Haying

Cliff is mowing hay today; this three-acre patch will supply more than enough hay for Bonnie, her new calf that's due in August, and baby Jody, during the coming winter.  We're hoping the weather-guessers are right, and that no rain will fall on this hay until it's cured and put in the barn.  The ground is so soaked from recent rain that it'll probably take three days for this to cure.

I love having a hayfield right behind our house.  Bonnie-the-Jersey-cow has been grazing on this patch for months, but she hasn't made a dent in it.

I carried an armload of hay to Jody for a quality check.

She gave it her seal of approval.  I'm only giving her one bottle of milk replacer a day, since she's eating from three to five pounds of calf starter (grain specially formulated for baby calves).  By the time she's two months old, she'll be totally off the bottle.  She's a real pet, and is well on her way to being as spoiled as Bonnie.

Here's a closeup of some of the cut hay.  You can see there's lots of clover in it.  Since we don't have any way of making small bales, the horses won't be getting this; it's much too rich for horses to have full-time access to.  Hopefully we can buy some big bales of grass hay for them this fall.  If worse comes to worse and we end up giving them this hay, we'll be peeling off hunks of it and throwing it over the fence to them so they don't get too much.  

One of my readers cautioned me to be sure and continue taking my coumadin:  Don't you worry, I follow doctor's orders as closely as possible.  The only little misunderstanding I've had so far was during my first few days home after surgery when the home therapist ordered me to take two hydrocodone tablets every four hours.  When Dr. Strong found this out, I thought she was going to blow a fuse.  "'Take as needed' is on that label for a reason," she said.   

A different therapist, a lady, came last Monday, and I told her I must have misunderstood the regular guy.  "No," she said, "we want our people taking two tablets every six hours so they won't be in too much pain to do the therapy exercises."  

I told my doctor this, and she couldn't believe it; she said she never heard of anyone being told to take that much hydrocodone.  Truth be told, I couldn't tell any great difference in pain levels after I cut back, and I did cut back a lot... from eight a day to three or four.  I mainly take one when I go to bed now, and one in the early morning hours if I wake up hurting.    

Anyhow, it would be nice if the therapists and doctors could all be on the same page.     

I was recently asked what I'm reading:  I finished "The Foremost Good Fortune" a few days ago, and have just started reading Meredith Baxter's memoir.  Obviously, I still lean toward biographies rather than fiction.   I'm still loving the fact that I can check out library books on my Nook, right from the comfort of my own home.  Free.

Forging ahead

Yesterday I saw the orthopedist and had the staples removed from my incision.  Now I can take a shower!  I've had over two weeks of taking sponge baths, and although I was raised on sponge baths (except for a Saturday night bath in a washtub), a shower is much welcomed.  
Today I start going to therapy, instead of having a therapist come to me.  I'll still be doing my exercise routine at home, though.  My grandson's girl friend secured me an exercise bike (free... thank you, Heather), which is supposed to be an excellent tool for recovery from knee surgery.  The home therapist said to limit myself to three minutes per session, for now.  
I'm still taking coumadin, which the doctor is monitoring closely.  I take a pill daily, but if the level in my blood gets too low to suit the doctor, she has me take two pills for a day or two; it's to prevent blood clots.  I'll be really glad to get off that stuff.  I was told I'd be taking it for a month, so I have less than two weeks to go.  
Yesterday evening, with possible storms in the forecast, I fired up the tiller and tilled between the rows of my garden, then put in a small row of green beans.  The tiller really doesn't require my using a great deal of strength:  It pulls itself.  The tiller we have now moves too fast to suit me when the throttle is wide open, so I did slow it down to a reasonable pace.  I'm not exactly Miss Speedy these days.  It felt good to handle this chore again by myself.   
I have no problem walking unaided when I'm at home with no shoes on, but yesterday with sneakers on, I held on to Cliff's arm going to and from the doctor's office because every once in awhile my knee would give... it wasn't nearly as steady!  Danged old shoes are an instrument of the devil anyhow.  I have to concentrate on walking properly and not allowing myself to limp.  
The pain is less all the time, and if I had to, I could probably get by just fine without the pain meds.  As it is, I'm only taking one at a time now, on an "as-needed" basis... usually no more than four a day.  The one I take at bedtime is the most necessary.  
Won't it be wonderful when I have something more exciting to talk about in my blog than my surgery?  I'm sure that day is coming!