January 9 to 15, 2025 ; Victoria, B.C.

 Thursday ; SUNNY ! 7° C.

GOOD NEWS ; WOO-HOO ! Every fibre of my being, both body and mind, craves more sunlight !

BAD NEWS ; Joanne continues to be very ill. Again today our plans had to be cancelled / postponed.

Friday ; SUNNY ! 9° C.

For the third day in a row, Joanne is incapacitated / immobilized by illness. <sigh>

I combined Apollo’s noon walk with a trip to nearby Red Barn Market to buy some soups (for Joanne’s benefit) and easy to prepare suppers (for my benefit). After returning Apollo to our suite I immediately left again to head to Pharmasave for more meds for Joanne.

This is the third winter season in a row that she contracts some manner of respiratory illness of such severity … (Covid ? RSV ?) … that it renders her unable to function. For a week or more ! ! ! <taking deep breath> Followed by a lengthy, slow, recuperation period !

In the evening she got out of bed and asked for some soup. I prepared a small bowl of soup for her, she ate about ¾ of the bowl, rushed to the bathroom, puked it all out, and went back to bed. <sigh>

Saturday ; SUNNY ! 9° C.

Extremely small improvement in Joanne’s health today. Late in the day she finally began to be able to get out of bed, but only for brief periods before she would begin to feel extremely ill again. But … it suggests that the worst may be over for her. Let’s hope ! This evening she ate a little. And didn’t puke !

Many, many years ago, while travelling by RV on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, while boondocking overnight at a Pemex (fuel) station beside a small ejido (communal farm community), when I took our dog Bo for his late evening walk, we stumbled across an outdoor Mexican wedding celebration taking place. The mostly drunk Mexicans thought that a little gringo perro (dog) on a retractable leash was absolutely hilarious. Bo was always eager to make friends, so with drunk Mexicans laughing at him, he took it upon himself to crash the wedding party. HA HA HA HA HA ! The wedding guests were friendly and inclusive, welcoming Bo and I into their celebrations. When we returned to our RV at the Pemex station afterwards, having been gone much longer than expected, Joanne was a bit worried, then dumbfounded to learn that Bo and I had been to a Mexican wedding. HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA !

I tell that story as “background” to today’s afternoon walk with Apollo. He was eager for us to join the pro-Palestinian “rally” (riot ?) at the BC Legislature Building today. No, Apollo, we can’t join in ! What do you mean … “why” ? Because … I left my keffiyeh at home. HA HA HA ! And that large group of Victoria Police Department officers in riot gear don’t appear to like little dogs !

This afternoon I drove to Kal Tire to adjust the air in one of the car’s tires. YIKES ! Traffic through downtown Victoria is gridlocked on Saturday afternoons. I did this week’s laundering in our hotel’s laundromat, a household chore that I am not particularly adept at. I was banned from doing our laundry close to 50 years ago when I carelessly tinted all of Joanne’s “delicates” a dingy grey because I washed them with my blue jeans and dark coloured socks. <shrug> Who knew ?

We had to spend a few minutes outdoors around 7 PM when the hotel’s fire alarms went off. While waiting for the firemen to give the “all clear” to return to our suites, we interacted with Sophie the Papillon and Ernie the Miniature Schnauzer.

Sunday ; SUNNY ! 5° C.

Joanne has begun to slowly get better. Hallelujah ! She was up and out of bed for much of the day. She ate small meals without puking or having severe diarrhea. Hallelujah ! In celebration, I baked cookies. HA HA HA !

This evening I cooked crab cakes and sweet potato fries for our supper. She ate that … <sigh of relief> … no problem ! We ate supper while watching the movie Nomadland on CBC Gem. It’s a movie that seems to be part fiction and part documentary, about a full time RV’ing vagabond widow woman. Not particularly uplifting, and not a very appealing look at full time RV’ing.

Chacun à son goût, je suppose.

Monday ; Cloudy, +6° C.

Well … yesterday’s one step forward in Joanne’s health was offset by today’s two steps backwards. For the third time in two years, she has pneumonia … again ! This morning I had a succession of phone calls with our doctor in Winnipeg and the pharmacist at the local Pharmasave in James Bay. Tomorrow morning I will be going to Pharmasave to pick up a prescription of Azithromycin for Joanne. <sigh >

This afternoon I spent 3 ½ hours doing household and grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and Thrifty Foods at Hillside Mall. I HATE shopping at Wal-Mart, especially alone ! ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SHOPPING CART ESCALATOR IN THIS ****ING GOOFY WAL-MART GETS STUCK WHEN MY GROCERY CART IS HALFWAY BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS ! ! !

<taking a calming deep breath>

Tuesday ; Cloudy, +6° C.

Joanne’s health continues to slowly improve. This morning I went to James Bay Pharmasave and picked up her prescription for Azithromycin, the antibiotic to battle pneumonia.

This afternoon I installed wheel well mouldings on the rear wheel wells of the car. After installing wheel well mouldings on the front wheel wells before Christmas I had planned to defer installing them on the rear wheel wells until I researched the feasibility of having some minor rust repaired on the car’s rocker panels at the rear wheel wells. After many phone calls to auto body shops in both Victoria and Winnipeg I decided not to bother repairing the minor / early signs of rust on the car.

Immediately after Apollo’s supper time walk and feeding I engaged him in a play session. We wrestled with Snakey, the squeaky plush toy our friend / his previous owner Patti gave him when she visited us shortly before we left home in November to come here. We romped and wrestled on the bed for a few minutes before he turned around and … puked out all the kibble he had eaten a few minutes before. OOOPS … my bad ! Sorry, Apollo !

Now that I have finally received my year end investment statements (about a week late !) I spent much of the evening working on year end investment updates and analyses. And I’m not finished yet.

Wednesday ; HAPPY 13^th BIRTHDAY TO APOLLO

SUNNY ! 8° C. A lovely “spring” (?) day.

I’m still mildly ill with “residual” cold and/or flu mild symptoms, a bit worse today than they have been. Joanne is very slowly improving. Emphasis on “very slowly”. I had thought / hoped that the Azithromycin would work miracles, but … NO ! Being her “caregiver” has impaired my ability to really rest and recuperate myself. <sigh> Third winter season in a row of this pattern. It’s exhausting ! And disheartening !

Opportunity knocked today ! Harbour Air announced a three day sale. Harbour Air is the world’s largest seaplane airline, flying from Vancouver to Victoria and Nanaimo and many of the Gulf Islands. Their three day sale has “too good to pass up” fares available on a few seats per aircraft, on just a few flight routes and dates over the next couple of months, BUT … as an old man with nothing much better to do, I researched what was available, and when, and how that could fit into our time here on Vancouver Island and ... VOILÀ !

I was going to buy myself a ticket from Nanaimo to Vancouver and back on the same day sometime in February or March, while we are Xanadu Estate in Cobble Hill, halfway between Victoria and Nanaimo. Thought I could fly from Nanaimo Harbour to Vancouver Harbour, spend an afternoon wandering around the Vancouver Seawall and a bit of downtown Vancouver, then fly back to Nanaimo. To my surprise, while I was researching and planning this for myself, Joanne said she’d like to come along with me. I didn’t think she was interested in a seaplane flight, but … I was wrong.

SO … I bought a couple of tickets to fly from Nanaimo Harbour to Vancouver Harbour on a Harbour Air seaplane, departing late in the morning, returning late in the afternoon, in mid-March. For a small fraction of the normal cost ! <shrug> When opportunity knocks … OPEN THE DOOR !

Not surprisingly, while I was making these arrangements on my laptop, Joanne used the i-Phone to research restaurants and found a lovely Greek café on the Vancouver Harbour waterfront where we will have lunch. Good teamwork, as usual !

DSK

January 2 to 8, 2025 ; Victoria, B.C.

 Thursday ; Overcast, intermittent light rain, +6° C.

Day 3 of a cold. Not doing well ! Slept late. Started slow. Remained slow throughout the day.

At 1 PM we left for an appointment to view a one bedroom suite at Robin Hood Inn, a motel with suites, in the Gorge / Tillicum area of Victoria, not downtown but relatively easy to get to downtown from. They have winter long term stay rates, and I wanted to check them out for comparison. Despite an inferior location to where we are now, they have nice suites at an attractive price. Well … relatively speaking. All of Victoria’s all suites hotels (and motels) are an expensive proposition.

We arrived at Robin Hood Inn early, so we drove around the neighbourhood checking it out. We stopped at the nearest small shopping centre to buy a few items at Dollarama, buy me some more cold medications at Shoppers Drug Mart, and refill our water jug at Fairway Market before our tour at Robin Hood Inn.

After viewing the suite we drove back to downtown and parked in the Bay Centre’s indoor parkade. We walked through the Bay Centre, then a block to where I wanted to have a very late lunch. Good Ovening is a Korean Chicken restaurant. Chicken was great, service was poor, they closed for their “afternoon break” at 3 PM, about twenty minutes after our arrival, and about five minutes after our food arrived at our table. At 3 PM Junwoo locked the entrance door, turned off the “open” sign on the door, then stood at her hostess station with her arms folded across her chest, looking annoyed that we were still there. We each ate a bit of chicken … it was excellent … then took the rest with us in a “to go” container. No tip for Junwoo !

< 9:30 PM ; coughing … expelling phlegm> … OW … that hurt !

Friday ; Overcast, rain the morning, +6° C.

Day 4 of a cold. Worst day so far ! Hope I’ve reached bottom and things begin to improve soon.

I keep thinking that getting outside will be helpful to my health, so I joined Joanne and Apollo on the noon walk and the supper time walk. <sigh> I was wrong ! Both times going out for a walk just made me feel more sick.

Using that same convoluted and delusional wishful thinking I pushed forward with our plans to attend a public tour of B.C.’s Parliament Building this afternoon at 3 PM. The tour lasted about 45 minutes, and while it was very interesting, I was feeling really ill by the end of it !

This afternoon Joanne did more planning of outings that interest her. And … she changed her mind about what she wants as a birthday gift. Almost a year ago she told me that for her birthday this year she wants to experience High Tea at The Empress, a classic Victoria tourist experience for over a century. I experienced High Tea at The Empress on a business trip to Victoria circa 1982.

She now wants to visit Butchart Gardens in March, shortly before we leave Vancouver Island to return to Manitoba, and she wants that visit to include High Tea at the Butchart Gardens. <shrug> OK by me ! Whatever my princess wants, she can have ! HA HA HA ! Tomorrow I’ll cancel our High Tea at The Empress reservations that I made last spring.

Saturday ; Dark overcast, raining all morning, intermittently in the afternoon, +8° C.

We left our suite this morning at 11:30 AM heading to a noon appointment at Oak Bay Shoe & Custom Orthotics in the very tony neighbourhood of Oak Bay. Average home price about 1.2 million dollars ! This specialty business is owned and operated by an elderly Asian husband and wife. He is a true craftsman, with over 40 years of experience solving people’s feet problems with specialty shoes and custom orthotics that he fabricates / manufactures. His wife stands behind the counter and scowls, and accepts payments. HA HA HA ! “PAY THE LADY !”

He carefully and thoroughly examined Joanne’s feet, particularly the one with Achilles tendonitis. He carefully and thoroughly assessed the “over the counter” orthotic insoles she currently uses, paying special attention to the wear imprinting on them. He assessed her gait visually as she walked barefoot around his shop. He recommended hand made custom orthotics for her. He guarantees that his orthotics will solve his customers’ foot problems, or money refunded. He is the only custom orthotics maker in Canada offering that money back guarantee, valid for six months after purchase.

SOLD ! <choke> HOW MUCH ? ? ? ! ! ! <blink blink> YIKES ! ! !

He took a “cast” of Joanne’s feet, in some kind of foam. He took measurements of her feet. The hand made, custom orthotic insoles will be ready in two weeks. At that time Joanne and he will further discuss shoe selections.

In the slightly oddly laid out (read that as “snooty”) shopping area that his shop is located in there was also a Fairway Market supermarket, so we went in and bought a few advertised grocery items. Joanne wanted to go to a sushi restaurant nearby for lunch but ; 1. She doesn’t like sushi, she wanted to go there for my benefit and 2. I was feeling really ill by then. I just wanted to go home and have soup.

On the way home we took a detour to view Beacon Hill Park, a surprisingly large nature park on the edge of downtown, sort of between James Bay and Oak Bay. We stopped there to take Apollo for his late morning / early afternoon walk. It was a slow and slightly short walk because ; 1. I was ill and 2. it began to rain again.

After a large bowl of cream of celery soup … some of which I spilled into my lap, eating it while sitting on the sofa, watching TV … I had a long nap with Apollo. That didn’t really have the desired effect of making me feel healthier. <sigh> <shrug>

After our late walk at 6 PM … I think NOW I’ve reached bottom. My intestines exploded ! And I felt REALLY sick for a couple of hours. That’s not uncommon for me. I have inflammatory bowel disease / ulcerative colitis. I take a lot of medications every day for ulcerative colitis, and coronary artery disease. Add in five days of a lot of cold medications, and eventually my digestive system can’t cope any more / metabolize all those drugs through and out of my system. For the next few days I will have to cease all medications except those that are absolutely essential. That’s likely going to mean a reduced amount of cold medications for awhile, and none of my “regular” medications for a few days. Wish me luck ! Hope my heart doesn’t explode !

In the evening I streamed / we watched the movie Vagrant on CBC Gem. Well … shit … didn’t see that coming !

<blink blink> Did I just read that right (at 11 PM) ? ! ? Dugald, Manitoba is currently -29° C with a wind chill of -38° C ? ! ?

Keep the +8° C and occasional light drizzle coming, Victoria. I can take it ! ! ! HA HA HA !

Sunday ; Overcast, +8° C.

Well … I don’t think that I would classify how I am healthwise as “better”, but … perhaps marginally less sick. I have discontinued all medications temporarily, and tried to have a very slow, lazy day today to help me recuperate.

I walked the dog upon awakening this morning. We both walked him again around noon. He and I slept this afternoon while Joanne walked to James Bay Thrifty Foods to buy some groceries. I puttered around with year end financial records keeping and analysis.

Monday ; Sunny, chilly wind in the morning, +8° C.

Day 7 of my cold. Yes, yes … I am feeling quite a bit better !

While we were still in the planning stages of this trip, back home in Dugald, Joanne became interested in having lunch in the Parliamentary Dining Room at the BC Legislature. Today was the day ! We left our suite at 1:15 PM and were at the Parliamentary Dining Room security entrance at 1:20 PM, for our 1:30 PM lunch reservation. After clearing security we followed the green line on the walls of the “tunnels” of the Legislature Building to the Parliamentary Dining Room. Upon entering, the first person we saw, sitting alone having lunch, reading a document, was Keith Baldry, a well known local political journalist.

A hostess guided us to one of the smaller rooms of the dining room, with only three small tables in it, windows high on the wall looking out to our hotel, much historical art on the walls, linen tablecloths and napkins on the tables … very elegant. Service was superb, food was even better than that ! A truly world class dining experience, better than most of the finest restaurants in Canada, the United States, and around the world that we have dined at. And … <sputter> … at quite modest prices. HMPH … must be BC taxpayer subsidized. HA HA HA HA HA !

As we were finishing our lovely and substantial meal, our server brought a large wooden tray with today’s dessert choices arranged to the table adjacent to us where two women were seated, one treating the other on her birthday. I stared at the tray of exquisite desserts as the server explained them to the two women, blinking and salivating, trying to stop my trembling hand from reaching out and grabbing one off the wooden tray. HA HA HA ! As the server was leaving with the tray I had to restrain myself from tackling her from behind ! HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA !

Yes, yes … despite how filling our meals were, I ordered the key lime pie. Joanne told the server we would share it. Yeah … NO … not ****ing likely ! Keep your hands off my key lime pie, b****h ! ! ! HA HA HA … she had a piece of the chocolate torte all to herself !

Joanne was aghast that I nibbled away at the mint leaf garnishing my key lime pie with each bite of the pie. What ? ! ? You thought it was there just for decoration ? ? ? <ROFLMAO>

We arrived back at our suite at 3 PM just as workmen were entering our wing of the hotel to test the fire alarms and check the fire extinguishers in each suite. Good timing. We were there just in time to take Apollo out of our suite while they did their jobs.

As the day wore on, Joanne seemed to “inherit” my cold.

Tuesday ; Cloudy, no wind, +6° C.

GOOD NEWS ; On Day 8 of my cold I am feeling much better !

BAD NEWS ; Today seems to be day 2 of a cold for Joanne. <sigh> Sorry, dear.

And this cold virus is on top of her already chronic mystery respiratory ailment. She thinks it’s long covid. I think it’s COPD. It started about 10 months ago in Mexico. And she has been seeing doctors and undergoing tests from last April upon our return from Mexico until our departure for here last November. It remains undiagnosed. And therefore untreated ! The doctor visits and tests will continue immediately upon our return home in April.

So … today was another very lazy day, mostly to accommodate Joanne being ill.

I walked Apollo upon awakening. We both walked him around noon. The outing I had planned for today was postponed. I walked Apollo again by myself at 6 PM. Joanne napped a lot. Didn’t seem to help much. HMPH … been there, done that !

In the evening we started watching the movie Shakespeare In Love. We gave up watching it after about ten minutes. Plan B was American Pie, a movie we had not seen before. <shrug> We selected it because we’re fans of Eugene Levy.

When I took Apollo for his last walk of the day at 10:30 PM it was raining heavily. DARN ! Should have noticed that before we got outside !

Wednesday ; Cloudy, no wind, +6° C.

<sigh> Today was another long day of doing a lot of nothing, due to Joanne being very ill.

DSK

December 26, 2024 to January 1, 2025 ; Victoria, B.C.

 Boxing Day ; Overcast, +9° C.

This morning we left our suite at 11:30 AM and drove north on the Saanich Peninsula towards the ferry terminal and airport, to Sidney, about a forty minute drive. Before reaching Sidney I stopped at an Esso station in Saanichton to refill the minivan with fuel, our first refill since Hope, almost four weeks ago. OOOPS … I haven’t been paying attention to the fuel gauge, I guess.

We arrived in Sidney in time to have lunch before attending a theatre performance. Lunch was excellent, at a Vietnamese restaurant called Sea Breeze. The theatre performance was a Christmas gift from me to Joanne. A play entitled “Cinderella The Panto”, performed by The Peninsula Players in the Charlie White Theatre at the Mary Winspear Centre. While the play was entertaining … I completely misunderstood the concept beforehand.

A week ago I had been fascinated by the Wonderheads Christmas Carol masks and puppetry wordless interpretation of Charles Dickens classic Christmas play. When I saw an ad for Cinderella The Panto, I misunderstood the theatre’s definition of “pantomime”, a word I understood to mean wordless / silent performance using physicality to express / communicate. Like Wonderheads, or Marcel Marceau, or any other “mime”. I love mime !

“Panto” is a British concept of theatre, usually employed around the Christmas season. Cinderella The Panto is a British “classic” example of “panto” theatre performance. But it’s not “silent” as per my understanding. From Wikipedia ;

Pantomime (informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It generally combines gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.

This musical version of Cinderella was a cast of half adults and half children. It was … a lot of silliness. And the audience, about half children, were delighted. The children in the audience were more than eager and willing to “participate”, especially to “cheer” or “boo” when appropriate. Fairy Godmother … YAAAAAYYYYY, Cinderella’s mother and two (cross dressed large men) sisters … BOOOOO ! Much of my entertainment during the play was to watch the overly excited little girl seated in front of me. Perhaps her parents fed her too much sugar for breakfast ? HA HA HA !

We had decided to bring Apollo with us. Being alone in the car for an hour while we had lunch, followed by about 2 ½ hours alone in the car again while we attended the play, seemed to be a lesser evil than spending five or more hours alone in our suite.

Very good dog, Apollo !

Friday ; Overcast, very light rain briefly around 6 PM, +8 C.

I made pancakes again this morning. The first time / last time I used this cheap, unknown brand pancake mix, the pancakes were … tasteless ! So today I added an egg, milk, kefir yogurt, mixed berries, and cinnamon sugar. Well … that was better !

At 3 PM we headed out to Hillside Mall for … <sigh> … Wal-Martin’. At least we’re now getting into and out of the mall parking lot and into and out of and around inside the store with less confusion. In and out in an hour and a half !

Saturday ; Sunny during the day, very light rain starting around 6 PM, +9° C.

Late this morning we went for a long walk around the James Bay neighbourhood to run errands ; Red Barn Market, James Bay Veterinary Clinic, Thrifty Foods, James Bay Community Closet Thrift Store, Pharmasave.

I waited outside Red Barn Market and Thrifty Foods while Joanne shopped inside. Yes, yes … Apollo is still a chick magnet, young and old, even when he needs a hair trim. HA HA HA !

In the afternoon we gave Apollo a hair trim, somewhat difficult with only scissors, and a nail trim. He was very patient and co-operative. Well done, Apollo, good dog !

Sunday ; Overcast, occasional very light rain, +8 C.

We slept late, had a couple of leisurely walks with Apollo, planned and scheduled some restaurant meals and other outings in January, I worked on 2025 financial planning, from 6 PM to 7 PM we went to the fitness centre / swimming pool / hot tub / sauna for exercises and relaxing. The hotel is quite busy this week, somewhat surprising given that this hotel, and we assume all nearby hotels, triple their room rates from December 20 to January 5 !

Monday ; Overcast, occasional very light rain, +8 C.

After morning routines and early walk with Apollo we headed out at noon for an afternoon of errands. First stop was FrontRunners Shoe Store where we … <sigh> … returned Joanne’s expensive new shoes. She tried them for a few days, indoors only, and they are not the solution to her Achilles tendonitis problem. Then it was off to the upscale suburb of View Royal, for shopping and a dog bath in Eagle Creek Village, a small shopping mall that we have been to before.

First stop in Eagle Creek Village was Dollar Tree. Then IDA pharmacy to look for my chosen deodorant (Ivory brand) that I can no longer find in Wal-Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave, Thrifty Foods, or any other mainstream pharmacy or grocery store. WOO-HOO … IDA Pharmacy had it !

Next we went into Quality Foods, a large supermarket with a large cafeteria style restaurant, to have lunch first, then shop for groceries. Finally … the “highlight of the day”. A bath for Apollo at Bosley’s Pet Foods self-serve dog wash. HA HA HA … maybe it was our highlight of the day, but it didn’t seem to be his.

We were impressed with Bosley’s dog wash station. Reasonably priced, easy to use, good selection of shampoos, aprons to wear, towels to dry the dog, and an industrial strength blow dryer. HA HA HA … Apollo did not like the dryer. We had brought his blankie along, so when we were finished bathing and partially drying him Joanne wrapped him in his blankie and cuddled him all the way home to our suite.

He was patient and tolerant throughout the ordeal. Good dog, Apollo !

He and I napped after arriving back home around 4:30 PM. Our evening walk at 6 PM was across the front of the B.C. Legislature Building to check out this week’s public tour schedules and next week’s Parliamentary Dining Room’s menu. HMPH … it wasn’t posted yet.

This evening Joanne did some planning of outings ; Victoria’s fabled Chinatown, restaurants, foreign art films, etc.

<sniff sniff> Good … Apollo no longer stinks like a wet dog all the time. HA HA HA !

It was my turn to make supper tonight. I made an excellent Eggs Benedict concoction putting avocado slices and Salt Spring Island Cheese Farm’s goat cheese with smoked salmon and capers, on toasted English muffins, topped with fried eggs and Hollandaise sauce. Very well done, Daniel !

New Year’s Eve ; Thin overcast, 6° C.

DARN ! I woke up this morning with a head cold. What a lousy ending to what has been a good year.

So … our early walk with Apollo was to James Bay Pharmasave to buy cold medications. I had hoped that a long, leisurely walk and some fresh air would make me feel somewhat better. It didn’t ! Oh, well … hopefully the drugs will !

I was a bit slow and lethargic this afternoon. I had a long nap, that helped. As did some drugs ! HA HA HA ! Yesterday, with Joanne’s encouragement I bought what I needed to make myself a batch of overnight oatmeal for breakfasts. That’s a staple of mine at home, and I have been missing it. This afternoon Joanne helped me prepare a batch. And she helped me pluck the inside of Apollo’s ears, thus completing his grooming ; nails trimmed, hair trimmed, bathed, ears plucked. He looks good and smells good. For now ! That won’t last ! HA HA HA !

I now carry an HDMI cable in my laptop bag for use while travelling. Today I configured our suite’s TV to my laptop. I want to stream a movie on CBC Gem tomorrow.

What a joy it is to walk a dog in the dark, in an urban neighbourhood ! <sarcasm> Just tonight, for example, Apollo and his nose scored … a chicken wing bone (F*** !) and … wait for it … a dead squirrel ! I got bit wrestling the chicken wing bone out of his mouth ! ! ! <Apollo thinking … MINE !> I used a dog waste bag to pick up the dead squirrel and deposit it in a trash can. We only discovered the dead squirrel behind the tree when I used a flashlight to see what was so interesting for him to be sniffing that he failed to notice a 75 to 85 lb. Alaskan Malamute walking past us. <shaking my head>

Yeah … sure … you’re a good dog, Apollo. <rolling my eyes>

I was under the impression that there was to be fireworks over Victoria’s Inner Harbour at 9 PM and again at midnight. So … at 8:45 PM we left our suite (with Apollo) to walk a block and half to the Inner Harbour to watch the fireworks show. Which … did not happen ! HUH ? Perhaps I read something incorrectly ? Nevertheless, we walked leisurely all around the Inner Harbour area for about an hour before returning to our suite to warm up over a cup of tea. The initial plan was to have some Forbidden Fruits Pomme Desirée ice wine, but … my head / face was hurting, and I was somewhat filled up with drugs, which is probably incompatible with drinking ice wine.

We went out again at 11:45 PM, unsure of what to expect at the Inner Harbour. The night was now cold and windy. We walked to the front of the Parliament Building, where many people were, apparently waiting for something to happen at midnight. We knew it was midnight when we began to see fireworks far off in the distance, way over on the far side of the Upper Harbour, from a casino in Esquimalt, I think.

2024 was a good year for us ! We expect more of the same for 2025. For us ! Perhaps not for the entire world. Certainly not for our neighbours to the south.

New Year’s Day ; HAPPY NEW YEAR !

HA HA HA ! I just remembered … when we owned pet food & supply stores in Ottawa, “Happy New Year” was an inside joke euphemism for us. It meant … “you’re fired” ! HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA ! No, no … it’s too long and convoluted a story to explain ! Perhaps the short version moral of the story is … “don’t steal from your employer between Christmas and New Year’s !”

Overcast, occasional very light rain, 6° C.

Recently I bought a box of ready to use puff pastry dough, difficult to find in Canadian stores, although it was readily available in Portugal and Mexico, especially around Christmas time. Joanne gave me a round of brie cheese as a Christmas gift. First thing this morning I prepared and baked “brie en croute” / brie cheese and dates in puff pastry for breakfast. The dates worked well with brie cheese. YUMMY ! Well done, Daniel !

Day two of having a cold. I felt really miserable upon waking this morning. I had a cup of tea … and drugs … while preparing the brie en croute. That helped a lot, although not immediately.

I spent most of the day puttering with year end investment analysis and new year financial planning. Well … and napping ! And streaming a movie on CBC Gem.

In the evening, over a special New Year’s dinner Joanne prepared, we watched the movie “The Descendants” on CBC Gem. It was excellent !

DSK

December 19 to 25, 2024 ; Victoria, B.C.

 Thursday ; Raining, +8° C.

We spent a long, tiring day shopping for shoes for Joanne.

She has an ongoing heel pain issue related to Achilles tendonitis. For the last few days she has been doing research on shoes which would relieve / minimize the pain, guided by her podiatrist’s recommendations. SHEESH ! Who would have thought that buying a pair of old woman walking shoes could become so incredibly complex and complicated ?

Immediately after an early lunch we had the hotel’s shuttle take us downtown to the north side of the Bay Centre, very close to the first of many downtown shoe stores Joanne had planned to visit. We spent the entire afternoon trudging in the rain from shoe store to shoe store, trying on numerous makes and models in each store, until we were both really tired of it. At dusk, around 4:30 PM we phoned the hotel and asked to be picked up by the shuttle and returned “home”.

The best service came from the first store we visited, and Joanne’s likely selection … not yet made … came from the knowledgeable sales clerk in that store. She was an older woman whose commitment to good customer service reminded me of the level of retail customer service one gets in Europe, but is downright rare here in North America.

As opposed to the poor service we received from a young man at Sport Chek, whose knowledge level was low and he was WAYYYY more interested in returning to his yukking it up with two of his colleagues than he was in serving a customer.

From the time we got home until bedtime every time we opened the door to our suite, we were assaulted by the very strong odour of marijuana smoke. It was so pervasive and persistent, and I go so tired of getting a headache every time our door was opened briefly, that I finally went to the front desk around 10:30 PM to complain.

Friday ; Cloudy, +9° C.

This morning I walked across the street to the Best Western Plus ; Inner Harbour to view a couple of their suite layouts, their fitness centre, hot tub and sauna, etc. Their suites are slightly nicer than here at the Royal Scot, their prices are similar, they don’t permit dogs. However … Apollo is old, and won’t live forever. ( Ditto ) ! The Best Western Plus might be a viable alternative to the Royal Scot at some point in our future.

At 2:30 PM we had the hotel’s shuttle drive us to the McPherson Playhouse for a matinée performance of “A Wonderheads Christmas Carol”. It is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens as interpreted by the Wonderheads theatre company. It was wonderful ! My eyes filled with tears when Bob Cratchit and his wife visited Tiny Tim’s grave ! Joanne asked “How could that be ? Did you not know the story ?” HA HA HA … of course I did ! They just did that great a job of … emoting.

The Wonderheads is a husband and wife owned and operated theatre company based here in Victoria, performing all over North America. Both husband and wife are screenwriters and playwrites, directors and actors, set designers, lighting designers, sound designers … ! Their productions are wordless ! The actors wear huge, full face masks / heads. Some actors are inside huge puppets. Some control / employ smaller puppets. It’s hard to describe. See www.wonderheads.com !

After the play, as we were leaving the theatre, we noticed the huge, brightly lit ferris wheel behind the theatre, in Centennial Square. It was brought in to be part of the Wonder Of Lights exhibition for this final weekend before Christmas. We went outdoors to view the ferris wheel, and to watch a Christmas dance exhibition by a local children’s dance studio. We had been planning to phone the hotel to request a pickup by their shuttle, but decided to walk home.

The entire downtown area, all the way back to our hotel, was a busy, crowded, shopping / eating / drinking / dog walking / tourists taking photos Christmas event.

I made supper tonight. Wild Salmon chowder for me, French Canadian pea soup for Joanne, both purchased at Red Barn Market recently. And I made a Cheese Pie, a new recipe I got from www.eggs.ca. It turned out very well !

Saturday ; Cloudy, +10° C.

For our “early” walk with Apollo we walked across the Parliament Building grounds … Apollo likes to defecate on the lush lawn in front of Parliament … HA HA HA … across the street to the BC Royal Museum, to view the Christmas decorations display inside Helmcken House.

Helmcken House is a circa 1850 log home still in its original location, which is now in between the BC Royal Museum building and Thunderbird Park. It was the home of Dr. John Helmcken, Victoria’s first physician, the BC Governor’s son-in-law, founder of the BC Medical Association, eventually a politician, etc. The museum has decorated the inside of Helmcken House with Christmas decorations of the 1850’s era.

I went inside first to tour the house and view the interesting Christmas decorations of that era, while Joanne waited outside with Apollo. Then we switched, I waited with Apollo while she went inside. While she waited outside she had the “privilege” of watching a junkie shoot up, struggling to find some appropriate place on his abdomen to inject himself. Then while I waited, a few minutes later, I got to see the moment when his drug of choice took hold and worked its magic. <blink blink>

WOW ! That was shocking and … sad ! After engaging in loud conversation with himself for a few minutes, then he became obsessed with picking imaginary lint off himself. Everywhere ! Frantically ! I kept thinking … I surely hope he didn’t overdose and is about to drop dead in front of me !

After lunch while I napped with Apollo Joanne went downstairs to the laundromat and did our weekly laundering. Afterwards I sent “Season’s Greetings” and a “Christmas card” / picture by e-mail to family and friends. I received a reply that made me so happy I cried.

Earlier today a large bus load of seniors arrived at our hotel. From catching snippets of their conversations it seems as if they will be here until the new year. They seem to be … forty-nine old women and one old man. HA HA HA ! At 5:30 PM we took Apollo for his late walk. The herd of seniors was leaving the hotel and trudging two by two slowly down the street, heading somewhere for supper. They seemed remarkably similar to the lines of two by two day care centre children that we often encounter as we walk Apollo every day back home in Dugald. <heads snapping around> “Look ! Puppy !” HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA ! ! !

At 6 PM we went to the fitness centre / swimming pool to do exercises and soak in the hot tub. Fortunately, we didn’t have to share the pool and hot tub with fifty other old people. HA HA HA !

Sunday ; Overcast, intermittent light rain, windy, +9° C.

The neighbourhood … and our hotel … are filled with recent (yesterday and today) arrival Christmas week visitors. HMPH ! Tourists ! HA HA HA ! This morning we drove to Thrifty Foods to replenish groceries and refill our five gallon water jug. While Joanne paid for our groceries I walked across the street to Pharmasave to buy some antibiotic ointment. I recently sustained some deep scratches on the back of my leg. And … <shrug> … I don’t know how or when !

One of the items I was planning to purchase when (if ?) we visit Saltspring Island was some exotic, outrageously expensive goat cheese concoctions from a goat farm cheese maker. This week their products are available, advertised special, slightly discounted (twenty bucks for a teensy tub !), at Thrifty Foods. I bought a tub of their goat cheese with smoked salmon and capers. WOW … it’s really good ! And I’m not usually a fan of goat cheese.

We have just returned from walking Apollo (5:30 to 6 PM). On Menzies Street, behind our hotel, was a large wagon, drawn by two large draft horses (clippety clop, clippety clop), wagon filled with carolers singing. How nice ! Merry Christmas ! We are really enjoying downtown life here.

Our new Sunday evening ritual is watching back to back episodes of “All Creatures Great and Small” on PBS, a BBC adaptation of the book by the same name. I was introduced to the stories written by the veterinarian James Herriot when I received an earlier version of the book, under a different title, as a gift from my animal rescuing mother. Testament, I suppose, to the adage that apples don’t fall far from the tree.

Monday ; Intermittent light rain, +10° C.

YIPPEEE ! ! ! Joanne finally bought new shoes !

We left our suite at 2 PM heading out to run three errands. First errand was to visit another shoe store. I was convinced that she would not find a better choice than the ON brand CloudMonster 2 model of shoe to mitigate her Achilles tendonitis pain issue. It was recommended to her at Running Room, the first shoe store we visited. But today at FrontRunners Shoe Store the very knowledgeable and helpful young female clerk recommended a new model of ON brand shoe, the CloudEclipse. That was what Joanne eventually bought. But not before trying on MANY other brands and models, until she had finally tried every brand and model her online research recommended for her condition. Who knew that shopping for “specialty” shoes would be as complicated and trying as shopping for a new mattress ? ! ? I surely hope these shoes will provide her the Achilles tendonitis pain relief she so desperately needs.

Next errand was grocery shopping at Market On Yates, an upscale supermarket with plenty of exotic and/or gourmet choices. Well, honestly … all of Victoria’s supermarkets are more exotic and gourmet than Winnipeg area supermarkets, which are, for the most part, pretty “meat and potatoes” by comparison. We finished grocery shopping at 4:30 PM, exactly as planned. That was the opening time of the Egyptian food take-out restaurant where Joanne wanted to purchase dinner. We had reviewed the restaurant’s menu online, and were intrigued by their “limited time” three course (four, actually) dinner offering called “Holiday Delight & Surprise Bag”.

We drove in the dark to this very difficult to find restaurant, placed our order with the very friendly Egyptian fellow running the place, then took Apollo for his “late” walk in the restaurant’s residential neighbourhood while we waited for our meal to be ready.

We had our “Holiday Delight & Surprise” meal at home at 8 PM. It was very good. Despite it being almost totally unknown foods. We recognized only the falafel balls appetizer. Our meal was ;

• Mama’s Salad Mix

• Crunchy Falafel Balls

• Tahina dip

• Mama’s Signature Chicken Bowl

• Mama’s Baba Ghanouj dip

• Balady Bread

• an Egyptian version of Baklava ... probably called “Mama’s Baklava”. HA HA HA !

This is the first year since my father died on Christmas Eve in 1995 that I have not felt a blanket of depression weighing heavier and heavier on me every day in the last few days leading up to Christmas. What a relief ! Finally ! ! ! I can find no explanation other than the good news I received the other day in a reply to my “Season’s Greetings” e-mails sent.

Christmas Eve ; Sunny (WOO-HOO), +10° C.

Today I remember my father, who died on this date … a long time ago.

We had a lazy day, by design. I walked Apollo at 9 AM while Joanne slept late (as usual), we both went for longer walks with him at noon and again at 6 PM. This afternoon we baked sugar cookies together. Joanne’s idea. After Apollo’s late walk we went to soak and relax in the hot tub (both of us) and swimming pool (Joanne).

As always on Christmas Eve, Joanne prepared tourtière / French Canadian meat pie for Christmas Eve dinner, her family tradition. I began reading a book to her (and Apollo, who seems to enjoy being read to), a Christmas gift request of hers. She chose the book ; “The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa”. <shrug>

Christmas Day ;

Mostly cloudy, occasional very light rain, windy, +7° C.

Again by design, we had a very lazy day. We slept very late. At 1 PM we had a FaceTime phone call with Joanne’s sister. After a walk with Apollo we opened our gifts to each other. Had a very late lunch of leftover tourtière. Apollo and I had a long nap. At 5:30 PM we went for another walk with Apollo. BRRRRR … windy and chilly.

Joanne prepared Christmas dinner, wonderful as always. Mandarin salad with Asian dressing, roast turkey breast stuffed with cranberry dressing, roasted small potatoes, brussel sprouts, turkey gravy. For dessert, brandy laced dark fruitcake from Victoria’s Murchie’s Fine Tea & Coffee store, a Christmas gift from her to me, along with other products from Murchie’s. Thank you, my dear. Hope you enjoy those Purdy’s Chocolates.

<blink blink> Maybe I should revise that to past tense ... enjoyed ? HA HA HA !

In the evening I made all of our hotel reservations for our return trip home in April. I was hoping I might find some Boxing Day sales on hotel reservation sites, but … NO !

MERRY CHRISTMAS !

DSK