Dave & Ursula Come to Visit

My mojo for diarizing seems to be back.

David and Ursua got back late Saturday. They are lovely people who had been away for six weeks visiting their daughter in Costa Rica. I really like them, but I was sad to have neighbours again. I loved the feeling of privacy I enjoyed while they were away. 

I was sad when our men’s hockey team lost in overtime. I was also sad that the USA won; it’s become such a loathsome country, I want them to lose at everything. I listened to the broadcast; I couldn’t sit and watch it. I did my morning chores so that when it was over, I was up for walking in the light rain with Her Highness, and we were happy to see the sky getting brighter as we walked.

When we got back home, I built up the fire. It was My Day so I could burn as much wood as I wanted. And then I got to working for SPACE. Province by province, going from West to East, I am trying to capture contact information for as many speech language therapists that treat people who stutter as I possibly can so that we have an extensive database of SLPs for our advocacy and research work.

All my work is volunteer except for the work that I do on our grant project. When I work on the grant, I get paid forty bucks an hour. It’s not a lot, but it’s income to replace some of my scammed cash. I’m grateful to Aidan for choosing me to be part of the grant staff. Plus, love our objectives of the work we are doing. We are to identify ten service providers and assess and improve their accessibility for dysfluent people.

At 11:00, the sky cleared and the sun came out. I immediately served lunch and then Her Highness and I went for a trail walk at Ricki Ave. I had my coat open, no hoodie up for the first time this year and since the Fall, the few people I passed were carrying their coats!

When I got home, I worked outside. I collected all my empty plastic and tin juice and pop containers and took them to our elementary school because they were having a bottle drive to finance their grade seven’s annual trip to Thetis Island. It felt very good to help them. I love this island and doing what I can to contribute to our community’s wellbeing.

When I got home, I did yard work! Yard work, in February! And with no coat. I got rid of all the pruning detritus from my Fall pruning, and I collected things from around the shed and yard to go into the garbage can that had hardly anything in it. Collection is today, and I was able to fill the bin with stuff I no longer wanted.

When I got tired and came in for a rest. I had to shed my hoodie because it was so warm in the house. I opened some windows to cool the place down, and I let the fire go down knowing that I’d want heat from a fire again in the evening.

Dwight called. It was pouring rain in Vancouver. He’s likely free on Friday to have lunch with me. That’ll be nice, to be with him in person. We’ll have a leisurely lunch, then I’ll drive to Ambleside in West Van to walk Sheba before we go to John and Bunny’s for dinner and to sleep over.

At 15:30, there was a knock at the door and, of course, Sheba went berserk barking like a banshee. It was Dave and Ursula from next door. They came in and we had a lovely impromptu visit for over an hour. I was thrilled to have their company. And then, when they left, our regular evening routine began.

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).