Good news

OK, short walk on the sidewalk. I'm hoping for pumpkins! I haven't been able to grow them for years. There is something satisfying about planting and harvesting. I've not felt bad about it, as I've never been able to grow enough to make a difference in our household. We've lots of farmers around us, with good, fresh produce. 

I want pumpkins, just not on the sidewalk.I gently moved them aside.

Petunias and Basil.

Lilies

You'll forgive me for long posts. I am bored. Haven't visited trailcams in 2 weeks. Can't discuss issues with Joe. Here's the stuff I'm thinking about. 

🌪 Tornados

We had more good news, aside from not getting a hit by a tornado! People in the area are not so lucky. That said, people listened to the warnings and headed for basement. Thing is, some cottages don't have them. There is lots of damage. We are very fortunate that no one was hurt. It's nothing as bad as Jasper, Alberta, which has been devastated by fire. 

Ottawa Citizen article July 25

 There are citizen tornado reports from Scotch Line, Christie Lake, Bass Lake, and Otty Lake. Northern Tornadoes Project at Western University will be coming to the area Saturday to check the damage and give a full report. Don't you love science, information and data?!

⚽ We are so discouraged with the soccer news and our women's team. Heads will roll. That said, we are grateful to have Hydro and could watch the game. I had two bouts with coughing in the morning. This is an improvement. There are other side effects of all this. I'll risk being crude, you let me know, but I am finding irony where I can. A cough + diarrhea + hemorrhoids ≠ a good situation. If you know, you know. 😣

Water is important. There is lots of science around the study of water. It flows down, fills a container, etc. What I have learned: secure the lid properly, i.e., screw it on all the way. Cue laugh score! Also, when you are having a coughing attack, do not flail your arms and knock your glass over.  Yes, I spilled water twice. 😏 You may laugh at this point. 

I came up with a new chair cover as my chair was wet. 

 

We love our cats, BTW. The peculiar Republican VP candidate Vance has been explaining that single women with cats shouldn't be political leaders. They have no investment in the future, he says, as they continue to mispronounce her first name. (Comma-La, as she writes in her memoir.) Them's fightin' words. Their theory is that they need white people to have more white kids to MAGA. Yes, the great days when there was slavery and all that. Republicans are doomed. 

VP Kamala Harris is a step-mom, who co-parents, and has been lauded by her husband's first wife. She performed her step-son's marriage. Welcome to 2024 dude! The back lash is huge. They are toying with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, lots of women's groups, single female leaders with cats, who are rising up in solidarity. The future is bright.

😷 COVID

I had a bad morning, still coughing, using the puffer and Symbicort. My nurse friend warned me that I shouldn't use the puffer any more than 8 times a day. I used it 12 times the day previous, still coughed my guts up, unable to get the phlegm out. I cried, Joe fretted. I phoned the doctor's office in the afternoon. He wouldn't see me. He only works Monday to Friday morning, and is on vacay next week. The receptionist told me to go to the ER. I cried, and coughed some more. 

Joe and I discusses what to do. They weren't sympathetic in the ER last Monday, but I didn't have any coughing spells there. I'm sure they thought I was a freak. I just wanted to know if there was anything else they could do. He suggested a nap, and we'd think things through.

We both lay down, and slept for two hours. It occurred to me that I cough more after I talk. I stopped talking for the rest of the day and evening. Do you know what? That did it. I had some minimal spells, but for the most part not that gut wrenching cough as I struggled to breathe. 

Thank goodness, Joe's COVID symptoms are far less than mine. He's been my hero. We'll get through this. He's tired and weak. We are hunkering down. He still has sniffles, but they are improving.

P.S. My cough is lessening, but I getting sinusitis today. 

Good news and bad news

 Well, bad news first. Joe is still positive for COVID. Mind is negative, but I've still got crap in my lungs. Joe went into town a secured me my new puffer. Every time I wake up, it takes ages to clear my lungs. (See yesterday's post.) 

My pumpkins are doing really well. The size of the leaves is impressive. Lots of blooms. I noticed a tree frog on top of the camera.

Remember the spider that took up residence on the camera? Well, across the face of the camera. I'll bet it is gone now. I have a wee defender!

The sick guy harvested cherry tomatoes for his lunch.

I was worried about the fountain and went out to drain it before the storm. I did my laundry, as well. Just in case we lost power. 

Joe's water fountain was unplugged, as it wasn't working. I thought I'd drain it. I just decided I'd plug it in and check. It worked. I filled it up and finally, something on Crumbly Acres was working! 

Ah summer, flowers, green things growing and colour!

Look what rolled in during the day! A big storm, as well as rain. It gave us 10 mm (o.4"). But it wasn't over!

We had nuked our dinners, and settled in for TV. Having gut-wrenching coughing, and using my new puffer every hour and a half or two hours, we were distracting ourselves watching Cold Case. Joe had to pause while I hacked up phlegm. I know he feels so badly! There is nothing anyone can do. For a new distraction...

Yes, tornado warning!  I grabbed our medications, water, puffer, Cinnamon, laptop & iPad, iPhone, and headed for the basement. We've a cinder block foundation and I felt safe there. 

The rain hammered down. Winds blew. 

Nutmeg followed us downstairs, I went back up to bring Cinnamon down. They started chasing one another. She went behind the couch, he jumped up beside me. She jumped up and grabbed his bum. As if we needed more entertainment!

I posted our photos to the family stream, just in case anything happened. Texted with my friend in Timmons, trying to laugh about it. One of Jesse's friends Messaged me, to see if we were OK.. It was very comforting!

The sound of the wind, the rain hammering down on the chimney cover, wind, thunder and lightning. Wow.

We watched the lightning radar, as well as the weather radar. 

Power outages nearby. Our lights were flickering. It didn't actually go off so that we had to reset clocks. 

We didn't get any sort of All Clear from Environment Canada, and this was the best way to figure out if we were good to go back upstairs. I checked the rain gauge and we had another 14mm (0.55"). 

Power outages this morning...

Our total rainfall for the day was 24mm (about an inch). What a day! Let's hope for a quiet one.

Just down the road, 5 kilometres away. Bass Lake.

#ONStorm Rideau Ferry pic.twitter.com/kwLLM2eRzy

— Ace (@mansgame100) July 25, 2024

A tornado has been confirmed at Rideau Ferry. 

#onstorm Bass Lake, Rideau Ferry pic.twitter.com/6BMrjsKtiC

— Ace (@mansgame100) July 25, 2024

#onstorm Bass Lake, Rideau Ferry pic.twitter.com/6BMrjsKtiC

— Ace (@mansgame100) July 25, 2024

Here you can see the obvious tornado on velocity scan earlier as it passed Rideau Ferry headed east just south of Smiths Falls. #ONSTORM pic.twitter.com/9UzpOJELQ7

— Tom Smetana 🇨🇦 🌪 (@twstdbro) July 25, 2024

Dr. Drummond, not too far away.

Hit by a tornado last night. Multiple mature trees uprooted. House still standing. Wife and Dog probably in Oz looking for the ruby slippers pic.twitter.com/Mp2y9V4Lxi

— alan drummond (@alandrummond2) July 25, 2024

Bass Lake near Smiths Falls tonight: pic.twitter.com/ncj2JObmgf

— Lanarkist (@LanarkistNews) July 25, 2024 

More COVID fun: Wednesday

My GP prescribed more Ventolin. He said to use it as needed. You can listen to my coughing 👂. Wednesday, I coughed at midnight. Slept, a glorious 5 hours. It was getting low, but I have prescriptions for more, and directions from the doctor to 'use as needed.'  You can hear why. 

Poor Joe phoned to see if the prescriptions are ready. She said she couldn't refill the Ventolin as my health insurance won't pay for it, as I was given a Ventolin canister July 18th by the pharmacist, as my GP was out of the office. WTF.  I am gobsmacked. The insurance provider decided that based on a certain number of puffs a day, I can't have it yet. This I will fight. They are contraindicating my physicians' orders. The pharmacy said they could refill it, but I'd have to pay the $20 and wait until 4 p.m. In order to breathe? 

They said goodbye and I hoarsely told him I am running out. Poor man. I didn't tell him I am nearly out. He called back and said we need it desperately. No one gets this. He is frustrated and angry. They said a couple of hours. Uh uh. They agreed to an hour. I know they are slammed. But seriously. What a shit show. Poor Joe. He's fighting COVID himself. I'm glad he phoned as I'd lose it. I know I shouldn't take it out on a cashier. He is on he edge, though.

When I am better, I'm getting on this. I'm going to get that money back. Not for me, but for the principle of the thing, and for anyone else who might face this. 

I cannot imagine what people went through for the past few years. This is awful.

A whole new news cycle!

 The world is full of good people. I have to remember that! The new owner of CNN has been steering his employees to the right. But the news cycle has changed. VP Harris' speech was on CBC, CNN, Fox, and other American media. This is a sea change. 

There are a lot of Conservatives who own Canadian media. Even taxpayer funded CBC is criticizing the candidates dress style. Joe commented to me about this. What's with this? 

This is the Toronto Star. Sets back the women's movement 75 years. 

"We care that she’s smart and qualified. Harris was the District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, a United States Senator, and she is currently the US Vice President."

Then there is her belly laugh. VP Harris on her laugh:

'don't be confined to other people's perception about what this looks like and how you should act in order to be'

Life imitates art

Trump's been calling Vice-President Kamala Harris stupid names. I've been thinking about bullying. In a movie we watched online, a cop was trying to control a bad dude. Lowlife dude spits in her face. She says, "Is that all you got?"  I'm keeping that line in my head next time. I wish I'd had this phrase in my pocket when counselling my students against bullying. We'd role play, and I'd give my students the language to support themselves. 

 Look what was on social media today:

Second Gentleman @DouglasEmhoff was asked what he thinks about attacks on his wife, Vice-President Kamala Harris, by former President Trump.
Emhoff: “That’s all he’s got?”

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 23, 2024

We are making our way through a steamy summer. The To Do list lengthens for me. Laundry piles up, sheets need washing after our night sweats. We're living in a jungle, not so much a wetland! Lawn, fix the water fountain, weeding. ♩♪🎵 "Let it go! Let it go!" 

We had a storm at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday. I was so excited. What did we get? Only 3 mm, with a high temperature of 30℃. It's been hot. Dag nabbit. There is a possibility of tornados this evening. Oh sure!

I haven't wandered far, but out front we've flowers. I noticed that the WELCOME sign is backwards. How fitting! It should say BEWARE. 😆😷

Ain't old age grand? I forgot I planted this!!! 

Wednesday COVID UPDATE:

I had a visit with my GP. He explained that the X-ray was clear. No bronchitis or pneumonia. Good news. It's just COVID! I masked up, obviously, and so did he. He is the age of my kids, and as smart, educated, and confident. It is comforting.

My GP said to take 2000 UI of Vitamin D everyday to fight this damn disease. He is up on COVID, Joe's Lyme Disease, and our old fart issues. Joe takes that anyway with calcium to combat the side effects of cancer treatments (duly postponed until he's over this). 

I had a semi normal cough most of the day Tuesday, until after dinner. This is progress. I'm nearly done my Ventolin puffer in a week. I went to bed, and woke up with that racking cough at 12:30. Used the puffer, headed back to bed. Happy to report I slept after that until 5 a.m. this morning. A miracle.

Joe is planning a prescription run this morning. His COVID reaction is no where near mine. Thankfully! He'll phone first to make sure they have his new puffer, my new puffers, and then get us more headache meds. The headaches are awful, as well as the sweats.

There is hope. It is slow progress, but progress is happening. This is why I record what is happening. It's all in your perspective. I had a nap yesterday afternoon, which was lovely. 

Anyway, there is hope. 

Thank you for your support and encouragement. I really appreciate it. 

We're still alive!

I've written of ADLs, activities of daily living. It is the difference between a senior successfully managing life at home, or not. I was proud of myself. We NEVER put out garbage out the night before garbage day. I had to. I couldn't face the stress of doing that Monday morning with my fatigue and coughing. Out it went in the secure can. You just can't put kitchen garbage out with bears, raccoons, and coyotes. I had to this once.

All was well. No mess. WHEW!

 

It is wonderful being outside, at least. 

The wild Oregano is full of insects. If I had more energy (I was up coughing twice last night) I'd figure out this first one. The second is obvious.

Look what Merlin told me was out back: a Black-billed Cuckoo! 

COVID UPDATE: Sunday night I actually slept through the night. JB not so much. It is interesting that it attacks my weakest part, my lungs. Joe's is his nose, and his faucet continues to leak. It seems to me that COVID is attacking us in our weak spots. I have always gotten bronchitis when I had a bad cold. Joe's nasal passages, hay fever and such, is his weak point.

Monday was the last day for my Paxlovid pills. Also the last day of Joe's Lyme Disease meds, Doxycycline. I'm drinking a ton of water. It really helps. He was supposed to be checked by the doctor this morning, but that ain't happening.

Poor JB is having two naps a day. Monday, after dinner, I could not stop the coughing. Hawking up cloudy phlegm over the back deck railing – so as not to freak out Joe. I'd clear it, then sit back down. Three times. At this point I figured I best be seen by someone. Is this bronchitis or what? 

I dialled 9-1-1. The dispatcher was kind and demonstrated caring.

The female paramedic, an experienced one, was wonderful and took a full history, as well as the meds I was on. In hindsight that spared them in the ER. They were slammed. She handed in my health card, and all I had to do at that point was wait.

In the ambulance my paramedic explained the Paxlovid doesn't cure COVID, it ameliorates symptoms.  The ambulance crew set me up in the hallway. Both in masks – as I am Typhoid Mary. Hospital staff had to clear a room for me. By 9 p.m. I had a room, away from the old with oxygen masks, a poor screaming preschooler, and other vulnerable people. What a job.

The irony is that this is the room I was in for 6 hours when I had chest pains after Joe's cancer surgery. I had driven myself in as I didn't think it was a heart attack. I read a book that time. It was high blood pressure from stress. 

Anyway, back to Monday night. The one nurse wanted to know what I wanted from them. To be able to breathe? At this point, the terrible coughing spells stopped. This whackadoodle old white woman just wanted someone to listen to her lungs to rule all this out. I know they were busy. I know COVID is old hat now, but I felt diminished. 

I'd brought a book, and when I passed another couple of people on beds in the hallway, they were reading. 

Eventually I could feel an anxiety attack coming on. I'd phoned Joe twice, first letting him know I had a chest Xray. The woman that took me to that was cheerful, sweet, and kind. No one else was checking in on me. 

I'd phoned Joe at 9:15, 10:00 and 11. First to tell him I was in a room and the ambulance team had left, total professionals. Next I phoned to say I'd had the X-ray. He said he was still awake. He might still be up when I was done, but I could take a taxi. Panic. I don't know if we have taxis in Perth at 11 p.m! 

By then the anxiety kicked in. By 11:00, I opened my cell door, and most of the other patients were gone. I couldn't take it any more. I asked him to pick me up outside the ER entrance. ANXIETY was rearing its head. Worried about Joe looking after his COVID bout, and letting him get rest. This morning, we had coffee, and he went back to bed for a nap.

I called to another nurse to tell her I had to leave. I'm sure the doctors were finishing up paperwork and all, but I was falling asleep. Joe, pretty ill, needed to get to bed. A neighbour offered any help, but you can't call people to take a COVID patient home.

We arrived home at 23:24 hours. Joe went right to bed. I lay down to read more of my book (an excellent  Canadian thriller, by the way), but thought I should try sleep. In 10 minutes I was coughing. I got up, coughed up what I could, had some water, and went back to bed. I was up twice in the night coughing, but got back to sleep. 

 

I've an appointment with my GP this morning at 11. He'll interpret the X-ray for me. I am deeply suspicious that nothing else can be done for me. I loathe going into the office with COVID. I just don't know what else to do.

I am processing all this. I am very emotional, crying at the drop of a hat, and feeling guilty for taking up healthcare system time. In hindsight, I deserve it, as much as anyone. I am putting it all into perspective. 

In foresight, the news cycle has changed. With Kamala Harris' nomination, the continent, if not the world seems lighter and brighter. We had rain, and now the sun is out.