June was unusually tiring - glad it is July already

June is gone and July is just barely beginning... and I am still working from home. Wendy was able to go back to the hospital most days of the week. It is a reasonably safe area with everybody being screened and masked at the door.

I have been experiencing a long bout of extreme fatigue the last several weeks. It came on suddenly and I seem to only be able function with about 3 hr of nap every day. We are working on various different ways to alleviate it, but nothing seems to be having an effect. I don't think it is really due to isolation or the extreme heat we have been having. Too sudden and a very drastic change all at once. I will be having another scan to check my lungs in mid July. This time will be a simple x-ray prior to my oncologist appointment. Will also do blood tests a week before - hopefully seeing a change in my thyroid hormone levels as well as my overall energy.

I did decide to get out and do something creative the other day. I went on a solo 5 km hike of the Dundas conservation area and took the time to record another YouTube video (see below). I was mostly just playing around with my DJI Osmo Mobile 2 gimbal (which holds my cell phone steady) and seeing how things worked.  Normally an hour long hike, it took me 3 hrs with all the recording and resting. It was a lot of fun, but it was way too hot (38C) by the end of the hike!

July 2nd and the leaves are turning already!

Hermitage ruins along the main loop trail

Yesterday (July 4th) seemed like a big fireworks day in our neighbourhood. I think people were actually celebrating Canada Day, but waited for a Saturday night to have their fun. Maddy was NOT impressed. She was shaking and hiding in corners because of the noise (happens every year). She even crawled away from Wendy to hide and ended up stuck and panting on our end table - she soon realized there was nowhere else to go.

After close to 19 years, I finally gave up my aquarium and fish - just one less thing to worry about each day. We had Adam and his classmate from Canadore College in North Bay work on dismantling and transferring it over to our friends' place just around the corner. The tank and fish are all safely in their new home, with a standing offer to go visit them if I would like!

While Adam was visiting, he and his friend Calvin did a lot of work around the house. Among many other projects, they sealed the driveway and epoxy coated the garage floor.

Of course, the cars needed to be parked on the street overnight. Sure enough, someone broke into our car and stole a bunch of stuff... including my prescription sunglasses and parking cards for the Cancer Centre.

Epoxy coating - done!

Wendy has been baking a few things here and there (muffins, biscuits, etc.) at the same time that I have been doing a lot of baking. We seem to use so much more flour than we used to use (onto our second 10 kg bag since April).

Biscuits

One of the best things I have made in the bread machine were baked Paczki - Polish doughnuts. Normally filled with jam, I used custard. Easy to make and even easier to eat!  I have now made them twice since they are so good. Check out my Recipe page for the details!

Paczki (Polish doughnuts)

Earlier this month we had an ice cream BUS (yes, like a city bus) arrive and park directly in front of our house. This has never happened in 25 years of living here. Of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Here are Parker and Wendy getting ready to order.

For those interested, below is my most recent YouTube video (where I, admittedly, get a little philosophical about things). It is just over 10 min long and describes how my perspective on life has changed as I went from cancer scientist to cancer patient. Click the link to open a separate window or the image to play it on this page.

https://youtu.be/T0JUs-tEoD4

Let's hope July will bring just as many interesting things to post about. The weather may be hot, but we are trying to get out as often as we can.