Canada – Page 24

Might go camping on the long weekend

May 13, 2009 by Tricia

This weekend is a long weekend here in Canada. It’s known as Victoria Day or in true Canuck form “The May 2 4” weekend.

it’s early this year, Victoria Day usually falls around the 24th of the month, hence the nickname for our long weekend, but for some reason it’s a week earlier. It’s often the same weekend that our American friends celebrate Memorial Day weekend.

I’ve always thought of this long weekend as a camping weekend. My family had a cottage and we always went to the cottage for the May 2 4, but once I moved away from home it became a weekend to go camping with the girls or the guys.

My husbands sister had been trying to put something together for this weekend. Kind of last minute, but she’s been calling rv parks to see if they have any spaces left. I still haven’t heard back from her as to whether she’s found a camp site or not.

At this point I don’t know if I’ll be up for going camping this weekend anyway. I’m having that Thyroid biopsy tomorrow and I’ll probably be fine afterwords, but then again I could have a sore neck too. I’ll just have to wait and see. Plus I’m having a Crohn’s flare up, so unless my meds start working right away once I’m able to take them again after the biopsy I won’t be going anywhere this weekend.

If we stick around Toronto we’ll have to at least go to the Fireworks!

Do you have plans for either Victoria Day weekend or Memorial day? If so, what are you going to do?

I guess my new meds were working after all

May 8, 2009 by Tricia

I wasn’t sure, but I guess my Crohn’s medication that I started about a month ago, Pentasa, after that whole Sulfasalazine fiasco, must have been working.

How do I know …. Well, yesterday i got a phone call from one of my doctors offices telling me that my Thyroid biopsy at the hospital is scheduled for next Thursday and I had to go off the Pentasa right away since it contains ASA.

I’ve been off the Pentasa for more than 30 hours and my stomach/ abdomen is getting more painful as each hour goes by. So unless I’m starting to fight another bug or my Crohn’s is getting worse that must mean the medicine was working and my body is feeling it now that I’m not taking it.

I hope the pain doesn’t get much worse as I have to wait probably until next Friday before I can start taking it again. It’s going to be a LONG week.

Maybe I’ll spend sometime this week just sitting in my garden and looking at all the flowers that are beginning to bloom. That is if I can just sit and enjoy … it seems that every time I go in my backyard I never just sit, I have to pull weeds or prune a dead branch off a rose … I just can’t help myself.

Hmm maybe I’ll try to start now …. I’ll go outside and enjoy the daffodils while they’re still here …

Enjoy the weekend and try to get outside!

Yard work and a bad back do not mix

March 28, 2009 by Tricia

Chris and I took advantage of the beautiful day here in Toronto and went outside for several hours to tidy up the garden.

My mind was into the work, but my body wasn’t! I’m certainly not made of Ferrari parts – not anymore anyway! LOL Nope! I just found out I have a slipped disk in my back which explains the back pain I’ve been having for over a year now. Naturally, twisting, bending and standing and sitting in odd positions while cleaning out the garden beds did absolutely nothing for my back except cause more pain!

So now I’m lying on the couch watching TV with a heating pad on my back. Oh yes, I’m also full of Advil and Tylenol. None of it seems to be helping at the moment … maybe a good rest will relax my back … maybe!

The backyard does look beautiful now though! All the dead leaves, dead foliage and most of the dead branches on the rose bushes are gone. I didn’t “technically” prune the roses – just cut off the obviously dead branches. It’s still too early to do a real pruning …. or is it?

I mean .. I was totally surprised at how many plants were coming up when we uncovered them! Not just the usually suspects like crocus, daffodils, tulips and hyacinth no … my Hollyhocks, Phlox, honeysuckle vines, and many of my clematis have leaf buds on them. I swear my garden is at least two weeks ahead of it’s self if not a full month ahead!

Now that the back garden is all cleaned up and the sun can get at the tender shoots poking their heads out of the ground I’m sure that everything will really start to shoot up! In just few days (if the weather holds) I’m sure there will be a lot more green in my garden!

The grass is already starting to green up too. On Monday evening we raked the front and back yards as well as started cleaning up the garden beds and the grass was dead looking – not a hint of green. But just 6 days of above freezing temps and a tiny bit of rain later and it now has quite a bit of green.

Now if only my back could make such a quick turn around as our awakening garden is!

Oh BTW did you participate in Earth Hour? We had a candle light dinner after expending all that energy outdoors! What did you do during earth hour?

I’m Ffffreezing … Brrrr

March 23, 2009 by Tricia

Just before 7 pm this evening Chris came up with a great idea … or so we thought at the time. I’d just noticed that some of my purple crocus’ were coming up in the garden and Chris suggested I go outside and take some pictures of them since it was still quite light out.

He also said that he’d rake the lawn (like I suggested on Saturday when it was warmer out!).

Unfortunately .. it didn’t end up just being a photo taking and raking 15 minute outing … it never is when we go outside and visit the garden …

We both went outside, I took a few pictures and Chris started raking. Next thing I know I’ve got my pruners in my hand and I’m bent over one of my garden beds clearing out leaves, using the pruners to cut off dead foliage and generally tidying up the garden. Chris also got into clearing leaves out of some of the garden beds too.

Then when I said I was cold … maybe it was about 8 pm and pretty much full dark by then, we abandoned the backyard where there’s still a lot of work to do, and went to the front to at least rake the lawn.

The only problem with going to the front of the house is we end up talking to our neighbors. I finally met the new Lab/boxer mix puppy that our new neighbors got about two weeks ago (CUTE) and we talked to other neighbors too. By the time the neighbors disappeared and our still partially frozen front lawn was raked it was about 8:30.

My fingers are numb and I’ve got the shivers … Do you know how cold it is out right now? It’s -1 C (30.8 F) … no wonder I’m freezing! Brrrr!

Do you ever get carried away like that when you’re doing something … even if it’s really cold or much too hot outside?

Spring – It’s here, it’s here!

March 22, 2009 by Tricia

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Can you tell that I’m happy that Spring has finally arrived? Ok, so it’s felt like Spring here pretty much since mid-February with the exception of a few very cold days here and there, but now it’s actually starting to look like Spring outdoors.

I just spotted my first crocus in my lawn earlier today. That, to me, is always my first true sign that Spring has truly arrived.

I used to have snowdrops in my garden as well, but they’ve either died out or they are blooming under the leaves that cover my garden beds. LOL However I do know that there are Snowdrops blooming in the area because my husband spotted some earlier today while out walking the dog.

My chives are also up and several of my other plants appear to be coming back to life as they are greening up and developing leaf buds.

Hmmm … I wonder if Raccoons like chives? I’ve spotted a raccoon in our backyard several times over the last week (the back yard security light goes on whenever there’s movement out there), and the raccoon is always near the Chives and where the first crocus has come up whenever I see it. Of course I scare it out of the yard … but I wonder if it’s nibbled on the chives?

I guess it won’t be long now before flowers like these tiny irises, hyacinth, muscari, tulips and other plants start to make an appearance!

I think I might do a little yardwork today if I can get this pesky high fever I have to go down.

Might go camping on the long weekend

I guess my new meds were working after all

Yard work and a bad back do not mix

I’m Ffffreezing … Brrrr

Spring – It’s here, it’s here!

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