Getting Caught Up On Life

There are now seven bags of donations in my car, still waiting to be dropped off. I’m still decluttering/weeding/downsizing, so maybe I’ll have another bag or two by the weekend. With gas prices where they are, I want to make as few car trips as possible.

I did make it to the recycling depot with a very full car: four big bags of deposit containers (milk jugs and cartons, pop cans, etc), two bales of plastic bags and wrap, a big bag of styrofoam, and four milk crates of glass jars and bottles. The deposit containers netted me $16.00, which was nice.

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On the health front, only a few things have changed.

Murray still refuses to follow any of the diabetic guidelines his doctor has set, is still drinking, and still smokes over a pack a day – but it’s his choice. He’s 75 years old, I’m not his mother, and if living that way makes him happier even when he knows it will shorten his life, then okay – better two or three years reasonably content than five or ten years being miserable (and making everyone around him miserable in the process).

My rheumatologist is still trying to figure out what will work for me while being affordable and not messing up my blood pressure. On the bright side, my cardiologist is happy enough with my blood pressure, A1c, and cholesterol levels that she told me I “don’t need her any more”. She did assure me that I can still contact her if I ever have any concerns.

Phae finally got a referral to a gynecologist who is taking her pain seriously and has arranged a battery of tests and scans to confirm what she thinks is the issue, so there’s optimism there at last.

Jess continues to follow her prescribed diet and meds regimen, with excellent results. She has also gone back to work three days a week and will most likely have a second job lined up by next week.

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When I defrosted the blackberries for the jam I had planned, they turned out to be full of (dead) baby spiders … extra protein or not, that’s a hard HELL NO from me. So they got composted, and I made jam with some of the blueberries from the freezer instead. I’ll be picking blackberries again this summer, but will be checking them over for wildlife much more carefully!

Garden plans never really got off the ground at all; there didn’t seem to be much anywhere when I went looking for bedding plants, and what there was looked really tired and sad. So I’ll be checking the local “imperfect” sales and farmers’ markets when it’s time to start canning and pickling.

My friend Dan kindly came over twice and sprayed all the fruit trees for me, and I gave him some jam and promised him a batch of cookies later this month. I’m not sure I’ll get a lot of fruit this year; the weather was uncooperative and the trees just didn’t bloom the way they did last year. I’m told the warm winter had a lot to do with that, so I’ll just have to wait and see. So far, the blackberry canes are the only fruit I can be sure of getting plenty of.

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My knitting and sewing projects are all on “pause” for now. As mentioned earlier, I’m trying to get as much weeding and decluttering done as I can, so I can go and donate a full car load. Also, the weather has been extremely changeable lately; a classic example of “if you don’t like it, wait a few minutes and it will be different”, and the constantly fluctuating air pressure means my hands are really far too painful for anything requiring fine motor control. I did manage to get some mending done a few days ago, but that’s about it. Even just washing the dishes is sometimes challenging.

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June is a zero food waste month so far! The only stuff composted is what should normally go there – eggshells, fruit peels, coffee grounds, and so on. Although I might have to toss in the last of the bok choi if it’s wilted beyond use. Note to self – next time get a smaller bunch, or make egg drop soup more often.

We eat very little meat these days. It’s a matter of economy, not dietary changes. Meat prices are through the roof these days, so we probably won’t buy any until we’ve eaten everything in the freezer. And honestly, that will take a while, since we stocked up when there were good sales going on. My next “big” project will actually be organizing the freezer, now that Murray can’t manage the stairs any more and so won’t be making a mess of the freezer again. I have milk crates to sort everything into; one each for pork, beef, chicken, fish, fruit, veggies, baked goods, and the premade stuff he likes that I don’t. He loves things I can’t stand, like the cheapest possible frozen pizzas, and meat pies that are basically potato soup with one tiny cube of chicken and two bits of carrot. He’s welcome to them! Nights when he wants stuff like that, I’m happy with a grilled cheese on whole wheat, or a peanut butter sandwich with homemade jam. The only premade food I buy for myself is spanakopita from Costco. $20 per box sounds expensive until I explain that one box gives me eight meals; $2.50 per meal sounds much more reasonable. I do try to divide prices by how many servings we’ll get, to determine if the item is worth what we’d pay. $25 for one boneless pork loin sounds expensive until we cut it ourselves into 18-24 lean boneless pork chops.

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Retirement is turning out to be less expensive than I’d feared, in ways I hadn’t expected:

I can live in Keds, bought at a half-price sale; 2 pairs for $100 four years ago, and the second pair is stashed until I wear out the first pair.

$40 per year to have WalMart deliver our groceries and other shopping as often as we like, instead of what putting gas in the car for that many trips would cost us.

Laundry only once every two weeks instead of weekly, since I’m not working in a warehouse any more and don’t need a fresh shirt and jeans daily.

Lower fuel costs and car insurance costs since I’m not driving to work every day.

Less wear and tear on my clothes, so fewer trips to the thrift store.

More time to work out what I want to do/make with what I already have, instead of shopping.

It’s good.

Seven Months Down The Toilet

I don’t really want to go into detail about everything so here’s the Coles Notes version.

Spent my birthday watching over Jess in the hospital. She’s doing well now but will be on meds for life.

Christmas/Yule, New Year’s, Murray’s birthday, and Valentines Day were total shitshows I hope never to repeat.

Murray was in and out of hospital almost every week until the end of February, when they decided to keep him for a couple of months. He’s home now with a new aortic valve and a pacemaker, but still refuses to admit he’s diabetic and wants to live on fruit and toast with jam.

The meds the rheumatologist prescribed did work well, but also pushed my blood pressure into a serious danger zone. I’d rather have painful joints than another stroke, so that was $300 down the toilet, thank you very much. And now he’s pushing a monthly injection that would cost almost twice my monthly income …

The week Murray came home I lost Greebo; he suddenly developed congestive heart failure, and the treatment would have made him utterly miserable. We had fourteen awesome years together. I miss him every day and still automatically sleep around his spot on my bed at night.

* * * * * * *

Garden plans sort of went out the window, but I will be shopping for bedding plants instead of veggie seeds, and with luck and cooperative weather we’ll still have something to eat/can/freeze. The fruit trees are blooming, although not nearly as lavishly as last spring – I think because the winter was so mild they didn’t really get the cold snap they prefer. Fingers crossed we’ll still get some fruit! I’d like to have some herb pots too; nothing fancy, just parsley, garlic chives, spearmint, and lavender, maybe some basil or tarragon.

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The weeding/decluttering/downsizing is still going on, slowly and carefully. I currently have five bags of donations in the car, and will ad a few more before I drop everything off. That probably won’t happen until mid-week, since my plan for the rest of the weekend is to turn the blackberries in the freezer into jam. Which was originally supposed to happen last October, but medical crises got in the way.

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All the fall and winter upheaval put my quit-smoking plans right out the window, so I’m starting again, with Nicorette lozenges this time; the patches gave me a nasty rash and the inhaler was useless, but the lozenges are actually helping a lot, so I’m optimistic.

What I’m not so optimistic about right now is trying to lose weight. Everyone says “just move more” but that’s easier said than done while I’m living on painkillers that barely take the edge off the pain in my joints. My knees are making alarming bone-on-bone grinding noises, my hands are too stiff and swollen to close properly, and my ankles only want to bend sideways. It’s incredibly frustrating to wake up with a list of six or more things that need to be done that day and then realize I’ll be lucky if I get through two of them.

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Okay, enough whining. I’m so lucky to have my girls here; they’re awesome and don’t make me feel guilty or useless when I have to ask for help with something.

I’ll be more cheerful next post, I promise!

Winter Is Coming

Yes, I do realize how long it’s been since my last post. August and September were extremely busy, and with October came all kinds of medical issues for Murray, Jess, and myself. I won’t go into details, but almost all the issues have been addressed – more later, perhaps, when I feel ready to talk about them.

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The canning actually went rather well; we now have twenty pints of plums ( we picked around fifty pounds but a lot got eaten or given away), jam for the winter and spring, applesauce ditto, ten pints of pears, and ten pints of salmon. I didn’t do pickles this year as we have a dozen pints still from last fall’s canning. As well, there are ten pounds each of blackberries and blueberries (from a friend) in the freezer.

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The weather has turned chilly and most days there’s either rain or the threat of rain, and some very windy days here and there. More often that I should, instead of going for a walk I just curl up with Greebo and a book or tv show. I do try to get exercise walking laps around the house when my knees aren’t too bad, but it’s not the same.

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Food waste – not good at all, I’m afraid. Between family crises one after another, and Murray’s habit of just dumping new groceries into the freezer on top of the older stuff, when Jess and I cleaned the freezer and sorted everything in it, it sadly went from packed full to half empty. However, the semi-bright spot is that since Murray can no longer walk much or manage the stairs, grocery shopping and freezer management now falls to me. Jess helped me set up a system of bins and from now on the freezer will be organized, all food will be dated and rotated, and much less money will be spent. This weekend I’ll be doing a final inventory and taping a big sheet of butcher paper on the lid, along with a sharpie on a string, to track what we have. Nothing goes in without being written there, and nothing comes out without the count being adjusted.

We also did a thorough cleaning of the fridge, but only had to toss one limp parsnip, some wilted bok choy, and some outdated condiments, most of which were three-quarters empty.

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I turned 70 in October, and decided it’s time to start downsizing. Not the house – we’re not going anywhere – but all the stuff taking up way too much space in it:

Clothes – I was fairly ruthless here. I no longer need a work wardrobe, so I ended up with three big trash bags of donations.

Books – this winter I’ll be going through them all and donating the books I know I’ll never read again.

Fabrics – This is a really hard one for me, but it’s time to admit I have fabrics I’ll never actually use. Most were given to me, a few were purchased for convention costumes that never happened, and some were impulse buys from remnant bins. The fabrics I’m keeping are being sorted into plastic bags along with the patterns and notions to go with them; ultimately each fabric will be part of a “project package”. They’ll be in clear plastic bins with a list of what’s in them taped to the lids. Of course, this includes the fabrics that I need patterns for but already know what I want to make.

Yarn – the stash is greatly reduced now that the “giving back” items are completed, and what’s left is, like the fabric, going into plastic bags together with patterns and notions.

Canning jars – I’ll never again be canning anything in quarts because stuff done in quarts never all gets eaten before some of it dies. I’m only keeping a few quart jars to use as canisters, replacing the empty plastic peanut butter jars we’re currently using. I’ve already sold a dozen on Facebook Marketplace, and will probably end up selling a lot of the pint jars and some of the half-pint jam jars. However, I think I’ll keep the little single-serving jars, since they’re perfect for freezing applesauce or cooked rhubarb.

Miscellaneous clutter – we don’t need two electric kettles or two toaster ovens or the air fryer we were given by someone upgrading that we’ve never used because it’s way too small for more than two chicken strips or eight french fries. We don’t need thirty Tupperware lunchbox containers any more. We don’t need forty pairs of bamboo chopsticks just because they came with every takeout order (although we do use some to stake up seedlings …). We don’t need fifteen throw blankets, two or three will do. We don’t need to hang onto all the bed pillows we replaced because they’re “good enough for the camper”. And so on …

Now, there are things I keep purely for sentimental reasons. Fridge magnets from my travels. A music box Mom brought me from Germany. Two little cobalt glass figurines that belonged to my father, along with his few pieces of antique Wedgwood. A ribbon lei I made in a workshop in Honolulu. Two ramen bowls a co-worker brought from Japan. Christmas ornaments received as gifts. Things that don’t take up much space but mean a lot to me.

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To finish on a high note – I believe the new medication my rheumatologist prescribed is starting to work; the changes so far are small and subtle, but definitely there!

Today Life Is Good

It’s lovely and sunny but not too hot – though I’m sure that will change soon enough – and there’s a nice breeze coming in through the open doors and windows. A great day to be outdoors, where I spent quite some time this afternoon, and will again in the evening.

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Murray ended up in hospital again three nights ago; he won’t listen to his doctors, won’t do what they say he should, and won’t give up beer, chain-smoking, or frying almost everything. His blood pressure dropped like a shot goose, his heart rate was sky-high, he was having trouble breathing, and then got mad at me when I called an ambulance. And he got even angrier when I wouldn’t let him smoke while we waited for it! At the hospital they pumped him full of antibiotics and diuretics until they were satisfied with his blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing, and then I picked him up this morning. I’d like to think he learned something from this episode … but I’m not holding my breath.

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The garden is doing so much better than last year! We’re getting lots of green beans, the cucumber vines are covered in blossoms, and my two little cherry tomato plants are covered with tiny (still green) baby tomatoes. Phae also ended up planting some peppers, and they’re looking pretty good too. The pear trees didn’t fare so well, because it rained while they were blooming, but my friend Dan says his Bartlett and Bosc trees are loaded. I’ll be helping him pick them both later in August, and he’ll send me home with lots of Bartletts (he prefers the Bosc). The plum tree shows a really good crop, and the apple tree is covered in baby apples. No blueberries this year, though. The planter got knocked over by accident; one little bush survived the fall but all the blossoms were knocked off. Oh well, stuff happens, and local blueberries are cheap right now. On the bright side, I picked two pounds of blackberries today, and will get at least that much more several times in the next few weeks. Homemade jam is back on the canning calendar! And funnily enough, the cherry tree we were going to cut down actually produced a handful of cherries for the first time ever. So we’re going to see what it does next year …

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Well, I fought against getting a walker for the longest time, because I felt like having one would be kind of giving up, or giving in to the arthritis. I finally bit the bullet and got one last week, and now I’m feeling a little foolish and sorry I waited so long to do it. Instead of walking less than half a block with a cane before my hand, shoulder, and hip give out from the uneven gait, I can actually go for walks again. Instead of limiting my life, the walker has actually given me more freedom and mobility than I’ve had in a long time. I think Murray will end up getting himself a walker as well; not as much for mobility, but because he gets short of breath so quickly and needs to sit down, and grocery stores aren’t known for convenient seating. He gets really frustrated because he wants to keep doing the grocery shopping himself (since he does most of the cooking) but hasn’t been able to.

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On the subject of groceries … the food waste level here was quite disappointing this week. A bag of russet potatoes got shoved behind and under other things, and I didn’t find them until I tracked down where the flies were coming from. A small bag of brussels sprouts met the same fate in the back of the crisper drawer in the fridge – no flies there, at least, but sprouts aren’t actually supposed to be liquid. So I’m determined to check the entire fridge every other day now to make sure more food doesn’t get missed and wasted.

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I have finally reached the end of the stash yarn that was suitable for my “giving back” project. Just a few more ends to darn in and I’ll have a huge garbage bag of hats and scarves ready to give out when the weather turns cold again. I’m really pleased with what this project has produced since I first started it. The girls are going to scout out possible yarn donation sources for next winter, and in the meantime I’m sorting out pieces of fabric from my bins that could be used for patchwork quilts. It may sound crazy but I don’t want to stop “giving back” just because I don’t have the funds to buy materials.

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I just went outside for a few minutes and saw the cutest thing – a bee, perched on the edge of a flowerpot, meticulously washing her face. Adorable!

Almost Halfway

Well, here we are, almost halfway through what has so far been a very bad year. I won’t go into detail except to say that so far Murray and I have had numerous serious health issues and my best friend of 40 years passed away unexpectedly. Her loss has hit me extremely hard – we were closer than sisters – and I’m not sure if I’ll ever really resign myself to it.

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At least we’ve kept food waste to a bare minimum – just the odd withered vegetable and a few teaspoons’ worth of furry leftovers. Less compost, but also less waste (both food and money) which is good. Grocery prices continue to rise, but we’re more determined than ever to buy Canadian wherever possible, and to avoid anything from the USA. Though I must confess, I really miss Tillamook cheddar! Anything comparable here costs at least five times as much, so as you can guess we’re eating a lot less cheese these days :: sigh ::

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We also had to scale back our garden plans quite a bit. Phae has planted cucumbers and green beans, and I’ve planted dill and cherry tomatoes. It does look like we’ll get much better fruit yields than last year, at least. There are little plums and pears coming along nicely, and the apple tree has almost more baby apples than leaves; even if 3/4 of them drop early, we’ll still get a good apple crop. And the blackberries are going to be plentiful, so I’ll be making jam and canning plenty of fruit (and with luck, pickles) this fall. Sadly, the blueberry bushes are not doing well and may need to be replaced next spring, along with a non-yielding cherry tree and some rhubarb rootstock.

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Taxes and prices keep going up, but our income remains the same. We’re shopping more carefully than ever – watching flyers, waiting for sales, never shopping without a list – and we’ve given up some items entirely. Cheese, beef roasts, oranges and bananas are all off the menu these days except when there’s a really good sale somewhere. Costco trips are now mostly for toilet paper, peanut butter, mayonnaise, and rotisserie chickens; I’m always after the best possible value for our money. WalMart is still the best place by far for ground coffee (which we’re drinking less of to save a little $$), T&T is good for fresh veggies, Superstore is really good for most groceries (and we have points cards), No Frills will have terrific prices on “imperfect” fruit for canning later in the summer, and Dollarama is good for some canned food items we used to get in grocery stores; it’s also a great place for socks, hair ties, cotton swabs, cleaning products, and other little incidentals. Ten dollars’ worth of woodstove pellets from Canadian Tire gives me six months of cat litter, and used coffee grounds are really good slug/snail repellent in the outdoor planters. The above-mentioned Costco chicken gives us four meals each for under $10; sandwiches, chicken caesar salad, and stir-fries or chicken fried rice. And having just paid $4400.00 property taxes, I’m squeezing every loonie until the bird squawks!

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Being physically limited in what I can do right now, I’ve made a good start on hats and scarves for next winter’s “giving back” project. Knitting and sewing have kept me from dying of boredom! So far I have at least a dozen hats and a big pile of scarves, and I made nice blackout curtains for Jess’s bedroom. Aside from making hats and scarves, I’ve almost finished knitting a summer top for Shelan and one for myself. I find that switching back and forth between projects help me not to lose interest/motivation to get things finished.

Another project I’m about to start will, I hope, bring in a few dollars to augment the budget. I’ll be pulling out all my quart/liter canning jars and posting them on facebook’s Marketplace for a dollar each. I’m hopeful they’ll all sell, since new ones in stores are anywhere from $28 to $34 per dozen. And I don’t can anything in quarts any more, as a whole opened quart of fruit won’t all get eaten before it goes bad. I might hang onto five or six to replace the plastic peanut butter jars we’ve been using as canisters, but the rest can go. As well, six bags of milk jugs netted me $15 two weeks ago at the recycling center. Less clutter, more badly needed storage space, and a little bit of extra cash!

The weeding and donating goes on, of course. Five more big bags got donated last week, and there’s always a bag or box ongoing. I’m at a point in my life where if I haven’t used it for two years I most likely never will, so let it go to someone who actually needs it.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone spends 2025 happy, healthy, and safe!

As stated in previous New Year posts, I don’t make resolutions.

I do, however, commit to certain things, and some of this year’s commitments are the same as last year’s – which, for the most part, I think I held to fairly well:

I made lots of hats and scarves for this winter’s give back project.

I went through and weeded out a lot of clothes and household stuff and donated lots of bags and boxes full.

I didn’t buy any new yarn or fabric ( that was a hard one).

I didn’t buy any clothing except for Christmas gift socks for the girls and Murray.

This year, I’m also committed to being much more mindful of my health, especially regarding exercise and eating habits. I really don’t want to risk another stroke!

* * * * * * *

Christmas was low-key and quiet, the way Murray and I like it. We’d all agreed to do just stockings this year, and of course we all over-bought, so we ended up with two stockings for each of us. Maybe next year we’ll coordinate a bit better – or maybe not. I’d made new personalized stockings for everyone this year, so they hung in front with our old ones behind them.

New Year’s Eve was also quiet and pleasant. Murray actually managed to stay awake until midnight this year, and both girls came home in time to be here. As usual I followed the old Irish tradition of having the front and back doors open to usher out the old year and welcome the new,

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The only food waste over the holidays was 3 wrinkled grapes and the last half-ounce of overcooked yam. We ate turkey and veggies, or turkey sandwiches, for three days, and then Murray made the best pot of turkey soup he’s ever done. There’s still a pint of it in the freezer, along with a ziplock of shredded turkey meat and one of roasted carrots ( he got a little carried away with quantities).

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I’m currently pondering garden plans for the spring. I’d like to have cherry and Roma tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, and some herbs – right now I think I want dill, parsley, tarragon, mint, and summer savory. And maybe zucchini and/or pumpkins … we’ll see.

It’s rained almost every day for the last two weeks; if it stops long enough tomorrow I want to get outside and cut back the blackberry canes, and possibly prune the hydrangeas.

Mom gave me some money at Christmas, and I’m seriously considering hiring a professional to prune the fruit trees; Murray can’t do it any more because of his back, I’d have trouble because of my arthritis, and Phae always promises to help and then bails. Our friend Dan is happy to help with the spraying, but I want the pruning done by an expert if possible. I’ll have to do some research as to dates and prices, and see if I can actually afford it.

Life Goes On

And so do the challenges.

I haven’t yet managed to completely give up cigarettes, but I haven’t given up hope either. When I’m ready, it will happen.

* * * * * * *

The day Mom’s condo sold, Jess (youngest daughter) decided to take us up on our offer for her to move back in with us until some time next spring. This will allow her to pay off all her debt and start over with a clean slate, which we’re all in favour of.

Of course, cue a whirlwind of activity, as Shelan and I had to go through the condo and make final decisions about literally everything still in it – who wanted which furniture etc., what would be donated, and what was simply trash and needed to be cleared out. I ended up with the few things I’ve always made known I wanted: a carved camphor wood chest from China, a big painting of red poppies blowing in the wind, a loveseat and small end table, a bookcase, a bunch of books, and my late father’s collection of random but very old Wedgwood pieces. I also got custody of Mom’s many photo albums; I will (slowly) scan everything and put on thumb drives for everyone, and all but the most cherished old photos will get recycled, since none of us have space for them.

So, we spent four days a week doing all of that over at the condo, and I spent three days a week finding new homes for everything I had to take out of the office so it can be turned into Jess’s room. The room is now empty and Jess is painting it on her days off work, but the movers delivered everything from the condo yesterday and there’s so much stuff in the living room that there’s just a path to the couch and to the front door. I was able to juggle things in my bedroom and get the computer set up again over the weekend, and I’m chipping away at making space in the basement and attic for all the stuff that can’t stay in the living room.

On the bright side, all of this has become the ideal time to do the sorting/weeding/donating/discarding that I’ve been telling myself I ought to do for longer than I want to admit! I’ve already filled the wheeled garbage bin once and the big recycling bin twice so far, given away a big box of office supplies on our local freebie website, and donated twelve big bags of clothes and household stuff to a local charity. And there’s lots more still to be sorted.

* * * * * * *

I’ve written before about my “giving back” project every winter … this year I started knitting mid-summer, to clear the backlog of yarn I had piling up. Next weekend I will be dropping off 12 scarves and 28 hats to a group that works with disadvantaged and homeless folks in the area, and Phae will be taking four shopping bags of warm clothes and new/unused toiletries to a friend of hers who runs a drop-in shelter downtown.

* * * * * * *

Given this year’s harvest and the likelihood of more disrupted weather patterns, I’ve scaled back next spring’s garden plans considerably. Of course the fruit trees and blueberry bushes are still here, although I’ve decided to replace a non-performing cherry tree with a second apple tree of some kind; I say Gala, Murray says Fuji, and Phae is holding out for Granny Smith. Maybe two apple trees? And the blackberry canes are going strong, so with luck next summer I’ll get enough berries for a batch of jam.

I only made 11 pints of pickles this year; the seed packets for cucumbers we thought we planted were mis-labeled and turned out to be green beans, and the farmers’ market didn’t have many in the size we wanted. Although they aren’t quite as crisp as I would have liked, the flavour is excellent! We all agree we need to plant pickling cucumbers and dill, and I’d like to have some parsley, mint, and tarragon. Roma tomatoes and cherry or grape tomatoes are must-haves; cherry or grape for salads and snacks, and Romas for sandwiches and for freezing to make pasta sauces.

* * * * * * *

I was assessed by my regular doctor on October 2nd and given the green light to drive again, which makes life much easier. Then I had my first session at the stroke recovery clinic last week. It went very well; the doctors told me my bloodwork and blood pressure log look really good, I’m doing great, to keep doing what I’m doing, and to make another appointment in January. So we’re all quite pleased with those results!

* * * * * * *

Things are going fairly well on the food waste front; half a muffin that was dropped butter side down (not by me), one mandarin orange with green fur, and one limp carrot since my last post. We do have to clean and sort the big freezer, though, so I don’t know yet what might have been buried for too long to still be edible. Wish me luck!

With food prices going ever higher, it’s sometimes difficult to find what we want at a price we can afford, especially with holidays approaching. That’s why I’m so grateful to have a friend like Dan. Dan shops in Bellingham (Washington) every other week, and always asks me if I want him to pick up anything. This week he brought me two pounds of butter for my holiday baking and two pounds of extra sharp white cheddar, and the total cost was a little under $29.00 – here in Canada I would have paid nearly $50.00. And Jess brought us (with her boss’s permission, of course !) two kilos of shredded cheese and 1 1/2 pounds of smoked ham trimmings from her workplace. We’re looking forward to plenty of grilled cheese sandwiches, ham salad, and homemade ham & pea soup with cheese scones!

And Then Life Went Sideways

Sometimes all the planning in the world just goes out the window, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. And it doesn’t take any time at all to realize that things are never again going to be the way they used to be.

* * * * * * *

On August 17th I had a stroke.

It turns out it was a very small stroke, so small that the CT scan I had that day didn’t show it. Nobody knew until an MRI was done on the 23rd that did show it – it was that tiny. I’m all right now; no physical damage, no cognitive or neurological deficits, no impairment of any kind. In fact, I was incredibly lucky.

I don’t mind admitting I was terrified. Not of dying – I somehow knew that wasn’t going to happen – but of spending the rest of my life mumbling and being spoon-fed and diapered in a wheelchair and not able to do the things I enjoy ever again.

But some things that were integral parts of my former lifestyle have changed:

Smoking is of course the biggest one, and I’m making decent progress. Going from a pack a day for over 50 years to just one or two a day was very tough, and I’ve been pretty cranky but trying hard not to take it out on anyone. Within 2 more weeks I’m aiming to have quit completely.

New meds – two for blood pressure, one for cholesterol, and an 81 mg aspirin, every day for the rest of my life. I have alarms set on my phone so I never miss taking them on time. Also, I’ve had to stop my arthritis meds, as they would interact rather badly with one of the blood pressure meds and I’d rather have aching joints than another stroke, than you very much!

A little at-home blood pressure machine that wraps around my wrist, so I can take and record my blood pressure every day; I actually do it twice a day (morning and evening) and have to take the notebook to every medical appointment to prove I’m trying to behave myself and lessen the chance of another stroke. So far my GP is pleased with my progress and suggests ways I could do even better.

A new exercise regime – at least two 15-minute walks every day, and at least 20 minutes a day of seated aerobics. Difficult and sometimes painful due to my arthritis, but necessary.

Less fried/fatty foods, and more fruit and vegetables. Less red meat, and more fish and chicken. This change actually appeals to me a lot, but Murray does almost all the cooking (and therefore shopping) and it’s been tough going getting him to go along with it. I’ve explained to him that I don’t expect him to change his habits of over 70 years overnight, but I really don’t want what happened to me to happen to him. Especially since he also is on meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, gout, and narrow-angle glaucoma. Less sugar and salt – I can live with that, but I’m really going to miss soy sauce!

The most frustrating thing of all is not being allowed to drive until my GP okays it – which has to be at least 30 days from the day I saw him after I was released from the hospital. So I’ll see him about that on October 1st – fingers crossed, please!

* * * * * * *

Climate change is real, folks, and it’s really played havoc with this year’s food gardening. The green beans and tomatoes are still producing, but not a lot, and we might get a few more strawberries. However, the tree/bush fruits were pretty much a write-off. We got a grand total of 7 blueberries, 23 apples, 9 pears, 31 plums, and a cup (more or less) of blackberries. So for the first time in 30 years, if we want jam we’ll have to buy it.

On the bright side, the only food waste since my last post was one lonely radish at the back of the veggie drawer.

* * * * * * *

Well, Mom finally admitted she can’t live “on her own” any more. We found a very nice retirement facility and got her moved in, and I think she likes it more than she’s willing to admit. Now comes getting her condo sold, which will involve a lot of work by the rest of the family: repairs, cleaning, weeding & donating, staging, coordinating everything with the realtor and the condo management. We’re probably looking at late October or early November before it’s ready to put on the market, and there’s no telling how long it will take to sell. It is in a prime location, though, so we’re all guardedly optimistic.

* * * * * * *

Something we like about our neighbourhood is that when people have stuff they no longer want, quite often instead of donating or trashing whatever it is, they’ll put it out at the side of the street for anyone who might want it. On my second walk a few evenings ago, I was feeling cranky as it was dark, cold, and trying to rain. I came across a carton of audiobooks, some on cassette tapes, most on cds. Idly looking through the box I found four by authors I really enjoy, and none were books I already have or have read. Quite a lucky find, and greatly improved my mood!

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It Just Never Ends

As happens every year ::sigh:: our garden plans have undergone serious revisions. The tomato plants are coming along slowly, and the green beans Phae planted – thinking she was planting pickling cucumbers – are doing quite well. Fortunately, we all really like green beans! My mint, dill, and tarragon perished during a three-day downpour. This morning Phae and I went to the local farmers’ market and scored a good deal on perfectly sized cucumbers, fresh dill, and some very nice big heads of garlic, so tomorrow I’ll be teaching her to make dill pickles. There are seven blueberries on the bush, eight pears between the two trees, and the plum crop, while not as good as last year’s, will yield enough for a decent batch of jam. I’ve also been picking blackberries; I won’t get enough berries for jam, so I’ll add them to this year’s applesauce. I did that last year and this was the delicious result:

Between my tree, Randy’s trees, and Dan’s trees, I should get plenty of nice apples. I’ll get rhubarb and berries from Randy as well, and who knows what else?

* * * * * * *

The visit with Tina et al was wonderful! Sean and Taylor are awesome parents, and little Beau is such a happy, healthy baby and a pure delight. I wish we could afford to visit them in Nova Scotia, but it’s just not there right now.

* * * * * * *

City Hall finally made a decision on the water bill, and I ended up paying $1600.00 – painful, but not nearly as painful as the original $4000.00 would have been. But then I also paid $4000.00 in property taxes, so the house insurance will be on Murray this year.

* * * * * * *

Murray is finally on the same page with me when it comes to food waste, and also to eating out of the freezer instead of shopping. We got the fridge freezer cleaned and sorted – very little waste there – but we still have to tackle the big basement freezer, which is not going to be fun. He’s tossed so much in there, and un-organized it so badly, that we don’t even know everything that’s there any more. And any time he wants something specific and can’t find it quickly, he goes and buys more. It’s very frustrating, especially when we finally do find whatever it was, and by then it’s too badly freezer burned to be edible – often because the packaging got torn during his angry digging. I’m hoping that the clearout will give me enough space to freeze this year’s applesauce and rhubarb; if not, both will get canned.

* * * * * * *

Mom finally admitted that it’s time for her to move into a retirement home / community, and has found one she doesn’t actually hate. Her suite is officially hers as of September 1st, which is when the rest of us will start moving her in and clearing out what she’s not keeping from the condo, so that when Jen and Euan come out from Ottawa we can all work on getting the condo ready to sell. She’ll be 91 in September, has COPD and emphysema, has serious balance issues, and is going blind, and it’s just not safe for her to stay where she is. The retirement facility is 5 minutes from Shelan’s place, 5 minutes from the hospital, and has everything she needs to be safe and comfortable. So we’re all very relieved that she finally agreed to it.

* * * * * * *

I have, as usual, a few projects on the go; the biggest project is clearing out and organizing the basement as it’s currently a disastrous jumbled mess. I also want to get all my canning jars sorted, and all the quart / liter jars washed and ready to sell, except for a few I’ll keep to replace the plastic peanut butter jars we’re using as canisters right now. There are only two things left in the mending basket, so I’ll get those dealt with this evening and then go back to work on the second pale pink tank top I’m knitting for Shelan. I had originally wanted the attic to be the big summer project, but it will have to wait until the basement is done. And the basement needs doing to make room for a lot of bulky stuff that will have to go there if Jess moves back here, which is looking likely. Like me, she’s a West Coast girl through and through, and is really not at all happy in Alberta. For now, she works at Kits beach Wednesday through Sunday, stays with her boss and his wife those nights, and spends her days and nights off out here with us.

* * * * * * *

Two things made my frugal heart happy lately: a $30.00 rebate from Royal Canin for Greebo’s pricy canned food, and a $110.00 rebate from ICBC on my car insurance. Every penny helps! Plus it’s almost time to take another big bag of milk jugs etc back to the depot for the return of our deposits. Ten cents per container doesn’t sound like much, but it all adds up over time.

* * * * * * *

I’m still chipping away at clearing out stuff I don’t use or need; some call it downsizing, but I prefer to think of it as streamlining. Clothes I’ll never wear again, books I’ll never read again, school supplies that never got used, and so on. I have three bags of donations ready to drop off, and two bales of soft plastics (bags, wrap, and so on), a box of dead electronics and small appliances, and a box of non-deposit glass containers to drop at the recycling center. Oh, and the above-mentioned quart canning jars, which I will give away if they haven’t sold by September. I did finally buy myself a new Endy mattress; I did all the comparison research, waited until the sale price and promo extras were too good to pass up, and paid $765.00 for the mattress, a mattress pad / cover, a set of sheets, a pillow, and a duvet. It really does pay to do research and wait for the best possible sale – at any other time I would have paid over $1300.00 for what I bought.

* * * * * * *

Honestly, what really gets me down sometimes is the kitchen. I clean it and clean it and clean it but somehow within hours it’s as if I’d never done a thing. when I’m canning or baking I clean up as I go, but I can’t keep up with Murray’s messes, and I honestly don’t know if he actually can’t see the mess he makes, or if he just doesn’t care because he isn’t the one cleaning. But … it just never ends.

And The Challenges Just Keep Coming …

Yes, it has been quite some time since my last post. Here’s why:

Water bill after the leak – $4000.00. I have filed an appeal due to the nasty weather that kept us from fixing it right away.

Two week-long trips to Vernon to help Jess pack and store the entire house before her move to Alberta, as she and Jeff have separated. I did end up bringing home a lot of stuff she didn’t want and/or couldn’t store; lots of spices, all her canning supplies and equipment, some other groceries, assorted small clear bins for my sewing & knitting projects, and various small household items and craft supplies.

Car repairs – new rear brakes and ABS sensor; a month without the car, total cost a little over $800.00. This also meant I had to do all Mom’s errands on public transit, which was slow and very painful.

Spring yard cleanup – still very much a work in progress, due to wet and windy weather. Jess also gave us her lawnmower and weed-whacker, but Murray’s having issues getting them to work. We do need to put up the mason bee house Jess gave us; we do as much as we can to encourage pollinators! Which is why we don’t mow the grass until all the flowering weeds are done blooming.

Property tax statement – another $4000.00.

* * * * * * *

The tomato plants, pickling cucumber plants, strawberries, and potatoes are looking good, and most of the dill seeds have sprouted. I still need bigger planters for the tarragon and dill; with luck I’ll find something we already have that I can use. Mint is terribly invasive, so I’ll be making a hanging planter for it using the metal front screen from our old standing fan that died last year. I also have plans to head out to Randy’s place to dig up some new rhubarb rootstock, with his blessing. The rhubarb plants will go in the big raised bed (currently overgrown with weeds) along with the blueberry bushes that are outgrowing their current planter.

It appears that fruit will be fairly sparse here this year. We had a very mild winter until that sudden deep-freeze in January that killed most of the blossom buds on the trees. So far we’ve spotted a few pears, apples, and plums on the trees – no cherries or hazelnuts yet, though, and only a few blueberries so far. With luck there will be enough blackberries for a winter’s worth of jam, but not much more. On the plus side, Randy says his apple and peach trees are doing well, and that we’re welcome to take as much fruit from his trees as we like. Bless his heart, he really is such a good friend!

So is Dan, who picks up Tillamook cheddar for me when he does his monthly grocery shopping in Bellingham. $18 for a two-pound block of extra aged sharp cheddar that would cost at least $45 here!

* * * * * * *

Murray and I got our latest Covid shots last week. I’ve never reacted to them yet, and this time neither did he, which was a nice change for him. Last time he was miserable for days, and I’ll admit it was difficult to be patient with his bad temper.

* * * * * * *

Tina, Sean, Taylor, and Beau are coming out for a visit later this week – they’ve booked an AirBnb as they know there’s no way we can make room for them all in our small house. It will be wonderful to see them all! Jess will fly out from Alberta for a few days while they’re here, and I’m sure there will be a few get-togethers here that include Andy and the boys as well. Fun times!

* * * * * * *

We’re doing extremely well when it comes to food waste – since my last post, only a handful of brussels sprouts forgotten in the back of the fridge after Easter dinner. And a good thing, too! With food prices going up and up, and my income having taken a nosedive, not wasting food is more important than ever. We buy in bulk when there are sales, never shop without a list, use coupons when we have them, and check all available flyers before we even make the list. There wasn’t much waste when I cleaned out the upstairs freezer, but I’m kind of dreading what we might find when we do the big freezer in the basement. Murray has a bad habit of just tossing things in there and then moving everything around when he’s looking for something. The end result is that we have very little idea of what we actually have that’s not freezer-burned beyond redemption. ::sigh:: I do know I have several packages each of pitted cherries, quartered plums, and pumpkin puree, and about two dozen single-serving jars of cooked rhubarb. I gave up trying to keep all my frozen fruit in one place in the freezer, but now I’m seriously thinking of putting a box in there and putting all my fruit in it, just so I can keep track of what I have and find what I want without having to dig for half an hour!

Because of those rising food prices, we really wanted to ramp up the garden this year, but the weather has not been cooperative at all. Still, we haven’t given up hope yet. I’d still like to plant some zucchini, and more herbs if I can find enough planters. I’m hoping to be doing a lot of canning (fruit), freezing (rhubarb, pureed pumpkin, and shredded zucchini), and dehydrating (herbs) later this year, and Phae wants me to teach her how to make pickles and jam.

However, since quarts of anything canned don’t get finished before some of the contents die, I’ll be washing all my quart jars and selling them – probably on facebook marketplace. This will put a little more cash in the grocery budget, and free up storage space for pints of canned foods that will all get eaten. Looking at the jars already listed on marketplace, I think $1 per jar is a very fair price. Fingers crossed!

* * * * * * * *

It’s an uphill battle these days to keep up with housework. It seems as though no matter how much cleaning I do, I just can’t get it all done. Part of the problem is that I can only do so much at a time before I need to take a short break for my hands or back or knees to stop aching. I can still do it all, but not all at once. And Murray either doesn’t see how much mess he makes – especially in the kitchen – or he does see it but doesn’t care. Either way, it’s really frustrating.

So right now, I’m off to finish cleaning the kitchen before I get back to the mending (another never-ending story!). Or maybe back to my current knitting project.