September, 2019

Patient update

Chemo treatment # 2 is behind us and the predictable 1st week of feeling like 'El-Toro-Poo-Poo' did not disappoint. Week two was somewhat better and got a serious morale boost when the new "Doo'' arrived after the normal hair loss from chemo. This upcoming week 3 is as good as it gets before getting hit again by the revolting poisonous cocktail of Chemo treatment # 3.

We are going to take advantage of the short window to take a little road trip for several days and get her off island for a much needed breather and change of scenery. 

When it rains, it pours.

For the past 5 months I have been working with a couple of old friends to organize a get together for about 60 people in Montreal. These were high school friends and acquaintances from 50 years ago who had one thing in common in our lives. 

A Catholic priest. 

Some of us had traveled to Europe with him as teenagers, others were simply touched by him in a way that would be impossible to describe except to say that his influence on us all was profound enough that 50 years later we wanted to gather to remember him.

I was tasked to be the MC for our gathering of about 60 people who had traveled from all over the continent to be there, and I had our friend Lyne come provide some adult supervision and babysit Janice while I was away overnight.

At 6 AM on the morning I left, we got a message that my mother was admitted to the hospital by ambulance for heart valve issues, so I made an emergency run to Montreal to deal with that. I then raced to our event and the next day when my mother was released, I drove her home with her new meds just on time to hear that Janice's mother had a stroke in California and went on her own ambulance ride. Janice's sister flew out to address the immediate issues.

All in all, a quiet relaxing week end.

The hospital was different than what I am used to, as the picture above shows the narrow hallways that everyone travels through to get from one wing of the hospital to another. Patients line the hallways as there are no available beds or rooms. I am not going to start an argument with anyone about socialized medicine or the state of health care in Canada, I am merely showing what I observed.  I report, you decide.

Mandy

Daughter Mandy flew in from Germany to spend 10 days with her mom and was a huge help. She cooked, cleaned and did all manner of chores to help out. It is great to have responsible adult children to help out at these times, and to be able to step out of their way to allow them to take over and be competent helpers. Meanwhile we had several friends cook and deliver many meals so that Janice was not subject to my very special hot dog recipes.

OK, just because I am lolly gagging around doesn't mean I am on vacation. Janice may have cancer and is not bouncing around, but with my self-imposed grounding from flying this summer, I have  had considerable time to get busy on the boss's great ideas for things for me to do. I started by finishing the raw Olive wood art piece seen below that we brought back from France.

Next, I was tasked with building a granite stone and slate lighthouse entry light fixture that incorporates a copper themed framed 'flame' lamp. In the dark (obviously) the light appears to be a torch with flames rising from it. Janice insisted it was necessary to keep ships from running aground on Honey Bee Island.

Last and perhaps least, I installed a canvas shade over our deck as the sap and needles from the pine trees was constantly falling on the fabric chairs.

Team Rubicon

Once again, Team Rubicon (that volunteer organization I  worked with last year) requested that I deploy with them to the Bahamas for disaster response the day after hurricane Dorian hit. I have put it off until we get to California and I get Janice settled. My two week commitment per year is about due.

Poor baby

We didn't get to play and you are now tucked in for the winter. 

We will make up for it in June when we go back to dancing with the angels

August, 2019

News we would really
prefer not to have to share

It happens to the best of us. We get sick. Janice though, went through weeks of relentless coughing before getting an X-ray that was diagnosed by a nurse practitioner as having walking pneumonia. 3 rounds of antibiotics and a second X-ray later and she was no better. 

Moving up the food chain, she saw a doctor who immediately ordered a CT scan. We were given the news the same day that she had some fluid in one lung, nodules in both lungs and that they were possibly cancerous. The fluid was removed a few days later in an out-patient procedure and was then confirmed to be stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. The next step was to have a PET scan, to determine if the cancer was localized to the lungs or had spread to other organs.

The news came back positive, so to speak, as it was localized to the lungs. The oncologist said that her cancer - while not curable, was of the type that responded well to currently available chemo treatments and could be 'controlled' by up to 6 chemo rounds, administered once every 3 weeks. This followed by a 'maintenance' regime of another cocktail of medications (not chemo) every 3 weeks thereafter, for the rest of her life to keep it at bay.

Polyanna does not live here, so our eyes are wide open to the possibilities, as well as the hope for more time, especially with new and better drugs hitting the market all the time.

Here we go again....cancer # 3

Meanwhile, Janice started her first chemo treatment on August 12th with subsequent treatments already scheduled. This will cause us to alter our schedule and rotation from one home to another but will have no effect on our ability to travel to Europe or anywhere. She can be treated in California, New York, France or where ever as she sees fit because the treatments are available everywhere and are all exactly the same.

Meanwhile, daughter Cassie flew out from Oregon to be with mom for a week and was a big help. Not to be outdone, daughter Mandy will arrive shortly for a visit also.

No rest for the lazy

Before 

I finally got on the last side of the cabin to finish striping it of the old shingle siding and replacing it with the live edge Adirondack siding. This task was made all the easier by the fact that Janice had already treated all the wood last fall, but I now required help from my friend Bud to help hold one end of the long boards so they could be screwed in place. Note that the fairy house is still located in the bottom of the tree.

After

More

OK, as long as we are on the subject, we discovered a waterfall nearby. Nearby, as in between our front door and our dock. Seems that water began flowing out of the rocks in what I believe is only the 3rd waterfall -  to my knowledge -, in the Thousands Islands. The fact that it required a tiny pump and a buried power supply is not really the issue as it has become as popular with passing boaters as our flower boat or our Little Free Library.

 The waterfall in the background or...

...you can see the video

Cross one more off of Janice's "you know what you should do?" list.

Our web sites

For years, we maintained 3 web sites for our properties. The idea was that we could advertise them for rental purposes when we were not in residence. Reality though, proved that few people, if anyone, could find - let alone go to - the sites at all. They were cool to have but it finally became obvious that they were little more than 'vanity' sites. It was an easy way to show pictures of the homes to someone 'on the spot'. Sometimes our kids would want to show them to their friends (look what I am going to inherit! :) Cool, but expensive to maintain.

Then, I found a reasonable (read cost effective) substitute. So kids, here they are. All the pictures that there are to share in 3 easy locations.

Our home in California:  Vistaseas.blogspot.com

The Island in Canada:     Honeybeeisland.blogspot.com   

The Villa in France:         Villasurmer.blogspot.com 

Other tid bits


Morning visitors by our flower boat

Dinner with friends Bud and Bev, Ian and Lyne who is in the witness protection program pretending to be a photographer

Long time friends Joe and Charlotte on a return visit to the Bee to introduce their nieces to Island Life. After dragging them around the river in a rubber donut and running them ragged on the jet ski, they were sold.

Cassie, taking to the river.

 Living the life of Riley. Or in this case, Pat and Wally

The girls

July, 2019

The monthly project report

Before

Got a little done this month. We had started redoing our little back deck before leaving last fall and got it wrapped up this past month. It is not a large area but was of little use as the layout turned out to be a pathway from the back door down some stairs to the back side of the island. Janice brilliantly suggested a more practical place to move the stairs, allowing for the entire area to become what it should have been all along, a seating area. 

Who knows: This may be the last gasoline driven car I will ever own

A few months ago, we bought a new (to us) car in Europe. It has more bells and whistles than any car we have ever owned so we are pretty excited. Lately though, I have been reading about how fast the electric car market is growing with many features that even our new-ish car does not have. I like to let the market work out the bugs before I spend my money, so that is why I don't have a so called 'smartphone' yet.

Just kidding people, lighten up!

There is a lot of talk that within just a few years, few people will own their cars but will call for one when needed from the sharing community. I know that many of these ideas seem impossible or far fetched today but I really do think they are onto something here. 

Electric vehicles only use clean electricity and not fossil fuels, right? To be honest, I am a little confused. You see, according to the US Energy Information Administration 66% of our electricity is produced by coal, petroleum or natural gas. The rest is nuclear or hydro. Less that 8% is wind or solar. Doesn't that mean that my electric car of the future is really basically powered by coal and fossil fuels?

Hmmmm. I hope they work out the bugs before I buy my next car.

"Hey, where's my library?"

4 or 5 years aog, we installed our "Little free Library". At the time, there were about 2500 of them all over North America. Occasionally, we would hear that the numbers had climbed and that the effort had become truly international. This past week, I read that there were now over 80,000 of them in 91 countries. Curious, I checked how many 'water access only' (read boat access only) libraries existed? To date, just like when we started in 2014, there is only one.

In 2017, the last time the St Lawrence river flooded, we were 6-7 weeks late in being able to install our library for the season. The first boat that came by created such a wake that all the books got wet. This year the water levels are even higher so we don't know when we will be able to put it out there.

Now, just like then, we get good natured complaints from boaters wondering where 'their' library was. To get a sense of just how high the water currently is, look at the top of the speed limit sign on the left side of the photo. As of this writing, it is completely under water and not visible at all.

To each his or her own!

AKA: How we are spending our summer

The kids are beginning to worry about our long term safety and have insisted I 

install a bar in the shower. Another job on the honey-do list checked off.

June, 2019

Hi there.

L'abbey Du Barroux

OK, the heathens among you can skip this story, but for us it was an experience for the memory banks. We stumbled on this monastery out in the boondocks of France and walked in to have a peek. It was the end of the day and a time of prayer for the motionless monks in the eerie somber chapel. Suddenly, one of them pulled on a rope by the altar that went clear to the roof and rung the bells. They rose in unison and left 2 by 2. 

The sight was so moving and impressive that since we were in the area for another day, we decided to return in the morning to witness an entire ceremony. This was a service by the Benedictine monks who sang in the Gregorian Latin and had an uncanny reverence for the rituals of their vocation. I think the only other time I have witnessed anyone with as much dedication to their function in life were Navy Seals.

Just think. With not a hint of appreciation or gratitude, these guys are praying for the likes of you every single day of their lives.

The project corner

You remember that picnic table I made that I wrote about last month? Well here it is.

Bathroom # 3 at our villa in France is almost done. OK, except for the last of the demo, a little tile on the walls and floor, a touch up on the ceiling, a tub, plumbing and a toilet and sink. Because I can visualize exactly what it will look like, in my mind it is all but done. Next year for sure.

Look what is growing in our trees!

Meanwhile, we have landed back at the island and we are not letting the grass grow under our feet. After dealing with the usual knicky knacky ticky tacky goofy maintenance issues like replacing a kitchen faucet, it was time to get busy and finish what we had started last season with two projects happening pretty much simultaneously.

First up, finish remodeling a small deck. I tore out all of the old rotting railing / benches (UGH!, so 1960's) and am replacing it with red Cedar and solid posts. Next, I am assembling 8 really nice outdoor chairs with serious upholstered cushions to furnish it.

I have failed to mention that much like 2017, the Thousand Islands is suffering from flood conditions. The river is swollen and MUCH higher than normal (what ever that means) and many homes / cabins are - once again- under water. All of our friends are in the same boat as us, (pun intended) that being that their homes are high enough to be OK, but all of our our main docks are under water. Not the end of the world, but not real funny either. Fortunately, we have a few floating docks here at the island so we are faring better than many.

Island Life

Look who came to visit this morning. 

Mom and her 16 goslings.

Something else

We remembered those who stormed the beaches of Normandy this past week and justly so. I found this picture months ago and every time I see it, I get choked up. Not all our battles are 75 years old.

Where do you even begin.....?

May, 2019

Another month on Janice's chain gang

What got done:

• Removed old grout from kitchen counters and re-grouted. Check
• Installed a new gas cook top. Check
• Installed more roof gutters. Check
• Repaired and improved stone stairs down to a garden area. Check
• Built and tiled a new picnic table top for a the 3rd terrace. Check
• Cut channels in cement walls to bury electric wires for outlets and lights in bedroom #5 in the lower level area currently under construction. Check
• Cut offending tree limbs in the boss's garden. Check

Cutting channels in the walls and ceilings
 to bury electrical wires

We are always looking for ANY excuse to push away from our homeowner projects and having family and friends visit is a perfect one. Last month we had son Wesley and his girlfriend, but this month we had island friends Bud and Bev Andress join us for a 2 week visit. First timers to Europe (and France obviously), they were like taking kids to a candy store. We tried hard not to disappoint.

PARTY TIME!!!!

Giving them little time to acclimate to the 6 hours time difference for them (we reminded them they didn't come to France to sleep) we got started El Pronto with sights to see near to home. The visit in photos below.

You can never go wrong with beer on the beach.

Followed by bottling our own wine

 Sealing the corks

TA-DA!!!

Now a certified master bottler.

5 O'clock at friends

Went to an antique car show

Next, we took a 3 day road trip to visit a dozen little medieval villages. 

La Carriere des Lumieres. A spectacular light show held in a former underground quarry the size of a football field that ranged from 30 to 80 feet high. (10 to 30 M). Impossible to accurately describe, it is one of those things that you have to experience to believe. Note the size of a man on bottom left of the pic.

Visiting the Roman town of Glanum (27 BC)



Breakfast before we hit the road on the second day

Trigance Castle (1037 AD), where we spent the night

Aerial view

We agreed that we could get used to this

The King and Queen of the castle's bedroom



Where the little people stay: Janice and Michael's room

Castle innards leading to the armory

The lounge

Gorges du Verdon: France's Grand Canyon

Visiting the Fragonard perfume factory in Grasse

La Turbie. 100 ft high monument above Monaco to Emperor Augustus. Erected in 67 BC

Shopping for an upgrade in Monaco

Test driving the track. Since there are no 

cars in front of me, I must be in 1st place!

 Cannes red carpet as the preparations were under way for the film festival

 A quick run from our place into Italy for lunch

 Our next stop below was a little tricky to
 get to as it is a hilltop village

Pellion. Established in the year 1014

Nibbles with our friends and neighbors Maurice and Brigitte

The girls at home

Here we go again....

No, this is not our island, thank God, but it is nearby. Two years ago, our part of the river suffered serious flooding and it was dubbed a once in a hundred year event.  Time flies because here we are again.

As was the case the last time, our island will not be seriously impacted as we are high enough that if the cabin gets flooded, New York city is underwater too. Our main dock, however, will be underwater for a while so we will use the USS Ronald Reagan (the floating dock for the plane) to come and go until things settle down.

This will impact some of our friends though and businesses and marinas up and down the river will be hurting. As we go to press, we are two weeks from landing, so if you are nearby we would sure appreciate you drying our dock for us.