Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

''The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.''

Mahatma Gandhi

Still tired from working the herd. I napped a lot today, but did get my farm chores done, as well as rehanging a gate across the driveway.This particular gate is always troublesome. No matter how tight I horse down the top gate hinge, it keeps coming loose. This is on a bolt that goes completely through the 8 inch gate post, with a big washer and 1 inch nut on it. Robert has tightened it up previously. Mike the Vet has tightened it up previously. And it still loosens up. I used my full weight on the big wrench/spanner, and got it as tight as I could. Hopefully it'll stay in place through the winter.

Good luck with the gate, Heidi. Winter isn't the best time for outside work. - If one has a choice.......

Heidi, sounds like you had a busy day trying to correct the 'work'/damages of the cattle yesterday. A cold and rainy day makes the work seem more difficult and time consuming. In spite of that, it seems like you accomplished a lot!

Great Gandhi quote for the TOPP, Heidi! It would be nice to think that would be possible in our lifetime.

I hope your effort at tightening the bolt is successful and holds through the winter. I can certainly understand your tiredness! I have actually napped the last couple of days. There's too much going on the requires physical effort, but also mental! I think we all need a vacation!

Thinking of Everyone and sending healing energy, positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, , and prayers! Take care, Everyone!

V A C A T I O N, in the summertime..... Wrong time of year, somewhere.

Almost summertime here DorA!
And the borders of the Eastern states will open on 1st December.
People will be streaming into Queensland for their delayed tropical holiday, since they can't travel overseas and there are no cruise ships operating. A much needed boost for our tourist industry.
International travel in and out of Australia depends on how effective the vaccine is and when it is available. Even then, anyone coming into the country must have had a Covid jab or they must quarantine 14 days at their own expense.

It's already Thursday here.
Happy Thanksgiving to our US friends. But I wonder how happy it will be with Covid in the mixture.
Col's eye operation today. If this one doesn't work, I think we are at the end of the line.
Grandie Maddy is here to drive us in to the hospital and be with me while we wait. She's such a good girl.
Fingers crossed!

Wishing Col the best for today,
Julie, glad to hear your hubby's eye is going well. I looked after my friend who had a corneal transplant for a few days doing the eye drops etc. Looked really strange. I miss her, she passed in August from MS. Hope you are getting better from your op and happy to read your news is good.
Love reading what you are doing on the farm Heidi, gives me lovely memories of my childhood on my uncles farms. you are so energetic.
Not much going on here except for 2 of our sons working in the backyard replacing terracing. Have a brickie coming over the weekend to do foundations. Timber retaining walls lasted 20 years so we will never have to go through this again.
Because of lock down couldn't buy any tomato plants this year so bought some seed packets. Now have over 60 plants - anyone who comes near here goes home with a couple!! We have kept 20 with the idea we will not have to buy tomatoes to bottle this year.
Still having a fair bi of chest pain so will probably be back in hospital for another angiogram soon, Seeing cardiologist in 2 weeks - in the meantime trying to do some walking - hard in our hilly area.
Happy Thanksgiving to the topsiders.

CynB, I hope Col's operation is the one that accomplishes the goal of getting him back to normal or near-normal vision! Sending many positive thoughts and healing energy his way! He deserves the best! I'm sure he's a model patient and gets all of the eye drops in on schedule! I'm guessing that Col's cornea was a full or complete cornea transplant. Hubby's was a partial cornea transplant. His cornea was damaged NOT by being struck by road debris, but by repeated surgery to his eye. Because an air bubble was put in his eye, it's hard to tell what he can see because of the distraction of lines caused by the bubble and it gradually dissipating.

Hooray for your grandie Maddy being designated driver and chief accompanying calm person for Col's operation! I think it's easier when you can have someone with you and can share thoughts, ideas, and the passage of time.

I'm frustrated because I'm not allowed into the office or into hubby's visits with the cornea specialist. His hearing is less than impeccable, and I wonder how well he's hearing instructions. Nothing is ever written down. I suspect they would be, IF HE ASKED. As an example of his hearing, today I asked him if he wanted me to turn the radio off after lunch. He responded, 'No, you can turn it off.'

I hope the opening of borders of the Eastern states doesn't bring any accompanying virus worries! In spite of many medical authorities warning against Thanksgiving travel here in the U.S., it seems that there were near-record numbers of travelers at airports, many without masks. We will quietly spend most of the day alone, though there are plans for a family FaceTime at some point. We're still dealing with some major exhaustion from the crazy month of October, so will likely enjoy a nap during the afternoon.

Midge, it sounds like your 2 sons are mighty busy in the backyard working on the terracing. That's a lot of hard work! It will be nice to have it completed.

Wow! 60 tomato plants! Even if you can give a lot away, you could have a bumper crop of tomatoes, which will be good for bottling.

I'm so sorry to hear of your continued chest pain. I hope the cardiologist will have good news for you in a few weeks. Please take care, Midge. We care!

Thinking of Everyone & giving thanks for the friendships we share. Sending healing energy, prayers, positive thoughts, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and . Stay safe and healthy, Everyone! Sending many positive thoughts for Col! Good Night.

A friend called last night and asked to borrow my horse trailer to pick up a Gypsy colt in Arkansas. I got the trailer cleaned out today and filled with fresh straw bedding. I also have the camera ready for him. There is a camera mounted inside the trailer with a screen that plugs into the cigarette lighter outlet in the truck, so you can check on the animals in the trailer while you are driving.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

To Col with his surgery today. I hope this one works as well as hoped.

My good friend Debbie's son has just been diagnosed with Covid-19. It's spreading like wildfire in this county because so many people refuse to wear masks here.

My friend Faron and his wife were thrilled with the trailer when they picked it up last night. It's lightweight aluminum for easy towing, and it was clean and freshly bedded. I had all moving parts freshly oiled. And they were astonished that it had a camera so they can watch their new colt on the drive home. He's a young Gypsy Vanner stallion with good conformation and bloodlines. I've reserved his services in 2 years for breeding to my Gypsy Vanner mares already.

On Tuesday I will be taking Robert to the hospital in Louisville to have a gizmo removed frpm his chest. It is some sort of heart monitor which they've used for watching his heart function over the past year. He gets to go home same day, so I'll bring a book and some CDs along to wait in my truck. There's no point on dropping him off, driving an hour home, then turning around and driving for an hour back to pick him up. In this case, I'm glad for the social distancing rules. I can't leave my truck alone in a Louisville parking lot since the door locks no longer work. And there's really no point on going through the expense of replacing the locks since my truck is 21 years old now. But she still handles like new and is completely reliable.

Good morning all!
Col's op went well. He has vision. But how much and how good will take time. Not telling everyone on FB, not even telling the family much yet. Don't want to get everyone's hopes up. But to me it's a miracle after all this time. I found out while I was driving in to collect him - talking to him on bluetooth, on the main motorway into the city in heavy traffic and he says, 'I can see out of the eye'. I nearly lost it, I was so overwhelmed. I was teary for the rest of the drive, I think I had given up hope and just wanted it all to stop. Thank goodness for the opthalmologist who kept persevering. He will be my hero forever!
Apparently, they used local anaesthetic on the hour long operation and Col was completely conscious listening to the Doctor, who vocalises everything he's doing. 6 needles in different parts of the eye and not one stitch needed at the end. His eye is not even bloodshot!

Julie, why are you not allowed into the Doctor's office with your hubby? Is it because of Covid?
When Covid was bad here and we went to Col's opthalmologist I asked if I was allowed in and was told, 'yes, you two live in the same house, you are counted as one unit'. Which is right, we share one another's germs on a daily basis.

GREAT news, CynB! I hope Col's PTSD improves now that his eyesight has returned to that eye, and he's done with eye surgeries. The two of you have been through so much.

Just got this in an email. to good not to share...


~ Life is fragile. Hold it carefully.
People are fragile. Handle them gently.
You are fragile. Take it easy. ~

Heidi, I'm sorry to hear that your friend Debbie's son has Covid!

Hopefully Rober's 'gizmo removal' goes well, and you'll be able to take him back home - same day service.

How exciting that your friend Faron and his wife will be bringing home a Gypsy Vanner colt in your trailer. Even more exciting, that you've already arranged for his services with your Gypsy Vanner mares in a couple of years!

CynB, it is exactly because of Covid and the increasing numbers that some doctors offices will not allow anyone other than the patient in the office. A couple of weeks ago, his neurologist's office allowed a spouse in the waiting room, but not in the examining room. Ir'a hard to keep track of changing requirements. He has an appointment with a new doctor on Tuesday, and we have no idea what they will require.

Fantastic news, CynB! I hope this surgery is the very best that Col has been needing & waiting for!

Thanks for sharing the email, DOrA! Definitely a good one!

I'm fading fast, so off to bed for the night. Thinking of Everyone and sending healing energy, positive thoughts, prayers, {{{{{HUGS}}}}}, and for All! Good Nights

Thanks everyone! Col is doing well, visison is still blurry but better than nothing, improving slowly.

DorA, that would have made an excellent TOPP!

Julie, that's a shame that they don't see you and your hubby as one unit. As I said about us, we live in the same house, we share germs, whatever he has so do I - although he had the Flu badly a few weeks ago and I didn't get it. Which also happened at the end of our Cruise in 2019, he got Influenza A, I didn't.

I suspect it has more to do with the number of people in the waiting room, CynB. Even though both members of a couple have been exposed to the same stings, they still have 2 bodies, and double the chances of spreading or contracting a virus.

I caught another opossum in the alpaca pen in the barn. This was an enormous fat male. He's no longer among the living. 🔫 That puts the 2020 total of animals caught in the indoor alpaca pen to 14 opossums and 3 raccoons.

CynB, such great news that Col is doing well! Hoping the improvement in vision continues!

Heidi is also right about the numbers of people. Many doctor's offices have waiting room furniture and turned backwards to maintain distancing requirements.

Heidi, I'm glad you got the opossum intruder! He had obviously been feeding well! You have certainly had your share of non-human visitors to the farm!

I'm about to doze off, so I'll say Good Night and send healing energy, positive thoughts, , prayers, and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} to All!

The temperature plummeted overnight. Right now we're having out first freezing rain/❄️snow flurries of the season.

''The mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it's not open.''

Frank Zappa

Waiting rooms here have to have seats at least 1.5 metres apart, so we sit apart like strangers there, but when we go in to see the Doctor, we are both allowed in and able to sit together.

Heidi, do the opossums and raccoons attack the Alpacas or are they just sheltering in the shed?

I don't know what they did to my male alpaca, but they panicked him into dashing himself repeaedly against the fence and dying from the injuries. The ;possums also spread a disease that kill horses, so I can't have them in the horse barn. And both the raccoons and opossums eat the cat food, poultry food and alpaca food.

It's been snowing all day. Temps are hovering just at the freezing mark, so the snow isn't sticking, just making cold mud. It's going to make for a nasty drive to Louisville tomorrow morning.

Very proud of my oldest granddaughter Hayley, who has just finished her second (of 4) year of study at University to become a teacher. Last year she found it difficult to concentrate while still living with her very toxic mother who constantly told her she was fat, stupid etc. She is neither! At the start of this year, she packed up her belongings and moved back in with her Dad, my son. She has just got excellent results from this year's studies. She attributes them to living calmly with him. Her mother hasn't spoken to her since. That's 2 of her 3 daughters that she's lost. She bribes the youngest to stay with her but she will eventually leave for sure and that leave her a lonely vindictive woman. It didn't need to be this way!

It's very hot dry and windy here, and I have got Conjunctivitis (Pink-eye). It is very irritating and I feel like screaming!
So here we are, Colin and I, neither one of us with great eyesight, both finding it frustrating.
Col's new 'vision' is not improving much at all. I feel quite disheartened after the initial excitement. Hoping that it will improve. Fingers crossed.

Oh, No, CynB. Conjuctivitis is extremely painful!

I'm back home after taking Robert in for his heart procedure in Louisville. I brought puzzle books and a book I'm reading, and had a relaxing 4 hours in the parking lot. I also came to the rescue of 2 ladies whose car had a dead battery. I happened to have my jumper box with me, so I hooked it up to their battery and their car started instantly. They were delighted that they didn't have to sit and wait for roadside assistance.
While I was gone, Mike's bull tore down a section of fence between him and the calves and cull cows. One of the cull cows is in heat. As soon as I got home, I dashed out there, poured out the feed for the calves (and bull), and while they were occupied, I repaired the fence. Then I sorted the bull back where he's supposed be. I think I earned a nice rest, once I let Buddy (29 year old Morgan horse) out of his stall. At least he's eating right now. He wouldn't eat his feed yesterday, and I was worrying that he was nearing the end.

Col is lucky to even have an eye, CynB. It's a miracle that he has any vision at all in that eye. Asking for perfect vision maybe way too much to ask for,

Congratulations to Hayley! She's a strong young woman to accomplish what she has with a mother undermining her confidence. I'm so glad she found the strength to get away from her.

Buddy only ate half his food. I'm going to have Mike the Vet look at him. He's not acting like his normal self at all.

Just a quick Hello and Good Night! Take care, All!

I was out doing some farm chores a little while ago, and noticed that i lost one of my crowns. It's an incisor. Now I have a gap in the front of my mouth. If I had found the tooth, I'd have glued it back on, but I have no idea where it went.

Heidi, are you sure you didn't swallow it. I did that, once. Recovery wasn't the most enjoyable thing I've ever done, but at least I didn't have to buy a new crown...

Heidi, yes, I know Col is a lot luckier than many people. The follow up visit to the Doctor today eased our minds. He said the blood vessels are showing good recovery and for us to have patience. That's the hard bit.
We met a couple today, also waiting to see the Doc - he was running late so we started chatting. This is a story similar to Col's. I cant remember what caused the original injury to his eye (right one, same as Col) 6 years ago, But now he's having big problems with it and he has infections in it etc. Col hasn't had any infections. The other guy also has had a battle with cancer (his is bladder cancer) and he's been battling it for years with invasive chemo-type procedures which sound much worse that Col's Chemo.
We came away realising once more that there's always many, many people worse off.

DorA - recovery of the crown, too much information!! Ewww!