World Travelers Return Home!

Hello there,

I finished work on May 20, and have no plans to go back. Retirement suits me just fine!

Lew’s treatment for hyperthyroidism seems to have worked, and he is feeling better every day. He now has some energy, generally looks better, and has given up wearing his nitro patch. We think he’s on the road to complete recovery.

We are just home from five weeks’ holiday visiting the girls. First, we loaded up our cargo trailer with my piano, sewing bench, antique kitchen table, and some other goodies and drove to Hudson (near Montreal) where Leslie lives. She needs furniture to fill up the six-bedroom house she and Trevor bought last year!

Traveling was good, and we arrived there in less than four days. The kids had a long list of “to do’s” for us, so Lew and Trevor did a bunch of plumbing while I went out and dug up the gardens. There had been about ten years of neglect, so the long-handled spade we took got put to good use. I could likely go back every year for ten years and dig before I ever caught up with all the work. Leslie isn’t the frantic gardener I am, but I tried to teach her a little about “maintenance”.

We stayed a week then flew from there to Finland to visit Lindsay and Jukka. We got to see their new condo. It’s pretty small, but works well for the two of them. Of course, the bathroom and sauna uses up a whole lot of space that I think would be better used for other things—but saunas are a must in Finland. The condo building is brand new, and they were able to pick out their own décor, tiles, etc. We enjoyed spending time with the kids and Jukka’s family. His parents are very fine people, so it makes me feel satisfied that Lindsay has a good family to support her. She was sick with a nasty cold while we were there, but she determined to show us a good time anyway. Yesterday was their first anniversary, and it just seems a couple of days ago!

After a week, we flew back to Montreal. By this time the little garden I had planted for Leslie was poking through. She had the week off, so she and I planted some flowers, but generally we just relaxed. Trevor was working, so Lew just hung out and rested. My Mom flew down and spent a few days with all of us in Montreal. Then we hooked up the trailer and the three of us headed back. Mom has become a new woman since she had her knee replaced. (The next issue is seeing if we can fix up her hearing.)

We spent a night with my cousin south of Ottawa then headed to Lindsay, Ontario where we visited with Fraser MacDonald and Gail Dagneault. Their oldest daughter, Alyssa, is two weeks younger than Leslie. They are still operating their art-work business “Summerberry Signs”, named for their stay in Summerberry, Sask. It was a very enjoyable couple of hours.

From there we drove through to my brother, Eric’s cabin at the lake near Orillia and spent two nights there. Lew was pleased to be able to go sailing in Eric’s 14-foot sailboat. Then on to Elmvale for brunch with my Aunt (Mom’s sister-in-law). From there, we bombed straight through to Portage la Prairie. Mom had never been back since she moved to Saskatoon, so she tried to catch up with some of her old friends. We had coffee with her next-door neighbors, but there was no one else around when we phoned. Next morning we went out to the Re-cycle Center that Mom and Dad had helped to set up. There, she met a lady that she had known while in Portage.

We drove up and down the streets of my old stomping grounds, Grenfell, but didn’t stop to visit. By the time we got there, my Mom was quite sick with a head cold/bronchitis, and Lew and I were both catching it. We didn’t think we needed to spread it to anybody. Things in the old town haven’t changed significantly. I see that the house I built on the Main Street is still up for sale.

We arrived home on Thursday to lots of yard work. Mom had been over for the first three weeks that we were away and did an amazing job of keeping the weeds picked and the garden watered. She had to cover the tomatoes and peppers five nights to keep them from frost, and was busy telling us that nothing was growing. However, when we got back, there was an amazing surge of growth. We’re eating up the lettuce and I pulled all the radishes yesterday. There are a couple of tomatoes with nice big fruit on them, so it looks like we’ll eat again this year.

I’m not feeling great. Sinuses are draining and a very sore throat with lots of coughing. Lew is coughing, too, and has a runny nose. I guess that’s penance for having had a great holiday. We’ll spend the summer pretty close to home. Lew has a bridge tournament here at the end of September. Depending how things are going, we may take a quick trip out to Victoria in October.
Do take care, and hello to everyone.

Another Unemployed Person !

Hi to All !!

This is Phyl at Trevor & Leslie's home in Montreal enjoying a little retirement party !

More to follow soon !

NUKED AND WIRED

Finally, finally, finally. The answer to wait, wait, wait.

Lew had his nuclear thyroid treatment on Tuesday morning. He is now "radioactive" and can't cuddle and kiss, can't lick my spoon, and has to flush twice. Hopefully the long-awaited drink will be the answer to the misery he's been suffering the past two months. Whether it's coincidence, luck, or the drink working quickly, he has managed two full nights without having an angina attack. Today he decided not to put on his nitro patch, and at suppertime has still had no "twinges", as he calls them.

Today he went to get his Holter monitor, so he is now wired to a heart monitor for 24 hours. Somehow we doubt that anything startling will be found. The one part of him that has remained strong seems to be his heart (and that can be taken both ways!).

Tomorrow we both pay a visit to our physiotherapists. Lew will learn what kind of exercises he will have to do to get his shoulder and arm working the way it should following the cancer surgery and radiation. I've been taking treatments for a couple of months now for screwed up sacroiliac joints. I guess that's what comes of thinking you're 16 when you're closer to 61.

Two more work days! Whahoooo! Now, if I can dig through the snow I'll be able to finish planting the garden. No, it's not really THAT bad, but, yes, we've had snow today! My poor tomato plants are two feet tall and blooming, but they're still in their little greenhouse with a light bulb and blanket on. Even at that those that touch the plastic are a bit touched by the frost. We need the moisture that we're getting, but that's all the good I can say for the weather we're having right now. Thankfully, the really nice days have fallen on the weekends. But soon, it won't matter to me. I'll just take them when they happen.

The trailer is all ready to be loaded up for Montreal. Now that Lew has had his treatments, we are feeling more confident that we will actually hit the road as planned. Whatever follow-ups he needs can happen when we get back. This time the doctors can wait for him!

Happy Victoria Day to everyone,

Phyl and Lew

Happy Mom's Day to Everyone Who has had the Joy of Motherhood

The best to all Mom's on this special day.

Because of this lady, I get to say "Happy Mother's Day, Mom":

And because of these ladies, I get to be a Mom:

---And the bonus is that we're actually having a beautiful sunny calm day that simply calls out to me "garden, garden, garden".

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

What a lovely Easter weekend it has been! The yard is all tidied up. The lawn chairs are out on the back patio, barbecue has been cleaned and serviced, and the compost grinder repaired and back in action. Today (Monday) I even dug up a couple of flower beds and took all my seedlings off the windowsills and put them in their little plastic greenhouse. The 14-day forecase promises that it isn't going to freeze solid. Today was a balmy +20.

The only thing that puts a damper on the emergence of spring is Lew's inability to fully enjoy it. He is simply feeling rotten. He continues to lose weight, is getting shakier by the day, and has no energy or strength to do anything. Other than going out to play bridge, and cooking simple meals, he pretty much only watches TV. It's a good thing we've had the Masters and the Men's Curling to watch!

Tomorrow he sees the cardiologist and we're hoping he gets booked for a thyroid scan this week as well. Now that we've narrowed the problems down to angina and overactive thyroid, we're anxious to get the scan done and treatment started. We're still planning to travel this summer, and want him to be on the upswing so he can enjoy the holiday.

He's terribly frustrated at not being able to putter around in the shop or the yard. Even after he starts feeling better, it is going to take a couple of months to get back to normal. I think he is secretly glad that I am pretty independent and am able to take on the "man" things that he can't do at the moment.

My mom is doing really well after having her knee replacement, and is walking better than she has for the last couple of years. My Aunt is doing great for 92, and I've been trying to convince her it's warm enough to go outside and walk around her building. They were both over for dinner on Friday evening and enjoyed the season's first barbecued steak and some real homecooking.

Otherwise we had a very quiet weekend. It has been nice to have a phone visit with Betty, and a couple more with Carolyn. It helps us keep up with what is happening with Lew's family. Hope everyone is doing well. Will try to keep the blog updated as Lew's medical saga continues.

Cheers,

Phyllis and Lew

I wish I could lose weight at the rate he is doing for about a month! But I don't want all the other nasty symptoms along with it. I'm looking forward to some serious gardening to get some muscles going here.

Good grief, two months have passed since our last blog. Maybe it's time to tune in again.

Lew finished his radiation on January 15, and has been recovering very nicely. His sunburn peeled and healed, and he has regained most of his energy. He will see the oncologist at the end of April for a follow-up. We expect there will be a call for an MRI prior to that.

Phyl spent all of January preparing for her role as Delia in "Bedroom Farce", one of five plays presented annually by the Gateway Theatre--a non-professional volunteer theatre here in Saskatoon. At first, the play seemed like it would be less than exciting, a typical English farce without much real humor and including a lot of anachronisms that only the British might understand. But as it came together it became more and more enjoyable. The local newspaper reporter gave it rave reviews. Phyl was pleased to read ".....Blake Cumming (Ernest) and Phyllis Johnston (Delia) were perfectly cast as the oldest couple". In reality, Blake is 30 years old! That also means, that in reality he is exactly half as old as Phyl. Later in the review, "Johnston was even more believable when she provided motherly advice to her daughter-in-law". Given that I will never have a daughter-in-law, I guess it worked!

While Phyl was away in the evenings, Lew spent his time keeping tabs on golf, NCIS, Business News Network, and West Wing. He had his sidekick, Melissa the cat, to keep him company. On January 17, Phyl's Mom came to stay for two weeks as she had just had a knee replacement. So she and Lew could watch TV together. Lew was in his element looking after her while Phyl was off to work or to rehearsal. Ella stayed until the first of February when she went back to her condo. But both Lew and Phyl have been on the reserve list for grocery shopping, medical appointments, etc. The plan is for Ella to be completely well so that she can babysit Melissa and water the garden while we are away for six weeks this summer.

The first weekend of February we flew to Winnipeg to help celebrate Aunt Merle's 100th birthday. Even though her body was weak, she was amazingly keen-minded and could keep track of everyone as they came and went. It is unfortunate that she wasn't able to be up out of bed to have her party, but everyone had good visits with her. And we all had wonderful visits with each other. Betty and her clan did a wonderful job of feeding and entertaining all of us.

Phyl's last official day of work will be May 20. We hope to be on the road by May 22 with our cargo trailer behind the Sorrento. With any luck we'll have the piano, a big sewing desk, the kitchen table, several boxes of books, tools and hardware, an office chair, and perhaps the tea wagon tucked carefully into the trailer. These are all items destined for Leslie and Trevor (Phyl's eldest daughter and hubby) in Hudson, PQ. We hope to arrive there by the 27th of May, unload, get our work clothes on and help them rip the stucco and brick off the exterior of their house.

For some relaxation, we will fly from Montreal on June 2 and be in Finland with Lindsay and Jukka (Phyl's youngest and her hubby) for a week. Back to Montreal/Hudson on June 11 to recover from jet lag. Then another week helping replace windows, add styrofoam insulation, and install vinyl siding. End date for the travels depends a lot on how things are going here at home. We'll hire someone to mow grass, and hopefully the weeds won't get any higher than the back fence in the garden. We can hardly expect Ella (at age 83) to take complete responsibility. Perhaps she could bring Florence (92) over to help her!

The past week we have torn the house apart in order to lay laminate flooring throughout the dining room, kitchen, and hallways. Every door casing had to be removed of course. There never were any respectable baseboards, but there was linoleum glued, screwed and tatooed onto the walls. So there was a lot of dismantling done before we could mantle.......hmmm I wonder if that the correct use of "mantle"?

Effective yesterday we laid the last piece of laminate. Today has been a day of scraping off old paint around the door frames and building new casings. It's slow work. As we go, Phyl is doing some patching and painting. That expanded into painting an entire wall, and it appears that entire hallway into the bedrooms will need the same treatment. No rest for the wicked.

Lew is anxious to get this job put to bed, as we are supposed to get some warmer weather (they've been wrong for the last two months on that forecast!). Regardless, he has plans to head to the cabin for some snowmobiling. Given the doctors' prognosis last year, it's pretty exciting that he has full use of his arm and can wrestle the snow machine and quad around. We've been discussing going golfing this summer--something that was out of the question for the past two summers for Lew.

That's the news from 55 O'Neil in Saskatoon. We'd love to see some information come forth from Mike and Charlene, and David and Tina and crew. Did manage to catch up on Lynn and Noni's lives and kids while in Winnipeg. Take care everyone.

Lew and Phyl

SEASON'S GREETINGS!

To the left is Lew and I just before we left for a Christmas party last year. We like to think we haven't changed significantly over 2008!

I chuckle to read Gary's blog. You guys are only getting a little reminder of growing up in Winnipeg! Shucks, we'll take the snow and give you our -30! Actually it has warmed up significantly this Christmas Eve day, and we're at a balmy -18 this afternoon.

Lew is off playing bridge and I've just finished the peanut brittle and have the carrot pudding steaming, ready for a quick heat up tomorrow. Christmas will be very quiet. Just the two of us and the two little old ladies. We have plenty to be grateful for. Lew has finished 20 of his 33 radiation treatments and the oncologist told him yesterday that everything is going as planned. We hope that the middle of January, when the last treatment is done, we can kiss this whole episode good-bye and get on with life.

I'm revving up to do a play in one of our semi-professional Theatre groups here in Saskatoon. The run is the last week of January. Thanks to Lew's help, I have all my lines memorized and am just working on getting all the inflections, gestures, etc. in place.

As soon as that is done, we look forward to heading to Winnipeg for Auntie Merle's party. It will be a grand reunion of all the crew.

In May I officially retire--even if the stock market doesn't recover. We have a Sally Ann and food bank here, so somehow we'll survive! Hopefully we're off to Montreal as soon as the garden is planted. We plan to drive down with our trailer loaded with furniture for my oldest daughter and her fiance. They'll have a job list for us, as they are updating their six bedroom house, and every room needs some kind of attention. We're hoping we can focus more on the exterior of the house. The garden will likely call us home around the middle of June. My Mom is to have a knee replacement sometime this summer, so we hope everything works into a schedule.

Our relatives and friends have been wonderfully supportive during Lew's surgery and recovery. We had a marvellous day in June to hold my youngest daughter's wedding in our back yard. Life is good and we are thankful.

We wish everyone a happy Christmas filled with fun, family, friends and fellowship. May 2009 give all of you good health and happiness, and perhaps the urge to travel to 55 O'Neil Crescent in Saskatoon!

Cheerio!

Phyllis and Lew