5C's Que Pasa

I actually have a file of photos that have not yet made it to the blog. This set was taken in May of 2018, by Colin himself. He simply emailed them to me one day and I kept them.

Thank you for all of your concerns re Colin and his wasp stings. Colin is feeling much better. His swelling is less today but from his left calf down to his toes he is still rather puffed out. No more itching though.

I just now asked and got the reason for these photos. Colin was taking photos of a very accomplished classical guitarist for his next CD cover. Alan Reinhart has studied with the best guitarists in the world and has performed for Royalty as well as seasonal concerts within North American. Apparently when Colin had finished taking photos of Alan he sat in the same chair and asked Alan to take photos of him with his silent guitar. Lights and the portrait background were already set up. Fun times.

One of the many photos Colin took of Alan on that day.

Carlie, Ciela, Colin and I were invited to the following event. However because we do not have one, never mind two hot dog costumes, we were unable to participate. Maybe I should have spent the 75.00 to buy two on Amazon?

We have two local ski hills, Big White Ski Resort and SilverStar Mountain Resort. The latter was opening a new biking trail called Chien Chaud. which translates to hot dog of course. They put out a call last week for dachshunds dressed as hot dogs. The Kelowna Dachshund Club replied to that call.

This is one of the cutest videos that I have ever seen. Only 57 seconds long but so very well done. It looked like more than more just ten doxies. Great marketing idea.

The following was taken by Heather, Shawnessey’s mom. It is a longer video taken with her iPhone and gives the concept of what was taking place. Shawnessey is the energetic black doxie either pulling on her pink leash or chasing the ball. She is a good to friend to our girls.

Lots of dog treats, including hot dogs of course, and a great videographer. Oh how I wish we had been part of it 😎 Amazing how the final video turned out so perfectly.

Colin has little energy today and his left side is swollen, the left ankle is very large. He continues to take Ibuprofen, Claritin, ice and elevate. Not much else he can do. Yes I will be purchasing the epipen in the next day or so.

Don’t you just love this first video. It certainly put a smile on our faces.

We knew it was going to be busy but not over the top. But first to catch up on a few photos. Tonight I am going by date just because it is easier.

So why not start with a sunset for a change. This goes back to September 6th.

Honestly the shot looked much better in real life but what the heck, take the photo anyway.

The next day a fire started mid afternoon not too far from here. Amazing how the wind carried the smoke.

The smoke was in this precise wind drift.

A bit of the sunset that evening, slightly smoke affected.

Aha, just found this photo of Colin holding Ciela during the chipmunk visit. I had also tried to hold each of the girls earlier in the day and calm them but as you can see Ciela was fighting with everything she had to get loose.

Sunday we had a very nice visit with our friends Jannose and Colin from Alberta. On the right is Diane, Jannose’s mom, who came along for their vacation through BC. I believe that I have known these people for close to 40 years or more. We all had a really good time together. Short but sweet.

Except for the wasps. I have no idea why but the wasps here in the Okanagan have been extremely nasty these past few weeks. They just slip inside the house through a crack in the door. Our friend Colin was rather concerned as he carries an epipen with him in case he he gets stung. So we stayed inside and made sure that all the wasps had been removed. Why? Because Colin L. had left his epipen back at the hotel 😯

I certainly enjoyed my fish tacos for dinner that day.

The next morning, Monday the 12th it was so chilly when we got up that Colin lit the pilot light for the fireplace and turned it on. Carlie under the fireplace all wrapped up.

Ciela preferred to be outside under a few blankets. Carlie soon joined her there.

Our view for the past few days. So much smoke.

This morning while doing my kinesiology exercises ( got new ones yesterday – they get more difficult each week) Ciela jumped up on the bench I was using for a few exercises. She totally surprised me as she jumped up at the end of the bench between my legs.

We had no idea that they could jump like that. Here her tongue is cleaning my face.

So what made today so chaotic? Colin left early this morning to finish two hours of  interior photography on a home that he has been working on. When he got back and was downloading his photos at his desk, he got stung by a wasp between his left thumb and first finger. Ouch! He has never had a reaction before to a sting but was this time. I gave him Claritin but it was rapidly becoming more and more inflamed and painful.

He took the girls for a walk and came back with a very puffed up hand.  So I then gave him 800mg of Ibuprofen to help with the swelling. Today was the carpet and upholstery cleaning day for the RV.  It really needed it. The company called and said that they were two hours ahead of schedule and called to say that they were arriving in thirty minutes. So off Colin went to put out the two slides. The RV is in the storage lot and we are not allowed to put slides out, etc. We did it about four years ago and got reported to security. So yesterday Colin spoke to the two people who have the storage lot on either side of us.  They were okay with his leaving the slides out for two days 😉 S0 Colin let the cleaners in and they said that they would be about an hour. So he came back ( he was using the golf cart to go back and forth ) and stopped about two homes away from us to chat with a few neighbours.

That was when he got stung for the second time in less than 90 minutes. This time he got bit on the inside of his left knee. Once home, three minutes later, he came in feeling hot and the site was sore. However his entire body was suddenly itchy everywhere. The venom traveled through his body very very rapidly. He was hot, sweating, red all over ( including his head ) and itchy. I made him lie down on the bed and take his shirt off. I could see red patches developing all over his body. His ears and forehead were bright red. I knew that he had to get help ASAP. I called Inger but she was busy, while I was calling her Colin just walked out and over to their home. Colin was feeling faint and thought he was going to fall. Colin climbed into their car. His lips were numb and puffy ( still are  a bit ). An ambulance would take too long to get here and back to the hospital. He needed help right now!!  I was calling a local walk in clinic, they were full and unable to see him. I told them I thought he was going into anaphylactic shock. He had so many symptoms. They said that they would have a doctor on standby when he walked in and they were ready. Colin tried to text me from the car but he was pretty out of it. He finally had to tell them when he arrived that his heart was very tight. His lips were so swollen that he could not talk.

So why did I not take Colin to the clinic? I was not dressed to go out ( ie no bra ), the carpet cleaners were on their way here once they completed our RV and we were expecting a TV delivery for the RV. The girls knew that something was up and were out of sorts. So the TV and the carpet cleaners arrived at the some time. Both my cell and home phone were ringing constantly. Mucho loco 🙁  I remember texting Inger that I did not want Colin to die. Yes, it was that close.  Finally the doctor saw him and said that it was a bad reaction but his pupils were fine and his heart beat was fine. He did however make Colin sit for another 15 minutes to keep an eye on him.  However it must have been a bad reaction as the doctor sent Colin home with an RX for an epipen.

It did not take too long to clean our bedroom carpet.

This is who they were in case you want to know.

Colin got home ( thank you Steve, there is no way we could have waited for an ambulance ) and Colin was still wobbly. He laid down for a bit and I could see a red rash all over his legs. He was still very itchy but alive, thank you God and the Universe. I put Cortisone creme ( 1% ) on the itchy areas. Finally he fell asleep. Meanwhile I went to check on the RV that the door had been closed. I also turned on the three overhead fantastic fans. I was told that the carpet here in the house and the RV  ( as well as the furniture ) would be dry by the end of the day. No way!

I am so thankful that we came through this day with nothing serious. I love Colin so much and this was a huge awakening in our lives. My motto has always been to live life to the fullest each day.  We plan to do better than that.

We leave five weeks from today. Thank you all for being there for me. Colin is not back to normal but his mind is clear despite the swelling and itchiness. He just said that life is even more precious to him.

Colin asked if the girls could sleep in our bed tonight. Of course!