Dwight Arrives

Wednesday began with a big watering of the backyard beds, then we went to meet our friends to walk our dogs. Where we walk begins with a hill, so I was walking very slowly, but I think my pacemaker/heart problem may have resolved itself. I feel stronger now but I’ll still be monitoring myself.

Dwight arrived at about 11:30. We got nice cold drinks and sat on the deck to chat, and then we went into the village to have lunch at Ground Up. When we were done. We came home and Dwight proposed that we try to fix my chaise longue. It was quite the challenge! We had to undo a lot of the upholstery tacks and open up the core of the chaise. It was hard to reattach the broken spring, but we did it. It would have been impossible for one person to do it alone.

Then Dwight chilled in the hammock, and I had a nap before we went back into the village to pick up a pizza for dinner. We had pieces of the cake I made for Pete and Ali for dessert, and then we watched The Outfit, followed by Antiques Roadshow before going to bed. 

Today … who knows. We’ll play the day by ear, but we have a plan to go to Sandwell Beach together because Dwight loves to beachcomb there. It’s a gorgeous day. It’s predicted to reach close to 30° today and to be even hotter tomorrow.

Dwight Arrives Today

Man oh man I was pooped when I finished decorating the cake. I make a mess of food colouring, powdered sugar, and butter from the butter cream frosting. The baking, decorating and cleaning up of utensils involved with the cake that I made for Ali and Pete must be just over 8 hours!

And I was not just decorating yesterday morning, I was also doing laundry and cleaning the guest rooms and bathroom for Dwight’s visit, and I vacuumed the entire house. I desperately want a day of idleness, but today I must water all the garden beds, and tomorrow is a day of fun with Dwight. He leaves on Friday, and that is when my big rest will start.

Our brunch was a blast. I had a terrific time, and I think everyone else did too because we didn’t leave until 4:00. We laughed and shared many stories, plus we had a lot of lovely food to eat. My cake was a hit! The one bummer of the day was that to walk to Pete and Ali’s, four houses down the street, almost did me in. I was struggling to hold the cake up when I arrived. As soon as Nancy and Ali saw me, they came quickly to me asking what was wrong. I am going to call the pacemaker clinic today.

Dwight will be here around noon today, and what a beautiful day for his visit. He’s coming on his bike.  

More Baking; No T de F

 Monday was a great day, but it tired me out. I think something is wrong with my pacemaker. I could barely stand after walking up the hill at Ricki Road. I see my nurse practitioner next week, so I will ask her for a referral to the pacemaker clinic then.

After our walk, we went into the village for supplies as it was time to frost and decorate the cake for this afternoon’s mid-day party at Pete and Ali’s place. But as I was getting ready for baking, I heard odd noises down the street, and then a parade of cars, all bright and shiny clean and covered in Canadian flags, passed by my house. There were as many cars in the parade as pass by my house in an average year.

I noticed plants fading in the heat, so I watered all the backyard beds before coming in to assemble the cake. I made a four-layer cake. Between each layer are sliced strawberries and white chocolate ganache that is tinted pink. It took my three hours to make the ganache and to assemble the cake and frost it. And then, of course, I was pooped, so I had a nap before taking Sheba walking. It’s too hot now to play fetch with her.

When I got home, I had a spa. I did a big chemical wash last week, and I left the top open for a few hours each day to allow the chemicals to leach out of the water and into the air. Yesterday, the water was pristine and so I knew it was ready for me. And once dried, I watered the front beds. What a busy day!

With all my work done, I got onto the couch to watch day 3 of the Tour de France, but there was no live coverage of stage 3 on YouTube. Sigh. There’s only a highlights video that is mere minutes compared to the 5-6 hours of a live feed of an entire stage. However, soon it will be time for the Olympics.

This morning involved the last step of making the cake. I am very pleased with it. Last night I made a strawberry gelatin layer onto which I dusted gold flakes. This morning, I was thrilled to find it coalesced perfectly, so it now tops the cake, and I will finish the decorating today with the butter cream. Photo tomorrow.

Now It's Getting Too Hot

saturday

Dana sent me a link, so I clicked on it. It was a link to a live feed of the first day of the Tour de France. For me? What was he thinking? Me? Sports? But then, I do love watching the Olympic Games. SO I wrote to thank him, and then Sheba and I went into the village to fetch my new fabulous iPad from CAYA. It is amazing and wonderful to have and to use.

I met people in the farmers’ market, and bought some treats for Sheba, and my speech was pretty much as bad as it usually is ‘out there.’ That disappointed me because the drug has made such a change in my speech with good friends, and I haven’t had a seizure for exactly three weeks. Three weeks! I know I’ll never be free from FND, but it is possible that my symptoms could improve. I’ve always believed that, and lately I’ve been feeling as close to cured as I’ll ever be, but the market experience brought me to a clearer understanding of what this drug seems to be doing.

The drug has done what I wanted most of all. It’s improved my fluency with close and trusted friends, but with the rest of the world, nothing has changed. And that’s absolutely fine with me. It’s perfect with me. I was my old self with Dwight when he called yesterday morning to say he was coming over on Wednesday to stay until Friday. And I was fluent with Nicola when we Zoomed for an hour and a half.

I feel ready to be braver, I’m so happy about being me on Clonazepam. People, including me, can be so wary of drugs. I’ve been through eight years of FND, two of those years being intolerably brutal, but I have adapted and learned without drugs, but I plan to talk with Dr. Shoja about staying on Clonazepam forever.

Once our shopping was done, I came home, we had lunch and then from 1:00 pm to 6:30, I watched every single minute of day one of Tour de France (which was in Italy) 2024. The last hour was positively riveting. I was so surprised to be so engrossed by the race. I may watch again today. Yes me, spending another day watching sports. Bring me my bros and some beer.

The Summer Olympics begin on July 26^th, and they close on August 11. I enjoy watching the Olympic games, both Summer and Winter versions, whenever they happen. It’s incredible to see what elite athletes can do. Excellence in anything is interesting. Having watched the Tour Today, I was glad that Lance Armstrong was so publicly shamed. What a dick!

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I got Woodpecker suet, so I have gorgeous birds constantly in my view. Northern Flickers, Downey Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Stellar Jays keep Pinecone Park full of beautiful big birds. I also have feeding stations for songbirds and they, and the fountain and birdbaths, serve to make P.P. a haven for birds of all sizes.

sunday

Sunday was a very busy day. Sheba is walking again, so we went on a short walk in the morning and then I came home to bake while I listened to and watched day 2 of the Tour de France. I am hooked. It is 5 hours of gorgeous scenery: men of solid muscle in very tight clothes and Italian landscapes and historical buildings. 

I baked a cake for Ali and Peter who are hosting a brunch tomorrow. I must assemble and decorate it today. I’ll enjoy doing that. And I must water all the garden beds. Busy. Busy. Busy.