Ducks ALIVE in 2025!

[AMKuska]

@AMKuska , Thanks SO MUCH for asking!!

My personal best, wrap on top of quilts, was 4 horses, 16 legs, 20 minutes.

WOW!! I used to be a show groom way back in the day. That's a lot of wrapping, and so quickly too!! Well done!

I'm glad you are on the mend. I sure hope you are all back to normal and feeling good soon.

 

[ducks4you]

Ha, Ha!! I wanted to get on the road, bc we had a 6 hr drive and it was already 5PM.
Thanks ALWAYS for the well wishes.
PLEASE pray that I stay careful and do my exercises for the next 3 weeks. My window for stretching is closing.
I have a current bend of 109 degrees measured, but I Think I have surpassed it. I need to be at 120 degrees or more by September 4th.
I found/am following a guy, Jack La Torre, who demonstrates online equestrian exercises.
Since I bought two 3 pound weights (before my surgery) I can already do one of those exercises, a dead lift, sitting on the bed, knees apart, lifting from the ground, up and laying flat (I do this on the edge of my bed,) then sit up and down to the ground. You keep your back straight. It works the gluts and the abs.
My plan is still to do equestrian exercises faithfully until next July.
I will have to give up mucking stalls until maybe November.
I can Still use my garden seat and pull weeds.

 

[ducks4you]

No beans to grow this year, BUT, when DH and I bought tomatoes at the farm stand wednesday, I decided I will take an ALDI bag next time and have them fill it.
I can wash, cut off the ends, blanche and freeze, Maybe 6 bags for dinners this winter.

 

[ducks4you]

So...it was 6 years ago that I grew a successful sweet corn harvest. Thank you FB.
The black blob is my tow wagon. The red blob? anybody's guess...

 

[ducks4you]

I have Chosen to enjoy being stuck indoors, where I am forced to find meaningful activities like:
1) putting away the washload promptly
2) making the bed correctly every day
3) organizing my dresser drawers
4) organizing my bedroom closet
5) saying "thank you for your service" to clothes I really don't want to wear again and are worn out
6) decluttering
7) Law Office organization, which I do when I go into the office first then my PT/care team appointments.
I know myself, and when I am better healed I will abandon the inside world for the outside world, in which, if I do not wear a watch, I will lose track of time!

 

[ducks4you]

Speaking of washloads, I have a rant--we replaced an old washer with a newer one, and the sensors won't let me use the warm or hot cycles. Repairman told me that If I tried to do this again, the washer would break.

I had problems with the washer this week.

I had to restart it 7x to get it to cycle.
I have new hoses coming this week. On Clearance, good price.
I figured that the hoses are universal, and I my time is too valuable to wait for the older hoses to soak in CLR to remove limestone sediment. I will have DD's replace the ones currently on the washer, then I will soak Them at my leisure and store above the washer, so that I can periodically switch them out.
Most everybody's underground water supply has limestone and it clogs the hoses.
The older washer would still fill, just slowly.
I am currently window shopping for a Better washer. The cost of replacing this one with a simpler one is about the same as paying a repairman to fix This one.
My drier had a problem. I took my sweeper from suck to blow, blew out some stuck lint, and everything is now fine.
The drier is over 25yo and still working great.
Rant over, but I think some of you will agree with me.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

I still have my Sears Kenmore washer and dryers from over 40 years ago. I rarely have problems. They are all metal metal parts and motors and built to last. I recently added a new motor to the washer $120.00 and occasionally change the hoses.
I recently read that 30-40 year-old Sears some older models, particularly Kenmores, are known for their durability and longevity, with some users reporting them lasting for several decades. The key to their longevity is often their simple design and the use of robust components like the direct drive motor.
The washer repairman said it’s a good machine and the older model I have will last for many more years.

We have hard water from the well with a lot minerals. We added a filter to eliminate most well water problems rust iron etc… . Added soft water . Occasionally hydrojet and clean out the main out drain to the tank and that’s usually about it. Knock on wood.

Good luck on finding a washer.

 

[flowerbug]

... The red blob? anybody's guess...

looks like an old chair/recliner... at least when i get out the 5x magnifier.

 

[ducks4you]

I managed to water my 7 hot pepper plants outside of the front door. I pulled 3 weeds trying to grow there. They all look very good. I also watered my big pot of tomatoes and peppers. They all look very good, too. I also watered the composter, where most of the stuff had dried out. I had added the tops of the dried garlic that I had cut off--good browns--and slightly moldy corn husks And corn cobs.
Most people throw these in their trash.
This is the 4th time I have taken the hose to the composter and I am now seeing breakdown and black bugs.
There is Always a learning curve...
Took a field trip. One more week before harvesting grapes. Tomatoes are alive...and pitiful.
They were that way August, 2024, then took off in September.
DON'T GIVE UP ON YOURS!!
Following exercises for equestrians. Haven't seen this one Yet, but, if you sit in a hard backed chair, you can pull your knees and lower legs up and together, hold for 5 seconds, 10 reps. Works on the inner thigh, you know, the muscles you didn't know you had until you dismount? And it is a good ab exercise.
Off to another PT session at 5PM. We will see if I have achieved a greater bend.
I got a pretty good night's sleep last night, still had a short nap this afternoon.
I guess that's bc I am still healing.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Ducks ..Great PT exercises for many of us who need a bit of extra encouragement.
Careful messing around the garden watch your step .. you have a shinny new knee to keep up.

I managed to trim back a 45’ area of shrubs that have over grown their area. I trim over a tarp as the trimmings fall, or larger trim 3’ or more on some of those oak leaf hydrangeas and evergreen shrubs. The mahonia’s are a pain the leafs can pinch ya if you’re not careful. Dragged the tarp to the pasture to dry out the clippings and will mulch them later. Even the new dogwood seedling is almost 8’ tall. Took down a lot of dead branches on white pine trees.
Rolled up miles of hoses and disconnected the auto watering system. Moved a couple planters and clean them out. Then used the blower to clear any remaining debrie.

Autum is on the way leaves are yellow , reds and oranges some falling. Soon the landscape will a colorful brocade of textures and carry the golden crown of Autums last performance before winter.