Mid-Summer Update

It's good to be back, sharing a bit of our lives with you through this blog. We've been traveling some this summer, but it is ill-advised to mention that on-line, so I didn't want to post anything until we were home for good, lest I should let something slip. Needless to say, we had a good time vacationing in California and also spent 9 days in Wisconsin with Frank's mom, taking daily drives and making sure to find ice cream each time we ventured out!


This has been a really weird year for our garden. Some things are doing well and some things, that did really well last year, are a total bust this year. Of course we can always grow weeds, so Frank has been diligent keeping them manageable. Good thing we don't rely on our garden to get us through the winter or it would be slim pickin's!


As usual, we seem to be able to grow potatoes well. Ordinarily we wouldn't harvest any right now, but those dumb chickens got in there and dug up a few for us so we had to get them out of the sun. Boy are they good! We planted four kinds this year...reds and yukon golds for our main eating, and some purple and red-fleshed ones for fun. Now that we've got those purple and red ones, what in the world am I going to be able to make with them that will look reasonably appetizing? You got me!


These are my new wheels! Cool color, huh? This will be my buddy for the next 8 weeks or so starting Wednesday when I have big foot surgery. It's called a knee scooter, and I will rest my knee on it and push with my good foot. I've played with it quite a bit already and it seems fairly easy to manage. Inside I'll have to use a walker at first, then crutches. My surgeon said earlier in the year that I would have to be non-weight bearing for 4-6 weeks, but he has a new procedure now that will let me bear weight from the beginning as I can stand it. I will have two bones severed then screwed into correct position, so there will be lots of bone healing, so I'm sure I'll get to enjoy some of the fun drugs he prescribed for me!


In anticipation of not being able to stand much, I decided to chop off all my hair since I couldn't stand and blow dry it every day. I'm actually really liking this cut and am thinking about keeping it like this. I need a head shot for my class home-page and this is the best I can come up with so far. I think I look slightly maniacal. I'm not so sure that's a bad thing for that purpose! Hahaha.


Lastly, we have added a new little addition to Red Pony Ranch. Meet Shadow, who is standing here to the left of Maddie. He's a sweet little boy who is fitting in just fine. With Maddie getting old, I wanted to have another gelding for Yakki to become friends with and after a few minor squabbles over who loves Maddie more, the boys are enjoying each other's company. Technically, I don't own him, but he can stay here indefinitely, which is just fine with us!


One nice thing about summer is that our little lovebird Pete can be outside on the porch most of the day and evening. This porch is on the east side of our house, so we don't put him out until there is shade, but when he does go out, he spends his day either screeching at every bird in the neighborhood or taking power naps. It's nice to be able to roll him in and out to get some fresh air. In the winter he has a spot on the west side of our house right by a window so he can look outside and get what limited sun we have.

Well, Frank just informed me that he's taking the camera to the hospital on Wednesday, so I'm expecting that there will be another blog update next week. We'll see!