Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

its a big place im going to. therapy in the back and a gym in the front. all the staff are super nice. my therapist continues to be pleased with my progress. i’m to the 130 range now. i gained 8 points. 140 is the goal. i’ll have one more month to get there.

here’s a glimpse of what i do. take notes sharon-

first i get a 10 minute warm moist heat to start, that feels so good.

my equipment is on the table. i’m on my own for these now.

i do a few of the easier ones first like squeezing the ball between my knees – raising my lower leg up with the bolster under my knee, letting it down slowly so you work the muscle – raise my whole leg extended up just 8 inches and feel the burn as you lower it – then do the same thing laying on your side.

remember the ONE i posted before – here it is

this one really hurts the muscles in the back of your knee. but its not the worst one of all.

you wouldn’t think the one below would be so bad, but its where the torture lies.

i don’t have a weight yet, thank goodness. do you see the ‘10’ minutes you have to lay there, your muscles screaming for you to stop after 4-5 minutes. i use visualization to get my leg to 10. i told jerry no picture for this one. i’m just laying there, dying😫

then its off to the machines
this one is pretty easy. you push outward with your knees. i started out with 2 lbs. now its 5.

this one you push in. again its pretty easy with 5 lbs. i’m sure they will raise it again soon.

on this one you start with your legs up and then swing them down under you, again 5 lbs.

then its a 7 minute ride on the bicycle on the lowest resistance 🚴🏻‍♀️ for now anyway

i’ve been doing those machines several times now. i was given another one monday.

as i walked up to it i said ”whoa“ what do i do on that”?😧

this is what you do

once you get yourself into it, all you have to do is push yourself up not to quite full extension, and then back down slowly. it was pretty easy once you get in it. this was the last one.

then its a quick massage ’aaahhh’..😁

then its the the TENSmachine with an ice pack for 15 minutes. and that’s it. after 2 hours we get to go home, limping a little, but proud of myself.

thanks for spotting me jerry. i couldn’t do it without you💗and for taking the pictures. i posted the best ones.

hope you find a willing spotter sharon. it helps a lot.

i was thinking of sharon while doing this. a post on the blog is the best way to send pictures with a story to somebody. that’s why ray helped me, so long ago, to send pictures home while we were on a trip. everybody that wants to – can see them. no more sending one here and one there. no more silly postcards. i highly recommend it. you didn’t know you were creating a monster bloggist, did you ray? i do thank you ray💗every time i start and finish a post. (btw, the computer was toast)

I see the doctor tomorrow. i hope he’s as pleased with my progress as my therapist.

thanks for all your comments, they bring me so much joy. another good reason to post on a blog😁

i hope you all stay tuned,

💗jilly

P.S. amy likes quotes as much as i do. i’m glad we share that.

this is a good one to live by amy💗u

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You all know midas by now. he adopted us when he was 3 or 4 months old. a lot of my early pictures got deleted when i got the blue screen of death on our first computer. some very special ones too. tony tried hard to get them back, but couldn’t, even with help from his co-workers.

you know that screen-don’t you?

midas has wanted to be an outside cat for all these years. no amount of coaxing could change his mind. he’s stayed around while we did all that traveling. 4 months one time, with care from family, friends, and neighbors. frank and linda have become his babysitters of choice for years now. he loves them and goes to their back door to see them and their cat through the glass door. linda sends me lots of texts when we are on a trip.⬇️

~
since midas never wanted to be a house cat. we would bring him in after illness’s and the fourth of july. this year he wanted in when the fireworks started, three days in a row. even with all the fines attached to doing them, people still did them, loudly. as soon as it quieted down he -wanted out again.

~

~

Midas does this ⬇️ practically every day too-

this is how he get’s from one side, to the other side, of the porch. i finally sat and waited to get a video, and then took these frames from it. pretty cool huh?

~

this was a very special treat ted sent to midas. the good stuff.

ted loves him and he’s never even met him. i send him a lot of pictures so he knows him that way. he thinks he’s a remarkable cat. so do we🥰

~

~
We got him a drinking fountain that constantly moves to help keep the mosquitos away

~

i guess you can tell we love our midas. he’s been a very special cat from the beginning.

i was thinking of ted when i put this together, but i hope you all enjoy it too.

don’t know what’s next❓

stay tuned ❓

💗jilly

P.S.

and jerry still sits with him every morning

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I’ve been trying to keep busy without overworking my knee. the exercises do that. so doing puzzles, which don’t make my knee hurt, keeps my mind off the discomfort going in on my knee. this is my latest puzzle – the one tracy got me for Mother’s Day💗fun to do and i loved the matte finish.

and posting is a good way to keep my brain off my knee. which is doing so much better. i got good news yesterday at therapy – iv’e reached 122 in my range, 2 above my goal. the exercises are getting much tougher now and she’s adding more. how many of you could do of this one?

other than that,since i have so much time on my hands, i’ve been cleaning out some of my stuff……..slowly, sitting down.
tracy and tony will tell you i have a lot of stuff, and always have. which they will inherit, like it or not. but i like looking at my stuff! that’s why i have it out. what good is it hiding in closets or packed in the garage. traveling since 2007 after jerry retired, until our last trip to see tracy in North Dakota, i’ve acquired much more stuff. (i can hear you ray, a person that detests stuff).
talking about stuff reminded me of a routine that george carlin did about stuff that was hilarious. Check it out on you tube🤣

so, i started getting busy sorting, cleaning and dusting and getting rid of some stuff. first i started with my bookshelf that was filled with rocks, shells, found objects, etc. everything is precious to me with memories attached. so its hard for a stuff collector to get rid of stuff. but i am – slowly – sort of. I’m hoping someone will want my stuff someday.

⬇️ i couldn’t get rid of my pencil’s. one from every state. they are useable. or our found money i put in the water pitcher that was a gift from my mother💗 it’s useable and spendable. and yes, thats all found money.

⬇️surely someone will want these hearts. they can all go in someones garden someday. some are gift’s and some are found hearts. all special. In the center is a 🧡copper heart we got in bisbee, az. the heart in the right back is a piece of raw amethyst from 💜quartzite, az. the map of the us is a cutting board. it’s useable – and the schweerhart goes with us.💗we do have another one.

⬇️the the shelf below has one of my favorite finds. a 💗heart shaped abalone shell. you would have thought i had found a diamond. tony got me the rose quartz globe in the special holder years and years ago.💗i have black sand from hawaii and white sand from colorado. jerry’s paper weight is here too. calling cards tracy made, a joy jar amy made, some wheat pennies, and the little big book of life💗all precious.

⬇️my mother bought me the candle💗from ’ports-a-call’ way back when it first opened. the kids made us the piece of wood with shells on it💗I think at camp. i’ve collected the glass boxes from thrift stores to hold stuff.💗on the left bottom is a ring💗frank and linda bought me. it’s made from years of paint collected from the paint booths at the ford plant in deroit. many layers have been scraped off the floor and made into beautiful jewelry called ’fordite’. it looks like precious agate. you can see this online. very interesting.

and don’t you just love the piece of driftwood💗can’t part with this stuff.

⬆️the plate above is one of jerry’s💗aunt lucille we brought back from touson when his cousin, melanie,💗passed away suddenly. the owl was brought to us from tony and thuy’s trip to vietnam.💗the ‘el camino real bell’ road sign replica is from one of the many missions we visited.💗 some pegmatite pieces that look like silver, but are actually quartz, and the framed picture is one of ted’s valentines💗

of course i have a lot more stuff. but i’ll save that for another day and i’ll wait awhile to post it. can you tell i have a lot of time on my hands?

stay tuned for other stuff 🙂

💗jilly

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Have you got your flag out yet??? this is one of the most important days to fly it🇺🇸

l searched ‘American flags’ in my google photos, and came up with quite a lot. I went through them and picked out a few to share with you on this July 4th.

I hope you have – as they say ” a safe and sane” holiday.

a song we’ve been singing since grade school ~

a couple of puzzles ~

We had this bench in the the yard for years. it’s patiently waiting to be repainted ~

this flag is hanging in the Kennedy library ~

and here we are – jerry, me, sharon, ray, martha – at the Reagan library ~

at one of the many car shows ~

at one of the may air shows ~

such a pretty sight, must have been memorial day ~

another pretty sight ~

maybe i should do my hair ’red, white and blue’ ~

JUST KIDDING

but you never know, i’m turning 76 this year

stay tuned

❤️🤍💙jilly

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We had a such good time on the porch. we drank champagne and wine. linda brought a vegetable tray with lot of goodies plus popcorn and chips, thanks linda💗 rosemary brought deviled eggs, homemade crackers and homegrown tomatoes thanks rosemary💗we provided shrimp cocktails. it was nice to be out with the neighbors again. we all get along so well. paula stopped by too💗

i finished the ’north america wonders puzzle’ this morning. it was a fun challenge, and i loved every minute of it. it brought back memories of all the places Jerry and i have been lucky enough to to see in our travels.

you can see here ⬇️ there is a piece missing. it’s a new puzzle so i know it’s in the house somewhere but both Jerry and i cant find it. uh oh, i hope jerry didn’t vacuum it up.

And the flag that nobody could see was on the Whitehouse. and you won’t see it here either, jerry did’t get it in the picture.

the birth of a new puzzle————and————————the death of an old one

The new one is coming out of a beautiful box in a nice cloth drawstring bag—and the old one is trying to fit back in it’s plastic bag and be scotch taped and crammed into it’s box

We had a visit from joni yesterday. she came bearing a weeks worth of food. she stopped by stone fire grill on her way here. we aren’t getting our meal kits this week so good timing joni, we tasted everything. absolutely fabulous!💗thanks joni. stay longer next time!

While looking for some of the picture above-i found our first nose-pick. who knew it was going to ge the start of the start of something big.

stay tuned

💗jilly

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right now for sure.

I’ve only got four flat boxes left on my puzzle from tony. he outdid the cat puzzle with this one. and i have loved every minute of working on it. not only does it remind me of so many places we’ve been to, but takes my mind off the discomfort that’s going on in my knee. so thank you again tony💗

and i have another puzzle waiting on the sidelines that tracy sent me. it’s another intricate scene of vintage houseplants as you might see them in an old book. almost ready to start that one. thanks tracy💗

gardening has always been a source of meditation for me. taking my mind off the stress of everyday life. since my knee decided it didn’t like gardening any more, puzzles stepped up to the plate to fill in full time. puzzles are also a source of meditation, you forget everything else while you’re hunting for that piece that will go right where you are looking. kinda like looking for weeds that need pulled or dead flowers that need to be cut, tomatoes to harvest. i loved it. this tomato came up from compost dirt i put in this pot.

i got another great report from the physical therapist. i am way ahead of the curve. the range of motion on my knee was 110. the majority of people come in around 70. i’m not saying that to impress people, just that sometimes you have to give it your all to come out on top. i’ve been giving it my all so i will have a good outcome with this. i don’t want to have any recurring problems with this surgery. i love dr. kurzweil, but i don’t want to see him again in the OR – too soon anyway.

i know a lot of you have dealt with surgeries, critical illness, and everyday maladies over your lifetimes, and maybe still are dealing with the pain and discomfort they produced. these posts have helped me deal with some of that, so thank you for being there with cheerful comments and well wishes. i love your phone calls joni. Plus all the comfort of thoughtful food and goodies. i got homemade sauerkraut yesterday from rosemary, one of my favorites she makes. i used to make it with nanny, jerrys grandmother, in a big crock. I’ve done a lot of canning in the good old days. nanny taught me a so much, thanks nanny💗i was famous for my pickles and strawberry jam.

we’re finally going out on the porch today. it will be fun to be acting normal again. it’s only been 18 days, but i’m getting tired of taking this new knee everywhere i go. especially in the shower, it’s the worst. but it gets better every day. it’s a roller coaster ride. ups and downs.

I feel blessed to have a life with all of you in it. I don’t need a comment to know you are tuning in. thanks so much💗

Stay tuned 💗jilly

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We started out to the 2:15 appointment. the clouds were beautiful after that thunderstorm. i got a good feeling things would go well after seeing this cloud. it looked like an angel😇

The appointment did go well with Dr. Kurzweil. i like him a lot. especially since he said i was a star patient. my knee had reached the range of motion he wanted. it hurt a lot to get it there, but it was worth it to be a 🌟. i took some pictures of the x-rays and posters while waiting for him to come. I’ll save the scar for the very last in case you don’t want to look at it. it’ not that bad though.

it’s amazing what doctors can do after years of schooling, training, and practice. could you learn and remember all this, plus a million other medical terms? i cant even remember how to use the remote control.

this is the new and improved ”artificial joint” that now resides in my body⬇️

the dr is holding the knee cap⬆️which represents mine.

and this is how it looks in my body⬇️

And here is the incision

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scroll fast if you don’t want to see it

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On the drive home we stopped at the signal hill starbucks for iced coffee. I took a picture of the clouds from the parking lot of home depot. they were so gorgeous.

I know you get these clouds a lot more than we do tracy, and you probably never get tired of looking at them. but we don’t have to have your prairie weather to have some once in awhile. and i never get tired of looking at our clouds.

thanks for joining in big mike. and yes, I’m recovering well. just wait until you hear what the therapist said. btw, any clarinet lessons coming up? i’ve got a lot of time on my hands.😉

stay tuned 💗 jilly

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Everyone is being so nice and i’m getting so many goodies and well wishes. we have the best friends, neighbors and family imaginable. linda is always sharing her food with us. she loves to cook delicious meals and we are on the receiving end of that a lot. Since my surgery, she first made us a delicious, juicy organic roasted chicken. and then made a delicious, nutritious, bone broth out of the bones. i added some noodles, carrots, and leftover chicken for soup. next we got yummy pesto salmon.

rosemary brings us the best homemade sourdough bread. this time is was the best rye i’ve ever tasted. paula brought over fresh croissants and cookies. the mudge’s, midas’s best friend’s, that make a special trip to give him snacks every night, are sharing their delicious plums with us. they said they have had over a thousand this year.

thuy sent food in when the girls came for a visit. i couldn’t go to the graduation, so she had to come get her presents. it’s hard to wrap my head around that she will be starting college in the fall. thuy always brings egg rolls when the whole family comes over, so she sent some in with them. egg rolls are so labor intensive, she gets these from a restaurant, and they are very good. (but her’s are much better) and she makes her own version of meatloaf, that is much better than my old fashioned recipe. she also made us some great chicken enchiladas.

tony brought jerry these huge cookies from ’crumbl’ cookies for fathers day. then took him to see ’top gun’ and lunch at the ‘cheesecake factory’. a nice break for jerry. even though i think i’ve made it easier than he thought it would be to help me.

all of this is helping my progress for sure. i did go back to taking a pain pill to sleep. it’s only been two weeks, duh! i have my post-op visit with the doctor today, so i took one, because i know he’s going to pull and yank on my leg and knee taking off the bandages. I’m anxious to see the incision and what kind of scar i’m going to have.

that was some loud thunder last night. the rain got pretty intense. we were worried about midas, but he was on the porch waiting for breakfast this morning. jerry sat with him while the thunder started again. then when jerry came in the house, he followed. he cleaned for awhile and then wanted out.

I start physical therapy tomorrow. i feel an ouch coming already. i hope it’s going to be ok to take the pain pills before the first visits.

so stay tuned, but – beware, i might post a picture of the scar.

I’ve done that two steps forward and one back too ray. so i’m just taking it one day at a time.

💗jilly

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A week ago, i was having surgery on my knee. it’s amazing how far i’ve come in those seven days. some are just a blur, and some others, i remember being quite painful. thankfully i didn’t have many. i just feel soreness now. i’m only taking a pain pill to sleep, and i might give that up tonight. I’ve kept busy with the ice machine, the plasma flow device, and getting 7pills, twice a day taken. thats on top of my regular pills. I’ve been able to do puzzles on my lap as jerry brings me my pre- sorted pieces. can you spot the flag?l

I’m looking forward to doing things without that nagging pain in my knee. gardening will be my greatest pleasure again. getting our trike out of storage, dusting it off, and buzzing around the neighborhood will be pure joy, and a new source of posts for the blog.😊

🇺🇸we had some flags out on flag day in our little part of the neighborhood.

Frank and Linda’s. Looks very nice, but you might need longer sticks next year. can’t let them touch the ground.

and Paula’s. it looked so vibrant.

and ours

I watched ours all day. i love to see how a flag will furl (to be or become rolled up, curl) and unfurl( unfold, unroll) in the breeze. it’s like poetry in motion. I’ve loved and respected the flag from a young age. i guess i was paying attention when learning about the importance of its place in history. Unfortunately, I think the flag has lost some of its luster and people have forgotten why its still important to fly it.

I hope you’re all inspired to think about putting a flag out next year. not just on flag day, but on many of the holidays that are special to you. did you know fathers day and mothers day are flag flying days?

Thanks for all your comments, they keep me company and inspire me to share my thoughts.

I hope you – Stay tuned – if you’re interested

💗jilly

ps. Ray, the first photo is taken at ’shady acres’ remember that place? i was pregnant with tracy. the second photo is taken downtown long beach in woolworths before we were married. the third photo is taken after we got married and went to lake arrowhead.

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Don’t forget to put one out today. if you don’t have a flag, think about getting one to fly on flag days. I’m wanting jerry to put a light on ours so i can leave it up all the time.

heres a few facts from the newspaper:

I’m doing much better today. I think the worst is behind me. It will just take time and patience now. i have lots of time, but patience is a whole different matter. this gloomy day isn’t helping. hope to be on porch soon

stay tuned

💗jilli

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