Blue Bench, Green Ground Cover

July's theme day theme is the color green. I took this photo of a bench this afternoon, before I knew what the topic was going to be. It worked out well enough.

We are hoping to have a visitor from the west over the upcoming holiday weekend. I hope she has a safe journey.

The Little French Girl has grown up. Sigh.

Once upon a time there was a little French girl named Cinnamon. Except it sounds so much better in French, like so many things. She regularly visited her Grandmother in the summertime, and became friends with the dark haired sweetheart that is one of my grandchildren.

Life has been busy in her family -- there's a new little sister, and for the last two summers, she didn't come to the USA to visit her Grandmother. This year, finally, everything fell into place, and this afternoon her Grandmother brought her to the beach house to spend the afternoon and reconnect with her friend.  You'd never know that it had been three years since they'd seen each other.  They sunbathed on the beach, then browsed through photo albums on the deck, for all the world like they'd known each other all their lives.  Which, in a way, they have.

Emmy commented on my last post that it didn't seem possible that my granddaughter was old enough to drive.  (She drove from her house to my house again today, so I'm getting used to her driving me around.  I could get used to having my own driver.)  It's not the driving part that's so hard to believe for me -- somehow seeing how much Canelle has grown up really drove home just quickly their childhoods are passing/have nearly passed.

I wish we could have carved out more time for the two of them to spend together -- all of the grandparents involved have medical issues that take up their time, and this was the best we could do this summer.  I casually mentioned that perhaps I'd have to take the girl in purple to France so that she could visit with her friend at her friend's home.  They immediately began making plans.  Our two little girls aren't so little any more.

Sunday, Monday

Yesterday my granddaughter chose to spend the day hanging out with me -- the only catch being that she really, really wanted to get in some driving practice.  So I drove to her house, and she drove The Beast back to the beach house.  (Lakeshore on a Sunday afternoon provides lots of practice for a new driver learning how to handle hills, curves, bicyclists, motorcycles and members of the moron family, occasionally all at the same time.)  She did fine.

According to my schedule, it was a walking day, and it was a near perfect day for a beach walk.  We wandered down to Tunnel Park, and took a few photos from the top of the hill.  (There's something about a photo of someone taking a photo that always amuses me.) Today should have been a biking day then, right?  Except it rained all morning, and I had an appointment with my surgeon this afternoon, so it turns out it was neither a walking nor a biking day.  Okay, I think I'll call it a rest day.  My recovery continues to go well, and my doctor called me a 'model patient' today, and congratulated me for my fitness level.  So far, so good.

I need a new rule.

Walk one day, bike the next.  Then walk, then bike.  That's the rule.  Then .... well, yesterday the weather was kind of crappy.  Quite cool and very cloudy.  I rode, because it was a biking day.  Then today came along, with sunshine, light north-west winds, and temperatures in the low to mid 70's.  Perfect biking weather.  The photo below tells the rest of the story.

Obviously, I need a different rule.

Two Weeks After

It seems hard to believe that it has been two weeks.  Last Friday my surgeon said that I couldn't hurt anything by biking, but she apparently meant a different kind of hurt than the 'ouch' kind.  So I have been a little tentative, riding only the Bianchi Boardwalk, and only for a fairly short time after that first ride, and alternating walking days with biking days.  Today I was determined to try my road bike.  Pumping the tires using primarily my left hand and my body weight worked okay. 100 psi seemed sufficient since I had no plans to race. 

The first half hour took me as far as the Gold Barn U-Pick on Quincy.  Their blues are still green -- it doesn't look like we'll have local blues by the fourth of July.

The second half hour took me here, where the new outdoor shower head has recently been installed outside the kitchen door.  As you can see below, the railing at the new front door provides quite a bit of privacy from the street/garage side of the house. 

The entire ride was about an hour and a half, enough so that I'm a little bit tired.  We'll see in a few hours how much soreness shows up.  The stitches come out on Monday -- probably.  I have regained pretty much full range of motion in my right arm, through diligently doing the prescribed exercises.  My surgeon claims that in six months this will all be just a bad memory.  I'm extremely pleased to be back on my bikes -- nothing like a little bit of flying to make me feel like myself.

Stay Hydrated

Saturday's ride may have been a little overly ambitious, so I scaled back a bit on Sunday, just riding around the neighborhood for a half hour before heading out to the beach to hang out with OSLO and her crew. We then headed up to Grand Haven for grilled chicken and pork, and a little bit of chocolate pie.  All of the fathers seemed to have a good time and there was lots and lots of good food.

It came close to being too hot to do much of anything outside today.  It is currently 88 degrees, with a dewpoint of 72 and a heat index of 91.  Fortunately after lunch there was enough breeze to provide some evaporative cooling, so I set off on my 'commuter bike' for Bowerman's.  I was hoping to find rhubarb, but no such luck.  I seem to have a craving for rhubarb, for some odd reason.

Inside I did find a display table full of blueberries, but when asked, the proprietess admitted that they were from New Jersey.  So I settled for a box of strawberries from Fennville.  (South of Holland, East of Saugatuck.)  As I was paying the (very young) girl at the cash register she commented, "Stay hydrated."  That seemed like good advice, so I finished the short loop with only a little over 7 miles on my legs for the day.  No sense doing anything foolish.

Baby Steps

There is a lot going on at the beach house these days, but none of it is being done by me.  Tomorrow is Father's Day, and we will spend some of it at the beach if the weather cooperates.  A little bit of organizing out there seemed like a good idea, so I headed out there this morning.

I found a planter full of annuals on my deck, source unkown -- so I tried out my self-portrait skills with my camera, and this was the best I could do.  It isn't obvious in the photo, but I am finally wearing regular clothes.   No tubes, no drains.  It feels pretty good.  (Note what I'm wearing on my left wrist.)

You know what this is?  Yes, it is Bowermans.  Yes, it is open.  No, there are no blueberries yet.  The big deal about Bowermans today was that I got there under my own steam.  And it is too far to walk. 

In another milestone of my recovery process, yesterday my surgeon told me that it was okay to begin biking.  I started slow -- my right arm has a ways to go yet, so I rode my Bianchi Boardwalk.  It was a short ride, around an hour, but enough to shake some of the cobwebs loose from my brain and make me breathe a little deeper.  Both are good things, and highly therapeutic.  A step towards being 'me' again.  WooHoo!

The Ides of June

Today I took a walk.  All by myself.  Who'd have thought that would be a bloggable event?  Recovery is progressing, but I'll feel a lot more like myself once the tubes and drains and such are out.  TMI?  Perhaps on Friday, I'm told. 

Rain was threatening, but I wasn't going far ... just around the neighborhood.  I'm here to announce that the dogwood trees are still blooming.

Continuing with June's construction theme, I walked past this truck.  The local power company had sent someone to change a lightbulb.  I bought a pole with a suction cup on the end of it once, to change lightbulbs that were too high to reach by standing on a chair.  I'll bet that truck thingy with the extendable arm was more expensive.

Minions

The COTU have taken on the task of running up and down stairs, bringing me ice packs, water, bananas, and pretty much anything else I can think of to ask for. They are calling themselves my 'minions.'  Great word.

While I was napping this afternoon they headed out to check on things at the beach.  I sent my camera along with OSLO to take a picture of the lake side of the house now that it has siding and the new door and trim.  Minions are great.  (OSLO and JB have been equally awesome, but they do not wish to be called minions.)

Home

This seems to be the easiest way to let everyone know that I am home, and I am doing well.

Bianchi Boardwalk

My instructions for after the surgery say that I can resume exercising after 1 week.  I have no idea how I am going to feel about bike riding, but it did occur to me that fat tires and an upright position might be preferable if I do want to ride at some time during my recovery.  I rode this bike across Minnesota on Tram 1, as you may recall.

It has the added advantages that I can ride it pretty much one handed, if necessary, and I can pump the tires using the air compressor.  I'm in 'taper mode' this week, plus it is hot, so today's ride was just to the State Park and back.  It will likely be a while before I post anything here again.  Hold a good thought.

Hot, Hazy, Humid

Today is one of those days when it is unsafe for the elderly (that would be me) to go outside. And it is downright dangerous for us old folks to exercise in this heat and humidity.

About 8:30 this morning Lynne sent me an e-mail asking me if I'd rather bike or walk, and I replied that I was fine with either one, which one did she prefer?  She sent back a message saying 'bike,' so I replied, 'fine -- let's take a walk.'  Just me, being me.  Around 9:00 a.m. I headed out to Idlewood and we walked the south perimeter of the neighborhood, then down the hill, through the Tanglewood area, up through Sunset Bluff, down their stairs, back along the beach, and up the stairs at the association beach.  2.17 miles, according to my trusty pedometer.  I don't have an elevation change route map, but I'm calling it hilly. 

When we were finished walking I took a photo of Lynne's side yard, mostly because it has a bench to add to our bench series. Then she was off to physical therapy for her hip/knee issues and I had paint colors to choose.  My 'sewing room' -- yes, there is a story there -- will be a pale yellow.  The dry wallers are done with their work, and today is clean up day in anticipation of the painters coming tomorrow. I spent some time outside, I got some exercise, and I am still feeling fine.

June themes continue.

Emily has been quoted by her father as being the motivating force behind the last four years or so of family blogging. GZ would have to give you the exact words, but the story goes something along the lines that he was telling her about a bike ride that he took, and she said, "that's totally bloggable." (He tells the story better.)

My point is that I am not sure that walking is as bloggable as biking. However, today it's all I've got, and that will likely be the case fairly often. So.  I haven't taken enough beach walks this season, it seems.  Too cold, and of course, we're not living there at the moment, which makes it less convenient.  This afternoon it was hot and muggy in town, and cooler and muggy at the beach.  I walked about as far as Spyglass.

 To continue the June theme of construction, here's a picture of the recently installed siding on the side of the house from the viewpoint of the LaBarge's driveway.

 The garage door will be white, so disregard the blue tarp.  The siding looks quite gray in some lights, and fairly blue in others.  I like it.  I also like the railing along the 'front' of the house.  Progress.

More words

Tuesday I played a couple of rounds of telephone tag with my surgeon's scheduling nurse. When we finally connected, I explained that I had been out riding my bike. She made a comment that struck a chord and has stuck in my mind ever since. She said, "It's good to go into this strong."

Thus encouraged, yesterday I did something I haven't done for a while -- took a two hour bike ride.  That tree where Ruby is leaning is in the parking lot of the PSPS.  With winds from the WSW at 24, gusting to 35, it felt like hard work.  But well within my limits.

Our neighborhood is full of rhododendron bushes, including this one in front of my dining room window.  I took the photo as I headed out today for an evening walk -- working on the strong bones piece of the equation.