Dan and I took another little drive this afternoon. We picked up a few bedding plants from my favourite nursery, then we took a short drive. We came across a lot of road construction and street cleaning. I took a few photos to share.
Downtown Regina
Author: annemariedemyen
Wife, mother, grandmother dogmother - lover of nature, peace and tranquility. RETIRED. Life is good!
Happy Mother’s Day
This isn’t a typical Mother’s Day for many but still a great day for roses and chocolate!
More Signs of Spring
The sun has finally reappeared for a couple of days. Dan is on shift but Kat and I spent as much time outside as we could today. I wasn’t up to doing a whole lot, but I did a bit of straightening up and of course we took our walk – and I took a few shots around the yard.
Collateral Damage
When the the first reports came out about Covid-19, I was amazed by the massive hospitals that were being built in China.
Part of my fascination with these hospitals came from my career in the construction industry. In 2019, we opened a new children’s hospital in Saskatchewan. It took twenty five years to ‘plan’, design and build the facility. If we were going to require a new Covid-19 hospital, it would not be built in ten days.
The other part of my fascination was the number of doctors, health professionals, and support staff who would work in these massive hospitals. I wondered who was taking care of all of the people who would typically require health services. In most countries, certainly in Canada, there is not an overabundance of medical personnel. I wondered who could possibly be taking care of all the ‘regular’ patients.
My husband and I are fortunate in that we do not need medical intervention on a regular basis. We both have health issues which are generally controlled by our regular prescription drugs. I could be magnanimous in worrying about ‘others’.
I did think it was prudent to self isolate for the duration. I have asthma and I had pneumonia in February. At my post pneumonia check-up, I had been diagnosed with COPD. It made sense to to avoid a respiratory virus, even though I was feeling okay. A few days of warm sunny weather in April and I felt really good!
In the latter part of April, our monsoon season arrived. Suddenly, I was struggling with the humidity. I checked out the website for our health clinic and it seemed to be business as usual. (We have had few documented cases of Covid -19 in our province). Still, I was hesitant to call for an appointment as I balanced the risk of contracting the virus versus the struggle to breathe.
When I did call, I found that the clinic was booking phone consultations. That made sense. It kept the doctors safe so they could continue to help their patients and it kept vulnerable patients safe. I requested a consultation and my doctor called a few minutes later. After a lengthy chat, he prescribed a new inhaler. He also made a call to a respiratory therapist to see if he could set up an in-person appointment for me. Unfortunately, therapists were on the long list of health providers who were not seeing patients. I tried the new inhaler and it helped a little, but it was not a great fix. On my follow up call to my doctor, he sent me for blood tests to rule out heart and/or kidney issues. The tests came back fine. He called the respiratory therapist again. They are to start seeing patients later in May and they will no doubt have a lengthy list of established clients to see. In the meantime, I wait.
I know, this condition will not be fatal. (- at least not any time soon.) I know getting stressed will just make breathing more difficult, so I focus on relaxing. I take short walks with Kat when it is not raining. I continue to do what I can – cooking, cleaning and laundry. I know it could be worse, but this is not fun. Every breath is a challenge – no effort is small. A short walk, a few stairs, lifting anything – and my heart is racing as I fight to breathe. I sit down and there is a weight on my chest. It feels like I am suffocating. It is exhausting.
I am grateful that I have access to my doctor. Grateful for the support and care he has provided despite his limitations. I feel for anyone who is waiting for appointments, tests, procedures, treatments, operations, and therapy. It is unavoidable right now but it is still difficult. I know.
I hope the worst of this pandemic will soon be behind us. I hope that we can soon be on the path to a new normal where people can send their kids back to school, get back to work, and once again have access to the services we rely on. Life will never be the same after Covid-19, but I look forward to the day when it is functional.
Out and About
Dan and I worked in the yard on Saturday. (Dan did most of the work but I am pretty sure that as his spouse I am entitled to half the credit.) Anyway, we decided to take a drive yesterday as a reward for all of ‘our’ effort.
We made it home to have a slice of the most amazing salted caramel cake. Dan went shopping on Saturday morning and he drove ten blocks out of his way to go to the Co-op to get it for me. It was so worth it!
Signs of Spring
We had a couple of warmish days and a few spring showers. If we do not blow away today, we could be feeling like spring in no time!
April Showers
It is cold and miserable today but I am glad to see the rain. I cannot wait for the grass to turn green, the leaves to cover the trees and mostly the dust and snow mould to be washed away.
For the Love of Elephants
For my second Christmas, my parents gave me a fluffy stuffed elephant. They may have been trying to insinuate something. I was a bit fluffy myself in those days.
Forty years later, I started to seriously accumulate elephants. It began when my father-in-law passed away and I inherited my late mother-in-law’s elephants.
My husband, children and grandchildren started buying me elephants.
I have another seventy or so elephants right now. I have garden elephants, stuffed elephants, stone elephants – even a crystal elephant. I will share more pictures of my elephant friends in future posts.
Feeling Fine – Really!
I had no idea how detrimental my job had gotten to be to my health. Between the stress and the dust, it just wore me down gradually to the point where I had no idea how miserable I felt.
Due to concerns regarding Covid-19, I took sick leave on March 20th. It has been just a few days over a month. Fortunately, I have dodged the virus while I built up my immunity and my health in general.
The weather has been sunny and warm the last few days. I have spent a lot of time puttering around the yard, walking Kat, and generally relaxing.
I have also spent considerable time catching up on housework. I always did the basics but I just did not have the time or energy to tackle the deep clean projects. So far, I have cleaned all of the kitchen and porch cupboards, defrosted the freezer and fridge, wiped down the livingroom walls, cleaned the ceiling fans and scrubbed the floors.
Today while Dan was at work, I took down the window blinds in our bedroom, washed them in the bathtub, took them outside to dry and wiped down the bedroom walls. When I was done, I scrubbed the bathtub, took Kat for a walk, came home to make her a big batch of food and made our supper. I cannot believe I was able to do all that in one afternoon! A month ago, there is no way I would have had the strength to take the blinds down much less anything else.
Needless to say, I am pumped that I have come this far! It is so great not to have to struggle for every breath. It is so nice not to feel exhausted. I haven’t felt this well for years.😊
Earth Day 2020
I had every intention of writing a blog yesterday to honor Earth Day 2020. However, it was such a beautiful spring day that I spent the day cleaning out flower beds, sweeping patios, walking the dog and starting a few more bedding plants. Today, I am going to plant some lettuce, radishes and onions. With luck we have seen the last of any major snow storms for this season.
This morning I am relaxing on our patio looking up at our spruce tree. When I moved in here twenty years ago, this tree was no more than a foot tall. Dan’s Mother had brought it over and helped him plant it before I knew him and just days before she passed away. This tree was her final gift to him so obviously it is very special to him, and to me as well.
Today our little tree stands about forty feet tall and a good thrifty feet across. Dan has to trim it back every second year now so we can get down our walk and out our gate. It is home to numerous birds and a stopping off point for the occasional squirrel.
In a few weeks, the trees on either side of us will have their new leaves, the grass will be green, our vegetables will be growing and our flowers will start blooming.
After a long Saskatchewan winter, every warm spring day should be celebrated as Earth Day!
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 