Wood Work

It's cold and clear this morning, and near enough to February to prune the younger apple trees in the orchard near the house. I remembered the extension service instructions - trim off the branches growing up or toward the center of the trees. I also managed some offending branches on the older trees. I'd been meaning to do this for a couple of years, but never quite got around to it. The investment in good pruning shears has paid off.

Karen has been using them right along, on the few days this winter when it hasn't rained or snowed, to thin out some of the smaller pines growing on the hillside east of our driveway. The loggers only took out the larger diseased trees last spring, leaving the congestion of small straight trees and large leaning trees; some had bent nearly to the ground. Karen marked the trees for me to cut, using pink plastic surveyor's tape. Twice this week I trudged up the hill with my trusty Stihl MS 250 chain saw, a gas can, a container of bar and chain oil, and a chain file and scrench. An hour a day; even this mechanized exercise has a dramatic effect on lowering my blood sugar. Friday, I had to finish the past 15 minutes on 4 glucose tabs.

But, the thinning is going well, slowly, and the burn pile is growing larger, slowly. A couple of weeks ago I bought my 2011 burn permit. We'll be burning this spring.

Big day tomorrow; I start on my insulin pump. For the past week, I've been practicing - attaching the canula to an absorbent pad; filling an insulin cartridge with saline solution; using the Animas One-Touch Ping remote to take my blood sugar and give the pad bolus shots based on the glucose reading and carb counts. Since using the pump calculations, my sugar's been a lot more stable. I can imagine how much better it will be once Animas and Dex Com get their joint CGM/pump venture approved by the FDA.

It's supposed to snow today, but the sun's still shining. I guess Karen and I will chuck more wood on the burn pile. In the meantime, we're watching news coverage of the protests in Egypt. How's this one going to turn out?