Spring arrived...again!

After moving from a week of spring into mid-summer temps, it looks like spring came back and we are all happy about that! We even had one day where we could leave the back door open and use the magnetic screen for the #2doods. I sat outside on the deck all day, even brought my computer out!

Now that we're home....

As we said earlier, we made it home - just in time for some gorgeous weather. We quickly moved the critical things out of the RV and back into the house after we arrived. We got our taxes in the mail on time and got to watch the tracking take them all over the place before being marked as delivered over a week later. Phew!

On Tuesday April 16th, we headed to Knoxville for Stu's appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Ivy. All went well and he left after a cortisone shot in his left thumb and an appointment for carpel tunnel release surgery on May 3rd.

Next up was our dermatologist appointments on April 22nd. Stu came out clear, I ended up with a biopsy (turned out benign), a couple of frozen spots on my arms and legs, plus orders for Efudex (a chemotherapy cream for pre-cancerous skin). The instructions were to use it twice a day for two weeks, applying a thin layer on my nose, cheeks and temples. Since I have already had a couple of spots on my nose frozen before, we hope this will take care of everything. I will be documenting the whole process in a later post - my follow up appointment isn't until July 22nd, so you can see how long this process can be!

Here are some photos of the wall behind the parking lot...






Then on April 24th we headed to Knoxville for lunch at the Downtown Brewery with good friends. What a great time we had!






Things were rolling along nicely until I woke up Sunday to a text to call my daughter as soon as possible. My grandson was involved in a bad auto accident. He swerved to avoid a deer, rolled the car, airbags deployed, rolled it again, then crashed into a tree. He had to have multiple surgeries to fix a shattered kneecap, broken ankle, broken wrist and badly broken elbow. In addition he ended up with more surgery to correct a fractured sternum. There were no head injuries, fortunately. He is still in the hospital in Colorado Springs but should be moving to rehab in the next day or two. He's doing much better!

We got a deal of the day on a bigger, better SunJoe pressure washer and Stu was impressed by what a great job it did. He will use it on the house and I will use the smaller one (no detergent tank) to keep the deck clean from mud & the dogs. LOL!


This is a before/after just using the small pressure washer with water only! See how nice and clean the dog chew spots are? {snicker}


So now it was up to Stu to get as much done as he could beforehand, knowing his right hand would be pretty much out of commission for two weeks. The first thing we did was to prune back the six rose bushes in the front and back yard. We hired a local guy to dig out our front planters completely and then dig out all the rose bushes so we could move them over by the fence. He did a great job and we will use him again when we need some yard work done.




Then Stu put in a drain system from the gutter to the side of the planter.


And then added mulch...


We purchased some Leyland Cypress trees to plant along the back fence in hopes that as they grow and fill out, the dogs won't see as much of the neighbors and will maybe not be so vocal about them. time will tell. We lucked out with a discount coupon for Lowe's from our change of address form we put in back in Folkston, GA plus there was a 20% discount if you bought 20 or more trees. Well, he bought all 28 of the available ones and got them planted. The cross fence you see is going to get moved to the front of our garage making it easier to let the dogs in/out without needing to go on the deck (a must when we rebuild it).


Next up is some nice dwarf Arborvitae trees for the front planter. The flowers have been moved to a couple other spots. If they live, fine. If not, that's okay too. Same with the rose bushes (but we suspect they will survive just fine). Here are the rose bushes and so far it looks like they are all budding! (two weeks after transplanting)


In other medical news, Stu saw his ophthalmologist and is scheduled for his cataract surgery. He will get his left eye done the morning of May 13th and the right done on May 20th. Each surgery has a follow-up appointment the same day, late in the afternoon. His follow-up on his carpel tunnel surgery is May 16th. Hopefully he will be done for a while.

The #2doods are loving life, as they always do. They boarded for two nights during Stu's surgery and although they love it there, they are always happy to be home. They have really been enjoying these 70-80 degree days!




They really love it when we sit out on the deck with them.




The carpel tunnel release surgery went well but it made for a long day. We had to be in Knoxville at noon ET, which meant leaving home at nine CT (allowing 2 hours drive time due to traffic issues). They took him back at noon but it was after four when they finally did the surgery. We got out of there just after five, stopped for dinner at Denny's and got home around seven. LONG day... He is doing well, three days of keeping it elevated and taking OTC meds (never filled the Rx for narcotic meds), and tomorrow he goes to a therapist to get the dressing changed and get it evaluated.






It hasn't slowed him down. He's mowed the entire yard over the last two days and even burned up a ton of weeds (his favorite method of killing them).






Oh, and we did have some short-term visitors down by our pond...


Oh, and I almost forgot - yesterday was mammogram day. Results were good!

Ciao for now!

Skin cancer and other medical stuff...

We hear all the warnings. We try to get our yearly check-ups. But for me, too many years spent in the Florida sun back when sunscreen wasn't a big thing, means a lot of pre-cancerous spots to be frozen each year.

My check-up was generally good. One biopsy taken (results in 2-3 weeks) on my right shin and several pre-cancerour spots were frozen.

But this year the dermatologist decided it was time to try a different approach on my face. I've had several spots on my nose frozen and since I have had a lot of sunburns there, I knew it would continue to be an issue. She also found several pre-cancerous spots on my temples and cheeks.

I am now using Efudex (5% fluorouracil) on my face twice a day for two weeks. According to Google, it's actually considered chemotherapy.

"It can treat rough, raised areas of heavily sun-exposed skin (actinic or solar keratoses). It can also treat skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma)."

A good friend and fellow author, Nick Russell, went through this a few years back so I had a rough idea what I might look like. I then made the mistake of going through Google images....eeek!

I am currently on day six and see a few spots getting redder. There is a little itching in some spots and an irritation where my glasses sit seems to be sloughing off. When I can, I'm wearing readers that I can perch lower on my nose. So far the worse side effect is a strong metallic taste in my mouth a couple hours after the morning application.

I plan to take selfies to show how this progresses. My follow-up is in late July so that is how long it can take to complete the process. Oh, and did I mention, no sun if at all possible? That exacerbates the process. So broad-brimmed hats if I have to go out, but in general, I'm trying to avoid it completely.

Starting pic....the red you see is my natural complexion (and always shows in photos)

Wish me luck! I have to go out in public on May 1st (Stu's optical check to prepare for cataract surgery), May 3rd (Stu's carpel tunnel surgery on his right hand), May 7th (my mammogram), May 16th (Stu's follow-up for his hand surgery).... Growing old isn't for sissies!

Ciao for now!

Getting recharged....

By now you know how much fun we have with Cooper and Murphy. They are fun to watch play and even fun to watch when they sleep (in their many strange positions). Here are a few favorites from this month as well as a couple of photos with bonus friend, Yuki, who was a bit overwhelmed at first..

Inside Zoomies:




Outside with Storm:




Cooper and his peanut butter tongue:


More outside fun with Storm:




Worn out trio takes a break:





Yuki joins in the fun:









Ciao for now!

Just Whistlin' Dixie....

Friday we had great weather and decided another motorcycle ride was in order. The #2doods had lots of fun playing with Storm so they were ready to nap. We opted to head off in the opposite direction from our last ride and aimed for a little town named "Waverly" in honor of our youngest granddaughter.

Well, we found it. At least part of it, we never did find a downtown area. We even took photos to prove it! LOL!





From there we continued north and then back west before heading south into downtown Folkston. One thing we have come to love are the people here. Everyone is so welcoming and friendly. Part of that is the traditional Southern charm. Another part is a town that survives on a goodly amount of tourism. But mostly, it's just the people. We have made several friends here as we deal with dog boarding, grooming, getting a PO Box and picking up a gazillion packages from Amazon, getting my hair cut and even at the local McDonald's where I had a wonderful chat with the franchise owner and the store manager.

One shop had been recommended to us by the wonderful owner of Wild Rose Pet Care where the #2doods go for day care and doggy camp when we're traveling. I had friended the owner on Facebook but we hadn't had a chance to visit yet. Since they have Bluebell ice cream, today was the day! It was time for Whistlin' Dixie....













The store is FULL of wonderful items perfect for gifts, souvenirs and daily enjoyment. I was so tempted by many things but I was good, limiting my temptation to the ice cream. We signed the guest book and really enjoyed chatting with Dixie and her daughter Millie. They make quite the team. Everyone recommends the lunches there and we just might have to ignore our diet and splurge once more!

Ciao for now!

A little motorcycle ride to St George, GA.

We haven't done as much motorcycle riding as we would like, partially due to other things on the schedule but mostly due to weather. We knew when we opted to winter here in south Georgia that the weather would be cooler than what we had been used to during our past winters in Clermont, FL.

That is good and bad. It's good for the #2doods since they can overheat easily. It's bad when it's too cold for us to ride. Yes, we admit it. We have both become weather wimps. If it's much below 60 with no chance to warm up, we aren't riding.

We did have one spectacular day in February when we managed to get in several hours of riding and we headed off to see what was in St. George, GA. All we were looking for was a nice ride and it was that. Almost no traffic but a lot of trees. Turns out forestry is probably the biggest industry in this part of Georgia. Who knew?

We stopped for lunch at K & C's Oak Tree Cafe after fueling up the motorcycle. Quaint little restaurant with good food. I almost forgot to take a photo. The food was good and very plentiful, the onion rings were excellent - our big splurge.

















We soon headed home, not wanting to leave the #2doods for too long in their crates.

Ciao for now!