Been a while .... again

I keep telling myself to update things on here but it always slips my mind. I'll come up with a way to remember.

I had surgery on my right knee (top of Tibia, to be exact) on April 29th and am still recovering somewhat.  Bandages came off after three days and a shower was finally taken.  I had to stop using the crutches because of what they were doing to my bi-lateral carpal tunnel and armpits.  My armpits were nothing but bruises - I could hardly lift my arms and it hurt to put deodorant on. The weight put on my wrists proved too much for the carpal tunnel. I tried to distribute it equally between the armpits and wrists but it just hurt too much. My doctor won't be happy. I'm supposed to be on the crutches until May 15th when the stitches come out.

Leg is orange from the sanitizing stuff they use.

The day the bandage came off.

Several days later with nice bruises starting.

The pain killer (Vicodan) they sent me home with didn't agree with me so the next day I went back to town and got different ones.  I had to drive myself the 42 miles round trip because my post-surgery support system ended when I got home from surgery. I don't know why but she just sorta changed her mind.  The second pain kill (Percocet) was even worse.  I'm allergic to Codine so, hello, I'm probably allergic to those related to it.  After two doses of Percocet and Bendadryl (to stop all the damn itching), I gave up, slept the rest of the day and switched to Acetaminophen every 6 hours.  It's been a week on that and now my stomach is getting unhappy. Starting tonight, I'll take the Acetaminophen at night only. My surgery area (and areas around it) still hurt pretty good but I'll live.

It's hard to get comfortable at night. That's the worst time, night time. The only position that feels OK (doesn't hurt) is on my back with my legs up on 4 pillows at the knee.  I have a bone spur on my L5-S1 that pinches my Sciatic nerve on the left side so laying on my back is only possible for about 2 hours before I'm in pain.  Regardless of how I sleep, every morning I'm staggering around debating which is worse - pinch nerve pain or surgery site.

The only restrictions I was given was use the crutches until May 15th (yeah, right). I don't know what he sent my boss but she has me off work until the 15th. We get paid on the 15th and 30th of the month. The check for the 15th covers the period of the prior month from the 16th to the 30th.  I'll get a check on the 15th of May but won't get another paycheck until the 15th of June because I missed work from April 29th to May 14th.  That means an entire month without a paycheck.  It's not going to be fun.  I only work part time so it's especially hard when I miss a check.

All of this makes me glad I didn't get my chickens yet - I wouldn't be able to move the coop like it should be. I did get a container garden started. The seeds didn't like the little (free) terra cotta pots plus they were started late. I hate it when a plan not only doesn't come together but completely falls apart.

This years garden

Spinach

Cilantro and Parsley

Potatoes

Romaine

Another Romaine

Only the peas are happy

In the back there are happy pumpkins

Nothin'

I'm spending my days doing gardening/chicken/rabbit/homestead research, getting caught up on housework and, right now, scanning pictures to my computer so I can put them on Shutterfly.  I have a lot of pictures on my computer but I also have a lot of prints. I want to get them all on Shutterfly so if my laptop crashes or house burns down/hit by tornado, I won't lose them.  I nearly lost all the digital pictures recently when my old laptop crashed.  The computer guys were able to get them onto thumb drives. Several years ago, I moved from one computer to another. I followed the instructions and was told by both computers that the data moved from one to the other - documents, pictures and music.  Later when I was in search of a certain song, I discovered that none of the music and only 1/2 of the pictures (if that) moved to the new computer. The old computer was long gone so I couldn't do anything about it. Those pictures were digital only and are gone forever.  Mostly pictures of my cats and dogs but they are my family so it still breaks my heart knowing those pictures are gone.  I don't want to go through that again.

My sister and mother are planning on visiting in late September/early October and will not only bring me a treadle sewing machine (hooray!!!) but they are bringing photo albums that belonged to my father's mother.  I will scan those pictures and get them on Shutterfly as well.  I hope to contact other family members and see if they will scan their pictures and get them on Shutterfly and have them public or have the pictures scanned to discs or thumb drives then send them to me and I'll put them on Shutterfly. I doubt any of them will do it but all I can do is ask.  They are spread out all over the country - from New York to Idaho to Texas to South Carolina - and I don't have the funds to visit them all with my scanner and laptop.

I have a week before I'm back to work and I'm looking forward to it but will miss my naps!!!!