The smoke has gone and in it’s place has been a lot of cloud. Certainly not great work weather nor is it inspiring to see grey day after grey day. We have had no summer to speak of. First it was record breaking heat and one needed to be inside with the A/C on most of the day. I mentioned earlier that we even had the A/C on overnight, a first for us. Then we had the smoke for over three weeks and now the clouds. Thinking back, Colin and I only spent a few hours outside one day in the shade and I spent another afternoon in early June out there with the girls. It’s just been that kind of year.

Pretty much what we’ve been dealing with.
I have been barely getting through each day. I seem to have little to no energy. Just enough to do what I have to do. In all honesty it is the estate business that is dragging me down. Right now I don’t even feel like preparing for Mexico. I keep hinting to Colin that maybe we should just stay here for the winter 😥 I have had it with the lawyer whom I am dealing with who happens to be the one who wrote my father’s will. She has created so many issues ( such as misinterpreting certain words ) that have given me so very much stress. I tried to fire her but that didn’t work as she said she could not legally transfer the funds to me here in B.C. 👿 I don’t believe her but after a solid two weeks of 10 hour days, I have given up. I did contact two other lawyers, one in each Province but I can’t let a legal battle between us eat up the funds in the estate so I have given in and she is in charge right to the bitter end. I so feel like I have let my Dad down. He never wanted me to use a lawyer as he wanted to save the money but there was no way I could have gone through probate on my own, but I could have done the disbursements and final tax stuff on my own. Once everything is complete I plan to file a complaint with the Alberta Law Society. I was waking up in the middle of the night with sore teeth only to find that I was clenching my jaw and likely grinding my teeth. My sore eye syndrome came back and even with wearing sunglasses I could not use the computer nor do desk work. Totally stress related.

It started to rain rather heavily about 3AM this morning and continued for most of the day. The fog appeared during the short period the rain took a break.
Today I was supposed to receive a package of documents from the lawyer. I stayed home everyday last week waiting for it. It was finally sent last Friday and with it being the Labor Day weekend I was expecting it today. Well it got sent to Victoria, B.C. instead. So now I get to spend tomorrow waiting for it. Fortunately the contents of the envelope should be enough to give me a break from the estate until next May. I, as well as Mother Nature are about to get a break, with sun in the forecast for several days 😎
Life goes on. We have an 80 gallon propane tank that is filled as needed by the company we have been dealing with for over 12 years. They just come by every few weeks with a huge truck and fill our tank as needed, even in the winter when we are gone. We leave our furnace on low while away. A new company has come to town and is offering a great rate, 19 cents per liter less than the street propane price. That includes transferring tanks and new hook ups, all at no cost to us. Both companies wave the standard $19.50 delivery fee. So I called the first company and spoke to the manager and gave him an idea of what was going on and that we along with others here in the park would be making the switch. He called me back 30 minutes later and offered a 20 cent off per liter with a 5 year contract. Sold. Good deal for us, bad news for both propane companies, no or very little profit. I also managed to buy at least 6 months worth of my face moisturizer at 50% off. A good month for us financially.
The really great news is that we finally have a new family doctor. Ours retired last July and using the walk in clinic is a pain ( usually a 2 -3 hour wait ). There is a huge shortage of MD’s around here and no one is taking new patients. When Colin turned 65 in July he became eligible for a new government program for seniors that interviewed him and promised to match him to a local GP within a few months. When the call came a few weeks ago I asked the receptionist if I could tag along and see if the doctor would also take me on. Yes. Our new MD is young and Greek and a most wonderful person. We both really like her and she is doing a full battery of tests and a complete physical on each of us. Our old Dr. only did 2 physicals per month and so I haven’t had one in years and years and years. Really like this new doctor and most especially how her office is run so efficiently.

Sometime in the last 10 days we had a very special visitor to our beach.
I just happened to be walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water when a heron flew past very low. Suddenly a second heron came along and landed right there in front of me. I carefully and slowly walked back to my desk to get my camera. These photos were taken through the window with little time to focus before the bird started to walk through the water very slowly and soon was out of sight. What a treat.
We have been hearing many coyotes lately, first time in close to a year. Love to listen to their laments. The other day Colin and I were returning home when a deer crossed, not too far in front of us…….it crossed 4 lanes ( HWY 97 ) of heavy traffic 😯 Our hearts stopped for a moment but it survived. It stopped in an orchard next to the highway and seemed to just stand there catching its breath. The last few days have the geese up there practicing their V formation. Fall is in the air.
Do you know anyone who has had cancer? Well who hasn’t? My friend Lynne who writes Winnie Views was suddenly diagnosed with uterine cancer last April. She is now NED ( no evidence of disease ) after her surgery. Lynne has embraced promoting the fight against, as she calls it, below the belt cancer, gynecologic cancer, by educating people as well as raising funds for the Foundation for Women’s Cancer.

Did you know that there now are vaccines for pre teens to prevent them from getting certain below the belt cancers? I certainly didn’t. So please take a moment to click here to read how you can help your sisters, friends and any female you know with some life saving information. The link takes you to the first day of Lynne’s blog posts about this subject. Each post since then holds much important information. Please take a moment to read about this little discussed cancer. It just might be your life that you save.

Thank you to all my wonderful blog readers who have stayed with me these past few weeks. Your comments and emails have meant so very much to me.