Counting Down to Surgery - 1

 My last day before surgery.  I'll get a call sometime this afternoon to tell me when to report.  I may be the first or the second according to the nurse that interviewed me last week.  Apparently the doctor likes to get the complicated ones done first and there are two of us that qualify as such.

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Today is our 49th wedding anniversary.  To celebrate we are going to lunch at Simon Pearce Restaurant in Quechee, Vermont. Simon Pearce is known for glass blown pieces.  If I remember correctly there's a glass blowing operation under the restaurant.  We haven't been there in a very long time.  Last time was likely when Sarah was still at Dartmouth and she graduated in 2008.

A photo from their website.

Counting Down to Surgery - 2

 2 full days until hand surgery.

I've made a list of everything I need to do beforehand including stockpiling ice.  We don't have an ice maker!

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On Monday these appeared.

They're the first ones of all the ones I planted last fall.  Such a joy to see.

Counting Down to Surgery - 3

 3 full days before surgery.

I picked up the meds I'll need after the surgery on Sunday after church.  I didn't want to have to wait until after the surgery to get them.  I'll just want to get home afterward.

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Maple sugaring season is coming to an end.  We stopped by Mac's Maple in Plainfield, NH to do a taste test.  Yum!  We tasted fresh maple syrup and some aged in bourbon barrels.

We could smell sugar in the air.  That's steam coming from the sugar house.

Here's their large reverse osmosis machine that removes water from the sap before boiling thus speeding up the syrup production and reducing the amount of time and wood you need to make syrup.

As we were leaving more sap was arriving.

Counting Down to Surgery

 4 full days before surgery.

I'm getting very conscious of the things I'm not going to be able to do by myself with my right hand wrapped up.

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Saturday we came home from PA to more snow.

We went to PA on Friday to gather with Dan's family to celebrate his brother Don on what would have been his 65th birthday.  Don succumbed to lung cancer in July last year. He never married and had no offspring. He's especially missed by the youngest of the four brothers, Darren.

My husband, Dan is in the middle, Dennis #2 on left , and Darren #4 on right.