Just a quick post before I log back in to work for the last half of my day, which happens to be the last day of this week ... finally. It's been a long, stressful week.
I found out at the start of the week that my Mum was in the hospital from her long-term care facility, with several different medical issues, all of which they felt might have been contributing to her sudden severe confusion. They've been treating a couple of different infections, and when I spoke to Dad yesterday he said she's improved greatly, and may even be transferred back to the care facility today. Fingers crossed!
Lots of stress and tears during the week, though. Worried about Mum, worried about how poor Dad is holding up during all of this. Boy, do I need a vacation! Well, if I SOMEHOW managed to get the correct numbers on the lottery last night ... vacation here we come!
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Sunday, 23 September 2012
Doh!
Popped up to the range this morning to go archery practice, and realized we'd forgotten that Sundays are skeet shooting, which means that the archery range is closed (they have this thing about archers getting hit with pieces of clay pigeon shrapnel, it seems!). We did get both bows put together, though (pair of compound recurve bows, both 60 inches, one is 50 pounds and the other (mine) 45, so both legal for hunting once we get good), and tomorrow morning we'll head back up and actually string the bows for the first time.
Looking forward to doing target practice. It's been years since I've had the opportunity to do archery (I believe I've shot bow on two different occasions, if memory serves), but now that we have the equipment and the membership, we can go up any time the archery range is open and shoot for free. Plus, during winter they hold archery indoors. Cool!
I do hope they catch whoever has been shooting broad-head arrows into the targets, though. There was a sign up about it, so once they catch the perpetrator red-handed they'll never be allowed back. It's so silly to be shooting broad-head arrows at the targets, especially when there are special sand pit sections where you can practice shooting with broad-head!
Anyhow, Maxx is now off to play D&D with friends ... I keep wishing we thought our house was clean enough to have the group here, but that's what comes of two folks keeping different hours and long days. I'll be finishing off the dog food and feeding the dogs, then doing up the last few dishes and seeing if I have a recipe for nectarine jam, then getting that on the go and hopefully also making apple sause. Dad suggested that we pick some of the crab apples from the tree in the park next door and use them to make apple jelly. Need to see if I can find a recipe for that, too!
Looking forward to doing target practice. It's been years since I've had the opportunity to do archery (I believe I've shot bow on two different occasions, if memory serves), but now that we have the equipment and the membership, we can go up any time the archery range is open and shoot for free. Plus, during winter they hold archery indoors. Cool!
I do hope they catch whoever has been shooting broad-head arrows into the targets, though. There was a sign up about it, so once they catch the perpetrator red-handed they'll never be allowed back. It's so silly to be shooting broad-head arrows at the targets, especially when there are special sand pit sections where you can practice shooting with broad-head!
Anyhow, Maxx is now off to play D&D with friends ... I keep wishing we thought our house was clean enough to have the group here, but that's what comes of two folks keeping different hours and long days. I'll be finishing off the dog food and feeding the dogs, then doing up the last few dishes and seeing if I have a recipe for nectarine jam, then getting that on the go and hopefully also making apple sause. Dad suggested that we pick some of the crab apples from the tree in the park next door and use them to make apple jelly. Need to see if I can find a recipe for that, too!
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Sunday Shoot
We have our membership up at the Nanaimo Fish and Game club now (just the paper carbon copy at this point, it will take some time for the cards to be issued and arrive), so it sounds like we'll be going up on Sunday to start practising with the bows.
I thought we still had to glue the ends into the arrows, so that we'd be able to attached the field points (and be able to take those points off at a later time to put on hunting heads, down the road), but Maxx says the gentlemen who cut the arrows to length for us had put the ends on. Now I need to go and check, just to make sure we don't end up with extra work to do on Sunday ... after all, we will need to put both bows together!
I thought we still had to glue the ends into the arrows, so that we'd be able to attached the field points (and be able to take those points off at a later time to put on hunting heads, down the road), but Maxx says the gentlemen who cut the arrows to length for us had put the ends on. Now I need to go and check, just to make sure we don't end up with extra work to do on Sunday ... after all, we will need to put both bows together!
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Work Ahead
Have the canning (pickling) salt we need, and the carrots and beets that Dad gave us, along with more jars ... now we just need to process the carrots and beats and can them. For the carrots, my recipe states that once the carrots are boiled and boiling water poured over them in the jars, they then need to process for 210 minutes in the boiling water canner ... so this may not happen during my work week, as it will take up too much of my lunch hour. Hopefully the carrots are still okay come Sunday, when I will have a chance to process them.
Monday, 17 September 2012
Hard Visit
Such a quick trip up to Penticton and back this weekend. Glad to see my Dad and be able to get him some groceries, trying to make sure he's got back up food in the house and doesn't have to spend much on groceries (I don't know how anyone could spend $28 in one month for food, even without pets to provide for as well).
Hard to see Mum, though. She was really very confused on the Saturday evening. She was in bed when we got there (they took her straight to bed after taking 3 hours to eat her dinner, as she was just sitting slumped in her chair). I don't think she really knew who I was, and she looked so different from even just three months ago.
On Sunday she was a bit more coherent, and did manage to eat most of her salad in I think about an hour (even though we'd obviously shown up with lunch just as she'd managed to finish her breakfast). We did mange to pick up a sippy cup with handles and a straw, as one of the attendants indicated this would be much easier for her to hold and to drink with, so hopefully she likes it and finds it easier to use. Dad knows where to go to pick them up now (and luckily we were able to find one without baby designs on it).
The nurses actually think Mum may have had a stroke, but they're not 100% sure. She's been taken off some medication and has improved a bit, but apparently this big change has mostly taken place in the past two weeks with her sudden drop in mobility and, more importantly, cognitive ability.
It's so hard to see these types of changes, particularly when during the last visit one of the attendants indicated that she'd likely be there with them for 15 years or more. Does she actually have that long stretching ahead of her with this being the best she's able to hope for in the way of quality of life, or has that time-frame suddenly changed?
Hard to see Mum, though. She was really very confused on the Saturday evening. She was in bed when we got there (they took her straight to bed after taking 3 hours to eat her dinner, as she was just sitting slumped in her chair). I don't think she really knew who I was, and she looked so different from even just three months ago.
On Sunday she was a bit more coherent, and did manage to eat most of her salad in I think about an hour (even though we'd obviously shown up with lunch just as she'd managed to finish her breakfast). We did mange to pick up a sippy cup with handles and a straw, as one of the attendants indicated this would be much easier for her to hold and to drink with, so hopefully she likes it and finds it easier to use. Dad knows where to go to pick them up now (and luckily we were able to find one without baby designs on it).
The nurses actually think Mum may have had a stroke, but they're not 100% sure. She's been taken off some medication and has improved a bit, but apparently this big change has mostly taken place in the past two weeks with her sudden drop in mobility and, more importantly, cognitive ability.
It's so hard to see these types of changes, particularly when during the last visit one of the attendants indicated that she'd likely be there with them for 15 years or more. Does she actually have that long stretching ahead of her with this being the best she's able to hope for in the way of quality of life, or has that time-frame suddenly changed?
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Done ... For Now
Just finished processing the last of the plums ... at least the last of the ones picked by the gleaners last Sunday. We could probably get a bunch more plums off the tree as more are coming ripe, but I won't be doing any more harvesting until next week at the earliest, since we won't be here to process this weekend.
So, for the one giant bucket and one ice-cream bucket of plums we kept (one giant bucket to the neighbours and one ice-cream bucket to a friend), we got: 4 1/2 litres of plum/nectarine sauce (it was supposed to be jam but ended up pretty runny); 2 litres of plum jam (it really did turn into jam); 3 litres of stewed plums; 2 litres of plum halves packed in syrup.
Maxx also did up a batch of cold picked eggs, for 3 half-litre jars.
Since we plan on picking up some fruit on Sunday on our way back from the Okanagan, it's a good thing I have Monday off to start some more canning. We'll have a well-stocked larder for the fall/winter with all the canned fruit, but it's definitely a lot of work ... much easier to do if I didn't have to squeeze it into my lunch hours while working 9-9!
So, for the one giant bucket and one ice-cream bucket of plums we kept (one giant bucket to the neighbours and one ice-cream bucket to a friend), we got: 4 1/2 litres of plum/nectarine sauce (it was supposed to be jam but ended up pretty runny); 2 litres of plum jam (it really did turn into jam); 3 litres of stewed plums; 2 litres of plum halves packed in syrup.
Maxx also did up a batch of cold picked eggs, for 3 half-litre jars.
Since we plan on picking up some fruit on Sunday on our way back from the Okanagan, it's a good thing I have Monday off to start some more canning. We'll have a well-stocked larder for the fall/winter with all the canned fruit, but it's definitely a lot of work ... much easier to do if I didn't have to squeeze it into my lunch hours while working 9-9!
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Busy!
On Sunday the gleaners came and picked our plum trees in the front yard. They got 290 pounds of plums, and we had them leave about 50 pounds for us. Gave one of the big buckets to our neighbors across the road, as they are always so generous with their garden produce, and gave an ice-cream bucket to a friend who is on a tight budget ... she'll be making fruit leather.
Sunday afternoon I tried my hand for the first time at making jam. Plum / nectarine jam, to be precise. I didn't do the best job as I added water which belonged in a different recipe, and ended up making the "jam" more like a sauce that would be tasty poured over ice-cream or perhaps on cereal. Maxx used it yesterday as a glaze on his steak for dinner and said it was really good.
Today, I cut up a bunch of plums and am STILL drying them in the oven ... so I don't think I'll be doing any more drying soon. After I got them in the oven (this is at like 1:30pm earlier today), I did up a batch of just plum jam (plums, water, sugar, lemon juice), which didn't take nearly as long to cook (cutting up the plums took almost an hour) and does seem to be jelling nicely. However, 2 1/2 hours work to get 2 litres of jam!
Tomorrow Maxx is off, so hopefully he'll be awake on my lunch break and able to assist me with processing more of the plums. We need to get them all jammed or preserved before they rot away! At least so far we have 4 1/2 litres of plum/nectarine jam, 2 litres of plum jam, a tray of drying plums, and still have most of one of the big buckets of plums left to preserve.
We'll be making a dash up to Penticton on Saturday, back home on Sunday ... so we plan on hitting at least one of the fruit stands on our way home, to pick up some different fruit to process when we get home. Good thing I have the Monday off, as I believe I will be BUSY ... and will need to purchase some more jars, too!
Sunday afternoon I tried my hand for the first time at making jam. Plum / nectarine jam, to be precise. I didn't do the best job as I added water which belonged in a different recipe, and ended up making the "jam" more like a sauce that would be tasty poured over ice-cream or perhaps on cereal. Maxx used it yesterday as a glaze on his steak for dinner and said it was really good.
Today, I cut up a bunch of plums and am STILL drying them in the oven ... so I don't think I'll be doing any more drying soon. After I got them in the oven (this is at like 1:30pm earlier today), I did up a batch of just plum jam (plums, water, sugar, lemon juice), which didn't take nearly as long to cook (cutting up the plums took almost an hour) and does seem to be jelling nicely. However, 2 1/2 hours work to get 2 litres of jam!
Tomorrow Maxx is off, so hopefully he'll be awake on my lunch break and able to assist me with processing more of the plums. We need to get them all jammed or preserved before they rot away! At least so far we have 4 1/2 litres of plum/nectarine jam, 2 litres of plum jam, a tray of drying plums, and still have most of one of the big buckets of plums left to preserve.
We'll be making a dash up to Penticton on Saturday, back home on Sunday ... so we plan on hitting at least one of the fruit stands on our way home, to pick up some different fruit to process when we get home. Good thing I have the Monday off, as I believe I will be BUSY ... and will need to purchase some more jars, too!
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Vet Day
So today Pippin, Jinx, and Trouble had their annual check up and shots, plus since Pippin is 15 years old and has started to lose weight a bit, they thought he should have blood and urine tests to check for liver and kidney function, to be safe. He needs to start going in every 6 months for a check up, just to be on the safe side. As the vet said, for a cat at that age, 6 months is like 7 years for us, so it's better to keep an eye on things and try to catch any changes that need to be addressed.
Fleas have recently made an appearance in the household, so we also picked up Revolution for all the cats and dogs.
Good thing we didn't need to pick up any cat food right now, since even with our standing 10% discount (long-time multiple pet customers, they love us), the bill was just over $800.
Just fed the dogs, and had to pull out another container of their food from the fridge. We've started making part of their food, simply lean ground beef (about 5 lbs) cooked up and mixed with 2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables and 3 cups of rice (before cooking). Mixes up three large plastic containers, each of which lasts for about a week. We feed them above 1/2 cup of this home-made food along with some dry kibble. Angel has actually lost 1/5 of a pound in the past 2 weeks, and she's definitely seeming more sprightly and energetic! Everyone really (and I mean REALLY) love this food. It actually looks good enough that if we didn't have anything in the house to eat, we could heat it up and eat it ourselves!
Got some foam pads today to use when camping, with covers, so we should be set, no longer needing any air mattress. We're hoping to be able to roll up the pads with the sleeping bags, making them essentially into a bedroll that can be tied onto the bottom of our packs.
Hopefully Maxx will feel up to getting up soon, and we can head out and get some more errands done. He does want to head back out to Coombs so we can check out the military surplus store again. He's hoping to get another pair of combat boots if they still have his size in stock (hopefully still at the $10/pair price), particularly as the first day he wore them he had them on for something like 18 hours, without his foot starting to hurt. Sign of good footwear! I'm wearing mine right now (with jeans, not with sweats, as Maxx says, that's just not a good look ... more like a crazy look!)
Fleas have recently made an appearance in the household, so we also picked up Revolution for all the cats and dogs.
Good thing we didn't need to pick up any cat food right now, since even with our standing 10% discount (long-time multiple pet customers, they love us), the bill was just over $800.
Just fed the dogs, and had to pull out another container of their food from the fridge. We've started making part of their food, simply lean ground beef (about 5 lbs) cooked up and mixed with 2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables and 3 cups of rice (before cooking). Mixes up three large plastic containers, each of which lasts for about a week. We feed them above 1/2 cup of this home-made food along with some dry kibble. Angel has actually lost 1/5 of a pound in the past 2 weeks, and she's definitely seeming more sprightly and energetic! Everyone really (and I mean REALLY) love this food. It actually looks good enough that if we didn't have anything in the house to eat, we could heat it up and eat it ourselves!
Got some foam pads today to use when camping, with covers, so we should be set, no longer needing any air mattress. We're hoping to be able to roll up the pads with the sleeping bags, making them essentially into a bedroll that can be tied onto the bottom of our packs.
Hopefully Maxx will feel up to getting up soon, and we can head out and get some more errands done. He does want to head back out to Coombs so we can check out the military surplus store again. He's hoping to get another pair of combat boots if they still have his size in stock (hopefully still at the $10/pair price), particularly as the first day he wore them he had them on for something like 18 hours, without his foot starting to hurt. Sign of good footwear! I'm wearing mine right now (with jeans, not with sweats, as Maxx says, that's just not a good look ... more like a crazy look!)
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Breezy Breezy
Another very breezy day here in Nanaimo ... curtain has been fluttering away in the bedroom with the breezes gusting away.
We're definitely into cooler weather, but it's been nice and sunny still, which is lovely. Hopefully it will still be like this on the weekend, particularly as there is no D&D game scheduled so I have Maxx on both days.
We have three cats going to the vet for their shots Saturday morning (assuming we are able to get them all inside at the right time!), and then on Sunday afternoon we have the gleaners coming to pick the plum trees in the front yard. We'll be putting a bucket aside to give to the neighbours across the road, and plan on making some plum jam (to then can with our new canning kit!).
We're definitely into cooler weather, but it's been nice and sunny still, which is lovely. Hopefully it will still be like this on the weekend, particularly as there is no D&D game scheduled so I have Maxx on both days.
We have three cats going to the vet for their shots Saturday morning (assuming we are able to get them all inside at the right time!), and then on Sunday afternoon we have the gleaners coming to pick the plum trees in the front yard. We'll be putting a bucket aside to give to the neighbours across the road, and plan on making some plum jam (to then can with our new canning kit!).
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Heal Thyself!
I've been suffering from high blood pressure for a while now ... and today I figured out the most awesome cure!
1> Get a good night's sleep for the first time in a very long time (may have been impacted by the fact that just before bed I had myself a quick little ceremony to celebrate the blue moon)
2> Get up early and go to breakfast with your husband and a good friend ... lately I've been fixated on the BLT on multigrain at Smitty's, and have it either with soup (depending on what they've got on offer), or a caesar salad. Caesar for me today!
3> Get home and your husband is too tired after working graveyards to get out on the planned errands, so have a nap yourself as he's heading to bed.
4> Wake up after a few luxurious hours, and test your blood pressure ....
Down by 25 points from my last test!
1> Get a good night's sleep for the first time in a very long time (may have been impacted by the fact that just before bed I had myself a quick little ceremony to celebrate the blue moon)
2> Get up early and go to breakfast with your husband and a good friend ... lately I've been fixated on the BLT on multigrain at Smitty's, and have it either with soup (depending on what they've got on offer), or a caesar salad. Caesar for me today!
3> Get home and your husband is too tired after working graveyards to get out on the planned errands, so have a nap yourself as he's heading to bed.
4> Wake up after a few luxurious hours, and test your blood pressure ....
Down by 25 points from my last test!
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