to be working even better. (Or, maybe, it's just that the heat has been applied for a longer period of time. There was lots of football to watch!)

The weather has been excellent with cool--low 40s nights--and bright sunny 70 degree days. While we had 1.15 inches of rain while we were away, it hasn't rained since we returned--but fog!!?? Boy have we had fog--and dew--every morning. Mostly the fog stays down in the valleys below us giving the impression of a white sea with little islands poking above the surface. Occasionally we can see the fog wafting slowly up the hillsides making it appear as though we were in the Smokey Mountains. Rarely, the fog encompasses us and produces and ethereal atmosphere in which visibility is very, very limited.

Family

Friday: After a rather hectic flight from Philly (delayed 2 1/2 hours) to San Francisco and a nail-biting, knee aching sprint from one concourse to another to make a (literally) last second connection to Portland (I was the final passenger to board and they were about to close the doors as I limped down the ramp after a half mile jog) we arrived in the wee hours of the morning with no place to stay. Found a room at a motel near where we had reservations and crashed for the night.

Saturday: Went to Rick & Sandy's home in SE Portland and visited/commiserated with them for a while before Sandy's mom and dad arrived. Sandy is still on some pain medication but she and Rick seem to have weathered the initial shock of losing their baby girl. The doctors at the hospital were unable to determine the cause of Aisley's death so she will be sent elsewhere for an autopsy. Eventually, she will be cremated and her ashes spread in one of Portland's parks where Rick and Sandy will have installed a bench dedicated in her memory.

Sunday: Sandy's sister, Jacki, will be arriving from Japan this afternoon and then, after dinner, we will be going to the hospital for a final viewing of Aisley Ceciela Faber. I don't know that I have enough tissues.

FYI on Family and Tragedy

There have been some sad days this week. Tuesday, my son and his wife discovered that the little girl, Aisley Cecilia, who was due to arrive the end of October, had passed away in utero. As you might imagine we were all shocked as everything looked great during the doctor's visit on the previous Friday .

The doctors were at a loss also and didn't want to state a cause until they could examine the baby. So, they started administering PIT to Sandy to induce labor. They did so in very low doses so as not to cause any internal damage to Sandy. It took two days before the medication worked and Aisley was delivered Thursday morning. She weighed in at 4 pounds 6 ounces and would have been quite a bundle--if she had made it to her scheduled delivery date 6-7 weeks down the road.

As for the cause of her demise, speculation lies with some sort of umbilical cord strangulation although I haven't heard more since Rick called on Friday with word of Aisley's delivery.

Sandy is doing fine physically but she and Rick are--as might be expected--emotionally distraught--as we all are. Sandy's parents arrived in Portland on Wednesday (the advantage of living less than an hour from Chicago's O'Hare airport) and are helping make arrangements for Aisley's burial. Terry sent a wee care gown for her to be dressed in via overnight USPS. Terry and I finally got our affairs in order and will be flying out from Philly this evening to do what we can to support our kids and to see our would-have-been first grandchild.

Never take anything for granted. Hug your kids and grandkids whenever you can. If you don't have any, hug your nieces and nephews--or their kids. Little children are a blessing not to be missed.

Forgive me if there is no college football results or polls early this week. There are far more important things on my plate right now. I may or may not even be online until we get back from Oregon next week.

Wednesday Night Ramble

We got another 0.15 inches of rain Tuesday night which really soaked everything in the garden where the closely packed tomato plants lean against one another creating a nearly impenetrable jungle. I decided that rather than get myself soaked picking a few that ripened since Tuesday noonish, that I would let them stay until I get back from physical therapy on Thursday. That should give me another full bucket of cherry tomatoes and another half dozen Rutgers. Processing the accumulated tomatoes will take the rest of Thursday afternoon and should produce a couple of quarts of tomato sauce. The exact amount will depend upon how much I want to boil it down to thicken it.

***

I managed to get on the stationary bike in the basement today and succeeded in peddling for 10 minutes. I had been having trouble getting the left knee to go around because the peddle placement wanted to bend the knee a tad too much. I guess PT has given me a little more bend to the knee. I can add the bike to my regimen. (Good thing too since walking the deck is out when it rains and I've got to do figure eights in the house until I get the garage cleaned up and the treadmill operational.)

PT tomorrow morning will be what they refer to as "clinical" which means on land. Standard "pain & torture" exercises. All (or at least mostly) self inflicted under the watchful eye of a therapists aide who is on hand to direct you to the next exercise, hand you any needed equipment or time a particular activity. They can also pick up the pieces when you start to fall apart. The young man (yeah, there's only one now that the other has gone back to college) and girls who serve in that role are actually very nice and encouraging. Virtually every one has had some major injury requiring therapy and they know what you're going through. We laugh and joke and they see to it you're doing the exercises correctly and push you to the limit. I know that I will eventually "graduate" and I will miss them.

***

Got an email from Terry today saying they were having a wonderful time in Poland. She loved Krakow and they had a semi-private Chopin concert. (Only seven people in the audience. There's got to be a story behind that. At the museum perhaps?) Today they were heading for Auschwitz and the salt mines. Then they get in touch with family and visit them for a couple of days. One, Anna, was here in 1972 and attended our wedding. Terry then sent her wedding dress to Poland and Anna wore it when she got married. It may have been used several more times since then.

***

Just as well I didn't plan to do anything this evening outside. It started to rain around 4 PM and poured (thunder off in the distance towards Wellsboro in the west) until nearly 7:30 PM. We may still get a bit more before midnight but the next two days look to be lovely.

A Welcome Loss of Weight

Prior to surgery on my knees I would list myself as weighing 220 pounds (or 225 depending upon what the week had been like), Having undergone the trauma of bilateral knee replacement with the accompanying 15 day stay in the hospital and rehab facility--and another two weeks of appetite suppressing narcotic pain killers--my weight has dropped to 200 and sometimes 199 on a pretty damn accurate digital scale. (I checked it against the doctor's scale when I went to see him last week.)

Not that the hospital food was terrible--it was quite good, in fact--but the portion control and the lack of snack foods between meals certainly reduced my desire to eat. Even when I got home, I found myself telling Terry not to put so much on my plate during meal times because I just didn't want to eat it. The daily exercise regime, while not overly strenuous has certainly contributed. As has the fitful sleeping at night. (Just staying in one position too long can get the knees to aching no matter how recently I have taken some extra strength acetaminophen. Much better than staying on those narcotics, BTW.)

Now, I am NOT recommending either major surgery nor narcotic pain killers as a means of weight loss. But as a side affect, I'll take it!

I have had to go and buy a new belt because the old one was too large and, when next I go upstairs, I'm thinking of getting the "skinny" pants out of the closet. I think even their 36" waist may be loose, however. Which is fine by me!

Next trick will be trying to keep the weight off which means trying to get Terry to change her cooking habits a little.

Personal Progress, Gardening Successes and More

We’ve had some terrific weather during the last week. The nights have been around 50 degrees and the days topping out at 80 degrees. There’s been very little rain and the breezes make things even more pleasant. It’s nice to sit out on the deck and watch the hummingbirds fight over whose turn it is to be at the feeder. There are three of them now. That may be the result of a successful fledgling of a youngster. There were only two earlier in the year. The female seems more tolerant of the other female/fledgling but the male simply does not want to share. Sometimes he chases the other two around the yard and they buzz about like miniature fighter planes.

***

Today, my knees are six weeks old. They still hurt and probably will for a long time, but there’s been tremendous progress made. I’m comfortably walking quarter miles on the flat surface of the deck. (Thirty feet—ten yards—from end to end. Forty-four round trips equals 440 yards. Sure, it gets a little boring but there are moments. Like when there’s a bald eagle soaring overhead, an indigo bunting flitting around the edge of the yard, or a pileated woodpecker flying back and forth. Or the day a military transport(?) flew over the mountain from the southwest j-u-s-t high enough to clear the windmills, low enough to almost see the pilot’s face, and then seemed to drop even lower as it flew north over the valley. Probably heading to Fort Drum.)

In addition to walking/pacing twice a day, I’m doing my exercises at home at least once a day. I wear 2.5 pound weights on each ankle while doing leg lifts and what I call line dance (forward, back, side, and cross-over steps for each leg). Then there’s step-ups (forward and side), mini-squats and lunges. Finally there are the heel slides. (Lay on your back. Put a strap on your foot. Pull the heel back toward your butt as far as you can and hold it there for a count of ten.) It takes about half an hour to do the exercises.

I’ve been going downtown to Elite Therapy three times a week for two+ hour sessions under their watchful eye and on their machines. That will switch this week as I will be reduced to just two sessions a week for a while. They are putting me in the pool for one of those sessions.

I’m still taking stairs one leg at a time. Good leg leads up and bad leg leads down. I’m this close to going up in a normal fashion, but down…. That’s going to be a little longer. Walking uneven surfaces like the lawn or the woods is doable, but slow. 

Terry has been my designated driver. Until she left for Poland, that is. Luckily, the physician and my right leg have agreed that I'm okay to drive the Tundra on my own. It's got an automatic transmission so the fact that my left knee/leg is what I consider my 'bad" leg has little affect on my driving ability.

***

Terry, her sister and their mother are in Poland. They landed there late Saturday afternoon following a long flight from JFK. They will visit family and tour parts of the country until next Sunday. Then it’s back to the US of A.

***

The garden has been winding down as to be expected as August turns into September. 

The squash vine borer has done its thing and all the zucchini and winter squash have died off—thank goodness. Terry put several quart bags of shredded zucchini in the freezer. (Takes up less space than breads in that form.) She also sliced several yellow squash and froze them. We also have half dozen acorn and butternut squash from four plants Joe gave us. The stringbeans have stopped producing--or we've just stopped picking--and we’ve enjoyed them and snow peas for several months while still putting some into the freezer for the future. I dug up the onions the other day. Virtually every set I put in yielded an onion 3-4 inches in diameter. That means ¼ bushel of yellow and ¼ bushel of white onions for the winter stews and soups. A small number of beet plants are still growing. They're the second planting and, if they survive, we should get a couple of nice meals out of them.

 The surprise this summer has been the tomatoes. Four cherry tomato plants and two Rutgers plants have yielded and yielded and yielded. Right now I can harvest a quart of cherry tomatoes every two days. Terry turned some into spaghetti sauce, we’ve eaten tons in salads and given several quarts away and still they ripen. While they taste like candy, there’s only so many you can eat at a time! And the Rutgers have been almost as prolific. Sliced they make a great BLT sandwich. Quartered, salted and peppered they are a nice side dish or snack. I’ve got to figure a way to preserve some more before I get completely inundated. The output is nice, but I’m about ready to say. “Enough is enough!” The previous two years we got very little out of the tomatoes. The blight took the plants just as the bulk of the fruit was about to ripen. This year I fertilized the plants with Miracle Gro with calcium. That seems to have kept the blight in check.

Two quarts of cherry tomatoes plus a passel of Rutgers. Care to try some?

That's about all for now, but I promise I'll be writing more soon. I've been looking at the upcoming college football schedule and realize it starts this Thursday. I'll be posting more on the Top 25 teams and their games in the next day or two.