Hamnet is Coming!!

I can hardly wait. 

I was shuffling along all morning, zombified by the events of Monday. However, I was happy to know that nothing untoward was likely to happen all day, so I could relax and just focus on watering. I felt no pressure to do any other tasks except one big load of laundry: I washed my sheets, pillow slips and duvet cover, and hung them out to dry.

I love drying my laundry outdoors. Photochemical reactions from sunlight and ozone create pleasant-smelling aldehydes and ketones like those found in nature and in perfume. Additionally, the sun's ultraviolet light can kill bacteria that may create musty odors. Solar cleaning!

I had to cut and bundle all the cardboard that packaged the chaise and put all the plastic in a plastic bag so that everything could to GIRO, our recycling agency. Then a short rest before tackling the watering of the front beds and trees, and the edible garden beds. It’s a zen exercise when my head is clear of stress and worry over things like all the things that happened on Monday.

Once the front yard was done, we had lunch. Then it was time to water all the beds of the backyard, and I was happy to see that they had all revived after my late watering on Monday, the day of horror. And when I finished watering, Her Highness and I walked the lovely cool trail of Elder Cedar.

The courier arrived just as we were preparing to leave for our walk. He had the waybill he needed and so all my CAYA equipment has gone back to them. My progress is preciously slow, but when I started making phone calls, I knew my speech was improving. It’s about time. Come April, I’ll be marking my ten-year anniversary of seizures and poor speech.

I’ve reached a point of saturation with movies. I cancelled by Netflix subscription last night because every movie I tried to watch bored me. Instead, I puttered around the house and garden, and we all went to bed early.

Today there are some thin high clouds. Tomorrow is predicted to be overcast. I’ll enjoy the break from the endless watering. I’ll water again today, but likely not tomorrow. And then we’re back to endless sunshine and more hight temperatures. Pooey!

A Terrible Day

What a fucking shit day I had. Everything except our morning walk was a shit show. Right after our walk, I went to the pharmacy to see if my HIV drugs had arrived. They hadn’t. I called the pharmacy, but no one answered, so I left a message. That was at 10:30.

By 14:00, no phone call, so I got worried. My concern is due to knowing that 24 hours after the last dose, the virus can mutate if a dose is missed and then my HIV medications might no longer work. I phoned several different offices trying to get help. They all forwarded my call to the number where no one answers.

I called the pharmacy on the island, and by mid-afternoon, the drugs had still not arrived. Finally, I decided to call the number and leave a more urgent message and that worked. A lovely pharmacist called back. And do you know what she said? She said, “We have no record of your having called us to order the prescription refill.”

Again, as with fucking Frani and the fucking mental health nurse here, the pharmacist was putting the blame on me. I am so sick of that. However, she was a polite, warm person and so I just told her how panicked I was because I had only 2 more pills to take, and I explained my fear of mutation. She was aware of that concern, and she then apologized for the ‘mix-up.’

She is sending the drugs tomorrow. Hopefully I get them on Thursday, and I won’t miss a day. But the whole experience was terribly upsetting. 

Anticipating the arrival of my new chaise on Friday, I put the old chaise up for grabs on our community Facebook pages. That turned out to be prophetic because a Fedex truck arrived with my new chaise even though yesterday was not Friday, the day they said it would arrive.

I could not lift the box, even with the help of the driver, so I went next door and got Dave. He helped me get the box to the front porch just as Nancy was walking by, so all three of us put the thing together. But while I was tightening a screw, the Allen wrench fell through the cracks of the deck.

God felt sorry for me at that point, and I found one that fit in my collection of odd things in my toolbox. We got the thing all put together and into place and I was not a happy camper. There is no back support on this chaise; the old one was excellent, but this one sucks at back support. But it’s clean and it looks nice, so I will cope.

Just as we were finishing, stepped backwards on the cardboard lying on the deck, but where I stepped there was no wood underneath, so I fell backwards towards rocks surrounding the big Rhodo. But Dave caught me. Another reason to love Dave. No sooner was I stable, when another courier arrived. I was expecting it because CAYA had told me it was coming to pick up all my speech devices that I am returning. However, the driver wanted a waybill, but I didn’t have one. CAYA didn’t send me one.

While he waited, I came inside to see if there was a waybill attached to the email from CAYA that gave me the address. Nope. No waybill, so the box is still here. The driver is coming back today if he found a waybill for my box at his headquarters when he returned there yesterday afternoon. Otherwise, CAYA and I will keep working to get these devices back in CAYA’s hands.

Meanwhile, all my plants were fading. Many were flat on the ground because this morning was a scheduled watering day after a hot day without watering, but all my plans went out the window when I discovered no pills had arrived. So late in the afternoon, I started watering all the poor desperate plants.

I finished at 17:30. As I was walking to the tap to turn off the hose, a wasp bit or. Stung me on the lip. A total crapper capper to the day. I was beat both physically and emotionally. I could hardly wait to get dinner prepared and onto the new uncomfortable chaise. I fucked up.

Once I’d had some dinner and a lot of Diet Coke, and after I’d had my feet up on the uncomfortable new chaise and all the swelling in my feet went down, I felt reasonably well, but I had sore ribs from trying to be comfortable on the fucking chaise. Sigh. The old one was perfect, but it was falling apart and hard to dismount.

What a nightmare of a day.

Today can only be better. I shall water, of course, but I’m hoping for a low stress day today. It’s a beautiful day again.

Sunday in the Park with Sheba

Miracles do happen. I took my iPhone with me on our late morning walk and to Drumbeg Park and to Silva Bay where I had my lunch, and when I came home, I figured out how to get the photos that I took onto my computer so that I could post them on my blog. 

Yesterday was a write-off. I got up, fed the brood and went back to bed. Got up and took Sheba to Drumbeg to walk and then we went to Silva Bay to get lunch from the food truck. Then home and back to bed. I had no energy for anything. At around 16:00, I went next door with Sheba to visit with Dave and Ursula. When we came home, we had dinner and then I went to bed early.

I was worried that I would not sleep well because I’d been sleeping much of the day, but no, I slept like a baby all through the night. Today must be different because there are a ton of things to do in the garden—including a dousing of all the beds. But we will walk with our friends and then I will finish watering all the beds and trees. (I got a head start early this morning!)

Last night I watched a rather remarkable film, a documentary about a stutterer. His story felt veryfamiliar, including his decision to perform. It inspired me, but I have mental illness as well as a stutter and he doesn’t, so I couldn’t possibly do all that he did. He went all over the world doing TED Talks. I will never ever again get into a plane. But what a story he tells. I’m very glad that Beth alerted me to him and his film.

My entire week is empty. I have no appointments or guests. I’m very happy to have so much time to myself. Now I’m off to water.

Finally, thanks for your comment, Sharon Dawn! I find that if I water in the morning, I have to water again the following morning. But if I water in the afternoons, I can skip a day of watering and that is something I love to do. I have mulch to help ensure that the water doesn't evaporate quickly. The big problem is that I have too many beds and plants.

Drumbeg is very dry. All the grasses are brown, but it is still the most beautiful
place on the island to go for a picnic.

I love walking part of the time along the beaches because it is one giant sheet
of sandstone. However, right now it is too hot to walk Sheba on the rock.

This is Silva Bay park where the Fire Truck Grill is. I love coming here on Sundays
because there is music, lots of artisanal stuff being sold by vendors in under their''
tents. There are always lots of kids and dogs playing, and there are plenty of tables
and chairs to sit on.

This is the Firetruck Grill. That's Sharon taking orders where the cabin of the old
truck is, and Chris, the cook, is in the back where the kitchen is.

The musicians were fabulous. They add a great deal to the ambiance of the place.

Sleeping In

I slept in until 6:00 yesterday, and I did so again this morning. As it stays dark later and later in the morning, Fred lets me sleep in longer. I fed the brood and at 7:30, I went back to bed and slept until 9:00. When I got up, I took Sheba for a morning walk. She seems better already, more herself, and more interested in walking. I’m very relieved and grateful for the medication. 

After our walk, we went to the farmers’ market and I got some things from Kenny and donuts from my favourite baking lady, and when we got home, I had another nap before lunch. After eating, I got to watering, but after I’d watered most of the backyard beds, I came in for a rest, a drink and then I wanted to lie down. I could not shake fatigue.

I actually slept, and when I got up, I finished the backyard beds and then did the edible garden and then all the trees and beds in the front yard. When I was done, I took Sheba to the 707 Park to walk but she wasn’t up for that. She is clearly much better than she’s been for many days, but she hates the heat, and she did not want to walk.

Back at home, we chilled in the wonderful coolness of the house. I had no idea how spectacularly cool logs kept a home when I bought this place. It’s just terrific to work in the heat—it was 30° yesterday afternoon—and then to be able to come into such a wonderfully cool place to rest. I was literally chilling on my breaks. 

When I flopped onto the chaise at 5:00, my left ankle looked like a football. My toes looked tiny, and I couldn’t wiggle them. It’s gotta be the heat. It seems to me that the hotter it gets, the fatter my ankles get. Plus, I was on my feet a lot, at the market, puttering around the house, and watering.

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When I think about my life, the soundtrack of my reverie is Is That All There Is by Peggy Lee. I don’t know the lyrics of the song, it’s just that line and how she sang it. I heard it on the radio when I was a kid, and it stuck. The words she sang made her sound bored, but the way she sang it sounded sad to me.

I needn’t ask myself that question. Pinecone Park is all there is. I chose to retreat to this paradise of mine, in response to the collapse of my mental health. The objective was to minimize stimulation, thereby minimizing the severity of my symptoms. Dr. Shoja said, when I told her that I’d bought this place, “That will do more for you than I can.”  That’s why I planted the garden and got my three beloveds. That’s all there is, but I am never sad. My prison feels like the nicest phase of my life.

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Today, of course, is sunny and it’s already warm early in the morning. But it is My Day, so I shall do as little watering as possible, and we’ll likely go to Silva Bay for lunch at the food truck.