I Could Swim

 In this humidity and if I was a better swimmer.

I nearly drown in the rain barrel when I was two. Someone (my dad) had left the cover off. Being of a curious nature, I looked in and there I went. I remember standing on the bottom, looking up and thinking how pretty the sun sparkling on the water looked. Then wondering why I couldn’t get out and why I couldn’t breathe. The youngest brother was always working on a project, so it was a miracle that he heard me. He called mom “Mom Jean’s in the rain barrel”.  Ext thing I remember was waking up in the crib. I remember my mom has washed my hair that morning and I had rags in my hair used to make ringlets. I sat up my mom told me to lay down as the water needed to drain out of my lungs. So I. Did and went back to sleep. My dad sure got in heck over that one. This leads to me not trusting myself in water. As an adult I did take swimming lessons. I passed maroon (the old scale) but I never did get the gist of breathing in water. I do so much enjoy aqua sizes and enjoy being in the deep end. Figure that one out.

I did my Dr. appointment yesterday. It was so good for me, not so much for her. Her first appointment was with an elderly couple and their daughter. It would have been a normal appointment if they would have let the daughter interact with doctor. That took her 3/4 of an hour behind. Then it was my turn. As we were going through my test results, a woman went into distress. Another patient got pushed from the other examining room and doctor had her hands full with the woman. She got her stabilized. It was pure luck that doctor’s son was there training a new receptionist cause with them ripping up the parking lot, no ambulance could get in. Son to the rescue and on her way to the hospital. Finished my appointment and as I was leaving an ambulance went speeding by. I guess the son ended up calling an ambulance for said woman. Now Doctor was over an hour behind. It was her first week back after holidays.

My good news? I am fully off antidepressants and my kidney function test means I am no longer in danger of having any kidney issues. What a blessing. However, I am now at that age where for every pill you come off, you get a new one. My diet is perfect as per all the blood work. I have no indication of diabetes but my blood pressure is off just a bit. Oh joy I get another bp pill for the next couple of months.

Took Oakley for short walks every two hours. Did I mention that the humidity is very high making the temperature feel like 40C.

I did deadhead my flower pots, so there is that.

Blessings

Jean

Friday Again

 Oh how the weeks go far too fast. I remember being a kid and each day seemed to go on like forever. Especially during school. 

We are just coming to the end of another thunderstorm. Will the rain ever stop? I do feel for Toronto, they certainly have a mess to clean up.

I did a large grocery stock up on Wednesday. The prices were reasonable. My freezer is now stocked and I will not need any frozen food for months. Produce was okay though being the last day of sales lots of blank spots. 

My fridge is small. It suits though.

I did manage to walk 11.5km (5.5 miles). That made my day. Daughter managed to get some Saskatoons. Saskatoons are a Canadian thing growing in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They are sweet, the size of a blueberry, juicy but has a drier taste. In my opinion they beat blueberries by a mile. Maybe that is because they are a wild plant. There are not many commercial Saskatoon farms around. We did get money back on our strawberries and managed to get 12 jars of jam. Not sure how many jars my SIL got. Daughter may go pick more Saskatoons today. I hope so, 5 quarts is not much. I will call about raspberries today. After that the cucumbers and beans will be next. 

Have a doctor appointment today. I hate it when there is such a shortage of doctors and yet out doctor insists on seeing each of her patients every three months. If she would only see us once a year for a good checkup then she could take on many more patients who have no doctor. As is, I am sure, there are doctor shortages around the world.

Guess that’s it for now.

Blessings

Jean

Loving This Day

 We had an early thunderstorm. Now it is partly cloudy, windy and beautifully cool.

I am onto my next step of downsizing. For me this means getting rid of items not needed, things moved etc. in other words just crap. I am tired of the bugs so ditched most of my plants. I repurposed my plant stand into my studio (crap room #2). Now I need to vacuum, dust and wash the floors. I also threw out stuff from my fridge freezer that got lost and is over a year old. Why did I not eat it? Good question. I don’t like salmon any more and I don’t like beet borscht anymore. I had a couple of items I made that were way too salty and since I have kidney issues, out they went. Do I feel guilty? No was stuff taking up valuable property. 

What happened yesterday? Nothing of importance. Since having Oakley neutered, he is having issues with going to the bathroom in the house. We couldn’t do long walks last week due to the heat, so we have been doing short walks every two hours. It was better so will continue on in that vein for a while till all pertinent items are healed. I thought dogs heal fast, but not so. The vet told me it could take a couple of months for everything to heal. Also, his hormones are out of whack and that also will take time. Wish I lived in a house then it wouldn’t be such an issue. Here in the apartment he smells all the other dogs and still needs to mark his territory. I need to be fully attentive with this issue. I also went down the rabbit whole watching infield events at the Calgary Stampede and other ones also.

The plans this week include (I hope) renting a truck to take a few things to the dump. I wish we had better recycling here. Oh well.

He is getting so long.

Blessing 

Jean

I Will Not Complain

 Well, maybe I will. 

The last few years I have not had to use the a/c. This year has not been too bad until this week. The temperatures have not been too bad 30-32C. It is the humidity that is getting us down. It is making it feel like 40C.  To add insult to injury, all the fruit is ready at once. Strawberries - done. Didn’t even last a week. Hapsiks - done. Did not even get one. Saskatoons - almost done. I am on a waiting list but it’s not looking good. Raspberries are almost done. Was not expecting those till August. Mind you in this heat who feels like canning - not me. Secretly, I think I am just getting lazy in my old age.

Every day I plan out my day. It never goes as planned. In my youth with a husband that worked roughly 125 hours per week, with three kids plus daycare kids, I had a large garden plot, went out foraging, did all the usual household stuff plus the yard stuff and still had energy to pick, can and freeze. We had a well stocked cupboard. Even after I quite daycare and worked full time, I still did it all. I am not tooting my own horn. I did what was needed. My poor husband would come through the door, sit on the step to take his work boots off, then fall asleep. I was happy as a clam doing my part. 

Now it is just me. I don’t eat very much.  The Millwright’s wife does all their canning and freezing. SWMBO does enough for her and some elderly neighbours. The Golfer eats at work. At home he lives on peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The Grad does intermittent fasting so she eats later in the day. She has a discount so buys groceries from work. The boys live with mom during the week. They have a fully stocked pantry and they both cook. When at dad’s, they get SHWMBO to take them shopping for groceries they will/can cook. Oldest grandson a.k.a All things Airport eats at work or at his moms. Life is way different for me. I still get the urge to plant, pick, can, freeze, dehydrate etc but there is no sense to build up a huge pantry. It does mean that I purchase what I eat on sale and my small pantry is full so I can make whatever I feel like. I have to keep in mind that a family size meal cooked is easily 7 or 8 meals frozen for later meals.  Now I can relate to how my mom could say she was sick of cooking.  I do on occasion get the need to cook up a lot, but that need goes away fast once I think of all the work, the cleanup and where to store everything. 

I am thankful for blogs that I read which keep me on the straight and narrow of a frugal lifestyle. 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Blessings

Jean

July 9th, 2024

 We are finally getting out of the rain. Now the heat comes. This week won’t be too bad. Highs in the low 30sC, humidex much higher. Means early morning walks. Oakley’s feeding schedule will mean him eating as soon as we get up, then walking no later than an hour later. 

I have lost 4 lbs this week. It helps that yesterday, we walked 6 miles. So proud of the pup. He so enjoyed it. The mosquitoes weren’t too bad. Interesting thing though, they were only out in the sunny areas. Had a good look at one of the drainage ditches in town. I don’t think it will dry up before fall.

Daughter and I went for breakfast on Friday morning. She then picked up strawberries. When she got home, she noticed the top part was all good the middle and bottom portions were all mouldy. She sure gave them a blast and has put it out on social media to not go there for ready pick. The only reason we went with ready pick this year is that both of us are struggling with lower back issues.

Well We’ll Well

 It’s raining yet again. Yesterday was nice to the point we could sit out.

Saturday was cold with clouds off and on. It rained early morning. We had the grad party. Not all family could be here. Some were camping. It was a good visit with every one.

The graduate and BF

The strawberries are ready to pick, but no one can get onto the fields. Some areas have water just sitting in the fields. Some had hoped to open today. Well that didn’t happen. I sure hope it dries out soon or we will be out of luck. Other fruits are ready also but again too much rain.

It does give one time to read or do other activities. I have been blessed in that I was able to walk Oakley twice with only a few rain drops. Hope the rest of the day allows for dryer walks. Wet dog doesn’t smell great.

He is spunky today chasing toys like there is no tomorrow. He is feeling much better after last weeks surgery.

Blessings

Jean