Messages from Tom Cat - 2

[agate]

This is from Tom Cat on Sunday (my apologies for the delay):

Doing okay.

Sorry to hear about Virginia's brother. Wishing her the best of taking care of things. Hope the other brothers can help out.

My shoulder seems to have healed well. How much work I should or shouldn't do the doctor never said. It does get sore after a couple of hours in the garden shoveling and hard raking . So I rest it after that. I'm not doing any pushups yet. I think that would be overdoing it. Still having sleep problems, though better than a year ago.

Enjoying all the programs on Queen Elizabeth the Second. I remember her crowning ceremonies in 1953. We watched it in black and white, on a neighbor's TV. I feel she has been the most stabilizing head of state in these last 70 years. I see the Commonwealth has 56 countries around the world in it. That alone has kept democracies the most common form of government. As Winston Churchill is said to have said: democracy is he worst form of government--except for all the rest.

And with that I say good night. Take care.

[agate]

From Tom Cat:

After having my blood work and hemoglobin shot Monday, I went next door to the orthopedic clinic to get an understanding of how much I can work the upper left shoulder. The nurse practitioner there, after consulting with the doctor, thought I was doing fine, and some pushups would be okay. I told them when things started to hurt much, I rest the shoulder for a bit. I think they were surprised I was lifting some weight overhead and carrying about 30 lbs short distances.

I' m still trying to get things together in the house, & land before the cold weather comes in. We're in the mid 70's by day and 50's at nights now. Had moderate rains over the past 4 days, which is fine with us since we have sandy soils here. Did some fallen tree chainsawing last night before dusk, on downed trees from wind & rains over a month back. These were 40 ft high pine and oak trees. The white pines broke off in wind gusts around 50 mph, and the oaks were mainly uprooted with heavy rains and wind.

Eating okay with well balanced diet of veggies, salmon and beef, plus venison from the guys that hunt here. We have a small truck farm at the end of the, 4/10-mile drive. I go down there for sweet corn, bell and chili peppers, different small potatoes, squash, cucumbers, kohlrabi, berries and apples, all picked the same day.

So that's where I'm at right now. Still not making much person to person contact. Need to work on that.

Time for breakfast now.

Take care and virtual hugs to all of you out there.

Me and my furry friends having an afternoon nap on the couch. Maggie likes to get "up close and personal" on the couch. Otherwise she tries to be standoffish.

[agate]

Ralph returned my call and he's doing OK, just occupied with some small-engine repair difficulties. He mentioned 10 acres of prairie land, with prairie grasses growing typically 6 feet high.

He must stay very busy. He also mentioned that his friend Marty's sister is trying to sell Marty's property. Marty was the friend and neighbor who died a while back.

He has problems using the Kindle and so hasn't been communicating much lately.

[agate]

Message from Ralph:

Thanks for the call this morning.

It looks like cooler weather coming up, after several days in the 70's this last week. Actually, we'll be in the mid to high 50's this week, with some rain, which is warmer than usual.

I want to sand down, fill some cracks, on the handicap ramp yet this year. The deck/tramp area gets the sun by the afternoon, warms up enough for painting. So I may be okay for a paint job.

The hunters will be in this weekend, if not before. Bow season has been going for 2 weeks now, but not much hunting in the warm weather. If you don't get the deer frozen right away, the meat spoils. If you butcher your own and get the meat in the freezer right away, that is no problem. For my native and curb trade friends that's no problem. The shoot the game, dress it, skin it and take the hide off within an hour of killing it. There are few of those kinds of hunters or fishermen left. I'm from the day if you caught fish, you also dressed them, or you didn't go fishing. Sometimes I think us elders come from alien worlds, eh?

Time to get some rest and clean up for tomorrow's blood draw and hemoglobin shot. That's doing as good as ever, and my iron has fallen to where I don't need meds to keep it down. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do all the stuff I do and not get osteoarthritis in my joints, eh? Oh, well I guess you can't have everything.

Take care, and thanks for keeping in touch with me. You really do keep me plugging along. Thank you!

The front and back yards a week ago. Sort of a wake up call, eh??

[Virginia]

Ralph, so glad to hear from you. Snow in October? You do live on another planet I believe!! Talk about deer hunting and fishing. My brother and my husband were big fishermen. They both loved to go camping and fishing. They took coolers full of ice and they could put the fish in there until they got home where they could clean them. We did eat the fish. Anything that couldn't be eaten they just threw back in the lake when they caught them. You're right I am not sure how many people live like that anymore. Your native friends sound very interesting. Wish you could visit them.

Glad to know you are keeping up your Doctor appointments.

Take care,
Virginia

[agate]

This is from Tom Cat on Tuesday--sorry for the delay!

Just a hello for the morning. Got up at a little after 7 AM. Late for me, but with the rush to be prepared for the winter I need to get a lot done. I haven't got any help to speak of. Long story.

Sleep is still a problem, and anything approaching 4 hours in a row hasn't existed for decades. Too many things on the mind.

As to the osteoarthritis, it has been with me for over 40 years. It has slowly gotten worse, but usually I can tolerate it without medication. Acetaminophen can help. but better for headaches than joint pain for me. Ibuprofen works best.

I move the burning logs with carrying tongs. The tongs are similar to ice tongs for moving 40-pound blocks of ice.. We did that for my first 10 years or so until we could by an electric REFRIGERATOR. WOW, I've gone through more technological changes than I can think about.

Back to the arthritis. Moving heavy logs and the like does get it acting up.

Now getting toward the noon hour. Need to fill a couple of bird/squirrel feeders and get a fire started in the workshop stove. Need to do some wood splitting with the axe too. Take care.

My reply:

I can understand about the osteoarthritis as I have that too--no fun when it flares up. I take 4 aspirin a day regularly and quite a few more during bad spells. The trees here are getting colorful--and dropping their leaves too. Do you rake leaves there or leave them on the ground? Hope your jobs can go forward smoothly. Take care there.

[agate]

I sent Tom Cat a message and had this reply:

I'm hanging in there trying to get things put together before the next snow storm. Right now most of the.snow has melted and evaporated with weather above freezing night and day. Thinking of you all the time, but when I want to message in the evening, I'm tired and not in the writing mood. Take care.

The Easter/Christmas cactus, whatever, has been back in bloom again. Guess it likes the neglect I give it.

[Virginia]

I have had Ralph on my mind lately. Winters can be brutal where he is. I just hope he is prepared with all he needs should a big snow storm come through. I also hope he has someone checking on him. Maybe Joe, who doesn't live too far.

[agate]

Ralph has surfaced! I sent him a New Year message and had a reply, which I hope to post tomorrow. He's all right but has been busy with quantities of snow there.

[agate]

Tom Cat's message:

Well, I'm doing okay. Have been doing quite a bit of snow removal this past month. I got an electric lift for the plow, which really helps. I can adjust it now, so I remove the snow without pulling up the gravel. And it makes it nice, not having to lift the plow with my arm....

Doing most of the house work, cleaning, cooking and the like, leaves little time for hobbies. And I really, really miss being around people. My main contact is my blood draw and hemoglobin shot twice month. That may sound funny, but it's my interacting person to person. More on that later. I have my song birds, squirrels, deer, rabbits, etc., that I really enjoy, and of course Smudge and Maggie, the cats. It would be fun to share my animals with others, and the shortbread, jerky, and the like. I've become more isolated this last couple of years. I'm never sure when to stop talking. Anyway I'm still hanging here, I still have trouble getting this Kindle to work for me, and I'm really, really glad to hear from all of you at Brain Talk.

Virtual hugs to everyone. I need to get back online and figure out how to visit my fur trade friends up north, after about 3 years.

This is Smudge's tent, that she has made out of a winter coat.

[Virginia]

Aww Ralph, that is so cute. She is warm in her own little tent. They can be so endearing and so much company. However, I really wish you had more human company. Did the house across the street from you ever sell?

[agate]

From Tom Cat (Ralph) yesterday evening. There were a couple of typos that I couldn't figure out--so have put my guesses in brackets:

Virginia and [all of you],

Yes, the house behind us was the home of Marty and Myrna. They were college friends of ours. She was the computer person, into church music, and Marty was into native plants. He loved to do prairie burns. We gave them the 7 acres they lived on here, with about half in restored prairie. She [was] Filipino-American, born here, was diabetic, had a kidney replacement. After 6 years it failed, and she died. We thought Marty was going to be around for a while. He was the same age as Ann. Then a year and a half ago, he gets some chest pain; they take X-rays, take a liter of liquid off one lung. It's a rare form of cancer, and he dies within 4 months. Other than osteoporosis he had few problems. He never smoked, and at most had a glass of wine 2 or 3 times a year with friends and relatives. So within 3 years, Ann and my closest friends of 50-plus years were gone.

It took his sister Kay over a year to clean up, sell most things, and then the land. He and I did prairie burns almost every year. A real loss for me.

The fellow that bought the place is into prairies, and we may do some small burns this spring.

Hauled a ton or so ( 2 cords of wood or 2 x 128 cubic feet, for any of you that really care) from different piles, to put in my work shed, for the stove. More wood to put under cover tomorrow, before snow later in the week.

I do need to call it a night. Need to try getting some sleep and eating better


Maggie says "Good night and happy New Year." She's sleeping at the foot end of the bed these days.

Take care, and virtual hugs.

[Ikoiko]

Happy New Year to Tom Cat!

[Virginia]

Maggie will keep your feet warm Ralph.

[agate]

Reply from Tom Cat:

I need to take part of a morning getting back to all of you at Brain Talk. You really do keep me going.

Some of your references to Ann and photography really surprised me. Most of the time she left that to me. I know she did some on the doll houses, but she never wanted her picture taken, and she'd have me take almost all our trips.

I'm having a real struggle on what to do with the dozen or so adult doll houses she put together. They are to go to a national- type doll house museum in Nebraska, but any contact I have with them is minimal. These are hard to move, with delicate furniture and handmade porcelain dolls.

More on this later. Right now I'm still clearing snow back, waiting for more to come. February is our 2nd coldest month, after this month. This is the coldest month, usually, with frequently subzero temperatures. These recent years have been warmer than usual.

An eye-resting break now. The vision gets blurry when reading, after a half hour or so. I cold-water-wash the eyes and usually can get back to close-up in an hour or so.