I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feeling 22

Ok, Taylor Swift, maybe I'm not feeling *quite* 22, but I thought I was doing pretty good for my age.  True, some mornings I wake up and feel about 72, but a cuppa Joe and 20 minutes on the elliptical usually gets me going.

Last week I had a Physical scheduled with my Family Doc.  When she walked into the exam room, she handed me this envelope filled with information for folks my age.


Middle Age?  Really?  I can hardly believe that I'm at my peak right now and it's all downhill from here!

Yesterday I had an appointment with the Orthopedic Hand Surgeon.  He told me that I have fairly advanced arthritis in my thumb for someone MY AGE.  I am now scheduled for hand surgery in a couple of weeks in which he will actually remove one of my hand bones, and re-route a tendon so that the joint in the base of my left thumb will no longer be rubbing bone-on-bone.

Young people do not have surgery for advanced arthritis, right?  So it must be true.  I must have reached Middle Age.

SIGH.

I went to visit my 99 year old Grandmother a week ago.  She is starting to show her age.  But if she was labeled "Middle Aged" at my age, she would still have over half of her life to live!

I refuse to believe it.

I also would have refused surgery, if it were not for gardening season coming up soon, in which I want to be able to dig without being slowed down by advanced arthritis in my thumb.

So there.

Where's the Bear? #13

The bear appears to have had an accident going down the stairs.  Or was it an accident?

Completely Unexpected

I woke up this morning, anticipating a lazy, laid back kind of day.  We didn't have any concrete plans, except to perhaps watch a movie.

When I went in the kitchen to make my daily pot of coffee, there was a puddle of water coming out from under the refrigerator.  Great.  We had issues with the water for the ice maker/water dispenser leaking which cause flooding about 3 months ago!

Last time (luckily) the water drained through the floor and right into the girls' bathtub, which is directly below.  The paint above and around the shower surround bubbled up and peeled off, and I had intended to paint that bathroom this winter.  I even finally chose a paint color!

This time, the water again ran into the tub, staining and peeling more paint in the process.  It also travelled into the girls' room next door, and made a hole in the ceiling! 

Long story about the refrigerator, (which I actually blogged about back in 2009), The space for the refrigerator was too small, we couldn't open the doors, so our builder revised the plans and we consequently lost the door to our pantry.  Also, all of our appliances were from the Sears Scratch & Dent outfit near here, and almost every single one had problems that were more serious than scratches or dents.  When we tried to remove the fridge from the kitchen to be repaired or replaced back then, it wouldn't fit back out once the countertops were installed!  Back then, JP and 3 other men actually lifted it over the island to get it out.  Today, JP and I removed all the knobs from the base cabinets and slid it under.

We initially planned to order a new refrigerator, and had either Sears or Lowes had the right thing in stock, we may have a new refrigerator now.  They did not, and we do not.  The fridge is, however, the first thing you see when you walk in the door.  We discussed the issue, and we might just switch this one (since it still actually works) with the extra fridge, which is a bit smaller.  It's definitely the cheaper option.

While the fridge was empty, I decided to thoroughly clean it out, as it was fairly disgusting inside.  JP wondered why I did that since at that point in time, we intended to get a new one.  I told him that I didn't want the movers to think I was a slob!  Since we are likely keeping it, I'm glad it's clean!

During this whole clean up and moving process, J got a phone call from her buddy who lives up the road, to say that they were offered a bunny with a fancy pedigree, along with cage, feeder and water bottle for $20, would she be interested?

Ultimately, our friends brought the bunny by to see if we wanted it, and he now resides in the Chickbit house, along with our 14 hens.  He is a cute little thing, soft as velvet.  J and Granddad are formulating the perfect high-falutin' pedigree rabbit name, so for now he's just "Bunny."

Downstairs is still a mess, with the ceiling tiles out in the bathroom, plaster all over the floor in the girls' bedroom, and fans running both places.  I'm trying to avoid going down there, as it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

JP has run to town for rabbit supplies, and to pick up some dinner...we haven't eaten since breakfast!

I should really go downstairs and clean up a little bit.  I really should...

Chicken Update: Maybe Not Entirely Stupid, Appear to Have Some Common Sense

Just a quick update on how the chicken training is going.  I've mentioned that the hens have not appeared to be able to figure out the new "chicken door" that JP installed.  I have chased them outside almost every day for a week and a half now.  On Monday, 2 of them came out when I called for them (which means kitchen scraps).  But every day, I have had to herd most of them back into the hen house at the end of the day.

Last night, being the ineffective Farmer that I am, I forgot about the chickens until after dark.  When I ran out to check on them, they had all safely returned to the hen house.

I've chased them outside twice today so that they can work on their suntans, which means that they all returned on their own once.

I may not be a great Farmer, but I'm an excellent chicken trainer...so it seems!

Where's the Bear? #12

Thanks to my Dad, who suggested that last week's bear picture be captioned "Old McDonald Bear".

It has been a crazy week, weather wise.  We went from snow to rain on Sunday, to a frigid low of 9* F Tuesday morning, to a balmy high of 47* this afternoon!  All of that precipitation, freezing and thawing, have turned our driveway into a sheet of ice. 

It's very exciting to slide down the driveway first thing every morning!  I have been extremely thankful for our new Subaru, which has a crazy thing called "X-Mode".  When I push the "X-Mode" button, a graphic pops up on the console, showing the 4 wheels and axles in green.  The car automatically will brake and maneuver down the driveway, all I have to do is steer.  The graphic shows in yellow when certain wheels or sets of wheels are being braked or stabilized or whatever.  It's pretty hi tech (ha!)

The bear seems to enjoy driving the Subaru too, but he is only allowed to do so on the "Farm", as he doesn't yet have an official driver's license.

Only 44 more days until Spring!

The Groundhog Saw His Shadow...

I should have known by the wild temperature swings.  It seems to happen every year on Groundhog Day!  When I got up this morning, it was 39* outside and windy.  3 hours later, the temperature had dropped 16* and it was snowing.

The snowflakes were tiny and perfect.  These are a few that landed on my jacket.

 

It feels chilly in the house.  I think I'll bake some bread and heat it up in here!

 

Playing in the Snow

5 years ago, on Superbowl weekend, it snowed a massive amount, the power went out, and it didn't come back on for 8 days.  We missed the Superbowl and the opening of the Winter Olympics, along with showers and some other things.  I really haven't enjoyed February since then.

Today, on Superbowl Sunday, the snow has been coming down in massive clumps.  To ease my churning anxiety, I decided to go outside and play in the snow with the girls.  They beat me outside, and were already crafting tiny snowmen on the hill by the time I was appropriately attired.

I began making a snowman of my own - a BIG one - to show them up.  I changed gears midway, and decided to roll a giant snowball down the hill like in the cartoons.  The ball got pretty massive, but then hit a bump and broke into 3 pieces.  J and I continued rolling 2 pieces down the hill, while L crafted the remaining chunk into a seat.

We planned to build a snowman with our snowballs at the bottom of the hill by the driveway.  Small problem though - the mid section was too heavy to lift on to the base!  Instead we decided to make a lying down snowman, who in the course of the crafting, became a tragically murdered snowman.

Here he is, with a stake through his heart. 

 

He ended up pretty large - J's feet don't touch the ground when she is sitting on his bottom!

 

The snow has ceased.  The temperatures are warming.  We are due for some sleet and rain this evening, which should turn our driveway into a sheet of ice.

Lovely.