I am now recovering nicely from my fall almost a month ago. The hematoma is still there, still painful to the touch, but it is smaller and much less intrusive. Pain from my tailbone has been with me for decades, my body already has ways of coping with that, so the fracture isn’t as intrusive as it might otherwise be. I am also nicely recovering from a nasty summer cold, which saw me feverish and miserable for two days, but only two days, which was a blessing. I probably picked that up in the emergency ward at the hospital, which is not an ideal place for non-life threatening health issues. Where we live, there are no other options.
The weather has been wonderful, until today, which has brought with it a slow steady rain.
The house has had no recent viewers, we have accepted that it will not likely sell this summer. So we ordered firewood, a big financial investment, enough to take us through the winter, which Attila has been busy stacking in the woodshed. It looks like we will be spending much of next winter apart, something that neither of us is happy about.
I have been working feverishly on my genealogy book, and have taken up a new temporary volunteer position as a member of working group studying health care outcomes for older people. Most of the volunteer work I do is self-generated, anonymous, and low-profile, so this is a bit of a departure for me.
I am looking forward to getting back to my physiotherapist recommended exercises, which have fallen by the wayside as I recover from my fall. I have also given up my daily walk, as I am back at the country house, where walking is distasteful rather than a source of pleasure. I find that to sustain a health routine, it must be something I do not come to loath, as I have walking at the country house. At the little house in the city I look forward to walking, every day, and it is sometimes the highlight of my day. What a contrast: location, location, location!
As I continue to follow my natural way of eating, my weight continues to fall towards my own “normal”. This is quite pleasing. I enjoy eating things I shouldn’t, and I still do that from time to time, but I love the control aspects of eating to live. Mostly, I just avoid big helpings, empty calories, and drink lots of water, not much of a formula, but it works for me.
The unfortunate truth that our “puddle problem” was indeed Mist generated has led us to keep her confined to the mud room, where we clean up after her daily. She still uses the kitty litter most of the time, but will unpredictably resort to using the floor, or furniture, occasionally. Occasionally is too much for us. The objectionable smell has all but disappeared in the rest of the house, thank goodness.
Mist is also becoming a bit more difficult to care for in other ways. Yesterday I heard a loud crash, and went downstairs to investigate. She had been on the windowsill, looking out the window, and decided to break through the window screen to gain entrance to the screened in porch. Having accomplished that goal, by demolishing the window screen, she was actively seeking a way to break through the screens in the screened in porch, to escape into the yard. I caught her before she made her great escape, which likely would have cost her her life, as the wildlife here is ever present, and always looking for its next meal. When I opened the door to the screened in porch she stared at me, then sauntered slowly past me into the mud room for a bite to eat. “No problem here,” she seemed to say.
Now we must keep the window closed to keep her safe, and have placed an air cleaning unit in the mud room to keep the air cleaned and the smell under control, at least to some degree. Attila will have to make time to repair the screen for future house viewings.
All in all things seem pretty darn good right now. I am loving this summer weather, with a few moderately hot days, around 30C, cooling night temperatures, occasional rain, and lots of sunny days.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
15°C
Date: 2:41 PM EDT Friday 17 July 2015
Condition: Light Rain
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Visibility: 10 km
Temperature: 15.3°C
Dewpoint: 14.7°C
Humidity: 96%
Wind: SE 18 gust 32 km/h
Quote
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
George Bernard Shaw
1856 – 1950
[Well! I am feeling pretty damn honorable just now!]
A blogger friend once installed a screen door at the bottom of a flight of stairs going to their 2nd floor level – where they kept foster cats galore… and they made the screen door out of special cat-proof screening so the cats could actually climb up the screen portion and not harm it at all. They actually loved it. You might look into using some of that cat-proof screening for your repairs.
I do love cats but all your reasons are why I never got another cat after my Isabelle passed… just can’t stand the smell they make and the litter/mess inside – and I’d never let my cats outside, way too dangerous.
((hugs))
Glad to hear you’re feeling better. I’m cheering on the bruise getting smaller in hopes the pain will go with it.
Sad that the house isn’t selling, especially after all the work you two have gone through. I don’t think it’s the house so much as the economy tightening up. People may purchase a primary home right now but maybe not a summer home. 🙁
I don’t think we’ve had a day near 30 since early June, but that will change this weekend. Right now, it’s 20 and rainy.
I stand corrected. I looked it up and the only time we crossed 30 so far was that aberrant temp we had in early May. It hit 30.4 then. Tomorrow will be the next time we come close to that temp.
I love my house dog and my farm dog and cat, but don’t plan to replace them when they’re gone, because I don’t love their hair or the sight of their waste. They are wonderful companions but I have trouble cleaning up after myself, let alone them.
I am with you Bex, I couldn’t let a cat outdoors, no matter where I lived. I didn’t provide enough detail I see, about the great escape. Mist did not claw through the screen, as one might surmise from my statement that she went through the screen, she actually applied enough pressure to rip the spline, so that the screen was no longer attached to the frame. Thank you so much for sending the details on those pet proof screens though, I had no idea such a product existed, and I think Tera will be most interested, as her cats tear the screens.
Teri, I think you are right, the house not selling is down to the economy. There is nothing we can do about that, except keep trying, which we do, this is the third consecutive summer the house has been on the market. It certainly makes summers in the country seem less attractive. 🙂
It is hot today, so the heat has arrived! I don’t like it at all, but so far I am tolerating it without discomfort.
Kate, exactly. We love Mist to bits, but we will not be inviting another animal to share our home, for all of the reasons you mention, plus the difficulty in caring for an animal when living in and maintaining two separate residences.
I think that as we age the oroblem of caring for our fur babies gets to us also. We don’t want the added pressure of their care, on top of our care, especially if we have health issues. I know that I would live to have another pet, but there are times now when I am glad I don’t.
As far as the countr house sale, if I was a millionare, the house would be sold!
Hi Maggie,
Good to hear your healing is coming along and you are loving the summer weather. It’s too hot here for me right now. I think it climbed up to 94* today and suppose to be hotter this week. I long for fall.
It made me sad to think you might be spending time away again from Attila this winter. I hope something happens and you experience a sudden turn in luck.
Your volunteer position sounds interesting. Can you tell us more about it?
Mist…I am wondering if she might have a kidney problem or infection. It is just a thought.
Cat proof screens, who knew!
You make a good point Lee Ann, pets are a tremendous responsibility from my point of view. I loved having a pet visitor, Diesel, who went home when it was time for me to be traveling and away again.
The economy may yet turn to bring house sales up in our area, time will tell.
94F sounds very warm indeed Nora, I do not envy you! It was very hot over the weekend, but has cooled and is just perfect now.
Attila and I are hoping that we don’t have to spend another winter apart, and are thinking, thinking, thinking about ways to minimize that kind of experience.
The volunteer work is unfamiliar to me, and I don’t yet know what to think of it, so I will say little until I get a feel for things. It will move very slowly so there is lots of time.
I don’t think it is a health issue with Mist, she has shown no signs of declining health, or change in personality. She is, I think, just at a age where she has decided she will do what she wants, when she wants. I believe she is going senile, truth be told. We hope to keep her comfortable and happy as long as we feasibly can.
Sadly, the things you’ve told us do sound a bit like Mist might be at the early stages of kitty senile dementia. We had a dog about 6 years ago that began to have signs of dog senile dementia. It was an unhappy time for him. Thank goodness Mist is a small animal and seems to be happy.
*hugs*
I’m glad you are feeling better. It sure seems like a long healing process. Sorry Mist is causing problems. I confess to having little tolerance to indoor potty behavior with pets unless there’s a kitty litter box. Roger had impeccable manners, but after my diagnosis and I had to be away so much, he became a tiny bit feral in my absence – wildly jumping all over the place and breaking a few pieces of art. None of the broken pieces upset me, but I envisioned continued damage and knew I would find it unacceptable. With my pulmonary condition I knew that having a cat was discouraged by my doctors, so I was very very lucky to find Roger a good new home. It broke my heart. I still miss him my office walls have photos of him. He was a superb companion.
I was so hoping you would sell the house this summer – it still might happen!
Love.