It’s been awhile…

June 21, 202514 Comments

This past year (April to April) has found me away from the keyboard and for the most part bummed about it. So much has happened, mostly good, but some really incapacitating and frustrating.

In April of 2024 I went to see a “Deer” friend and I really wanted to share all the fun I had with her on her ranch. But when I got back home I had hand surgery scheduled for my right hand to fix some arthritis issues in my thumb and to release the trigger finger of the same hand. The thumb issue went well! The trigger finger got stiff, would not straighten out, and left me unable to type unless using two fingers and the Columbus Method.

A second surgery was finally scheduled to release and remove the scar tissue. This left me with a cut that most looked like Zorro had been there! The cut was a big Z that started a vertical path in my mid palm, went up to the fold and across, then zigged back and up, ending just at the fold of my middle finger where it meets the palm. This total process took a whole year to complete and heal from.

GREAT, I thought! I’m finally able to type with some stiffness, but basically able to hit the right keys with that still somewhat stiff middle finger…

Meanwhile, we have been working almost non stop this spring to finally get our garden planned, cleaned, fenced, gates installed, and my seedlings into the ground…

AND THEN I TRIPPED AND FELL IN THE GARDEN.

The resulting fall had me on the ground and screaming in agony. And, yes, I did say something of the sort:

**@$#%&%%$##()(&^$#@#!!!**

You didn’t want to be there. I couldn’t even get up, but thankfully Bob was right there to help me. I had sprained my left ankle, landed on and bruised both knees, and fractured my right wrist. Bob tried to lift me, but everything hurt so much that I couldn’t assist in my own lifting.

He finally put my walking staff into one of the square steel channels that makes the corner frame supports for our compost bin. I grabbed the staff with my good left hand, and he sat on the ground and literally pushed my backside up into the air while I pulled. It took several tries but eventually I was up and onto my feet.

That was about six weeks ago. All the muscles and tendons are still stiff and sore through my whole hand, as well as into and past the wrist. But, good news, I am allowed to garden so long as I wear my splint while working!

I’m back, and I will be telling you of my trip to see my “Deer” friend soon!

PS: If you find any typos or misspellings, well, that hand is getting better day by day…

Ladies Only ;)

March 13, 20244 Comments

That funny feeling you’re getting when you walk, and you can’t figure out what’s in your pants.

NO NO THAT!

Today when I came in I kept feeling something touching the back of my thigh, just under my cheek and straight across. I checked a couple of times today and then, just now, I figured it out.

It was the leg elastic of my underwear hanging low. Apparently, my backside shrank… not necessarily a bad thing.

Time to buy a smaller size!

🍎🍐🥑🥕🥝🍋🥦🥒🍊

6:00PM Last Thursday Evening

March 9, 2024March 9, 202414 Comments

I have done really well with keeping my resolve to follow the new diet. However, on this night I decided to give in with self imposed provisos:

What I chose to eat must not be over a safe carbohydrate level even with *bolusing.
I had to eat a balanced meal.

What I did was to thaw a premade Amy’s **GF mac and cheese and divide it in half. This was baked with a couple tablespoons of cubed ham (all fat cut away). I prepared a well built side salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, pickled beets with vinegar and olive oil dressing. I ate the salad while I waited for some fresh broccoli to steam to be served with the half dose of mac. All good, all within parameters, then…

I picked up the bowl holding the mac & cheese with ham, placed a hot pad underneath of it to take it to the table, then watched it miraculously flip out of my hand, turn upside down in mid air and spew the contents onto the kitchen floor. All in a straight line from me to Walker, who stood about four feet away.

Walker immediately went into pointer mode, his eyes bulged, and then looked at me for the OK.

Calmly, and I can’t believe how calm I was, I held out my hand, palm facing him, and said: “You can have it, but you have to wait because it is too HOT. You have to WAIT. After about a minute I tested the mess on the floor and found it to be cool to the touch. Looking at him I said: “OK!”

My spoiled mess of a dinner was gone in seconds. And Walker was very pleased with his second dinner of the evening.

Retrospection

I am still trying to figure out how my bowl flew out of my hand. I am also wondering where my inner ***Sailor Girl went to when this happened. Her vocabulary can spring into action at a moments notice in frustrating situations such as this.

In the end I felt stunned about dropping the bowl and rather amazed at how calm and controlled I was. The dog cleaned the mess, I cleaned the floor, then sat down and ate my broccoli.

All was well. I felt balanced, content, and in control.

AMAZING!

~*~*~*~

*Bolusing means to give an extra dose of insulin to counteract the load of a meal

**GF= Gluten Free

*** Inner Sailor Girl was acquired in the early 70s when I was in the Navy. I am proud to have been of service, but not proud of my bad language habit which I have carried in my back pocket for all these years. 😛

I’m OK, but…

March 22, 202233 Comments

A bit shell shocked.

I have been having a bit of memory problems for the past year or two. It was worrying me. The most obvious clue was not being able to remember the names for rosemary and tarragon.

In the case of rosemary, I could see the plant in my head, but when I tried to find it’s name it was like there was an empty bubble in that spot. Now with tarragon I could remember it’s nickname, The Dragon, but not the herbal name.

Then I went out to make a video of my garden flowers out front and suddenly couldn’t remember the names of many of them either! So, now I am really freaking out! These plants are perennials and biennials that I grew from seed and suddenly I can’t think of their names.

I didn’t post the video because I was embarrassed about my lapses. I will post it at the end.

Bringing this story to a rapid close I will share with you that after a visit to the neurologist and a massive amount of testing, I have apparently has several small strokes in the past, which he claims are normal for my age. He says it isn’t Alzheimer’s, but still prescribed medication for memory. I need to do a lot more research on this, because before being prescribed the medication, and with a concerted effort, I was able to make a new pathway to the name for rosemary! If I can do that without the memory med, then shouldn’t I be able to make new memory paths for the other lost names?

OK, so here is the embarrassing video.

One last thing, finding all this out and being able to retrain my brain has really lifted my depression. Not being terminally depressed has made me a maniac in the garden this spring, and having Bob home full-time to help me (yes, he is finally retired) means that I, make that WE have really gotten a lot done in preparation for spring and summer this year. Color me very happy!