Tuesday, July 9, 2024

 It was a lovely hot day. I went to a big farmers market with a friend and bought a giant cauliflower, some raspberries, Ontario grown peaches ( surprising at this time in the summer), some pepperettes for husband (smoked bacon), and an Olive sourdough loaf. 

I came home and read by the pool. I have a book that is due back tomorrow so I need to finish ( Kate Ellis - The Killing Place- happy little title). 

We are supposed to get some big rain tomorrow. My tall delphiniums are already on quite a slant. I know the rain will beat them down more, so I decided to cut a few and make a bouquet. I’m no florist, that’s for sure, but I put them together with spirea and Russian sage. 

They will only be good for a couple of days but at least I can enjoy them inside. 

I’ve been watching the hummingbirds come to my feeders. I’ve tried to get a picture but it never does it justice so just assume they are a lovely couple of ruby throated hummingbirds, both male and female. 

Murphy treated me to a bird this morning, a fledgling I think. I did the old “ drape a tea towel over the bird and gather it up” routine and put it out in the shade on the edge of the property. It seemed fine, but you never know. 

It’s a beautiful time of the evening. The temperature has decreased a bit. I should get back to my book. 

Sunday, Last Day of June

• I wish someone would tell the weather gods that it’s the last day of June. It is “ cold”, wet, and a bit windy here today. I’ve been binge watching “This Farming Life” on Brit Box through Prime, drinking a bit of tea, and wearing my fuzzy slippers. I’ve been outside only to feed chickens and collect eggs.

I made old fashioned short cakes for strawberry shortcake dessert tonight. They are more like a sweet tea biscuit, like my grandmother and mother used to make. The berries are mashed with a bit of sugar added and then you split a biscuit and pour the berry mixture over top so the juices are soaked in.

It is the long weekend here for Canada Day. We have nothing planned and I’m totally fine with that. I just don’t need to be in amongst a crowd, standing around to see the sights, and in the case of much of this weekend, being rained on. I’d much rather just be at home.

I had a lovely moment yesterday morning when I was reading in the porch. I’d been seeing a flicker on our and the neighbour’s property. I heard a different kind of bird sound and saw mommy ( I think) flicker feeding one of two young flickers atop the arbor! It was such a sweet scene. 

https://images.app.goo.gl/TK45mcAjsZA45Roq7

If you click on the link, you will see a picture of a flicker bird if you are not familiar.

I have no idea what just happened to my first paragraph which now has a bullet point beside it. Can’t figure out how to fix it, so it shall stay like that. 

Favourite Gardening Books

 The other day, Mama Pea posted about her garden and mentioned pretending to be Ruth Stout, planting her potatoes I think. And that made me think of how I hadn’t read ( or re-read) my copy of Ruth’s book, How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back in quite a while. 

I used to read this book every year when I’d get the gardening itch, but it was still too early to do anything. 

This soft cover book might be my favourite gardening book even though it was first published in 1955. If I’ve read it once, I’ve read it maybe 12 times. Ruth gardened in Connecticut, creating ridiculously huge vegetable beds considering she didn’t really know what she was doing. But I love reading about her disasters and her successes. Ruth, in the end, waxes poetic about zero till and to just mulch deeply and continuously. It sounds tempting but I just can’t go that route. I love my rototiller too much. Also, who can access that much rotten hay???

I have lots of gardening books.

That’s just a little portion of the bottom shelf of the bookshelf that husband built.

The Burpee book of perennials was one of my first. I poured over the pages and checked off the plants I obtained over the years. Some still grow here, others are long gone. I never could successfully grow astilbe! 

Fellow Canadians may recognize this oldie but goody! I read this over and over again, too

Another Canadian go-to, this wonderful book shows the gorgeous perennial gardens up on the Bruce Penninsula called Larkwhistle that I actually visited. It is set up so you see month by month what is blooming and how the two gardeners combined plants. I don’t think Larkwhistle exists anymore but it was very inspiring. 

Do you have any favourite gardening books? Thanks Mama Pea for reminding me of Ruth Stout. I’ll be reading her book in bed tonight!

A quick storm

 We sat on the porch with after supper coffees ( decaf for me) and enjoyed the rumbling thunder, odd lightning flash and a nice steady rain. Then the gods decided to turn it up a notch and the winds picked up ( REALLY picked up) and the rain turned diagonal and the hail started. I had a quick peak at the weather apps to see if there was a tornado warning. 

And then it stopped and this happened.

Her’s the other end.

The skies still looked like this but the sun was breaking through.

I do like a good storm. Right now I hear the peacocks calling from down the road and the crows cawing. 

Today could have been a very bad day, but it turned out fine. I may write about it, I may not. But right now it is fine. 

June 6, 2024

 Spent a big part of the day planting my urns, pots, and window boxes. No pictures of those because they are in that “ I just got planted and I’m not big enough yet and I’m a little traumatized “ look about them.

I can’t let June get by without a couple more flower posts. No need to comment, I’m just sharing what makes me contented.

Variegated wegielia.

Hansa rose

“White” peonies

Pink peonies

Gas plant in front of purple sand cherry

The sublime gorgeousness of Johnson’s blue cranesbill ( and the photo never quite captures the essence of blue). 

And to round it out…

June the first!

 Today was absolutely lovely- hot but not too hot. June is the prettiest month with so many perennials coming into bloom. Currently the Siberian irises as well as the bearded irises are blooming. I don’t have nearly the amount of bearded irises as I used to. I had dug out a lot and sold them at yard sales years ago as the were taking over and now I sporadic clumps.

I also have deep purple and light yellow bearded irises. 

As well, the lovely iridescent at twilight centaurea also known as cornflower is in bloom. 

The weigelia is just starting. 

The purple salvia is crawling with bees. 

This hosta called Barbara Ann is stunningly huge. 

And finally, my cranesbill which never fails me, providing swaths of colour, is also just starting. 

Today I spent a lot of time weeding, much of which involved digging out tall grass that was growing in amongst perennials in different beds. It’s painstaking work but so satisfying when done. I think tomorrow I might buy annuals to go in my urns, pots, and window boxes. I think I’m going for a variety of colours rather than limiting myself to a colour scheme. I just feel like I want a riot of colour this year!

Rhubarb Time

 The title is a bit misleading. It’s been rhubarb time for a couple of weeks already but I haven’t done a ton with it. I made a strawberry rhubarb pie to take to a friends’ cottage and I made strawberry rhubarb crisp for husband, son, and I. 

I still have frozen rhubarb and jars of strawberry rhubarb jam from a couple of years ago ( yes, they keep that long). 

Daughter and future son-in-law invited us for dinner tomorrow night. Nice! I got a text the other day asking if it would be possible to make a rhubarb type of dessert to bring along. Well sure! So tonight I am making the unfortunately named “ Rhubarb Dump Cake”. 

Forgive me if I’ve posted about this before. I’m too lazy to check my side bar to see if I have ( or if I even included it in my side bar!). This is easy peasy. However if you are someone who prefers their dessert not sweet, low cal, and generally sad and miserable, this is not for you.

1. Spray the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish. Add four cups ( or more so you get a decent covering on the bottom of the baking dish) of freshly sliced or frozen rhubarb.

Aren’t the colours gorgeous?

1 1/2. Let the cat in. Sigh.

2. Sprinkle with a 3 oz box ( small box) of strawberry jello.

3. This is where some recipes differ: 3/4 cup white sugar. ( other recipes don’t call for sugar) I sprinkled on a little less than what was called for.

4. Sprinkle a full package ( dry) of yellow or white cake mix on top.

5. Melt 1/2 cup of butter and pour evenly over the top. Do not mix together!

6. Pour aprx. 1 2/3 cup to 2 cups of cold water on top.

7. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for aprx. 45 minutes to an hour. Remember, don’t stir it altogether.

When it’s done, there might be some small patches of dry cake mix, but that will be dealt with if you eat it with a little cream or milk or vanilla ice cream! 

Here it is out of the oven ( Joanne’s tea towel!)

There are many dump cake recipes out there. I’ve made the one that uses a can of blueberry pie filling and a can of crushed pineapple. I’ve also made a pumpkin dump cake that uses a spice cake mix that is so good! True, none of these are going to be featured on The Great British Baking Show, but when you want something quick and dirty, a dump cake with some vanilla ice cream ( get the French vanilla kind) is the way to go!

Further Explanation...

 I thought I would show a couple of pictures (BAD selfies I might add, I am not adept at this using one hand) to give you an idea of the contraption used to help with lymphedema. 

It would seem Blogger no longer allows me to make images bigger, so I apologize for the small pictures. Anyway, I sit comfortably for about 50 minutes while this vest / sleeve sequentially fills with air, like a blood pressure cuff, and then releases. It is not uncomfortable, but it is very tight when filled. In fact, it feels rather nice. 

Upon my research, I discovered it described as "the dirty little secret" of cancer. Lymphedema can occur after breast cancer because usually lymph nodes are removed (to check for cancer and also remove if they are cancerous) which disrupts the flow of lymph fluid, causing it to build up. Lymph circulates through your whole lymphatic system (your whole body is involved) and it removes waste, bacteria, etc. from your tissues. Breast cancer survivors can get lymphedema in their arm, hand, breast, chest, armpit, trunk or back. Having radiation also messes with your lymphatic system because it causes scar tissue and narrows the lymph vessels and nodes. Chemotherapy (which I was lucky not to have) can also increase the risk of lymphedema if they do it on the same side as your surgery. 

I think the thing that angers me, is I had been having pain and other symptoms which I had asked about within the first year after my surgery (lumpectomy) and it was agreed that it was probably just nerve pain. But never was it mentioned that I should watch for signs of lymphedema. I probably could have been treated for this, and could have been wearing a special compression bra long before this, but I did not know what to ask. 

If you know of anyone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer (and you will, undoubtedly), perhaps this will pop in your mind and you can guide them and let them know that they can get help. Apparently some surgeons are quite good in recommending compression garments for their patients, and others are not. Some oncologists are excellent with their communication, and others are not. Here in Ontario, it is hit and miss, as the state of our health care continues to circle the drain. I know what of I speak, trust me. 

I'm not usually a "Debby Downer" (apology to Debbies out there) on my blog, but it does need to be said and expressed from time to time. If you have good health care and a good doctor, good for you. You deserve it. But I deserved it, too, and I'm tired of slogging through and stumbling across things that should have been asked, should have been said, should have been done... 

But I will end on a lighter note. Murphy is cone free and as happy as a fat tabby cat can be. The sun is shining and there are tiny plants germinating in my vegetable garden. I saw my first hummingbird yesterday at the feeder I recently put out. Life is still good. 

Monday, May 20, 2024

 It was a nice long weekend. I bought a new raised fire ring ( the old one was beyond falling apart) on sale at Rona hardware. We christened it Saturday night with son and daughter and some chips and marshmallows and wine and beer and it was so nice hanging out with our kids. 

I’ve been gardening and gardening and gardening. I put in my “ early” vegetables and I’ve been weeding, edging, and digging out moss phlox that didn’t really bloom this year and is always a trap for grass coming through. I’ve also been whipper snipping around the property as all the recent rain really got things growing again.

Husband, with our help, has been opening the pool and this year for whatever reason, the liner ( it’s an inground) is very stained from leaves and spruce needles getting in. The entire pool got drained ( normally you don’t completely drain it) and a couple holes were found in the liner. Husband patched those and experimented with pressure washing and other scrubbing/ cleaning, none of which really did the trick. He thinks he’ll just do a good shock when we refill ( from our own well water). It’s always something with a pool!

I cleaned the barbecue today, maybe not to other peoples exacting standards, but good enough for me. I made a summer supper of hot dogs and corn on the cob. I also made a rhubarb strawberry crisp. I was feeling bad that all my rhubarb was going unused! I still have frozen bags from last year! 

On a whole other topic, I just discovered that I have mild lymphedema after my lumpectomy and radiation more than a year ago. I just thought I was always going to have some pain and discomfort after surgery, etc and just toughed it out as women do. Anyway I was referred to a physiotherapist who actually deals with lymphatic drainage and had a fantastic consult with her. She told me who to go to for a compression bra ( why was I never told about this before?) and I did do that and for a pretty penny I bought two and now need a prescription from my oncologist nurse practitioner for these so I can get some money back on my insurance. I start the physio sessions tomorrow and have been told that most women find it extremely helpful. So, I’m looking forward to that! 

Murphy has been managing his cone of shame very well and today we felt that his facial “ gash” had healed very well and we took it off him. I think he’s happy. Now I need to remind him that he can use the cat flaps again and doesn’t require me as a personal assistant!

Cone of Shame

 

I don't think he has been more sad in his entire little cat life. Can I just say having a cat in a cone is a pain in the neck for the humans? This is a cat who is used to coming and going as he chooses through cat doors (or if his humans open other doors for him), enjoys eating more than any other activity in the world, and already drinks water in a very weird way. My life last night consisted of rigging up a raised cat bowl purchased from Dollerama (glue gunned it to a wooden cutting board, also from Dollerama), creating another glue gunned raised bowl contraption (in case the top of the other one was a bit too wide for the cone to fit over), also attached to the cutting board so he doesn't tip it over with his cone, and experimenting with the best way for him to drink water (none are perfect and all cause great amounts of water all over the floor). 

He showed up one morning, a few days ago with a bit of a gash on his cheek (I'm guessing one of two stray cats was the culprit). We put antibiotic ointment on it and it seemed to be healing. Then two days later, it was bigger and uglier. Of course, this was the weekend. We could have had a vet look at him but $200.00 just for the vet to show up on a Saturday (not including the actual fee, or treatment) did not meet our budget, so we applied hydrogen peroxide as instructed over the phone and things seemed to be healing nicely. That was until he scratched it open again. Ugh!! More treatment, and again, it seemed to be healing nicely, until he did it again. 

So today, I am taking him to the vet (no emergency hour $200 fee on a Thursday) for a shot of antibiotics and a once over and we keep the dastardly cone on him for who knows how long... and I watch him run into things as he navigates around table legs and edges of doorways. In all of our years of being cat owners we have never had to have a cat in a cone, so this is new for us. He managed to wriggle out of it twice until we got it "tight" enough. 

Anyone want to chime in with their own "cone head" stories? 

Happy 28th - a Fun and Reminiscent Day

 Yesterday our family (daughter, fiance, son, husband and myself) took a little trip to the big city for her 28th birthday, which was the day before (May 3rd). She suggested she might like to go to the zoo, something we had not done all together since the kids were very young. The weather was perfect for this! Some sun, some breeze, the trees at the zoo were out in blossom, and the day was wonderful.

The zoo is a BIG place, with lots of walking (providing large areas for the different kinds of animals that require it). Husband has been a bit of a hurting unit since he's been working on doing trim work (crown molding, sanding, filling, sanding, filling, painting, ...) all while bracing himself awkwardly on a ladder for a few days. Although I try to get out and walk every day, it's never the extent that this would involve and my lower back arthritis is never completely a non-issue, but we sucked it up and had a great time seeing all the animals and remembering the experience from about twenty years ago. 

At one point we tried to recreate a picture which I thought had husband and both kids in it. However, the only one I could find at home was this one:

So yesterday's photo has all three of them in it. Same bronze statue, aprx. twenty years later.

Another moment we tried to recreate was this one, where when we first went to the zoo, there was an extremely friendly large fish who enchanted our daughter. We called it the "greeter fish". In my memory (obviously defunct) there was a picture of daughter alone, with the fish. Alas, this is what I found in the photo album:

This is the recreation, even though is isn't quite correct. Daughter is blowing her face up, like the fish.

One photo that was new this year, because I honestly don't think they had this bronze statue back then, is daughter and I with the snow leopard and her cub (symbolic, I thought, for her birthday).

And here is the real snow leopard, looking like your typical house cat, totally relaxed and asleep, right at the glass where we could have a good look! Thank you, snow leopard! 

Some of my other favourites yesterday were the sloths, the capybara, and the grizzly bear.

Capybaras look like kiwi fruit and that grizzly was HUGE. We were a little sad that there were certain animals that were not available to see yesterday, such as the full troop of orangutans, and we weren't sure if we saw the famous silver back gorilla, Charles. The gorillas were not yet in their outdoor area, which would have been fabulous to see them in. As well, the zoo no longer keeps elephants and hasn't for quite a few years. That's probably for the best. 

There was a special focus at the zoo yesterday, that being all the frogs that are currently singing their little frog hearts out. Toads, too. I sincerely hope whoever was in this get up was getting paid well!! 

Experiencing a day out at the zoo with your adult children is so much more fun (or a different kind of fun) than when they are wee little and your are always watching them, keeping them safe, carrying them on your shoulders, explaining everything to them... I'm so glad daughter suggested this to us. Making new memories! 

Added later: daughter sent me this pic today: 

And here was the original with just sister and brother.