A Death in the House

 I am enjoying being able to go to the drive-thru lanes at Mcdonald's & Starbucks for a coffee & treat once again! My favorite Mcdonald's closed down & reopened on the highway while I was unable to drive. I don't like the new location at all - no trees to park under for one thing & only one way in & out & only from one direction. The City put them on a busy corner in the wrong place for a morning coffee & then put a cement curb in front so everyone has to circle the block twice to get in & out in the morning .  .  .  .

 It must really cut down the morning take outs since it's on the 'other' side of the traffic. I have to say that it's so much easier to go up to the Hospital location a couple of miles away. If I get desperate on a crappy day, I let DoorDash bring me my order! haha

Meanwhile - my computer is dying, sigh. I have to admit it's given me good service but it was built almost 8 years ago & I haven't updated much of anything in 6 years. Speed & computing power aren't really necessary when you're doing bookkeeping & simple taxes most of the time. I used to listen to Audio Books or radio while working & occasionally played Solitare, Mahjong or did a jigsaw puzzle on the side. None of those required a lot of power. So the old gal just kept on going. But, even UTube takes a lot of juice these days & the programs keep getting bigger & more powerful so I have to upgrade.

 

Two hours later .  .  .  .  .  BOOM

 

My computer made a hellova racket & died on me a few days ago. I was lost without it. No access to my bank. No DoorDash. No email. I don't even have phone numbers for anything, I do it all ON LINE. Luckily for me, one of my old clients has 4 kids & a housefull of cast off electronics. I am now the proud possessor of a laptop with Windows 11. The kids say it's obsolete but it sure is an upgrade for me!!! Course, I have a mouse, keyboard, back up drive & printer attached so it isn't really portable. But that's okay. I don't move my computer around anyway. The only problem now is that I may have lost all my pictures & some imported Audio Books that I can't get on Auible. Damn!

Knitting - I am still plodding along with my top-down, raglan cardigan. I am down to the middle of the Upper Arm!!! I can't knit for hours anymore but I can knit - off & on - for an hour or so without my shoulders & elbows burning. I think winding the skeins into balls is the most time consuming, energy eating & shoulder killing activitiy. I don't have a skein holder/winder although I do have a ball winder which is impossible to use without a skein holder. I've noticed my hands ache more BUT I have more strength in them. I actually opened a jam jar by myself for the first time in ages!!! So, I'm carrying on even though it hurts. I'm wearing my latest wristers every day. No socks on the needles yet but I have two new cotton washcloths in the bathroom. I may even use some of the Stash before I die!!!

REMEMBERING

 

Alfred Zirk

Veteran of the First World War

Born in Southern Ontario around 1892 on a small farm. Left home at 14 to take horses by train to Regina, Saskatchewan. Stayed in Regina to work until he signed up for the Army with all his buddies. Cared for horses when he wasn't crawling through the Trenches. Spent a lot of time crawling under barbed wire at night, reconnoitering & drawing maps. Was one of the lucky men who came home to rebuild his life. Lived on his own to celebrate his 101rst birthday.

Spooks Were Out

 Haven't seen a kid Treat or Treating on my street in THREE years. Tuesday night they came in droves. Most of them came in one big bunch with moms attached & babes in arms. Most of them were under 8 with a sprinkling of older kids, probably brothers & sisters sucked into taking out the little ones to keep them safe when a door opened!! I was a bit of an attraction dressed in my best air-hose & purple polar fleece. One little boy wanted to know what was sticking out of my nose. So I had to explain to everyone. They thought it was a neat costume!! I was very grateful that I ordered a box of KitKats, Coffee Krisp & Smarties with my last grocery order!! I think I only have three Coffee Krisp bars left over.

Did anyone notice the Christmas commercials started just after midnight on Hallowe'en??? They sure aren't wasting any time! My Virtual Poppy notice arrived on Wednesday morning as well. Every year I now order a Virtual Poppy since my old Poppy seller at the local London Drugs died. I think he sold Poppies at that spot for over 40 years. I remember him being there forever - until he wasn't. I don't even want to think about Christmas .  .  .  .

Wednesday, Nov01, I drove myself to my doctor. I haven't been out in my car since last year, early in December, when I took myself to the Covid centre in the local mall to get my shots. 

It took 2 & a half hours to prepare for the damned appointment! I left 45 minutes early & made it with a little time to spare. I was able to get Frank, the walker, in & out of the car - with difficulty, walk from the car to the doctor's office & back - very slowly & get myself to the local Mcdonald's after for a coffee. I had to have that coffee & rest before I could get up the energy to haul myself & the oxygen cart up the ramp at home. While sitting & sipping, I cranked up the oxygen to give myself a blast for my heart & brain! Luckily, I was able to adjust my oxygen valve from high to lower, full on or pulse to suit my needs & work load. I think I was out for almost 3 & a half hours!!! 

I find it easier to drive the car than walk any distance so "drive thru" or "curbside pickups" are my destinations of choice!!! I'll tell you, when I got home, dragging myself up my ramp, into the house & to my chair was just about all I could do. I had a pee, a drink & went to sleep in my recliner. Four hours later, I woke up. I had another drink, took my pills & went to bed. And I could barely move when I woke up on Thursday. Good thing I had sliced meat, bread & fruit in the fridge. Made a pot of tea & spent most of the day quietly with a long afternoon nap to recover. I was still tired & achy on Friday but I think I'll live. I must get out more often, especially now that my new valve gives me about 4 hours of oxygen per tank if I adjust the flow as I need it. What will I do with so much freedom???? Wink, wink.

Knitting - I've almost finished the second pair of long cuffs. I'm taking it easy on knitting time since my arm & especially my shoulder muscles & tendons are complaining mightily. Not sure if I need higher arm rests or a big pillow in my lap or what. Maybe my shoulders have just atrophied somewhat. Karen, is this a Rotator Cuff problem??? All I know is that they burn & hurt like hell if I knit too much!!! Gad. I used to knit for HOURS just a few years ago. Anyway, I'm doing some knitting every day trying to improve the situation. 

I have a top-down, raglan, garter stitch cardi on the go in Briggs & Little Durasport yarn. I originally bought the Durasport for heavy house socks to keep my feet warm. But, socks have become impossible to put on - yeah, I tried a couple of those gadgets to pull on socks - so I decided to knit a sweater with it instead. I find I need a sweater all the time when I'm sitting & even in winter, I prefer a sweater going out in the car. So it's a good option for me.

Coming Up Roses

Things just keep getting better around here! Tuesday brought my new valve for my oxygen tanks. It's not only an upgrade from the one I had but it's also been upgraded a little too. It can go up to 6 on constant flow as well as 5 on the puff. My old Puff/Direct valve only went up to 5 on both which is why I ended up losing it when my Therapist decided I needed a level 6 direct flow to walk. I'm just happy to get my Puff back. And, additionally, just this morning, my Cardiologist said he'll see me in a year. Nothing's changed. Wow.

I'm also joining a new program to record my blood pressure, oxygen levels & a few other things - I'll find out what all next Friday when Telus hooks me up with the equipment. I'm a bit of a test run. It's designed to monitor my COPD & keep me out of the hospital. It all runs over an internet connection & all the equipment hooks up by Bluetooth to an iPad which talks to the monitoring station. I'm looking forward to it. I'm fairly stable but have difficulty defining when I'm having a 'crisis'. Apparently this will help. 

Knitting - I'm halfway through the first Mitred Square! I'd forgotten how simple they are to make. And they look gorgeous. I decided to use up my sock yarns to make them. I have enough yarn to make several blankets so what the heck. It's marinated for years so it's time to use it up before it goes bad. Right??

I Had To Tell Someone

 I booked another evaluation with the Respiratory Technician for today. This morning!! I do hate mornings, especially when it's damp & cold, yeah, that's me whining again .  .  .  .  and I haven't exactly been at the top of my game this week, either. But, I asked for the same one who assessed me last time & upgraded - downgraded to me - my O2 equipment. I wanted my puffer valve back!!!!  I need more flexibility with my limited O2 supply!!! 

I don't know exactly what happened but I've improved since summer! We figure it's the BIPAP machine. Most of my problem is that I don't get rid of enough carbon dioxide when I exhale. The BIPAP has been forcing me to take deeper breaths which increases my oxygen levels & decreases my carbon dioxide. So, I can now function at lower rates of supplemental oxygen. I GET MY OLD VALVE BACK. My tank oxygen setting dropped - DROPPED - to 4 when driving or walking & can switch to the puffer setting when at rest, which gives me oxygen only when I inhale. So, now, I have no idea how long one of my tanks will last but it will be a hellova lot longer than 90ish minutes! I have to experiment but I bet I will have at least 2 hours on level 4 for a start!!! 

This means I can get my flu & Covid upgrade. I can go to my Railway cafe for lunch & maybe I can see the Dentist for a cleaning once more. Whoopeee

Knitting - no knitting at all since I've been wiped out for the last couple of days. If I sit in my chair, I fall asleep. But, I have moved two bins of sock yarn within reach so I can start sorting colors for the afghan. 

Another Trip to the Clinic

Yesterday I had a cardiogram - kind of like an ultrasound of the heart - with a radioactive dye injected to show blood flow & movement of the heart. What a performance . . . . they gave me an early appointment which is really stressful to start. I don't have an alarm clock anymore & don't move quickly in the morning at all. I have difficulty putting on shoes & socks. My right knee doesn't want to bend at any time. And I have medication & puffers in the morning as well. Then I have to get down my ramp with my O2 tanks & into a foreign vehicle before 8:15. I am no longer a morning person unless it's summer.

What is it with being older & less able that produces so much anxiety with changes in routine??? I wasn't sure about the hospital O2 or how long my tank would last. Hell, I even took a 50' extension to my breathing apparatus to make sure I could reach any O2 outlet .  .  .  . Despite the early appointment, all the traffic problems & construction delays, we arrived ONE MINUTE before my appointment!! I was successfully wheeled from truck to Reception in a wheelchair & only presented my medical card before being whisked into the treatment room & hooked up to O2. I had agreed to put my personal info on the Hospital Net so everything was pulled up automatically - no forms needed - whoopee. I loved it. The only problem in the end was that no one could start an IV for the dye. My vessels just rolled away & disappeared. Several jabs later, they gave up & did the test without the contrast dye. The Tech said it was just fine & played me the sound of my heart working! Wow, that was so neat to hear.

So 45 minutes later I was whisked out of the hospital & home. We even stopped at the Railway Cafe for a soup - Broccoli Cheese - & sandwich to go. I made it home on fumes. I had cranked the O2 down when I got out of the hospital since I was only sitting so I had enough to get home. I walked up my ramp with my tank cart by myself & fell into a chair to catch my breath but I was DONE. I had enough energy to pee, use my puffers, take my meds, drink a huge glass of cold water & eat my lunch. Then I plugged into an audio book, reclined my chair & slept the rest of the day. Don't even remember the book. I did get up around 7, ate some yogurt, took more meds & went back to bed.

Today, I'm still tired but not exhausted. I've turned into a vegetable. A little trip like yesterday does me in for two days. Not good. Guess I'm ready for the Assisted Living Unit. There are days when I really need to be fed, cleaned & assisted. And other days when I can do almost everything myself so I don't want to be moved into Care quite yet. I'm fighting it tooth & nail! But I think I have someone willing to come & do dishes, vacuuming & dusting for a couple of hours a week. Hopefully that will help.

Knitting - not much knitting going on except another LONGER set of cuffs to help keep my hands warm. I'm definitely going to make an afghan with some of my sock yarn in Mitered Squares. I like the look of them & they'll be a small project, one square at a time! While surfing around, I also found a free pattern for a crocheted afghan made up of squares of colored Cats. Love it.

Thanksgiving is Over

 Whatever bug I had is now completely gone. But I feel weaker & wobblier than ever. I suspect my driving days are over since I haven't been down the ramp & out of my house since the trip home from the last visit to the hospital in July. I'm still linked to these damn O2 tanks that last for 90ish minutes each & I need 2 of them to go anywhere at all. I successfully managed to avoid all offers of dinner this year although I'm hoping for some leftovers. A ham bone with plenty of meat still attached has been frozen for me & some turkey & gravy from another direction has also been offered. I just don't understand how people can refuse to eat leftovers these days but they're still out there!! Just think of the free Ham & Barley soup I can make, yummm 

Next Tuesday I'm off to JPH for an Echo-cardiogram. My new Cardiologist wants to see how I am since my last test in June when I was so sick. My heart was skipping a beat now & then before I went into hospital which led to big changes in medication. I haven't noticed any 'skips' in my heartbeat lately but I HAVE noticed my finger tendons don't lock up anymore & no more charley-horses in my calves with all the Potassium I'm taking!! Have you ever had to choke down those HUGE pills??? Not fun. 

A friend is taking me to my appointment since I'm not able to manage two tanks & the walker on my own. My tank cart or the walker will hold one tank each & I can't use them both at the same time! So, he will load everything, unload me & a cart into a wheelchair, take me to my sign-in point, make sure I'm plugged into hospital O2 - I hope & pick me up when I'm done. The appointment is 2 hours plus registration, waiting time & traveling time to & from .  .  .  .  that equals about 3 hours if nothing goes wrong or runs late. Each tank holds around 99 minutes more or less. Going without the second tank is a risk I don't want to take. 

Knitting - I've been digging through some of my bins of sock yarn this past week to remind myself of what I have. When I was working full time, I invested in yarn for retirement knowing I wouldn't have any extra money - so I bought a lot of it. I have everything from inexpensive tough Kroy - my favorite, Opal Rainforest, Noro Silk Garden, Regia's Arne & Carlos etc. I bought them for color since they're all essentially the same in the end. Like a Magpie, I'm attracted to bright colors & wild combos. But I don't think it's worth it to buy fancy yarns for socks, hats or mitts that get a lot of wear. I'm quite impressed by what I have!! And I'm seriously considering making myself an afghan out of the wildest colorways to keep me warm when I watch TV this winter instead of more socks that I can't get into .  .  .  . 

Time Flies

Gad. Where has the time gone?
Mind you, I've had some sort of bug as well as a whole week of medical appointments in the middle of it. I have no idea how I managed to book three in one week. Craziness I guess. 

My sneezing & sore throat turned into a terrible headache with so much sneezing that my ribs hurt. My throat was almost too sore to swallow, my voice almost disappeared & every major joint hurt. And I was cold & hot but mostly cold. I drank a lot of liquid, ate hot brothy soup, swallowed a lot of Tylenol & slept. Days went by .  .  .  .  .  I ended up with phone appointments with my doctors because we all agreed I should stay home in bed. I woke up two days ago & realized my head & bones didn't hurt anymore. Wow. But I'm still cold. I guess I have to give in & turn on the furnace!

I have no idea how I got this bug but my pal Ron was sick too. He still feels bad but he had different symptoms so I'm not sure he shared it with me. Could it have arrived on a paper bag from Doordash?? I confess I ordered Wonton Soup a couple of times. Or did it hitch a ride on an Amazon delivery??? We'll never know. It seems the bugs find you even when you're hiding at home with limited contact with the world.

Knitting - yes, I have been knitting even though it isn't much or very important. I needed some cuffs to help keep my hands warm so I just made some with leftover sock yarn. They look like a sock top, just plain K2,P2 & about 4 inches long. I've been wearing them since the moment they came off the needles & wish I'd made them a couple of inches longer. I have a lovely skein of yarn called 'Frog Fight' - yes, it's a bright green with a few splotches of red & brown. I think it's going to be my next set of cuffs about 6 inches long. They should clash with everything I own.

Allergy Season

 I don't know what's in the air just now but I've been sneezing myself blind & coughing more too. Coughing is sort of normal but all the sneezing is not! My nose gets that tickle with a slight burn in it that sets me off. Then my eyes start to water. Not much fun in trying to knit with all that going on!!! I guess the second ALLERGY part of the year has begun. 

When I was 4 my parents bought their first home on the fringes of Cloverdale - really down the bottom of Murphy Road - 172 St in future, just off Townline - 96 Ave in future - in the Skunk Cabbage swamp. It was 2 acres, surrounded by woods on one side & a farmer's field on the other. It had a small, two bedroom house, a well house & a small barn. A small stream ran through it close to the house where ducks hung out. My mother used to 'collect' animals at the Cloverdale auction so we had a collection of everything from goats, piglets, cow, rabbits & poultry. We aren't going to talk about birds . . . she had everything from pigeons - a pink, ruffled one was my fav - to pheasants with the chickens. I loved everything about the farm except for weeding & my nose ran from late spring until freeze up. I sneezed my way through summer. I itched my way through hay season. I had the red measles for a week before anyone realized it at school because I was always wiping, sneezing & scratching .  .  .  .

But I loved that place as a kid! We had the freedom to run wild & discovered Hazelnuts & Huckleberries in the woods. We made trails through the tall grass & climbed all the trees. We made pets out of the chickens - mine rode on my shoulder & made nests in the hay loft, yeah, I sneezed & coughed the whole way. Funny how I remember bouncing from branch to branch through the vine Maple bush like a  monkey as I try to bend over to pick something off the floor!!

That little Farm was a great place to be a kid even though I guess I was allergic to most of it. No one knew or paid much attention until we moved to the edge of a subdivision - still had bush on one side & some of our friends lived in shacks with outhouses, but it wasn't a farm with fields, animals & a barn. A lot of my allergies disappeared.

Knitting - I'm having trouble with it. I sneeze & sneeze. I've ordered a box of masks from Amazon. I need those Wristers & that Cowl right now.

Changes

 Just had my last weekly blood test!! It isn't my last test, just changed to monthly now instead of weekly. I am rather glad since they always seem to manage to start the day with me! I admit it isn't as bad as the early ones in hospital - one morning they woke me at 4:45 to take my blood!!! - but I still have to be up, dressed, washed & civil to someone at 8:00 AM when I don't often go to bed until 2:00 & still manage to get up to pee before 6:00. I can't go back to bed after because I'm UP with eyes Wide Open. I'll probably end up passing out in the recliner after lunch .  .  . So, I guess it's time to start a pot of soup.

The Soup of the Day will be Italian Soup with Tortellini. Baby Spinach chopped coarsely will be the green veg & I might sneak in a handful of Beluga Lentils for fun. I love this tomato based soup because it's easy to make, can be 'brothy' with less pasta & fewer greens or 'thick' with more. It's a great way to use up zucchini or that bag of greens that has to be used NOW. And it fills the house with fragrance as it simmers all afternoon.

The weather is changing & I'll have to turn on the furnace soon. I almost miss the heat. Time to dig the long pants out of the closet & get my butt into the car once more. I've missed my Coffee with three milk .  .  . 

Knitting - decided I needed some wristers or Cuffs to keep my hands warm. They actually DO work. Dug out my old Bamboo Skewer needles - I've made a lot of socks on those - and a stray ball of "Sock It To Me" to make them ASAP. My fingers have been hurting & do so even more when they get cold so I'm hoping these will solve the problem for now. Then I'm knitting a cowl that covers my shoulders. More on that later.

I Got a Rat

Yup, I got a Rat. Ron came by with some 'Sticky Feet' pads for rats. They're HUGE. They're the size of a small bathmat! While I'm not crazy about the sticky pads, they do work when the rodents get too smart for traps. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Apparently they're now also armed with something really enticing to rodents in a patch in the middle too. It only took one night to get results. Rattie was firmly attached & became even more so when I rolled that mat up with him inside. Ron came by, took everything away & left a new pad. 

Catching a rodent is a lot of excitement in my world these days!! I've been working on more mundane things like getting up & down more often, standing longer, getting up out of my chair more often & trying to move more. At least until I start to get short of breath! It's not the moving that I'm bad at, it's the drop in O2 that gets me. 

Today I want to start walking up & down the ramp in front of my house. My house O2 line reaches almost to the bottom of the ramp so I don't have to haul a tank & cart just to go outside. I don't want to kill myself!! But, I do want to drive again. It's just too damned inconvenient trying to get to a medical appointment when I have to juggle O2, a walker & quickly running out of air. Since I have to move the equipment myself even in a taxi, I might just as well drive myself. It also lets me bring an extra tank which is impossible with a taxi. You should see the 'Official' Gobbledegook I have to sign & submit to get transport with oxygen to an appointment!!! I don't know what I'll do if I can't drive anymore!! But I won't worry about that just yet. I'm pretty damned feeble these days but hopefully I can improve that somewhat .  .  .  .

Knitting - Still knitting some cotton washcloths. I decided to knit them for the boys for Christmas this year. I bought a hellova lot of cones on sale some time ago in variegated light green/white & yellow/white - I love both color combos because they're so fresh. And I like my washcloths BIG. I always have. So, I thought I'd make everyone a couple of them this year. I'm also making Wrist Warmers for myself out of some of my sock leftovers. I love them & they really DO keep hands warmer!! I need that. As long as my hands, feet & knees are warm, the rest of me is just fine.

I Have a Rat

I thought I had a mouse or two & my buddy Ron set up some traps. We used peanut butter as the treat - Ron traps a lot of them in the old apartment building he still works at & peanut butter is the lure of  choice. I prefer the trap to the 'Sticky Feet' pad since the last pad I had caught the cat & ME. Nasty things to get off your feet!!! 

MY critters prefer imported, Italian pasta! They found the cupboard with all the little bags in a plastic tray & ate their way silently through multiple bags. Every single bag was empty!!! It was my own fault since I put them into a tray - my niece bought a whole bunch of them when she helped me organize my kitchen. They fit nicely on the shelf & I can pull them out without dropping, get what I need & then push them back easily. Nice idea when you have a cat or dog but not good when you have rodents.

So Ron set all the traps & they all got sprung. And someone gorged on peanut butter - probably as an appetizer before hitting the pasta. We just scratched our heads & tried again. 

Then I saw it. A BIG FAT Rat. Rattie sits up & looks at me when I move or yell. I'm sure he's well aware that the house could burn down before I could make it out of my chair to whack him with my cane! I think he waits until I go to bed before coming out to eat pasta. He makes no noise & hasn't even been in the garbage. Just the pasta.

Ron says he has bigger traps at work .  .  .  .  .

Breath of Hell

 It was so hot in my little house yesterday - even in front of a fan - that I didn't move unless I had to or cook anything at all. Lucky for me I found some salmon cream cheese to put on my whole grain flat bread. Even going to the bathroom was tough because there's no fan in there & the heat made it hard to catch my breath with even the smallest exertion. A good wipe & head soaking with a cold wet washcloth made it bearable though. 

Made the mistake of NOT opening my doors really early so the house didn't cool down. So today, I got up & opened everything up at 6:30. It was actually chilly sitting at my desk under the ceiling fan!! The furnace thermometer on the wall is no longer over 30 - I have no idea how hot it was since the needle was mashed against the side & 30 is the highest reading. It's happily recording a temp of 19 today. 

Years ago, Marlow would lock the fence & we'd leave the doors open to cool air all night. The dogs patrolled the yard so the raccoons didn't come in & the whole place stayed cool. And, we did have that monster fir tree in the front yard which blocked the sun too. Nowadays, there's only me so I'm fair game for every raccoon in town!! It's amazing how small a space they can squeeze through so I can't even leave anything partially open .  .  .

More Air

 Another week has come & gone with just a small change in my life. The AIR guy dropped by on Monday & took all my small tanks away!! He left me big tanks in their place - I think they're twice the size!! They're twice as tall & just a little bigger around. I know it's silly to get excited about air tanks but these may give me a little more freedom. I can't wait until I can drive to the Railway Cafe & order a sandwich!! And they fit into the very same cart the little ones fit into. That means they'll fit into the holder on Frank, my walker. I can lift them - a little easier since they're much taller - and have no problems putting them into the cart. Now if this heat wave would end . . . . .  I'll be able to go out. I won't even attempt to go anywhere until I hook up a tank & see how long it lasts. 

My blood test was good last week - I forgot about the holiday but they fit me in where they could. So nothing has changed with my drugs. I'll be glad if I could lose the Warfarin though. On the weekend I banged  into the door jam hard enough to get a big swelling just above the elbow. Of course it turned into a black & blue, painful lump. Holy Haemophilia Batman!!

Sorting Out My Life

 Monday, once more. The traveling Nurse still hasn't made it to my house for the blood test for my blood thinner. I suspect that while it's important, it's no longer life & death in my case. I've managed to stay stable for three weeks now & that's a good thing.

The Respiratory Therapist came & assessed me. She cranked up my home compressor to 10!!! from the 6 I was at - my blood O2 fell too quickly & I recovered too slowly when I moved around. OUCH I had noticed & was using the bigger hose & cannula from the hospital stay because it gave me more air. The silicone ones provided by home service are narrower & twist tightly with usage, cutting down the air outflow. I have to ask for the bigger, wider ones!!! Hopefully, I'll be able to do more for longer - like stand up to cook, take the laundry out of the washer & maybe out of the dryer!! I might even be able to use my Dyson stick vac again. 

She also requested bigger O2 tanks for me - she wants to give me my freedom back but really doesn't want me to go back onto the alternating valve. She even wants to turn the O2 up a little more!!! I was quite vocal about being trapped at home with the new valve setting. I want my old alternating bursts of O2 back. With bigger tanks, I get another 30 minutes on setting 6. So a tank would give me 1.5 hours - and more if I cranked it down to 4 when just sitting. I could potentially go to a medical appointment if I don't have to wait too long. The hospital had me on 4 for most of my time there in both June & again in July. I figure I could go to any drive thru for lunch or even just a coffee if I wanted to with just one tank. I have to wait to see what kind of cart comes with the bigger tank. Ideally, a double cart would be my choice but I'm betting that NO cart will be offered since there's a handle at the top!! In the hospital, they came with a loop handle & I could pick them up or drag them easily. Not sure if I can manage two tanks at once but most of the year it's cool enough to leave one in the car .  .  .  . 

Knitting - not really knitting but I'm making dish/wash cloths once more. I've noticed more stiffness & aches in my hands lately, especially my fingers. My right forefinger locks up sometimes & my left middle finger leans to the right in a half Vulcan salute!! Probably stiff tendons. So I'm knitting garter stitch wash cloths to ease back into something more productive. I suppose I shouldn't sneer at dish/wash cloths since I love them in the bathroom, especially in the shower!! But it seems so - elderly - knitting something so basic .  .  .  I'm easing my embarrassment by calling it Therapy.

Hospital Summer

 Home again. I just got back from the Hospital again. I tell you, I've spent waaay too much time laying about the bloody hospital this summer! This time around I never left the Emergency department. There were so many of us in there that the Hospital opened a new\old ward way in the back to get some of us out of the corridors. We ended up in the closed old wards used for storage. We had little new equipment - not even curtains on the windows - but the beds were much better than stretchers in the halls. Since I was on O2 & lasix to make me pee, I got a choice corner with a toilet. It must've been designed for an RV because it came in a one piece unit with a sink up top & a toilet in the cupboard below that swung out, into the room. Of course it was too low! We had to plant a commode, with no pottie, over the top so I could get on & off by myself. I had to be careful though because they had to keep borrowing my commode for other patients that couldn't walk to the bathroom .  .  .  .

Since we had no curtains, they brought in a whole lot of folding screens. What fun. Everyone in the place knew every time I used my little toilet! We were relatively well behaved even though there seemed to be a party going on across the hall with all the guys who could get up & leave their beds. 

Lucky for me, I only spent 5 days on the ward this time. I screwed up my medication - probably why I ended up in for a month the last time - which caused my legs to swell up once more! I now know WHY that happens & I won't have that problem again. I've been taking the medication for THREE years & no one told me that it had a working life of 5 hours. There's nothing in the literature about it either. But now I know. I was taking my doses too far apart to work.

So I'm back home waiting for the Nurse to come & take my blood - they do it once a week to regulate my blood thinner. I am having another session with the O2 Therapist on Friday to regulate my O2. I want my old valve system back so I can get out in my car again instead of being trapped at home with tanks that only last for 66 minutes!!

I am seriously hoping to be able to get out to the Mcdonald's drive through for a good coffee before the leaves fall off the trees .  .  .  . 

Knitting - what knitting??? I was smart enough to take my extension cord, all of the chargers, Lara bars, my own pee pads, Wet ones, toothbrush, mascerateable cloths, spare shorts & tee for sleeping, phone, ebook, radio/earplugs, Silicone creme, Nourishing Creme & Puffers to get me through. I had nowhere to put knitting.

The Dawg Days of Summer

Just a cool reminder of cold days past! It used to be hot for the last couple of weeks in August but these days the heat seems to start in May. Thank goodness for my fans, that's all I can say. I've been mostly eating a lot of fruit & salads so I don't have to cook & heat up the place but the occasional pot of soup is still mighty tasty on the cooler days. I can't imagine life without the microwave especially on these hot days! 

While moving stuff about in the fridge, I found a package of ground meat. Guess I'm making Fried Rice for lunch & Beef & Broccoli for dinner!! I'm not crazy about cooking in this heat but stir fry is fast & delicious & not overloaded with salt if you make your own.

Not much going on around the old Shack. Ron is still sick - he dropped in yesterday after dragging himself to work for a half day - I took one look & ordered him out & home to bed. He looked terrible. I gave him a half hour & called to make sure he made it home!! He had. And he promised to warm up some chicken noodle soup & go to bed. I'll call his roomie if I don't hear from him today.

Mike is off to his trailer this weekend. He needs the break because he was looking awful on Thursday evening! What is it with the men in my life?? I guess it's easy for me laying in the recliner without a worry - more or less - while they struggle with the cost of living. I hope he lays about himself this weekend & relaxes .  .  .  he did say he might come home the back way via Chester's Chicken & bring me a treat! I'll take it! even though I'm not supposed to eat that stuff anymore .  .  . hahaha

Knitting - I found the cardigan I started before my hospital visit. Lucky for me, I'd stuffed it into a large Ziplock bag so it didn't get disturbed when my niece cleaned up. My washcloth-in-progress somehow lost it's circular needle .  .  .  but the cardigan is okay. I'm to the top of the shoulder working my way down to the armhole. I'm using a simple garter stitch with an increase pattern from Deb Gemmel's book "Need a Plus Sized Cardigan?". I simply use a yarn-over for the increase which makes a series of holes for interest. I'm using Briggs & Little's Sport which is 100% wool singles yarn. And yes, it feels scratchy and yes, it has bits of VM in it. But the yarn softens as you work with it, the VM falls out or you can pick it out & it's 'sticky' so it's pretty hard to drop a stitch which makes it perfect for colorwork! And it's Canadian, from sheep to yarn.

More Cooking

I ate chicken & veggies for three days! I got mightily sick of chicken & dialed up Door Dash to bring me some Fish Pakoras & samosas. I love the fish! And then I made Italian Soup. Today for breakfast, I ate the last of it. Mike brought me Mexican Chipotle tofu sausages instead of the Spicy Italian ones but I used them anyhow. A large can of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of water, a package of Onion soup mix, fried garlic & dry red onions went into the pot with the sliced up Mexican sausages. I let it simmer all afternoon until it smelled wonderful before adding a half cup of large couscous. After 15 minutes, I tossed in three cups of diced zucchini, stirred it & turned off the heat. I let it stand for around 15 minutes to partially cook the zucchini & ate some. WOW. The Mexican sausage really spiced it up! I loved it. And ate it for two days .  .  .  

Hey, I'm surprised I have the energy to make anything!! And soup is good for you. hahaha  I think it's time for Fish Chowder! And I might start thinking about Stir Frying again. My O2 is into the 90s! Most of the time I'm between 94 & 96 percent! What a change. Now if I could just work the stiffness out of my legs in the mornings .  .  .  where's a damn hot tub when I could use one???

Other than cooking adventures, nothing much has changed. I still haven't had my blood test but I guess that's coming this week. Someone did call & try to set up an appointment for this morning at 7:30!!! Gad! But they had the wrong address & mine was out of their district so I was off the hook.  At least they won't come earlier than 7:30, gasp. Not like the hospital where I'd been woken up before 6 for a blood test .  .  .  .

This morning was very chilly so tomorrow, I'm getting out the cardigan I started before the heat wave & getting back to work. I might even cast on for a new pair of socks. Knitting season will be here very shortly. 

Home for a Whole Week

 
It's been a whole week today since I got released from hospital! Not much has happened but a whole lot of changes have occurred. I'm steadier on my feet. I cooked chicken yesterday - a whole lot of chicken - but I'll get several meals from it. Mike is off this weekend with his camper & girlfriend to a mud crawl something, which is the last of the season. My friend Ron is down with some scourge that has him laid right out. My niece is moving so I'm on my own. I haven't told anyone but I have the sorest throat this morning & I'm sneezing up a storm. I figure it's allergies once more - at least I hope so - I do NOT want to get sick & wind up in the hospital again!!!

The doctors have sort of decided on my medication routine. No one has booked the mobile lab yet for my weekly blood test but I'm sure that's next. I've talked to three Pharmacists, two Doctors, a Nurse, the Oxygen Therapist & Oxygen Tech. I have an appointment with a Cardiologist in September & my Doctor is doing a house call in September. Whoopie, I am popular.

Meanwhile, I've finally sorted most of my email. What a ton of crap with a few nuggets of information. One of my friends sent me an email - he spends half the year in Cuba & has just returned. He has a lot of really good friends there & sponsors a baseball team! Last year he bought a little house because he loves Cuba so much. He spends 3 months at a time there & then comes home to work for three or four months. I don't think I've ever seen him happier in all the years I've known him. 

Craig Johnston sent me a message about the annual gathering to celebrate Walt Longmire. I'd love to go but it's too dry & dusty & I'd have to take an O2 truck with me .  .  .  In case you don't know, Walt Longmire is the Sheriff of Absaroka county in Wyoming. He's rough, tough, sensitive, & has his problems with alcohol & women. But he's well liked & admired by most people in the County, but not all of them. If you've ever seen the old  Rockford Files, put boots, jeans, guns, a Sheriff's badge, a ratty old  cowboy hat & a day's growth on James Garner & you'd have Walt Longmire. I've read all the books!

Spin Off & Ply magazine have been sending interesting messages about Gatherings. I never had the money to go when I was healthy & now that I can afford to go .  .  .  well, I'm not able, sigh. Do it when you're healthy folks, don't wait until you retire. 

Finally got my summer haircut the other day!!! After being in the hospital with ratty, dirty hair, I just had to get it cut. Dona will visit & cut it because I do her household's taxes. I now have a crew cut with a little extra on top. I can wash it in the sink with a face cloth. I can put a little gel in the top & spike it if I want. I love it.

Now if I can just get back to knitting & spinning.

One Day at a Time

Gad, here it is, several days later! I admit I struggled a lot the first couple of days - you don't lay on your back for a month & then pop back into your life without some problems!! I did not miss waking up at 5:30 in the morning or trying to sleep in an overheated room. I still miss someone else deciding which pills I take & which time I take them. I also miss the meal service & the ice chips. There's none of that here. Mike dropped in & brought me a Timmie's coffee, the first coffee I've had in a month! Tasted soooo good!

Not much in the old fridge. Some ham in a vacuum pack, a large Cottage Cheese, a couple of stir fry meals & a big container of cleaned, halved Brussels Sprouts. There was a big hunk of cheese & a bag of baby potatoes hidden away too. Luckily, I ordered a box of Indian mini-meals in pouches from Amazon!! I had all kinds of Butter Chickpeas, Mild Curried Sweet Potatoes & Peas & Cheese in microwavable packets. They all taste great over baby spuds, rice, pasta or on their own with tortillas to dip into them. I wish there were more types of food in a pouch to microwave but I make do with what I have.

I discovered last night that the freezer is stuffed with chicken in small zip lock bags! Where did that come from?? I do have lots of cream of Chicken or Mushroom soup. Before I went into hospital, I ordered a lot of low sodium broth in litre packs. So I have the makings of many Meal-in-one-Skillet or quick soups. I think I might be up to it now that I can breathe a lot better.

The Vital Air folks - they supply my mobile air & cannisters of O2 as well as my home Compressor - came by & changed the valve on my mobile tank. I now must have direct flow O2 all the time I am moving outside the home instead of giving me O2 only when I breathe in. This means the tank will only give me 66 minutes of O2 instead of 4.5 hours at the old rate. I'll need two tanks just to go to the doctor!! Not a happy thing since Frank, my walker, only has one holder. Maybe Mike can put another one on. What a pain. Maybe my days of going out for a coffee are over .  .  .

Return to Civilization

I'm back from what I thought was to be a brief visit to the emergency because I couldn't breathe in the heat. I thought they'd put me on a nose cone of meds to open everything up. Instead, they called me an emergency & hiked me into critical care & hooked me up!! Apparently, I was in heart failure. Ooops. I've never really understood 'crisis' but I sure do now!! My CO2 levels were really high & O2 levels low. You can't do that for very long & live - especially when you're filling up with fluid & the old ticker is skipping a beat now & then.

To make a long story short, I blew up like a great white whale, couldn't breathe & spent another month in the hospital while they got the fluid, heart, blood & gases adjusted back to normal. I'm still full of fluid but my O2 levels are so good, 96%, that even I can't believe it. I can stand longer, walk further & do more than I have in ages! But I'm tied to a BiPAP machine every night. It forces me to breathe deeply & consistently so I clear the CO2 out of my lungs & brings my O2 up. What a life!!

My buddy Mike kept my house plants alive while I was gone which is extraordinary!!! He is NOT a plant person at all. My niece cleaned out my house & washed everything - including the dusty drapes which shouldn't be washed in the machine!!! hahahaha  She wanted no dust in the house for aunty. I am so grateful to them both.

I wish I had more to report but I lost another month in the Surrey Hospital. It was harder to get out of that place than it was to get admitted!! I thought I'd be there forever. But, I'm back home with my stash & more energy. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to spin again soon.

 

Back Again

It's been just like summer this past few days & I haven't felt steady enough on my legs to get into my car & go for a coffee. I used to go out almost every day before 'Lock Down' even if it was nothing more than a coffee from the drive-thru & an hour's read under the trees. Then 'Lock Down', a major fall with knee damage & now I'm almost house bound. Oh, I can get out with great effort, to the doctor or dentist but it puts me in my recliner for two days after! 

I decided this has to change this summer. I must start going out again before I'm no longer able. I'm wobbling at the edge right now. I might as well be in a home if I can't look after myself! Very unsteady on my feet & no longer able to stand & cook after about 5 in the afternoon. If I don't cook it before then, I'm ordering Chinese or making open faced sandwiches. Mind you, I could eat Chicken & Broccoli every night!!! Mike keeps me in bagged salads, bagged cut veggies, deli meats, sliced cheese & good bread. Amazon keeps me in canned goods, German health bread, Mexican Hot Chocolate & Gummy Bears. LOL

Last year, Mike made me a huge planter box on my porch & brought me some herbs & a strawberry plant. I got one strawberry. This year, the strawberry is loaded with flowers & 10 times bigger! I hope to get a bumper crop. The Rosemary & Thyme are doing almost as well since they self seed & spread everywhere but I'd like some Nasturtiums to plant between them. Going to try Snow Peas & Scarlet Runner Beans out there too. Everyone should have something Green to look after. 

Knitting - I continue working on my Top-down cardi in Briggs & Little singles yarn. I really like the tough B&L for it's 'stickiness' - it's almost impossible to drop a stitch so it makes it so much easier to do colorwork or textured stitches. But I'm doing neither - just a simple garter stitch to keep me warm in the fall. I love a simple garter piece & it's getting my shoulders & elbows back in shape. Bought a new book from Amazon - Modular Patterns. Other than crochet squares, I've never made any modular items so I thought it might be a good idea for coffee knitting when I'm out this summer.

 

Prodigal Knitter Returns

 I have no real excuse for the long absence other than simply plain laziness. At least that's what I'm ticking off as the reason. I just can't get my ass up & at 'em in the mornings when it's dark & cold. I've become positively Reptilian in my old age. By the time I do get moving; dressed, scrubbed & accessorized, it's time to check the email, read my daily blogs, order groceries, pay the latest bill, check in with Mike & Ron, feed the cat & make a coffee. It's almost supper time & I haven't had breakfast yet! And the day goes down hill from there .  .  .  .  

I am looking forward to summer where the sun comes in early & warms the bones so things get done in a timely manner. Maybe I'll even get my wheel out on the porch this summer!!!

The Cat has died. And I do miss her. She'd been refusing to go outside since Christmas. Surprisingly, she actually did go out the day before she died. It was warm & sunny & she even crossed the road to visit the neighbor with all the cats before coming home, eating a little & disappearing as usual. When she didn't come looking for a treat before I went to bed, I was surprised & left a few nibbles out for her. When she didn't appear after another day, I thought the worst. I finally found her tucked in under my desk between the leg & the wall . . . .  

Not a lot happening in my life but I celebrated another birthday this month - 72 big ones!! I got myself a new phone & a box of Purdy's "Seconds" chocolates to celebrate. Other than one bout of the Sore Throat Flu, I've been well while everyone around me has had Covid again or weeks of the Sore Throat. I don't know if it's clean living or not.

Tax season went well - I did all my friends & a couple of my ancient customers who've been seeing me for 50 years or more. I'm a cheap date since it only takes a rotisserie chicken & a bag of salad to pay me!!

Knitting - I have been knitting!! I'm still working on my knitting muscles especially in my right hand. It's amazing how many you need in shoulders, chest & arms .  .  .  .  I keep losing my thread in my right hand because the little finger doesn't feel or work like it did before the damn cat bit me. It is getting better but I don't quite feel it. Not able to knit socks yet.

I'm knitting a top-down cardigan in Briggs & Little Sport. I want a cardi that I can wear year-round when I'm watching TV or reading in my chair. I prefer a cardi so I don't have to worry about where the O2 hose is & I can take it off or put it on easily. I also wanted a lighter option which is why I'm using the one ply although it seems to take twice as long to knit. I like Briggs & Little. I knit a couple of Hoodies in the Heritage & it was tough & scratchy in the beginning but softened with handling & wore like iron. The guys really loved them & wore them to death. When I figure out the new phone, I will post pictures.