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.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Everything was frozen out there. The Weather Channel said -7, which is very cold for Surrey. I looked outside through bars of icicle - I can tell which window is old & single glazed - with not a crow in sight. My car was a white hill of snow. And my feral cat would NOT go outside. I have to admit that I won't go either but at least I'm taller than the snow! I ended up with a teeny bit more than 17" when Mike measured it the other day as he shoveled a path down my ramp. And I've had snow since .  .  .  .

So the cat & I stayed inside where it was safe & warm & woke up this morning to a mostly melted world out there. Santa brought bare roads & almost cleared cars & yards! All of my icicles are gone & an avalanche cleared the roof with a big bang around 5 AM. Hopefully my skunk was asleep under the stairs.

I am making soup for dinner tonight. A big pot of Italian Soup with Tortellini in it. I might even open a bottle of wine to celebrate another year of survival. Hopefully, you're all having a safe & warm holiday with your favorite people, animals & things. A good meal & warm toque to you all .  .  .

Let it Snow

 Another snow day! Looks like we might have a White Christmas this year! All I know is I'll be canceling my Doctor's appointment at the Clinic tomorrow since there's no way I'll be out in the snow we have right now, nevermind the next dump expected on Thursday. I think I have at least 10 inches on the porch right now & it's still snowing. Mike was here with a bag of groceries on Sunday & dug a path down my ramp, around my car & behind to the road so I could get out if I wanted. But we've got more snow on top of the old snow which should warn people who drag oxygen tanks behind them to stay home. So I shall do so. Even the feral cat prefers to stay inside. It's so quiet out there .  .  . 

As long as I have power, I have lots to cook & tea to drink. I don't have candy, cookies, cake or turkey but I do have Triscuts, cheese, canned meat & fish to party with. I can download a couple of Audiobooks - Murders? Mystery? Sex?? or SciFi? or curl up with a couple of new e-books.

Knitting - yes! I've started a new winter cardi for myself!! Just a plain top-down so far with a little fanciness around the raglan increases. Haven't decided if I want a little more of it up the fronts & around the cuffs. Too soon to decide. But, I'm on my way.

New books - Saltwater Classics & Saltwater Gifts by C Legrow & S Scott. I'm a real sucker for books with patterns & stories about the patterns. I think I enjoyed the history & stories of Newfoundland even more than the patterns! Good books. I recommend them both.

A Foggy Night

It was a dark & foggy night when my cat howled at the door. I didn't want to get out of my nice, warm nest to let her in, but I did anyway because she was making a horrible noise. And went back to bed. Her dish was full of crunchies & I was still tired. Must've gone back to sleep but it was still dark when there was a hellova lot of noise in the back of the kitchen! I heard actual squeeks. No way was I getting in the middle of that! And pulled the blankie over my head & went back to sleep .  .  .  .

This morning I found TWO mice laying by the back door. Fat, grey mice, too. They should be since they've been living off my Gourmet Popcorn which came in a heavy duty, ziplocked, plastic bag - one more crappy use of plastic!! The new Gourmet Popcorn lives in a glass canning jar. And that's why I get out of bed for the feral cat.

Another Appointment

 Two medical appointments down & one to go. Had an early Dental one this A.M. Not happy about the time! 11:00 is a bit early for me in the winter & it takes longer to get up & out. Today was a mess from the beginning .  .  .  too cold for light sweater, too warm for heavy sweatshirt. Couldn't get my socks on - the right knee wouldn't cooperate so I had to go in my slide-on slippers after trying to get shoes on the same foot without socks. I forgot to comb my hair. Decided at the last minute I needed to change the O2 cylinder to make sure I had enough air if the appointment ran over. The inside of my windows AND the outsides were frosted. And the Dentist's office called just one more time to see if I was coming. I yelled. By the time I left, my breathing was not good & I was mad as hell. I almost went back home. But, I went the back roads & pulled up just 3 minutes before my appointment. And I survived the session, came away with a new temporary molar & apologized for my bad behavior. Got myself a lovely hot chicken Caesar salad on the way home as a reward for the struggle.

Sat outside in the sunshine for a half hour before picking up my brunch & enjoyed it. I don't get out into sunshine much these days & that's a pity. Must do it more often. 

So after my awful morning, I managed to get out of the car, up the ramp, into the house with my lunch & into my recliner with a huge glass of cold cold water - we have the best water in the world here in the burbs - & promptly fell asleep. I had exhausted myself with my trip out - again. I don't have a lot of stamina after spending the last couple of years at home. So, now, I'm just a blob of goo. But I intend to go out as much as I can until I can't anymore. Maybe I'll try for a coffee tomorrow .  .  . 

I'll take a Snow Day

Vancouver & the Lower Mainland had the first snow of the season this past week. What a Zoo!! We don't get snow often enough to give most people much experience with the stuff - especially our immigrant population. Living in the Canadian Riviera doesn't give the native gang much experience either, but at least we know enough to prepare for the worst! I've been caught in it when I had to commute & it was a bugger back in the days before cell phones. I remember fighting my way across town to get home & finding the last bridge closed. I could almost see my home across the river but I was stuck in line on the other side .  .  .  .  

Now, of course, I can't go out when it snows. I'm too wobbly & my oxygen equipment doesn't come with Tundra Tires. I just stay in, make soup or mac & cheese & listen to an audiobook with the Burning Log on the TV. That log is wonderful! I swear I can just get a whiff of wood smoke every now & then but I wish it gave off a little heat as well. Too bad we can't just get a lovely evening of snowflakes like that log, snow that sticks to grass & trees but not roads. 

Needless to say, I haven't been out since the snow started & I wasn't out much before that - too much rain for me. My buddies brought coffee to me! So, the two weeks before Christmas should be fun. I now have three medical appointments & a Dentist just before. The Clinic Doc insisted I come in before Christmas & they're now so busy I can't get in till the 23rd! At least they're not in a mall .  .  .  .

Knitting - I miss my grubby old purple cardi that got tossed to the cat a couple of years ago! I'm still winding good old Briggs & Little into balls. I bought two boxes of the singles yarn at a big sale but the stuff sticks to itself & doesn't wind easily. It DOES wear like iron & if not moth proof it doesn't run & make big holes if something takes a bite. I have my pattern & my yarn. I just wanted the lighter version . . .

Lost in Time

Well, wasn't that a party??? Must've been a hellova party because I don't remember it! I'm not sure what happened to the last couple of weeks but I survived. My day-in-the-chair turned into more than one. Got this terribly sore throat, nagging cough, general weakness, sore knees & hands & stickiness. I felt like I was a balloon full of goo. Problems breathing. Problems swallowing. Problems keeping my eyes dry. Drank & drank & drank. Coughed up half a lung of sticky something or other too. My buddy little Ron woke up with a version of it the day after he brought me coffee. He tested Positive for Covid while I did not. We both isolated anyway.

I managed TWO Dental appointments in the last two weeks. One before I got sick & one last Saturday. Since I was still negative, feeling better & had no fever, they took me in. First cleaning in two years!! And I'm getting that broken molar fixed. I broke it when I fell in March but couldn't/didn't get it fixed because it didn't hurt. And I wasn't driving. Sold my husband's old motorcycles to pay for a gold tooth!! Wouldn't he be pissed .  .  .  .

The Cat & my hand are both progressing nicely. I am not petting the cat. I look for her in the mornings & evenings, most of the time she's around looking for canned food, occasionally she stays in at the back of the kitchen but mostly she heads out the door when she's full. This last week she's taken to sitting next to my legs while I'm on the computer but I'm not petting her. I have permanent nerve damage in the finger - it tingles like it's going to sleep, it's painful & it doesn't bend all the way. Good thing it's a little finger!  I feed her & let her come in because I have mice again. One furry devil has been quietly eating my gourmet popcorn through it's heavy-duty, resealable bag!!! 

Meanwhile, I have been out. I got a couple of lunches, a couple of coffees, missed the Starbucks Christmas Cup again - I don't know why I even bother anymore!! But, I don't have a lot of stamina yet. An outting today costs me tomorrow. I can't go two days in a row yet. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I'll be able to go every day if I want!

Knitting - no knitting but lots of winding. I think making balls out of skeins is the job I hate most in the world except for washing dishes. Yes, I know there are skein winders & I even bought one once .  .  .  .  but it's difficult to do when you're sitting for most of it. I have dreams of pulleys & fixed links feeding across the room & back to my ball winder but Mike is too busy to build it right now .  .  .  . 

Sunday in the Sunshine

Another beautiful, sunny day on the Wet Coast. I didn't go out yesterday because I just felt crappy with a horrible sore throat & headache. So, I stayed home in my jammies wrapped in old blanket with my book. My friend little Ron dropped in mid-afternoon, to my delight, with an XLcoffee from Mcdonald's. I'd been too shaky to carry the large pot to my stove to heat so I hadn't had a hot drink all day. I was really happy to sip hot, milky coffee from my cocoon! 

Today I feel a lot better, not so shaky & my throat is not as sore. So, I dressed early - for me that is - went out & got my own coffee at Mcdonald's. I sat in the sunshine at the back of the lot in my car & read my book for an hour or so before heading for home. I'm trying to get out every second day at the very least to build up my strength & endurance. My goal is to be able to shop at my local Chinese grocery once again. To buy roast pork, Udon noodles, baby bok choy & fish balls when I want! I'm looking forward to shopping for myself once more.

The cat was waiting for me when I came home today. She's back sleeping in the chair on the porch or on the ramp in the sunshine waiting for me to open the door & feed her. I'm actually glad to see her hanging around again because I think I've acquired a furry houseguest in her absence. Last night I distinctly heard it at the back of the kitchen! Where's a cat when you need one???

Knitting - not much knitting going on but lots of reading about knitting. I checked in on a blog I've followed for years which gets updated now & then. Funny how all the old bloggers have disappeared .  .  .  Anyway, this old time blogger made the Mr GreenJeans sweater from Knitty, I believe it was 2007ish. She made a couple of hacks to it waay back & has decided to make it once again. I love the extra buttons & the cinched in waist. I just wish I had the shape to wear it like she does!

Remembering