Month: July 2024

That means that if we have been married 37 years ( and we really have ) that Colin has been married to me for half of his life 😎 Pretty neat, eh 😀

I have not posted many photos of late but I am surprised that no one has noticed ( not even those that see him here in the park every day ) that Colin has had his hair cut short again. This was my first hint to you.

Yesterday was the day I was going to get in touch with my eye surgeon to sort out my surgery dates and or possible options. Effective last Friday the entire office is on vacation until August 7th. Also the good doctor only operates on Wednesdays and the first date will be August 14th or 21st ( I don’t know why ). I am confirmed for one eye on the 28th and the other on September 4th. In the worst possible situation I will use both those surgery dates but ask the doctor to discharge me re the final eye on October 11th instead of October 16th, the official date. Unless he can do both on the 28th or possibly one on the 21st and the other as schedules on the 28th. We have no choice but to cross into Mexico on October 25th at the very latest.

I had hoped to see the doctor on the 14th of October ( only 2 days short of my required recovery time ) but that is the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend. Just my luck 🙄 We can’t leave any later than October 16th re meeting the obligatory dates in Mexico re our residency. Otherwise we would need to start from the very beginning in 2025 and we would forfeit the monies that we have already paid.

Just a quick aside – many of you have shared your cataract surgery details with me and I thank you for that. Regarding the eye drops I will only have 2 different bottles to use which must be applied 4 times per day. One drop per bottle, seems simple enough to me.

So yesterday was Colin’s birthday and I always insist on getting a few surprises for him. He prefers to have Chinese takeout for his special meal and his cake of choice is an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Because of my failing eyesight I am no longer driving the car. So off Colin went to pick up his cake and take out Chinese. They are closed on Mondays! Ah such a disappointment. So I said to come back home and we would make something and we could do the take out later this week. At least he got his cake.

Such is our life these days, nothing is for certain and can change often during one day.

Even the weather is poco loco. We had a system come in about 10AM and it overpowered the heat and we even had a few minutes of rain. Seriously refreshing and the smell of the ions – wonderful. A few hours later we were back up to 104F!   Already so smoky here. Please no more ligheninlg strikes 😥 I read that there were over 1000 strikes yesterday.

This morning a fellow came along to purchase something from my FB Market place site. Sold! Another $400.00 to the Isla kitty fund. However he was stunned with our home and begged to come in and check it out. So we did a a proper showing both inside and outside and under the house. He is interested for himself as a summer home for his family as well as for a friend of his moving to this area. He asked all the right questions including being able to rent it out when he is not using it. So fingers crossed, toes as well if you can manage it, prayers and as many positive thoughts that you can manage 😎

 

 

 

 

Thank you for checking in on me. It has been quite the year for us.

Today it was 106F and hopefully the last hot hot day of the season. Thank goodness our A/C works so well. It seemed like a very long hot drive back from the US to home here but we managed it last Tuesday the 16th. We parked for only a few hours, unloaded and Colin then moved the RV back to storage.

It really was a great break being in the US. Only wish I hadn’t broken my nose just minutes before we left. Today I still have some  eye bruising and yesterday I had to mouth breathe. But I am healing and I no longer have rib pain so I can sleep at night.

Yesterday Colin pulled out ‘” for certain ” he says the final storage bins from under the house. Turns out that two of them were full of paperwork from my mom’s passing in July 2013 and then my dad’s passing in February of 2015. So I went thru many things I had not seen previously. It was a sad and bittersweet day. I am so happy that they are together once again.

Everyday Colin and I are sorting and tossing things. It seems never ending. The day we travelled home from the the US we had a showing and again the next day after we returned home. Everyone loves our home and wants to live here but I think that the fact that we are on lease land ending in 2046 is an issue for many, of course the lease will likely be renewed in the years ahead. So Colin spoke with our builder and for between 15 – 20 K he will move this house to within one hundred miles of here. The land may not keep its value ( if the lease is not renewed ) but it is almost certain that the lease will be extended so that would not be an issue. However by 2046, our home will be worth so very much more than it is now. Hopefully this information will help people to go ahead and make an offer.

Less than 24 hours after arriving home we had some wonderful friends from Maine who actually are only a few doors down from us on the Isla visit. A short lvist but totally wonderful. Not sure I took any photos. I will have to check. We had a lovely dinner at the Greek House here in Lake Country and the next day they found the Dirty Laundry Vineyard which had produced the wine we drank at dinner.

The vet in Wenatchee was lovely – in fact they have 20 vets on staff. The girls received and tolerated their rabies vaccine ( only a one year dose ). Such a fuss with this USA CDC imposed new ruling effective August 1st requiring all dogs to have been vaccinated by a USDA approved vaccine and signed by a USDA approved vet on the paperwork. There are less than 3 in all of Washington State. We are 98% convinced that we did what was required. Sadly the rules are unclear even to the approved US vets. Both a vet and an US border agent told me that this was all because of Canadian regulation – NOT TRUE! So we are 98% certain we are good to go. No worries leaving Canada and entering Mexico. My concern is leaving the Mexico border into the USA. There is no way we will leave our girls in Mexico on their own. Fortunately we are here until early October so there will be time to hopefully sort it all out.

Sadly Carlie was not well the day we left the USA nor the next day. We had had all the blood tests once we got back here in May ( $800.00 ) which basically confirmed that she was not digesting protein and has a chronic GI Issue etc, etc and had other enzyme issues. However she was perfectly fine so we just went day by day and then wham she was sick again. So her new meds should be here by Tuesday. Check out AnimalBiome.

Meanwhile we celebrated our wedding anniversary on the 18th, last week. Even difficult for us to realize that we have been married for 37 years. that is a great deal of time together, Good thing we love each other. Cheers to us! It was a very laid back quiet night at home with Italian take out. Replies to a few of your comments. We have established that there is not enough time for me to have my  second eye surgery on Sept. 4th and give us enough time to get to Mexico to renew our temporal.

So I will speak to the medical office tomorrow. Apparently they take 3 – 4 weeks off for the summer for the entire office – lucky them. My appointments are August 28th and September 4th. My only options are for them to do me August 21 and 28th or do both ey on the 28th.

It does not work for me to come back and do the one eye. I don’t think getting one eye done here and one is Mexico is a great idea as the lenses will not be the same. So tomorrow is my only chance ( before they go on a 3 week vacation ) to plead my case. I prefer surgery on the 21st and the 28th of August. Positive thoughts you all.

 

Yes I did. Last Wednesday July 10th. Gosh everyday before and after have been busy from sunrise to sunset ( huh, I never see sunrise but you get the drift ).

We saw the park July 1st parade here in Holiday Park and as always it was excellent. I was thinking about all my American friends on July 4th. I was tired. So much prep for the next garage sale. And we had a showing on July 1st. Lots of interest but no offers so we have dropped our selling price.

Saturday July 6th was our third and final garage sale.  Colin and I are both happy with how we have sold so many items and the house is definitely feeling lighter. Somehow I managed to sell 80% of my personal wardrobe. I was so happy on the Sunday, July 7th and that lasted for a few days. We did well on the garage sale. In fact between selling the golf cart, the two kayaks, the Lexus and the sauna and two unexpected small tax returns we will be able to live in Mexico for the next year or 2 without taking money from our savings. But between the three garage sales and my selling things online on FB Marketplace we made an additional $9,200.00. Facebook Marketplace is a ton of work as are the garage sales. But to us worth every penny. Fingers crossed that the house sells by the end of September.  If not we will be back here next spring.

Sunday, July 7th was the turning point for me ( and I think for Colin ). I was HAPPY, yes I am shouting happy. It has been a very long time since I felt so free and well – happy. We were certain that we were doing the right thing and were over the top ecstatic. Everyday I am selling something on FB. Actually I still have many new things to add. Yes we really did have a lot of stuff, but that was part of our very happy past. Now our life goal has changed and we are so looking forward to starting this new major step.

However my cataract surgery is getting in the way. Apparently I require so many weeks post surgery before I can be discharged. I knew that I had one cataract but not in both eyes which requires another full week here. We don’t have that time. I am on the waitlist for earlier surgery but it seems that the medical office is going to be on vacation and shut down for a few weeks. And surgery is only done on a Wednesday. So unless August 21st opens up, I am in trouble. Yes we can leave here earlier but we do have to be at IMSS in Mexico by a certain date the end of October or we will forfeit all we have gained towards our permanent residency and will be required to start all over in 2025. At the moment with my scrambled brains from my tumble I have no idea how to proceed but of course in time I will figure it out.

So back to last Wednesday. We had already planned to travel to Wenatchee, WA in the US in order for our girls to get the proper rabies vaccines – the proper USDA approved vaccine and more importantly to be administered by a USDA/CDC approved vet. We have been researching for many weeks. First of all there are very few certified vets to do this. In all of Washington State perhaps less than 15. And of course they require a USDA certified rabies vaccine. And then of course who is willing to take on new clients from Canada. We sorted it all or so we thought. The girls got their shots but we still need to come back before we leave the USA for Mexico to get the correct paperwork.

So last Wednesday, July 10th, we finished loading the RV. We had a plan. We had to leave the house in perfect condition for a possible showing while we were away. So I was in the RV in the storage yard putting things away in our RV while Colin dusted and vacuumed etc in the house. Very very very long story short, we were about 5 minutes away from hooking up the Jeep to the RV when Colin suggested a quick stop at our garden plot to pick up some lettuce. Not sure if I fainted ( it was over 100F ) or tripped. I ended up bleeding out for over 6 hours. The ER in Vernon was useless.

Almost 6 hours later we got back to the RV ( my nose was still bleeding ) and there was yet another problem. Something was wrong with the RV engine fan belt. . GOOD SAM was over 6 hours away. Colin called a very very very good friend in the park and he actually  left a meal with friends in Kelowna to get back to HP to help us. J fixed the problem and left to join his out of town friends  ( luv you ) and as we proceeded to hook up the tow car/Jeep there was another problem. Colin dealt with that. We left 6 hours late (stupid hospital) – in Mexico I would have been back home in an hour. The US border was quite suspicious of us arriving at 10:30PM.

We got thru and into an Oroville RV park ( remember we have no generator and it was over 100F ). Long drive the next day to where we are right now, Whispering Pines RV Park in Cle Elum, WA.  Fabulous camping spot. Saw the vet Friday, the 12th and I have been recovering in the RV.

Happy to say that I finally got out for a walk today with my family. So our vacation time here has turned into a recovery time for me here in the RV. Mostly I slept but Colin got quite a bit done on creating a more cozy home environment for us here in the RV. I have so enjoyed spending the past days here in my happy place. I hope that from October 8th and on it will become my full-time home but that all depends on my eye surgery.

So tomorrow July 16th we are driving back to our lake home in Kelowna. I would be happy to stay here until fall but I must get back to my home – it needs to be sold. Thank you so much for checking in, no sense apologizing for the past two weeks of no posts but that is my life right now!