You Know You Are Retired When ...

It’s been almost a year since I ended my medical career and embraced retirement.  Here are a few things that I have observed that are sure to indicate one is retired.

Become a Snowbird.   No, not a pilot with the Canadian Forces’ aerobatic team, but one who spends the winter months migrating from the northern cold to warmer southern climes.   Our home in La Quinta, California provided lots of opportunity to ride our bikes, not indoors on their trainers, but outdoors on the roads throughout the winter.

Heading out for a ride Christmas Morning 

Enjoy alternatives to driving in traffic.  Not working means not having to participate in the frustrations of rush hour traffic. Ah, the freedom.  Now mornings are relaxed and there is more time for other important things. 

Time for a morning snuggle with Rockie and Benny

Partake in daytime outings.  When people found out I was retiring, the most common question I was asked was, “What are you going to do with all the time?” Wow, there are so many things to fill the day, only limited by one’s imagination. Time to finally enjoy all those hobbies, activities, and adventures that one puts off when work occupies so much of one’s time.  When we are healthy, of course there will be lots more cycling to do (hopefully that will pick up soon), books to read, courses to take, new skills to learn, and as far as the dogs are concerned, more time at the dog park. 

Meeting lots of new friends

Try new things.  My sister gave me a family favourite bun recipe my mom used to make. Having never made bread from scratch before (if we don’t count the one whole wheat loaf I made in about 1983 that is probably still serving as a corner stone for someone’s house), I decided to try my hand at baking buns.  One of the people I met at the dog park is a retired baker. He examined the buns for appearance, texture, rise, colour, fragrance, and taste. His conclusion? “Not bad for a first effort.” The good news is, he is a willing teacher and has offered to give me a seminar on the art of bread making. Who knows what this might lead to! 

First go at baking buns

Attend afternoon matinees.  No problem finding a good seat at the theatre when going to a movie in the afternoon.  No more having to look around the person seated in front. No more standing in long concession lines.

No line ups at the West Edmonton Mall cinema concessions

Join the RV crowd. What? What was that? An RV?!! Didn’t we just buy a nice new big tent last year? How did this happen? Let’s see. First, it started with Sandy tuning into TV shows all winter about buying RVs, which got us looking at a few when we got home.  Then my accountant said I could start spending some of the money I had been squirreling away for forever.  I figured I was safe though, as my money guy never likes to see my spend any. When my sister was babysitting me during Sandy’s Rocky Mountain ride, we accidentally found the perfect unit, and Sandy agreed. For some reason, my money guy thought it was a good idea, too.  The next thing I knew, the money was in my bank account, the deal was signed, and the money flew right out of my account faster than it went in!  Introducing Boxy (her license plate starts with BXY), the little van conversion RV that came into our corral last month.  We think she is just right!  We have had her out for a few adventures, already, likely the topic of future blog posts.

                          Introducing "Boxy" the RV

Boxy is a 22 foot Coachmen Crossfit van conversion RV on a Ford Transit frame. 

Boxy with her swing-out bike rack, of course.

Sandy demonstrates some of Boxy's interior features.

The living room space, by day.

Having two single beds makes it easier for our old bones

to get up and down. Off course, we close the back doors at bedtime.

Our own bathroom ... need we say more?! 

Sandy toasts Boxy on her maiden voyage to 

Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, just east of Edmonton.

Playing cards with the dining table set up when it was too smoky to be outside

at Jasper National Park.

Two happy campers, very happy with the new addition to our corral.

Summer of Medical Adventures

You may well be wondering why two old retired girls, with nothing but time on their hands, haven't been getting their blog updated. Well, we have had some unexpected adventures, so let's get you caught up. 

As you know from a previous blog update, I had surgery on my knee in early June that took me off the bike. While I was busy doing my knee rehab, Sandy was busy getting herself fit for a one week ride she had booked in the mountains of southern Alberta and British Columbia, starting in mid July. The week before she left, and five weeks after my knee procedure, I was under the knife, once again, getting some of the hard ware that had become bothersome removed from my spine.  

Some screws removed at the top, and the rods shortened.
(sorry,  no post op X-rays at this time)

Two surgeries that close together took a lot more out of me than I anticipated, so my sister, Patti, came up from Calgary to babysit me while Sandy went on her trip.

Sandy isn't too crazy about riding uphill, so it remains a mystery to me why she took on a ride in the Rockies. Having said that, it wasn't all the hill climbing that got to her, but rather the sustained high winds (“horrible,” she reminds me) and the smoke from the BC forest fires.  

Sandy watching out for a Big Horn Mountain Sheep during her ride

Combine all that physical exertion with a number of nights of poor sleep, and by the time she got home, she was prime bait for a nasty ‘flu bug. I can honestly say I have never seen her so walloped by a virus as she just put herself straight to bed the day after she got home.

After two days of being sicker than sick, she started to get electric jolts up the side of her head. As these seemed to be getting more frequent and severe, the morning of the third day of jolts, I asked if I needed to take her to emergency.  I knew she was in a pretty bad way when she said, “yes.”

Timing is everything. We got to our local ER just after four ambulances arrived and as a cardiac arrest occurred.  As we waited, Sandy, who is not known for her patience, said, “They better be looking after someone worse off than me!” The old emerge doc in me assured her that they were.  After getting some high powered pain killers in her, the jolts finally abated, and off home we went. 

As Sandy wouldn't allow me to take any photos of her in the ER,
this is my artist's impression of her in agony.

Unfortunately, the blasted jolts came back two days later, so we went back to emerge. This time, a hallway consultation with a neurologist lead to a different treatment concoction and I am happy to report that the jolts seem to be gone.

If you want my medical opinion (but then, again, I am retired so what do I know?) I believe the fatigue from her days riding in the mountains caused her to be quite run down. This let the virus she contracted really beat her up. While it was at it, just for fun it caused some inflammation in a nerve which then kept firing off for no reason other than to cause major discomfort and havoc.

The consequence of all this medical excitement is that I have been of the bike for over two months and Sandy for over one. We are now just getting back onto our two wheeled friends. We are both feeling the loss of fitness, nonetheless, any bike ride is sure to bring a smile to our faces!  

I have decided that my racing days are over and we are decreasing the size of our bicycle herd. From a high of 13 bikes in our corral, we are now down to 10 with my track bike and cyclocross bike the next scheduled to leave home. I may be in need of more medical attention as I deal with the departure of these trusty steeds!!

So, That Was Canada Day!

Now that almost a week has passed, you should have recovered from your Canada Day celebrations. We hope you had  lots of fun, good food, and friendship as you celebrated our nation's 150th birthday.

Canada 150

Here in Alberta, we had spectacular weather for the big milestone birthday bash; it was hot with beautiful sunny blue skies all day.

In preparation for the big day, I saved this photo of a couple of Mounties on horseback from the Sundre rodeo parade.

Doesn't get much more Canadian than that!!

As I am still recuperating from my knee surgery, we haven't been going very far from home, lately.  Sandy, however, decided that we needed to have a Canada 150 project.  I am still off the bike, so I had to dream up something I could do with my bum knee. About all I can handle are my rehab exercises and walking. The dogs joined me on my project, which was to walk them for 150 minutes. It took us 3 sessions through the course of the day, but we got it done.

Our neighbor, Ed, decided his Canada Day project would be to have 150 beer on his driveway so he could offer a brew or two to any neighbor who happened to come by.  That went over well, and I decided a nice cool Molson Canadian, in a retro stubby bottle, was a good reward for my travels all around the neighbourhood. (I managed over 19,000 steps for the day.)

Sandy's project, of course, involved doing something on the bike. Let's see, what could that be? It didn't take long for her to decide that she would ride her bike 150km.  In preparation, she made sure to get lots of long rides done in the weeks leading up to Canada Day, and spent hours on her computer mapping out a variety of routes she could chose from depending on the weather conditions for the day.  Her plan was to be on the bike at 07:00 and I offered to make her breakfast while she completed her pre-ride preparations.  Unfortunately, she woke up at 04:45, which meant I had to haul my bones out of bed before 5 to get her fed and watered, as promised. She was on her bike and heading off our driveway at exactly 06:00, an hour ahead of schedule.  As mentioned, earlier, the weather was beautiful and she had a great day for this long ride. Oh, in case you are wondering, yes, she rode the entire route on her own and had a fabulous time.

At about 2:30 in the afternoon, she rode up to Ed's driveway to get her reward... again, a nice cold Molson Canadian. That Ed, what a thoughtful guy!

Sandy's bike computer confirms her project was successful:

150.64km!!

And a reward for a job well done.

Here's a photo of a painting we saw at West Edmonton Mall, last week. A collection of iconic Canadian images in a simple, but well put together image.

To our American friends and relatives, we trust you also had a great time celebrating your nation's birthday on July 4.  

Did She or Didn't She ...?

 Yes, indeed, Sandy has finished that puzzle! It took her about three weeks, with a couple of lengthy days when the weather was really too miserable to ride, but she finally got that puzzle done, and we have our dining table back. Well, we had it back. She traded that puzzle to our friend, Dee, and now has a new one under way.

While Sandy has been cycling and assembling puzzles, I have undergone, and am recovering from,  knee surgery.  After suffering with knee pain and inability to fully straighten my left knee most of the winter, I was booked to see an orthopedic surgeon in April. The images, below, are from my MRI. The one on the left is looking into my knee from the side; the arrow points to a cyst that isn't supposed to be there.  The image on the right is looking into my knee from the front. The green circle shows a nice black triangle representing a happy medial meniscus; the red circle shows a ragged triangle that is my unhappy, torn lateral meniscus. With these findings, I underwent arthroscopic surgery on June 5th which also trimmed up some arthritis under my knee cap.

One problem with being a doctor undergoing medical procedures, it sometimes makes other, young docs, a little nervous. The poor anesthetist had considerable difficulty starting my pre-op IV, despite the fact that I have what is know in medical circles as "good veins" (easy to find, easy to poke).  In fact, I was a popular choice for my med school classmates to practice on!  Needless to say, he was more than a little embarrassed that he had such difficulty, especially when he acknowledged he had such good targets to aim at.  Poor guy!

Preventing surgical, or any other medical error, is a huge priority. There is nothing more disastrous than a preventable error. And nothing worse than a wrong side procedure (especially if it is an amputation!). In addition to having me tell everyone in the operating room my name, birthdate, surgeon, the intended procedure, and which leg was to be operated on, before I was called to the OR I was asked all the same questions, and marked up accordingly.

While I have been laid up and doing my rehab, Sandy has been having to cycle by herself most of the time.  Considering the seemingly endless windy days we have been having, I appreciate that she has been going out for  rides for the two of us. I was able to get on the stationary bike for the first time at physio, yesterday, and so for the next few weeks, I will be able to be on the trainer in the basement ... out of the elements.  While out on a recent ride, Sandy took this photo of a farmer plowing his field. Although she says the photo doesn't really do it justice, she said all the gulls flying about reminded her of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.  

Speaking of birds, it seems all the season's babies are growing up fast. In the span of just over a week, our neigbourhood goslings out grew their fluffy yellow feathers and all of a sudden had fluffy grey and black feathers with their adult markings showing through. And they are about three quarters full size. Wow, must have been some kind of growing pains!

Getting difficult to tell the kids from the parents.

We were at my brother's place in the country over the weekend and spent a lot of time watching mountain bluebirds bring back lots of big juicy bugs to feed their brood. Also, I saw a yellow bellied sap sucker bringing home similar treats for his offspring. I think we owe these bird parents a big thank you for keeping the bug population in check!  

The beautiful Alberta view my brother and his wife get to enjoy every day!

Yesterday, at the dog park, Rockie was enthralled by a family of tree swallows whose fledglings were practicing their flying skills. It was very windy and I must admit it was a little amusing when the kids would try to get back in the house but instead would get pushed away by the wind. I could hear them complain about it then give up and sit on the roof of the house until their next try. They would eventually manage to get in, however, so all was good. 

Rockie watching the tree swallows

Those of you in the know, know that my birthday is in June and is celebrated by Sandy having to barbecue hotdogs. Despite all the lousy weather we have been having, it was gorgeous on Hot Dog Day.  We were fortunate to have a number of friends and family join us and I think we all had a good time. Of course, the hot dogs were delicious!!

As you can tell, we haven't been on any major adventures since returning home. We did, however, have a nice outing in early June when we went to an equestrian event just south of Edmonton. Sandy has a dear friend, Pat McN who just like the Queen, has a granddaughter (actually two) who, like the Queen's granddaughter, Zara, compete in eventing. Eventing is comprised of three disciplines:  dressage, stadium jumping, and cross country, which the rider completes all on the same horse. This day, only one granddaughter, Brooklyn, was competing and we went to see her in the jumping. She was riding her sister's horse, Blew By You, aka "Bud." What a beautiful animal. Brooklyn and Bud performed very well over the weekend's events and we were happy to be able to see some of the action. The girls have Olympic ambitions, and Sandy has promised that if they make the Olympics, we will be there!

Since I have been mostly housebound, you would be right if you figured I was spending a little more time in the kitchen.  I have been trying some new recipes for dinners, but haven't been smart enough to take photos to share. Guess that will spare you the drooling. So far, everything I have made has been Sandy approved (now, there's an accomplishment!).  I was in charge of taking watermelon to my brother's place over the weekend. When we were kids, watermelon was a big treat so I took three. The little kids weren't as crazy about it as we were at their age, so we brought one whole one back. How fortunate that in my email Sunday was a newsletter I subscribe to with a recipe for watermelon gazpacho. Well, that got made right away! It was actually pretty good, and received another Sandy approval.  If you like cold soups and are interested in a twist on gazpacho, let me know and I will send you the recipe.  Just remember to include your name if you post a comment so I know who it is from, or send me an email.

My sister, Patti, picked out this mat for our deck door.
It seems to be rather appropriate for our yard.

Finally, Warm Weather!

It seemed like it took forever, but finally, the warm weather has come to Alberta. Hurray!! After a month of dull skies, cool temperatures, and wind, things have changed at last. We now have bright blue skies, warm temperatures, ... and wind. For all intents and purposes, it seems that the cold weather is finally behind us. People around us have been busy getting their yard work done and their gardens in. I think one of our neighbours has officially declared the end of winter and the cold weather by placing this out for garbage collection:

Last week, our neighbourhood was beautifully fragrant with all the May trees in full bloom. We then had a nasty big wind storm that blew off all their blossoms, and did a number on our tulips. This week, the lilacs are starting to bloom and in a couple of days, we will have their perfume to enjoy; shortly our buckeye tree will be in full bloom.

Our tulips the day before and the day after the big wind storm.

When is this blasted wind going to stop? We have been out on our bikes more now, but are getting kinda tired of fighting head winds and hanging on for dear life in the cross winds. But at least we are finally getting outside.

You know it's windy when the flags are straight out and parts are missing!
And we ride in these conditions????

Last week, one of our rides saw us drive to Villenueve, a small town just north west of Edmonton, where we met some ladies from the Edmonton Bicycle Touring Club (EBTC). We rode from there to Spruce Grove, about 25km away, into a head wind with the first 12km mostly uphill. That was a pretty tough slog. But the good news is, that same stretch on the reverse leg was plenty of fun. Sandy and I cranked it up and were going pretty good when I saw a mule deer standing right by the road. I pointed it out, along with its sibling who was standing a little further back, and slowed us down to make sure we could react in case one or both of them decided to come onto the road. Fortunately, they decided not to take on any cyclists that day, and turned back to head into the bush. With the threat of an unscheduled deer crossing resolved, we were free to put our bikes into their fastest gears, crank on the pedals, and take advantage of a fairly long downslope with an accompanying tail wind. What a blast! When everyone else got back to where our vehicles were parked, they were bragging about how fast they were going. "How about you guys?" they asked. Well, their jaws dropped when we reported that Sandy topped out at over 61kph and I maxed out at 62.9. Whew, that was fast and fun!! We don't do that very often and probably won't have the right conditions to go that fast again any time soon so we will have to savour that flirtation with speed for quite a while, I am sure.

Kate stops to take in the scenery and watch the birds

Dandelions, the first yellow crop of the season

Spring is definitely underway.  As to be expected in Alberta, there are lots of calves to be seen on most of our rides and even a few lambs. Our neighborhood pond is home to a lesser scaup with her seven little ducklings who are just learning to dive, some mallards, and three pairs of geese, two of which are proudly showing off their young ones. As to be expected, they are quite territorial and aggressive, so everyone is giving them their space. Last week, we were treated to something unique when we saw a pair of mallards waddle down the walkway to check out one of the families of goslings. Apparently they are wise to goose attitude as well, as they kept their distance as they walked passed the little ones.  (I apologize that the photo is a little blurred as it was close to dusk when it was taken and it is also cropped, which has affected the image quality.)

Earlier this week, we were out with the dogs watching one of the pairs exercising their goslings in the pond. Apparently, we were standing right where they wanted the kids to have their afternoon nap. They swam towards where we were, so we moved away. Apparently not far or fast enough, though, as one of the parents continued walking and hissing after us until it was satisfied with our departure. The kids bunched up and were fast asleep by the time we got to the other side of the pond.

The dogs have been going to the off leash park at the Edmonton Humane Society to enjoy exploring the grounds and hanging out with other dogs. Rockie isn't always sociable with the other canines, but she has an adoring little groupie who can't get enough of her. As much as she might snap at some of the other dogs if they get too close to her, little Ming can do no wrong,

The people at the dog park are a hoot. Not only do they bring healthy treats to share with all the dogs, they bring treats for the humans as well.  Fortunately, they don't get carried away with the "healthy" stuff for the people. So far, we have enjoyed popsicles, donut holes, cupcakes, and last week there was birthday cake when "Sherman" turned two.

 After all the excitement of guarding the yard, patrolling the neighbourhood, and playing at the dog park, Rockie has tried to convince us that the most comfortable recovery position is folded in half one one's back. Really??!!

Sandy continues to work on the most difficult puzzle we have every had in the house. I am sure that the two pieces I have put in place so far have really been helpful. She is making progress, but it is slow and tedious. I remain confident, however, that it will be done in time for Canada Day.

Sandy to Kate:  "Don't you ever pick a puzzle out for me again!"
My sister helped with the selection, so she can share the blame. 😄

Although it seems the springtime weather has taken its time getting here, its been pretty nice, and hopefully a sign of nice summer weather ahead.

Oh, and one last thing. You may recall we had a bumper crop of lemons at our place in California. Some of them were huge, easily over five inches long. I saw this sign at Safeway this week.  I wonder what price our monster lemons would fetch? We could be zillionaires!!

Getting Back to Things

Although the Victoria Day long weekend has just past, we both remember when Queen Victoria's birthday was celebrated on the day, May 24th. So, since this is being posted on the 24th, happy 198th birthday to our former longest reigning monarch. 

Coronation of Queen Victoria

As you might have suspected from the lack of blog posts, we have been laying pretty low since we returned to Edmonton. We left the heat of the desert to come back to a cool and dreary spring in Alberta. My sister had been bugging me to spend some time with her in Calgary so I dropped the dogs off at camp and spent the middle parts of two weeks with her while Sandy enjoyed the peace and quiet at home.  My sister, Patty, is a horse person, so the first week I was there I went to two of her horse training classes. Who knew riding a horse properly is so intricate?! I was impressed with those riders and horses, and really impressed with my sister doing everything necessary to catch her horse, get her into the trailer, get to the venue, saddle up, warm up (yup, even the horse does her stretches!!),  work through the lesson, then get the horse back to her pasture. I was exhausted by the end of the class and all I did was cuddle the resident cat!

Patty has Foxy do her warm up stretches.

My sister also takes care of our dad's old horse, Misty. Misty is in her thirties (we will respect her request not to divulge her exact age) and up until just a couple of years ago, Patty was still taking her on back country rides in the foothills and mountains west of Calgary. Now, though, Misty is enjoying her retirement.  When Pat goes to pick up Foxy to take her to class or the back country, Misty still comes running full blast to the fence, demanding her treat. 

Misty wants her treat ... right now!

While in Calgary, Patty and I did a number of errands and chores that she had been saving up for me to help her with. In exchange, she sewed some new bed covers for the the dogs. I got stuck with my usual sewing assistant's tasks:  pin placement and removal and seam pressing. Right at my skill level! I did, however, get to iron on little paw print appliqués for the finishing touches on the dog beds.

Benny and Rockie approve their new beds covers

Patty's pussy willow and boots decoration we hung on her front door

Back in Edmonton, I have been doing more baking.  Sandy kept harassing me to make her a batch of scones. The last batch I made down south were a complete flop, so fearing I had lost my touch, I had been avoiding that recipe and even tried a batch of lemon rice krispie squares instead. Sandy wasn't too keen on those (enough with the lemon!) but I thought they were okay. I then tried to side track her with her other favourite, banana loaf. My sister and I found silicone mini loaf pans when we were out and about so they needed a trying out. I luckily guessed the right amount of time to bake the mini loaves and that appeased the scone monster temporarily. Finally, I relented (or Sandy threatened sufficiently) and gave the scones a whirl. Same recipe, same process, but this time that batch turned out perfect. Lucky me, happy Sandy, unfortunate scones as they had a rather short existence. My most recent baking adventure? Granola bars. Best recipe I have ever tried means I had to put some in the freezer or they would be disappearing around here way too fast!

Almond and blueberry granola bars, lemon rice krispie squares,
raisin scones, and mini banana loaves

After a number weeks of cool, overcast, windy, dreary weather with only a few half days of sun and warm, the long weekend was beautiful.  We finally quit pouting about the weather and got out on our bikes.  One of the benefits of being retired is that we can make any weekend as long as we want, and stretched this one out to five days.  We cycled Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday.  And being good residents of prairie Canada, we planted our garden on Monday. For our international friends, planting before the May long weekend means flirting with potential overnight freezing temperatures and the loss of one's gardening labours.   Sandy put in some veggies while Rockie and I put in my usual pansies and marigolds. I am nothing if not predictable!

Sandy preps the garden

Kate and Rockie get the plants in

Knowing that a nasty rain and wind storm was forecast for Wednesday, the 24th, Tuesday we headed out for a long ride of 80km. We loaded the bikes into the van and drove to the east side of the city to enjoy the rural roads there that take one through gently rolling hills and passed lots of fields and ponds. It was hot and sunny, nearly perfect except for the head wind that started half way out.  Not to worry, at least we would have a tail wind back. Oh, to be so lucky! As we were having our snack break at our turn around point, the wind also decided to turn around. We had a cross head wind most of the way back, which certainly pointed out the fitness we had lost since leaving California. 

Watching the clouds during our snack break

At one point on the ride, I thought I was seeing things as one of the tar strips on the road seemed to be moving. Then I realized I was okay, it was just a garter snake. Apparently, it was warming up on the road and making its way back to the ditch just as we came along. I called out, "Snake" as there is no cycling hand signal to indicate that hazard, and had to swerve a bit to my left to avoid it. As I passed it, it startled and kind of reared up a bit and started slithering backward. This was not a smart decision by the snake as by doing that, Sandy couldn't avoid it and  rode right over it.  She figures it would have had some explaining to do, when it got back to its friends, as to why it all of a sudden had an hour glass figure!

The countryside east of Edmonton.

Sandy is busy searching out some new rides for us to do this summer. We have joined the Edmonton Bicycle Touring Club to meet more riders and find new local routes. As the summer progresses, we look forward to getting lots of kilometers on our bikes.  In the meantime, Sandy is two weeks into working on her birthday present, a 1000 piece puzzle of a Canadian flag comprised of white and red carnations in the background and red roses in the maple leaf. It is turning into her Canada 150 project, hopefully it will be done by July 1 and we will get our dining table back soon!

In the meantime, the dogs are fine. They loved their time at the kennel (aka "camp") when I went to Calgary. They enjoy unlimited barking privileges the whole time they are there, no wonder they love it. I have been taking them to the Edmonton Humane Society off leash park since we got back. Ben loves it, especially getting treats from all the humans who don't seem to be able to resist those dark eyes of his. Rockie mainly works then fence line looking for rodents to dig after. To each their own! Ben surprised everyone when he want to the park Sunday with a brand new hair cut. They hardly believed it was him until he started working the crowd in his usual fashion.  

Ben, before and after his haircut

Rockie takes in some sunbeams