Tis the Day Before Christmas and all Through the Boat...

...comes the cursing of the typist screwing up with her left handed typing. yep..that!

JUST SO YU KNOW WHY THIS IS HAPPENING...oopss..caps lock, sorry!!!

Its not a large cast, as catsa go...casts, thst is,,..but since the swelling went down, it feels huge.


We got our marching orders on last Friday afternoon ar 2 mins to 5pm, that we have to be in the srygical waiting rm at 4.45AM!1 yes, you read that right...for a 7am lift-off. off the guerney onto the surgery table, that is.

I'm not sure how much sllep Waz and I got between 10pm and 4am, but it was all go when the 3 or was that 4 alarms went off, one after tother.

Waz had spent some time tring to find s breakfast joint that opens early, so he could eat while I went under the knife. Einstein Bros Bagels open at six and are within walking distance of St Vincents Hospo.

I love that time, on the surgery table, when the safety strap goes across your abdomen, rhe Anaesthetist put the oxygen mask on your face and tells yu to take DEEP breaths, and the you sink masterfully into oblivion...especially when you haven't had much sleep!

I don't enjoy the waiting, anseering the samrv64 questions GAIN and again...oops...
but I LOVE when they cover you with the heated blankets! if you have to be cut up, you may as well get some pleasure out of the whole experience!
Blood pressure   136/72...not bad going in for a restructuring!

Surgeon appears in scrubs with a pen in hand..marks me up where he is going to cut, rexplains it to me again, 4 which I am grateful..helps to reinforce why I am going thru all thid.

I know I will have lots of pain....Been there so many times with this right hand/wrist. just relax, let it go, look for the rainbows, and deal with it on the other side.

Soo..on the early morning of the 21st SDecember, I had my wrist slit..Carpel Tunnel pain be gone, and a bone taken out of the thumb and the joint cleaned out of all the arthritis. Put some stitches in and bingo! all done.

It is now Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. We woke jut after 7am...Me? Clear headed after a night free of any kind of drugs.1st night without, but the 2 days prior, I had been drug free. Today is day 6, if you include the day or the surgery, so I feel pretty good about the absence of any meds.

We had a quiet day yesterday, Christmas day. It is nothing without the next generation,and we are sorry we couldn't be with our Grandbaby and his parents and my ypoungest son for the day. This surgery has taken precedence for good reason,.....There is never a good time to go under thae knife, other than you get tired of being in constant pain. It wears you down and makes you old, In my opinion.
I am happy to report that I can now walk more than a mile on my new hip and feeling more secure on that leg, by the day.

We have much to be grateful for, and our friends Pam and Stephen on Dock A invited us to sweet nibbles and a wine at 5pm...They are pulling the blinds down on their 7 years aboard, with an agreement of sale on their DeFever 49, reluctantly, but there are other things in the works for them, now.


We have been enjoying the 80+F weather for the past week, and taking the opportunity to sit on the back of the fly deck with a coffee and do some peddling. This is my view of the Ortega River from the Fly Deck.

Waz in the Galley chopping all the veg for our Chicken Veg soup with barley and split peas. It is nice to have a meal ready to eat, in the fridge, and we both love hearty soups. The results of his labor was delish~!

We don't go far from home, with the exception, the day before surgery, of a trip to St Augustine with our Kiwi friends Enid and Richard, a few boats down the dock. The lads wanted to go to the Mariner's Exchange...Richard had a credit he needed to use, and Waz is on a quest for some part or other that he doesn't seem able to source.
Enid and I enjoyed a cup of tea together while our menfolk rummaged. We ate lunch together at the nearby Metro Diner, which was pretty good, and then we left for home. None of us felt light battling the gazillion tourists in the Old Town for either parking spots, or space on the sidewalk. The city of St Augustine is well known for its Christmas lights display and the resulting traffic is another good reason not to be there.

It is 8.30am, and time to eat something. Coffee has been consumed and it is time to get some clothes on and out the door for a morning walk before the heat really sets in.
Ciao for now, and Merry Christmas, a day late!

Eight Days Until Christmas...Really???

Yes, Really?
I'm sitting here with my feet on the ottoman that normally houses the Bread Machine, but has been seconded as my 'feet up'  thang, thinking I need to go and take some clothes off....not naked kind, but LESS...It is warm. In fact, it is 80.6F in the Salon right now, and it is little wonder that Waz is lying on the sofa opposite me, snoring his head off!

We will make the most of the fine weather, because we have had a few grey days in the past week, and even a bit of rain, and it is amazing, when one is used to blue sky and sunshine, how much of a 'downer' those grey skies can be. Folks hereabouts walk around with their heads down, on such days.

Everywhere we are reminded of Christmas. We have attended two parties at the Yacht Club....the first was a Potluck, to which I took a good old Kiwi Bacon and Egg Pie. The second, we paid our $15 and it was a catered 'Trim the Tree' and bring a tree Deco...I always think of tree trimming as ...well....with scissors!!! You get the picture!

Anyhoo...it amused me greatly, that there I was, sitting in a nice upholstered chair (it wasn't very comfy, as it turned out) and one of the male boaters up the dock came walking past. I smiled at him as he walked past....he smiled back and kept walking. THEN...he did a double back and said "WOW! I didn't recognize you!!!1 You scrub up REALLY WELL!"  Nice of him to notice, lol. I guess we all rather get used to seeing each other in our scrappy shorts and old t-shirts, hereabouts, so it is really nice to have occasion to dress up a little bit and put our glad rags on.

Sooooo, here we are...and I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, or whatever it is that you celebrate, and may 2016 be a fantastic year for cruising or whatever it is that you do with your time. Health, good fortune and the pursuit of happiness, and all that:)

What have we been up to of late??

Well, three mornings a week, my Physical Therapist (PT guy) comes to the boat, around 9am, and tortures me. One of our dock mates, Larry, who is two weeks ahead of me in Hip Progress, calls Fernando the PT Nazi!  Only because he is religious about the amount of progress you should be making, and what you should NOT be doing right now that will jeopardize your medical progress. I have been very glad to have this man's knowledge to call on and his expertise  when I have not felt able to do some things. He has pulled back on the reins when I wanted to gallop, and insisted that I take things nice and slow and easy...and in fact, listen to my body. I don't like to listen to my body, but wisdom in old age is a wonderful thing, and I think I am gaining just a little of that...mostly!

Tomorrow, Friday the 18th Dec. is the last day Fernando will visit me for PT. He is discharging me because I will not need his help any more.....well, that is a little dubious, because I am sure there is other stuff I could do for PT, but I am having right hand surgery on Monday 21st, and I will be now passed over to the Hand Nazi!

Our neighbors come and go. We are a little bit wall-to-wall with boats at the moment. This is a favorite time for folks to find a marina, leave their boat for a month or similar, and take off on a plane back to Minnesota or Montreal/Toronto, if they are Canadian, for Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year. Some of us who have no other home, stay on the boat and decorate (not us!) with lights and wreaths etc and play Christmas music...ack!....and enjoy the fraternity that is the boating community here at the Marina.

Both of our neighbors across the dock went walkabout for a weekend, leaving us a feeling of freedom, if only from the wall to wall  view we normally enjoy...not!

 This is the view looking forward. We are grateful that we are on a corner berth, and nobody can fit between us and the boat on our left. This gives us a little more privacy that would normally be offered in such close quarters.

 We enjoy the sunsets here too!

Once my staples were out and the stitches dissolved, I could go in the pool....BUT...in the meantime, the weather (and water) turned cool, and it was the last place I wanted to be. I had been looking forward to some aquasize...gently, that is...but it wasn't to be. Instead, I have enjoyed a couple of evening Spa soaks...especially welcome if I have been sitting on weird hard chairs most of the day.
I cant stand for any length of time yet....it being only 4 weeks post op, with this left hip replacement, but I am now cleared to walk without a stick. The issue isn't so much that I cant walk without it, but trusting the new hip and desperately trying not to LIMP!
There are benefits to using a walking stick or cane....People stay away from you, they stop the car so that you can walk pathetically slowly across a crossing or road, and they offer you seats....I might take my cane out with me some times...not that I can use it with my right hand in plaster, but....

Looking pathetic works well too:) Except that I look too healthy now!
Oh well.....


Sitting on a chair out the back of the fly deck is a wonderful place to do my 'cycling'. Who would have thought, when we bought our little 'cycle' in Texas, 2 1/2 yrs ago, that I would need it for rehab?? I can do 2 x 10 mins on it per day and feel fantastic! I will continue to use it in the future.

I wanted to tell you about a certain Central American Parrot who is a liveaboard here at the marina.
She is 29 yrs old...raised by the 'wife' from a baby, but when wife married, said parrot changed allegiance to the new husband, and is now ostensibly the 'man's' bird. I was advised not to put my finger out to touch 'it' as I might get bitten. We all do these stupid things, not deliberately being stupid, but for some reason think the bird might hop onto it???? maybe!

Parrots are notoriously one person birds. A quick inspection of that beak will inform you of the destruction these things can wreak. The wife has had 30 stitches on her face, when birdy took to her, because birdy was frustrated or angry over something. She has had her ears pierced (wife) finger bitten through the nail and out the other side! (hence the finger thang), her scalp peeled...and so much more that I wont document. NO! Do not get a parrot! She would also rearrange the entire boat, given the chance. She likes to chat, and if the noise anywhere gets too great, she will sing Ave Maria very loudly. She laughs like a maniac, and sounds like a hag when she does....interesting, but NO THANKS!

Speaking of interesting 'people'...there are enough dogs on boats to keep Waz and me in puppy love for the rest of our days. We don't need to bother vacuuming the fur/hair, we can just walk next door and pet Suzie, the Dachshund, and then wave goodbye...perfect!...or was that Puuurfect? One of the neighbors down the dock has two HUGE Persian cats...hmmm...not going there either.

Strange happenings are a constant in a marina. There isn't a huge amount of wriggle room for negotiating the ins and outs of docking, so we see some interesting (and at times dangerous) behavior of the different vessels and the people behind the wheel.
As we were sitting here in the salon, we watched the mast of our neighbor but one, move out of the slip...but not the owner aboard...interesting!....we know the neighbor! Two fellas moving the boat forward, and then....backwards....then forward completely out of the slip...but wait! They are pointed in the wrong direction...heading for the wall!   Sail boats...single engine, that is, are notorious for the way they swing one way of the other when reversing. Whoever was at the helm didn't know how to drive this vessel. I went to the open pilot house door to watch, as they came very close to the bow of our boat....still reversing...this time all the way to the end of the docks and out into the river. I didn't stay to see which way they went, but I have an idea these two fellas were staff from one of the nearby yards, taking the yacht for servicing of some kind. Phew! they made it to the end in one piece.

Having straightened up, she is now reversing up the channel past all the docks to the river at the end. A little nerve wracking when they came so close to our bow....

Well, this might be the last communication for a while...MY right hand will be in a cast for 6 weeks. I'm sure I will figure out how to type with my next to useless left hand, but don't hold your breath!

So, Have a wonderful Christmas season/holidays, and be kind to each other and don't eat all that chocolate...seriously!!!:)

Take care, and Ciao for now
Mon and Waz

Progress Report and Shopping Expedition.

I could venture to say it is the same thing, in the title, but I guess it needs some further explanation.

Yesterday I had my staples out. I felt the first three and then after that I was just aware of the RN clicking her unstapler against my flesh.

Fernando had visited at 9am. I told him I wasn't awake enough at 8am to do my Physical Therapy, and he seems to understand that. Larry, who is how 4 weeks post total hip replacement, on Dock C, calls Fernando "The PT Nazi" because he is strict about the progress you are going to make.

What is interesting, is that just two days earlier, Fernando had deliberately 'slowed me down' walking with the walking frame, and then voila, told me at 2 weeks I can use the walking stick or cane. hmmm...
Our walk down the dock yesterday was just with me using the cane! woohoo! albeit slowly! cant rush a good thing!

Now that all the nerve blockers have gone, and I'm no longer taking drugs (only Tylenol PM to sleep), my body is functioning very well all on it's own...and a good thing too! I HATE taking drugs that make your body do all kinds of weird things, not to mention the head.

You can see the Kiwi flag on the right, at the dock corner...hard to see the boat. This is our 'neighborhood'.

 I spend quite a lot of time walking up and down this dock. I cant put my own shoes on, so I have to go barefoot, which is probably a good idea. The concrete can be really cold, especially when wet. I like to hang out at the dock box when the sun is shining that way, just to warm up, though we are still clothed in t-shirts and shorts. Some in these parts have jackets on, but we hardy folks (yeh riiight) just put a rug over our knees and hope we warm up that way! lol.

Every other time we have been out in the car, I stay in the car while Waz goes and does the shopping, whatever that might be.
Today was different. I decided I could brave the supermarket in one of the motorized trolleys for disabled people.
It is interesting to note how other people treat you when you are in one of those motorized trolleys/carts. They look right over the top of you, through you, anything but at you. They pull away from the trolley if you get too close, and give you daggers if you move in their direction.
Once I figured out the forward and reverse, and that the reverse lever also goes forward if you push rather than pull it...I didn't run too many people over.!:)

Apart from the whole affair taking more than the usual hour, it was a rather interesting experience.  Even the check-out folks deferred to Waz, and made no effort to help ME. Is that because I didn't need it, with him helping me?

Anyhoo...we got home in one piece and I'm a bit tired. I  managed to put 99% of the food away in the fridge.

Waz is sitting here finishing the movie he started watching last night...Eyes Wide Shut...The Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman/ Stanley Kubrick Movie that tanked....I have watched some of it, but the one note piano music sucks and is getting annoying, and I don't 'get it'.

Today is Thursday the 3rd December. I have PT tomorrow at 9am. It is nice to have a day off in between, but I'm supposed to do the basics on those other days. I do some of them, but need help with others. Since the nerve blockers have left my system, I have a harder time with some of the exercises. I guess that is to be expected.

When I went for the staples out, I asked the RN what the prosthesis looks like and why do I have dark bruises all down my leg and my hamstring feels like I have chopped it. How did I never see this prosthesis before? My understanding of the process was faulty.

The outside of parts of the prosthesis is actually a porous instrument that new bone matter grows onto. I have the large bruises because they literally hammer that baby into the bone. They take the bone marrow out and hammer the tapered prosthesis into the void. They hold the lower leg so they can hammer harder! If the bone density is not great, they will screw the ball cap into the bone, otherwise they let the new bone grow onto it over time. I guess this is why they say the prosthesis is 'seated' at around 18months post surgery.

So, the bruises are turning yellow and purple, and will eventually disappear, but the damage to the tissue will take a little longer, I'm told. Fine!'

I have until the 21st Dec to be walking unaided before going for the next surgery. No problems!:)

The movie is almost finished..yaya!  I need to go and debone the rotisserie chicken we bought, so we can have chicken for lunches and those dinners we cant think what to eat, otherwise.
Waz gets a night off tonight...we are eating take out tonight.

Enjoy the evening! Ciao, Ciao