It's been a funny few weeks!

The past month has been strange, for sure. First of all, this winter has been very, very cold, and we were snowed and iced in for a week or more. 

We had to go to the VA hospital twice for appointments, both days it was freezing.

Some not-so-good news, the central apnea my husband has is getting worse.  There is talk of tracheotomy tubes.  My husband is vehemently against that, so we have to wait and see how it goes before making any decisions.  He might qualify for an implant that makes him breathe but further tests are required to see if he does.

The breathing problems are taking a toll on his heart, and he now has heart block on top of all his other heart problems.

My health is not doing so well either and my right hip is giving me a lot of problems, but I am putting off seeing the doctor.  I can't face another surgery right now.

Now for the good news.  VA is providing an aide to come in for 10 hours a week to help with bathing and chores.  The guy has been a godsend, and it helps lighten my load.

Overall, life is what we would expect of two folks our age, so we are grateful to still be around to enjoy it.

Santa arrived in England very early January, although he was late to the party the great grandsons loved him.

Hope everyone is doing OK and it warms up a little soon.XXXXX

Time to hunker down!

We are forecast to have a nasty winter storm with lots of icing!  That's the worst thing because it downs power lines.  We just managed to get the tractors moved so we can park the car underneath so it doesn't get covered in ice and snow.  One last trip up to get the mail around 5pm (our postman doesn't deliver until late in the day) and then it will be time to hunker down.

I hope we do not lose power because we haven't been able to bring much wood up from the woodshed and we don't have a big stack anyway.  Our ability to cut and split wood is no longer viable.

We have enough for about a day up by the house.

The power supply is fully charged, so we should be able to run my husband's bipap machine for a day or two.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't turn out as bad as they say. The car had already started to ice as it was parked just outside. Now, it is underneath the lean-to, and the icing has been cleaned off the front and back windows.

We have flashlights and candles and the gas grill we can use to cook on outside if necessary.  Today I made a big pot of beans with smoked sausage and veggies and lots of cajun seasoning.  I will cook a big batch of rice and we can eat that over the next few days.  I can heat that on the side burner of the grill if I have to.

Yesterday I got all of Christmas put away, that was a bonus.

addendum:

We decided to bring up a bit more wood, now we can have a fire for a couple of days if need be.  Hopefully, we will not lose power and can continue to run the heating.

Hope everyone will be able to keep safe and warm.

XXXXX