Zoomin' & Rakin'

The Virginia Creeper is turning red. ❤️

Yesterday morning it took me almost an hour to attach the photos to my blog post. I couldn’t do it in Safari, Chrome or Firefox. I thought the game was up, but instead of using the uploader icon on the Blogger website, I just pulled the pictures onto the post and that worked! It may be a short-term solution. 

I spent much of the morning ahead of my Zoom call with my UK stuttering group doing SPACE work. And I walked Her Highness, and it took no encouraging. She hopped out of the car and walked with me like old times.

The Zoom session was good, and when it was over I got back to the data base I am creating of various health conferences. I’m researching 21 organizations and collating data on their conference location, purpose, dates, website and the criteria for submission to make a presentation at the conference.

We had a quick lunch and then I went outdoors to do yard work or, put another way, to get chronic nasty back pain. However, I got everything done that I wanted to do, and then I came in to get on the chaise and read. After two and a half days of endless yard work, I wanted a break. Today and tomorrow, I’ll be busy with SPACE work on the database and doing some letters I’ve to write, so today was the day for rest in the afternoon.

Late in the afternoon, we walked Elder Cedar. She was happy to hop out of the car to walk, but her walk was slow the entire way. We are not out of the woods, but she remains much better than she was for those dreadful two weeks. 

We came home to enjoy our usual evening routines.

This afternoon or this evening and tomorrow, we are predicted to have rain. I sincerely hope it happens. The ensuing week is expected to be sunny, so the endless watering will continue. I must water this morning, and then I will be doing SPACE work. 

Speech and Brain Aftershocks

Wednesday began early. I got up at 4:15, and when Sheba pawed at the door to be let out, I walked her to the gate in the blackest of black but with stars glowing all over the sky. It was beautiful and a comfortable 14°. I was looking forward to doing more yard work, but I had to go to Life Labs early to line up for a walk-in appointment. I walked Her Highness at 7:00 and then left her at home while I went to the lab.

I’m so happy to see Sheba walking with her legs in alignment and at a frisky pace. I was very nervous about her future during the recent two weeks of her balking at walking. I’m had a good look at her feet and the little growth on her leg when I got back from the lab, and then I got busy with thoroughly watering all the garden beds.

I enjoyed the watering, especially when I was able to stand in the sunlight and feel the warmth of the sun. Those plants losing leaves and lying low to the ground, I needn’t water as much. They are moving into dormancy. When the yard is cleared, I shall address the surface of the beds, clearing out the cones and needles.

I did not love raking in the front yard and doing more toting. My back gets so, so sore. But I finished all the yard work. Next is clearing the beds of cones, twigs and needles.

At 14:00, I Zoomed with Aidan.  I have homework! I have lots of homework to do, but it ain’t gunna happen today. I did one task last night and finished it this morning. The rest I’ll do tomorrow and Saturday because both days are likely to be dark and wet.

We walked Elder Cedar late in the afternoon. Sheba walked just fine and I was very, very happy. I took all her bandages off and she has not been liking and biting herself. Still, I do not feel it wise to take long walks with her.

Just as I was sitting down to eat last evening, Pete came by with grapes. I’m very fond of Pete. I think everyone who knows him, likes him. He radiates goodness. He’s always smiling and happy.  I was fluent when speaking with him! It waws such a pleasant surprise because I’ve been really struggling with my speech for two days now. I think of these sudden-onset declines in my speech as aftershocks to my breakdown. 

It’s bad in my brain right now. I’m not happy with how I’m thinking about myself. Crying when Dwight departed got me thinking. I won’t bore you with the details, but I know that these bad thoughts are because of the aftershock. 

One thing that is happening are thoughts about having done something wrong and deserving this. I can’t shake my Catholic-instilled link of disease, self-blaming and guilt. This will pass. My speech will get better again; and my self-loathing will go away. 

I still do best with my speech here at home with trusted people; hence my ease with Pete. It’s just much harder to function, even with friends, ‘out there.’ Even here on the island, I am having difficulties with people who have heard me speaking recently. I want to have a long, deep sleep, and wake up feeling better.

Today, I shall do yard work. I’m looking forward to it because the worst is over. All the raking and toting is done. Today I’ll be focusing on cleaning up the garden beds. Woo hoo! 

A Day of Rewarding Work and Difficult Speech

Just when things feel better, thanks to Sheba walking, I seem to have lost my speech again. It’s hard to tell where I am at with speech until I try to talk to a human. I called David to see how I could fare and found myself back to using key words. Key words let me communicate well enough to be understood. I wanted to see how I’d do with Davey before my Zoom appointment with Dr. Shoja at 11:00.

I had a spa under overcast skies, posted here and putzed around the house until it was time to take Sheba for a walk. I was keen to see how we’d do, so I went to Trailhead #6 to walk that trail which is not too long and one with which Sheba is most familiar.

She was reluctant to walk at first, so I threw a stick and she immediately went after it. I threw it again, further along the trail, and off she went again, and this time she picked up the stick and trotted off down the trail to go to poop. She did the entire trail at a brisk walk. I’m so relieved. I don’t feel the need to go to the vet anymore, but neither do I feel like going back to long walks with our friends. We may sometimes join them for a few minutes and then turn back, just to keep our friendships strong.

While I awaited my appointment with Dr. Shoja, I decided to do some front yard raking, and Sheba came out with me. Shortly after I set to working, I heard her barking. She’d gone next door to visit Dave, whom she loves, and I was thrilled to know she was up for a neighbourhood walkabout. I’m so happy she’s feeling and walking better.

My video meeting with Dr. S. went well, but for the first twenty minutes it was brutally hard to get sound out. And the chat feature of the program her hospital uses didn’t work. Without that feature, I was sunk. She’s going to contact their tech people to find out why it wasn’t working and to get it working.

When I was done, it was time for toting. Put another way, it was time to go outside and do things to bring on terrific back pain. After doing four barrow loads, I had to come inside to rest my back. Then it was out for more torture, but it felt good to be getting the work done. 

By 14:00, I’d taken a fifth barrows full of crap to the organic dump and moved all the outdoor garden furniture into the studio. By back was filing divorce papers, so I came in to rest before doing the sixth and final barrow load for the day. Once that was done and all the tools put away, Her Highness and I went to Elder Cedar to walk. At least, as we left, I hoped she’d walk.

She did! She walked like normal the entire way, and when we arrived at the train, and again when we arrived back home, she exited the van with enthusiasm. She still lies down if I stop walking to chat with someone, so what I feel that I’ve learned is that now I have an elder dog and she requires me to be conscious of that in all we do together.

Once home, it was spa time, and oh how good it felt to slip into warm soothing water after a day of psych talk and heavy yard work. And I managed a Zoom call with Beth and our friend, Lynn, late in the day. Talking wasn’t easy, but I could participate in the call. It takes a lot of force and air to speak, so it tires me out quickly.

Our evening was as usual, but my walkabout was fulfilling because Pinecone Park is looking fabulous! Today, I’ll be working on the front yard after I water all the beds. There is no rain at all in the forecast, however evaporation rates have slowed considerably so I do not need to water every day. I am really enjoying my solitary days, filling them with work on the yard and gardens.

My Work Mojo Is Back / Sheba Walks

When I rose yesterday morning, I was stopped by the beauty of the stars and sky when I went out for wood to light a morning fire. There is no ambient light here so night is black as a Raven, and we can see a bazillion stars. But once we’d mini-walked at Rollo Park and come home for me to address working in the yard, the sky was overcast and it felt like it might rain.

Regardless of how things looked, however, I got busy watering—but first I did a round of Pinecone Park picking up all Sheba’s deposits. When I’d watered many of the garden beds, I did some weed whacking on the courtyard and then came in for our early lunch. Then I was back to watering the rest of the beds, and once that was done, I began raking. 

The raking is tolerable but exhausting for this old man after about half an hour of doing it. The toting is worse. It’s all the bending to pick up the enormous piles of cones, twigs and branches that gets to me. But when I am done, I am more than generously rewarded by how nice everything looks.

By 12:30 I’d raked half of the backyard, so I came in for a rest. It was still overcast, but a very comfortable 18°, and I was chuffed that I had the will to do yard work. I’ve become quite the lazy guy—except for watering—but yesterday it felt very, very good to want to work. I was also chuffed by how much work I got done.

At 14:00, I’d finished raking the entire backyard. I didn’t tote a bit of it, but what I did yesterday was enough to satisfy me for a day’s work. I have all week to do the rest of the things I want to do—raking the front yard and edible garden and toting all the piles to the organic dump. There’s a ton of stuff to tote. But oh, it looks good, my yard. It’s the same ol’ thing, but it’s very tidy, and that thrills me. I look forward to making the front yard look at good today.

Late in the afternoon, I had to go into the village to shop. Sheba, of course, came with me and so I decided to stop at Rollo Park to see if she would walk and poop. And what joy!!! She walked eagerly and briskly. She was her old self and IJ felt so, so incredibly happy that I was close to tears.

I hope she is still walking as well as she did today when I take her out to walk later this morning. But we came home and I looked forward to a wonderful evening together with all my pets, but particularly with her. I’m so relieved and happy. I just hope this wasn’t a blip and she reverts to not wanting to walk.

Last night was a good night. It was, of course, the usual: dinner with a movie. But I was feeling lighter after an afternoon walk that was so successful. I slept deeply; it felt more like hibernation. I’m looking forward to doing more yard work today, getting Pinecone Park looking mighty good!