Nov 12, 2011

good riddance, and other things

yesterday, finally, i got rid of the cast. i snapped pictures of the x-rays taken before and after the surgery...the first one shows clearly what the problem was, besides the fact the there was no soft tissue in between the ulna and radius...







after...the doctor chiselled off the weird growth (that grew there in just 18 months, after the firt surgery). the ligament (sutured into a pillow-like form) taken from my thigh is now approx where the arrow is, filling that carved area. another doctor called this procedure "ambitious attemp" and asked what the back-up plan was...not sure how i should take that.

my doctor says it will take 6 months to determine whether this works, or not. the other procedure discussed was a scheker DRUJ prosthesis. obviously, i'm hoping this will have been the last surgery on the wrist, but it won't be a surprise if it wasn't...







the scars are no worse than before. the latest on the left, the one on the right is from 20 odd years ago. mobily in the wrist is ridiculous, getting a fork-load of food into my mouth is an effort. i'm doing exercises to remedy that problem.







a new little shop has been opened in the sello mall in espoo, it is called toivo. they sell mainly local and organic produce, and baked goods from small local bakery.







they have jams, jellies, juices, pastas, beans, nuts and such. i got organic whole wheat spelt spaghetti, hulled hemp seeds and maple syrup. hope the hemp seeds won't get me into trouble...







i still can't get over that the flowers are starting to bloom in mid-november!







i'm waiting for snow for the full moon pics to be more dramatic.







eternal begger, the dog



Nov 9, 2011

lichen, chaga and others

these shots are from the cottage from last week. the woods should be at least a little frosty by this time of year, but with nighttime temps of +10C...everything is still pretty green.







it seems mom missed a few lingonberries...







mosses and lichen of all sorts, and colors!







i remember from my childhood that reindeer lichen was used in between the inner and outer glasses in windows. the lichen would suck up all moisture and the windows would remain frost-free in the winter, with modern windows this isn't necessary anymore. the reindeer lichen only grows 3 to 5 mm per year so any bald spots (from picking, etc) will take years and years to be replaced.







more about lichens here.







these looks like tiny finger sticking up from the ground...







this bad picture is of an inonotus obliquus, i.e. chaga mushroom, or pakurikääpä in finnish. dad had heard someone say something about about how much this costs at a health food store...mom then remembered seeing one along the walk she takes...we went there with an axe, after making sure it was ok to take it from someone else's land (it is, as chaga is considered the same as other mushrooms and berries, and it is everyman's right to pick those in the woods). however, if getting the chaga would entail cutting down an entire tree...that's a no-no. this particular chaga was on a half rotten stump of a birch.







it turns out this chaga mushroom is a cure-all for everything, cancer, ulcers and tuberculosis among others (and i'm not making this up). there are scientific studies, and it's been as folk medicine from the 16th century. it's been sold as super-food, mainly used stewed like for tea, more of it here, and here (in finnish).

we were talking about the chaga over lunch at the cottage and my older niece told that one of her teachers is an avid user of it. my niece is now under instructions to find out how to handle and consume the chaga.







this here is usnea, part of the lichen family. folk lore says it indicates the air quality (no usnea, bad air). during the last 10 or so years, usnea has really started to grow around the cottage, so for some strange reason the air seems to be getting cleaner over there. maybe those filters in the paper mills are actually working...







the next 2 pics were taken on nov 3rd...catkins aren't supposed to show up until spring, right?







as isn't this bellflower / campanula.







this creature is, however, getting ready for winter...







...and fattening her(?)self up with seeds that dropped from the bird feeder.







it is very strange for the lake to be this calm, for several days, in november.







like a mirror.







mom and dad fish with nets, this lone signal crayfish got caught it the nets. it got to go back to the lake as the crayfish season ended on oct 31st, and it really wouldn't have been worth the trouble to cook just one...







these here are dad's pride and joy. pride, the english lady, on the left, and joy in the right. there is 2 km of road to the cottage that dad needs to maintain, that includes clearing it of snow. the pride, a massey ferguson 35 from circa 1960, has seen its better days, but provides plenty of exercise for dad (fixing and adding the detachments and chains for tyres). the MF is used for the first snow and fine tuning the leveling. when the weather is bad and there is lots of snow, the zetor 7045 tackles those jobs. the cabin in the zetor heats up...







back at the shack the dog has taken to sleep on his chair again. winter must be coming as the dog doesn't use the chair for sleeping in the summer...