Getting on with My Life

Two weeks ago, I stepped out of my moonboot and back into my life. The splint in my riding boot works well whether I'm afoot or on horseback. I rode my horse for an hour or so on Saturday and could sure feel it when I got up this morning. The next day, I decided all my 'hinges' must have been rusty ...I sure was stiff until I had been moving around for a little while. My ankle was fine, thanks to the splint, but my knees and hips were complaining a little until I got limbered up. Such is life after 50, right? No big deal.

Yeoldfurt and I rode our horses that afternoon and we both rode his older retired mare for a few minutes that evening. She had been acting a little colicky at feeding time so we took her to the round pen to move her around a little. That was what she needed to get things moving in her gut again. We took turns riding her. She normally adamantly objects to being saddled since she takes her retirement status very seriously ...but she actually seemed to enjoy herself. She got over acting colicky so that was the important thing.

I went to see my regular doctor the next day to ask him to help me find a surgeon who would be willing to actually DO something about my problem. I sure was disappointed in his response. He didn't want to even refer me, saying I had already had two opinions ...his and the doctor in Temple who wanted me to live the rest of my life in brace and walk with a cane. He said the insurance company would never approve another referral. He finally agreed to try though and I have an appointment on January 5th with a surgeon in College Station. I've got my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying my weekends without the moonboot. I'm careful and wear my splint if I am going to be doing anything strenuous. Yesterday, was an indoor day, spent mostly making bread. But today we're going to work outside all day. First on the list is the garden. I have one 4x8 section with onion sets in it. The other seven section are empty except for a few weeds. We'll take care of the weeds, turn all the soil, work in some compost, then cover them with a tarp until the next time we compost or it's time for planting. Yeoldfurt is going to bring up a few wheelbarrows of well aged manure from the paddock and we'll mix in the big bucket of coffee grounds we've been saving for this purpose. We plan to do this at least one more time before we plant. We brought in good soil when we built the raised bed but even the best soil benefits from good compost material every year.

After the garden is done, there are three trees downed from the windstorms the past couple of weeks and lots of brush to be cut and hauled. One of the trees is a huge oak that has been dead for a couple of years. The whole tree isn't down (yet) but it lost some huge branches and we will salvage some of that wood for the fireplace. The other two trees are an Arizona ash and a pine tree. The pine tree will be too sappy for the fireplace, so it will just get hauled to the burn pile. The ash might be okay for the fireplace. We'll see.

I am hopeful that the surgeon I see next week will have some better options for me. Maybe someday I won't have a choice about the brace and a cane, but I darn sure have a choice now and I say NO.