| Posted on Thursday, January 08, 2004 - 02:24 pm: |   |
Well, it seems our hospital made the decision to close all surgeries for two weeks over Christmas, so they are busy pushing back all the surgeries now. I am not alone, and I do feel better about it all. It's just that I was being so brave...
Went swimming today. It turns out that pretty much everything was shut down here yesterday because of the hazardous road conditions. Tomorrow should be better yet because it's quite a bit warmer. |
| Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 12:30 am: | |
Wayne and I had a quick trip to Nanaimo and back today (he's night shift tonight). The sun was almost shining and there was very little snow. We came back home and felt like we were driving into winter. We still have a lot of snow...and the drive is only an hour. We're on the west side of the island...and almost everything else is on the right side.
So, after months of not having an evening to myself, what did I do? Enjoy it? Go to bed early with my book? No, I cleaned the cupboard in the bathroom, threw out expired tablets, organized some things to be donated.... Now I have a krick in my neck.
So I thought I'd check in her before going to bed...with my book (I'm determined). Wanda guessed the mystery buddy...good for her! And I'm hoping Treanna's computer will be okay.
I have a photo..of the rose my SIL gave youngest DD. It's so regal. I've never seen one like this. (He gives her roses often...can you tell they're newlyweds.)
And I sewed the buttons on oldest DD's new Aran sweater that I finished knitting. What a relief to have that done.
I was looking for some older photos of my garden but the floppy drive on the computer doesn't work. I managed to save my word processing stuff...but am not sure how I will get the rest. And I have photos of the grand girls too. Oh my... I need to amend my resolutions to making sure I have back-ups on anything important. I thought I knew that... |
| Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 11:05 am: | |
Yikes...just had a call to say I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. It's probably best for me to have little notice. It means only 24 hours of fretting...
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| Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 10:24 am: | |
I woke up this morning and the sun was shining. The sky is almost blue. It's so much warmer. And I thought, "Life is good!" I'm feeling so much better now that most of the drugs are out of my system. I think the pain medication is affecting my brain though, because I have such wonderful dreams when I sleep (a bonus!).
I'm hoping to take a picture of the flowers. They smell heavenly, although Nibbs, for some crazy reason, thought she'd have a nibble on the lavender...??
Thank you, Gardenbuddies, for the emails and kind postings. I'm doing just great!!
It was so good to see Phyllis here (darn computers anyhow). And some are off on holidays soon...lucky ducks!
Okay, that's all I can write. I'm looking forward to catching up in the next day or two... |
| Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 09:02 pm: | |
Today was like Spring here and my poor bulbs have been deceived. They're poking their little heads up and I would like to tell them, "No, no, go back!" Now I wish I'd written down what I planted where. The sun felt so good today, and I saw blue sky!
Must get busy with the digital camera and deal with the photos I have on the memory stick before the job becomes too big.
Today was better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better yet! |
| Posted on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 12:05 am: | |
I'm 'getting there'. I started my day quite late and think it may have been a good thing to do. It's still mild here so I tidied up the bird feeders, hosed down the sidewalks and part of the driveway. Even the younger cats came out for a little while. They don't handle winter weather very well, and I wonder often if it's this way with all pure breeds. Oh well, they did get out and then they had a very good sleep.
I'm healing, but dealing more with the reaction to the tape for the original dressing. We actually put tape on the back of my hand before the surgery to see if I would react, and I didn't. But suppose the skin on my back is different.
However, each day is so much better.
Yesterday I bought VIP tickets for 'Quiddam'. the Cirque du Soleil show that is coming to Vancouver. Last year we went to 'Allegria' and loved it. It's nice to have something like that to look forward to, and we'll stay overnight in the big city this time. I'm hoping for many good things in 2004!
This is how the young ones 'play in the snow'.
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| Posted on Monday, January 19, 2004 - 09:16 pm: | |
I actually went for a car ride today! It's quite mild at the moment and I really enjoyed the fresh air. Now I'm ready for bed. I feel like the cats when they spend just a little time outside and then curl up for a long sleep when they come in. I planned to study my internet book more tonight, but will settle for my latest novel in the tub and off to bed.
I am grateful for what I have and the things I can enjoy. Morning coffee with my books and my little Ming tree. It's over 25 years old!
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| Posted on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 12:32 am: | |
My goodness, it's Friday (wee hours) already. This week went so fast.
Had the stitches out on Wednesday and I wish that was the end of it, but I'm having to have the dressing changed five or six times each day. I hadn't bargained for this...
However, I do feel a lot better, and know when this is done I'll be able to get back to my usual activities and enjoy them even more. I haven't been 'down', but kind of 'out of the loop'. Our oldest daughter came for a visit yesterday and while I really enjoyed her company, it kind of bothered me that I couldn't do all the cooking and preparing...I couldn't even make up the bed properly. And she was fine and pitched in to do whatever she could. She's so easy to be around. I suppose I'm having a bit of trouble 'letting' those around me do the things I normally would do.
My house smells wonderful with all the flowers and I spent a little time today taking photos.
Wayne's new floppy drive arrived and he's installed it. Now all the floppy disks are working and I will put all that information on CD, something with a longer shelf life than the floppies. I have photos and word processing pieces that I'd like to keep in a safer place.
Gardenbuddies is growing so fast, especially this January. What a nice group of people.
I'm off to bed. Tuckered out from doing so little. My fingers itch to pull a few weeds, but it's not the time for that.
I put a new batch of 'Morning Madness' out for the birds and we have a little Flicker that comes to nibble now. And today I was surprised by a sea gull, of all things, and not a shy one at that! He came right up to the house for some of the bird feed.
'Night all! |
| Posted on Monday, January 26, 2004 - 08:40 pm: | |
I've been organizing. Once I made a huge mess after cleaning the clothes closet in the back bed room, I started on the computer. I've procrastinated about organizing photos and burning them onto a CD. However, I stopped so many times to have a good look at a picture of the blooms from last summer I've now lost my energy and have to stop before I get confused.
I can go back to the pool tomorrow, finally! And I realize I've healed up quite well, but that in-between stage is not much fun.
This is what it's like in my garden today....
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| Posted on Thursday, January 29, 2004 - 09:01 pm: | |
Well, good grief! We had some lovely Spring-like days and I've enjoyed getting out and walking around. Three times this week I went swimming for 1 1/2 hours each day and enjoy it so much. Wayne and I decided to go down Island tomorrow and meet up with our computer guy and buy a few items not available here in the Valley. Little did we know that as we were making our plans it was snowing outside!!! Wayne is shovelling the driveway right now (I understand from Greg that this 'exercise' is great for weight loss...but don't think Wayne will be impressed if I tell him that).
Monique, I live in Port Alberni, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. There is a long canal from our city to Barclay Sound in the Pacific Ocean, and we have to cross a mountain range to get to the East side of the Island. I imagine it is snowing fairly heavy up on the 'Hump' (as we affectionately call the mountain), and it is also our only route out of the valley. So far this season it has been shut down several times so the road could be cleared of snow or motor vehicle accidents. There are three big curves on the East side of the mountain that we call 'The Triple Terrors', and that is where the majority of the accidents are. They're not really dangerous if the vehicle has good tires and the driver would go a little slower.
Our climate is fairly mild, especially compared to the majority of our province, although we're not quite as mild here as Victoria, where the snowdrops are already blooming! It's actually not all that uncommon for our daffodils to start blooming and then we have a snowfall, but our snow is fairly wet and usually doesn't last very long.
Also we may have a week of -5º--10ºC weather, with beautiful blue skies, then snow, then rain and on into the Spring-like weather.
I'm hoping this snow will turn to rain and we won't get the winds that have been forecast for lower British Columbia.
Well, that's my mini-novel for tonight!
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| Posted on Sunday, February 01, 2004 - 01:10 am: | |
Change of plans today. We went to a funeral, and tea at the golf club. It wasn't a really sad occasion, although that's a little difficult to explain. Bill was 93 and had lived a wonderful life, was in great health right up until the last couple of months. He died at home with his family there.
And we still have some snow. It's been quite cold here. Last night I was reading in bed and could hear Wayne outside by the wood shed. The snow was crunching under his feet. I was a little surprised when I heard water running in the bathroom. Either we had a problem, or it was something else outside! Today I saw the deer prints in the snow.
Maybe tomorrow I can spend some time and catch up on Gardenbuddies. |
| Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - 06:07 pm: | |
I've been doing so well and had a little set-back yesterday. I suppose it was a combination of things, so, today I slowed down a bit. Our youngest daughter and her new husband are coming up Island for the night. I'm not expecting them until quite late, but I'll take them anyway I can get them!!
I stopped at the supermarket today and had a good sniff where all the Spring flowers are kept. The daffodils...heavenly! Oh, what a tease!
On my way home from town I have to drive through a grove of trees, quite a stretch of fir and cedar, alder and maple trees. On the forest floor in the Spring it is just covered with trilliums and when I see them I know that Spring is here. Guess what I've been looking for? I know it's too early, but I look nevertheless.
I'm off to mix up some more 'Morning Madness' for the birds. I can almost see them tapping a little claw on the sidewalk, just waiting for a new batch to come out to the feeder. And I managed to get a rather large jar of peanut butter with no additives, so I can make a big batch. |
| Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 04:21 pm: | |
So nce to have youngest daughter and her husband here for the day. They arrived late last night and both have to work tomorrow. However, not only is it snowing on the Hump (although it probably won't be too deep) but the highway in Cathedral Grove is closed because of an accident, so it will be a while before they can leave. Most accidents don't keep the highway closed for very long, but this was different.
They were late arriving last night, and may be late leaving tonight. I do wish we had an 'alternate' route.
They are so much fun to visit with, so this was a bonus for me, but I can't help but feel very sad for the family and friends of the fatality today on the highway. |
| Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 11:51 pm: | |
DD and SIL made it home okay. I love this instant messaging! And I suppose tomorrow we'll hear more about why the highway was closed. It would be so nice if we had an alternate route out of the Valley. (I deleted the rest of my little speech.)
Okay, tomorrow it's back to the pool.
I still haven't finished my order from the seed catalogue. Am working on it!
I need to find some sun! |
| Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 12:22 am: | |
We had sunshine today! It felt so good! I had a walk around the garden and took a good look at the weeds. They seem to keep growing! The ground is still pretty soggy, but I was making mental notes of what needs dividing and trimming.
Then I went to Bonitoad's and had a look through her seed catalogues. The choices! She had been to Seedy Saturday in Qualicum today and was tickled with her purchases.
A good day! |
