GeorgeLesley

So good to hear of your new lease on life. I recall how angry I was when I stroked and thought my life was over. Since I have recovered a bit now, I enjoy everyday for what it is - a new day to enjoy! Best wishes.

Well it has been awhile since I posted. Life has been extremely busy. The quick story is that we (Lesley and I) are selling our house and moving to Tennessee. We have been contemplating it for some time, but I was not ready to give up my fishing here in summer just yet. We have been cutting our fall RV trip short because of the need to get back here (Northern MN) before winter sets in. All the winter activities that drew us here in the first place 10 years ago we no longer do. Living in such a remote area (125 miles to nearest Walmart!) gets tougher every year. It finally dawned on us that having a house here when we really only look forward to the short summer just doesn't make sense any longer. So when Lesley said she would drive our truck up here and we can stay in our RV for the summer and I can fish to my hearts content, I knew we were moving. Why Tennessee? We spent 9 months in North Eastern TN when Lesley was a travel nurse. We really liked it. The climate is very moderate, not too hot in summer and just enough winter to have 4 seasons. So in early Dec we advertised our house ourselves and got a contract on it three weeks later. Closing is scheduled for Jan 23, 2015 and we intend to be heading south later that day weather permitting. Since it became known we are leaving but coming back for the summers, at last count 4 people have offered us a place to park our motorhome and not stay in the city campground. Others have volunteered to store our moose meat and venison. Another is storing our Alfa Romeo sports car and has offered to drive it to Tennessee once we get settled there, others are storing our canoes so we do not have to drag them all the way from TN to MN. People are sure kind. So off we go. Lesley and I have been as busy as any two beavers could be the past month. Selling stuff, making plans, etc, etc. Lesley has finally gotten over her bout of pancreatitis and is well now, but it really shook her up realizing that she is not immortal after all. Well that is our short story, health wise I am doing fine, just the usual stuff that comes with being a stroke survivor and a senior citizen. My coffee cup is empty......

Lesley, the dogs, and I just finished a 7,600 mile six week trip in our RV. We started here in MN, then went to ND, SD, WY, MT, ID and then back to MN. we spent the most time in Idaho and absolutely loved it. We started at the north end near Bonners Ferry and just zig zagged down to the southern part. 4 of the 6 weeks of the trip were spent in Idaho. We travelled every paved highway into the mountains and along every river to it's or the roads end. We saw a rodeo in Boise and more fresh fruit locally grown than you can imagine just north of Boise. How about apples and pears growing alongside the road, just pick them up. Strawberries, plums, cherries, peaches, blueberries, and huckleberries all for sale at great prices. We just pigged out. Lesley also spotted some fresh picked onions falling from a farm produce truck and we still have a few left. Sweet and delicious. Before we got to Idaho we went thru ND and stayed at Teddy Roosevelt National Park, both North & South units. Lesley was driving in the south unit when as we came around a curve there was a large herd of buffalo, mommys daddies and kids walking right toward us on the road. She asked me what should she do. I told her to stop the vehicle, put it in park, turn off the engine and enjoy the moment. She did. We also saw the Black Hills of SD in detail, Devils Tower WY and more buffalo there, Custer's last stand memorial in MT, Glacier Nat Park, and more than I can remember in ID. We will be going back to ID and next time I will take my fishing stuff. Trout streams everywhere. We parked for the nite on the top of a pass that was the border between MT and ID. Amazingly clear sky, nobody in sight. Lesley was able to get just enough internet with our portable antenna to call her mum in New Zealand. I set up the portable satellite for the TV. Life is good. On the trip we got 19MPG (diesel), our camping costs averaged $10 a night for the trip, and somehow the Visa we put all our expenses on at home or traveling was under what we budget for it normally when just at home. So the trip did not cost us anything more than we usually spend at home. I guess we spent less at Walmart since we were traveling. Still amazing to me, but that has now happened the last two long fall trips we have taken. I think Lesley's kitchen abilities had something to do with it. Now back home and reality sets in. Seems like everything that can break or need attention has done so since we got back. Lesley spent a few more days in the hosp for abdominal pain again. She had pancreatis in the summer. We feared it had returned but fortunately not so. After many, many tests, the diagnosis is inflamation of the bowels and pancreatic duct. It is getting better slowly but surely. Lets see what else has broken or needed fixing. The door on the deck. The ATV which is my primary snow clearing machine for our 1,000 ft driveway has been recalled with a warning not to drive it until it is fixed. I called the nearest dealer, which is in Duluth over 120 miles away and I have to get it there somehow, and the parts are on backorder until mid November. Great. How am I going to clear the drive if it snows? Snowblower I guess. The door opener on the new garage for the motorhome does not work, second time now and less than year old. I did get that fixed. Climbing up a ladder and being 14ft high over a concrete floor was not alot of fun. The siding on the lower part of the house had to be reinstalled. I just got that done. A squirrel got into the lean to where I store the ATV and tore up the insulation and made a general mess inside. Did I mention the kitchen range quit (now fixed)? Etc, etc,...... All of this and of course my spasisity flared up, not sleeping at night very well, leg twiches again and some other stuff..... Anyway, I woke up breathing this morning, the sun came up in the East on schedule, the bills are paid, and the coffee is ready and my cup is empty so you know what that means.

Just have time for a quick update. Summer is flying by as always up here. June was a blur as several cousins, etc came to FISH. The pressure was on to guide them to good fishing. I worried about all the usual things like will the weather allow it, will the bugs eat them alive, etc, etc. In the end it all went well, all caught fish including the 9 yr old boy. Both canoes in use stayed upright and dry, another worry of mine. The 4th of July weekend we went to visit some friends in Wisconsin and entered our Alfa in a classic car show with 400 other cars. My friend and I had the only Alfa's in the show. Lesley walked 4 miles with a friend for some charity and had lots of fun as well. Now some not so good news, Lesley recently spent 4 days in hospital with pancreatis. She is recovering but slowly. She also has some kind of yeast growing in her throat and esophagus. Not fun, but finally clearing. Now I am getting ready to go with a friend for 6 days into the wilderness canoeing and backpacking/tent camping. And fishing of course. After that Lesley and I are camping in our motorhome with some friends for several days. After that, we will be off in the motorhome for 2 months or so traveling out west in Montana, Idaho, and wherever else the road leads. Whew! Just writing all of that tuckered me out! Medically all is well, just finished another trip around the sun and still breathing, the sun rose in the East today, and life is good. My coffee cup is empty....

We have been so busy I just have not had time to even think about blogging, But here goes. First the frustration of trying to post a new gallery here. I have some pics I would like to post of our Alfa but could only get one to add to an existing album. So you may have to look at previously posted pics as well. I cannot make a new gallery, and I just don't have the time or mental energy to fight it now. I have never been able to easily add photo's here and I just do not know why. When I try to follow the steps in the help section I am told I do not have permission to do so. Excuse me, I give up! Enough of the rant. This summer has been crazy busy with company, guess that is what we get for living in a resort area. We did get our 1991 Alfa Romeo convertible, maybe the pic posted, maybe not...... Company has been coming all summer so far all wanting to fish. 6 relatives came a week ago. Having 3 generations, grandpa, son, and grandson in one canoe with me solo in another watching was stressful to say the least The good news is that all stayed dry and safe, and all caught fish. This past weekend more company, I had to stay home, I was just exhausted and being in a canoe did not seem like a good idea. Nearly all the projects I spoke of this spring have been completed. The few that remain will wait for another day. The biggest one, the wainscoating paneling of the upstairs has been done. The only regret is that we should have done it long ago. Lesley went to a old historic town on the Mississippi river last week with a girlfriend and had a ball for three days. Her husband and I shared some "guy" time here holding things together. Looks like the tent camping trip planned with a buddy in August will not happen.He had back and toe surgery recently and will not be up to the trip. To tell the truth I don't mind. A break in the action is OK with me. Later this week we are going to take our Alfa to a car show in Wisconsin and show it along with some friends who have one as well. Lesley is also doing a 4 mile walk with the lady for charity. I passed on that! I am noticing that age is creeping up on me and the afflictions of such and those the stroke added are becoming a bit more noticable. I will not bore you with the list, lets just say that at 69 the list is getting longer. Plus I have been fighting nasal conjestion and a sore throat now for about a week, so not in the best mood as of late. I also notice the issue that Sue mentioned of others wanting you to do things for them and their organizations is appearing. I don't want to do anymore than I am at the moment. These people don't seem to understand that just because I maybe could do something does not mean I WANT to. Anyway, enough of this gouchy blog, The sun rose in the East this morning and I am still breathing so life is good! George

You go girl!!

The last blog entry I shared my dreams and fanticies. Now reality has set in. Lesley and I spent two days shoveling 3-4 ft of snow off our roof. The forecast of and additional 1-2 ft of heavy, wet snow sparked us into action. The snow we shoveled off the garage then had to be reshoveled from the door, or our car would have been trapped until spring whenever that may come. Our roof is about 2300 sq ft. I doubt we will do that again! We did save about $500 by doing it ourselves vs hiring it out. Not sure the four days it took to recover (think aches, pains, sore muscles, etc), made the money saved worth it. We then spent a third day after shoveling the roof plowing the driveway and shoveling out the satellite dish and the air inlet/outlet pipes to the furnace. Now we are busy getting some remodeling done that we have talked about for several years. New carpet was installed a few days ago. Wow, what an improvement. Of course everything had to be moved, all wires disconnected, etc. We did pay the carpet layers to move the heavy stuff, but I had to do all the wires to the tv's, stereo, etc. This time I did get a little smarter and labeled all wires as to where they hooked up to. It did make rehooking everything easier. We left the furniture away from the walls because I am going to install wainscoating along all the walls in the house except the laundry and bathrooms. It is wood paneling about 30" high and should look very nice. This time I got smart again, and am having the wood prefinished and cut to the exact length I need. The small cost increase was well worth it since I dislike and am not very good at sanding and finishing wood. That part is what has kept me from doing this project long ago, but now that I found a place in Duluth that cuts to any length and prefinishes it, I am happy to do the rest. Did I mention that next week we are having a new bed delivered? Our present one is old and very lumpy, so out it goes. The new one also has the neat feature of raising the head area of the mattress to any angle desired. Now when Lesley serves me breakfast in bed I will be able to eat it in comfort! lol. I suspect she will enjoy the same convenience. Some new shelving is also in the near future for a storage area in the basement. When we are not clearing snow here in winter all these other projects get done. Lesley has just found some wooden stakes from oak barrels that are made into hanging pot racks. So, when they come in I will be mounting them over the kitchen window along with the new light fixture she just ordered for the sink area of the kitchen. Fortunately, the pot racks are also cut to length and finished as well. I can't wait for spring so I can rest. But wait! I forgot the list of modifications to the motorhome that are to be done, not to mention all the things that will be hung on the walls and be stored in the new garage the motorhome rests in, all of which need shelves, racks, hooks, etc. Then we go to Milwaukee, WI to pick up our Alfa Romeo in May although I just found another one here in MN also for sale. We will look at both when they are out of winter storage, buy one, and then hopefully can find time to play with it along with driving the motorhome a few places. We also have at least two tent camping trips planned into the wilderness with our canoe. Fishing, I almost forgot I MUST get in some fishing this summer, and we have three relatives coming from the South in June wanting to catch lots of fish. Lesley is already planning her garden, and trips with a girlfriend in the motorhome and new (to us) Alfa. I can't wait until next winter so maybe I can get some rest and attack the pile of books I have partially finished. The good news is that my coffe cup is empty and I don't have much else to do today......

Sue, sound like what Lesley did this past trip to NZ. Her mum's house had an attic full of "stuff" that is now gone. With mum being 91 and starting to show her age for the first time in her life, it seemed to be the thing to do.

Debbie, I know what you mean about winter. Lesley and spent two days last week shoveling the snow off our roof, about 2300 sq ft. The snow was 3-4 ft think. It took me 4 days to recover, but we saved $500 doing it ourselves. Tomorrow nite we are expecting -30 below, and have not been above +10 for weeks now and have 130+ inches of snow so far this winter and it is snowing now.....

Sandy, I guess I would ask why did the washer overflow? Was it because of a burst hose? If so I would put on the water shut off valves that shut off the water to the hoses when not in use. Any plumber can do it easily. Put high quality hoses on the washer, dishwasher, toilets. Check them every year or have a plumber do it. Secondly, we NEVER leave the house with any water being used ie washer or dishwasher or even flushing a toilet and leaving before it refills. That way we will likely see water leaking before it becomes a huge problem. I guess my point is be proactive about fixing leaks before they happen, not planning for cleaning up things afterwords.

Fred, glad to hear the bad stuff is gone. With all the good in you, I knew there was not much room for the bad to stay long!

Tina, as a seven year stroke survivor I can tell you if you keep working at it, improvements do not stop coming. Many medical types will tell you after a few years improvement stops. Not so. However, you must keep working at it. Good luck and glad you are here!

Even the momma eagle eventually pushes the baby eagle out of the nest. The chick eagle then flies or dies. Hard lesson but usually works.

Musings, what if's, wondering what could have been, woulda, coulda, shoulda, maybe taking the other fork in the road...... WARNING, I have not a clue exactly where this is going, but here goes. Put on your helmet and goggles. A few nights ago Lesley and I went to a local concert put on by local musicians doing much of their own written music. Then the same feeling came on me that usually does at such events. I hate to say it but at such times I confess to having a touch of envy watching musicians play with such freedom and reckless abandon. I have always wished I could do the same, they just seem to so enjoy themselves. I have zero musical talent. I am such a logical thinker, meticulous doing of anything, planner, etc, etc. Those traits kept me from ever becoming a really good golfer or bowler. I just think things through too much to be successful in such pursuits. Now set up a pool table or a chess board and I can play ok. Do not misunderstand, I am happy with myself just as imperfect as I am. I can't think of anyone I would trade places with. BUT just once I would like to be able to get together with some like minded folks pick up an instrument, any instrument, and jam the night away. To experience the free, eclectic run of the spirit with no planning thoughts, or concern about logical results, well, that might just be fun sometime. So, Lesley being the one who wants to fix anything that needs fixing is suggesting I get an old guitar or some other string instrument since that is probably all this left (stroke) hand could do at all. She plays a dulcimer at the beginner level from time to time and now has dreams of the two of us jamming. A different subject but along same line of thought, in my 10 years in Europe, including 4 in Italy I worked on and drove many Italian sports cars. Fiats, Alfa Romeo's Mazerati's, Ferraris, and a few others. Lesley has been after me for several years for us to get an older Fiat or Alfa convertible. A toy if you will. Where we live it would only be something to drive from May to September, but we ain't gettin' any younger. So in May we are buying a 25 year old Alfa Romeo convertible with a five speed manual shifter. Lesley already has dreams of her hair flying in the wind like Gina Lolla Brigida or somebody like that. Me, I am looking at the logic in doing this but find none. You know what? It doesn't matter, logical or not I think we are going to do it. This time I'm going to take the other fork in the road, the one less traveled. Maybe a guitar is in my future. You may now take your helmet and goggles off.

Cool man! Thanks for the update.

Good news Fred. It is hard to get back to exercising, but stick with it. You are and will continue to get better.

Well it has been a real 1950's style winter here in Northern MN. We have had 93" so far this season. Did I mention the cold? A few weeks ago the local airport, which is just a few miles from us measured -61 below 0 wind chill. The actual air temp was -31. I measured -30 the same day. The dogs go out and do what they have to very fast! No sniffing everything like they usually do! I have never plowed so much snow as I have this year. Seems like that is mostly what I have been doing. A few weeks ago a neighbor called me and asked if I could clear his driveway for him since he was in bed sick with pneumonia. Well as luck would have it, my ATV that I plow with was broken. I told him sure, I would be over in a bit with my snowblower. So I fired it up and guess what, it would not throw snow! So I walked over to his house and used his snowblower. His wife tried to pay me but I reminded her how her husband cleared our driveway a few weeks after I had just got out of rehab after my stroke seven years ago. I told her what goes around comes around. The good news is that both pieces of equipment are now working again, just in time for the snow we got a few days ago. Lesley is in New Zealand again so the dogs and I are batching it for six weeks. She had planned her annual trip for the spring, but after listening to mum during their daily talks (thanks skype!), she said to me that she thinks this might be mum's last Christmas. She wondered if she should go now. Mum is 91 and still drives a little and lives alone. I told her to go. If she is right and did not go, she would regret it the rest of her life. If she went now and it turns out to not be mum's last Christmas, no harm done. A win win situation. We did go snowshoeing the day before she left. I gave up cross country skiing after my stroke because of balance issues, but I can still snowshoe and enjoy it. I have really had a hard time forcing myself to exercise lately. I did lay off last fall as we traveled around the country in our motor home. When we got home the holidays gave me another excuse to not exercise. But then January came, no more excuses. So I am back to doing it on schedule. The good news is that I really did not lose much during the several months layoff. I should have it all back within a month or so. As long as I can carry my canoe, all is well. In fact Lesley asked me just the other day "what will we do when we get too old to do all this stuff?" I told her we will deal with it just like everybody else does when the time comes. Either pay someone to do it for us or move to a less severe climate. I am 68 and she is 63. My afib has been acting up again, so I am wearing a heart monitor for a month. It tends to go crazy when I exercise, but it does not impede me. I will have a consult with the cardio doc after this month to see what is the next step. It is apparently not unusual for meds to be changed as one ages, and it does not keep me from doing anything at the moment. We did get a new garage built for the motor home just in time for the winter. Wow, is it nice for it to be covered and safe from all this snow. The building is not heated, but it is tight and totally protects the motor home. Our travel plans this year are fluid at the moment. We will likely only do short trips in the upper mid west this spring. Summers we spend here because they are so short. In the fall, we are thinking of New England and maybe even the Canadian Maritimes. Mum's situation in New Zealand may change those plans. Well, the exercise equipment is waiting, and more importantly, my coffee cup is empty......

Yea man bring it on!! Actually I am more addicted to the college game on Thursday's and Saturdays. Don't get me wrong Fred, I also watch a lot of the NFL as well. Sep 7 we are getting in our new RV and hitting the road for about 6 weeks. I told Lesley 6 days a week we can travel, but on Saturdays and some Sundays, We will be stopped! I have already got the Dish Network portable satellite system installed and checked out. I will not miss my football! OK Fred, who you pickin'?

As one who loves the woods I can say any day in the woods is better than a day anywhere else. Congratulations!

On my last entry I told of a man who had gone missing while picking blueberries. His body has been found. It was about a mile from his truck. He apparently fell down a rocky slope and died. Don't know if a medical reason caused his fall or he just slipped. The autopsy should reveal the facts. The area he was found in had already been searched three times. The spot is so difficult to get to that when the people that found him tried to lead the sheriff back to the spot they had trouble finding it. After the body was removed, his family mostly in their 70/80's themselves picked blueberries to relieve the stress of the moment and bring it to closure.

Sandy, that area does not have cell phone service nor do we. So most of us, including us, do not have cell phones. Come on up sometime and I'll show you how remote we are!

Actually they had one searching the first day. The brush in the area is so dense a helicopter is useless. The heat sensor only works for a short time. Lesley said you cannot see a person arms length away from you it is so dense. Dogs also could not track anything.

Sandy, If keeping track of what you eat is a concern, go to myfitnesspal.com. It does it all for you. Lesley and I have lost about 25 lbs doing it. I just eat exactly what she eats and let her worry about the numbers. Lots of social support too.