New Flag.

11-7-24 SHORT HILLS: Our high hopes for Kamala have crashed, the second Democratic woman to be beaten by Trump. He lost to the only man he ran against, Biden. I expect a disastrous four years. 

Our flagpole has not flown a flag since the early spring because the pulley that allowed the flag to be raised and lowered broke and fell to the ground along with the rope and flag. We had contacted a prominent flag pole company to do the repair, but they never followed through after the initial contact. 

This fall we contacted another company, who showed up in less than a week. The pole is in our back yard isolated from the street and surrounded by trees and shrubs, and so cannot be reached by a bucket truck. Mel, who works for A & A Industrial LTD, climbed the pole and replaced the top ball and pulley housing with a new, shiny ball and pulley, and a new rope and flag. We are very pleased to have the new flag waving in the breeze. 

I have been doing more walking the street. The new knee is progressing slowly.  

Mel climbing the pole with a harness device. Judy took a picture.

Mel is removing the old ball and pulley.

Coming down after the new rope and flag were installed.

Waving in the breeze under the shiny new ball topper.

Party Time.

10-27-24 SHORT HILLS: Emmett had his first birthday yesterday. It did not go unnoticed. About seventy people attended the party, including a ton of kids. It was at their home, there was a musical performance, lots of food and cakes, balloons, plenty of beverages. Lots of family including aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and us, the only great grandparents. I counted 17 kids at one point, but I’m sure I missed some. There was no crying that I heard, not even from parents.

Emmett digs the music as many family look on.

The family unit and the music man.

A music sample.

Personal BDay cake. The occasion is recorded.

Yum.

After all that excitement yesterday, Judy did a dog walk with Bebe and Ronnie and Sonny today. She saw a lot of birds on one of the lakes in town, so we went back to get a couple of pix. The birds are taking a break from their commute, resting and feeding. We saw Canada geese, wood ducks, and black ducks. 

Wood ducks, two males and two females.

Canada geese.

Black duck females in back and a wood duck male in the foreground.

A pair of wood ducks in front of a bunch of Canada geese.

New Knee News.

10-17-24 SHORT HILLS: I had an appointment with Dr. Lee this week, and it’s all good. New X-rays fine. No more bandages on the incision, wean from walker to cane, next visit in six weeks. It’s still painful, walking with the walker at three plus weeks. 

Visitors to the knee include, Lily and Danna, Alan, Bette and Lonnie, and Valerie and Maggie. Gardner , Anna and Emmett were in London for the Jaguars football game [they lost] and came home Wednesday. 

We have pretty good color here. 

Anna and Emmett at Fortnum and Mason Tea room.

Nice color in the driveway.

The Pumpkin Patch.

10-11-24 SHORT HILLS: The latest excitement started on Sunday. Gardner, Anna and Emmett were here. Emmett met the dogs for the first time and was very enthusiastic climbing all over them, especially Blue. Blue and Blanca were both very tolerant.

We all went to The Farm to see the birds, plants and especially the pumpkin patch. One of the staff saw me with the walker and gave me a motorized scooter/gadget so I could keep up with the kids while we explored. They have so many pumpkins, all sizes and shapes and colors, gourds of all shapes and sizes and wartiness, as well as skeletons, etc. Gardner and Anna bought a cartload of stuff to decorate their stoop.

Later we all went to Creekside Nurseries, quite nearby, to take Emmett to the petting zoo and for baked goods. They have the best ‘sand tarts’, very thin sugar cookies in seasonal shapes and colors—delicious. Judy went back for more the next day. Emmett fed the goats some leafy greens. 

It was a great afternoon except that the brace I was wearing and the bandage on the wound both slipped down my leg and the brace was rubbing on the area of the incision. The abrasion raised a blister like one gets from new shoes. After sending out pix of the knee, Ashley and Geralyn, from the VNA, suggested ditching the brace and using Betadine on the incision and blister with every dressing change, which is what we’re doing. 

Emmett and pumpkin.

Emmett and Blue and parts of other people.

 

The decorated stoop.

A New Knee.

10-3-24 SHORT HILLS: I have a new knee, inserted between and into the bottom of my right femur and the top of my recently broken right tibia, capped by my own patella. The surgery was 10 days ago at HSS, done by Dr. Gwo-Chin Lee. We stayed at the HSS hotel the night before to be on time for our 6:30 AM admission. We were in pre-op and met all the 

Docs, RN’s, and staff for prep, etc. I remember getting the twilight shot and being sat up for the spinal anesthesia—and then the recovery room.

I was an inpatient that night while Judy stayed at the hotel. We left the next morning to pick up meds at our local pharmacy. That night I had a slight fall that was followed by bleeding from the incision. We went to SBMC ER to have the wound bandaged and wrapped. The ER staff talked with HSS associates of Dr. Lee. 

We were back at HSS the next morning where we saw Dr Lee’s associate, Ashley, who took us to wound care where the wound was fitted with a blood draining/suction devise, a brace, and X-rayed. Nurse Ellen placed her hands on the incision and everything was OK afterward. While Ellen was working on the wound, Ashley took pix and texted them to Dr. Lee, who was on a flight to Bangkok to give a lecture. He texted back advice and instructions. We left HSS for home with no bleeding. 

We were back at HSS a week later [two days ago] for an exam by Dr. Lee and Ashley. They took down the blood draining suction device and redressed the wound. The knee incision is swollen, red in places and purple in others crusted, blistered, but was diagnosed as ‘fine’.  Next appointment—two weeks. 

At home I am hobbling around using walkers and using a cane to go up or down stairs. The brace is still on for walking, but not for sleeping or for the shower. Hopefully only uneventful healing and rehab from now.

The New Knee and the Old Knee.

Monday is New Knee Day.

9-17-24 SHORT HILLS: Truthfully, it’s been more of the same as the last post. More doctor visits, more chores, the wasps survived the attempted extermination. I have had my pre-op exam with blood work and X-rays—apparently all OK. Surgery for installation of the new knee next Monday at HSS. 

We had dinner with Bette and Lonnie at Lorenas and dinner here with Lynn and Bill—Judy dazzled us with king crab legs. We’re looking forward to a visit from Siobhan this weekend. Judy has done more dog visits. The pool cover pump is not pumping. I tried to get it started today but will have to try again.

I was very impressed with Kamala’s debate performance. We should have expected her to do well as an ex-prosecutor, but she was brilliant.

Burning Bush are turning early, which makes we worry that they're not well.

One of several flower clusters at the top of the crape myrtle.

White snake root is growing all over the yard. It spreads widely and grows in any conditions, but has no stickers or burrs or thorns, so I am not calling it a weed.

Abelia, a nice shrub that slowly gets bigger each year, but blooms in the fall with lots of white flowers. Definitely a keeper.

I saw something pink in the midst of snake root. It's a rosebud. I think the rosebuds are prettier than the roses.

Opening Up.

9-6-24 SHORT HILLS: We’ve been back for a week yesterday and have been busy seeing docs doing chores in the house and yard, had the plumbers over for a water heater flood [not fatal] in the basement, had dinner with Lynn and Bill, and had dinner with Bebe and Ronnie, got flu shots. Judy has done a dog visit. We both have more medical visits up coming. Monday I have pre-op evaluation at an HSS extension in Paramus before the new knee. Even the dogs have had vet visits. 

We had a wasp nest next to the house treated. My car was serviced. Next  week looks to be as busy as this one was. I filled the bird feeders, and the birds emptied them in two days.

In bloom: abelia, Rose-of-Sharon, clematis, white snake root, crape myrtle, caryopteris

Cardinals are back, as are all the usual suspects, including the grackles, who got most of the seeds.

We never see these critters in VT, too many predators, but there are always some here.