More Damage Than a Moose

 I raced out to the garden for a bit of therapy. I'm not going to lie, I had a hard wake up this morning...I woke up hearing Josiah's laugh. I decided I wasn't ready to leave the garden even though I was watering. I began to weed and just run and dodge the sprinkler. It worked well until the last bed. Maybe I was tired? I looked up and the sprinkler got me full in the face. I jumped and tripped in the space between the beds. My foot hit one of the beds, I went down. I landed on the edge of the bed and fell into the kale and lettuce.  And this is how I KNOW I can do more damage than a moose in the garden. 

I harvested the broken leaves and patted the plants back into place. I think they'll grow more leaves. 

I have a new tool - a battery powered weed eater. Michael got this for me as I simply can't use the big gas powered one, he has.  This morning, I got to work with the weed eater...under the electric garden fence, the weeds behind the hoop house, I unleashed the trailer...I went through two batteries. Note all the weeds behind the baptistry and the blue rocking chair. They are gone in the photo above. We'll need to get more cardboard and beds or something but for now I can at least keep them mowed down. 

Allie worked today and did a bit of work early this morning on her Art Appreciation class. She is working at an animal boarding/day care center and loves her job.  Stacia had counseling today as well as her Japanese class.  Both were out of the house. GG and Michael both slept a lot of the day. It was a quiet day.

Nolan called to see if he could drop by. Always. After everyone else got home we built a fire. It seemed fitting to finish the homemade ice-cream by the fire with Nolan. 

Nolan, Michael, Stacia, Allie

We haven't had homemade ice-cream (or any ice cream really) around the fire since we were full-time RVing in 2015. 

I joked that I was going to tell Rob (urgent care doc) I got blisters on the bottom of my feet when we had a contest to see who could keep their feet in the fire the longest. 

They responded by asking if Michael had any wax broccoli boxes nearby.  It's been a long day and is actually a new day now. I just can't seem to close down by brain until it gets dark...and at 12:26 a.m. I can STILL SEE. 

What Could Go Wrong - Ice Cream Bucket Challenge - How Do You get FROST BITE in JUNE?

 Here is the rest of the story from Sunday's Father's Day ice cream shenanigans!  Grands had gone home...we were standing around talking in the kitchen. The ice cream bucket had been sitting in the sink. Michael looked around at everyone and said, "Time for the ice-cream bucket challenge." This could have been simple. It could have been laughed off, if not for the competitiveness of this gang. 

Michael stuck his hand in, and it was extremely cold. He pulled it out - about 7 seconds. 

Jenni went next and lasted 20 seconds. 

Jamin went next. I don't remember his time - I think a bit longer. 

Nolan went next! He just kept his hand in that water....60 seconds. 

I was chirping it was time to pull it out. He pulled his hand out and it was WHITE and COLD, and I wasn't happy with the way it looked. BUT I'm just a worrisome mom these days. 

 

Proving the Gherkins are not the only competitive members around here - Jenni went AGAIN! She lasted 63 seconds this time. This made Jenni the winner. 

This was Sunday night. Monday Nolan's hand was swollen. We were unaware of this. He googled what to do with swelling and it said "ice." He worked with the ice...and began taking Tylenol. He took quite a bit of friendly ribbing from the kids at work. 

"Did you burn your hand?" 

"No, the opposite." 

"You froze it? How?"

He explained the ice cream bucket challenge. 

"Why?" 

"Because the whole family was doing it?"

"Nolan! If your whole family jumped off a cliff, would you join them?" 

This is evidently one of the pieces of wisdom Nolan shares with the youngsters at work. 

Tuesday night at dinner we saw Nolan. He had his hand encased in ice. We looked at it. It was SWOLLEN and I was worried. He explained he was icing as that helps swelling. I asked if it was getting better or worse. He thought maybe better - but he WAS taking Tylenol, and his hand was numb. 

I bought Ibuprofen and dropped by his house. I suggested he stop icing his hand as it had been 2 days (I'd checked with nurse Jenni and she agreed). I also explained the dosing he could do and told him if it wasn't getting better or if it started getting worse it would be time to go to the urgent care. 

This morning, he sent me a picture and asked me if I thought he should go to the urgent care. 

Um YES. It's turning colors now and still swollen. His hand is stiff and he doesn't have great range of motion. He made an appointment. When it asks WHY you need to be seen he wrote down, "Suspected Frostbite." 

This started a humorous chain of events in the office.  They were perplexed! HOW do you get frostbite in JUNE when it's been in the mid 70's. 

Nolan came in and the nurses had questions. They thought the story was hilarious. 

The doctor came in and said, "I know your family." 

Nolan, thought, "Of course, you do!" LOL 

We knew Rob and Dollie at Goodfellow AFB and they moved up here about the time we retired.  They loaned us a trailer for BreZaak or CoRielle to stay in during the great migration to Alaska. Rob has since retired and is now a doc at our local urgent care. He is the doc who caught Allie's appendicitis too. 

Nolan shared the story again.  I said we need to tell Rob to expect a Gherkin every 3rd Saturday....or the Monday following every 3rd Saturday. 

His hand IS frost-bit. Really and truly. This is why his finger felt like a literal ICE CUBE after the "challenge," it's why the pain was so bad he was dizzy and nauseated (facts hidden from us).   They began him on antibiotics to ward off infection. The way to tell if there is permanent damage is to wait and see if it gets better...but if his fingers change to black, he's to go back in. 

As he was leaving another nurse ran out and asked him, "Did you win?" 

"No, Jenni won by 3 seconds." 

And THAT is how you get frost bite in JUNE!