Showing posts with label Swamp River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swamp River. Show all posts
Some Videos
I forgot to post this 2nd moose video I took last month.
And, here are the new chickie-chicks . . . although the red heat lamp bulb skews the colors!
And, lastly, the ragin' river on Monday!
A Bad Bedtime Cocktail
God gawd, I feel trampled on this morning. I had SUCH active, detailed, emotional dreams ALL night long that I am absolutely exhausted. What brought on these acid flashbacks? I have NO idea! Perhaps it was the cocktail and snack I had before bed. Are you ready? (Don't try this at home!) While relaxing and cleaning up and folding laundry between getting home and going to bed, I consumed 3 mugs of Silver Tea* and a small handful of raw almonds. Yep, that was it. But, apparently, it was a horribly nasty combination!
* I was introduced to Silver Tea several years ago by the daddy of one of "my" little ones who I used to nanny. He said that his mother (grandmother?) always drank it, and now it was an after-dinner favorite of his. I've come to like it, too: sometimes (like last night!) it seems just right! Here are the ingredients (got a pen & paper?): pour boiling water into a mug. Add a dash of air and a handful of love. Consume.
* * * * *
I took a drive out the winter driveway on Wednesday evening in preparation for heading into town yesterday: was wondering if I had to do any quick road construction work or throw down an impromptu bridge.
Soooo far, I can still either bridge the cracks or s-l-o-w-l-y ease myself down into (yes, in the tiny Yaris) and then out of the wider ones. There is one bad spot that, when we get a sizable rain, will wash away too much for me to squeak around: then I'll have to load the pickup with gravel and refill a portion of it.
I can't expect any help from the state (my winter driveway is a state forestry road) or ANYONE with big machinery (even anyone I might hire) until the road restrictions are lifted. This will mean waiting until May 13th, the shortest time that the limits will be on, or, potentially, June until I can expect outside help.
* I was introduced to Silver Tea several years ago by the daddy of one of "my" little ones who I used to nanny. He said that his mother (grandmother?) always drank it, and now it was an after-dinner favorite of his. I've come to like it, too: sometimes (like last night!) it seems just right! Here are the ingredients (got a pen & paper?): pour boiling water into a mug. Add a dash of air and a handful of love. Consume.
* * * * *
I took a drive out the winter driveway on Wednesday evening in preparation for heading into town yesterday: was wondering if I had to do any quick road construction work or throw down an impromptu bridge.
Soooo far, I can still either bridge the cracks or s-l-o-w-l-y ease myself down into (yes, in the tiny Yaris) and then out of the wider ones. There is one bad spot that, when we get a sizable rain, will wash away too much for me to squeak around: then I'll have to load the pickup with gravel and refill a portion of it.
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| This one's deep but narrow. So far, I can drive over it. |
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| This is a current view of the header image. |
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| This is the bad spot that I can still squeeze around but which will, eventually, require some work on my part. It's hard to tell here, but these little crevices are at least a foot deep. |
I can't expect any help from the state (my winter driveway is a state forestry road) or ANYONE with big machinery (even anyone I might hire) until the road restrictions are lifted. This will mean waiting until May 13th, the shortest time that the limits will be on, or, potentially, June until I can expect outside help.
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| Looking south from the bridge. The river's opening up early this year! |
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| From the bridge looking north. The water's roilin'-boilin'! |
And, with that, I'll sign off. I have an early appointment with a client this morning. Cold temperatures again: 13 degrees yesterday morning and 17 this morning. 3-6" of snow predicted for tonight. Sigh. ;)
I'm Up!
I woke up 45 minutes BEFORE the alarm this morning at 6:00 on the dot. How's THAT for a change? Problem is . . . I can't take credit for it. Nope, it was all Maisy. I was awoken to that repeated sound of "heeeave, THUD; heeeave, THUD" (gut against rib cage) as she experienced the dry heaves before womitin' on the library carpet. What a wake up call.
THEN, as I was rushing downstairs to let her out in the pre-dawn gloom, I damn near KILLED myself because some IDIOT left their (okay, "her) black engineer boots perfectly spaced about 4' in front of the door! I b-a-r-e-l-y got my arms out in time to prevent a face-plant against the solid front door. Grumble, grumble, "stoopid . . . ."
Ah, well. But, I'm up, and my first cup of coffee's almost gone.
SO, my new header picture. Well, no, my most recent dog-sitting-on-baby header picture. DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE THINK THAT WAS HILARIOUS???? No one said anything about it! But, I have a theory: maybe it was because you were all afraid that *I'd* taken the picture - that it was from one of my nannying days! And you were collectively thinking, "Ummmm, remind me never to hire Bopee to watch MY kid!" HA! Rest assured: I found that gem on the Internet. :)
The sun was splendidly warm yesterday but it was still awfully cool in the shade. But, late in the day, before attacking the woodpile, I took the dogs for our first walk down to the river. Our first walk since Daylight Savings Time has allowed us late light. And since the snowmobiles aren't running up and down the road with such frequency.
Hang on, the generator just popped on. That means I need to take advantage of it and get yesterday's last batch of laundry into the dryer. And a new load of dirties into the washer.
THEN, as I was rushing downstairs to let her out in the pre-dawn gloom, I damn near KILLED myself because some IDIOT left their (okay, "her) black engineer boots perfectly spaced about 4' in front of the door! I b-a-r-e-l-y got my arms out in time to prevent a face-plant against the solid front door. Grumble, grumble, "stoopid . . . ."
Ah, well. But, I'm up, and my first cup of coffee's almost gone.
SO, my new header picture. Well, no, my most recent dog-sitting-on-baby header picture. DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE THINK THAT WAS HILARIOUS???? No one said anything about it! But, I have a theory: maybe it was because you were all afraid that *I'd* taken the picture - that it was from one of my nannying days! And you were collectively thinking, "Ummmm, remind me never to hire Bopee to watch MY kid!" HA! Rest assured: I found that gem on the Internet. :)
The sun was splendidly warm yesterday but it was still awfully cool in the shade. But, late in the day, before attacking the woodpile, I took the dogs for our first walk down to the river. Our first walk since Daylight Savings Time has allowed us late light. And since the snowmobiles aren't running up and down the road with such frequency.
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| Halfway down the driveway is the garden. Or, what someday will be the garden. It's s-t-a-r-t-i-n-g to surface, but you can't see the 3' high fence around it yet, so there's that much snow yet to melt! |
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| The hill at the base of the driveway has become manageable since the sun is melting away the snow & ice. |
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| THIS hill, though, is the problem now. It's the last hill that I must crest to get to my driveway. During our excursion yesterday, I walked the packed snowmobile trail because it allowed me traction that the road did not. I don't know if you can tell by this shot or not, but the hill is pure, glare ice! |
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| Coming down the snowmobile trail to the bridge. There's a short stretch here where we all share the road. I'm taking nasty, selfish glee in the fact that there's now a HUGE puddle right over the bridge that the machines must slog through. ;) |
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| Maisy, checking out the south side of the bridge. Because of the Laurentian Divide, water flows NORTH here. Yup, it's true! So, even though this LOOKS like it's pooling out . . . the water's actually flowing from left-to-right in this shot. |
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| Looking farther south down the river. |
And, with that, our field trip will have to end today. Must get going. More tomorrow??
Finally, some PHOTOS!
I know it's been an AGE since I've posted any photos, but I was waiting until I had the two new computers set up enough that I could upload to them instead of the old computers. So, without further ado . . . .
Back in January, Baby Girl's mama called at the last minute to ask if there was any chance I could pick her up from daycare (remember the little boy asking if I was her GRANDMA?!). I said that I'd love to but that I had a dinner date at Bundle of Joy's house. I'd be tickled pink to pick her up and take her there for the evening if that was okay. (It was.) So, here they are, two of Bopee's sweeties. They are exactly 1 year (and 24 hours) apart, so it was fun to see where Bundle of Joy will be, developmentally, in one short year. I can't remember if they'd ever met each other before (I don't think so), but they hit it off like gangbusters! :)
Moving on to when both vehicles were stuck at the end of the driveway during The Great Ice Melt. The truck is, indeed, stuck in these pictures - the car is waiting for me to ash the hill (although it doesn't look like much of a hill in these shots!) so I can drive it all the way in the driveway.
Back in January, Baby Girl's mama called at the last minute to ask if there was any chance I could pick her up from daycare (remember the little boy asking if I was her GRANDMA?!). I said that I'd love to but that I had a dinner date at Bundle of Joy's house. I'd be tickled pink to pick her up and take her there for the evening if that was okay. (It was.) So, here they are, two of Bopee's sweeties. They are exactly 1 year (and 24 hours) apart, so it was fun to see where Bundle of Joy will be, developmentally, in one short year. I can't remember if they'd ever met each other before (I don't think so), but they hit it off like gangbusters! :)
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| Here we are, reading Bundle of Joy's favorite book. |
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| Bundle of Joy's mama was taking the pictures. |
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| Then, completely spontaneously, Bundle of Joy reached over and gave Baby Girl a hug! Oh, my gawd! Adorable!!! |
Moving on to when both vehicles were stuck at the end of the driveway during The Great Ice Melt. The truck is, indeed, stuck in these pictures - the car is waiting for me to ash the hill (although it doesn't look like much of a hill in these shots!) so I can drive it all the way in the driveway.
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| Here we are, a week ago Sunday, when I was ferrying / coordinating / moving vehicles. Here I'd moved the car and was walking back to the truck. If you enlarge the picture, you can see two white roofs. The one at the top left is the house roof, and the other, more hidden at the top center, is the garage. |
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| The view looking to the left off the bridge pictured in the previous shot. |
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| So, remember when I'd written about trying to drive the car in to work following The Great Melt & Re-Freeze? When I'd gotten stopped on an incline of about 5 degrees? Taken from the 1-ton, heavy enough to traverse the glare ice covered by light snow, here's a picture of that spot and my tracks, where I'd easily (accidentally) whipped a 180 to head back towards home. |
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| And, lastly, I'll leave you with a poor representation of a beautiful sunset a week ago today. :) |
Random Photo Post
It's going to be duck season soon (if it isn't already) on the river,
and I've always loved this picture of my dad hunting on it, some years ago.
Still No Time, But . . . .
One of these is not like the other . . . .
The river on:
April 6, 2000
April 10, 2009
Last week.
(Didja notice any difference?!)
Pay to Play
I played this weekend, and tonight I paid!
A dear friend was visiting, along with one of her brothers & his family who I've been eager to get to know better. S went home with me Friday night after dinner at Bundle of Joy's house (S is her auntie), as was the plan . . . but we were having so much fun and Saturday zipped by so quickly, that she stayed last night, too! The only down side to this is that my time-to-get-things-done over the weekend didn't start until about 2:30 this afternoon. The result is a too-late bedtime tonight (when an early alarm awaits me) and a still-incomplete list of tasks that really should be completed before tomorrow. There's a meeting scheduled with a lawyer that I should be more prepared for. It's my own fault. I shouldn't be frustrated at myself for taking the opportunity to visit and have fun over the weekend, but I probably should have taken into wiser consideration the time element. (Sigh. I never seem to learn, do I?)
S and I took the dogs down to the river for the first walk of the year this morning (and rock-diving, for Maisy). I suspect you'll have to enlarge these images to see much of anything.
#1: Maisy heads in after a rock.
#2: Maisy has retrieved said rock.
#3: The obligatory shake-off post rock-diving.
And, with that, I'll have to sign off until tomorrow (or later today, I guess that would be.) Happy Monday!
Feels like Goin' Back to School
Today kinda feels like going back to school in the fall. It's nice to have a somewhat-set schedule again. Tom's started a gig that he'll be at for a while (except it's about 56 miles away!), and so the alarm went off before 6:00 AM this morning. Ugh. But, a pot full of strong, percolated coffee and a big bowl of oatmeal with maple syrup & cream helped. Speaking of that, I need another cup o' java. Hang on.
While I made an unplanned but necessary there-and-back trip to town yesterday (not so "quick" when you live an hour out, but it's all relative, isn't it?), Tom took the dogs down to the international border river for a hike. I urged him to take a digital camera with, and these are some of the pictures he took.
Yesterday being Tom's last "free day" before this new work gig began, we definitely sloughed off, but what a day it was to do so! Once I got home, we threw (okay, grunted & groaned) the canoe to the top of the Subaru and zipped down to "our river". It was a HOT day, but there was a strong wind which made it a truly lovely day to be on the water. And, truth be told, it was actually a MASSIVE wind. The highest wind gust was 22 mph, and I challenge you to try shoving a heavy, old Grumman (canoe) upriver against that! Yesterday's paddle was definitely the hardest we've ever had to work out there. BUT, it paid off in spades!
After figuring out the correct lure (Tom knew what to use right off the bat, but we only had one of those; it took more trial-and-error for me to find something suitable), we could not keep the fish out of the boat! Oftentimes, we both had one on our lines at once! But . . . riddle me this: in northeastern Minnesota, the prized fish is walleye. A fish no one fishes for (but us) because of the hugely massive amount of bones is the northern pike. Why is it, then, that the limit for northern (which, I repeat, FEW fish for) is only three . . . while the limit for walleye (which EVERYONE fishes for) is six???? Shouldn't it be just the opposite: that the over-fished species has a LOWER limit? Please, someone explain this one to me.
The wild rice is beginning to hang from the stalk
in readiness for the fall harvest.
Anyway, we had a GREAT day on the water and didn't pull in until just after 8:00 when the sun was down and we were getting chilled. And, after some truly unpleasant hot, hot, HOT days this past week, the mercury dipped into the 40s last night for sleeping. Ahhhh, heaven!
Okay, on with my day. Dirty dishes are screaming at me from the kitchen sink.
P.S. Oh! Do you know fireweed?
Each blossom opens from the bottom of the flower up in succession,
and woods lore says that the day the top bloom opens, so, too, will arrive the first frost!
Yikes!
While I made an unplanned but necessary there-and-back trip to town yesterday (not so "quick" when you live an hour out, but it's all relative, isn't it?), Tom took the dogs down to the international border river for a hike. I urged him to take a digital camera with, and these are some of the pictures he took.
Here, you can see how the path is starting to grow up again.
It's always SO hard trying to stay ahead of Ma Nature!
Even tho it's super shallow, it's great to see that the river
seems to stay so nice and wide where our path empties into it.
Here, Maisy transports a large rock into Canada.
Hope you have your passport, dog!
Tucker's never enjoyed swimming, but, in the last year or so,
he's come to appreciate cool water on a hot day!
It's always SO hard trying to stay ahead of Ma Nature!
Even tho it's super shallow, it's great to see that the river
seems to stay so nice and wide where our path empties into it.
Here, Maisy transports a large rock into Canada.
Hope you have your passport, dog!
Tucker's never enjoyed swimming, but, in the last year or so,
he's come to appreciate cool water on a hot day!
Yesterday being Tom's last "free day" before this new work gig began, we definitely sloughed off, but what a day it was to do so! Once I got home, we threw (okay, grunted & groaned) the canoe to the top of the Subaru and zipped down to "our river". It was a HOT day, but there was a strong wind which made it a truly lovely day to be on the water. And, truth be told, it was actually a MASSIVE wind. The highest wind gust was 22 mph, and I challenge you to try shoving a heavy, old Grumman (canoe) upriver against that! Yesterday's paddle was definitely the hardest we've ever had to work out there. BUT, it paid off in spades!
After figuring out the correct lure (Tom knew what to use right off the bat, but we only had one of those; it took more trial-and-error for me to find something suitable), we could not keep the fish out of the boat! Oftentimes, we both had one on our lines at once! But . . . riddle me this: in northeastern Minnesota, the prized fish is walleye. A fish no one fishes for (but us) because of the hugely massive amount of bones is the northern pike. Why is it, then, that the limit for northern (which, I repeat, FEW fish for) is only three . . . while the limit for walleye (which EVERYONE fishes for) is six???? Shouldn't it be just the opposite: that the over-fished species has a LOWER limit? Please, someone explain this one to me.
The wild rice is beginning to hang from the stalk
in readiness for the fall harvest.
Anyway, we had a GREAT day on the water and didn't pull in until just after 8:00 when the sun was down and we were getting chilled. And, after some truly unpleasant hot, hot, HOT days this past week, the mercury dipped into the 40s last night for sleeping. Ahhhh, heaven!
Okay, on with my day. Dirty dishes are screaming at me from the kitchen sink.
P.S. Oh! Do you know fireweed?
Each blossom opens from the bottom of the flower up in succession,
and woods lore says that the day the top bloom opens, so, too, will arrive the first frost!
Yikes!
Another Video
We took this video about 6:00 PM last night when we were walking down on the river. There's nothing too exciting going on, but I thought you might want to see the melting . . . "real time".
Spring Has Finally Sprung
Good morning and YAYYY! As of yesterday, spring has finally sprung in the far reaches of northeastern Minnesota! Sure signs were laying in bed before the alarm went off yesterday morning listening to the songbirds for the first time, it being warm enough to leave the back door slightly ajar so the dogs & cats could come and go as they pleased, listening to the returned red-winged blackbirds trilling (my most favorite summertime sound), and me being able to stand outside to wave Tom off this morning instead of smiling through a window of the house.
So - finally! I love winter (my favorite season, to be sure), but I love spring. Yes, it's dirty and messy but it's also the rebirth of everything! Each day brings new changes like no other time in the year.
A friend e-mailed yesterday to ask how I am and wondered why I haven't written anything here about that. Well, 'cause there's not much to share anymore . . . PLUS I don't want to sound like an old woman who has nothing better to talk about than her most recent ailments! :) But, if inquiring minds want to know: I no longer have abdominal pain unless I physically stress myself (pushing or pulling something too heavy) - which I'm still trying to not do. I still get tired really easily, and my body is still trying to physically "level out" from going from three years of being on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) to - now - neither being on nor having (!) ANY hormones! I still have the "other" aches and pains that we'd hoped (against hope?) would be eliminated by this surgery, but whadya gonna do: surgery doesn't fix everything! So, that's that - my current medical status.
With the return of the sun and the warm temps, the snow has been melting like nobody's business! When we took our "after-work" walk down to the river last night, the opportunity presented itself to take our annual walk down (on) the river . . . before it was too late. The first picture here is from three years ago today: CANOEING (!) on the river! That's a bit of a difference from what we saw walking on the river yesterday! (Pictures 2, 3, and 4.)
I've uploaded a video, too - taken last Sunday, the 13th: two days after the big late-season snowstorm. The back-story to this is that Tom had thrown a snowball for Tucker (a dog who doesn't really "get" the whole theory of playing catch), and it just smacked down on his face! Twice. :) So, we were trying to recreate that for the camera . . . with no luck, of course. At any rate, it was kind of fun to see them romping in the snow. Click here to view that.
And, finally, the last picture is of our freshly messy yard (taken last night). Spring is here!
So - finally! I love winter (my favorite season, to be sure), but I love spring. Yes, it's dirty and messy but it's also the rebirth of everything! Each day brings new changes like no other time in the year.
A friend e-mailed yesterday to ask how I am and wondered why I haven't written anything here about that. Well, 'cause there's not much to share anymore . . . PLUS I don't want to sound like an old woman who has nothing better to talk about than her most recent ailments! :) But, if inquiring minds want to know: I no longer have abdominal pain unless I physically stress myself (pushing or pulling something too heavy) - which I'm still trying to not do. I still get tired really easily, and my body is still trying to physically "level out" from going from three years of being on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) to - now - neither being on nor having (!) ANY hormones! I still have the "other" aches and pains that we'd hoped (against hope?) would be eliminated by this surgery, but whadya gonna do: surgery doesn't fix everything! So, that's that - my current medical status.
With the return of the sun and the warm temps, the snow has been melting like nobody's business! When we took our "after-work" walk down to the river last night, the opportunity presented itself to take our annual walk down (on) the river . . . before it was too late. The first picture here is from three years ago today: CANOEING (!) on the river! That's a bit of a difference from what we saw walking on the river yesterday! (Pictures 2, 3, and 4.)
I've uploaded a video, too - taken last Sunday, the 13th: two days after the big late-season snowstorm. The back-story to this is that Tom had thrown a snowball for Tucker (a dog who doesn't really "get" the whole theory of playing catch), and it just smacked down on his face! Twice. :) So, we were trying to recreate that for the camera . . . with no luck, of course. At any rate, it was kind of fun to see them romping in the snow. Click here to view that.
And, finally, the last picture is of our freshly messy yard (taken last night). Spring is here!Spring MIGHT Just Be On Its Way
Despite the fact that it's still 90% winter outside our door (and that 7-12" of the white stuff is predicted to fall between tonight and tomorrow night), we have seen two sure signs of spring: the first robin day-before-yesterday, and four geese flying north yesterday. So, spring might still actually arrive to the northeastern
tip of Minnesota . . . sometime!
I posted the new April picture of the house/yard this morning. I surely thought that this picture would look MUCH different when I commented about how similar the December, January, February, and March pictures looked, but it doesn't! It was only on Wednesday that the warm sun melted through the snow-packed paths enough in one spot to reveal the slate walkways underneath (bottom right on this picture).
Tom and I have been trying to take walks each night when he gets home from work now, and we checked out the latest logging site that "our" loggers have been working on - just east of our place - a week or so ago. It opened up a beautiful new vista of our river from an angle that we hadn't been able to see before. (You'll have to click on the picture to enlarge it if you want to see the distant river and its tributaries.)
Tom (and the dogs - Maisy with one of her usual massive rocks in her mouth) climbed up to the top of one of the lumber piles to give a perspective of the size of some of the trees the loggers are taking. Fortunately, many of these are fast-growing trees that will replace themselves.
I'm sure it's Murphy's Law that the snow is lasting so long this winter/spring . . . because I want to get the greenhouse built on the south side of the chicken house. I can't wait! And, I'm sorely behind on chicken house up-keep. The nest boxes need fresh litter, and the couple of feet on the south side that has melted free of snow has now become a quagmire of mud and chicken poop. Nice. I've been trying to get to the local lumber yard to pick up fresh wood shavings for weeks, it seems, but one thing or another has interfered. It's getting to the drastic point now, though, and I'll absolutely have to get it done this coming week.
Tom and I went to Duluth (3 hours, one way) for dental appointments on Wednesday. The deer are SOOOO thick along the highway right now. We would have lost count had we tried to number them all, but I'll bet we saw easily 400-500 combining the down and back trips. At least it's "good" for the auto-body shops!
Anyway, Menards was having a door sale, so we picked up the door for the closet in the utility room ("Tom's closet") . We plan to put that in this weekend. Every little bit of forward progress counts, right?!
tip of Minnesota . . . sometime!
I posted the new April picture of the house/yard this morning. I surely thought that this picture would look MUCH different when I commented about how similar the December, January, February, and March pictures looked, but it doesn't! It was only on Wednesday that the warm sun melted through the snow-packed paths enough in one spot to reveal the slate walkways underneath (bottom right on this picture).
Tom and I have been trying to take walks each night when he gets home from work now, and we checked out the latest logging site that "our" loggers have been working on - just east of our place - a week or so ago. It opened up a beautiful new vista of our river from an angle that we hadn't been able to see before. (You'll have to click on the picture to enlarge it if you want to see the distant river and its tributaries.)
Tom (and the dogs - Maisy with one of her usual massive rocks in her mouth) climbed up to the top of one of the lumber piles to give a perspective of the size of some of the trees the loggers are taking. Fortunately, many of these are fast-growing trees that will replace themselves.
I'm sure it's Murphy's Law that the snow is lasting so long this winter/spring . . . because I want to get the greenhouse built on the south side of the chicken house. I can't wait! And, I'm sorely behind on chicken house up-keep. The nest boxes need fresh litter, and the couple of feet on the south side that has melted free of snow has now become a quagmire of mud and chicken poop. Nice. I've been trying to get to the local lumber yard to pick up fresh wood shavings for weeks, it seems, but one thing or another has interfered. It's getting to the drastic point now, though, and I'll absolutely have to get it done this coming week.
Tom and I went to Duluth (3 hours, one way) for dental appointments on Wednesday. The deer are SOOOO thick along the highway right now. We would have lost count had we tried to number them all, but I'll bet we saw easily 400-500 combining the down and back trips. At least it's "good" for the auto-body shops!
Anyway, Menards was having a door sale, so we picked up the door for the closet in the utility room ("Tom's closet") . We plan to put that in this weekend. Every little bit of forward progress counts, right?!
Two Steps Forward & Three Steps Back
The scene: fourth grade vocabulary lesson.
The word is 'disgruntled'. Use it in a sentence.
"I am very disgruntled that my recovery is taking so long."
I called a really wonderful nurse on Friday to discuss the seemingly slow path that I'm on to recovery. I needed particulars from her: am I overdoing it? Is that why it stills hurts so much?
Hmm, yes, apparently.
When I was discharged, there were no orders other than "activity as recovery allows" and "no heavy lifting". Well, define 'heavy'. For we girls who live in the sticks, 'heavy' is a portable generator . . . and I haven't lifted any of those within these past two weeks. But, is 'heavy' the 30 lbs. that the feeder in the chicken house weighs whenever I fill it in the grain room and then hang it back up for the chickens? Unfortunately, yes! Is 'heavy lifting' inclusive of shoveling out the frozen chicken poop and litter so that the hen who found her way into the droppings pit could finally get out? Apparently so.
Moreover, 'heavy' lifting includes the following:
Loaded laundry baskets.
Unloading wet clothes from the washer and loading them into the dryer.
Making beds or folding sheets.
AND, lifting "anything heavier than 20 lbs. for three months following your surgery".
PU-LEEZE! I have a life to live here!
Obviously, I've already done everything on the "do not do" list several times over in the last two weeks, and the only thing that remotely gave me a "ooh, maybe shouldn't have done that" feeling was hacking at and shoveling away the 8" of frozen poop and chicken litter. But, aside from that one thing, nothing feels bad when I'm doing it . . . until the next day when I'm sorer than ever and/or my abdomen is constantly cramping for a couple of hours in succession.
So, the upshot is that I'm T-R-Y-I-N-G to "take it easy" . . . even tho I already thought I was! And, sorry to say, but some of the "do not do" things are just gonna have to get done: I have a small laundry business going here!
Anyway, that's the latest with me and the recovery. I have my post-op check-up on Wednesday. We'll see what the good doc has to tell me then. :)
Meanwhile, back on the ranch . . . .
March 1st dawned absolutely beautiful yesterday, and Tom took the dogs for a hike a couple of miles down the Swamp River. In between (everybody together now) "TRYING TO TAKE IT EASY" (and using the binoculars and telescope), I spied him a couple of times wayyyyy out on the river. His report upon arriving home a couple of hours later was quite uneventful. No wolf tracks, no moose sheds. He saw fox tracks, but that was it. Even the birds were quiet, he said. He did walk down a tributary and came across the largest beaver lodge we've seen (we discovered it a couple of years ago). He crawled up to the top where there was a big breathing hole, so it's an active one. But, other than that and the brilliant day, there wasn't much happenin' on the ol' Swamp.
That's all for now. I'll try to get back later.
The word is 'disgruntled'. Use it in a sentence.
"I am very disgruntled that my recovery is taking so long."
I called a really wonderful nurse on Friday to discuss the seemingly slow path that I'm on to recovery. I needed particulars from her: am I overdoing it? Is that why it stills hurts so much?
Hmm, yes, apparently.
When I was discharged, there were no orders other than "activity as recovery allows" and "no heavy lifting". Well, define 'heavy'. For we girls who live in the sticks, 'heavy' is a portable generator . . . and I haven't lifted any of those within these past two weeks. But, is 'heavy' the 30 lbs. that the feeder in the chicken house weighs whenever I fill it in the grain room and then hang it back up for the chickens? Unfortunately, yes! Is 'heavy lifting' inclusive of shoveling out the frozen chicken poop and litter so that the hen who found her way into the droppings pit could finally get out? Apparently so.
Moreover, 'heavy' lifting includes the following:
Loaded laundry baskets.
Unloading wet clothes from the washer and loading them into the dryer.
Making beds or folding sheets.
AND, lifting "anything heavier than 20 lbs. for three months following your surgery".
PU-LEEZE! I have a life to live here!
Obviously, I've already done everything on the "do not do" list several times over in the last two weeks, and the only thing that remotely gave me a "ooh, maybe shouldn't have done that" feeling was hacking at and shoveling away the 8" of frozen poop and chicken litter. But, aside from that one thing, nothing feels bad when I'm doing it . . . until the next day when I'm sorer than ever and/or my abdomen is constantly cramping for a couple of hours in succession.
So, the upshot is that I'm T-R-Y-I-N-G to "take it easy" . . . even tho I already thought I was! And, sorry to say, but some of the "do not do" things are just gonna have to get done: I have a small laundry business going here!
Anyway, that's the latest with me and the recovery. I have my post-op check-up on Wednesday. We'll see what the good doc has to tell me then. :)
Meanwhile, back on the ranch . . . .
March 1st dawned absolutely beautiful yesterday, and Tom took the dogs for a hike a couple of miles down the Swamp River. In between (everybody together now) "TRYING TO TAKE IT EASY" (and using the binoculars and telescope), I spied him a couple of times wayyyyy out on the river. His report upon arriving home a couple of hours later was quite uneventful. No wolf tracks, no moose sheds. He saw fox tracks, but that was it. Even the birds were quiet, he said. He did walk down a tributary and came across the largest beaver lodge we've seen (we discovered it a couple of years ago). He crawled up to the top where there was a big breathing hole, so it's an active one. But, other than that and the brilliant day, there wasn't much happenin' on the ol' Swamp.
That's all for now. I'll try to get back later.
Beaver Business
I posted a picture earlier (click here) of beaver activity down at the river on October 18th.Exactly two weeks later, you can see how much progress the busy beavers had made in the large tree to the left of the downed one!
All Saints' Day
Happy All Saints' Day! (Whatever that really means.)
Actually, I did want to know, so I Wikipedia-ed it: All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas - 'hallow' meaning "saints" and 'mas' meaning "Mass") is a feast celebrated on November 1st in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. Halloween - the day preceding it - is so named because it is "The Eve of All Hallows". So, there ya have it! But, if everything surrounding Halloween, then, is based on a religious connotation . . . I wonder where the spookiness / Fright Night aspect of Halloween came in? Maybe I'll delve into that next year.
BUT, even more important than today being All Saints' Day . . . it is the 49th birthday of BigView FlyBoy - one of our most favorite fellas (and definitely our most favorite pilot)! Wonder what we'll all be doing next year to help him celebrate the big 5-0? Hey, he could come to a Halloween party (our first Halloween party at the new pub, I can only hope) dressed up as a crippled-up old man! ;)
Speaking of feeling like an old man (only temporarily, we hope) . . . after falling off the roof on Saturday, Tom is still quite gimpy. I have been pushing the idea of getting his left foot (the worse one) x-rayed, but I haven't had much luck convincing him of that yet. Sooooo . . . I guess he'll continue to limp along (pun intended) and play it by ear.
We had a LONG day in Duluth on Tuesday (left at 8:00 AM, home just before midnight). Various appointments (including an eye exam and new glasses for Tom) and the usual massive shopping list. I can tell that we're both still on the edge of exhaustion, though, since just one long day absolutely wiped us both out. We weren't done with our appointments until 3:00, so we didn't get to begin our errands until then. I went into one store, looked around for about 5 minutes, then replaced my shopping basket and walked out to the truck, empty-handed. I just didn't have the brain power to put into picking out what I needed!
Temperatures have finally cooled down to closer to appropriate for the season. We had 21 degrees Saturday night and snow/rain/sun squalls all day yesterday. It's getting to be that time to think about taking in the hoses, etc. All the leaves have been down for some time, and it's getting to be Bleak November . . . although the grass is still green which is fairly unheard of for this time of year. The snow birds (Snow Buntings, technically) returned a couple of weeks ago, and, everywhere you drive (on gravel roads, anyway), they flit along just ahead of you. They're one of my favorites, and their return each fall always reassures me that winter is, indeed, on its way!
Today signals the first installment of the next 12-month series of seasonal pictures that we post on our other blog. If you check back later today, I should have that - and the new November picture of the house - posted.
Before his fall, Tom got a little more work done on his workshop in the garage: insulating the east wall and beginning to insulate the ceiling.
The dogs and I took a walk down to the river two weeks ago during the heavy rains we'd been getting. Here you can see Tucker checking out the results of beaver activity. That tree is - at least - 10 or 12 inches in diameter!
Nine days ago, the river had crested its banks . . . and then some. This is the boat-launch / public-access area. The mounds of grass you see out past the dogs signal where the bank of the river is SUPPOSED to be!
That's all for now. Happy 1st Day of November!
Actually, I did want to know, so I Wikipedia-ed it: All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas - 'hallow' meaning "saints" and 'mas' meaning "Mass") is a feast celebrated on November 1st in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. Halloween - the day preceding it - is so named because it is "The Eve of All Hallows". So, there ya have it! But, if everything surrounding Halloween, then, is based on a religious connotation . . . I wonder where the spookiness / Fright Night aspect of Halloween came in? Maybe I'll delve into that next year.
BUT, even more important than today being All Saints' Day . . . it is the 49th birthday of BigView FlyBoy - one of our most favorite fellas (and definitely our most favorite pilot)! Wonder what we'll all be doing next year to help him celebrate the big 5-0? Hey, he could come to a Halloween party (our first Halloween party at the new pub, I can only hope) dressed up as a crippled-up old man! ;)
Speaking of feeling like an old man (only temporarily, we hope) . . . after falling off the roof on Saturday, Tom is still quite gimpy. I have been pushing the idea of getting his left foot (the worse one) x-rayed, but I haven't had much luck convincing him of that yet. Sooooo . . . I guess he'll continue to limp along (pun intended) and play it by ear.
We had a LONG day in Duluth on Tuesday (left at 8:00 AM, home just before midnight). Various appointments (including an eye exam and new glasses for Tom) and the usual massive shopping list. I can tell that we're both still on the edge of exhaustion, though, since just one long day absolutely wiped us both out. We weren't done with our appointments until 3:00, so we didn't get to begin our errands until then. I went into one store, looked around for about 5 minutes, then replaced my shopping basket and walked out to the truck, empty-handed. I just didn't have the brain power to put into picking out what I needed!
Temperatures have finally cooled down to closer to appropriate for the season. We had 21 degrees Saturday night and snow/rain/sun squalls all day yesterday. It's getting to be that time to think about taking in the hoses, etc. All the leaves have been down for some time, and it's getting to be Bleak November . . . although the grass is still green which is fairly unheard of for this time of year. The snow birds (Snow Buntings, technically) returned a couple of weeks ago, and, everywhere you drive (on gravel roads, anyway), they flit along just ahead of you. They're one of my favorites, and their return each fall always reassures me that winter is, indeed, on its way!
Today signals the first installment of the next 12-month series of seasonal pictures that we post on our other blog. If you check back later today, I should have that - and the new November picture of the house - posted.
Before his fall, Tom got a little more work done on his workshop in the garage: insulating the east wall and beginning to insulate the ceiling.
The dogs and I took a walk down to the river two weeks ago during the heavy rains we'd been getting. Here you can see Tucker checking out the results of beaver activity. That tree is - at least - 10 or 12 inches in diameter!
Nine days ago, the river had crested its banks . . . and then some. This is the boat-launch / public-access area. The mounds of grass you see out past the dogs signal where the bank of the river is SUPPOSED to be!That's all for now. Happy 1st Day of November!
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