Bill’s Blood Work, Windy Walk, Time for Mom

Priceville and Durham, Ontario

I was a bit befuddled this morning, Tuesday Apr. 23^rd when I got up at 7:00. I knew Bill was up but all I could hear was the strong wind blowing our Mexican name sign around. It hangs on the front of the Moryde hitch. It swings to and fro when the winds get up over 10 mph. It was with a sad heart that I got dressed, thinking that it wouldn’t be a nice walking day.

Any hopes this will turn into a nice day?

When I came downstairs, the room was in semi darkness, only the early dawn light coming in from the opened blinds. No Bill. Hence the cause for my befuddlement. Where was he? Our cups were set out to make coffee and tea but I had no indication where he was. The shed doors were all closed, Black Beauty was out back but as I was about to text him a ‘where are you?’ message, I saw that Ptooties was gone.

Heading down the lane with the wind at my back

More than the day dawned, my brain dawned too. He was going to get blood work done this morning at the LifeLabs in Hanover. I just didn’t realize he was going so early but that is typical of him. Get ‘er done! I checked the temperature and was happy to see that it was a warm 52F. The wind wasn’t about to deter me so I headed north on Baptist Church Road this time. Past the Baptist Church, of course, then down the hill.

Going down the hill to the 'dog farm'
aka the farm with the dogs

I could feel the muscles that seemed taut on the first stretch loosening up as I went to the farmhouse with the dogs. When I noticed the gate was wide open, although I heard no barking, I quickly turned around. They always have that gate to stop them when they run out. I don’t know the dogs at all so prefer to not test the waters today. Walking back up the hill, even with Nancy’s baby steps, I felt those muscles again. Raking did take a lot out of me, I’m getting old!!

I couldn't capture him on camera but a muskrat swam across the pond
when I walked by

On the way back, it started to spit but I figured a little bit of rain won’t hurt me. The sky to the west was quite dark and threatening but it didn’t amount to much yet. When I got back, Clemson was still sleeping in our bed. He was up at 2:30 again so the call to piddle was nestled under the covers with him. It was around 9 when he finally made an appearance. Bill returned around 9:45 after his errands and picking up some straggler mail from Donna.

The sky to the west brought us thunder and lightning
while I was visiting Mom

We had breakfast and he sat to do our Income Tax and I went to visit Mom. She wasn’t in her room and that always puts us on alert as we go searching for her. Who knows where she may wander to, sometimes the staff doesn’t know either.  I found her at the n/w wing, sitting in the chair there looking out the window at the children in the school yard. She was very deep in thought and I was able to walk up to her side without her stirring at first. She was very pleased to see me, as usual, and instead of going to her room, I sat in the other chair with her.

Bill prepped our drinks before he slipped out this morning

We had a very enjoyable visit for an hour. It was enjoyable for Mom because she had a visitor. It was enjoyable for me because it is a special time that I will cherish. She seems delicate to me which was a hard thing to fathom after the strong personality she harboured of my growing years. There are very obvious changes since I left in October; naming the simplest of things results in conversations that make no sense at all. It breaks my heart but I play along. We talked about the storms, her Aunts, Granny and her Mom and then we talked about knitting and crocheting. 

It kind of makes me sad but at the same time, at least she is getting out
of her room and going for walks when she wants to

I got out my funky tripod and took selfies of us on my phone. It was quite hilarious and the pictures show how much fun we had. She’d point to the picture and say ‘which one is me?’ My answer was ‘the pretty one’ which set her off in a new fit of laughter and a ‘pffft’. The time went quite quickly, really, as sometimes it can drag, and we found her walker at the nurse’s station before walking to the elevator.

Saying goodbye was easier than some visits, she didn’t appear sad nor did she ask if I was staying for lunch. She gave me a hug and kiss and then gave me another kiss ‘for your man’. Such a flirt. As I walked out, the waving arms kept my attention (and many others in the dining room) but I still slipped behind the pillar to take Aunt Mary’s hand and say hello to her. When I went out the door, one last wave to Mom, and I noticed the rain was light again.

I was trying to set up my tripod and phone and it took a few hilarious tries

Bill had finished our I.T. and presented me with not so good news that this year, we both owe. I guess we make too much! LOL We’ll make some adjustments and hope next year to see a difference. No point in crying over spilt milk or owed taxes in this case. The rain was an on and off thing all afternoon but during a break, I walked down to retrieve today’s 1^st mail delivery of the season! I still got wet, it was just ‘invisible’ rain.

All things to do with her dementia went out of our heads
and these two pictures will be treasured forever
With Mom, I can always get goofy 💓

It wasn’t a cold day at first but it was a damp day so I made myself a tea and we cut some cheddar for a snack. Then it was a good time to sit with our books. The rest of the afternoon was quiet, indoors, and we watched as the temperature dropped and then dropped some more. We went from 16C/60F to 3C/38F and I hear London got up to 19C before it did a nose dive as well. Bill began putting things together for his work at CanAm and at 5 I began making supper.

And then we got serious
My beautiful Mom and I
It is a little blurry, as they always seem to be on my phone camera but I love it

I made up a couple of meat and cheese buns, a breakfast meal to warm up and a supper meal to warm as well. Tonight, we had straight cut fries and pollock for supper. I’m not thrilled with the pollock filets, next time vowing to find loins instead. These taste fine but are so thin that they fall apart in the pan. The fries, on the other hand, were absolutely delicious from the air fryer. We don’t have them often but once in a while, they are a real treat.

Yummy supper

We cleaned up dishes and watched some of our Tuesday night programs. When I posted this blog, we dug into the Black Cherry ice cream. The winds rocked us around and eventually to sleep. It was a fine day, not a beautiful day, but just fine. I hope yours was the same.

Thank you for the visit today.