Back Door Visitor - And a Few More Pics and Preparations

We made a day trip to Delaware a couple weekends ago and as we usually do when we're away for the day, turned on the camera at the back door.  It wasn't until we were almost home that I noticed that the camera had sent a notification of a person at the backdoor earlier in the day.  I was totally surprised to see this..... make sure to turn your sound up..............

They do come and tap at the windows when I'm sitting in the dining room so I guess they missed seeing us that morning.

Here are a couple of friends at the suet feeder....

We had almost 11" of snow and these flower pots were just asking for faces with their snowy pompadours....so I did a little editing........

And one more picture that I tried to capture late one afternoon last week when the setting sun illuminated part of my gypsy rod and caught my attention....

I don't have a picture of it, but a couple of weeks ago, in a routine e-mail from the state, we were encouraged to visit the Unclaimed Funds site and I did.  I was totally surprised to see that there were, indeed, unclaimed funds in my name so I put in the claim and received the check late last week.  I would caution anyone doing this to not speak of it in front of your appliances, because not 10 minutes after I spoke with my son on the phone last night about it (because he also had a claim), our microwave got so excited it dropped dead.  I don't have the time today to go shopping for a new one so I sent HWNSNBP to get a replacement - he's going to have to make due without it for a few days until it can be delivered......we really only use it to steam vegies and to reheat food, so he can get by with what I've already prepared.  Having an air-fryer now that can do most of the same thing I might forego getting another microwave but ours is not free-standing and I don't want to have that gap above the stove.  

I wrote a little tongue-in-cheek info segment on dealing with abdominal surgery after I had my hysterectomy 15 years ago (find it here) and I'm revisiting it to get ready for my back surgery coming up tomorrow.  I already know that I won't be allowed what the doctor calls "BLT's" - Bending, Lifting, or Twisting so some of that advice will also apply for this.  What's new to me is the preparations that the  hospital has in place - I have Gatorade to drink at certain times that they provided at my pre-op admission appt. because they've found that staying hydrated improves recovery, and I have special "wipes" to use after showering this evening (not the morning of) to help prevent infection.  We are washing/changing all the bedding today because instructions say - clean pajamas and clean bedding tonight, clean clothes tomorrow.  I usually shower in the morning so this is throwing me off a bit and adding to my anxiety.  HWNSNBP moved one of the single beds from upstairs downstairs because I won't be able to climb the stairs for 1-2 weeks and we had to rearrange all the furniture to accomodate it and a new chair that we picked out that has arms.  A friend is going to lend me a dining room chair with arms again like she did for my last back surgery.  I'm thankful for that and also that we thought ahead when we redid the bathroom downstairs and made it safer for "seniors" with a step in shower, built in seat, and grab bars.  Still, I'm sure there will be a learning curve but it will all be worth it if I can walk without pain again.  Fingers crossed!

I have some posts pre-scheduled but I'll mostly be absent for a bit while I get myself in recovery mode.  

PS - Remember to celebrate Pink Shirt Day on Wednesday - wear a pink shirt to stand up against bullying!