5C's Que Pasa

Thank you for all of your comments.  I continue to improve day by day except for a wee relapse a few days ago when I was out the day prior doing some much needed errands.  I think if we had some normal weather for this time of year instead of 60F – 70F  the heat might help dry me out.  Today I did my first walk since we left Barcelona on June 9th.  My mind is eager to complete my posts of our trip.  Soon my body will be ready also.  I am still sleeping 10 hours per night but no longer taking naps in the day.

Meanwhile sometime last week Colin was up early and quietly playing his guitar by the front lake window when he had some critter action.  All of these photos were taken from inside the house.

There was the ‘marmot’ again only this time just off our patio sunning himself on our rocks.

Suddenly a bird flew up, sat on the critter’s back and started pecking at it.  The critter never moved.

The bird would fly off and come back again, over and over.

The critter never moved. Finally after several attempts the bird gave up and sat on the next rock.

Then another attack.

And yet another.  No idea why the bird felt threatened unless it had a nest nearby.

Then the quail stopped by.

Love to see them but hate the mess they leave on the chairs.

Mom, Dad and the kids.  A different family.  This must be their second set of chicks this season.

A different critter sitting over at the neighbors.  Zoomed in through the window.

Yet another critter left this mess on my windshield and along the side of my car just a day ago.  We love all the nature around us but not this so much.  Now that was a very large bird!

Thank you for the blog comments and emails.  Yes I am still alive and actually starting to get better.  I am still sleeping 12 hours night/ day.   My cough is lessening but still bringing up  crud but mostly only until noon.  The best part is that I am about 70% back to normal energy level.  I really needed to catch up on the business taxes to be paid, bills and invoices, etc.  Even though we are attempting to semi retire there is still the same amount of work to do each month much to my chagrin.  I wish I could just stop but I am the one that runs the company behind the scenes so I must continue.  Eventually I hope to get it to just a few days per week.

Colin worked hard to get the weeds under control in the garden.  We have enjoyed both the kale and Swiss chard from out garden this past week.

My tomatoes are looking great. Today is my last day wearing these horrid stockings so soon I will be in the garden pulling weeds.

Just waiting to taste these once they ripen.

I finally felt strong enough to get my car insured for the next three months ( it was on storage insurance ).  I still haven’t driven it, since last fall, but at least I am not so foggy that I am impaired to drive.  However I am not quite up to driving yet.  I haven’t been for a walk since we left Barcelona.  Soon I will get some balance in my life or so I hope.

Is that good when your new license plate reads 747 🙂

However I still have managed to lose 5.4 pounds since we left here mid May.  I have actually lost 22.8 lbs since September 11, 2017 and I ate all that I wanted to as well as drank all the wine I wanted to, no restrictions at all.   That just goes to prove that as long as you exercise daily ( a lot ) you can eat pretty much all you want within reason of course.  However a large part of my weight loss is related to the change in my eating style.  Thanks to a friend and fellow blogger I found out about intermittent fasting.  A much healthier way to eat overall and a by product is weight loss.  Of course they suggest just a glass of wine here and there but you know me 😀  I really do need to get back to walking as soon as I can.  By the way three of the four pair of walking shoes that I had brought to Europe needed to have new heels put on as I had worn them right down 😆

Some serious work going on.  One of the neighbors is taking out his front yard and putting in concrete.  He has been working for a few weeks and many of the fellows ( and a few gals ) here on Lake Lane are helping out each day.

Over the last 3 – 4 years our Duradek steps have been becoming darker.  We have tried many of the recommended cleaning ways to no avail.  So the other day Colin just went for it, used Simple Green and a light power wash.  A huge difference but still not perfectly clean.  Any suggestions???

Saw this critter over at the neighbors.  Have not researched it yet…marmot??

Maybe I am addicted to the computer.  Yesterday afternoon I had a nap and I  then went to bed at 9PM and slept until 7AM today.  I woke up tired 🙁     I will keep trying to rest.  The chest x-ray came back today as clear which I expected.  So my doctor won’t give me antibiotics but suggests I contact her if I don’t feel stronger in a few days.  Will do.

Still no photos of the weed free garden that Colin worked on last weekend.  He also goes everyday to water.  I only leave the house now for medical appointments.  However we did enjoy this Swiss Chard from our garden the other night.

I was resting in my recliner last evening when I saw a very good water skier doing his thing.  Colin went out and they soon approached our beach.

The fellow in black lives at the far end of the lake and said that he has seen photos of our home. He would love to live here in our park but wants to be on the water as we are.

Colin sat on the steps and they chatted for a very long time.  I soon lost interest as I was resting.  I still can’t believe that I slept from 9pm to 7am .

Still not feeling any better but I did get my last leg vein treatment done today.  Nothing but rest ( and some wine ) in my future for a few days.  Can anyone tell me where all the crud keeps coming from?  I mean, can’t you only bring so much up with your coughing or expel so much from your nose???  Can’t you???  Seriously, where does it come from and how do you end it?  Perhaps TMI but I want to know.

Nap time….

Had my last right leg vein treatment done this AM and the last left leg treatment for this year is tomorrow.  Not fun wearing thick mid thigh tight compression stockings in 34C temperatures.

I was exhausted by 10AM and could barely do my 30 minute required post vein treatment walk.  I felt like I was falling apart, no vitality at all.  I wanted to lie down and sleep forever.  Colin called my doctor who was able to fit me in within 30 minutes.  She has no idea what is wrong with me.  My whooping cough test came back negative which I knew and now today I went for an x-ray despite my lungs appearing clear.  Colin thinks that I just totally wore myself out, right down to nothing.  I just kept going and going in Europe no matter what.

Maybe I just need bed rest for a few days.  Even during my two hip replacements I felt so much better.  I just want to stop coughing and blowing my nose 😥  Five weeks is much too long to live like this.

I did do a post a while back about our trip from Florence to Nice on May 31st.   You can find that here.  There is also a link to our Airbnb there.  I must mention again that Nice is the second largest city in France after Paris but the most expensive in all of France.  Long ago Sardinia gave Nice to France in exchange for protection of their land.  We did find the prices a tad higher but we managed for the most part to keep within our budget.

There were not quite as many smokers in Florence as the rest of Italy or so we thought.  Many many people riding bicycles there even dressed in their business attire.  Nice had even fewer smokers which we appreciated.  I still can’t believe the amount of cigarette butts we had to walk over in Naples and Rome.

We really enjoyed our train travel in Europe. This was our segment from Florence ( which was the only city it never rained in while we where there ) to Milan in Prima class.

From Milan to Nice we were in in First class which was not as nice as the lower senior prima class was.  However it was totally enjoyable.  So much to see.

Why would you fly when you can see so much in a few hours?

We saw this as we came into France. No idea what type of vessel this was.

Our VRBO host picked us up at the train station.  So wonderful for us as I was already worn out what with the rushing to change trains in Milan and just being weaker than normal.

I had emailed our Nice host as to where I could have my stitches taken out.  Somewhere along the way there was a misunderstanding and they assumed that I needed to see an eye specialist.  From the train station we were whisked by auto to our lovely apartment.  However after a brief intro to the place he told us that we had an appointment to have the stitches over my eye checked out in thirty minutes 8-O.  My stitches still needed another 24 -48 hours before removal.

So we waited 45 minutes and the French eye specialist MD who at first claimed that me could not understand my French ( which he did later as he warmed up to me ) decided that if we waited ( another hour ) that he would remove my stitches today.  I would have preferred to wait a day or two.

So we waited and he did remove them.  I could have done it myself but I was unable to see above my eye without my eyeglasses.  We waited and he unnecessarily put a topical anesthetic on the area.  Finally he very slowly and carefully ( and  painlessly removed my stitches ).  The facture/bill was 100 euros.  Wow!!  Oh well, at least they were out.

On our walk back to the apartment we found a small cafe style restaurant that offered a veggie burger with fries.  Perfect.  We really needed a change from pizza and pasta.

We truly enjoyed our meal and the great inexpensive house wine.  It wasn’t long before we headed back to our comfortable home for five nights complete with sloped floors to unpack and get settled.  We did have an early morning tour scheduled for the next morning.

I was so happy to be in Nice.