by Judy Handley | May 3, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 177, Year 7: Counting My Blessings
Date: Thursday, May 3, 2012
Weather: Still Overcast with Occasional Mist
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Mark’s not feeling great, the weather is crappy, the work on the deck is not
getting done, but one photo changes all of that. This afternoon Mark went
with me to pick up Sam and Jonah and then we both spent the afternoon at
Heather and Jed’s. Mark slept on the sofa with Oliver and through the lens
of my camera I saw just how much we have to be thankful for. Oliver’s hand
with such smooth soft skin next to Mark’s hand, rough through years of use,
brought tears to my eyes. How lucky we are to be here, close to
grandchildren, while Mark is going through these months of chemotherapy. He
is smothered in love from Sam, Jonah, and Oliver as his body is fighting
this battle, and I’m certain that love will win. Then tonight we had a
Skype call with Justin, Jo, and Ziggy. Ziggy was having a late afternoon
nap. We watched him sleep through much of the call, but finally he came to
life. He looks like he has doubled in size since we were there at
Christmas. It is so hard being so far away, and soon it will be doubly hard
when Ziggy’s baby sister is born. But we are conjuring up ways to get the
whole family together in the fall. So tonight, instead of complaining about
those things that are not perfect right now, all I can really do is count my
blessings.
by Judy Handley | May 2, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 176, Year 7: Spring Mist
Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Weather: Overcast with Occasional Mist
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
The weather continues to be a bit dreary and damp, with no hint of sunshine
in the last 48 hours. But it is spring and this is most definitely typical
spring weather. In the morning, there were periods of mist, but in the
afternoon it was just overcast. Mark got up this morning with a mission.
He felt good enough to go on deck and use the Fein tool to remove the
remainder of the caulk from the port deck. He anticipates feeling really
low tomorrow and Friday, based on his experience after the last chemo
treatment, so he wanted to get as much done this morning as possible. He
works at West Marine on Saturday and Sunday, so it will be Monday before he
can get back out there with the Dremel saw to deepen the grooves and do the
final preparations prior to caulking. Due to chemo treatments and weather,
doing the deck work is a very slow process. But we will get there.
We went to Heather’s before noon today so the visiting nurse could
disconnect Mark’s pump there. We have decided that it is just too much to
continue having the nurse and the pump pick-up folks come to the boat. It
will be out of the water in a couple of weeks and I know they are not going
to climb a ladder while we are on land. And then we will be back in Woods
Hole on a mooring and they are certainly not going to get in a dinghy and
come out to Windbird. So meeting them at Heather’s seems most sensible.
The pump actually goes for 46 hours, not 48 as we thought initially. So
Mark was ready to be disconnected by 11:15 this morning. Amy, the visiting
nurse assigned to Mark, arrived at 11:16, so there was certainly no delay in
getting the pump disconnected today. Mark was feeling fine until the pump
was removed, then he started his downward spiral.
In the afternoon, Heather decided to go to a seminar in Woods Hole and Mark
and I stayed with the three boys. Sam and Jonah took their naps, so they
were asleep most of the afternoon, and Oliver slept, took a bottle of
pre-pumped breast milk, and then slept the rest of the afternoon. He
continues to have digestive issues and really only sleeps if you hold him
and can pat his back and bounce him once in a while. But I can sit and nap
or read while holding him and we enjoy our bonding time.
The bees are doing great so far. It will be time to feed them again
tomorrow. To get the hive started, you buy this big yellow plastic
container that you fill with a sugar water solution. They eat this while
they are getting established. Heather has filled it twice now, and at the
end of the day today, it was obvious that it needs a refill. You can view
the hive activity from the living room by looking out the side picture
window. Sam is especially interested in the bees and keeps a close watch.
I think the birds are digging up and eating all of the sunflower seeds I so
meticulously planted in the bee garden, so I might have to replant. And
hopefully the weather will be nicer tomorrow so I can plant some of the
seedlings we started on Windbird. They are just getting too big to keep in
the small containers. So the project for tomorrow is planting.
by Judy Handley | May 1, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 175, Year 7: May Day
Date: Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Weather: Rainy All Day
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Happy May Day. Hopefully it wasn’t raining all day where you are, but that
is what it was doing here and is continuing into the night. We need the
rain for the gardens, but certainly not for our deck. We have most of the
caulk removed from the port side and even though we are covered, when it
rains the water comes through where the plastic where it is not tight around
the stays. We are just hoping for nice dry days once Mark bounces back from
the chemo treatment so we can complete the job.
Mark is feeling much better today. Thankfully last night’s nausea was
short-lived. But even though he is feeling better, he still is not
interested in reading. This is so unusual for him as he is an avid reader.
Right now he just wants to watch videos or play Words with Friends on his
phone. Tonight we watched The Bounty. This version, filmed in 1984,
starred Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher
Christian. It was filmed in Opunohu Bay, Moorea, not in Tahiti where The
Bounty actually anchored. The island of Tahiti simply doesn’t have the
dramatic mountain scenery found on its neighboring island of Moorea and that
scenery surely makes a dramatic backdrop for a film. And it brought back
wonderful memories for us. Mark and his brother-in-law Lee spent an entire
afternoon learning to wind surf in that bay with the same dramatic scenery
in the background. But thankfully, they returned to Windbird and there was
no mutiny.
by Judy Handley | Apr 30, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 174, Year 7: Halfway There
Date: Monday, April 30, 2012
Weather: Still Sunny and Cool, Less Windy
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Mark had his sixth chemo treatment today which puts him at the halfway point. He shared that distinction with our friends Heather and Jon on sailing vessel Evergreen. They hit the magic 1500 mile point today which is halfway from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. Congratulations, Heather and Jon. They have had amazingly good winds for this first half of their trip and Mark has held up amazingly well up to this point in the chemotherapy regime. But tonight, he was really nauseous. That’s the first time this has happened and it is really hard to watch him suffer. But we’ll figure this out. I just have to put him on the anti-nausea food diet—more ginger, more fennel, and lots of liquids. I think his nausea tonight was brought on by the food we ate for dinner. It was just too rich. Thai soup, minus the hot spice, sounds like the right choice on a chemo night. We are seeing first-hand just how much diet affects one’s state of well-being.
I took Mark to Heather and Jed’s after his chemo treatment and then went to pick up Sam and Jonah. We know that once we move Windbird to Woods Hole, the visiting nurse is not going to come out in a dinghy to hook Mark up to the pump he wears for three days following the treatment at the clinic. So we figured we might as well start having her come to Heather’s now. Hopefully that will work out for everyone.
After naptime for Sam and Jonah, we worked outside on some gardening projects. Sam and I finished planting the sunflowers in the bee garden. Sam is fascinated by the bees and found a few that had strayed from the hive and were just sitting on the ground. He was afraid they were going to die, so we encouraged them to climb on a small stick and I then carried them to the hive. Then Sam and Jonah and I fertilized the peas in the food garden with a seaweed and fish emulsion. I made the mix and put it in their little watering cans. Then they watered the plants. Jonah is interested in helping, but Sam is old enough to be really helpful. We have lots of gardening to do, so we’ll do a bit every day after nap.
Can tomorrow really be the first day of May? My calendar tells me it is. So at the Goldstone’s tomorrow afternoon, we will plant some of the seedlings that I have been growing in Windbird’s cockpit. We might even be adventuresome and plant our first green beans. It is almost a month too early for that, but since everything else is a month early this year, we’ll follow suite. The Farmer’s Almanac tells me we should plant beets, potatoes, and swiss chard, so we’ll do just that.
by Judy Handley | Apr 29, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 173, Year 7: Skippyjon Jones and Bees
Date: Sunday, April 29, 2012
Weather: Same, Same–Mostly Sunny, Windy, and Cool
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
If you are not up-to-date in terms of children’s literature, you have probably never heard of Skippyjon Jones, a Siamese cat who thinks he is a Chihuahua. The books are a riot and this afternoon Jed took Sam and Jonah to see a children’s musical based on the original book. The boys came in from playing in the dirt and made a miraculous transformation by putting on dress shirts. They packed their backpacks for the afternoon, and off they went. So cute.
Mark went to work at West Marine this morning and I went directly to Heather and Jed’s to work on the bee garden. When I arrived, Jonah took one look at me and asked why I come there every morning. I started to explain that we have been working on a special project, but stopped when I realized he really wouldn’t understand. This coming week, I’ll stay home in the mornings and Heather and Oliver will come here to help with boat projects.
In the late afternoon, the bees arrived in Woods Hole and Heather went to get them. She waited until I picked up Mark at the end of the day to put them in the hive. It’s been many years since we kept bees, but we used what little residual knowledge we still have to help out. Heather did a fantastic job of getting the bees into their new home. She was using the same veil that Mark used when she was a little girl, but unfortunately it is showing its age. There were holes in the mesh and a bee flew right in. Heather just stayed calm, took off the veil, and shook out her hair to get rid of the bee. I think she needs a new veil. It was a good day, but I’m tired. It’s time to get a little sleep so we’ll be ready for tomorrow—a chemo treatment day.
by Judy Handley | Apr 28, 2012 | Cape Cod, USA, Sailing Logs Year 7 |
Day 172, Year 7: Call of the Wild
Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012
Weather: Same, Same–Mostly Sunny, Windy, and Cool
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
It is time for true confessions. For six years we traveled around the world
and only watched three or four videos the entire time. Other cruisers
watched a DVD every night, but we chose to read. I think I mentioned in a
log last week that I had caved and bought some el cheapo DVD’s at Walmart
for Mark to watch when he is really feeling lousy. Unfortunately, just
having the DVD cases sitting on the table has lured us into watching-even
though Mark feels great. Jack London’s Call of the Wild was just too
enticing. Evidently this was a TV series at some point, so the DVD was a
series of shows instead of one long video. That was perfect for us, and
tonight we watched the last in the series. It is amazing how easy it is to
entertain two people. Next we get to watch the Bonanza series. That’s
right-the Cartwright’s. You get what you pay for. These are the $5 DVD’s
available at Walmart, but I must admit that we are enjoying the diversion.
Today was a big day for baby Oliver. Mommy had to go to work to do a fund
raising shift, so Jed and I took turns holding Oliver as he slept. Heather
was due to return home around 2:15 pm, but around 1:30 pm Oliver got hungry.
He is breast-fed and has never had a bottle, but Heather had pumped some
milk and left it for us. Jed wanted to try feeding him with a bottle,
something that Sam and Jonah both rejected whole-heartedly, but it worked
today with Oliver. I think Jed really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to
feed him (as you can see in the attached photo) and both Jed and I were
elated that he took to the bottle so easily. Heather returns to work
part-time in June and has to work long hours on Mondays as that is when she
will be hosting a call-in program. Since Oliver is going to need to accept
breast milk from a bottle on those Mondays, Heather and Jed are going to try
to give him a bottle once a day from now on just to make sure he continues
to accept it
We are still chipping away at the bee garden and are hoping to have all the
sod removed by noon tomorrow. That will give us a couple of hours to rake
and plant before the bees arrive around 5 pm. So the big news for tomorrow
will be the arrival of the bees.
