I am not anything of a gardener but I have enjoyed watching the Lavender plants grow and bloom and I actually cut them back this morning. Also happy to see my green plant
Start to bloom
Somehow came across this photo in my archives..
This is Major what a great Newfoundland dog...I rescued him around 1981 when I was living in Alberta..I was deliver groceries to a house next door to the local dog catcher..he was tired to a tree and I went in the yard to him and spoke to the crazy Welsh lady who was the dog catcher....she told me that if he is not claimed by the evening he would be shot.....I immediately put him in my truck and took him home.
At the time I was married to Connie and of course both her girls were thrilled when I let him out of the truck..he was a very special dog and when I got divorced a few months later it seemed all I got from the joint property was Major.....I had him for a couple of years before I gave him away to a young family that lived on a farm.
At noon I went for my first physio appointment and Fernandina spent over 80 minutes with me and treated my knee, elbow and rib with both her hands and electric machines and sonar ......she gave me a written list of exercises she wants me to do and I am to return on Monday...the cost was an unbelievable 500 pesos.
I met Gregg at my house and he gave me the hiking poles he had ordered for me off Amazon Mexico, two days for them to arrive...
I will use these as a safety precaution and then when I get back to my serious hiking they will be perfect for those down hills!!
Watched my Brother’s soccer team in a live game from Hull, unfortunately they did not win!!
It felt really good to be out of the house without help today and to be able to walk slowly without pain is a huge bonus for me.....
This is from my blog in May of 2016...hope you enjoy the read....
Friday 20th May 2016.....Heather, Linda and Larry do NOT READ THIS POST!!!!!!
How about that for an attention grabber???
Today was beautiful sunny, clear blue skies and the the perfect day for my Table Mountain Adventure!!!
So the tallest peak in the centre is where I am heading!!!! There are two ways to do this...the more sensible way is
or you can do it this way!!
I chose the hiking route and all I will say it was one of the toughest hikes I have ever done!!!!
BUT
The views were quite amazing on the way up!!!
Still a way to go...
I need to get right into the V of those rocks....
Now when you are getting weary and you look up and see you still have a good hike in front of you sometimes you just need that little bit of extra motivation to keep on going...just saying!!!
Well I did make it and the views were worth waiting for!!!!
So the reason for the heading of this blog is that I saw an advert on the Internet and it was called "Dope on a rope!!!"
Advertising an abseil down the mountain!!!!!
It caught my attention and I have never done anything like this before so i thought I might as well....
Unfortunately no photos but I was in a group of 4 and we were given safety instructions, a helmut and of course sign the WAIVER!!!!
So I decided that I needed to be first and I got my harness on and sat on the ledge for a second thinking...well I won't tell you what I was thinking!!!!
Great view with me out on the ledge
The gear!!!
OK I am fastened onto the ropes and my last shot before I turn around and go over the edge..
For the uninformed this is what I am doing!!!
Today was beautiful sunny, clear blue skies and the the perfect day for my Table Mountain Adventure!!!
or you can do it this way!!
I chose the hiking route and all I will say it was one of the toughest hikes I have ever done!!!!
BUT
The views were quite amazing on the way up!!!
Now when you are getting weary and you look up and see you still have a good hike in front of you sometimes you just need that little bit of extra motivation to keep on going...just saying!!!
Well I did make it and the views were worth waiting for!!!!
Advertising an abseil down the mountain!!!!!
It caught my attention and I have never done anything like this before so i thought I might as well....
Unfortunately no photos but I was in a group of 4 and we were given safety instructions, a helmut and of course sign the WAIVER!!!!
So I decided that I needed to be first and I got my harness on and sat on the ledge for a second thinking...well I won't tell you what I was thinking!!!!
For the uninformed this is what I am doing!!!
An abseil (/ˈæbseɪl/ or /ˈɑːpzaɪl/; from German abseilen, meaning "to rope down"), also called a rappel after its French name, is a controlled descent of a vertical drop, such as a rock face, using a rope.
Climbers use this technique when a cliff or slope is too steep and/or dangerous to descend without protection. Many climbers use this technique to protect established anchors from damage. Rope access technicians also use this as a method to access difficult-to-reach areas from above for various industrial applications like maintenance, construction, inspection and welding. Rescue teams are also known for using this method as a way to access injured or stranded victims.
History
The origin of the abseil is attributed[1] to Jean Charlet-Straton, a Chamonix guide who lived from 1840–1925. Charlet originally devised the technique of the abseil method of roping down during a failed solo attempt of Petit Dru in 1876. After many attempts, some of them solo, he managed to reach the summit of the Petit Dru in 1879 in the company of two other Chamonix guides, Prosper Payot and Frédéric Folliguet, whom he hired. During that ascent, Charlet perfected the abseil.
It was a drop of 112 meters with 70 of them free fall...
So basically what you do is lean back facing the mountain and push off with your feet and let the rope glide through your hands...you control your speed but i was also hooked up to another rope which the guide at the top also had control to make sure i did not go down too fast......the views looking down took my breath away and it was fine till the rocks were no more and then just air...I managed to keep my speed quite slow and I really must say i did enjoy the feeling but it definitely got my blood pumping...took me about a minute and I was down and another guide got me out of my harness and then it was a 25 minute hike back up the mountain to the start...just what I needed another hike up....
These photos are the couple that followed me down...
I do know even after walking back up getting my back pack and paying for the ticket for the gondola ride back down the mountain my heart was still racing...I think I can safely say it is the scariest thing I have ever done!!!!
The gondola ride was different in the the floor slowly turned 360 degrees whilst going down a great innovation and a way to get sightings of everything!!
Looking down!!!
Looking up!!!
Well that was a day!!!
Came home and took the girls out for their walk and fed them and I opened the back door in to the yard where they play and within 5 minutes Storm was gone again!!!
I doubled checked the fence and cannot see how she is getting out but obviously I have to keep the back door closed a shame because they used to like it out there.
I went looking for her and found her close to where she was yesterday.....got her home no point getting mad at her she does not know any different, what a shame she has not been trained!!
I had a really long soak in the tub, a light dinner and just watched some TV I will admit am I am very tired!!!
In all the years of doing the blog I stay away from all political, religious and sexual comments and rarely i tell a little about my personal life but I do want to share something that has been going on for a couple of months with me.....
First of all about 23 years ago I collapsed on the tennis court in Smoky Lake where I used to live, playing of all things tennis with my Dad...I was rushed to the hospital and kept in a few days where I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, or an irregular heart beat...for the next couple of years after that i could always tell when my heart would go out of sync and I would have to stop what ever activity I was doing but then one time it went irregular and stayed that way...I had a wonderful Doctor in Nanaimo and he was honest with me telling me that it will be that way and for me to get used to it...he said no medication will help accept a baby aspirin every day and that i was to get an ECG every year, both of these things I have done. He also told me not to change my lifestyle but to continue being active and doing all I do but one day i would probably need some surgery..well I took his advice and you know from reading these blogs over the years I have not shied away from the physical stuff!!!
Thankfully I have had not a single heart issue at all.
About 5 years ago the same Doctor took X rays of my knees and told me I had a slight arthritis in my left knee and a more severe one in my right knee but again, no medication and if I could still participate in the things I do..to go for it and again I have without any issues.
So where am I going with all of this??? Just to let you know that I have felt in the last few months that I know I am slowing down.....the hiking is a little harder for me....I don't always get the drop shots in tennis I used to get.....my knees sometimes ache a little and my recovery time is a little longer.
For my age I think I do really well and I am not complaining and I am so blessed to have the great health that I do but for me I notice a few extra pounds around my belly and even though I feel like a kid I know I am not and perhaps in future I may need to tone back a fraction some of the stuff I do and give my body a little longer to heal.....wow that was a mouthful!!!
Some people ask me why and what Yashi Kochi means ......
Sweet dreams!!!!
It was a drop of 112 meters with 70 of them free fall...
So basically what you do is lean back facing the mountain and push off with your feet and let the rope glide through your hands...you control your speed but i was also hooked up to another rope which the guide at the top also had control to make sure i did not go down too fast......the views looking down took my breath away and it was fine till the rocks were no more and then just air...I managed to keep my speed quite slow and I really must say i did enjoy the feeling but it definitely got my blood pumping...took me about a minute and I was down and another guide got me out of my harness and then it was a 25 minute hike back up the mountain to the start...just what I needed another hike up....
These photos are the couple that followed me down...
The gondola ride was different in the the floor slowly turned 360 degrees whilst going down a great innovation and a way to get sightings of everything!!
Well that was a day!!!
Came home and took the girls out for their walk and fed them and I opened the back door in to the yard where they play and within 5 minutes Storm was gone again!!!
I doubled checked the fence and cannot see how she is getting out but obviously I have to keep the back door closed a shame because they used to like it out there.
I went looking for her and found her close to where she was yesterday.....got her home no point getting mad at her she does not know any different, what a shame she has not been trained!!
I had a really long soak in the tub, a light dinner and just watched some TV I will admit am I am very tired!!!
In all the years of doing the blog I stay away from all political, religious and sexual comments and rarely i tell a little about my personal life but I do want to share something that has been going on for a couple of months with me.....
First of all about 23 years ago I collapsed on the tennis court in Smoky Lake where I used to live, playing of all things tennis with my Dad...I was rushed to the hospital and kept in a few days where I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, or an irregular heart beat...for the next couple of years after that i could always tell when my heart would go out of sync and I would have to stop what ever activity I was doing but then one time it went irregular and stayed that way...I had a wonderful Doctor in Nanaimo and he was honest with me telling me that it will be that way and for me to get used to it...he said no medication will help accept a baby aspirin every day and that i was to get an ECG every year, both of these things I have done. He also told me not to change my lifestyle but to continue being active and doing all I do but one day i would probably need some surgery..well I took his advice and you know from reading these blogs over the years I have not shied away from the physical stuff!!!
Thankfully I have had not a single heart issue at all.
About 5 years ago the same Doctor took X rays of my knees and told me I had a slight arthritis in my left knee and a more severe one in my right knee but again, no medication and if I could still participate in the things I do..to go for it and again I have without any issues.
So where am I going with all of this??? Just to let you know that I have felt in the last few months that I know I am slowing down.....the hiking is a little harder for me....I don't always get the drop shots in tennis I used to get.....my knees sometimes ache a little and my recovery time is a little longer.
For my age I think I do really well and I am not complaining and I am so blessed to have the great health that I do but for me I notice a few extra pounds around my belly and even though I feel like a kid I know I am not and perhaps in future I may need to tone back a fraction some of the stuff I do and give my body a little longer to heal.....wow that was a mouthful!!!
Some people ask me why and what Yashi Kochi means ......
Sweet dreams!!!!
What is interesting for me reading this is all those years ago I had the arthritis in my knees but luckily never stopped me playing...so this old body has been good to me!!
Stay safe and healthy!!
Yashi Kochi!!
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