Sunday 31 December 2017

Last day of 2017!

The radio and TV news shows are driving me nuts. I really do not want to look back internationally. Just forward. You know what I mean, I am sure. There was enough chaos at our house. A lot of it involved water. We have very hard water around here. It wreaks havoc on all systems, despite a water softener.
In the past few months:
Then there were the felines...
  • Dec. 9 – We have a new kitten! (He had a cold and an eye infection.)
  • Dec. 19 – My poor Daisy burned her mouth, then got an eye infection.
  • She's looking better.
    The antibiotics take time to work.
    Discharge was more green than yellow yesterday.
I'm ready to move on! Carole wrote on Twitter:
It's okay if the most significant thing you did this year was get through it.

I was checking out the kitty litter situation, and Annabelle came down to use it. Then, Hooper decided he'd sneak up on her! 



There was a stand-off on the stairs. Annie won't come up past Daisy, but Hooper did.


This morning they were playing. That's a good sign.


We have lots of snow on the ground, about 33 cm, which is good at these temperatures. It blankets the land.
Our doe is a big one. Her haunch is about 3' off of the ground, higher than the bird bath.


Hooper had to supervise the boot situation.
Hubby took me out to dinner. 


The lights are still up!


Saturday 30 December 2017

Things have quieted down!

Hooper is healthier. He appears to have given his cold to Daisy, who was not well. She spent the afternoon hunkered down under a blanket in the basement. She spent the night on top of hubby's feet, on top of his heating blanket.  While her eye infection has spread to both eyes, the stronger ointment seems to be working. (I've been so careful washing my hands, too.) Today, she is harassing Annabelle. She must be feeling better. Hooper came along, and chased her tail, which broke it all up.
Daisy blanket from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We introduced Hooper to Clown Pants, a cat toy we bought 5 years ago!

Hooper from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I tried to put the little doggie coat on him. He didn't like it!


We have a new buck, he has 9 points, so it's not Tigger, the antlers aren't as big as his. I am hoping Tigger and his brother survived hunting season. The photos are quite as focused as they could be. I walked out onto the back deck, and he took off. They are wisely cautious.


Every morning, a really big doe comes and visits the bird feeder, looking for breakfast. She is followed by her yearling. They are frequent flyers!


The round feeder keeps out larger birds, such a Downy Woodpeckers, and the notorious Blue Jays. This gives the little birds a chance to feed. It was a birthday gift from Caitlin, the stand holding the feeders, was a gift from her last year! My boys don't do birthdays.


It's cold, but the sunshine has been lovely.

Holiday season is over. Nearly time to change the tablecloth!


Buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo. This is out the kitchen window!


Friday 29 December 2017

I had a shower!

Facetime with Cluny
Flat Gramma & Grampa!
What a few days it has been. I woke, this morning, from a nightmare of my house flooding. The kids were all young, now they are in their 30's. What the heck?!

Dec. 19 – My poor Daisy burned her mouth.
Dec. 25th – We did Facetime with our kids and granddaughter Cluny, in Vancouver. I call myself 'Flat Gramma!' It was just the two of us, and we had a quiet day.
Dec. 26 – We had a party! (The kids came to celebrate my birthday!)
Dec. 27 – What a day, a flood!  (Hot water tank burst.)
 JL ran the shop vac (inherited from the previous homeowners), all day. When it filled up with water, it changed sounds. In a Scottish accent, JL would say, "Ae think she's gonnae blow! She's no gonnae take anymore." and he'd run downstairs to empty it. We watched Star Trek: Into Darkness!


Meantime, Daisy went back to the vet for an eye infection. She has more meds, and isn't 100% yet. Yellowy discharge, poor girl. Now, she has it in her other eye. She is feeling perkier, though. She played on the bed with hubby this morning.





Cold weather calls for indoor games! I used to play this with a client in Milford Bay every Tuesday afternoon for two hours. She had lung cancer.
On Dec. 26th, my birthday,
the kids came over. They took our photo!


This is how cold it is this week.

Dec. 28th – the plumber arrived!

We got up early, expecting the plumber...
6:00 a.m. – In preparation for the guy to arrive to replace the hot water tank, we cleaned up some.  I moved boxes that had been ruined from the flooding. Hubby moved the car out of the garage.


6:56 – the Plumber called.. he was to arrive for 7:00. First he was snowed in by the city plows. Then, the company truck didn't start. No wonder. He was on the way, however. That was comforting.

I moved the dehumidifier out of the way. I'll have to find replacement boxes for things like our extra aquarium equipment. There are two bags of garbage, so far. The floor is filthy, it flooded the area around the kitty litter. sigh. I have much work to do.

8:00 Joey, the plumber, arrived.

Hubby made gave him a fresh, hot cup of coffee. He set up his tools, took away the old tank, and brought in the new! My legs are a bit sore from going up and downstairs every half hour yesterday.

The kids got up, Caitlin made French toast, with the bread I was going to use for garlic toast with our spaghetti the day before! (DUH!)
Caitlin made French toast


Off they went home, happily their car started. JL's father is visiting, and they are having a family party. It was comforting that they could be here for two nights. What fun we had.


Voila! I had a hot shower, then ran the dishwasher. For joy! Hubby rented us Dunkirk, and we watched that movie with our feet up.

Baby, it's cold outside.

This was two years ago. We didn't have time this year, with our disasters.

Thursday 28 December 2017

What a day, a flood!

Just when we thought things were settling down...
6:30 a.m. – Izzy woke, her alarm had been on for Christmas Day. She wanted to snuggle with mommy upstairs. Daisy's eye was getting worse, with yellowy discharge.
8:30 –  JB phoned the vet, they said bring her in at 9:30.
8:45 –  I put bacon under the broiler, for our breakfast.


8:55  – I hear a cry from the basement. Hubby, fetching the cat carrier, noticed the hot water heater was gushing water. GUSHING! Caitlin fetches JL, my S-I-L, from his slumber. Man your battle stations! There is kitty litter everywhere, now clay.

9:02  – I phoned Reliance, hubby dug out a bill before leaving, after 15 minutes I hung up. I'd remembered to turn off the bacon. Hubby remembered the bacon on his way to the vet, but his cell phone was dead. The girls were hungry, I had them make their own toast, as we were up and downstairs all day.

9:15  – JL was on the job, with towels. Caitlin was moving boxes to the garage, suitcases, etc., to in front of the fireplace. We moved the dehumidifier into the room. The cold storage room was drenched. All our boxes are ruined.
JL visited Antarctica in November!

I managed to cook the bacon, and we all had some.

9:19 –  I tried our local HVAC guy. He said talk to Reliance first. It should be covered.
9:20  – Back to Reliance, on hold.
9:30  – They accidentally hung up on me.
Caitlin was a trooper, in her jammies.

Meantime, the kids cleaned up. I remember our shop vac, which had kitty litter in it. Long story, best not told. JL set it up this way for the day.


9:50  – "Your patience is appreciated!" hah. Finally, I got Helen said they'd forward the info to a local subcontractor. They would call back within 3 hours.
Hubby arrived home with Daisy, who has new meds, and more pain killers.
We had lunch. The kids made a fort in the basement.

We kept the fire going, as the basement was cold. Grampa fetched some videos from the store. Some of us didn't get dressed.
Josee and Hooper
are having a lovefest!
1:00  – Called Reliance back, after lunch, Barbara looked into it. Josh called from Dream Air, which has a limited presence online. We thought about shutting off the power, and the valve was off.
It dripped all day. We spent the day sucking up the water from the tank. I remembered to open the hot water tap upstairs, and it slowly leaked ALL DAY.
They will be here at 7:00 a.m. Thursday to replace the tank.

Outside, it was bitterly cold. Hubby looked after his critters. We played a card game.
JL made us a roast beef dinner while we went up and downstairs checking the tank.
I am exhausted, after the furnace died last month...