Hockey Morning (No Kissing)

I was up at 5:00 and I turned on the TV to watch the US/Canada hockey final. Well, I didn’t watch it, but I turned it on and listened to the play-by-play while I lit the fire, fed the pets and did morning chores. I wanted Canada to win because I’m Canadian, and because my distaste for all things American made me want the USA to lose. The other thing I noticed is that I kept thinking I’d see Mr. Sexy, François Arnaud in the dressing room shots.

Saturday was fine. I got a lot of work for SPACE done and we had good walks. It rained much of the day, but it was light, and the temperature rose. This morning, it was not bitterly cold when I went out to chop and fetch wood. There’s no snow in the forecast until the end of the month, so I think this Winter has been a wonderful one. Two short snow flurries that didn’t stick, and no storms, no power failures. That’s the kind of Winter I like, especially as the daffodils are starting to bloom already.

I’m still loving The Pitt, but I’ve watched all the back episodes, and now I must wait for the coming eight Thursdays to see the rest of season two. It’s compelling television, still, I’m moving more to reading and writing in the evenings. I seem to be tiring of movies. 

The other night, I had a mild manic evening. I thought I had a terrific idea for a project, and I spent the entire evening writing it up and writing an example of the kind of story that would be the essential part of the project for participants. However, the next morning, I was not interested at all in doing it. 

I’m seriously looking forward to the day. Two of my favourite vloggers post today, and I will do more SPACE work. It’s tedious work, but I really enjoy having something practical to do that will serve Aidan and SPACE well. And when we walk today, I’ll be wearing the new Winter shoes that I bought yesterday. I wore Winter shoes all this season. I had no need for boots ever, so I’m very keen for more mild Winters.

Canada just tied the game at the end of the second period. I teared up. My condition makes me vulnerable to tears, but I was elated for Canada and all the Canadians so hooked on hockey. 

This Dull Life

My enthusiasm for maintaining this blog has been waning for a while. I’ve tired of writing about a life that is full of routine and stuck in a place in which I am bound by circumstance. I like finding and posting images, but I’ll limit my writing to times when there’s something worth writing about. I reckon there'll be more to write about and that I'll enjoy it more when I return to living outdoors when the good weather returns.

Another 20 minutes of Snowfall Vanishes

It hailed yesterday morning, and then we had some very light snow, and it was cold. I kept the fire roaring. I hate being cold, so I stayed in the shower for some extra time. And I had some welcome news in an email: the six books I ordered are arriving. At least I think it’s my books. We have a new carrier serving Gabriola, and they wrote to say they are about to arrive with ‘my order.’ I hope it is the books because I’ll have a good reading supply.

In the meantime, I filled my time yesterday doing SPACE work. It’s tedious work searching for Canadian speech language therapists to add to our SLP database. We want to build up our list of contacts, so I am finding as many SLPs as I can.

Stacey wrote to me. She’s on Gabe this week recovering from her hip surgery. She wrote to tell me that she was scammed in the same way that I was. These fuckers sicken me. I went to her place to fetch her, and we went into the village for coffee. Afterwards, I took her home and then returned to the village to shop for groceries and to order prescriptions. I take 11 prescriptions every day, but come Summer, I’m very hopeful that two of them will be stopped. Dr. Dorscheid thinks that he’ll be able to take me off my puffers because my lungs are responding so incredibly well to the Tezspire. Fingers are crossed!

When we left the village, we went walking in Rollo Park because our first morning walk was short so that I could get to Stacey’s on time. Then we headed for home. And man-oh-man was I was happy to get back to Pinecone Park. For one thing, there was not a speck of snow anywhere, plus the house was toasty warm. We had lunch and then I felt the call of the couch because I was pooped. I had SPACE work to do, but I decided to let it wait.

My nap was mere minutes, and when I opened my eyes, the sky was perfectly clear and blue, and when the sun shines, I am pulled outdoors. Her Highness and I went for a long walk along trails that I have never walked before. I love getting ‘lost’ in unfamiliar territory and discovering new trails. It was brisk but wonderfully uplifting to walk in glorious sunshine.

We got back at 15:30, and because I had some weakness on the hills, I took my Tezspire out of the fridge and then gave myself a shot an hour later, once it was room temperature. Today, I will have no problems with hills when we walk with our friends. And when I get home, I must get busy with SPACE work.

It’s the coldest it’s been all year this morning, but I reckon that this is the end of being so cold. As I write and post this morning, it is 7:00 and the fire has been going for two hours but the house is still chilly. I’m sitting at my desk wrapped in a blanket (non-electric).

Heavy Snow for Twenty Minutes

It snowed heavily starting just before 8:00 yesterday morning. All I could do was hope that it would soon turn to rain, and I got my broom ready to keep the snow from building up on my prized Rhodo and the Fuchsias. I took comfort from the forecast for today and the rest of the week because there is no more snow predicted.

By 8:30, I was feeling better. The snow stopped, the sky brightened and the temperature started slowly rising. I went to meet Regina to walk the Ricki Ave. trail that is brighter and always dry. I was glad for her company and to be giving Her Highness a good morning walk; I knew that she’d be content to rest indoors during the day.

As I left to meet her, I was glad to see that the Japonica’s, Fuchsias and the Rhodo were unencumbered by the light snowfall. I went walking feeling more optimistic about the day’s weather. And I’m glad we walked, but then I always am happy once I get warmly dressed and find myself back in nature. But the best was yet to come. When we got home, there wasn’t a single snowflake left in our yard; all my broad-leafed plants were free to grow.

At 14:00. I Zoomed with Aidan. It’s always a joy to chat with him. I gained clarity on his objectives in creating a database of speech language therapists, and we went over SPACE’s membership bylaws in advance of a second Zoom meeting, this time with SPACE’s pro-bono lawyers to discuss changes to our bylaws so that we can grow our membership.

When that chat was done, Her Highness and I went walking together to bring an end to the business of our day. And then it was time for the couch. I could hardly wait to get back to The Pitt, but it got a little odd in the final episodes when the ER must deal with a crisis. A shooter has gone berserk at a concert and that is topical, but in this series, the hospital must deal with over a hundred people, very many of whom are shot. Talk about ‘overkill.’ It looked more like a 9/11 incident more than a shooter incident. Still, I’ll be watching season two.

Today is predicted to be the last day of this cold spell. It may snow, but if it does, it will be gone as the blessed rains return late tomorrow. I am happy to have SPACE homework to do today.

Tuesday's eclipse photographed close to the South Pole