WELL IT GOT DONE

 Got our hair done!  We went in and Ange had her ridiculously long hair cut off into an amazing awesome haircut!  And thank goodness she loves it!!!  Pics below!  Mine took forever as usual.  She ended up only doing the top half as the bottom half was still pretty curly.  My hair is pretty curly naturally on the bottom.  I had Monte come by and pick Ange up and take her home.  He thought she had dyed her hair!  But she hadn't.

I have been reminded just why I moved to Port Alberni.  As you know the primary reason was to help Monte back to mental and physical health.  He had a mental health team here that just wouldn't be duplicated anywhere else.

  That being said, he just recently lost his psychiatrist.  And the only other one here doesn't see general patients.  He is the hospital's emergency psychiatrist and he is predominantly a geriatric specialist in that area.  So patients are left with online or phone doctors.

But, Monte still has his mental health nurse.  She keeps in touch with Monte, takes him out for coffee, checks in.  She managed to get him an appointment with that emergency doctor, Monte's original one. And should he have any issues, like he just did with his new medication, he just phones her and she helps him solve his problem.  She is absolutely amazing.

Monte has a GP, lovely guy, but he tends not to listen to Monte.  He is old and getting cranky.  Monte is needing a drug change but there could be issues with the dr cooperating.  So Caroline, his nurse, is, as we speak, sitting in that dr's office, with Monte, and the wait is rarely under an hour, so she can help Monte explain the drug change and make sure it happens.  Like who does that?!!!  I am so impressed.  She has been with Monte right from the beginning.  We wouldn't give that up for love nor money.  Well...not love but maybe money if it was tons and tons.  LOL!!

The petunias and the roses and the geraniums definitely did a great start at regenerating their flowers and leaves after the yard rat attacks.  God I hate those deer.  This morning we go out and guess what?  They were back in the night and freaking ate them all again.  I HATE them!!!  There are some broken cement bricks out there that I was going to get rid of but not now, I am going to save them and throw them at those asshats.  And I am going to aim right for their heads, hard.  Ange was saying that when she was in the bank everybody was talking about how prevalent they are this year.  Those suckers are everywhere!  Next year we are only planting lavender.  Apparently they don't like lavender.

Bill wouldn't eat venison.  He saw Bambi when he was little and I think it traumatized him.  He wouldn't even try it.  

I personally do not like deer meat.  It's dry, chewy and tasteless.  I way prefer moose meat.  But right now I would happily chow down on one of those suckers, right in front of one.  It would give me great pleasure to eat one, just to spite it.

It is now Saturday, Emily is coming today!  Monte and Ange made a very early, in fact so early it wasn't open yet, out to the dump/recycle place.  The truck was right full to the top with flattened cardboard.  Then Monte made a run back out with a whole load of garbage bags full to the tits, as he says.  And when I got my truck back I made a run to Save on.

As I have mentioned before, I am a great believer in lists.  I have two dinners (yipppeee!!!) to plan this week end.  One of the main dishes tonite is broccoli/leek impossible pie. I made a very clear, organized comprehensive list.

When I got home and put groceries away it suddenly dawned on me that I completely missed the damned broccoli.  Jeeeeeeez!!!!!  But I have a crap load of asparagus.  So asparagus/leek pie it's going to be.  I just checked with Em to make sure she likes asparagus.  Some people don't!  But that gal eats everything!

Thats it for today.  Time to go and do some prepping.  I want to take a minute here to apologize for how this stupid blog has become so mundane.  My life is pretty humdrum and thus humdrum blog.  The only exciting thing on my near horizon is a colonoscopy and I am pretty sure you aren't wanting to hear the deets on that event!  Next post I will be mentioning a decision I have made about something that is probably going to raise some eyebrows.  Til then stay safe, healthy and most of all, happy.  TTYL

'You could be the world's best garbage man, the world's best model;  it don't matter what you do if you're the best.'  Mohammad Ali.  (my mother would have loved this one...she taught us from a super young age that you need to become excellent in something, anything, just something)

A REMINDER OF WHAT IT WAS BEFORE

WELL HELLS BELLS...THAT WAS A BUST

 Ange and I have been counting the sleeps til our hair appointment day...TODAY!!!! We got ourselves ready, showered, shoe shined, hair ready (which is a terrible ordeal for me...brushing out all the knots and bushyness).  Ange still looks great.  Me? Not so much.  

So we hop into the car and I park as close as I can so I can dash my ugly head into the salon asap and no one can see me.  Only to be told that whoever  put the appointment down did so for Tuesday...tomorrow.  Not today!  Jeezus H!!!!  Incompetent people piss me off.  I know I said Monday because there was the possibility that Milly is coming tomorrow.  What a piss off!!!!!!  So now I have to go around looking like the wolfman all day.  Grrrrrrrr.....

Well I put my back to the test yesterday.  I have been avoiding bending over because coming back up hurts like hell and stays hurting until I sit for an hour. So absolutely annoying.

I should have taken a pre picture of the deck.  It was awful.  Recycling, garbage, pop cans, coolers, chairs all disarray etc... Well I went to town and filled garbage bags, picked up a million wind blown pop cans, garbage, organized chairs, cleaned off the table, wiped things down etc etc.  Now and then I had to sit down and fix my back but not for long spells.  And now the deck looks splendiferous!!! And my back has passed the test!!!

Well as I said I drove to Nanaimo and picked up my glasses.  You get thirty days to try them out and to make any changes necessary.  And they need changes.  The long distance part is perfect.  But the bifocal part is not.  I still can't read small print and now I can't read my kindle stuff on my lap top either.  So they are going to go back and I need them to fix them.

  You know when the optometrist was doing that part where you say if the first lens or second lens on the machine was best, she never seemed to get it right.  I think that was the problem.  I can't live with these glasses for the next couple of years the way they are.  Sigh.  Always something.  I think I will take my phone and laptop in to test them when I get the fixed ones back.  I will test out the kindle print and the tiny print on my phone game I play with Kerry.  Wordfeud. More trips to Nanaimo.  Expensive ones at 199.00/litre for gas.

I am hungry.  I have a fridge full of low potassium and low carb vegetables.  Oh yum.  I think I will go and whip up a veg omelet.  That yum was sarcasm by the way.  What I really want is a couple fried eggs, some thick maple bacon and shredded hash browns.  Thats what I really want.

Well I guess I go.  I have more boxes to throw over the deck for flattening and taken to the recycling place.  I have a bedroom to get ready for a special visitor coming next weekend!  TTYL

"My first playpen was a cardboard box." Michael Lee-Chin

I used to put Baby Kevin in a narrow tall cardboard box.  Just his bald head poking over the top.  He was about nine months old.  Then I would pile every toy he owned into that box.  Right up to his neck.  And one by one he would slowly drop a toy over the edge onto the floor until he was the only thing left in the box.  He would then yell something that sounded like Ma! over and over until I came and filled it up again.  He would do that all afternoon.

A TUB OF LAVENDER

ANGE'S HAIR ALL READY

COMBED OUT AND READY....A DAY EARLY

ROMANCE? NO THANKS

 There are three kinds of books that not only will I not buy, I won't even investigate them.  I hate romance books.  That is, books written specifically about a romance.  A couple getting together in a compelling, well researched book is okay, but vacuous romance? NO.

And furthermore I judge them by their cover.  Yup!!!  I am judging a book by their cover.

If they have a picture of a skinny woman with flowing hair walking away from the camera, towards an ocean, beach, house, sunset or road leading off to the distance, I move on.

If there is a picture of Adirondack chairs, in pairs, facing away from the camera, looking out to the sea. Nope.  No way.

If there is a couple in each others arms, he with a naked chest and cowboy hat, her leaning back in a submissive manner....absolutely not.

Now and then I get tricked, even with Amazon Kindle lets me read the first couple of chapters.  I will really like the premise of the book, I really like what I read, buy it and within two more chapters, the moderately good looking, with good bones mind you and well spaced grey eyes, meets Blade, steely eyed, chiseled featured, broad man and her heart flutters and I slam my lap top, where I do all my reading, shut in disgust.  Led down the proverbial path.

I have put some pics here with examples for you.  I wonder though, even though they probably get well paid, wouldn't the men in these pictures feel stupid?  You would think they would be embarrassed! 

 Off to Nanaimo today....new glasses!!!!  I will be able to see when I get back!  I shall report.  Like you are interested...lol!!  Stay safe peeps, don't support the mindless romance novel industry, and TTYL

"I had a romance novel inside me, but I paid three sailors to beat it out of me with steel pipes."  Patton Oswalt.     hahahahaha...a man after my own heart!

MY MOST HATED

JUST A TASTE OF WHAT YOU SHOULD AVOID.  VACUOUS PREDICTABLE READING.  HEY COOKIE, REMEMBER THE TIME WE WROTE ONE IN BAMFIELD?  WE FOLLOWED THE PREDICTABLE TEMPLATE AND IT WAS PRETTY EASY.

GARDENING....HATED IT

 Gardening seems like a useless, not to mention costly, pass time.  Seriously!  All you gardeners out there are nuts!!!  No, not really but I don't know how you do it...and enjoy the activity at the same time.

Let's see....Firstly one must dig in the dirt.  I spent an entire morning hunting for, unsuccessfully I might add, my gardening gloves.  Like how the hell am I supposed to remember where I threw them when I pulled them out of my Walmart bag months ago.  So upon digging holes and pulling weeds etc, you end up with filthy fingernails that don't get clean for weeks!  And I don't have a nail brush.  Who the heck has those handy things just sitting there in their bathroom? No one.  Thats who. Unless you are OCD or anal...neither of which apply to me.

Then as you are digging around in the frigging dirt, you constantly come across buried treasure left by the ridiculous number of neighbourhood cats.  They all play on the other side of the street and use our side as their personal bathroom.  I hate cats.

Then you go to the nursery and spend ridonkulous sums of money on plants.  Yes, of course it looks good when you get them home and planted but...jeez the expense!!!! Kinda takes the shine off them.

This all takes time so of course there are weeds by this time that need pulling.  Dirty finger nails again.  Are we having fun yet? 

To top this off, as I have mentioned before, we have no outside taps due to frozen busted pipes and flakey bailing plumbers.  So I bought two inadequately sized, but carriable when full of water, watering cans.  And right now poor Ange is having to do the watering as my tailbone won't let me yet.  It takes six cans of water to dampen down that stupid garden.

Anyway when it was all planted, and my cosmos is actually beginning to grow, and the flowers on my hydrangea, and petunias are really pretty, and the pots of geraniums are blooming, and it was so fetching, I was actually beginning to feel a bit of pride and I could kind of see the point.

Then just as we were so proud of ourselves and happy, fucking deer came along and not only ate all the flowers, but ate my hydrangea.  FUCKADOODLE!!!!!!!  I rest my case.

We made a quick trip to Nanaimo on Tuesday.  Monte had an appointment with the only vet on the Island who does exotic pets.  I guess Smooch is considered exotic.  He got an A+ from the vet for the health his snake is in.  She was super stoked to see such a healthy loved pet.  Monte was pretty proud!  This was a mental boost he really needs right now.  We are heading back to Nanaimo on Friday.  I have an appointment at Lenscrafters!!!!!!!  I can't wait to replace the eight year old glasses I am wearing!!!!  I can't see!!!!!  I get a new prescription and glasses at least every two years.  I needed glasses pretty badly just before the pandemic put a halt to that.  And those glasses became ruined by some surface that peeled in places on the lens.  I had to resort to these ones I am wearing now.  I got them in Hawaii in 2014 and they are very inadequate.  I don't go anywhere now without Bill's humungous magnifying glass.  Can't wait!!!

Well thats it for today.  I have a deck to clean and a filthy bedroom floor.  But before I can sweep it I have to pick up a ton of dirty clothes, books, three boxes, one of which I haven't even opened yet, shoes and bedding.  At least there isn't any cat poop mixed in with it.  Take care, stay safe and TTYL

"A simile is like a pair of eyeglasses.  One side sees this, one side sees that, the device brings them together."  George McWhirter

My sisters emoji's she has sent over time.

ON THE SEAS AGAIN

 Look out Captain Stubing!!!!  Here we come!!  Yup!!!!  May 6, 2023.  If we are still alive that is.  So far away.

Monte and I are going to do a two week cruise to Alaska!  Monte is quite open about the fact that he has anxiety issues with leaving his house and room.  But having a stateroom to retreat to at any time seems to make the difference for him.  Plus our room is directly under the buffet floor.  Sigh. 

I booked it this morning.  When I was in Vancouver we were down at North shore waterfront.  We were there just in time to see two cruise ships head out to Alaska.  And when you have cruised about twenty times, it kind of grabs you to see that.  And that feeling wouldn't go away.  So when I got home I broached the subject with Monte and he immediately agreed to a trip.  I thought we would be doing it this Sept. but my passport expired four days ago.  Wouldn't you know!!!!!  So I figure if I start now I should have a new one nine months from now.  If I could make a baby in that time, surely they can make me a new passport.  And I am getting a ten year...gonna be super optimistic this time round!!!

A first happened to me a few days ago.  I was opening my mail.  One of the brown envelopes was from Revcan.  My stomach automatically clenched.  For my American friends, Revcan is the equivalent of the IRS.  Although I did know my notice of assessment was due.  That is the nasty little letter and form that always states that I actually owe more than what the accountant figured I owed.  Always more.

So I trepidatiously opened it.  Suddenly Monte, who knew how anxious I was, suddenly yelled, "You got a cheque!!!!!!!!!!"  The bottom third of the letter and notice was still folded up and he could see it.  I quickly took a look and sure enough!  There was a cheque with a pretty hefty amount.  A return!!!!  For the very first time in my life I am one of those people who get a return!!!!!  On the upside....I don't owe anything, on the downside, it means I didn't earn much money this year.  I don't care.  I GOT A RETURN!!!!!!

I talked to my doctor about my tailbone, which is much much better I must say.  I still can't bend over without repercussions but it doesn't hurt nearly as much.  When she tracked my previous activities leading up to the pain, she determined it was due to slinging heavy bags of dirt around, digging with a shovel and gardening in general. So there you go.  I really dislike gardening.  It just doesn't do it for me.  And now I have a very legitimate excuse to NOT do it!!!

That being said, Ange and I are heading to the nurseries today to get six petunias.  We need one more thing to fill in the gaps and they should do it nicely.  And I think I will leave the planting to poor Ange, whose back isn't any better than mine.  Any hard stuff we shall enlist Monte.  Plus we have been kind of making a plan for landscaping next year.  Simple stuff.  Landscape roses, spirea, more annuals.  It's fun.  The planning part.  Not the execution.

I have an appointment at ten in the morning next Tuesday with the colon doctor.  I do believe he wants to do another colonoscopy.  I don't know why.  The Kamloops doctor said every three years.  This one it's every year.  Good thing I don't mind them.  The prep sucks for sure but the actual procedure is a piece of cake.  Gitter done peeps if you are over fifty.  Don't take a chance.  If that doctor hadn't insisted I do an occult blood check I would be dead now.  (and a five year passport would have been just fine)

Well I hear Ange making 'let's go' noises so I gotta bounce.  Take care, wear a respirator when you go out, if not to protect yourself, then protect us weenies who have issues, and thank you!  TTYL

'one of the few times in a man's life when he is not full of sh*t!  The morning of a colonoscopy.  Enough said.'  Jim Lawrence

MEMORIES OF MY OLD LIVING ROOM I DID UP AFTER THE HOUSE BURNT DOWN

LOOKS FUSSY, BUT IT WAS PRETTY

MY ALL TIME FAVE COUCH

BACK TO NORMAL

 What a wonderful week it has been.  But I am ready to go home and get back to the routine, chair, blogging on time, chair, diddling with the piano, chair, cleaning before Milly comes, chair, reading awesome kindle books, chair.  I am looking forward to it.

In the meantime I had a wonderful week here at April's and Myle's. They make fantastic hosts.  April makes the most fantastic food, such a bonus.  Yesterday's lunch was a tasty bed of greens, which included bits of fresh mint, grilled, literally with grill marks peach segments over top and dotted with burrata.  And she had picked up the most delectable amazing sausage rolls.  Ahhhhhhh....sigh.

We met Kevin and family down at the Quay and we went for lunch in the most lovely place on the water. We had great conversation and laughter.  Tandy has a most interesting job so it was really amazing to hear about it, at least what she could talk about.  And I loved seeing the kids.  It has just been too long not seeing them.

Unfortunately Aryn and Bradley are up north working.  I did see them camping but not nearly enough.  And it seems they are going to be up north for about a year.  Sooooo long.

The Quay was so busy and peopley.  I wore a mask through most of it.  I felt like such a tool using my hiking pole like a cane and constantly looking for spots to sit.  We ran into friends of April's and unfortunately one of the couples had covid and didn't know it yet.  But I wasn't really near them and it's been enough days now and we were outside in the heat, so unlikely it was passed on to us.  We would know by now.  I am tired of having to think about stupid covid and defending the caution and masks.

  I still can't believe there are some people out there that don't believe this flu either exists or isn't serious.  That attitude is so unmitigatingly disrespectful to the families of the five plus million dead people.  What the hell do they think five million people unexpectedly died from out of the blue?  In 2019 only 250,000 people died globally from regular flu.  People can be pretty stupid or in denial.  Not one disbeliever has been able to explain to me how those people died.  I rest my case.

Anyway, enough about that.  My mini rant for the day.  Lol!!  On to happier things.

I guess when I get home I may have to buy some billy goats.  And to be equal, nanny goats. I have a lawn fellow that isn't a regular 'every Tuesday' kind of guy.  He shows up when he shows up.  I have to kindly nag him.  But this time he said he was coming the next day after I left.  He still hasn't shown up.  I don't want to get too sideways with him as I am depending on him for future fish for canning.  But jeez!  He has promised he will be there today.  We shall see.

Well time is aflyin' by.  I must gather my belongings, give my poof a yank, change my shirt and back a monstrous truck out of a teeny tiny parking spot.  If I hit even one of the poles on each side the whole row of overhead roof will collapse. On cars.  Oh jeez...the pressure!!!!

Time to bounce!  Take care!  TTYL

'A 7-11 parking lot beat down is how life is.' Karl Hess......at least it is in Port Alberni.

HMMMMMM....NEED I SAY ANYTHING?

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS....EVERY MORNING.....WHAT SERVICE!!!!

WELL THAT WAS A SLICE AND A HALF

Well camping is over and I am at April's til next Wed., the soonest I could get a reservation on the ferry.  I love being here.

Camping was a mixed bag for me this year.  It was not my fave type of camping.  I hope I am not offending anyone here.  That is def not my intention.

 Any other time I might have loved the party atmosphere and the bumper to bumper parking lot style of camping.  But with this family camping trip I would have preferred trees and just our family.  One of the peeps there had a ton of friends, super nice awesome people, but not family.  I don't know, the trip up was a total nightmare as well.  Other people are so much more tolerant than I am clearly.

I left April's at 9 am.  And immediately the traffic was bumper to bumper, stop and go.  And it stayed that way all the way to Hope.  Then on the Coquahalla it was moving but very slowly.  The three and a half hour trip ended up being closer to six tense hours.  I think all of us from the lower mainland have kind of decided that the upcountry people can come down here next time, either that or we find a place down this way to camp.  Better yet we will probably pick a different weekend to get together.  The traffic coming this way wasn't nearly as congested, heavy, but not bumper to bumper.  All of us down here are like lemmings...oh schools is out!!!!!  Let's all get into our cars, trucks, vans, tow our trailers and head north!

Not everybody can make the camping trip every time, but most of us are in a position to be able to get a day off.  I know when I plan the women's retreat I try to pick a weekend that works for the key people and everyone else can figure it out for themselves. And that involves about the same number of people as the camping trip, so I know it is possible.

I wish people could come to the island.  There are so many beautiful places to camp, that isn't Tofino.  In fact there is a new camp site right outside Port Alberni.  It is privately owned by the natives and the logging company.  It is on a small pretty lake and beside fantastic hiking.  It is only one hour from Nanaimo too...easy to get to.  But....and it is a big but, the ferry would add about 200 bucks to the trip.   There are those that won't spend that so we are kind of stuck with mainstream camping.  

We did have a lot of fun and lots of fantastic food.  There was a horseshoe pit, ladder ball, frisbee beer game, martini tastings, swimming and paddle boarding, drinking, pulled pork dinner, curried chicken dinner, pasta and salad dinner, two awesome brunches, drinking, lots of cake, brownies, cookies, and drinking.  A good time was had by all!

Poor Arnie had one of her kidney attacks though.  She, Bradley and I met at the Flying J out side Hope and Bradley drove my truck up and I rode with Aryn.  She was so extremely excited about this trip.  And she was okay the first day but the second day she had a kidney go down, very painfully.  When that happens she simply has to go to bed and wait it out.  We had a spectacular lightening, wind and rain storm one of the evenings so she did open her van side door and watched it.  Poor girl. We felt so bad for her.

Anyway all in all it was a very successful lovely time.  We had three new relatives come and it was amazing to reconnect.  We will take some time this year to see if we can find a happy compromise for next year.  Actually where we were this year would be an awesome place on a less crowded weekend.  And I am so grateful to Kathy and Craig for getting this spot for us.  It is so hard to try to accommodate so many people and they did it!!!!

So apologies for this post.  It won't interest anyone but the ones that were camping and even then......

Stay safe and healthy.  TTYL

'When homeless people go camping, how do they know?'  Dara Gould

ONE OF THE AWESOME MARTINIS

MAKING UP THE CURRY DINNER

DID I MENTION THERE WAS A BIT OF DRINKING?

DAD AND DAUGHTER

APRIL WRANGLING LEELOO AND SOMEONE'S BABY