Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds have been a big part of day-to-day life during the winter months, as long as I can remember. Indoor air during the winter is dryer than indoor air during the spring, summer, and fall. My nosebleeds begin as soon as conventional heating methods begin in the fall. At first it was a natural gas furnace, then wood heat, and now fuel oil heat. It isn’t just the constant movement of air, because the air source heat pump delivers heat that has no effect on my nosebleeds at all. I never get nosebleeds when the house is heated with the air source heat pump, which shuts down when the exterior temperature falls below -7C.

Now that I have a Nurse Practitioner, it was possible to get a referral to an ENT. So last week I finally had the problem diagnosed and remedied by cauterization. I had thought it was only the right nostril, but he checked and recommended both nostrils be cauterized. Of course anaesthetic was out of the question, so none was used. To be honest, there was no pain during the procedure, it wasn’t the least bit unpleasant.

However, the 24 hours following the procedure weren’t all that comfortable! Clear fluid flowed from my nostrils in abundance, requiring a tissue to be held to the nose constantly. A feeling of pressure was intense in the nostrils, like cotton balls had been jammed in there. It was very uncomfortable, and there was a mild pain in my nose, radiating to my eyes and upper lip. No pain medications were needed. I could still breathe easily through my nose.

I took it easy for a few days, not lifting anything heavy or bending down. It didn’t keep me awake at night either, slept soundly every night after the procedure.

Now it is just a matter of giving it some time to heal and seeing if I still get nosebleeds.

It has been frigidly cold! The weather is warming up now though, I can tell without looking at a thermometer because the air source heat pump has taken over heating the house, which only occurs above the temperature of -7C.

Now that canning season is over for 2018, focus has shifted to getting the kitchen back to normal. Canning takes up a lot of space, produce everywhere, at different stages of processing, and equipment everywhere. Someday I might have an outdoor kitchen space for canning, I would like that. There is no hurry, no urgency, it is only daydreaming.

I am old enough now that I know, intellectually, that I might not be around long enough to see many more changes around Mist Cottage. However, the rest of me, the part that doesn’t operate by logic alone, enjoys looking forward to possibilities, and really doesn’t get this old age thing at all. I am still me, doing me things, and plan on continuing that way while I am living this life of mine.

Attila is tackling the basement. It is too cold to work on the garage, it is not heated. Most of the basement is as it was in September 2015, when we moved from the Country House to Mist Cottage. Dirty doesn’t really cover the depth of filth in some areas of the basement. Now that some items are removed to the garage, it is possible to move things around and tackle the dirt. That is what Attila is doing. After washing a small surface area down there, the water is pitch black. I continue to spray aqueous oxygen down there where he is working, to kill mold, mildew, and spores. Eventually it will be relatively clean.

Attila’s goal is to get things cleaned up in the basement. He is working on an area beneath the kitchen, for the very first time since we purchased Mist Cottage. The plan is to insulate the rim joists along that wall, which is under the kitchen. The kitchen floor is always extremely cold, colder than any other floor in the house. All the floors are cold of course, because the basement is unheated, but the kitchen floor is much colder than the rest. It is hoped that insulating the rim joists along that wall will help to keep the kitchen floor warmer during the winter months.

I just checked my Crabapple Vinegar project. The alcohol smell is almost gone, and the vinegar is free of mold, so I think it is going well. No signs of a scoby though, but it has to spend weeks on the shelf yet.

Worldly

Weather

-6°C
Date: 8:00 AM EST Friday 23 November 2018
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 103.3 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: -6.0°C
Dew point: -10.2°C
Humidity: 72%
Wind: S 34 km/h
Wind Chill: -15
Visibility: 24 km

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