On cloudy and overcast days, my energy level really takes a hit and I find it hard to get much accomplished.

Found Diamonds!

I got tired, finally, of the fact that my favorite flannel shirt was missing 2 buttons, so I went to my button and sewing supply box to see if I could find some buttons that more or less matched. Then I became distracted by all the shiny buttons and set about to organize them. At the very bottom of a small cardboard box that contained buttons, safety pins and little screws, I found 2 old diamond stud earrings! Don't ask me how they ended up in the box, but I hope to sell them to a local jewelery store and get a bit of cash. That would be fun!

Knee Surgery Recovery

I'm already 17 days into knee surgery recovery.  I'm feeling stronger, but I'm a bit afraid to bend the knee too much (like when you walk up stairs) cus even though I can do it, a week ago it kind of felt like one of the sutures was pulling apart every time I bent the knee, and in fact one of the sutures did look a bit more open than the other one. So I went in to see surgeon this past Monday and he said to defer the start of physical therapy for a week to give it a bit more time to heal. I'm still doing hourly exercises each day, but none of them requires knee bends. They include leg lifts, ankle flexing and balancing on that leg for about a minute at a time.

I haven't gotten the bills yet for the surgery, but when I called ahead to find out how much it would cost me so I wouldn't freak out, they told me there would be 3 bills: 1 for the surgeon, 1 for the anesthesiologist and 1 for the facility (co-owned by the doctor, interestingly).

So far my costs are well under the roughly $4K I was told I'd need to pay as I haven't met my annual $4300 deductible. For some reason, 2 anesthesiologists each billed me $156, so I'd like to find out why. The doctor billed me $1,232 and so I'm just waiting for the facility fee.

Deer Kill in the Yard

Three coyotes killed a doe in my yard roughly a month ago now. At the time, I searched the property looking for something dead as the stench was awful. I didn't learn of the deer's location until I asked my lawn mower guy, who said "I thought you knew" where it was. Nothing but the skeleton is left already, with the head and some leg joints severed and separate from the body.

I saw 3 coyotes just a few days before I began to smell it, and at the time (early am) they did not appear to be "hunting" anything but seemed animated or excited by something as they ran back and forth from my back yard to the front, where the deer was, several times.  Impressively, they covered a distance of over a hundred feet in just a few seconds.

Above are 2 of the 3 coyotes, headed down that little path in upper right of photo, which leads to the back side of a very large white pine where the deer was killed.

This is what they left. (Note the skull and some leg parts have been severed and can be seen above where the body is.)

Anyway, now I feel I should get rid of what's left before my mower returns on Tuesday so he can do a complete mow. I plan to use a shovel to fling the bones into the nearby brush so it's all at least off the lawn and mostly out of site. I am not looking forward to this task and it kind of grosses me out, but somebody's gotta do it....

Just yesterday morning I spotted a red fox trotting past the house from the kitchen window, headed in the general direction of the deer bones. Indeed, I can look out my upstairs office window now and see a leg joint there, presumably carried there by the fox or other scavenger. Although I have seen tracks in the snow, I haven't seen a red fox here in years, so I'm sure it was attracted by what the coyotes left behind.

Got a Raise

I asked for, and received, a 5% raise at my p/t job 2 weeks ago. Not much of a biggie. They have yet to get the paycheck right.

How I Spent my Tax Refund

I did end up spending the unexpected tax refund (thank you Mr President), not from my return, on a new ultra-high-efficiency Samsung washer/dryer. I love energy-efficient gadgets and appliances in general; the dryer uses heat pump technology and actually removes moisture much the way a dehumidifer would. Kinda interesting, but I'm not sure I'm lovin' the front load vs top load. If you don't have a low laundry basket to put under the open door, clothes tend to fall out when you're filling or removing items. It's awkward and hard on the back. Most of these types of washers/dryers have a stand that at least raises them a foot or so higher, but Samsung apparently doesn't make them for this model. I may have to look into retrofitting something to make it better. The dryer plays a song when the load is dried.