G'day for Tuesday.
Linda, that observation on the snow ploughs is interesting. The only time I've ever seen snow ploughs in action, was in NZ that time, after the 30 year blizzard. And it was only one snow plough working at a time. There were also tow trucks, dragging out the over 200 cars that had found themselves trapped in the Kawarei Gorge. And there was a hail storm near our village a few years ago that they had to send out the road scrapers to clear away the ice, cars were trapped until they did because there was so much ice that there was no traction for the cars. We never need chains or snow tyres in Sydney.
Sharon/WO, 8 inches over the day sounds manageable. But yes, I agree that it would make for tricky driving. Hopefully you won't have too much to shovel. You can't get a kid to do it for you? Or send them out for a snow fight, to clear it away?
Well, my day today got blown out of the water. mother in law rang this morning - she woke with an irregular heartbeat. We were scheduled for physiotherapy after her house cleaning session (she gets the same agency service I do, only her assigned cleaner is very good). For various reasons she's had no service for a month and was determined to get her housecleaned before she would let me take her to the doctor. I rang the doctor to organise an emergency appointment then rang the physiotherapist to give her warning that we would probably need to cancel.
Then I drove her to the doctor, who decided fairly quickly that it was time for mother in law to go back to hospital. mother in law wanted me to drive her and i was prepared to, but because the doctor didn't want mother in law going back home first (because she risked another fall), she called the ambulance. I headed back to mother in law's place to pack a bag for her, then rushed back down to give her the bag before the ambulance whisked her away.
I didn't immediately follow the ambulance - I knew there would be a long wait if I did, before there was any news or anything happening, so I went back home and rested for a while. I'd left mother in law's garage wide open (for air circulation and light). When we were getting ready to go, I headed to mother in law's place to lock it up properly, shut off the air conditioning and close up the garage. There's been a strong animal smell in there - definitely possum. We know it's a great place for possums, there's generally always one in residence (Brushtail Possum - they're cute, but as big as a large cat). But the smell has been a lot stronger, and as I closed up the garage I realised why - there's a second possum in there. Not just a baby, but it seems like another adult. I think it was trying to sleep inside the barrel of the rolladoor. Since I just closed the rolladoor, that means the possum inside would have gone for a spin. It didn't sound happy! But I could hear it, while I had eye contact with the other one, in it's favourite corner diagonally opposite.So I think husband & I are going to have to get in there and sweep up a bit, take out some of the more odiforous possum poo (it smells like a strong mix of honey and eucalyptus, with traces of cat). mother in law's sense of smell is mostly gone, but even she has been noticing it. When sis-in-law arrives in a few weeks, she will definitely notice it!
I headed home, got difficult child 3 (I'd made a quick lunch for him before I had a rest) and then we headed out. First stop was mother in law at the hospital. We were there about half an hour then left to go to difficult child 3's drama class. After class I bought difficult child 3 the usual burger, then we headed back to the hospital. husband was there by then, we sat with mother in law and found out the little bit more news (mainly that they decided to admit her at least overnight). I'd done a bit of washing for easy child 2/difficult child 2 and hung it on the line. If I had known that my day was getting messed around, I would have left it. As it was, it was still damp when I left so I pulled the washing off the line and arranged it in the back of the car. This meant that when I parked in the sun the first time we were at the hospital, the washing got a chance to dry. After difficult child 3's drama class, we stopped off at easy child 2/difficult child 2's to deliver the washing. She OWES me!
I left with a couple more items to get for her to take in tomorrow. I won't be making a special trip - we're going in to the city anyway, difficult child 3 has another session with the research team at the uni. On the way home it's easy for us to detour via the hospital (it's our district hospital) so I can drop off the things for her.
So that means every day this week, we'll be going out. That's something I really try to avoid. Hang on - maybe Friday I can stay home. Fingers crossed!
And of course, today was a perfect day for the beach. Wouldn't you know it!
Poor mother in law - it seems she just can't take a trick lately. She is NOT impressed at having to go back to hospital, all she wants is to be able to recuperate at home. But an erratic heartbeat is not to be trifled with.
Enjoy your Tuesday, everyone.
Marg