The big day was yesterday.

October 6, 2026 Rivergirl 48 Comments

Up at 3:00 am to shower, pack a lizardless bag and drink that nasty clear Ensure. Blech.

Arrived at hospital 6:00 am. It’s small as far as hospitals go but I love the larger staff to patient ratio and they’ve always treated us well.

Given a private corner room with en suite bath and peaceful wooded view. Ooh la la. I felt special.

Immediately began putting my male nurse to work.

Ha!

He’s going to be a busy boy for a while.

Surgery at 8:00 am and all went well. Not to mention quickly. Supposed to take an hour and a half but I was done in 45 minutes. Thankfully everything else looked good and they were able to perform just the partial replacement.

Laid in bed for a while to let the spinal wear off.

My husband flipped out when he had a spinal a few years ago, feeling paralyzed and not able to move. For me? It was lovely. First time in 6 years I didn’t have knee pain.

😊

Once that exited my system it was physical and occupational therapy in the afternoon to make sure I could get around and dress myself. My leg buckled once ( a terrifying, out of control feeling I don’t recommend ) so they told me to lock my knee and step heel to toe when using the walker.

Bing, bam, boom… we were out the door at 4:30pm.

Home at 5:15 where I exited the car, used the walker to hobble to the kitchen landing, took one step up and felt my knee buckle again. Thank god the husband was right behind me because it was like someone pulled my plug. No control, just rubber. Bam! I crumpled and the husband caught me.

Thinking this knee surgery stuff sucks so far, I made it to the couch with my elevated wedge pillow and an ice pack.

I think I live here now.

No pain… yet… but the stupid nerve block makes my calf so numb and weak I can’t lift it straight out or up. it feels paralyzed.

Bought this silly leg lifter thing a while back thinking I’d never use it… but it’s a life saver right now.

Until the block wears off my husband is on 24/7 call. He’s been good but I don’t think he realized how many little things I do around the house every day….. and now that’s he’s doing them? I chuckle as I lie on the couch and give instructions..

😉

The sweetest part?

He had these delivered to our house while we were gone and I found them on the doorstop when we got home.

Beautiful and perfect colors for the season.

He’s a good guy.

I think I’ll keep him.

❤️

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News you can’t use.

October 5, 2026 Rivergirl 34 Comments

Starting your week off right.

One Monday at a time.

Moving is the only acceptable answer.

In case you were wondering.

180 cases in 88 years isn’t too bad.

Unless it’s your brain that is.

Whaaaaaat?

That thing would wreak havoc on the subway.

Aside from the mimosas, this won’t bother me a bit.

Leave it to Italy to start the flashing.

🤣

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Wildlife encounters.

October 4, 2026 Rivergirl 18 Comments

I spotted our resident Cooper’s hawk hanging out under the flowering plum tree the other day.

It’s close to the bird feeders so you know he was there looking for lunch.

A few minutes later I spotted the husband taking a picture of something.

It was a baby red squirrel and it was scared to death.

Probably of the hawk.

So scared it clung to the husband’s slipper and had to be pried off and tucked under a shrub for safety.

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Funky lobster, outrageous oil and bots.

October 3, 2026 Rivergirl 35 Comments

Lobsters are greenish brown when alive and scurrying around on the bottom of the ocean. Though every once in a while a fisherman will haul up a genetic mutation cotton candy blue, a yellow or an orange.

Those are rare, 1 in 10 million to 1 in 30 million.

But the other day?

Now that’s rare.

And wonderfully bizarre.

People have been bitching about high gas prices for months, but in Maine…. where most houses have oil furnaces? We’re going to start bitching about heating oil now. Last year it was $3.42 a gallon…. today? It’s almost $6.

Our house uses roughly 200 gallons a month in the dead of winter … December through the end of March… and that’s set to a median temperature of 69 degrees, not the 73 my always cold husband would prefer. At today’s price of $5.96?

That’s $1,192.

A month.

Can we afford it? Yes. But it still hurts. And how about all the Mainers who can’t?

Something’s got to give.

Heat shouldn’t be a luxury.

The hummingbirds are gone and these silly sparrows have taken over the feeders I need to bring in. Sorry guys, you’re too big.

Since no one has ever said my weekly useless news posts “highlight crucial nuances”? I’m guessing the bots have started commenting.

🤣

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Let’s play.

October 2, 2026 Rivergirl 39 Comments

Pick an otter.

Any otter.

I’m going with I.

Slightly amused, slightly befuddled.

Which otter are you?

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Moronic maps.

October 1, 2026 Rivergirl 44 Comments

Another day, another bunch of ridiculous statistics.

Clearly people in Tennessee fish differently.

As attractiveness is completely subjective, I’m suspending belief on this one.

You have to appreciate specificity in the law.

I recently posted European male genital size… this only seems fair.

Do that many people really say jam?

The Waffle House coincidence is strong.

The price of cocktails is sky rocketing like everything else. Add some fresh fruit puree and herbs and they can be as much as a meal.

😩

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Movin’ on up.

September 30, 2026 Rivergirl 56 Comments

There was a cancellation on the hospital schedule and my partial knee replacement surgery has been moved up to next week.

While I’m glad to get it over with a few weeks sooner, it’s also forced me to swing into hyperdrive. Mad cleaning of the house, laundry, fresh sheets, mop floors etc and a big grocery shop to stock up. I’m going to make and freeze a lasagna as well as some soup. Will cook a big pot of gumbo the night before so we can have leftovers after. Probably some apple bread as well.

And now to the pre surgery prep.

For five days before I have to shower with this nasty antibacterial soap. It stinks, has no lather and you’re not supposed to shave. Sorry doc, but that’s not happening. I know they’re worried about cuts but I’ll be extra careful. I also have to put a weird antibiotic gel up my nose twice a day. It’s slimy and makes my nose run so I have to blow… which defeats the purpose if you ask me.

The night before and morning of surgery I have to drink this awful stuff. 50 carbs? Damn. What is it pure sugar?

Nope. Just pure chemicals.

Yum.

After surgery? They gave me these.

I’m not a pill popper and will try my damndest not to take more than a few Tramadol and forget the heavy stuff.

How heavy is it?

I hate opiates. Didn’t take them after my hysterectomy and am hoping I can get by without them this time around as well , but we’ll see.

The thing that really ticked me off? When I asked if there was a non opioid pain killer I could use they said yes, but most insurance won’t pay for it. I told them I didn’t care, I’d private pay and they said no, they were required to prescribe these… but if they didn’t work I could request an alternative later.

That’s BS. Will they work? I’m sure they will, probably too well.

Doctor prescribed addicts.

What a world.

😒

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Sunrise and sadness.

September 29, 2026 Rivergirl 40 Comments

We woke up to another glorious sunrise last week.

But as I was standing on the back deck taking pictures, I noticed something to the left.

In front of the woodshed.

We have a few morning skunks nibbling under the bird feeders now and then and they often scurry into the shed if they spot me.

But this one wasn’t scurrying.

😰

I’m going to issue a warning now.

This poor little guy was dead, and since we love our backyard visitors like family … and I’ve never been close enough to touch a skunk…. I did that morning. I also took pictures, which might be disturbing.

So again, here’s my warning.

Dead animal photos to follow.

Please leave now if you find it distressing.

Skunks don’t live very long in the wild. On average only two to four years. And since we didn’t see any signs of injury, we’re guessing it was just this sweet little fellow’s time.