Freeze!

We had a hard freeze last night, which we expected. What we didn't expect is that we ran out of propane in the night, so it was 48 degrees inside when we woke up this morning. At first we thought there must be a problem with the system, since we just got propane a few days ago, but on checking we found that both tanks were empty.

Then we heard a knock on the door, and it was our neighbor, asking if we were trying to flush something out, since he had found our outside water faucet running full blast. It turned out that Ken had turned off the water at the splitter, which was plastic, and it had blown apart from the freeze. So we didn't have a very auspicious beginning to our day, but it got better. The neighbor, Andy, offered to take our tank to get propane. I asked if he'd help me take both tanks in our truck, and that's what we ended up doing. When we pulled up to Pony Express Propane, there was a line of trucks. Evidently we weren't the only ones who found that the freezing weather used more propane than expected. Usually we just set a tank out by the road, and the truck comes around to fill it up. We've never seen a line at the propane place.

Life was much better once we got the furnace running and the tea water heated and the hot water tank heating.

Our friends Gary and Mary Ann stopped by to see how Ken was doing. We got lots of email messages and phone calls yesterday offering encouragement and support for Ken. It's really good to have friends.

For most of the day Ken was not feeling too great. He had quite a bit of pain, but tonight he says he feels better. He's been very conscientious about walking every hour as Dr. Six ordered. The muscles around the incision tend to tighten up, and walking relieves the stress.

I did the laundry today. I'm used to having Ken help, and we both check the washers and dryers to see if any socks are left. Well today I left more than socks, nearly half a load of wash in one of the washers. I really need that guy to watch my back.

Yesterday we noticed that Ken's incision was draining quite a bit. Dr. Six had said we could change the dressing on the drain tube hole, but it would be best to leave the incision dressing alone unless it got just too grubby. It was soaking through the dressing and through his clothes, so I put a new dressing on and covered the whole area with Hypafix to confine any fluid. The nurse had sent us home with supplies. The Hypafix is really neat stuff. It reminded us of Contact paper, but it comes on a roll. You cut what you need and peel off the backing. It holds well but is easy to remove. Ken slept on a towel in case it soaked through again, but this morning it was clear that the excess drainage had stopped, fortunately. I put new dressings on again, hopefully for the last time before his appointment next Friday to have his staples removed.