Saturday, August 03, 2013

A TWISTED LEFT FOOT BRINGS A TEMPORARY HALT TO MY PHEEBER WALKS

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A FEW DAYS AGO AT THE HULLETT-MARSH

With morning temperatures at 60 F we had a pleasant bug free walk around our morning pine forest trail. Long range forecast is calling for cool weather so I am keeping my fingers crossed we just might gently be sliding into Autumn without any further heat & humidity madness this summer. Oh could we be so lucky.

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ROADSIDE PIT STOP FOR THE PHEEBS FRIDAY MORNING

Walked into one of our 2 sheds this morning to get something, forgot what it was I was looking for & ended up spending a couple hours on a cleaning bender. Had not planned on doing any shed cleaning but when I am struck with an energized work idea like that I have learned I had better go ahead & carry that little work impulse through while the gettin’s good.  I never did remember what I had walked into the shed for in the first place……..

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RECENT RAINS KNOCKED OUR HOLLYHOCKS DOWN BUT FRESHENED UP OUR BACK YARD

Had myself a little bit of a mis-hap this morning which unfortunately has temporarily laid me up. There is a step down into our sun room & I did not see one of Pheebs hard butcher bones laying on the sunroom floor. As I stepped down with my left foot I stepped on that bone & very painfully twisted my foot to the left & dropped to the floor. Heard the crunching sound of bones, or muscles, or tendons in my foot. It was soooooo painful but of course when it comes to pain it is a proven fact we wimpy men do not handle pain as well as you women do. After a couple minutes I was able to get myself up & hobble myself out to the kitchen & pull a frozen bag of peas out of the freezer. Limped my way to the recliner & climbed aboard with my injured foot elevated & resting on the frozen bag of peas. Poor Pheebs, she was so upset because she knew something had happened to Dad & he was in pain. She was just like a little Mother hovering around me with a distressed look on her face & a desire to help Dad & make him all better. Took me awhile to convince her I was going to be Ok.  And she didn’t understand later this afternoon & again this evening why I wasn’t taking her out for a walk around the Goose pond either.  The outside of my foot is slightly swollen, a wee bit discolored & has a small bump about the size of a marble.  I can move around slowly but have to remember to keep any weight off that side of my foot.  I did put my shoes on & shuffle out to the Jeep to see if I could operate the clutch without any pain.  I could, so at least I can get up & go somewhere if I want.   We get too soon old & too soon clumsy huh…

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RURAL SOUTH WESTERN ONTARIO

Note to Jack B Nimble......No, no, Jack nothing you said in your comment had anything to do with my Friday night’s post wherein I touched upon the topic of criticism. In fact nothing to do with anyone's comment on my blog or in my Shout Box. I sometimes come across comments left in other Blogger's posts that stir me up a bit & I just feel I have to sometimes speak up & voice an opinion.  For the most part we have a fine bunch of understanding, caring, & mature Bloggers out here & I feel it is important for all of us to be respectful of each other.  Sometimes that just needs saying……………………………….. 

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BEEN YEARS SINCE I HAVE FLOWN ON A PLANE THIS SIZE & I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE MUCH OF A DESIRE TO FLY ON ANOTHER ONE ANY TIME SOON…OF COURSE THE FLYING PART WOULD BE OK BUT DON’T THINK I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH PATIENCE LEFT FOR ALL THAT AIRPORT SECURITY NONSENSE NOWADAYS
A question in our Shoutbox asked how I liked Tai Chi when I was a member years ago. TAOIST TAI CHI is a totally excellent physical & mentally challenging exercise program I would highly recommend to anyone & especially Seniors. Consists of 108 moves to be learned & that is where the mental exercise comes into play. The slow moving stretching required is exactly what is needed for aging & stiffening muscles & joints. There are various forms of toned down Tai Chi but Taoist Tai Chi is the real deal.  Due to various changing circumstances over the years I was never able to move on into the intermediate class.  I have done a total of 4 beginners classes over the last 12 years.  With 108 moves it is something which is learned by continuous repetition & if you finish a beginner's class & do not keep up the exercise program one's memory is quickly lost. Self discipline when it comes to exercising is not one of my strong points.  Tai Chi is one of those programs where the more you do the better you get at it. The emphasis is to perfect one's body & mind both mentally & physical with each & every one of the 108 moves. As I said, I would recommend Taoist Tai Chi for anyone & it's probably something I should maybe try getting myself back into again. Of course I would have to start all over with another beginner's class but with our Snow Bird lifestyle now it makes getting in at the start of a beginner's class difficult. I think the beginner’s class runs once a week for maybe a couple months.

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JUST HANGING OUT DOWN BY THE RIVER

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A GREAT BLUE HERON SLIPS AWAY FOR THE SAFETY OF NEARBY WOODS

As August begins it’s slow slide towards early Autumns cooler temperatures I have noticed our front yard bird activity around the feeders has really slowed done.  Still a few Goldfinches but not the big gang that was here back in June.  Haven’t seen the Baltimore Orioles or Red Breasted Grosbeaks for quite awhile.  A few Chickadees, Mourning Doves, & of course Blue Jays.  Even the Grackles are getting scarce.  An occasional Red Wing Blackbird still comes in for a snack & we have a Cardinal who flies in every night about dusk for a few late day seeds.
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MOURNING DOVE ON OUR FEEDER STATION
GROANER'S CORNER:(( Two elderly gentlemen
from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: 'Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?' Slim says, 'I feel just like a newborn baby.' 'Really!? Like a newborn baby!?' 'Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.'

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

15 comments:

  1. Ouch! I spranged my ankle once...hurt like the dickens and took awhile to heal.

    Your backyard is beautiful!

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  2. I recommend that you go for an x-ray on that foot. I did exactly the same thing in 2008 in Arizona and limped around not getting an x-ray till I got home when I found out it had been a fracture (I had the same bump). It took a year to heal and I still have a slight bump.

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  3. I second the recommendation for an x-ray. I know you want to tuff it out, I'm hard headed like that too. lol I didn't see about a broken toe thinking they couldn't do anything about it. It's still giving me problems.

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  4. I have to vote with the x-ray. My sister did the same thing, waited a couple of days and finally got it x-rayed. She didn't need a cast but it was fractured and they put her in a boot for six weeks.

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  5. I too, agree with the others about an exam. However, my question is bird related. Do you think they have started migrating south this early? Since I'm in California, things are different here. The only thing I notice that are missing ,are the ducks. Still have crows, sparrows and geese. Oh yeah, mourning doves too. Every now and then I see robins and quail.

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  6. Another vote for getting an x-ray!
    I don't know how many times I have skidded across the floor on the bones.

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  7. Nice try Al.. sounds like a nice excuse to get some couch time,,, see you said >>>> I did put my shoes on & shuffle out to the Jeep to see if I could operate the clutch without any pain.,,,, Now that sounds like a jeep ride soon as well
    hears how u fix it,,, make 2 PJ sandwiches wow stop make that 3 2 for u one for Pheebs you,l be good to go in a day or 2
    say buy the way hows your slides coming so far im up to 3,885 from 1953 to 1978 3 more shoe boxes to go
    my fingers hurt and my eyes lets say everything comes in two,s
    joy your PJ,s

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  8. Ouch on the ankle. I agree that Tai Chi is an excellent exercise especially as we get older. My husband and I learned the 24 forms from a master in Beijing. My husband does it everyday. I like yoga better and will keep doing it until my body says otherwise.

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  9. As a person who has been laid up many times from stepping on something my wife left on the floor. Stay off feet for about 3 days, keep hurt foot elevated, use ice pack with thin towel / frozen peas etc, take aspirin if you can with milk or cookies etc to reduce the swelling that causes the pain. There are hundreds of tiny bones in a foot and many tendons. When your weight is placed in a concentrated spot, the tendons get stretched and cause severe pain. Limping to get around will cause back pain and hip pain and it is just not worth it. If the swelling is not gone in 3 days and you have been staying off it, go to a Doc. They will then give you same advice. I have been there and done that many times in my life and my wife still leaves books on the floor and shoes at the last step on the stairs...she is out to get me. She has taught the cat to leave toys for me to step on also, it is a conspiracy.

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  10. Make an appointment to get an x-ray. If they move as slow with getting you one as they have with Kelly you may find that you don't need it and can cancel. However, IF you do need the x-ray you will have gone through the waiting period.

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  11. "BEEN YEARS SINCE I HAVE FLOWN ON A PLANE THIS SIZE & I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE MUCH OF A DESIRE TO FLY ON ANOTHER ONE ANY TIME SOON…OF COURSE THE FLYING PART WOULD BE OK BUT DON’T THINK I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH PATIENCE LEFT FOR ALL THAT AIRPORT SECURITY NONSENSE NOWADAYS"

    I agree 100%, Al. Nancy and I were (are) both Airline Dispatchers and still have travel benefits, but I have not been in a commercial aircraft since 1991 when I was last required to put in Jumpseat time to maintain my license. I'm retired, now, but Nancy is still working in Flight Planning which she can do from home. It got stupid when they started requiring the crew to go through security run by people who don't know their radome from their empennage. ;)

    Pat

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  12. So sorry about your ankle, Al. I glanced at the other comments and I'm siding for the xray. The feet have so many little bones, and that little lump bothers me. Even if nothing is broken, they might be able to do something to relieve the pain a little. I can just picture Pheebs "mothering" you. Funny how our pups know when something is not right in their world.

    Thank you for addressing my concern in your post and relieving the uneasy feeling I had that I may have inadvertently said the wrong thing to you. Sometimes the written word can be interpreted differently than intended. It was very kind of you to let me know that I wasn't inappropriate and, most importantly, that I didn't hurt your feelings or Kelly's feelings. I wish the best for both of you.

    I laid off the aquatic therapy (self) this week, but I find I can do things in the water that I can't do on land--I'd have a problem even with Yoga at this point. They do say, "Move it or Lose it" so I think you're right. The older we get the more mobile we should try to be. Rich and Paulette have the right idea with their daily hikes.

    Again, thanks for your thoughtfulness. Hope your ankle feels better soon or that you get someone to look at it. My best to Kelly and of course pats and hugs to Pheebs.

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  13. Hmmm...lots of good advice about getting that foot looked at. On the other hand....I busted up my foot awhile back and never did get it looked at. Seems as though it takes a good year to heal, with or without an xray. Pain will keep you from hurting it worse, and unless it is a really big fracture they don't do anything anyway. So sorry, Al, what a pain in the foot!!

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  14. Oops, those darn things laying on the ground. If you ankle still is bad tomorrow, get it checked out.

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  15. It's been awhile since I've visited your blog. I should stop by more often. I am LOVING your pictures! I hope your ankle improves quickly--remember, no heat for the first 72 hours--just cold. Then alternate hot and cold. Advil is okay, no aspirin. Hope you're up and running fast!

    Kris

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