5C's Que Pasa

For the first time since I got back from Mexico I managed to get my 10,000 steps in.  Yeah me 😀   Hopefully I am back on track.

Last week I was running errands and pulled into a parking lot and got out of my car.  An older man was waiting for me at the back of the Z3.  My first thought was that he wanted information about the car, I get that a lot.  Instead he proceeded to go up one side of me and down the other about how bad a driver I was.  Turns out that in his opinion I made a left had turn too slowly which caused him to have to wait to make his turn 😯  For once I was speechless and thought to just nod my head and keep my mouth shut.  But he did not stop and in fact walked with me to the store ( I had parked further away so that I had no cars around me to prevent door dings ) and eventually walked right into the store with me nattering all the while.  Before we got to the store I said to him that I would be sure to tell my father who was a policeman that he had trained me wrong.   The guy just kept at me.  The last thing I said to him was that it was sad that at this time of his life that he had nothing better to do than tell people how to drive.  As I walked into the store and I went to the cashier at the till and explained that I was being harassed by that guy over there.  He soon disappeared into the store.   I’m still speechless when I think about it.

My next surprise was that Copper River salmon was finally back at Costco.  In my opinion it is the best salmon in the world.   Two years ago Chris and Juan drove all the way up from Mexico in their RV to visit Canada and the many Canadian friends they have made. One of first meals I prepared for them was Copper River salmon.  It was expensive two years ago at $44.99/kg or $20.45 per lb.  Can you imagine my shock when I discovered that it is now $56.99/kg or $25.90/lb ??  But you know what, it is worth every morsel.

The next thing was that Colin went to pick up a prescription for me and the label was made out to man and was for a different medication.  I called the pharmacy and they said not to worry, it was the right medication for me.  No thank you!  We took that back and got a full refund and will never use Shoppers Drug Mart again.  I still can’t believe it.  What if it was an older person with poor eyesight and they took the wrong medication?  Very serious indeed.

The last shock I had this week was that the price of gas went up ten cents overnight and somehow it was leaked on social media that this was about to happen.  It is along story but there is a fuel shortage because of the Fort McMurray fire which also shut down the oil camps.  But seriously I have never seen gas stations with signs saying they no longer have fuel.

It truly was a shocking week.

Our sweet girl Carmeh. I just love the way her left paw is folded over the blanket.

We had a near major event with her yesterday.  In the past you might remember seeing Caeli sitting in her round bed outside on the top front step.  We were all sitting outside in the shade yesterday. Despite the heat there was a slight breeze which made it tolerable.  We did have the A/C on inside the house but who wants to sit in that all day?  Today we are sitting inside as it is very hot out there as in 36C/97F with not even a whisper of a breeze.   Part of the reason we were sitting outside yesterday was because Carmeh kept eating grass and would not stop.  Thinking she was hungry I gave her some extra food which she wolfed  down and went right back to eating grass.   She ate grass constantly for over 30 minutes and I feared she was going to upchuck so we kept her outside.

Here she is nibbling next to the art work we have in memory of Channel who loved butterflies.  Carmeh did eventually settle down in the grass.  Colin and I started to read facing the lake but in the shade of the house on the grass not the patio.

Colin heard a noise and jumped up and saw Carmeh walking around from the side of the front steps.

Carmeh had been making a nest of Caeli’s bed and was backing up and fell off the top of the steps to the cement.  She never uses that bed.

Well except for the one time and I happened to be at the open front door and she did the same thing and I had to pull the bed toward the railing so she would not fall.  Caeli just plops into the bed and never moves nor makes a nest of it.  What a distance for her to fall and she was perfectly fine and still is today.   Rather amazing.  I did give her a dose of Metacam with her dinner and will do so for the next few nights.  She has to be somewhat sore.  However she did walk just fine this morning.

Some of you will be wondering why there is no railing on that side of the steps.  It was a decision we made to make loading and unloading the RV easier without having to walk around and up and down the stairs with everything.  It is great for unloading groceries also.  Just walk up to the top step/landing and slide things on and off.  The steps are wide enough and this just was a freak accident.  We are so relieved that she is fine.

The next big ouch was me.  Our convection/microwave totally shut down during dinner preparations last night so I switched to the stove oven.  I burnt myself.  Instead of my usual removal of the hot item from high to low I was lifting from the lower oven and up.  That is how I got hurt.  You have know how it was bad for me, to call the Nurse hotline at 811.  But after several hours of cold gel packs the pain was still intense.  It was suggested that I go into ER to get checked.  Instead Colin went to a few stores all the way into Kelowna as the stores here in Lake Country were already closed.  He finally found buttermilk at Safeway.  Yes buttermilk.

Cold buttermilk compresses take the heat out of a burn.  It really works and the trick is to keep the bowl of buttermilk in the fridge between compresses.  It is wet and messy hence the white garbage bag and big bunch of paper towel to mop up with.  We just use dish clothes as the compress.  One on the wound and the other in the bowl in the fridge.  Gently squeeze out some of the liquid before applying over and over and over.

800mg of Ibuprofen every 8 hours for the first 24 hours really helps.  The pain was greatly diminished by 2AM when I took a narcotic pain pill and with a cold gel pack on my arm fell asleep for four hours.

I had pressed my arm along the side of 425F cookie sheet.  It still hurts today especially as it is on the inside of my arm and keeps brushing against my dress.

Last night Colin heard a few fireworks and as it turned out so did a neighbor.  I had fallen asleep in the recliner earlier and about 11:10PM I got up to head to bed and looked out the window. The fire is to the right of us at the end of the lake, close to the highway.

Colin took these photos.

Thank goodness for the fire department.  It took three trucks to put it out.  It was likely a bunch of kids drinking and partying.  For the past several nights we have had strong winds blowing most of the night, fortunately it was calm yesterday.  There could have been a much different outcome for us 👿

What wonderful news.  100 Mexican firefighters will be arriving in Canada within 24 hours to help fight the Fort McMurray fire.  Just the other day about 300 firefighters arrived from South Africa.

Thanks for your help, it is much appreciated.