The Reason for my Absence

I haven't posted for awhile so thought I would explain why.  December 21 I was preparing to take Bliss for a hunt to look for the elusive grouse. But first I decided to write some checks for the bills that were accumulating. As I arose from the kitchen table a sharp pain shot through my knee and I fell back into the chair. The arthritis that had been developing in my knees over the years had finally reached the "breaking point".  Luckily it hit me when I was at home and not 1/2 mile from the truck up in the mountains for I would have been hard pressed to make it back to the truck without help. I hobbled around on crutches and spent a week in near constant pain until I could see a doctor.  X-rays proved my suspicions. My right knee was very "arthritic" and the left knee was not far behind. A shot of cortisone and a brace got me off the crutches and eased the sharp pain to a dull ache. Now I only sometimes use a cane to limp around the homestead. The surgeon that I went to is very much in demand and it will be April 8 when I go in for knee replacement surgery on the right knee.  It is only a matter of time until the left knee will also have to be replaced. The good news is that everyone I speak to who has had the surgery have been very happy with the results with many saying that they had wished they had done it sooner. I'm hoping with the help of my friend Russell and my nephew Jim that I will be able to take Bliss into some of my more gentle woodcock coverts this spring for she desperately needs bird contacts after last years dismal hunting season. I'm also pressing on with my apple grafting plans with 125 rootstocks ordered to graft to the rare heirloom apple scion that I have ordered.  So for the next couple of months I may have little to post about until after my operation. By then spring will have arrived and hopefully I'll be able to get out and about the homestead to enjoy the miracle that is Spring.