Learning and understanding

Today marks the 61st anniversary of independence for Trinidad & Tobago.  Congratulations to my home country on continuing to uphold the values of “every creed and race find an equal place” and embracing diversity in many forms.  I’ve spoken before of the lessons I learnt growing up there, and the acceptance of difference, so I won’t rhapsodize about that now.  My boys were up and planning things when we spoke this morning; Jerry seemed to be on high alert, with his little ears perked up.  Then he heard my voice and snuggled up to Don, patted him on his tummy, stretched out his paw and tried to knock the phone from his hand!  It was hard to talk, since Jerry would insist on inserting himself between Don and the phone, but would turn his back on me while we talked!  Silly little boy.  I’m still concerned about what Don is eating, although he says that he’s finished all the sweets and is now into protein and carbohydrates so it should be less of a worry…  So I got about 3 hours sleep

Another day when we were moaning about the coolness of incipient autumnal weather… the kids headed off in shorts but with emergency sweaters which were useful this afternoon.  I had a very restful day, which I desperately needed, as I’m still recuperating.  My boys were fine when I called this morning, and when we spoke again an hour later.  I got a call from Don, but it apparently was an accidental redial by Jerry, who was pawing at the screen!  I laughed that he wanted to talk to me although when I was on the phone he tried pushing the phone away!  Today his little tail was wagging excitedly while I talked to him and he seemed to be looking for me everywhere.  I’m a little concerned that he’s probably not eating as well as he should (not Jerry, whose food is carefully monitored by Don) but I’m limited in my ability to do anything from several hundred kilometres away! My sleep was a little better last night, which is good.  I’m still waking up frequently, but I’m not lying awake for l

We were all complaining that it was chilly today… pathetic creatures, aren’t we?  The house is set at 23C, so that’s not cold, outside made it grudgingly up to 23 by 4pm, so while it was cool  it certainly wasn’t chilly… but we almost broke out the sweaters.  The small people headed off to daycare in shorts and short-sleeved jerseys, and aren’t complaining, but the adults were.  The boys are fine; Don laughed and said that Jerry had given him some space and didn’t occupy his lap all day so he was able to have a nap; or at least he was going to try for one.  I’m not sure how successful he was, but there was a longish period of quiet, so maybe.  Jerry continues to ignore me when I’m on the phone, but he does try to knock the phone out of Don’s hand while we’re talking 😆 He does the same with me, it seems that when we’re not devoting full attention to him he doesn’t approve and wants to remind us of who’s the most important… no further comment 😝 The adrenaline rush of getting here and b

It’s a lovely day, sunny but not too hot.  I was outside for a while as I found it freezing indoors for a bit.  It was almost chilly in the shade, but comfortable in the sun.  I spent a while by the fountain until the sun moved behind the house, then I was on the lawn getting some sun for a few minutes.  I spoke with my boys this morning, and Jerry turned his back on me while Don and I were talking!!  He watched me on video, and according to Don wagged his tail enthusiastically until I spoke to him, and he rolled over and kept his back to the phone!!  The boys are fine, and Don is still gorging on sweets — my fault for getting him some cream puffs as a treat before I left home!  He will have to transition to savoury foods soon, and the fridge is reasonably well-stocked, so he has no excuse not to eat, nor will he starve.  Jerry’s dog food is also well supplied, and they’ve both got enough to last the time I’m away.  Although I’m certain that there will probably be a few food deliveries

Fair warning… the next few weeks will be full of stories about the small people and what we’re doing.  They’ll all be tagged “ family ” so you’ll know.  That will definitely be my focus, so consider yourself advised!  My boys are both fine, and are managing without me, although I admit that I do miss them (and they me) and we talk about 5 times a day.  I’m fairly sure that Don is as happy as a “pig in mud” or perhaps a kid in a candy store, as there’s nobody there to tell him to turn the volume down to a dull roar instead of having the TV set to stadium alert level, or that he needs to eat actual food, and not just cakes, cookies, pies, chocolate… and he can watch 20 hours of baseball or football (American or Canadian) per day or all the true crime and prank shows that he can find instead of being interrupted by cozy mysteries or reruns of detective shows and all those other things.  I’m teasing, of course, since we do talk frequently, and text, and all those other communication steps

Rainy days today and upcoming.  It’s cool, but somewhat humid and rain off and on throughout the day.  Jerry was glued to me all night last night and during the day today… The few minutes that he wasn’t on me, he was on Don.  He seems to think that something is happening that doesn’t involve him, and is guarding us both vigorously.  Don was happy watching sports again — mostly baseball, as the Canadian football games are mainly on weekends and his NFL teams don’t seem to be active just yet.  It’ll get more intense in a couple of weeks, as the CFL gets ready for the Grey Cup and the NFL ramps up and the NHL starts the pre-game season.  Just too many games for my interest, so I’ll be working on other hobbies while he’s glued to various games. I went to bed last night before 9pm, fell asleep before 10, woke up at 2, and was in that half-awake doze until nearly 5, and finally slept until 8.  I tried to stay in bed a little longer in hopes of regaining some energy, but Jerry would have none

It’s Thursday, so of course, it’s pouring rain!  That is definitely the trend this summer.  It was overcast when I woke up this morning, but it cleared up during the day, and for a while I thought we’d buck the trend, but no.  It began around 3:30 this afternoon, as I was nodding off while trying to crochet, unsuccessfully, I might add!  Here is the position that I held for most of the day… Jerry is extra snuggly for who knows what reason, and as soon as I sit down, he’s on my lap and refuses to move.  I try to throw him off, he just wriggles around and shifts his weight and stays where he is.  He’s now lying on Don’s legs and watching me with what seems like disappointment, while I ignore him.  After a couple of days running errands, it’s no surprise that Don was wiped out last night and a little slow this morning.  He’s fine, though, and has managed to catch up on what feels like a dozen sports — they all blend together for me, so I have no idea who was playing what or where or anyth

This was taken on the weekend at my friend’s patio; as I mentioned, it was a lovely relaxing day, and I thought I’d share this with you.  I have to admit that I’m less worried about my thinning hair than I am about my fading eyebrows and lashes, so I’m practicing my goddaughter’s tips for redrawing them so they look somewhat natural.  At the moment, I have a small dog lying on my toes, giving occasional barks at — I have no idea what.  I usually say that it’s the resident ghost when he does this.  Might be the sound of a leaf blowing in the wind, or his disagreement with the news or a complaint about the quality of his dinner.  It’s not constant, just every few minutes a small “yip,” almost like a reminder.  Don finished his errands this morning, finally.  A while ago the car began making an odd noise (you know the kind) and he was nervous that it was something major.  Thankfully it wasn’t too bad; when he went yesterday they wanted to keep it overnight (after ignoring it for 2 hours)

More great weather today, loads of sunshine few puffy white clouds and a cooling breeze.  In some good news from the fire zone, apparently the winds have died down somewhat and the skies are clearer allowing the airborne fighters to resume water bombing, as the smoke was too thick for them to fly for the last couple of days.  Here’s hoping for some rain soon to help bring things under control!  Don was out today running a long-delayed errand, and he left Jerry at home with me.  Jerry disapproved, loudly, of his departure, then planted himself on my lap and sulked until Don got home almost 3 hours later.  I couldn’t do anything, as he stayed so close to me that I was in danger of tripping over him!  He also complained that he couldn’t get any of the pickle that I was eating (I don’t know whether that’s allowed or not for dogs, but I decided to err on the side of caution!) and my legs have now taken on the shape of a little schnoodle curled into a ball… Don’s back home as mentioned, but

Another lovely, moderate day today.  I’m not complaining in the least; the cooler temperatures are very welcome especially after the stifling heat earlier this summer.  I almost feel guilty when I see the stories about the horrific fires in the Territories and British Columbia, where so many thousands of people have been displaced and lost everything.  At my end, I’ll just be thankful for what I’ve got, and not grumble about the conditions here.  Jerry is curled up on the sofa, tired out from a nice walk with my support worker this afternoon.  I’m wondering if I should be jealous of how excited he is to see her, and how he just loves her!  He was super excited to head out, and when they got back, he drank his weight in water (it’s hot out, especially if you’re small, fur covered and close to the ground) then went to get his harness to ask to go again 😆 Don was awake and energetic at an inhuman hour this morning, then said, “Drat!  I meant to do something this morning and now it’s 1pm

Summer time, and the living is easy… it’s been a hot, sticky day today with a bit of a haze over the city.  There were some clouds passing, with a pleasant breeze.  The tiny monster was over the moon today as my support worker arrived a little early, and he leapt on her like she was a made of dog treats!  He even wriggled his way into the bathroom as I was getting a shower, and tried to get her to play with him instead of bathing me!  He complained when she shut him out, but he waited patiently for her and then insisted on sitting on her lap for a while.  He then climbed on Don and wriggled himself into a small ball on his lap.  Don was still feeling under the weather this morning, but is a bit perkier this evening, thankfully.  His team lost their game last night in the last minute after having led for the entire game.  He was not happy about that, as you can imagine!  This evening he watched the running of the King’s Cup — 164th anniversary.  The thing with horse racing, to me, is th

I think it’s Saturday; I’m in a bit of a fog as to where we are in the week… we didn’t make it for the day in the country, as it happens.  This morning, when I awoke at 6 (we’d have needed to leave by 7:30 if we were going) it was hazy/foggy/cloudy and distinctly cool.  I woke up Don to ask him if we were going and he gave a grunt, looked out the window and went back to sleep… so I followed his example and somehow never stirred again until 9:30!  I was stunned.  Obviously I was more tired than I realized.  Even Jerry let me sleep in, which is surprising in itself.  He made up for it by chasing his toy around and bringing it for me to throw to him then climbing on my lap, pushing my iPad and then my crochet off and getting some sleep.  Don slept for a large chunk of the day, so he clearly wasn’t feeling much like himself.  He’s up now, watching a sport, after I made him watch Easter Parade  and some (unknown) other Fred Astaire movie on the classic movie channel. I had the most bizarre

It was a cool, humid, sometimes cloudy day, with occasional gusts of wind.  This morning, just around 6am, when we were all fast asleep, I heard a crash in the living room.  I didn’t know what it was, it woke me up, so I got up to go see what had happened.  Accompanied by my tiny shadow, I walked down the hall to the living room.  I noticed that the room was brighter than usual, but as I rounded the corner I saw that the curtains over the picture window had fallen, complete with the rod, onto the floor.  A quick check showed that one of the supports had fallen but we’re trying to work out how this happened — the curtains fell about a metre to the left of the window, and it was the right-hand support that had broken, so you’d expect that it would have fallen straight down, or at least dangled from the left  side.  No idea, and I’ll have to work out what to do with it.  Annoying.  Jerry went to check it out, then came back to tell me that he needed to go out RIGHT THIS SECOND and picked

We had 2 days of smog, exacerbated apparently by wildfire smoke, making yesterday somewhat uncomfortable.  Today is muggy and sultry, with thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow.  It’s the first Thursday in over a month when we have not had tornado or thunderstorm warnings!  Please see a sad, starved, neglected puppy, who was denied strawberries as a snack.  He just watched me put one in my mouth and I was faced with this look… I’d feel guilty, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to share stuff that will upset his teeny tiny little tummy just because he wants it.  He’s been tailing me everywhere since, probably in hopes of food falling out of my hand/mouth into the black hole that is his mouth!  Don is back to himself after a couple of days of not moving much — his weekend of over exertion caught up with him and he turned into a fixture on the sofa.  Thankfully he’s back to himself, and is raiding the fridge like a college student home on holidays!!  It somewhat helps that his teams have b

Another fairly mild day today, although it was more humid than the last few days.  Oddly enough, the weather report noted that it felt close to 28C, but I found that I felt chilly for parts of the afternoon; go figure…  I’m currently wrapped in a shawl to get over the coolness of the day, but the weather reports it as fairly warm.  I’ll just assume that I feel cooler because I’m high up.  That, or else I’ve caught something, but I don’t feel sick so it’s not that.  I was on the phone for a while today, so that meant that I was turned into a dog bed and that the tiny dictator was working hard to try to knock things out of my hands and off my lap; he was evicted, and reluctantly went over to cuddle Don.  He’s feeling less that great, as his exertions on the weekend are catching up to him.  I wish there was something that I could do to prevent that, but there isn’t really. I’d really like an uninterrupted night’s sleep, so I don’t wake up several times for no reason and then am tired duri

Ah… excellent summer weather continues today.  Warm, not humid, not too hot, bit of a breeze, and I think that I may have got a little sun-kissed while I was outside on the balcony this morning.  The sun felt good for the few minutes that I was there — I try to limit my sun exposure because of my medications and the chance of burning easily.  Jerry was quite noisy as my nurse and support worker were both here, and he let me know that there were people in his  house.  We discovered that if we’re talking about him being naughty, he tends to look away, then looks at me as if to say, “Why are you telling such stories?”  Don was doing a few things today in the garage again, and has tired himself out from all the walking he did.  He says that the car just seems to move further each time he goes to the (assigned) parking spot. So I’ve discovered an unpleasant side effect to my chemo pills.  The little paper that accompanies the bottle lists about 100 possible side effects, and I think I’ve go

Another lovely, sunny, not too hot day, with a couple of short showers to keep the humidity under control.  I enjoyed the weather and some time outdoors on my balcony where I was working on my crochet project (and resisting the call of my books!)  The tiny dictator was on my lap as much as he could manage, with his little paw in my face whenever he thought I wasn’t paying him enough attention.  He’s in a happy state now on the sofa, with one eye on each of us while he’s making a blanket fort to hide himself and his toy squirrel.  He really seems to like it; it’s the only toy that’s survived for almost 2 years, and he takes it to bed with him at night.  Don had a happy afternoon watching a sport, which his team won by a decisive margin so he’s grinning while he searches for another game on TV (there aren’t any with his preferred teams, so he’s scanning action shows.)   I had a little trouble sleeping last night; first, I was awake until almost midnight, then I woke up around 4 and was u

It’s been a rainy Saturday, but comfortable weather.  I briefly needed a throw this afternoon, as it felt a bit chilly, but nothing major… I like these cooler summer days, as I can enjoy a bit of time on the balcony, just relaxing.  I have to confess that I spent most of today lost in a book — one that I’m rereading, while I ignore the carefully balanced stack of new books on my end table — so I wasn’t as useful as I could have been.  Jerry was, as you can see, carefully guarding me to ensure that I couldn’t go off and leave him.  That’s his little, “Hey!  You!  This tummy won’t pet itself you know,” signal… If I take too long, it will begin scratching my face, his head comes up and I get a death glare, and he will then sit up and poke me.  I’m very well trained in tummy rubs now 😆 Don was down doing some stuff in the garage, so you know that he’s got some extra energy, which is something I always enjoy.  I was left to look after the tiny dictator while he was downstairs, and I was gi

It’s a beautiful, warm but comfortable day, the opposite of yesterday’s deluge.  The news had coverage of the flash flooding and the results — and the cleanup — which has been tremendous.  Thankfully we were unaffected, including no flooding in the underground garage.  I think that if that kind of rain were to fall in the fire ravaged areas, things would be better.  We’ve gone from smoke-filled skies to extreme heat to heavy downpours in a couple of months.  Seems like, as someone commented to me, a summer of biblical proportions!  Jerry spent most of last night trying to burrow under me as another storm started overnight.  He hid his face from the lightning and tried to cuddle me.  Don’s good, with no apparent after effects from driving in the storm, which was really unnerving.  He’s throwing Jerry his toy now, and playing with him. I had a fairly decent night’s sleep last night, which is good news.  I don’t like having to take meds to help me sleep, and I try to maintain good “sleep