Learning and understanding

A beautiful, sunny day with a cutting cold wind that was just frigid!  This time of year the weather is always a challenge, especially if the wind is getting cold.  The leaves are still hanging on but they’ll all fall soon and it will be sad, bleak and grey!  Jerry was getting excited today and ran all over the house.  He probably suspects that his birthday is tomorrow and he’s searching for presents… happily rooting through everything (I’m a terrible pet parent, I didn’t get his gift in time!) Don is a little tired today; he had a good bit of difficulty falling asleep last night.  He was up until early this morning and dozed off this afternoon for a few hours. I had a small attack of “digestive distress” for which I can’t account.  It didn’t last very long, thankfully, but was uncomfortable nonetheless.  My appetite is still fairly decent, but I’m concerned that I may not be gaining weight.  The nurse pointed out that my loss of weight makes it m...

It’s a little milder today, but not very warm.  It was sunny, with some bright blue skies, all of which is very welcome, but as it got later, it also has got cooler and it felt a little like there were ice crystals starting to jab at my legs under the blanket!  Warmth is always preferable and it’s almost turn on the heat time!  I’m definitely in the wrong country if I don’t like cold.  I heard that there are wildfires in New Jersey, and I remember what it’s like with all the smoke-filled sky, and I hope that things improve quickly for the affected people.  Jerry is lying on my toes, which is warmer than the alternative!  (Well, I could wear socks, but a sleepy puppy works better.)  Don dozed off this afternoon on the sofa  and then has been playing with the puppy, who is very attached to the trim of my jacket… I haven’t been able to get it away from him since he stole it weeks ago, but he’s very attached to it!  I’ve had to admit that it’s no...

It’s been wet, cloudy and grey all day today… and cool; feels a bit like the beginning of autumn.  I don’t mind, I do like the cooler days and nights and the breezes that bring hints of even cooler nights.  I’ll begin to complain when it’s too cold to wear sandals and my toes have to be battery farmed again!  My feet are always happiest when they’re in open-toed sandals with nary a sock in sight!  Jerry has been on my lap for most of the day, as he’s woven himself into some interesting positions for naps.  He was lying on his back, paws in the air, just wanting to be petted and cuddled like an infant… spoiled puppy!  Don continues to be in pain, and I have no idea of what I can do to help, short of drugging him and having him bodily carried to a doctor… and I would, except he now outweighs me by at least 40lbs and I can barely lift a 2kg bag of sugar… I woke up in the middle of the night last night feeling like I hadn’t eaten in days.  I have zero diff...

It’s fairly mild today, with slight humidity, but comfortable.  May it last!  Jerry just got off my lap a moment ago, so I’m taking advantage of a free leg to type!  He’s moved over to have Don pet him and try to mooch some peanut butter biscuits!  Don is still in pain, and still refuses to see a doctor, but complains that he’s cold and needs the heater— in 25C temperatures.  I’ve been threatening to call 911 if this continues… I anticipate fights if that happens! I had an attack of coughing last night, which led to a bout of heaving that lasted about 5 hours from 12:30 to just after 5am… then I finally fell asleep until 10:30.  Most frustrating.  It was almost like an extended allergy attack… I’d stop coughing, go back to bed, and start over again.  It may be (now that I think about it) that I have a reaction to the laundry detergent— we’d just changed the sheets to some freshly washed ones that still had the “just out of the washer” scent. ...

Short one today.  It’s hot and breathless today, and I spent most of the day in bed because I felt so… off.  My blood pressure is in the 90s again, which is nice, but it feels like I’m trying to breathe through a small reed underwater… My support worker made me a small supper, because I otherwise probably would not have eaten anything today; it’s too hot to even contemplate cooking!  Jerry is on my feet, generating lots of heat, but it’s fine.  Oddly enough, I feel cold although it’s 30C.  Don is also struggling to move (pain in his legs) and to breathe… I’m honestly starting to worry about getting through the summer if it’s going to be much hotter than this! At this point, I’m asking for special prayers for Aunt Peggy who was rushed off to the hospital this morning.  Here’s hoping that it’s not serious and that she’s back home again soon, and up to her normal self. Last night I watched an Elton John concert, which I enjoyed.  His voice has changed ove...

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...

Another sunny summer day, where the heat has dropped slightly but it’s still quite warm.  I saw a number of people heading to Bluesfest, and many of them already looked like boiled lobsters, so what they’ll look like after, I have no idea!  I confess to hiding indoors to avoid the worst of it.  I really should push myself to do a bit more instead of retreating from the heat.  My (feeble) excuse is that it gets difficult to breathe and I’m not a fan of gasping for air and reminding myself to breathe!  Jerry objected to me being on the phone to the family and a couple friends, and would jump on my lap and try to nose the phone out of my hand.  When that didn’t work, he stretched across my lap and would hit my face with his paw.  Don dozed through the hot part of the day, and Jerry decided to leave him alone until he moved, and has since been there pretending to be a teddy bear.  It’s summer, so there’s a seemingly endless parade of sports — first ba...

A very rainy day today, which is just what the doctor proverbially ordered!  I slept quite late, so I had more energy than yesterday.  This photo is from the Queen’s Park Savannah in Trinidad, sent on to me to add to my homesickness— I love this time of year at home, when the poui is in full bloom.  The hills are all gold and pink with the poui, and scarlet from the immortelles.  Utterly beautiful (as long as there aren’t any wildfires, which happens with the dry season.) My cousin tells me that the hurricane season has already started, which is early!  I hope that it’s not too severe. My tiny monster puppy has been getting attacks of the zoomies, followed by moments of scratching me on the leg to get more space on my lap!  He got evicted this morning because we had a disagreement on when playtime starts (not at 6am!). Don didn’t sleep too well last night; it’s the result of taking his pain meds too late at night combined with doing too many things.  H...

It’s been pouring rain for the past couple of days, and the temperature remains in the single digits for the most part, along with high winds.  Thankfully we haven’t been affected by power outages, although I’ve heard that there are areas suffering darkness.  Jerry doesn’t like the sound of the wind; it makes him very clingy, and he growls at it.  It’s worse when the wind picks up and blows from the east, as then it rattles the windows.  Don is completely exhausted today, after cheering his preferred teams to victory last night.  (His team won a couple days ago, and he wanted them to play a particular team in the next round; they won; then he was rooting for another team so he could get a particular paring in the finals.  I feign interest, but really tune out)  Yesterday I had a rush of energy and I cooked meatballs (that I made the day before) in a tomato, mushroom and pumpkin sauce with some pasta.  I was just clearing the freezer, although the ...

It’s warmed up to 15C today and beautifully sunny.  It began a little cool, but it was a lovely spring day.  There are even daffodils beginning to bloom in a corner of the garden.  I woke up this morning for the first time without pain since last Wednesday!  That felt remarkable.  I’m still pacing myself so I didn’t undertake a lot of high energy activities— in fact, I managed to take a nap this afternoon for a couple of hours.  I feel better, more rested and ready for tonight’s onslaught 😁  Don is clearly  missing me because he’s got mildly sick again (always happens when I travel) plus he’s been working on his melon list (“honeydew” 🤪) and every item there requires that I have to be home or in the car for them to be completed.  Almost all of them he’s been delaying — partly because of the weather — but now he’s got my time booked up when I get home.  No comment on that!  Jerry has ignored me during my calls today; he turned his ...

It’s not usual to have brunch on a Friday, is it?  But my friend came and picked me up this morning and we headed off to a new place where we had “high tea” in the brunch time.  It’s an absolutely lovely place, with loads of flowers on the walls, and some great, fresh food.  It was a lovely mid-morning break, where I got to catch up with someone who I haven’t seen for a while (Bad Covid!!) and we had a nice meal.  I’m resting up, because I know that my body will protest tomorrow if I push too hard.  Jerry was very upset that I went out this morning without him, and when I returned, he greeted me at the door with some very  annoyed barks!  I brought Don some of the leftovers, which I think he enjoyed… at any rate, they’re gone!  So everyone had a snack, and I had some lovely hot tea!  I’m starting to get a little peckish now, so I’ll go figure out something to eat in a few minutes.  It’s currently snowing heavily, and has been for a coupl...

The snow eater passed overnight… at least, the pile that was there when I went to bed had cleared up when I woke today.  I thought you’d like to see how I spent a couple of hours this afternoon, in my role of “dog bed” — a recurring, daily role, which apparently gets some rave reviews.  My niece (evil child) laughed her head off at me getting the phone batted out of my hand by the small monster.  He’s grudgingly moved off my lap so I can write, and it warming my toes.  Don is fine; he was “watching” car racing this afternoon — honestly, that puts me instantly into a trance as it’s one of the most boring things to watch… cars driving in a line around a track.  🥱  As much as I enjoyed playing with our Scalextric track as a child, it was more fun setting up the track in some impossible configurations than running the cars in an endless loop.   The news was gushing about the dinner between our Prime Minister and the US President, and how it featured Alber...

Happy Navratri to everyone celebrating.  Got to love a celebration of 9 goddesses in all their incarnations, from young girl, to wife, to warrior, to benefactor and sage.  It’s also Nowruz, the Persian new year, and we’ve just celebrated Phagwa (Holi) and the spring equinox (in the northern hemisphere)  Lots of celebrations, which is always a good thing!   I had a day with lots of calls; my support worker, social worker and dietitian all called in a row today.  I’m thankful that I have these services, as they provide a lot of necessary support, which is helpful to me.  I woke up in a panic this morning, and raced out of bed… to realize that today is Wednesday.  We have a planned water outage tomorrow morning, and I thought today was Thursday… I thought yesterday was Monday and only realized in the afternoon that I was wrong.  It’s irritating that I’m confusing my days like this, although I haven’t missed any appointments or any such issues.  ...

Beannachtai na failte Padraig.  Go mbeannai Dia duit.  Sláinte chuig na fír, agus go mairfidh na mna go deo.  (Happy St Patrick's day.  May God Bless you.  Health to the men, and may the women live forever) 🤗😀. An authentic Irish toast, given in Irish Gælic on a day when it seems that everyone goes Irish!   Today the pain continued, although it’s slowly fading.  I had to take my breakthrough medication to let me move fairly comfortably.  It’ll be better by the end of the weekend, I’m sure, so that’s something to anticipate.  Jerry has a new admirer — my neighbour down the hall dropped by this afternoon, and Jerry began by sounding intimidating, then curled up on his feet and snuggled up!  Vicious brute he ain’t!  Don muttered that the weather was causing him some aches, but he’s feeling better now, and has managed to demolish about half a cake… so that’s all to the good! Since everyone is Irish today, I was thinking back to my fir...

Seven years ago, Jerry joined our family, a tiny, feisty, teacup sized puppy.  You know what this tiny dictator means to us, and how much of our day is taken up by him.  He’s right now on my feet as I type; he was on my lap until a few minutes ago, just snuggling.  This morning I woke up early because my support worker was due for 8am as there was a scheduled water outage starting at 9, so she wanted to get me sorted before the water got cut.  Jerry did not approve of the early eviction from bed, but he was super excited when he saw my worker.  I was out for part of the day, while the boys were home.  I got home to find them curled into a pile, ignoring the sounds of me entering the apartment!  They’re both playing on the couch; Jerry is trying to get Don to throw his toy, while Don is trying to watch hockey. 😆  I had a lovely outing to the mall today; I rather enjoyed being out and looking around.  I may have found a henna tattoo artist, bu...

Happy Christmas Adam, aka Tibbs' Eve! It's a fun, fake holiday with roots in Trinidad and Newfoundland. My friend from NL and I realized that they combined well. On Christmas Adam, the baking, pre-Christmas cleaning and gift wrapping are completed, so all homey activities. Tibbs' Eve sees the men heading to the neighbourhood pub to escape house work! Like I said, a fun, fake holiday. There's a huge winter storm affecting the whole continent, with thousands of cancelled flights, hundreds of car accidents, multiple power outages and howling winds. Last night, the wind howled like a convention of banshees.  Jerry didn't like it at all, and tried to burrow under me to hide. Today was windy and wet, where last night's ice began to melt, causing flooding on many streets, and the snow is coming in, so the floods will freeze, leaving a layer of ice under the snow. Dangerous walking conditions, to say the least! Don went out today to buy a few last minute grocery items. ...

  The temperature is dropping again, and winter officially starts tomorrow. There's another winter storm forecast -for later this week, due to peak by Christmas Eve-the plot of almost every cartoon or movie, in which Santa's trip/ holiday trip is imperilled. I've got no travel plans, so we should be safe, warm and cozy. Jerry has been bouncing from one lap to another, looking for cuddles. He climbed into my lap this afternoon, cuddled me then stole my cookie. He's trying now to steal an orange from Don, who is trying to watch  a game and keep his fruit! I watched some YouTube videos this morning. They were broadcast versions of some Muppet and Sesame Street shows, from the late 1 970's. One was A Muppet Family Christmas , which was edited for length in its DVD release and streaming. I'd seen the original, and I miss the parts that were cut. They were some dreadful puns, but I love that about them. Then I found  Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas , which I...

It snowed today... I was on video chat with some of my European friends, who showed that their street was snowy, and another who said that her husband had called her outside to show her that it was snowing. I said that we hadn't any yet, but not 10 minutes later I looked one at a heavy fall. I haven't gone out yet. but it looks like it will lie. Jerry has gone exploring on the balcony, but he returns to complain about his cold toes, then he wants out again. Don is doing well overall. He gets out of breath quickly (This is why, kiddies, you should not smoke!) and has been using the fan to help his breathing. I'm really pleased that he's fine. I spent a part of today sorting through some old clothes, and have the start of a donation bag. This was inspired by my cousin T, who cleared her closet, and I felt that I needed to do the same. I pulled out one storage box and found several gifts that I'd bought but not given- so that saves some shopping this year! I've dec...

I've arrived safely at my sister's place, and have been under a pile of kiddies and books when they're not in daycare. Auntie is very popular for reading (over and over and over) stories! It's good to have them, and they seem happy to have Auntie here to play with and get her to read. My morning starts with small people carrying books climbing on me before my eyes are open! I'm also delighted to spend time with my sister; I'd prefer if we lived closer. Not forgetting my boys; I miss them and I am adjusting to no dog on my tummy in the night! They are both doing well, thankfully. and Don and I talk several times a day. Isn't technology great? Being able to call-both voice and video-anywhere on the planet without long  distance charges. Very different from even 20 years ago when it was possible, but not easy, or 40 years ago when it wasn't possible out of movies and books! Since my aunt's passing on Saturday, I've been reflecting on the temporary a...

 It’s a sad thing that I can’t handle heat and humidity!  I was “born and raised in a briar patch, Brer Fox” (or at least on an island just north of the Equator smack dab in the middle of the tropics) so I should  be able to cope with temperatures of 30C… however, this condition with which I live has made it very challenging to deal with it.  The last couple of days, I’ve had nausea during the hot part of the day, and lost my appetite, plus I swelled up like someone inflated a balloon in me.  I’m temporarily banned from taking the tiny monster out, because he pulls and then I wind up with back and shoulder pain.   And  it gets hard to breathe… ain’t that just fun ?  No, I didn’t think so either! The little monster is not happy with the heat either.  But he’s been moving as usual from Don to me and back again, enjoying the breeze from the fans.  He’s been gnawing on the bones from a T-bone steak that Don cooked, and trotting around with i...