Too Much To Do

The air was not fresh Monday morning; there was forest fire smoke in the air. I found it quite a nice smell; it reminded me of Fall when I was a kid and people burned their leaves—a nostalgic smell. Even at six am, it was hot. The day was a scorcher because the air was so still. Wednesday it is predicted to be very hot—possibly 34°!

Sheba and I went for a long walk early in Monday morning. Wish I could communicate my feelings about the beauty of being in the woods effectively. It was exquisite. The still, warm air had a hint of wood smell, probably because of the fire, but as I passed through groves of deciduous trees, the smell of the dried grass and decaying leaves was like perfume. It’s the smell of summer.

And it was silent except for the sound of my steps and the birds. I felt like I was floating in the air because the air temperature made it impossible to “feel” the air; it was as warm as my body.

I spent almost a year in India and six months in Africa. I have sixteen months of memories of wonderful moments in heat, dryness and blazing sunshine—just like summer here. When I walk, I am constantly reminded of my travels and I relive favourite moments and the feelings they aroused. That’s part of the appeal of my extraordinary morning walks. It’s a privilege to be able to begin a day with such a blissful experience without having to commute to it.

Afterwards, when I watered the garden, I saw so many things I needed to do. Several of my plants have died. It’s heartbreaking. I failed with many of my Azaleas so I will not get any more. Instead, I have become a huge Hydrangea fan. They are hardy lovely plants. 

There are weeds everywhere, holes to fill in the yard, things that have broken to fix and lots of things to replace.  Eventually I will get to them all. First though, I have to get through this festival and raffle. Thank God Bill found my play deficient. I’d just have more work to do and that’s the last thing I want or need right now.

All the yard duties have to wait. I’ve the cat palace to finish so I worked diligently on that much of the day and night—the windows take forever to make, but it’s coming together.

Storm Approaching

I have periodic days of pure idleness. Sunday was one of those days. After the dog walk, which was its usual wonder, I came home and laid around reading New Yorkers. I just could not muster any energy to do anything—and it felt fine.

The best part of the experience was Sheba’s constant loving presence. She thinks she’s a lap dog—all 65 pounds of her—I have to share my bed, chairs and sofa. She is gorgeous with her new haircut; her big dark eyes, vortexes of devotion.

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I was reading a review of a movie in the New Yorker when I came across this sentence: “Problems arise when she starts having psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and he….” It gave me that wonderful “I am not alone” feeling to read it.

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Today will start, as usual, with an hour of garden watering and there is no precipitation in sight. It’s still around 30° in the afternoons and endlessly sunny. Then I will tire Her Highness with a nice morning walk and after that today’s task is to make serious progress on the cat palace.

This week is quiet so I’ve to finish all my raffle chores. Next week I go see Dr. S. in Vancouver, then Tim comes to visit, then billets arrive to stay here at night and on Friday I go to Nanaimo to see my eye surgeon. Also, Darrell said he’d be back to build me another arbor for my grapes and finish the porch. Yikes!

I’m looking forward to seeing Dr. S. Over the past 2.5 years, she’s often given me homework but last time I saw her I gave her an assignment: Why I am going to continue to see her? What outcome is she expecting from continued therapy?

The Dog Days

I cannot remember when my body has hurt so much as it did Friday night and yesterday. All that lifting and pushing exhausted and depleted this old man. Instead of going to the market Saturday morning, I soaked in the spa—just as I will this monring. My God I love that spa now that it is at a decent temperature all the time.

But all the wood stacking is done and winter will be warm and cozy.

Then I watered all the gardens with water and relief—relief because now I know that the source from which feeds my well, is strong. So I’m building the vegetable garden next year because I’ve no problem with water. My cistern has stayed full all summer and my water is sweet.

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A friend wrote to ask why I go to the city, given that it causes me so much stress.

It’s my choice to go and I’d enjoyed several visits with very mild symptoms before this past disaster of a visit. I plan to keep going until I don’t want to anymore, hoping I can progress to a point of decent comfort in Vancouver. I’d like to be able to go to there to visit friends if I can without the seizures.

There’s something wrong right now. I had a seizure here by myself Saturday morning—that rarely happens. My condition seems to ebb and flow like some other mental illnesses and mine is currently “flowing.”

My friend DR thinks that my guilt and angst over striking Sheba was a factor. I think she’s right. I adore that dog; she’s like my partner. It’s like I discovered I’m a wife beater and that is not at all whom I think of myself as being; I’m the uber dog lover.

I was incredibly ashamed and guilty. Lesson learned for life.

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The mornings are cool now. I can feel Autumn coming. Sigh. So once the festival is done here, I want to go to visit friends in Parksville while it’s still summery.

I saw my first rat on my property this morning as I was heading off for the Sunday morning community dog walk.

I love summer in paradise!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

She had her nails done, a wash and a clip and she looks gorgeous!

She's easier to keep free of seeds, burrs and so on now.

Wood Stacked

This is what six cords of wood looks like: The top photo is of the inside of the woodshed. Behind that floor-to-ceiling pile you see, are two more floor-to-ceiling piles—each is about eight feet high and twenty-four feet long. The bottom photo is my shed where I park my car and store my garbage is much  handier than my other woodsheds so it has become woodshed #2.