Home, Burnaby, BC

The whirlwind continues but the end is in sight.  I arrived back from the US last Friday. I stayed in my camper until Saturday morning when my Fusion returned. I’m very thankful.  Paul of CW Towing did a great job of delivery.  My sailboat had been 40 feet and my Fusion is  40 feet but twice width and slicing space. My camper is only 20 feet and half the living space.  

I’m now considering a 30 foot Motorhome but obviously can’t afford it.  I tend to trade though . And while this was bought new I’d consider a second hand less than 5 year old and 20,000 km unit.  

I like two bathrooms on this unit but it’s really more a consideration from my hunting days.  I was also planning on leaving to be with my brother when he became ill.  I’ve been in limbo since and covid struck. Besides I’m aging and friends are dying.  I also keep working and enjoying virtual work especially.  I’ve owned three houses all lost with divorces and rent other houses and apartments.  I’m ambivalent about Vancouver but my work is here. I’ve almost gone to Calgary because Alberta has so much to offer.  But I stay.  The clinics I work with and our College now is all just fine.  I’m content.  

I know I’m supposed to be writing books and have several in the works but that’s a lonely pursuit. I’m enjoying participating in the present world. I love my meetings on line and in person.  It’s all a challenge to consider.

Once the home was back I had to get Kelvin from Travco over to fix the furnace and sewage.  Everything needs work and maintenance. I loved hearing the guy say even God needed Adam to tend the garden. I’m god’s hands and so are others. I only have a problem when I lack gratitude and begin to question the process.  

I’m downsizing.  I’ve taken three green garbage bags today to the Diabetes Bin.  I’ve a storage locker with intent to halve the size if I can find someone to supervise me. I get all naostalgi and nothing progresses when I’m there alone.  

I took the Camper and truck out to John’s. He figured the damage would benefit from an insurance assessment and Kevin of Adventure could do it. The trouble is time. I wanted to drive the camper and truck down to Napanee to see my brothers home on HayBay. My sister in law has put it up for sale so she can return to Ottawa where she had two grand children and a third on the way. She’s been a brick driving all that distance to visit and help.  I like that I can pick up my s boat and outboard and bring those back. That’s the candy. I could just fly down and visit but I like the idea of having my own place and the Vespa and the means to bring the boat back. I imagine hunting with the boat and fishing.  

This summer is an IDAA international conference for a week in Spokane and the International AA conference in Vancouver in the summer.  It’s quite the series of events and I’m looking forward to that.  

I bought tickets to Bruce Cobuirn while I was away loving his music and loving especially his song Wondering where the lions are .  It’s next weekend but it also gave me a time to aim for return.  Having the tickets I resisted staying south longer.  2 months was sufficient.  

I’ve an eye exam. I catastrophes so the thought of driving RV’s and motorcycles about depends upon an eye exam.  All my friends have cataracts but here I am with diminished hearing, diminished eye sight, dismissed physical functioning and dismissed sexual performance.  Since I fell in Edinburgh on Arthur’s Seat I have had limiting back pain. I will make a chiropractor appointment this week as week.  I temporize.  

The Merry Maids are coming tomorrow.

I had the same problems last year with mice in storage. I had a mouse problem in the fall.  I want a cat.  It was an occasional pest with Madigan barking at it in the mice. I learned that if I left a loaf of bread out there’d be dibble mark.  I put out eight traps , the sticky kind, and a lot of mice deterrent when I put it in storage. I also made sure there was no food.   I cleaned everything.  That’s the superficial cleaning as the girls will do the deep dive.  

I took 8 bags of laundry to the Tikipoo Launderers. This was the stuff from the camper and the blankets from here.  The mice had got into one bag of clothing but just left a pee smell.  I took off all the pillow cases. I also used the time to cull clothing and sheets .  Three garbage bags to the Diabtes Canada. All clean.  I was pleased the mouse didn’t get into cupboards like they had that first year.  

With Covid I was in survival mode and had a whole lot of cans and bags of food and extras in case of society breakdown. As the first year completed and life continued as normal I’ve been eating up the cans and food stuffs .  At least I don’t have all the toilet paper Laura still has :)  

I still want to go to Berlin, Vienna and Venice.  I think that can be a journey.  In winter I still want to go south. I’m afraid of Covid and pneumonia .  I’d really like to return to Ireland and sometimes think of Thailand.  I mostly think of touring the US in a motorhome..

Having a dog makes all the difference. He wouldn’t like a high rise apartment like I had in the past.  I’d really like a yard and even chickens and a burro.  The desires and dereams. Buddh said desire is the root of suffering.

I’m actually very content and grateful. I’ve had a really busy return. I like the expeditions and appreciate what I have here now. I was growing sedentary before leaving and now I’m restored .I love the sun.  Right now I’m roasting Ethiopian green coffee beans.  I’m looking forward to the best of coffee. I’d like to return to Africa too.  I did the Oxford course and am thinking of doing another on the mystics.  

Spirituality is all.  God is great all of the time.  

It’s lent and I’m fasting today.  I have steaks I could barbecue in the fridge but if all goes well I’ll fast till tomorrow morning.  I’m tempted to break my fast though with the steak .  

I picke up a couple of plants that do well in low light. The snake plant is like the one Laura gave me before. It and the bonsai didn’t do well with me but Laura resurrected both while I was away. I discussed this at the garden store and figure I overwatered the snake plant.  The other plant likes low light but likes water too. So I’ve got a new start.  Laura wanted to return the plants but I think that would be unkind to the Bonzai that she really did resurrect. I think that plant will like being with her with her apartment and lots of light and lother plants.  The snake plant might return but it could stay with her too.  

Madigan has been anxious with all the change and bugging me. Very needy and cuddling and following me about even more than normal. I think he’s settling a bit and certainly likes being here. He loves walks in the neighbours hood.  His rain coats from Bosleys are working well.  

Thank you God for all the help returning. Thank you for my homes and friends and possessions.  Thank you for the efficiency and planning and the success so far of these endeavours .Help me to prepare for the next excursion.  

Tonight - Friday

I didn’t have anything to do today except pick up the Save On groceries I’d ordered on line. I slept in to 830, took Gilbert out for a pee, prayed meditated , did home exercise, then drank coffee, ate yoghurt and a protein bar while Madigan demolished the yoghurt containers.  It was raining most of the day.

The walk to the Mini was a big outing for Madigan.  We got in the car and I drove to Save On. What excitement for a little dog. He likes to curl up with his chin on my thigh. The only trouble with this is his fore paws frequently press the console switch. This triggers radio or phone calls. I think he phoned a friend today.  

The girl at Save on food was just so young and pleasant and helpful. She loaded my trunk and then the back seat.  Just a really nice person and simple interaction.  I thanked her. We drove back. Madigan very happy. Masks on the streets.  Masks outside. I only wore my mask when the girl was loading my car in the save on basement.  

Outside my home I unloaded the car.  I drove Madigan back to the parking lot.  Another walk to home.  I had ordered 3 dozen instead of one dozen eggs. I made a scrambled egg  sandwich and Madigan enjoyed some of that and licking and chewing out the frying pan, pushing it all over the kitchen floor. 

 I had roasts and pork chops, steaks, and salads, sandwich meats. And lots of drinks, Perrier and coke.  I find carrying all the drinks I drink tedious.  I have the filtered water and I have the various sweeteners and juices,but I really like the ginger ale.  It’s heavy to haul. Save on pick up is good for that. And canned goods, tuna, sardines, chilli.  I’m stocked for weeks. When Laura comes over I oven roast.  I’m always eating at home.  We did go for Macdonald’s yesterday and Laura and I had Me and Ed’s Pizza when we returned from camping.  I have a stew I froze in Tupperware.I’ve a grouse left over from fall hunt. Too often I just like sandwiches. I do like to barbecue. I had a run of oven fish and deep fried fries. I sympathize with mother’s and fathers  meal planning and feeding kids, 

I phoned people, did some work . A couple of hours. 

Then we walked about the park again, stopped and talked to Dave. We talked toilets. He told me living with five women made him knowledgeable about everything that can need fixing in a washroom. Having lived on a boat I grew weary of tearing toilets apart and clearing jams. I worry about jams and Dave was right they only occur with too little water and too much paper if there aren’t kids dropping toys in them. 

Last month my washer overflowed because the valve for that outlet was closed. I thought the back up was in the toilet as the water was up in the toilet bowl too.  I’d bought a couple of plumping tools and run the snake  through the toilet system only to find out from Kevin at Adventure RV Repairs , who I’d talked to on the phone, about this valve that needed to be open when the washer was hooked up. I opened it and all’s well. But it’s like plumbing ptsd.I worry what can I do to prevent a problem arising. I sometimes dream of shit but it’s foreign washrooms with the hole in the floor and shit all over the floor. How to drop your drawers without stepping in shit. So Dave tells me all his skookum toilet tricks . I realize I’ve got to flush more water through the system and use more toilet and pipe cleaner. I used to put bacon grease down the boat toilets to keep the valves oiled. That was salt water. I’ll use more water and find out if there is some similar oil to condition the valves.

 I did a load of laundry. It’s spin drying here right now. I like my in suite washer dryer combo. I’m now thinking of a micro wood stove. There’s no room.  But maybe when I get the smaller desk.  I miss the smell of wood burning. I burn incense but just loved my stove in the country. I’ve the electric furnace with dancing flames working again. Kevin put a new one in.   But a little wood burning stove a foot by a foot in my garage office would perk my day up.  Something to think about.  

I made the trip to the Post office with Madigan in his box over my shoulder. I had a little St. Francis statue to go with the St. Thomas, Angel Michael and little Ganesh. I still have my Celtic cross. I like religious art. One of the reasons I long to travel is to visit shrines, cathedrals, holy places.  I long to teturn to Ireland.  I’d like to go to Venice.  

We walked around the park again. With the stories of big dog attacks and cougar attacks I’ve just wanted to avoid the woods for today. Next week I’ll be back but for some reason I’m feeling cautious.  Madigan is prescious.  Coyotes are out now.  I’m always carrying flashlights and a knife. I’m happy to face cougars and coyotes with knives but unarmed not so.  I didn’t like the violent threatening young men either. I don’t feel the police or courts can be trusted to protect me. They’re afraid of the mob.   I’ve known too many victims.  Maybe I should work in the jails again to be reassured that criminals are being caught and stopped. But there’s so much crime in high places now and the unethical government is soul destroying.  

Conservatives and Christians are being persecuted.  The left loves censorship and hates freedom.  These are strange times.

I’m due for a second vaccine.  It’s the ritual. Psychosomatic uplifting belief.  I was glad to get Madigan’s vaccine. I told his vet, Dr Biernecki I thought the vaccine Madigan got was microchipped by Bill Gates. I actually am booked to have Madigan’s chip put in. When Shinto ran after a cute girl dog and showed up in the pound they were able to call me based on the chip.

 I remember my brother saying he couldn’t live through another Trudeau rule and he died.  Soon everyone in Canada may welcome death as they did in Cuba and Venezuela.  Communists kill half the populations. Depression and suicide and drug and alcohol addictions skyrocket in Communist countries. All the intelligent who are a potential threat are massacred, incarcerated or sent to gulags. It’s not a good time to be intelligent when low brow mobs like Antifida run amok. Marxist BLM doesn’t seem to have the funding it did. George Soros gloats. 

Prince Phillip died today. So sad for the Queen. She loved him dearly. 

I talked with Laura today.  I tempt her with puppies and steak.

I wrote a blog of gratitude.  The night is coming .  Evcning shadows.  I’ll read this detective novel and watch tv.  Friday a day of errands.  And laundry.  Saturday is supposed to be sunny , Laura says.  Shorts and sandals.  

Thank you Jesus for this day.  All shall be well, all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.