We Are Safe

 We have had quite the weather here. Hurricane Fiona and a cold trough met and gave us one heck of a storm. The winds were something to behold and we had almost 3" of rain fall. Today it is 9C, the sun is shining and we are to warm up to 21C. 

Lifestyle

The Spousal Unit went peacefully on Wednesday. I was in Tuesday to be with him. He seemed to know who I was as he let me hold his hand and then he held mine for 90 minutes. He tried to talk to me but wasn't successful. I was back in Wednesday and sat with him until he passed away. I talked to him for the entire time and for another 30-45 minutes after he was gone. The staff was excellent with him during his stay in the hospital. They loved him dearly and listened to him chatter about what he needed to do work wise. 

All I will say about the situation is know your rights as the spouse whose loved one has Alzheimer's. It was only the day before he passed that I realized exactly what mine were. Am I bitter? No. Disappointed? Yes. But, we did what we thought was right and I'm glad we did what we did. It was done because our love for the Spousal Unit.

I spent 5 days at family's. We spent time preparing for Fiona and the damage at my house was nothing. Family had a wooden screen door damaged ("its toast" as the Spousal Unit would say), and 3 panels of the pool fence toppled into the yard and not the pool. They have a fabulous view of the field now and glass panels will be perfect when they do the repairs. For now it could be orange snow fence to keep the wildlife out of the pool this winter.

The power went out at 11 pm on Friday night and we got it  back 11 hours later. We are very fortunate to be on the hospital grid. The power crews were out as soon as it was safe and got lines fixed and power back on. My heart goes out to those communities that suffered more than we did and I hope they remain strong as they pick up their lives and move forward. Hurricane Fiona was not kind to Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland. I'm not sure of the damage in New Brunswick but they had to have some.

The garden survived the storm. The peas and beans are bent over but should be okay. The peppers and leeks are okay. A bit wind whipped but nothing like I had thought when I looked out the window at family's house and watched the wind whipping the trees around. Hopefully we will have fresh peas and beans, more peppers, and wonderful leek and potato soup later this fall. 

I had physiotherapy on Friday and boy did it hurt. All was stretching the glutes and I left that place sore, tired and a bit more limber. The storm made a lot of joints hurt but his morning I am more pain free. 

Today

I have a lot of things to do in the next 48 hours. I need to put things away that I left on the floor last night, get stuff back where it belongs as my friend and I put a lot of stuff up high in case the basement flooded. I have a couple of loads of laundry to do and by the time I get that all done, I will be tired. I still need to make lists galore, not only for what I need to do legally but what I want to do for myself. I also have physio exercises to do twice today. I'm preparing things so when I grieve I can do it without worrying about what still needs to be done. 

Until the next time..........................................................

The Spousal Unit

 Yesterday the Spousal Unit mounted his horse, gathered his dogs and left us to be in heaven. He was a loving husband, a wonderful father and grandfather, and my best friend for 51 years of marriage. He will be sorely missed by family and friends. 

Keep the herd settled, the hay beautiful, the Hereford cattle gaining, and the pastures green. Until we meet again. I will miss you and always love you. 

1945-2023

A Busy Day Cleaning

 Yesterday was a warm sunny day with a high of 18.2C. This morning it is 10C and raining. It is suppose to rain most of the day. There is a possibility we could have a thunderstorm. 

Lifestyle

I watched the Queen's funeral yesterday. I listened to it except when I had to rest. There was lots of interesting tidbits of information given that I enjoyed. 

It was clean the kitchen day yesterday. I started out cleaning the area where I keep the meds, tea, and coffee. All the meds, expired vitamins, and unused items were either tossed or set aside for disposal. The shelves were wiped down well and what was left put back. Not a lot. The counters and drawers were also cleaned well. From there, I moved around the kitchen cleaning up the dirty areas. I wiped, scrubbed, tossed, and, when done, put everything away neatly. I cleaned areas the cleaners don't touch and yuck! I pulled out the stove, cleaned that area and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees. My knee hurt but I know that area is spotless. I finished up after I ate lunch. That included doing the garbage and recycling.

Mid afternoon, I went and got Elliott another bag of cat food and took the medications to the pharmacy to be disposed of. I then did a list of what needs to be done in the kitchen to finish up. Clean fridge and pantry, wash windows, shine stainless steel appliances and wash the floor. I will do under the sink at the very end as I have a lot of cleaners to use up while I take over cleaning once again. 

It felt good taking command of the cleaning as I was procrastinating. I need to keep moving forward on the kitchen for the next two or three days and finish up. 

Sewing

I did slip downstairs to the sewing room and sewed 3 tear drop pearls on one of the shoes. No pictures as I forgot my phone upstairs. Will take pictures when the 2nd one is done. I quickly took a picture. 

Our neighbor brought the quilt over and then took it home as she had one area to fix on the quilt. She spent about 5 hours quilting it and it looks fabulous. She did feathers, butterflies, and hearts on it. Custom for sure and she enjoyed doing it very much. 

I saw this Regency dress on Instagram and it is amazing with all the details on the dress.

What amazed me is the white dress with the dark green shoes. 

It makes one think outside the box when it comes to shoe color. 

Knitting

I knit on both socks and have the second part of the toe decrease completed. Now to watch the video again so I can finish them up tonight. I am happy to be almost done the socks as they have been on the needles a very long time. 

Today

I am leaving shortly to take grandson to school. Today's job is to clean the fridge and shine the stainless steel. I may get the windows cleaned on the inside. If all goes well, I would like to start the Soutache dress and finish up the socks. Not a lot of outside things can be done with it raining but the lawns and trees will be happy. 

Until the next time..................................................

Organizing Paper Work

Yesterday was a dreary day as we had lots of clouds and rain. An inch of rain fell and the high got to 14.1C. It did clear off in the late afternoon and it was brighter. This morning it is 8C, foggy, and the high is to get to 18C with sunshine.

Lifestyle

I did get an update on the Spousal Unit. He is not eating well nor taking his pills. He resists when people help him as he doesn't understand what they want him to do. He has advanced Alzheimer's and they are preparing him for long term care. 

Life is too chaotic not to be organized ~ Martha Stewart

I ditched all my plans and decided to do paperwork. I went through all the papers I had hid in the spare room. The legal papers were gone through also. I didn't make a mess but I do have a pile of papers to go into a box in the mechanical room. They will be shredded next year as I need to make sure that I didn't put anything in the pile I may need. It wasn't a difficult job but one of remembering the houses we owned and thinking back to our renovating days. I actually found some American money which will go towards something I want.

I did the physio exercises once yesterday though I did one of them a couple of times when in bed. There is still some burning arthritic pain in the knee but it has subsided some. The stretching exercises are helping though I still have some pain in my hip area. I will just have to keep doing them until everything is stretched out. I use the hot water bottle a lot which does help also. 

The house was so cold yesterday I had to put the heat on for 90 minutes. It is on again this morning as it is cool in here. A huge change for a week ago. 

Sewing

I put trim around the shoes yesterday and that seem to take forever. Between the fabric and the trim, a lot of glue was used and absorbed. I am now looking at putting 3 long pearls on the toe of each shoe.

There is still a huge learning curve to making shoes. This pair looks better but one of the uppers is 1/4" shorter than the other at the center front. I have to remember to measure the uppers when I put them onto the soles. I am enjoying the precision work that goes into making shoes. They certainly are not a rush project and I need to make another pair next week. I need to keep practicing. 

Knitting

I watched the video on doing the toes of the socks and got the first 9 rows done on both socks. I now need to knit about 16 more rounds and they will be ready to have the toe grafted. I am now realizing how much I need to knit in the basement watching shows on the big TV. 

Today

I am going to tackle cleaning the kitchen this morning and wash a couple of floors. I am going to focus on the kitchen for this week. I will need to work on keeping it clean and organized, especially the pantry. I am going to take a drive and see if the vet is open so I can get Elliott his food. The Soutache dress needs to be started unless I'm outside cleaning an area in the shed for the deck chairs, and I am going to knit tonight. 

Until the next time.....................................................

One Very Busy Day

Yesterday was warmer with a high of 18C. The wind blew but not as hard as it had been. We had lots of sunshine which was nice. This morning it was 12C and we are suppose to have a high of 16 with showers part of today. It is cloudy and the wind is blowing in the storm. 

Lifestyle

I had a very busy day yesterday. My list was long and I slowly worked through it. My first job was to do my exercises. I am spending a lot of time working on my gait as I walk. I walk slowly which is okay as I'm paying attention to each step I take. Laundry was folded and more laundry was done as I changed the bed. 

Daughter-in-law was over to pick tomatoes so out we went. She picked and we pulled the tomato plants. I also pulled the flowers in pots by the door into the shed. The bags of dirt in the shed were put into the box we grew garlic in. The tomato cages were stacked and stored neatly in the shed rather than put under the deck. We finished at noon and I was pleased with what we got done. 

After lunch, I got the bed made, did my exercises the second time, and puttered in the sewing room for a bit. 

I had dinner at family's last night and enjoyed it very much. I helped grandson get his papers organized into his binders. By the time we were finished, he had also done his journal and was happy to have everything done. I'm not the queen of organization; I have to work hard at it. It does not come naturally so I've had to figure out what is best for me to keep life organized. I have a planner that I write what I'm hoping to do each day, my to-do list for sewing and knitting are online and will be in part of the planner, and now I'm hoping to add meal planning. I relate to how grandson struggles so helping him lets me talk to him about how I'm trying to get and stay more organized in my life. 

Sewing

I got the soles on the shoes and it took a bit for the glue to stick enough so I could leave them to dry. At that point, I put the quilt, thread and pin tub into a bag and took it over to my lovely neighbor and friend to free motion quilt it for me. 

Today

Today I want to start doing some extra cleaning in the kitchen. It is time to wipe out some cupboards and drawers that have been ignored for a long time. Exercises will be done twice. My knee isn't as sore today. This afternoon I want to put away the Christmas gifts and take out a tub of ornaments to sort through. I'm decorating less this Christmas as I will be spending the day with family. I'm not sure if I will sew but I'm hoping to knit. 

Until the next time...................................................................

Another Pair Of Shoes Started

Yesterday was cooler than anticipated with a high of 16C. The wind blew and the sun shine until later in the day when clouds rolled in and it looked we would have a storm. No rain though. This morning it was 9C and there is suppose to be sunshine and a high of 19C.

Lifestyle

The Spousal Unit had a quiet day. He slept but I don't know how much. He took his medications with chocolate pudding which he loved. He hasn't been reevaluated yet and will get his Covid vaccine if they have 10 people who need it. 

I did my physio exercises twice yesterday and hurt like crazy (the storm?). I hobbled around doing laundry and some housework. No matter if I sat or stood, I hurt. The hot water bottle was my best friend which I'm still putting hot water into this morning. On the up side, I am standing better. I don't have the range in right knee like the left one. But it has improved since Wednesday.

I did get the cucumber plants pulled and found 3 more cucumbers to eat. I also watered the garden which was protected from the wind. It was, once again, to windy to water the front lawns. 

Our neighbors came over last night. While visiting he changed the door handles on 13 doors. I have 6 handles left to buy plus 3 dead bolts which he will do for me. He is using all the old handles in their rental unit. Fair exchange. 

Sewing

I did get into the sewing room yesterday. I started off making daughter piping using up a piece of yellow fairy frost. 

Honestly, if there had been enough for a doll's dress she wouldn't have got piping. It looks amazing with the navy blue fabric I chose to showcase it. There was almost 4 meters.

It is very hard to photograph fabrics in the afternoon in the sewing room. 

I then cut out shoe uppers from the satin to go with the Regency dress. I had interfaced the fabric to give it more body. The interfacing wanted to absorb the glue and it took a long time to get the fabric to stick to the insoles. I am happy with the shoes so far. 

 I will need to glue on the foam soles today. I was going to sew on some pearls but I think I will leave them plain at this time.

One thing I will do when I order soles again is to get the 6mm rather than the 2mm thickness. I would like to try a thicker sole. This order was a learning curve for me. 

Today

I have to take out the recycling from the door handles, do my exercises, laundry and what ever else I can fit in before going for dinner at family's house. I feel it is going to be a busy day. I need to make sure I'm not too sore as I don't sleep well when I have a lot of pain. 

Until the next time....................................................

A Busy Day In The Basement

 Yesterday was cool with a high of 16.2C. There was lots of wind and sunshine. This morning it is 10C and the high is to get to 18C. There is to be sunshine this morning and clouds this afternoon.

Lifestyle

I didn't call for an update on the Spousal Unit yesterday but will do it today. He is basically the same every day but I do have a couple of questions to ask today.

I spent the morning in the family room taking apart the puzzle we were doing 5 months ago, counting the pieces and boxing it up. I had found one piece in the garage and was worried an edge piece was missing. I found it but still counted to make sure. The remaining puzzles and western novels are ready to go to the used book store. 

I started digging in one of the thrift shop boxes in the maintenance room. It has been gone through carefully and I will get help putting it in the vehicle next week. I will drop it, the books and other items off next week when I go for filters for the cpap machine. 

I did my exercises twice yesterday and it is helping. The knee is still hurting but I have more movement in it. I still have a sore spot in my back so that will need to be addressed if it remains. Improvement has been noticed in 2 days of doing the exercises. 

Sewing

The box in the maintenance room had fabric and patterns in it. I took all the patterns out and removed one for daughter to have. I went through the patterns I kept and added a few more. I was sad when I touched the western shirt pattern I used to make the Spousal Unit's shirts and kept it. The patterns went into a bag ready to go. I touched the fabrics and have 6 pieces set aside. The box is full and I will get help to put it in the car to go to the thrift shop. Day 2 of clean up is done.

Of the 6 pieces of fabric, 3 went into daughter's box. One other piece is set aside as I can make daughter a bag out of it and the other 2 pieces are heavy knits I may still want. Those two I'm thinking about. Though I want to get new fabric, the stash is valuable to help stay within the budget. And there is plenty of nice fabric still to sew into gifts.

I hauled the Christmas gift tub to the family room and went through it. I did well getting done what I did. I need to make a couple of gift bags and then will focus on making a few more gifts starting next month. I am going to have to depend on gift cards this year but I'm okay with that. Next year I will sew more gifts over the course of the year. 

Lastly, I stood for 2 hours and pinned the quilt together so our neighbor can quilt it. I was exhausted when I got done and my back ached like crazy. I'm still not standing correctly but at least the table is high enough I didn't have to bend over to pin. I did snap a picture of the backing fabric. 

There will be enough fabric and batting left for some of the placemats I will make next year. 

Knitting

I got the socks set up to start the toes. I was sore last night that I didn't feel like knitting. I sat with the hot water bottle on my sore spots. 

Today

I am sore today but will continue to do my exercises. They do help. I need to pull the cucumber plants, water the garden, do a bit of housework and get and update on the Spousal Unit. I hope I can make daughter a piece of piping and start thinking about the next 2 projects -- the soutache dress and a gift bag. I do hope to knit tonight. There will be no decluttering today.

Until the next time..................................................................