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.
