Sudokuaholics Anonymous 11

''A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.''

Arnold H. Glasow

Hope the epidural is still good Heidi.
CynB - looks like we are coming up your way in a couple of weeks. Hubby really wants to see his sister (not sure she will be too happy) - she lives near Pacific Fair. He hasn't seen her since before covid. I will be a business trip too (for the tax man) so will be visiting Brisbane and Sydney. Not sure I want to spend the time with him in the car as he has a heavy foot and too many hours driving for me - so I may catch a plane for some of the way.
My sister is in rehab now and going home at the end of this week and I think we are clear enough of viruses to visit my brother - haven't seen him for a while and it is hard to catch him between hospital visits for ascites and dialysis.
How are you DorA - haven't seen you for a while. You too Julie - hope you are feeling better and getting stronger.
Cheers for now.

The soreness from the epidural is slowly wearing off. That means it was a REALLY good one. I'm being extra careful to do no lifting still. I'm hoping this one lasts as long as the last one did.... a full year! This doctor changed the steroid that they use and it works better.

Hi, Everyone! No time to read or comment. I have been tremendously exhausted most of the past week. Maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight.Sending my best to everyone! Take care!

Busy day yesterday. A bull and heifer belonging to neighbors jumped the fence and got in with our herd. So yeaterday I sorted them out (the heifer is nuts and went after me repeatedly) and sent them back home. Then I did the mowing again. I knew we were going to have massive storms today, so wanted to get the place looking tidy.
This morning the first wave of the storm hit. TWO inches of rain in 4 hours, high winds, and a LOT of thunder and lightning. The power failure was thankfully short. The next wave of the storm is due in a few hours. More thunder boomers, and high winds. But this time they're also predicting hail and tornadoes.

We are now under Tornado Watch. And a tornado has just been sighted a few counties away.

I got lucky. We had a major thunderstorm with lots of rain (4 inches / 10.1 centimeters total yesterday)! No high winds, hail or tornados. Louisville got golfball sized hail.

Heidi, I'm glad you didn't get any tornados. Rain, as long as it doesn't flood or cause too much inconvenience, is good. Also great that your epidural did the trick. Hope it lasts as well as the last one.
Midge, it may be warmer than in Victoria when you come up here. I'd say we should meet up but my knee is still troubling me so I'm not venturing out alone.
Yes, where is DorA?

In 2 days, Robert will be moving from Louisville to Elizabethtown, KY. There has been a verified F2 tornado touchdown last night less than a mile from where he'll be living.

Has anybody heard oe seen anything of Suzy?

Hi, Everyone!

I haven't seen Suzy, but I'm rarely on Facebook these days. Maybe someone has seen her there?

I hope DOrA is doing all right! I don't think DOrA has ever joined the Facebook crowd, but I could be wrong about that!

Heidi, your started this page with a great TOPP!

I'm glad to see that your most recent epidural was a doozy! I was at the pain doctor today. He told me he won't be able to do any more injections in my hip. As he said, 'It's REALLY, REALLY bad.' Because I likely have sciatica and nerve pain, he is suggesting that I have an epidural next month. I've never had one and don't know what to expect. Do you think I should consider getting a caregiver for 24 hours or so? Since I use a wheelchair, I'm not sure if I'll need assistance getting in and out of it or if I'll be able to prepare meals etc.

Midge, it seems your sister is making good progress. Good on her! I hope you'll be able to see your brother.

Heidi, what a busy day! Is it common for livestock to be able to jump fences? You have certainly seen your share of it. I'm glad you were able to get the bull and heifer back to their rightful owner. I'm glad the thunderstorm only produced lots of rain, but no high winds, tornados or hail in your area.

Good luck to Robert for his move. I hope he won't be living in an area with high likelihood of severe storms.

I'm falling asleep here. Hopefully I'll be able to replicate that in the recliner! Take care, Everyone, and stay well!

Today is the first of 5 straight days of thunderstorms here. At least it'll wash away the choking haze blanketing us from the Canadian wildfires.
It'll be clear and sunny for the 4th of July.

Robert decided to postpone his move until tomorrow.

The next door neighbor's cattle are more like wild animals than domestic. They all jump fences regularly and roam the neighborhood. Mike HATES when he's called over there to work them, because they're crazy and dangerous. I'm going to be calling their owner and asking him to install a strand of barbed wire on top of the existing fence to (hopefully) slow down the jumping. If they continue jumping the fence and getting on my farm (where they cause damage), I'll catch them, load them in my trailer, and sell them to pay for repairs. Their owner regularly loses cattle as they rampage around the neighborhood, anyways.

Time to shut down the 'puter. Thunder boomers all around me.

Heidi, I hope the thunderstorms didn't cause you any damage!
About Suzy, she is fine, on FB daily, where we all post our Wordle scores on the Sudoku Group page. She's a bit of a recluse these days but has family living with her so she is not alone. Also she has 4 little dogs and 4 growing grandies. A lot of our old crowd have forgotten their passwords to get back in here. We have 119 members in the Sudoku Group.
Julie, nice to see a lovely big post from you. I hope you are feeling well. I think it would be a good idea to get a carer after your epidural.
Still no DorA!

OK.... Robert has been moved and is a lot happier. He's now just 3 miles down the road from his GP.

Hot and humid here, with intermittent thunderstorms over the past few days. It's supposed to be nice and drier by Tuesday, the 4th of July.

Cold and miserable here. Not freezing-type cold, just that winter cold when there's no sun!

Happy 4th July to all - Heidi, Julie, DorA (still no sign of him).

DorA 'checking in'. Life is just getting in the way of more important things. - like Sudoku... Today, about 4 hours bucking up some trees I felled the other day. then about 5 hours on the tractor, with a 6' brush hog, mowing... It never ends. The temp was in the high 80's (31 + C.) Dinner for me and the hound then bed time...

Glad to hear that you're OK and staying busy, DOrA. Just pace yourself in this heat and stay hydrated.

I'm pacing myself and drinking massive amounts of water right now. Our heat index here every day is avaraging 104˚F / 40˚C, with high humidity. I spend a lot of time in my lounge chair in the shade, reading, with several bottles of water by my side.

Forgot to change my avatar after the holiday.

Still have over a month until the next alpaca crias are born.

''A man can fall many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.''

Jeff Olson

Glad to see you back here DorA, and that you've just been busy rather than sick.
Heidi, it's the humidity that's the worst. Our summer humidity here is awful. I don't know how I lived 60 years of my life without aircon. I must have coped better then.
Our poor old dog, Jewel, who is 15 now is not faring well. She has a bad heart. Vet offered open heart surgery - no way are we going to put her through that at her age. She has Arthritis, maybe oncoming dementia & quite severe anxiety. She behaved badly with the Vet because she didn't know her. The vet is a mobile vet who comes to the home. I thought the dog would handle that. She didn't. She's never been a cuddly dog, she been the leader of the pack, with us as the pack.
We have come to realise that putting her down is probably the kindest way. But that's a hard decision to make. Her groomer, who has always been her second favourite person after Col, I'm a poor third, is coming tomorrow to wash her. We'll see how she goes with her, if she plays up, the decision will have to be made. Won't be able to put it off.
I feel so sad.

She is on Puppy Valium, not making much difference except she sleeps a lot more.

Jewel will let you know when it's time, CynB.

((( HUGS )))

I'm harvesting massive amounts of blackberries now. They'll be going into pies once the weather cools off a tiny bit. Some pies will be for friends and the rest will go in my freezer for later. I put a gallon of blackberries in the freezer from just the first (of 2) harvests today.

Blackberries - Yummm!

I'll second that, DOrA! We used to pick blackberries with our parents when we were kids. Mom made blackberry jelly and pies every summer!

Both hands are bothering me tonight, so I'll say Good Night and Sleep well and Stay safe and healthy! Take care!

I'll be baking 2 blackberry pies tonight. One for me and one for Mike the Vet

'best by' dates be damned - I have one half pint jar of black cap jelly that my mum put up. The date is '84. I've, previously, consumed others with the same date, with no ill effects. And it tastes Good!

It seems that depression era people knew how to put up food for long term storage...

(I have members, in my family, and friends that regularly purge their pantry of all past 'best by' dates. What a waste...)

We didn't get the predicted rain yesterday. Right now it's hot and humid, with a heat index of 100˚F/ 27.8˚C, and 64% humidity. I am wringing wet.It's a good day to stay in the shade and drink plenty of cold drinks.

If food is canned properly, it should last a L-O-O-O-N-G time. Tossing it out is wasteful.

Tonight I'm driving to Green Bay, WI. A friend is horrbly ill, her husband passed away 5 hours ago, and she has 3 elderly dogs at home. My friend may be terminal, but if she makes it through the massive ulcers theoughout her digestive tract, and blood clots in her legs and lungs, complicated with severe diabetes, she won't be able to come home for many months. So I'm driving to her place, after visiting her in the hospital, picking up her dogs and bringing them home with me. I've told her that WHEN she gets well enough to go home, I'll bring them back. All 3 are International Grand Champion Keeshonden, with obedience titles. Two are 13 yars old and one is 12 years old.

I did the 1130 mile drive there and back, as well as a 2 hour hospital visit, and picking up the 3 dogs, in just under 23 hours! My old truck handled like a dream. I did have to take one of the dogs to the Vet first thing this morning. She was suffering from abdominal pain and was crawling with maggots! Her owner has been hospitalized since June 27th, and was very sick for weeks before that. She had to depend on well meaning but unknowledgeable people to take care of her dogs, and the dogs were not doing well. The other 2 seem healthy, but are badly in need of grooming.

Heidi - That must be a load off your friend's mind knowing you are looking after her dogs. Such a shame they they were not looked after well by their previous minder. Will you keep them if your friend is unable to take them back?
Our Jewel is calming down a lot now that she's on the puppy valium. But she's got so many other problems. She can't deal with anyone else and nips if they try to touch her. She would not allow Sue, our groomer since she was a puppy, go near her. She trembles if we put her on a leash - she used to love that - walkies! We have made the decision to let her live her life as long as she is able but will not prolong it. She sleeps a lot, still loves her food, and still loves us. The vet is coming on Saturday which will be traumatic for Jewel. Last time she would not let the vet touch her.
Hope everyone is well and happy. Cheers for now!

Yes, the 3 Keeshonden will have a home here as long as they live if my friend can't go home. The one is still at the Vet clinic. She had a fever of 104˚F, which is high, and is on IV fluids, pain meds and antibiotics now. If I hadn't brought them home with me, she'd have died by tomorrow.

The dog I took to the Vet's yesterday had to be put to sleep. She was in agony this morning, her bloodwork was horrendous, and when my Vet x-rayed her, he found a grapefruit sized tumor on her liver and a spine that was solid bone spurs. He could not get her pain under control. We had no option other than ending her pain gently.

The other 2 dogs (Green, 13 years old, and Seal, 12 years old) have check-ups scheduled tomorrow morning. They are both acting perfectly healthy, but they miss their owner.

Heidi, Sad that the dog had to be put down but it sounds like she was in awful pain. I hope the other two settle well with you.

They both passed their check-ups with flying colors. Very healthy for old dogs.

For those who don't visit 'Easy' -

The fitness trainer asked me 'What kind of squats are you accustomed to doing?

I said, 'Diddly !!'

Lawn mowing day today. I'm taking a break in the middle due to the extreme heat.