Re: Digest 2580 /Happy Birthday Update. (Sorry probably really long)

[Guest guest]

Hello My Wonderful Ceda Friends and Family

I have been lurking for a while, firstly, because I don't often get to sit at my

puter for weeks at a time nowdays. But I received

some private emails, that suggested that I should check in and tell you all my

news. Because I have been totally slack.

and not dropped in as promised.

Weeeellllll I have just been so healthy and

without TOO many injuries lately.

Now I think it only fair that I warn some of you, that this email has turned out

to be a rather long, ( Sorry.... but I tend to really

pack it in, when I do get the chance to write - like right now and - then when I

am having so much fun I don't know when or

where to stop.... scroll down....... SEE !!) and for those of you who don't know

me, (you are so lucky!!) this could prove to be

incredibly boring! So I implore you only read on if you are REALLY

interested. If you are only interested in the

juicy (EDS type) stuff scroll down to the last three paragraphs.

Firstly.... Thank you to everyone who remembered my Birthday. You are all SO

kind. Even my kids forgot!! It was a quiet at

home affair. Nothing really special. Actually I got something really special

for my birthday. A full time job! I couldn't be

happier. More about that in a minute!

> 2. Re: Reminder - Happy Birthday Helen Sempel!

>

> 20. RE: Reminder - Happy Birthday Helen Sempel!

>

> 21. Re: Happy Birthday Helen Sempel!

>

> 22. Re: Happy Birthday Helen Sempel!

> From: JETSKIDEB@...

> 3. Happy Birthday Helen Sempel!

39 fast years have rolled past and yet I look forward to many more. Yeah... I

keep saying that the body's expiry date is LONG

out of date, but I am always joking. Although the body has been feelin'

it a bit lately. More on that in a minute.

So Mike, the girls and I have moved again. We moved from our home in NSW

December 2002 and after a brief stay with the

hostess from hell, we moved to Longwarry a quaint " little " town with a huge

house on half an acre, and some extra land by

default. It was fun for a bit, but all fell apart when, after clearing the

property of refuse and rubbish, the delightful landlord told

me to get my horses off the property (we were leasing for a year!!), so that he

could build another house. Thus cutting off the

accessibility to my horses. The landlord made life hell from then on, because

the real estate told him that he couldn't do that.

Mike and I decided it was time to move on. The day we started looking, (the day

our lease was up...) we found a lovely " Little "

house up in my glorious mountains. Initially we were to lease the 3 acres, then

the landlord gave us another two, so we had 5

acres. Then he gave us the other 22 acres. So all up we now have 27 acres.

All for less than we were paying for our

scummy .5 of an acre. And OH the views. More about that in a minute!

It seemed as though the moment we made the decision on this house, things moved

in a very positive direction. We have

always been fairly lucky, for a pair of decrepits, but this place has seen us

more truly blessed than I could have imagined.

Now if you know me really well You know there are three loves in my life.

Horses, Chocolate and Snow ... I really prefer the

cold. Which is one of the reasons that we moved here in the first place. But I

love the perfectness of snow. I have always said

" You can always rug up warmly, but there is only so many layers you can peel off

legally! " However.... in saying all of that. And

now living on the side of this fabulous mountain, that I use to view from my

driveway down in Longwarry. I had no idea that I

would get a facelift daily, when I walked out my door to tend to my duties, here

on the farm. I mean seriously... If I was

wearing a cape I would be doing the flying nun thing, over the paddocks some

days! I still haven't worked out how

my chickens haven't blown away!! But I am also told and have seen the photos at

the local shop that we are in the fringe of the

snowline. We will see snow a couple of times a year up here. So I FINALLY got

my wish to live in the SNOW!!!

The season starts the second weekend in June. Just three weeks away!

I know... I won't

be shovelling to get out of my driveway, and there won't be enough to stay on

the ground for a week at a time, but I still be here

to enjoy it every now and again.

The girls ( and ) were both thrilled with the move.

was being picked on, at the old Primary School

but is excelling at the new school. was a drag to get out of bed to get

her off to Secondary School, but has been

more enthused about school due to her being able to do her Debutant Ball in June

(she will be 16) and a part of being allowed

to do that was to maintain higher scores, which she seems to be managing at

present.

We took on this place in the hopes of true self sufficiency (what we wanted to

achieve in St Helens Park, in Sydney but lack of

water had us beat.) and perhaps a small income to offset what we will lose, as

our children get older. (16 & 12) and eventually

leave home. We realise that our bills won't leave, when they do. We have two

Suffolk (meat) sheep (Brat and Bree), whose

progeny will go from paddock to plate. The ewes were renamed " Safeways " and

" Coles " (Two supermarket chains, because

friends said we were cruel for eating the lambs they will provide us, and they

wouldn't eat at our place, so now when they ask

where the meat comes from we can honestly say Safeways or Coles...

We also have 7 chickens (six hens

and a rooster who doesn't know the difference between 6 in the morning and 4 in

the afternoon and I am NOT

going to tell him! ) The hens range from bantams who lay eggs the size

of small ping pong ball, which you have to

fight with the straw to find, usually after you have squished them because you

can't see them, to a leghorn who lays footballs

(85grammers!) No problems finding those ones!!. But they don't fit in

proprietary egg cups, (more like a small coffee

cups) so I have made my complaint known. So far, no more footballs!!

There are 3 Murray Greys Cows that are currently agisted on our property, that

Mike and I are hoping to relocate from their

former owner, to reside permanently with us. Our intention is to grow them out,

breed them to an Angus bull and... well you

know the rest.

I have a massive Vegetable Garden and a small orchard which we will add to after

winter frost will kill anything I buy now!! I

was also given a Commercial Greenhouse by our next door neighbour just before we

left Longwarry, So I will be able to extend

my growing seasons considerably when I get it here. I was unable to

start a garden at the other house due to lack of

motivation and resources. However, here I had a huge start with the 10 years of

accumulated muck at the back of the dairy,

which the girls and I, cleaned up, in preparation for the dairy to be converted

to a guest cottage - (all in due time.) Ready for

CEDA family members to come over and have a farmstay. (Please not all at once!!

)

Mike and I have toyed with a few ideas, in regards to meat, self sufficiency and

supplemental income. Dairy was out because

of the intensity and lack of flexibility in the event that he or I have

exacerbation / dislocations. I didn't want to compete with

large scale poultry and I don't like the idea of battery hens. Aquaculture is

far too expensive to set up. So we have turned to

something that is easy to maintain, flexible in nature, profitable in terms of

self sufficiency with small capital outlay, that can

grow as it needs to, multiplies incredibly fast, and may even provide that small

income.

Our Machinery shed has now been converted to 5 star hotel accommodation for meat

rabbits. Please Secret Bunny Sender,

don't be offended!. These guys and gals get better living conditions than some

people I know! 5 star diets, sheltered living

quarters, inoculation, beauty treatments. The works. Nothing like paddock

animals or their wild counterparts. They get spoilt

rotten to ease my guilt, for what I know I must do later. It is rather comical

though that we should become rabbit farmers,

considering all the jokes about dust bunnies, breeding under my furniture and

the like. I had no idea two years on,

that I would be embarking on this venture. But here I am. Although...

I have to admit, Mike is exhibiting signs of

getting attached to a couple of the meat stock already!

I am determined to make a go of it. There is a

very high demand for gourmet rabbit meat in restaurants (which use to be the

depression's - poor man's steak back in the

1950's.) But because so few people grow rabbits now for meat - the industry is

having trouble keeping up with the demand,

especially here in and for an ever increasing overseas market. When I

rang a lady about a specific type of cage I

wanted, because it is the kindest to grow rabbits in. (no reason to make them

suffer during their stay with us.) I was asked if I

would like to pass on any excesses to her. She was quite willing to pay me

handsomely for the service. So we are keeping

that in consideration. Anyway Mike and I were lucky enough to find a

farm that was closing down due to twins being

born, and no time left for the rabbits. We lucked into many cages (in fantastic

condition) for the price of what it would have

cost for one brand new and the transport to ship it down here from Sydney. So

we are set for the time being.

Now the reason I started lurking in the CEDA list again, is because, since my

@18 month sabbatical from the CEDA list, I

have started having quite a few problems again. Not that I would ever admit it.

I am NOT disabled. I rarely pay much

attention to my joints if I can. But it is enough at the moment, that I am

searching for information about Titanium elbows (or

any substitute - to fusion) and how successful the operations are!?!?! I had

a really serious problem about 6 months ago,

where I dislocated the radius and ulna again - in bed. But this time, I could

not get them back in place for well over two

minutes. (usually takes about 20 seconds) I was out of action for about three

weeks. It is as weak as a kitten, and pops at the

drop of a hat now....( " NOT HAPPY JAN " ....(aussie ad) ... I only wear the brace,

when I " absolutely " have to, but it is becoming

a serious concern and with work about to start. I am thinking it is time to

have it looked at and maybe (if they can) fix it. I'm

also having horrors with the ankle that I had operated on, back in Feb 2002?

(Yick ) It is as loose now, as it was

pre-op. I don't think that operation will last as long as the first one (18

years). I wear the Aircast almost daily now and

especially if I have to do lots of walking around here, on the farm. (very

uneven ground.) The bones in my wrist also move, at

will and my right shoulder and left shoulder blade, likes to get sore at the

point of the shoulder socket and behind my

collarbone frequently now... I am not sure what they are and as per

usual, I haven't found the time or inclination to find

another good occupational or physioterrorist. They won't be able to see

anything and will tell me that there is nothing they can

do anyway!! Besides I am alright... I am still breathing.

The scariest thing of all though, was the other day. I woke up and my hip felt

a little off. Like it had a nerve/tendon/ligament/

something caught. ALL DAY, I was in excruciating agony. When I stood, when I

sat down, when I walked. The only time I

could find relief was when I was bent in half, leaning on the kitchen table or

something similar. And of course although Mike

was thrilled with that position, needless to say it wasn't conducive for getting

work done!! I thought I had done the

hip in, like my Mum did at about the same age. I was really TERRIFIED. (pain

does seem to make you think irrationally. That

and the fact that nothing upsets me like the possibility of losing mobility.)

Life just seems to be getting starting for me and I

was seeing it all fly out the window!! Although I must admit I am using it as a

wake up lesson for our farm project, as I have to

be able to handle animals, join rabbits, move sheep/cows and clean cages on

crutches, sling etc... So I guess it was good

timing to happen in our rabbitry planning. It was so painful, I was in TEARS

(not like me at all ) on and off - most of the day!

Now... I can't take opiate painkillers as many of you will know, I am highly

reactive. So I was really stuck. I had work to do, so

I couldn't take a capadex, which make me sick and fuzzy headed. So I battled

through the day and ended up taking an anti-

inflammatory that night, and there was only residual pain the next morning

Does

anyone know what that might have been???? It scared the you-know-what out of

me and I really would prefer not to have a

repeat visit!!

Ok. So now I have told you all my drivel. How is everyone? I would love to

hear from all my friends and family. You're all

lookin' so good! (I checked out the photos!!) I have missed you ALL soooooo

much. I will try to make a bit more of a

presence on the list, if that's OK? Even though I

still don't have EDS!!

But with work, I won't make any promises about being here OK. ... but I

will try.

If you really need an urgent response, it might be best to send a private email

to me. I will see those ones first usually.

Hugz to you all............ Helen

Hypermobility Syndrome,

Residing in fringe snowline of ....

The Gippsland,

, Australia

Southern Hemisphere,

Earth......... I think!?!?