catching up again

Hard to believe Oct 18 was last report.

We have been very busy, at times, and in general have enjoyed very nice weather. The AC was used a little, as was the furnace, which developed a little problem, which was quickly resolved. It is great to let mother nature provide the heat during the day and cool things down at night, so sleeping is easy.

Before Lester and Sue got here, we took criket to the air show at Jacksonville Naval Air Station.
The Blue Angels were sensational, there was a jet truck that did 300 mph, and lots of stationary planes. The show was excellent, and there was only one problem. 100,000 people trying to get out of a packed limited access military installation at the same time. We sat for an hour in line without moving one inch, and it took 2 hours total to get out. At the time it was frustrating, but it still was enjoyable.

With Lester and Sue here we have been on the road a lot. We went to Volusia County Fair and watched/listened to Brenda Lee, who is now 65 like the rest of us. She put on a interesting show for the old folks.

!We went to Seaworld one day, they have a new bably killer whale (one month old) who was swimming around with its mother. We finally learned what the different critter is that is part of the Blue Horizon dolphin show. It is longer and thinner than the dolphins and darker in color. For those who are interested, it is something called a false killer whale.

We have been to numerous flea markets, and several home shows.

The music scene is firing up again with the return of the musical snowbirds. Between the Senior Center and Jay opening up Lou's Ponderosa again, we have jam sessions twice a week. We just attended River Fest in Ormond Beach, and earlier we attended the Jamboree at Barberville. It took us a while to find it but there is lots of of our kind of music in this part of Florida.

We got the tire problem on the boat trailer resolved, and checked the motor out, bought a new depth finder, cleaned up the boat and dumped it in the water. It is behaving very well, but for some reason, alligators are hard to find. We did do some shrimping but they are basically gone and it takes a lot of throws of the casting net to get enough shrimp to eat.

When we got here we checked with the surgeon who took x-rays and said to go ahead and use the knee, excercise it and come back in 3-4 weeks. I was able to walk some in a very wobbly fashion, which still felt great to do. It has been 5 weeks and we went back to him today. Let me preface this with the fact using the knee did not work, it started to hurt in some situations, and about the 1st of November, it became more and more obvious that "it is time". The x-rays showed that additional deterioriation was taking place and he said " Do you want to do it before or after Christmas". We said "before'

Surgery to install a new knee joint is now scheduled for Dec 9. He said I will be in the hospital for 4-5 days and then recommends going home for rehab (to stay as far away from other people who may be housing "bugs"). So now, on Wed, we have to go to St Augustine to see a heart Dr, our own GP DR , and have bloodwork done. In the morning we have an appointment in Palatka to have Lauras' ear canals cleaned out so she can hear again.

Assuming no problems show up in the blood tests and pre -opt, we go back to the surgeon on Dec 7 for paper signing, etc. Then we go back to St Augustine to pre-register with the hospital, then the surgery on Dec 9. Wish me luck on this because if we have any problems that cannot be rectified in time, the next available surgery date will be Jan13. I do not want to wait that long but whatever happens, happens.

This whole deal started Dec 18, 2009, so whatever happens, it means I will have gone, in essence, a full year without being able to walk. I am ready to walk.

Before I finally updated this thing, I looked at Kat-nap and Mohr Life. There are some beautiful pictures of all of the kids. If you have not been reading these blogs, you should do s

I promise to keep readers of this blog informed of our progress through the steps that are (hopefully) going to end this nightmare.

Busy, Busy Busy

It has been several weeks since we last wote. Thanks to Heidi for aleting you to our safe arrival in Satsuma.

During the last week of September we were really busy, getting ready to come to Florida. Lakeside and the Vikings were done by the middle of the month. While shutting down Ripley, we managed to have our early Christmas at Heidi's on the 24th, our last physicals with Dr Bodkin on the27th, had my broken tooth crowned on the 28th, had a trailer tire repaired, and then endured what seemed like 10 days of cold and rain to load the trailer and car. We got everthing together and left Ripley about 11:00 Wenesday morning, the 6th of October. After about 3 hours of travel in the rain, it stopped, and we haven't seen any since. Nothing but warmer weather and sunshine.

No problems on the road, we stopped at lexington, Kentucky. The next morning we completed the trip to Clinton, Tennessee, which is about 25 miles North of Knoxville. We went to the motel, we had reserved and left Ki-Ki and some of our stuff at the motel. (as I am writing this, I am monitoring the Jaquar- Titan game. It is now 17-0, in favor of the Titans and Trent Edwards, formerly of the Bills is now quarterbacking for Jacksonville)

After checking in at the motel we went to the Appalachia Museum, where hundreds of school children were enjoying the music and special events. We were surprised when we uncovered the trailer and then the Criket to find a full grown yellow cat sitting on the Criket. With Heidi's help we learned there was a vet right across the street. We had them check for a chip but no luck. Anyway , we still have that cat which has turned out to be a nice animal. I guess we are adopting it.

After 3 nice days, of music and sunshine we left Sunday afternoon about 3;00 and headed towards Augusta, Georgia, winding up in Newberry S. Carolina. Monday we went to Augusta to visit Ricks specialty vehicles, where Crikets are made and sold. It was very interesting and informative. It turns out that Rick was at a video shoot with Jim Kelly of the Bills. Rick had customized a Criket which was sold/auctioned to benefit Jims Camp Fund. Jim also had one customized for Jill. We have a picture of the one that was sold/auctioned and it was very nicely done. On the way out of Augustus, we had and overheating caliper on the right front. We stopped at a transmission place and they went overboard to replace the caliper, at a reasonable price and sent us on our way. This delayed us enough so that we arrived here about 9:00 that night.

We have things together, water on, hot water on, phone on, and part of the reason for the timing of this update, was the lack of internet. It was supposed to have been on Wed, but was not completed until last night. I love AT &T. Now I can catch up on paying bills, etc. Heidi gave us her old I-Phone 3 and we have been enjoying it. Soon we will try to send pictures.

One of the boat trailer tires was flat and we are struggling to get it fixed so we can get the boat into the water so we can catch some shrimp while they are still running.

Today, we went to see the orthopedic surgeon and he was surprised at how good I was, physically. He took x-rays and said the plastic piece was holding up very well, and depending on how things go, I might be able to go a long time without having surgery. So we are going to exercise it with water aoerbics, and riding the stationary bike. and see what happens after 4 weeks. We have been careful not to cause a problem requiring a quick trip for surgery. So we shall see what happens.

We had fish at Alfies last Saturday, with Jane , Norma and Buford. Janice could not join us but eventually we will get together.

Hopefully, our reports will be more timely in the future, and we try to include pictures. See you all soon.

Mom and dad are home

Just a quick update to let anyone reading know that mom and dad arrived in palatka safely yesterday. They had a slight brake caliper issue that they got fixed enroute. And they discovered a stowaway on board. Sure dad will be updating soon.

Sent from my iPhone

still moving forward

We went to the Erie County Fair 3 different times. With the super good weather this year, over a million people attended. This is more than most of the State Fairs attract. Anyway, I neglected to inform everybody of the very unusual event that occurred on the way to the Fair. We had just picked up Lester and Sue and were on Plank Road, heading North, when a big black something was loping across the road. We all said"what is that?" and then realized it was a small to medium sized black bear. We were surprised to see this critter so close to home, and now we watch for it everytime we go through there.

As usual this past weekend was busy and typical. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were busy getting ready for the end of season pancake breakfast at Lakeside campground. After it was over , and some cleanup, we headed out to Buffalo to the flea market at Gex (Walden Ave), and some shopping, followed by a Fiddle Club Gig at Uncle Gs (formerly Cappys). Heidi and Kat came out and met a family with a 4 year old boy named Michael from Guatemala. Heidi and Kat are now in the loop of other families in the area with children from Guatemala.

Then, after the gig we visited with Wally and Joan Tanner, who live very close. Then to Heidis' house to spend the night and in the morning, assisting Heidi and Dan to get ready for the open house, which was quite a success. Then home via the Hamburg Casino, where I won $3.

The weekend before , we went to Crooks Farm in Bradford, Pa about a 70 mile drive where they had a musical event of ald time music. We were impressed with Saturday, but not so much on Sunday. Next year, Saturday only.

During the next week or so, we intend to complete shutting down Lakeside and the Vikings so we will only have Ripley to shut down.

Our present plans are to leave WNY on Oct 5th, staying in Tennesee for several days, arriving in Florida about the 11th or 12th of Oct. We will try to keep in touch and let you know what is happening.

Things are getting better

We went to the Dr in Amherst last week for a checkup and a review of the results of the latest bloodwork.

To summarize, my iron level is still going up, my blood results in general are improving, my kidney function stayed has remained the same , not completely normal, but a long way from requiring dialysis(sp). My weight is down from 219 to 208, and the knee hurts only ocasionally. In addition, I can walk on it sometimes, but I try not to abuse it. My waist size is now 38, down from 40". My general muscle tone and appearance have improved, and I no longer look like a scarecrow. I am eating well, sleeping well and in general feeling well. The Dr eliminated the lasix(water pill) and reduced the daily intake of one of the so called heart pills. So other than being unable to walk, I am very close to being the person I was before this all started last Dec 14.

I have started to accomplish some things, that I could not do before, such as wiring the new pole barn, crawling under "Criket" to adjust and repair its front running gear. Tomorrow, I will be installing new rotors and brake pads on the caravan. It is not easy to get up and down, but once in place I can do the work.

So it looks like we are going to meet our goal of staying in the North until early October and then work our way back to Florida to face the last phase of this operation, and resume a normal life once again.

We continue to be busy here in Ripley. We had a family reunion in early August. Mel and Greg and their boys, Scott and Chris, along with their girl friends Amy and Michelle were there, along with Carol Runkle from Colorado and Heidi and Kat, newly moved from Seattle, along with Esther and Ken from Bradford.

We just had our annual "TurkeyJam" here in Ripley, with musicians from Buffalo area and Pa. The group was small, because of the short notice and other activities going on, but everyone who attended had a great time , with many of them staying until 10:00 at night.

Laura and I have been utilizing "Criket" to the extent that we went to The Chautauqua County Fair, and the Erie County Fair in Hamburg(twice).

This past weekend we went to Lewiston to play with the Fiddlers at the lewiston Art Festival, attended Kats birthday party at Dereks, then spent the night at Dereks', so we were able to help Heidi move their stuff from Johns house in Buffalo to their new house in Amherst. Then we hurried back to Bemus Point for the final night of the Chautauqua County Idol, and spent the night at the Vikings. Today we did some shopping in Erie, and tonight we are in our bed in Ripley.

I am sure we missed some details, but in general, we are doing well and enjoying life as best we can with what we have. Will try not to take so long for the next report.

wow.here does the time go?

It has been 28 days since we last checked in and I apologize to those who still read this thing.

To summarize, we have been very busy and doing very well. I have regained most of my former charactistics. I am eating fairly well, sleeping well. building my body back up to what it used to be, and feeling pretty good. Other than not being able to walk, I am nearly normal again. At the present time it looks like we should be able to remain up here in the North until Early October and then head for Florida and the installation of the new knee that will make me whole again and improve our quality of life.

Did I mention we have been busy? The United Refinery (Kwik-Fill) has been getting rich from us, it seems we fill up every other day. We have been to Sanborn to play with the Fiddlers, went to the Springville and Waterford flea markets(thanks to Kriket). We went to the Buffalo Zoo with Shawn, Cheyenne, Charlotte, Grace, Eli and Alison and Liza.

We joined in the "Roar to the shore", which was a very large motorcycle event in Erie. They had a parade of motorcycles over 5000 strong, which was impressive. We have been to Presque Isle in Erie, several times. Kriket likes it there. We rode their tour boat out into Lake Erie, which was different, but very enjoyable.

We have been to St Vincents Hospital in Erie, to deliver, or pick up Lauras' Brother Ray. He has been dealing wi9th a kidney stone, and it appears that after multiple attempts, they finally found it and blasted it.

Then of course, Heidi and Kat came in from Seattle and we were there to get them to Johns house, where they have taken up temporary residence, until the house they purchased becomes theirs. They have a period of limbo to deal with before they can settle down.

You can read Katnaps to read about the last weekend and the violent weather we experienced. We had been informed by several concerned parties about approaching tornados, but nobody knew exactly what and where. We were on our way to the Dewittvile Fire Hall where all the people there had been sent to the basement. We later drove around and there was significant damage in Mayville and Dewittville, but it was not visible from the road.

We were lucky none of our properties were affected.

Sunday was family day at the Vikings. Kat, and Charlotte and Grace and Eli enjoyed the animals, fun and games. We have been enjoying the Chautauqua Idol at the floating stage in Bemus, and just got our 10th night in at the Vikings.

Upcoming is the Mohr Family Reunion at the Vikings, this Sunday, and next Saturday, we will host our annual garbage can turkey dinner for the local musicians.

We will try to report back a little sooner tha n 28 days, but!

Next week is the Cattaraugus County Fair , followed by the Erie County Fair.

Busy Times

The last week was typical of how things are going. Last Friday, we went to Amherst for Laura to see her eye doctor. They put in drops, took pictures, etc. She is developing cataracts, but surgery not needed for at least another year. Saturday was yard sale day in Jamestown, Sunday was flea market day at Waterford , Pa, (South of Erie).

Monday was my Dr visit in Amherst. Other people have been looking at my blood work info and making judgements about this and that. Dr Bodkin was pleased that I lost 3 more lbs, (down to 216). He said the kidney function is improving, and generally was satisfied with the information. Iron level is low, but not critical, overall, doing well, no prescription changes. come back in 5 weeks.

After that it was over to North Amherst for the pot luck supper(discussion of fathers day breakfast), spent the night at Dereks. Tuesday morning, joined Jeanie and Mike Caputi for breakfast at Friendlys, and then went to their house for a review of how to play pinocle., Then to the zoo, where we had all the grandchildren, except Kat.

From there, we did a few errands, and went home via the Hamburg Casino, where I won $13.

Yesterday, we picked up our new Dish 625 receiver and put it in, and have tv again(long story).


Since the 4th is a sunday, everybody is celebrating on Sat, the 3rd. . We have to be at the Vikings in the morning for the annual trailer association breakfast, then to Lakeside for the 4th of July picnic. Sunday is open right now, but we will find something to do.

Of course we had to go back to Amherst for the Fathers day breakfast. We stayed at Dereks on Saturday night. I worked the orange juice concession and poured 1100 cups of oj.

We have been back and forth so much, we are thankful for the cheaper pennysylvania gas and the Indians at Silver Creek. until next time.