Sunday ; Cloudy and mild.
We worked on yard and garden cleanup today. Joanne continued to work on cleaning up our front yard rock slope. I helped with the difficult removal of some Russian Sage. I removed my tomato plants. And I removed the beans from our vegetable garden. Indoors we cleaned and drained the living room air conditioner. I removed the microwave upper vent panel ... YUCK ... and Joanne cleaned it.
Joanne baked a boneless lamb shoulder for our Thanksgiving dinner tonight. And she prepared a mint sauce using fresh mint from our garden. Great dinner ! Thank you.
What am I thankful for this year ? ! ? That we live in a country with a great health care system that immediately provided me with the health care I needed to save my life a year ago.
Monday ; Thanksgiving ( Canadian )
Raining and cold. < sigh >
I did some yard cleanup and winter preparation work this morning. This afternoon we went to the swimming pool and did an exercise session. We walked Ozzie and
I returned a book to the library. I watered and turned our composter, maybe for the final time this year. I drained, cleaned and stored two of our four garden hoses.
And I spent a fair amount of time in bed with Emma, reading a book ( me ) and snoozing ( both of us ).
Tuesday ; Sunny and cool.
Today I finished removing the Russian Sage from our front yard rock slope. Joanne wanted them truly removed, so that they won't grow back. I used a reciprocating saw, and a power drill with a large bit, to cut and drill and damage the roots as much as
I could. I adjusted the air in all seven truck tires. I did some other truck preventive maintenance to get it ready for travel. Just before supper I went bicycling. BRRRRR ... getting too cold for bicycling !
WOO-HOO ... more episodes of "Highway Thru Hell".
Wednesday ; Daniel's 64th birthday
Cloudy and cool. Happy Birthday to me ! Joanne presented me with a pile of birthday gifts to unwrap over breakfast. First was a double size version of my favourite chocolate bar. Then ... some toiletries she bought on her recent trip to Winnipeg ; beeswax and honey soap, goat's milk and sage soap, beeswax and sunflower oil body lotion, goat's milk, chamomile and calendula face wash, beeswax and lemon lip balm. WOW ! There was also a wild herb smudge bundle ( to burn ) that she made herself at a "Culture Days" workshop. And ... finally ... a paper bag filled with Milkweed pods. She had planned a fun activity for us of busting open the ripe pods, harvesting the seeds with their little fluffy parachutes, and planting the seeds, to grow Milkweed flowers to attract bees and butterflies. BUT ... HA HA HA ... since she acquired the pods a week and a half ago ... they completely dried out, and burst open, leaving a small paper bag filled with Milkweed seeds on their little fluffy parachutes.
This afternoon I finalized arrangements with a trailer towing repeat client for a job on Friday. So ... we went outdoors to remove the camper off the truck. And weren't able to complete that task, because I couldn't drive the truck out from underneath the camper. Because ... the truck's two batteries are dead ! Charging them with a battery charger did not work. Jump starting the truck from our minivan did not work. Jump starting the truck from a neighbour's large diesel truck with two large batteries did not work. I spent the evening shopping online for batteries. And found what I need ... immediately ... at NAPA in Oliver. NAPA in Keremeos and Penticton don't have stock immediately available. Guess I'll be heading to Oliver early tomorrow morning !
Before supper we walked down into our park's burn pile area and scattered all the Milkweed seed pods, throwing them into the air and letting the wind carry them away on their little parachutes. HA HA HA ... what fun ! Thank you for such a unique birthday present, my dear. And then ... I burned the herb bundle in the living room ( on a pie plate ) and filled the house with the aroma of burning sage and other wild herbs.
Joanne prepared my favourite meal as a birthday treat, and we ate it while watching Survivor. At bedtime she presented me with a birthday cake ... with lit candles. Thank you, Joanne, for making my birthday special. Well ... except for the dead batteries part. HA HA HA !
Thursday ; Sunny and cool.
I was up at 6 AM and outside working on the truck by 7 AM. I removed the truck's two batteries, cleaned the battery cables and trays, and was leaving at 8:10 AM heading for Oliver to pick up two new truck batteries at NAPA Auto Parts. Yesterday, online, the Keremeos NAPA store showed no stock of the batteries that were a match for my truck. Nevertheless, as I drove past the Keremeos NAPA store I decided to stop in and check, to be sure. Well ... they had stock of two batteries that were right for my truck, although slightly better and, of course, more expensive than the ones that I had chosen online, and were waiting for me at the Oliver store. But ... my time has value, so ...
I bought the slightly more expensive batteries in Keremeos, and avoided about two and a half hours of driving to Oliver and back.
I returned home, installed the two new batteries, turned the key in the ignition and ... nothing ! < sigh > The batteries weren't the problem. < sigh > Even though the old batteries were near or at the end of their life. So ... I phoned my emergency roadside assistance provider, and waited two hours for a tow truck to arrive.
The tow truck driver got my truck pulled out from underneath the camper, then took a long time to get ready to tow my truck into Keremeos. He had to disconnect the rear driveshaft in order to tow my truck with the dually rear wheels on the ground. And the tow truck driver was sick today with a migraine headache, so ... he was a bit slow and ... didn't have the right tools needed to disconnect my truck's rear driveshaft. Good thing I had the correct tools ! ! ! By the time he got my truck towed into Total Performance Automotive in Keremeos it was 2 PM.
I returned home, and cancelled my trailer towing job scheduled for tomorrow. And
I REALLY HATE cancelling a trailer towing job ! Hopefully the client will reschedule with me for next week. I will have to reimburse her for the wasted transport permit she purchased for having her trailer towed tomorrow.
Late in the day Total Performance Automotive phoned me with the diagnosis of the truck's problem. Not at all surprising to me, the starter needs to be replaced. Oh, well ... so this truck "eats" a starter once every thirteen years. My last truck "ate" one every six months !
Friday ; our 44th anniversary
Sunny and mild. Our 44th anniversary did not unfold quite as had been planned, nevertheless ... Happy Anniversary, my love !
This morning I had ANOTHER phone call with our travel medical insurer. And then ... spent much of the rest of the day stewing and fuming about it. Our travel medical insurance policies still seem to be lost somewhere in their bureaucratic Never-Never Land, and I can't seem to get answers. While Medipac has an excellent reputation as a travel medical insurer, so far ... my dealings with them have been quite unsatisfactory !
AND ... < sputter > ... my trailer towing client has "fired" me, so to speak, and has found someone else to tow her trailer. And I can't blame her at all. I was supposed to do her job today. And not only did I fail to be able to do that ... I still can't tell her when I will be able to do the job for her. My truck repairs were not completed today. Maybe Monday !
This afternoon I "rebuilt" our yard fence which I had disassembled and removed to facilitate having the truck pulled out of the yard by a tow truck yesterday. And while we carried the heavy concrete bicycle stand back to position, Joanne dropped her end, and ... < taking a deep breath > ... that injured my sternum ! Again ! It's still healing from the injury I inflicted upon it a few weeks ago by lifting the fifth wheel hitch by myself into the bed of the truck.
Before supper ... ( at home, because we had cancelled our "dinner out" plans ) ... we went to the swimming pool for an exercise session. After supper I planned an outing next week to see the Adams River Sockeye Salmon run.
Saturday ; Sunny and mild.
Today we continued slowly preparing for departure at the end of the month. I did a bit of outdoor work in the yard, cleaning and storing things for the winter. And I did work that I have been procrastinating doing on my fishing tackle, both my fly fishing equipment and traditional spinning reel equipment. All my tackle is now ready for next year.
We went for a couple of long walks with Ozzie. We bumped into and chatted with neighbours that haven't been here in over a year. And just before supper I went bicycling. Such nice fall weather !
DSK
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