I have been having significant trouble with my feet for several months and had tried to repair the damage with physical therapy. My right foot responded favorably to the therapy, but the left foot did not. X rays showed lots of calcification from a past struggle with plantar fasciitis along with two bone spurs in that foot. Later, an MRI showed three different tendon tears and my orthopedist suggested that I needed surgery. The damage in that foot was just too much.
Tom took the day off of work to go see the surgeon with me. I had hoped that the surgeon would show Tom the images indicating the damage that I had been shown. Instead, the surgeon suggested that, yes, there was damage in my foot but he’d seen worse, seeming to indicate that he didn’t feel surgery was the right choice. Confused, I questioned him. “What about the tears?” “That’s just part of it,” he replied. “What can I do on my own to make it feel better?” “Nothing. Only surgery will fix it.” I still got the distinct feeling that he didn’t feel as though I really didn’t need surgery. “The knot on the back of my heel is keeping me from wearing shoes. I’d like to be able to get back into the gym. Is there anything I can do make it smaller?” “No. It’s calcified and will need to be removed.” He assured me that he could do the surgery, when I was ready for it.
So, I came away confused on the correct course to take. Do I let my foot get worse, then finally give in to the surgery? Do I REALLY need surgery? Do I just need to understand that I’m not getting any younger and I just need to learn to live with the pain and stiffness? That thought sent me down a dark hole of near depression. I had a lot to think about. I ended up spending a day or two reading a novel and watching movies.
Because Tom had taken the day off to go to the doctor with me, he was able to also help me make some modifications to the owl deterrent mess I had put up to protect my birds. So far, so good. No new killings.
I also had him help me put the new shower stall in place in the bathroom to give us perspective on where to put the walls and the holes for the plumbing. It certainly is not installed, but I got excited to see how nice it’s going to be when it’s finally done. I also posted the video “The Bathroom Remodel Resumes.” It can be seen here.
We’ve already had a hard freeze here so I decided it would be okay to do a little pruning on the fruit trees in the north orchard. I actually got more done than I thought I would and was fairly pleased with that accomplishment.
My pigs were overdue to be moved to new pasture and I had decided that maybe Daisy could be integrated with the rest of the pigs. She had been in a pen near by so I figured they would be able to co-mingle. I was wrong. Wattles was a huge bully and Daisy ended up breaking through the fence and wandering around loose for a while until I could get something else set up for her. Her new pen was not where I wanted but I needed to get her penned up and didn’t really have time to mow a perimeter of fresh ground. I finally got her settled into her new pen and there was peace again.
That evening, Tom and I attended the birthday party for my youngest granddaughter, Ivy, who was turning two years old. Ivy is a very pretty and pleasant toddler that will probably be highly intelligent like her parents. (I know that sounded very biased, like a grandmother, but I also try very hard to always tell the truth!) Regardless of this grandmother’s bias, we had a really good time watching Ivy happily play with her new toys. She even did a little dance for us. It was nice to visit with my son and his wife too.
Four days after the modifications on the owl deterrent, I discovered my black and white drake slaughtered. The next morning, another duck was killed and another was injured. The day after that, the injured duck was now dead. Two days later, another duck was found dead. The owl doesn’t even really eat the birds. He shreds their throats and moves on to the next bird. I had already opened the chicken tractor that held the chicks so they could integrate with the older birds. That was going well, but they now needed to be trained to go into the chicken mobile egg unit at night so maybe I could herd the ducks into the chicken tractor. So far, I have had no luck getting the ducks to cooperate.
I have been working on a series “Are You Ready for the Next Great Depression?” I posted the podcast and video to my This Grandma’s Life podcast and YouTube channel and began work on editing the footage to post on my Grandma’s Homestead channel. The audio only version can be listened to on this site or on any pod catcher sites. The unedited video version can be seen here.
After several days and a counseling session with my pastor and prayer, I decided to have the surgery on my foot. Now, I just have to get the ball rolling on that. I have to admit that finally making a decision has been a relief.
I have created and ordered 2024 calendars for Grandma’s Homestead. Although I haven’t seen them in person yet, I believe that the pictures I chose of the farm for the calendar will turn out nice. I will have them for sale for $20 each. Send me an email at theciaellis@gmail.com or message me on any of my social media sites if you are interested in this calendar. I have plans to add a commerce menu for this site in the coming year, but will do the best I can with what I have now. I believe you will be pleased with the calendar.
I pray that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It’s time for me to get to cooking myself. Until next time!