The week started off with the "unveiling" of Dad's toe....in three easy steps
Ummm - with the stitches, it still looks scary.
But a couple of days later, the toe looks better....but not quite ready for a trek in the alps.
While we on the subject of injuries....on Friday the grandchildren helped up pick up limbs from the trees just west of the garden.
But first, Dad used his pneumatic clippers and created the fallen limbs.
Unfortunately, while I was involved in the cleanup , I walked into a lower branch with pointy protrusions and created a groove in my scalp. I didn't exactly see stars but I had to bend over and wait a minute to recover. Later in the evening, we decided to have Ryan look at the wound, and when he said, "uh oh", I knew we were destined for a trip to the clinic.
And to complete the late evening at the clinic, Ryan "produced" his liquid nitrogen and a q-tip
It seems that this week has been a week of medical events. I had an appointment with a PA regarding the "hardened" fat globule deep under the skin on my lower left back. I was hoping that having it removed, would alleviate the recurring pain that I feel intermittently when I sometimes raise or lower my left leg. My PCP and the PA both said that removing the glob wouldn't change anything, but I was there, had paid my co-pay, and said "take it out". And so Matthew (the PA) complied.
The fresh bandage
The bandage 48 hours later
Only with steri-strips. Next week maybe there will be a photo highlighting a scar.
Jude was busy this week. He harvested lemons and made lemonade
He helped Dad plant the germinated lotus seeds
Dad wasn't the only one on Brunner road to be cutting trees. The trees in the wooded field to the north of us, owned by Craig Chisolm, had finally grown too tall and were nearly touching the high voltage wires above. That would not do....or so said PGE. So one day a large crew of workers showed up with the wonderful tree grinding-up machine and cut a 50-foot swath under the wires.
The lower end of Brunner Rd smelled like Christmas for two days. Jude was interested and took some limbs home with him.
We had our family celebration of Warren's birthday.. He'd made the cake - of course - from his favorite from scratch choc cake recipe, and decorated it orange and black. The best thing about the celebration featured Holland and the singing and the candle. Here she is enjoying "Happy Birthday"
And you could tell she knew exactly when the song ended on.."happy birthday to you", because before Warren had a chance to blow, she immediately extinguished the candle with one puff. You can see Warren laughing heartily.
I've started walking again - specifically "doing" Brunner Gorge four times in succession. One morning, in the dark, I slipped on the soft mud/moss in the middle of the road--up by Mathis' house. I nearly biffed it but magnificently (honestly, it must have been a wonder to see) I recovered and continued on my way. I took a photo the next day to show my exact point of slipping.
I also bought a set of TRX Suspension Workout straps (on Craigslist at a really good price) and set them up in the sewing room/exercise room. I'm going to try to do stretching here and muscle building at Planet Fitness. Here I am doing a stretch for hip flexors
Dad made monkey bread one afternoon. It was a big hit.
Abby is communing with Copeland
Here is the epilogue of the crunching of the taillight on the truck.
We heard that there was a big snow storm in Astana and contacted our friends, the Willardsons - who are still there- and they sent us this photo of the entrance of Nazerbaev University. Yes, we are glad we aren't there.
Jessica and Bev gave Whitney a shower on Saturday. It was nicely attended. Copeland "officially" got his cougar blanket.
Another good week - next week we go to Provo to see Natalie and Ivan/fam.
