Friday, May 19, 2023

Yesterday was a day lacking in treats so I made up for it today.

I had my treatment Thursday morning and my fitting in the afternoon. I was able to walk the six blocks there and back although I did have to stop and rest for a bit both ways. I think it is because of all the medical facilities in the vicinity that there are a lot of benches everywhere. Pat was out at an open mic again last night and the dinner menu here was not appetizing (fish and herbed quinoa). I had two options for an alternate dinner – down (and then up) two blocks to Whole Foods to get something or half a block up to food court in the mall. I picked the mall.

Other than those outings I spent most of yesterday laying on the bed and reading. I was able to finish my book (Paula) with a bit of time left in the evening to carry on with my stitching.

This morning I said I didn’t want to go out anywhere – I thought I would enjoy a day at “home”. We went out for a walk right after lunch, through a different neighbourhood than we had been in before. When we were at a small park resting Pat mentioned that the shop that sold baklava was just a couple of blocks further out as we made our way back. I’m not a huge baklava fan but they advertised that they made 28 different kinds so it seemed worth a look.

And now I’m sold on this particular spot. I had small pieces of a hazelnut baklava and a coconut/almond baklava with an iced coffee to wash it down. Pat enjoyed a hot coffee with his pistachio treat. When we were walking “home” I mentioned that it was only a couple more blocks to the Whole Foods so we walked down there and picked up some muffins to enjoy later. It was two blocks straight up to get back so I lay down for awhile when we got back.

When we got “home” from the walk, as I was putting my borrowed book back on the shelf in the library, I intended to pick up another one of the two I’ve been eyeing. I ended up bringing both of them back to the room with me – I think I’ll have time to get through them both.

I’ll do a bit more stitching before bedtime.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

I passed the halfway mark in my radiation treatments today. So far it’s going well and other than being tired (or lazy) I don’t have much in the way of side effects. The last two days I’ve only managed half of the 5000 steps I was getting but I’m pleased I’m able to get out every day.

We had a nice walk out at Spanish Banks yesterday. There were a lot of folks out in the mud flats but we stuck to the sidewalk by the beach. I had several chances to pick up abandoned sandals and other footwear but I chose not to. I know my first set of Birkenstocks were a beach find but these weren’t anything near as good as those were.

We were going to stop at a White Spot for lunch but the parking lot was full and we didn’t want to wait. We came “home” and then walked down the hill to a Cactus Club. We were able to sit on the patio at the back of the building. The fresh air was nice and we heard very little traffic noise. When we got “home” I had a nap that lasted the rest of the afternoon. Needless to say after a big lunch I didn’t bother with supper.

Today’s activity was a trip to Queen Elizabeth Gardens. I couldn’t help but notice that it isn’t nearly as well kept up as the Van Dusen Gardens. There were several plants that we noticed and liked but there were no plaques to tell us what we were looking at.

As we were wandering the gardens we came across this giant rose bush. The flowers are very similar to a wild rose bush but so much bigger; they had the same fragrance though. I remember picking wild roses from the pasture at home and taking them to Grandma McKnight.

We stopped for lunch at the Seasons restaurant and had a fabulous meal to celebrate the half-way mark. The walk was a treat, but the treat I will remember the most was the lemon pie I had for dessert. Again, there will be no supper for me but I don’t think I’ll miss the Vegetable Casserole all that much.

Monday, May 15, 2023

I’ve had a lazy day today.

We had such a lovely time at Christy’s yesterday. It was hot (37) but their house is air conditioned and when we had lunch at the creek I was able to keep moving my chair into the shade. Both Pat and I came home with left-overs and we have been enjoying them.

I was ten minutes early for my appointment today but before I had even read a page of my book they were calling my name. I guess had I not been there they would have had a bit of a break but it is nice to go, get in, and get it done.

Pat was meeting a friend downtown for brunch so I took care of the laundry. I had trouble figuring out the microwave yesterday; it wasn’t only me as another person was in the kitchen and she managed to get it working after a few tries but she didn’t know what she had done to get it to work.

The washers had good instructions but my goodness it took a long time to get a load done – almost an hour. Perhaps I pushed a wrong set of options as one machine took five minutes longer to finish than the other one did; the machines have a timer so you know how long it is going to take. The drier was straight forward too but, again, it took longer than I expected. I checked after 45 minutes and things were still quite steamy so I had to set it for a bit longer.

I had everything dried and put away before Pat got back. He called before leaving downtown to see if I wanted to meet him out front and we could go do something but it declined. I was trying to nap but it didn’t work out very well. I had just about nodded off when Pat called my cell and then I was settled back in when housekeeping arrived so I gave up and read my book. When Pat got back we went to the lounge downstairs for our afternoon snack (mixed berry smoothies) and coffee. The TV was off and there were only a couple of folks down there so we found two spots in the corner and read for the rest of the afternoon.

We are watching the hockey again tonight and hoping that the Kraken win. If not it will probably be the end of my hockey watching as I can’t see myself hoping for any team that beat out the ones I wanted to win.

As for a treat today I guess it was starting a new project. We stopped at Michael’s in Pitt Meadows yesterday (a fully-stocked store) and I was able to pick up the remaining floss that I needed.

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Breakfast was a bit later today, being the weekend. Good thing too as I didn’t wake up until eight. Pat was already gone but I went downstairs for a cup of coffee before I joined him in the cafeteria. We can get coffee in the cafeteria but it comes out of a machine and there is no cream – not the best tasting coffee, not that the coffee in the lounge is a whole lot better.

We were off to Stanley Park this morning. We wanted to go earlier in the day when it wasn’t quite so hot. We got in another 5000 steps – some on the sea wall and some on trails throughout the park. I know why I always stuck to the seawall when I went on my own – I’d be lost in no time. There were a few benches in the shade and we took advantage of them.

Pat drove for a long time looking for a restaurant with an outdoor patio so we could have some lunch. Parking was hard to find but Pat has always been lucky with parking. While he paid the meter I looked at an outdoor display of fruits and vegetables. We found a Greek restaurant and we both really enjoyed having lunch of our own choosing and not just what was being served in the cafeteria.

On the way back to the truck we stopped and picked up a package of really nice looking strawberries. I’m glad we have a fridge in the room.

So, for a no-treatment day, I certainly had my share of treats.