5C's Que Pasa

Thinking of all my Americans friends today.  Enjoy the day but please stay safe.

So we gave in yesterday afternoon and turned on the fireplace. I can’t count how many times Colin has shut off the pilot light for the season and then had to relight it. It was so very damp and raining so hard that you could not see out the windows.

However we do have some nicer days. This was taken on June 26th. Another of those wonderful reflective sunsets.

Another beautiful rainbow after a storm on June 30th.

We are eating as much as we can out of our garden.  Fresh carrots, some of our romaine and of course kale.

I think that next spring I will only plant 1/4 of a row of kale. I thought that just planting the 1/2 row this spring might not be enough but 1/4 is more than enough. I am giving some away every few days and we are eating it at least three to four times per week. For some reason the Swiss chard I planted in one of our patio pots is not growing very fast ( it grows well for me on the Isla ). However the chard that I recently planted in the garden is growing very fast. It will be nice to mix the two greens. Sometimes I simply steam the greens, other times I fry them in a bit of butter with along with fresh mushrooms and garlic. How do you cook your kale or Swiss chard?  I am open to suggestions.

Our rotting zucchini could be a result of too much or too little water.  I had a visit with Dr. Google today and he suggested that the problem is blossom end rot and likely caused by a lack of calcium in the soil or uneven watering. We will be checking in with a nursery tomorrow and perhaps picking up gypsum to add to the soil or a calcium rich foliar spray. Things are getting way too technical for me 🙁 We had one wonderful zucchini from the garden and have about ten that are rotting. Not fun 😥

We have noticed many more overhead flights this past week. Dang 🙁  It was much quieter with fewer flights. They are slowly opening up more things here in Canada including more flights. Most provinces seem to be very cautious. Even the airlines are limiting their routes despite increasing more flights. Are you ready to fly domestically? We are not. The only place we might want to go would be to see my chiropractor in Edmonton but that can wait and if we need to go we will drive.

There was a poll started on June 30th, on an online news site.  They asked, as your can read “Are you willing to get on a domestic flight right now?”  12,741 people responded and it appears that the majority are not willing to do so. So I ask you, are you willing to get on a domestic flight right now? Just a few hours ago, a news article came out asking people on four recent domestic flights to please self isolate for 14 days.  That article can be found here.

Yet another poll asked about encouraging tourism here in BC from within Canada.  As you can see the majority say no.  That is a bit of dicey situation as visitors from Alberta will certainly help stimulate the economy.

Now this is an interesting study.  First you have to cross off the first two words ” Bacteria from ” and replace them with ” Corona Virus “. Covid- 19 is spread by respiratory droplets so this is an accurate portrayal of the spread. Please wear a mask, if not for you but for me.

We went to Costco this past Monday and one of the staff checking your purchases , as you left the building, against your receipt kept coughing and coughing and coughing and did not cover her mouth.  She was wearing a mask but kept lifting it each time she coughed  🙄 We went to the other lady to have our receipt checked. An aside here, we found the store crowded, even fewer were wearing masks ( compared to our last visit ) and there was a good deal of pushing and shoving to get past you.  Lots of crowding and little social distancing.

It is an extremely wet Canada Day here in most of BC.  We did get out for a walk and of course got rained on but it was great to be out for a bit. Sadly even here at Holiday Park, Covid- 19 has reared its ugly head and management cancelled our annual July 1st parade, luncheon and festivities. Of course celebrations have been cancelled almost everywhere in Canada although there are some virtual events taking place. We moved here in 2003 from Vancouver and this is the first July 1st that has been wet.  We have had a few overcast Canada Days, but not like this.

Some people suggested on our Neighbourhood Chat Facebook page that we decorate our golf carts and drive around today. Much too wet and cold for that.  Instead Colin and I checked out a few sites that were decorated.

A lovely patriotic display from our neighbours up the street.

A hedge on the main road.

Lots of large flags.

We got rained out on our walk yesterday and stood under my friends Cindys gazebo until it cleared.

Again on the main road. As you can see yesterday had some blue sky. From one extreme to the other.

I even did a bit of decorating on our cart. I was going to add more balloons today but didn’t because of the rain.  We never even drove it this Canada Day.

So proud to be a Canadian living in the great country and especially in British Columbia ( BC ) during these troubled times. Stay safe everyone.

The rain continues and the weather forecast seems to change a few times per day.  It seems that we have one nice day and then five or so wet days.

Yesterday was vein day.

I have been receiving sclerotherapy mostly for spider veins and a few varicose veins every April since 2009.  The sclerotherapy solution is injected directly into the veins and causes the veins to scar, forcing blood to reroute through healthier veins.  I took April 2019 off as we were going to be in Europe for six weeks and I could not fly after the treatments for several weeks.  We all know that April of 2020 resulted in most things remaining shut down including my clinic. My right leg looked pretty bad as it had been just over two years since I received treatment. I guess I should have done a before photo. Yesterday was the first day that I could get an appointment.  The clinic use to book a year in advance and the idea was to go in three weeks in a row, ie Monday for the right leg and Tuesday for the left leg, week after week. That also meant that I was wearing thigh high thick compression stockings for a full month which is why I always scheduled my treatments in April, after Mexico and before the summer heat. Covid has changed that.  You can only make one appointment at a time and so yesterday after my initial treatment, I was able to book my left leg for August 18th, the next open date.  Plus they are only booking over a two month period. I was told that September, October, etc were fully booked by patients who had appointments booked last year.  So what about me who booked a year in advance for this past April?  Not a fun situation.  Nothing I can do but take it as it comes.  On the plus side I only have to wear a stocking on one leg for seven days 😎  I almost forgot to mention, the doctor herself no longer does the treatment.  She has trained a few RN’s to do the injections and she comes and checks at the end. I was rather apprehensive and looked like a pin cushion but perhaps I received a more intense treatment.

Very rigid rules in that you can only enter at your exact appointment time, must wear a mask and use their sanitizer. I also had to prepay a month ago when they called to set up my time in order to limit the time in the office. Colin was not allowed to come in.  He has been with me for every appointment since 2009 holding my hand during the multiple injections. They can be painful at times. I called about thirty minutes before we arrived and asked yet again to have him allowed in based on my anxiety about having not having the actual doctor doing the injections. It worked. The RN was very good although I did cry out several times but I feel that I received a good treatment. I spent the rest of the day with my legs up in the recliner relaxing and reading and enjoying my favourite beverage. I had to leave the stocking  on overnight for the first night and ideally not take it off until I have a shower the next day. It was difficult sleeping last evening with it on. Fortunately I can take it off tonight.

While sitting there yesterday about 6PM,  I looked up and saw what appeared to be a Japanese couple out on the lake in a blow up raft.  Obviously they are visiting here in the park and using their own raft.  They had no control of the direction they were ‘trying’ to paddle in and were quickly being driven by the wind and waves.

As they were being pushed to the edge of the wind I asked Colin to call security. Sure enough, a Japanese couple had asked about going out on the lake the day prior.

There was a storm brewing.  Can you see them on the right, a small dot on the water ( about an inch to the left of the shed roof )?  It appears that they did manage to land on someones beach down there.  I’m sure that was more of an adventure than they expected.

Data for June 24th.

Colin was able to find two large tomato plants at Art Knapps to replace two in our garden.  A hefty $8.99 price per six inch pot but they are larger type tomatoes which we need.  There are still a few plants struggling and we just have to wait for enough sun and warm weather to see it they recover.  We still have rain and mostly cool temps. Fortunately the strawberries are doing well.  The peas finally have flowers and we have some pods.  I have picked 4 beans from our patio bean plant and the ones in the garden are starting to come around.  The more I pick my kale the more it grows.  It is a monster plant.

Our patio pots.

We have two tiny tomatoes coming.

Our first cucumber is on our patio plate and as you can see it is large.

Since then all the other tiny cucumbers are dying, going mushy at one end.  We found two zucchini in the garden today that are rotting.  I would have picked them for dinner tonight.  I guess too much rain.  The cucumbers in the garden are just small plants so nothing there for along while.

Someone spent a good deal of money building this garden.

A very neat old gate on this garden.

Definitely large.

Beets, beet tops, carrots and the cucumber. We do eat well from our garden. This was just for one meal plus salad, rice and the main protein.

Hoping for sun and heat tomorrow.