Around the acreage

In typical spring fashion, I have been harvesting all kinds of stuff from the property and drying them in the freeze dryer so I have them available all year long.

Dandelions

White clover

The garden is growing very well. The local organic garlic is now above my waist and heading towards my shoulders... never seen the likes of it in my life!! Will be interesting to see whats happening underground when the time comes, has all its energy been spent on growing the greens or will the garlic bulbs be massive?! 

We sold our truck, long story but suffice to say that I think we'll be vehicle shopping in the fall, if not sooner. We're kind of watching whats available now.

 

We had to break him out

My Daddy

Ann and I went out to run an errand, One of those girly shopping trips that Dad had no interest in so we left him at home in his comfy chair.

We had forgotten to turn on the AC so I suggested we text Dad and ask him to do it. Well that was a bad idea…

He texted ‘ok’ to the request then moments later something gibberish. Then SOS.

We immediately headed for home while calling a neighbour we thought would be home and asked them to help Dad. 

Sure enough he had fallen. He lost a fair amount of blood from his nose and we called an ambulance. 

As he was loaded in the ambulance and Ann and I came out the door the door caught Ann’s arm somehow causing a bruise and small cut, nothing urgent but …

He arrived at the ‘Met’ hospital at 2:20pm. He then spent the next 6.5hrs in a hallway (now remember he is 81) with no food or drink but was given a warm blanket.

Because of Covid Ann was not allowed in to be with him until he got a ‘bed’, which of course didn’t happen.

Ann and I decided to break him out. Clearly he was not a triage priority and he has a pre- arranged home visit with a Dr in the am. Ann called him to see what he felt about that. 

He was in agreement so we grabbed the keys and went to get him. He came out of the hospital at 8:40pm.

Straight to Wendy’s for a chili which he loves and then home to unwind before bed.

Quite a day.

Mechanic was unable to find anything wrong with the truck. Checked batteries, alternator, starter etc and tested for a short in the wiring but came up blank. He said ‘Everything happens for a reason’.

Clearly it is not time to go yet. 

I will be here at least one more day to keep an eye on Dad and make sure he’s alright before heading off. 

I will also run the truck a few times to make sure it’s ticking properly.

Preparations

Its been a busy time preparing the truck and packing up for the trip to visit my Dad. 

my Daddy

We put a screen in front of the rad to help protect it from flying rocks (stacey's idea). 

One of the tires fixed for a slow leak and the other tires checked over as well as removing as much of Robbie as possible then organizing the tools and the like out of the way. 

Secured the spare tire in an accessible place for me, purchased full-bodied CAA, and bug screen for the windows so we can keep them out of the cab (also Stacey's idea).

Laundry has been washed and dried and now awaits ironing and packing.

I am unsure how often I will be posting during the trip but I will continue to read my morning ritual blogs.

New truck?, HouseSitting and Dentist

It doesn't seem like anything has happened so I wasn't writing but now sitting here it seems a few things have happened...

We have a tentative deal on an F350 Crew cab. It is plated in Alberta so has to be put through a safety for BC, assuming all is well -we will buy it. The next few sections all hinge on this truck.

As previously mentioned (I think) my Dad is getting married in May (*** Longime Readers: yes she did and yes he's ready, as it was a 6 year process.) in southern Ontario.

A friend of ours needs his trailer pulled out to eastern Ontario this spring.

We need to haul our belongings west from 'hell'.

So, the friend is paying us for the delivery of his trailer and we are using that to help offset the cost of the truck. Win Win.

We will drive the truck pulling the trailer to southern ontario for Dad's wedding, perhaps staying in said trailer (yet to be decided) and then drop trailer in eastern Ontario, visit with now 2 sets of friends in this area before heading further east to hell (and you thought hell was down - ha!), grabbing our belongings and coming back home to BC. Of course, each way we will undoubtedly stop in Saskatchewan to see the family...

We have also been looking into the whole 'get a new 5th wheel' thing again since we will now have an F350 to pull the bloody thing with... still very much up in the air since we've heard from plenty of RVers that dealerships will not give us what it is worth - I personally think if we can swing it it would be better to sell our current RV privately and then buy another. Trick is to find accommodation and space for our belongings in the between time. Not easy to do on this island.....

Anyway, that has really been our excitement so far this year other than the regularly scheduled Pickleball 4 times a week and dentists appointments.

I will say that we started a new 'diet'... there is an online program www.eatthismuch.com and its actually been really great. The meals are fantastic, and we've been finding ourselves looking forward to each nights dinner to see what unique dish it will be.

The program lets you set the boundaries, including all the foods you can't/won't eat, calorie intake, vegetarian vs pescatarian, etc... a wide range of options there.... it gives you the weeks plan which you can edit via drag and drop, provides you with the weeks grocery list and you just click the item on the plan and it gives you the recipe. You can also include items that you already have in your pantry and it will try to use them up.

A complete all in one meal planner. I don't like to call it a diet, we're not (well not specifically) trying to lose weight but just looking for a more balanced meal plan and this provides it. Unexpectedly, the recipes are really delicious.

I wish to request of the weather guessers to MAKE IT STOP RAINING! Thank you.

We are expecting evening wind chill temperatures in the -18C (-0.4F) range, this is not ideal when you live in a summerized RV, this is to last apparently for at least 5 nights. Daytime temps hovering in low single digits and even overnights are under -10C, must be expecting winds... I'm too fed up about the weather to even bother looking and I can't do anything about it anyway except huff in the other direction.

The rain has been falling quite consistently since at least Dec 15. The ground is saturated and if the winds do pick up then living under a bunch of 30 ft trees also will not be ideal. We will be monitoring this situation closely and should it appear necessary we will go to a hotel for a couple of days. Not the end of the world but you can see it from here. LOL

Our landlords left today for their Bermuda holiday and I am looking after the multitude (seriously about 20 of them) of Ducks, Chickens, Geese, 2 Cats and a Dragon somethingorother lizard. I am also looking after the home of one of our picklers but she returns before our landlords do so I can't winge about that.

This of course means that we will not be starting our HouseSitting travels until they return on Jan 20th. After that though..... Mama wants to go places. I have our profile all set up and some wonderful friends have given us great references, I have my eye on a couple of sits on Vancouver Island in February but need Brad's input into choosing one and he is in a world of hurt lately with a tooth that is giving him trouble, so I wait.... patiently... mostly...

Okay, anyone got a skate and a Wilson volleyball?
(We just watched Castaway again last week - love Tom Hanks).