Author: Contessa Jewall

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 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.

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.

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 🙂

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!!

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.

Yes just a few days away and so many changes.

 

 

 

 

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.

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

 

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mother Nature did a first class presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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.

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 😉

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 😎

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?

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

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

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.

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.

And finally in order to receive each post in your inbox I suggest that you sign up by subscribing to follow.it which can be found again on the top right of each post. Look for the black box with ‘Subscribe’ written in white. Write your email in the blank space above the black box. As you can see, pretty much anything that you might need is found on the top right of my post. Once you put in your email address you will shortly thereafter get something in your inbox from Follow It asking you to click on a link to complete your subscription.

If you have any questions send an email or make a comment on the post.

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.

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

What a wonderful birthday. The last person left at 10PM. Hopefully I can do it again in another 70 years.

There have been a few test posts of late. I received emails that the comment section of my blog was not working. Others said that they were no longer receiving notice of a new post by Follow It. It has been very difficult trying to pin point the problem.

So can you all please help me. Let me know if you are receiving an email with the link to my new post? Let me know if you are no longer reaching an email re a new post that I have published? FYI you can still always get my last by going to www.contessajewall.com. However if you are no longer getting that new post reminder please let me know.

If appears that the post I wrote on May 19th may have been the culprit. It has since been reposted on May 23rd. Click here for a link to that post. Did you all see that one? Did you try and comment and were unable to?

I hope that you can read that last post as it was bringing you totally up to date.

My last bit of health news is that I do NOT have Valley Fever 😀 That is good news. I am still coughing but much less. Hopefully it will all work itself out by the end of the summer. In other good news we all went for a long walk yesterday and today and I am fine with it. Not saying that I can do it every day, but certainly more often than not.

In other news. Colin finally got the RV windshield replaced. This was the third attempt and all went well. It has taken a year as it got cracked last April  2022 as we drove back from Mexico and the USA. Fortunately we only had to pay $250.00 deductible for the one windshield.

Our garden is growing very very well. We are already eating fresh lettuce out if it. Unlike last year we have no visible insects eating the tomatoes or the beans.

 

Originally posted May 19. Trying again today with a change on the title/

 

~ this was to be my Mothers Day post. So belated Happy Wonderful Mothers Day Wishes to each of you. How about we make Mothers Day last a week this year 😆 I really did think about many of you and wondered how your day was going. I hoped that you all had a wonderful special day full of love and some special moments.

~ last week I thought that I was ahead of this game of life and on track to post more often and to read your posts daily not just once a week. Once again life intervened. I wonder if by getting older that all my faculties begin to slow down. The mind is willing but time is passing much too quickly and I can’t keep up. Part of the problem is that at 8:30PM it is still light outside unlike the Isla that is dark by 6PM.  There is a special reason that this week is over the top crazy busy and you shall find out in the next few days.

√ Check that I am back to kinesiology and into a great routine with daily exercises. I was so happy to see that I had not lost much over the past 2 months that I had stopped. Don’t know if you knew that, but my constant coughing just about did me in and I have been so tired. It feels wonderful to be on track again.

√ My face is almost healed but I still have many brown spots. But as I get older who cares? I will continue my leg vein treatment twice per year as that is important to my health.

~ We had a few days of lovely hot weather, perfect temperatures with blue skies and then the smoke started to come in. Four days straight now. We could barely see across the lake.Yesterday children in school were kept inside due to the smoke. No recess. I read an interesting article yesterday about how on March 23rd La Nina said adios and now El Nino is in charge of the weather patterns. Yes more heat in certain areas but over the top heat 😥 Life as we know it is changing much quicker that we expected and we are now fully involved in all these new and record breaking events .Click here to read the article. It really is worth five minutes of your time.

√ The Honey Locust needed to be trimmed and Colin was unable to get up on a ladder to do it this spring. Thank goodness he agreed to hire someone.

√ So back to me and my health. We have made the long drive to Summerland to see the chiropractor three times thus far. Colin is improving but my neck is not. Somedays I can move it and others I can’t. We did get to visit the odd leash dog park each again which was fun but the girls are spoiled and want waves and warm water to play in. But my neck remains an issue as does my coughing.

√√ Finally got my chest xray done and my long awaited knee xray. As expected my chest is clear but my right knee is showing worsening osteoarthritis. No she will not send to an orthopaedic surgeon but is instead sending me to a sports medicine doctor 😮 I have no idea how long the wait will be. But I insisted on getting a requisition for the blood work for Vally Fever. I did that last Friday and am still awaiting the results.

I see how much I have accomplished in the last nine days 🙄 No wonder I haven’t had time to read a book 🙄