Home Repairs Done!

As we walked Wednesday morning, the sky lightened. Good news! When I got home, I called the appliance repair people. More good news. Zach came here yesterday. The relief was most welcome. My broken brain seizes on disorder and causes me grief. With my stove and fridge repair scheduled, I next lined up a plumber to fix my expansion tank and stop a leak.

I was busy from the moment I got home from our walk. At 1:00, I was pooped and was glad to be able to have a nap. I get so, so tired, so, so quickly now. Dr. Majic believes my fatigue is due to my failing kidneys, so I’m having more tests soon. He’s told me, since he is leaving, to work closely with the locum to keep monitoring my kidney levels. 

When I arose, the sky had cleared completely and bright, welcome sunshine brought me to life again. I did a little more housework—cleaning the fridge and freezer out ahead of Zach’s visit on Thursday—before settling into a comfortable chair to read. But I didn’t read for long. It was too beautiful outside to be indoors.

I pulled some weeds in one garden and then I took Her Highness to Rollo Park to play ball. It was glorious there. A large group of kids were playing soccer in one part of one field (there are two large baseball fields), as their mothers talked gardening and Texas together perched on one of the bleachers. On the other field, an older gent practiced his batting while his lovely, wonderfully friendly dog, watched and then came to me for some lovin’. And a Mom played baseball on the upper field with her three daughters.

It was a classic summer day. I felt spectacular. And then I came home to have a spa, do more reading, have dinner and then watch a movie.

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Thursday was busy!  I walked her Highness early, so that I could go to the lab for my kidney tests and then I came home for a Zoom meeting with my respiratory therapist. But before she and I got connected, Steve arrived to look at the water system. He solved the problem with the expansion tank, and he stopped the leak.

Just as he left, I noticed the time. I had to hurry him out in order to Zoom with Sue, my respiratory therapist. And no sooner did she get online, that Zach arrived an hour early to look at the stove and fix the fridge. All appears well now with the fridge, and Zach will come back to fix the stove when the replacement parts arrive.

When he left, there was black water everywhere on the floor in the kitchen, and the inside of the fridge. Everything was a freakin’ mess. I had to take every single thing out of the fridge and wipe all containers clean, plus I had to put veggies in clean bags. It was a lot of work; I was sweating when I was done washing the floor.

But it’s working. I have both a working fridge and freezer and now I don’t have to empty water out of the vase I had under the leak anymore. I used to have to empty it first thing in the morning, and again before I went to bed. Now, there’s only the generator to fix.

I could rest at 2:00. I was pooped. I had a quick spa to chill out and then I read until it was time to go to The Surf to meet Eoin, François and Jay, plus Jay’s friend Dennis, for dinner at The Surf. It was really, great to be together with my gay pack, and I love dinners that I don’t have to cook or clean up after. And after all the work of the day, I deserved a served dinner. 

Relief, relief, relief! I feels really good again at Pinecone Park.

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Today has dawned clear and bright; the ground is soaking wet from rain that felt much of the night. We’ll walk together this morning, my friends, our dogs and I, and then I’ll probably do some yard work and reading. It feels so, so good to have a working fridge again, I lost a lot of food that I had to throw out, but now my fridge is pristinely clean and orderly. And, I no longer have to empty the vase I’ve been using to collect the leak water in my water room. The leak is gone. Hurrah! 

Fluency Through Rhyme

Don't worry, I only speak in my natural (bad) speech for less than a minute.

Bear Anxiety

I walk silently. I listen, alert to any sound, and I frequently glance behind me as I walk. Gossip and emails have me hyper alert to the presence of a bear on the island. What will I do if I encounter him? Di carries a big stick, but I’m not sure hitting a bear is a good idea. There was a big ad in this week’s island newspaper warning us about the bear and advising us about garbage and bird feeder management. It heightened my anxiety about walking alone with Sheba off her leash, so yesterday I ordered a bear horn from Amazon to carry with me.

I did little but read and despair yesterday. One toilet is broken, my freezer is broken, one burner (the one I use most) is broken, the water system needs repair and is leaking, and the generator tanked. The more one owns, the more that can go wrong. And when things go wrong, my symptoms worsen. Today I’ll search for an appliance repair person in jopes of correcting the freezer and stove. Shizah!

Ten minutes later: relief. I found a Nanaimo appliance repair company that comes to Gabriola every Thursday. Hope lives! I’ll be calling them today. 

The latest Lousie Penny book was released in paperback last week, and so my copy arrived yesterday. I’m thrilled, of course. And Beth wrote to tell me that another book by her is coming out this year. I reckon I can count on one a year henceforth.

Today looks just lousy! It’s dark and damp. It’s not raining, but as I walk around, I can feel droplets of water landing on my face. Rain is predicted for every day until Monday when I go to Vancouver. Sigh.

Now it’s raining and I’m okay with it. The gardens will rejoice, and I will read and eat. I’m sad today. The school shooting in America has left me feeling bereft. I shall avoid the news completely; I don’t want to hear the repugnant things that incidents like this provoke from idiots and psychopaths.

Dr. Shoja Comes Through Again!

Sunday turned out to be quite a nice day, but it began with a change in plans. When I got to where we usually walk, my friends were worried about the bear that had been seen the day before in the area in which we walk. So, we moved to a different part of the island to walk and began just as the sun broke through the cloud cover.

When I got home, I went back to bed. I was pooped from all the recent yard work. And I just pissed away the rest of the day, giving myself a full day of recovery. Today, I’ll get back to working on the gardens. And when it was time for our afternoon walk, I had to choose a route that felt safe from the bear. I’m almost ready to join Facebook so that I can regularly read the Gabriola Community page for bear sightings.

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All I want to do is spend money on plants. The only thing that holds me back, is how much more water it would take to do any more planting. After a lifetime in the city, almost all of it spent in apartments or condos, to have half an acre feels like I own Versailles. But I don’t have a regent’s budget. 

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Now it’s my fridge. The freezer is filling up with ice. I’ve turned the temperature up so it is not making things so cold, but that didn’t work. It only got worse. Fuck. I hate it when things go wrong. But the generator repair is in hand; Doug will be by here next week.

And the cats seem to be getting better. They got the cold Sheba had and have been sneezing and snorting, but today things seem better.

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Dr. Shoja just sent me links for online doctor services in BC that help people without doctors fill prescriptions and get referrals. It’s a huge relief to have them. Plus, the consultations are fully covered by our medical services plan. The links may prove to become valuable content for the newsletter I aim to propose to the clinic as a service to island residents.

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Even though it’s been cool, we haven’t had rain for a while, and I’d like some. It’s better than watering the gardens. But I have my doubts about rain as I look at this morning’s sky. However, I shall hope.

I’m off to walk Her Highness, slightly nervous about seeing the bear.

Bear Threat

Geez … I was a whirlwind of activity yesterday. I was up at 5:30 and I went immediately into action. And I kept up the pace right until it was time to leave for the large community dog walk. The walk was going to be the most relaxing part of my day until Dan and Steve arrived and I could again relax to fully enjoy their company.

The walk was stunning because of the weather and because everyone was in such great spirits due to the late, late arrival of true Spring-like temperatures. It was a very comfy 15° as we set out on our walk at 10:00 am.

Once back, I dug more plants into the gardens, got rid of another wheelbarrow of forest fall, cleaned and scraped the sidewalk to my front door that was badly overgrown with slippery moss, baked at Rhubarb Crumble and thoroughly enjoyed my late afternoon spa before doing the final preparations for the arrival of my guests.

Today will be an easy day. I look forward to planting the remaining plants, watering the gardens, and puttering around attending to the gardens. I still haven’t cleaned a lot of the gardens of the Winter forest fall—I’ve removed the branches but the Fir cones remain to be picked up.

At 5:00 it had clouded over with thin cloud. I went into the village for the pizzas. Woodfire makes awesome pizzas, and that’s saying a lot because I have never liked pizza. I had never even bought one until I moved here. But I love the Woodfire food, and I love being able to host people without all the fuss of cooking a meal. I just made the crumble for the dinner; Dan and Steve brought a salad.

Rain is on the way. It’s due to come on Wednesday. The gardens will welcome it. It’s been a while without any.

We shall forest walk this morning in our regular place, but we’ll be wary. Our new bear on the island was seen on the weekend, right where we walk.

I’ve written to Doug to come and check out my leaking generator. And I wrote to Curt to get him here to fall my two dead trees. And when we get back from the walk, I’m calling a plumber to have him check my expansion tank. I need to know why it’s empty. I don’t think it should be. … Getting things done.