Last week, we went to Vancouver for E’s annual cardiac testing. ECG, Echo, X-rays and blood work are all the usual tests. He hasn’t had a heart biopsy since his tenth year but he probably had forty of them in the early years. Angiograms are every five years. Test result days used to be incredibly stressful.

Once upon a time, doctors came from far and wide (both VGH and St. Pauls) to examine E and try to diagnose what was killing his heart. The top cardiologist in the transplant clinic took control of E’s case, as he was determined to solve the puzzle. Twenty-two years ago, E, or at least his health, was interesting. Papers were written about the 43 year old otherwise healthy male who had suddenly become ill.

Today was going to be the first really warm day of spring so I packed my day bag and headed to the garden early with a long list of goals to accomplish. I won’t call them chores ‘cause that word implies a distasteful task and the items on the list were anything but.

I planted up 18 pumpkins (Cinderella, Pepita, Small Sugar) in one gallon pots. Five pickling cucumbers (Calypso ) are planted in smaller pots as are 25 sweet burpless (Sweet garden) cucumbers. Six trays of peas and some baby hydrangeas were planted too. I potted up about fifty tomatoes yesterday and will plant another fifty or so when I get more ProMix on the weekend.

No sign of any humpback whales yet, this spring but we have had Orca come by twice this week. One afternoon I was sitting in my chair drinking my hot water when the whole of J Pod, 20 Orca, filled the channel in front of me as they travelled north. Honestly, I love living here.. (You might have guessed)

I didn’t come back down to the house ‘til 3, so there was plenty of time to meet my goals as well as chill out by the pond, watching the birds and enjoying the peace and quiet. It was truly a wonderful day and hopefully only the first of many in a long, flower filled summer of relaxation.

In these days of Covid restrictions and after 22 years living without incident with his new heart, there are no more in person examinations from teams of doctors. Test results now come by phone. His Cardiologist happened to call to discuss his health and give him the good news today while E was on the trampoline. To be clear, he wasn’t actually jumping on the trampoline during the call with his doctor, ‘cause that

would be weird