into the gloom

 'They' say that November is the darkest month of the year but this year October is in the running - so many cloudy days. Of course the first two days of November are dreary so perhaps it's going to get worse :-(

The sun shone for the whole day Tuesday :-) which was great as Mom and I were in and out of the car a bunch of times… It was a busy day for Mom with radiation and a bunch of other related appointments at the hospital, and we even managed to shoehorn in some retail therapy at the thrift store (we both brought home some treasures!). Once you get into the system, the cancer centre supports your journey with dieticians, speech therapists, nurses, audiologists, counselling, etc. There are handouts and videos. It's a hard slog for sure, but they do everything they can to ease the discomforts.

The day started at 6am with me freaking out about how dark it was and the heavy frost on the road… I don't drive in the dark and have slight ptsd about slippery roads… but I made it and it wasn't so bad. Luckily the moon was almost full and hadn't set yet so it wasn't pitch dark. It may not seem impressive, but for me it was a huge deal and the pit of fear in my stomach was real! I reminded myself that other people can do it, and surely I'm not THAT disabled! And so I did it :-)

By the time I got home just after 5pm I was exhausted and happy to have beef stew leftovers for supper :-)  No yorkshire pudding but it was delicious. I still have some leftover gravy so tonight we'll have black-eyed pea burgers and fries with gravy.

I had plans yesterday to give Lupa a much needed haircut but decided that she needed a bath first so into the tub she went. She puts up with it fairly well (although what choice does she have) and is now squeaky clean and ready for a haircut Friday. I figured two assaults in one day was enough - a bath and getting their nails clipped are nobody's favourite activities. 

The other day I mentioned that I made chickpea brownies to take to Trudie's… I'm still snacking on them :-)  I think they make great breakfast food and a good way to get some legumes into my stomach! Who can feel guilty when they are eating beans! (and isn't chocolate a bean too).  

I read this quote: “Grief is the price we pay for love”. It took a while, but now there is only a hint of sadness in my smile when I see photos of Spike. Our little grey shrimp hasn't taken his place in my heart but the laughter that she brings to our lives everyday is a ray of sunshine.

November second!!! Almost time to switch house decor from fall to winter :-( On Sunday after the time change I'll put out all the fairy lights - I love the tiny points of light on a long winter night.

Awesome!

“spending the day with my Mom with a few visits with Dad & Graham thrown in for good measure”

“a belated birthday gift from Graham - purple almost pink!”

“apres bath puppy zoomies”

“Carm vacuumed all the nooks and crannies while I was gone!”

“getting home after a long day - gate open and pets already fed”

“Lupa running in the long grass in the hay field - she bounds and leaps and makes us laugh”

harsh white light

 I could tell before the curtain was fully open (and my eyes for that matter!),  that overnight winter sent a frosty tendril to dust the world with snow. Ugh. The harsh white light was an assault after months of golden light warmed by the green of the grass and more recently the amber glow of fall leaves. I was slightly prepared for the white ground in that some photo memories over the last few days showed snow in previous years around the end of October, but I held out a weak hope that this year, winter would forsake us. Alas.

The sodden grey skies are threatening to drag me under so I've been having to dredge up energy and motivation… oh, it was sunny on Saturday (and gosh I had so much more energy), but leading up to and following, the grey threatens to engulf me. 

Every day we've inched forward towards having all the hatches battened down for winter. Last Thursday we got the garlic planted - all 160 cloves! Carm did the bulk of the work sticking them into the ground while I stood around giving moral support and staging cloves. We had to break apart most of this year's bulbs to glean the biggest cloves - they were harder to find than last year - but it's in the ground and none too soon!

Friday we putzed around some more - I made myself get into the kitchen to make a beef stew for supper along with yorkshire pudding, etc. Trudie & Leo joined us for an early evening gathering around the table. It's dark at supper time again so out came the batteries for my candles and we reset the wifi bulbs for more light… Tonight I might add some real candles to the tablescape for a bit more ambience.

Saturday was sunny and warm! I took the opportunity to wash all the surfaces inside the camper (although to be honest I didn't get out the step stool so if you are really tall you will see dust). Then, with a flourish that bordered on sadness, closed the slides for another winter. While I was doing that, Carm was busy putting the pool to bed.

We got everything done in time to make a lentil soup - Cathey came for a sunny lunch (lemony lentil soup & naan). I made a mistake with Lupa when Cathey arrived. Lupa has been doing better when guests come, but Saturday she was way over threshold. Usually we head to the kitchen island while I finish up cooking which gives Lupa a chance to calm down, but Cathey went to the sofa and sat down - unfortunately Lupa was still hysterical so jumped all over her… lesson learned - no sitting on the sofa until she has burned through her excitement. It usually only takes a few minutes for her brain to return to normal.

I had a bit of leftover energy on Sunday from the sun the day before and since we were going to Trudie & Leo's for supper I wanted to make something to bring. I started off making walnut bread but then decided that chickpea brownies would be better for Leo. I hadn't made them for years! They are sweetened with ripe banana and medjool dates (add a few more dates next time) and instead of flour uses chickpeas. They turned out moist and delicious - a semi healthy treat :-) and maybe good breakfast food!

I honestly don't know how I would cope if I didn't like to cook, but I need to spend more time making healthy food rather than bread and cake! Since mid September I've gained 4 pounds :-( I read that it's not unusual to gain weight in the fall and it is in fact programmed into our DNA to eat more to get ready for a long winter hibernation. Excuse? Perhaps! Time to surf for plant-based recipes.

Tonight we are snuggled on the sofa after a warm supper of leftover soup and toasted walnut bread with stilton cheese and a glass of bubbles to celebrate/commiserate (?) being ready for winter and the first snow. 😀 

Awesome!

“grilled cheese sandwiches on day old homemade bread - so crispy and saturated with butter”

“everything in the camper done”

“garlic planted!”

“lots of company”

“little grey dog snuggled up against my legs on a cold morning”

“getting on the treadmill for 20 minutes”

“blue glasses embellished with gold”

wooden you know it

Our deck guy John left just before lunch today - two and a half days of sawing and screwing and now we have a rejuvenated front deck and better stairs on the back deck. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out but there was some drama yesterday when it looked like the stairs in the front would block the garage door. Luckily, John tilted and shortened so all is functional.

We haven't decided on railings yet, but I'm thinking big black pots with trees in them for the upper deck and a slim black handrail on the stairs. 

The rain spat down all morning but luckily no downpour as John and Roy were outside with electric saws! But blah… so grey… so bleak… I had invited Kari but she couldn't come so I sent out a quick message to Jo Ellen and Don - yup :-)  We gathered around the table with big bowls of soup and fresh bread before the afternoon was out. A bright spot to an otherwise grey day.

Carm bought the dogs a new toy a few weeks ago - it's a giant flamingo that is about as long as Lupa and weighs half as much. They love it - especially Lupa. She runs up and down the hall with her toys, bouncing onto the end of the bed before running back up the hall… ha ha! The first few times she tried it with the flamingo she didn't make it all the way up. She was persistent and by the end of the day was able to drag that thing up with her!

Monday John & Roy arrived first thing and got to work right away - I hung around the house ready to answer questions while Carm ran back and forth to the lumber store. I made a big pot of soup and invited Pat for a simple supper. Tuesday I went into town to take Mom to her first radiation treatment. And there's another week almost done.

Awesome!

“back steps”

“front deck finally refurbished”

“last minute lunches”

“Wendy's frosty”