Being Green Isn't Easy!

I woke up this morning to find the 'new' hip and leg had turned the most obnoxious yellowish-green tint.  I knew bruising would show up, but was hoping for some prettier colors first; you know, the red and black and blue and purple stuff?  I was informed that since this wasn't blunt force trauma (how would she know, she wasn't there) that I went straight to green.  I think I'll call the surgeon and tell him I feel cheated!  I've been really good, doing my exercises, using the WALKER, trying to stay out of everyone's way, etc.  Hubby has been a wonder, although he did tell his mother-in-law yesterday, that he was 'done'.  Good for him I knew he was kidding.  I also know how hard it is to nursemaid someone when you feel worse with the cold (as in virus, again!)  So I thought I would tell him publicly how much I love him and appreciate all he's doing.  Love you, Bill.
Juanita

PS-However, if anyone attempts to touch the green side, they will be soundly beaten with  my cane!  This gives a new meaning to deep bruising.

I'm Home

Well, I’m home guys…half way to my bionic state. So far, it hasn’t been as bad as I expected. I was very fortunate that our insurance company allows us to choose any facility we wish for surgeries; the surgery center attached to the orthopedic clinic was wonderful. I felt pampered the whole time I was there with a nice, homey, private room and super nurses. I arrived at 6:00 am, for surgery at 7:00. I was a little apprehensive when I was told it would be done with a spinal block instead of general anesthesia. They also gave me a ‘cocktail’ so I wouldn’t remember anything, and I don’t. It was actually a very pleasant way to have it done; no groggy after-effects. You just wake up feeling pretty good and not nauseous.

They had me up and walking in 24 hours and I was amazed at how much LESS painful it was to walk. I felt like I had a huge bruise on my hip, but it functioned normally. Woohooo! I have been given dire warnings about bending the hip more than 90* for the next six weeks. That is the tough part. Bill made a lift for one of my favorite chairs so I could sit at a table to eat or work a puzzle without bending over, and I have a grab-it from the clinic to pick things up from below my knees. I have a test for you all: spend the next hour just noticing how many times you bend a hip too far. Think about putting on shoes and socks.  Just sitting on a normal dining room chair is too much. I am vowing to not complain, though, as it will be soooo much better when healed. The girls at the clinic kept laughing at me because I only needed a pain pill for the other hip.

I do get sleepy really easily right now; it plays you out quickly when your body is trying so hard to heal itself, so I am going to let my bruised hip have a nap. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and well wishes. GunDiva got me a Nook ebook (future birthdays, anniversaries and whatever else she can work out of it) to help keep me in one place and entertained. Nebalee has plans on meals and the grandkids and friends in the area are all very helpful and supportive. And of course, I have a pretty fantastic hubby who has taken over all the chores of this log monster we call home. I feel very loved. Thank you all!
Juanita

PS-Bill thought I looked so cute in my newest fashion statement.

Let's start at the bottom, for those of you interested in copying the 'style':  gripper dot slipper-sox, pulled over the high-tension TED compression thigh-hi's, my new CSU athletic shorts and my favorite wooly wild horse sweatshirt.  Just to stay warm, I also added a wild horse T-shirt (not showing).  You can't tell, but my cane is electric blue!  Sophie won't leave my side, even when I whap her with the cane.  And this didn't even scare Bill away.

Communication Fail

A judge, a lawyer, a cowboy and an innkeeper went into a bar. Sounds like a joke, and actually, it was.

I went on a trip with some friends to South Dakota, and we rode a week or so on horseback. It was an entertaining week, as we were a "diverse" group.  The cowboy was from Maine, living in Arizona, I'm from New Mexico, living in Colorado and the lawyer and judge hailed from Loo-see-anna.  At times communication was... difficult.

There was one conversation in particular that comes to mind. As we were riding along the trail, the lawyer said, "I need to get me some of those chaps like y'all have on".  The judge replied "You might be able to find some at the Pone Shop". All 3 of us riding with him said "Where?".  "The Pone Shop" came the reply.

The innkeeper asked "Is that a farm and ranch supply chain?"

Judge- "No no- a Pone Shop"

Cowboy- "A porn shop? I suppose they might sell leather goods..."

Lawyer- "Judge, what ARE you talking about"

We kept trying to decipher what the judge was talking about for several minutes, until finally, in great frustration, the judge hollered-

"THE PONE SHOP!  P-A-U-N!  PONE!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, JUDGE?"

"YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU TAKE YOUR WEDDING RINGS WHEN YOU ARE THROUGH WITH THEM!  THE PONE SHOP!"

Oh, the pawn shop.  Four friends separated by a common language.

Bill

Dressage? Really?

I got to play videographer for GunDiva's first dressage lesson today...and we both learned a lot and had a great time.  Hop over to Tales from the Trail and have a look.  I got some insight into an issue I have and learned more about how the mechanics of the body affect the horse.  I have learned a great deal from Mark Rashid clinics on horse movement and that our bodies have a huge 'cause and effect' on how our horses behave.  This just added to that stockpile of info and even though it was darn cold out there, I thoroughly enjoyed the time as it flew by.  Two hours went really, really fast!
Juanita

Unsolicited Testimonial

It's been a while since we have  seen our horses on the mountain side, so there haven't been any horse related posts lately.  Grumble grumble.

I got this email from our 4th grade grandson yesterday...
      ------------------------------------------------

Subject:   hi I have a 5 paragraph S.A for you to put on your website. from kyzzer

Allen's Park Lodge B&B

If looking for a lodge to stay in,I would recommend Allen's Park Lodge In Allen's Park Colorado because it feels like home.One way to have a relaxing time is by going in to the hot tub.When you get out you can eat delicious foods.the next morning you can sleep in your 

comfortable room.

              The food is great because they make it homemade.The break fast they make includes French toast,sliced potatoes, and coffee.When my grandpa makes the potatoes he cuts them in to little pieces.Additionally, after a great meal like that you are going  to want to relax.                   

                    When you want to relax you can go in the hot tub, watch a movie, or read.On a cold day in the mountains you can go in the hot tub and relax.Once you are don with the world, you can curl up on the worm couch and watch a movie. If you want to read you can go to the library and sit by the fire and read.Additionally, after you are done with the movie, you are going to want to go to your room.

                 The rooms are very comfortable and quiet.When you get in bed you fall in to lala land because they are so comfortable.The rooms are so quiet you forget that anyone is there.Clearly going in to your room is nice and relaxing.

                       The food,the ways to relax, and the rooms are going to make you want to come back.Every time you come in they are going to greet you at the door.With out a doubt, if you are looking for a relaxing,fun filled place, Allen's park Lodge is the way to go.        

           ------------------------------------------------------

Some posts just sort of write themselves.

               
 Bill

(Oh yeah, and we have a hot tub, too)

Disclamer

 We had a guest a summer or two back that asked me what the weather forcast for the day was.  I said "Misleading".  Then I went on to tell him that the weather travels in "cells" up here, so 5 miles down the road, it may be different.  I went on to ask about weathermen "Wouldn't it be nice to have a job where you are ALWAYS wrong, and you get to keep your job, anyway?"

He said, "Sounds like being a husband."

True Story

Bill

Any opinions, comments or statements posted in this blog are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by management.  Unless, of course, they are Juanita's posts.

Pipe Dreams (Or Is It Nightmares?)

A week or so ago, Juanita and I talked with one of our neighbors.  She had been called away for a long term assignment at her work, and wouldn't be able to spend the winter here in Allenspark.  We suggested, that if her home was going to be un-lived-in for the next couple months, the water should be shut off, to prevent any major problems.  Sounded like a good plan to her so I called the local water district to shut the water off at the curb-stop.  The Water District Guy (yes, singular, it's a small district) told me he'd get right to it, as he was going to Australia to visit family for the next 6 weeks.  Late the next day, I checked the water at her house and nothing came out of the sink.  Good.  Next trip to town, I'd pick up some RV antifreeze for the toilets and sink traps, and hope for the best.  The lines hadn't been blown out, so there was still a chance something would freeze if the power went out, but damage should be minimized.

Next, I caught a cold.  I spent 2 days in my sweats, coughing and whining.

Yesterday, Juanita and I finally took the antifreeze over and walked into her place.

"Oh!  Dear Me!  My Goodness!"  Well, I said SOMETHING along those lines.

      "Water, water everywhere, and 'nary a drop in the sink."

I slogged through the bedroom to the bath/laundry room, which at that moment was doubling as a 150 sq. foot walk in shower.  I snapped on the light.... Okay, some habits are hard to break.  Standing in 3 inches of water while being sprayed with a flood of cold water is not the best time to operate ANY electrical appliance or device.  The light didn't work anyway.  But I could see that the oil filled electric space heater sitting in the middle of the lake was still on.

"Oh!  Dear Me!"  and I back-peddled out of the room without touching any pipes or OTHER electrical devices.

"Me Oh My!"  The water hadn't been turned off, it had been frozen.  Remember the power failure on New Year's Eve?  It had just taken a few days to thaw out (It's -8 degrees this morning as I'm typing this.  Hard to believe ANYTHING could thaw.)

Okay- the main shutoff is in the meter-pit out back.  An 8 foot deep, 5 foot diameter concrete pipe in the ground with a 4 foot diameter 5 inch thick concrete lid covered with snow.  No problem, I know approximately where it is.  Finally got the lid found, brushed off and broken free.  Slid it over and saw...wait for it....WATER.

"Good Heavens!"

The meter-pit had 5 or 6 FEET of water in it.  No way I was getting in there without arctic diving gear.

I wandered  back home in my squishy wet boots and socks and called the Water District to leave a message.  I figgered in 6 weeks someone with a great tan (it's summer in Australia) would show up and stop the flood.  The machine gave me another number to call for the Substitute Water District Guy!  Score!  I called and he picked up.  He had dropped by his house to warm up.  Apparently the District had a major leak that they couldn't find, so he had been going door to door, reading meters and looking for evidence of a leak for 2 days.  The day after the Primary Water District Guy went on vacation, the leak had started.

The Substitute Water District guy told me he would round up the other guys and come on over (cell phones don't work up here...).

I pulled on a set of muck boots while I was waiting and went back to see if Noah had shown up with any lumber or critters.

I went into the shower room, giving wide birth to the heater, and (using a flashlight this time) found the indoor water cutoff behind the water heater, just under one of the major leaks.  I wrapped a knuckle on the valve to see if I was charged from standing in the lake with the heater. No shock.  Good.  I turned the valve off.

Silence.

I stood dripping off for a moment, and then went outside to wait for the boys.

I really hate plumbing.

Bill

Oh The Pain.

Okay-  I know enough about the human immune system to know you don't get a cold from being cold.  But never-the-less I seem to have come down with the black plague/leprosy/consumption/cold and am dying. 

I have read many a comment about how men tend to over-rate their discomforts, but I feel sick.  No really.  I wake up with the sniffles or even worse, COUGHING in the middle of the night!  I am used to sleeping the sleep of the self righteous, so this is no small matter of concern to me.

On the plus side, Juanita brought in the firewood.  And made me HOMEMADE chicken noodle soup!

I may try this again someday.

Bill

First Round-up of 2011

Juanita and I got a call in the morning.  It was time to move the horses from their early winter pasture up high on the "Peak to Peak" highway down to their lower pasture outside Lyons.  Between the two herds (Ida's and ours), there are thirteen horses.  Too many for any of our trailers, so it took two rigs.

We showed up at the pasture our horses were on, and went out to get them.

 

If you click on the pic, you can see them out there

It was 22 degrees out, which is not too bad.  But the wind was blowing a steady 30 mph with gusts to 50, so the gritty old snow was pelting us pretty bad.  I felt like I was standing at the wrong end of a skeet range.  Miserable.  Fortunately, our horses will come to us if we holler and wave, so they came a running.

         This was the last picture we could take.  The camera froze.

We got our guys loaded without incident, and drive off the half mile down the road to pick up Ida's herd.  They were on a MUCH larger plot of land.  Heavily wooded and steep.  Thousands of acres. Deep snow.  Rats, no horses.

We pulled GunDiva's horse, Estes, out of the trailer and walked her around beside the highway in the hopes that her whinneying would bring the herd in to see what was up.  Too much wind.  Ida asked "Did you bring a bridle?"  We had not, but Juanita suggested that she just ride in a halter.  We do that sometimes when we are being lazy.  Ida jumped on and rode off over the hill and out of sight.  Juanita and I wandered around for 10 minutes or so, occationally hollering for the horses, until we realized we were going to freeze our aspens off and not be able to halter the band when they came in.  We climbed into the truck, and as soon as I started the truck, I saw them coming back over the hill.  Out we jumped, haltered the crew, loaded them into the trailers.  Ida confessed she had never ridden that horse in just a halter before.  She was ALL SMILES!  We drove down the mountain.

By the time we drove down the 3000 or so feet, the wind stopped and the temperature was up to 44 degrees.  The horses thought they were in the Bahamas.  They unloaded, obviously glad to be back in there lower winter digs, and when we last saw them, they were grazing and shuffling up the hill, away from the highway.

No animals or people were killed the the writing of this posting.

Bill

Starting It Off

This morning I woke up to a frozen pipe that killed the water to the whole lodge.  THAT had never happened before.  I bypassed the frozen stretch with a garden hose so all could shower, shave and such.  Once bypassed, I found the dishwasher had frozen up.  That HAS happened before. Moments later, my mother in law called with a broken spring on her garage door.  She was trapped (a 95 pound 83 year old just ain't gunna lift that big a wooden door without help...)  That hadn't happened before.

Okay.  Thawed the main frozen pipe after breakfast, no breaks.  Drove down to Fort Collins and met my son in law (he used to work on garage doors professionally) at my mother in laws, and we got her door back up and running (thanks a TON Buddy!).  Drove back up to the lodge and power thawed the input AND output to the dishwasher. The breakfast dishes are running as I type.

A day FULL of chores I wasn't expecting, but the folks close to me are healthy and happy, SO...

 

HIPPO GNU EARS TWO EWES!

(Only slightly sorry)

Bill

New Year's Eve

Each  New Year's Eve since Y2K, we have turned the lights off a half hour before the midnight, lit candles and lamps, and had a candle light new years toast when the old grandfathers clock struck 12.

Things have worked out a little differently this New Year's Eve.  The temperature is about -5 degrees outside and the wind is howling at 30 to 40 miles per hour.  It's been that way for the last couple days.  I'm glad I'm not a brass monkey.

What is different this new years, it the lights went out.  ALL OVER.  From Estes Park to us and beyond, there was no juice. We had a two and a half hour power failure.  The candles were REQUIRED.  Juanita and I ran around lighting candles and stoking the wood burning stoves, then looked at each other, shrugged, and sat down and read aloud to one another (a Mark Rashid book).  The disappointment when the power came back on was palpable.  Our guests up in room #22, the "Hideaway Room", came down after the power came back, still giggling, but a little disappointed that the power was back.

We did shut the lights down for our regular New Year's Toast, but we left the heaters running.

Bill