August 18, 2025
Watching 90 days roll by
Looking back on our lives we can see a pattern, in which we get into some kind of activity and go after it hammer and tong, usually for about ten years. Then it seems circumstances change, and we are off on some related but different obsession. From around 1980 to 1990, it was farm one (not to mention raising a small herd of kids). 1990-2000 building a house and developing farm 2. 2000-2010, producing turkeys and chickens and developing a local farmers' market, while helping to fight to a standstill a gas turbine power scheme on our island. 2010-2020 cycling all over North America and Europe. 2020 to the future - oh, oh, looks like borrowed time as far as cycling goes!
Of course these "eras" are not precise, and we do not quit many previous activities just because the times have changed a bit. A good example of this is what we do with our time right now when for example we get kicked out of Europe by the Shengen agreement and are waiting 90 days to get back in.
Well, for a while we keep cycling - round and round our neighbourhood - until we are totally sick of it. But also, the farm is still there, though the animals and crops are not. In the 90 days of a previous tour, grass and weeds have been joyously growing. It takes days, even weeks, with the bush hog and then successively smaller mowers, to get things under control. Next, even if there are no market crops to plant and tend, there are many flowers to get going on the deck and around.
| Heart | 5 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 4 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 1 | Link |
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Eventually we turn to the question of firewood for the next winter. This begins with a walk around the land, to find which accessible trees have decided to fall or be blown down since last year. Then its tune up the three chainsaws and begin to buck the logs, loading the rounds onto a trailer, and dumping them near the wonderful 20 ton gas wood splitter. It's takes a while to split about 5 cords of wood, and to consign them to Dodie for stacking.
| Heart | 6 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 1 | Link |
5 months ago
One thing that is all fun and no work is this bee hive. It was put here by the Paxman's, and they periodically appear, to watch over it. Earlier they thought the queen had swarmed off, but this week Marvin located her. How can you tell it's her? she has a daub of green paint on her back.
Another activity during this "slack" period after a tour is to plan the next one. This of course has many steps of its own, like deciding if and where we are going to go, finding or making GPS tracks for this, and the dreaded one - booking 90 or so hotels in a row. Almost worse is booking the air flights. Not only do the choices have to be possible - like leaving from an airport we have a hope of reaching at the right hour (no use leaving from Vancouver at 9:00 a.m. when it takes us about 4 1/2 hours to reach the airport from our place, and then they want you there 3 hours early!), but also the airlines have insane pricing algorithms that we have to deal with. For example, for one week of a single specific Air Canada flight , they had prices sprinkled across the seven days ranging from $589 on the Wednesday to $1329 on the Saturday. And if you tune back in tomorrow - they will all be different!
As I write this, about a week before departure, I think I can say that 99% of the chores are done, so we can relax. But wait, we still have to swap out a water heater! And tomorrow I will go pick up a yard of fine red bark much, because Dodie should be done weeding the blueberries, and the mulch will go on top of landscape cloth we just bought today. So cancel that relaxation - it looks like we will run right up to the starting line. Pedaling 4000 km is beginning to look restful!
Update: That 99% of chores done estimate turned out to be not very accurate. In this last week we have been working nonstop, as more and more chores pop up around the farm. This is kind of normal for us, except that we may be getting too old for non-stop work. The first proof of this came two days ago, as poor Dodie's hands began to swell and turn red. We have seen this once before, and we are leery of the possibility of runaway infection. A quick call to Erika Paxman, our nurse friend, confirmed what we had to do. Stop the projects and head to the hospital! But of course we will never totally stop. In this case, Marius took Dodie to the hospital, so I could keep on working!
The diagnosis came back as inflammatory arthritis, rather than infection. They gave Dodie dexamethasone- the same type of drug used by Scott, and Joni. But this was just a one time strong dose. We reacted to the diagnosis and treatment by putting Dodie back on the job. Good thing she is not unionized!
One of the jobs was rebuilding a step and some flooring in our little cottage. We did a very slick job of it, I think. The only problem, it turned out to be too slick! Dodie slipped on the step and went flying! She sprained her ankle, bruised her back in two places, and banged her elbow.
Now this one did put Dodie off the job. Except she pulled out a cane, and hobbled around offering guidance for my final building steps. We also went to a pharmacy looking for an ankle brace, though Dodie ended by rejecting the various designs. Right now Dodie doesn't think she could pedal a bike. But we have five days before the actual pedaling begins. That should be plenty! The trick now will be hobbling around the airports in Vancouver and Frankfurt tomorrow!
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 8 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 7 |
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago
5 months ago