Medical

Not a stock up trip: this is what $262 looks like, ER visit and nasty road conditions (unrelated!)

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My goodness, how things can change in a short time!

Today was supposed to be my day to do our first stock up shopping trip in the city. There’s one major street with several stores I go to that are all conveniently in a row. I save the Costco shopping for another trip.

Then I got a phone call yesterday, late afternoon.

Against our advice, my mother had made an appointment with the doctor in the hospital clinic near her place. They have one doctor that comes in one day a week. That appointment was yesterday afternoon, and a friend from church was driving her. We’ve advised against it as we’ve started the process to try and get her into long term care, and switching doctors could slow that down, but we can’t stop her if she decides otherwise. When she told me about the appointment, I just asked her to call me after and let me know if she had officially switched doctors, so I could call home care and let them know. The only reason she’d told me about it was because I’d called her to pass on a message from the home care coordinator! She had just gotten home from the walk in clinic when I called. She was having issues with her breathing again, which she says has been getting worse. From what I’ve seen the last couple of times I’ve been with her, it definitely has, though she still says it’s the worst when she’s lying down in bed. Apparently, they didn’t actually see her, but made an appointment for the next day.

I didn’t get a call from my mother.

I got a call from the ER in the hospital in her town, instead.

She’d gone to the clinic, but it turned out the appointment was with a nurse practitioner, because the doctor wasn’t there that day. After checking on her and hearing her complaints, he sent her to the ER. They were treating her on the assumption of heart failure, based on the symptoms she described, which she told them she’d had for only a couple of weeks.

She’s been complaining about these symptoms for longer than we’ve been back in this province.

I spoke to the nurse for a while, as my mother was having difficulties remembering her medical history. She asked about the contact numbers they had on file, so I also let them know that I was the nearest of my siblings and to call me first but, if things got to such a point, my brother is PoA, so he would be the one to call for decision making authority. Since this hospital doesn’t have a doctor, they were in the process of doing an EKG, and where then going to transfer her to the nearest ER.

An ER with a doctor.

She mentioned the two most likely ER location possibilities, one of which my mother would probably refuse to go back to, so I filled in about that, too, and why. After we spoke, she told me she would call back once they knew where she would be going.

Which turned out to be the hospital we are closest to.

So much of my evening was spent keeping on top of things and updating my siblings. By the final call I made to the hospital my mother was transferred to, it was concluded that my mother had pulmonary edema.

I had remembered and made sure to call them earlier about the kidney function issues my mother had, some time ago, and this was why she was no longer on water pills. By then, they’d already figured it out.

Pulmonary edema certainly explain her breathing problems!

So my plans changed for today. I was originally going to go to the post office for some packages that came in yesterday, then head towards town to take a particular highway straight into the city and the street with the stores I meant to go to. Instead, I would go to into town to see my mother at the hospital (after phoning to confirm where she was and what room she was assigned to), then go to the city.

After our very warm day, followed by a colder one yesterday, I started seeing all sorts of reports for poor highway conditions, today. All that melting resulted in roads that were icy and snow packed. Today was supposed to be a bit warmer again, but the high winds were back, so now there was blowing snow on top of everything else.

At that point, I was going to decide whether I would go to the city or not, based on what the conditions were like when I got to the hospital to see my mother.

The east-west road to town was not too bad; there were icy patches. Enough to drive below the speed limit, but nothing too excessive – until I got closer to town, when it was all ice.

Then I got to the junction for the highway I would have been taking to go to the city.

It was barricaded in one direction with vehicles, warning cones, people in high viz vests, and a sign saying “emergency scene ahead”. Wherever the emergency scene was, though, it was too far away to see from this intersection. The cross roads are every mile, so that’s not surprising.

My brother was talking about visiting my mother after work, if the roads were safe, so once I parked at the hospital, I updated my siblings on road conditions, as well as posting on the highway conditions group I’m on.

As for my mother, though she has been admitted, she was still in their ER and not yet transferred to her room. They had just finished doing another series of tests on her.

She’s actually doing really well.

She was still wired for EKG; they just need to plug her in for the next test. She had an IV port, but no IV. They’d given her the IV version of her old water pills, and she was already feeling a difference. They’re going to do bloodwork repeatedly to figure out what’s going on with her. She expects to be there for just a few days, though typically, someone admitted with her symptoms would be there for a week.

We had a good visit, and I told her I’ve been keeping my siblings up to day. I also told her about my brother hoping to visit this evening, if road conditions are safe, but they didn’t seem to be. I even checked again while she went to the washroom and found more recent updates from people saying how icy the conditions were on the highways.

As for that accident scene, it turned out a couple of miles of highway was shut down, and the medical helicopter from the city had to be brought in!

My mother said she was just fine without any visits!!

I had already decided by then that I would NOT be going to the city. I’m going to be in the nearer city tomorrow, after dropping the cats off at the vet, anyhow, so I can do most of the stock up shopping there.

After having a good visit with my rather indestructible mother (seriously. She’s amazing), I headed to the local grocery store, instead. I was just going to pick up a few things to tide us over and then head home.

Well, I ended up going an almost stock up trip. I took advantage of a lot of sales.

This is what $262.32 looks like.

Quite a lot of stuff is buried and can’t be seen in the photo.

Because of all the sales, I found myself with a ridiculously long receipt, and had to take two pictures to make it manageable. Here’s the top half.

The cat food was one necessity. We’ve still got feed store kibble, but the inside cats will not eat it! Even the outside cats don’t like this particular brand of feed store kibble, though they do like the other brand this feed store carries. So I got two 8kg bags of house brand kibble, which was a lot more affordable. Hopefully, the cats will actually eat it!

The Basmati rice is for my husband, as we’re low and that’s usually a Costco item. He does love his rice!

My daughter requested and sent funds for energy drinks. The cases of 4 were on sale, so I got two. At Costco, I will pick up a flat for her. The Coke Zero is for my husband and I.

My husband requested nacho fixings and there were sales on, so I got four bags of nacho chips, in hopes to have enough unbroken chips to make a decent sized batch of nachos! The salsa dip is for him as well.

I even remembered to grab garlic powder, as we ran out.

The pre-sliced olives were for the nachos. The canned fruit cocktail was a good sale, so I picked those up as a pantry treat.

I don’t normally buy cereal, but do pick it up as a treat when it’s on sale. Two boxes are in flavours my daughters like, two for my husband and I.

I got a flat of eggs, because we always need eggs. The blocks of cheese were on sale, so I got one regular and one lactose free. We still had cheese at home, but since we’re making nachos, we’ll be using up a lot more than usual in a short time.

I got only 1 pound of butter because it was on sale. I’ll pick up the month’s supply at Costco.

Since we got cereal, I got more regular milk and oat milk. The frozen perogies were another sale item that also got me extra points on my Scene card. The rice crackers were for my husband. It doesn’t show, but those were on sale, as was the bag of McIntosh apples and the baby spinach.

The bacon was also on sale, plus there was a points bonus, so I got two packages. Same with the hot dog wieners. Which means I had to get hot dog buns, which were not on sale. It amazes me that the buns cost more than the wieners! I picked up a couple of loaves of Texas Toast bread, so I got some sliced meats for sandwiches. They are “pizza” meats, but they’ll make good sandwiches, too.

I also picked up more dips for the nachos that my daughters and I like; a 6 layer dip and an artichoke asiago dip.

That made my bill a total of $262.32 after taxes for 43 items, while my total discounts and savings was $57.66, for a 19% savings. I also earned 1230 points with just this trip, which more than doubled my balance. I save the points for times when getting cash off my groceries will be an extra help. As of right now, I could get $20 off, but I’ll save that for a tighter month.

So I ended up getting more than planned, with a lot of things I don’t get very often. We could easily go for some time without a full stock up trip, but after I drop off the cats at the vet tomorrow, I will be close to both a Walmart and a Canadian Tire, which is where I will get specific stock up items without the big city trip. I had been looking forward to going to the international grocery store in the city, as today is the last day for some promotions and sales, but I’ll just have to miss them this time. The Costco trip might be on Friday, or on the weekend.

As for tomorrow, I’m really hoping the roads improve, because there is no way I’m skipping getting the cats to the vet. The rescue set this up for us, and I’d hate to be a no-show. The Cat Lady would understand, but the vet gets so many no-shows, they’ve had to start banning people from their cheap spay days for it. I don’t want to get the Cat Lady in trouble with one of the few vets that gives her such decent discounts! Plus, I will be meeting the Cat Lady, then later on will meet with someone from a feral and stray cats group that has some donated cat food for us.

I would normally live an hour before drop off time, even though it typically takes 45-55 minutes to get to the nearer city, but with potentially bad road conditions, I will plan on leaving even earlier.

I just really hope we can catch either Brussel or the fluffy lady – the ones I am sure are pregnant right now. Sprout has shown up again and had the boys following her around. The last time I saw her, the boys were no longer following her, so she probably is, too. No possibility of catching her without a trap, though. The fluffy lady is our best bet to catch, I think. We’re booked for one male and one female, and we will bring in whichever ones we can snag!

Well, that’s where things stand today. I’ll be calling the hospital again later today to see if there are any updates on my mother. I don’t expect my brother or sister to make the drive out to visit, but there is another highway they could take that is supposed to be in better condition, so we’ll see. Unfortunately, since I’ll be having cats in the truck with me, I won’t be able to visit my mother tomorrow. We’ll see how things go over the next few days.

What would be ideal is for the home care panel to see what’s going on with my mother and this will be enough to get her into the nursing home she wants to be in! That would make her so happy.

We shall see!

The Re-Farmer

Moving forward

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First, the cuteness!

I would really like to be able to get that fluffy lady and get her spayed! She does sometimes let me pet her, but not very often of late.

This morning, I tried for a head count and got 29, which is the highest I’ve counted in a while. Not sure what to make of that, but cats will cat, I guess!

A brief update on our plumbing situation. Any time I hear a pump go off, I am checking the basement, even if it’s just the well pump. The septic pump makes a different sound now that the diverter is attached but, strangely, it sounds just like the fan in our bathroom!

There is still a leak somewhere, and I’ve had to top up the filter a few times. Sometimes, the filter cap will be tightly seals. Other times, it won’t be. There was one time I checked when I heard it go off, and the filter was low on water, but there was inflow happening. I waited and watched, and the inflow pressure increased as the water level in the filter increased faster than it drained out, and soon it was properly full and working right.

I updated my brother on all of this. He asked for some photos from different angles, and I figured he was planning to come out and see what he could do about it. Something he did eventually confirm, saying he was going to try something with the “back valve” on the pump. I assume there are valves, but I don’t know anything about what they are or where. I look forward to seeing what he does and learning more about it. Meanwhile, my SIL confirmed that she would be driving my brother out and drop him off, so he can take back their car that they loaned us.

My younger daughter and I needed to go into town to pick up our prescriptions today so, of course, we took advantage of the trip to run other errands.

This meant using the truck. I can’t be using my brother’s car, just because it’s there. I’d used the OBDII scanner last night and confirmed it was still the same sensor that was the issue, so there was really no excuse.

It ran just fine, but I really hate having the check engine light on, and the oil pressure gauge not working.

Our first stop in town was, of course, the pharmacy. My new painkiller prescription was filled yesterday, but my daughter’s was just put on file; when my prescription arrived, they called us about it, asking if I wanted it filled. They never called about my daughter’s prescriptions. They were going to need some time to fill it, so I left her to wait for it and did our other errands. The first was to return that security camera I’d picked up, so we could monitor the septic pump without running up and down the stairs all the time. We never did figure out why it wouldn’t connect to our WiFi.

The exchange was pretty straightforward and quick, so I had time to stop at a grocery store near the pharmacy. It’s not one we normally go to, but it was on the way. All I needed to pick up was butter, but on the way out I’d asked if my daughter had eaten anything, and she hadn’t. It was coming up on lunch time, and I knew she’d been up at around 3am and unable to get back to sleep. So I picked up something for her to eat as well.

That done, I went back to the pharmacy, where my daughter was still waiting. They didn’t have one of the meds as a generic in stock, so she got a name brand, instead. Another, they could only fill half of it. It didn’t take too much longer, though. My daughter used to work at this pharmacy, so she got to catch up a bit with former co-workers.

Since I was able to run our other errands while she waited, once everything was paid for, we were done in town.

This town, at least!

We were starting to run low on kibble, especially for the outside cats, so we made the trip to my mother’s town, next, and to the feed store.

The price on the 40 pound bags has gone up.

The lysine I’d ordered wasn’t in. It’s been quite a while since I requested it, so I was a bit surprised.

From there, we picked up some fuel and headed for home, with a quick side trip to the post office. I was giving one more day for the letter mail that got delayed by the postal strike. If it didn’t come today, I was going to assume it was lost and would have to make arrangements.

I was pretty happy to see that it had finally arrived – but also found a parcel slip. I was not expecting any parcels until next week!

The post office hadn’t reopened for the afternoon, yet, so I couldn’t pick it up. They’d reopen in only 20 minutes, though, so my daughter and I headed home and unloaded. She headed in to put things away, and I went back to the post office, just in time for it to reopen.

Look what came in early!

This is what my brother and I want to try on the ejector. We can’t use the 100′ extension cord my brother set up when he was going to try his heat gun, as it is for 2 prong plugs. We have two, but they are both in use right now. Once my brother retrieves his car, though, one will be freed up, as it’s currently what his block heater is plugged into. I don’t know that we’ll set that up tomorrow, though. If the source of the problem really is the over saturated soil under the ejector, thawing the stand pipe out isn’t going to do much good. It’ll just freeze again. And we certainly don’t want to be switching from the emergency diverter to the ejector on the pump, if only to have to switch it back again later.

We shall see what my brother thinks, when he gets here tomorrow.

Meanwhile, now that we no longer have a clogged drain from the kitchen sink, and the diverter is mostly working fine, we’ve been catching up on dishes and other cleaning jobs. We still haven’t needed to do laundry, though. I’m still on constant alert for the sound of the septic pump; I’m the only one that can hear it when it goes off, and only when I’m in my office/bedroom, which puts a limit on what I can get done.

I really hope whatever my brother has come up with, works!

I must say, though; it may be a pain in the butt to be constantly listening for and checking on that pump, things are a LOT more relaxed now that both the diverter is working, and that clogged drain is cleared!

Meanwhile, I’m hoping to get a much better night’s sleep tonight, with these new painkillers.

At least as much as the cats will allow… 😄😄

The Re-Farmer

What. A. Day!

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The important thing is, we can use our kitchen sink and laundry drain again! Yay!

We couldn’t wait until today to do our laundry, though, so yesterday we did something like four loads of laundry, with the hose draining out the door. The furthest end of the sump pump hose we’re using curls, preventing it from draining completely, so I kept going outside to lift the hose, from the door to the end, to get it empty before it froze.

This morning, we were expecting the plumber to arrive first, then a prescription delivery, hopefully before my daughter and I had to head out. My daughter had started her shower just as I was about to start heading outside for my morning rounds and to open the gate, when I heard a strange noise.

The septic pump had finally been triggered!

So I immediately dashed downstairs to check the filter.

Which was empty and running dry.

I shut the pump off, opened the filter, primed it again and turned the pump back on. It worked great! When it was done, the filter stayed full enough that the filter basket inside was floating and spinning slightly in the water – something I haven’t seen it do in quite a while!

From there, it was outside to feed and water the kitties, then do my usual checks, which this time included checking the outflow pipe. Everything looked clear, and there was no sign of backflow towards the house.

Yay!!!!

While doing my rounds, I got the truck running for a while, then popped in the OBDII scanner. The check engine light was on and the oil pressure gauge was still at zero. I did a full scan and got the same code as before: the oil pressure sensor that has already been replaced and cleaned.

At least it’s just triggering a check engine light, and not setting off the flipping alarm with the “turn off engine” warning.

From there, I cleared the codes and left the engine running until it shut itself off, as I’d used the remote starter to turn it on. Though it is much warmer today, I still plugged the block heater back in.

With our trip to the doctor’s office, though, I planned to use my brother’s car, which is parked and plugged in, outside. We had a bit of snow last night that needed to be brushed off, but that’s it.

Not long after I was back inside and checking the trail cam files, I got a call from the plumber. He was on his way and wanted to confirm directions to our place.

They can be a bit difficult to explain at times.

They got here soon after. Since the entry is where the laundry drain is, with the kitchen sink on the other side of the wall, I explained a what was going on there, then we went into the basement where I could show him the rest.

After looking over the pipes in old and new basements, as well as the plumbing under the sink, he decided to find a better way than trying to run his auger through where the last guy did. Access there is not easy, and it was put back together with adhesive. He didn’t want to cut anything there.

Since we knew the clog started past the laundry drain, he did it another way. He cut away part of the pipe in the root cellar, on the kitchen side of where the laundry pipe joined (not that he could have cut it on the other side, since it goes into a wall, there) and removed a couple of inches. It would then get sealed up with a rubber union and steel clamps, so that it would be easy to access, if we ever needed to have this done again. In fact, with our big drain auger, we’d be able to do it ourselves.

I don’t feel so bad about not trying to open things up where the other plumber went through now.

He used his smaller powered auger on the drain, and he really felt it when he hit the clog. After he worked on it for a while, with his assistant holding the other end of the pipe out of the way, he had his assistant go into the other basement to see if he could tell if the auger had reached the corner under the bathroom. I went along with him.

Not only had he reached the corner, but I could hear the tip of the auger rattling in the pipe near the old basement steps. He’d gone through the turn and was about 2/3s of the way down the other pipe to the septic tank.

After clearing things out, he sealed up the pipe, then headed for the kitchen to flush it. This will be our regular maintenance routine. He filled one of the kitchen sinks with straight hot water. After pulling the plug, he squirted some dish detergent into the vortex as it drained.

Then he did it again, with the other sink.

The first time, we could hear a lot of gurgling from the laundry drain pipe. A certain amount of that is normal, as we would be hearing the water pass by where it joined the main pipe. The second time he did it, we heard almost nothing from the laundry drain.

The assistant, meanwhile, was in the basement, making sure the new rubber union wasn’t leaking, and listening along the pipes. They couldn’t hear each other, so I went down and found him following the sound into the old basement. He could hear the water sloshing through the whole way.

I think the sinks were both filled and drained a total of three times each before he was satisfied.

I told him about what we’d found under the sink, and that my daughter had replaced everything but the trap, so he kept an eye on that, too. There were no leaks anywhere, so that was installed just fine.

While all this was going on, we chatted a fair bit. For some things, I explain the history of the plumbing, so far as I knew it. I even showed him our drain auger, and he quite approved. He let me know that, if we ever needed it, he does have a larger one. Hopefully, we never will!

He was one of the plumbers I have been talking to about the ejector, so while following the pipes, I showed him the diverter set up – and that the pump was triggered for the first time since the tank was emptied, just this morning. He was the one that has suggesting setting up an ice fishing tent over it with a heater, but we don’t even know someone we can borrow one from. He also suggested putting straw bales around the ejector, but we don’t have straw bales, either. We did get get straw, it was one of the big round bales, not the small square ones.

Oh, that reminds me…

While talking to the plumbing guy at the hardware store yesterday, we talked about the ejector and how to thaw it. He’s on an ejector system himself and said, this sometimes happen. I told him, it’s been some 50 years, and it’s never frozen before, so why now? He said it could be a few things and started listing some off. The only one I remember was when he said the ground could be saturated.

*dingdingding*

When they excavated down to the pipe to install the ejector, it was full of water. I even asked one of the guys if that was from the leaking old ejector, or if the water table was high. He told me it would be from the leaking ejector.

Which means the ground at the based of the new ejector was indeed saturated. Which would not have been a problem if this was done in the spring or summer. With nothing leaking anymore, it would have eventually drained away. The soil is clay heavy, so it might have taken a while, but it would eventually have dried up.

The ejector, however, was installed in… November? We were lucky not to have snow, which we did get, not long after.

Which means the water the drained to the bottom of the 4″ stack pipe had nowhere to go, and just kept building up and up, until it froze.

So… that rather eliminates any chance of us being able to use the ejector again until spring. The ground is already frozen, so even if we insulated around it, it wouldn’t make a difference.

*sigh*

We’ll figure it out.

The main thing is, we can now use our kitchen sink again!!!

In asking him why it would clog again so quickly after we’d already had it cleared just a couple of years ago, he said that having the laundry and kitchen drain into the main pipe so close together was not really an ideal situation. Between any grease from washing the dishes, to lint and such from the laundry, things build up pretty fast.

I’d been concerned about the pipe that didn’t get cleared, from the bathroom towards the septic. That, however, turns out not to be an issue at all. With all the water from showers and washing – even the toilet flushing – it would have kept that section of pipe pretty clear. There’s a lot less water running through from the kitchen to under the bathroom – and even less, when we started running the laundry drain outside. As the greasy water from the sink swirls its way down the pipe, the gunk would build up faster. Which is why flushing the drain with sink-fulls of hot water and detergent (he suggested using Dawn, as it is the best for grease cutting) regularly is recommended.

I asked him about using the bacteria and enzyme drain maintenance stuff, and he couldn’t really answer, as he doesn’t know much about it.

I also asked him about the possibility of the pipe from the house to the ejector getting clogged, and he said that was highly unlikely.

On top of all the other stuff we talked about, I mentioned that we want to replace the well pump, but there’s a risk of the foot valve breaking apart, so no one wanted to take the chance.

He pffffttt’d to that and said, just put in a check valve. No one really does foot valves anymore.

???

I’ve had three different plumbers look at that well pump. No one mentioned a check valve, so I asked him about it. He looked some up on his phone and found the style that would be used on our pump. He told me, just install that on the pump at the intake from the well, and don’t worry about the foot valve. Even if it breaks up, we’ll still get water.

I asked him, is this something that is new within the past few years?

Nope. They’ve been around for a while.

So now I wonder, why hasn’t any other plumber mentioned it??

Then, since we were walking around the three broken hot water tanks while looking around the basement, I told him about replacing the elements on the hot water tank recently, and what we found on the bottom. He told me, we need a water softening system to put a stop to that.

*sigh*

That’s something my husband has suggested, but a whole house system? That’s really expensive, and do we really want that for the entire house?

As to the cost, he was able to tell me that it’s $2500, installed, if he does it. He didn’t try to sell me on it; just let me know.

So all of that went fairly quickly. Before he left, I gave him my email address for him to send me the bill, so I still don’t know how much it will cost. I should get it tonight some time, but he told me that if I don’t, check my spam folder! That’s been happening a lot, lately, he told me.

That done, we can finally hook up the washing machine’s hose back to the drain pipe, but we haven’t done that, yet. Priority is catching up on dishes!

I wanted to head out early with my daughter for our appointment, but we still had the prescription delivery that I wanted to wait for first, so we could lock the gate behind us when we left. Not too long after the plumber left, someone used the washroom, and I heard the septic pump go off again. No surprise, considering how much hot water got flushed through the pipes!

I went down to check and…

It was running dry again.

I shut it off and primed the filter – the seal on that lid was quite tight – turned it on and it was working fine again. So fine, in fact, that it took only 2, maybe 2 1/2 minutes to drain the tank!

This is how it’s supposed to look.

Hopefully, you won’t have to go to Instagram to wash this.

The moisture underneath is from the water used to prime the filter.

When it was done, the filter stayed nice and full. I paused to update my brother on it (I’d been keeping him up to date with the plumber the whole time, too). As I was doing that, I heard a strange noise from the filter.

A very strange little noise.

And a strange sight.

You might need to turn up your volume to hear it. Somehow, there was air getting in.

I grabbed some paper towel and dried up everything around the filter and pipe joins, then watched and waited before checking them again. Everything was dry. There is no leak.

So what is happening???

One of the things I did a while back was put a brick and a very thin piece of Styrofoam under the filter to support the weight of the water in it. I ended up finding another thin piece to raise it up just a bit higher, so there is now no sag or play at all. I primed the filter again, and that bubbling did not happen again.

Were were good? I don’t know. But I did pass that on to my brother, too!

Not long after, the prescription delivery guy arrived, and my daughter and I were soon headed out to our appointments (after having to chase a kitten out from under my brother’s car!). We left early, making a brief stop in my mother’s town to pick up some lunch at the gas station – they had chicken kabobs available this time, which my daughter loves. Those sell out really fast, and they don’t seem to make more of them throughout the day. By the time we got to the clinic, we were only about 15 minutes early, so I’m glad we headed out when we did.

I went in first for my meet and greet. Her first question was whether or not I already had a doctor, and I explained about my previous doctor moving to another clinic, and having an interim doctor now. I’m sure she’d be fine to keep seeing me, but it’s just more convenient to have the same doctor as my daughter.

So this was mostly a question and answer session and I explained some of the issues I’ve been having, and she is now officially my doctor, too. I mentioned my painkillers just aren’t cutting it anymore, especially since I had to switch to acetaminophen. So I did get a prescription pain killer. I’d mentioned how bad the joint pain can get some days, where every joint in my body hurts. She asked me what supplements I was one, and I told her. She then recommended I go on a B complex instead of the B12 I’m on, as one of the other B vitamins should help me with the joint pain. She also told me to take double the recommended dose. I mentioned the Charlie horses I’ve been getting, but I have also run out of zinc, and suggested picking that up might take care of that, and she said yes. (I’ve also increased my salt intake, before I ran out of zinc, and that’s when the Charlie horses seemed to stop until just recently)

So once I was done, I went across the hall to the pharmacy to pick up the supplements while my daughter was seen next. Then I went to the grocery store that shared the parking lot and picked up a couple of small things we’d run out of at home. From there, I waited in the car for my daughter.

Which is when I got a test from my husband. He’s just picked up a call from the pharmacy for me. They’d received my prescription, and did I want to get it filled right away?

Talk about fast!

Of course, my husband had no idea what they were talking about, yet! So I called the pharmacy and said to go ahead and fill it, and that I’d likely pick it up tomorrow, since I was still in another town.

Then I got a message from my daughter clearing a calendar date in three weeks for another follow up appointment. So that was done, too.

My daughter got some adjusted medications and another prescription. Her bloodwork showed her to be vitamin D deficient. I wasn’t surprised by that. This is Canada, and it’s winter, after all! She has also been referred to an endocrinologist for her PCOS.

So tomorrow, we’ll both go into town to pick up our prescriptions.

This time, I plan to use the truck.

From there, we started for home. Along the way, we stopped in my mother’s town so I could go to a branch of my bank and take out cash, then we stopped at the home of the guy who empties our septic tank to pay our bill. With tip!

We made one more stop on the way back, at the post office. I wasn’t expecting any parcels yet, but there were a couple for my husband and some regular mail. The letter mail I’ve been waiting for since the strike delayed it, still isn’t in, though. This is getting ridiculous.

After that, we could finally head home. I’m sure glad for the longer days, as it wasn’t full dark, yet!

The first thing I did once we brought everything inside was do the evening cat feeding. My husband had let me know my mother had called (he does not answer calls from her), once I was settled, I checked her message. Apparently, when they delivered her new bubble packs, they didn’t deliver her inhaler. So I called her back and she told me her adjusted dose bubble packs were delivered, but there was no puffer. She then started going on about how it was a guy who delivered it this time, and she didn’t recognize him, etc. So I asked if she called the pharmacy to ask why it wasn’t there, and she said no, then tried to go back to talking about the delivery guy. I told her, she needed to call the pharmacy right away.

Which is when she asked if I could do it, because her English isn’t so good.

Ah. Okay!

Then she gave me the number, so I didn’t have to look it up.

The thing is, my mother’s doctor’s appointment was on Monday. Her prescriptions were delivered on Tuesday. Today is Thursday. Why didn’t she say anything on Tuesday??

So I called the pharmacy and quickly realized why my mother didn’t want to call herself. They have an automated answering service, which she has a hard time with at the best of times. With this one, after I made the first selection (after having to listen to a promo for vaccines first), it put me through another spiel for other choices. When I selected one of those, which turned out to be the wrong one. It took me to another and, as I was going through that, it started asking for things like the prescription number. WTF??? It did give the option to go back to a previous menus, and the net thing I knew, I was listening to the vaccine promo again.

I finally got to a real, live pharmacist.

They know be my now. 😄

When I explained what my mother had told me, the pharmacist said it was there. She’d put it in the bag herself.

I told her, my mother said it wasn’t, and she suggested it might be on the bottom of the bag, and described the box to me. It’s purple, so it would be easy to see!

I called my mother back and explained it should be in the bag with her bubble packs.

Oh! Let me go check.

It was there.

My mother had never looked in the bag. She had expected the delivery person to hand it to her seperately.

My mother was supposed to start her new bubble packs immediately, setting the current one aside, to be taken back to the pharmacy, so they could update the dose on one of her meds for her.

I didn’t get a chance to ask, but it sounds like she just kept using the same bubble pack instead of switching to the ones with the correct dosage in it.

*sigh*

I let her go, though, so she could go over the instructions for the inhaler.

I’m starting to wonder if she’s up to even using one.

Something I will have to follow up on.

Meanwhile…

This evening, I heard the septic pump go off again, so I went down to check. The filter was empty again! This time, however, I could see there was a very slow flow was water going in. It wasn’t running quite dry, but the flow from the tank was barely more than a splash. I stopped it and primed the filter again (it was tightly sealed), and it ran great after that. When it stopped, the filter was still full of water, and no sign of bubbles to show if there was some sort of air leak.

If this thing needs to be primed every time the pump goes off, that’s going to be a problem. I’m the only one that can hear it go off, and the camera I got to monitor it is going to be returned tomorrow, because it won’t connect to our WiFi.

This is incredibly frustrating.

If there is anyone more knowledgeable than me reading this and has some idea of what’s going on, please let me know! I’m running out of ideas.

As for me, I am done with this day.

I am so glad the plumber could come in this morning, and that we got that clog cleared. We learned a lot from him while he was here, too, and have steps to take to keep it from happening again – or at least keep it from happening again too soon!

I’m happy to learn about the check valve that would allow us to get that well pump changed and not worry about the foot valve.

I’m glad to finally and officially have a new doctor, and that my daughter got that referral to an endocrinologist, though it will likely take months before she actually sees one.

I’m glad the emergency diverter is working, even with the flow problems.

I’m thankful to have my brother’s car to drive today, even though it would have been just fine using the truck. I’m just paranoid about the truck. We need to get their car back to them soon.

I’m thankful for my other daughter’s financial help that paid for the septic guy, and is helping to pay for the plumber, too.

I may be done with this day, but it really was a very good day!

The Re-Farmer

A productive day, more or less

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Today, I needed to drive my mother to her doctor’s appointment, but didn’t have to leave until morning.

That gave me a chance to check on our emergency diverter set up that my brother made outside the house, ensuring that things were still sitting where they needed to.

Aside from making sure the PVC pipe my brother found was snug against the house, this is the important part.

The orange tarp partially buried in snow is the end of the insulated tarp covering the septic tank that we did not have to move. It was pulled away from the house, instead. This end gets frozen harder to the ground.

The two lengths of pipe need to be kept straight and slow downwards. At the bottom left corner of the above photo, you can just see the section of chimney flu that is supporting it closer to the house. We used basically what we could find in the dark. They will do the job, as long as things stay where they are supposed to. The shoveled area in the snow will basically become a skating rink.

In the distance, you can see the large flexible hose that was meant to be used. The problem is, it doesn’t straighten out entirely. Ever snake-like turn is an area that water could potentially slow down and freeze. The pipe is about 6″ in diameter, but even that can eventually fill and freeze solid. So it looks like we won’t be able to use it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Using my brother’s car (and making sure to give the engine time to warm up, first!), I headed out early enough to hit the post office.

Alas, the mail that I’m expecting that didn’t come in due to the postal strike, still has not come in. Nor has anything else. Not even junk mail. The strikers may have been ordered to return to work (as a Crown corporation, the Federal government has the authority to do that), but apparently, that doesn’t mean they are going to actually do their work.

Oh, something I learned about this strike. It turns out that Canada Post has two unions. One is for the regular postal workers we see delivering our mail and in the physical buildings, like in our little hamlet. The other is for the ones that work in the distribution centres and such. Those are the ones that went on strike. So, while regular postal workers still showed up for work, they couldn’t do anything, because the distribution centres were shut down. It was a rotating strike, so every week, a different distribution centre would be active again, allowing for some mail to trickle through. Of course, if it was going from one distribution centre to the next, that really didn’t make much difference.

But I digress.

From there, it was off to my mother’s town and, since I was so early, I swung by the hardware store. After talking to one of the staff, I picked up some reflective insulation. They sell this stuff in sizes large enough to wrap around hot water tanks, to narrow strips that would be wrapped around pipes. Which is exactly what I wanted. I also got a small roll of aluminum tape. I plan to wrap the outflow pipe where it butts up against the house, as that is the area most at risk of freezing. Then I plan to add some between the pipes and the supports. Where the log is, isn’t much of a concern, but the ceramic chimney flu and the brick can both chill the pipe and potentially cause an ice build up on the inside. Just a bit of insulation would prevent that.

From there, I made a stop at the gas station. I didn’t need gas yet, but I knew my mother would be getting her Meals on Wheels today. Though I had a large and late breakfast before I left, she had told me she didn’t like to be eating by herself, with someone watching her. So I picked up some of the potato wedges she likes so much, so that I could snack while she was eating, and she could have the rest with her supper, later on.

When I got to her place, though, she had just finished eating her main meal. So we had some tea while she ate her desert. 😊 We were able to have a bit of a visit before we had to leave, and I updated her a bit on what was going on, and that my brother had lent us their car rather than my SIL driving all the way out to drive both of us around, and that he’d installed the diverter. I’m not sure, but I think she was still living at the farm the last time (and first time) it was used.

We left early to go to her doctor’s appointment, and I’m glad we did. I ended up having to go back to her apartment to get her little folding foot stool. Even though the car is so much lower than the truck, she still needed the stool to be able to get in! That is a definite drop in mobility.

Once at the clinic, we had a long wait, as everyone was being called in late. Once in the examination room, we still had a bit of a wait. When the doctor finally came in, she started off asking if we could move to another room, but then she saw my mother and told us to stay put, she would go get her laptop. It turns out the clinic was having network problems with all the examination room computers, and that was why everything was behind.

So we tried to keep it short. The main thing was to get my mother rescheduled for the MRI we didn’t get to, due to dangerous road conditions. I confirmed that my mother’s file was up to date about her macular degeneration and treatment. The doctor has nothing to do with this, as my mother is being treated at the eye clinic in the city, but as the primary doctor, she is supposed to have all this information sent to her. Then we talked about my mother’s breathing issues. One of her neighbours has asthma and uses a puffer (inhaler), so my mother decided she should have one, too. So could she be tested for asthma?

The doctor just prescribed her a puffer. She explained that she could recommend her for testing, but that is done in the city, and my mother would be on a waiting list for probably a year. Using a puffer won’t hurt her. I don’t think my mother as asthma, but even if there’s just a placebo effect, it would be worth it.

After giving my mother a basic physical exam, the doctor adjusted one of her dosages, and that was it. We knew the doctor was behind because of the computer issues, so we didn’t talk about much else. Which is good, because my mother usually wastes time by asking personal questions, or bringing up issues that she has… opinions on, shall we say.

My mother wasn’t due for any bloodwork, but the doctor did want to see her again in 3 months, so I made that appointment before we headed out.

Since the doctor faxed the new and updated prescriptions directly to the pharmacy in my mother’s town, that was our first stop. I went in while my mother stayed in the car, as it was just too much for her to go in and out. My mother was due to have her bubble packs delivered on Friday, and has started her last week’s current pack, so when I got there, her new packs were already there and ready to go. So that got pulled and adjusted for the new dosage. Instead of delivering on Friday, they will deliver tomorrow. As for the last pack my mother just started, the pharmacist said for her to set it aside and use the new once when they arrive, and the current pack can be brought back and adjusted.

As for the inhaler, it would take an hour before it would be ready, so that will be delivered tomorrow, too. Having been given an inhaler to see if it would help with my own respiratory issues (which we’ve never found the cause of, and I’ve basically given up trying to find one), I was able to explain to my mother how they work and how to use one, etc. She’ll need reminding, of course, but I hope the staff that delivers her meds tomorrow will be able to explain it again.

That done, there was just a brief stop at the grocery store for me to run in and pick up a couple of things for my mother before I took her home. I didn’t stay too much longer after that. I’m glad the days are longer, and I did manage to get home while it was still light out.

In between all this, I was able to send the OBDII scan results on the truck to the garage and he was able to respond. It’s basically the oil pressure sensor again. The one that was recently replaced, and also recently cleaned out because it was triggering the alarm and “shut off engine now” warnings, because it thought the truck was out of oil. This time, it has so far just turned on the check engine light again (though I did clear the codes, so that should be off now), and it why the oil pressure gauge isn’t moving. He told me, even if he replaced the sensor again, it’ll keep happening, because of the weather we’ve been having. There’s really nothing he can do about it. I suppose I could pay him to take it apart and clean it again, but that’s about it.

So really, what I need to be doing is getting the engine warmed up and staying warm long enough to evaporate any moisture in the system and triggering the sensor. It’ll resolve itself as things warm up again, as there won’t be that build up of moisture anymore.

I don’t need to go anywhere tomorrow, and it’s supposed to be a bit warmer, so I’ll run the engine while I’m outside.

Which leads me to my phone call with my brother this evening.

I’d sent the pictures he took to the company that installed the ejector, and the response was the same. The pump isn’t pushing out the water fast enough to create the pressure needed. This frustrated my brother to know end, because he knows the pump is pushing fine. As for how long it takes to drain the tank, he told me that 5 minutes is about right, because our tank is about twice the size of most other tanks. It’s huge. I was so young when it was installed, I was probably not allowed to go anywhere near it at the time.

Plus, that ice wall on the sheet of metal roof the ejector expels the water onto shows just how far and how strong the flow of water is.

Or was.

I know I’ve described the ejector system before, but my brother sent me some info with a diagram. The image was a pdf and terrible pixelated, but I think I got a decent screen cap of it.

I don’t know if ours is from this company, but it’s the exact same design.

With our new ejector, it’s about 2′ above ground, so about 8′ is below ground. I think the original was more like 12′ based on how much more was above ground than the new one. The venturi pipe – the discharge pipe, in the diagram – should never stay full once the pump shuts off. Once installed, the venturi pipe can be (carefully!) removed and replaced, which is what we were supposed to do after using enough hot water to thaw the ice and free it.

One of the things my brother brought up again was electric heat tape. There are all kinds of heat tape, and my husband had sent me a link for one that he’d found on Amazon. As my brother voiced concerns that, if we did try to use heat tape to thaw the above ground portion of the 4″ stand pipe, it might melt the plastic, I sent him the link. It is safe for both metal and plastic pipes, and self regulating. It’s also available in a huge range of lengths. He estimated that a 12′ length would be enough to wrap around the pipe, up to the elbow coming out of the cap. It was affordable, so I ordered it. It’s estimated to arrive on the 17th, though, so we have other things to try.

One of the things my brother thinks is a contributing factor is the new location of the ejector. The old one was about 10-15 feet away, and had a big willow overhanging it. The willow may have protected it from the elements (even though the roots were probably why it was starting to lean backwards and eventually start leaking). Right now, the ejector may be in full sunlight, but it is completely exposed to the winds we get. With the temperatures we’ve had lately, that could be a contributing factor so a slow freeze happening, and to the slow flow I was seeing in the filter. As long as some water was getting through, it wasn’t freezing completely, though, and just building up. I have a theory. The night before I discovered no flow was happening at all anymore, the septic pump had not gone off at all. Normally, between the 4 of us, plus my older daughter working at night, there’s plenty of toilet flushing, dish washing and even at least one shower. That didn’t happen, and it may have allowed for the stand pipe to finally freeze solid, and the venturi (discharge) pipe along with it.

I had already been thinking that, in the spring, I would need to put some sort of fence around the new ejector. Being so much lower to the ground, the renters cows out traipse right over it, even with the metal sheet butted up against it to divert the flow of water. My brother was thinking we’d need to build some kind of semi-permanent shelter over or around it, to protect it from the element in winter. I say “semi-permanent” as we need to assume that, some day, it will need to have work done on it, and we’d need to be able to move it.

At one point, I thought of the catio. It has a clear roof and is wrapped in plastic, making it almost a mini greenhouse. It would fit over the ejector.

Then I remembered the metal sheet. It couldn’t fit on top of that, since it has a curl to it that ensures the water flows away, and not off the sides.

But, there was possibilities.

So, while we wait for the heat tape to arrive, we need to see if we can find something we can use to build a shelter over it for this winter. My brother thinks a couple of pallets set up as a V around it, then something on top, would do the trick. We have no pallets, but he’s sure he brought some. There might also be some scrap plywood we could find somewhere.

Which means, I have a task for tomorrow. Going through the barn and sheds to see what I can find that could be used to build a shelter over the ejector. Just something we can slap together for now, but strong and heavy enough to not be blown over and destroyed by the wind. Ideally, I’d find something clear for a “roof” and add a little passive solar heat.

Trudging around outside will also give me a chance to get the truck running and see how it does! We’re warming up over the next few days, including the overnight lows, which should help, too. The day after tomorrow, my daughter and I have our joint appointment. It would be good if we could use our own truck and return my brother’s car! They really do need two vehicles.

Well, we’ll see how it goes. There’s not much else we can do!

Meanwhile, our septic tank still hasn’t filled enough to trigger the pump, so we still don’t know if the diverter will actually work, yet. It should work just fine. It’s just that we’ve had so many things breaking down for so long, now, I’m getting pretty paranoid about it all!

*sigh*

Ah, well. We’ll manage.

What other choice do we have?

The Re-Farmer

Well, that got weird!

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Okay: the plan for the day was to head over to my mother’s and take her for her MRI appointment.

With our New Year’s celebrations, I didn’t make it to midnight, and instead went to bed, so I did at least get some sleep – until I was awakened by a cat starting to hork right next to my head. How’s that for an alarm clock?

I intended to be on the road by 6am, so as to arrive at my mother’s place early. Sunrise, this time of year, is 8:30, so it was still full dark when I headed to the garage. I did meet my goal, though, and was on the road by 6.

I’m glad I did leave that early, because it took an extra 10 minutes to get to my mother’s. We’d had some snow last night – just enough to cover everything with a light, fluffy layer.

Which makes driving on already icy gravel roads even more slipper, so I was taking it slow.

When I got to the highway, I was playing “find the lane” for much of the trip, and doing 10-20km/h below the speed limit. It wasn’t icy for the most part – at least as far as I could tell. I just couldn’t see where the lanes were, and I often would reach a clear spot and find I was diving in the middle of the highway.

Thankfully, there was no traffic. I saw only 2 other vehicles besides me, the entire time.

When I got closer to my mother’s down, I drove into snowfall. Again, nothing major, but so reflective, even on low beams, that it got even harder to see. I was quite happy to get to my mother’s, and not looking forward to the drive to her appointment! I knew that certain sections of our route would not be good.

When I got to my mother’s apartment, her walker was gone. I knocked and the door was open, but I didn’t see her. Popping back into the hallway, I saw her down the hall. She had come out to meet me, but I happened to arrive just when she’d popped into the washroom. 😄

The walk back to her apartment was really hard on her, and she was panting like she’d been running a race by the time she came inside.

I told her that I’d want to leave right away, because of the road conditions. She started asking, what would they do if we came later? There’s something fishy about this appointment. They just want old people to die.

I asked her, do you want me to cancel? It was really last minute, but given the road conditions, combined with how much she was struggling, I wasn’t going to push her on going like I normally would. I can’t make that decision for her, though.

She hemmed and hawed so long, it was past time we should have been on the road, so cancelling it was.

Then I had to find the right number to call, because of course, there’s no number just for the hospital. The only number I could find was for the regional health center corporate office.

It took some doing, but I did eventually find a number for the diagnostic centre at the hospital and called. No one answered, of course, but I left a message about my mother and her appointment, the road conditions and that she was really struggling, so we would have to cancel. I left our numbers for them to call back, but don’t expect to hear from anyone. My mother has her regular doctor appointment on Monday, so a new request can be made then – this time, specifying an afternoon appointment!

That done, we settled in for a visit, because I was not going to head home until it was light out. We made some tea and were chatting when I heard a distinctive noise from the door behind me. Something had been slid under the door.

I went to get it and found a note that read, “Happy New Year, Old B***c”

My immediate thought was that it was our vandal again – he’s slipped many a vile note and letter under my mother’s door over the years – so I opened the door and went into the hallway, just in time to hear a door closing. My mother’s apartment is near one of the exits. I went far enough to see the doors (there is a tiny vestibule in between inner and outer doors), but by then, there was nothing to see, and I wasn’t about to leave my mother and run for the outside doors.

So I went back inside to my very curious mother and showed her the note. Then I documented it, taking a photo and sending messages to my siblings and family back home, describing what just happened (I am so glad I got into the habit of documenting everything, so many years ago. It has come in so handy), when I heard a strange noise in the hallway.

I looked through the peep hole and didn’t see anything, but when I opened the door, I found a woman walking down the hall and just reaching my mother’s door, in her housecoat and slippers. She saw me and started going on about how, my mother shouldn’t be doing this, it’s against regulations, it’s a fire hazard. It took me a moment to realize she was talking about my mother’s walker…

… which was down the hall, next to a neighbour’s door. That was the noise I’d heard.

The woman kept ranting, swearing and going on about regulations and fire hazards while I retrieved the walker, asking her what was going on (I think she was getting even more angry because she couldn’t get a rise out of me), and she told me she’d found my mother’s walker in the street. So I thanked her for bringing it in, and said my mother hadn’t done this, and that someone had just left a nasty note under my mother’s door. She basically said that she wasn’t surprised about the note because of my mother being how she is. I parked my mother’s walker where it belongs, under the little shelf by her door, and she ranted and swore at me some more, saying it didn’t belong there, while going back to her own apartment at the end of the hall.

I went back inside and was telling my mother what happened when I heard another noise at the door. I opened it and found my mother’s walker against it. The woman had come back and bashed it against the door. She demanded I take it inside and started saying more insulting things about my mother and me (I’m fat, so I must be just like my mother…) and swearing before going back into her apartment.

When I went back inside, my mother was just shaking her head. She could hear some of what her neighbour had been saying. Apparently, this behaviour is common with her.

She’d brought stuff up with public housing people before, and was told to call in and make a formal complaint. They can’t do anything if people don’t complain. So I found the number and tried calling them. I knew it would go to voice mail, since it’s New Year’s Day, but the mail boxes were full, and I couldn’t even leave a message. We will have to try again during regular office hourse.

So we talked about it some more and I documented this to my family as well.

My mother thinks the neighbour is the one who left the note, not our vandal. She says the use of the word b**** is very much her style, while she’s never heard our vandal say it. I’ve heard him use it, particularly directed at me, though not often, so she does have a point. I did hear the door closing when I went out, and I thought it was an outer door, but I suppose it’s possible I’d heard the door at the end of the hallway, which is even closer to the exit than my mother’s door.

So… that was fun.

My mother, meanwhile, was getting very tired, so she soon went to bed while I stayed a bit longer, waiting for it to get light before I left.

The drive home was much better, but I’m definitely glad we didn’t make the drive to the hospital for the MRI in the dark. I got home just in time to meet my daughter coming up to the gate to switch out the trail cam memory cards, as she started the morning rounds for me once it got light out.

So this whole day has turned out far stranger than expected. The note was bad enough, but for the neighbour to get all weird on me was really… something. The woman definitely has issues. My mother tells me there has been police involvement because of her, and her own son had shown up that time and basically told them, he was done with her. This has been going on since well before she moved into the building my mother is in.

Slight pause in writing this; I just got off the phone with my brother, and he agrees that the note must have been from this woman. The door I heard closing had to have been her own door, not the exit door I thought it was. I’m just so used to our vandal being the one doing this sort of thing, and there was no one to be seen at the time, I just made the assumption. If the neighbour hadn’t come out and started making noise and messing with my mother’s walker, I would never have had reason to think otherwise.

We really need to get my mother out of that place and into some sort of assisted living. For her own safety, as well as for her health needs!

As for me, I’m so very tired. I did get some sleep last night, but not much.

Time to see if I can squeeze in between the cats on my bed and get a nap in!

The Re-Farmer

More driving today… and tomorrow, and the day after, and then…

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You know, it’s a good thing my “job” is to take care of this place. Otherwise, I have no idea how I’d manage to get things done.

Things like unexpected shopping trips.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the cuteness!

There was one heck of a crowd in the isolation shelter when I came back from doing my morning rounds! As I came closer to the shelter, some of the more feral cats ran away, leaving “only” eleven left in the upper level of the shelter. I think there might have been as many as fifteen cats, crammed into that upper level, as I was walking up to the shelter!

Once I was back inside and having my breakfast, my daughter suddenly came in with her phone. She’d been wanting to book a follow up visit with her doctor today, which was on my morning to-do list, as I wanted to book a meet and greet for myself, too. The doctor I’m seeing now is still the interim doctor. It may be convenient having the same doctor as my mother, but we’re working to get my mother into assisted living, and it would be more convenient to have the same doctor as my daughter. That and the clinic is right next to a grocery store, which is extra handy. 😄

Well, the clinic called her cell phone (I’m shocked they got through!), and she was wondering what date worked for me to drive in. So I talked to the receptionist and booked a double appointment for us. After the call, my daughter asked, who goes first? I told her, I would, and then I could go to the grocery store if we needed anything, while she had her appointment. It’s been a long time since I’ve had my bloodwork done, though, so I won’t be surprised if I get a requisition for that to be done. There is a lab in the pharmacy right at the clinic, too.

After the call and while finishing breakfast, I was wrestling with myself. There were a few things I wasn’t able to get at the grocery store yesterday. If I left early enough, I might be able to find them before they sold out. Mostly, I was looking to get a party tray of fresh vegetables, and maybe another of fruit, to go with our finger food New Year’s celebration. Plus a flat of eggs. With tomorrow being New Year’s Eve, I knew things would be busy and things would sell out fast, but none of it was necessary, and I really didn’t want to go.

Then my mother phoned.

She was worried about her MRI appointment on the first. It’s a big holiday, and everybody has the day off, so there must be some sort of mistake. I told her, hospitals don’t have the day off. Oh, for emergencies, sure, she tells me. I finally asked, are you wanting me to cancel the appointment? Oh… no… but are you sure there’s no mistake?

I assured her that, when I got the call, I did ask because the appointment was on New Year’s day. They confirmed.

Then she started talking about how, when she looks into her fridge, it’s looking pretty empty.

Did she want me to come over?

Oh, no, she tells me. Then starts listing off all the stuff she still has (even after telling me she was out of various things). Plus, it’s cold, and she also needs to go to the bank, and she doesn’t want to go out in the cold. Plus, today is Bingo day.

I told her, it’s going to start getting colder again after New Year’s. Looking at my calendar, I added, it’s either today or Thursday, and it’s supposed to be colder on Thursday.

She hemmed and hawed some more.

Finally I told her to just start her list, because I can come over today. She was getting her Meals on Wheels today, so I told her I would be there for about 1pm, after she had a chance to eat.

I ended up leaving early enough to do my own shopping first. This little grocery store doesn’t do party trays, so I ended up getting some fresh vegetables to make our own party tray, some grapes to go with our charcuterie board, plus a few other things. Then, because the price was right, I picked up a 2 pack of frying chickens for less than a single chicken normally is. The Instant Pot I got for my daughters is big enough to fit a whole chicken in it, so that would work out well.

(As I write this, I can hear the pot venting away; they’ve started a pot roast for the first meal with it!)

From there, I put some gas in the tank (we’re going through a lot more gas than usual, with all the extra driving around!), got my own lunch to eat in the truck (the truck seats are more comfortable) and still ended up at my mother’s about half an hour early.

When I got there, she was in the lobby, looking for something.

She was wondering why bingo wasn’t set up yet.

I asked how she was doing, and she was silent, making motions and acting like there was some reason not to speak out loud. Finally, she said, it’s better not to say.

So…. I guess that meant she wasn’t feeling well?

She did manage to tell me that she wasn’t up to going out and would just give me her list. Then she was going on about where bingo was one or not, then knocking on a neighbour’s door right by the common room to ask him if he knew if it was still on. He didn’t, and seemed confused that she was asking him. She told him she could just phone, instead. I told her, it’s barely past 12:30. It’s probably still too early, thinking it started at 1, but nope: turns out it starts at 1:30. Way too early to be setting up!

I managed to get her back to her place and, as soon as she sat down, she started digging around for a phone number. I eventually figured out she meant to call the senior’s center (they run the social events in her building) to find out if bingo was still on. I told her, why bother calling? Just go over at 1:30 and see. It’s either on or it isn’t, but there’s no need to call. She agreed that she could do that.

Then we went over her list, she gave me funds for her shopping, and I was soon off. The shopping is a lot faster when it’s just me using her list. When I got back and made my way through the common room, I saw that they were starting to set up for bingo! 😄

I made sure to tell her that, when I got to her place. After putting away her groceries, there was time for a bit of a visit before bingo started. As we were talking, she told me how her breathing issues seem to be connected to how much commotion is going on. After asking some questions, it seems like a stress response. The problem is, my mother is creating a lot of her own stress, like worrying about there being a mistake with her MRI appointment (this isn’t the first time she’s done that with appointments, so it’s not just about it being on New Year’s day), or that bingo was cancelled because nothing was set up an hour in advance.

Then she started talking about her vision. Oh, her vision. It’s getting worse.

Now this set off all sorts of alarm bells with me. With her wet macular degeneration, we were advised to monitor it closely and, if it starts getting worse, to get her back to the eye clinic in the city right away. So of course, I started asking more specific questions.

As she started talking about how her vision is getting worse, she casually mentioned that the “black spot” is gone…

Wait… what???? !!!!

Then she mentioned the wavy lines are gone.

????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wavy lines were from dry macular degeneration in her left eye. She’s taking special vitamins to keep that from getting worse. For those to be gone is amazing, but not as amazing as for her to say the “black spot” in her right eye is gone!

I got her to cover her left eye, then held my hand about two feet from her face, raising two fingers. I asked her, can you see the two fingers?

Yes, she tells me.

I raise a third finger without saying anything.

Three fingers, she tells me.

I’m totally shocked that she could see any fingers at all!

I moved my had back another couple of feet and tried again.

She couldn’t tell me how many fingers, but she could see that “something” was there.

I am totally blown away. While at the clinic with her, less than a month ago, a tech did the same test with her, and she couldn’t see his fingers. When he had her try and look at a single letter on the eye chart, she saw nothing at all.

The eye doctor had told her she shouldn’t need more injections, but also that her eye would not get better. There is scar tissue that will not go away. The injections were to keep it from getting worse, but that we shouldn’t expect it to get better. Her next appointment is in February, and we are to monitor her and bring her back if it gets worse.

Now, it seems her vision around that scarred area in her eye has healed enough that she can see more.

But, she told me, her vision is getting worse. It’s getting “dimmer”. I tried to ask questions to get a better idea of what she meant, but she started getting really frustrated. She simply doesn’t have the vocabulary to tell me what she means. So we dropped that part.

She’s been wearing her old glasses, though, since she decided the eye doctor she got her prescription from gave her a bad prescription and cheated her (they treated her like gold). I suggested that tomorrow, she try wearing her new glasses, as those would have the most up to date prescription. She agreed that it was worth a try.

Hopefully, she will remember to do it in the morning.

Then there was a knock at the door. One of her neighbours had come over to let her know, bingo would be starting soon!

So we said our goodbyes, and I headed home.

By then, it was pretty much time to do my evening rounds, so I headed out and topped up the kibble and warm water for the outside cats.

I just had to get a picture of these two.

The one in the freshly emptied food bowl is Magda. She is pretty friendly and lets us pick her some and sometimes even carry her.

The one above her, with the black splotches on its nose and mouth, has been named Ink by the girls. It also has black splotches on its front paws. The girls think it looks like he’s been playing with a pot of ink, so that’s what they’ve named him.

Or her.

He’s pretty feral and won’t let us anywhere near him to find out, one way or the other!

Oh, there was one other unexpected thing today.

Not long ago, my daughter tried to log into her bank account and found it locked. I got a message from her while I was on my way home. She’d gotten through to the bank on the phone and discovered that someone tried to use her debit card number (she has no credit card) at a restaurant in the US. !!! It was stopped and her accounted locked as potential fraud, so nothing was taken from her bank account, thank God!

She would, however, need to go to a branch and get a replacement card.

As soon as I could, I called the branch in my mother’s town to confirm their hours. They are open tomorrow.

Which means that, tomorrow, I will be driving my daughter to our bank branch in my mother’s town (we won’t be able to do that much longer; I hear this branch will be closing!).

Then, the day after tomorrow – New Year’s Day – I will be taking my mother to her MRI appointment.

Then, on the 2nd, my husband and I will be going to trade his phone in before they ding him with the end-of-contract bill of almost $700. It has to be done before the 4th, and that’s the only day I’ve got left.

The next day, Friday, I’m taking the truck in to get the MAF sensor and block heater cord replaced.

Then, on the following Monday, I’m taking my mother to her regular doctor for a follow up appointment.

Then, on the Wednesday, I’m going back to the same town, but a different clinic, for the joint appointment for me and my daughter.

I’m doing as much driving in the next couple of weeks as I would normally do in a month in the summer. In the winter, I try to do as little driving as possible, but that’s just not working out!

Thank God winter has been mild and conditions pretty good, so far. Based on the 10 day forecast, though, that joint appointment is going to be on a day where the high is expected to be -24C/-13F, while the lows are supposed to be -29C/-20F.

At least we’ll be able to plug in the block heater by then! That’s being replaced on Friday, and Thursday night is when overnight lows are starting to dip below -20C/-4F again.

Weirdly, the long term forecast now says we’ll have about 10 days of that, then 10 days or so of temperatures rising to just below freezing again. This is a La Nińa winter, though, and the system should start affecting our area more over the next couple of months. For our region, that usually means colder temperatures, but it looks like we’re going to be getting temperature whiplash, instead!

Once we get past that last appointment, I hope to not have to do anything more than short trips into town – and hardly any of those! – until it’s time to go more stock up shopping at the end of January!

I just want to stay home.

The Re-Farmer

A quick change in plans

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Today, I’d hoped to stay home for a few days (I really, really didn’t want to go to the dump today!) but when my husband needed something from the pharmacy, I figured I’d do that right away, since it was supposed to be milder. The next couple of days are supposed to get much colder.

A high of -9C/16F is milder, right?

It seemed all right when I headed out to feed the outside cats.

We had a light dusting of snow, but it wasn’t bad.

The full belly kitties were content to stay in the sun room. Not all of them, but enough to make nice, warm cuddle puddles!

The isolation kittens are doing fine, too.

It was a different story, once I started heading to town!

The first thing I realized was that the driveway needed to be cleared. Best to do it while the snow is still light and fluffy, too. Much easier on little Spewie. After closing the gate behind me, I made sure to message the family about that, because I knew I would forget once I got going again.

Driving conditions really sucked!

Once on the main gravel road, visibility was low with blowing snow, made all the more interesting when I had to cross paths with oncoming trucks bringing in bales. The trucks alone are wide loads, but their trailers were loaded 3 round bales wide. To fit them, about a third of a bale sticks out on each side of the trailers, adding about 3 feet to the total width. The main gravel road is wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other well enough, with room to spare, but it’s a very different story with these trucks! They did try to go to the side as far as they could, but with how slippery things can be under the snow, it wouldn’t take much to hit some ice on the shoulder and slide right into the ditches… and these ditches are narrow, steep and deep!

Even on the highway, it wasn’t much better. I found myself doing 70-80 kph (43-50mph) in a 100 (62mph) zone – and no one was trying to pass me!

I’m glad the roads were plowed yesterday, or it would have been so much worse!

Once in town, I did my errands, with my last stop at the grocery store. My husband had called in a prescription delivery for Thursday that I was able to pick up today, instead. At the grocery store, after refilling a couple of our 18.9L/5 gallon water jugs, I ended up taking advantage of some sales and picked up a few extra things besides what was on my list, and my older daughter’s list that she send funds for, once she found out I was going into town. Poor thing is not feeling well at all, today. PCOS sucks.

The drive home was not any better than the drive out, so it was slow going. I’ve driven in far worse. I just didn’t want to be driving at all today! Ah, well.

With the water jugs on top of everything else, I drove up to the house to unload, but had some troubles backing up to the main doors. The truck had to go over the sidewalk from the house to the gate, which was shoveled, and it was just too slippery!

I was quite happy to be parking the truck back in the garage!

My younger daughter was a sweetheart and took care of clearing the driveway after everything was put away, and the outside cats got a light feeding to keep them distracted. The isolation kitties seem very content in their shelter. I was even able to pet the fluffball! He started to run away, but once I started petting his back, he stopped and let me!

I’m going to be worrying about them over the next while, though. As I was writing this, I could see the temperature on my task bar dropping. We’re down to -14C/7F right now, but the wind chill is -30C/-22F!

The isolation kittens are protected from the wind, so that shouldn’t affect the heat lamps ability to keep them warm, but we’re supposed to drop to -25C/-13F tonight, and the high tomorrow is supposed to only reach -23C/-9F, with an overnight low of -26C/-15F, before wind chill. The next day is supposed to be slightly warmer, before our highs are supposed to get back into the single digits below freezing (Celsius).

Those would be good days to stay home, but I’m expecting to pick up our 1/8 beef share on one of those days. I’m just waiting on an email to confirm the date.

I hadn’t been home for long, when I got a phone call from my mother.

Guess who had just showed up at her place?

*sigh*

Yup. Our vandal. My surprising him by being there yesterday didn’t scare him off for long.

My mother was in the common room, though, and our neighbour was with him again, so he was on his best behaviour. Apparently, he was in the nearer city for “treatment” (chemotherapy?) so they stopped by on the way home.

I’m glad my mother called me as soon as she got back into her apartment after they left. In the past, she wouldn’t tell us if he showed up, even when he was alone and his behaviour was verbally abusive.

Then she told me that the doctor that was supposed to call her at 2pm, did finally call! It was past 4pm by the time he did. Thankfully, my mother still remembered our conversation, and on telling him how things went, his recommendation was exactly what I said was most likely. He wanted to increase the dose of the medication.

Then my mother, being the way she is, asked him if she could just stop taking them. What would happen? His response was, probably nothing would change. She could stop taking them, if she wanted, but to call him again if things got worse.

*sigh*

I just had to express my frustrations with her, as carefully as I could. She keeps complaining about all sorts of health problems, but when people try to help her, she won’t do the things that she is supposed to do to make things better. When we first moved out here, she mostly complained about her knees, but refused to wear the braces my brother got for her (as recommended by her doctor at the time), for her knee that’s bent sideways. I forget it he got two or three different braces, trying to find one she was willing to wear, but she wouldn’t. Instead, she would wear sport knee pads. They kept her knees warm, therefore, in her mind, they were helping her knees more than the brace.

It’s the same thing with this new medication. I tried to explain again, it takes time to see if a specific medication would work, and at what dose. As an example, I told her how my husband it still trying to get the dose right on the new pain medication he’s on (the previous one is no longer available), and it’s been about a year. Her response was to start talking about how much she pities us for him having health problems, but I had to cut that off. I told her, this was just an example of something that is common. Everyone is different, so they have to take the time to figure out exactly what will work for each person.

Her bubble packs are due for new ones, and the doctor would be faxing the increased dosage to her pharmacy, so I told her that when she gets her new bubble packs, they should have the new dosage, and nothing would change. Just keep taking her prescriptions as always, and give it time to work.

I don’t know if I got through to her. I might have, at least for a little while.

I’m so glad she has homecare doing med assists, now. Even with the bubble packs, she was messing with her prescriptions. Which is more of a problem because she forgets what some of them are for, and gets them mixed up.

I need to remember to call the home care office and see where her application for assisted living or a nursing home is at! There’s only so much my siblings and I can do to help her. Especially when she isn’t willing to help herself at times!

So today didn’t turn out the way it was intended to, but things got done and, more importantly, my mom is okay after our vandal showing up at her place again.

I really, really wish she would just tell him to not come around anymore, but she still holds out home that things will get better.

Another reason to get her into some sort of long term care! She can move to a better living situation, and no one needs to tell him where she is. As long as she doesn’t tell him herself, of course. 🫤🙄

Ah, well. It is what it is! All we can do is deal with the cards we’ve got.

The Re-Farmer

Well now…

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… I am extra glad I had to go to my mother’s place today!

The trip itself was not particularly pleasant. We had that super warm day when everything melted, then we got snow on top of that. Yesterday, the southwestern part of our province was hit with a snow storm, but we were fortunate. I saw photos and video people shared on FB, and the one that blew me away was the sand truck – upside down in a ditch!

We got snow, but no storm. When I headed out, the roads were not plowed yet, though I could see the plow trucks were out. While our temperatures were below freezing, between the traffic and the darker surface, the highways were melting in patches, making things even more potentially dangerous. I took it slow, and was pleased to see, most of the other traffic was taking it slow, too! We’ve got good tires and a good truck, but there’s no weight in the back, so it doesn’t take much before I can feel it wanting to fishtail.

I left quite early and still had time when I got to my mother’s town. I decided to fill the gas tank and pick up some fried chicken for my mother and myself for lunch. I remembered that today is Monday, so she would have her Meals on Wheels delivery, so I asked to have the food split between two boxes, so she could have hers later in the day.

As I was paying for everything, one of the regular staff who was having her own lunch break started chatting, asking if I was having lunch with my mother today. I told her, sort of, and mentioned she would be having her Meals on Wheels, so I got hers separate for later. That’s when a customer sitting at another table (this gas station has several tables for people to sit down and have their coffee or chicken dinners) said that she would not be getting her Meals on Wheels today – all deliveries were cancelled today! With the road conditions, I’m not surprised.

So I was extra glad I’d decided to pick up food while getting gas!

I still got to my mother’s early, which was still good. I was able to get some stuff done for her before we settled down to eat. She still has her cold, and was feeling rather sorry for herself. She has developed a terrible habit, though, of making herself gasp and pant. She says it makes her stomach feel better. ??? It’s rather alarming to hear, and then she just stops and starts breathing normally.

As I was boiling water for tea, I asked her which tea she wanted and she suggested the immunity boosting teas my sister got for her, that she’s been drinking since she has a cold.

There were two different kinds, and they were both citrus based.

*sigh*

So my mother is supposed to avoid citrus, etc., but my sister keeps getting her this stuff!

At least the Cup-o-soup went over well, but I’m pretty sure those have onion in them, which is also on the avoid list.

While puttering in her kitchen, I remembered to look at her cupboard doors and saw that the printout of foods that she needed to avoid, and which were still good, for her acid reflux, was gone. There was just a bit of torn tape left where it was.

*sigh*

After we ate, we talked about her upcoming appointment and what to tell the doctor. She brought up again, how she figured she should just stop taking the pills, because they aren’t doing anything. She says there has been no change. I went through again that he’d explained: he was going to start her on a low dose first, and if that didn’t help in 3 months, he would increase the dose for another three months. Or, he might try prescribing a different medication, but that is less likely.

I asked her if she were following the other instructions he’s given her, and if she still had the information printout with all that on it.

No, she wasn’t doing the other stuff, and she didn’t know where the printouts were anymore.

*sigh*

She started complaining again about how she’s taking soooo many pills, and she’s tired of taking soooo many pills.

She’s not taking that many pills and, right now, one of them is basically a special multi-vitamin for her eye with dry macular degeneration, to keep it from getting worse.

I reminded her of just how fortunate she really is. I told her how many pills my husband takes, plus two injections, and even he isn’t taking all that much compared to some people. The thing is, the pills are doing their job, so she’s not feeling the things they are there for, so she thinks they are not needed. She’s not understanding that if she stops taking them, all these things they are protecting her from would start making her sick. I can’t imagine how terrible she would be feeling, for example, if she were NOT on the acid reflux pill, when just having a bit of citrus makes her think she’s dying (until she takes some Pepto).

Her phone appointment was at 2pm. When it was 10 after, she started saying, maybe they forgot about her. Another five minutes, and she was saying, maybe we should call them. I told her, if we were at the appointment in person, we’d just be sitting in a waiting room right now.

Still, I did find the number and tried calling the clinic. The automated system eventually got me to a message saying they were so busy, they weren’t taking any more messages, but to leave a message (???) and they would get back to the caller in 48-72 hours.

!!!!!

So I hung up, since there really wasn’t much point in leaving a message, when it was still possible they’d be calling.

My mother, however, was getting really tired by then and falling asleep in her chair. I finally told her, go ahead and lie down. I would stay close to the phone. Just give me time to go to the bathroom first, she could like down and leave the phone to me.

I had just gone into the bathroom and was closing the door when I heard a quiet knock.

Who would be knocking on my mother’s door at this time?

So I started opening the door again to answer the door for her, but it was already being opened.

There was our vandal, saying something about how my mother must be on the phone, walking right into her apartment! The bathroom door opens out and partially blocks the entryway, so when I was basically right in front of him when our vandal saw me and stopped dead in his tracks.

He quickly said he had to go. There was a container in his hand he quickly dropped on her dining table, and practically ran out the door.

Behind him, I could see a neighbour he’d brought along. I was very happy to see our neighbour. This is someone else I grew up with and consider family. He’s a very good man, and has been a sort of go-between for us, trying to get our vandal to see some sort of sense.

When he saw me, from the hallway, he looked like he was fighting back laughter.

Our vandal had left so fast, he’d left the door to close on its own behind him. I was able to grab the door and say high to our neighbour as he was leaving, but our vandal had gone down the hall so fast, I couldn’t see him anymore.

When I turned back, there was my mother, laughing.

I am so glad I was there! While my neighbour would have made sure our vandal treated my mother well, having him show up, on top of my mother being sick with a cold, would not have been pleasant for her at all.

I wasn’t really surprised to see him. I’d already called my mother to warn her he might suddenly show up, since I’ve been seeing him stalking our driveway again. I just expected him to show up earlier than today!

As for the container he left, it looked like it had pea soup in it, or something like that. My mother told me, she didn’t want it. She already had two other containers in her freezer from his, she doesn’t want. She said, with the way he talks and the things he says, it makes the food taste bad.

I totally get it.

I ended up popping it into the freezer, though, to be dealt with later.

After that little adventure, my mother was able to lie down and I settled into her armchair, in her view, with the phone.

Well, wouldn’t you know, as soon as she lay down, suddenly my mother was wide awake.

Our vandal showing up might have had a bit to do with that.

After a while, she gave up and got up.

By then, it was almost 3, and the doctor still hadn’t phoned. I didn’t want to stay much longer, as it would be getting dark soon. So I called the clinic number back and this time, left a message.

The drive back was both better and worse. Better, because the roads had been cleared by then. Worse, because I was not driving right into the wind and getting buffeted a lot more. Again, most vehicles were also taking it slow, which was much appreciated.

I got home in time for the evening feeding for the outside cats. I quickly did that, topped up their water, and played with Kohl in the isolation shelter for a bit.

Patience was not very patient just then! He was a hungry boy. 😊

Then I grabbed something to clear windows with and went to my brother’s truck to clear the windows of snow, so his solar trickle charger could get some light. I’ve since learned that another truck that’s parked here also has a trickle charger, so I’ll have to remember to clear that vehicle’s windshield, too, the next time I’m out there.

All in all, I’d say it was a good day, even though the telephone doctor’s appointment never happened. It meant I was there when our vandal showed up, and that made it worthwhile it all on its own!

The Re-Farmer

Finally home, and waiting for word…

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Oy, what a day this turned out to be!

First up, my daughter and I left quite early for her appointment, and I’m glad we did!

The outside cats seemed quite confused that they were getting fed while it was still dark out.

While we were not supposed to get more snow in our area, today, we were expected to get high winds, and we sure had that! Since we did get some light snow yesterday and overnight, that meant a lot of blowing snow reducing visibility on top of being buffeted on the highway. I had considered stopping at the gas station at my mother’s town along the way, just to grab some sort of road snack since I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but I skipped that. The clinic we were going to has a grocery store right next to it, and I figured I could wait!

We got there maybe 20 minutes early. I headed to the grocery store while my daughter went to the clinic, only to discover the doors were locked. So we both waited in the truck while I ate my sandwich until we saw the doors open 15 minutes before her appointment. Once she got called in, things went rather quickly. She had another round of bloodwork to do after that appointment, so I went to the truck while she got that done.

Which is when the messages started coming in.

My older daughter was letting me know to call my mother back… then to call home care. She couldn’t quite make much out of the message that had been left, but was eventually able to tell me that home care was still with my mother.

So I called my mother and the health care aid answered.

The first thing she told me was that she had just managed to get through to my sister. Which is good. I’m the first person to call, since I’m the closest. Then my sister, then my brother, who still lives the furthest away. My sister had said she would be coming to see my mother.

My mother was complaining of chest pains (again), shortness of breath (again) and clamminess.

The clamminess was a new one.

The health care aid was offering to call an ambulance, but my mother was refusing.

Her chest pains were most likely the usual heartburn, and the shortness of breath has become a regular complaint. From what I can observe, the previous doctors suggestion that it is conditioning is most likely correct. My mother is 93, had busted up knees and is getting out of shape with age, but she doesn’t know how to slow down. I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with her once she gets going with her walker. Then she gets out of breath and can’t understand why.

The clamminess, though… I don’t know what to make of that.

As we were talking, my sister tried to call. I dismissed that call, finished up with the health care aid, then phoned my sister while the health care aid was going to call home care next.

In talking to my sister, I told her where we were and why. She started saying they hadn’t have breakfast yet, but if I were in the area, maybe I could check on Mom instead.

…

I told her again, why we were where we were (which is NOT “in the area”). We were going to be in this town for most of the day. My sister wasn’t happy to hear that, but said she would go to Mom’s after they had breakfast.

I don’t know how long it was going to be before she was on the road, but by the time I was done with the phone calls, the weather had gotten worse. It would not be a fun drive, though I don’t know of the worsened weather reached as far as where she lives. Her route wouldn’t take her through this town, anyhow, so it’s possible she wouldn’t see the bad weather at all. Other than the high winds. Those never died down at all today. Even now, as I write this, I can see the trees swaying out my window.

That call done, I messaged my brother to keep him in the loop. Then my daughter and I went to get an actual breakfast. Not much was open that early in the morning, so we ended up going to a Tim Hortons.

We had some time between appointments, so I took advantage of it and went to a branch of my bank with some questions I had. The postal strike is causing some issues, and I needed to clear some things up. From there, we went to a Red Apple, where my daughter was able to get some clothing necessities, and I snagged a high density foam mat to keep in the truck. If we need to climb into the truck box with the tailgate open, it’s something we can lay down to protect our knees. Or, if we have a situation like when my brother wanted to lie on the ground to look under the truck, it can be a nicely insulated, clean surface to lie on.

After taking our time there, we then went to a Home Hardware that was kitty corner from the eye clinic. While there, I picked up a new sump pump hose. Not for our sump pump, though, but for our washing machine drain. We’re still running the hose out the front door, and the current one has started to leak.

At some point, we need to use that drain auger on the pipes, but I’m not going to do it until I am sure we can seal it up again without leaking. My brother keeps telling me how easy it is, but I honestly can’t even see how to open the thing. We also don’t have the sealant needed for when it gets closed up again. It’s also in a very awkward space, plus it’s directly above the sump pump reservoir. Just getting the auger close enough to use it is going to be difficult.

I really hate the plumbing in this place. 😄😄

Anyhow.

It was shortly past noon when we finished at the hardware store, so we popped across to the eye clinic and I checked in.

Thankfully, they were not busy.

I first got called in for the eye images, then the puff test. Then the tech checked to see if the field of vision machine was ready. It was, so she was able to take me straight over for that.

The field of vision test takes about five minutes per eye. Once that was done, the data was sent for the eye doctor to look at, and she would call me in when she was done. When I sat down with my daughter in the waiting room, I checked my phone and it had just turned 1pm – a full hour before my appointment!

Then my phone rang. 😄

It was my brother, calling me in between meetings, about Mom. We spoke for a short time, but there really wasn’t anything to say. Our sister had not sent any messages to update us.

It wasn’t too much longer before the eye doctor called me in. After looking at the images and comparing them from the last two, each 6 months apart, there was very little change. She took a direct look as well, and it was decided to not do the eye dilation tests this time. We would do it next time.

I mentioned to her that we were going to try and not book appointments in the winter, due to transportation and road condition concerns. The next appointment would have been in June, but she was okay if we changed it to July or August.

So that’s what I did. For the next appointment, I’m booked in the second half of July. If she wants me to do another “6 month” test, I would book it for March or April, slowly shifting the appointments to spring and fall instead of summer and winter.

Since we didn’t need to do the eye dilation test, I got to drive us home. My daughter’s dizzy spells have improved, but not gone away completely yet, so me driving was better, anyhow.

Since we were in town, we then made a short stop at a grocery store. I won’t be able to do our Costco shop until Friday at the earliest, so there were a few fresh things that we needed to get. We also picked up some road food for the trip home.

By this time, conditions had improved considerably. It was still very windy and the truck was being buffeted, but we also had bright sunshine. There was only one area that got dicey. The windward side in that area was all open fields and so much snow was being blown across, driving into it was like driving into a fog bank! At one point, as I checked my rear view mirror, the car behind me looked like it was driving on a cloud. No sign of the road or ditches at all! Just blowing snow.

Thankfully, the further north we go, the more trees there are to block the blowing snow.

We were both very glad to be home, that’s for sure!

Once everything was brought in, it was getting late enough that I left my daughter to put most of the stuff away while I went to feed the outside cats and top up their warm water before it got dark. I wanted to make sure they all had a chance to finish the food off before night time. It’s the only way we can get the outside cats that are going to be spayed tomorrow to fast.

I need to be on the road by 7am with the cats tomorrow, giving myself extra time for bad road conditions, for the 8am drop off. We’ll still be at our overnight low of -18C/0F at that time, based on the current forecast. It’s supposed to be slightly colder tomorrow, but without the high winds, so that will make a huge difference.

After the cats get dropped off at the vet, I’ll be hanging around the area until they call me to pick them up. So I will be gone all morning, at the very least. Last time, I was able to nap in the truck, but it’ll probably be too cold to do that, this time!

Oh, I just got word from my sister. By the time she got to my mother’s, she was feeling fine. No longer clammy. There’s a cold going through her building that she might be catching, so she got my mother some vitamin D, echinacea and immunity boosting tea.

Hopefully, that will do it.

I still plan to phone my mother, right after I finish posting this!

Then we need to get some carriers ready for the cats tomorrow. We won’t have any problem getting Kohl, as she’s become nice and social. The adult females may be another story. If we can’t get them, we should at least be able to snag Magda, who is also very social, but it would be much better if we could manage to get one of the adults! I’m not even sure Magda is 2 pounds yet, but she should be close.

We shall see.

Once the carriers are prepped, it’s going to be an early bedtime for me!

Time to go phone my mother now…

The Re-Farmer

Glad to be home!

/ Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

Well, that was a fun drive.

Not.

Okay, it wasn’t too back, but I really hate driving at night at the best of times. Add in things like blowing snow and being buffeted by winds, even if it’s just a smaller amount, is something I’d rather avoid. That wind was really bitter. As I write this, we are at -13C/9F with a windchill of -26C/-15F. I actually broke out my ratty old down filled parka for the trip!

I need a “going out” coat. 😄

My husband’s appointment for his CT scan was at 5:30, and we needed to be on the road by 4:30 at the latest. We decided to leave at about 3, giving us time to get some gas and *gasp* make a date of it!

A cheap date.

We ended up going to the nearer Walmart I usually go to in between stock up shopping trips, as it’s very close to the hospital my husband’s appointment was at, and had some McRaunchies. 😁

It doesn’t take much to make us happy.

Best of all, it was still daylight for the drive in.

A downside was not being able to park close to the doors. My husband does have a disabled parking permit, but all the parking spots were full. I was driving around and there was one open spot, but another vehicle pulled into it – parking diagonally, and not even trying to straighten out – before I got close. So we had to park quite a bit further out and my husband had to push his walker through the snow.

As far as we could see, the car that got the spot ahead of us did not have a disabled parking permit.

It was still there when we left, too.

Even when we got to the hospital parking lot, most of the disabled parking spots were taken – at least the ones that were closest to the entry. I thought there was one really great spot, but it turned out to be permit parking only.

I dropped my husband off at the entrance, but had to block the access lane to do it. The area in front of the doors was blocked by a handy van, and all the spaces in front and back of it, which are all 10 minute drop off zones, had cars parked in them.

By the time I found a parking spot and came in, my husband was already checked in and in the waiting room at diagnostic imaging. We were only about 15 minutes early at that point.

They got him in about 15 minutes late.

The downside of leaving so early is, he was in quite a lot of pain by then.

As for the scan itself, he was in and out in less than 10 minutes! That included the time needed for them to help him get off the table. He could get on all right, but his back wouldn’t let him get up without assistance.

When we stopped in the lobby so my husband could put his coat on, I checked the time and it was exactly 6pm. It was straight home from there, but the drive took quite a bit longer than usual. With the poor visibility and blowing snow, I was driving about 80-90kmh (50-55 mph) in 100kmh zones (62mph).

I got passed only once, and there was quite a bit of traffic!

What is usually around a 45-50 minute drive ended up taking just over an hour.

But, it’s over and done with. His new doctor will have up to date scans to look at and see how much more his spine has deteriorated since the last scan, a few years ago. Which isn’t even the injury that disabled him, but there’s nothing they have been able to do about the soft tissue damage. Hopefully, when she wants to talk to him about the results, his doctor will be okay with a telephone appointment. Even though the clinic is in the town nearest us, it’s still really painful for him to get to it.

Once at home and heading into the house, I was very happy to see that there were several cats hanging out inside the isolation shelter. Since we can’t see into it unless we are outside, I’m never quite confident that it’s being used. Especially when I look out the bathroom window and see piles of cats smashed together on the cats beds in there. 😄

My brain is still not used to these early sunsets. Even during the drive home, when it just past 7pm, it felt like it should be midnight! Now, I look at my clock and it’s not even 8:30pm yet.

It just feels wrong. 😄

Then, just when I’ll finally be used to it, it’ll be the solstice and the days will start getting longer again. 😄

I can hardly wait!

The Re-Farmer