OH, I am glad the flowers to go idea is working well for you. It is for us too, :-) I managed to get my flowers done up for Mother's Day, by painfully hobbling out to pick tulips and lilacs, and other fillers. Sunday sold out all but 4 and everyone paid the full price. That was nice and made my day...I had struggled so to make sure my customers needs were met and they paid me...no bad kids stealing flowers for mom like last year (Kids were probably well advanced in age!). Now I am taking a break and concentrating on healing and stretching. Our goal is to get the right knee totally stretched out for the first time since my first injury 30 years ago, so lots of work to do on it, but great reward when I accomplish it. It sounds like we have a heat wave coming later this week. MY PT says I can go out and plant zinnias and sunflowers if I just don't get too tired, and listen to my body. I do so want to get those seeds in! So come thurs, I will probably be out there butt scootin' along the row!(Dragging my stool with me so pull myself back up on. Well, Still on pain meds here but reduced and doing well on them. MUch more comfortable then a week ago, and I Am sure the next week will bring big improvements too. FOr you who are out working your tails off...COme on over, I need help!!! Seiously I AM glad I have done this but can't wait to be out early in the morning working with no thought of recuperating joints!...or of the 45 new dahlias growing in pots that should go out now!

Today is better, although yesterday was rotten right down to bedtime. DGS slept till about 8pm (he's working nights at WMT) and then I had to practically follow him around to get him to do the things he needed to do so he could be ready to leave for work at 9:30. Then at about 9:30 he threw up. Of course you know the first thing that pops into my mind is that infection he has, although I know that DGS can throw up at the drop of a hat and has been that way since childhood. Fortunately he hadn't taken his pill yet. I never know quite what to do when someone's on medication and they throw it up. I knew a woman who ended up in the hospital because she had the flu and she was taking medication. Every time she threw up, she'd take her medication again. Apparently her body was absorbing some of each dose before each hurl and built up toxic levels in her blood stream. But anyway, I called him in sick at work and made him lie down after that episode. He drank some water and seemed to stabilize, and so took his pill, went to bed and we all slept, each with our doors closed because we didn't want any gifts from Pearl. She was allowed in to sleep and slept on the treadmill (I'm glad someone's getting the use of it!). This morning he got up and was fine, and talking about going to the canteen tonight before work. With the prices of groceries going up, this is an excellent time to diet! DH and I don't eat very much these days. I have a hard time cooking the right amount and we always have left-overs to finish up. Lately I've been just freezing bits and tads of things and it's gotten to the point where I simply MUST do something with it all. So we're on a left-overs marathon. Last night I made sausage gravy. I didn't make biscuits but I had some rolls I had made several days ago so we finished off all but one and DGS used the last one to make a sandwich for work. Since he didn't go, at least he has his lunch packed and waiting in the fridge for tonight. Today at lunch DH and I will eat the last two Runzas and DGS will probably sleep thru lunch as he's gone to take a nap so he can work all night tonight. But there's enough corn and black bean salad and a little bit of roast beef, so when he does get up he can make himself a couple of fajitas out of that. Yesterday afternoon I made another small batch of green tomato pickle relish and baked banana-coconut-black walnut muffins, using chopped bananas out of the freezer and frozen nuts from summer before last. The black walnuts last year were so small, I gathered them but they just weren't worth the work of cracking. The tree is out in the park. If someone doesn't go out there and gather the nuts, all the neighborhood kids pick them up and throw them at each other, at animals, and at windows. I had two muffins for breakfast this morning and they were pretty darn good. When I get the leftovers used up out of the kitchen freezer, I will go down to the big chest freezer. About every 6 months I take everything out, defrost the freezer and then pack stuff back in so I'll know where everything is. Then DH gradually moves things around in there till only he knows where anything is, and then I forget I've got a bag of green beans or a plastic coffee container full of cookie dough, etc. As I was moving things around in there yesterday, I did find a gallon bag of chopped green pepper that I didn't know I had, and a coffee container full of chocolate chip cookie dough. I know there's more stuff down there that needs to be used. So here's to a better day! And yes, that shirt you found most recently is the one I was thinking about, Dawn. Jessaka, I've seen those board supports and also someone here in town has built a 2x4 "frame" around their trees. I would think the boards would work better because you could move them where you needed them, and pack them away when the fruit was gone. The boards I've seen have V-shaped notches cut into them to hold the limb securely. The only thing is that they fall over easy when the wind blows. Maybe if they had something fastened to the bottom of the board, at right angles, that would take care of it. I think I'm going to put DH to work at making some of those after his knees are all well, for next year. That is, if we don't get a late frost next year.

Marlene, I'm glad you've made the decision to go for it! I worked in orthopedics for many years and have seen with my own eyes the good these knee replacements do for people. Two quick personal stories about them: My great uncle had both of his knees replaced, several months apart. I asked him afterwards about his recovery. He said, "Pain? I lived with pain 24/7 for years. My recovery was a cinch compared to that. Now I have bionic knees. I can dance with your aunt again. I feel 20 years younger and I love it!" My sweet mom nursed a bad knee for several years, always putting off the replacement surgery that she needed. She was a little dynamo into her late-70's. Everyone said she reminded them of Doris Day~ small, pretty, blond and energetic. In the course of one year (2011-12) she aged at least ten years in her looks and how she acted and felt, because of the pain. And, the loss of mobility caused her health to deteriorate. When she finally went to see about a knee replacement, it was too late. Her age and new heart problems make that surgery out of the question now. Such a heartbreaking waste! So, hang onto the fact that this surgery is going to add years to your life . . . and make you feel many years younger. And, when you feel younger, you look younger. It's a win/win situation and I'm really happy for you! Lynn

roselvr, I wonder if your DD has patellar subluxation? My kneecap "popped" to the outside and the knee would give out to the inside. Mine's a combination of repeated twisting injuries, general abuse :-) and a mild congenital defect (the "notch" the kneecap sits in is too shallow) and it, too, looked fine on imaging but it did not function properly under strain. I had arthroscopic surgery in 1990 on the right knee to deepen that notch a tad, adjust some ligaments and build what would eventually become a "collar" of scar tissue to keep my kneecap in place - I can feel that but can't see it. (Just the three eensy little scars from the arthroscopy, which after all this time are just little puckers in the skin. Instead of general anesthesia I had a spinal block and sedation and was happily stoned to the gills for two days afterward! LOL) I'm sure the technology has improved drastically since then, but that knee has never gone kerflooey on me again. Has your daughter had any physical therapy to stabilize the muscles that work the knee? It really can help a great deal, and it's totally non-invasive so it's an excellent place to start. Women are particularly prone to unstable knees simply because of our skeletal anatomy. I was able to avoid surgery on the left knee with physical therapy (the right knee was far worse off, which is why it got the knife and I chose to be much more conservative with the left) at the same time I was having extensive therapy on the right knee (long story). Even after 15 years I find myself doing some of the isometric exercises when waiting at stoplights, out of sheer habit!