I'M ALMOST ALL BETTER

This has been a long boring haul with my infection but my leg is 98% better.

The Doc in Vancouver General said I would have to keep my leg elevated 

for twenty days if I wanted to see it back to normal sooner than later.
I sent a text to my Dr. friend to ask if I should stay on the antibiotics an extra few days.
He said Yes. He also said thats a better alternative to amputation. Funny guy.

This has been my life since March 7 when we returned from Mexico.

I had Ruth drive me to the Vernon hospital every morning at 6:30 for 10 days 

to get my  IV antibiotics  to fight this infection.

I love the sunrises heading into Vernon.

I never get tired of the views in our valley.

There were a few highlights this month.

Carrie had a birthday so I limped next door to partake in the celebration.

Ellie figured out how to play Happy Birthday and we all sang along.

Carrie bought herself a boat while we were in Mexico .

I think this was a birthday present to herself.

She's named it "Lady Boat"and Ruth felt it fitting to put that picture on her birthday cake.
Even if it looks like Lady Brat.

It was nice to put my leg down and get out of the house 

even though it was only for a short time.

Finally , the snow is all gone and my leg is feeling good.

It's day 19 on the anribiotics and my first day walking around outside.

I'm looking forward to puttering around the house.

Ruth knows a place we can get good dirt so we went 

and filled up the back of the truck with a load for the raised beds. 

We're going to be getting some nice veggies again this year.

She also knew where there was an abandoned flower garden that was full of daffodils.

Ruth and Carrie went yesterday and pulled a big box of bulbs out of the ground
as they started to sprout.

She wasn't sure where she wanted to plant them so for this year we put them in one of the raised beds.

This will give us something beautiful to look at in a few months.

While she was finishing up in the garden I decided to go 

and look at the tent we use to keep the tractor in . 

It was very functional unit there was a big wind storm in January.

It lifted up and landed about 100 feet from where it should have been.

What a mess.

I guess it's going to the dump.

The red paint is my phone number.

Someone stole the other tent we had set up on the property so 

to detur anyone from stealing this one I spray painted my name 

and phone  on the back side of it.

This is going to take a while to take apart.

I had double nutted all the bolts after the other tent had been disassembled and stolen.

I figured I'd make this one more of a challenge to steal.

Ruth's been after me to sharpen the knives and it's cold outside today .

We're self isolating thanks to that Covid 19 so I'm home anyways.

I figured I may as well start some inside chores.

They are so dull I decided to cheat and start the process using a machine.

Once I got a half assed blade on them I pulled out the big guns.

It's amazing how sharp they can get when you use a stone and finish up with a strop.

The final test is to see if the blade can give you a shave.

I keep looking in the mirror thinking that I'm glad 

my Floridian friends aren't here to see my hair.

They can be kind of jerky sometimes and don't have a problem

letting me know when I need a hair cut.

The problem here is that with this virus happening in the world all of the 

non essential services in BC have been ordered by the government to shut down.
That means my barber has closed her shop for the time being.

Problem solved.

I still have Daisy's clippers that I use to give her haircuts with,

I started outside on the deck for the long stuff.

Next I moved into the bathroom where it was warm and not windy.

TA DA.

The only difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut

is one week.

And it was for free.

THAT WAS SCARY, GLAD WE'RE HOME

This was Tuesday , March 3rd.

I felt good this morning as I took the 25 kilometre combi ride out to this old folks home.

The people here are all homeless with no family and no place to go.

The woman who started it as a vision had passed away last year.

It's a beautiful facility.

First we checked on the chickens.They are all happy today.

Next we went to the shed to start our jobs.

Cliff rehung the doors on the shed.

It has shifted so much the doors weren't closing properly.

My activity today was to paint these new metal stairs.

I bought the paint at this little paint shop and I'm hoping it is outdoor metal paint.

The label was all in Spanish so there was a bit of guess work involved it the purchase.

It seemed to work.

At least now they won't rust away during the rainy season.

After we left the senior centre I took a combi to La Ropa beach
and headed along the shore for 1.5 kilometres to Las Gadas beach.

I planned to hook up with some friends who were spending the day there.

It's a bit of a slow hike but it's also very beautiful along here.

The spot we were hanging out at has the best shrimp.

We ordered two types of shrimp. This is the cocoanut shrimp.

Very good but not my favourite of the two.

This was my favourite.

Bacon wrapped shrimp with a mild cheese inside.

YUMM.

Happy Hour.

We did spend most of the day in the shade 

but still needed a little sun to make it feel like a beach.

My right calf looks good here but that's not going to last.

Wednesday around 2:30 in the morning I woke up with violent shivers , shakes and a fever.

I thought it was sun stroke but it wasn't.

I laid in bed all Wednesday and Thursday morning I went to the Dr. 

who is across the street from out apartment.

We had planned to go to San Megal Friday for 10 days and on to Mexico city

 for another 12 days before heading home.

Now we thought it might be a blood clot in my leg and 

the Dr. suggested it might be a good idea to head back to Canada.

By friday morning I couldn't walk and Ruth had to push me thru the airport.

It was as sore as it looks.

It definately was one of the most painful experience I have ever had.

It all blew up within 24 hours.

We left Zihua Friday at 3:00 pm and flew to Mexico city.

Spent the night there and flew to Vancouver Saturday morning.

Got into Vancouver around 11:00 am and spent the day at Vancouver General.

They determined it was a serious infection and got me on I.V. antibiotics immediately.

We flew to Kelowna Sunday morning and went directly to Vernon Hospital.

I'm on Day 9 of the I.V. now. 

They treat me as an out patient and need to be there every morning at 7:00.

I'm not too happy about having to go into a hospital everyday with this Virus coming 

so I hope tomorrow is my last in-house treatment.

They say I will need to be on antibiotics for quite a while.

I'm still in pain but at least now I can walk on my right leg without whimpering.

I'm so glad we're home now even though its freezing out

Ruth has taken such good care of me. 

I'm a lucky guy.

Speaking of luck,

We're so lucky to live in such a great country with wonderful health care.

Anyone who starts complaining about Canada should go to a 3rd world country 

and see how you get treated when something goes wrong.

If you're lucky there won't be too much pain as you expire.

FUN COUPLE OF DAYS

I'm really exciter for Carrie. She bought a boat. Wish it was me.

Nice cabin with a flybridge and twin Volvo's.

Got it home on Friday.

I went back to the senior's home this week to do some work.

The idea was to paint these new outside stairs black but 

we had a change of plans.

If you look at the wall on the second floor of this shed you can see the lean.
That has to be fixed.
 It is also their storage ares for donated items such as coffins and wheelchairs.

This building is only 5 years old.

The builder who was from Steinbach Manitoba never bothered to place a barrier between 

the bottom sill and the concrete. Needless to say, the bottom two feet are rotting away.

The lean of this building is pronounces when you look at the window.

The job today ended up with us watching the other guys trying to pull the building 

straight using a come-along. It didn't work.

But was very funny to watch. It's a long story.

We needed to cut a short piece of rebar.

This made me squirm.

And Laugh. Where's workman's comp.

When we left Bet-Shalom there were these two animals laying next to 

where the combi picks us up.

I asked Cliff if they were sheep or goats.

He says the easiest way to tell is the goats tails stick up and the sheep's tail points down.

I didn't know that. These are sheep.

Friday night was the opening of a new food court.

They have about 30 containers in a large circle that have opening sides 

and they serve different types of food and drinks.

It was a lot of fun.

Ruth typed La Camise Negra into her phone and Natalie 

took it up to the singer to see if he could play it.

This is Ruth's favourite song lately and he said Si.

Five minutes later they were up dancing to the music. He was great.

As they danced one of the guys from one of the beer outlets came over to them 

and gave them each a beer.

Now I'm thrilled because Ruth doesn't drink beer.

They had fun.

Saturday was a beach day.

We just laid on our lounges reading and visiting with friends for most of the day.

Saturday evening around 6:00 Ruth suggested we wander downtown to see if there was anything going on. What a great idea.There was the Mescal festival starting.

There is a parade going thru town and near the front they give you a shot glass and as they rest of the parade passes you there are party people filling up your glass .

Mexican's know how to party.

Lot's of loud music and partying in the street.

Everyone is dancing.

People on the sidelines start to fall into the parade. Fun.

This character was cracking his whip behind a group of partiers.

He was really good with the whip.

I wish I had video taped this . It was so loud. 

Sounded like a gun shot.

I'd hate to meet these guys on a dark road . Scary.

Great costumes.

That's what the shot glasses looked like.

This couple was great.

He was handsome and she was very beautiful.

They danced around like they were on real horses.

Lots of white people on the street in the parade near the end.

The best part.

These horses are so well trained. It was magical to watch them.

This Vaquero had his horse prancing sideways from curb to curb. 

It was amazing to watch.

here comes the showman. 

He was on two legs more than four.

Nothing but big smiles and waves as he passed me.

He didn't spill a drop of his beer thru all of his showing off.

That last little show did him in. 

His saddle came undone and started to slide off sideways.

Now he spilt his beer.

But never stopped smiling.

This is Bernard. He's the cheese guy that we buy cheese off of on La Ropa beach.

After the parade we wandered around down town until about 8:00.

That's when I was booked in for a hair cut with Mr. Mosst.

Nice guy. $60 (pesos) includes a shave with a straight razor.