MUSTARD PLASTER DAYS

POST # 343

BURROWS ISLAND (R) NEAR ANACORTES WASHINGTON

The dreaded mustard plaster.  Now, that is something that I would have never thought about for years, but seeing as it's another anniversary of my mom's birth, it seems rather appropriate to be talking about it.  You see, when I was very young, and had a bad chest cold, dear old mom would tell me that it was time to apply a mustard plaster to my chest.  It burned like the dickens, and I will always remember the smell of the Keen's hot mustard.  I'm sure that is why to this day, I don't like hot mustard.

Fast forward to today, and I find myself burdened with another chest infection that has been troubling me for the better part of a couple of weeks.  I had a few days off between house sits, and so I came here to Washington to spend time with my dear friend Mary, and her lovable bonehead, Dora dog.

When Mary heard my cough, she suggested of all things a mustard plaster.  So as of this writing I have been through a few sessions.  It isn't as bad as I remembered from my childhood, but it still burns.  I think it may have helped a little bit, but I am still troubled with this persistent dry cough.  I guess I'll just have to let nature take its course, and I will be very glad when I'm back to normal, (whatever normal is for me these days).

In spite of it all, I have enjoyed this short visit at Mary's new home in Shelter Bay, a place that we are both familiar with from years ago.  Last night we had the pleasure of enjoying the lunar eclipse.  It was a very rare crystal clear night sky, and we had a ring side seat.

Back on the road again tomorrow to begin another sit on Vancouver island.  The island has become a regular venue over the past few years, and I have enjoyed each sit that I have had there.

ADORABLE DORA DOG

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SO LONG SOOKE

POST # 342

It's that time again, or almost that time.  In a few short days, I will be leaving the Sooke area, here on Vancouver Island.  It's difficult for me to believe that I arrived here way back on December 6th, but the calendar doesn't lie.  As is always the case,  the time has gone by way too fast.  Maybe it's an age thing, or maybe it's because the time has been so enjoyable.  Perhaps it's a bit of both.

To be more specific, I have been living in East Sooke, right next to a provincial park.  This has made it easy to do a daily "Bill Bryson" or in other words, a walk in the woods.

It has become one of my most favourite activities in recent years, so I have been very fortunate indeed to have had the opportunity to spend time in this location.

In addition to living in the woods, I've had this wonderful log cabin to call home, and a woodstove to keep me and the critters nice and cozy.

Speaking of critters, here they are.

LEELOO

TRINITY

If the woodstove wasn't enough to keep me warm, the sleeping arrangements have helped.

So it's almost time to say, "so long Sooke."And so long Leeloo and Trinity.  I've enjoyed your company, in spite of ( or perhaps because of) the sleeping arrangements.

maximizing my moments,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

2019 IS OFF AND RUNNING

POST # 341

And so another year begins.  The photo (above) was sent to me from my friends Rose and Gary in the Yukon.  Each year,  they plan a get together on the frozen ponds located directly behind their house in the village of Bear Creek, not far from where I used to call home, when I lived at Snug.  There seems to be no shortage of snow up there this year, and so they made the most of it by shovelling the pond to create the 2019 image, and I thank them for that.

There are plenty of predictions that I could make regarding 2019, but predictions can be tricky, so I'm going to pass on that idea.  What I will say with a fair degree of confidence, is that 2019 is going to look a lot better at the beginning, than at the end, on a variety of fronts.  Let's sit back and enjoy the ride, for what it's worth.  After all, we're here, and we have a front row seat, so pass the popcorn, and here we go.

I will continue on this house/pet sitting gig for as long as I am able.  It has been for the most part, a very low stress and high reward lifestyle.  The rewards by no means are monetary, but rather centre around two main things.  I have the good fortune to choose how to spend each day, and I get to spend those days with a variety of wonderful critters, mostly of the four-legged type.

It has been a magnificent journey so far, and for that, I am happy, and extremely grateful.

maximizing my moments,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

FINAL POST OF 2018

POST # 340

Some bug has managed to invade my body, so I will be spending the majority of today curled up by the woodstove with the resident critters, Leeloo and Trinity. My energy level is low, and I will keep this post rather short.

Looking back on the year, I've managed to do a total of eleven house/pet sits, ten of which have been at a variety of locations, here on Vancouver island.  The other one was in Delta,  on the mainland.  The vast majority of my time (by choice) has been spent in rural locations.  I expect this to be the trend going forward, for as long as I have the ability to do so.

 I had the opportunity to make one final visit to Belize to see my friends Guy and Pauline, and then a subsequent visit to see them in their new location in New York state.

For the remainder of my time this year, I was extremely grateful to spend it with my friend Mary, and her adorable bonehead named Dora, aka Dora dog.

Trips across the border have become more of a hassle over time, and I sometimes wonder if that will even be possible in the not too distant future?  I'll keep doing it for as long as it is an option.

Looking forward to 2019, crossing the border might be one of the least of my (our) problems, but I will continue to face each new day as it presents itself, being grateful to have the opportunity to spend it, even when I have a bug in my system.

happy, accepting & grateful,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

MORE YUKON THOUGHTS

POST # 339

As I write these words with the assistance of the battery power still remaining on my device, I am without power for the third time in a week.  It happened a week ago, then yesterday afternoon for a few hours, and then again last night about 7pm.  It's now just after 8am on December 21st, and the power is still out.  As a result, the pump that had been supplying me with water is also not functioning, so I am without running water as well.  It's a simple lesson to illustrate what most of us take for granted in our comfortable existence.

So last week it was the clogged woodstove, and now this.  The fun never ends.  The resident critters appear to be unaffected by the power outage.  As long as the food keeps coming, and the place is warm, they are content.  They don't concern themselves with things like the internet, and that's probably a good lesson for the housesitter.  These days I find that I do most of my reading online, and now I've been forced to crack open a book, and read by candlelight.

  This used to be the normal thing to do, especially when I lived at my little shack in the woods back in the Yukon.

And speaking of the Yukon, my sister Gerry sent me a photo of the inside of my cabin I called Snug.  The photo was taken years after I had moved, but I happened to be back during a winter housesit at a friend's place across the highway in Bear Creek.  I thought that it might be fun to go for a walk and check out my old home.  By the looks of it, someone or something had managed to get inside and totally trash the place.  I was lucky to have lived at Snug, and to this day, it remains at the very top of my list, as the best place that I have ever lived, and I've had plenty of places to compare it with over the years.
So the waiting game will continue regarding the power outage, and I'll just go with the flow.  The woodstove is pumping out the heat, and I've got a pot of water warming on its surface which will provide me with my morning coffee, a bit behind schedule, but much more appreciated than usual.

happy, accepting & grateful,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
PS: The power came back on this afternoon after about 20 hours.

SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES

POST # 338

 

CLOGGED WOODSTOVE CHIMNEY 

One of the skills that I acquired while living in the Yukon, was that of learning the finer points of woodstove operation.  This came in handy last week upon my arrival at my current house/pet sit.  It seemed rather obvious to me right from the get go, that the air wasn't able to go up the chimney.  Not only was this a major inconvenience which caused copious amounts of smoke to flow out into the room, it was also a potential fire hazard.  Having been through the start of a chimney fire once before in Dawson City, I decided that the first order of business was to unclog the stack.  This was accomplished with the assistance of the owner, who lives here on the property.  (I am house sitting for his renters.) 

First, I had  to let the fire go out, which made for a chilly night and the following morning.  I had enough layers of clothing to stay comfortable, but I was getting unhappy looks from the resident bonehead named Leeloo, and especially from the resident furball named Trinity.  They really couldn't understand what I was up to.

Next on my to do list was to clean out all of the ash from the stove, and then remove a couple bricks inside the stove so that I could have a look up the stack.  As the attached photo clearly shows, the chimney was well and truly plugged.

Dave, the owner arrived as scheduled with multiple ladders to access the the roof, as well as the brush to clean the chimney.  It was so plugged up that he had difficulty pushing the brush down the stack.  Persistence paid off, and before long there was a huge pile of creosote down in the stove.  Job done.

I thanked him for his help, and he thanked me for bringing this to his attention.  It would have been a real bummer to burn the house down, and I doubt if I would have gotten a good referral, if I had survived.

Now anxious to get a fire lit, and with the resident critters watching on in anticipation of a warm house, I built a pile of kindling in the stove, and then lit a match.  Whoosh!!!  As soon as the wood caught fire, I knew we had had a successful operation 

Leeloo, Trinity, and the house sitter could now relax and enjoy the pleasant warmth that now emanated from the fire.

happy, accepting and grateful,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PLEASANT TIMES IN PLEASANTVILLE

POST # 337

PLEASANTVILLE TRAIN STATION

Following two air flights, a bus ride and then a train journey, I arrived safe and sound in Pleasantville, NY. Upon exiting the station, it was just a short walk to my friend's place.  After arriving at Hobby Street, it should have been a simple matter to walk along  until I found number 36.  I got to number 32, and the next house was number 40.  WTF???  What happened to number 36?  I continued my journey, and eventually found it.  The sequence of house numbers was as follows, 32, 40, and then 36.  Maybe it's a New York thing .

En route to their place I passed by Paulies bar which was featured in my last post, but this time, there was a strange Canuck taking a selfie out front, just to prove to myself that the place existed.

As things worked out, I never did get a look inside and perhaps I'm better off as a result.  Mind you, I'm beginning to look like the type of character that might frequent an establishment such as this one.  As luck would have it, we ended up instead at Lucy's bar, just down the road from Paulies.  I guess I really am getting old, because even though there wasn't any music playing, the decibel level generated from just the voices of others in the bar, had us all wanting to make this a short visit.  By the look on Guy's face, it appears that he was enjoying the noise even less than Pauline and I were.  It was time to go.

 

Of course a visit wouldn't be complete without the boneheads.  There used to be four of them, but now it's only Devo, Lielu (sp) and Brownie, my personal favourite.  They seem to be adjusting to the cooler weather compared to their most recent home in Belize.  I think they're happy to be back in the temperate zone.  But hey, what do I know? 

 

I had to chuckle when I saw this Dead End sign in conjunction with the Hobby street sign.  Considering Guy's synthesis of the volumes of evidence staring us in the face regarding abrupt climate change, and the subsequent dead end that our species is staring at, I thought it was a rather appropriate sign.  Gallows humour at its finest.

My pleasant time in Pleasantville went by way too fast, and before I knew it, Guy and Pauline were driving me back to LaGuardia airport, where we said our goodbyes, and I headed to the gate for my journey back to the west coast.  For the first time in my entire life, I touched down on Quebec soil, for my connecting flight to Vancouver.  

This is the closest I have ever been, and probably ever will be to where my Canadian ancestors settled in the township of Trois-Rivieres way back in the mid 1600's, after a journey from Fecamp, France.  There have been plenty of little Marcottes under the bridge as it were, since that time, and I am grateful that the line continued, so that I could have the experience of life on planet earth.  It's been quite the journey.

Today is the start of my next house/pet sit, but seeing as I am settling in at the moment, I'll give an update next week as to how it is going.

happy, accepting & grateful,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer