It was another lovely day, and I was feeling well enough to finish winterizing the cat isolation shelter.
They are so happy!
My brother had been able to do a bit of leveling of the patio blocks, but they some of them are still a bit off. I had to put something under one of the front wheels of the shelter to keep it from wobbling. The weather blocking box also needed something put under the front legs, with one needing twice as much as the other.
One of the things I would normally want to do is put rigid insulation under the roof for the winter again. Unfortunately, the cats REALLY love that insulation. They love to scratch it, more than they like to scratch the hemp rope scratching board that serves as a ramp between the levels. Before cleaning up, I had pieces of insulation I’d been cutting from nearby, including a fairly large piece. The cats were all over it – and trying to burrow under it, too!
So while I’d love to put insulation under the roof to create a ceiling, nothing lasts the winter. It gets destroyed.
We need to figure something else out, because it really does make a difference to have an insulated ceiling. Thankfully, it’s still warm enough to not be an issue yet.
Other than that, it was a mostly quite day. My daughter and I did run into town this evening for a quick little grocery run. When we got to town, we found gas prices as dropped to $1.599 at two stations, and the Shell station I normally go to was $1.539
I filled the tank. With my CAA card discount, I paid the equivalent of $1.509
It was full dark before we even finished shopping. It’s been a long time since my daughter has driven at night. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed it. Except for oncoming vehicles forgetting to turn off their brights.๐
I’m feeling really good about getting at least one major thing finished today!
While the temperatures today are cooler than yesterday, the rain has stopped and the sun has come out, so I was very happy to finally get outside!
While there is a lot to do all over, I am wanting to prioritize getting things winterized for the cats as much as possible. Today, that meant working on the isolation shelter.
Yes, I moved it by the house.
Yes, I moved it by myself.
Very slowly. Very carefully. Even with the rain, the ground was not too soft, and none of the wheel sank too much. Once I got to the sidewalk and could keep at least 2 wheels on the concrete blocks, it went a lot faster and smoother.
I had been working on it for a while when my daughter came out, having remembered we needed to pick up a package at the post office. We headed out together and it’s a good thing she interrupted me. After sitting in the truck for a while, my body started letting me know that I really needed to stop for the day, before I pushed things too far. So when we got back, I went over what I’d done so far with her, and what I was working on when I stopped, so she could take over for me, if she got to it before I did.
After cleaning up and putting things away, I decided to take a short video, instead of photos.
Before moving it, I took out the sliding windows, emptied it and cleaned out the bottom as best I could. The litter box had been tipped on its side, long enough ago that all the sawdust from the litter pellets was dry. I have a car bush/squeegee/scraper combo with a telescoping handle and a brush the rotates 90ยฐ that works really well for that. The scraper end broke long ago, but the brush/squeegee end has been so very handy when it comes to cleaning the and isolation shelter and the catio roof. I was able to brush most of the sawdust through the mesh floor. If it were spring or summer, I would have hosed it down, too, but I wasn’t going to do that this time of year.
When my older daughter and I removed the plastic (vinyl dining table covers, actually) from around the bottom earlier in the year, I made sure to label all the wood lath pieces with where they came from, and kept their screws in the wood, so I could put them back in the same places without making new holes in the wood frame. The vinyl is two pieces that overlap at the back. Their bottoms were pretty damaged from last winter. One of them was a lot more damaged at one end at the back than the other. While against the house last winter, there was enough space behind it that the cats can fit on top of some things I had stored behind it, and they sometimes slipped, clawing the plastic in the process. With that one, I folded the most damaged part in on itself. The vinyl table protectors are folded in half already, so the overlapping part in the back now has 6 layers in the middle, instead of four.
While we tried to store the vinyl as smoothly as possible, it was still pretty wrinkled, which made securing it with the wood a bit more challenging. On one end, the bottom was torn up enough that I had to use my clear repair tape before I could secure it with the wood lath.
I’d also had a length of wood lath at the back of the roof, joining the roof supports. It had been nailed in place and kept popping off, so I finally tucked it under the roof panels. Today, I put it back with tiny screws, instead of nails. This is to keep the roof supports from wobbling unevenly when it’s lifted. It’s not an issue at the front, where the hinge is. Two more supports were added under the roof panel to stop some sagging. I’ll need to bring the little step ladder out, and then I’ll add some more screws to secure the panels directly to the added supports in the middle, where I can’t otherwise reach.
One of the things I made sure to do was put rigid insulation on the walls of the upper level. The piece that was in the side over the hammock, however, was rather loose and kept falling down into the hammock, or even down to the lover level, before finally breaking. Cats in the hammock would use it as a scratching post, too, and kept pulling it loose. That panel is nothing but wood lath, with some pieces bowing a bit. Wind can get through it quite easily, so I wanted to put new insulation in there. This time, I used my measuring tape calipers to figure out the dimensions properly. When I’d added the insulation before, the front window hadn’t been put on yet, so it was easy to access. I basically just held the insulation to the space and cut it mostly by eye. Which would have worked fine, if there was no wind or cats to make it fall out. I had just finished cutting the piece to fit around the corner brace and the small piece of wood that’s screwed into the inside corner at the top. I had tried to fit in in place, and it is just the tiniest bit too wide. I could force it in place and it would hold very well, but I want to cut a second, matching piece, first, to make a double layer of insulation. The inside one, right up against the wood, can be trimmed to fit without being forced, and I am thinking the outside one can be left without trimming, and be tight enough to not be pulled out by the cats too easily – and if they do, there will be a second layer beneath it.
Not today, though. I’m glad my daughter came out when she did and distracted me. Otherwise, I would have kept going for quite a while and potentially injured myself before realizing it.
Speaking of injuries, once I’ve had my follow up appointment, and our doctor is at her new location, I need to get that left shoulder checked. It is starting to be a problem. The arm is strong, but range of motion is increasingly limited.
All in good time.
I’m just really happy with how much I was able to do today, while the weather is so lovely right now!
Today was overcast and rainy all day, as predicted.
Which meant I was feeling sleepy all day.
This is on top of already getting tired quickly and sleeping a lot more than usual since the surgery. A double whammy of sleepy. I didn’t even make it outside to do any cat feeding, or even doing my usual walkabout.
I did get a couple of things done. We had taken one of the turkeys out of the freezer and my older daughter roasted it last night, for us to enjoy today. She set aside the neck and bag of innards for me. Last night, when I found myself awake and ended up writing a blog post, I stayed up until past 6am. Before going back to bed, I got out the meat grinder my younger daughter and I had picked up at the second hand store earlier this summer and used it to grind the set aside turkey bits. It came out to quite a decent amount, which I packed up in a take out container and set in the old kitchen (which is uninsulated and currently refrigerator cold, even in this mild fall) for my daughters to use to make cat soup with. That seemed to work out rather well.
No one has succeeded in getting close to Sweetie to treat that horrible ear of hers. It’s probably the worst case of ear mites I’ve seen – or the worst damage from scratching. Yet none of us can get close to her, even while she is eating. We used to be able to pet her! Sending her to the rescue for spay and trying to adopt her out has really set her back. It’s been months, and still no progress.
I didn’t even get any crochet done today. Instead, I’ve been trying to catch up on my desktop. I haven’t been keeping up on visiting my blogs as regularly. I don’t do it on my phone, as I find it so much harder to read anything on there, never mind constant issue with tapping on a screen. I haven’t been keeping up on my emails, either, which is mostly newsletters and subscribed stuff, including bloggers I now follow on Substack. Personal communications are more often through text or Messenger, not email, these days. It’s remarkable, how quickly those emails build up. I won’t be able to catch up on them all today, that’s for sure.
Tomorrow is supposed to be chillier, but we should be getting some sunshine. I look forward to getting outside, even if it’s just for a little while!
I got a call from my mother today. I have to say, her calls have been wildly difference since I got my cancer diagnosis and surgery. She actually sounds cheerful. When I ask how she’s doing, she just says “the usual” in referring to her long list of maladies she likes to blame on some food or other, or on the staff for trying to kill her by giving the wrong meds, but doesn’t actually talk about them with me anymore. She saves that for my brother and sometimes my sister.
She has been refusing to dress for the day, staying in one of three long, thick nightgowns she has. She has suddenly decided that she needs more of them, but my sister has not been able to find any that my mother will like. She tried going at my brother about getting her clothes, because she has soooo much money (she doesn’t), and she’s entitled to new things. My brother, meanwhile, knows nothing about her clothing. That’s my sister’s specialty. She knows my mother’s measurements and will usually tailor store purchases to fit my mother. So when she started telling me about talking to my brother about clothes, I told her he’s not the one to talk to about that! That’s when she mentioned that my sister had said she would buy fabric and sew something for her. My sister used to sew all her own clothes, for many years, including clothing of her own design, so she is definitely the right person for that. In hearing some of what my mother was saying she needed, I told her that there are places that specialize in clothes for people with mobility issues. I’m sure there’s one such place in the city where the nearest Walmart is. My sister works at that Walmart, as lives just a 15 minute or so drive away. My mother liked that idea and I promised to pass the message on to my sister.
My mother has been at the personal care home for 5 months now, and has been basically living in those thick nightgowns the whole time. From how she was talking to me, I get the impression that she is seeing how other people living there are always dressed so nicely, and she would like to do that, too. If that’s what it takes for her to stop insisting on not dressing for the day, I’m good with that!
Hopefully, my sister will find – or can sew – things that my mother will like. She is very hard to please, but also doesn’t give much information about what she actually wants!!
It’s coming up on time for me to take my evening med and supplements.
I don’t think I’m going to finish going through the tabs of things I’m trying to catch up on tonight. I might just grab some supper to go with my meds, then go to bed!
I can’t remember the last time I went to bed before midnight so often – and actually slept! Even with waking during the night, I’ve been sleeping for about 10-12 hours a day.
We can’t leave her with me.ย Partly becayse there us no place for a litter box and partly because she’s one of the cats that likes to jump on my abdomen when I’m in bed.ย A big no-no right now.
I think bringing her in with me will become a daily thing, though.ย She needs the break!
Beyond that, it’s been a good day.ย It was gorgeous outside.ย My younger daughter and I were able to do a dump run, though I was banned from handling anything.ย After, we made a trip to the general store and post office.ย My husband had something in he thought would fit in the mail box, but there was just a card.ย We will have to come back on Monday.
My older daughter gave me her wallet to pick something up, then both my younger daughter and I got a couple more things.ย I was not “allowed” to carry the bag of combined purchases but I was happy to at least go into the store.
Tonight, however, I just got hit with a wave of fatigue.ย Sleepiness enough that I’m having to be careful not to drop my phone as I tap this post.
Today has been a day of quiet rest and recovery for most of us.
The girls took care of the usual outside cat stuff.ย The yard cats are unhappy with their cat soup.ย We are out of the donated cat milk and canned cat food we’d been using, so it’s basically just softened kibble.ย We aren’t in a position to buy more right now.
My older daughter is pushing hard on commissions with end of month deadlines.ย ย My younger daughter has been dealing with pain issues after pushing to get things done outside, yesterday.ย My husband’s pain levels have been pretty bad lately, too.
I discovered the cats had done much destruction in my bedroom during the night.ย By the time I got it fixed up, I was pretty drained.ย Besides getting tired fast, though, I’m doing well.ย The last of the medical tape and stitches at the incisions on my abdomen have come off.ย I have been taking painkillers only before bed, and it’s been for my ridiculous shoulder pain, not anything surgery related.ย
My younger daughter accompanied me when I did my walkabout before things got too dark.ย She was caning it and having more pain issues while walking than I was.
We are coming up on 9 years, here.ย This blog just had its 9th anniversary.ย My younger daughter and my husband were already here, while my older daughter and I finished getting ready for the movers before driving out.ย
I have to admit, things have not panned out as expected, but then, who could gave expected all 4 of us ending up having serious health challenges?
Today, my daughters got some progress outside.ย The last 4 haskaps have been planted, and all 144 of them got a deep watering.
The garlic bed also got a deep watering, before a straw mulch was added.ย If all goes well, the garlic should start growing under there, before the ground freezes.
Over time, the haskaps need to be mulched, too, but with so many, that will be done slowly, over time.
I was able to head outside for my daily walkabout, before things got dark.ย Of course, I checked on things and did what little I could.ย I even remembered to move the trail cam and it’s stand away from our sign at the corner of the property, since we no longer have to worry about the sign being vandalized.ย ย I’m hoping to find a way to use the stand to hold the solar critter cam to monitor the isolation shelter, once it’s set up under the kitchen window for the winter.
While looking at where my daughter planted the last haskaps, I noticed the spade was forgotten, so I took it to the sun room.
Where I promptly startled four skunks
!!!
I left the sun room, since the cats and I were blocking the exit.ย Three left.
One stayed and looked like it was settling down for the night. ๐
There’s really no way to persuade it to leave from there.ย Too many things between it, and the door.ย Namely me and swirling cats, wanting their evening feeding!
So I took care of that and left the skunk alone.
Aside from that, I’ve spent most of my day in the cat free zone, doing little crochet projects.ย I’m trying to use up two colours of mill end cotton I’ve had for quite some time.ย ย We now have more dish cloths and coasters, and I’m working on another bowl.
I’m hoping to have a better night tonight.ย Last night, I went to bed early, and promptly became wide awake.ย At one point, I gave up trying to sleep, got up and made another pot holder in Tunisian stitch, because why the heck not?ย I’d love to do more than drift off and wake up, over and over, all night again, though.ย ย Not something surgery or recovery related, as far as I can tell.ย In that respect, things are going quite well.
Normally, tomorrow would be our second stock up trip to Costco in the city.ย That will be delayed.ย If we need anything over the next week or so, we can make a short trip into town.
I mentioned yesterday, how I had felt strangely sleepy all day.ย
Typically, when that happens, as soon as I lay diwn to try and sleep, I end up wide awake.
Not this time!
I lay down, planning to just rest a bit.ย I woke up some 8 or so hours later, having not moved the entire time.ย
It was coming up on 5am, and I figured I would just hit the heads, then lie diwn until my alarm went off for my meds.
The alarm woke me from a dead sleep.ย I shut it off, then passed out for another 3 hours.
Thankfully, I’m not on any meds that are strictly timed, anymore.ย Including my painkillers, which are back to “take as needed”.
Most of the day, for me, was pretty quiet.ย The girls started the laundry, which is one of the things I’m banned from doing.ย My younger daughter headed out when it got as warm as it would, in the afternoon, and started planting more haskaps.ย Adding more rows to where the previous ones are planted.ย By tye time she stopped, it was full dark.ย She says there are still some left. !!!ย
Meanwhile, the guy that bought a couple of scrap vehicles and dragged them out with his crane truck came back today, with a trailer.ย Staying out with him was my only real accomplishment.
He got one loaded and was expecting to cime back for the second one.ย When it got quite dark, I figured he would come back another day, but he still made it.ย His crane truck has flood lights on the back, it turns out.
It was about 7:30 and fully dark when my younger daughter came over.ย I hadn’t realized until then that they were both out still planting haskaps!!ย She stayed with me until the guy left, to help close the gate behind him.
So that is now done, though there are other vehicles he’s interested in.ย He’ll be talking to my brother about those, though.ย My brother knows more about them than I do.
As for me, I’m working myself up to eat something, before going to bed early again.ย I’m hungry, but have no appetite. ๐ย
I look forward to taking a walk outside tomorrow, and seeing what my daughters have done!
When I had a laparoscopy done, some 15 or so years ago, the thing that surprised me most was how it basically wiped me out for a month. I felt so weak for so long, and completely drained.
Now?
I feel none of that. If anything, I’m feeling downright energetic! The fact that residual pain from the areas they worked in has reduced so much, so quickly, certainly helps. Basic biological functions that were painful yesterday are pretty much pain free now. I still have to watch myself, of course, but I’m really amazed by how quickly the pains are passing.
I will continue to sleep on the couch in the living room for some time, though. Which means that cats have my king size bed to themselves. You’d think they’d be happy with that, but it hasn’t stopped them from trying to tear down the door into the living room. This set up was made to be temporary and easy to remove. It’s basically just famed chicken wire, with a hook and eyelet on either side of the door to keep it closed. Last night, several different cats decided they absolutely needed to get through that door, because I was there, grabbing at the chicken wire with their claws and trying to pull it open.
My older daughter stayed up almost all night, so that she would be available in case I needed help, and she ended up luring the cats away with wet cat food, after which they finally stopped trying to tear down the door. Mostly. I did actually get some sleep, and found getting in and out of the low couch much easier than I feared. I’d still like to raise it up by about 4 or 5 inches but, for now, it is working. My daughters set up my walker near the couch so I could use it to help get myself up and down, and that worked out very well. By morning, though, I found I didn’t even need to use it.
My brother and his wife did end up coming over for a few hours today, making sure to let us know we didn’t need to even come out to greet them. They had some winterizing to do, and very little time to do it. My daughter did head out to return their container from the lovely turkey soup my SIL had sent home with us, though.
I spent much of my day in the cat free zone. Got some crochet done until I found myself being blinded by the morning sun once it cleared the spruce trees. My husband and daughters made sure I got my high protein meals and plenty of hot tea.
Temperature wise, today was a lovely day, but we had high winds again. In the late afternoon, the girls helped get my walker outside so I could do some walking around, and we were seriously buffeted. We found a lovely surprise on our compost ring; my brother had left a bag of their compost for us. I had been perplexed by this, when he brought us several buckets of compost in the spring but, while staying overnight and their place, they showed me their electric compost machine. I’d never heard of such a thing before, though I’ve seen other types of countertop composters. This thing cooks down the kitchen waste and the end result is a compost that looks a lot like course coffee grounds. I was very happy to see more of it.
When I first started walking around the yard, I checked out the vines on the chain link fence. I’d picked the tiny yellow winter squash a while ago, but those were easy to reach under the frost cloth I’d draped over them. I remembered the green one from nearer the middle of the fence. The wind had torn most of the frost cloth loose, so I could reach around and finally found it. As we walked around the main garden area, I ended up picking the muskmelons that were under the plastic all this time.
In among the frost killed bush beans, fresh onions are growing! I’d harvested the onions from there, but obviously missed a few. These are quite small, so it’s possible they are transplants that simply didn’t grow until the bush beans died back.
While walking around, the girls and I talked about where we could plant more of the little haskaps, and the various things that need to be taken down and put away for the winter. There’s no way we’ll be able to get all the beds cleaned up and prepped before winter. As long as we get one done, planted with garlic and mulched, I’ll be happy. The next while should have good daytime temperatures, so my daughters will be able to harvest the last of the carrots, beets, parsnips and the rest of the chicory root, little by little. That has priority over clearing beds for next year. They are also wanting to get as many more of those smaller pots of haskap as possible planted, too. Looking at the long range forecast, it doesn’t look like the ground will actually freeze until about mid-November. That is unsure, of course, since the forecast that far ahead is based entirely on averages, and this winter is not supposed to be average with that Super El Niลo. It’s entirely possible the ground won’t freeze until some time in December.
I’m rather okay with that.
The hardest thing for me right now is to not go out there and try to do stuff, because I’m feeling way too good and way too energetic!
It was actually pretty good.ย Chicken Alfredo fusili with cubed squash.ย Cappuccino cake.ย Tea, and milk.
I drank the milk, even though I dislike milk as a beverage.
Things were good when I woke this morning.ย Then, maybe half an hour before we left, pain levels started to increase.ย They got worse during the drive in.
We arrived about an hour early.ย I got checked in right away.
Pain levels increased. Eventually, I could not longer sit and tried walking around the waiting room with my walker, when is when someone came for me.
The woman who came to get me took one look at my face and started asking about my pain levels.
I got in and gowned up and, once settled in the gurney with the heated blanket across my abdomen, my daughter was able to come join me.
Pain levels increased.ย ย
The attending nurse called the anesthesiologist and got the okay to give me T3s, since that’s what I’ve been taking lately.
Pain levels increased, and my face must have been something, because the nurse came back and looked very alarmed.ย She asked me what I would rate the pain levels from 1 – 10.ย I told her, if I were home, I’d be considering going to the ER.
She started to ask if I wanted stronger painkillers, then cut herself off and saud, she would get something for me.ย Not long after, we heard her telling someone, I need hydromorphone.ย Now.
I got it through the IV.ย Oh, what a difference thar made!!
While going over all the pre-op stuff, the nurse started saying I would likely be staying overnight.ย My daughter messaged my brother to make sure that was okay, and she could crash at their place, one more night.
They were pretty much expecting that, wondering why anyone was saying day surgery, to begin with.
After a while, the surgical team came over and introductions ensued.ย Then the surgeon told me, the full hysterectomy might not stop the pain.
Talking to my daughter later, she said the doctor looked both alarmed and confused.
He explained that endometrial cancer does not hurt.ย It can’t.ย If something else is causing the pain, removing the parts and pieces night not stop it. That’s when he started saying I would probably be staying overnight.
More questions and I explained the pain is specifically around the uterus and ovaries.ย
That was part of the confusion.ย There should be no pain from this type of cancer.
I was soon moved to the other hospital, using the overpass across the street, because the other hospital is where the robot is.ย I woke up back at the Women’s hospital, in recovery.
Turns out, I had issues.ย
They had to remove unexpected tissue, but could not remove any lymph nodes.
They found a lot of scar tissue.ย Things were stuck to each other.ย which would explain the pain! They thought it might be from my appendectomy.ย Which happened when I was 12, so that makes no sense.
I didn’t think of it to bring it up at the time, but when I had laporoscopic surgery to remove a large cyst, more than a decade ago, there was no scar tissue.
So this happened since then.ย However, I had no pains like this until a few months ago.
Very strange
So I am still in the recovery area.ย I had forgotten my phone, and my brother came over to drop it off, then he and my daughter left very quickly, as my SIL was waiting with the car in the drop off zone.
My daughter was with me in recovery for quite some time, and was there when a food tray suddenly appeared.ย No one had said anything about my being able to eat though by then, I was quite famished.
Since then, my vitals are regularly being tested – and the different nurses keep asking about my going home for the night.ย With the last one, I told her, my ride just left.ย At this point in the say, they should no longer be asking.ย I can hear the woman in recovery on the other side of the curtain.ย She had the same surgery as me.
They are discharging her tonight.
!!!
There is lots more, of course, but that’s enough for now.ย I’m going to have to page a nurse, anyhow.ย I need help getting out of bed, just yo use the washroom.
I’m no longer on IV or oxygen now.ย I cant use my IV dancing partner to keep from falling, but I do have my walker.ย When I got help earlier, I asked for the nurses arm, and ended up trying very hard not to lean on her.ย She was just a tiny little bird.ย No way she could support me if Iย fell!
Well, I just my last vitals done for the next while.ย Next painkillers at midnight, so I can get a nap in.
I got assistance to use the washroom, then tried to do the walking I’m supposed to do.ย Started feeling nauseous before I reached 30 feet.ย The nurse walking with me got me back to the bed, but had to get someone ekse to help me actually get in.
I felt so good after the surgery, but the more time goes by, the worse I’ve been feeling.
Now, it’s back.
The pain that the doctor said the procedure should end.
Still not bad enough to go to the ER, but that is a possibility.
My daughter drove us to the post office to pick up a parcel. I ended up giving her my debit card along with the mail key and staying in the truck, in case she saw something in the general store worth picking up.
There ended up being two parcels. My latest MI Gardener seed order was in, too. Follow the link to see what made me choose these specific varieties.
There was also a surprise complementary packet of seeds; a “Salad bowl” mix. Who knows. We might even try growing some of those under lights in the winter.
The new seeds should be added to my seed bin that’s in the cool of the basement, but I can’t do the stairs right now.
In fact, I think I’m going to lie down again in a bit.
