Hello worked finally..As you can see; colors are making a come back.  

Bearly hanging on. 

HELLO

Anyone else having trouble with Hello..the picture thingie? Trying most of the day to post some bear pics. Hello...out there does anybody have any answers? Hello website doesn't...any comments would be most helpful...Thank you...DLaine.

It's a turtle orgy. All the little ones are doing great.

What day is this?

Ok, now I remember; it's Monday. A rainy one at that. The last few days have been busy. Setting up visiting nurses; meals on wheels and therapy for dad. The biggest problem was with his meds on Friday. Wrong prescribed dosage of Cumadin 5mg; which is a blood thinner. The twit of a nurse wrote take 2 tablets at 8pm nightly. It should have read: Cumadin 2 1/2mg (not 5mg) for a total of 5mg to be taken not 10mg total at night. Dad also was to start taking his Plavic and 325mg of asprin. Flag waving here. Both of these are to help thin the blood. Why in the world would he need 10mg of Cumadin. Called his family physican; oops no one left him know that dad was having surgery. (Orthro. doc should have sent a report and didn't) Family physican called orthro. doc and got things straight. All in all dad's a little off. Memory worst than ever. Probably after affects of the anesthetic. Walking good with a walker. He's really impatience. And so am I with him. He thinks he can do things like he did 15 years ago when he had his other knee replaced. Of course back then he didn't have heart trouble, and having a huge rupture that can't be repaired plus loss of hearing; and an extra tire in the middle. He doesn't want to admit he's older and that I know how and what to do whats right for him. He did admit to me today that he trusts my driving more than my middle brothers. I had to chuckle over that.
Yesterday I was in at dad's apartment by 7am to help him get ready to go to church. It takes us an hour for him to shower, shave, change his dressing on his knee and wrestle with the leg long support hose (this sucker is a boa constrictor) dressed, shoes on, things tucked in, and him in a chair til I clean things up. Ok, its alittle after 8am and church is at 9am and is twenty miles away. A knock at the door and my brother whom hasn't visited dad since a week before surgery came to take him to church. Apparently dad asked him on his last visit to take him. Thanks for letting me know. He could have gotten dad ready for church. He could have taken all the verbal shit that comes out of dad's mouth for once. No, its me that gets it all. My dad thinks this brother can't handle stress very well; and he can't handle the sight of blood. I say grow up! You're a grown man with 3 grown boys. Deal with it. But anyhow; I explain how to help dad in and out of the car and that dad isn't quite himself. Walk beside him or behind him just incase he stumbles. Yea, its like talking to a empty bucket. Also, make sure he gets dinner and is settled in before you leave. I figured he would be there til 2pm. Oh no, he was gone by 12. Church takes an hour for mass, drive twenty miles back, eat lunch out, drop dad off and he was on his way. Damn sometimes I wish I could do that. The other brother hasn't even called yet; to inquire how dad is doing. Such a close family we have. As far as I'm concerned it's just dad and I. I'll take the shit because he's my dad. Sometimes I wonder when he's gone who will I have?

I'm off

In more ways than one. I'm awaiting dad's release from the hospital. Then its off to Johnstown and then to Indiana. Dads staying at his apartment and I'll be staying the night with him. I'm glad in a way. The tension between the lover and my dad is stretching my nerves to the breaking point. Its like I being pulled from both ends. So now I have two places to take of. So its run, run for me.
Seems like everyone benefits from me, but me!

Another Hospital.... Another Surgery..

Now the recovery begins. My day began early in the morning; 2am to be exact. The thunder rumbled and flashes of lightning awoke me an hour earlier than the alarm clock so I just got up. Dad had to be in Johnstown at 5:30am for his surgery. You know the hurry up and the wait. We arrived at 5:15 am at the designated desk for the check-in. No one there. So we wait. By 5:30am ten people were not too happy about having to wait. I just sat and listened to everyone saying. "If we can make it here at 5:30am; why can't their workers be here on time?" The girl finally showed at 5:40am. Boy if looks could kill. Of course she had to set up and people were bombarting her as soon as she sat down. Hell people, you all know that as soon as you get upstairs you got to wait again. By this time dad's pacing. The girl finally asked who was first? Yep, that would be us.
On to the 3rd floor we go. This is the floor of questions and flashes of asses. We didn't stay long here; dad was sent to the 4th floor and I to the 6th floor lounge to wait. Why they call it a lounge I'll never know. There were no lounge chairs and it was so cold in there that I thought it was the morgue. I settled in a corner only to get back up and start playing musical chairs. Everywhere I sat I had breeze on my head from the vents that spit out ice cold air. The Lounge started to fill with the ones from the first floor and my musical chairs came to an end. Cold and in need of a good cup of coffee and a cigarette. I head back to the first floor for the cafe and the front door to get warm. Ok its 7:20am; I'm finally warm again and head back into the front door and I meet up with dad's doctor. Cup of coffee in his hand and his nurse carrying all the paper work. We chat on the elevator, they get off at 4 and I go back to the morgue on 6. Ok, by the time doc scrubs and views the x-rays and chit chats are over the OR called the lounge, surgery began at 8:15am. I wait in the morgue. At 11am; surgery over and I wait for the doc talk.
All is ok and I get his room number. Which is as the girl states about two blocks away. Down one elevator thru a maze of halls to another elevator, up to the 9th floor, another maze of halls and I'm there. Guess what? I wait again. Dad finally arrives at1pm. I'm asked to wait in the hall while they settle him in.
Then; this is a first for me. He has to order his own food. They give you a menu and you hit the food button on the phone. The other end already knows who you are and where you're at. What your dietary allowance is: Reg., soft, or liquid. Tell them what you want and within the policy of 50 minutes you get your meal delivered to your room. Pretty cool for me. But the older folks have alittle trouble with this. They have to remember to order 50 minutes ahead of when they want to eat. The old way the meal was served at a certain time and you picked from a menu that was handed to them yesterday. Anyway dad got his meal in about thirty mins. not bad. After eating he needed a pain shot and a nap before they got him up to walk. Yep, now you walk the same day as surgery. Some in the halls were doing fine; others were getting sick and yet a few were passing out. By this time I was ready to head home. I needed a nap. For some reason the hour drive only took 35 minutes. My foot must have fallen asleep ahead of me. Anyho; things are good so far. Then there's tomorrow.....

On our Sunday ride today to my cousin's church dinner we came across this mailbox. Go ahead click on the pic; and if you really want to see, click the pic again for a bigger view. The person who did this has a sense of humor. It made me chuckle. 

You have to click the picture to really see. Look a the middle of the picture. See the little turtle head and eyes. The ground is so hard; so we helped them out. 

This little newbie turtle needs a bath. 

Total of seven Painted turtles. All healthy and active. 

Nature's Miracle...

In the following pics you'll see a turtle-et emerging from her egg. It has been 73 days since the painted turtle layed her eggs by the pond. The Lover protected the nest from preditors by placing a wire cage over the nest to ensure that the eggs were safe. I decided to give the inside of the nest a look see. While removing the cap of the nest I puncture an egg. The egg was soft to the touch and inside was the little turtle. While the other eggs were fully intact we covered the nest again and replaced the cage. In the following pics turtle-et emerges. She's safe inside the house and is being well taken of. Can't wait till the rest hatch.
I hope you enjoy this miracle of nature. Comments are always welcomed...DLaine

Remember this post from July 1st 2005 of the painted turtle laying her eggs? Well guess what, folks. They are hatching. Please click the pic to enlarge. 

Still in the half of the egg. 

Just starting to move. 

I'm coming out. 

Hello World. 

Today was spent at the dog show. The following pics are some of the ones that caught my eyes. My favorite is the Yorkshire Terriers. Like this one. She's a teacup just like my first Yorkie was. Makes me want for one. Maybe someday. 

The legs on this one were so short compared to the rest of him. Nice little doggey. 

Mommy's hands are free to do other things. 

This one was a gentle giant. He does see very well. And he also gives very wet kisses. 

This little guy was content to just lay on the grooming table away from the other dogs. 

A white Standard Poodle. Poor thing. All that do for 15 minutes in the ring. 

A layed back Standard Poodle. 

A little cutie named Feather. 

Wee one. 

It's a go .. again!

Yesterday, Dad and I ventured to Johnstown to do pre-op for his upcoming knee replacement surgery on Sept. 20th. We left the house at 8:15am and returned at 3pm. The day has proven to be more stressful than I thought it would. Why I don't know? Maybe I'm thinking about what the next few weeks of his recovering is going to be like. He won't be able to drive for 6 wks. or more. So that will be up to me. The get me this and get me that stuff always wears on my nerves. Or the constant huh's I get and I have to repeat myself two more times so he'll understand. Maybe I'm just being selfish. Sometimes I just want someone to take care of me!! Make me feel like I'm worth something. Lavish me a gift or flowers. I'm tired of people depending on me for this and that. Like I said; selfish. Well it late and I want to surf some more so bye for now.....

A day at the Cambria County Fair in Ebensburg, PA. Click the pics to enlarge. This goat was kind enough to stand still for this pic. 

The horses. 

The Champion Bunny. 

The cows.