uses for vet wrap

this after re-wrapping the splint after a second adjustment. it was pinching and causing me a lot of pain.
colorful isn't it?
today...
read a book
took a short walk
took some pics with my little camera

doing better...much better!
tomorrow, maybe go with rich fishing for a bit?

Survived!

typing with one hand ---- in a word--it stinks.
i am doing good---soft cast for another week.
rich has decided 'take out' is easier than him cooking...
how funny...you should see my method of washing dishes!!!

Buy 3 get one free???

In real life this would never happen, but my daughter thought this one up and made it...too funny isn't it?
Well I am seeing the same surgeon now for the third year in a row. A left frozen shoulder, a right frozen shoulder...and now this:


From the Hand University Website:

Sometimes conservative treatment fails to stop the pain or help patients regain use of the elbow. In these cases, surgery may be necessary.

When problems are caused by tendinosis, doctors may choose to take out only the affected tissues within the tendon. In these cases, the surgeon cleans up the tendon, removing only the damaged tissue.

A commonly used surgery for tennis elbow is called a lateral epicondyle release. This surgery takes tension off the extensor tendon.


So this is the blog for a bit...I may have my arm in a sling and may not be on a computer for a while...
so enjoy!

Another Wildcat Day

We sure do have fun when we go riding together at Wildcat Mountain in Ontario, WI. I'm having elbow surgery tomorrow morning so we wanted to get another ride in before I was grounded for rehab and recovery.
Bummer

Of course I picked Badger to take, my big beautiful quiet mule and Rich decided to ride Mrs. Bickerson aka Opal. Normally Opal is a mule with an attitude, but yesterday Mrs. Bickerson could have had her name changed to 'Sweetie Pie'.
We talked about calling the vet.

It was hot humid and hazy, but nice and cool in the woods, ...a perfect day!

We rode for hours and hours. The scenery was pretty breathless as usual. But the best time to photograph Wildcat is early in the spring or late in the fall. Then you can see all the rock outcroppings and you can see far from the scenic outlooks!
Our picnic was simple
Bologna
Ritz
Carrots
Trail Mix Chex
...and a must
Brownies

Most of the ride was quiet, not much talking as we enjoy the ride and enjoy looking at the scenery.
We got into some good 'rough' stuff and that made it more interesting for our mules. By the end of the day both Opal and Badger were dragging their tails into camp. They were a bit footsore as they'd been trimmed last week and the rocks in Wildcat can be hard on fresh trimmed feet.

If I was to ride that quite often, I'd look into pads for their feet.
But the ride was a delight.
The ferns were gorgeous

The lunch perfect

And the company...wonderful...

Fishing is fun~Steph~don't watch...snake pics

Okay we had a great morning in the backwaters of the Mississippi. We fished in more than one spot and caught a handful of fish!
While I was sitting on a rock in a place we called 'DeSoto Bay' when I looked down at the shore line and saw this little fella...
a snake...

Of course I was repelled at first, I mean SNAKE!
I decided to sit still and watch.
This snake was trying to swallow a small dead fish. It was fascinating. I thought for sure that this snake was a Water Moccasin which are considered very poisonous.
It isn't, it is called the Northern Water Snake, often misidentified according to the Wisconsin DNR site.

Description: This is a medium to large heavy-bodied snake. The background color is gray, brown or tan and is marked with dark brown, red-brown or black transverse blotches, which often fade with age. The underside is distinctive, white with bright red half-moons interspersed irregularly with dark gray speckling. Northern water snakes are usually found in or close to any permanent waterbody but they prefer clean rivers. Their diet includes crayfish, slow-moving fish and a variety of amphibians. This non-venomous water snake is often mistaken for a water moccasin and is subsequently killed. Water moccasins, which are venomous, do not occur anywhere near Wisconsin.

I'm fairly relieved!
Whew.

He was pretty entertaining to watch. Of course I had to video him...I mean, come on, what else did you expect me to do!

By the way, he/she finally gave up and swam away.

What the heck Happened???

Monday I surprised my poor husband and nearly made him suffer a heart attack. Ok, I did not do anything bad...

I did something way out of character...

baked...

I even found this thing called a mixer to use, so I could 'mix' the cake stuff.
Really, it wasn't that hard.
Nor was it so hard to make a loaf of bread, though I did cheat and use frozen dough.

Figured that I better start out simple or Rich wouldn't be able to handle it.
He rather did enjoy the chuck roast with potatoes and carrots, fresh green beans with fresh bread and cake for desert.



Countdown until surgery...9 days.

Fun at Pony Club

I had an enjoyable evening going to the Pony Club to watch and ride with the kids last night.
It was supposed to be a 'little' practice and a little trail ride.
So I saddled up Badger and rode down a 'farming lane' to get to the place where the kids practiced.

The parents and kids alike were fascinated by Badger. Of course they wanted to know WHY I left a halter on Badger when I rode.

I amused the group of jumpers greatly by jumping Badger 'in hand' over the very same obstacle shown in the video below. Badger did the 'standing' mule jump...the kids wanted me to *do it again VAL!*...

*Hurray Badger!*
*Cool*
*Mom I want a mule!*

Once again he was Mule Ambassador.
However ... on the ride down this twisted ridge road...we did come upon a black faced sheep, who surely was going to eat Mr. Mule. The darned sheep sounded more like a burping monster than any sheep I've ever heard.

Perhaps that is why Badger was so cautious. We sure did have a blast and the ride home was beautiful...through the dark woods and then into a field of clover, Queen Anne's Lace, ragweed, and goldenrod.

The skies were bright blue and the August summer's eve was perfect.