Beautiful Start to Fall

We had a high of 32C yesterday and 30C today which is a great way to start the fall season.  Yesterday after an early supper I drove Elaine up to northwest end of the bike path.  While she rode on the path along the creek I drove down to a park to meet her.  

I walked a short way along the path and enjoyed the view of the creek and islands while waiting for Elaine to arrive on her bike.   I met Elaine at another park along the way and then went down to Wascana Park while she rode there on her bike.

Just after sunset I took some pictures of the view across the lake toward the legislature and downtown.   I put 3 pictures together as an experiment with a program to stitch pictures together in panorama.   It was a beautiful evening with no wind as you can see by the reflection in the lake.     

A New Roof Over Our Heads

We got new shingles on our house and garage yesterday.  The shingles had been replaced about 15 years ago and we were not expecting to need new ones this year.  We normally come to our house from the north and don't often see the south side of the roof.   The shingles on the north side looked fairly good still.   But on the south side were in very bad shape as shown in the picture below including closeup in the inset. 

I expect it is from the heat of the sun on the south side of the roof that the shingles are worse with the surface worn off and corners curled up. This summer Chris was checking and cleaning our eavestroughs.  We thought they were plugged up on the south side with leaves and poplar fluff from a big tree in our neighbour's yard.  Chris found that on the south side the eavestroughs were all plugged up with the granular surface material worn off the shingles.   This is when we realized that the shingles needed to be replaced as soon as possible.  

 The crew came yesterday and took the old shingles off  and replaced with the new shingles over a synthetic underlay called BP Deckgard.   The new shingles we got are BP Harmony laminated shingles with fibreglass/  asphalt layers .  More of these type are being used now rather than the conventional 3 tab asphalt shingles.    The new shingles are silver grey.   The old shingles were originally grey but the surface was very badly worn off on the south side. 

The new shingles are called "Lifetime warranty" whatever that means but we hope it is a very long time.

Trach Examination

I had an appointment at the hospital yesterday for an examination related to my trach  by my ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.  I had a problem with a trach tube and it had to be replaced two weeks ago, and now to order new customized trach tubes for me the respiratory therapy department at the hospital needed a prescription from the ENT specialist.  I was to have an appointment at 4 PM yesterday, and at 6:30 we were still in the waiting room.    The doctor came out and talked to us to explain the delay that some of his equipment had not been sterilized since it had been used and he was waiting for that.  He is a very nice man and the staff at  the hospital keep telling us that as well.    When we were called into a hospital room and the nurse heard which doctor we would be seeing she said "He is a very nice man!".  We said "Yes we know that."    The nurse told us this ENT doctor did her 6 year old daughter's tonsillectomy.  Her daughter was afraid but the doctor was so nice talking to the girl about the surgery,  and now her daughter thinks the doctor is pretty well her new boyfriend.  

Finally the doctor came to do his examination and he had the bronchoscope with him.  He has done examinations in my airways with a bronchoscope several times before.  I posted on my blog back in 2008 that it was like having a microscope up my nose.  This time he did not go up my nose and around the sinuses and back down to the trachea with his scope.  He pulled out my trach tube and put the scope into the trachea through the stoma (the opening in my neck for the trach tube) and pushed the scope's fibre optic tube down my airway.

Bronchoscope inserted in the stoma (opening in neck for trach tube) to examine the trachea 

He had first sprayed anesthetic to freeze the area so I would not cough from the scope.  He was looking for any granulation  which would be scar tissue or sore areas caused by the trach tube. He was very happy that the trachea looked very good.    Then he got Elaine to look in the scope while he moved it to show inside my trachea.  He said "See how good it looks."   Everything has healed up well and the trach tube is not causing any soreness or scar tissue.   This confirms the respiratory department should order trach tubes of the same type and size for me.    Overall I felt very good about the results of the examination. 

When we were leaving the doctor asked if I would be willing to talk to some of his other patients that will likely need a tracheostomy.  I remember how uncertain I was 4 years ago not really understanding what it is or how it would affect me.  I have done this before for another specialist who asked me to talk to some of his patients.   I said I would be glad to do this.  He said he will call me when he has something arranged to have me visit someone who is in hospital now needing a tracheostomy.   I hope my experience can be an encouragement to someone else.  

    

More Birthday Toys

The family gave me 2 rc helicopters for my birthday.   I first got a small 3 channel rc helicopter last year for my birthday.   This year they felt I should move on to a bigger one.   When I first opened the larger helicopter I was fairly apprehensive about  a large outdoor helicopter but it turned out to be a manageable size to fly in the back yard.  It also came with a small indoor 4 channel rc helicopter (for when the weather isn't good for outdoors.)    

Elaine took some videos of me flying the larger helicopter in the back yard.   You pretty well need a time when there is little or no wind.  In the first part a breeze was coming up and the helicopter kept drifting over closer to Elaine.  When I tried turning it around it ended up landing in the rose bush right beside her.  Later the wind was calm and the flying was more successful.
I will also have to get some videos of flying the smaller helicopter around the living room.  My other birthday gifts were a wooden model of the Victoria blue bridge and a DVD of the documentary March of the Penguins.  I guess the family wanted to ensure I was adequately entertained in my retirement.     

Late Summer at the Farm

Last weekend we were up to the farm to visit Elaine's parents and other family for 4 days.  We traveled up a week ago Friday and returned home on Tuesday.  I hadn't posted any pictures before because since we got home I have been busy with escapades with my trach and ventilator. 

Here I am enjoying a relaxing time out on the deck. 

Then Elaine came out to have an afternoon rest on the deck.  We enjoyed visiting with Elaine's parents on the deck but did not get any pictures when they were out there.   In this picture in the background you can see Elaine's father out watching Phillip get the swather ready to go. 

Elaine's parents got us some produce from the garden to take with us when we went home.  In the picture you can see how tall the corn is in the background, and  the swiss chard beside mom is huge.   The meals we had while visiting there were amazing.   Elaine's mom is a great cook and all the food is fresh from the farm.   She made beef stew we had the first night we arrived that the whole meal with meat, potatoes and vegetables and milk were from that farm.  We had blueberries for dessert with cream from the farm.  We had the same on Sunday dinner with roast beef, potatoes and vegetables all from that farm. That was the story of our trip to the farm, eating and visiting, and then it was time for another lunch.