Kidney stones

I had follow-up appointment with Dr Emery, the urologist, last Wednesday the 30th, in Cherokee Village.  I had to get an x-ray of my kidneys before the appointment.

He's a very good doctor.  Professional, friendly and very thorough.  The x-ray revealed I once again have a large kidney stone in my left kidney. I was scheduled for  lithotripsy  (Kidneystones shockwave treatment ) in Batesville yesterday.  I had to get another x-ray prior to the procedure. Everything went well.  We stopped at The Pill Box in Highland (Davis Drug Store Inc ) to pick up some medications and arrived home safe and sound.

Now I just have to pass the pieces....  Fun, fun, fun!

I've been knitting away on my Christmas list. Hats for Children's Hospital, Knititng for Noggins. Knitting for Noggins

I got the slippers for my nieces finished & mailed off.  Sadly, Nevaeh's are too small.  So I'll be making her another pair.

I also ordered yarn from Knit Pics (Knit Picks.com) to crochet a blanket for Nevaeh.  I'm not sure how it happened, but she never got a baby blanket.  So now she'll be getting a big girl blanket.  Nevaeh's sick a lot, she has a compromised immune system (e-coli infection from contact with her dad's turtles).  I know when I don't feel well I always want to cuddle up in my blanket.  I'll be adding all the love and care I can into this one for her.  I'll make her slippers that fit with this same yarn.  I added this project to my Ravelry queue.  Nevaehs pink blanket

Puttering around the homestead.

The calendar has rolled around to December, and it's time to get ready for the cold weather.  Joshua has been cutting, splitting and stacking wood.  John & Josh got the air conditioners out of the windows.  I got the chicken runs covered with plastic.

Yesterday, I finished putting the plants into the greenhouse.  Then I put some empty 5 gallon buckets in, which I will fill with water.  These will help keep the humidity and temperature more stable.  I dug up one of the bell pepper plants and planted it in a container.  I also spread some heirloom tomato seeds in another container.  I dug up starts from 2 of my mint plants.  One peppermint and one spearmint. I put these in the house.

I picked all the green tomatoes still on the vines.  I have quite a few! And two bell peppers.

Green tomatoes & bell peppers

We had some building supplies in the carport that needed to be brought in to prevent freezing.

The repair technician came yesterday and made the repairs to our washer.  I asked him what he was replacing.  He told me he took two plastic hinges our and put 4 metal hinges in, so the lid could not fly off.  That would be a good thing!

Our hunting neighbor, Jennifer, took her large deer to the meat processor and had summer sausage made.  We offered to pay for part of the cost of processing so we could get some of the sausage.  This helps Jennifer with the cost, and helps us get some "non-pork" meat in our freezer.  The chest freezer is full of pork.  And I do mean full.  Both freezers in the house are full of fruit for smoothies and other meats and cheeses.

I went through our canned meat, and realized we've eaten up all the beef and chicken.  That's right.  We have a pantry of canned pork.  And the odd squirrel or quail.  I will be canning some chicken and beef in the near future.

I checked on the food stored in the storm shelter.  Our number 10 cans of dehydrated fruits and veggies are still sealed, so these will be our long term food storage.  These cans will be edible 10 years from now.  That is my idea of long term!  We also have dried fruit, bulk rice, bulk flour and dried potatoes in vacuum sealed bags & jars.  I'd say we have more than 6 months worth of food.

I asked Josh if he likes fudge.  He does.  So I decided to make some chocolate marshmallow fudge.  Well, either our thermometer is off... or I am.  I stood at the stove for 90 minutes straight, stirring the pot!  When the mixture finally reached 235 degrees, I poured it into the pie tins I had prepared.  I warned the guys NOT to touch the tins as they are VERY hot!  After several hours, I put the tins in the fridge.  Josh got one out to see how yummy the fudge was and discovered we have caramels not fudge.  He cut it into squares, and I tried one.  They are excellent! Here's a recipe. I didn't add the corn syrup, but I did add marshmallow fluff.

Mom's caramels recipe

I had an appointment with the urologist on Thursday,  I had to get an Xray beforehand.  The Xray showed I have another large kidney stone in my left kidney.  I will be having a procedure on the 8th, using ultrasound to break this up.  I had the same procedure 2 years ago and it worked well.  I hope it goes as smoothly this time.  Passing the stone fragments up isn't fun, but I really don't want to keep the fragments in my kidney either!

I finished crocheting slippers for my niece's daughters & got those in the mail.  They came out very well.

Nevaeh's slippers

Revan's slippers

I've also been knitting a variety of hats on my knitting looms.  I hope to get them in the mail to Children's Hospital this week.  They have a great program called Knitting for Noggens.  I participate every year.

It's spring!

Spring has sprung here on the Farm!  We have daffodil and hellebore blooming.  Our peach trees are showing off (they looked better before the winds today). 

Peach trees on the north side of our house

Peach blossoms on the ground from the wind

We have thundershowers moving through our area today.  Winds, some thunder, a tiny bit of rain.  Some sun.  A typical 75 degree spring day.

Daffodils and wild violets I've transplanted from the woods

I wish I had taken a picture of the trees yesterday.  They were beautiful!  And the fragrance!

My lilacs should start blooming soon.  I love the smell of them!  One of my favorite smells from childhood.

Guinea fowl on the south side of the house

The guineas were out looking for fresh shoots and bugs.  They can be out and about until we get ready to plant the garden.  Then they have to go back in their run.  They just DESTROY the garden, dig up everything.  Even if they aren't going to eat it.  We had replant last year and the year before because of their digging.  So, they have to live in the run during egg laying/gardening season.




Our banty hen, Pebbles, and her 3 little chicks are doing fine.  Those chicks are so cute!

I didn't get all the leaves burnt yet.... too much wind.  But, I'll get it done slowly but surely.

I've been taking it kinda easy, since I know I have that kidney stone in my left kidney.  I had an outpatient procedure on Tuesday to put a stent in.  On the 10th the doc will try breaking up the stone so I can pass it.  I really hope this works, because I don't want to spend time in the hospital.  The stone is too big to pass, so if breaking it up doesn't work, they will have to remove it through my back.  Not something I would look forward to!

I've been working on one of my longterm knitting projects.  A peach/pink merino and silk spiral lace shawl.  I started it back in October 2011.  And now it's done!  Hurray!!

Here's how it looks.

How you wear a circular shawl

A closer look at the shawl

Dealing with health issues

I guess this week was "doctor" week for me.  On Saturday, I had a little surprise!  I passed a kidney stone!  OUCH!  So Sunday morning bright and early, Josh took me to the Urgent Care in Ash Flat.  Not how I like to spend my Sunday morning, for sure...

But the staff were really nice.  They took an xray to see if there were any more stones in my system.  Yep, a nice big one in my left kidney.  Wonderful!  More adventures in health care!  Just what I need....

So I called our family doctor, Dr. Douglas Bernard in Batesville.  They didn't have any appointments open on Monday.  We had a previously scheduled appointment on Tuesday morning, so that was when I went in.  John and I really like Dr. Bernard.  He's a good doc.  He takes time to talk to us.  And listens to us.  And we get to talk about "farm" type stuff.  He referred me to a Urologist, Dr. Emery, and got me scheduled for an xray/ct and an appointment on Wednesday.

So, Wednesday morning bright and early, we head back to Batesville.  The xray was uneventful.  Dr. Emery's staff was nice.  They listened to my situation, did a CT scan of my abdomen, and put us in an exam room to wait for the doctor.  He was very thorough.  It seems this stone is too large to pass out the duct from my kidney.  In fact, it's probably been growing there for several years.  So, there are 2 courses of action.  1) put a stent in my bladder to enlarge the duct to the kidney and then use ultrasonics to try and break up the stone.  This will involve 2 outpatient procedures in Batesville 10 days apart.  Once the stone is shattered, I would then have to pass the pieces... Fun, fun!    2)  Have a 2-step surgery which will involve making an incision in my back and installing a tube.  Then, in a second procedure, Dr Emery would use the tube to remove the stone from my kidney.  This would require staying in the hospital for several days.  Again, more fun.

We opted for option 1.  Doctor Emery will be out of town all week next week, so I have the stent put in on 4/1. 

Wednesday was also food co-op day.  Since I was in Batesville, Gena and Kevin received the order without my help.  And my help really wasn't needed.  Gena said it took about 15 minutes to divide up the orders.  The driver was very nice.  Our next order is in 6 weeks.

My friends, Linda and John Smuzer, from Concrete Washington are here visiting his Aunt Vivian in Mountian View.  We were supposed to get together for lunch on Thursday.  Because of the doctor adventures earlier this week, I asked Linda if we could re-schedule.  We're going to Mountian View for lunch on Monday.

Linda and I have been friend since 1992.  We originally met during a knitting class in 1989.  In 1992, I found the Spindrifter's Spinning Guild in Bellingham.  What a wonderful group of ladies!  I became good friend with many wonderful people because of this group.  Linda, Margaret and Nancy are special people.  Very dear to me.  Debra and Terry helped me a lot when I first hurt my back.  Debra took me to many a doctor appointment when I couldn't drive.  We learned a lot together.  We had many "fiber adventures". 

As with many things in life, things have changed.  Some of us have moved, changed our life circumstances, divorced, married, found new loves, had our children grow up and move from home (and find their own loves and have children)...

I moved away 9 years ago now.  But I still keep in touch.  Seeing Linda and John is always wonderful.  And a bit hard on my heart.  It makes me miss my friends... 

I love my life here in Arkansas.  John and Josh really make life worth living.  I love being in the woods, having my birds, dogs, cat.  And my spinning and knitting keep me busy.  But, sometimes I miss watching X-Files with Margaret while teenager Virginia (changed her name to Alex years ago) playing with the cats while Margaret's mom was quilting away...  Or going to St. Distaff's Day Spin-in in the snow...  Driving to the ferry in Edmonds to go look at fleeces with Terry.  Having Irish coffee and scalding hot pot pie because we missed the ferry... all in the snow.