screech

It was bound to happen sooner or later… yesterday morning after increasingly grumbly rumbles followed by an ungodly scream my treadmill screeched to a halt…

I was heartbroken! What used to be known as the dread-mill turned into the eager-mill or if not eager at least appreciated. Actually I have come to crave my daily steps. I love that I can slow down the pace and lower the incline for an easy walk or I can crank it up to challenge myself.

Carm was quick to take it apart only to discover that it was nothing obvious and likely a burnt out bearing in the motor… so we got our stuff together and headed into the city for a new one.

Since we'd had such a great experience with this one (purchased in 2002), we went to the same store and may have even had the same salesman!

We didn't do much humming and hawing as the salesman was able to quickly walk us through the pros and cons of each brand. We zeroed into 2 of them and decided to go with the one that has a bigger motor. 

Still waiting for a delivery date which is going to break my streak of no missed days yet this year… which I feel physical pain about! Luckily we have an exercise bike that I use regularly but only for 10 minutes… I can see how far I can ride… which turned out to be only 10 minutes! It's harder to keep going when I'm tired 😩 

Chapter 54 Cato and Bailey See a Robin

There was suddenly a lot of excitement in the house one afternoon. Everyone had been quietly napping when Laura called out “There's a robin! and there's a second one!”. This was surely a sign of spring so everyone felt a bit of a lift - soon they'd be able to go outside. 

Grace told everyone about the robin that used to nest on the downspout on the deck. She hoped that the robins that Laura just saw would not go there as they sometimes scared her when she was outside but she said it was interesting when the new babies came out of the nest. She wondered what it would have been like if she had hatched in a nest. Cato thought that living in a high nest might not be so great especially when it was raining - she didn't like to be outside in the rain. Bailey agreed, especially since he didn't want to eat worms.

https://youtu.be/yg-psB99tRQ?si=dgHms4-DYng1izUc (Rockn Robin Bobby Day)

Laura took the birds to the window with the bird feeder so that they could see some of the other birds. Everyone was amazed at how yellow the gold finches were getting. It seemed strange to the parrots that they could change colour. Cato wished that she had more of the red feathers for the summer. The parrots all agreed that they would like the moulting season to be over!

It's been ages since I last wrote… I'm still dragging myself around but am starting to come out the other side! There have been lots of days just existing… 

Last Tuesday some of the family gathered at my parents to ’celebrate’ Graham's heavenly birthday. He would have been 48. Monday I had my annual mammogram which was all clear! I don't think about it often but a ribbon of fear wound around my gut as I waited for the results. Our dog groomer just got diagnosed with breast cancer - she's probably not even 40 yet and has 4 children, the oldest only 12 or 13. My heart aches for her… I feel guilty that I had it so easy when others have had a tough journey.

A few of my friends are going through hard things, much harder than anything I have gone through so it feels entitled to complain about my misbehaving brain. I wonder how I would even survive their challenges without doing myself in yet they all soldier on like heroes.

Since we were almost next door we dropped into see Trudie and Leo after my mammogram. Then later in the day took Kari out for supper for her birthday 🎂 

Last week Pat came for supper and a marathon of movies one night. Another week and a half and she'll be here for 9 nights while we enjoy ourselves in Rome! Excited! I've started packing 🧳… it's not at all like packing for a cruise where I seemed to need 3 unique outfits for each day! That's a lot of clothes that I won't need!

Awesome!

“all the snow is gone”

“dogs curled against me on a rainy day”

“crispy tofu with Frank's”

“finding a treadmill right away”