I just got back from the week in the wilderness I had mentioned before doing tent camping and canoeing. I was very concerned the knee surgery would cause me problems, but all was fine. No pain, swelling or soreness from the knee. All I noted was a general loss of strength due to 6 weeks of no exercise.
I was able however to carry the canoe and my share of the back packs and other gear. The portages, which is what the land between the lakes is called were not long or particularly difficult. T
Well the shake down trip in the new motor home is completed. About 1100 miles and Lesley drove every inch. It was about 550 miles each way and we took two days, stopping and camping one night each way. We got 20MPG on the diesel and it has lots of power and was smooth and quiet. We love the new machine. It is a bit longer than our old one, 24ft vs 20ft for the old one, but most importantly it is the same width which makes it easy to drive in traffic. It is no wider that our truck. Lesley also ho
Well, the knee surgery went well, but the rehab got off to a rocky start. No weight bearing for a month is the problem. The way the knee feels, I know I could walk on it easily. That would destroy any new cartlege growing so I am doing what the dr ordered. I found out though that is not easy.
The knee operated on is my right non-stroke side. So I am now trying to balance on the weaker, less steady left side leg. Crutches proved to be useless. I just do not have the balance to get into the ry
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
Lately We have been besieged by callers wanting money. Not just the usual charities and groups which I can quickly dispatch or call screen, but friends and family. They lull you into thinking it is a "how is it going" call and then drop the "need money" bomb. I have only caved on one family member and amazingly got it back on time in full. I told Lesley we will absolutely never loan money again to anyone for any reason. The stress of it all just gets my A-fib going and I don't need that. If her
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
Well, the trip to Texas did not happen. When everyone involved realized I was serious (especially the dealer), we found a way to make the new motorhome happen here in Minnesota. We are trading to old one here and I pick up the new one Monday April 22. Since Lesley is still in New Zealand some paperwork complications arose, but all solved now.
We are still getting heavy, wet snow here, six inches last weekend, 4 to 8 more coming tonight and tomorrow. I can't even try to move it. Fortunately i
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 Lesley is on her way as I write this to New Zealand to spend about five weeks with her mum. She goes every year, mum is 90, so every visit is important. The one son there and his two girls have also recently become more a part of the family. Lesley is an only child, so her mum is a bit lonely, and really looks forward to Lesley's visits and longs for contact from the son and great grand daughters. It has been a point of frustration with Lesley and I that they have been mostly ignoring mum,
Well we are in the "oh no, it is March again" time. Too warm to do any real outdoor winter activities like snowshoeing (snow is too wet and sticky), ice fishing (lakes have slush under the snow on the ice), etc, etc. So what is a poor guy to do? Well the friend I build the Erector models with has been coming over and we are busy finishing the amusement park models. We now have the airplane ride, ferris wheel, merry go round, and high wire acrobat built. Still have two more to build, probably won
Well a bit of medical news first. Due I think to the heavy exercise and weight loss over the past few months, I am now off my high blood pressure meds entirely. Yippee. Only the blood thinner and a-fib med left. Probably stuck with them forever.
My friend I have never actually met yet in person and I are into detail planning for our trip this summer into the wilderness canoeing together for a week or so. As I previously wrote, he has some medical issues as well, is about my age, and loves to
Well folks, I have to confess I have been bad. I had a fitness goal in mind to reach this winter. Well last week I was able to do the weight and repetitions I wanted to without too much strain. I then proceeded to take 6 days off, since now that I have reached my goal, I can drop from 3 sessions a week to 2. I intended to take a 3 day "vacation" from exercise. My how easy it is to get lazy. I took six days off. Today I got back with it and punished myself by adding another new exercise to the se
I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I feel like all the oxygen just got sucked out of the room. This horriffic tragedy in Conneticut as just made me realize how insignificant any of my "problems" are. Hard to think or write about much else, but maybe a theraputic blog might help. so I'll try. Life here is good, winter is coming on, snow has arrived with more coming. The leanto I built this fall for the ATV while Lesley was in New Zealand is working out very well. After plowing snow I park
Well winter is on the way, hope we get more snow this year than we did last. Lesley is sitting in her deer hunting blind as I write this, today being the start of deer hunting season. She and I sighted in her rifle yesterday. I hadn't shot a rife for about 40 years, but did make one shot. I hit about 1" away from the red bullseye at 75 yards. It felt good, I may try deer hunting next year. I told Lesley I could do blind or tree stand hunting, but walking thru the woods flushing them out would no
Well winter is on the way, hope we get more snow this year than we did last. Lesley is sitting in her deer hunting blind as I write this, today being the start of deer hunting season. She and I sighted in her rifle yesterday. I hadn't shot a rife for about 40 years, but did make one shot. I hit about 1" away from the red bullseye at 75 yards. It felt good, I may try deer hunting next year. I told Lesley I could do blind or tree stand hunting, but walking thru the woods flushing them out would no
Well, here comes winter again. Just a few snow flurries so far, a promise of things to come. Lesley is back from New Zealand, mum's 90th party went well. Lesley is now immersed in putting up garden produce, apples from her annual trip with a girlfriend to Bayfield, Wisconsin. While she was gone I did 6 gallons of green beans and peas from the garden with Lesley's coaching. That is the limit of my gardening skills other than eating the results. She is also getting ready for deer hunting next mont
Well I finally got the pics of our canoe trip in July along the US/Canadian border posted in an old album I created longer use. So the album title makes no sense but here they are. We are already planning at least two similar trips next year. Well Lesley is still in NZ, mum's birthday party is next week, so she is a flurry of activity. I have been out in the garden picking beans and snow peas, blanching them per Lesley's instructions and putting them in the freezer. That is about the extent of m
Hard to believe that our summer is coming to a close, but it is. Biggest news for us here is the canoe trip Lesley and I took in July along the US/Canadian border. We allowed 8 days to paddle about 30 miles and do 9 portages which is the land between lakes you must carry all of your gear between. A few of them were most challenging, hilly, rocky, long, one was called Monument portage because it had three official monuments showing the US/Canadian border. We really don't need to see that one agai
I have noticed as of late it is getting harder to stay motivated to do the things I know help me and even those I enjoy doing. I still exercise often, but not as much as I should. It just seems to be harder to get it done. I don't do well in crowds anymore, and prefer to be alone or just with Lesley. Even getting ready for the fishing season this year was tougher than it has ever been before. However since I have had some success the few times I have gone fishing this year, that part seems to be
'Tis the season of travel. Lesley took the new car to Illinois (600 miles one way) to visit an old friend for a week. Yesterday she took off on a bus full of Girl Scouts to a 100 year celebration of Girl Scouting in the USA. They are all headed to Savannah, Georgia, a week long trip. The day after she gets back we are headed out in our motorhome to Indiana to my uncle's 90th birthday party, (my recently deceased dad's last remaining brother) then to Texas to visit a longtime friend of mine, afte
A bit of news here first, then an entry I hope some get a smile out of. We bought a new car yesterday, Lesley is thrilled. She is "vertically challenged" (short legs). In most cars, when she adjusts the seat so she can comfortably reach the pedals, she is too close to the steering wheel. The new Honda we just bought solves that problem with a tilt/telescoping steering wheel. She says she has never been so comfortable driving in any other car.
Now I will take my literary promiscuity to a new
Today was a snow clearing day. finally enough snow to clear. We have a 1000 ft driveway and I use our ATV (Quad bike for those down under) with a plow on it to clear things. As I was out there today with my heated gloves and socks I couldn't help but think back to the first snow after my stroke. I remember Lesley and I walking down the driveway together with the snowblower, (we had no ATV at the time) since I could not operate the controls on the left side since my left hand was not working at t
I am so excited I can hardly stand it! Last summer Lesley bought some locally trapped beaver pelts and had them made into a trooper type hat and mittens for both of us. Today is the first real chance to test them with temp about 0 F (-20 C) and winds of 30 MPH (50KPH). I just walked the dogs with the beaver pelts on and my left (stroke side, always cold hand) was hot when I came in! Lesley asked how I was, and all I could do was get out of the mittens and cap, I was so hot. I had no other gloves
Nice responses from the last entry. Thanks all. I am always afraid when telling about something new that people will think I am trying to push something on them or make money off the deal. No so at all, just letting people know what has and has not worked for me. Anyway, Lesley is going to make some venison/wild rice sausage. Most of the meat is already in the freezer, just the grinding and sausage to go. She is pumped up, to say the least.
I just finished plowing our 1,000' driveway. We got
Longtime readers of this blog will remember I always am trying new gizmos and gadgets, hence the name of this blog. Well, since my stroke, my left foot and hand get cold very easily. Since we live in northern Minnesota, that is a problem in the winter. I have always been fearful of the foot in particular getting cold in winter activities since I can't feel it when it is getting cold. Well, help has arrived! After trying the heaviest wool socks to no avail, I just tried the new type of battery he
