Great news, Good news, Great news, and Bad news

Went to see Dr. Hill today. He did the surgery on my back..... in order!!!

The fusion of L3, L4, and L5 was successful and is completely healed - that is great news....

I do not have to ware my brace unless I want to or need to.... good news...

I can start taking my arthritis medicine..... great news.....

Dr. Hill is leaving Johnson City and moving to Paducah, KY in July..... bad news.....

So as a final gesture... he took a picture of me so I could post it on my blog.....

Enjoy!!!!






















In case you need help, that is my incision from the surgery... that is his finger holding down my pants so the whole scar is visible!!!

and.... I get to go to PT for a few weeks!!!! yeehaaa

Cheers, John

Please check Matthew Fay's new blog...........

http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

Thanks, john

Breakfast at Beasley's



still have a couple of things to work out....

Have a great day, john

Here is my latest shawl..... It is White and Blue (in case that is not clear in the picture) and the yarn is Mohair (50% mohair; 40% wool; and 10% nylon..........


Took Jill dog to the vet today for annual check-up and shots.... She is completely docile at the vet - wish I could find that secret at home.... She is now reclining in my chair - lucky dog..

My favorite NASCAR driver won yesterday - Tony Stewert....

Hope you are having a nice day - Cheers, john

This and that:
Winding linen yarn into balls to weave a shawl---
A couple of balls?????????


Actually they look more like tractor tires...............



The shawl after weaving - I chose an open weaving pattern for this shawl - I kinda like it!!!
I started this shawl before I had surgery and finished it over the week end..... by the way, if you take your hand and make an arch over your head that is a sign for over the week end!!! LOL

this shawl will actually be used as a drape on our couch..... you can see it if you visit!!!
a survey stake...............we didn't have our property surveyed when we moved in so we had it done today....

My first back brace after surgery...... I am glad I have a lighter and smaller model now!!!
little Robins waiting for food from mom or dad....... the nest is in a wreath on our deck that we didn't take down after the Christmas holidays........ so the Robins made a nest and had babies!!

I just hope these little critters don't fall out of the nest when the pooch is out..... pooch would say yummy...........

Hope you all are having a great day.....

Peace, john

We had a great time!!

No need to say anything more - except perhaps - we missed you Michael and wish you were here Mark!!

Manny Rameriz suspended 50 games for using illegal drugs - baseball strikes again at the youth of the United States......... is everybody a cheater in baseball these days????? I'm pissed off!!!

our first rhododendron!!

Hey everybody - Wanted to let you know that there is a new blog about Matthew. Cheers, john

http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

It has been a month since my back surgery..... I had it on March 17th.... St. Patrick's Day....

The surgery went well..... When he got to my back, he discovered that he could not put in the six screws and two composite bars that would help with the fusion. There was too much deterioration to to do that.... Actually, he could have put them in, but with such limited space, if there were any slippage the results would be devastating and he did not want to risk that. The fusion of L3,4,&5 is being accomplished with a combination of synthetic material and ground-up bone material that he removed in the surgical process....... so far so good....

I had a couple of set backs - one day lost in the hospital because of an irregular heart beat... the results indicated that my heart had not blockages and we are trying to regulate the heart beat with medications.... The other set back was/is a small blood clot in my lower left leg.. that is being treated with the blood thinner commanding....

I am able to get up and about and am walking as much as I can tolerate... I did manage to get to church on Easter but that really wore me out!!!

I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and all the help that Dennis and Marie have given Sandy and I..... Sandy has been a wonderful care taker....

God bless you all, john

the first shawl!!!

Well here it is, the first thing I created on my new 24" Kromski loom... it is a shawl..... I am ready to do another one, but may have to wait until after surgery on Tuesday.....

on the loom:on the rocking chair:When Sandy gets home in about 45 minutes, it will be on her!!!

Cheers, John

New update about Matthe

http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

Keep up the prayers!!

blessings, john

My first completed weaving project.

Sandy wanted me to buy a weaving loom for Christmas. I did.... After Christmas, I was intrigued by the loom and she encouraged me to use it so that I could teach her...

So I started and made 4 place mats and a table runner.....

While they are far from perfect, here they are sitting on our dinning room table with our Valentine's Day roses!!!
I have reloaded the loom and am making some coasters....

Hope you had a nice weekend.

Cheers, John

Some people think that I am nuts!!!!

But actually, I am only half nuts. How do I know? I am going to tell you!!!

This year is the 25th anniversary of my first bout with cancer... That's kind of cool, isn't it?

Well, 25 years ago in 1984, my testicle swelled way up and really hurt. I went to the doctor and he got me hooked-up with an ultra sound of my testicles to see what was going on in there... (The ultra sound story is kind of interesting too, but not for today.)

So, I had an ultra sound and he found that I had one good nut and one bad nut. Here is a picture -
I'll let you figure out which is which.....

He decided that the bad nut should be removed.... so he whipped out his trusty knife...
...and removed the bad nut
and sent it of for testing.........

That left me with only one good nut..........
and half as many nuts as I had to begin with.

Therefore, when someone says, "you're nuts!!!" I know that they really mean, I'm just half nuts!!

HAPPY Valentine's Day.

Cheers, John

Tree Cutting..................

A few minutes after we returned from the Greer Weekend on the 2nd of February, Metcalf Tree Service arrived at our house to cut down some trees...... He got a couple of trees out of the bucket going over our car port.... missed those pictures, but I took some pictures of him in one of the trees in the back yard that he cut down....

When I looked out of the laundry room window and saw him (Mr. Metcalf) hanging by the rope I went ahead and took the shot and then went back to the living room and read a book until they were finished......

Hope you are just hang'n out on Friday the 13th... peace, john

This is the Greer Family weekend retreat at the Tanasi Lodge in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.....

Here is a picture of the chandelier hanging above the large dinning table!!!




now we have a panorama view out of the front - that is Wear's Valley!!!!!! the view is fantastic!!
here are two panorama views out the back of the lodge.......



This is the same lodge where my family and the Cope's celebrated my 65th birthday in July.

Blessings to all, john

New post about Matthew!!!!

Matthew's Blog

Cheers, john

Happy Birhtday - Bo

Thanks for dinner - we had a great time. Cheers, Sandy and John

USA Rookie of the Year!!

I'm Proud to be an American!!!

Snooo Daz

Just a "peaceful easy feeling" from our back deck!!

Peace to everyone, john