Omicron and first snow of 2022

January 15, 2022January 16, 202231 Comments

I’m getting too old for this.

At 68, when I consider all the possible outcomes and variants of this C19 virus, I’m glad it got to us after the cooled down version emerged. It is, as claimed “like the flu”. I’ve had some deadly flu in my life with temps of up to 104 that left me unable to even get up. This virus with low grade fevers nonetheless leaves you listless and feeling weak.

Bob came down with it on Thursday and I came down with it the very next day, which was New Years eve. We stayed in, laid low, kept bundled, took eight hour arthritis strength acetaminophen (for fever, aches and pains), drank a lot of water and sipped on homemade chicken soup. To keep our lungs clear we used an inhaler and took Guaifenesin (expectorant). Both of us battled waves of low grade fever and chills, and spent a couple of nights sleeping sitting up on the recliner.

It is a trickster! Bob was feeling like he was on the downside of the beast, and then suddenly he got another low-grade fever and chills.

We would like to have been tested, but due to the holiday weekend, and the mass of sick people, well, you simply can’t get in for DAYS. NOTE: I was finally able to get in on January 5th and found that I did indeed have the C19 beast.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and good health in 2022

❤

Mother Nature sent us snow for the New Year, and it was beautiful! However, it was the wettest snow I have ever experienced. It filled the fences, stacked up 8 inches high, and ripped the limbs off of my Dogwoods and the giant Holly trees here! (Trees were felled everywhere in our area.) I will share the photos and also say that I was glad this all happened in the night. It was sad to see the carnage next morning, but it showed us a very dangerous flaw in the giant holly tree!!! The largest branches and the crotch of the tree are ROTTING inside. The lovely old lady will have to come down and we will be looking for another small shade tree to replace it. Pictures are clickable, but I am having a bit of trouble with the editor again today. sigh….

beautiful…

But dangerous!

Walker’s World

December 1, 2019December 1, 201937 Comments

Walker, the new friend of the Farmlet, has a voracious appetite for chewables. To date he has killed Noodle’s squeaky plush toys; both the squirrel and the chipmunk! He has also killed two of my good cotton anklets, and one pair of my favorite cotton underwear.

😠

If I am busy about the house, then he is in his puppy ~~prison~~ playpen.

It keeps him out of mischief.

Anyone care to guess who that photo bomber is? 😉

If I am seated watching TV he is attached to my little footstool/rolling table. Even so, he tried to eat the corner of the couch, while I was sitting there.

🤯

In my studio he is on lead and attached to the cutting table… and you guessed it, he found something to chew; my expensive Tutto Sewing machine buggy! It isn’t bad, but it is irritating.

Walker! This is not a toy!

So today I took one of the many pockets I have saved from Bob’s old blue jeans and stuffed it with leftover quilting fluff and one of the squeaky buttons from the killed plush toys, then sewed it shut and voila! A new chewy for Walker.

THANKS, MOM!

So, how long will it last? Who can say?

I know these bad-dog symptoms are a direct result of boredom (and teething too), but what he needs is to go walking with me. I walk him on lead in the backyard, but we can’t go anywhere else until his last Parvo inoculation.

In only 2.5 weeks and I am counting the days!

~*~

A word on dog/cat/human immunization: There are some out there who are on the “no pet vaccine wagon”. They are some of the same people who think that human immunizations are bad. Well, I do not want to hear it.

I almost lost my little sister to Whooping Cough when she was about 4 years old.
I DID lose a dog to Parvo when I was a teen.

These two incidents were scary as hell and I will not skip an immunization for myself or my pets. I can think of a lot of ways to die, but not from an unnecessary and preventable illness.

Nuff – said and OMSB now.

I hesitate to tell this ladies, but…

November 4, 2018November 4, 201816 Comments

Hello Friends,

I have been very quiet this month because I have been ill and fighting a bacterial infection. The following could be offensive to your sensibilities, and I hope I don’t shock anyone by speaking about it, but it is good to know if, like me, your immune system is compromised by another health issue. (diabetes)

Somehow I have picked up a nasty bacteria out in the wilds of the public areas downtown. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as in my observation only about 5 to 10% of folks around here bother to wash their hands after visiting the restroom. (Although strangely, this isn’t the case with Costco shoppers. They seem to wash every time!) Through research on the web I’ve discovered that my bacterial invader lives everywhere, and in specific forms that can attack us, animals and plant life as well. For humans it is most often caught in the hospital and attacks the lungs causing pneumonia.

I never worried about this because I always wash my hands. By doing so I always thought I was safe. I have avoided using hand sanitizers and scary antibacterial soaps with “Triclosan”, because I felt this helped my immune system to build up natural defenses, that our society as a whole has been hell-bent to destroy for many years.

Not any more! I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I now think that , at least for me, it has become a “when in Rome” situation. The super bugs are out there and need to be attacked; at least when in public.

I asked my home care nurse how I could end up with this bacteria, Pseudomonas, when I am so careful about hand washing and using a paper towel to get out of the restroom in public places… and she said:

“You go into the restroom, use the facilities, wipe, and you have infected yourself because you picked up the germs on the way in.”

I guess in this day and age we need to wash before and after in public?

I am now on large doses of a strong antibiotic, administered two times daily for seven days, which is delivered via a port put into my arm. Why? Because the regular antibiotics given via the normal oral route do not work! At the end of the antibiotic series another test culture will be done to be sure I am well. (If the bacteria goes into my kidneys it is harder to get rid of.)

Not so nice.

As I sit here and read what I have written I think I sound like one of those nut jobs who send out the chain emails you get so often. But, hello! I am seriously freaked-out about this.

OK – End of public health scare advisory

You can now roll your eyes and tsk-tsk at me if you like, I won’t see you, but I feel better for letting you know about this.

I can do this!

August 4, 2016August 4, 20168 Comments

The following is being typed wiht both hands. I will not make a correction unless it comes out rude. 😉

It would seem that zi was suffering a miscommunication when zi talked to the Dr. When he told me 2 months it was for the WHOLE PROCESS: Surgery, cast, and physical therapy!

This means that the 10 days in the temp cast counts as week one and now I only have 3 weeks of cast torture to go. We also discussed the Castrophobia issue and I found out it is common. It is thought to be linked to the strong pain medications as well as the swelling. Glad I din’t take the pain meds longer than I did or I might well have gnawed of the temp cast! 😛

On typing wiht both hands… The hard cast completely covers my thumb but leaves my fingers wiht less coverage and therefor more mobility! So, since I’m under strict orders to keep those four fingers in action I am gyping. Albeit, not very good typing. 😉

Still unable to take any pictures at all. The weight of the camera is too great. Sorry. But I can show you what it looks like, though on mine the thumb is completely covered.