A look back on the week............

Stinking hot and humid start to the week...... and didn't get much better as the week progressed.

Felt like a very busy week.  Monday we were back and forward to the Optician's as where hubby got his eye's tested and where he got his glasses are two different locations and something was wrong with either his eyes or glasses.  Long story short his prescription was wrong 😡  He has been fighting on with this for four months!

We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday at our family GP.  That always turns into an all day job as it's over and hour away from where we live.  Plus we try and kill two birds with one stone and visit one of two family members each time we go down.  This time it was a birthday so had lunch there.

Back to the doctors visit.  More tests and follow ups to be done.  The older you get the more specialists, tests and meds you see to have to do or be on!

Wednesday we had to be up just after 2am as I had an MRI appointment for 4am on my back.  Another specialist feels I have a trapped nerve in my back????  I had a herniated disc operated on back in 1998, and the pain I suffered then, does not feel the same as what little pain I am suffering in my back, but what do I know...LOL

Suffice to say we were both tired on Thursday.  Missing sleep seems to hit us both the second day after; rather than that day?  

Friday was a quiet day.  Hubby golfed in the afternoon; I just puttered around.  

Saturday the heat came back and the British football season started on tv, so that kept hubby occupied!

Doctor suggested we take bisglycinate magnesium so we started that on Wednesday.  It may help with our aches and pains, along with helping us sleep better.  Too soon to see any results; worth a try I guess?  Do any of you take that?

I have managed 5 out of 7 days of walking this week, not the best but at least I am averaging over 5 thousand steps per day which is better than nothing considering how painful my foot is.  The doctor is thinking arthritis in one of the joints on the top of my foot, but until I have the MRI in October we won't know for sure.

Then finally, I have been sewing this week.  Actually, I was doing more of the prep work before I do all the sewing.  I am making lanyards and soup bowl cozies.  The lanyards involve a lot of ironing!!  I will explain when all is sewn what I am up too.

This is how my sewing table is looking.........a mess, but an organized mess!!

This week went by fast, that's for sure.

A trip to the doctor's office.........

If you're a regular reader, you know our doctor's office is over an hour's drive away from where we live.  However hubby needed to go and so I made an appointment for both of us.

The reason I needed to see him was to get a prescription for a Shingles vaccination.  I have had shingles three times in my life, the last time being a year ago.  However, I have never seen our family doctor regarding this.

The first time was when I was 20 and had shingles when I gave birth to our son.  The second time was in the Fall of 2022, and the third time was in the Spring of 2023.  When I explained this to our doctor, he actually asked me if I was sure if I had, had shingles!!  How could three doctors be wrong!!!!

Anyhow I got my prescription and went to our pharmacy by our home.  Thankfully our insurance covered the cost of the vaccination, which was $165; but had to pay $15 out of pocket for the pharmacist to administer the injection.  It will cost another $165 for the second one in October and $15 for the pharmacist to administer the injection.

Have any of you had the shingles vaccination?  

100 km/62 miles

 That is how far it is to our doctor's office, one way.  The journey takes us around 80 + minutes one way.  We went to see our doctor in person on Tuesday; which was the first time in a year.  We normally have telephone appointments.  Our appointment was for 9:30 am.  We were shown into his office at 10 am, probably waited another 15 minutes for him to come and see us.  Meanwhile there was a child who we thought was being murdered with the amount of screaming he was doing in a room down the hallway.  Turned out it was an 8 year old getting stitches removed; and our doctor had to help out.  Goodness knows how they put the stitches in, in the first place?

We got out of the doctors office just after 10:30 am.  As it is a distance to his office, I try to complete a couple of jobs in the same day.  So we went to visit family while down there.  It was just after 3 pm before we got back home.  The journey back home was as hectic as on the way down.  All in all we did 220 km that day.  

Doctor's are in short supply where we live, so we are still continuing to travel, and as we have a couple of health issues, it would not be prudent to deregister from our present doctor, which is what we would have to do and then apply via the Government's website to try and find a doctor where we live. 

Our doctor did say something interesting though.  He said that this covid pandemic is just like when there was an influenza pandemic a 100 years ago.  It killed a lot of people to start with, then it level's out.  A vaccination is invented and you are given that on a yearly basis and it becomes a normal thing you live with.  This is what is happening with the covid pandemic.  Covid will become a "normal" everyday thing just like flu is.

Do you have to travel far to see your family doctor?

Monday was a busy day catching up with bits and bobs.  Tuesday we were out all day.  Wednesday we were out all day and didn't get back home until after 7pm.  So today (Thursday) I finally got some more painting done.  It's all go at the moment.

Sometimes you don't have to know everything.....

"too much information can be as bad as not knowing everything."

That's my thought anyway.  I had blood work done a couple of weeks after I took ill and the results came back with me having low iron.  I have never had a high iron count and have always been on the lower side with my numbers.  With the side effects of the blood thinners things went from bad to worse.  So I started taking iron pills.

Fast forward to the end of January and I was in our doctors office with dh and asked him while I was there if I could have a blood work requisition to see if I had managed to get my iron count up.  Where we go to have our blood work done they offer an online site where you can view your results.  Normally I never bother with it, but as I was the one that requested to have the blood work done, I figured I would take advantage of it.

Pretty easy to access the site and set up an account and easy to see your results.  Especially where they highlight what numbers are either high or low!!  Now I would love to say it was all gobbly gook, but no they even give you links to what everything means.

In my case I am close to where I should be with the iron; but I am popping another iron pill to help it go up even more.  It's what was highlighted HIGH that I know I am going to get a lecture about next time I am in the doctors office!!!

Dh got his blood work done also this past week and we looked at his results, and he has the same issues as me; I guess when you eat the same you suffer the same.........so I guess I should tell the doctor to just lecture us both at the same time!!!!

The sad thing is I know what the problems are, and of course it is what we eat.  I am reading a book called "Your Cholesterol Matters," by Richard Furman at the moment, and do intend on implementing what he recommends in the hopes of improving our diet, but I am only half way through the book, so can't do it yet............well that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!!!  (I will be reviewing the book shortly.)

I finally gave in........

and went to the doctors.

Turns out not only have I got bad allergies; I also have a "virus:  I think a "virus" is a catch-all term for "you have something; not sure what, but antibiotics should do the trick!!"

So I came out with a prescription for oral antibiotic's, antibiotic drops for my eyes, and allergy eye drops.  From that you will have guessed it's my eyes that are a problem, with them constantly watering and they are closed shut in the morning, with gunk and stuff.

It's been a bad year for allergies around here, as it has been so dry.  Plus we are surrounded by potato fields and we live on a building site.  Dust is the biggest culprit for me, along with fresh mown grass and pollen.

Anyhoo, things must be bad, as I am using a nasal spray on my nose, and to my mind that is icky and a no, no.  Also I would rather go to the dentist than do anything with my eyes; especially put drops in them.  As I have NEVER put drops in my eyes before, honestly I avoid all things eyes like the plague; I decided I had better have a word with the pharmacist to get some tips on how to do it.

So she was quite graphic in explaining the technique, and if she didn't show me once, she had to show me numerous times how to make a "pocket" in your lower eyelid.  Tears were pouring from my eyes meanwhile; not crying just my eyes watering thinking about it all.  In the end I told her to stop demonstrating I got the picture.  I then asked if I did the antibiotic eye drop and then put in the allergy one straight after.  No, I have to wait five minutes between drops.  At that point I rolled my eyes and said,"is this so I can prolong the agony?"  She found that funny and then said I only had to wait a minute or two.

So I have put the drops in twice now.  I have to do this for 10 sodding days...........I am not happy but I am desperate for some relief, so I will pull up my big girl pants and get on with it I guess?

Meanwhile I look like this:

roll on Fall..........

Update on dh............

For those of you who are my friends on Facebook, you know the first part of this story.

On Sunday dh was cleaning out the flower beds on top of the retaining walls ready for us to mulch it all.  We have decided it's easier doing this than me constantly asking the gardeners to weed them.  The wall is close to four feet tall.  Normal people would use a ladder to go up and down, but not my dh.  On his way down he tripped over his feet and fell from the top of the wall.  He fell on his left side and did the most damage to his arm and wrist:

Fast forward to Wednesday and I have been putting an antiseptic cream, gauze and bandage over it for when he is at work and overnight and despite that it was weeping yellow pus.  Plus his hand was so swollen that you could barely see his knuckles.  So he went to the doctors and got some antibiotics for the swelling and pus and had an x-ray on his hand.  Pleased to say it is not fractured and just very swollen.

Hopefully he has learned from this!

Beautiful sky when we were out and about.

Grocery shopping and other things........

Before taxes I had over a 50% savings on that little lot.  I paid $26.45 including taxes and used $13.74 in taxes.  Both the cereal and ground turkey were free.  The soap was $2.47 each and I had a $3 off coupon on two boxes, so that came to $1.94 for four bars of soap which wasn't bad.  I had never had the Beer and Onion sausages before and they were quite good, not spicy just flavorful.  I have updated my grocery total on my right sidebar.

One thing I am busy with is sorting out the baby shower along with dd best friend and a couple of other people.  The thing is I can't say or post anything about it as dd reads the blog.  So I will have to post photos and details when it's over with.  Suffice to say dd best friend is a creative whiz and it will be lovely thanks to her creativity.

On Wednesday I had a trip to the doctor to get some skin tags removed from the corner of the eye lid.  The one had gone black so it was going to drop off at some point but it hurt like crazy.  As this was a "cosmetic procedure," despite it hurting like crazy and was all inflamed and red, I had to pay $85 to have that and two other's removed. 

I read through dh's work's insurance book and have no idea whether I can claim it back?  I could have sworn when we first came to Canada this sort of thing was covered by OHIP (government) or am I just imagining it?  Granted things have changed a lot in the past 24 years.  I know my mother had the same problem and she got them removed at the doctors office for free; this is in Britain though.

I have a number of other skin tags that could have been removed, but as it took two lot's of injections to numb the eye area, I wasn't overly keen on having any more.  When I have forgotten how painful this was, which shouldn't be too long, as I am getting more senile by the day, I'll go back and get some more removed.

Visit to the doctors again & home of the week.......

Went to the doctors on Thursday as my poor ears are so sore.  Turns out I have an ear infection and so I am back on another dose of antibiotics.  Plus I got a Spacer for my inhalers as he wants me back on those to help me breathe.  I was struggling to use the inhalers without it, so this is so much easier.  

This week's "Home of the Week," is lovely; granted it's pricey at $2.8 million, but it does at least look like a lived in family home not a show place where you dare not touch anything.  The art work leaves a lot to be desired; otherwise I would leave it as is.  Love the kitchen so bright and airy.  If I had the money I would have it.

This week's "Condo of the Week," is NOT lovely.  If you are a single person, I guess it would be alright, but who wants a bedroom like that?  I could even put up with the frosted glass walls of the bathroom, but that "bedroom" would be like sleeping in the middle of a bowling alley.  The one thing I do like about this $850,000 condo is the view from the rooftop patio; great view of downtown Toronto.  However that isn't even enough to make me like this place, sorry.

Well it looks as though the "Cottage of the Week," is back again and what a stunner they have started off with.  However it begs the question, is this really a cottage?  No, it's a fancy dancy house with all the bells and whistles.  If I could afford the $2.35 million price tag I would take it though.  What views and great finishes to the place, but at the end of the day, that's no cottage!!

I finally got all my grocery receipts input into Excel and updated my totals on the right side of the page on my blog.  I have managed to spend $370.22 this month with $88.82 in savings, which is flipping crazy.  Even taking into account I bought $40 worth of allergy pills, that still leaves me way over budget.  I have been spending at least $125 a week instead of $75 a week, I need to take stock of what I have been doing.  I will be lucky if I can come in at under $500 this month (SIGH)  Oh well onwards and upwards as they say!!

Update on my hand(s)

If you're new to the blog, I had my right hand carpal tunnel operated on at the end of November 2011, for the second time and my left hand carpal tunnel operated on in February of 2012.  My right hand hasn't been right since and was aggravated a lot in November when we held 'R' baby shower.  It seems that me doing all the cooking for 55 wasn't a good thing!!!

The hand surgeon told me at the follow up appointments, that it may take up to a year for my hand (s) to heal properly.  So after the baby shower I decided to visit our family doctor and get appointments to have all the testing done again before going to see the surgeon.

I saw the surgeon last Thursday and here is what is wrong.  Oh, I should have warned you to get a cup of tea before reading this!!

I have basically abused and over used my right hand/arm.  I have done something with the tendons and have something similar to tennis elbow.  There is a problem with the carpal tunnel nerve again.  I have arthritis in my thumb joint and pinky/baby finger.  I have weakness in my right hand.  All the scans and tests though show my left hand is worse, but other than the thumb joint I don't feel a thing in my left hand.  I also have a fatty deposit/lump on the base of my middle finger so every time I grip something it squishes it and it hurts like crazy.  My fingers fall asleep and I experience tingling in them.  The wrists also ache like crazy.

She can give me a cortisone shot in my wrist to ease the pain and can put a needle in the lump to try  and drain it.  I wasn't happy about either things, as both gross me out and as I said to our doctor; he never has to fear I may slit my wrists as that is icky.  No one including me wants to operate on my right hand, with me being the major opponent to that idea.  I am right handed so do not want to lose the use of my hand. So for the next six weeks I have to baby it and no heavy lifting and to wear my splint on a night.

Now in theory that sounds like a fine plan, but that's easier said than done.  Dh has been working super long hours, we have had a bit of snow and last Friday the wind blew the snow over the driveway and blocked us in.  Dh didn't finish work until 10:30 pm; he left the house at 4:30 am so I didn't expect him to dig out the driveway, so I did it.  We needed logs for the fire so I brought them in.  I am trying though not to lift as much as it is so sore.

However the one thing I was so grateful for was that someone actually believed there was a problem with my hand and it's flipping sore.  As unlike a broken leg or arm, you can't really see anything wrong with it.

The bone scan also showed that I have arthritis in my shoulders, knees and feet, which wasn't all together surprising.  I got a referral from our doctor to see a registered massage therapist, as my poor shoulders are killing me, so they might be able to knead out the knots in them.  Dh's insurance will pay for $500, so I am hoping to go half a dozen times to see if it will help.

So there you go, sore hands especially your dominant one is not a good thing!

Just a reminder.......

If you haven't already entered my first ever blog giveaway, here is the link to it.

Just spoke to my brother and he got back safe and sound, although he landed at 7am in Glasgow Airport, so hit the rush hour traffic getting out of Glasgow.  Still he's a truck driver, so he's used to driving in traffic.

Anyhow, it's a short and sweet post today, as I have a guy coming to service the furnace this morning; wanted to get that done before the cold weather starts and we have to switch the heating on.  I would like to think we don't have to switch on the heating for another month or so yet.....we'll see.

Then I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and while we are in the city we need to get our passports renewed.  So as I am typing this, I am printing out the forms online.  Still have to get the photo's taken, but that won't take long.

We get Canadian passports, despite the fact we can have British ones.  It's easier; however the Canadian passport is only for 5 years, whereas the British one is 10 years.

Have a great Thursday and hopefully I'll get a regular post done for you for tomorrow.

Gill

Just sitting there, waiting and waiting, and waiting!!

I had a doctors appointment after work on Wednesday.  My appointment was at 3:40pm, I finally got in to see him at 4:20pm, which was actually pretty good for our doctor!!

So of course I had plenty of time to read all the magazines, and have to say their selection sucked.  I forgot to take my book or take some of my old magazines for them to have.  Infact the National Geographic magazine were from 1981????

Then to add to my joy and I think to the rest of the people waiting in the waiting room, there were a couple of teenagers who were obviously very much in love.  So much so that they kept kissing one another.......I was very close to telling them to get a room!!  Then they were talking to one another in very loud voices, and their language left a lot to be desired using the "F" word quite frequently.  I was so glad when he had to go for his appointment, I think we all sighed with relief.

Our doctor is notorious for running late, but I always find it disturbing that all the other people who you walked into the doctor's office with have had their appointments and you are still sitting there.  There are around eight doctors in this practice and our doctor is always the one running behind.

I did manage to send dd a text without getting one of the receptionists to do it for me.  Granted it took me forever to type it all out, but I did it all by myself.  They too were very proud of me doing it all by myself.  I normally get one of them to do it, as it's a heck of a lot faster.

Then when I went to get my prescription filled at the pharmacy, there was a woman in front of me with one crutch, her arm in a sling, with a nasty cut on her head, and a lot of blood on her leg where she must have fallen.  The woman was a mess, it was really strange why she was wandering around like that.  I did hear her say she had spent the last day in the hospital.  No idea why they hadn't cleaned her up though.  She was on her way to see her family doctor to try and get some more Tylenol 3's as the doctor at the hospital had only given her a prescription for 20 of them.  Regardless it kept my mind busy watching her while I was waiting for my prescription!!

So it was nearly 5:30 pm when I got home on Wednesday night.  Luckily I had left dh full instructions on how to put the shepherd's pie in the toaster oven to cook.  So supper was ready when I walked into the house.

Today's Peek from the Past is this I had forgotten about this post, but after reading it over I do remember this.  I still have that material as well.  I keep meaning to do something with the owl fabric, not sure what yet though.

Thursday's happenings.........

Lots to talk about.  I finished off the new garden, have yet to take a photo of it though.  Fiddled on outside for a couple hours first thing on Thursday morning.  That also included cutting some grass with the lawn tractor.  However that also meant me wrecking another blade on the tractor.  I know I give up with this cutting of the lawn.  So I now have to order some more blades, as I dug up stones and ruined the blade(s)

I went to Sears to get some more blades, but of course they had none in stock.  Tried a couple of other places in town, but of course nothing fits. {{SIGH}}

I went to the doctors, and my arm is fine, and I am doing everything that I should be doing and it will mend eventually.  So that's good.

Dd and I met up with a dear friend and had lunch at her work.  She's a buyer for a big company and they have a huge cafeteria.  Anyhow, they were giving out sample of icecream, so of course me and dd had to taste test them just to make sure they were okay!!!  We sampled three flavours, me: mint choc chip, banans split and caramel toffee crunch.  Dd tasted the mint choc chip, the caramel toffee crunch and the sprinkle party icecream.  Here is a full list of the flavours; mint choc chip was both our favourites.  The things I do for you.....I deserve a medal!! LOL

Poor Molly is rushed off her feet as the chipmunks have materialised again, and she runs back and forward from one window to the next looking at them.

She also started to bark up a storm this morning, couldn't decide at what to start with and then I saw it up in the tree.

Here is it's bum...........yep a raccoon.

It seems that Molly does NOT like raccoons!!

Another hot and humid day here......PLEASE RAIN!!!!

Also last night's sunset:

A lot quieter day for me........

on Tuesday.  I went to the doctors and I have a heel spur on each of my heels, so no wonder it's painful.  I need to get orthotic inserts for my shoes.  Meanwhile until I get them I will continue to wear my Crocs

I then went out for lunch with a friend, her gift to me for Mother's Day, so that was lovely to catch up with her.  I then popped over the my dad's and step-mum's for a quite visit, before heading home.

It was bitter cold on Tuesday, even I found it cold.  I had to put the fire on when I got home.  Dh had to scrape the ice of the wind shield on Tuesday morning.  We were spoiled in April with such good weather, so it's hitting us hard having all this cold and wet weather.

A Funny:

Moojita Scale


Everybody knows about the Fujita Scale which measures the power of tornados. But nobody really knows what all those types of twisters do to COWS. So here is the MOOJITA Scale...




M0 Tornado - Cows in an open field are spun around parallel to the wind flow and become mildly annoyed.


M1 Tornado - Cows are tipped over and can't get up.


M2 Tornado - Cows begin rolling with the wind.


M3 Tornado - Cows tumble and bounce.


M4 Tornado - Cows are AIRBORN.


M5 Tornado - S T E A K ! ! !

This story was headline news on Tuesday.  It's hard to believe the size of that sinkhole.

My dad and step-mum were telling me about a documentry they had watched on tv and it sounds really good.   It's called Food Inc., has anyone seen it?

Here is a link to the site, there is a video you can watch also.

So due to me going out all day and the weather being miserable, no gardening was done on Tuesday.  Did manage to get a couple of recipes input into the computer though, so that was good.

Hope to get caught up with your blogs this week.

Today's post is not what I expected to write today...

why because all went well....

On Monday I had to go to the doctors to get a repeat prescription.  I HATE going to the doctors, as that man will be late for his own funeral!!  However, for once he was only running 10 minutes late........mind you I was his second appointment of the day, so no doubt he would be an hour behind like he normally is by later on in the day.

I have got to the point, where I will only go to see him, unless it's an emergency, if I can get the first or second appointment of the day.  I hate having to wait so long after my appointment time, that by the time I see him, I am so irritated, I want to be in and out of there as soon as poosible.

If I could I would go to a doctor close to where we live, however no doctors in our area are taking on new patients, infact we are short of doctors in our area.

So I had expected to write a ranting and raving post!!

I was out all day on Monday, as while I was down in the city for the doctors I decided to run a few errands at the same time.  I don't enjoy driving in the city anymore, too many people who don't know how to drive there!!  Will say though they don't have anywhere near as much snow as us.

Had to get gas/petrol while I was out, now I know this is cheap to what you pay in Britain, but it's hovering around $1 CDN per litre here at the moment, which is expensive for us.  How much is gas/petrol where you live?

I only have $20 on me, so it didn't even fill half the tank.  I don't think I am going anywhere much this week, so it will have to do.

Xynthia the storm that swept through northen Europe was major news on our tv on Monday evening, read more about it here   Mind you the headline news was of course Canada winning the gold medal in the men's hockey game  They said on the news that half the population of Canada was watching the game.....hockey is a big thing over here!!!  Also Canada winning USA is the same as Britain winning France.

Did you remember to put your  money in your Daily Saving's Pot today?

Today's Money Saving Tip:

It's cheaper to get a magazine subscription, than buying the magazines indvidually each month.

My dad brought me two Hobby Farm Home magazines from the States, so I am going to spend Monday night reading them.........

Money pouring out like water..........AGAIN!!! Allergies, and a baseball story

So days it never seems to end......Tuesday I had to take the car into the garage AGAIN!!! This time to get the C V Boot replaced, so another $290 spent there. This had better be it, as it's getting really annoying now the car constantly having problems.

Then later on in the day we had to have the UV Filter/Light serviced. It's connected to our water softener, and it kills bad things in the water.........well that's my understanding of it. $225 later.....that's what he charged us. Once I got over the shock I decided it was well worth the money..........why........well remember back when we moved into the house and I harped on for ever more about the stupid water softener, and not knowing it was working or not? Well it wasn't working properly and he showed us what was wrong and he sorted that out. He explained how it all worked and what we should or shouldn't do. He then showed us step-by-step how to service the UV Light ourselves, saving us a bunch of money for now on. The bulb is close to $100 (incl taxes) still but at least we will save the $87 service charge. So although it was expensive, if was a well worth expense.

Now for an allergy update. My poor eyes are so sore, as they are constantly tearing up. So as I was at the garage, I called in at the doctors office to see if I could see the doctor, the earliest I could see him, is next Tuesday. So I stood there and said, what should I do in between hands? The receptionist suggested I talk to the pharmacist downstairs. So that is what I did.

The gist of the conversation was the Claritin isn't working, and neither is the HYDROXYZINE HCL that I take at night. So I have to take the HYDROXYZINE HCL three times a day on Wednesday and Thursday, in the hopes it will pump enough antihistamine into my body that is will stop the allergy symptoms. I then can start taking Aerius on Friday, and just take the HYDROXYZINE on a night. I also mentioned to her that I thought I was probably starting with another ear infection and she said that was probably true as I have so much fluid in my head, and to put the drops I have in the ear.

Now the downside of the HYDROXYZINE is that it makes you drowsy. I won't be allowed to drive on Wednesday and Thursday, and I am guessing I won't be fit for much else, especially on Thursday. However if it stops my eyes tearing up and being so itchy I will do anything.

I left a note in my mailbox for our mail lady to let her know if she wanted to pick some raspberries feel free. So she arrived Tuesday afternoon with her husband, both are in their late 70's, early 80's and what a lovely couple they are. They were ever so grateful to pick them and were so looking forward to eating them. I told them to come back next week if they wanted some more. It gave me as much pleasure seeing them picking them, as it gave them to pick them.

Now for the baseball story.....I am not a sports fan. Dh got a pair of tickets given for the Blue Jays baseball for the World Series game back in the 1990's. Scalpers were willing to pay goodness knows what for the seats even in the nosebleed section. I wanted to sell the tickets but dh wanted to see the game. Anyhoo, we sit down and start to watch the game. Well dh watches the game, I am busy watching everything else but the game. I was watching something, then all hell broke loose, everyone was up cheering and clapping, I am still sat there wondering what on earth is going on, and I had missed Joe Carter (I think that is his name??) hitting the winning run (s) and making sure the Blue Jays won the World Series. Needless to say, dh wasn't impressed, and every true baseball fan groans at this story!!!

Took your advise.....................

I did pick some raspberries, 21 half pints for sale and a small dish for us.



I cut some grass and even picked some weeds out of the veggie patch, and I have discovered I have five butternut squash plants growing in amongst the weeds. The three zucchini plants are flowering.

I even dug up a potato top to see how they are coming along, and below is what I dug up. They are of course not ready but there was enough for me and dh's supper on Tuesday night and they were ssssoooooo good, very sweet and very tender.

The most amazing thing about all this we weren't even planning on putting in a vegetable garden this year, so everything is a bonus.

So the doctors visit. I now have a outer ear infection, not an inner ear infection now, so have antibiotic drops for my ears, why I couldn't have got these last week is beyond me? I also have drops for my eyes, a nasal spray and some allergy medication for night. I would actually like to have an allergy test to see exactly what I have allergies too, which I think would be helpful, wouldn't you?

Here we go again........and a rant!!

They're at it again, those honking geese!!! This time they were on my neighbours roof top, "the romantic couple," were honking up a storm. It's quite comical to see as when I walk to the mail box it's as though they are sentries on the roof top guarding my journey to and from the mail box, as there were more geese honking on the rooftops further down the road.






Now a bit of a rant. We had to go to the doctors on Wednesday, me to get some repeat prescriptions, dh to get some test results. Our appointment was 3pm, we got into the doctors office at 3:45pm, and finally saw the doctor at 3:55pm, and we were out of the office by 4:10pm.

Our doctor is a nice guy, bit of a pill pusher, but a nice guy. However he is NEVER EVER on time. He comes back from lunch at 1pm, and by 3pm he is running nearly an hour behind? It drives me crazy, my time is as valuable as any one elses. I have talked to him about this, and I am sure other people have complained, but makes no difference.

I would swap doctors but family doctors are as rare as hen's teeth in Ontario. I sort of hope we can find another family doctor close to where we are going to live, but I am not holding my breath. As family doctors are in even shorter supply in the countryside.

I am sure I am not the only one with this problem, is your doctor as bad? By the way we have had the same doctor for over 10 years. Where ds lives (four hours north of us)none of the family doctors are taking on patients so ds is still registered with our doctor, which is a pain for him, but what can you do?

Don't forget to put your money in your tin for the Daily Savings Challenge, you should have $19.50 in your pot as of today.

Another "how stupid are you to do that," story...

When the kids were little I used to be a lunchroom supervisor. I also helped out on school trips and did the whole being involved in the kids' education etc.

So one morning we went on a school trip to a skating rink at a place called Gage Park in the middle of the city where we lived. The skating rink is actually a circular footpath that goes around the park and is flooded in the winter. In the middle is a band stand and it is lovely.

Anyhow, all the kids skated, but I don't think I did. So when we were leaving, for some reason I decided to walk over the ice. I was wearing a pair of waterproof boots, called duckies, which were NOT made for walking on ice. Needless to say I fell, what a fool I felt. I banged my head and everyone came running.

I said I was fine and we walked back to school, all the while my poor jaw was killing me. I then had to do my lunchtime supervisor's job and I have no idea how I got through that. When I finished that I went home and got in the car and went to the doctors. He made me get an xray and I had dislocated my jaw, however I had managed to pop it back in, I have no idea how.

So fine, he gave me some painkillers, I go home. Next morning I was in agony with my poor neck. So off I trot back to the doctors and he says, I was expecting you back today, I say how comes, he says because I knew you would have whiplash, which is what I had. So why on earth didn't he tell me the day before!!!!

So the moral of this story is, don't walk over the ice wearing duckies/plastic shoes, or you may fall!!!

WARNING.....if you're a male I would advise you to skip this post......

I mean I really would you know!!!

About a month ago I was sitting in the doctors with dh waiting to go into see the doctor with dh, when I decided wouldn't it be a good idea for me to have a pap smear (okay hit me on the head now!) So I made the appointment for today (20th), as our doctor was away and you know I had a visit in between hands...........

So the big day arrives and off I trot to the doctors. Now to keep my mind off things, I take the car in for a service first thing this morning and spend the rest of the morning shopping, so didn't have too much time to dwell on THE VISIT!!

I get into the doctors office and the nurse says are you here for a physical......nope......just the dreaded pap smear. She asks me what I weigh, I politely tell her too much, she says well lets go and weigh you, again I say nope, as I know I weigh too much and I don't want a lecture!!

So she tells me to remove my clothing from the waist down, and leaves the room. So I strip off and discover she has left me not one but two paper sheets. I decide that rather than laying on the regular old paper I would lay a sheet down on the bench thingy. I am busy doing this when the doctor walks in. He's all embarrassed that I am not laying down. I tell him don't worry about it and tell him once you have had children nothing is sacred anymore.

He then tells me if you have children in a teaching hospital you can expect a crowd in a hospital room especially if you're having an unusual birthing experience, as all the students want to have a looksy. As I had ds in a smaller hospital and dd in what we call a "cottage hospital," I never had that pleasure.

By the way the "cottage hospital," was a tiny hospital where there were wards for older patients, a maternity ward, though only for straight forward births, I don't even think there was an emergency department. It was like a hotel, I requested a transfer there when I had ds as soon as I was able. I had ds at the other hospital as the drugs they gave me, sent me to sleep for hours, and the doctor couldn't be bothered to sit up all night at the cottage hospital waiting for me to give birth.

Anyhow, back to topic on hand. So I lay on the bench thingy, put my feet in those stirrups , I did leave my socks on, and the doctor did his thing. To be fair I have no problem having it done, it's over with in no time flat and as me the doctor and the nurse chit chat the whole time, none of us are really aware of what is really happening, if you know what I mean.

Now this one is a true story and I first read this back in 2002 on Main Street Moms and this is funny:

This is a laugh for all those women out there who so look forward to that wonderful time once a year when they get to become "intimate" with their OB/GYN doctor. In Sydney, Australia one of the radio stations pays($1000-$5000) for people to tell their most embarrassing stories. This one netted the winner $5000....

I was due later in the week for an appointment with the gynecologist! Early one morning I received a call from the doctor's office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for early that morning at 9:30a.m. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45a.m. The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare. As most women do, I like to freshen up when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the full effort. So I rushed upstairs, threw off my dressing gown, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in "That area" to make sure I was at least Presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.

I was waiting in the waiting room only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I was a little surprised when the doctor said, "my, we have made an extra effort this morning haven't we?" but I didn't respond.

When the appointment was over, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal.. Some shopping, cleaning, cooking,act. After school when my six year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mum,where's my washcloth?" I told her to get another one from the cupboard. She replied, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink it had all my glitter and sparkles in it.

This still makes me laugh!!!

By the way I had no idea what I was going to write about today...........