midnightsjane

Well, September is here, and it's feeling more like fall than summer. Although having said that, today was really hot! The long range forecast for here is a warmer than usual autumn, so I'm hoping that we'll have a good stretch of this lovely dry weather, with the odd day of rain for a bit of a change. My garden is growing so well, and if it stays nice I should have another crop of beans this month. Today I picked beans and squash and kale and swiss chard and a big tomato. It's so satisfying to sit down to dinner and know exactly where the veggies on my plate came from. Makes 'em taste even better.

With this great weather we've been able to get a lot of jobs done out at the farm; last evening Sue and Jack finished putting the crusher dust on Jubilee's paddock, a job that must have been exhausting. Jack brought the crusher to the paddock with the Bobcat, and Sue raked it flat. Makes me think my tiredness after a busy day at work in CCU was nothing at all! The paddock looks fabulous, and it's so nice for Jubs now. It was the wettest and muckiest of the paddocks last winter, and now it's all lovely and dry. There is just a bit of fixing up in Dusty and in Florrie's paddocks, and Rochelle's paddock to do, and then we will have dry paddocks for every horse this winter. In this wet climate, that's a huge deal. No more worrying about the horses getting thrush in their hooves from the wet footing.

They are moving along with the work in the house, too. Today they were painting the posts on the veranda, and stuff inside; I haven't been in the house for a week or so, so I'm not sure what's happening in there. I do know that the tile for the bathroom floors has been chosen; a lovely gray slate. It's getting closer and closer to moving in day, only a couple of months now. Almost time to start sorting and packing my stuff..

Speaking of jobs, I really should be working on the one I was going to get done tonight: we are getting new IV pumps at work, and there is a tutorial and quiz online that we're expected to complete. I have tried to get to it at work, but there's never enough time, and I refuse to give up my breaks to do it, so since I found I could access the site on my own computer, I figured I'd do it tonight. Hmmm. It's already 10 p.m. Maybe I won't go there.. Damn. all the best intentions in the world, and I still manage to procrastinate long enough to avoid doing it. (Cause it's a long, and IMHO, repetitive test that could be done more efficiently by just showing us the damned pumps, but who am I to tell the PTB how to teach the staff to use the equipment?)

Now to go take the laundry out of the dryer, and maybe do something about that test.

That would be the theme for this past weekend. Happily for my peace of mind I wasn't present for the following OMFG moments at the farm (I was at work), but Sue gave me the story, as follows:

OMFG moment #1: Friday morning she found that Kiss (the mare we got from our Vet to use as a surrogate) had kicked down one of the walls in her stall, for the third time. Kiss was okay, and luckily there wasn't a horse in the next stall. The wall got rebuilt by one of the construction crew.

OMFG moment #2: Saturday morning Sue came out to find that either Sera or Florrie had knocked down the wall between their stalls. One of them must have rolled and kicked the wall during the night. There were boards in the stall and poor Florrie was kind of stuck in a corner. One of her legs was a little puffy, but no serious damage was done, thank heavens. Jack rebuilt the wall.

OMGF moment(s) #3: Figuring that Kiss might like being in the field instead of her stall, they decided to bring Midnight in and put him in his paddock and put Kiss out in the field with Rochelle on Sunday. Sue, Jack and Nicole made the change and watched to make sure the horses were okay...except it all went wrong. Kiss took one look at Rochelle and kicked her hard, then took off down the field. Poor Rochelle went over to stand by herself out of Kiss's way, not making any trouble at all. Kiss deliberately went over to Rochelle and proceeded to kick the crap out of my poor girl. Midnight was going beserk in his paddock, crashed into the fence and broke it. Nicole was in tears, and Sue was trying to keep everyone calm. They managed to grab Midnight and get him inside to his stall, and then got Kiss out of the field, and poor Rochelle too. They all went into their stalls while Jack fixed the fence. It was a pretty traumatic hour or so, and pretty much put paid to any thought that Kiss would get along with my horses! She is on probation now. Stall to paddock, no field for her. We're seriously rethinking whether we want to use her as a surrogate; she's showing some characteristics we aren't thrilled with, and I think it's partly that she's not used to being in this kind of environment. She came out of field with other mares at our Vet's place, so perhaps she's better off there. She belongs to our Vet anyway, so we may be sending her back and having him look for another mare for us. We have lots of time until next spring until we have to get rolling with the breeding.

Sometimes you think you're doing a favour, and then it all goes to hell in a handbasket. Luckily all the horses are fine; Rochelle and Midnight are together again in the field, BFFs.

Then my own personal OMG moment: yesterday, after we'd done all the work I decided to walk around the field before I went home to see if I could find Midnight's halter, which he managed to get rid of at some point. I walked down to the bottom of our 5 acre field, along the fence between the field and the blueberry farm next door, by the little stand of trees and bushes. The fence there is a bit on the rickity side, on our list of things to fix. I walked along the path and found a whole section of the fence that was down, which left a perfect access to the berry fields. I could just imagine Midnight getting in there. I spent the next hour fixing the fence as best I could. It's not great, but safe enough until Jack can fix it on the weekend. Funny thing, we are so careful to double chain the field gate but the back entrance was left open! Yikes. Glad I decided to search for that halter. Didn't find it, BTW.

This kind of excitement we can do without, thanks very much. :)

And another week flies by. I can't believe that it's the middle of August already. Blink and you missed it! At least this week has been a little cooler, so I've been sleeping better. A tired Jane is a grumpy Jane..

Had three really hectic days at work; I was so happy to finish last evening. It was perc valve Friday in CCU, the day they do the TAVIs (transcutaneous aortic valve placement, a procedure pioneered by one of our cardiologists in which a new heart valve is inserted via a femoral artery into the heart, thereby avoiding open heart surgery). It's done for high risk, generally elderly people who wouldn't tolerate open heart surgery, and it's pretty amazing. Most of the patients do well, and go home within 72 hours. We do three every Friday, as well as all the angiograms that get done every week day, and sometimes it gets pretty bloody busy in the CCU. Yesterday was no exception, and I was run off my feet. By around 6 p.m. I was trying to deal with both my patients who had come back from the Cath Lab within 20 minutes of each other. Taking vital signs and checking pulses every fifteen minutes, then pulling out the angio sheaths (the catheters in the femoral artery and vein) and all the other things...whew. My coworkers tried to help, but they had their own stuff to do to. I found myself standing in the hall dithering..trying to do ten things at once, and getting nothing much done at all. So I took 15 minutes to shovel my dinner down my throat, because I'm sure my blood sugar was low. I ended up working 45 minutes overtime, getting my charting done. I was very happy to get home and collapse. So when the phone rang early this morning (at 5:45) and staffing asked me to come in, it was all I could do not to laugh hysterically. No way. And again just now, they called wanting to know if I could work tomorrow. Nope. I think I deserve a few days off. After all, I'm supposed to be retired!!

I was out at the farm this afternoon to see my horses and check on my garden. It was lovely, a bit overcast and cool. Sue and Jack went out to do their weekend shopping, and I was there alone. It was so peaceful, except for the propane cannons going off at the blueberry farm next door of course..we're used to them and hardly notice usually, but when it's super quiet, the bangs really echo! Pretty soon they'll have harvested all the berries, and it will be quiet again. Midnight and Rochelle are still having a great time in the field; Rochelle is getting spoiled, and hates coming in to her stall. She'd better enjoy herself now, because soon enough the weather will change and they'll have to come back into their stalls and paddocks. But for now it's good.

Nicole was telling me that Midnight comes down to the sandy patch of ground by the gate every morning to get a drink and then lies down for a nap. Rochelle comes too, and once Midnight is down, she lies down beside him, even though he pins his ears at her. She just wants to have a wee cuddle with her BFF. Seems like they do this every morning, but I have yet to see it.

I checked out the squash plants that are growing on the manure pile in the field; there seems to be at least 4 different varieties. Acorn, butternut, and something I think is a delicata and maybe a turban squash. Funny thing is, I only remember eating the acorn and butternut varieties! There must be at least 40 squashes there, from what I could see. I picked a couple of the delicata and this evening I roasted them to make pureed squash to freeze. I toasted the squash seeds too; they're very tasty with a bit of salt. A nice healthy snack.

Picked a bunch of beans, some peas and a couple of cucumbers, as well as swiss chard and kale, from my garden. Some rhubarb too. There is something so satisfying about growing vegetables, then sitting down to dinner and enjoying the taste of something that was growing not two hours before. I'm very pleased with life at the moment.

I stopped off at my friends' bookstore on the way home to give Jill some of the bounty from the garden. Her father loves rhubarb, so she took some for him (hers didn't do well this year). I was browsing through the books, and came across a book I think Sue will enjoy: Poirot and me by David Suchet. Sue is a huge fan of the Poirot series on PBS, as am I, and we were just talking about them today. I bought the book, and have been reading it all evening. Fascinating insights into character development by an actor who has captured Christie's vision of Poirot like no other, a really enjoyable read. Going to finish it this weekend before I pass it on to Sue.

And now it's the end of the day, and time to say goodnight.

I am at a loss for words, subject wise. Can't come up with anything smart and to the point to lead into my post, so I'll just say hello, everyone. How are you? Keeping busy? Enjoying the summer? I know I am. Even though I'm a little more busy than I would like, I'm doing fine. Can't believe we're halfway through summer already. Wow.

I kind of did myself a disservice this week by booking more shifts than I really want to: 4 dayshifts in a row, ugh. Sometimes when I'm prebooking shifts for a month away I don't realize how much I'm going to end up working; the trouble with being a casual is that you have to take the work when it's there, and realize that some months shifts are going to be a little thin on the ground. Oh well, I'll just think of the money.

Today was the day we do all the stalls because it's our employee's day off. We really motored and got all the work done by 10:30! It really helped that Jack was there to push all the wheelbarrows to the manure pile and empty them for us, so Sue and I could just clean. We wanted to get it done before Jack went to work (he's working the afternoon shift),and before it got too hot.

It was stinking hot this afternoon. I was working in my garden and it felt like I was in a sauna, the sweat was just dripping off me. Picked some peas and some greens for dinner, did a little weeding. I have to plant more salad stuff and some spinach for a fall harvest. My little garden is doing quite well, considering how late a start it got.

There are 4 of the biggest squash plants you've ever seen growing on the manure pile; some of the seeds from my kitchen scraps germinated, and presto! giant squash plants. I checked today, and I think I have butternut and acorn squashes. Lots of little squashes on the plants. They certainly like the manure pile!

We had someone come and mow the field on Saturday. Midnight and Rochelle are really having a great time out there. Rochelle was super pissed that she had to come in for a few hours while the mower was going; I think she's getting a bit spoiled with all that space and grass. It's good for her, she's looking great, getting lots of muscle. I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do about getting her under saddle in September. The hardest thing about having young horses is getting them started; finding someone who can do that isn't easy, as we've learned with the others. I have some options, I'm just trying to do the best thing. I love that little horse; she's such a sweet tempered girl, and very smart. I think we'll have a fun fall and winter working together.

oops. Almost burned the rhubarb. I'm making stewed rhubarb with the rhubarb from the garden. I love stewed rhubarb. So tart and sweet, delicious with yogurt. mmm.

I've finished my Dresden Files reread. It's really interesting when you read a series from start to finish (or to the end of the current chapter), knowing how it all ends, and seeing little foreshadowings, and wondering if the author had it all mapped out, or if he took an off the cuff remark and later on used it to swing the story line in a direction totally unexpected. Now I'm anxious for the next book!

I am slowly getting to the season end of "The 100". I think I have 3 more episodes to go, but I just haven't had time to watch. I really think it's a show with lots going for it, and I've been quite impressed by the acting and the plot. Good show. And I just realized that I still haven't watched the season finale of "Orphan Black". Must do that ASAP.

Quite excited to see that Doctor Who is starting next month. It's been a long time since the Christmas special. I think Peter Capaldi is going to make a very intriguing Doctor. Going to have a great suit, too.

Okay, time to shut it down for the night. My eyes are starting to close as I type, so I will take the hint.

Holy crap, what a day. ICU was very ICUish today. In other words, a zoo. Five Code Blues, four admissions, two deaths, one patient to the OR, and so on..it just never stopped all day long. Being a weekend there were only two Residents on, and they just went from one code to the next, along with the nurses on the team. We actually ran out of the emergency drug boxes for the code carts at one point. Our ward aide was off sick, and hadn't been replaced, so that meant no one to stock the carts and keep the unit from looking like a bomb had gone off...we don't appreciate how much the ward aides do for us until they're not there, as is often the case in life. The Charge Nurse ordered pizza for the staff for dinner, because it was obvious no one was going to get a dinner break. That was a nice morale booster!

I transferred my patient to the ward at 6 p.m. and got ready for the next patient who was in ER. Finally ER called to say he had extubated himself on the way up to us so they took him back to Emerg to monitor him. I think he was an OD or something, so he just kind of woke up. But never mind, there was another patient who needed to come to us. By that time the night staff had arrived, and I escaped.

Got home, ate the rest of the Pad Thai I'd had for lunch, and fell asleep on the couch for about half an hour. The apartment is finally cool; it was super hot today, and the place was pretty warm when I got home. I really don't do well in the heat.

Maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was the steady pace of the day, but my feet were killing me. It felt so fabulous to take of my shoes and socks and go barefoot.

Hmmm. I think I have some ice cream in the freezer. Yup. White chocolate raspberry. Diving in!

I'm so tired. Not exhausted physically tired, just lack of sleep tired. I was quite busy this week past with various things, including a very pleasant stint as tour guide for friends, ending with two busy night shifts at work. I was up all day Friday, worked that night, didn't sleep much yesterday, worked last night, and didn't sleep much today. So my eyes are a little heavy right now. Yawn. Gonna get myself off to bed early tonight and hopefully catch up on my time in dreamland.

I got home this morning at 8a.m. and had just walked in the door when the phone rang..it was CCU, wanting to know if I wanted to work today! Since I had just worked for 12 hours in ICU, I felt quite sure I didn't. LOL.

I had a busyish shift, more emotionally than physically tiring. My patient was a 40 year old man who had a sudden cardiac arrest - he collapsed on the street, got CPR by bystanders before the ambulance arrived, but had a very long down time before he got a heartbeat back. As a result, he has very significant anoxic brain damage, and his prognosis is grim. He had a steady stream of visitors all night long, all of whom were understandably upset. It's hard to tell people that their friend is most likely going to die, and that if his brain is injured beyond repair there is no point in keeping him on life support, and I'm sorry but no, just because you've heard of people coming out of comas it doesn't necessarily mean he will. I try to say these things in a sensitive and caring way, but in my head I know that this poor guy is for all intents and purposes dead. It's very sad, but sometimes it's just the way it goes. All I can do is pass tissues and let them cry. One of the less fun parts of my job.

So today I slept a couple of hours, then got up and made coffee, sat on the couch and finished another Dresden novel, played Candycrush, made some moves on Words for Friends, and made some chicken noodle soup for dinner. I was going to catch up on one of the shows I'm watching on Netflix (The 100) but I don't know if I'll be able to stay awake much longer.

I have another busy day tomorrow.

Awww. Doggy copilot! Wish I hadn't been driving so I could have taken a picture. Driving along 16th Avenue near the Campbell Valley Park enjoying a little sun and country air this morning, I found myself behind a burly fellow on a big motorcycle. Attached to the bike was a sidecar which looked custom made to accommodate his copilot- a yellow dog who looked like a Lab-pitbull cross. Doggy was grinning a huge doggy grin, nose into the wind, red neckerchief rakishly askew. From time to time the dog would look over at the man and bark, as if he was asking his friend "are you having fun? 'Cause I am having a blast!"

It was so sweet with a very high cute factor. Gave me a
I just wish I could have taken a picture without getting arrested for distracted driving. LOL.

Pictures from my niece's wedding are up over on my LJ.
http://midnightsjane.livejournal.com/

Heading out tomorrow on my way back east for my niece's wedding. It's been a couple of busy days getting things organized, but I think I'm as ready as I can be.
Is
I was so tired yesterday after cleaning all the stalls and paddocks (Jack emptied the wheelbarrows for me, which really helped) that I fell asleep sitting in front of my computer. Naturally when I went to bed I woke right up.

Midnight and Rochelle are very happy together in the field. Midnight spent part of the afternoon snoozing in the sunshine. Rochelle has a few cuts and scrapes, nothing serious, and lots of bug bites. Have to keep fly spray handy.

Time to get the laundry out and choose what to pack from my vast wardrobe.

Off to see the family tomorrow. Leaving on an Air Canada jet plane.

With all the bad news we're inundated with every single day, I sometimes have to remind myself of all the goodness there is in the world. I'm no Pollyanna, always looking on the bright side of life, but I believe there has to be a balance. If all we see is the negative, dark side of our world, pretty soon we'll feel so defeated we become convinced there is nothing we can do to make it better. If we close our eyes to the badness, we pretend the world is just a cakewalk and probably do nothing to make it better. So I believe we have to look at the world's problems clearly and honestly, while reminding ourselves of all that is wonderful and joyful, in order to motivate ourselves to make the world the one we want to live in and leave to our children.

So to that end, I've decided to try to find at least 3 wonderful things to pay attention to every day. For today:

The sight of the barn swallows coming and going from their nest in the big barn. One of them was basically hovering like a hummingbird, while his/her mate chattered away like an enthusiastic cheerleader. They're charming and beautiful, and make the barn a happy place.

On my way home the other day, I saw what looked like something dragging a branch across the road...as I got closer, I realized it was a mamma duck with a string of ducklings trailing behind her, crossing the road. At the curb, the ducklings hopped up and followed Mamma..except for one, who seemed to be a little more awkward. He hopped, and missed, and hopped and missed, and I held my breath and willed him on, and then he hopped, and made it up the little bank, and off he went with his family. I cheered!

Goldie won the big challenge class (jumping 3'6") at the Thunderbird Show yesterday! She was clear both rounds with the fastest time. It was a big class with some very good horses. She got a big red ribbon, a ceramic plate, and $200. Jack was thrilled to bits, as we all are. Yay!

I got my garden planted yesterday. Now I just have to get a fence up so the cats don't dig in it, and the bunnies don't eat the veggies.

We're still looking for a new worker for the barn; we interviewed someone today who looks promising. Hope it works out. I have to buy my ticket to go to my niece's wedding, and I don't have much time left. Fingers crossed.