August has been warm but not terribly hot. I prefer this kind of weather!
Instead of the crispy brown water-starved landscape we have become accustomed to seeing August, everything is green. The dry spells have not lasted very long this summer.
Today I would have had my cataract surgery. Here we are, Attila with no teeth, and me with failing eyesight. Universal health care is not free if you cannot gain access to it, despite heroic efforts to do so. Still, nothing life threatening going on for us at the moment, toothless and blind are not dead, so we are doing fine.
By a stroke of very good luck I did gain access to physiotherapy, and I’ve got to say I am impressed with the quality of care I am receiving. I have made some progress, after fifty years of frustration. The treatments are unlike any I’ve had in the past, it is something completely new. There is improvement, better but still not good, I am still waiting for the referral to hospital clinic for needed treatment, it has been about eight months since that referral was made.
Meanwhile, happily, life goes on.
The garden is thriving with regular rainfall, lots of sunshine, and that wonderful load of compost we bought in the spring.
Our white cosmos are attracting a LOT of attention from Goldfinches, and Chickadees if they can manage to visit when the Goldfinches are somewhere else.
The circled areas are Goldfinches feasting on Cosmos seeds. The four of them are chirping up a storm, it is pretty exciting to find a treasure trove of food. The only one that is easily visible is on the right. The rest I found by blowing up the original video, so that I could see them moving. They are frequenting our yard this week.
I saw a hummingbird yesterday, Attila says he sees them every day.
Just to mention the purple plants at the top of the image. They are lettuce we bought from the grocery store with the roots on. Planted they gave us a whole new head of lettuce, then they grew again and Attila let them go to seed. The are also very popular with the wee birds.
The tomatoes are doing very well in the garden this year. Three varieties were grown, Beefsteak, Sicilian Saucers, and Romas. The Beefsteak and Sicilian Saucer varieties produce huge tomatoes. All three varieties are indeterminate, they keep growing and producing. We either eat them, or preserve them, as we harvest them over the weeks. Already over two litres of garden tomato sauce has been processed and frozen for later canning. And five pounds of green tomatoes have been picked for a favourite canning recipe, Green Tomato Chow Chow.
Yesterday seven jars of Green Tomato Chow Chow were canned. We enjoy Chow Chow by browning ground beef and onions, adding a 500 ml jar of Chow Chow to the mixture, heating, then serving over rice. It is one of my favourite meals.
One jar did not seal, with the new lids. That failure is down to me though, not the lids. I forgot to put them in boiling water before using them, a mistake. This morning I cleaned the rim and lid, then reprocessed the jar, it sealed the second time.
Today we are making pesto for the freezer. So far we have 52 muffin cups of pesto made with the garden basil. When I look out the window at the basil, it doesn’t seem as if any has been harvested at all. It reminds me of the biblical loaves and fishes. We do count our blessings!
Worldly
Weather
22°C
Date: 12:00 PM EDT Wednesday 26 August 2026
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.9 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 21.8°C
Dew point: 18.9°C
Humidity: 84%
Wind: S 18 km/h
Humidex: 28
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.”
Frederick Douglass
1817 – 1895
Best wishes for sensible and reasonably speedy resolutions for Attila’s teeth and your eyes. It has to be endlessly frustrating to continue to wade through bureaucracy–and plan old stupidity.
Thank you Wendy for your kind thoughts! These things often run in groups of three in my life, there was a background thing going on for us that is now resolved, so I am hoping the teeth and the eyes are number two and three! There are deep pools here and there of stupidity, luckily our issues are not life threatening, as long as I don’t allow them to medicate me irresponsibly. My deepest sympathies go to those who face this kind of bureaucratic insanity through life altering and life threatening circumstances.
My brother faced this insanity when he had ALS, the lack of compassionate care beggars belief. One wonders how some of these people sleep at night.
I hope you can get accurate attention soon for Attila’s teeth and your eyes. I can’t imagine the frustration! Meanwhile, enjoy all the fresh veggies!
Thank you Joan! Kind thoughts are always welcome. We certainly have hit a very bad run of bad luck in our health care dealings of late.
Meanwhile, yes, the meanwhile is oh so important isn’t it. Life goes on, vegetables keep growing, so great!