Did She or Didn't She ...?

 Yes, indeed, Sandy has finished that puzzle! It took her about three weeks, with a couple of lengthy days when the weather was really too miserable to ride, but she finally got that puzzle done, and we have our dining table back. Well, we had it back. She traded that puzzle to our friend, Dee, and now has a new one under way.

While Sandy has been cycling and assembling puzzles, I have undergone, and am recovering from,  knee surgery.  After suffering with knee pain and inability to fully straighten my left knee most of the winter, I was booked to see an orthopedic surgeon in April. The images, below, are from my MRI. The one on the left is looking into my knee from the side; the arrow points to a cyst that isn't supposed to be there.  The image on the right is looking into my knee from the front. The green circle shows a nice black triangle representing a happy medial meniscus; the red circle shows a ragged triangle that is my unhappy, torn lateral meniscus. With these findings, I underwent arthroscopic surgery on June 5th which also trimmed up some arthritis under my knee cap.

One problem with being a doctor undergoing medical procedures, it sometimes makes other, young docs, a little nervous. The poor anesthetist had considerable difficulty starting my pre-op IV, despite the fact that I have what is know in medical circles as "good veins" (easy to find, easy to poke).  In fact, I was a popular choice for my med school classmates to practice on!  Needless to say, he was more than a little embarrassed that he had such difficulty, especially when he acknowledged he had such good targets to aim at.  Poor guy!

Preventing surgical, or any other medical error, is a huge priority. There is nothing more disastrous than a preventable error. And nothing worse than a wrong side procedure (especially if it is an amputation!). In addition to having me tell everyone in the operating room my name, birthdate, surgeon, the intended procedure, and which leg was to be operated on, before I was called to the OR I was asked all the same questions, and marked up accordingly.

While I have been laid up and doing my rehab, Sandy has been having to cycle by herself most of the time.  Considering the seemingly endless windy days we have been having, I appreciate that she has been going out for  rides for the two of us. I was able to get on the stationary bike for the first time at physio, yesterday, and so for the next few weeks, I will be able to be on the trainer in the basement ... out of the elements.  While out on a recent ride, Sandy took this photo of a farmer plowing his field. Although she says the photo doesn't really do it justice, she said all the gulls flying about reminded her of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.  

Speaking of birds, it seems all the season's babies are growing up fast. In the span of just over a week, our neigbourhood goslings out grew their fluffy yellow feathers and all of a sudden had fluffy grey and black feathers with their adult markings showing through. And they are about three quarters full size. Wow, must have been some kind of growing pains!

Getting difficult to tell the kids from the parents.

We were at my brother's place in the country over the weekend and spent a lot of time watching mountain bluebirds bring back lots of big juicy bugs to feed their brood. Also, I saw a yellow bellied sap sucker bringing home similar treats for his offspring. I think we owe these bird parents a big thank you for keeping the bug population in check!  

The beautiful Alberta view my brother and his wife get to enjoy every day!

Yesterday, at the dog park, Rockie was enthralled by a family of tree swallows whose fledglings were practicing their flying skills. It was very windy and I must admit it was a little amusing when the kids would try to get back in the house but instead would get pushed away by the wind. I could hear them complain about it then give up and sit on the roof of the house until their next try. They would eventually manage to get in, however, so all was good. 

Rockie watching the tree swallows

Those of you in the know, know that my birthday is in June and is celebrated by Sandy having to barbecue hotdogs. Despite all the lousy weather we have been having, it was gorgeous on Hot Dog Day.  We were fortunate to have a number of friends and family join us and I think we all had a good time. Of course, the hot dogs were delicious!!

As you can tell, we haven't been on any major adventures since returning home. We did, however, have a nice outing in early June when we went to an equestrian event just south of Edmonton. Sandy has a dear friend, Pat McN who just like the Queen, has a granddaughter (actually two) who, like the Queen's granddaughter, Zara, compete in eventing. Eventing is comprised of three disciplines:  dressage, stadium jumping, and cross country, which the rider completes all on the same horse. This day, only one granddaughter, Brooklyn, was competing and we went to see her in the jumping. She was riding her sister's horse, Blew By You, aka "Bud." What a beautiful animal. Brooklyn and Bud performed very well over the weekend's events and we were happy to be able to see some of the action. The girls have Olympic ambitions, and Sandy has promised that if they make the Olympics, we will be there!

Since I have been mostly housebound, you would be right if you figured I was spending a little more time in the kitchen.  I have been trying some new recipes for dinners, but haven't been smart enough to take photos to share. Guess that will spare you the drooling. So far, everything I have made has been Sandy approved (now, there's an accomplishment!).  I was in charge of taking watermelon to my brother's place over the weekend. When we were kids, watermelon was a big treat so I took three. The little kids weren't as crazy about it as we were at their age, so we brought one whole one back. How fortunate that in my email Sunday was a newsletter I subscribe to with a recipe for watermelon gazpacho. Well, that got made right away! It was actually pretty good, and received another Sandy approval.  If you like cold soups and are interested in a twist on gazpacho, let me know and I will send you the recipe.  Just remember to include your name if you post a comment so I know who it is from, or send me an email.

My sister, Patti, picked out this mat for our deck door.
It seems to be rather appropriate for our yard.

Finally, Warm Weather!

It seemed like it took forever, but finally, the warm weather has come to Alberta. Hurray!! After a month of dull skies, cool temperatures, and wind, things have changed at last. We now have bright blue skies, warm temperatures, ... and wind. For all intents and purposes, it seems that the cold weather is finally behind us. People around us have been busy getting their yard work done and their gardens in. I think one of our neighbours has officially declared the end of winter and the cold weather by placing this out for garbage collection:

Last week, our neighbourhood was beautifully fragrant with all the May trees in full bloom. We then had a nasty big wind storm that blew off all their blossoms, and did a number on our tulips. This week, the lilacs are starting to bloom and in a couple of days, we will have their perfume to enjoy; shortly our buckeye tree will be in full bloom.

Our tulips the day before and the day after the big wind storm.

When is this blasted wind going to stop? We have been out on our bikes more now, but are getting kinda tired of fighting head winds and hanging on for dear life in the cross winds. But at least we are finally getting outside.

You know it's windy when the flags are straight out and parts are missing!
And we ride in these conditions????

Last week, one of our rides saw us drive to Villenueve, a small town just north west of Edmonton, where we met some ladies from the Edmonton Bicycle Touring Club (EBTC). We rode from there to Spruce Grove, about 25km away, into a head wind with the first 12km mostly uphill. That was a pretty tough slog. But the good news is, that same stretch on the reverse leg was plenty of fun. Sandy and I cranked it up and were going pretty good when I saw a mule deer standing right by the road. I pointed it out, along with its sibling who was standing a little further back, and slowed us down to make sure we could react in case one or both of them decided to come onto the road. Fortunately, they decided not to take on any cyclists that day, and turned back to head into the bush. With the threat of an unscheduled deer crossing resolved, we were free to put our bikes into their fastest gears, crank on the pedals, and take advantage of a fairly long downslope with an accompanying tail wind. What a blast! When everyone else got back to where our vehicles were parked, they were bragging about how fast they were going. "How about you guys?" they asked. Well, their jaws dropped when we reported that Sandy topped out at over 61kph and I maxed out at 62.9. Whew, that was fast and fun!! We don't do that very often and probably won't have the right conditions to go that fast again any time soon so we will have to savour that flirtation with speed for quite a while, I am sure.

Kate stops to take in the scenery and watch the birds

Dandelions, the first yellow crop of the season

Spring is definitely underway.  As to be expected in Alberta, there are lots of calves to be seen on most of our rides and even a few lambs. Our neighborhood pond is home to a lesser scaup with her seven little ducklings who are just learning to dive, some mallards, and three pairs of geese, two of which are proudly showing off their young ones. As to be expected, they are quite territorial and aggressive, so everyone is giving them their space. Last week, we were treated to something unique when we saw a pair of mallards waddle down the walkway to check out one of the families of goslings. Apparently they are wise to goose attitude as well, as they kept their distance as they walked passed the little ones.  (I apologize that the photo is a little blurred as it was close to dusk when it was taken and it is also cropped, which has affected the image quality.)

Earlier this week, we were out with the dogs watching one of the pairs exercising their goslings in the pond. Apparently, we were standing right where they wanted the kids to have their afternoon nap. They swam towards where we were, so we moved away. Apparently not far or fast enough, though, as one of the parents continued walking and hissing after us until it was satisfied with our departure. The kids bunched up and were fast asleep by the time we got to the other side of the pond.

The dogs have been going to the off leash park at the Edmonton Humane Society to enjoy exploring the grounds and hanging out with other dogs. Rockie isn't always sociable with the other canines, but she has an adoring little groupie who can't get enough of her. As much as she might snap at some of the other dogs if they get too close to her, little Ming can do no wrong,

The people at the dog park are a hoot. Not only do they bring healthy treats to share with all the dogs, they bring treats for the humans as well.  Fortunately, they don't get carried away with the "healthy" stuff for the people. So far, we have enjoyed popsicles, donut holes, cupcakes, and last week there was birthday cake when "Sherman" turned two.

 After all the excitement of guarding the yard, patrolling the neighbourhood, and playing at the dog park, Rockie has tried to convince us that the most comfortable recovery position is folded in half one one's back. Really??!!

Sandy continues to work on the most difficult puzzle we have every had in the house. I am sure that the two pieces I have put in place so far have really been helpful. She is making progress, but it is slow and tedious. I remain confident, however, that it will be done in time for Canada Day.

Sandy to Kate:  "Don't you ever pick a puzzle out for me again!"
My sister helped with the selection, so she can share the blame. 😄

Although it seems the springtime weather has taken its time getting here, its been pretty nice, and hopefully a sign of nice summer weather ahead.

Oh, and one last thing. You may recall we had a bumper crop of lemons at our place in California. Some of them were huge, easily over five inches long. I saw this sign at Safeway this week.  I wonder what price our monster lemons would fetch? We could be zillionaires!!