As predicted, heavy rain and wind arrived Sunday morning. We made a quick trip over to Rob and Angie's first thing in he morning to pick up a few things...remnants from the hunting trip.
The rest of the day was pretty much an inside day as it was pretty nasty outside. Steve cleaned his rifle, so it's all ready to be put back safely in the locked gun cabinet for storage.
We were back at Rob and Angie's at 4:00 to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. Bryce, Angie, Rob and Conner...a lovely family pic!
Rob preparing the Sambuca Spot Prawns...
We enjoyed a non-traditional Sambuca Spot Prawn pasta dinner for Thanksgiving this year! Absolutely delicious! Wishing all of our family and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Relaxing after dinner. Bryce 'photo-bombed' the picture Angie took of us...too funny!
After the big storm yesterday, the weather was pretty nice Monday (Oct. 12)...a slight lull between storms, so we're told. A pretty sunrise this morning...
Steve went over to the house to wash his quad and load it back into the truck. I spent most of the day working on a blog update. That was pretty much our day.Tuesday (Oct. 13) another storm hit though the night...rain and strong winds. I was to meet Deb and Ray in Duncan to pick up their dehumidifier. They have graciously offered it to us to use for the winter since they won't be needing it.
It was touch and go as to whether I would go because of the rain and strong winds but by 9, the sky had brightened up and the rain wasn't bad...so I decided to head off. Just outside of Victoria, heading north on the highway, I heard on the radio that there had been a rockslide on the Malahat...The Malahat Drive starts at the Goldstream Park, which is located on the northern part of Victoria on Highway #1. To tackle the Malahat, you need to travel up towards the eastern coast of Vancouver Island .The reason why this particular route is able to afford a scenic view is the fact that the road is constructed hugging the seaside mountains, and gradually carves through the thick forests of Arbutus, Douglas Fir, Red Cedar and Maple. It looked really socked-in up that way anyway...so I decided to turn around. I'll meet up with them in Duncan another day.
Needless to say, it ended up being another inside day. It basically rained all day and was extremely windy with numerous power outages across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland (Greater Vancouver Area).
Wednesday (Oct. 14) morning I left at about 9:15 for an appointment at ReBalance in Victoria. It is my one year check-up of my knee replacement. I had both knees x-rayed first then met with my Orthopedic Surgeon. It was a quick appointment...the replacement looks good, see you in 5 years for another check-up. As far as my other knee is concerned, he said it doesn't look "really" bad and asked if it is as painful as my other knee was prior to replacement. No, definitely not there yet! So he said to continue getting the injections every six months until they don't work, then I'll be put on the list to have it replaced too. I'm due my next injection December 1...sure hope they continue working for at least another couple of years!
It had turned out to be a fairly nice day today after the wicked day yesterday. After lunch, we went to three RV places in the Sidney area looking for a replacement piezo igniter for our stove. No one had the exact one but after a little on-line research, Steve found that ours is no longer made. One spot had an igniter that Steve thought should work, so we'll have to go back another day to pick it up.
Next thing on the agenda for today was a walk along the Sidney waterfront. We passed these folks learning how to kayak...they are obviously practicing getting back into an overturned kayak...brrrrr...
Thursday (Oct. 15) morning we both had dental appointments to have our teeth cleaned...and checked. It has been well over a year since I had my teeth cleaned so I wasn't really looking forward to it but it was fine. I have one cavity that needs to be filled but in general, he said my teeth were in good shape. He checked out the post I had put in last January in Mexico and seemed fine with it, other than he was curious as to why they used such a small post because I have lots of jaw bone. It's a little awkward but we have been very open with our Canadian dentist, telling him that he is just too expensive compared to getting the work done at a reputable dentist in Los Algodones (I worked out the difference last year...we saved over $3300 having the work done in Mexico). The unfortunate part is that I was due to have the implant completed (tooth put in) next month...but that isn't going to happen now since we aren't going south. Hopefully next fall. And the same holds true for Steve...he had a tooth extracted last April but will have to wait for the implant once we go south again.
On our way home, we went to Peden's RV to pick up the piezo igniter for our stove that Steve thought would work. Once home, he worked on it and was quite frustrated...the shaft the knob fits onto is too short! We'll return it Saturday and hope that the parts fellow will be able to source one that will fit our stove.
Friday (Oct. 16) morning Steve could only have liquids until 8 am because he is booked for a gastroscopy today at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. The reason for this test is that sometimes when taking a drink or eating Steve gets a sensation of an expanding bubble in his chest that feels like he's having a heart attack. At times salivating enough to make him want to swallow which makes it worse and even makes him light headed at times. In fact the first episode he ever had he was in his 20's and he blacked out. The first time I witnessed him blacking out from an attack was about 4 years ago. After this attack he never again drank or ate anything while driving...just in case. He had his latest attack last month and was in la la land coming close to blacking out. So I told him it's time to talk to the doctor. He had a virtual appointment with our family doctor. Steve was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia years ago and he's always thought this was his issue and learned to live with it. The doctor told him it sounded more like an esophageal spasm so a referral with a specialist was made.
After dropping him off at 10 am, I ran a bunch of errands and was back near the hospital by 12:30, sitting in the car waiting for a phone call.
I picked him up just after 1:00. He hadn't been "put out" but heavily sedated, so was considered impaired and not able to drive for 24 hours. I thought our first stop before heading home would be A and W for his favourite double-teen burger but we learned that he had had his esophagus dilated, so could only have soft food...not too hot or cold for the next 48 hours. The specialist thinks he has Eosinophilic esophagitis. They had also done a biopsy and will do a follow up in a couple of weeks..
Once home, I made him some scrambled eggs, and then headed to Sidney to get a prescription filled for him.
Saturday (Oct. 17) morning we decided to "be rebels" and buck the rules about the beachside trail being closed after seeing others on it. We headed out on the trail for a walk down to Island View Beach Regional Park...a walk Steve had done almost every day when we were here last summer. We didn't see anyone on the trail, but there were numerous folks actually down on the beach...and none looked like they belonged to the First Nations reservation. 
A calm but dark and cloudy day...
They had made spaghetti sauce so I just had to cook the pasta and the four of us had our own dinner and then watched a movie. Conner loves airplanes so he chose Midway (2019) version.
Sunday (Oct. 18) was another rainy day...it actually woke me up through the night. It basically rained on and off all day and other than getting out for a walk around here during a break in the rain, that was it.
Monday (Oct. 19) was a much nicer day. We went into Sidney for a walk along the waterfront...as I've said before, it's our favourite and at 5 kms/3 miles, it a good workout.
We were done our walk just in time to go for our flu shots. That was fast and easy and were back home by 1:00. Steve spent the rest of the afternoon watching a movie while I did a bunch of odds and ends around here.
Wednesday (Oct. 21) and another cool start this morning but it ended up being fairly sunny for the most part. Definitely a coolness in the air, though.
Temps are forecast to plummet as a cold north front comes in...rain and wind in forecast starting tomorrow with snow throughout the interior of BC and higher elevations here on the island and the lower mainland. Winter seems to be coming early this year!
So jealous that you are getting out and hiking! There is plenty of hiking we could do here as well but with all the work we need to do on the house it is hard to get out.
ReplyDeleteWe would gladly trade places...your game farm piece of paradise for our rented RV spot. 😉
DeleteSo glad the dehumidifier is working for you guys. We had some friends years ago when they first started out full timing and all their clothes went moldy in their closet with the weather up here. I would suggest you leave your closet doors open for air circulation for the winter. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, can't imagine all of our clothes in the closet going moldy! Yikes! Yes, thanks for the reminder...we have been leaving the closet doors open for air circulation.
DeleteSo far behind on my blog reading! Good job getting out every day for a nice hike. Hopefully we can join in soon, great way to socially distance visit! Really nice work on getting insulated, should work like a charm.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing you guys. We’ll get lots of hiking in for sure.
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