Sunday, May 29, 2022

Fred is Surprised




Above: Shots of the ground cover in my edible
garden. I have a truly lovely carpet of
self-seeded weed flowers.


Saturday began with a trip to GIRO to take all my recyclables in, and then Her Highness and I went for a walk before we went to the Farmers’ Market. 

The market was lovely, even though it was an overcast day. I saw Eoin and François, Matthew and Regina, Merril, Issa and Wendy. And I met a lovely dog with the unfortunate name of Penas, pronounced ‘pee nass’ which sounds a lot like penis when spoken. Both Penas and her owner are from another culture.

It was such a lovely thing to do, going to the market. Nothing says ‘community’ like a weekend market. It’s just wonderful to see people, all of them happy, pets and kids, food and to have a live musical guest playing as we look at all the goodies.

There’s a chance that Barron’s, the repair company, my not be able to fix my stove. It must be freed from its encasement of surrounding counter. Zach, the technician, couldn’t see a way to pull the stove out of its slot in the counter, so yesterday morning, I ventured down into the crawl space under the house to see if the stove had been bolted into place from below. It hasn’t. 

But while I was down there, Fred jumped the barrier I’d placed at the entrance to the hatch that lets me into the crawl space and landed in the space. It was far further down than he expected, so he started howling and howling. I was worried he’d hurt himself, but he was walking around okay; perhaps he was just startled.

He would not come to me. He just wandered around howling like the angel of death was chasing him. Eventually, he came to me, once I sat down on the crawl space floor and calmly called him like I do for cuddling. He, a cat who hates being picked up, let me lift him gently back into the house. 

Today is sunny and bright. I will do work in the yard, but not too much because, after all, it’s Sunday. My day. No guilt, no responsibility day. I love Sundays!
















Saturday, May 28, 2022

Market Day

Sunshine, the absence of a leak in my water system and a working fridge made Friday a thoroughly delightful day. Also, my video, Fluency through Rhyme, has impressed my friends in the stuttering community. Their emails filled me with pride.

High school shootings, war in Ukraine, abortion politics, responses to the Uvalde shootings, all these things, and more, have me only watching recorded television and avoiding the radio. I will not watch or read the news. Homo sapiens is the worst thing to happen to a gloriously beautiful planet. I am ashamed of my species.

It all makes me value my modestly isolated life here on Gabriola, my fire, my pets, the quiet, the forest. I have resolved to make the most of the little time I have left.

It was a glorious day all day Friday, but I did not work at all. I read and went for several walks with Her Highness. I loved the walks, feeling the sun on my skin and watching H. H. having such a good time smelling everything and eating grass.

Today’s iffy, weather wise, and now rain is predicted for Monday, my day in Vancouver. Sigh. And I lit the fire this morning because it’s not cold, but it’s cool in the house and I want to be comfortable. I’m going into the village to check out the farmers’ market. They started up again last weekend and it’s something fun to do on Saturday morning. Then I may get some of my last unplanted Hostas into the garden. And, of course, I’ll read.
















Friday, May 27, 2022

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.

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.

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!