Good Speech ❤️

Friday, Sheba would still not walk with me. Her foot is healing but it will take time. When we went for our morning walk, she refused to get out of the car, so we came back home, and I started reading about my new baking tools. Then, just before noon, our dull, dark and very, very damp day turned brilliantly bright, sunny and warm. 

We spent some time together outside checking out the garden and doing some modest weeding, and then we went to Rollo Park to walk on the soft grass. I wanted to tire her out somewhat before leaving her alone while I went to meet Don and Diane at The Surf for dinner. And what a perfect night for our dinner in a restaurant with a magnificent view of the ocean and big island.

Bruce called me on FaceTime, as did David, from London (UK), and with them both, I was fluent much of the time. It’s miraculous, really, and I assume it is partly the new drug and partly being over the crisis of accepting Dr. Shoja’s view of abuse. I am rocking speech right now and I couldn’t be happier.

And to celebrate: Dwight. He’s coming to visit on Wednesday and staying until Friday. I’m very excited because he has been the hardest person to talk to for ages, but Clonazepam has changed that significantly. This visit will be the first time I have a chance to be fluent with him. What a fucking miracle! And to think, when I started with Dr. Shoja, everyone I told I was seeing her had absolutely nothing good to say about psychiatrists. Often, people called them pill pushers. Well, people, sometimes those pills really work!

It's cloudy today, and Sheba is still healing, but we will go briefly to the farmers’ market this morning and then I’ll be picking up my new computer from CAYA (and now I don’t need it so much).

Back to the Garden

Thursday was a day of silence and stillness. Sheba went to the groomer, and I spoke with Sarah, otherwise I was silent all day. And I did things that I could do horizontally. I napped, I finished a book, and watched television in the evening. I’m glad I finished my book. I don’t have time to read much in the Summertime, so the gaps between reading sessions are too long. So, it’s time to read my friend Beth’s book of essays. That’s the right kind of thing to do, assuming good weather will finally come, and every day will be spent outdoors.

In the cool and damp evening, I did my usual walkabout. I bought seven new plants, so I chose where to put them all. All I need is one or two more, and I’ll be done, except for future replacements in the gardens, and the odd shrub or tree I might plant in the yard. But there’s no denying, my backyard is a really lovely calming place. There’s birdsong and the tinkling of the fountain for a soundtrack, there are garden and forest fragrances to please the nose and to ignite memories, and the freshness of the air makes one feel so very healthy.

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My eye felt better all day yesterday. It felt better than it has in months. That last treatment seems to have had a very positive effect. I hope it lasts.

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Tonight, I’m having dinner with a friend from my teen years. It’s going to be interesting because we haven’t had a conversation since the early 1960s.

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I reckon that it’s a lot more difficult to actively feel happiness when you live a life like mine. A very routine lifestyle that I call ‘voluntary house arrest, with the odd day parole.’ But I do feel happy (when I’m not doing psychological strip mining). Going to the market is almost exciting for me. Will there be Chinese take-away? Will there be fresh Dill? Coriander? Should I have a donut?

It’s easier to feel happy, it seems, when you have distractions to keep your mind and soul occupied. Cities are full of distractions, television is a distraction, phones and social media keep billions of people mind numbingly entertained. But here, there is little to offer me distraction, partly because of where I am, and partly because my seizures prevent me from attending many local events. Regardless, I am thoroughly content.

Today is wet, wet, wet. It rained overnight and every surface is dripping. I’ll be indoors puttering, napping, and reading (maybe). Come Monday, the sunshine returns, so I will be outdoors all day and walking, and that is a great, great day. It’s these days indoors that pass more slowly. I am very conscious of the preciousness of the complete freedom to do as I desire, and only as I desire, that I enjoy. And smack right up against the forest. On an island. In the Salish Sea. I love that name.

Here are photos from my walkabout last night.

My hanging basket is all blues—Laburnum and Petunia. It's on the
deck because when it's hanging, it gets too much water when it s'raining
as hard as its been lately.

This is a succulent garden in a pot. I have it on the deck.

Some of my new plants.

More of my new plants.

This garden thrills me. I created it this year and its become so
richly green and lush very quickly. The Ocean Spray in the 
background is bout to bloom.

This magnificent bush will soon be a source of fragrance that
will fill my yard with a Jasmine scent. Hooray!

The Roses are blooming, the Hydrangea is about to bloom. THis
garden is full and vibrant.

The Irish Moss I planted around the pavers that
I put down to create a path to the forest is filling
in brilliantly.

This is how I love my beds. Hardly any soil is visible.

This is Campion, a beautiful wild flower with a disco past.

The Campion front the Gate Garden, so called because the gate
in the upper left of the photo. opens onto the forest.

The Gate Garden.

I love having colour around the tree bases.

This garden is filling out nicely.

The base of another tree.

This is the garden where most of the new plants will go.

This Dianthus is spectacularly fragrant.

My Eye is Healed!

Wednesday was what it was. It was a practical day. Sheba did not want to walk this morning, so we just passed time at home. Then, not long before we were to leave, I caught her digging at her foot. She’d destroyed one pad, so I put Polysporin on it and then put a sock on her. Then, off we went to catch the 11:00 am ferry.

Once on the big island, we went directly to the nursery, and I bought a lot of lovely plants. I can’t stop, but this batch will go into holes in the gardens and will likely be the last of the plantings. My gardens will be full. In the future, I’ll just buy annuals for vivid colours and baskets. Then we went to my favourite sushi place for my favourite lunch and the spicy tuna roll was not at all to my liking. New chef, I imagine, and so that’s the end of going there for lunch.

I went in early to see the eye surgeon, and all is okay with my eye. The irritating sensation that is occurring constantly in that eye is a separate issue, but I chose to just live with it. I am sick of going to doctors. I was done quickly, and we hurried to the ferry terminal, arriving just as the ferry was arriving. We were home not long after 3:00. I am thrilled with my new plants. They are currently still in their pots on the deck, and I love them all.

Have you noticed? There’s been no Diary of a Madman entries for a while. I went through a lot, emotionally, over this whole ‘neglect’ thing. It was as painful as accepting my speech and physical symptoms, but now the worst is over. Plus, I’m on this new drug that has improved my quality of living. And further, I’m sticking pretty close to home, it is summertime, and my gardens please me, they look very good this year.

Today, Sheba got groomed first thing this morning, and now, the rest of the day will pass pleasantly, one way or another.

Off to See the Eye Surgeon

I spent yesterday morning watering all the beds thoroughly. It took 2 hours, but I am surprised to be at total peace with the demands of watering this year. My plants are as friends to me, and so to care for them is rewarding. Once that was done, I arranged for my free ferry pass with the government service, and then Sheba and I went for a long and lovely walk together. I felt good walking because I knew that all my plants were happy.

Then it was time to stain the deck. Again, I was thoroughly happy to do the work. I’m not rushed, Pete did the hard part, and it is so satisfying to stain new wood on the deck. It is looking fine and there is no more rot. I felt over-the-moon to finish the staining because not the whole project, begun so dramatically last year, is now finished.

When I was done, I took time to rest in the sunshine. How I love the warmth of the sun on my skin when it is not too hot outside. I lay on my recliner for a nice early afternoon rest while the stain dried on the deck. After my nap, I put the plants back on the deck and order was restored. Today, when I go back to the eye surgeon, I shall look for some more plants to fill a few holes in two of the beds. How I love this time of year, and how I love gardening!

Today is cloudy and rain is predicted. I am praying for it to pour while Her Highness and I are in Nanaimo. I’m seriously looking forward to a sushi lunch and some browsing time in the big nursery there. Then I see the surgeon, then we come home to Pinecone Park. I can hardly wait to be back home, and I haven’t even left yet.