Speaking of family, we had the grandson with us last weekend and that was a fun time. I picked him up and we did the 'drop in' session at the local museum - he remembered a field trip there the previous school year - and he discovered how to be an archivist. That poor summer student earned her wages with all the questions! Of course we had to browse the gift shop and he chose one of those grow op things (think pantyhose filled with grass seeds) which sprout and remind those of us of a certain age of a rather disturbing Chia pet… We soaked and set up the bear and I promised faithfully NOT to cut its hair until he returned. Have been texting his mother with updates and his response is WHOA!!!! Not sure, if I'm going to be able to keep my barber promise as the stuff is growing faster than the cat grass Mikey is addicted to, mind you it must not be the same flavour as the kitties have been ignoring it. We picked up groceries and he is a pretty good help with such chores, especially if a few treats are included. The rainy weather lent itself to reading books, working through his National Geo Kids issues which had arrived, creating with Lego and cooking. Sunday was fine and so that was a good day to explore the shore and do a marine biology lab on periwinkles, limpets and barnacles. Put him on the bus for his final full day of school on Monday. He of course missed his Tia who is in Cuba visiting her husband.
I journeyed to my physio appointment last week and was pleased to not require my ligament injection by the rhuematologist as my back was in good alignment. Got my hip/knee straightened out from crawling around weeding in the yard (something that I wasn't able to do at all last year) and was on my way.
I had tentative plans of visiting a buddy in the Digby area and perhaps doing a Frenchy's stop on the way but…various situations prevented this from occurring…..my host was called upon to assist with moving of furniture (the hazard of owning a pickup truck) then my proposed travel partner was diagnosed with lumbar compression fracture (vs muscle spasm) then our daughter was down for a visit and of course I wanted to see her, so instead she and I 'did lunch' on the waterfront enjoying quesadillas with fruit salsa and greek pizza. Yum:
Forgoing the spinach and strawberry salad was a tough choice though. We shopped at the home health division of the pharmacy and I picked up my compression hose (got to get all my insurance purchases in while I still have benefits) while she found two scrub tops on 75% sale so we were pleased with our outing.
The lack of physicians in this province is an ongoing struggle and our local ER was closed for 48 hrs last week. This combined with my Muslim GP celebrating Eid Mubarak in Montreal meant I had to be creative to access an antibiotic prescription. Emailed my Doc a photo of the bullseye from a tick bite (one of many this season and it's tough when you're a moley person to keep on top of those things) and we did a phone consult where I negotiated for amoxicillin vs doxycycline (hard on my belly) and he agreed to fax in the Rx. So many folks don't even have a family physician…as I said to a former coworker…who would've thought 30 yrs ago that we'd be having this discussion about not having a family Dr?
I did something on Friday evening which I hadn't done for over a decade - watch a softball game - and many things hadn't changed. Our grandson was behind the plate as catcher and didn't seem in fear of the ball or bats (a common problem in the early years) as he diligently cleared the bats from the baseline, stood in the box and occasionally even caught some of the pitches lobbed in. For both teams there were as I remembered, several adults required in the dugout to maintain order and focus, the rules were not entirely clear to most of those playing, should the ball be hit the batter had to be encouraged to RUN RUN RUN!! while indicating the direction, the outfielders had to be reminded to "watch the play" and the bleachers/lawn chairs contained supportive nonjudgmental cheerleaders, the difference being the folks I recognized were now watching grandchildren as I was. One of the more exciting plays of the evening was a popup fly to left which bounced with a sickening thud off the hood of a visiting team parent's car (locals, including myself, having the forethought to park further down the street). The showers held off until just as the players congratulated each other….good game, good game and then we all sprinted for our vehicles. There were a few pretty good players on both sides and the remainder were, shall we say…..in development stage. As I described to his grandfather when I returned from the scouting session…well, the lad wasn't the worst on the team, in fact he was as good as his father was at the same age. This brought some reminiscing from the years of the shore captain's little league coaching career. Also made the decision for a 'grading present' easier as he could use a larger glove - the premise being that he would have a larger area to attract to and hopefully trap the ball in.
Planning a little girls outing next weekend as the two daughters, granddaughter and myself are heading to Pictou County to take in Read by the Sea:
Although there is no longer a supper as part of the festivities at the local Legion, there's a decent line up of authors and the area boasts a farmers market, sheep and lavender farms and more. I've arranged for two rooms in a B&B and we're all looking forward to it.
