Now hear this...

 

Yesterday was a really really long long day. So Charlie and I headed out to the Rock Fort to sit a spell and listen to the woods. I was dressed in Blaze Orange but most of the weekend hunters had left the area to go back to where ever they came from. The bottom photo is of my crochet project. I am making a new rag rug and crocheting it. I don't have a loom but I do have balls and balls of material my Grandmother painstakingly put together from old shirts and sheets. Thus...a new rag rug!

~~~~

The morning hours were spent in a long 'intake' interview. 'Intake' is what the VA calls it. Rich and I were interviewed by a gal named Jennifer via secure video connection. It was not painful or difficult, she asked questions of Rich and then asked questions of me without Rich. He was happy to go watch TV in the other room. The program is called VA Family Caregiver Assistance. 

The VA feels it may be cheaper to pay a family caregiver to care for a veteran who needs assistance in all aspects of his daily life....or Activities of Daily Living.... than find a place in a nursing home for him/her. 

I just need to say this. I care for him because I do care. I quit a very well paying job so I could be with him and take care of him. Leaving him home alone every day for hours on end was not an option. There are about 5 more steps with an exam with a nurse, and exam with an Occupational Therapist, more social workers, and even a virtual home visit I think. It takes time and I am not terribly worried. 

One of the benefits that a caregiver can get is access to ChampVA insurance along with respite care and in home assistance. Mental Health access to deal with stress is also available. 

I told Jennifer that it would be amazing to be able to talk to someone from MH just to blow off steam. Okay, I know I have friends, but truly, who wants me to ring them up and complain about how frustrating it is when the person I care for is doing things that drive me crazy? I know he can't help it because of 'brain injury' but yet... somedays having an adult toddler is insane. 

Add a Pandemic to the mix and what have you got? Rhetorical question there. 

Anyway, it was really NICE to talk with another human, even it was a social worker doing an 'intake' interview.

The latest townie news is this. Our 25 bed hospital is nearly full, there is NO more room. The ER is full most of the time. They are treating some patients that need higher quality of care but have no place to transfer them to. That is unless beds open up with deaths or discharge to a lesser unit.

The Doctors made a plea via our local paper and radio stations to PLEASE please wear masks, wash hands, and socially distance...and please do not bring people outside of your household in for Thanksgiving. 
Many of our folk really are trying hard. Others think it is still a hoax or they just don't need to follow the guidelines.

And I know in my heart that if my husband suffers a Medical Emergency, it could be the very last time I see him. 

This really got to me yesterday and that is why Charlie and I went to The Rock Fort and sat while I crocheted. Fresh air, sunlight, birds, and a kind dog helps a lot.

So this morning I decided NOT to read the news. 

I went into distraction mode and created art with Mandebulb 3D, Incendia, and Corel PaintShopPro [a program cheaper but similar to Photoshop which I cannot afford!].

Viking Terminator!

Sleeping Dragon

Have a good day. Stay safe. I'm going out to enjoy the  new snowfall.

Meanwhile...

I should be doing some riding now. Really I should.

So I am going to take out that trusty bicycle and do some riding today. 

Being a Caregiver is a stressful job. Okay, maybe I don't have the stress of some folks, but 'frustrating' might be a better way of explaining it.

Working with my husband's moods and slightly off kilter thought processes can be interesting.

The dehumidifier in the basement quit working. It was a cheapy and lasted about as long as expected. It would run and run and run but the humidity wouldn't change a bit.

I brought it upstairs to see if it would work in a warmer temperature. Some dehumidifiers don't work in cooler places as well.

It was a no go. It ran and ran and collected no water.

Conversation:

Me: It isn't working and the basement is smelling musty.

Him: It isn't summer.

Me [I kind of let that roll around in my head a bit]: Well, it is humid and very musty in the basement. All the clothes stored there will be moldy and smelly if we don't control the moisture.

Him: You just want to buy a new one.

Me: No, I just want to keep things in the basement from getting nasty.

Him: You aren't giving it enough time.

Me: I've given it a week or so. 

Him: Oh go ahead, you are just going to do what you want to anyway.

I returned from the hardware store with a 'cold' room specific basement dehumidifier. He walked into the kitchen where I set it. 

Him: [snarky nasty voice] Oh, I SEE you got one anyway.

Me: [I ignore him and put the groceries away. He feels if I spend any money at all it is a waste somehow.] Well, I'm going to take the old one apart and if I can make it work, I'll take this one back.

Him: [Look of disgust and stomps away] Whatever.

At this point I want to laugh. We'd argued last year about me getting the truck's brakes fixed. He accused me of wasting money. That is until the truck came back fixed of course. Then it was okay.

I think...I know, that part of my husband's reluctance in any sort of change is that he was very OCD'ish in controlling things, fixing things, being the boss. His brain won't let him let me get things fixed without major resistance.

[I'd spoken to the VA CareGiver support just a few days ago and we talked about this very same thing on the phone.]

Pretty soon he is back.

Him: What are you making me for lunch?

Me: Fried Bologna Sandwhich? 

Soon he stomps off to take his midday nap.

I'm curious and take apart the old dehumidifier. I use my Smart Phone to follow instructions as to diagnose the issue. Charlie walks over and looks at all the screws and plastic parts laying on the floor. I identify the compressor, it is still hot. I find the coils and it reminds me of a radiator. Everything is clean and looks okay. I leave it torn apart for when Rich awakens.

Him: Oh look! [He is bending over and looking at the guts of the old dehumidifier] This is not right...he points to the parts that look like a car radiator [the cooling thingies]...this doesn't look right, no wonder it wasn't working!

Me: Oh really?

Him: Let's unpack the one you bought. He gets busy and pulls the new one out of the box and hands me the instructions to read out loud.

He admires the new unit and tells me how nice it is.

Me: Shall I set it up?

Him: Yes! Sure!

And there you have it. Working with a complicated mind...is

well...

sometimes complicated.

But hey, I love the old fart dearly. 

And so it goes.

Wanderings...

Things are quiet at our place.
The weather was nice yesterday and it will be today too.

Not much going on other than practicing Safe at Home, Stay at Home,...Isolation.

I have gone hiking with Charlie almost each day except during the thunderstorms.

For fun, I took the Infrared camera with me.  I tried a different filter that gave me a different light spectrum range for fun.

Hike around home:

The reddish color is from the greens reflecting light with the 550nm filter.

I've finally gotten a handle on the process since ON1 software added a mode in its Develop section that allows you to pick how the image looks on the LCD of your camera. This means the program will select the white balance I set instead of picking a white balance that the program would like to select.

This makes a huge difference in Infrared Photography and is a great work around.

Kudos for ON1 for doing that and adding a selection for color channel swap.

Yesterday since it was still too wet to do any yard/garden work, I took Charlie for a walk down in Tainter Hollow.

Here is Charlie on the trail which disappears about 1/4 of a mile down stream. I had to wade through downed golden rod and other weeds to continue our hike and on deer trails.

Charlie had a rough go of it with his short legs. He is quite the trooper. I did carry him through the worst of it though.

We enjoyed walking and watching trout.

Aside from getting my mules feet trimmed this week and then I can go another 6 to 8 weeks without having anyone come to the farm.
This is a good thing. The mules need trimming and I need them for foraging for leeks, parsnip, and later on...morels.
Stay safe.
Be well.

Stay at Home.

Unplanned

Sometimes things just don't go as planned.

I had a feeling that yesterday was going to be one of those days. Of course I've been spending my time running Rich to appointments, visiting my MIL, and working in the shed.

I've gotten pretty far in doing what I have wanted to do. I have a huge pile of broken boxes and old shopping newspapers piled in a corner to sort through. Most of it will have to be added to the brush pile as it is too busted up and dirty to be added to recycling.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and got the skid steer. I'll be taking the metal tracks off from it as soon as I can get a 'date' with my neighbor to do it. It will make using the skid steer easier and the tracks won't tear huge chunks out of the yard everywhere I turn. The tracks were for when Rich took large bales in through the soupy pastures. Since I have no need to drive through mud and muck, I have no need for the tracks. They hamper turning in tight places.

That said. I have found the confidence somewhere to be able to back this monstrous machine into the shed. I've always been afraid to do it. I figured I just had to try and see what happened. With no one to spot me. I backed it down the narrow corridor of 'stuff' to where I could fill it with old hay that was piled on the floor.

I'm standing and taking the photo from about 20 feet inside the large door. Everything to my right is not being re-organized much. Everything on the left to the 'dead' tractor is being re-organized and cleaned up.
I was able to fill the bucket with nasty old dusty hay and hay chafe. Yes, I wore a mask.

I then drove the skid steer between the buildings and dumped it in an area where no animals will eat off from it.

I backed that sucker back in and filled it with metal chunks of a cabinet that Rich was 'going' to put together some day. I have no idea where it would've fit, but it isn't for me to know what was on his mind. All I know is that he agreed to let me take it out of there and stack it on that flat bed trailer he bought years ago and has decorated the side yard for a long time.
I know eventually I'll sell all the scrap metal or as I said, it will go in an auction.

It was noon, so I quit. I wanted to go hiking at Wild Cat, but Rich wanted me to stick around while he napped. His stomach had been bothering him and I am pretty sure it is the change in meds.

So I decided to go retrieve my SD card from my trail camera.

I've been watching this doe and her yearlings for a while...in fact I was able to take a few shots of them yesterday while I was in the meadow.

Neither one of them were very afraid of me.
I then spent a while just watching the squirrels run around in the trees and the chipmunks scold each other.

I took the time to sit quietly and just enjoy the fall colors and the light falling through the golden leaves.
What I really wanted was a day to myself.

A day to hike and not worry about time or meals or tummies...

I need an unplanned day. I don't think I see one on my schedule for a few days ... unless I can escape for a while this afternoon.

I can get cranky and short tempered. Yep. I can.
I miss those
unplanned
days
where I can wander and not have to carry all
the responsibilities
on my
shoulders.

Nature calls.

...and I want to answer....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edit: More unplanned. Heading to the ER with hubby today instead of anything else.
See?