Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2004
- Messages
- 38,260
A lot has been happening lately. I have been finishing up many projects around the house and shop. I have had to let some things slide while finishing these things. The reason is that I am having a hip replacement Thursday the 18th. I have been getting my body and the house/yard/shop/forge ready.
About the surgery.
I am having the anterior total replacement procedure done. That is faster, less blood loss, less pain, and faster recovery. At nearly 76, those are big plusses to me.
My surgeon knows me well and plans to do me first thing that morning and send me home that afternoon or evening. He will have me out of bed and walking 2 hours after I wake up from anesthesia. Once PT says I am OK to walk, I go home. He will evaluate me for driving on the 30th. Hopefully, I can go to Richmond for New Years.
Once home, I will be walking around as much as possible. Maybe take a day of rest in my chair with a book, but still walk at least every hour. The stairs should be no problem, as I installed double rails many years ago.
I've stocked the fridge and pantry with plenty of quick and easy meals for Judy to heat up.
So, what have I been doing to get ready?
1) Hit the gym two or three days a week at 7AM for an hour or so. I work on the leg muscles and glutes to strengthen them for post surgery strength. I do upper body for the arms and back muscles. I walk at least 3 miles most days. I recently added 10-15 minutes of cardio to my routine.
2) Cut out sweets and snacks, and along with all the exercise and work, took off 30 pounds. I am now the same 160 pounds I was when I got married to Judy 29 years ago. I'm only 5 pounds heavier than when I first got married in 1970. The only downside is that now I am officially an Old Man. If I don't wear a snug belt ... my pants fall down. I eat well and enjoy a beer, glass or wine, or a single-malt. But keep those to a single drink (or two).
3) Added a BBQ addition to the main deck with a sink and all my grilling gear.
4) I have been doing all the winter landscaping tasks early. I also had to dig up the well head because it had developed a problem with the check valve. It was a BIG hole.
5) Remodeled the kitchen. utility room/back entrance, and downstairs bath. Ceiling to floor rip-out and rebuild with all new appliances, counters, sinks, flooring, and electrical upgrades.
6) Decorated for the holidays early. I started at thanksgiving to get the place all festive and lit up.
7) Demolished the old forge area ,which was deteriorating, and built a new enclosed forge. It took 60 yards of fill dirt, 20 tons of crusher run, a LOT of concrete, and lots of wood. I moved all these by hand, mostly working alone. I did hire a fellow I know who is really needing money, as he has been unemployed for a while. He isn't very smart, but he is a hard worker and takes instructions pretty well. It was money well spent, and probably kept him and his wife in their apartment..
8) Gutted the garage and built out a pantry with a cooking area and LOTS of storage shelving. I changed the entrance door and added a landing before the stairs with one section of the pantry shelves along it. The items used all the time are right there at your fingertips. The pantry has a small area for my cordless power tools, and a parking area for my electric trike. The trike is so useful for doing work around the place, as it has a back cargo box, like a small truck-bed, instead of a useless basket. It saves carrying things while walking back and forth to the shop and forge, etc. Post surgery, I'll ride it everywhere I need to go around the yard or neighborhood.
It gets pretty chilly out there lately, so yesterday I added a run of the HVAC duct and put a vent in the pantry. It is now 60° in the pantry, which seems about right. I'll replace the garage door with an insulated wall in the spring.
9) Moved the axe lane to the new forge area. I'll finish it up in the spring, but it is all moved and ready to set up.
What have I NOT DONE getting ready for this?
I have not finished parts of the new main shop I built during Covid. I have some electrical work to finish and properly mount equipment. When I move the welding equipment to the new forge, it should make it easier to finish things up. It also needs a lot of tidying up, as it looks mor like a storage locker than a shop right now. I don't let people in it right now because it is really embarrassing how cluttered most areas are.
I have had several folks here on the Shop Talk Forum who I was sending supplies and things to that have been patiently waiting. Some for quite a while. I have the flat-rate boxes and labels, and most of the things for them gathered, but have by-passed getting them packed and shipped due to "I'll do it tomorrow" syndrome. I plan on attending to those boxes as I recuperate enough to get in the main shop and go up and down the stairs to the wood loft. I will ship them as soon as I can go to the PO with heavy boxes. I apologize for the long wait and will definitely make those boxes worth the waiting.
I also have a big backlog of orders and projects to do in the shop when up and around. This will be the fun part of doing all the main work before the surgery, as I will now have much more free time to make knives and things. I was putting projects into bins to organize and prioritize them, and realized I may have more than 300 knives and swords, plus a bunch of other art/metal and similar crafts to work on. I won't be short of things to do.
I haven't taken much free time to spend with friends, or gotten any lazy days in bed after 5:30 AM. I hope to visit more, but still will go to bed at 9:30 and get up at 5:30 every day. OK, maybe a half-an-hour more on Sunday
Some photos of things in various stages of completion. I'll post more complete project photos after final painting and clean-up.
About the surgery.
I am having the anterior total replacement procedure done. That is faster, less blood loss, less pain, and faster recovery. At nearly 76, those are big plusses to me.
My surgeon knows me well and plans to do me first thing that morning and send me home that afternoon or evening. He will have me out of bed and walking 2 hours after I wake up from anesthesia. Once PT says I am OK to walk, I go home. He will evaluate me for driving on the 30th. Hopefully, I can go to Richmond for New Years.
Once home, I will be walking around as much as possible. Maybe take a day of rest in my chair with a book, but still walk at least every hour. The stairs should be no problem, as I installed double rails many years ago.
I've stocked the fridge and pantry with plenty of quick and easy meals for Judy to heat up.
So, what have I been doing to get ready?
1) Hit the gym two or three days a week at 7AM for an hour or so. I work on the leg muscles and glutes to strengthen them for post surgery strength. I do upper body for the arms and back muscles. I walk at least 3 miles most days. I recently added 10-15 minutes of cardio to my routine.
2) Cut out sweets and snacks, and along with all the exercise and work, took off 30 pounds. I am now the same 160 pounds I was when I got married to Judy 29 years ago. I'm only 5 pounds heavier than when I first got married in 1970. The only downside is that now I am officially an Old Man. If I don't wear a snug belt ... my pants fall down. I eat well and enjoy a beer, glass or wine, or a single-malt. But keep those to a single drink (or two).
3) Added a BBQ addition to the main deck with a sink and all my grilling gear.
4) I have been doing all the winter landscaping tasks early. I also had to dig up the well head because it had developed a problem with the check valve. It was a BIG hole.
5) Remodeled the kitchen. utility room/back entrance, and downstairs bath. Ceiling to floor rip-out and rebuild with all new appliances, counters, sinks, flooring, and electrical upgrades.
6) Decorated for the holidays early. I started at thanksgiving to get the place all festive and lit up.
7) Demolished the old forge area ,which was deteriorating, and built a new enclosed forge. It took 60 yards of fill dirt, 20 tons of crusher run, a LOT of concrete, and lots of wood. I moved all these by hand, mostly working alone. I did hire a fellow I know who is really needing money, as he has been unemployed for a while. He isn't very smart, but he is a hard worker and takes instructions pretty well. It was money well spent, and probably kept him and his wife in their apartment..
8) Gutted the garage and built out a pantry with a cooking area and LOTS of storage shelving. I changed the entrance door and added a landing before the stairs with one section of the pantry shelves along it. The items used all the time are right there at your fingertips. The pantry has a small area for my cordless power tools, and a parking area for my electric trike. The trike is so useful for doing work around the place, as it has a back cargo box, like a small truck-bed, instead of a useless basket. It saves carrying things while walking back and forth to the shop and forge, etc. Post surgery, I'll ride it everywhere I need to go around the yard or neighborhood.
It gets pretty chilly out there lately, so yesterday I added a run of the HVAC duct and put a vent in the pantry. It is now 60° in the pantry, which seems about right. I'll replace the garage door with an insulated wall in the spring.
9) Moved the axe lane to the new forge area. I'll finish it up in the spring, but it is all moved and ready to set up.
What have I NOT DONE getting ready for this?
I have not finished parts of the new main shop I built during Covid. I have some electrical work to finish and properly mount equipment. When I move the welding equipment to the new forge, it should make it easier to finish things up. It also needs a lot of tidying up, as it looks mor like a storage locker than a shop right now. I don't let people in it right now because it is really embarrassing how cluttered most areas are.
I have had several folks here on the Shop Talk Forum who I was sending supplies and things to that have been patiently waiting. Some for quite a while. I have the flat-rate boxes and labels, and most of the things for them gathered, but have by-passed getting them packed and shipped due to "I'll do it tomorrow" syndrome. I plan on attending to those boxes as I recuperate enough to get in the main shop and go up and down the stairs to the wood loft. I will ship them as soon as I can go to the PO with heavy boxes. I apologize for the long wait and will definitely make those boxes worth the waiting.
I also have a big backlog of orders and projects to do in the shop when up and around. This will be the fun part of doing all the main work before the surgery, as I will now have much more free time to make knives and things. I was putting projects into bins to organize and prioritize them, and realized I may have more than 300 knives and swords, plus a bunch of other art/metal and similar crafts to work on. I won't be short of things to do.
I haven't taken much free time to spend with friends, or gotten any lazy days in bed after 5:30 AM. I hope to visit more, but still will go to bed at 9:30 and get up at 5:30 every day. OK, maybe a half-an-hour more on Sunday
Some photos of things in various stages of completion. I'll post more complete project photos after final painting and clean-up.
