One chapter ending and eye surgery

  The end of July found me shipping my last cycle of birds at my place and my neighbour's. The next week was barn cleanout and it was a relief to finish for the last time. Usually it'd take about a week to thoroughly clean 4 barns and it always felt good to have them done with a little bit of down time before getting for the ready for the next cycle. This time though, with cleanout done just in time, I was getting ready to go in for eye surgery.

  On August 8th (exactly 3 months before my wedding!), I went in for laser eye surgery. The past year or so I had been thinking about how nice it would be to not have to deal with glasses or contacts any more. I was 7 when I first started wearing glasses and then mainly contacts since 14. The past few years my eyes seemed to be getting a little more sensitive and I ended up wearing glasses and contacts about an equal amount of time. The more I looked into eye surgery, the more appealing it seemed. How nice it would be to not have to bring your glasses along every time you travelled, contacts and contact solution (esp a pain if you want to travel carry-on :p), not have them fog up with winter activities or cold weather, etc. Plus, my then fiancé and now husband, was very supportive and encouraging in my decision. Knowing personally a few people who went through laser eye surgery, I felt more confident in moving ahead with it.

  First I called the optometrist to make an appt and had to book it a ways out since I couldn't wear contacts for a month (due to astigmatism) before getting tests that were necessary for the surgery. That was towards the end of July and then I got an appt with Horizon Laser about a week later. I drove down to Regina (about 3 hours away) and had a good appt. Due to my cornea being too thin, I wasn't a candidate for LASIK surgery but I would be for PRK, another form of laser surgery. With both surgeries, you end up with the same results about 6 months down the road. PRK is more painful and has a slower healing time but then you don't have dry eyes as severe and there is no flap that needs to heal back in place. When I went to book the surgery, the receptionist surprised me by saying there was an opening in a week, and if not then, it would be several weeks before another available slot. So, I took the closest one and then tried not to freak out and get excited too much. lol.

  The surgery went smoothly but recovery was slow. My parents took me to the appt since they don't allow patients to drive right after surgery, and I wouldn't be able to anyways. Then I stayed at their place for a while. The first 3 days were the worst. I was supposed to sleep pretty much that whole time because the eyes heal best with darkness and resting. Mom would help with the drops since at the start there were 4 different drops to be applied and some of them 4xday. There was a lot of pain those first few days. Then finally on the fourth day things began to feel gradually better. I was very sensitive to light still but at least was able to stay up part of the day and not have almost unbearable pain to deal with.

  I went to my first post surgery appt at the optometrist and said everything looked good but my vision wasn't clear enough to pass the eye test for driving. Usually you can start driving about a week after but sometimes it takes longer. Recovery was much more difficult than expected. My eyes stayed blurry for quite some time with occasional moments/times in the day when it would start to clear up. The days seemed to take forever to pass by. I couldn't do a whole lot due to my eye sight, or lack thereof, and I like having something to keep me busy! My next appt was about 10 days later and I still couldn't see good enough for the driving test chart. That was discouraging but not totally surprising. My eyes were at least slowly improving but I was still dealing with  blurriness, seeing double/ghosting, halos around lights during the night, etc, My next appt was 2 weeks later and I finally passed the test and was able to drive again after almost 4 weeks post surgery. That was such a relief and it never felt so good to have my licence back! :) You realize how helpless you are when you can't drive.

  It was about 6 -7 weeks before it felt like my eyes were completely healed and vision was perfectly clear. The optometrist said they were healing well and he was happy with the progress. I had recently finished the last one of my medicated drops so then just had lubricant drops to apply as needed. So, the first part was definitely not fun but the surgery was totally worth it. I love not having the hassle of glasses or contacts to deal with anymore and definitely have no regrets about going with PRK surgery.

Happiness!

 

 Love my man!

He is:

patient

kind

sweet

caring

thoughtful

hardworking

loving

trustworthy

respectable

handsome :)

...just to name a few! 

I can't wait to be his wife! 

Wildlife in my yard

I think this fawn had just been born. It was tiny and still wobbly on its feet. One of my favourite things about living here has been the wildlife that wander through my yard - moose, deer, rabbits...

 

Barn Maintenance

Had to replace another section in the airline. It comes from the boiler shed in the background there and into the shop part of the barn.

 The faucet broke off a few days before I was going to place chicks a few cycles back. I didn't have the necessary fittings on hand to replace it at the time so I ended up just screwing an end cap in to stop the water.

Two fittings and a new faucet from the hardware store did the trick. :)

Straightening finned pipe. Not the most fun job I've ever tackled. It took me about 5 or 6 hours and by the time it was done my knees weren't thanking me. :P They are fairly flexible so I pushed them all back into place with a screwdriver. 

Before:

After:

And the lovely fogger hose. The braided hose at 84 PSI could not compete with the 200 PSI being run though it. :P 

  

Very awkward to work on the line. You are on a ladder with your head squished into the corner and then you drop the screwdriver into the bucket of water below that was catching the water flowing out when you cut the hose.

I always forget that the hose slides in like a breeze at the top and at the bottom not so. After many unkind thoughts, sore nails, and scraped fingers, I got it pushed into place and the clasps tightened. I picked up this hose from JD and it is good for 300 PSI and it can handle hot oil. So, with just cold water flowing through at 200 PSI I'm hoping this problem is fixed for good.

 This was the first time for a feedline cable to snap on me.  Thankfully the Co-op in town had the right size cable I need to fix the line.

Connecting the new piece of cable.

The cable went through the the opening into the box at the end. I had to unscrew the box off first and join the cable in there as well.

This Master Craft tool set has been one of the best investments!

Busy times!

It's been too long since I posted here and it hasn't been because of lack of things happening in my life. :) The past while has consisted mainly of chickens (obviously), barn maintenance, yard work, sewing for Naomi's wedding, helping with cleaning and making tortillas at KLBC, and turning 30 which my neighbour didn't let slip by unnoticed. :) So life is crazy but good. I can't complain. :) I'm going to post pictures of some of what I've been up to and hopefully not too long down the road I'll be able to get back to regular blogging.

 After the office flooding incident, I had to go underneath the trailer and put a new waterline in so I would be able to water the garden. Not the funnest job between working in small quarters and the cob webs. It reminded me of Frodo in LOTR getting all wrapped up in the web. lol.

Two trips to the hardware store and then I could finally get started.

After assessing the situation with my neighbour, I figured it would be easiest to "T" off the mainline here.

The faucet is a little lower than the previous one. The copper pipe at the other end is about 1/4" higher so it will drain and help keep it from freezing this winter.

And it worked! :)

Bleeding Heart

Another great year for gardening here.

I had seeded all three flower beds by the house but no flowers came up. :( Just recently Superstore greenhouse had their flowers on a great discount so I was able to fill the whole front for only $25. Adds some nice colour to the yard. :)

Well...it's a deep subject...:D

The lid of the well which I had to dig out so I could fill the inside with pit run.


These lines and wires were difficult to work around.




Borrowed my neighbour's tractor so I could move the pit run closer to shovel in.




Dad came over to help. There were several important wires in this spot so he put a stryofoam barrier around them and filled in the area with sand rather than the pit run.


Making progress...


Filled in at last!


Insulating the outside.


The other well is underneath the corner of the pumphouse. It is covered with stryofoam to help keep it insulated. The wires for the barn and house water travel through here so it is very important to keep it from freezing. There is a heater down inside hooked up to a temp sensor which regulates the temperature.



Completely finished...yay!


The sensor is hooked up here and keeps the well temperature between 8*C and 9*C.

Who's there??

Recently I realized that I have missed some blog comments over the past several posts. I switched my settings to notify me of comments so it won't look like I'm ignoring anyone. :)

Anyways, now, I'm curious of how many blog readers I have? If you have a blog, let me know about it too!

Happy Canada Day!

O Canada!

Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.



Refrain


God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.


O Canada! Where pines and maples grow,
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow,
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western Sea;
Thou land of hope for all who toil!
Thou True North, strong and free!


O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart sons and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years,
From East to Western Sea.
Our own beloved native land,
Our True North, strong and free!


Ruler Supreme, Who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion within Thy loving care.
Help us to find, O God, in Thee,
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the Better Day
We ever stand on guard.