Crumbly Acres

 💉This was a week for needles! Monday, I had COVID and Flu shots. They have a small, private room set aside in the pharmacy. I peeked in and the pharmacist was listening to someone and motioned, just a minute. When he was ready for me, he apoligized for the delay I said to the pharmacist, 'your mother must be proud.' We need more kindness. Listening is important. 

There was no reaction to the shots, other than a mild headache, but that may be due to stress and clenching my teeth!

Cancer Treatment 

PART CXV – Nov. 6th PSA test, hemolyzed blood sample, had to do it again. It was good.

PART CXVI – Nov. 12th Lupron injection.

Joe had his Lupron injection Tuesday. He's good for another 3 months. He can have his COVID and Flu shots in two weeks.

😷Our LGL Health Unit is showing some respiratory viruses circulating.

🚘 One winter tire has had a slow leak. Joe checked it, and it was looking bad. He took it in for repairs. They patched it for him, no charge. That was a bright light in the day.

 Just when I think I have a handle on things, I readjusted the Crumbly Acres camera. This is where it sat late summer.

I moved it to cover the driveway where critters run. Here's Joe bringing in the empty recycling bin! 

Once it was all reset, I found that it wasn't saving videos to the MicroSD card. It was saving directly to the computer if the application was on and running. Sigh. Get out the ladder. (My SIL installed it for me, I'm not sure how he did it!)  

I opened up the back of it, which requires removing these two wee screws. I dropped screw #1 and swore.  Un-inserting the Micro card, I reinserted it. This worked last time. Tried it, no difference. I decided to look for screw #1, found it. I thought about it a bit. Rather buying a new Micro card, why not switch it with another. The dashcam! Did so, dropped the other screw. Found that screw. Still no luck with it working. 

I went back to it after lunch. 
(#1) The aluminum case had unscrewed from the base. I couldn't reattach it. 
(#2) The power cable runs through the wall to the garage. It pulled off. No power. No luck. 
I'll have to figure out how to get the cable in the garage through the wall back out to the power cable to reattach it. Maybe tape it to a thin dowel? 

Either way, I gave up for the day when the sun began to get low and it was really getting cold. 

Here we were Wednesday morning. 

After my workout, I put on warm clothes and went to it, again. First task, lay down a towel, just in case I lose more screws. <Insert screw loose joke here!>

Houston, we have a problem.

I put the AC plug back in the hole through the garage wall. It had pulled free. That I could manage.

My conclusion is that the wires from the lens, to the plug into the mother board, have been pulled out. 

The problem stemmed from the fact that this piece no longer rotated and I tried to tighten it, it just pulled the wires out. 

I ordered a new one. There are Black Friday sales (which many Canadian businesses have copied from the US), and it wasn't very expensive. In fact, cheaper than some trailcams and works better! 

Our cottontail needs a name! It's as if Fred Groundhog moved off (Aug.) and Bunny moved in!

I captured the cottontail on the Crumbly Acres camera before all this happened. Their behaviour is interesting. First – they freeze. It is quite camouflaged. I didn't realize it was there till it moved. I chased it away as the cats were out for their morning romp. It isn't often here in the daytime!

Monday report: rain, Butch, hummers

  The day dawned. I woke with NO chills, NO headache, and I was so relieved. A bagel! I ate a bagel! It went right through me, but what can one do? 

The day wasn't perfect. As I sat here, trying to help JB find lightningmaps.org, I spilled my entire cup of coffee on my side table. You may giggle. It's OK. I swore. I did. I'm going to have to use some carpet cleaner on it, but not today. 

The only casualty was my fan. Now, we bought this fan on our 4th date in Cuba. I've broken one part of it, but otherwise it is good. It's a wonderful tool, for someone with power surges. I rinsed it off, but may have to do something else with it. Cinnamon inspected it, where it was drying in the bathtub. It smells like coffee!

We took off for a couple of days on Dec. 26, 2002, my birthday, while Caitlin looked after her brothers. They were due to stay with their father later that day. She drove us to the airport, in the minivan. 

Back to the present, I spotted a monarch sipping nectar from a clover blossom on Sunday. So lovely. You'll have to picture it in your mind, as I did not capture it.

We've had some nice summer heat, but today the call was for rain. I made JB go and bring my bench cushions in. Northern Ontario is getting a big storm. 

I decided to read on the back deck. Hoping to jinx it for some rain, I did! Coming indoors, however, it stopped. We are the stone in the river. The precipitation flows around us, breaking up over the land. I made JB put the cushions back out on the bench for me. It was lovely, in the wind, only two mosquitoes, sent to their demise. I still can't sit up for long. 

Having made some new hummingbird food in the morning, I cleaned and refilled the feeders in the afternoon. I'm taking small steps. Well, maybe not for the hummers. It's a big deal! My late mom's hummers used to peer in the window at me, after she died, if I didn't refill her feeders in good time.

My dear friend sent me a surprise. Bless your heart, Nat! She lives in Timmins. What a thoughtful thing to do. You see, I have friends, they are just far away. Bless her!

As I read on my bench I looked up, and there was Blond Butch, and Nutmeg. Cats have always had a peculiar relationship with Butch. surprise! 

 

Up top, on the deck, I'd noticed the cedar waxwings. They nested in one of the big pines one year. What I love seeing is that once the babies have fledged, they fly like a little squadron from large pine to large pine. This one landed in the lilac with another one. cedar waxwing  

We're watching another Britbox series, Bancroft, It's very dark, much like House of Cards, dark. It's a distraction, but it is cleverly written. It's almost like doomscrolling, as things go from bad to worse. Ya gotta love hating the evil female character! As we sat there watching, the heavens dumped rain.

We had 7.6 mm rain in about 10 minutes. Just a little pop-up cell. It was quite something. Today our high temperature is 12 C.  What's with this? 

 Unfortunately, this little storm went on to Mascouche, Quebec, and caused some havok, downing trees, damaging homes, and displacing 50 -100 people. The Red Cross was called in. Hooray for the first responders, too. Smashed windows, crushed rooves, and cars. A two-story house undergoing renos pushed off its foundations. We are grateful to be safe here. One dude opened his window to look, and couldn't get it shut, with debris flying into his house. Whoopsie. Lesson learned.

🍕JB hauled home a Hawaiian pizza for me for dinner. After food turning my stomach for a week, I had a craving. I'm sure there are protocols for those reintroducing their stomach to real food. I didn't follow them.  I was awake until 12:30 with cramps. Small steps! 

Today, with much relief, JB gets his quarterly cancer treatment injection. It's a process. He had a good PSA test last week, no change. He had his 2nd vaccine two weeks ago and, on the recommendation of our GP, and the pharmacist, after phone consults, he can now have his Lupron after this wait. Thankfully, he only has to go to out local GP's office in town, not Ottawa. It's complicated! 

We've no girls this week, as I recover. They had fun on Father's Day. They went strawberry picking, after doing up Papa's hair! Hooray for the photostream where we live vicariously. He's a good sport. They have so much fun.