From folks to Folk Fest (by Amanda)

My two weeks in Edmonton with my folks (Anne and Colin) were highly successful: We had fun together and enjoyed each others' company, while also being very productive in sorting out closets and offices and outbacks. The photo below tells the tale: a good number of black garbage bags were sent to the landfill (sorry about that), several more to the recycling depot, and a car load to Goodwill. That boombox on top of the pile was diverted to the electronic waste depot, thanks to a stern message to me from Val on seeing the phone via text.

I happened to be in Edmonton while Wimbledon was on; my mother is an uber keen fan, while my father watches with interest. I haven't followed the tournament for years, but I got into it after downloading the app onto my iPhone and onto my mum's iPad. I would come up from my lower-level bedroom for tea in the morning and find Anne already on her second cup of tea and watching the live matches in progress on her iPad. As the tournament went on, we migrated to the TV to watch the more serious semi-finals on the big screen. 

Anne watches Wimbledon on her iPad. 

Watching Wimbledon on the big screen. 

For Colin, his iPad and his desktop Mac play a big role in keeping him connected to the outside world, as it is getting harder and harder for him to get out into it himself. He is a keen photographer of family and friends, and takes seriously his role to share his snaps with all of us. Here he is consulting with Anne on how to make (the damned) printer do what he wants it to. In the end, he succeeded. Phew. 

Colin gets around pretty well with a walker, and is game to do his share about the house. He sets the table and moves the laundry from the washer to the dryer. On a good day, his (blasted) oxygen tube doesn't get all caught up in this and that, and he manages to move about freely. Other times, tangles catch  him up and expletives can be heard. Nothing much unusual about that in a Le Rougetel house, I must say. 

I had an enjoyable time going through an old suitcase of my grandfather's into which Anne had put, in carefully dated envelopes, piles and piles of family photos. I left loads for Charles (my brother) and Katy (my sister) go through, but I brought a bunch home for my own files. Below is a rather sweet one of Katy (left) and me; I must be about a year old, which makes Katy about three. 

I am off to the Winnipeg Folk Festival this coming Thursday, which leaves poor Val alone yet again. If only she could enjoy what she considers the wailing of folk music, then she could come along! Her energy comes and goes, though I think it's true to say that the mind-numbing brain fog is over. However, the ups and downs of the returning energy is hard on the mind: So much to do, so much willingness to do it, yet not always the necessary amount of energy to actually achieve it. All positive thoughts continue to be gratefully received... 

Brief update

An overnight trip to the lake saw us knee-deep in dandelions and swatting bat-sized mosquitoes. But neither of those natural wonders stopped us from enjoying the view and the change of scenery. Not even the occasional heavy downpour dampened our spirit, though it must be said that poor Val is still beaten down by radiation-fatigue fall out. Nonetheless, she whacked down a bunch of thistles and held the ladder while I climbed onto the roof to clean out the (very bunged up) eaves troughs. That's what we call a good time!

I head to Edmonton tomorrow (Monday) for two weeks with my parents. Here's hoping that Val and Holly will take good care of each other in my absence. 

A break in the clouds of fatigue?

Val said this evening that she is beginning to feel a bit more like herself; that cloud of radiation-induced fatigue is possibly beginning to lift. She is maybe starting to feel just tired, rather than bone-numbing, head-clouding, zonked out tired. Here's hoping! 

Maybe our visit to Riding Mountain National Park this past weekend helped move things along? For sure we had fun! 

Val, Yvonne, Bella and I had a lovely time (in a crummy little cabin, but we came to overlook the inadequacies after an evening cocktail) enjoying each other's company and the lovely scenery in this gorgeous national park. The pictures below tell the tale.

Amanda and Bella, Yvonne's dog - a lovely 4-legged
travel and hiking companion. She did 9km
with Yvonne and Amanda
on Saturday around Moon Lake.  

Val and Yvonne cooling off their feet in Moon Lake on Saturday afternoon.
Yvonne and I had just finished the 9km hike, while Val had come to meet
us there, having done short bits of two different trails. We were all
bushed after our exertions and spent the rest of the afternoon rehydrating, reading
and preparing (then eating) supper. 

Bella stuck close to us, always. 

Val holding forth on matters of flora and fauna: She knows a lot! 

Sunday morning on the Brule Trail - a lovely gentle amble. Really nice. 

Val on boardwalk by the marshy lake
halfway around the Brule Trail. 

On the marshy lake - really windy! 

Amanda hiking, with Bella. 

This is how it goes at our house sometimes...

It's a bit later on a Sunday evening than ideal to be sitting down to eat, but it's been a bit of a dreary, grey, drizzly Sunday. We both did a bit of this and that - some yoga (Val), some garden tidying up (me), a walk (both of us), some reading and a nap (me) - and somehow it's past 6:30pm before anyone is in the kitchen putting food together for a meal. 

Yesterday, I had bought some 4-cheese ravioli to have on hand for just such an occasion, so that's what I pulled together for supper: some rudimentary tomato sauce, the pasta, and some lovely local asparagus (picked on Friday, bought on Saturday, cooked on Sunday). Some nice white wine remaining from Saturday's supper. It was going to be ok. Not gourmet, but decent. 

But as we're eating, Val tells me that, actually, ravioli, is her least favourite type of pasta, and, anyway,  when we last had that delicious dish with pasta and asparagus it wasn't with ravioli, was it? 

We both wracked our brains for what the other type of pasta was, but couldn't come up with it. 

So, I do the logical thing. I go to my collection of Fine Cooking magazines on the living room bookshelf and I pull down the mag holder. And I pull out, on first try, the correct copy of the magazine from which I first cooked that original pasta dish. 

Turns out it called for tortellini. "That's it," I cry, "tortellini." 

I look over at Val and she has her hands in  her (very curly) hair and is shrieking: "That is not fair! I cannot even find my shoes, but you can find - immediately - the magazine you need to come up with the answer for the type of pasta in that dish. Give me strength!"

What can I say? There's a fine line between being organized and being compulsive, and I believe I am happily on the correct side of this line....

On a less amusing note, it seems our fridge has stopped its cooling function. I will have to call a repair person in the morning. Oh joy. Oh well. At least the freezer is still functioning...

Val is now 10 days out from her final radiation treatment; she is still experiencing heavy fatigue, and the skin burn remains itchy and uncomfortable. Frequent treatments of aloe direct from the plant, some cortisone cream and moisturizer are all helping, but she will be glad when she's through this experience. 

As you may have noticed, she has not written a blog post for a good while; she will return when she has the gas (physical and intellectual) to do so. In the mean time, she is following through on her commitment to teach a yoga class or two; this takes some of her energy, but it also gives her some energy in return. A fair trade, indeed. 

A few pics to wrap up the weekend

My brother Charles turned 50 this weekend and celebrate it in Edmonton
with my parents and a myriad of friends. Here he is with  his two sons, Sam and Max. 

And here is a two-generation photo of Le Rougetels: Colin and Anne with Sam and Max, taken
at Easter when they were visiting with Charles. Regrettably, no decent shots exist of my sister-in-law Lisa.
Her appearance in this blog will have to wait for another time. As you can see, Colin is back home and holding his own. Between full-time oxygen, walking aids and homecare help, he is getting along ok,
and Mum is carrying on with  her usual incredible fortitude. 

Val and I spent the long weekend at the lake, where it was lovely on Saturday and Sunday, as evidenced by these first two photos. Not yet hot, but warm enough to bike ride in shirt sleeves. Just enough wind to keep it interesting. 

We both had a few nice naps in the gazebo: gorgeous!

Overnight Sunday to Monday, the wind came up stronger and blew in ice from the North.
Quite a different lake to wake up to! 

The steps leading down to the shore are in perfect order and the no-slip coating I gave them
last summer has held up really well. The tinkling of the ice shards was lovely to hear. 

No interest in swimming in amongst those ice shards, that's for sure! 

Done but not yet finished

Val at CancerCare on Monday, eating the lunch
kindly provided by Jacki and Erika.  Jacki drove
Val for her several appointments that day. 

Val will be glad to finish her radiation treatments today, but the process isn't really over yet. 

As Dr. Cooke made clear in the appointment on Tuesday, the effects of the treatment will continue to build for about 10 days and only thereafter will Val likely begin the road to recuperation from the radiation. 

The fatigue has really walloped Val, who finds herself "at the wall' quite suddenly once her energy has been all used up. She is coping remarkably well with all this, but , truth be told, is getting fed up. And who can blame her: It's been almost exactly a full year since she found the lump that marked the recurrence of the cancer and it's been pretty non-stop medical intervention since then. 

We hope to make it back to the cottage for the coming long weekend; the weather even promises to be what is passing for hot in these parts these days. I will take Friday off to ensure the preparations required for the weekend don't stall us from actually getting out there to enjoy the sun, warmth and scenery! 

We are also looking forward to a weekend trip out to Riding Mountain National Park with Yvonne and Bella for the weekend of the 31st. Val and I had our first hiking experience together in this Park, way back in the fall of 1993, and we have always enjoyed the scenery and trails. One of our fondest memories is of the weekend we spent there with my parents, Anne and Colin, and my aunt and uncle, Bridget and Arthur, who were visiting from Scotland in 1997 or maybe 1998. 

Regardless of all else, today marks a milestone in Val's cancer-recurrence treatment, even if it doesn't mark the end of it really.  So. Onwards. 

---------

Yesterday evening, we heard Germaine Greer speak as the final presenter in the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights' lecture series 'Fragile Freedoms'. She was a firecracker of straight-up talk on women's rights, specifically our right to "bodily integrity and autonomy", which, she says, we have yet to actually achieve. From her 53-minute lecture, I would say she is quite right. I loved her sharp humour and take-no-prisoners thinking. You can hear her yourself, when CBC's IDEAS broadcasts her lecture on May 28. 

Ten down. Six to go

Today marked Val's 10th radiation treatment, leaving six still to go. It's a tough haul, as Val is finding the emotional toll harder with radiation than she did with chemo. The daily trips to CancerCare are wearing. However, as my wise friend and colleague Teresa said, "If the fatigue and depressed emotions are the only side effects of radiation, it will be all good!" She's right. And here's hoping.

Chester is settling well into his new farm home/life. We've had positive reports from Gracie and also from Debbie, her grand-mother, who tells us that Chester is getting along very well with Sophie, the younger female cat who was already in the house. No news yet about whether they have gone outside, but why would they want to with the lousy weather we've been having here? Many thanks to each of you who has sent a message or shared a story of a beloved pet you have had to send to a new home. Each tale of happy endings helps us immensely in managing our missing of Chester.

Lake Winnipeg: still frozen, May 4, 2014

This is what it looked like at the cottage this past Sunday (left), when Yvonne and I took a whirlwind trip up there to check things out. All was in perfect order: no unwanted 4-legged guests in evidence, no burst pipes or anything. Phew and thank goodness!

Clifftop Cottage: ready for the season

I have put in a little bit of time on the city garden: My front perennial bed got some much-needed fertilizer and new soil around the plants. A few brave things are already poking their nose above ground, and I am hopeful they will spring into hyper growth with the double-digit temperatures promised for this weekend.

As has been true since the beginning of this whole cancer-recurrence-saga, we have been well supported these past few weeks: We have been fed by Erika & Jacki, Randa and Susan; flowers have arrived from Randa and Barb & Dick; cards have come from Nancy, Laurie, and Deborah & Judy. Every gesture and action is deeply appreciated. Thank you.

I am heading towards the final class in my night course; I do my last presentation on Tuesday the 13th at which time I will have completed all my course work towards my certificate in adult ed. I then will have only a final portfolio to prepare and submit. That will feel good. But I don't want to run out of brain work, so I have picked up a small writing project from a past client. It is always a good feeling when an email comes in asking for my skills - and it keeps my hand in with 'industry work', which is a very good thing for an instructor in an institution of applied learning. The deadline is end of May, so I will be long done by the time my holidays begin around June 19th. Yippee yahoo.

Count the days with us til the end of Val's treatments, which should land on May 15th...just in time for the May long weekend. Yippe yahoo to that!