Our attention has gradually shifted to upcoming events of some note for us. Appointments for both myself and Pam are on the docket for the upcoming weeks.

Pam tried out a different medical clinic located in Decorah. This group is affiliated with the Mayo Clinic. As is the [usual] case with rural medicine, local clinics cover very basic family medicine and anything else is referred to specialists. Meaning one hour drives to different clinics.

I have a couple appointments of note. The first is this coming Monday when I have a 6-week checkup of my shoulder. I am hoping to get clearance to expand the use of my right arm. I plan to drive myself to this appointment in the truck. (I describe my method of doing this with an arm sling below.)

My second appointment concerns the implant for a broken front tooth. I need to verify I have recovered from the initial extraction of the broken tooth and can proceed to the next step, actually getting the implant post inserted in my jaw.

This week I did a few more tasks with my arm, including driving the Ford F-150 as it has an automatic transmission and found I could get around OK driving with one hand. I also took the ATV out for a short spin. It has the gear shift on the left along with brakes on the floorboards and left handlebar. Biggest problem is the right-side throttle, which I operated by crossing my left hand over to that side. Very awkward and a trial run, just a spin around the block, but it was good to get out even that bit.

I had another advancement this week. I went back to sleeping in bed as opposed to sleeping in my recliner. While I had to experiment to get a couple comfortable positions, right side and left, I am more comfortable now. It felt strange, though, the first couple nights after having slept in the recliner for almost 5 weeks.

In other respects it was a quiet week. Pam made chocolate chip cookies one day, a real treat.

Making cookies

Pam did some designing of a color scheme for the tower re-do. I had created a line drawing of the tower using a photo and PhotoShop Elements that she was able to use as a pattern. We hope to have the existing painted cedar shakes removed and replaced with colored architectural shingles.

Tower right now
Tower design #1
Shingle samples

If you first landed on my home page, you will have seen a “spring” cartoon where a trio of flowers bloomed early. Well, it looks like something is coming up in the Mary Lynn bed, which we consider to be too early for blooming plants. Does Mother Nature know something we don’t?

Tulips (?) sprouting

Finally, I thought I would include a photo of the cats and dogs getting their breakfast. In the following photo you can see JoJo’s and Blondie’s butts at the right. (Bru is out of sight in the laundry room.) Stirling and Vienna are at left and Elmo is under the table. KitKat does not normally participate in this routine and is not in the photo. She occasionally eats a bit of wet cat food separately.

Breakfast for the menagerie

And that is about it for this post. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Trying to get on a contractor’s schedule to have the tower redone is a big pain. Himself needs to recontact two people he connected with in January to see if either will get us a quote and put us on their schedule. I sincerely hope those corbels along the top tower edge aren’t rotted, as I would like to reuse them in the new design. (I’d say the odds are not good re: the rot, but hope springs eternal.)

We also need to touch base with a painter who was here a YEAR AGO for confirmation he can paint the trim in the eaves this year. I want house exterior projects we cannot do ourselves to be done this year. Considering Himself’s shoulder recuperation, pretty much all projects on the house’s east side are ones we can’t do ourselves. (Again, hope springs eternal.)

Happy Trails.