Last night, we got more of the bitter temperatures we were supposed to be past by now. When I looked during the night, we had hit our predicted low of -25C/-13F, with a wind chill of -33C/-27F Today, however, we reached -9C/16F – at least, that’s what the display on my truck showed me. Inside the sun room was at least 10C/50F. You’d think the cats would be hanging out in that, but they were running around outside in the sunshine. I guess with that winter fur, it might actually have been too warm for them in the sun room!
Oh, and Happy First Meteorological day of spring! 😄
Today, we had one shopping stop planned, but made extra ones, too.
The first unplanned stop was to a Dollarama sharing a parking lot with the Walmart in the nearer city. I’m still checking to see what garden supplies they’re getting in, as I’m wanting to pick up the larger plant stakes I’ve found so very useful. They didn’t have then yet, but I did pick up a couple of shallow trays that we use for the inside cats’ cat soup, as we’re down a couple. One, because the cats manage to break it. Another because it now has the new water fountain taped to it, to keep the cats from spilling all over the floor. The water fountain is also taped closed because Ghosty like to tear to top off and start splashing around inside!
When we’d gone to a Dollarama in the city, I’d picked up their last 4 bowls in a particular pattern. The bowls are more like what I grew up knowing as pulmisek. I don’t know if there’s an English name for it, but it basically means “half dish” because it’s half way between a bowl and a dinner plate in side and shape. Anyhow, today, I spotted the same pattern in side plates – something else we’ve been losing to breakage – and my daughter spotted more in dinner plates. They had lots, too. So we got four of each. With the bowls we already have, we now have four 3 pc place settings in this pattern, all for much less than buying a new set of dishes would have cost. I’m quite happy with them.
Our planned stop was to the Walmart. There, we finally found the new toilet brush and toilet roll holder we didn’t get at our last Walmart trip, this time making sure they had their bar codes! An extra purchase was a case of New England clam chowder. Locally, they cost a bit under, or a bit over, $4 a can, depending on what store we go to. Walmart is usually $2.97 a can, so we do tend to buy it there when we want a treat. Today, they were on sale for $1.88 a can. Then there were a few little things my husband requested.
Another thing we got was 10 little cans of Fancy Feast cat food. These, I will be keeping in my room so that I can give them to our elderly Freya, who seems to be having trouble even with softened kibble at times. The grand old lady deserves to be pampered! When I kick all the cats out of my room, except Butterscotch and Freya, in the morning so Butterscotch can use the litter, eat and drink without being harassed by other cats, I can also give them their special breakfast. Butterscotch is also getting on in years, though she is certainly more spry than Freya, so she will get her share, too.
After we were done at the Walmart, I decided to go to the Canadian Tire across the street, for our second unplanned stop. I wanted to look at countertop ovens and microwaves. Our microwave’s fan stopped working, so it’s no longer safe to use. We only used it to reheat things, sometimes make the occasional mug cake or, rarer still, thaw or melt things.
My daughter and I looked through the section and weighed the pros and cons for the ones that met our needs, and was more affordable. Some of these get really expensive!
In the end, we decided to get the Black & Decker countertop convection oven (not an affiliate link). With the various functions, we will probably use it more than we ever used the microwave. Most toaster ovens/countertop ovens have doors that swing down from the top. This one has French doors that open to the sides – something we felt would work better, since it will be sitting on the one counter in the kitchen the cats are allowed on, because they can look out the window. The real deciding factor, however is that it is an oven that my husband can use. He can’t bend over to take things in and out of the regular oven. This will give him a bit more independence, as he’ll be able to prepare some of his own food.
It did price out at the upper limit was what I was willing to pay, but since I found myself with a Canadian Tire Mastercard, I’ve been using it strategically. In this case, I took the financing they offer on purchase totals of over $150 before taxes. Which means the amount will be divided into 12 equal payments, with 0% interest. I could have used my accumulated Canadian Tire dollars, too, but I’m saving those up to cover planned future purchases.
In the end, it turned out to be a very productive trip. The only down side is that we ended up missing my brother and his wife. They’d gone out to the farm so my brother could get his truck running for a while. He wasn’t able to actually move it – there’s too much snow and ice around it – but that was okay. While there, he also checked on the septic ejector to make sure everything still looked good, even though we’re not hooked up to it right now. They were done and gone shortly after we started for home. They did have time to stop and visit my mother, though, and bring her a dinner from a local restaurant. She did get her Meals on Wheels today, but the less she has to prepare for herself, the better. I look forward to hearing in more detail, how the visit went. Hopefully, well, but my mother has a tendency to be remarkably cruel to my brother and have no awareness of the pain she is causing him. The last time the subject of my brother came up with me, she would just suddenly start going on about how he never visits and never calls – and then started going on about how he wants all her money. ??? The only person who is after her money (not that she has much) is our vandal, who believes she has millions squirreled away somewhere.
It makes for some very difficult visits, at times. I just hope she was having one of her good days!
I’m happy to say that today was a good day for me, at least, but I sure an looking forward to having a couple of days of not having to go anywhere!
Yesterday, I found myself falling asleep at my desk by 6pm. Eventually, I succumbed and simply went to bed shortly after 7.
I slept for more than 10 hours!
Okay, not a solid 10 hours. I do tend to toss and turn, there are cat interruptions and bathroom breaks, but overall, I did manage to get a very long, solid night of sleep out of it!
It could very well have been a relief response, now that we’ve got the septic running again and we can use our plumbing again!
When I headed out this morning, to do my morning rounds, it was about 3C/37F, and actually what will be the warmest part of the day. Apparently, we hit 5C/41F at some point of the night! We are now slowly cooling down slightly until tomorrow, when we are supposed to reach a high of 2C/36F.
With temperatures like this, I took the time to soak the kibble and lysine mix for the outside cats with hot water, as a treat. From what I could see when I got out, they have been spending more time outside than in the sun room. Much of the kibble I left in the sun room last night was still there this morning, but kibble trays outside are looking much emptier.
The cats were everywhere, and I even had several while I was doing my rounds.
I even had Stinky (top), Syndol (middle) and Magda (bottom) follow me to the sign cam. I had to carry Magda around, as much as she would let me, so I wouldn’t step on her as she ran around my feet.
When I checked the gate cam files later on, there were quite a lot more files than I expected. It turned out, our gate was very busy during the night, with groups of cats going back and forth!
Those reflective collars work very well. Even with the long haired cats, I could see them glowing in the infrared light.
These milder temperatures feel sooooo good after the last couple of polar vortexes! Things are melting all over the place. From the road reports I’ve seen, the highways are wet, but not icy, and we should stay that way for a while. Which is good because, starting tomorrow, we’re going to be doing a LOT of driving!
In other things, I’m happy to say everything is still working at it should, with the septic pump. My daughter had left one of the blower vans running after she washed and disinfected the floor around the pump. It’s all dry now, so I shut that off. We’d changed out the filter basket while working on the pump yesterday and, after giving it a general scrub down, I left it to soak in a bucket with detergent in it overnight. I took the time to finish scrubbing it clean, as well as washing the rag I use to wipe down the hose when I do drain maintenance that was also soaking overnight. All the water I was using was just enough to trigger the septic pump while I was down there, so I got to see how well it was working.
I am so glad for that filter. If we were not able to actually see the water flow, we would have no idea if there was an issue of the water no longer flowing. All we would know is that the pump was running and not stopping, and we’d have to go outside and open up the septic tank to see if the grey water side was drained or not. Or go to the ejector out by the barn to see if anything was flowing there. Can you imagine having to do that over and over, while working on the pump and testing it out? That would be ridiculous in the summer, never mind in the winter! Considering how many problems we’ve had with the septic system since moving here, that one simple thing has been a life saver!
As it is, I could sit there and watch how the water was flowing through the filter, and everything looked just fine. Since it is just pumping out into the yard, via the emergency diverter, and not 300′ feet away towards the barn, it also finished pumping really fast!
We still aren’t running the washing machine drain into the plumbing yet, though. I want to give the pipe a few more cleanouts, until we can no longer hear it backing up when we drain the kitchen sink. With how much warmer it’s going to be today, we’ll run the hose out the front door window again and do a whole lot of laundry!
I never imagined I would be so excited over being able to do laundry. Or flush a toilet. Or wash dishes. And I grew up without running water or an indoor bathroom for part of my childhood!
We’re looking at a gorgeous day today. Bright and sunny, with an expected high of -5C/23F. Which we are as I write this, shortly past 2pm, with a “feels like” of -1C/30F
My one outing planned for the day was a trip to the dump, which is open long hours on Saturdays. I was up at my usual time, which is when all the cats seem to want to use all the litter boxes at the same time, and start getting antsy for the kibble. I topped up their bowls and closed up my door so Butterscotch could use the litter without being harassed by other cats, then tried to get a bit more sleep before heading outside to feed the yard cats, then load the truck.
Butterscotch, however, decided she really liked having the room to herself (Freya was there, but she just chills on my bed after she’s dong eating) and was racing all over, before finally settling down on the cat shelf by the ceiling.
She may have settled, but quite did not happen. Instead, I got a phone call.
It was home care, letting me know there wasn’t anyone available to do my mother’s med assist this morning.
So I quickly got up, updated the family, then called my mother to let her know there was no one available this morning, and that I would be there within the hour.
My mother is convinced that no one is showing up because they want to “fix her” – meaning, keep her from getting care and med assists, so that she would die. I told her, they are short staffed. They’re always shorted staffed. There could be many reasons no one was available.
She refuses to believe that. 🫤
After reassuring her that I would be there to give her her pills, I took care of the outside cats then headed out.
The outside cats were loving the relatively mild morning! Rolando Moon (in the second photo) was just rolling in the snow.
I noticed something about the kids in the isolation shelter, though.
One was missing!
No Grink!
I eventually found him, eating in the kibble house. It’s the first time I’ve seen him out of the isolation shelter in weeks!
Anyhow…
I had reached my mother’s town and was about to turn down her street when my phone started ringing. I don’t have hands free, so I left it to ring, but I immediately thought that it was home care again. As I got to her building and parked in my usual spot, there was one other vehicle there. Again, I felt sure this was home care, and that they’d found someone to do my mother’s meds.
After I parked, I checked my phone but did not recognize the number. I was about to listen to the voice mail message when a woman with a clip board came out from the car.
Yup. She was from home care, and she had just called me, hoping to catch me before I left, to say my mother’s med assist was done. We have never met in person before, but she said that when she saw my truck turn onto the road, she just knew it was me!
She updated me on how things went with my mother. The person who was scheduled to visit my mother this morning had called in sick. The person I was talking to was the weekend schedule coordinator, and she had tried to find another home care worker to visit my mom. Unfortunately, none of them would have had the combination for the lock box in their sheets, so she did it herself! She said she would be back to see my mother again, for her other med assists.
Since I was there anyhow, I went in to see how my mother was doing.
She was complaining, so she was doing well. 😄
She was making a big deal over my having to drive all that way, and how it was such a bother, etc. etc. I told her, this is my job, and I’m happy to do it! Moving out here was not just about taking care of the property, but to be close enough to help her when she needed it, since my other siblings live so much further, and have jobs. Mostly, though, she was demanding my brother come out at the drop of a hat, even though he lived the furthest. Especially after the title of the property was turned over to him, so that it would no longer be in the will, due to the antics of our vandal. If it were my brother who had driven all this way out, she wouldn’t have had any such feelings. If anything, she would complain that he didn’t do enough. Which is how she behaved before we moved out here, and he did come out more often.
While I was talking to her, I noticed her pulse oximeter was still on her table. I’m actually surprised she hadn’t hidden it away. So I got her to sit back and relax while I set it up.
Her heart rate and O2 levels are better than mine!
Then I asked her if there was anything I could help her with, such as getting dressed for the day or empty her commode. She said no, but that’s when I found out her morning visits have not been going this. They were supposed to be scheduled extra time for this, and it sounds like this hasn’t happened.
I’m going to have to call the case coordinator back and bring that up. I’m also going to have to bring up another issue…
As my mother was griping about home care not making it in (no sympathy at all that someone had called in sick, nor appreciation that someone else went out of her way to get to my mother and give her her med assist) and it’s such a bother for me to drive aaaaalllll that way (which is about half the distance my sister would have had to drive, and a quarter of the distance my brother would have had to drive, though neither of them were available)…
It came down to her meds being in a lock box, but if there is an “emergency” like this, she could just take her pills herself…
…
… as she indicated to the top of her fridge, where there is a pharmacy bag with her unopened bubble packs.
The only bubble pack in the lock box is the one that home care aids are actively using, along with their duotang of forms they initial every time they do her meds, and her inhaler.
I suppose it would be a tight fit, but doctor’s orders are, my mother does not have access to her meds, because she messes with them.
I didn’t do anything about it at the time, as it would have brought about a rage reaction, but I did tell her this was not a good thing – and that her continuing to rail about how her medications shouldn’t be in a box, and to leave them on the fridge, and don’t tell anyone they’re up there – we all examples of why she needs to have her medications in a lock box to begin with!
I’ve already updated my brother on that, but will also be talking to the case coordinator about it. It might be having all 4 weeks of bubble packs in the lock box made things a bit tight, but when my brother and his wife brought the new, bigger lock box, everything fit in there just fine. They should never have been taken out. The home care workers had been putting them on the fridge, out of my mother’s reach, before we got the lock box, but apparently, my mother can reach them. If nothing else, she could use her cane to simply knock the bag down.
So… that was a thing.
I asked my mother if there was anything else I could do, and she remembered a couple of things we forgot to put on her shopping list yesterday. So I went to the grocery store to get those for her, as well as a sandwich and a drink for myself. I hadn’t had breakfast yet and was starting to feel ill and dizzy.
That done, and once I was sure nothing else was needed, I headed to the gas station to top up the tank again. Before heading home, I updated the family, adding that I would back the truck up to the house so we could load it for the dump run.
It’s been a while since we’ve done a dump run – there was no way I was going to do it while we were being hit with the worst of the last polar vortex – so there was quite a bit. She moved the bags into the sun room for me, then I took them to the truck. She can only use one arm for this, since her ganglion is still really painful. Once the regular garbage and recycling was loaded, we had the very careful job of loading the bags from the honeypot. It’s been warm enough, only one of them was partially frozen. Even with using the stove pellets to absorb liquid, some of them definitely got extra care in loading! With four adults, with always at least one person having digestive issues, it seems, we’ve had to change the bags out quite a bit!
Double bagged, of course.
Once loaded, it was a quick run to the dump and then home. Before I left, though, I had a quick talk with my daughter.
Last night, my husband brought up the idea of going to town to a restaurant, just to have somewhere to use a real toilet again, instead of the honeypot. He would have done right then and there, if it hadn’t already been too late in the day for such a trip. I did, however, go through the budget and crunched some numbers, and found that we could manage it.
So I asked her to bring up with my husband and her sister (who was in bed after her night’s work) about this being an option.
When I got back, we were talking about my taking my husband and younger daughter out for a lunch, then taking my older daughter out for supper, after she’d had her full day’s sleep. My husband, however, had a really bad pain night and was simply not up to it an outing, and asked us to bring something home for him, instead.
So my daughter and I headed out and chose to go to a newer restaurant in town, that is associated with a brewing company. The city we lived in before we moved out here had a HUGE craft brewing community, and my daughters enjoy good beer, so we used to go to these whenever we could. I don’t like beer, myself, but I was willing to taste test theirs. 😄 This is the first time we’ve got to a restaurant/craft brewer since moving out here, so… more than 7 years.
We ended up both getting bison burgers (both skipping the jalapeno and I skipped the tomato). My daughter upgraded to a poutine with hers, while I got the coleslaw instead of regular fried. The burger was really good – and very messy! My daughter really liked her poutine, too. My coleslaw was surprisingly bland, though. It wasn’t bad, by any means. Just not what I expected. Both our meals also came with a couple of spears of pickles, with the cucumbers pickled in their own signature beer brine. My daughter also got a pint of one of their signature brews, which she quite enjoyed.
Once we were done there, we stopped at the DQ to pick up a meal for my husband, then headed home.
For now, I’ve got a bit of a break. I’ll be heading outside again to do the evening kibble and warm water soon. It’s so night out, I might not even bother putting on a jacket! I certainly didn’t wear my down filled parka today.
Then, I intend to wrangle my older daughter out of the house for supper. Knowing her, she will try to refuse. She has barely left the house – even to just go outside in the yard – in years. A down side to living in the boonies. Her work is all digital, so she doesn’t have to go anywhere, and since she works nights and sleeps days, she’s not around to go on trips into town or whatever.
What I really want to do right now, though, is go to bed! I got very little sleep last night, my attempt at sleeping in failed, and instead of just one outing today, I have had three, with one more in the works.
I guess it’s a perk that, with all this extra running around, I get to use public washrooms and eat food other people cooked but, to be honest, I would be just fine staying home. I do want the rest of the family to be able to get out, though. I really wanted to get my husband out. It’s been a rare thing for him to have an outing that doesn’t involve medical appointments!
I really, really hope my brother can get that pump working again, tomorrow. This is the longest we’ve had to use the honeypot, do sponge bathing, etc. yet, and we’ve had all sorts of plumbing problems since moving out here. At least we do have access to hot and cold running water. We just can’t let it go down the drain to the septic tank in any usual amounts.
Today we got to stay home, with no errands to run. Technically, we should have done a dump run, but that can wait until things warm up a bit.
We actually reached a high of -19C/-2F, with a “real feel” of -15C/5F, which was nice for a change. Even when we did have wind chills of -25C/-13F, it was from a direction we were sheltered from. It was also bright and sunny, so we took advantage of it to run the house out the storm door window and do several loads of laundry. We didn’t get it all done before the hose had to be brought back in before it froze, even though we now do laundry using warm or hot water. We used to only do cold water washes, but this way, there’s less chance of the hose freezing. We are back under an extreme cold warning, and tomorrow the high will be lower than today, but it should be okay to run the hose out again for more laundry. We have extra bedding to do, after a cat threw up on my daughters bed. *sigh*
I caught a photo of this bunch, all huddled together, this morning, when it was still pretty brutal out there. The sun room was significantly warmer, but from what I could see on the critter cam, they weren’t really using it. When I first came out this morning, though, I found a bunch of them cuddled together in the cat cage, under the platform. The platform hides most of the cat cage from the camera’s view, so I never saw them in there. I would be able to see if they jump in and out of the opening, though.
As I was going in and out today, to make sure the hose from the laundry was fully drained, I saw a crowd of cats mashed together in the top of the isolation shelter. I couldn’t get close for a photo, though, as the more feral ones would panic and run out of the shelter. I’m also seeing several faces peering at me through the cat house window, so at least a few of them are using that to keep warm, too.
In between such mundane household tasks, I have been working to free up storage space here on the blog. I really don’t want to move to another platform, if I can avoid it, but we simply can’t afford WordPress’ prices for extra storage. After trying a number of things, I ended up simply deleting old posts. For a very long time, I was doing Photo of the Day posts, every day, as well as Critter of the Day posts – sometimes both in one day. A lot of these were just a single photo with a brief comment on them. Others had several photos or slideshows, also with brief comments.
A few of them were also full blog posts. Those ones, I kept. The rest, I have been slowly going through. WordPress made changes in their system since I last did this, that has made it easier for me to find the posts in the first place (you’d be amazed how many unrelated posts would show up when I used the search term “photo of the day”, which was part of the titles), and work with them. It’s also been easier to find the related images in the media tab. So I’ve been going through the list of posts, opening to view the posts, one at a time, so I wouldn’t lose track. Once the post was open, I’d open the image (or images) in another tab, so I could copy and past the file name from the URL. I had the media storage in another tab, and I’d do a search for the image. Then it was, delete the image, delete the post, close the extra tabs, then do it again.
It was a real trip through memory lane, doing this. These were mostly photos of deer and birds, but also yard cats. Some of them were adopted out, some are now indoors, and a few have either passed away, or have disappeared. While I have all of these images stored on external hard drives, I did end up saving a few onto my computer and sharing the memories with the family. Seeing old photos of tiny Dave and little Cheddar, snuggling with Fenrir – who was still bigger than them at the time – was rather heartwarming. David was not fluffy yet, and both of them are at least double Fenrir’s size now!
The frustrating thing about this is, I’d gone through these posts before, back when we first realized that posting full size, high resolution photos on the blog was not a good idea! I’d gone through and resized those huge images, or got rid of them entirely, depending on what sort of post they were in.
When it came to our photo of the day posts, though, had I started cropping and resizing all of them, even adding borders and the blog’s URL onto them. These images do not have large file sizes. That’s why I left them, even as I’d deleted others with much larger file size images. There are just so many of them!
Which means that I’ve deleted dozens of photos and old posts, and have only managed to get my storage to 98.4% full, instead of 99.2%. That 99.2% was more of an “accident”. Thanks to 53old’s suggestion, I found that WP’s photo editor now allows images to be scaled down. I could use that to resize the images, and could even see how much smaller the file size was, as a result. Very hand, quick and easy!
Yet, the percentage of used up storage space went up, not down!
It seems that WP changed this function at some point, from a one and done sort of thing, to being able to revert the image back to original size later on. Which means that, while the scaled down image might be faster loading when the page is opened, the full size file was still stored within the system. So instead of just resizing a photo, I was essentially turning one file into two files, with the full size file “hidden” from view, but still in the system – and taking up storage space.
I went back to the ones I’d scaled down this morning and reverted them to their original sized, and got back the space.
So in order to reclaim more storage space on this blog, I’m going to have to keep plugging away at these old posts. They don’t get any views anymore; I’m currently working on 2019, so they’re all older. But gosh, I put a lot of work into those images, and I was posting them because I wanted to share some really nice photos!
It’s awfully tedious, but still preferable to moving the entire blog to a new platform. I will still have to store new photos somewhere else, like on Instagram, to embed them into posts. Thanks to a suggestion, I might be able to store them somewhere else and embed them into my posts so that people not on Instagram won’t have problems seeing them. I’ll look into doing that later on, though, after I’ve freed up a bit more space here. I need to have at least a bit more wiggle room in there!
I guess that’s my project for the weekend. The temperatures will be dropping; the extreme cold warning is back and continuing for a couple more days. We don’t have any appointments until the 20th, and it’s supposed to start warming up again around the 18th, so that should work out. About the only thing we’ll need to go out for between now and then is to get the mail and make a trip into town for little things, like refilling our water jugs. Possibly a grocery shopping trip for my mother as well. No big trips to the city or anything like that until the end of the month.
Next winter, I want to really work on finding ways to NOT have a lot of appointments in January and February. There isn’t anything we can do about stuff like my mother suddenly going to the ER and staying in the hospital for 2 weeks, but we can try to book medical appointments – for humans or felines! – outside of the two coldest, most miserable months of the year!
Of course, I’ve been saying that pretty much since our first two winters out here, where we found ourselves actually unable to go anywhere at all, either because the vehicles froze, or we were snowed in.
It hasn’t really worked out that way but, for all my whining, at least the winters have not been as bad since then! There is at least that, and replacing the van with our current truck, to be thankful for!
I lost track of things and forgot that today was Valentine’s Day!
This morning, I had a 8am telephone appointment with my mother’s doctor. Normally, I would be outside, giving the cats their food and warm water. We were still under an ongoing extreme cold warning (which is now finally over), so I would have basically just taken care of the cats and skipped most of my morning rounds!
With the phone appointment, however, I messaged my daughters, asking if they could take care of the outside cats. I was pretty sure my older daughter had gone to bed after a night’s work, but I wasn’t sure if my younger daughter was available.
She was, and she took care of the outside cats for me, while I waited for the call.
Which was about half an hour late, of course. My daughter was back inside, updating me, when the phone rang. With the cats’ food trays and bowls so full of frozen kibble, we’re figuring out ways to make it so they can actually eat it. With the isolation shelter open again, I’m thinking of taking some of kibble from the kibble shelter and putting it in the isolation shelter. When there was just two cats, there was excess kibble, but once the other cats started going in there again, the bowl was empty, and even the kibble scattered about was eaten up!
As for the phone call, it wasn’t my mother’s doctor that called, but another doctor working with her. I explained about my mother having been in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and how we were told she needs to see a doctor every month to monitor her kidney function, now that she’s back on the water pills. They didn’t actually have everything in my mother’s file yet, and the doctor had to ask me when she had been discharged!
They did have the results of her last bloodwork done while she was in the hospital, though, and he could tell me her kidneys are doing just fine.
The problem, of course, is making a 93 yr old who struggles to walk, climb into the truck and drive to the clinic, over and over, because there are no local doctors available.
The hospital in her town does have a lab, though.
My mother won’t need to physically go to the clinic every month.
They will mail bloodwork requisition forms to my mother every month. The local hospital will not accept these forms being faxed to them. It would have been better if I could physically pick it up, to eliminate any risk of the form being lost in the mail, but that’s just not an option.
I will, however, be in that town next week, and will be stopping at the clinic to get my own medical files to take to my new doctor, before my daughter and I have our appointments. So he got a form printed out and it will be waiting for me when I get there. As my mother had bloodwork done this month, already, she won’t need to get it done again until next month.
Aside from that, she can have telephone appointments to go over the results, though they do that only if there is a problem. She won’t need to physically come in for an appointment unless there is a need. We will have to continue to monitor her for swelling and breathing issues, which the doctor at the hospital already explained to us, and my mother is to go to the ER right away, if problems start up again.
That done, I updated my siblings in our group chat, as much to make sure I wrote down the details while it was still fresh in my mind as to share it with family. Then I phoned my mother to update her.
As I started talking to her about the monthly appointments the hospital doctor said she needed, and that I called the clinic about them, my mother got somewhat agitated. It took a bit to figure it out, but she was under the impression she had a physical appointment with her doctor. I had told her I had made a phone appointment to talk about her case, but since then, she got it in her mind that this was an appointment with her, not about her. I clarified and told her, I’d made a phone appointment with me, that I had just gotten off the phone, and I was calling to let her know how it went.
She stayed very quiet as I went through the call which, in itself, is unusual. Normally, she interrupts and starts taking the conversation in other directions. I’m not completely sure how much she understood, but when I got to the part about going to the local hospital for monthly blood work, she said that we would have to keep track of that for her.
Which, of course, was already the plan!
She then started talking about her medications and the lock box. To make is short, my mother was very angry about having the lock box, the home care aids cant get into it, she doesn’t need this big box and can manage her own medications.
I was alarmed when she said the home care aids can’t get into it. She said she didn’t get her medications this morning. At first, she made it sound like it was because the aide couldn’t open it, but if that were true, I would have gotten a phone call. Or my brother would have. This happened only once, with one person, though. My mother had 2 other visits the day before, after the new lock box was brought over, and got her medications. Now she was saying the aids can’t get into the box at all?
I asked if she got her morning medications, and she said no.
No one showed up.
????
Again, if they were short staffed, I would have got a phone call, because I would have had to drive to my mother’s to give her her medications.
Then I noticed the time.
It wasn’t even 9am yet.
They are supposed to give her her medications before 7 an 9am.
I mentioned the time and said, they probably just haven’t made it yet.
Well, my mother was still quite angry. She can manage her own medications. They don’t always come at the same time. She doesn’t need this big box.
We talked for awhile and I reminded her, this was doctor’s orders. It was for her own safety.
Oh, so my children don’t trust me?
I brought up that she herself has noticed she is not remembering things. Then I brought up the pill boxes full of loose pills I’d found when I got her old bubble packs to take the the pharmacy, and that the pharmacist had to dispose of them. She has a history of messing with her medications, and things like that were why she needed a lock box and med assist from home care. This is for her safety.
I didn’t bring it up with my mother, but in the group chat with my siblings later, I mentioned that all these pills she had in there were pills she did not take when she should have. Plus, she ignored the days and times on the bubble packs, just staring from the top, and taking them whenever she had her breakfast, because she is supposed to take them with food (except I don’t think any of them actually specify to take with food). And by “with food”, she means with a couple of crackers or cookies or a piece of toast and, before we got the home care med assist, she would take them at 5am and 5pm and before bed, instead of the times on the bubble pack. As a result, she often had a couple of active bubble packs going at once, and really made things harder for the home care aids.
But all of that would have been too much to talk to her about. We basically just have to bring it down to “doctor’s orders” and “it’s for your safety.”
Our call got interrupted, though, by a knock at the door.
The home care aid had arrived to give her her morning medications.
My mother has no understanding of how much she is messing herself up.
After I got off the phone with my mother, I updated my siblings again. My mother’s behavior is a strong demonstration of just why having that lock box, and home care visits for her med assist, is so important. We were able to chat for a bit, wondering about how my mother will handle having a Life Line, once that gets set up.
It can be really hard to help my mother when she keeps trying to sabotage our efforts. These group chats and updates are extra important, because my mother will say one thing to me, then something different to each of my siblings, then tries to play us against each other. This is something she has done for pretty much as long as I can remember though, of course, as a child, I had no understanding of what she was doing.
Aside from the group chat, I got a Valentine’s Day message from my SIL, which is when I was reminded that that’s what today it.
Which got me to thinking about the whole theme of Valentine’s Day being about love, and about what it means to love someone. Years ago, I read a point someone very wise said.
Love is a verb.
Most of us think of love as a feeling. Something you “fall into”. An emotion.
Which all can be part of love but, in the end, love is not how we feel, but what we do.
The English language rather fails when it comes to the word love. There are too many definitions for one word. The Ancient Greeks had different words for love that I think we could not go wrong, bringing back. They also viewed their words for love on a sort of scale. There are nine modern and ancient words for love. Here are four ancient ones.
The first type of love – the basest form – is eros. Eros is physical love, and the root of our word, erotica. Eros is about sex, really. In English, it would probably be better translated as “lust”. Eros was considered the lowest form of love.
The next type of love is philia. This is platonic love. Yes, there is a physical aspect to it – hugs and kisses between friends that have zero sexual connotations – but philia is brotherly love. The love of deep friendship. Philia is used in many ways in our language. Philadelphia is known as the “city of brotherly love” based on the Greek definition. It is also found in the suffix -phile. One example being bibliophile, a lover of books.
The next type of love, higher on the scale, is storgê. This is what might be called, family love. It is particularly used to described married couples raising their children together.
The highest form of love, however is ágape. This is unconditional love. Sacrificial love. Agape is independent of any external factors. It is given wholly, and expects nothing in return. Agape is the foundation of Christianity; that Jesus set aside His godhood to live fully human; a sinless life we could not hope to achieve, take on the punishment for our sins we all deserve – all of us, throughout humanity, throughout time. An execution so horrific, a new word was invented to describe the pain. Excruciating. Ex crucio. From the cross. To die in our place, so that He could conquer death, that we may live. All we have to do is fully accept this gift of His, yet we have no obligation to do so. That is the height of agape love.
So what is love, in our daily lives?
Love is what we do.
Love is to be friends with someone, be apart for years, yet when reunited, it’s as if those years apart never happened.
Love is seeing each other at our best and at our worst, and still being there for each other.
Love is a couple growing old together, facing the world together, long after the tingles have faded.
Love is a parent denying a child something they want, in favour of something they need, even when the child has a blowout and says they hate us for it.
In one of my recent devotions, these verses from Luke 11 were included.
5Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity e he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
While the devotion was about persistence in prayer, as both a parent and someone with a lifelong interest in how people lived in the past, this line stands out to me.
‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’
In context for the time period, most likely the family was sleeping together on a mat woven of reeds or grasses. Even overnight visitors would join the pile. Can you just picture it? Husband and wife, lying on the floor, their kids snuggled up around or even on them. Dad there with a toddler on his chest and another child on each side, while Mom lies next to them with a babe at her breast… and then there’s a knock at the door! No wonder the response is “don’t bother me… I can’t get up…” !!
For most of human history, that’s how we slept. That’s how we lived. We had almost constant physical contact with each other. It wasn’t until the Victorian era that houses started to have rooms set aside just for sleeping, and that children got separate rooms to sleep in. Even now, in many places around the world, separate bedrooms (and sometimes just having beds) are a luxury, and the idea of children sleeping apart from their parents would be unheard of.
Sadly, we live in a world hungry for love. Real love.
We even hunger for the platonic physical aspects of love that used to be just part of our everything living, before cradles and cribs and separate beds and bedrooms became the norm, among other changes. Our culture has become so hungry for philia and storge, many turn to eros to fill the emptiness. We have reached a point when many cannot view any sort of physical affection as being anything but eros. A parent can’t even kiss their own child on the lips, or a mother breastfeed her baby, without people viewing it as something sexual in nature.
Our current culture, at least in our Western nations, has redefined love in other ways. To far too many, love means to always go along with what a person wants. To validate and enable anything they do, even if they are self harming in the process. It means to agree with anything they say, no matter how wrong they are. If you do not do this, you get accused of hate – another word that has been redefined dramatically!
Which brings me back to today.
Today, my mother was very angry about her medications being in a lock box. When told the reason why, she tried to turn it around and accuse us of not trusting her.
For some people, the “loving” thing would be to do what she wants. To make her “happy” by giving in. Take away the lock box, and let her take her meds whenever she thinks she should, or only the ones she thinks she should, even though she can’t remember what all of them are anymore, and certainly doesn’t know what the new ones are.
That would, of course, be wrong and even harmful. So the loving thing to do is NOT what she wants, but what is good for her, even if she can’t understand it and has hairy fits about it.
When it comes to my mother, I don’t “feel” love for her. I don’t know if I ever have. Years of confusing and abusive behaviour made that impossible. But she is my mother, and I still “do” love for her. She can get mad at me and yell at me and say cruel things to me, but I will still “do” love. Or she can flip like a switch and suddenly become oddly generous or kind, and I don’t know if it’s real, or if she’s trying to mess with me. It doesn’t matter. I will still “do” love. That doesn’t mean I’ll put up with the behavior, and I will call her out on it – which is also a way to “do” love.
I can make similar parallels to our home life, where my husband has to sleep in a hospital bed in another room. We may not be able to share a bed, but we can still “do” love.
Or where our daughters gave up so much to move out with us, turned the poorly insulated upstairs into their own apartment, and put up with freezing winters and boiling summers up there.
Or my younger daughter crawling out of a warm bed this morning, to go outside in freezing temperatures, to feed and water the cats while I wait for a phone call.
There are so many ways to “do” love.
This Valentine’s Day, I wish you much philia. I wish you storge and agape and even, if appropriate, a little bit of eros!
The -34C/-29F is bad enough, but a wind chill of -41C/-42F just kills it.
The next image in the slideshow above is how I feel right now.
I waited until past 8am to do the outside cat stuff. It only warmed up a couple of degrees, but even that makes a different. I also made sure to open the gate and run the truck for a while. When using the remote car starter, it shuts itself off after 15 minutes, which is very handy.
The sun room was much warmer, of course, but the wall thermometer was still reading -20C/-4F. That would be colder than the ambient temperature, given its location, but the rest of the room wouldn’t be all that much different. I’ve started to scatter kibble on their beds and the self warming blanket on the platform, as well as other areas they like to hang out, just so they don’t have to go far to eat. There is a ridiculous amount of kibble left in their various bowls and trays, but it’s frozen, so they avoid eating it.
My daughter and I were planning to stop at Walmart before going to the vet, so were quite early to get Fluffy into a carrier.
She did not cooperate.
My daughter had the carrier open at one of the sliding windows, while I was at the other. We keep a broom outside the main doors to sweep the sidewalks in summer, and I ended up using that to be able to reach her and try to push her towards the opening.
She did not cooperate.
The main thing was to make sure she didn’t jump down to the lower level, which she thankfully seemed to be trying to avoid all on her own. In the end, as she repeatedly jumped onto the hammock, next to the window I was at, I was able to reach in and grab her, and eventually pull her out. My daughter dashed over with the carrier, and we finally got her in.
It’s a very good thing I was wearing bite proof gloves, or I would have been bleeding all over the place!
We had put a small bowl with half a can of wet cat food in the carrier already, so my daughter quickly went to the truck while I put away the empty tin (The Grink got the other half of the tin to himself!) inside. I also made sure to set up the wind breaker box over the open ramp door. The Grink was free to leave, if he wanted, and other cats were free to go in.
That done, we were off, about half an hour earlier than originally planned. Which is fine. Better early, than late! We also made sure to leave the gate open when we left, as we had a prescription delivery coming later on.
Boy, did leaving early turn out to be the right thing.
When we got to the city the vet is in and parked at the Walmart, I went to get my purse…
That’s when I realized I never brought it with me. With all the fussing with the cat and getting things set up, I forgot to grab it when I went back inside to put away the empty cat food tin.
Not only had I just driven without my license, but I couldn’t buy anything and, if the vet bill was over the rescue’s budgeted amount, I wouldn’t be able to pay the balance. I would need to go home, but it’s an hour’s drive, and we wouldn’t be back in time for the appointment – not that we wanted to inflict that much more driving on an already stressed cat! My daughter had the carrier on her lap, and Fluffy was completely silent for the entire drive, huddled into the back of the carrier, right on top of her bowl of food.
So we drove to the vet. After going inside and explaining the situation, my daughter went in with Fluffy and stayed with her, while I headed home. My daughter messaged the family for me, to let them know what was going on. Once home, I just ran in, grabbed my purse, and left, pausing only to message the family to let them know I was leaving home again.
By the time I got back to the vet, Fluffy had been seen and they were back in the waiting room. Forgetting my purse added an extra 2 hours of driving time to my day! It probably cost us about $50 in gas, too. *sigh*
Fluffy was actually much calmer at the clinic, and they were able to handle her. They knew about the trouble we had to get her in and, if they needed to, they did have permission to sedate her, if necessary. Thankfully, they did not.
There were still signs of infection in her ear, so she got another injection of slow release antibiotic. The vet knew this was a yard cat, and was concerned that she would be let out to fend for herself in these extreme cold temperatures when we brought her home. My daughter reassured her, telling her about the isolation shelter, with its heat lamp, food bowl and heated water bowl, that all the cats would not have access to, the sun room set up, the kibble and water bowl shelters, and the heated cat house. Fluffy would have many places to stay warm and fed!
When I got there, my daughter left Fluffy with me while she used the facilities, giving me a chance to talk to the vet at the receptionists desk, too. The visit turned out to be under budget, which the Cat Lady will be happy about. The vet asked if we could watch for Fluffy scratching at her ear and stuff like that. We hadn’t even seen her doing that before her spay, but we’ll do our best.
Before going to the truck, I remembered to get a picture.
She was not at all happy to see me through the door of the carrier! Definitely holding a grudge. 😄
Once Fluffy and her carrier were settled on my daughter’s lap in the truck again, it was back to the Walmart – for real this time.
I got quite a few things, but my older daughter had sent funds for it, so it didn’t come out of budget, which was nice. I had to go to the customer service to take care of being charged for 8 instead of 6 items, which took only moments.
Once the shopping was done, I went to the McRaunchies in the Walmart to pick up lunch for my daughter and I to eat on the drive home. I was able to get a single burger patty for Fluffy, too, just as a treat, since she didn’t eat any of the wet cat food in the carrier with her. Their patties are 100% beef, so I knew it would be safe for her. I was rather shocked when I looked at the bill later and saw that a single 1/4 burger patty cost $2.10! Considering they packed it in a breakfast tray with lid, and even included a knife and fork, though, I guess we did get our money’s worth for it!
Once everything was put away in the truck, I cut up the burger patty and put it into the deeper lid of the tray, which my daughter put into the carrier with Fluffy.
She was not impressed.
Then, because my daughter was stuck holding the carrier, I helped her get set up with her lunch before we left.
Fluffy made no attempt to eat anything, though she did make her way to the door while we were driving, and try to get out. In the end, she jammed herself against the back end of the carrier and stayed there for the rest of the trip.
Once at home, I drove up to the house and my daughter took the carrier into the sun room before opening it. Then we unloaded the truck and she parked it, so I never saw how Fluffy behaved once she was free to leave the carrier. Later on, though, I looked out the bathroom window and found one cat half in the carrier, eating, while three or for more were prowling all around it!
When I came out later to do their evening food and water, I took the carrier into the house. While going to the various places to distribute the kibble and top up their water, I did see Fluffy, once. She was coming towards the cat house, saw me, then ran back to the storage house, to disappear under it.
She is most definitely still holding a grudge against me!
… Midnight has rediscovered the isolation shelter and was willing to go in long enough to eat.
I don’t think The Grink ever left.
I don’t think The Grink has any plans to leave!
Another cat had run out when I came close, but that fluff ball is the same one that had frost on his fur (my daughters think it’s a he). As I opened the windows to put in food or top up the water bowl, it didn’t leave that spot!
If you click through to the next photo, you’ll see that Midnight was replaced with a young tabby. I believe this is the one that was sick for a while, and we tended to him as best we could. If this is the same one, he is fully recovered, and even allows pets, while he is eating.
The three cats in this second photo are all about the same age.
So that is done! Thanks go my being a good and forgetting my purse, things didn’t quite go as planned, but I’m so glad my daughter was able to come with me. Her being able to stay at the clinic with Fluffy while I drove home and back was a huge help!
Meanwhile, I’ve updated the Cat Lady on how things went. She and her family were travelling today, so we were not able to connect at the vet clinic, as we usually do.
Tomorrow, I get to stay home. The only appointment I have is by telephone, with my mother’s doctor. We’re still under an ongoing extreme cold warning – the warning period has been adjusted again, and they are now saying the warning is until 7:18am. We’re supposed to drop to -32C/-25F around that time, and we’re still looking at wind chills in the -40C/F range.
Oooo… I’m just looking at my calendar. Since we have rescheduled my mother’s eye clinic appointment to next month, I don’t actually have anything scheduled for a week! I’m still likely to go out at some point. I’m sure my mother will need more groceries or something like that, but nothing that involved hours of driving! The long range forecast is still teasing with temperatures above freezing in the last week of February, which is when we’ll be doing our stock up shopping, working around another medical appointment for my daughter, this time in the town to the north of us. A good time to stock up on the 40 pound bags of kibble the cats like better!
I completely forgot. We’ve got a long weekend coming up. This coming month is a statutory holiday across Canada, but has different names in different provinces. Most have Family Day, but it’s also Islander Day (PEI), Louis Riel Day (Manitoba) and Nova Scotia Heritage Day (Nova Scotia…. of course). The Yukon has their Yukon Heritage Day the following Friday.
For us, it will be just another day.
Me, I just want to stay home until it gets warm again – and by “gets warm”, I’ll be happy with it just being on the warm side of -20C/-4F overnight!
We are going to have a lot of running around over the next while! Thankfully, the weather looks like it’s going to be pretty good, even we are expected to have chillier days for the next while.
Clarence does not approve. I’m supposed to be available to cuddle him at all time, after all!
Today, I needed to run into town for several errands. The first was a trip to the pharmacy, to get refills for myself and for my daughter. Thankfully, her Pharmacare was processed, and she only had to pay under $5 for something that would have cost over $150! My pain killers, however, did not have a refill. I’m not out, yet, so they will send a fax to my new doctor, and they will be included win my husband’s prescription delivery, next week.
I need to remember to call the clinic and see if I can book an appointment for myself, piggy backing on my daughter’s appointment next week, to talk about the painkillers. They help, but not quite enough. Especially since I can take them only once a day.
The pharmacy needed time to get our refills together. Enough for me to hit the grocery store while it was being done. The main thing I needed to get was distilled water for my husband’s CPAP humidifier. I’d forgotten to pick some up, the last time I was at Walmart. Locally, the price at the grocery store is almost double, so I just got one gallon. The pharmacy has distilled water, too, but it’s even more expensive than at the grocery store. I’ll pick up several more gallons when I’m at Walmart, later this week.
While I was at the grocery store, I spotted a new display with an amazing sale on bagged avocados, so I grabbed a couple of bags. Their sale on whole chicken was still going, so I grabbed another for the freezer. A whole chicken, by weight, cost around $10. Normally, these days, they are around $18.
I also grabbed something I could eat in the truck for breakfast, before going back to the pharmacy. I was early enough to pick up a couple more supplements I was running low on. I had intended to get those at Walmart, but the house brand’s price was very good, plus they also happened to be on sale, so it was actually cheaper to get them now.
Once done at the pharmacy, I went to visit with my mother before she had her lunch delivered. While there, I updated her on the plans we worked out last night, to get things ready in her apartment. My brother and SIL and I will meet at my mother’s apartment, and we’ll go through her fridge and cupboards to get rid of anything that should be. I gave my SIL a typical shopping list and she will be picking up fresh groceries for my mother. As I told her this, it gave me a chance to ask her if there was anything specific she wanted, and was able to pass that on to my SIL.
I told her that they were getting a lock box for her medications that should be in tomorrow morning, so we are meeting in the afternoon. I explained again that the home care aides would be able to get into the lock box but, if they don’t have someone available, they will call me and I will have to come over to give her her medications. She didn’t seem too happy with that, or the idea that she wasn’t going to be able to access her own prescription medications. I had to explain again, why her medications were going into a lock box, adding that she has said herself, that she’s starting to forget things. I could see she wasn’t impressed, but was going to let it go. She started to tell me something else…
… and forgot what she was going to say!
Once she realized what had just happened, we had a good chuckle over it.
My mother had one of her bubble packs with her that was almost full, and I know she has some partial ones at home, too. I took the one she had with her, so that I could take it and the ones she has at home, to the pharmacy, tomorrow. Most of her medications can be repacked into new bubble packs. The Home Care coordinator was going to deal with the pharmacy in regards to my mother’s medication changes, and get her file active again for Monday. Hopefully, they will have her new and up to date bubble packs ready, tomorrow, so I can take those for the lock box.
I explained to her again that she will be getting home care three times a day again, but the first visit of the day will be longer. She will have help with getting dressed and they can empty her commode for her, too. Her troubles with the commode was one of the things we remembered to bring up during the meeting with the doctor and the home care ladies.
I told her again about the Life Line she will be getting. She had forgotten entirely about that. Basically, I assured her that we will get everything at her apartment ready for when she comes home on Monday.
As for Monday, my SIL will be picking me up with one of their cars to get my mother home, which will be much easier for my mother than having her climb into my truck! Discharge time is at 11am, so we plan to be at the hospital for around 10am, so we have plenty of time to get her ready and pack up her things.
We then had time to just visit and chat. It turns out there are two other patients that she knows that are also in the hospital, and she was able to visit with them today. I’m glad she did. First, because it showed up much better she was feeling. Second, because the visits made them happy. An unexpected third is that it made my mother realize just how good she is actually doing. She is more than 10 years older than one of the ladies, and probably another 10 years older than the other. I know for sure that one of them will not be coming home. I don’t know why the other was is in the hospital. Then there’s my mother, who’s in her 90’s, and they’re sending her home, where she lives independently!
I really hope they can find an opening in supportive living for her, soon.
When my mother’s lunch was delivered, that was my cue to go. I just made sure all the lids were off her containers, and set everything up for her, before heading out. There was just one more stop for gas – one gas station was at $1.559/L, while the other two were at $1.579/L – then home.
My daughter was happy to get her medication, as she was almost out. The funny thing was, she had to get me to open the child-proof lids for her! She’s having to wear a wrist brace again, for having the audacity of using her left arm, yesterday. She has issues with ganglions. Something else she wants to talk to her doctor about! They’ve increasingly been a very painful problem. I remember that my sister used to get them, too. She ended up getting surgery, and never had a problem with them again. My daughter would really prefer NOT to have surgery, though! Ah, well. We shall see!
For today, at least, I’m done with running around. I’ll be out again tomorrow, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday is when we take Fluffy back to the vet. That is when her 2 weeks in isolation are up, too. We have not been able to touch her at all while she’s in the isolation shelter. Not even The Grink will let me touch him, though he does sometimes sniff at my fingers.
I have noticed something about them in the mornings, though. After I’ve finished my morning rounds, the last thing I do is pop back outside again with a can of wet cat food for them. I have noticed that after I’ve given them their kibble in the morning, they actually sit and watch me, in open anticipation, waiting for their wet cat food! We can only do this for the cats in the isolation shelter. Not only because there are just too many cats outside to regularly give them wet cat food, but also because anywhere else, the food would freeze. In the isolation shelter, the food area is in front of the heat lamp.
Midnight doesn’t know what he’s missing, by escaping the isolation shelter when he did! I did see him today, but not until this afternoon, after I got home.
I did have an unpleasant surprise in the garage when I got home, though. Thankfully, I did NOT drive over it. When I pull into the garage, there is a a moment when I am blinded, so I did not see the empty paint can and broken glass on the ground. !!!
We now have long wooden crates attached to one of the garage walls to create shelves. On top of one of them was one of our tool kits. That somehow got knocked off, and it hit some things on the way down, before landing upside down on a makeshift shelf we have on the ground. One of those things was a bin with light bulbs in it. That was upside down over the tool box, with light bulbs scattered all over. Some broken on and around the tool kit. Others were on the ground, right near where we give through to park! The empty can of isolation shelter paint was also knocked to the ground, along with odds and ends, like our paint stir sticks.
I was able to message the household about it, and my husband brought over a dustpan and hand broom for me while I picked things up and got rid of the broken bulbs and biggest pieces of glass. I was able to sweep the glass off the makeshift shelf, but the tiny pieces of broken glass in our dirt floor could only be swept aside, under the makeshift shelf.
If it weren’t for my habit of trying to part further to the right, so I have more room to open the driver’s side door all the way, I would have driven right over that paint can, the broken glass and probably at least one light bulb, and never seen it until after I got out of the truck.
I sure would have felt it, though!
There are definite issues with some of the yard cats using the garage as shelter. They go up into the rafters, where I’m sure it’s warmer.
We really need to go through the garage to sort and organize. It’s all pretty overwhelming, though. I’m not sure what half the stuff even is, or what might still be salvageable! Once we build more shelves into the walls, though, we’ll be in a better position to get things organized and cleaned up.
That’s a job for the summer, though!
We’ve got plenty that needs to be done between now and then, though.
It would be a huge help of the gas prices could go back down again. 🫤
The temperature of -27C/-17F stayed for most of the morning. Only the wind chill fluctuated. The screen cap above was taken just before I headed outside, so it was still -35C/-31F at the time.
I did short rounds, but I also made sure to get the truck running and check it over. The one tire was still looking low, even though I’d topped it up not all that long ago. The gas station pump I used really sucked, though, so I wasn’t too surprised that it was. I fired up the compressor to top up all the tires. The truck was plugged in and started fine, but the compressor was not enjoying running in these cold temperatures!
Last night I got a call from the gentleman from my mother’s church that had been helping her out the day she went into the ER. He still had her walker. I don’t know where he got my number from, but I’m glad he did. My mother had told me his name, and my brother had tried looking it up in the church director, but couldn’t find him.
It turned out, that wasn’t his name.
My Mom couldn’t pronounce his French name, so she was using an English version!
Yesterday, I’d cleared the end of the driveway from the gate to the road, which is where it tends to drift. The main thing was to clear the old plow ridge that now had more snow drifted over it. Then I cleared in front of the garage. I kept telling myself not to push it, but I do enjoy shoveling a lot, and just kept going!
My daughters took care of all the evening stuff once I got in, because I was really stiffening up! I would have stayed home today to recover, but then we started getting weather warnings. We’re supposed to get snow all day tomorrow, and into the next day. It was either go to the city today, or I probably wouldn’t manage it for at least two days.
I did wait before heading out, as I had a package to pick up at the post office. I called the gentleman with my mother’s walker to let him know I could stop by today, then headed out.
Only to discover that the post office opened a half hour later today.
I was only 15 minutes early, but I wasn’t going to wait around.
So, off I went to get my mother’s walker. The gentleman lives in the building where the Meals on Wheels are prepared, as well as meals for residents.
Wow, did it smell good when I walked in!
I found his apartment and had a nice chat with him and his wife before heading out. There was someone with a hair net in the lobby as I was reaching the door, so I asked if she was one of the Meals on Wheels cooks. She said yes, so I made sure to tell her just how much my mother enjoyed their meals. It turned out she knew my mother, so I updated her a bit on how my mother is doing.
My next stop was my mother’s apartment. I found some mail under her door, and a notification from the public housing department, saying that there would be a fire and safety inspection coming up. I don’t think my mother will be back for that. Hopefully, she won’t be back at all, as she really wants to be in long term care, and I’d hope to at least get her into assisted living, if long term care can’t be managed.
I grabbed a few items for my mother. Her daily devotions book that she has read and re-read so many times, it’s held together with duct tape. I know she likes to have a candle while saying her prayers, and there was an LED candle in an adorable mini bird cage on her table, so I grabbed that. It took me a while, but I found her rosary, too.
Once I was sure everything was good, and her plant was watered, I headed to the town my mother is in. I did stop to get $40 of gas first, though. The price was $1.459 there and the last time I was in the other town, they were still at $1.499. I didn’t fill, though, as I planned to do that at Costco.
When I got to the hospital and my mother’s door with her walker, I found it closed completely, which is unusual. Just in case, I went to the nurse’s desk to make sure my mother hadn’t been moved to another room. She was not, so I headed back.
As I was walking down the hall, I saw a young man walking towards me that was looking very, very familiar. It was my nephew! I haven’t seen him in ages. He does live in this province, but about 2 hours away, and works nights, to it’s rather difficult to connect. We had a nice chat before we had to part ways.
When I got to my mother’s room again and knocked, there was no answer. I went in and found the bathroom door closed, so I set up the stuff I brought for her on her little table. She could hear someone was there, so I let her know it was me. When she came out, she was using the hospital walker, which is too tall for her. She was very happy to see her own walker, and immediately wanted to switch!
Then she saw what I’d brought for her and…
… started lecturing me on how she has too many things. She’s only there temporarily. She only prays the rosary when taking communion, and she’s going home in a few days.
What????
I asked about it, and she told me they were going to be sending her home on Thursday. We have a meeting with the doctor on Thursday, so she said they would probably send her home after that.
Which did not make sense to me at all.
I didn’t ask more about it, though, and we had ourselves a short visit. I explained to her that I had to go into the city next, because we’re expecting more snow tomorrow. It was a good visit, overall. My mother is looking better, but she says she doesn’t have much energy.
For someone that’s 93 years old, though, she is still a dynamo! People far younger than her have a hard time keeping up.
As I was leaving, I did stop at the nurse’s desk again and asked about her being sent home on Thursday. The receptionist looked at her files, and there was nothing about that. Just the meeting with the doctor. We have no idea why she thought otherwise, but she told me she would tell the nurse about it so she could let my mother know she will NOT be going home on Thursday.
From there, it was off to the city, which was about an hour’s drive. Once I got close to the Costco, I stopped at a mall to have lunch at the food court. I’d only had a banana for breakfast, so I was getting pretty hungry! I ended up going to an A&W for a single Mozza burger (it’s been so long since I’ve had one, I forgot I usually ask for a double), onion rings and a medium drink. That cost $17.43! I can’t remember exactly how many years it’s been (4, maybe 5, years), but the last time I ate at A&W and had the double Mozza meal, it was less under $12.
*sigh*
From there, it was off to the Costco, where I first filled the tank. Their prices were $1.379 While I’d already put in $40, which put me at 3/4 of a tank, I’d done enough driving that it cost $56.39 to fill the tank.
Even with the cheaper Costco gas, it cost me a total of $96.39 to fill my tank today!
Then it was time to grab a flat card and to the shopping.
This is what $777.06 looks like.
Some things, like the Monster energy drinks, my older daughter already sent me funds for. A few other things on their shopping list will be paid back later.
This is what I got today.
The top item is granulated garlic powder, which was at least a couple of dollars more expensive than the last time I bought it at Costco! The Goodhost Iced Tea is a better prices that most places, though still higher than it was a couple of years ago.
I got the Kirkland brand mayonnaise, as it’s cheaper than the Hellmans we used to get. The Basmati right is one of the best prices for the size of the bag. Coconut oil (an item from my daughter’s list) is also much cheaper at Costco than elsewhere.
The AA batteries were on sale, at least, though they have a pretty high eco fee on top!
The brown sugar (or, should I say, yellow sugar) is a really good price compared to elsewhere. The Irish Spring soap is a pack of 20 and will last us for months. My daughter buy their own fancier bar soap. My husband are fine with the cheap stuff, and these are the cheapest Costco has that I could see.
The salad kits are each 2 packs. Most places are almost that price for just one.
The tilapia fillets are for the girls. I’m glad I picked up meats when I found good sales earlier, because my budget wasn’t enough for more meats today.
The B100 vitamins are what my new doctor wants me on instead of just B12. The Magnesium, I take for restless legs, and I’d run out of those. I forgot to pick up more Zinc, though. I ran out of that, this morning.
For block cheese, I got mozzarella and old cheddar. I also got 2 panini packs for sandwiches. The 4 pack of Pronamel is the brand my daughters prefer. I got a big box of spaghetti, because it was the cheapest pasta. We normally get a variety pack, but not today. The 4 pack of frozen perogies have been steady in price for a while now, though they used to be under $10 for many years.
The stuff I left on the cart includes a flat of Coke Zero for my husband and I. There is also their bulk package of Ramen noodles. I picked up a 9 pack of canned beans; that price has actually gone down again! The oat milk is a 3 pack of 2L cartons for my lactose intolerant daughters. I forget how many cans are in the flat of Monster drinks, but that’s being split three ways. Then there are the puppy pads and toilet paper. Yes, I did get more cat food! Not as many dry kibble bags as I usually would have gotten; the donations are a huge help! While we do still have lots of donated canned cat food, they’re all the same flavour, so I got two variety pack cases of 48 to give them some variety. Last of all in the flat cart was 5 pounds of butter.
Next, we have a 1L carton of whipping cream, which costs more then $7 in other places. The sour cream is a 2 pack of 250ml. They don’t seem to carry the 500ml containers anymore. That and the cream cheese is a very good price compared to elsewhere.
I only got one 2pk of rye bread, a 10 pound bag of potatoes and a double flat of eggs. Normally, I would have gotten more rye bread, plus wraps, but I was pretty much at my budget limit for today, by this time.
So we have $777.06 for the Costco purchases. Add in the gas and my lunch, and my grand total for today was $890.88
Ouch.
And I didn’t even get everything on my list. Aside from not getting wraps at Costco today, other items will require trips to either a Walmart (where I have to go to correct being overcharged, last time) or an international food store.
I’m glad I got this done today, though, even though I really paid for it. On the way home, I stopped at the post office to pick up a parcel. In the hour the drive took, I discovered my entire body had stiffened up, and I was hobbling to get into the building. It got less painful once I limbered up, but it did hit me by surprise when I got out of the truck! I thought I’d been doing pretty good until then.
Once at home, my daughter and I unloaded and got things put away, just in time for a phone call I was expecting from my brother. I’d been keeping them up to date on things with my mother by message. They were on the way to see her, and I was able to give him more details over the phone. They wanted to get a visit in before the snow hit, too!
Looking at the forecast now, the show is supposed to reach us by 10pm tonight, now, and keep snowing until about midnight tomorrow. So the timing of it has sifted earlier by a few hours. Which I’m good with, since the day after tomorrow, I need to get to the hospital for that meeting with the doctor about my mother!
My brother and his wife will be driving home in the dark, but should be home well before the snow hits, and the highways were nice and clear today.
Why does all the medical stuff have to happen in the winter? It never seems to happen in the summer! 😄
In the end, it was a longer day with extra driving, but my mother has her walker, we got a visit in, and we got our Costco stock up shopping finally done.
The -22C/-8F isn’t too bad, really. Not for February. That -32C/-26F is the killer, though. As I write this, coming up on 10:30am, the only thing that’s changed is that the wind chill is now -29C/-20F.
Oh, it just changed. The wind chill is -30C/-22F now. 🫤
I did short rounds, this morning.
The yard babies seem to be handling it well. I counted “only” 26 this morning, though.
The Grink (first image) and Fluffy (second image) are pretty calm about being kept in the isolation shelter. Fluffy still keeps out of reach, while The Grink will sniff at my fingers when I reach out to him, but doesn’t allow pets.
I do wish they would both figure out the litter box, though. I can see it’s been used, but someone – I suspect Fluffy – has been using a corner of the cat bed they cuddle up in! As well as the corner behind the water bowl. And the hammock.
It’s a good thing I built the isolation shelter with access in mind, so we’ll be able to clean it in the spring!
The last image is Patience. What a fluffy boy!!!
Today, he was very accepting – even demanding – of pets, but not as much as Collin. I was trying to get a picture of Patience, but Collin kept pushing himself in front, because I was holding my phone instead of petting him!
Patience was not amused.
Looking at the weather, I’m not sure that I’ll make it to Costco today. The driveway never got done yesterday, plus we are expecting “snow showers” – right now, apparently, but our skies are clear, so I’m not sure what that was supposed to be happening. It’s not showing on the weather radar.
Hopefully, this afternoon will be better and we’ll get at least the plow ridge on the driveway done, and I’ll be able to head out, tomorrow. We’ll see.
I debated whether to talk about this here, since this topic is not what this blog is about. It is something that will affect us at some point, and there is a lot of bad information out there right now, so I’m going for it. TDS suffers be warned.
Starting tomorrow, Canadian exports into the US will be hit with a 25% tariff. Our Prime Dictator plans to “retaliate” with 25% tariffs on US imports.
It’s a stupid situation that is going to hurt Canadians far more than the US. The mistake, however, is that people are blaming Trump and calling him a “bully”. This could not be further from the truth.
Canada currently has the most corrupt government in its history, and T2 has been “undiplomatic”, shall we say, towards the US for his entire time in office. Actually, since before then, now that I think about it. He hates the US almost as much as he hates Canada and Canadians. Oh, sure, he’s saying pretty words to the media, trying to portray himself as this great defender of Canada, and how we’re such a great country. We were, until he devastated us on all fronts. He is, if nothing else, a master at gaslighting and manipulation. This is the same guy who frequently insulted Canada and Canadians since before he was installed in office, saying, among other things, that Canada has no culture (except Quebec) and how he plans to replace “old stock Canadians” (a term referring to multi-generational Canadians of European descent), not to mention the many divisive things he said about Canadians during the illegal lockdowns. He would mouth platitudes to Canadians in English, but in French, to the Quebec media, he would say the opposite. Anyone who doesn’t agree with him is a Nazi, a white supremacist, misogynist, anti-science; all the usual insults that have become meaningless, they’ve been used so often.
His constant comments about “misinformation and disinformation” are particularly hypocritical, since he and his party have been the greatest purveyors of both, but they are using this to justify their attempts to be able to censor and control social media (they already control the legacy media in Canada). They were even trying to push through a bill that would make wrong-think a crime. Seriously. It’s like something straight out of The Minority Report. People would literally be charged for things they *might* do, and for expressing their thoughts in private conversations. No one has been more divisive of Canadians than T2 and his illegitimate NDP/Liberal coalition government. He’s the most hated PM in our history, and the only reason he’s still in power is because the NDP and the Bloc keep supporting him.
The reality is, our Prime Dictator has been busily destroying our economy (plus our military and our few functioning institutions) for the past 10 years. In fact, yet another 20% carbon tax is kicking in on April 1. This is on top of several other carbon taxes that have been implemented, plus high inflation due to his printing more and more money. Him complaining about a 25% tariff on Canadian exports is such hypocrisy. Our current high prices, our housing crisis, our border crisis… all of these can be laid at the feet of our corrupt government.
Here’s the thing.
Trump’s condition was for us to secure our border and start pulling our weight with NATO. Both things we should already be doing. He is not making unrealistic demands, here.
The NATO problem predates T2, but can still be laid at the feet of past Liberal governments. The border problem right now is completely the fault of T2. His actions – or lack of them – has made Canada a threat to US security. T2 claims the border is secure. It’s not. In reality, investigation by other countries has found that Canada is basically involved in human trafficking into the US. And, yes, the fentanyl problem is very real. We make that stuff. It does have legitimate medical uses. Lots of it just somehow ends up being smuggled into the US through our porous border.
When it comes to the border, the only demand Canada should be making is for the US to do the same, because we have plenty of illegals, guns and drugs coming in from the US. This could have been a win-win situation that made both our countries stronger. Instead, our Prime Dictator is playing like he’s some sort of hero, claiming to be standing up to a “bully”, with “retaliatory” measures and engaging in a tariff war.
Now, Canada and the US already have tariffs on things we import from each other. That’s not new. We’ve also had tariff wars before. The softwood lumber tariff war being one I particularly remember. Again. Not new.
What is new is that we have a Prime Dictator that should have been turfed back in 2016, when Elections Canada found that the results of the 2015 election has been influenced by registered third parties (legal) funded by foreign interests (illegal). The last election – the one called early during the illegal lockdowns – was also found to have been influenced by the CCP. He should have been turfed many times over the past decade.
Oh, and for all the talk, no, T2 did NOT resign. He stated his intention to resign once a new Liberal leader is selected, then got the Governor General (who is supposed to be neutral and represent the Crown, but is one of T2’s cronies, just like the House speaker) to shut Parliament down.
In Canada, we don’t vote directly for our Prime Minister. During federal elections, we have elections in 338 ridings across the country, for individual MPs (Members of Parliament). The party with the most MPs elected wins, and the party leader then becomes the Prime Minister. The party with the next highest number of MPs elected becomes the Official Opposition.
The Prime Minister, however, must also be an MP. If they didn’t win their own riding, someone in that party who did win can step down and the leader would move to that riding and become the MP there. So there is no reason for Parliament to be shut down during the Liberal leadership race.
Right now, the Liberals are setting up a guy named Carney to be the next leader. This is someone who holds three passports and hasn’t even lived in Canada for the past decade or so, but has been busy ruining the UK economy. So he’s not an MP and barely a Canadian. Should he be installed, I suppose some legitimately elected MP would just step down so he could have that seat, instead.
With Parliament shut down, T2 has more power than ever, and can rule by the equivalent of executive orders, with zero checks and balances. Shutting down parliament meant avoiding another non-confidence vote which the NDP said they would vote in favour of this time (they kept T2 in power the last couple of times by voting against it, even when the motion used NDP leader Singh’s own words). There’s a court challenge going through now, because the shut down did not meet requirements, but who knows if that will even rule in time to make any difference.
Meanwhile, they are now using the tariff war to try and prevent another election. The NDP are already backtracking and saying they will likely vote to prevent an election, once parliament resumes. Whoever gets installed as the next PM can use the tariff war to not only prevent a vote of non-confidence from succeeding, but could delay the regular election. That would be happening this coming October, but could be delayed to September, 2026, because of the early election called during the illegal lockdowns. Our elections are supposed to happen every 4 years, but can be delayed to a maximum of 5 years from the last election.
So what does this mean?
Well, for people like us, it means prices will go up. Again. Not just because of the retaliatory tariffs T2 will be imposing – those will hurt us far more than it will hurt the US – but because we’re going to be slammed with another 20% carbon tax on top of everything else.
All because our Prime Dictator refuses to do his job and secure the border. Trump is not the “bully” here. Our own government has brought this on us, and is now making it even worse. The real question should be, why is T2 refusing to secure the border?
Being on a fixed income, this is probably going to hurt us a lot. Canada hasn’t been “open for business” for many decades, and is over reliant on the US as a trading partner. The US will be mildly inconvenienced.
There are, of course, increased calls to “buy local” and “buy Canadian”, which we should have already been doing. It’s hilarious to see the side that argued against Canadian self reliance to now play the hero by saying we could support Canadian businesses. We don’t actually make all that much. Most of our manufacturing has moved to other countries because our government makes it almost impossible to do business here in Canada. Canada could be the most productive and prosperous country in the world, but our own governments have prevented that. Instead, we are almost entirely dependent on the US.
As for the whole “51st state” thing, that is actually something a LOT of Canadians have wanted for many decades. More so now that we haven’t been able to get rid of our corrupt government. Canadians who haven’t had their head in the ground for the past 10 years aren’t angry at Trump. They are angry at our own federal government. Our own government brought this on us, and are now making it worse.
The tariffs are supposed to kick in on the 4th. Tomorrow. That shouldn’t affect prices on inventory already in the country; just on newly imported goods. However it’s entirely possible that the next time I get to Costco, the prices will have already increased again. I imagine places like Costco would be absolutely insane with panic buying right now.
What we really need is a new federal government, but the chances of finally having an election are very low.
It should be interesting to see how things look, the next time I go a stock up shopping post.
The Re-Farmer
Update: well, we have a reprieve. Our Prime Dictator has suddenly decided to do his job with the border. He said he will secure the border and designate a “fentanyl czar”, so the tariffs will be postponed for 30 days. Which is wise, since T2 has a habit of making grand promises and not following through with them.
He didn’t have to think hard to come up with a border plan, since it’s almost identical to what Premier Danielle Smith proposed a while ago. That would be the Premier of Alberta, the province T2 and all the other premiers were ready to throw under the bus. The one they insulted repeatedly as being un-Canadian for not being part of “Team Canada” (ha! What a misnomer) and throwing her own province under the bus.
Going back to the “51st state” thing, I found it interesting to learn today that 60% of Canadians polled by a neutral pollster actually said that’s what they wanted. Not because they hate Canada, but because they hate what T2 and his government has done to it.
So, for now, our prices should stay roughly the same. At least until the new 20% carbon tax kicks in, in April.
Unless, by some good fortune, Liberals finally get turfed before then. If we are allowed an election, I fully expect more shenanigans, so who knows.
At times like this, I am so glad we live in the boonies. We’re not as self sufficient as I wanted to be, by this point, but at least we’re not as dependent as we would have been, if we were still in the city.
Fluffy, as you can see, is staying well away from me. No chance of checking her surgical site. Even when I came back later with wet cat food, she would not go anywhere near the food bowl (there’s just one again, as the other was knocked down to the lower level) while I was around. The Grink is more comfortable being nearby, but wouldn’t let me touch him, either.
At least one of them has yet to figure out the litter box in the lower level. 😬
With the ramp door closed, there is no need for the wind shelter box around it, but I did find another use for it. There are some cats that are too shy to come to the food bowls in the kibble house, shelf shelter or sun room, but will eat kibble left on the concrete well cap. Others just prefer to eat kibble there. I used to keep a scrap piece of rigid insulation on the cap, to keep little toe beans protected from the cold concrete, but no large enough pieces seem to have survived to this winter. So I generally just try to keep it clear of snow.
The wind shelter box makes that easier. It keeps the snow off the kibble, the scaredy cats get to have some shelter while they eat, and if they get startled, they have a “back door” to run through.
After the critters got their food and warm water, I went to switch out the memory cards in the trail cams. I found the gate cam like this.
On checking the files, later, I found the motion sensor still worked, as there were several files where all I could see was the ice on the camera lens cover! It was surprisingly thick, too, and took some doing to clear. Mostly, it was using my hands to melt the ice off, because it could not be scraped off without a tool, and I didn’t want to do that and risk scratching anything.
The plan for today was to break out little Spewie later on, to clear the driveway. The snow system should be past us completely by now, but we’re also expecting high winds, later on. The main thing would be to clear the plow ridge at the end of the driveway, and we’ll need to use a shovel for that. Little Spewie was not made for jobs like that, and there’s bound to be gravel and rocks mixed in, anyhow.
This morning, though, I took the time to shovel out all the paths before heading back inside, including enough in front of the garage that the side doors can be opened to access Spewie and the extension cord collection. While clearing the paths from the shelters by the house, to the shrine and the catio, I made sure to put more snow around three sides of the catio for extra insulation. I don’t plan to go any higher than where the floating shelves and hammocks are. This way, the cats can sit and look through the plastic wrapped walls, and the sunlight can get in.
I am not taking the snow off the roof. The clear roof would let more light in and add to the passive solar heat, but the snow acts as an insulator that will help keep the heat in when it gets dark. I’m thinking the passive solar heat from the plastic wrapped walls should be enough. It will never get particularly warm in there, but at least it will be better than outside! I’d put snow around the front, too, but the propped open door needs to be kept clear, in case we need to get inside. Like when the cats (or other critters?) push the food bowl too far away from the door. Normally, I can just reach in with the scoop of kibble, and not disturb any cats too much (the more feral ones usually run off before I even reach the catio). Sometimes, though, it’s way too far, or even knocked over. I’ve had to go all the way into the catio at times, to get the food bowl and put it back in reach.
I may be short, but I’m not that short!
I was reminded today, just how much I enjoy shoveling snow! I kept telling myself to not push it, but it was just too much fun. At least the snow was still light and fluffy, and not packed down by the wind. Still, when I finally went back inside, I made sure to take some pain killers, right away! Not my prescription ones, as I want to save those for before bed. I need to talk to my new doctor about that. Painkillers that can be taken only once a day is great for helping me get some sleep, which is when I need them most, but not of much use during the day.
Aside from working on the driveway, we’re going to have to set up the laundry hose out the front door again today. From the gurgles I hear when we’re using the kitchen sink, I don’t think that section of pipe is clear enough to handle the the amount of water that would drain from the washing machine yet. It drains very quickly, and I don’t want to take the chance of it back flooding. I’m more than content to keep running the hose through the storm door until spring or so.
We’re still using the bacteria and enzyme pipe maintenance products every week, plus flushing with straight hot water and detergent every few days, as the plumber recommended, but there still seems to be a bottleneck in there. When the ice in the roof vent was cleared, we might have gotten things like leaves and other debris. Leaves would have a tendency to stick to the inside of the pipes and be harder to flush away with the water.
There’s only so much that the drain auger can clear stuff like that away. Ideally, we’d use something equivalent to a bottle brush that could be pushed through the length of the pipe that could scour the insides. We do actually have something like that, which is great for clearing smaller pipes, but isn’t quite large enough, or long enough, for this one.
It’s not a big deal. We just have to make sure to keep the wash loads going, with no breaks to wait for the dryer in between, and regularly pop outside to make sure the hose is drained, so it doesn’t freeze closed. We’ve even stopped doing cold water washes only, so that there is at least warm water running through to keep it ice free.
So that will get set up next. I don’t know if I’ll be up to doing the driveway with little Spewie as well. We’ll see. Normally, my daughter would do it, but she’s been quite sick for the past few days, and in even more pain than I am.
In other things, I’ll be sure to talk to my mother again today – assuming the hospital staff have left the phone in her room from yesterday. My sister has been contacting more distant family members about my mother, as she’s got their contact information (to be honest, I hadn’t even thought of it; I only thought of my siblings!). While we were chatting last night, she let me know that our vandal is back in a different hospital with an infection related to his recent surgery. I’d like to wish him well; it would be good to reconcile with him, but he’s so far gone, my sister can’t even mention my name around him, because he just loses it. I honestly can’t be angry with him about it; he’s clearly dealing with psychiatric issues. I do have a problem with the people around him that are enabling him and not getting him the help he needs. That, however, is not my problem. I have my mother to be concerned about.
I do wonder if I should be calling the eye clinic in the city. Her appointment is for near the end of February, and they don’t plan to do the injections this time. The will just check to make sure nothing has gotten worse. We won’t know for several more days, whether my mother will be released from hospital and sent home, or if they will be able to get her into assisted living or long term care – which is what she would prefer – instead. She is quite enjoying her time in the hospital, and things like having her meals and meds brought to her, and having all these doctors and nurses tending to her. She says the food is very good, too. She’s not on any dietary restrictions; just fluid restrictions, so she’d be getting “normal” meals. It would be so much better for her to NOT go home from the hospital! We shall see what happens over the next few days. I think, once we have a better idea of where she will be, then I’ll call the clinic and update them.
Well, I’m procrastinating now. Time to get that hose set up and start some laundry!
The Re-Farmer 