Quiet Monday

Our weather is beginning to change and it's looking more like winter with all the leaves gone from the trees and brown everywhere you look.  The temps reached the mid forties today and rain moved in late this afternoon.  Fortunately, Matt and John are working inside right noq, so the weather doesn't affect their work.

I spent the day catching up on laundry from our trip and organizing a few more items to take south.  We have received a couple of emails asking when we're heading out and right now it looks like we'll be leaving here around the ninth of November, depending on how my foot is doing.  Right now I still have trouble with swelling around the incision area and that prevents the toes from moving freely.  Still have another week and a half until I see the doctor.  

Back Home Again

Like the title says, we're back home again after a 12 hour drive today. We said good-bye to the boys last night since we hit the road a little before 6 a.m. and drove a couple of hours to Spearfish, SD where we stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast. We got better than normal gas mileage as there were strong winds at our back the whole trip.  It's going to be an early night as John is working with Matt tomorrow.

Enjoying A Few Days in Wyoming

John and I pulled out of the driveway at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning and drove straight through 12 hours to Gillette, Wyomng with some stops for gas, meals, and just to stretch our legs.  Since the drive is on innerstate just about the whole way, the ride is pretty easy.  Since it was Amy's birthday Thursday, we brought along a cake to celebrate the big day.

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing 

out the candles

The boys had school on Friday, so the adults headed out to do a few errands and purchased supplies to fix the leaky outdoor faucet and a new ceiling fan/light for the kitchen area.  After lunch, Dave and John got busy working on the faucet, and once that was fixed, put up the ceiling fan.  There were no glitches and they got everything done in pretty fast order.  While the guys were busy, Amy and I discussed putting some toys the boys no longer use on ebay and I gave her a crash course on selling.  The evening was spent watching a movie and visiting.

Today we just hung out around the house, sorted toys for selling, and even got a couple of items listed on ebay.  Tonight is pizza night and then we will be heading out bright and early in the morning for the long drive home. 

 

Planning a Quick Trip

With the nice weather holding, Matt and John have started work on another job just a couple of miles south of town.  It's nice for John as Matt picks him up every morning on his way to the job site.  Before he heads out for the day, I have him bring the laundry downstairs along with anything else I might need up from the basement.  The boot makes navigating the stairs a little tricky and I try to avoid them if I can.  My foot keeps improving more each day, but I still can't be up on it for long periods of time.  I just do a few chores and then sit down and elevate it for about half an hour and then get up and continue on with whatever I was doing.

We are planning a quick trip to Wyoming to visit Amy's family before we head south, so today I started a little packing and did some straightening up around the house.  Tonight John went to watch the Bears playoff game.  Sorry to say the got beat pretty bad--sad way to end the season.

Outside Jobs Finally Finished, Or Are They?

Today I looked back at what I wrote on this blog a year ago and found the days were cold with highs in the 30's, rainy, and snowy.  This year is much different.  Our October remains very pleasant with sunny days and comfortable temps.

Each day John tells me he has finished up all the outside work and then I find him headed back outdoors to complete one more task he forgot to do.  I think he is really finished now and ready for winter.  All the leaves have been gathered and tilled into the garden, eveything is picked up and put away, and the wood shed is full.

 Garden is put to bed for the winter

JD and Josh came down yesterday morning and dug the rest of our potatoes and helped John split several big logs.  Now the splitter can be stored in the shed for the winter.

 John, Josh, and JD splitting the larger logs

This weekend was youth early rifle deer hunting.  Matt and Rachel went out behind their house and Rae shot a nice big doe.  This was her first good sized deer and everyone was pretty excited.  Since you can shoot only one deer, Rae can now stay inside and stay toasty warm during the usually cold days of deer hunting the first week of November.

It's time to think about heading south for the winter.  John's tentative departure date is the first weekend in November.  It all depends on how my foot is doing and what the doctor says.  Right now, I can't imagine I'm going to be able to wear shoes in three weeks.  The nerve pain is getting better, but the joint and incision area are still swollen and I can't put weight on that joint.  However, I have been gathering items, packing a few boxes, and making lists for what needs to be done before we head out.  Several friends have called asking when we're going to be heading south, but definite plans are still up in the air.

Nice Weather

Our weather has been very enjoyable with sunny skies and temps in the mid 60's.  According to the forecast, we'll have a couple of days of cooler temps, but nothing too drastic.  The local golf course will close for the year on Sunday, so John has been golfing the last couple of days before he has to put it on hold until we get to Texas.

John has taken advantage of the good weather to get more of his outside chores completed.  He is waiting for Matt to come down and dig the rest of our potatoes--John started that job, but tweaked his back so he can't get the remainder of them dug.  With many of the leaves off the trees in the back yard, he used the lawn mower to gather them up and then dumped them on the garden. 

I am still hobbling around but am able to take care of the laundry, prepare some meals, and do those things that don't require me to stand for long periods.   I must admit, wearing the boot is getting old, but at least it allows me to get around fairly well and protects my foot from further injury.

Tuesday night John headed up to Clearbrook to attend the last football game of the regular season. It was Parents' Night, but, unfortunately, the Bears lost.  They have the first playoff game next Tuesday evening, but not sure who or where they will play.

Hanna was the team manager this year 

Since Sara is going to school as well as working at the clinic and hosptal, she does hair cutting whenever it fits into her schedule, so this evening John drove me up to get a haircut.  We stayed and visited for a little before heading home for a quiet evening in front of the TV.

Not Much Happening

Our weather has been on the cool side, but still pretty nice.  John has only the potatoes to dig and then the garden is completely done for this year.  My foot is improving very slowly.  The main issue right now is nerve pain and numbness in several toes.  I think that will be ongoing for quite a while.

I have kept busy listing and selling items on ebay and catching up on my reading.  Still have to keep my foot elevated when sitting and can't do much walking.  When the stitches were removed, the nurse said I need to start manually moving the big toe about five times a day.  Right now things are so stiff and swollen at the joint that movement is minimal.  I think that will improve with continued working of the joint.

 

Will Be On The Mend for Quite A While

Yesterday afternoon we headed off to Bemidji for another follow-up appointment at the doctor's office--this time to have the stiches removed.  Though I was very nervous about it, the whole procedure went well with no discomfort.  My foot is healing nicely; however, I need to stay in the boot until my next appointment on November 7th.  I will have x-rays at that time and then visit with the doctor.  I have to work the joint in my foot several times a day, keep it wrapped in an Ace bandage when moving around, and keep it elevated when sitting or resting.

At first we thought it would be a quick trip to Bemidji, but after checking the pantry and looking over some other things, we discovered we had several errands to run.   We picked up a new battery for the four wheeler, took a bag of coins to the bank, stopped at Wal Mart, twice, since we forgot furnace filters the first time, and then went to BK for some supper.

This morning Matt brought down their lawn mower and bikes so he could store them in the old shop for the winter and then loaded up his snowblower to take back to his place.  He stayed to visit for awhile and showed us some pictures taken with his trail camera.  He captured a couple of bald eagles walking around the bear bait site along with another bear looking for more to eat.

Tonight John went up to Clearbrook to watch Sam's game.  Sam ran for 255 yards, threw for 90, and scored two or three touchdowns.  The Bears lost by 2 points--38-36.  

Time For An Update

Last Friday I had the dressing changed on my foot and was told to continue minimal activity, so that's what I've been doing.  After the doctor's appointment, John took me out to Perkins for a late lunch and then we stopped at Wal Mart to pick up a few grocery items. I had a fun time driving around the store in one of their little mortorized scooters with a large shopping basket on the front.

It sure felt good to get out of the house even though the weather was pretty miserable.  We had heavy rains Thursday night with showers most of the day Friday along with very windy conditions.  Our fall leaf season came to an abrupt end with this weather and most of the trees are looking pretty bare.

The repair shop called last week and said our car was ready to pick up.  Since I couldn't drive, Matt went with John and they picked up the chevy and returned the rental car to the airport.  Our car looks brand new--here are the before and after photos.  Repair shop said there was pretty extensive damage behind the grills and the whole front end had to be replaced.  The hood was also crinkled, and they were able to fix that without purchasing a new one.

John has continued working with Matt and they completed the outside of the addition.  Now they'll be off a few days while the electricians wire the inside.  He also went with Matt and Sara to watch another football game.  Unfortunately, the Bears lost.  

Speaking of bears, Matt and Hanna have been "bear baiting" this fall and after many weeks, their hard work paid off.  Hanna shot her first bear on Saturday evening.  After she shot, they had to track the bear, but it got too dark and they felt it wasn't safe to continue.  John went up to their place early Sunday morning to help them track it down.  John found it on the edge of a swamp--it's a beauty.  They're going to make a bear rug and a head mount out of it along with processing the meat.

This afternoon Rachel had her final volleyball game of the season and, since it was being held close to home, I decided to go with John.  We found a place to park close to the school and got there early while there was plenty of room to get a seat and I didn't have to worry about someone stepping on my foot.  The girls won one game out of three, losing the third one by two points.  Overall, they had a very good season.

Tomorrow afternoon I head back to the doctor to get the stiches removed from my foot and then we'll learn more about the time frame for full recovery.  We would like to take a quick trip to Wyoming in a couple of weeks and hopefully we'll get the go ahead for that trip.

On The Mend

For the past week I have been pretty much laying low on the couch and keeping my foot elevated with ice applied every hour for about 15 minutes each time.  I think the swelling has been limited and the pain very managable with the help of pain pills.  In fact, I have been off the pain meds for the past three days.  Crutches were used for the first three to four days and now I do what the doctor calls the Charlie Chaplin walk--putting weight only on the heel of my right foot.  Tomorrow morning I go back to see the surgeon and get the dressing changed.  I can't wait.  I hope I get rid of the bulky bandages and wrappings and can finally take a shower.  Sponge bathing gets a little old after a week.  I'll also find out what my limitations will be and how long I will be wearing the boot.

John has been busy this past week helping Matt with an addition and attending Sam and Rachel's sporting events.  He is holding up our end of the grandparent cheering section.  The Bears won a big game last Friday night and have another big one tomorrow evening.
In between these activities, he has helped with laundry,  been cooking meals, and generally keeping the home fires burning.

 John, Sam, and Matt after victory

As I mentioned earlier, our garden got hit pretty hard with the frost while we were out east.  John is still hoping these green tomatoes will ripen, but I don't hold out much hope.  The forecast says to expect one inch of snow tomorrow.  Only the potatoes are still in the ground--they'll probably get dug this weekend and then the garden is FINISHED.