Saturday 28 September 2019

As of Late...

I'm finally getting around to writing a post this morning. It's warm outside and wet - we've had some rainy days lately, but it is looking much more 'autumnal'.
Two weekends ago, we were a flurry of activity, assisting in getting ready for propane to be installed in our very old home. As we approach retirement, and therefore, will have less money coming in, we decided a good way to reduce our costs would be to convert to propane from our current heating oil. Husband did a wonderful job talking to a variety of companies and contractors and getting a good price for all the necessary work involved in changing over to a different heating system. Part of the deal was to do the 'trenching' ourselves, so a trenching machine was rented, and picked up (a pain in itself) and the ordeal was frustrating beyond belief. It did not cut down to the depth it was advertised to, so we were literally lying in the ground, trowels in hand, scraping out earth to try and create a deeper trench. This trench ran from where the big propane tank would be placed, around the side of the garage, along part of the length of the house, around a spruce tree and then back up to the house to be connected to the basement. The rocks we encountered were hideous. Our son, thankfully, was able to spare his weekend from college and drove all the way home to help, and then all the way back for Monday classes.


I threw my garden glove down to give you perspective in the picture, but this isn't the biggest one by far. Son now knows how to wield a pickaxe like a professional! As with everything, the process is still not done, with the contractor waiting on parts, or something. Thankfully, we are not yet into our full-on heating system and our yard remains a scene of trench warfare. Until they pressure check (? does that sound right?) the system, we don't fill in the trench, and plant grass seed. It's funny because we have a "country" lawn, in that if it's green, we mow it. We don't fuss with weed killer or over seeding with grass seed because we have an acre of land and are surrounded on two sides with empty fields filled with burdock, goldenrod, and various other vigorous weeds. So, when we do fill in the trenches and plant grass seed, we will end up with lovely green grassy sections, like a landing strip.


To move on, here is a picture of Samson, wanting to be taken back to son's college with him. It was heart warming, as son was packing up Sunday evening to start the drive back (yes, that's clean laundry in the back of his car!), Sammy jumped in and had to be removed by hand. They have a close relationship, those two.



As to all the other days in my life, when I return home from work, all I have in me is enough to prepare supper and do a few small 'chicken chores'. I am flat out tired. I never signed on , thirty years ago, to be a specialist in autism, a councillor, a mental health professional, a juggler of all things, but here I am, expected to do it all, with no support. This is a young person's profession, I believe. Or things must change, however, I won't be in it long enough to see change. So, I carry on and do my best and support my colleagues who are in similar boats.

Today, Saturday, I will pick up a few groceries, perhaps bake zucchini carrot muffins, and try to take it easy (but I do have I.E.P.s to write which are individual education plans). On Sunday, husband's mother, who has dementia, is actually going to be flying on a plane to stay with her daughter in another province for a couple of weeks. Husband will be driving her to the airport in Toronto (about three hours away), getting her as far as he can until he passes her on to a person who is in charge of her care until she is loaded on the plane. It's a bit like arranging for a child to go on a plane. Friends of ours are Dutch and they had done something similar when one of their children went to Holland to be met by relatives at the other end. I do hope this goes well. I will be writing her a note on brightly coloured card that she can look at to reassure her, and remind her to what's happening, and who will be meeting her at the airport. Mostly, I wonder who will be seated next to her on the plane, as they will be engaged in a repetitive conversation for the whole way. I think it will be about two hours in total, but I'm not sure. Husband's mother has certainly flown on planes before, back when dementia was not part of her reality, so the idea of being in an airport and on a plane doesn't scare her. We helped her pack last night, but I suspect she will have gone through the suitcase already, checking and double checking. Although I don't relish the thought of taking my Sunday to be part of this, I may come along to help out. I'm not sure yet. I really do need a weekend to recoup.

To end, one morning, when I went out to open up the coop, I saw this hawk in the process of ripping apart some poor, unsuspecting bird. I went back inside to grab my phone. I couldn't get too close to take a picture, but when it did fly off, it took its prey with it. I love seeing hawks! I'm pretty sure this is a Cooper's hawk.


We've never had a chicken taken by a hawk, for those of you who are wondering. This is a medium sized hawk, not one of the big ones. I suspect it's far more interested in doves and other songbirds.
Have a good weekend, everyone!

32 comments:

  1. Oh Jenn I feel your pain about digging, we cannot put a shovel in the ground without getting rocks, boulders, stones. I know it seems a bit far off, but soon Thanksgiving long weekend, hopefully a chance to relax with family while basking in the new heat source. I cannot imagine what teaching is like in this political climate - resources are needed at every level of education.

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    1. I always marvel when I watch home improvement / gardening shows where people just dig and all they hit is soil!

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  2. Jenn, Poor Samson...he wants his boy back. Sweet girl, I truly hate that as we age we just can't do everything we want to do , such as digging and hauling big rocks. You are wise to get the lines put in before retirement. Living economically is a good idea. I truly understand what you are saying about your job...too many companies are cutting back on help, trying to make one person actually do the job of two. That is in every line of health care, business, you name it. It's sad but so true. Kind of a scary situation about your MIL. Hope all goes well . Blessings to you and your husband, xoxo, Susie

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    1. Thanks Susie, I just caught the little blurb of your blog that you see when you go onto blogger and see your list of blogs you read. I see that Ted is home and doing better. Wonderful!!

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  3. Wow -- no wonder you are tired! What a project! All that and school too -- you're right; they keep piling it on. I'm so glad you'll be retiring soon. Best of luck with sending your husband's mom on the plane. It looks like you've done all you can. I hope she will be fine. And love that Samson wanted to hit the road (and glad you didn't let him!).

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    1. Thanks, Jeanie. Yes, I'm crossing my fingers for his mom. They have a great system of having a "caretaker" for people like his mom, or children. His sister talked to Air Canada and the whole thing is arranged. Sammy is always willing to jump in a vehicle, silly thing!

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  4. Wow you have a lot going on so I can see why you are so tired. Being a teacher now a days is so hard. They do put demands on you teachers with mainstreaming kids with issues into the classroom. Teachers are my hero's. You deal with so much.
    Have a good Saturday. Good luck with the heat switch over.

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    1. Thanks - I'm looking forward to seeing a difference in our heating bills, too.

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  5. Wow what a job! Good your son helped. I like the hawk. I don't think we get those here but I do get sparrow hawks in the garden. They just leave feathers behind.

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    1. Son was a huge help! I'm not sure what a sparrow hawk is. I'll have to look it up.

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  6. I would have hired a digger and a man.

    I feel for your mother-in-law and the travelling alone and the frightening time she will be having. I hope the journey works out for her. I would not mind sitting next to her.

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    1. It did save us over a thousand dollars to do the trench ourselves, but yes, hiring someone would have been good, too. Oh, Rachel, you probably would be a good person for her to sit beside. She's incredibly healthy, and upon first meeting her, people wouldn't know she has any diminished capacity, but after the first few minutes, they would.

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  7. I love seeing hawks as well. I think the majority around these parts might be of the red-tailed variety.

    Teachers must wear many, many hats nowadays. I can imagine how pooped you must be at the end of the day. I didn't realize that IEPs were written by teachers. I guess I didn't know what I thought, to be honest. I have a friend whose child is on the spectrum. I sometimes hear from her the the teacher 'didn't follow the IEP', so I guess I thought that that was something created by another professional to be brought with the student and shared with his or her teacher. (You may have guessed that I do not have children by that last statement.)

    It looks like Samson will miss your son!

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    1. Oh absolutely, we have to write our own IEPs. They are legal documents, and therefore, must reflect what is happening in our classrooms, or at least, that is what is done here. I'm not sure about other provinces or countries.

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  8. Feel for you, writing IEP's. It was always a lot of pressure to get them done by the end of the first month. When are you planning to retire....soon, I hope! It's the best! Hope MIL arrived safely and makes it back home again.

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    1. We have until Oct. 4th. I have two done, five more to go. I do hope things go well for my MIL.

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  9. I feel your pain with the digging. Our ground is all shale and so difficult to dig. How nice of your son to come home to help! And what a clean car he has!
    I like hawks too, but not in our backyard. I saw one sitting on the top of the fence around the chicken pen one day - the chickens had all disappeared into the coop. I scared it away, but then we ran wire every 8 inches or so across the top of the pen. I read that the glint off the wire would keep the hawks away. So far, so good! I also get nervous with a couple of our smaller dogs. One is only 5 pounds and I never leave her outdoors alone.

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    1. Oh wow - I've never seen one at the chicken coop, but I've probably just been lucky so far.

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  10. Recently I have seen several instances of people doing work related jobs on their own time. My instances have been nurses, opening computers and "charting" their patients. It must be done to keep the record complete, transparent, continuous. Why must they do it on personal time. I think you should not be writing IEP's on personal time. But then, I think how much teachers do on their own time.

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    1. It's just a fact of life now. We simply aren't provided with the time during the school day, and there isn't money to release teachers and hire supply teachers so we can do these things. I'm sounding like a whiney complainer, and I need to stop. I'm sure there are all kinds of other people whose jobs require them to work weekends as well.

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  11. That is quite the marathon trenching effort! No wonder you've been knackered. We call kids on those flights "Ums" - unaccompanied minors - and they usually travel with a tag, like Paddington Bear. I'm sure your unaccompanied major will arrive safe and sound.

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    1. Oh, I really hope so. She's required to sit in a wheel chair, but she's really the last person who needs one. She's o.k. with it, though, so that's good.

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  12. I certainly feel your stress...I'm sure you must feel like being on a merry go round...work away from home, then all the responsibility of home...family, etc...take a few minutes for yourself please....I do hope things calm down and you feel more at peace soon.

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    1. Thank you! I just posted something more relaxing and positive.

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  13. Try to enjoy as much of your weekend as possible. Try to rest! My mother in law is suffering with some dementia as well as other problems and it is not a fun place in life.

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    1. I've been down this road before with my own mother, as she suffered from alzheimers and was far less physically able. Husband has already left this morning to pick his mother up and take her to the airport. He is less stressed out over this than I am, but that's kind of my thing, ha ha!

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  14. I agree, a teacher's job is so much more than teaching nowadays. I do feel for you. Wow, that's quite a huge undertaking you and hubby (and son) took upon yourselves to do all that trench digging. Good luck to Hubby for helping his mom to get to the airport for her trip. Trips are hard enough when we get old, but dementia gives it a whole new meaning. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

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  15. Oh my, I will not complain about my crazy schedule lately--it did NOT involve digging or rocks or IEPS or dementia for sure. My hat is off to you. Wishing i could be there to have that cup of coffee with you, just so you could put your feet up for a little while. Here's to better days aahead.

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  16. It sounds like you needed a weekend of R & R. So whether you stayed behind or went along, I hope it worked out and you experienced as much peace of mind as could be had.

    And I want to thank you for telling me about "country lawns", as we live on several acres so ours is all natural. I never had a good way to explain to our friends living in subdivisions with well manicured lawns that we cannot possibly undertake that on acres full of trees. So we too are happy when it is green and mowed. Yes, I have found a little more love for my country lawn, thanks to you.

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  17. That looks like a worthy but wearying endeavor. I hope it all works out great in the end.

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