I must celebrate my caregiver!

Yep, I'm home sick. I have received much support from my friends. I appreciate your words of concern. Many thanks.
I began saying, 'It's just a cold.' But it is such a trial. It went bad pretty quickly.

Buster kept me warm.
He sure seems to know I'm sick!

Pneumonia. I haven't had it this badly in a long time. I usually get it -right into my lungs. That awful seal bark, whooping cough that drives your spouse nuts!

I'm not complaining, just weary. I shouldn't be! Once you hit 40 it's all downhill! However, once I left my classrooms behind, and all the germs and germ factories kiddies, I thought it'd be easier. Methinks it's been the stress around this year with all the health issues in our families.
I have many friends, and clients with terrible life limiting illnesses. I was so sad I had to cancel my hospice client visit. Good thing to keep my germs at home!

Here is the dude with cancer, my JB,  giving me much TLC, while he toodles into town and fetches me stuff. The other day, it was a wonderful Sub sandwich, then, a chicken Caesar wrap. I ate the former on the front deck in the sunshine. My friend, Nat (a PSW), wrote, 'Get out, get some fresh air." I took her advice.
It was so delightful! I watched the birds, wrapped in a blanket. That was yesterday's post of photos. It's a wonderful world.

A lot of my very ill clients watch TV all day. I've learned to embrace this when just walking causes you to cough. Hubby has rented me some DVDs. It's tricky him getting them. The young man at the store was most supportive, also giving him some healthcare suggestions: vaporizer, inhaling something or other!

The movies have had various successes. The day our sweet soldier was mourned:
Railway Man - gruesome scenes of WW II torture of soldiers. It was a great movie, just a bad one for that day.
The Magic of Belle Isle - fabulous. Monty Wildhorn, an alcoholic novelist of Westerns, has lost his drive. His nephew pushes him to summer in quiet Belle Isle. He begrudgingly befriends a newly single mom and her 3 girls who help him find the inspiration to write again.
Thanks For Sharing - about sex addicts. Alecia Moore (Pink) is in it!
At Middleton – Delightful! "Two parents fall in love over the course of a single day while playing hooky from their children's college tour."
The Color Purple  - 'nuff said.
Women in Love - Excellent! Lots of nudity, of either sex (only fair). Adaptation of D.H. Lawrence classic novels The Rainbow and Women in Love focusing on the lives of two sisters, Ursula and Gudrun and their developing relationships with two friends Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich in the aftermath of the WW1.

You can compare hubby's health cures with mine! They are quite distinct, but our symptoms and causes are quite different. The puffer with Ventolin is amazing. A nurse told me I have viral-induced asthma, as every time I get a cold I get asthma.

Chocolate is never bad for you!

This soothes the throat.
It's very nice.
Even Daisy cleaned up my glass!

This is hubby's.
Helps the immune system.
This was recommended by
the Naturopath.

He's got a ton of pills.

I have antibiotics.
Bless those scientists who discovered them!

These were good, too!

Here we are watching my chick flicks!
OK, cat does look a little bored!

There is nothing like cat photos (or kittens or puppies) to make you feel a little bit better. Buster was a hot water bottle. He slept at my feet for hours. Daisy would come by, but the minute I coughed, she was too upset to stay! Buster is my boy!

Blue Jay video

Blue Jay memory from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I feed the Jays peanuts, to slow them down at the feeder. This give the other birds a bit of a chance, as these bullies dominate them. The Blue Jay took off, then came back. It had missed the first peanut, I threw down another, and off it went. It came back and I threw down a 3rd, fetched it, but remembered where the first peanut was.

Action at the bird feeder

It's been quite the week for many. My coughing is lessening, although I'm still up at night.  The coughing is giving me headaches, it's so bad! The antibiotics are doing their work, as well as the ventolin puffer. Thank goodness for drugs! Thanks to all who have been asking.
Sadie has a bad cold, too! She's wheezing and sneezing. No temperature, though, and she should get over it.

Thursday the sun came out. I grabbed the zoom and sat awhile. My coughing scares Daisy and hubby, no one else seems bothered! Buster just sits on my lap when he is in for the day. More on that later, too! He's the best hot water bottle!

You can imagine the outtakes! All of us have those funny bird butt photos. Gone are the days when we had to throw out bad photos. The trick to this photo shoot was to prefocus the camera, putting it on manual. The autofocus was useless!

SC #47

No birds were harmed at the feeder. The cats have managed to grab only a few birds in the summer. None at the feeders since I put them up. We had a bird of prey at the front, I think, and we lost a blue jay and a grouse this month. They were going so fast, right into the window. More on the grouse in another post.

The birds watch the cats carefully. They almost taunt the cats! In our last year here, they've caught 6 birds, and I've released two. This, in summer.

The ornamental corn the woodpeckers love. The bucket underneath is the one where I put whole peanuts. About 10 seconds after I put a handful of peanuts in, the blue jays begin. It relieves the pressure for the other birds, since the jays dominate the feeder. They do need an air traffic controller, though, as there were several near misses as they dove in for food.

It was an amazing day in Canada on Friday

Yes, a beautiful sunny day. If I were healthy I'd have gone down to the Highway of Heroes to wave a flag as the hearse and family passed.

Instead, I watched the loading of the hearse with the casket and thought of his grieving mothers, sisters and extended family. I got off Twitter, since the partisan vitriol was awful, and had to stop following several people who insisted in using this moment for political points.

They also had a ceremony to place two new ceremonial guards outside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which had been closed since the shooting took place there. Two brave young men stood in their kilts, with much pride and respect from those who were able to be there.

The images of people lining the highway at 416 were wonderful. Traffic stopped. People stood quietly as the funeral cortege passed. Citizens, soldiers, and firefighters standing atop their vehicles, all with flags raised, lined the bridges along the Highway of Heroes. Despite some high-profile American TV personalities; e.g., Rosie O’Donnell, criticising our Canadian solidarity, all of my American blog friends were sympathetic, since we support our soldiers. This could happen in any place, at any time. Our men and women in uniform are easy targets.

  

The Hamilton Tiger-cats loaned Ottawa RedBlacks football team their massive, largest in the world, Canada flag. Hundreds of people (150) were on the field holding it up. They didn't have someone in to sing our National Anthem, the crowd all came together to sing. They united the crowd, who felt good to be together in one place, with seatmates and friends beside them.

I was so proud of the way our Nation responded. From the moment Cpl. Cirillo's body left the funeral home in Ottawa, to where he was welcomed home in Hamilton at 7:00 p.m. or so, he was honoured and recognized. It was something like a 6-hour trip, and people waited on bridges for hours until they passed.

Canadian Army ‏@CanadianArmy  Oct 23

Thank you to Canadians & international friends for the messages of solidarity after the tragic loss of Cpl N Cirillo.

The @OPP_ER Tweeted updates of the location of the funeral cortege.
Citizens posted photos of their progress: like this amazing scene.

Matt D @MattDonau 

How can this not make you proud to be Canadian? #highwayofheroes

Then, @OPP_GTATraffic reported their progress around the Greater Toronto Area, following them around to 407, around Lake Ontario.
When they arrived in Hamilton, there was thanks from that city:

Hamilton Police (@HamiltonPolice):

Thank You ‪#‎HamOnt‬ & everyone in ‪#‎Canada‬ & world for standing united as ‪#‎Canadian‬ hero ‪#‎NathanCirillo‬ was brought home ‪#‎highwayofheroes‬

It was another day for reflection. People made sure that they didn't forget Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, similarly killed this past week by someone else with mental health issues.

In the meantime, the perpetrator, someone who knew him has reported, had mental health issues, as well as a $160/day heroin addiction.
In the meantime, horrific shootings in California, two deputies killed, two injured.
And in a Washington H.S., another crazy incident. I am saddened by it all.
Hold fast to family.

1. Washington shooting: police investigate love triangle claims

   The Guardian ‎- 1 hour ago

   US police are trying to determine why a high school student shot dead a female classmate and wounded four others before killing himself, ...

Pond activity: muskrat architecture

Muskrat work

I finally got out of the house yesterday. I even got dressed! The cold virus, into my lungs, has meant much coughing and wheezing but the antibiotic is getting the pneumonia. I did a load of laundry, hung it outdoors. Then took a break. Problem is, any effort and you just can't suck enough oxygen in, then more coughing. Talking is tough, too. I remember trying to go into work like this, and loathing to take time off, ended up having to go home!

It was a beautiful, sunny day, with balmy temperatures of 16 C. and a t-shirt was all I needed. It felt so good. Daisy and took the zoom and walked down to the frog pond. We surprised a female wood duck, who took off around the back of the pond, behind the bulrushes. We sat, and watched for any other wildlife. I noticed this. What do you think, Red , my muskrat expert?
I'd notice their activity back in September. 
Muskrat Love in the frog pond
As I said, I haven't been down to the pond for a week. It's gotta be 3' high!

We've found the helpers: we must laud them; The Highway of Heroes

Twitter user ‏@kamakazi19982 posted this photo online Wednesday morning with the message 'OK, so we were on a tour at that war monument in Ottawa a few minutes ago, a few seconds later there was a shooting.' (Twitter)

An image from a Facebook memorial page dedicated to slain Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, right, also shows Cpl. Brandon Stevenson, who chased the gunman that fatally shot Cirillo at the National War Museum in Ottawa on Wednesday.. (Facebook)

 Ron Foxcroft, the honorary colonel of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada regiment, said Brandon Stevenson briefly chased the shooter before returning to the war memorial to try to revive his wounded friend. Foxcroft said he showed "tremendous bravery" in pursuing the shooter


Wise words from Mr. Rogers, who calmly greeted each day.

We are finding more out about the helpers. They reject the label 'heroes', yet not all of us would know what to do. Some spent time taking photos, as bystanders were kept away from the scene, once the Cpl. was being attended to by nurse Lerhe, layer Winters, and Cpl. Brandon Stevenson, his buddy.

They applied pressure to his wounds, gave him CPR, and did what they could.
Nurse Lerhe stepped up. She did her job as best she could, in the face of terrible wounds, since the Cpl. was shot from behind. There were several people helping.

The helpers

Nurse Lerhe gave the Cpl. medical aid

Kevins Vickers, Sergeant-at-Arms
his team brought the shooter down

As It Happens spoke with lawyer Barbara Winters. She ran to the scene.

She first did chest compressions, then, when others took over, she was speaking calmly to him.
While Cpl. Cirillo lay dying, Winters said and did what I have heard done in other times and other places.

"I told him you are loved. You are brave. You are good. Your parents must be so proud of you. Your family loves you. Look at these people who are all trying to help you. We all love you. Your military family loves you. There is a Col. here helping you." 

Barbara Winters, lawyer

Would you know what to say, if there was nothing you could do?

In fact, there was a car crash Nov. 22, in South River, Central Ontario, west of Algonquin Park, in which a young man died at the scene. The ice was bad that day. The road wasn't opened until 3:00 a.m., what a long night. Graciously, one of the civilians who responded posted a message in the comments section:

A small piece of comfort in this sad time

I am writing this letter to let you know that I was one of the indivdual that had stopped at the accident. I am 42 years old and a mom myself. I feel strongly that everyone needs to know he was not alone. Myself and two other young men were with him until the emergency crew got there. There was a sense of peace and that I feel that Chris knew that help was one it way. I reached down and grabbed his hand to try and show him the love and care that his family would want him to know. He held my hand tightly and you knew he felt comfort, I cannot explain it . He was not able to talk well, but was able to get out 'tell my family I love them'. It was not clear but you knew. Myself and the other young men tried the best we could do provide comfort to him. I remember there was a young man about the same age as Kris and he was fantastic he wanted to help so much . If it get forgotten thank you Gabe. You are a in my thoughts. I wish the family all the best and shed a tear for your loss. I hope in someway the family gains comfort.

No doubt it will be comforting. Our imaginations are always worse than reality. While I remember my parents' last days, I better recall the good times and the bright memories. I will always be grateful to the ambulance crews, and those who made their last days, hours and minutes more comfortable.

Today there is something many can do

Highway of Heroes

Highway of heroes.

They will take Cpl. Cirillo's body along the Highway of Heroes today. Many, I know, will line the route along this highway as his body as taken from Ottawa to Hamilton this afternoon. They leave Ottawa today, arriving in Hamilton, his home town later today.

 On August 24, 2007, the stretch of highway between Toronto (from Highway 404/Don Valley Parkway) and CFB Trenton (from Glen Miller Road) was given the additional name Highway of Heroes, in honour of Canadian Forces personnel killed during the War in Afghanistan. Crowds line the route every time a soldier is repatriated

Do you know? I wish I could go. I'm still wrestling with pneumonia. I will be there in sprit.