Be Careful What You Wish For

There’s been a lot of storm activity going on around us, but thus far we’ve been safe from the major winter storms that have been burying towns and causing states of emergency. So for my birthday, which was yesterday, I flippantly said it would be nice to have snow. Well . . . I got my wish.

It was beautiful. Until I realized that I’m the one who was going to have to shovel it, and in a timely fashion because the hubby coaches youth bowling on Saturday mornings. He can’t shovel snow because a) he has really bad arthritis and b) he has a really bad hip. These days he can barely walk (with the aid of a cane) let alone shovel.

So despite the fact the plough hadn’t been around yet, I was out there in the dark shoveling. At least it was light snow, not the heart attack kind. I just tell myself it’s good cardio. LOL The hubby left for bowling and I was halfway through my first cup of coffee when a road grader came by to plough the road and bury driveways.

But I don’t think he was one of the town plough boys because he didn’t do the whole crescent, just straight down to the circle, then around the circle (we live at the top of the circle). So I finished my coffee and pulled my outdoor gear on again, and went to unbury the driveway. He was up at the top of the street by then, and when he saw me he drove back and asked if I’d like some help. I said sure, and stood back while he swiped the end of the driveway clear. And the other reason I don’t think he was from the town is because he had a little boy on his lap inside the cab. Unless maybe he was called in at the last minute and couldn’t find a babysitter. But I still think the town would have frowned on it.

Anyway, it was like a birthday bonus to not have to do all that extra shoveling. And later I heard the sound of a snowblower and watched some guy come down the crescent with a his snowblower to clear the driveway of the little old lady just up the circle. He did the end of the driveway of the guy just across the street from her too, probably because that family helps out the old lady a lot (his driveway was already done). Kindness is a great way to start the day, don’t you think?

The picture below is only half the driveway, and the bare spot is where my car is usually parked. The hubby took it instead of his because mine’s an SUV while his is a little sporty car and I did not clean his off or unbury it, although I did shovel all the way to the back gate. 😊

The hubby been waiting for a hip replacement (his second one) since the fall and his mobility has been steadily declining. When he talked to his surgeon’s office in November he was told that the hospital his surgeon works out of wasn’t taking any more surgical bookings until the new year, and when they started booking again they’d be starting with the patients the surgeon saw in May. The hubby saw him in September. So we figured late spring, early summer for his date.

However, Tuesday the surgeon’s office called and said they had a cancellation and asked if he’d be interested. The date? January 16 – Thursday. It says something about the pain he’s in for the hubby to answer with a resounding yes to such short notice.

So he started a list of all the things we needed to get and all the arrangements we need to make before Thursday. We need boosters with handle bars for both toilets, thank goodness we got the renovation on the bathroom done so we have a walk in shower now, he needed an extra cushion for his chair, he still had the device that helps him with his socks, but he gave his grabbers away so he needed a couple of them, too (one for upstairs and one for downstairs).

Still to be arranged are the walkers he’ll need to get around with for the first couple of weeks. Again, one for upstairs and one for downstairs so he doesn’t have to struggle with them on the stairs.

And here’s the part that ticks me off. When he had his first hip done, they kept him in the hospital for a couple of days to make sure he could handle the stairs. Then, when he was sent home, he had a nurse come to change his dressing, and a physiotherapist come to our house for his therapy. This time? He gets to stay in the hospital overnight, and not only is no one coming to change his dressing for him, we have to buy our own medical supplies to do it. And despite not being supposed to even ride in a car for two weeks after the first hip was done, this time he has to go to the physiotherapist, the physiotherapist doesn’t come to him. I don’t know what’s happening to our medical care system, but it’s not good.

My posts on this blog are probably going to be random for a while, but I am going to try and post at least once a week. I don’t know whether I’ll do a recap of everything I did on my year off from blogging – I don’t know if anyone will be interested – I might just keep on keeping on.

See ya next time.

Museology Monday

museology ~ the study of museums

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…I really like a four day work week. Thanks to Easter, I had two of them in a row – one with Friday off and one with Monday. Yes, it meant a four day weekend in the middle, but it was still two four-day work weeks.

A long time ago a company I worked for set their work schedule by a quarterly shift bid. Bids were won by seniority, which meant those with the highest seniority got first pick of the shifts. Having pretty high seniority meant I usually got my first choice, and my top pick was the extended shift that gave me an extra day off. It was awesome. While it lasted.

Last week sped by (naturally), but at the same time it was pretty busy. And Mother Nature was definitely on some kind of psychotropic drug. The drive up to my class on Wednesday was pretty hairy. I had white out conditions on the way up, and black ice on the way home. And did I mention the extremely high winds that batted the car around like a cat toy?

Then Friday we had this:

Seriously? It's April, for crying out loud. Easter's over. NO MORE SNOW!

A couple of weeks ago the grandbaby and I planted some seeds in tiny pots. So far she’s got three marigolds and one daisy coming up – the forget-me-nots aren’t doing anything. But the tomato seeds she and Grappy planted in a bigger pot are growing like gangbusters. I’m going to have to get another pot to thin them out a bit. If they all survive they’re going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes.

It’s supposed to warm up this week but the big question is, is the danger of frost past? I really want to start planting the spring bulbs I bought. And I bought a divided tray to start some morning glory seeds in, which I’ll get the grandbaby to help me with this week, as well as something I can’t remember the name of that is supposed to be night blooming.

C’mon spring! We’re waiting!

Magadis Monday

magadis ~ ancient bridged stringed instrument

Woot! We have snow! Not really enough to build a snowman yet, much to the grandbaby’s dismay, but enough that she could help shovel her driveway.

And just so you know, those are my earmuffs the little monkey is wearing. :-D

It’s been a long time since I’ve played in the snow, and I have to admit to a certain reluctance to getting out there with her, but we had fun chasing the dog around the back yard and shoveling off the deck (which pretty much amounted to me shoveling and her sitting on the bottom step so I could shovel the snow on top of her). She even got me to make a snow angel with her. And no, there’s no pictures of that because I didn’t want to risk taking my phone out into the snow. LOL

And then, of course, the temperature took a nose dive and it was far too cold to play outside. Despite the sun shining brightly, it was too cold to do much of anything outside. During the two days of arctic chill I happened to go to the post office ... um ... three times, and the first time I couldn’t help but notice the steam coming off the lake in the rising sun and cursed the fact I didn’t have my phone with me to take a picture of it.

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I worked in an office that overlooked Lake Ontario. Needless to say, the view was amazing, but no more so than at sunrise on a cold winter’s morning. With the chunks of ice floating in the water and the steam rising, it looked like an alien landscape. And I always told myself I was going to take a picture of it. But I never did.

Fast forward to the present where during my second trip to the post office I took a moment and went down to the beach with my phone. Between the brightness of the sun, the darkness of my glasses (I have transition lenses), and the bitter cold, I had no clue whether I was focused or not. My hands were so cold (couldn’t operate the phone with my gloves on) that I had to soak them in hot water when I got home to get them to work again. But I think it was worth it.

This weekend was only slightly warmer, but I found it very hard to resist accompanying the daughter, her hubby, and the grandbaby to the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary to visit the donkeys and sing Christmas carols.

While it was a nice idea in theory, in reality it was really crowded, people were pushy and rude, and did I mention it was freaking cold?

We managed to get pretty much all of our shopping done this weekend, and my spare time this week will be used for Christmas baking. I might have a recycled poem for you on Friday, but Monday being Christmas you’ll be lucky if I remember to post some videos, let alone write a post. LOL

So I'll take the opportunity now to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Metaphysics Monday

metaphysics ~ study of principles of nature and thought

Got snow? We sure do. Here's the view from my dining room of our deck:

And we're supposed to get another snow dump tomorrow. But I'm not too worried because they're predicting it ahead of time, and it seems when they do that we don't get nearly the snow they say we are. Like, yesterday we were supposed to get a couple of inches and we barely got enough to have to brush off the car.

Of course the snow could be worse, I could live in New Brunswick where my sister is. She and her hubby went on a three week cruise down south and came home to eight feet of snow on their car. Eight feet!

My big concern is what happens to all that snow come spring? Normally it snows and then gets a little milder and the snow compacts or goes away completely and then we get more snow and repeat the process. This year the snow's not going away between blizzards. It's just stacking up.

A friend brought up a scary thought about it the other day - what happens if the weather suddenly gets mild and then we get several days of rain? I can't even begin to imagine the flooding that would result.

So last week was kind of a bust as far as getting things done went. A friend kidnapped me and took me to a nearby city for lunch on Tuesday, and by Tuesday evening I was sick as a dog. Was it something I ate? An IBS attack? The flu bug that's going around? Who knows. All I know is it took me until Friday before I was feeling okay again.

But good news! I found the cord for my camera that allows me to download pictures to my lap top. So here's one of the pictures I wanted to share a couple of weeks ago:

Doesn't it look yummy? It's minestrone soup with barley instead of pasta and kale instead of spinach. Incredibly healthy, yet tasty too. Pair it up with some garlic bread and you've got yourself a meal:

Speaking of soup . . . yesterday I started a huge pot of turkey soup. I had two turkey carcasses, one of which was from the turkey we had at the family Christmas dinner and it was huge. I probably could have used it by itself, but I already had the other (much smaller one) ready to go. So I boiled the bones for a few hours, and then, because my soup pot is so big, I strained the broth through a colander into my roasting pan. However, the soup pot fits into my fridge easier, so then I poured it from the roasting pan back into the pot, scalding my left hand in the process.

Somehow a fitting end to a long week. Let's hope I have better luck with my week this week. :-D