How's It Goin', Eldo?

Eldy is four weeks out of surgery....He is doing well with P.T. and has left the walker behind, and that's not Sparky, haha. He still uses the shower chair, as 90 degree precautions are in place for another month or two, (can't bend the leg over a 90 degree angle) so he is not supposed to lift his leg that high over our deep high sided tub to get in the shower. That shower chair is a pain to move in and out, (because Sparky is a tub gal) but it has to be used!  He is still using the toilet riser seat for the same reason. He is able to drive himself if he wants to go somewhere, and did that after three and a half weeks. He walks with a cane, sometimes without it around the house and is trying to retrain his awkward gait to a more normal one as he was compensating for a bad hip for a long time and that made him walk more like a penguin! Eldy doesn't enjoy walking, so to get him outdoors and moving for longer periods of time is a struggle.

It took him almost four weeks to go from sleeping in the recliner to a bed, because our bed is so high, but he wanted to wait till he could get himself off and on the bed easily before trying sleeping on it all night and having to get up to use the bathroom. He slept with NO PROBLEMS in that Lazy Boy recliner all that time! One worrisome development--Eldy had bloodwork done because of extreme fatigue and some other issues and his blood count numbers were not good. He was anemic and had something show up near his stomach on an Xray, a 3mm mass which they thought might be a kidney stone. Since then, his white and red cell numbers have improved on their own two weeks later. He is going to have a CT scan this week. (Update: Whatever there was that was on the scan before is not there now.) He has good days and bad days mentally and physically. He was expecting to bounce back pretty quickly like he did after major heart surgery. Heck, he was playing golf after one month after heart surgery. But this is major hip JOINT surgery and a whole different ball game (like hip ball and socket haha) as far as recovery of the muscles and tissues. Patience is not one of Eldy's virtues, so it's going to be a long haul before he can swing a golf club and bend over to pick something up. Three to six months before you don't have to worry about 90 degree precautions. Some days the hip hurts, and some days it doesn't. Some days he gets up out of his chair, limping with stiffness, and other times he says he feels perfectly normal and forgets to use his cane.

Over spring break, Sparky crafted up a storm between PT appointments. A fancy patriotic pin cushion, a pillow cover for the month of May, a rope bowl, a patriotic mini quilt to display on a stand, and a patriotic table runner. A sample....

Sparky is back to riding the Pumpkinvine Bike Trail in between cold, blustery spring days. She got a new bike! A Trek FX4, a performance fitness bike with a lightweight carbon frame...It's a beauty, much more lightweight than her last bike and one step closer to a road bike. At her age, this is probably the last bike, no road bike for Sparky! Trail riding is all she wants to do these days.

Virginia Spring Beauties lining the trail

As always, Sparky rides for the views as much as she rides to try and keep moving. The wildflowers are just starting to peek out this mid-April. The first to appear are the Virginia Spring Beauty, little low to the ground purple and white flowers in abundance. They line the trail in some sections as seen above. At the same time these appear, here come the beautiful trout lilies (at the left)...small clusters here and there, often just one or two spread out, their heads down as if they were a little shy. Sparky had to bend down and look up into this pretty little flower to see the details. Aren't the mottled leaves cool? So is the name....

yellow trout lily

And some hepaticas....

and cut-leaved toothwort....

Cut-leaved toothwort

Buggies on shopping day in Middlebury

One of Sparky's favorite things to do is head over to Shipshewanna on a Saturday to visit the meat market, and two fabric shops--Lolly's and Yoder's Department Store, which has a great shoe department besides clothing and fabrics. On the way to Shipsee, as the locals call it, Sparky likes to pass through Middlebury, where the Amish also do their Saturday shopping besides Shipesee. Something was going on this past dreary Saturday, as many buggies were in Middlebury, and almost none in Shipshewanna! A trip to Shipshewanna is not complete without a stop at JoJo's Pretzels, in the Davis Mercantile building, where pretzels are handmade  FRESH at a frenzied pace on a Saturday. Watch them make the pretzels while you wait in line! They are SO-O-O-O good! The pretzel shop is right across the aisle from Lolly's Fabrics, so you know where Sparky is headed. (And she didn't bring me one...W-A-A-N-H! fusses E. But in all fairness, I didn't want one, kids Eldo).

Pretzel making at Jo-Jo's

And with having reported the latest news, we say, see you later down the road, or down the street in our case. You might see us next at the South Side Soda Shop, a cool retro diner in Goshen, IN...... So bye for now....

Middlebury, IN  2024