Month: June 2023

Que Pasa

Contessa Jewall7 Comments

Thank you for all your comments and get well wishes on feeling better. I continue to feel 99% positive. My neck muscles have to stretch a bit to fit in with my moved C2. Almost there. I continue to do my kinesiology but will admit to slacking on walking everyday. At least its in my thinking and I know that will improve as well.

The golf cart needed repainting due to cracks in the fiber glass and old age. Colin had taken all the little pieces off  including the roof to making it easier to paint and also to decrease the labour cost. We had to wait a few days for the paint to harden and then Colin put it back together.  Happy Anniversary to us ( July 18th ).

Mother Nature has put a halt to the rain and we are heading into some very hot days in the 93F range. We are back to blocking off the hot patio so the girls don’t burn their paws.

Our kitchen lights went out literally a few days after my 70th. Much back and forth with the lighting store and the manufacturer.

Jordan has been here three times thus far trying to trace where the problem is. He had another idea and is coming  tomorrow to test out his new theories.

We won’t be here most of the day but trust him with the key. We are having to start dinner earlier than normal so the we can see in the kitchen. We have just under 50% of our normal lighting. The problem started with the breaker panel tripping over and over. It wasn’t the breaker panel. And as of Saturday we know that it isn’t the transformer which has two legs. That is a huge relief as a replacement starts at $1000.00 which is special order and must be pre payed. and can’t be returned. However there was no guarantee that the existing remotes would work with the new transformer. We can only turn on the 9 lights and 3 spotlights with one of the two remotes which are also dimmers. So very very happy it wasn’t the transformer. But we are still on the dark as to the problem 😳

Once or twice per year we have what is called ‘dancing in the streets’. It is a parade of golf carts winding through our streets. This was the largest group I have seen.

Loud rock and roll music emanating from the speaker in the lead cart. If there are people outside or come out of their homes, who want to dance or sing along then the cart parade stops and everyone jumps out and so begins the dancing in the street. Obviously folks at our end of the street were happy to dance.

The geese and ducks share our beach and don’t bother each other.

This is the same duck family we have had for a few weeks now and they still have ten duckings. The one family of geese are down to three goslings. Many geese on the lake but almost no families. The powers that be do egg addling in the spring.

Ciela has changed a bit in the past few weeks and now likes to lay in my arms like a baby when I sit and read. Very very seldom do I have only the one dog on my lap.

Ciela has also started laying next to Colin while he plays. Today she even came in from outside to do so.

Does anyone know if this is true? I certainly hope so.

Colin put the hammock in the shade earlier this afternoon. He hadn’t even had a chance to take his gloves off.

They enjoy anything that is different and love to be mentally stimulated.

Interesting. It could’ve been an RV but I think it was a bus.

 

 

 

What a difference a few days make

Contessa Jewall9 Comments

Can you believe that I spent $31.00 for this aisle seat – no window!!!!

One of my friends ( since grade 7 ) picked me up at the airport as there is no longer a shuttle service to town. And I wasn’t going to spend $60.00 on a cab/uber.

I was dropped off at my airbnb. so that I could unpack and get ready for my appointment. It is for one night plus was half the price of the hotel I usually stay at. Not only has the hotel raised it price it has also discontinued the free afternoon wine and cheese and the wonderful full breakfast so it was a no brainer to find other accommodation.

This is the view from the front door, the private patio was enticing. However it was literally pouring rain.

I no longer own closed toe shoes so instead I wore my oldest pair of Mephisto’s and brought along four pair of socks to keep changing as my feet got wet. It worked. It was also great that the rain stopped closer to 7PM.

I was wet by the time I got to the chiropractors office. But once I stripped off all the wet layers I was fine. I can’t say enough about Dr. McKenna. Within 15 minutes he ‘fixed ‘ me. I was out of the constant pain that I have had since April 27th. My C2 was stuck on my C3 which was restricting my neck movement. So why did none of the other three chiropractors help me? They seem to do the same things over and over for almost every patient. Dr. McKenna listened to what I was saying. He then did a very few muscles/nerve tests. My right side from the neck down was out. He then held the C2 in place with one hand and tested me with his other hand. My body responded positively. He was showing and proving to me what area needed adjusting. He did so and there was none of the head wrenching that two of the others did. Now that had been  painful. His adjustment was painless. So I was back to normal. Of course I was somewhat sore as my body had become use to being in the wrong position.  I was rather emotional to be free of the pain and obviously relieved.

So back out into the monsoon. Directly to the airbnb to change socks and get ready to meet friends for dinner at Chianti. Everyone complained about the weather but we were happy that it was helping with the forest fires.

There were five of us Denise, Carol, myself and Danielle and Renee (photographer).

This is the only photo I have Renee who took the previous photo.

I ordered two of the best chocolate mousse ever made and brought the 70 candles. Four of us had already turned 70 except Renee who gets to wait until December.

Denise got to wear the 70th birthday crown. I think she could almost see herself sitting on a throne.

We talked and laughed and never ran out of conversation. So many smiles. We graduated 52 years ago and we feel as close as we always did. It seemed that 3.5 hours had passed in ten minutes. Fortunately I got a ride back to my loft. I was worn out, it had been a very long day for me. I ended up walking close to 9000 steps which was a lot as I have not been out and about very much.

Sadly I did not sleep well at all, I think I was missing my family. The bed and pillows were super comfortable. The next morning I was up  bright and early. Made myself a coffee and packed up. Instead of checking out I left everything tidy and my suitcase at the door ( with permission of course ) and headed off in the sunshine ( twas lovely ) and back to see Dr. Mckenna for a tune up if needed. I just looked it up on my original blog, the one I started in May of 2010 and discovered that my first treatment with Dr. Mckenna was in 2015. A few times over the years I have seen him twice. Sometimes we drove the RV to Edmonton and other times I flew. In 2017 we both flew and had a mini vacation.

As I sat waiting to see Dr Mckenna in walked a very dear friend. Neither of us could believe our eyes. We both have tears in our eyes.

Mary whom we met many many years ago on the Isla was the one who originally told me about Dr. Mckenna. She is a very gifted professionally registered masseuse. She was wintering in Mexico and started doing massages which is how we connected. But she lived in Edmonton the rest of the time and saw Dr Mckenna on occasion. She was the first person who was truly able to help me. I saw her for many many winters until she left Mazatlan and moved to another lovely city in Mexico. Maria suggested to me that I see Dr. Mckenna if at all possible as she knew he could help me. I also saw her a few times in Edmonton.

The last time I saw Casa Maria ( she has many names  😉 was in July 2018. It was sad as we no longer saw her after that. She has always had a special place in our hearts. So I really had to look twice at her as she did me. We had our mouthes open and tears in our eyes. She now lives in Ontario. It turns out that the same day I flew from home to Edmonton she flew to Edmonton from Toronto. We had both booked to see Dr. McKenna for the same day, one after the other 😯  What are the odds of that happening. The doctor was running late and that is how we came to be in the waiting room at the same time. We just stood and hugged and hugged and finally started to catch up. Obviously the Universe planned for us to be there at the same time. It was very difficult for me to leave but she had plans and I was about to be picked up for a ride to the airport.

We also had a small together visit with Dr. Mckenna. He has to be an excellent chiropractor to have patients flying in to see him. We love him and we love each other. What can I say? There is nothing more special than to have seen Mary and thanks to her to be relieved of my horrific neck pain 🙂

A few less tears here.

My visit to Edmonton was beyond wonderful, dining with my wonderful friends from school, getting “fixed” and seeing my dear friend Mary. What else can I say. Best visit ever!!

Meanwhile back home Colin took the girls along on some errands.

He had no choice but to stay with the girls, they were lonely and wanting attention. Here Carlie has her paw on his knee.

Colin was watching a movie with both girls on his lap and they kept taking turns to watch for me.

Colin left the girls at home when he came to pick me up from the airport. The were like tiny ballistic missiles bouncing off of me once I got home. They never let me out of their site.

Most afternoons I try and sit and relax with a book, a glass of wine and of course the girls. Yesterday at 5PM they were waiting at my chair for me to sit down.

Yes just a few days away and so many changes.

 

 

 

 

Road trip

Contessa Jewall3 Comments

First time writing the blog  on my iPad   Not so easy   I tried to write this post last night but had yet another glitch  with the blog so here I am Tuesday  morning  sitting in the preboarding area  Yes I am going away  Guess where.

Carlie giving her sister some love. I think that she is licking Ciela as well as touching her with her paw

Left my list of blog things to mention at home  I got to the accompanied by the girls and chauffeur Colin  He had the heater on in the car as well as my seat heater on   Lucky me

It has been raining so much that the tomato plant leaves are getting yellow Also our lovely tasty lettuce ( five varieties) are turning brown and soft  The rest of the garden is doing well

It was so cold yesterday that the girls didn’t want to go out. We tried several times but the most they would do is to stick their noses part way out run back inside. At one point I heard the frantic ringing at the front door. It was Ciela. I opened the door and she barely made it out to the lawn. It was rather funny. She just couldn’t hold it anymore.

 

Big learning curve. I didn’t know that passwords don’t carry any from device to device. I had never put my password into the  iPad and of course didn’t know how to get into my dashboard in order to write this post   I used a phone a friend to get that sorted out.I started working on this when my flight was called  I quickly ate my banana and used the washroom  By then I was at the end of the boarding line  In fact they were paging me to please board   Of course the gate was at the far end of the terminal  and I was the only one walking in that long corridor   I finally came to the gate  where the plane was boarding out on the tarmac ~ in the rain  I was dressed for rain but my raincoat and umbrella were at the bottom of my carry on   Dang….at this point I became aware that the plane was waiting for me  Yikes

PS you may have figured out by now that I have no idea how to get punctuation to work  Where is the shift key

So  I had no choice but to rush out to the plane and get a bit wet  Of course not everyone was seated yet  Took a few moments to realize that the row I was seated in, on my tiny tiny plane had no window in my aisle  Most of you know that I am claustrophobic which is why I sit on the aisle  I really was feeling the mental pressure  So I basically have been sitting with my head down writing this post

For those who want to know this aircraft is a Bombardier Q400   Only two small seats a narrow aisle and two more small seats

So have you guessed where I,m off to

To Edmonton of course  Having seen three chiropractors in Kelowna with no pain relief I decided to get my self to the doctor who always has helped me in the past    It will be a very quick trip  I will be back home by 5pm tomorrow

I know many of you will want to have dinner with me tonight but my plan is to dine with some of the ladies I graduated high school with   We were born in 1953 and will all turn 70 this this year

In case you forgot I crashed my neck into a window the end of April trying to help the window washer move my desk  Despite my knee problem in Mexico I came home the best I have felt in years and now this  I am very hopeful that he can help me  Tonight I am staying in an

Airbnb to save a few pesos  I hope to come home in perfect condition  Definitely not perfect shape but without pain

If you are reading this then all went well with the post  I forgot that I have to be online to save this  Fingers crossed  what a very long ninety minute flight  Wish I  had a window as I can glimpse that we are above the clouds and are in the sun  I will be arriving to much more rain in Edmonton

 

 

This would be fun

I am here now. Got wet feet on the tarmac here. Small planes don’t rate a gate and ramp.

Dont forget to read my post from the day before yesterday “Quiet Week “. It is certainly better written than this mess But you have to give me an A for effort.

Quite the week!

Contessa Jewall2 Comments

I found a few more photos of “the party ( May 21 ), our private party”, before my actual  birthday ( May 22 ) with all of our guests. Kisses from Carlie while Ciela goes for the chocolate. I was surprised when I saw this.

The girls were very much included in opening of my gifts from Colin.

New glasses ( which actually fit over my eye glasses ) and beads for Carnival.

Yes that many clues for the treasure hunt which led to a gift plus more from Colin.

All from mi amore. Hard to see but the yellow orchid is exquisite.

Last Monday was a hot hot day. 92F/33C. Colin put some chairs out for us to relax in the shade. There is a dog fence across the lawn so that the girls could not go onto the patio. The concrete tiles are much too hot and could burn their feet.

So wonderful sitting under the tree. Fun to watch the various activities out on the lake.

I was able to zoom in on Mom and her ten duckings coming to relax on our beach.

Two days later we actually put the electric heater on behind me where I sit at my desk. Ciela would only eat if we gave her the kibble in front of her in the bed next to the heat!! Unlike Carlie she is not a food dog. Colin actually lit the pilot light on the large fireplace, it was that cold.

Today – Sunday was again cool, windy with rain off and on ( we all wish for last Monday ). I took this because her legs were so sweetly crossed.

Not more than two minutes later she reached up and started to scrape her paw directly on her teeth. For some reason  they both do this every day. Yes they do get their teeth brushed.

Perhaps thirty minutes later Carlie was in the bed by the heater. She likes to put her foot in her mouth and delicately nibble.

Once she is done with her foot in her mouth she then rolls vigorously on her back from side to side – slithering like a snake. Ciela does the same back wriggling once she is done rubbing her teeth with her paw.

BREAKING NEWS

…..as I was writing this post Colin and the girls were sitting together on the white sectional. I heard a distress cry from one of the girls at the same time that Colin yelled eagle 😯 I quickly looked up and there was indeed a male ( white head ) bald headed eagle with outstretched wings diving down to our beach.

Not much earlier Mom and her kids had come to the beach to rest. Only nine duckings in this shot!!!

I ran outside in my bare feet to try and send the eagle away. It seemed to work. But then the girls came outside. They were barking up a storm, likely upset by the big bird. They ran to the beach and then the eagle turned back towards us. I flapped my arms and the girls barked at full volume. The duckings went towards the lake into deeper water and  dived straight down 🙁  The eagle left, the babies were okay and we coaxed our girls inside with the promise of a treat. Thank goodness they moved quickly.

Earlier in the day Colin saw an osprey dive into the lake. Its wings were mostly submerged. It worked very hard at getting up out of the water. Finally it did and it had a large fish in its beak, at least 14 inches long 😮 That was a first for us. I missed it. So much happens in a day on our lake that we just have to live in the moment.

Radiant Rainbow

Contessa Jewall6 Comments

Monday we had temperatures of 91F/33C. It was extremely hot and dry. We started a walk with the girls in the morning, but it was sweltering and turned back home shortly thereafter. Yesterday, Tuesday it was overcast with a threat of thundershowers and winds. Then suddenly the sun popped out from the gloomy clouds.

The clouds were still dark and a very few raindrops were falling.

One minute later, the second rainbow appeared. Look at those colours.

And two minutes later on the other side of our home the rainbow emerged over the lake. These photos are all in the east.

Colin was able to put this panorama shot together. We were too close to the rainbow to get the double arch.

Someone else just a bit more west of us was able to capture this photo.

And even further up the hill from us to the west, someone captured this image.

From the local online news……

Mother Nature did a first class presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very busy weekend

Contessa Jewall5 Comments

Time stops for no one. We very seldom have anything planned for a weekend.

We were gifted tickets to the Snowbird Dance this past Saturday. We were not going to go as the main course was a prime rib. However I asked and they made us a wonderful and very tasty main course vegetarian meal.

First happy hour, then dinner followed by a dance with a DJ. As you can see it was a capacity crowd.

Yes we danced but I was very mindful of my knee, so no jives nor jump jive/swing dancing. Twice I said enough and came and sat and rested.

YMCA

Great meal, lots of visiting with friends and some dancing, truly a wonderful evening. The girls were really good, we kept checking the nanny cam and never heard any barking, they slept mostly. A special Saturday night on the “town” ( here in our park ) for us.

Sunday didn’t look so great weather wise and we had three events to attend 🙁  But by noon the sky was showing signs of sun and some warmth. We only got to two parties. Sadly we had to to miss the first ever (in 20 years) garden meeting. No idea what it was about but I know that someone will tell us eventually.

Sunday afternoon began with Oliver’s 9th birthday party. His parents only live about 20 minutes away and we had replied yes to the RSVP back in April. Oliver was a rescue doxie who was overweight at 28 pounds. He looks great at 18 pounds. That puts him at the lower end of a standard doxie.

There were supposed to be 8 eight parents with their dachshunds who had RSVPed, but only three families attended. These all belong to Donna, a full house of four. I have no idea how she does it.

There were seven girls and Oliver was the only male at his party. Just how it should be!! The doxies never stayed in the same location to get a photo of them all.  Had everyone come there might have been of 6 – 8 more dachshunds 🙂

Jiwon, the hostess of the party and Oliver’s mom working on making friends with our Carlie.

Colin holding Carlie. Our girls did very well and did not bark – well not too much.

Ciela ( against her will ) trying on some high end reflective sun glasses. The sun can be difficult on our girls eyes causing them to constantly squint in the sun. The sunglasses did not work out as she kept trying to take them off.  I am going to try and find a special doxie hat next.

Oliver’s birthday celebrations were fabulous but we had to tear ourselves away. Our annual block party was on the go and waiting for us to get there. The girls were exhausted so we left them at home to rest. The party was actually at our first home here across the road. The yard is perfect for a large gathering. We were over two hours late but there was still lots of food left over. Two late nights in a row but I didn’t have to make dinner either night 😉

Very special 1st 70th birthday party

Contessa Jewall9 Comments

Colin wanted us to have a private birthday celebration, so the day prior to my actual birthday, on May 21st, he coordinated the entire afternoon and evening. My first 70th birthday party 😀 I actually enjoyed both of my parties. How fortunate I was. Hopefully I will have another 12 -15 years to enjoy. Really loved the parties 😎

…and so it began. The 70 in the background was for the proper part on the 22nd.. I love how Carlie is kissing me me and I really like that expression on my face as I enter the kitchen. I look like a little kid about to enjoy their birthday.

The yellow stickies on the counter mean something special.

Colin really enjoys a treasure hunt. First I had to answer a question which then led to me to a special surprise/present but first I had to figure out the clue to the location.

I kept all the stickies, he did 21 clues. What is the answer to this one? I did get it correct got it correct and and to look in the oven. Your answer please.

In the oven was a water sprinkler for my plants on the Isla. The clue was “Garden needs watering  – where do you cook pizza?” The oven of course!  It really was fun and we laughed and laughed.

This went on for over an hour. Lotto tickets in the microwave. I won $12.00.

Somewhere in that hour I found a birthday cake hat. The riddle was “what goes up and never comes down”. My initial answer  was ‘weight’. The final answer was ‘your age’.

One of the riddles was “There is one story house in which everything is painted yellow -doors, walls, furniture?”  “What colour are the stairs’??  Another was “what drink goes best after a long day? It is very cold – find it” What do you think my friend. It does help to know me a bit. What has three feet and can’t walk? “Time to wear a hat – where can it be? Another, ‘are you feeling nutty, look in the hall pantry’.  Yeah it was a huge container of cashews – so very very yummy.

This clue had me baffled ” Why is Europe like a frying pan?” I asked if I could call a friend? Colin said yes. So I called Colin Lebray – dang he was in England. Next I called a dear friend who loves the girls even more than we do – Casa Maria!  She and I came up with different answers, neither of us were correct but our answers could have been correct!!  So I leave it to you my readers to come up with the answer to the riddle. Mary lives in Ontario so we had a great laugh and some fun. I know that I surprised her with my call as she is on EST vs PST.  Sorry mi amiga.

Okay here is one more for you all to solve.  “A man who was outside in the rain without an umbrella or hat didn’t get a single hair on his head wet.  WHY?

Love my flamingo glasses ( they actually fit ) and beads.

From Colin…

New lovely yellow orchids. Yellow seems to be my colour this year. Plus some of my birthday cards and gifts.

Colin somehow managed to get me 21 gifts, so very much fun.

Plus this !!!!!!!!

We saw this a few years ago. Can you imagine staying directly on a canal in Venice?

I definitely enjoyed two days of celebration. I was truly feted and will never forget these special two days celebrating my 70th.

Welcome back everyone – yet again!

Contessa Jewall3 Comments

I do believe that I am back up and running ( in real time I am walking, 4 walks in the last 6 days ) 😀  Good thing that I am now officially old because all the challenges I have had in the past month or so have been stressful. But you can’t see any new wrinkles because the old ones hide them well.

In my May 28th post I was trying to get you all caught up to the latest, but of course we are behind again. There was trouble with this post. Then I had my birthday celebration but I could not get that post sent out to everyone. So if you have read those last two then you are as caught up as I am in writing these posts.

Many many thanks to those of you who took the time to email me. If it weren’t for you I would not have known that I had a problem, well two different problems with this blog. Find my email address in in the top right corner of each post….just click Email Me....anytime you want to get in touch with me.

You simply only have to click on the teal coloured words “Email Me” and you can send me anything you want to tell me.

At the same time I am giving you a review on how to search for RV tips, Isla information, whatever you want to look for, etc, etc on my OLD BLOG by simply clicking on the teal coloured  link that says “5C’s Que Pasa OLD BLOG” above the word archives as seen in the top right corner of any post.

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Time to move on.  My next post will be about my private party with Colin the day before my big celebration that you saw in that last post. Meanwhile here are a few extra photos for you to enjoy. Colin went all out on the decorating which was a surprise to me. He got early in the morning of the 21st and did it all while I slept.

He did a much better job than I could have.

When we decided that we had no choice but to move the party inside I got involved by adding a wine station and pulling out tablecloths and whatever else same up. Such as building a coat rack out of two tripods with a  photography background bar. We needed somewhere to put all the wet coats. Oh then we realized that we needed some umbrella stands and a place for 30 pairs of shoes. Good thing that I was a Girl Guide, our motto is “Be Prepared”.

Fingers crossed that you all get this post and all the glitches are behind us.