Had my dr appt yesterday, told him how badly I needed to get back to work ( these disability checks just aren't enough to cover my monthly expenses). So, I talked him into letting me return @ the end of Aug. But, the restrictions he put on my return are so unrealistic I can't believe it! My job description requires I be able to lift up to 50 lbs, my limit to return to work? 5 lbs!! Now, who in their right mind ever thinks of how much 5 lbs actually is? The weight is so light it is almost inconsequential! A gallon of milk is 7 lbs, for crying out loud, my truck door is heavier than that when I open or shut it! ( That has actually been kind of difficult to open and close...) So, needless to say, my supervisor isn't really happy about my workability sheet, I can't twist or torque with my right arm, and no lifting above chest level with my left arm... So, where can I work? No where is my thinking, I can't clean instruments cuz the trays are over 5 lbs. I can't clean shelves because many of them are above my head, ( and the inventory on them is over 5 lbs.) I might be able to put together charts ( joy...)but, that won't take 8 hours every day either.
Don't get me wrong, I am not displeased with my recovery, and neither is the dr. he just thinks that I am trying to get back into the whole swing of things too quickly ( but, he doesn't live on my wages either). He is really concerned about me dislocating the elbow, and then I would be starting over again with the whole shebang.
As far as my left shoulder, I guess I should be pleased with the progress I have made there, I have completely normal range of motion, some strength, and much less pain than when I first injured it. MRI is going to show what the real problem is I guess, but, I have to wait for the ins, company to approve that test.
Speaking of bills, man, I can't believe the cost of hospitalization! And to think I complained about a $1000 emergency room bill ( for pneumonia 4 yrs ago)! The amount is staggering, for this injury! I am very glad to have insurance!
The upside of all this time off, is I get to spend the summer with my son! We have been to the beach every day so far this week, and he has enjoyed it immensely!
The other good thing is I have had time to help my mentors with my bee hives, ( and theirs), since I can't lift my 70 lb boxes ( I have plenty of honey, let me tell you!!) I have been trying to help out in other ways, like watching their children so they can get stuff done, and have some alone time. Hopefully, it is enough.
I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from my church and friends, there is a gentleman from church coming over today to mow my lawn, ( he fixed my mower , again, since somehow the air cleaner and cover fell off and got mowed over...) with my mower so he can check it out to make sure it runs alright, and I get my lawn mowed! It is so difficult to rely on others to do things you are so accustomed to doing yourself! And it is sooooo hard for me to ask for help!! Why is that? Number 1, the guilt; I feel I should be able to do these things, but, I can't even wring out a mop! how sad is that!? Number 2,: the loss of my independence, I have prided myself on my ability to be completely independent, able to figure things out myself without the help of a male around. I have replaced the belt on my dryer drum, I can change my own oil on my car, I can change a flat tire, I can take off the pipes under the sinks in my house to clean out the trap ( remember, gravity and I argue often, gravity wins!) Heck, I can even change an element on my water heater if I had to ( have the tool, don't ask why...)
Now, I can't even change the belt on my vacuum cleaner, ( need the use of 2 strong hands for that), and I am too proud to ask someone to do it for me... how stupid is that? People I know, want to help, but, how do I just let go and let them? Better I think, for folks to just take over and say, this is what is going to happen and you can't change it, so just sit down and relax, ( not that I would relax when someone is doing my work for me, )
Crap, enough feeling sorry for myself, Tomorrow is Garlic fest in Hutchinson, and we have been preparing all week for it! We are going to have a booth there and will be demonstrating extracting honey from the hive the entire day!!! It is going to be a great day! My box of honey is plum full! My mentor thought I should enter a frame in the State Fair, but, I am too anxious to extract it and get honey! Besides, I am definitely not up for a State Fair visit this year, ( as well as it being cost prohibitive).
Happily, I will have enough honey for Christmas gifts ( my goal this year). And perhaps even some for purchase ( haven't decided on that yet).
Enough with the whining...
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
WTF?
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother, I get so impatient with myself... I have been making amazing progress with PT assistance, my shoulder doesn't hurt any longer ( don't want THAT pain ever again!). My elbow is slowly straightening, ( not fast enough for Ms patience , me apparently). Sheesh, my injuries could have been so much worse!! I thank God for it not being so.
On to Fb, I know I offended a person on my friends list today, but, I really don't believe all the crap local recues, turn out. I don't give a damn if she is the nicest person on the face of the earth to someone, I personally know 3 families she has interfered with as well as just meeting another person last week ( that person didn't tell me their story, but, I had heard the rumors before, and saw the perfectly fit horses that were confiscated a week later on the rescue web site). Intimidation doesn't cut it with me, and I can be fairly intimidating myself. I just actually try not to be ( mostly).
but, she ( or her lackeys) have destroyed lives ( not people deserving of being destroyed either, although, there are some, I admit that needed some help). I cannot condone that.
Anway, enough of a rant there. I am on a roll. Reading Twilight series ( for the 6th time since I purchased them in June...), I have such a huge crush on Edward... man, if a vampire like that came my way, I would not hesitate ( I don't think), he could bite me anywhere he has a mind to.
I actually had been jogging as of last week, but, the doc put the cabosh on that idea... doesn't want me to fall ( go figure...). I mean, this is why I was interval training, to increase my caloric burn, and lose weight!!! Get more fit, you know, the whole shabang... I don't care, I am going to try the 8 minute running thing. If I fall don't tell anyone I posted this... heck, I could fall from walking ( not unheard of in my world, gravity does strange things to me, and it usually wins...)
Wow, am I ever rambling today. Must mean I am feeling better, just the fact that I can type with 2 hands is cause for celebration for me!
Went out and played among my mares this morning also, my old mare Coni, has gotten the message "Be careful for Mom!" so many times, I am sure she understands what that means.
I am looking forward to the day I can ride, Coni will be the horse I get on. It is like slipping on a pair of old comfortable shoes for me to mount that girl. I know her, I know her reactions to most anything ( always qualify things with horses...), I am excited about it. I know it won't be tomorrow, ( but, maybe soon??) might not even be this year, but, I know I will be able to ride again.
This period of non work should be a great time for me to get a fitness routine establised, but once again, when I speak of it, my own mind foils my attempts, what is it about me that has to rebel against myself??
On to Fb, I know I offended a person on my friends list today, but, I really don't believe all the crap local recues, turn out. I don't give a damn if she is the nicest person on the face of the earth to someone, I personally know 3 families she has interfered with as well as just meeting another person last week ( that person didn't tell me their story, but, I had heard the rumors before, and saw the perfectly fit horses that were confiscated a week later on the rescue web site). Intimidation doesn't cut it with me, and I can be fairly intimidating myself. I just actually try not to be ( mostly).
but, she ( or her lackeys) have destroyed lives ( not people deserving of being destroyed either, although, there are some, I admit that needed some help). I cannot condone that.
Anway, enough of a rant there. I am on a roll. Reading Twilight series ( for the 6th time since I purchased them in June...), I have such a huge crush on Edward... man, if a vampire like that came my way, I would not hesitate ( I don't think), he could bite me anywhere he has a mind to.
I actually had been jogging as of last week, but, the doc put the cabosh on that idea... doesn't want me to fall ( go figure...). I mean, this is why I was interval training, to increase my caloric burn, and lose weight!!! Get more fit, you know, the whole shabang... I don't care, I am going to try the 8 minute running thing. If I fall don't tell anyone I posted this... heck, I could fall from walking ( not unheard of in my world, gravity does strange things to me, and it usually wins...)
Wow, am I ever rambling today. Must mean I am feeling better, just the fact that I can type with 2 hands is cause for celebration for me!
Went out and played among my mares this morning also, my old mare Coni, has gotten the message "Be careful for Mom!" so many times, I am sure she understands what that means.
I am looking forward to the day I can ride, Coni will be the horse I get on. It is like slipping on a pair of old comfortable shoes for me to mount that girl. I know her, I know her reactions to most anything ( always qualify things with horses...), I am excited about it. I know it won't be tomorrow, ( but, maybe soon??) might not even be this year, but, I know I will be able to ride again.
This period of non work should be a great time for me to get a fitness routine establised, but once again, when I speak of it, my own mind foils my attempts, what is it about me that has to rebel against myself??
Sunday, July 26, 2009
When things go bad
As difficult as it its for me to actually write this post, I need to for my healing to continue.
Sunday July 12 started out like any other extremely pleasant day this summer. A friend and I made early morning plans to ride (before it got too warm). I planned on riding my green gelding, whom, I might add has become extremely obese this summer, (as in, can't even find his withers obese, and this is a purebred Arabian!). Needless, to say, the bet I made with another blogger has to be paid up, I lost, my horses are all still obese and I bet her they would have lost their
' winter weight" by July...( I wonder if I could slip by on the technicality of not specifying WHAT YEAR...). Anyway, I digress, we had already decided not to ride a long distance, (I am trying to keep his rides short and sweet), and were well on the way. I might mention that my friend doesn't have a boatload of riding experience, but, does OK on a well trained horse. This day, however, she was having trouble with the mare I had her on, and I was concentrating on her inability to handle the problem, and getting frustrated since I knew we would be unable to switch horses. My frustration communicated itself to my own mount and he started to throw his head. Having experienced this with him before, I tried to give him a job to do so he would have to focus on task at hand rather than head tossing. Seemed to work, we had turned around and started back home when it happened, my horse exploded.
To bring folks up to speed here, I am extremely overweight and haven't ridden a green horse in about 18 years, I had mentioned this previously to my riding friend, because my reflexes are definitely not as quick as they once were, and neither is my recovery balance. This is why I have been so wary of riding this green horse, I will only ride him if I have someone accompanying me hence, he doesn't get ridden but, on the weekends. As the sole breadwinner of our family (damn child labor laws, my 11 yr old could be bringing home the bacon also!), I just can't afford to get hurt, or so I thought...
Meanwhile back on the trail, my horse has taken his first ever buck, and it is a doozy, I lost my balance and was leaning to his left side, second jump had me falling, and then he started to run, I hit the ground with my arms extended as if still holding the reins, all my body weight landing on my upper torso and arms. I rolled onto my back as I hit knocking the wind out of me. As I lay there I tried to take stock of what hurt most, definitely couldn't breathe, but, knew that would get better in a moment, my arms hurt a little, but, since I landed as I did I figured it was the road rash, of which I had plenty all the way to my elbows on both arms. Rolled over and pushed myself to standing using my arms (this is OK I thought, nothing badly hurt), didn't take into account the adrenaline rush...
Of course, my mount had run a ways off, but, decided to run back to us (thankfully, the trail we were on is adjacent to a busy highway) I tried to get close to him and finally was able to grab a rein, as I was trying to tighten his hackamore, my left shoulder gave off this giant snap!!! Never heard anything like it in my life, and I work in surgery...Immediately got light headed and felt like throwing up, all I could do was stand and pant for a bit. My friend who happens to be an ortho pedic physician's assistant thought maybe I had dislocated my shoulder and the snap we BOTH heard was it popping back into place. Meanwhile, I was slowly realizing I had severe pain in my right arm also, so much so, I was unable to lead my unruly horse. I instead offered to lead her mare who is a good girl, and kind to lead ( no pulling, no leaning, no forging ahead) I was unable to even move my left arm by this time and could only comfortably keep my right arm at a right angle against my body, so we began the mile and a half trek back home. During the walk, we decided to get me medicated,enough to make an appointment for the next day at her clinic and get xrays then, saving me an emergency room charge ( high deductible makes for trying to keep costs down). As I trudged along, I realized how much I was hurting, I couldn't move my right arm twisting back and forth, that movement brought me to my knees. My left arm was completely unmovable without severe pain shooting up the back of it, and my ribs were aching like someone had stomped on them. My head was OK, the fall hadn't even dislodged the visor so, I figured my head hadn't actually made contact with the ground initially. I considered myself lucky, I was alive and my legs were working properly, just the rest of me was in agony. Upon reaching the farm, my friend proceeded to take care of the horses, as I tried to let myself into the house. Failing to be able to open the door, I realized there was no way I would avoid a trip to the hospital, and after that walk, I no longer cared what an emergency trip would cost me, all I wanted was some relief from the pain, /I didn't care what they did to get me that relief. i wouldn't let them cut my t-shirt off of me ( I liked that shirt...), so I endured some more agony having the ER staff remove it . After xrays, found my right proximal radial head fractured, and possibly my epicondyle of my humerus also. o fractures showed on the left shoulder, so, they doped me up big time, splinted my right arm, put a shoulder immobilizer on my left arm, and sent me home to sleep. My friend took care of me for the next hour or so, then my 11 yr old son became my caretaker. I am sure he had many trials with a doped up mom who is fiercely independent, I know for sure, I was unable to get up from the bed by myself, and unable to even go to the bathroom alone, poor kid, he got saddled with a job many grown ups don;t want to take. Monday morning brought new pain, in the form of another trip to the hospital, this time for a CT scan, the entire trip is mostly lost for me with a vague memory of xray...
Tuesday, another lost day, but, I know my friend Jen is a hero, who took time out of her clinic schedule to come out and feed me get me more doped up, then take me to her house for a shower ( which I had not had since the fall), The next day, Wed, she had a surgeon in the cities lined up for me to get my elbow fixed with. I don't recall meeting him, nor do I remember the ride into the cities, I imagine I was pretty miserable, they were unable to repair the injuries to the radial head, so, they had no choice nut to put in a prosthesis, the xray makes it look like an over sized lug nut in my elbow. I am still in a splint 2 weeks after the initial injuries, so I can't test out the stability of my new joint yet, but, from the limited reading I have done on these type of prosthesis, the outlook is good. During those 3 days I was so doped up, I made arrangements for my gelding to go back to the trainer's, and apparently accompanied him to her farm, the scary part is, I have simply no memory of it. I also blasted another good friend of mine for being unable to do my chores one evening, this also, I have no memory of, but, have since sincerely apologized, she realized it was such bizarre behavior for me that it might be the drugs affecting my behavior, thank goodness, she did not hold my drug induced behavior against me. So, now, 2 weeks from the injuries, I am making small but, significant strides toward recovery, my friends and family have been so supportive, I have enough disability payment to cover my major expenses. And people have come from near and far with kind offerings, from my friend who took my 3 geldings to her pasture, so I don't have to feed any hay, to my farrier who tried to inconspicuously drop off a monetary gift (I caught him though, and his kindness will not go unrewarded). My church has been kind enough to arrange meals so I don't have to cook, my mom came and cleaned my house, friends came and mowed my yard, my blessing have been innumerable, it could have been so much worse... hug your family, and your horses tonight, think of me, say a prayer of thanks, I did.
Sunday July 12 started out like any other extremely pleasant day this summer. A friend and I made early morning plans to ride (before it got too warm). I planned on riding my green gelding, whom, I might add has become extremely obese this summer, (as in, can't even find his withers obese, and this is a purebred Arabian!). Needless, to say, the bet I made with another blogger has to be paid up, I lost, my horses are all still obese and I bet her they would have lost their
' winter weight" by July...( I wonder if I could slip by on the technicality of not specifying WHAT YEAR...). Anyway, I digress, we had already decided not to ride a long distance, (I am trying to keep his rides short and sweet), and were well on the way. I might mention that my friend doesn't have a boatload of riding experience, but, does OK on a well trained horse. This day, however, she was having trouble with the mare I had her on, and I was concentrating on her inability to handle the problem, and getting frustrated since I knew we would be unable to switch horses. My frustration communicated itself to my own mount and he started to throw his head. Having experienced this with him before, I tried to give him a job to do so he would have to focus on task at hand rather than head tossing. Seemed to work, we had turned around and started back home when it happened, my horse exploded.
To bring folks up to speed here, I am extremely overweight and haven't ridden a green horse in about 18 years, I had mentioned this previously to my riding friend, because my reflexes are definitely not as quick as they once were, and neither is my recovery balance. This is why I have been so wary of riding this green horse, I will only ride him if I have someone accompanying me hence, he doesn't get ridden but, on the weekends. As the sole breadwinner of our family (damn child labor laws, my 11 yr old could be bringing home the bacon also!), I just can't afford to get hurt, or so I thought...
Meanwhile back on the trail, my horse has taken his first ever buck, and it is a doozy, I lost my balance and was leaning to his left side, second jump had me falling, and then he started to run, I hit the ground with my arms extended as if still holding the reins, all my body weight landing on my upper torso and arms. I rolled onto my back as I hit knocking the wind out of me. As I lay there I tried to take stock of what hurt most, definitely couldn't breathe, but, knew that would get better in a moment, my arms hurt a little, but, since I landed as I did I figured it was the road rash, of which I had plenty all the way to my elbows on both arms. Rolled over and pushed myself to standing using my arms (this is OK I thought, nothing badly hurt), didn't take into account the adrenaline rush...
Of course, my mount had run a ways off, but, decided to run back to us (thankfully, the trail we were on is adjacent to a busy highway) I tried to get close to him and finally was able to grab a rein, as I was trying to tighten his hackamore, my left shoulder gave off this giant snap!!! Never heard anything like it in my life, and I work in surgery...Immediately got light headed and felt like throwing up, all I could do was stand and pant for a bit. My friend who happens to be an ortho pedic physician's assistant thought maybe I had dislocated my shoulder and the snap we BOTH heard was it popping back into place. Meanwhile, I was slowly realizing I had severe pain in my right arm also, so much so, I was unable to lead my unruly horse. I instead offered to lead her mare who is a good girl, and kind to lead ( no pulling, no leaning, no forging ahead) I was unable to even move my left arm by this time and could only comfortably keep my right arm at a right angle against my body, so we began the mile and a half trek back home. During the walk, we decided to get me medicated,enough to make an appointment for the next day at her clinic and get xrays then, saving me an emergency room charge ( high deductible makes for trying to keep costs down). As I trudged along, I realized how much I was hurting, I couldn't move my right arm twisting back and forth, that movement brought me to my knees. My left arm was completely unmovable without severe pain shooting up the back of it, and my ribs were aching like someone had stomped on them. My head was OK, the fall hadn't even dislodged the visor so, I figured my head hadn't actually made contact with the ground initially. I considered myself lucky, I was alive and my legs were working properly, just the rest of me was in agony. Upon reaching the farm, my friend proceeded to take care of the horses, as I tried to let myself into the house. Failing to be able to open the door, I realized there was no way I would avoid a trip to the hospital, and after that walk, I no longer cared what an emergency trip would cost me, all I wanted was some relief from the pain, /I didn't care what they did to get me that relief. i wouldn't let them cut my t-shirt off of me ( I liked that shirt...), so I endured some more agony having the ER staff remove it . After xrays, found my right proximal radial head fractured, and possibly my epicondyle of my humerus also. o fractures showed on the left shoulder, so, they doped me up big time, splinted my right arm, put a shoulder immobilizer on my left arm, and sent me home to sleep. My friend took care of me for the next hour or so, then my 11 yr old son became my caretaker. I am sure he had many trials with a doped up mom who is fiercely independent, I know for sure, I was unable to get up from the bed by myself, and unable to even go to the bathroom alone, poor kid, he got saddled with a job many grown ups don;t want to take. Monday morning brought new pain, in the form of another trip to the hospital, this time for a CT scan, the entire trip is mostly lost for me with a vague memory of xray...
Tuesday, another lost day, but, I know my friend Jen is a hero, who took time out of her clinic schedule to come out and feed me get me more doped up, then take me to her house for a shower ( which I had not had since the fall), The next day, Wed, she had a surgeon in the cities lined up for me to get my elbow fixed with. I don't recall meeting him, nor do I remember the ride into the cities, I imagine I was pretty miserable, they were unable to repair the injuries to the radial head, so, they had no choice nut to put in a prosthesis, the xray makes it look like an over sized lug nut in my elbow. I am still in a splint 2 weeks after the initial injuries, so I can't test out the stability of my new joint yet, but, from the limited reading I have done on these type of prosthesis, the outlook is good. During those 3 days I was so doped up, I made arrangements for my gelding to go back to the trainer's, and apparently accompanied him to her farm, the scary part is, I have simply no memory of it. I also blasted another good friend of mine for being unable to do my chores one evening, this also, I have no memory of, but, have since sincerely apologized, she realized it was such bizarre behavior for me that it might be the drugs affecting my behavior, thank goodness, she did not hold my drug induced behavior against me. So, now, 2 weeks from the injuries, I am making small but, significant strides toward recovery, my friends and family have been so supportive, I have enough disability payment to cover my major expenses. And people have come from near and far with kind offerings, from my friend who took my 3 geldings to her pasture, so I don't have to feed any hay, to my farrier who tried to inconspicuously drop off a monetary gift (I caught him though, and his kindness will not go unrewarded). My church has been kind enough to arrange meals so I don't have to cook, my mom came and cleaned my house, friends came and mowed my yard, my blessing have been innumerable, it could have been so much worse... hug your family, and your horses tonight, think of me, say a prayer of thanks, I did.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Mother Nature
What is it about the Great Outdoors and me not being able to keep my clothes on??? It isn't that I have the body of Britney Spears ( not even at her worst...), hell, I don't even have the body of Shelly Winters!!!! But, somehow, I end up with my clothing taking flight many times when I am outside.
My last skirmish with Mother Nature began at my bee hives ( can you see this coming??). I haven't been out and checked my hives for a couple of weeks, ( still healing from the last sting), but, today, come hell or high water I needed to get out there and put another 10 frame of deep hives for the bees on. All was going well, my son had the smoker making its beautiful thick smoke, ( he is very proud of his ability to smoke... he's 11). I had my 2 pairs of sweatpants on ( bees can't sting through 2 pairs of pants, don't ya know...), and of course my bee sting proof jacket and veil, I look incredibly attractive in this getup, let me tell you! We get to the first hive, hearing lots of buzzing, I figure all is going well within the hive. I open the hive, and low and behold, all IS well! I am carefully checking each frame to determine if the queen bee is laying ( or getting laid, they only mate once in their lifetime, I believe). and has plenty of eggs growing into busy little bees. I am in luck, although, there are plenty of dead bees on the floor of the hive, the live bees are making up for the dead ones I figure. Then, I feel it...
There is a bee crawling up my leg!!! Inside my pants!!!!! I carefully pull up my pant leg to try to release the dirty little bugger prior to it stinging me, but, I can't find it. So, I pull my pant leg down and continue on with my job. Suddenly, OUCH!!!! Damn bee was still in there right around the crease in my knee ( yup the first crease, not the second crease...) she got me. It hurts, and I am grabbing at my leg through my 2 pairs of sweatpants ( bees can't sting through 2 pairs of sweatpants ya know...), trying to pull the stinger out without actually seeing said stinger, this method doesn't work real well, as a side note.
The feels like it is still in there injecting venom into my leg by the gallon it seems. So, I did what any sane person would do in an effort to survive that bee sting.
I dropped my pants, ( luckily, I wasn't commando, isn't that a NICE mental picture...), and jumped around trying to see the back of my leg. Did I mention that today of all days, I have this crick in my neck? Doesn't allow me to move my neck much... So I am hopping and tripping, my bees are flying, my dogs are barking madly, and my wonderful son says, " Did you get stung?" I have to forgive him, he is 11, and a male ( that oblivious thing must begin at birth, or soon after...).
I didn't say what I really wanted to say, mostly because I needed him to find that stinger for me, so I could get rid of the stinging agony. But, I thought it!!!
Now, at the beginning of this beekeeping adventure, I considered parking my hives close to my house, so I could check on the bees more often. Right along the Luce Line, as a matter of fact, which of course, is right by one of the main highways coming out of the Cities, and continuing to SD.
It must have been serendipitous for me to change my mind and put them on the south end of the mares' pasture, because instead of God and everybody seeing my white prison pallor body jumping around without any pants, only my neighbors got that show... wonder if they will ever be able to speak to me with a straight face again?
My last skirmish with Mother Nature began at my bee hives ( can you see this coming??). I haven't been out and checked my hives for a couple of weeks, ( still healing from the last sting), but, today, come hell or high water I needed to get out there and put another 10 frame of deep hives for the bees on. All was going well, my son had the smoker making its beautiful thick smoke, ( he is very proud of his ability to smoke... he's 11). I had my 2 pairs of sweatpants on ( bees can't sting through 2 pairs of pants, don't ya know...), and of course my bee sting proof jacket and veil, I look incredibly attractive in this getup, let me tell you! We get to the first hive, hearing lots of buzzing, I figure all is going well within the hive. I open the hive, and low and behold, all IS well! I am carefully checking each frame to determine if the queen bee is laying ( or getting laid, they only mate once in their lifetime, I believe). and has plenty of eggs growing into busy little bees. I am in luck, although, there are plenty of dead bees on the floor of the hive, the live bees are making up for the dead ones I figure. Then, I feel it...
There is a bee crawling up my leg!!! Inside my pants!!!!! I carefully pull up my pant leg to try to release the dirty little bugger prior to it stinging me, but, I can't find it. So, I pull my pant leg down and continue on with my job. Suddenly, OUCH!!!! Damn bee was still in there right around the crease in my knee ( yup the first crease, not the second crease...) she got me. It hurts, and I am grabbing at my leg through my 2 pairs of sweatpants ( bees can't sting through 2 pairs of sweatpants ya know...), trying to pull the stinger out without actually seeing said stinger, this method doesn't work real well, as a side note.
The feels like it is still in there injecting venom into my leg by the gallon it seems. So, I did what any sane person would do in an effort to survive that bee sting.
I dropped my pants, ( luckily, I wasn't commando, isn't that a NICE mental picture...), and jumped around trying to see the back of my leg. Did I mention that today of all days, I have this crick in my neck? Doesn't allow me to move my neck much... So I am hopping and tripping, my bees are flying, my dogs are barking madly, and my wonderful son says, " Did you get stung?" I have to forgive him, he is 11, and a male ( that oblivious thing must begin at birth, or soon after...).
I didn't say what I really wanted to say, mostly because I needed him to find that stinger for me, so I could get rid of the stinging agony. But, I thought it!!!
Now, at the beginning of this beekeeping adventure, I considered parking my hives close to my house, so I could check on the bees more often. Right along the Luce Line, as a matter of fact, which of course, is right by one of the main highways coming out of the Cities, and continuing to SD.
It must have been serendipitous for me to change my mind and put them on the south end of the mares' pasture, because instead of God and everybody seeing my white prison pallor body jumping around without any pants, only my neighbors got that show... wonder if they will ever be able to speak to me with a straight face again?
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Most embarrassing moments
I hope we can find some chuckles in our own most embarrassing moments. Here goes; I have an 18 yr old Arabian gelding who is Houdini reincarnated, he can escape any fence if there is no electricity on it, ( and he sniffs the electric fences to see if they are hot). One day, I had unplugged the fence charger to work on the fence, well, no sooner do I go to plug it back in again and the big goof ball went under the fence ( of course, he took a buddy with him), they decided to eat grass on the lawn, so I headed over to put them back in, thought nothing of it. But, they had other ideas... went galavanting down the Luce Line Trail at a gallop with me in hot pursuit ( for all of 100 feet) I decided I needed to call for reinforcements, and went into the house to call friends to help,( I watched them heading south a mile away). Ran out to my Jeep with a halter, lead rope and a bucket of grain ( bribery always works, so I thought) Got up to them in an alfalfa field with the grain, but, they wouldn't come close to me with a halter or lead in my hand, headed further south up the field. I jumped into my vehicle and followed by the road, tried it again without the halter and lead. Caught the bugger, but, then what to do? Took off my shirt and put that around his neck and led him without incident to my Jeep, Got a halter on him and was proceeding to put on my shirt when I get this feeling.... yup, a highway patrol right behind me. He gets out of his vehicle and asks if I need help, that he got a call from someone on the highway that it looked like I was in trouble ( which I was, grew about 60 gray hairs that minute), finish putting on my shirt, want to crawl into a hole and nonchalantly say, " no, I have these boys in hand now..." Worst part is, I wasn't wearing a bra that day!!!!!! Had to be the most embarrassing moment (so far) of my horsey life!
funny Minnesota cold stories
This is a true story, no embellishments:
Jan 31 2007, 02:28 PM
I too, am tired of winter, but, I think it isn't over yet! I am on my 3rd hose this week!! I busted 2 ( yes, 2 count em!) hoses on Monday evening and Tues morning. I broke my favorite hose Mon night, ( I always blow my hoses clear to prevent them from freezing up on me, apparently, there wasn't enough air in me the last time I blew the hose out...NOT!), it snapped right in half like nothing. So, I got out the cloth hose thinking I put it away dry last fall it should be clear and off we go... well, the thought was good, the actual experience wasn't, the hose was frozen, ( apparently it WASN'T dried out this fall, and so I brought the hose into the house to thaw it out and try again in the morning. Morning arrives, ( much too quickly, I might add,) I am late getting going so I am, of course, hurrying through morning feeding, but, I have the hose unfrozen, I take it outside, and attempt to hook it up to the hydrant, ( in the dark, no lights, no barn you get the picture?) damn thing won't screw on, the hydrant threads have ice on them, I use my bare hand to unfreeze the threads ( minus 12 degrees mind you, but, my glove was frozen to the hydrant handle anyway), then finally the hose screws on! Success!!! I quickly throw up the handle on the hydrant ( my fingers are freezing you know and I want to get my glove on), and whooosh!!! Yep, the hose explodes, into my face!! * note to self,... cloth hoses are not designed for Minnesota winters! I have ice cold hydrant water, straight from the well, in minus 12 weather pouring into my face, my hair, down my coat, you name it I am getting wet. Now, I am thinking I am in shock cuz I must have stood there bent over taking on this water onslaught for what seemed like hours before it occured to me to shut the damn thing off!!! I can't see any longer cuz water has pooled in my glasses, I can't breathe cuz water has entered those orifices that were over the hydrant ( nose and mouth). Normally, I don't say much in the morning cuz I am usually tired and not awake yet,and the horses are used to this, but, for some reason, cuss words started spewing from my mouth, and my horses were curiously and warily looking at me wondering I am sure which one of them was the recipient of my loud and profane language! Did you know that ice globs form on glasses with water on them in a matter of seconds? I can't see, can't walk, ( my pants have frozen stiff almost immediately, my jacket and hood feel permanently attached to my hair and neck, even my eyebrows are frozen together!! ( now that is a funny feeling!) But, trooper that I am I continue to stuggle with getting water to the boys, and feeding the mares, they continue to eye the strange woman among them who used to be their pet, but now resembles an abominable something... I just wish I had video of it, cuz now, it strikes me as funny, even if it wasn't then, I did make it in time for work, I didn't lose much hair peeling it from my hood ( the bald spot will grow back I am sure...) AND I went out and bought an expensive hose this time! (OK, all of $7.40!), I am set for the rest of winter now!! I mean how much worse can it get than that? No WAIT, don't answer that!!!
Jan 31 2007, 02:28 PM
I too, am tired of winter, but, I think it isn't over yet! I am on my 3rd hose this week!! I busted 2 ( yes, 2 count em!) hoses on Monday evening and Tues morning. I broke my favorite hose Mon night, ( I always blow my hoses clear to prevent them from freezing up on me, apparently, there wasn't enough air in me the last time I blew the hose out...NOT!), it snapped right in half like nothing. So, I got out the cloth hose thinking I put it away dry last fall it should be clear and off we go... well, the thought was good, the actual experience wasn't, the hose was frozen, ( apparently it WASN'T dried out this fall, and so I brought the hose into the house to thaw it out and try again in the morning. Morning arrives, ( much too quickly, I might add,) I am late getting going so I am, of course, hurrying through morning feeding, but, I have the hose unfrozen, I take it outside, and attempt to hook it up to the hydrant, ( in the dark, no lights, no barn you get the picture?) damn thing won't screw on, the hydrant threads have ice on them, I use my bare hand to unfreeze the threads ( minus 12 degrees mind you, but, my glove was frozen to the hydrant handle anyway), then finally the hose screws on! Success!!! I quickly throw up the handle on the hydrant ( my fingers are freezing you know and I want to get my glove on), and whooosh!!! Yep, the hose explodes, into my face!! * note to self,... cloth hoses are not designed for Minnesota winters! I have ice cold hydrant water, straight from the well, in minus 12 weather pouring into my face, my hair, down my coat, you name it I am getting wet. Now, I am thinking I am in shock cuz I must have stood there bent over taking on this water onslaught for what seemed like hours before it occured to me to shut the damn thing off!!! I can't see any longer cuz water has pooled in my glasses, I can't breathe cuz water has entered those orifices that were over the hydrant ( nose and mouth). Normally, I don't say much in the morning cuz I am usually tired and not awake yet,and the horses are used to this, but, for some reason, cuss words started spewing from my mouth, and my horses were curiously and warily looking at me wondering I am sure which one of them was the recipient of my loud and profane language! Did you know that ice globs form on glasses with water on them in a matter of seconds? I can't see, can't walk, ( my pants have frozen stiff almost immediately, my jacket and hood feel permanently attached to my hair and neck, even my eyebrows are frozen together!! ( now that is a funny feeling!) But, trooper that I am I continue to stuggle with getting water to the boys, and feeding the mares, they continue to eye the strange woman among them who used to be their pet, but now resembles an abominable something... I just wish I had video of it, cuz now, it strikes me as funny, even if it wasn't then, I did make it in time for work, I didn't lose much hair peeling it from my hood ( the bald spot will grow back I am sure...) AND I went out and bought an expensive hose this time! (OK, all of $7.40!), I am set for the rest of winter now!! I mean how much worse can it get than that? No WAIT, don't answer that!!!
beekeeping chronicles
I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, to keep on here the stories I have written on various usuer forums. These are amusing stories, intended to make one laugh, but, there is more than a vein of truth in all of them, for the most part they are actual events in my life, ( just a couple of embellishments). Here goes:
While I am at it, I might just amuse or terrify you with my recollection of my first experience tonight hiving my bees. Now, I have been reading about this ( consider, "Beekeeping for Dummies"... my first book, go figure), since last summer, and finally found a gal just down the road who is willing to mentor me ( so to speak) in the joys of beekeeping ( another book I read by the way.). So, I go to pick up my packages of bees tonight and get a hypothetical crash course on how to get my bees out of their package. First, if you haven't seen a package of bees, it is a large wooden box, screen covered and filled with about (2 lb pkg) 2000 bees. There is also a small cage inside the package, containing the queen, get to that later... So, I load these pkgs of bees into my SUV ( yup, live bees and me inside an SUV, not a good combination, I am thinking as I am driving quickly but, cautiously down the road, you now how the imagination gets....and I see some of those bees are NOT contained INSIDE the package), and head for home, confident I have done all I can prior to actually doing the job. Now, the first thing required when you are placing your pkg of bees into their hive is a spray bottle of sugar water, you soak them down so they don't fly very well, and can eat all the sugar water they like as they are getting into their new home. So, I have my spray bottle of sugar water all set and everything is ready to go, it is getting on towards dusk so I need to get this moving. First pkg I am getting ready to hive and so I am about to spray the heck out of them with sugar water, ( that buzzing of 2000 bees in your hand is quite intimidating! Not to mention the vibration!). My 11 yr old son is standing off a ways just in case I need someone to help ( like dial 911...). Pick up the brand new spray bottle ( have you seen it yet?) and start pumping like crazy, .... nothing, adjust spray, still nothing take it apart hmmmm, still nothing. I of course, in my excitement DID NOT check the spray bottle to see if it was working prior to leaving the house! So, all I have for soaking my bees is my mason jar of sugar water for feeding them ( perforated top turned upside down), so, I proceed to douse the bees with the mason jar sugar water, which of course douses me, my gloves, my shirt sleeves with sugar water ( think bees at a picnic... LUNCH!!!) Determined to finish this job even if it kills me, I do what I am supposed to... BTW, did I mention HOW you get bees out of a package? Yup, you guessed it, you knock that box on the ground at a corner to loosen the bees from the screen, and then, you shake them out into the hive!!! Yes, you do this! Knowingly!!! Insane? You bet!! Imagine 2000 pissed off bees falling out of a box.... Yup, it was terrifying, but, you know, that first package went so well, even without my water bottle, I didn't get stung, and I got the queen out without any issues. Whew, this is easy, breathe a sigh of relief, my son moves a little closer... So, on to the second pkg, for some reason these bees seemed a little testier than the first pkg. But, I repeated the cycle of dumping a little sugar water on them ( I don't think I used enough this time), took the can out to free the bees, and explosion!!!!! Bout 1000 of those hummers came out with a vengeance! Luckily, they mostly went into the hive, but, somehow, one got into my boot, I could feel it crawling knew I was gonna get stung and there was simply nothing I could do about it (that is a sucky feeling), and zammo~ got nailed, I could still feel it crawling about inside my boot, but, the damage was done, so I left it, I still had about half the bees to get out of my package, and these were the crabby bees... so, what do I do? Yup, just what I am supposed to, I slam the box on the ground again, and then shake those pissed off bees into the hive, did I mention, the queen? well, this queen was still in her cage, and I broke the metal hanger off trying to get the cage out, so now, I have to reach my hand into 1000 pissed off bees to retrieve the queen cage, I am sweaty and more then a bit nervous, my sugar water gloves are quite a treat for those bees, and my entire hand is covered with bees, can't get a hold of the queen cage, too many bees ( those bees completely surround the queen, that is their job...) So, I do the only thing I can, I shake the queen cage down into the hive... now, I have to reach my hand into the hive to retrieve that darn queen. Bees buzzing all around me, my son is holding our Doxie, she thinks the bees are food and is trying to eat them, one of our new Shelties is determined to help eat the pollen patties, he isn't afraid of bees apparently, and I still don't have the package empty yet... My leg is stinging, I am covered with bees and sticky ( thank heavens for the veil!), and I have to get the queen into the hive without killing her! My luck holds, I release the queen close up the hive, and move away breathing a sigh of relief, of course, my son tells me, " Mom, you are covered with bees..." so now what? How do I convince these bees, I am not food, I just taste like it, and get them to stay in their nice brand spanking new hive? I know! Let's take a branch and sweep the bees off! Did I mention that my son is 11? His idea of sweeping with a branch and my idea are apparently 2 different things... First off, the branch I had in mind was smaller than a 10 foot log,... and I was thinking gentle motions... hmmmmm the first motion nearly knocked me off my feet, so after a short discussion regarding how to "gently" remove bees, things went much better. We are steadily moving away from the hives and crossing the pasture now, the mares of course all canter over, ( they can smell sugar a mile away), wondering if there is anything for them to eat... Get up to the house, and low and behold, I STILL have bees on me ( so much for gentle)! So, I am definitely not entering my domain with bees attached, so I consider one of several options, first I could strip outside, ( heck, remember my loose horse episode? No one would be surprised if I were outside sans clothes anyway...). Second, I could try to remove bees myself ( loose fitting sweater not a good idea for bee homing anyway. I went with the second idea... Still have bee in my boot moving around and stinger is still there pumping venom into my leg all this time, so next thing is to remove stinger, I of course can't reach it so my son has to come to my rescue once again ( remember the 10 ft branch?). He carefully removes stinger ( yes, he was very kind and careful, must have remembered we hadn't had supper yet...). Then I research bee sting remedies, ( note to self, before working with bees, have in mind WHICH remedy you know will work). Decide on the toothpaste remedy ( which isn't bad BTW), since my son has to apply said remedy and I didn't think he was too keen on the baking soda paste one... too close to food, and too close to supper. But, after a hot shower and a couple of hours, the stinging was gone and I am ready to enjoy my bees!!
While I am at it, I might just amuse or terrify you with my recollection of my first experience tonight hiving my bees. Now, I have been reading about this ( consider, "Beekeeping for Dummies"... my first book, go figure), since last summer, and finally found a gal just down the road who is willing to mentor me ( so to speak) in the joys of beekeeping ( another book I read by the way.). So, I go to pick up my packages of bees tonight and get a hypothetical crash course on how to get my bees out of their package. First, if you haven't seen a package of bees, it is a large wooden box, screen covered and filled with about (2 lb pkg) 2000 bees. There is also a small cage inside the package, containing the queen, get to that later... So, I load these pkgs of bees into my SUV ( yup, live bees and me inside an SUV, not a good combination, I am thinking as I am driving quickly but, cautiously down the road, you now how the imagination gets....and I see some of those bees are NOT contained INSIDE the package), and head for home, confident I have done all I can prior to actually doing the job. Now, the first thing required when you are placing your pkg of bees into their hive is a spray bottle of sugar water, you soak them down so they don't fly very well, and can eat all the sugar water they like as they are getting into their new home. So, I have my spray bottle of sugar water all set and everything is ready to go, it is getting on towards dusk so I need to get this moving. First pkg I am getting ready to hive and so I am about to spray the heck out of them with sugar water, ( that buzzing of 2000 bees in your hand is quite intimidating! Not to mention the vibration!). My 11 yr old son is standing off a ways just in case I need someone to help ( like dial 911...). Pick up the brand new spray bottle ( have you seen it yet?) and start pumping like crazy, .... nothing, adjust spray, still nothing take it apart hmmmm, still nothing. I of course, in my excitement DID NOT check the spray bottle to see if it was working prior to leaving the house! So, all I have for soaking my bees is my mason jar of sugar water for feeding them ( perforated top turned upside down), so, I proceed to douse the bees with the mason jar sugar water, which of course douses me, my gloves, my shirt sleeves with sugar water ( think bees at a picnic... LUNCH!!!) Determined to finish this job even if it kills me, I do what I am supposed to... BTW, did I mention HOW you get bees out of a package? Yup, you guessed it, you knock that box on the ground at a corner to loosen the bees from the screen, and then, you shake them out into the hive!!! Yes, you do this! Knowingly!!! Insane? You bet!! Imagine 2000 pissed off bees falling out of a box.... Yup, it was terrifying, but, you know, that first package went so well, even without my water bottle, I didn't get stung, and I got the queen out without any issues. Whew, this is easy, breathe a sigh of relief, my son moves a little closer... So, on to the second pkg, for some reason these bees seemed a little testier than the first pkg. But, I repeated the cycle of dumping a little sugar water on them ( I don't think I used enough this time), took the can out to free the bees, and explosion!!!!! Bout 1000 of those hummers came out with a vengeance! Luckily, they mostly went into the hive, but, somehow, one got into my boot, I could feel it crawling knew I was gonna get stung and there was simply nothing I could do about it (that is a sucky feeling), and zammo~ got nailed, I could still feel it crawling about inside my boot, but, the damage was done, so I left it, I still had about half the bees to get out of my package, and these were the crabby bees... so, what do I do? Yup, just what I am supposed to, I slam the box on the ground again, and then shake those pissed off bees into the hive, did I mention, the queen? well, this queen was still in her cage, and I broke the metal hanger off trying to get the cage out, so now, I have to reach my hand into 1000 pissed off bees to retrieve the queen cage, I am sweaty and more then a bit nervous, my sugar water gloves are quite a treat for those bees, and my entire hand is covered with bees, can't get a hold of the queen cage, too many bees ( those bees completely surround the queen, that is their job...) So, I do the only thing I can, I shake the queen cage down into the hive... now, I have to reach my hand into the hive to retrieve that darn queen. Bees buzzing all around me, my son is holding our Doxie, she thinks the bees are food and is trying to eat them, one of our new Shelties is determined to help eat the pollen patties, he isn't afraid of bees apparently, and I still don't have the package empty yet... My leg is stinging, I am covered with bees and sticky ( thank heavens for the veil!), and I have to get the queen into the hive without killing her! My luck holds, I release the queen close up the hive, and move away breathing a sigh of relief, of course, my son tells me, " Mom, you are covered with bees..." so now what? How do I convince these bees, I am not food, I just taste like it, and get them to stay in their nice brand spanking new hive? I know! Let's take a branch and sweep the bees off! Did I mention that my son is 11? His idea of sweeping with a branch and my idea are apparently 2 different things... First off, the branch I had in mind was smaller than a 10 foot log,... and I was thinking gentle motions... hmmmmm the first motion nearly knocked me off my feet, so after a short discussion regarding how to "gently" remove bees, things went much better. We are steadily moving away from the hives and crossing the pasture now, the mares of course all canter over, ( they can smell sugar a mile away), wondering if there is anything for them to eat... Get up to the house, and low and behold, I STILL have bees on me ( so much for gentle)! So, I am definitely not entering my domain with bees attached, so I consider one of several options, first I could strip outside, ( heck, remember my loose horse episode? No one would be surprised if I were outside sans clothes anyway...). Second, I could try to remove bees myself ( loose fitting sweater not a good idea for bee homing anyway. I went with the second idea... Still have bee in my boot moving around and stinger is still there pumping venom into my leg all this time, so next thing is to remove stinger, I of course can't reach it so my son has to come to my rescue once again ( remember the 10 ft branch?). He carefully removes stinger ( yes, he was very kind and careful, must have remembered we hadn't had supper yet...). Then I research bee sting remedies, ( note to self, before working with bees, have in mind WHICH remedy you know will work). Decide on the toothpaste remedy ( which isn't bad BTW), since my son has to apply said remedy and I didn't think he was too keen on the baking soda paste one... too close to food, and too close to supper. But, after a hot shower and a couple of hours, the stinging was gone and I am ready to enjoy my bees!!
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