Weekend at the Beach!

Ooo-rah! I mean... surf's up! Sorry, we were at Camp Pendleton/San Onofre for the weekend and with hubby being a retired Marine... well, you get the picture! That's our "rig" waiting for our campsite. What a wonderful weekend! Brought Duke home from the hospital on Tuesday, and I spent Thursday night – all night - as in we never went to bed – packing, and were on the road by a little after 4:00 am Friday morning. My packing fiasco was just a combination of goofy unforseen issues like trying to install a new battery in our truck that didn’t fit and that the cables didn't reach, and then missing bike rack parts, all of which required some “creativity” and literally took until midnight. Then I couldn't remember what was already in the trailer because it's not here at home. I can't get Duke in and out of the truck with the trailer in the driveway... AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Anyway, once we arrived, the weather was perfect, met lots of new sisters, hubby enjoyed every minute, and so did Lisa - except for her migraine - but what better place to recuperate? Cool breeze, sound of the surf... that'll cure anything! Duke parked himself in a Cabela’s lounge chair that I brought for him – just what the doctor ordered for keeping those feet elevated! (Run, don’t walk to Cabela’s website – they are still on sale for $49!) He got a death grip on that TV remote and he was good for the weekend. Let the pampering begin! Pretty much every time I'd return from somewhere, he'd announce, "Some woman came by to check on me and say hi!" Sisters take very good care of each other!!Next time I will not take my trailer. I set it all up, erected the E-Z-Up for shade, hooked up my cute patio light, unfolded enough patio furniture for a parking lot sale... and walked away. Never used any of it. Lisa, however, did sleep in the trailer both nights, so that was good! The handicapped cottage we rented in addition to the campsite, was in fact a two bedroom single-wide mobile home with ramp access and a HUGE bathroom - all of which worked very well for us. Nice deck out back with an ocean view! We WILL be making this trip again...

Lunch! Duke's very own wine charm...

Adorable Sisters on the Fly "Cupcake" Cake - everyone had blue tongues!!!

Lisa and I hit the MCX on the way out and stocked up some cool USMC doodads for Duke - he was beyond thrilled!!

Back to the Melodrama...

Oh, look! Another hospital story!! Let’s see…where’d I leave off on this series… oh yeah, March 10th with the pain management appt… so, on Monday night I was bandaging Duke’s foot and it looked WAY worse, as in red, infected, and downright scary. Tuesday morning Margo drove us over to Santa Barbara as I was a complete basket case with intermittent pounding heart and less than normal breathing issues. Duke's primary care doctor sent him packing across the street to the Cottage Hospital emergency room. They started IV’s to pump him full of antibiotics, and after about an hour or so, Duke, being the “fun” patient, asked the nurse “could I get a grilled cheese sandwich?” Huh? Who knew you could do that in the Emergency Room? Well, apparently you can, he did, and he got it! Finally got him into a room, Margo and I hit the road, and we were home by about 1:30 Wednesday morning. Lisa drove up that day and checked into a hotel, I still had to get myself recuperated and organized, and I headed back over on Thursday. I stopped by my favorite computer expert on the way through Bakersfield and he spent a couple hours getting my new netbook all properly set up. Very happy with it, one of my smarter purchases! So nice to be away from home and still in touch with everyone and everything, and not on a dinky little phone screen! Duke had offered to get me an iPhone and I declined ‘cause there’s just not a single thing I want to do on a screen that small.

Anyway, Duke was in non-stop vomiting mode Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, but they finally got that under control. Now he’s in leg spasm hell. Thought they were easing up, but they're every 12-15 seconds and they can't seem to get them under control. During the couple days I was there, they asked me, "has he tried Ativan? Baclofen? Celebrex? Cymbalta? Darvocet? Dilaudid? Flexeril? Lidocaine? Lyrica? Neurontin? OxyContin? Paxil? Ryzolt? Savella? Skelaxin? Valium? Zanaflex?" Sigh. Yes, yes, yes to all and no they didn't work, or not for very long. Hence, the referral to the epidural approach and possible subsequent implant, which we'll have to postpone until he's off the antibiotics. I should be bringing him home on Tuesday, if he can walk, which is scary, because right now he can't walk on that left foot, and the right leg is no sure thing either because of the new twice-dislocated hip which is missing LOTS of physical therapy appointments! Sure glad I bought that nice new wheelchair on eBay… and I still plan on dragging him down to Camp Pendleton for our “sisters and misters” camping trip. Have I mentioned that I need a vacation??? We have, in addition to the campsite, reserved a two-bedroom handicapped-equipped cottage right on the beach, so we should be MORE than good to go, right?? Don’t be surprised if you hear a Sig Alert about a crazy woman headed south on the I-5 hauling a beat up old travel trailer and gurney with some poor retired Marine duct taped to it… there’s a visual for you!

The high points of his stay besides the exceptional care are 1) that he somehow scored a very pretty, private, frou-frou “movie star” room with lovely hardwood floors, highly upgraded guest furniture, and a wall of glass complete with sliding doors out to a private balcony with, if you look between the trees, a view of the ocean. I told Margo that we should have brought a blender and some little paper cocktail umbrellas! And 2) all the visits from the therapy dogs!! So far he’s seen Diamond the Dalmatian (see her on Facebook!) BB King the Australian Shepherd, Buddy the German Shepherd, and a Sheltie whose name I did not get.

Lisa working on her needlepoint...

You can just barely see the ocean through the coastal fog... very low between the trees... honest, it's there!

Lisa and I did get out for a break on Friday – went down and walked along the beach, the pier, and then had Clam Chowder and Fish and Chips at Brophy’s.

One Week of Weather...

Since it was so warm, sunny, and gorgeous today, I thought you’d enjoy a picture of my big, sleek, shiny thoroughbred. Hey, where’d he go? And where’d this enormous, hairy, prehistoric horse-like creature come from?? What a mess. With all the rain and snow and this three-inch long winter coat, he’s a lost cause until the REAL spring arrives. I spent some quality time with my entire collection of brushes and managed to remove most of the mud and enough hair to make a couple of small yappy dogs!

And then there's this day! I can’t keep track. One day it’s warm and sunny, the next it’s snowing, raining, blowing… I give up! At least the house is a nice color now… oh look, a little travel trailer in the yard! Nope, I do NOT drive down that in the snow!

The Saga Continues...

Well, this is what I was going to post at the very end of February – before everything took another left turn!

Well, I feel like I’m finally coming up for air. Hubby is doing really well - he’s done with physical therapy, down to a minimum of painkillers, and this week he washed dishes and spent a couple afternoons outside (yes, on his walker) installing new locksets on our front door and putting together the cart for his new welder that just arrived – a Millermatic 211 for anyone that’s interested! This welder does just about everything, hopefully replacing the stable of single-purpose welders he has. It will be nice to be able to repair aluminum window and door frames on these trailers!

I’m anxious to get working on our little trailer, but I’ve so much other stuff to catch up on that I’m not sure when that’s going to happen. On top of all the “routine” stuff that needs doing, I still need to paint our front, back, and garage doors, we have decorative frames to make and paint for the three attic vents, and we’re going to make those cool looking “storm window” summer shade screens for all the windows on the south side of the house, and sometime this summer I need to paint the shed to match the house.

Tuesday, March 2nd 9:30 am, Duke calls me at work to tell me that he dislocated his new hip. Again. Thank goodness 1) I work so close to home and 2) he actually had a phone on him! I raced for home while Margo called 911, and poor Duke, who was outside installing new locksets on our back doors, had to stand there on his "good leg" and his walker until the ambulance arrived. They loaded him up, and off we went to San Joaquin Hospital. Once there, they gave him the "Michael Jackson" special to knock him out. Sadly, the anesthesiologist says, "Hey, I remember you guys!" Well, isn't that just great. Heavy sigh. Duke was out maybe ten minutes – the doctor actually stood on the gurney to wrestle the hip back into place, and me with no camera! Darn! Anyway, we were home by 6:30 that night, with Duke terrified to leave his big ol’ chair in the living room. He did figure out that he may have tripped when starting to come in through the sliding glass door – it’s hard to tell since he has no feeling in his feet. Hopefully it was a trip, and we can maybe avoid a “three-fer” by him being more careful, if that’s possible.

Part of this was kind of amusing - the Fire Dept showed up to help load him, and we knew two of the three firemen - one was the guy that actually built our house back in '87, and the 3rd one (didn't know him), maybe wants to buy Duke's Unimog! I told him to stop by and see me at work later on and I’d make him a deal! It's not like Duke will ever be able to get in the darn thing again, and he’s ready for it to go to a new home where it will be used and appreciated. Anyone out there interested? Buy it now for $10K! Entire box is rebuilt with aluminum, new steel cab, new custom canvas door, and it comes with a additional BIGGER Mercedes engine... you know, more power and all that! EVERYONE needs one of these - you just never know when you'll need to chase down a bunch of military tanks! Uses plain ol' leaded gasoline, can go a whopping 55 mph fully loaded... so long as you're going downhill, mileage... not so great... 10 maybe??? But, you will be the envy of every off-roader on the planet! Can't even being to describe how fun it is - your buds are crawling along in their fancy 4x4's, easing over bumps and ruts, and you, in this, can literally floor it, sail past all of them and not feel a single bump thanks to the type suspension and articulation! Did I mention you can actually drive OVER a Hummer with one of these? And then there's that dinner-plated-size Mercedes emblam on the grill - always a head turner in the supermarket parking lot! Before, during and after pics:

On Sunday, March 7th, Duke was complaining that his left foot felt “stiff”. I looked down and it appeared that someone had placed a half of a grapefruit on top of his foot, inside the sock. I “assumed” it was general swelling which he has a lot of, peeled off the sock and nearly passed out cold. It was a blister. Three inches in diameter, one inch tall. I refuse to post a picture of it, as you will never visit my blog again after seeing. Not even going to discuss the management of it. On to March 10th.

On March 10th Duke had appointments in Santa Barbara with his neurologist, his pacemaker checkup/tuneup guy, and his orthopedist to update him on the latest dislocation. Pacemaker check went well; Duke’s heart just keeps getting better and better with each visit. Orthopedist placed him on a couple antibiotics for the foot thing, and another couple months of physical therapy, and made sure he knows that one more dislocation and he’s back on the operating table. Neurologist determined that all the issues with Duke’s legs (numbness, pain, spasms, swelling, different color and temperature every day) fall under “Complex Regional Pain Syndrome” and referred him to a pain management specialist later the same afternoon. And so will begin the process of exploring various treatments possibly including the “placement of stimulating electrodes next to the spinal cord which provide a pleasant tingling sensation in the painful area and appears to help many patients with their pain.” Yikes. But you get to a point where you will try anything.

Other than that, I’m just trying to get caught up both at work and home – not like I think it’ll ever happen, but I do keep trying! Our weather has been tough to keep up with – one gorgeous warm sunny day, the next day a blizzard, then rain, then wind, back to sun. Tough to plan your outside chores! Here’s Miss Libby enjoying one of those sunny days – she’s planted herself in our dormant veggie garden!

2004 & Now...

I was reading one of my long lost (and therefore never mailed) Christmas letters from 2004, and I recalled all that we went through with Duke’s repaired neck and the broken hip a month later. Must be selective amnesia, because I’d totally forgotten that I also had a dog down recuperating from surgery at the same time. Geez, what was I thinking??? Anyway, during that time we bought a microwave/hood for over our stove, and it was up to me to install it… NO PROBLEM!!! I just did it the girl way - suitcase, four paint cans, a couple of rugs and a bunch of scrap 2x4s - and we were in popcorn that night!

So, today was Duke’s checkup with his hip doctor. Duke was scared Dr. Bliss was gonna be mad… and he was. But after x-raying EVERYTHING and determining that Duke didn’t do any real damage, Dr. Bliss opted not to beat the crap out of him. This time. On the way out Duke was telling the woman at the front desk that he wanted to file a complaint because his doctor threatened to kill him. She said, “Fine, here’s the form” and without missing a beat she added, “but please note that the comment section at the bottom of the form is where you write something nice about me!” Gotta love that place!! We stopped at the Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch where I picked up chicken, tri-tip, beans, salsa and tortillas to take home – I adore that place!

Safety Segment!!

Well, I’m sure we’ve all heard the horror stories about those nasty old fashioned road flares exploding in someone’s trunk or glove box – not a good thing to have happen! I found the perfect alternative – PowerFlares!! These things are beyond cool - very safe, very dependable, VERY bright, and virtually indestructible. They are shockproof, drive-over proof, waterproof – heck, they even float!!

They obviously cost more than those cruddy old flares, somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 apiece, but I wouldn’t have anything else in my truck. Being on a “budget”, I buy one every now and again and will soon have a complete set of four in the nice little pouch they make for them. I did not get the rechargeable ones, as I have been very very pleased with the performance of those little kick-butt CR123 batteries!

They have a built in set of about ten different blinking patterns, and they come with different color cases and bulbs. I have the red amber combos in orange cases. Oh my goodness, I just looked at their website and they now have cases in two shades of PINK!!!

Everyone should race right out and properly dispose of their old scary flares and buy at the very least, ONE of these awesome Power Flares!!

Watch this short demo – you’ll be impressed, I promise!! Power Flare Demo

Deja Vu All Over Again...

Arrived home with my patient (again) just after sunset yesterday. He’s pretty darn sore, not quite able to get up by himself, so I’ll be sticking close to home today. Again. Daughter Lisa is coming up to fill in so I can get back to work. And here I was so excited at work last week to finally be working on DECEMBER stuff! Silly me. That's a shot of our driveway in the snow (back when the house was that hideous blue) which explains why, if possible, we wait to call 911!

Another Patient Update...

And you're thinking, "Well, THAT's not a good picture to see!!"

Friday, January 22: Hip patient doing very well, zooming right along on his walker and getting …. SCREEEEEEEECH!! SLAM!! (Insert horrid braking and crash sound here)…

Saturday, 1:30 am: Duke, while on his walker cruising for “snacks” in the kitchen, spots what he thinks is a dropped pill on the floor, and in the interest of saving our Electrolux Hound, Miss Libby, he REACHES OVER TO PICK IT UP. Falls. Yells for help. He does not want to move. Does not want me to call 911 “just yet” as we have the steep driveway-from-hell covered with snow. He’s in excruciating pain, and from the ugly twisty crooked angle of the leg, you know, the one with the nice new hip, I’m guessing he’s dislocated it. (By the way, it wasn’t a pill, it was a speck of carrot said hound had been munching on earlier. I suggested that in the future he should seriously consider just STANDING on the “pill” and yelling for me.)

2:30 am: We had him sitting up, leaning against the frig. Miss Libby wasn’t really sure why we’d all decided to try sleeping on the kitchen floor, but she’s easy and plays along.

3:30 am: I had moved every piece of short furniture we own into the kitchen and he finally managed to lift himself into a sitting position onto a 4” thick block of wood.

4:30 am: He had slid himself over in front of the pantry and has the “good leg” (more about that misnomer later…) propped against an adjacent cupboard.

5:30 am: Wahoo! He finally found the “right” piece of furniture and lifted himself into a low rolling office chair and I wheeled him into the living room to await sunrise and hopefully enough heat to melt the driveway.

6:30 – 8:00 am: I take a nap on the couch. Duke sits in the chair, and using a heavy duty elastic leg strap off of one of my horse blankets (hey, it was fresh out of the wash and handy…) valiantly holds his twisted crooked leg in the least uncomfortable position to wait for the morning thaw. ZZZZzzzzz…

8:00 – 10:00: I shoveled snow off the flat part of the driveway. Fortunately, the rest of our driveway faces south and as steep as it is, it melted and drained very quickly.

10:00 – 11:00 am: Called 911, told them what was going on, no hurry, no lights, and no sirens. Just like last time. Yep, they remembered the drill. “Aunt Nancy” next door would look after the hounds and we were on our way. Start the morphine!

12:00 noon: ER in Bakersfield. Yep, nice shiny brand new hip was dislocated, but because Duke is a big muscular guy they had to locate a “bigger” doc to wrestle hip back into place. By now he’d had enough morphine to drop a large circus mammal.

1:30 pm: Dr. Alade arrived. Wow. Yep, big guy. Could probably lift and twirl Duke over his head with one hand. Very kind and soft-spoken man who is on the Board of Directors for the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas, and, not that this has anything at all to do with Duke’s hip, but I was totally impressed, is fluent in Korean, Spanish, Tribal African, and Vietnamese. One of those language accomplishments that I cannot even begin to comprehend! Anyway, they discussed the situation and x-rays, and Dr. Alade explained that this would have to be done in OR, and that he’d be knocked out and briefly paralyzed in order to do it. And then, Duke totally surprised the heck outta me and says “I don’t deserve to be knocked out, it was my own stupidity that caused this!” Musta been all that morphine! Since there was nothing left but the waiting for an operating room, I ran out for a quick bite to eat, but couldn’t get any food down – only the coffee worked.

Headed back to hospital where Duke had been moved to pre-op. Margo and Debbie arrived for moral support and to drive me & my truck home when all this was over.

5:00-something? All done, Duke was in recovery, everything went fine, and we hung out until 7:00 or thereabouts until he was in his room, charming the nursing staff, settled in for the night, and very happy that The Guns of Navarone was on TV. The man is lost without his wars and westerns.

We headed out for dinner and then the drive home.

End Saturday report.

Sunday: My, I mean San Joaquin Hospital’s patient was chipper and chatty this morning. Not sure if they’ll turn him loose today or tomorrow. (To whom and how much do I have to pay to make it tomorrow???)

Okay, more on that original left hip – earlier this month we learned from the 1st post-op x-rays that his old left hip replacement has, shall we say, rotated.

Here is a generic x-ray of what a normal replacement should look like.

Kinda shaped like the number “7”. Duke’s old hip does not look like that. His replacement does not resemble the number 7, it resembles the number “l”. As in perfectly straight line, no angle out to the side. Which means that the whole thing has rotated either to the front… or the back… NO WONDER IT HURTS AND THE LEG DOESN’T WORK RIGHT!!! I had wondered why when he walked that leg swung in and then out (or is it out then in?) with each step. Now I know. Yikes. Now what? Well, nothing for now, he has to somehow get this newest one all healed and strong, and I have to accumulate more vacation and sick time, and then we’ll figure out when is the least disruptive time for me to tackle this issue. Trust me; it won’t be in the winter! Not doin’ this again.

Our Big New Year's Eve Party!!

As I mentioned before, I am so not a “night” person, so we were able to celebrate early via satellite TV on an east coast station! With hubby being on all those pain killers, alcohol really didn’t seem like the best plan, so he picked his next favorite beverage… BUTTERMILK!!! No, really, that is his favorite! That goofy hat was a bit much, but he is such a good sport! Then we have our party girl… Miss Libby. She never even knew she was wearing a hat. She’s not much of a night owl either, and by 10:00 pm all of us were tucked in for the night!

Another Thing I Love & New Year's Eve

How did I manage to NOT put "wine" on that list? I have to admit, I'm a sucker for an interesting label, and my evaluation expertise is pretty much on the "I like this one, but I liked that one better" level. Those first two bottles are what I refer to as our "house" wines. Readily available, taste good, and they have screw tops which are really handy for camping or for say, when you are on the side of the road in Arizona with 10-20 of your sisters with trailers waiting to get into the campground! Big House Wines has a cute and fun interactive website!

I found these two at the market last night - the selections from Wine Sisterhood are very cute, and Purple Cowboy supports breast cancer research. Check them both out!

We have never been much into New Year's Eve partying, and since I am such a morning person, I just love that the east coast feeds on Direct TV mean we can watch all the festivites and 9:00 PM, I can head for bed, and hubby can get back to his movies!

Christmas Update

Miss Libby counting the moments until I'll let her back in the house. Our entire yard had the same footprint pattern... notice that tail wagging at warp speed. Yes, our dogs wear winter coats, but not those frou-frou "fashion" numbers meant for chihuahuas who never have to walk under their own power... these coats are tough-as-nails winter coats made by the same folks who make equally tough winter horse blankets. This particular one is close to 20 years old, nice thick fluffy insulation, ripstop nylon lining, nearly-indestructible Cordura outside, velcro closures and seat belt webbing for trim.

Hubby a.k.a “my patient” is doing very well. We had a period last week where he was, shall we say, “not himself” due to Valium on top of about a dozen painkillers a day, but I pitched the Valium and he’s now down to a mere five Norcos a day - 10/325’s for all you pill experts – and he’s back to his normal humorous self and therefore no longer at risk of being dropped off at a homeless shelter sans identification! (Just kidding, Connie!) He trundles around on his walker, can relocate himself in whatever room he needs to be in, and has his very own wheelchair (I love ebay!) he parks in front of this computer. The home nurse signed off on him today, but we still have P/T coming in twice a week. He's no longer waking up at 3:30 every morning – life is good! Big ol’ bright light at the end of our tunnel! Note to self: No more planning surgeries during winter! Shoveling snow & ice, managing cold, wet, muddy dogs... too much.

I managed to produce a Christmas dinner for two consisting of grilled ribeyes, baked mashed potato casserole with almonds, fresh asparagus, fresh brussel sprouts, our favorite creamy lime gelatin salad, homemade cornmeal rolls (standard white bread recipe with ½ cup of cornmeal thrown in for interest), a mincemeat pie and a pecan pie. Only managed to get one Christmas cookie recipe made, a macadamia eggnog bar. Very good, but almost too sweet for me.

My Christmas Eve excitement was to make a new batch of homemade dry laundry soap, this time with Zote laundry bars (as recommended by one of my sisters) instead of the Fels Naptha brand. I did something different this time – instead of grating the bar soap with the attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer, I cut the bars into about one-inch cubes, added a cup or so of the baking soda, and just did it in two batches in my food processor with the blade. It worked very well and fast.

Here’s the recipe:

DRY LAUNDRY DETERGENT

approx 4 lb box Borax
approx 4 lb box washing soda
approx 4 lbs baking soda
3 bars Fels Naptha or 1-1/2 bars Zote laundry soap, grated

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub. Use 1-2 tablespoons of powder per full load.

There are a bunch of laundry soap recipes out there, many of them for liquid, but I love this dry one. Liquid soap takes up way too much room!

Something Christmassy...

Since I didn’t put up a tree or any decorations this year except for a strand of lights on the outside of the house, I thought I’d share some pics of past years. This little tree sits on our dining room table. On it are the vintage pinecones from my grandmother, and these STUNNING pink balls from my dad and stepmom. My Anna Lee critters fit right in!

The pastel dish is also from my stepmother and I just adore it, so I made a little tree skirt to tie the whole thing together. So not my colors, doesn’t match a single thing in our house, but I love it! And it is so much fun to make cookies to match each section...

Here's an old photo of our POWDER BLUE flocked tree with those PINK balls on our GOLD carpet next to the TURQUOISE sofa. Okay, all together now, oooOOOooo!!! I mean YIKES! That color combo is nearly painful to behold!

This was our tree… we have mostly glass ornaments - fruit, pinecones, nuts, and Victorian “clippie” birds, but storing it took up way to much room in the shed that we “remodeled” and reorganized over Thanksgiving, so, it went to the thrift shop along with the other truckloads of stuff I’ve hauled out this fall. I’ll be looking for a slimmer tree for next year.

Margo & Debbie came by on Friday to visit my “patient” and they played Santa Claus! They brought and decorated a big potted rosemary shaped like a Christmas tree (smells wonderful!), a potted poinsettia, the fresh wreath I had ordered, and the cutest little Santa “blizzard” globe – has a fan and snow that whirls at about F-4 level! Hilarious! Isn’t he adorable?? Can’t you just hear him screaming

“TURN...(swirlswirlswirl)...IT…(swirlswirlswirl)...OFF!!!”

Patient Update

Breakthrough! Doctor from ER called yesterday to badger Duke - asked him why he couldn't just drive over... is this guy clueless? Duke had to get downright rude to get him off the phone. Then he calls me at work and asks if I had "forgotten" to bring Duke back for bloodwork. I told him I had not forgotten, I just wasn't bringing him over. He finally decided it would be "okay" for the home nurse to come to our house to draw blood and deliver it to the hospital. Imagine that. Still have a few more blisters appearing, but there is no infection, it is merely fluid trying to escape. The physical therapist just left, and she was very pleased with the progress so far. Now I just need to catch up on some of my missing sleep! I am in zombie mode...zzzzz...

Oh, before I forget - yesterday's spontaneous, humorous, drug-induced conversation:

"SIX!!"

"Six what?"

"Six eyes!"

"What in the heck are you talking about?!"

"You asked me how many eyes I had!"

Sigh.

My Elf in for Repair

Well, we had planned on camping over the long Thanksgiving weekend, but as it turned out we only got to spend the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day at the campground with our friends – probably worked out for the best, as I had a lot to do before hubby’s hip replacement on Dec 7th. Surgery went well, daughter Lisa and I stayed in Santa Barbara four days (ooo, a vacation!) and I cannot say enough good things about our doctors at the Sansum Clinic and the Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. This is a hospital where a routine part of your pre-op appointment is a warning that YOU WILL GET NO REST! There is at least one person, normally two, every 20 minutes checking to see if you are feeling okay, need something, food, water, nurse, meds, pillows fluffed, whatever. Newspaper is delivered to your bedside table each morning, and the meal bearers are nice young men in dressy black slacks, white shirts, and black ties who merrily say “room service” as they deliver your meal and announce with a flourish what you are being served. And I love their valet parking! This is so unlike other hospitals where I was afraid to leave Duke alone and you could ring for help for upwards of two hours and get NO response! I swear, Duke actually enjoys each visit! He makes the whole experience fun, joking and chatting with all the staff, and this trip they fondly referred to him as their “fun” patient!! His doctor is wonderful, with a sense of humor to match Duke’s. They jumped through hoops to get him discharged and on the road by 9AM (thought there was more snow coming) and we drove the four hours home on Thursday well ahead of the rain. Thank goodness we missed the big snow and ice storm earlier in the week! We had the very best of house sitters, so never had to give a single thought to the house or 24/7 care of our horribly spoiled dogs! It was nasty job getting our perpetually shady lower driveway by the front door cleared of ice before we arrived. Fortunately, our long steep driveway is about the first thing in town that is melted and dry as it faces due south. Duke is doing very well compared to the “other” hip which was broken only one month following the surgery to repair his broken neck. That time he was in the hospital for nearly a whole week and then a rehab center for two more weeks. We did have an issue with some inch-diameter blisters on his foot yesterday, but after conferring with the visiting nurse, visiting physical therapist and doctor by phone, we headed to the emergency room. That too went well, until the doctor called us as soon as we got home and says “I stabbed myself with the needle that I used to drain your blisters and you will have to come right back in to be tested for HIV!” Excuse me?!?! No. You want blood? Send someone over to the house and get it... you know, like maybe the nurse that was just here this morning to draw blood to deliver to you?? They swear… well, the doctor swears… it’s hospital policy to do this onsite. Tough tacks. Duke’s policy is also to do it onsite. Our site. Geesh! Anyway, I made it to work today for a whole four and a half hours, hope to do longer tomorrow. Duke still has to relocate between bed and chair every two hours (even though I had to leave him for five hours today) and he can’t get up out of his chair by himself, and is unable to manage pillows and blankets under and over his various body parts by himself, so I need to work out two trips home during my ten-hour days or do a shorter day and bring work home with me. The only other issue is “someone” hallucinating big time on all the pain meds… no, it’s not me! We’ve had rousing unwinnable arguments about spiders, mice, bats, giant wooden bread boxes and fences that were so NOT sitting in the middle of the living room, but the best episode (so far) was Duke suddenly waking up and yelling “pretty!” while looking at the reflection of our living room lamps in a mirror… sigh… does this qualify me to work in a mental ward?

The “fun” patient!

The fun orthopedist, Dr. Bliss

Here’s a picture of one of the visiting critters - another perk at the Cottage Hospital! Her name is Diamond, she’s 17 months old and her “dad” brings a big selection of homemade jeweled necklaces for her to wear. What a cutie! She visited every single patient and all the waiting rooms – Lisa and I got to see her three times!

GOOEY CHOCOLATE WEATHER!!

Okay, that was unfair. It's ALWAYS gooey chocolate weather, but this recipe is special.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CRUMB BARS

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12-ounce package) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, divided
(I used Special Dark Morsels for the 2nd cup)
1 can (14 ounces) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional – I used pecans)
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

BEAT butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 1 3/4 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

MICROWAVE 1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread over hot crust.

STIR nuts into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Drop teaspoonfuls of raspberry jam over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack before cutting into squares.

This recipe is from Nestle. Sadly, I miss getting pictures of some of my recipes because by the time something is camera ready… it is already under attack by hubby! So, picture is from Nestle too!

These are so rich, I could barely eat one of them. Everyone who has tried them swears they are making them for Christmas! I highly recommend cutting your "normal" squares in half!

Soup Weather!!

At last, it's cold enough for some hearty soups! Howling winds, clouds so low and thick it looked like a rain storm... my kind of weather... at least until I start whining about how much I miss summer! Here's another incredible recipe from Cuisine At Home - Soups, Stews & Chiles. Again, hubby loves it even though there's not a speck of chile powder anywhere near it! I was also surprised at how quickly this went from "I think I'll make"... to "Dinner's ready!! The only mistake I made was in not doubling the recipe...

ITALIAN SAUSAGE & SQUASH SOUP

2 T olive oil
1 lb bulk Italian sausage (I used the hot one, of course!)
1-1/2 cups diced onion
2 T minced garlic
1 butternut squash peeled, seeded, diced into 1" chunks (1-1/2 lbs)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp sugar
2 cups baby spinach, packed
3 T brandy
salt & pepper to taste

Brown sausage in 1 T olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate; Set aside.

Sweat onion and garlic in 1 T olive oil in large pot over medium heat until soft, 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, add squash and pepper flakes, and saute 5 minutes.

Stir in broth and water, bring to a boil, and simmer until squash is very soft, about 10 minutes. Puree soup with a hand blender (or in batches in a standard blender), then add bell pepper, cream, sage, and sugar; simmer until bell pepper is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach, brandy, and sausage, and simmer until spinach wilts and sausage is heated through, about 2 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

Halloween Movies

The Tingler is one of my all time favorite creepy/goofy movies!

"This delightful gimmick film from producer-director William Castle stars Vincent Price as Dr. Chapin, a scientist who discovers a caterpillarlike parasite that grows in the human spine when someone is afraid and that, unless they scream, can grow large enough to kill them. He solemnly dubs this creature the tingler. Philip Coolidge plays the owner of a nearby cinema who befriends the doctor and whose deaf-mute wife suddenly receives all sorts of shocks, like the sight of a bathtub full of blood with a hand reaching out from it. Since she can't scream, she dies, and Chapin gets his hands on her oversize tingler. When it eventually escapes inside the movie theater, the film within the film, and then the film itself, stops for an announcement from Price, out of character, urging the audience to scream their heads off. Castle originally had random seats in theaters equipped to deliver small electric shocks at this key moment, and he hired women to faint and ushers to carry them out, all in his determination to get the audience to scream."

Hocus Pocus is my other favorite - I watch it at least once every Halloween!