As I am reclined on the couch with my ankle resting on the back wrapped in an ice pack, my mind is wandering. It is hard to shut it off. I really want to read my Bible and drift off for a nap, but, am having a hard time shifting into low gear.
One cat is curled up at my un-iced foot, the other is snoring on the ground somewhere behind me.
We recently added two bedrooms in the loft above our shop event room. I need to get the rest of the base/door trim installed soon so the painter ca. Come and caulk and do touch up. But, I really should make the time to caulk, so we can save a few bucks. I am pretty good at getting a smooth caulk line.
We are looking into the cost to landscape a formal garden with our tax return money. How much can we do ourselves? Is it worth the chiropractic visits that might ensue? I need to follow up with the concrete guy about patio costs. And I need to touch bases with the stone guy about getting the estimate doe the stone wall and the outdoor fireplace. Since both my honey and I have been involved in the real estate industry for years, we are always thinking of resale value. Our barn is more of an event center, and should city water and sewer make it down this way, we could use it as such. We really should have an outdoor space for events.
Trying to figure out how to keep kids from plucking up entire rose bushes when we have large group gatherings. the last gathering we hosted for Purim found two of my fathers rose bushes broken off at the root. Since I found one entire bush in one of our playhouses, I can only assume it was broke. Off by a child in full run, or broken off to use for some sword play. We are talking about putting a large play set out in the yard, but where is the best location? We will probably shift my food garden space to behind our greenhouse, and put the playset out just past the lawn where the parents (who aren’t watching their kids) can see it. Then fence the food garden in so they can’t destroy it when it is planted later in the season.
If I fence the food garden, I can do it myself with T-posts and cattle panels, but the cost of those materials is similar to the cost of the materials I really want for a 6’ black cyclone fence. However, I can’t I stall that myself. The difference in price would be about $10,000 in the two fences. I think I need to lower my expectations and just put up the one I can by myself this year and be happy. But without a permanent fence, I’m not sure what to plant my grapevines on. Decisions, decisions.
I should probably put some of the physical therapists suggestions for my dad to use in my life to avoid what I have seen him struggle with in old age. Limps throwing backs out, etc. He saw a VA physical therapist for the first time last week. The hope was that they could help strengthen his back and legs so he could stop using a cane, which he has been using since his slip on the ice. After just one visit, he is walking like he used to six months ago, well before his fall. She retrained him how to put his socks on, how to walk with his cane properly, how to get in and out of a car to best avoid falls, and so much more. The transformation is amazing! He has been good about following her instructions and doing his exercises. That takes a lot of stress of my shoulders, figuratively and literally.
How can I self treat my ankle pain if I don’t know what is causing it? I have been told that an MRI is the next step to seeing what’s wrong, by a doctor who has a horrible bedside manor. His nurse took X-rays. He walked into the room, introduced himself and told me “Well, your on the path to needing surgery on that ankle tendon. It’s just a matter of time. Put more arch support in your orthotics, and call me when you’re ready for the MRI”. Yea, NO, I won’t be calling you, I will find someone with a little more compassion, who will maybe do a bit more thorough investigation of what could be happening. I realize that an MRI may still be necessary to find out if it is damaged or infected, since each would require a different form of treatment. But I don’t want to spend a thousand bucks (or more) for one, and have to go through the process of getting that reimbursed through my medical sharing insurance thing. But, I should probably do it sooner than later to avoid causing any further damage.
Should we start letting the cats out during the day to get the mice in the lawn/garden space? Would they hunt them? Would they wander the neighborhood, something we don’t want. Are they big enough that the hawks won’t go after them? How in the world can I supervise them when I am outside to work, not supervise? Last summer we let them come outside with us in the evenings when we sat on the porch to watch the sunset. They mostly stayed close to the house. Until, I calmly said, “Okay boys, it’s time to go inside”. The black one let me pick him up and put him in the house. Waldo the Wild and Weird on the other hand decided a run towards the neighbors field would be the appropriate course of action. What a butthead! Needless to say, I am not looking forward to trying to train him to stay close. But, it needs to be done this summer. We don’t want to let them out all day and night, since we have many stray cats in the fields and they are scrappy fighters. I spent our first summer here helping our neighbor heal up her cat’s fighting wounds. I don’t want that with our boys.
There. Now that all those thoughts are out of my brain, maybe I can relax and read and nap. As long as the cats don’t start WrestleMania on me again.
Hope you have a great day!!
An Ordinary Life 