"Guilty!" Hooray!

I’m joining an ASL learning group here on Gabe. It will be practical and a chance to meet new people with whom I can use limited signs. Already, I’m dreading these words: “Why don’t we go round the circle and introduce ourselves.” I plan to write to the convener and explain my situation to her so that she can introduce me. I expect to be the only mute in the class.

Also, I’ve written to get an iPad and keyboard again from CAYA. I sent the first one I got back because I wasn’t using it, but now I need one. It’s a communication life jacket for me.

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I did not go to fitness yesterday. The two seizures I had at my last class deterred me. I will not be returning. Soon, I see Dr. S. to talk about why I am getting worse. I have written a lot about why it might be, and the experience has been, to use a term from my wasted youth, a downer.  

This journey with Dr. S. is much different now, than during the past 8 years. For nearly all that time I was talking about my seizures for the first few years when I was having up to 20 a day. Then it became about speech, and from the beginning, of course, was the abuse story, but we never talked about it, until she used the word, “neglect.” And now our sessions are very personal and not about symptoms. It’s hard going.

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I was positively giddy mid-afternoon when the Trump guilty verdict was delivered. Finally, I thought, something political to cheer about. 

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David has a large pile of wood bits that he’s having picked up and taken to the dump, so I went through the pile yesterday, and filled my wheelbarrow with kindling bits. Hurrah! It is going to be so easy starting quite a few fires with what I got today.

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Woo hoo. Bronwyn has purchased plants for my deck containers. I’m excited about rearranging my deck and having fresh plants in the containers. The first plants in these containers became root bound and have been transferred to the garden beds.

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It’s another lovely, but coolish, day, and that means more puttering around the yard. But I also go in for a Covid booster today. We currently have Norwalk virus circulating on the island. A fellow I know got it and has been very sick. Sometimes, I am glad to be a bit of a recluse.

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Steve is finalizing his plans for his visit. He’ll stay here for a week, and I am very excited about having him here with me. It will be brutal when he departs.

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I remain both disappointed and frustrated by my speech difficulties. However, June 11 gets closer and closer with each passing day. That’s when I see Dr. Shoja. I always feel better after I have a session with her.

Morning Walk with Sheba

Wednesday was a delicious day. We went for a walk with our friends, and the forest was magnificent to see and to smell. It was just glorious in the sunshine. Then we came home, and I Zoomed with Dianne, whom I will visit in nearby Nanoose Bay in two weeks. By the time we had finished talking, it was time to feed the brood and have lunch.

I Zoomed with Steve as he works to finalize his plans to visit Pinecone Park. It was exciting to hear that he will stay a week with me. And as we were talking, Ron arrived to take Sheba for a lovely long walk in the forest while I had a short nap in the sunshine. When they came back, we puttered around a bit in the garden, and Sheba had a nice visit with Dave, next door.

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This glorious morning, Sheba and I walked our usual path. Here are photos I took this morning. They will show you why I love living here. Imagine, having miles of trails like this that I have only 2 blocks to walk from our home for Her Highness and I to enjoy. 

We're walking in the 707 Park. Originally it
was a park of 707 acres; it is now 1,000 acres,
the same size as Stanley Park.

I love the open meadows that we pass. The sign you see here
is one of many scattered through the park to help you know
where you are.

Lovely Ferns cover the forest floor here and they are truly
magnificent plants, that's why I have my own Fern Garden.

The ground is covered with these tiny pink and white beauties.

Little Daisies are everywhere.

The Fox Gloves are just beginning to bloom.
They are scattered everywhere in the 707.

Magnificent Arbutus trees give the forest a lush
jungle look, and their trunks (below) are just
beautiful and so colourful.

Vanilla plants are so named due to the fragrance of their blossoms.

just Another Slow Day

Tuesday was lovely day for many reasons. One was that we had a gorgeous sunny afternoon after an overcast morning and several days of rain. It was delightful to get a break and to have my spirits lifted. We may get more sunshine on Friday, otherwise, it’s rain ahead, but I am more than fine with that. I don’t have to water the gardens.

Sheba and I walked in the morning, and then I headed off for Jay’s house. He wrote me an email saying he had a guest who knows me and he invited me over to visit with them, but he didn’t say who his guest was. When I got there, I wasn’t sure who the guy was for a couple of seconds, and then I realized it was Brian, whom I’d known for decades.

How could I ever forget Brian? He’s a very handsome man, and he has a wonderful sense of humour, he’s gay, and he was a glass artist all his life. I adored him. It was great to catch up, and now we have each other’s email and can stay in touch. I was shocked to hear him say that he’d harbored a crush on me back in the day. I wish I’d known. 

We had lunch together at Jays, and then Sheba and I came home. On the way, I stopped to pick up my mail, and there was a wonderful surprise awaiting me, a nice big fat refund from ICBC on my car insurance for the past 7 years. Woo hoo! I got donuts! And then I napped. Oh, that felt good. 

The late afternoon blended into evening and before I knew it, it was bedtime. 

It’s an iffy day today it seems. There are hints of blue in the sky, and it’s a cool 8° outside. We’ll walk, I’ll Zoom with Dianne, and I’ll read and putter another day away.