Month: August 2024

Still working on catching my breath. I feel like I have been on a giant roller coaster these past ten days or so. We have had  2  or 3 ( I’m losing track although I think we have had 13 official showings and untold spontaneous showings ) but still no buyer. We remain very sad that the lady who had to cancel the purchase of our home is not buying it. She was perfect for this place. But life has suddenly taken her in a different direction. Deep down I hope that within the next year she will come back to our home.

Departure day is October 5th and that is whether we sell or not. I knew the date but just now adding it up on the calendar its  shows that that is only 37 days  🙄 Will we be ready? Colin will for certain, as will the RV and the Jeep. The last thing needed for the RV is to check the freon in the AC system and add if needed. He is doing that this morning and the same with the Jeep on Friday. Mechanically we are ready to go.

Emotionally we are more than ready to go. We really don’t want to have to come back here next year to sell. So keep your fingers crossed and keep sending out positive thoughts. Anything is possible in the next month. If the house sells we have some fun and exciting plans for next year.  If not we will keep on track with our current wonderful plans. The world is in upheaval and there is no way to know what the future will bring. Best to live in the here and now and enjoy everyday to the fullest.

I keep selling things on FB Marketplace and elsewhere. Yesterday we sold our rosewood credenza. That was a bit difficult to let go of. So we play a little game between us. If we don’t sell the house and come back here can we live without whatever item that I am selling. Little things are easy to part with, not so favourite pieces of furniture we have had for over 35 years. At this point we prefer to keep as much as we can to stage the house for selling but this particular sale will allow us to pull back the white leather sectional and open up that space a bit more.

Physically I am a mess. My eyes are not cooperating and I am unable to tell the time on my watch, use my iPhone, write or read nor use the computer. Never mind driving – I can’t even walk on my own. I am living in a fog. I ended up with a small corneal abrasion after the second surgery but that pain has finally passed. With so much to do before we leave and so little time I am very frustrated. I saw the eye surgeon last Thursday and he said it does take a full 6 -8 weeks to heal. I see him again tomorrow.

Even the dentist is conspiring against me. I haven’t had a cavity in over 5 years and yesterday the dental hygienist found 3 tiny tiny ones 😮 I know it could be much much worse. But snow on the Coquilhalla and at the Big White ski mountain yesterday!!  Yes yesterday was still August. I guess that is the sign of the times we live in.

 

 

 

The only offer we have had and our potential buyer dropped out. She had almost purchased all of our furniture, so it was a turnkey deal for her. It was perfect for us. Now we only had to keep sorting, donating and loading the RV. We were crushed when she dropped out. No need to go into all of the details and reasons. We tried but the deal couldn’t be saved.

This happened last weekend and we are still getting over the disappoitment. Nothing to do but keep pressing on.

Still leaving October 5th and still hoping the house sells before we leave.

I have been struggling with my right eye. It is fighting the non operated eye and seeing, reading and typing on the computer are difficult. I now understand why having both eyes done at the same time make for a much quicker recovery. Your eyes are both seeing the same thing. My eye condition is astigmatism which I also looking forward to not having to deal with.

In about 90 minutes I will be having my left eye cataract removed. I am so hoping for rapid progress. Colin had been great with the eye drops.

That is all the news for now. Looking forward to brighter days ahead.

I am home safe and sound and do not want to leave it. The procedure was not what I expected, no worse but no better and just strange. I experienced no pain at all. I did have 14 drops pre surgery, was very nicely cared for and even a weighted blanket to keep me cozy as I waited outside the OR. Dr. Monica Penny was my anaesthetist and did all that I asked to keep me comfortable and as much as she could in lala land. With her guidance I was able to able to walk from my recliner to the OR area. I vaguely recall the doctor pulling me up higher as I could not manage that. I needed to be wonky as I metabolized anesthesia very rapidly ( think of the dentist – they need to give extra as they work on a tooth ).

Anyway all went well. I slept all the way home in the car. Actually I slept until 7PM.  Colin woke me to give me the needed eyedrops. I wan’t hungry but he made me something to eat and we sort of watched something in TV, If I closed my left eye I could not see anything but shadows from the right surgery eye. It did not get better as the evening progressed .

Fortunately I was given a special bottle of what was called ‘comfort drops’ which I was allowed to use for 24 hours post surgery. I used them a few times and took a Tylenol about 6pm and again at 10PM. It felt like I had a piece of sand constantly irritating my eye. Most annoying.

I wore a clear eye patch to just protect my eye from any sudden movements from the girls. Colin said that they did not touch me but slept close to me as I rested on the bed.

Yesterday morning ( 24 hours post surgery ) I saw the surgeon for my first check up. He looked with the big microscope machine thingy into my eye and simply said ” excellent”. He said that the irritating feeling would go away and that I would have more vision every so many hours.

I had asked to have the right eye lense taken out of my eye glasses so that I had some vision. The doctor suggested that it might be better to go without any corrective lenses. So I am working with it this and that solutions. Almost impossible to use the computer.

This morning at about 2AM I work up to no as in nada pain in my eye. Such a relief. I slept from 10PM to 9:30AM. Obviously my body is rebuilding.

I can see better today than yesterday but really look forward to tomorrow and even more improvements.

‘Thank you for your kind words re Ena. My second eye surgery is next Wednesday the 21st and her funeral service in on the 23rd in Edmonton. It breaks my heart that I can’t attend.

So that is where I am at the moment my friends – in limbo. Give me a few days.

We must all learn to live each day to the fullest. None of us knows what tomorrow will hold. Personally Colin and I have had an extraordinary three days. Goods news on the home front but too early to share for certain.

But just a few hours before the home event I received an email. My longest and dearest friend Ena, whom I have known since the summer of grade six, who I went to junior and senior high with, the very special friend that we have visited back and forth over the years and well into adulthood. I met Ena’s children when they were very young and they were already trilingual! She had set backs in her career being a dentist to due a physical error to her made by a surgeon. Ena was always, kind and positive ( just like her mother ) and cared so very much about her family and those in her circle of friends as well as her Latvian community.

Ena was one of the main reasons I rejoiced in my almost annual trip to Edmonton to see my chiropractor ( and visit with her ) and before that she would drive me to the hospital to see my ailing parents. I was very fortunate to see her last September at our high school reunion. You can click here to read that blog post .However I knew something was off with her but she wanted the event to be fun and fluffy, no serious stuff. So the last time I saw Ena was last September. I could not believe my eyes when I received the email this past Sunday advising all of us, her school friends, of her passing this past Saturday, August 10th.

So a door closed on Sunday yet another is opening. I knew that Ena was giving me her blessing to move on in life. Yet I have felt her in my heart for days now. Folks reach out to your family and friends, be loving and kind. Life is much shorter than we know. I am 71 but dear Ena was only 70, she would have turned 71 this coming December 1st. I am happy to say the Ena did her best to live life to the fullest and I honestly believe that she was content and mostly happy. Rest in peace my very special and unique friend! You will always be a part of me, after all, you have been in my heart for 60 years.

I also received an email from an Isla friend telling me that her daughter was killed in an instant in an automobile crash on August 1st. My heart breaks for her and her husband and the rest of their very close family. Please everyone live and love everyday to the fullest.

Last Thursday I received a phone call from my eye surgeon. They finally finally had a cancellation. I have been waiting since mid May for one. So my right eye is being operated on tomorrow at 9AM. The left eye will be be done a week later on August 21st. What this means is that I will be free of my eye/medical obligations by October 3rd.

We are leaving here and heading south to Mexico on October 5th and plan to arrive on the Isla in the early afternoon of October 25th. Plenty of time to get settled into our Isla compound and with enough time to compete the renewal of our temporal by the end of October.

Things seem to be working out for us. Love you all and thank you for taking the time to read this post.

I thought that we had our last garage sale in early July. However as we kept going thru all of our “stuff” it became apparent that I would need to sign up with the parks already scheduled garage sale for August 3rd. Their advertising brings in a number of people to our park.

On July 29 I sold our 5 cu ft chest freezer for $130.00 and then started to add more items to FB Marketplace. By the 31st I ended up opening up the house for anyone in the park to come and see. Over the previous weekend Colin and I had thoroughly gone through both the RV and house kitchens and knew exactly what we were keeping. The forever stuff was in the RV and we kept just what we needed here at home and the rest was for sale.

Who has 4 potato mashers? And I never even make mashed spuds. I won’t get into all the brand new stuff we had to sell. In the end I did an open house all day Thursday and Friday for my FB Marketplace people and for those living here in the park. I only made $105.00 at the actual garage sale on Saturday. However I did extremely well for the entire week, more that expected and I was very happy with the outcome – close to 2 months rent on the Isla.

Because it was so hot with temps in the 100’s I set up the garage sale inside my home with things laid out everywhere. I called it an open house garage sale. Many took that to mean “an open house” and we had many many people checking out our home rather than the garage sale. Colin and I were both run off our feet talking to all who came. I personally knew of 5 sets of  people who were very interested in the actual sale of the house. A few thought it was the ideal location for their parents to downsize to.

We cleaned up within an hour after closing and the house looked presentable when I laid down for a nap with the girls. I think Colin was also resting somewhere when there was a loud knock at the door at 4:30PM. Long story short, it was someone we knew who lived here in the park who had their friends in tow and wanted to have a showing right then and there. We were rather overwhelmed ( and I was sleepy ). We asked them to look around outside while we made ourselves presentable and then Colin went outside while I picked up the house as best I could in five minutes. They were here close to 45 minutes and loved the place. However they were not yet thinking of downsizing as I discovered yesterday ( although the friends who lived here decided they should ). Much too soon for them. Bu just a few hours ago we got a request for showing late tomorrow morning.

Today has been quite the day and I must say that both of our heads are in a continuous spinning rotation. I received a phone call this morning from my eye surgeons’ office and despite denying me an earlier date for my cataract surgery they were calling to say that my first eye would be done on August 14th ( they had just had a cancellation ) and the second on the 21st!! Simply wonderful.  All the pressure of meeting my 6 week healing date and getting a post surgery eye check before we left was now going to work out. The timing and date pressure was off. We would for certain be back on the Isla in time to renew our Temporal Residency Visa by the end of October with time to spare in case of an RV breakdown.

Also today we spoke with both our financial advisor and our accountant re shutting down Colin Jewall Photo Studios Inc. permanently. It seems like I have been on the phone all day ( I also spoke with our lawyers office ) and made many changes to previously scheduled appointments. Then the call came in about having a showing tomorrow at 11:30AM. Of course we said.

I think it is one of the ladies that came to the open house Saturday as later in the afternoon, today, I saw her and her friend standing on the street and looking at our house. So Colin of course has had to stop the packing he was doing and proceeded to  remove the multitude of spiders and their webs from outside the house. Then trimmed and cut the lawn, vacuumed inside etc. Much more to do tomorrow am.

Fingers crossed for a great showing and an offer tomorrow or the next day. Like I said, everyday is full and often we have no idea how the day will go once we get up but it is always rather busy.

Forgot to mention that this morning the girls were attacked by two huge dogs, a Saint Bernard and a black Bernese Mountain dog. Colin was not even yet at the gate to the dog park when these two with their hundreds of pounds came rushing out the dog park gate and proceeded to chase Ciela and Carlie. In all the confusion Colin dropped their leashes and they were yipping, screaming and running as they were chased.  He called me, I called security. The owners were unable to control their dogs. Then we had to look for our girls. Found a block away but in different directions. They were terrified. Just another element to our hectic day.

Today I finally got fed up with the constant knocks at my door looking for our neighbours address. They are seldom home and have not had an address sign up for close to 2 years I finally taped a piece of cardboard in their fence next to the gate. I really should have written it in bright lipstick on their fence 😳

This pen is a FIRST EDITION Parker Duofold marble pearl black twist pen. Born in the age of Jazz and Art Deco, the Duofold reflects the opulence and iconography of its origins. It is a pen of exceptional character and distinctive appearance, exuding the quality and luxury of outstanding craftsmanship. this pen was made in the 90’s.
An alluring combination of shades of pearl veined with a rich, velvety black , crafted from lustrous, cast acrylic. Every pen has its own individual, unique appearance. 23k Champagne Gold Plated Trim. Manufactured in the UK. I am now selling the pen at a very low price of $250.00 I vaguely remember purchasing this as a gift for Colin.

Carlie is doing about 65% better. Her gut is reacting favourably to the ‘poop pill’. Meanwhile we are still dealing with her acid reflux – that is a work in progress. They are both getting so very much love from us that I am beginning to think of Ciela as a velcro dog.

Now that we have got thru all of our things ( well 85%) and for certain know what will be brought to Mexico with us, we are much more relaxed. Of course we need to keep pushing everyday to get it all done. But the pressure is off re our “things”.  So we are ready for the sale to go thru quickly but also prepared to leave the house as is until next spring. The house is the only thing left in the air and we can deal with that.

It has has been difficult not having any dates to work with. With my eyes now booked a few weeks earlier we are free to make departure date plans and to make travel reservations as needed. Actually I am looking for someone in the Las Vegas area being willing to take my Amazon deliveries into their home. There likely will be several. I got in trouble last October at the RV Park as my orders had come in earlier than expected and filled up the mail room before we got there. If anyone can help us out that would be vey much appreciated.

So we are busy but never does a day go by that I don’t think of you and keep trying to write a post. Hope this helps get you up to date. If you need a gap in the time line filled in let me know and I will do so for you.

One last thing, I usually get my bath bar soap ( the coconut aloe one ) here before we leave. Turns out that my face creme, that bar soap and a few other things are no longer coming into Canada – something to do with restrictions. So if anyone is selling Avon I can put my order in with you or if you have a relative or a friend selling Avon let me know. So the only thing left is to ask you which bath bar soap you recommend. We tried Dove and yuck is all I can say re the odor. Trying Ivory right now.

PS. Slight delay posting, one of our neighbours was just taken away in an ambulance. Self abuse with alcohol but he is alive 😥