September

Can it really be almost the end of September?  This has been a very strange year and, like many of you, I will be glad to see the back of it.

I’ve hardly posted on my blog in months and my total posts for 2020 only amount to about the number of posts I would normally write in a month.

I have been busy, for the most part, studying by distance learning, which kept me fully occupied for the better part of five months.  I set myself a goal and I’m well on the way to achieving it.  This all started before lockdown, but it certainly helped to pass the time productively.

We have been very fortunate here, as there have hardly been any cases of Covid-19 and all those who were affected had travelled internationally, didn’t require hospital treatment, and all are fully recovered.   For this, we can be very thankful.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope that you stay safe and well.

Spring

According to the calendar, today is officially the start of spring, though it certainly doesn’t feel like it in this part of the world.  And what a strange world it has become.  Who would have thought only a few weeks ago that we would be facing this unseen and, in some cases, deadly virus, for which there is, as yet, no cure?

Prince Edward Island declared a state of emergency at the beginning of the week, since when almost everything has closed - schools, colleges, universities, sports’ centres, restaurants, hair and beauty salons, dentists....the list is endless.  Panic set in amongst many and this was reflected in crazy scenes of long queues to buy everyday items and shortages of essentials (why are people stockpiling toilet rolls?).  Cash is now unacceptable in many businesses and contactless payment is the order of the day.

I rarely buy magazines these days, but I saw Country Living when I was food shopping earlier this week and decided that I deserved a treat.  I also have The Almanac, which I’m enjoying dipping into.

In an attempt to maintain a degree of sanity and calm my frazzled nerves from working in direct contact with patients who are stupid enough to present at the surgery and then say, ‘I hope I haven’t got Coronavirus’ - after describing the classic symptoms, I’ve turned to knitting.

Winter’s Frost may not be a very seasonal knit, but it is a pretty pattern and I’ve had the yarn set aside for this project for quite a while.  If you are a knitter and would like to try this pattern, it is available free here.

My mug was a bargain from the thrift shop a few weeks ago - I paid 75 cents.  Now seems like an appropriate time to get it out and make a cup of tea.

My blogging has been a bit sporadic for quite a while, but I have a lot going on in my life - even before the present situation developed.  I hope you are all well and wish you continued good health in the coming days and weeks.

All is calm...

Well, the New Year has seen quite a bit of snow and tomorrow, we are expecting severe cold with a risk of frostbite (minus 28 C wind chill is forecast).  Yet another winter storm is on its way on Sunday, so it will be a good day to stay indoors and keep warm...except for the fact that someone has to do the snow clearing and Mr C is still not mobile after his surgery in November.  Now where did I leave the snow shovel?

Christmas Robin Socks

My latest sock knitting is a new pattern for Christmas Robin socks, by the designer, Winwick Mum, in collaboration with West Yorkshire Spinners.  The colours of this yarn are beautiful and a perfect reflection of the colours of the European robin - the one most depicted on Christmas cards.

I’ve knitted more in the past couple of years than I have for most of my life.  Knitting definitely helps with reducing stress and anxiety and is good for my mental health.

NaBloPoMo 2019

The end of the month has arrived.  I didn’t quite manage to post every day during November, but 28 days out of 30 isn’t bad.  I missed a couple of days, largely due to the fact that Mr Candytuft had major surgery on 19th November, so I’ve been doing a lot of driving to hospital appointments, in addition to working and going to physio myself (twice a week), after I aggravated a previously bad back.

I’m completely exhausted but, for some strange reason, I had already signed up to participate in The Writers’ HQ Writing Advent, which starts tomorrow!  Oh well, if I can’t manage to keep up with this, at least I’ll still have the emails to refer to after Christmas.

Not Exactly Gardening Weather

As the song goes, ‘The weather outside is frightful...’ Well, it certainly is this afternoon.  The day started with freezing rain and winds strong enough that it was difficult to remain on my feet.  We now have sleet and the forecast is for snow squalls, so I’m not venturing out again today.  

I have the December issue of BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, which arrived in the post, and a cup of tea in my Christmas robin mug.  I can enjoy gardening without going anywhere. 

On Days Like These

There are some days when only chocolate will do...I’ve been having a lot of them recently.

Waiting

Mr C had his foot surgery yesterday morning, which meant a rather sleepless night, followed by a very early start, as we had to be at the hospital by 6 a.m. and it is an hour’s drive from home.  

I passed much of the time reading, but I was glad that I took along a sock knitting project, as I finished my book and completed this sock (which I started knitting weeks ago!) before he came out of recovery.

We were back at our local Emergency last night, due to complications and then I woke at 3 a.m. to find that he had been in pain all night, so we decided to return to the hospital where he had the surgery.  At 4 a.m. we were on our way back to the main hospital, where we waited two and a half hours to be seen.  

Out came the knitting again and I cast on for the second sock and started the rib.  Once we were called into the department, a doctor decided to remove all the bandages and then took photos to send to the surgeon.  Within a short space of time, we were advised that it could be re-bandaged and we were on our way home with yet another prescription for pain medication.

This afternoon has seen no improvement in his pain, so it looks like we are going to have to see yet another doctor.  Tomorrow, I have to take him back to the orthopaedic outpatient clinic to see his surgeon.  Maybe I’ll have the second sock completed before the end of the week, as we wait for all these appointments.

Ruby Slippers

As someone who hates being cold and always wears slippers indoors, especially in winter, how could I resist these beauties?  As soon as I saw them, I knew that they would be the perfect replacements for my rather old, worn-out slippers.  They may not be as fancy as Dorothy’s ruby slippers, but they are just perfect as mine.

Thought For The Day - Part III

‘You never know what you can do until you try.’

C.S. Lewis

The weather outdoors may be cold - actually, it’s freezing.  Perfect weather to curl up in the warm with a good book.  

I discovered watercolour painting earlier this year and this is my attempt at a copy of a picture that I saw on the wall of our local library.

A Taste of Britain

This is a small selection of some of our haul of British groceries.  The Atora will be used later this month when I make Christmas pudding.  

A little sweet treat included Cadbury’s Caramel.  It didn’t last long!

And something new - dark chocolate tea cakes from Tunnock’s.

Aladdin’s Cave

Last week’s visit Halifax gave us an opportunity to visit our favourite place.  It even looks like an Aladdin’s cave, doesn’t it?

Walking in through the door, this is the reason for our visit. Yes, an opportunity to stock up on some British goodies.

It is impossible to find many of the grocery items that I commonly bought when we lived in Nova Scotia and Ontario.  I had a list and I was checking it twice...

The photo of the Jammie Dodgers was at the request of Mr Candytuft, though I didn’t actually buy any.  

How I wish that we didn’t have to travel three hours by car to visit this wonderful store!

I’m hoping that it won’t be too long before we can make a return visit, but we may have to resort to online shopping, as Mr C is having surgery next week.

In Remembrance

My great-uncle, who died at Gallipoli, aged 18.

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning.
We will remember them.

Thought For The Day - Part II

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came. 

John F. Kennedy

Thought For The Day - Part I

I got this postcard with a magazine earlier in the year.  It is such a seasonal autumn scene and I love the sentiment expressed.  The words speak for themselves.

NaBloPoMo 2019

November is here again and with it, the challenge of NaBloPoMo: to post every day for the month.

I looked at my blog last week and I was surprised to find that I had only posted on ten occasions this year.  Where has the time gone?

Yesterday was Hallowe’en and I thought that I would share this unusual piece of ironwork, made from an empty propane tank.  We discovered a local blacksmith in the early part of the summer when we had friends visiting from Ontario.  They had read about this place and we found it on a back road that we had never been along before.  They had some great pieces, including these seasonal ones.  I wonder how the local children would have reacted if we had had these in our garden last night?

After The Storm

I can’t quite believe that it is almost two months since I last posted, but I’ve had various issues with my home computer, as well as with Blogger.  If anyone knows of a good (preferably free) photo editing app, I would be happy to hear about it.  I used to use Picasa, but it is no longer supported by Google, which has led to all sorts of issues in trying to upload photos and add watermarks.

Anyway, last Saturday saw the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, although it was downgraded to a tropical cyclone by the time it hit Prince Edward Island, we still had hurricane-force winds of 120 km/hr or 75 mph/hr.  We had been out and arrived home just as the rain was starting.  During the course of the afternoon, threatening clouds rolled in and the rain came down in sheets - mostly horizontally.  We watched as the sky darkened and the winds increased dramatically.

As darkness fell, the power went off and we sat in candlelight - in other circumstances, it might have been romantic, but it sounded like the roof was being ripped off our house and we ended up with water coming under the back door, so were piling towels against it to stem the flow.  

Looking out into the darkness, there was no light to be seen and everyone must have been sheltering indoors.  The maple tree in our front garden was bending and swaying to such an extent that I thought it wouldn’t survive the night.

The night was noisy and the storm raged on around us.  It was impossible to sleep until the early hours, when the winds finally died down a bit.

Next morning, we looked out onto a scene of devastation, but little realised the extent of it from the safety of home.  Our vegetable garden had been destroyed, but our maple tree was still standing.  Other trees in our neighbourhood had suffered extensive damage.

Late in the afternoon, we drove into town and were shocked by the extent of the damage.  Huge trees had been uprooted and laid across cars and houses.  Craters had opened up in gardens where the trees had once stood.  Mr Candytuft talked to someone who had lost seven mature trees from their garden in one night.

A week later, there are still about 6,000 homes without power.  We were lucky that ours was restored quickly, but others have been less fortunate.  We heard of some dramatic rescues from along the shore, but fortunately, no fatalities, unlike the Bahamas, where this storm originated.

Even today, I look around at the extent of the destruction and I feel humbled by the power of nature.  I read a news story of the devastation in the National Park at Cavendish, where 80% of the trees have been destroyed.  The clean-up continues and everywhere we look, there are piles of branches and trees being cleared.  It will be many weeks before life returns to a semblance of normality.  We are just thankful that everyone is alive to share their stories of the night that the storm hit and its aftermath.

Summer At Last!

Well, I’ve been gone far longer than I anticipated.  I returned to work on Wednesday after ten weeks of recovering from my surgery.  I’m still feeling exhausted at times, so my goal at the moment is to go for walks, even if they are much shorter than they would have been in the past.  

I’m taking one day at a time and have been enjoying visits to the boardwalk now that the weather has finally improved.

The roses are in full bloom and their scent is heavenly.  I just bury my nose in them and inhale.

Whatever you are doing during the summer, I hope that you are taking some time to smell the roses.

Taking a Break

It is said that life is full of surprises and I certainly had one sprung on me recently.  I went to see a specialist for a minor concern and discovered that I needed to have major surgery.  

I signed a consent on 5th April and got a call four days later to tell me that I was on the list for 26th April.  Yes, I am having surgery tomorrow.

I’ve just returned from town, where I stocked up on a few last-minute essentials - including a lidded cup with a straw, so that I can drink lying down (if I don’t feel up to moving). I called the hospital this afternoon to confirm my bed and I’m first on the list tomorrow morning, which I’m relieved about, as it gives me less time to get anxious waiting.  

I’m not sure how I’ll be feeling after surgery, but will likely be off for a few weeks.  Wishing you all a happy spring and I hope that the sun is shining in your part of the world.

Flying The Flag

Home has been much on my mind lately and by home, I'm talking about the UK.  I know that there is much uncertainty surrounding what is happening with the exit from the EU, but there has never been a time when I've wanted to be there more than I do at the moment.  

The clock is ticking ever closer to the 29th March 2019 and I feel that there is great change in the air - for me, as well as for the UK.  At the moment, I don't know how things are going to work out - or even if they are going to work out at all.  

I wouldn't normally post about anything political or very personal, but I just have a feeling that I need to put it out to the universe that I'm looking for change..and a chance to return home.

I drafted this post last November, but my feelings haven’t changed, so I thought that it was time that I published.