Recently this blog has become mostly historical reporting on what we have been doing and what we hope to do in the future. This entry will be a bit different, musings and thoughts that just come along, so lets get on with it. Most of us have had lots of extra time as of late to just think about things, read books, catch up with old friends which is easy because you are sure they will be home, eat into the “honey do” list, etc, etc. well, I am no different so while I have been stroking my beard c
Anyone ever have two competing small voices in the mind each trying to make it's point? Speaking of point I'll get to mine. During the recovery from my recent knee surgery, exercise was not possible. OK, now that the recovery from the surgery is done I decided it is time to start exercising again.
You would not believe the reasons the voice in my mind came up with to put it off. I started today expecting lots of strength loss because of the layoff of 2 months. Happily not much loss, but one
Well Lesley is still in New Zealand having a great time with her family. I am here in Minnesota still using the snow blower. I thought I was done with it for the season, but we got 7" yesterday. I just did a fast path down the driveway. Didn't worry about the complete parking area, but at the end of this week I am taking our motor home to Houston, Tx to sign it over to a consignment dealer there to hopefully sell it for us so I had to make sure I can get it out.
It is about 1500 miles, I pla
Well it has been a real 1950's style winter here in Northern MN. We have had 93" so far this season. Did I mention the cold? A few weeks ago the local airport, which is just a few miles from us measured -61 below 0 wind chill. The actual air temp was -31. I measured -30 the same day. The dogs go out and do what they have to very fast! No sniffing everything like they usually do!
I have never plowed so much snow as I have this year. Seems like that is mostly what I have been doing. A few wee
Lesley's mum is now here and settling into life in North East Tennessee. She handled the long flight from New Zealand to Los Angles very well. She and Lesley spent 5 days there resting and spending time with relatives. A 5 hour flight here and all is now going very well. The paperwork and medical exam are in the hands of the immigration lawyer and mum's health is good. She has a nanny nap once or twice a day and awakes bright and cheerful
What a joy it is to have her with us at this
Lesley and I are realizing it is just the two of us in the end. I have no family to speak of. She is learning that her family is changing and our lives are changing so there is a divergence of wishes, thoughts, and goals. Her mum is soon 94 and her life revolves around the day she finds her self in. Her health is deteriorating some but she is still amazing. Living on her own but no longer driving. A great spirit still wells up and out of her. Our son just finished 6 months here in the States tra
The knee surgery was done yesterday. So far, so good. The dr. says all went well and except for the piece of cartlige removal and some polishing up the only other thing he did was drill the holes in the bone to stimulate new cartlige growth. Minimal arthritis and all else looked good.
I have taken pain meds only immediately after the surgery and have not needed them since. Lesley being a retired nurse has been pushing them on me but I have been declining. As you know I do not like taking pil
I finally got the pic's downloaded and published. It is a very complex procedure here, at least it is to me. I nearly gave up but finally got it done, don't ask me how.
Anyway, not many pic's but enough for you to get the idea. We are planning next years trip already. Great new friend.
We are off to Cleveland, OH for modifications to our motor home. About a ten day trip. I did get the portable satellite working a few days ago, now when we are on long trips we can watch TV if we choose to
On my last entry I told of a man who had gone missing while picking blueberries. His body has been found. It was about a mile from his truck. He apparently fell down a rocky slope and died. Don't know if a medical reason caused his fall or he just slipped. The autopsy should reveal the facts. The area he was found in had already been searched three times. The spot is so difficult to get to that when the people that found him tried to lead the sheriff back to the spot they had trouble finding it.
The good news is that all is well here. Lesley's 91 year old mum is doing well and still driving and living alone. While Lesley was there this spring she got mum set up with many benefits she was entitled to. New Zealand does a very good job of helping seniors stay in their homes as long as possible. Just a few of the benefits are extra money for getting her lawn mowed each week, two hours a day with a real person to get her up, showered, go shopping, clean house, etc. Also has a life alert type
Well life has been busy here for sure. Lesley had a great time for two weeks in Iceland. She saw the volcano erupting there and many other things of interest. She has convinced me to go there in July. She wants to go back and see some areas she missed and I want to see it as well, so off we go. She went to Dollywood earlier this week with a lady friend of hers and that lady’s two twin grandchildren. After a swim upon arrival, the lady got a call and her father had passed away unexpectedly. So th
The rv trip I had mentioned to Texas is now complete. All in all a good trip. Mum handled it well but it is likely her last trip in the motorhome. She had an increasingly Hard time moving about and her interest level seemed less than before. So Lesley and I have decided that we will just take shorter trips from now on and leave mum with a local caregiver she has become good friends with.
The trip was about 2500 miles altogether and we got to see some friends in Louisiana for a few d
I am still recovering from the loss of my best male friend last month, but slowly getting some better. His widow has called for help a few times, but not much. That makes me feel like she is finding her own way thru the grief and that is a good thing. I am quite willing to help, but will only do so when asked.
On another note (pun intended), long time readers may remember a blog I wrote in 2014 about wishing I could play a musical instrument. The Essence of the blog was that I have a
Well after my pacemaker implant healed up and now works fine, I also had a heart ablation. The pacemaker keeps the low resting pulse good and the ablation keeps the high pulse steady without meds. So, we are now on the road again heading ultimately for Alaska. We left Tennessee the 4th of May and are now in central Montana for a few days. Lesley’s mum is handling the trip very well, the motorhome is performing great and all is good here now. A few days here in a town called White Sulphur Springs
Sorry for the long gap in postings, life has been busy to say the least. The saying goes that old age is not for sissies. I can now say that moving across country is not for sissies either. As previously posted we were planning to move from MN to TN. The move is now done, new to us house and all furniture shipped and accounted for.
Nearly finished with the endless address changes, insurances, vehicle registrations, etc, etc. The new house is fine but as expected some changes needed to make
Just have time for a quick update. Summer is flying by as always up here. June was a blur as several cousins, etc came to FISH. The pressure was on to guide them to good fishing. I worried about all the usual things like will the weather allow it, will the bugs eat them alive, etc, etc. In the end it all went well, all caught fish including the 9 yr old boy. Both canoes in use stayed upright and dry, another worry of mine.
The 4th of July weekend we went to visit some friends in Wisconsin an
We have been so busy I just have not had time to even think about blogging, But here goes. First the frustration of trying to post a new gallery here. I have some pics I would like to post of our Alfa but could only get one to add to an existing album. So you may have to look at previously posted pics as well. I cannot make a new gallery, and I just don't have the time or mental energy to fight it now. I have never been able to easily add photo's here and I just do not know why. When I try to f
Yesterday we got 19 inches of heavy, wet snow. Some of the drifts are as tall as me. We have a 1,000 ft long driveway. I need to get out Monday. What to do, what to do. I knew our ATV I usually use had no chance of getting it done. The snowblower could not do it, the snow was too sticky and just clogged it up.
I then came up with the idea that if I shoveled a path in front of the snowblower I could then shave a bit off the edge and make many trips up and down our 1,000 ft drive. Hey, I am re
I have been reading with interest the 100 things lists some are doing, and have decided to do one with a bit different focus. Looking back on my first "survivor" year, the negatives are obvious and don't need repeating here. I have decided to start the new year concentrating on the things I am thankful for, so here goes. I am not going to set any particular number to it, we'll just see where it goes. Rather than retyping "I am thankful for" each entry, I will use " as ditto marks, please be sure
The news of the day is very bad indeed. We have a raging forest fire north of us. Over 55,000 acres have burnt so far, many homes, cabins. and resorts gone. We have friends that have had to evacuate and may not have a house to return to. The fire is about 20 miles from us at present. We have packed both cars for quick evacuation if needed. Last night I video'ed the entire house and contents. We had ash all over the property. Thankfully the winds died down, and the immediate threat seems to have
Got a new gadget in yesterday. Yes, UPS knows our driveway well. This one would be useful to anyone that does detailed crafts and occasionally needs more working hands than you have. It is a magnifying glass held on a sturdy base. It also has two alligator clips that can be moved and clamped in any direction. Perfect for soldering two wires, perhaps even threading a needle. For about three bucks I just had to have it, even if I never use it. Hostmel has given me some good instructions on how to
Going to hard to be super motivated today. I just got a call that an aunt of mine died rather unexpectedly. She was about 80, had cardio problems, but all was going very well according to Dr. She got up during the night, fell, hit her head on a table, and because of Cumiden in blood, developed a massive brain bleed and died. Married 64 years. Crap. They have a cabin up here and she and my wife had planned a bread baking party this summer. Not to be. All I can say is live everyday like it might b
Finally got my Saeboflex yesterday. It is quite a fancy gizmo. Lot's of springs, adjustments, etc. The bad news is that it will require much work and effort on my part. This is particularly distressing because I am a pretty lazy person. I can lay down right beside work and not be bothered by it. Now I actually have to do more each day. Ugh! In fact, the OT said that she went to a stroke support meeting to show the device and was not well received. Most there felt it was too complicated and took
Another long day to Duluth yesterday. Caused me to ponder on my future direction of treatments. We all here of things that will supposedly make us better, even promise to make us what we were again. Now that I have passed the four month timeline, I wonder. Am I starting to plateau or not. The "experts" say so. But is it a self fulfilling prophecy? We hear it from people smarter than ourselves. Also after four months it is easy for motivation to wane, so does it happen because we think it will? I
Long day yesterday going to Duluth. The results were good. The OT agreed the Saeboflex has done it first job of giving me a grip again and straightening out my fingers. She says we will be doing more with it later. I still do the daily exercise of moving balls with the left hand, but don't use the Saeboflex much. I sort of feel bad that I only needed it for such a short time, but it is results that count, not how long it takes. Without it, I would still have a claw for a hand. Thanks Saeboflex.
