Catching Up With P. Donkey

On the menu today is ...... hodgepodge.

Not this:

(Image is taken from the website in the link just below)

... even though it is a delightful late summer vegetarian meal made with fresh vegetables and cream ... (you can find a traditional recipe here) ........


... but, not that kind of Hodge Podge.

I meant a hodgepodge of topics.

Here we go.

1. If Terry Stynes, who wrote The blog of Treey for a few months recently, is reading, or if anyone who knows him in real life is reading, would it be possible to let his fellow bloggers know if he is okay? Just post a comment below.

 Terry took his blog down after suddenly announcing his final post. I know that in one way it is nobody's business but his own what happened to make him take that decision, but in another way we are a social group just as in real life and it is alarming when someone disappears.

 Despite the stroke that left him in a wheelchair and unable to speak, Terry was an articulate person online, and opened more than a few eyes to the challenges of those in his situation.Terry, you were one of us, and I for one miss your observations on the world.

2. The probable cause of my foot issue is severe plantar fasciitis, and after six weeks of exercises, heat, massage and TENS (like electrocution but less deadly) it hadn't noticeably improved. So the physiotherapist suggested shock-wave therapy. It's like a mini-jackhammer, and is used to break up scar tissue and calcification by rapid-fire hammering on the sore spot and inducing "good" inflammation. I now know why it's called "good" - because for the 48 hours after treatment, when the inflammation was present, the pain went away. Unfortunately, after that time it came back. But it will take a series of four or five treatments to see if it's going to help long-term.

 Has anyone out there had this treatment, and if so, how did you get along with it?

3. We've been getting a variety of precipitation here the last week and a half. Snow/rain/snow in wildly fluctuating temperatures is causing slush/snow/ice on everything. The good thing about it is that all the white reflects the light and makes things merry and bright. The bad things, and note that I used the plural there, are bad driving, soggy outerwear, damp feet (I may need new boots), the extra time it takes to clear ice and snow from the car before any attempt to drive, and the shovelling. Other than those, it's fine. Bring it, winter. We laugh in your face. Or we would, if we weren't so tired from all the extra work.

4. My much-anticipated-or-perhaps-more-accurately-much-feared haircut turned out well!!!! Yes, it takes four exclamation points to express my happiness. I should have switched stylists long ago. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20. It could really have gone either way. (Actually, it didn't start out very well. I showed up a day early and caused several people, including myself, to sweat out of proportion with the frigid temperature. It was my mistake - I read my calendar wrong - and I'm just terribly happy that I was early, not late.)

5. Only nine days until Christmas, if you celebrate that. The oncoming train of stuff to do that I wrote about in October  is right behind me now. And possibly right behind some of you. To refresh your memory, that train looked like this:

... up close and coming fast ...

 A wise woman I know once said, "Why are we always so surprised that Christmas has arrived? It's not like it's on a different date every year. And yet ..."

 Yep.

6. Steve, who blogs at Shadows & Light posted a link to an article titled Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency the other day, and I'd like to share it here with anyone who hasn't yet seen it. It's a lengthy piece but well worth the read if you're interested in or worried about the results of the American election. President Obama is an intelligent man, a thinker, a measured speaker and a father, and I was heartened by his views and comments, and by his advice to his own two girls. Thanks for pointing out the article, Steve.


I think I've successfully emptied my brain of all the stuff that's been rabbiting around in there since Monday.

Speaking of rabbits, and who doesn't love an adorable bunny wabbit, here's a picture:

Wait a sec ... this Arctic Hare looks too worried. Not the look I was going for. Let's try another.

That one looks like a donkey! Highly appropriate, but still not what I had in mind. Third time lucky, maybe? ...

 Yikes ... that poor thing appears to be suffering from mumps ... moving right along ...

 Eep! Too much eyeliner!!!

Okay, FINALLY, this is what I was picturing:

 He/she was almost certainly the model for Peter Rabbit in Beatrix Potter's fine stories. All he needs is a little blue coat.

Hope your weekend is a good one.

(Photos and graphic courtesy of Pixabay, except the Hodge Podge photo, whose source is indicated in the caption.)