Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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Good morning, everyone. I am a little bit late getting started here this morning.  I slept until almost 6:30 which is really late for me. I remember waking up about 4:30 and thinking, oh I have another hour to go before I get up and then I went and slept two more hours. I must have needed it!

The air quality is supposed to be very bad today with the smoke from the fire.  It's severe where I live and it is affecting air all the way up to Shubenacadie, which is a fair distance away. 

So, we are advised to stay indoors with our windows closed and any air exchangers, etc. turned off.

Looking at the forecast, we may get rain on Saturday, with showers during the day and light showers at night, but we will see. Hopefully this happens.

The fire is still very much out of control. We have news now of people having lost their homes, and go fund me pages have been set up for some of those affected.

I still have my bag packed and things loaded in the car for the cats, just in case. It doesn't look like we are at risk, but you do need to be prepared just in case things change.

Cindy sent me this photograph of dad from his bed in hospital yesterday morning. He was in a much better frame of mind than he had been when we left on Monday night.  She was just there briefly to bring him a few things. We both went back after lunch for several hours, and then again last night for several hours. He had been taken up to Kentville in the interim for a Cat Scan. (They do not have a CT machine at the local hospital.) He was very tired last night, and he said that he had suffered a lot in the drive up to Kentville and back with pain. It's not like my father to complain about much so if he was complaining about it, then you know it's true. That is a very bumpy stretch of highway to the hospital in Kentville, and he said it really hurt his hip going over the bumps.  Our father is a very easy-going man. He is very easy to get along with as well. He has quite a few bruises where they have been poking him to get blood, etc. That is to be expected.

The one thing which bothered me last night was that he had not been fed anything at all. Earlier in the day they said they were not feeding him because they wanted everything clear for the CT scan. But when we got there last night, several hours after that, he still had not been given anything to eat. Cindy asked at the nurse's station if they could get him something and they said they would look and see if they could find some ice-cream or Jello, but when we left at 8, nobody had brought anything in for him to eat. I don't like to complain, but I am also not very happy about that.

He is getting some type of nutrition through his I.V. I suppose, but I would imagine this morning he will be feeling pretty peckish. Hopefully they give him some breakfast.

We need to work now at getting his legs strengthened so that he can come home. If he cannot walk, he cannot come home. So maybe today when we are there, we can get him up and walking a bit.

I got our brother on FaceTime last night for a short so he could talk to dad, and his wife did as well. Dad seemed to be happy about that. David also.  I know how hard it is to be far away from your loved ones when stuff like this is going on and how out of the loop you feel. I am so grateful that I am here.

Five years ago, I thought I would probably never see my father again, not here on earth. These last almost five years have been a great blessing to me.

 

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This photograph reminded me very much of my time working at the Manor, minus the vineyard view. (There were no vineyards there.) They had a set up on the side patio where they could entertain for dinners, etc. It used to be a bit of a pain in some ways because everything needed to be carried through the entire house to get there. Back and forth, back and forth. It made me appreciate what it must be like for some of the staff that works for the Royal family and some of their to-do's. 

It's a different life really, and when you live with and work for these people, you are living in a little bubble yourself. It's not a bad life per se. Just different.

Especially for a girl from small-town Nova Scotia, Canada. It was something I had only ever read about.  The richness of it all, the environment, etc. Imagine living in a house filled with antiquities and luxury. Dressing yourself in clothing made by designers like Armani.  On the packing nights I would have to steam and press that clothing to get it ready to put into her cases. I used to be very nervous about that as I was always really tired having already put in a full day's work.  At three or four in the morning, you are not always thinking straight. I was always very nervous I would damage something. I did pour the wrong perfume into the wrong bottle one time and got a bit of an earful for doing that, but that was just part and parcel of what I was paid to do.

 

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Even though I was very tired, I kind of enjoyed the packing sessions in a way.  I always started them off by baking a double batch of the "not so diet" diet cookies, lol. These would be packed between layers of parchment paper in a special box. Sandwiches would be made for them to eat on the plane. (They didn't eat airplane food for some reason.)

All of the jewelry that she needed to take with her would be packed into little silk bags.  Her shoes would be stuffed with paper and put into silk bags also. Clothes would be pressed, sleeves stuffed, ready to go into the bags as well.  Of course, none of that happened until she tried on each outfit and chose the jewelry and shoes to go with it. 

As things were chosen, they went onto hangers on a clothing rail in the bedroom. Once the whole wardrobe had been chosen it then got prepared for packing.

She was quite different on those nights than the person you normally saw during the other times.  She seemed to be almost human for lack of a better word. She conversed with you almost as if you were an equal. That was quite pleasant in many respects.

She always stayed up all night on the nights before she flew because she was afraid of flying. It helped her to be exhausted when she got on the plane.  She could then pop a sleeping pill and sleep the whole way over to wherever it was they were going. Usually the states.

And I was there, I guess mainly, to keep her company and to help her pack. He would have gone to bed in one of the other bedrooms around 11 or so. 

He would be hollering at her about 6 a.m. to get a cracking as they needed to be ready to go, usually by 6:30. The Estate Manager would show up and get the cases into the car at that time and off they would go to the airport, and off I would go back to the cottage to hopefully get some sleep.

Like I said, a very different life. But an interesting one, nonetheless.

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Canadian alert!  There is only six weeks to Thanksgiving! One of my favorite food holidays, I have to say. My daughter Eileen is going to be staying with me for a week or so just before then so I have told her that we will make ourselves a little Thanksgiving Dinner just for us. That will be fun.

Her husband is going to Ontario to visit his brothers with his parents, so she is coming here to stay with me. I always enjoy those little visits with each other. 

My oldest son was wanting to come over for a visit with my oldest grandson at some point as well. So, lots to look forward to.

 

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I'm not sure what all else I will get up to today. I will be going to visit dad in the afternoon and evening. This morning, I need to get some work done and I badly need to vacuum, dust and wash the floors.  I do have a busy day ahead of me. I haven't been able to respond to your comments yet, but I will get to them I promise.  I thank you for all of your prayers and happy thoughts! In the meantime  . . . 

Here is a thought to carry with you through the day  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *Finally I saw that 
worrying had come to nothing
and gave it up and took my old body
and went out in the morning and sang.
~Mary Oliver  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Japanese Beef Curry. This is like a delicious beef stew but without a lot of vegetables. It is meant to be eaten with rice. Very easy to make and quite hearty!

I hope that your Wednesday is a good one. Whatever you get up to, I hope you are happy and filled with joy and peace.  Don't forget!

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And I do too!