Two days until knee replacement

I am having a few reservations about having my knee replacement surgery on Monday. My hip has been giving me some pain in my buttocks and then when I sleep I wake up with some pain. I like laying on my side, my left side, my right side is the hip that was replaced. When I wake up I have stiffness and some pain. It goes away right away but it is still a cause for alarm right now. This is what makes me concerned about having the knee done. Perhaps after the knee is done I will feel better about it, plus my knee pain will be gone.

I also find I am having more problems with incontinence. I wondered if there could be a connection between my hip replacement and the incontinence and found this web page that explained this was possible. Bummer. I will need to do more kegel exercises to see if it is possible to get more control.

I woke up yesterday when Ardmore shut the door at 6:45. He was already heading out to put the bin together. Needless to say, I fell back to sleep and awoke about 8, by that time he had the bin on top of the hopper and was ready to put in a couple of stabilizing bolts. I grabbed the camera and snapped a couple of photos with the hoist still in place. I really am proud to see that my 73 year-old husband could do this all by himself.

We spent yesterday at home. I mowed the back yard and picked up the grass later. Our only 4th of July treat was ice cream at DQ. We usually head to Warroad for the evening of the 4th. I knew that after Ardmore spent 3 hours driving to Steinback at 25-30 miles per hour he was not going to want to go to Warroad and I thought no where else either. Ho, he picked me up during my walk to go to DQ. Couldn't have happened at at better time, the mosquitoes had found me and I was hot and sweaty, that air conditioned car felt like heaven!

While he took the crane back to Steinbach I cleaned some windows and washed sheets. it was a great day to do that with the wind drying everything in under 2 hours.

As hot as it is today, 86° with 70% humidity, he is busy putting in the 60 plus bolts that fasten the bin to the hopper, no small feat when you realize he must drill the bolt holes, put in the bolt and climb into the bin through a small square opening on the base to put the nut on. He does about 10 at a time and then puts the nuts on. Lots of work in this heat.

I have put off spraying the weeds on our driveway but not today. I have about 1/2 of the area where we park done now. It is just too hot to do the rest.

11:10 pm It is raining, a blessed short but sweet rain for all of the crops and my flowers too!

Thought for the day

Last Sunday in church we sang the Star Spangled Banner from beginning to end. The last verse impressed me:

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand

Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;

Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land

Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

We consider this our National Anthem, but how far have we gone down hill from the days it was writ en and have taken the words God out of so many areas of life. Let our land be preserved as it was intended, with God at the head of it.