Contents
- - - Ruth at May Court
- - Ruth Enters Hospital
- - Hike To Carbide Wilson's Mill
- - - Ruth in Montreal
- - Biking To Pink Lake
- - - Merkis Family Wedding Weekend
- - Biking The Greenbelt Pathway
- - The New NCF Office
- - A Record-Setting Ottawa Pride
- - Out Quadracycling
- - A Visit To Witold and Vicki's House
- - - Matt and Katia Visit
- - Catriking Picnic
- - Ruth Bakes Bread
- - Matt and Nick Visit
- - At The Tulip Festival
- - A Year Without a Haircut
- - Ruth's Tulips
- - Catriking Season Starts
- - Rachael In Ottawa
- - Merkis Family Reunion
- - The New Bridge
- - - Matt and Katia Visit
- - Skiing Resumes
- - Ruth Starts Chemo
- - Presto!
- - More Weird Weather
- - Weird Weather
- - Great Ski Season So Far
Click to enlarge photos
Ruth at May Court
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On Ruth's cancer brought her to the Hospice at May Court, which is a beautiful, small, end-of-life facility on the Rideau River, near Billings Bridge. There Ruth has great care, good food, wifi internet and a quiet setting to spend her time. She has had lots of visits from friends and family members. I am there most of the time with her, too.
In the first photo below, in typical Ruth fashion, she shows off her new Newfoundland puffin socks given to her by her niece, Christina. There is also a photo of Buddhist nuns Ayyā Medhanandi and Ayyā Nimmalā chanting with Ruth.
- Video: Buddhist Chanting For Ruth (One)
- Video: Buddhist Chanting For Ruth (Two)
- Video: Buddhist Chanting For Ruth (Three)
In December Ruth's niece Elli Merkis shaved her head and sold her hair to raise funds for the Hospice at May Court. Photos of the event held at The Atomic Rooster bistro by Liz Shepherd on Flicker. Ruth was enormously touched by Elli's gesture.
At the end of Ruth was still at May Court and so this photo collection is continued on our page.
Ruth Enters Hospital
Due to her ongoing cancer Ruth has been in the hospital for long stays five times in . On she had to go to the Ottawa General by ambulance as she was in distress and not doing well at home. They have her stabilized there now, but she has decided that her care requirements now exceed what can be done at home and has asked to be transferred to a palliative care facility. This means that she won't be home again.
Her spirits remain good and she has enjoyed visits from many friends and relatives while at the Ottawa General.
Hike To Carbide Wilson's Mill
Adam and his friend Gwen took a mid-week hike to visit the old ruins of Carbide Wilson's 1907 research facility in Gatineau Park.
Ruth in Montreal
On the weekend of -, Matt came to Ottawa and picked Ruth up to take her to Montreal. Ruth was fairly weak and tired from the cancer and so they all spent a very quiet weekend in Matt and Katia's new apartment.
Photos by Matt and Katia
Biking To Pink Lake
With Ruth in Montreal visiting Matt and Katia for the weekend, Adam decided to take advantage of the great autumn weather and do a mountain bike trip up to Gatineau Park, over the Ottawa River in Quebec. His plan was to bring a picnic lunch, bike some off-road trails and see the fall colours. He cheated a bit and took his 27 year steel framed Norco Alpine bike on the O-Train for the first leg from Greenboro to Bayview and saved 10 km, although the final round trip distance was still about 70 km cycled.
Merkis Family Wedding Weekend
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Witold and Vicki's son Alex married his fiancee Liz on Friday . Due to Ruth's health issues we were not able to attend the evening wedding, but we did host Nick at our house and made it to the family brunch, hosted by Witold and Vicki, at their home in Kanata.
Biking The Greenbelt Pathway
After being unable to ride his 27 year old steel Norco Alpine mountain bike most of the summer, due to a shoulder injury, Adam finally got out on the Greenbelt Pathway at the end of summer.
The New NCF Office
Our not-for-profit internet service provider, National Capital FreeNet, just moved from Westboro to Suite 206-1305 Richmond Road, Ottawa, Ontario K2B 7Y4. I dropped by to top up the stocks of free software CDs/DVDs and have a look at the new office.
A Record-Setting Ottawa Pride
The Ottawa Pride Parade set a record for participants; the parade went on for miles and miles. Perhaps most notable was the participation of not just LGBT groups and organizations, but by a lot of big businesses, like the Royal Bank, TD Bank and Loblaws, the Canadian Forces, as well as all the major political parties (except the bigoted ones, of course). Every city department was there, too: Police, Fire, Paramedics, Public Health and even the Public Library and OC Transpo, too. About half the city turned out to watch the parade. It is about the most colourful parade each year in Ottawa.
Out Quadracycling
On Sunday Ruth was in the middle of her radiation treatment, but felt well enough to get out for a short 6 km quadracycle trip. She really enjoyed getting a bit of exercise, as well as some sunshine. It was a nice break for her from being on the couch or in bed and seemed help her leg pain to some degree.
• Write-up on Quadracycling in Ottawa
A Visit To Witold and Vicki's House
On Ruth went to her brother, Witold and his wife, Vicki's house in Kanata for brunch. Ruth brought homemade cold brewed coffee concentrate and they all enjoyed Witold's German Pancakes.
Matt and Katia Visit
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Matt and Katia came to Ottawa for a mid-week visit in Late July. One thing that Ruth and Katia have wanted to do for a long time is some crochet lessons and Katia picked the skills up very quickly.
Catriking Picnic
Between a month of bad weather, Ruth recovering from her last chemo treatment and Adam spending the some time in the hospital, we haven't had a lot of opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy what should be summer weather at this time of year. Today, even though the weather forecast was far from correct, we managed to Catrike 21 km and had a picnic lunch north of Dow's Lake. We even had ice cream at Hog's Back Park, for dessert! Best of all we didn't even get soaked.
Ruth Bakes Bread
Today Ruth did something she hasn't done in a while, baked some homemade bread! Ruth's chemo has actually helped her in that her gluten intolerance has abated for a bit, meaning that she can not only bake bread, but eat it too.
Matt and Nick Visit
On Matt came down from Montreal by train and Nick drove in from Burlington for a short visit on their way to Montreal for the long Victoria Day weekend. While they were here we had an impromptu celebration of Matt's birthday with cheesecake!
At The Tulip Festival
Each year we try to make it to the Canadian Tulip Festival as part of celebrating Ruth's birthday. This year the weather didn't quite live up to the forecast, as it was fairly cool and windy, but the tulips were pretty. Ruth didn't want ice cream under those conditions and settled for a Beavertail instead.
A Year Without a Haircut
Today marks one year since Ruth last cut my hair. In she had announced that I was going to grow it and I did until when we both cut each other's hair. Since then it has grown 6.25 inches (15.9 cm) and all I have had is two bang trims to keep it out of my eyes.
After a lifetime of crew cuts, I have to admit that long hair has been different, just walking in the wind is a whole new experience. Lots of men my age seem to be growing their hair these days as I see many of them with ponytails - just a baby-boomer retirement effect I think. I have also noticed that random people I met in grocery stores, on the bus, train etc, in general seem to react to me differently. They seem to be more friendly and assume I am more approachable. Now there is a whole subject for a master's thesis! While I was volunteering at National Capital FreeNet's office walk-ins definitely acted as if I had better computer skills because of the longer hair. Funny how that works!
Since she has no hair at all right now due to chemo, Ruth is keen on me keeping my hair long. Personally I want it to get just a bit longer so I can get it all into a ponytail.
Ruth's Tulips
Ruth's tulips burst into bloom today!
Catriking Season Starts
The weather has been good for biking for the last while, but Adam was down with a shoulder injury and Ruth is undergoing chemotherapy, so that has seriously slowed down getting out triking. Adam's shoulder is doing better and so he finally got out for a ride today. Ruth was able to trike a bit in our street for a few minutes.
Rachael In Ottawa
Rachael arrived in Ottawa on for a three week visit. On she moved to London, Ontario.
Merkis Family Reunion
To celebrate Ruth getting out the hospital we organized a family get-together.
The New Bridge
The City of Ottawa decided that a small bridge over the Sawmill Creek was too corroded to leave up and so replaced it with a new galvanized steel "drop-in" bridge this past week. While on a short walk to have a look at the new bridge, Ruth couldn't resist also having a look at the local non-migratory ducks.
Matt and Katia Visit
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Matt and Katia came to Ottawa for a visit!
Skiing Resumes
The skiing has been very poor down in the city recently with lots of ice and not much snow. Then on Friday we had a good snowfall and that gave us the chance to get out and do some more skiing over the weekend!
Of course the forecast is for freezing rain on Monday, which just shows that you have to ski when you can do so!
Ruth Starts Chemo
In January we found out that Ruth's cancer cannot be cured and that it is terminal. On Ruth started a second chemotherapy series as part of palliative cancer treatment. This will be six treatments, scheduled to end in mid-May.
As part of this treatment Ruth had a PICC line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) inserted to drastically reduce the risk of bruising from repeated attempts to find a usable vein for delivery of the medication and for the drawing of blood for blood tests.
As usual her Buddhism is giving her the tools to deal with the challenges and let her get through this next five months of treatment. Ruth has decided to not continue writing her cancer diary, but instead concentrate on a new book about Buddhism. Adam has been working on updating her book and there will be a new "second edition" for free download once the treatment is all done to update the story.
Presto
Ottawa is finally entering the 21st century and doing testing on a new transit card, part of the Ontario-wide Presto card system. The card will allow internet registration and purchase of fares to be loaded on the card, which is then paid by tapping it on the Presto box in the bus. It even accounts for transfers on one fare. This means no more having to go to the store to buy tickets or passes!
Ruth ordered one of the test cards for Adam and today he got to actually try it out on a real bus trip and, lo and behold, it works as advertised!
More Weird Weather
The unusual weather has continued through the end of January, with very cold temperatures and nothing but ice on the ground, followed by a warm-up to just below freezing on , 15 cm of snow and then a warm front. That brought eight hours of freezing rain on the night of , followed by record high temperatures of +12°C on 30 January, some 7C° above the previous record for the day. It also brought a big melt and lots of rain.
Before this there was no skiing here in Ottawa, due to the ice and lack of snow cover. The 15 cm of new snow allowed skiing for a few hours on before the freezing rain ruined the conditions again. Now we have a solid base of melted ice everywhere and need some more snow to get skiing again.
Adam got out skiing in that short window on the morning of and snapped this photo of the snow.
Weird Weather
Since early January, when the skiing was great, the weather has now turned quite odd. Early January featured lots of snow, light winds and temperatures that stayed below zero and kept the snow frozen. Then we had a January thaw, but not a typical one. Typically these last a day or two and we don't lose too much snow-pack, but this one gave us five days of above freezing temperatures, including two days above +10°! By the time it was done the snow-pack had been reduced to about a foot of solid ice, no good for skiing. The photo below was taken on 13 January 2013 with Ottawa fogged in and temperatures well above zero.
Following the big thaw we had very cold temperatures, down to -22°C and with wind-chills down to -30. Then the weather warmed up, we got some much-needed snow, but then it went far above freezing again and we had a night of rain. Now we are plunged back into the deep freeze and we still need some new snow to get out skiing once again.
Climate change is wreaking havoc with our XC skiing in the city. Like last winter, it really pays to ski while you can, because you never know what the next day will be like.
Great Ski Season So Far
Ski season started early, before Christmas, but the earlier days of 2013 featured lots and lots of snow and the cold temperatures to keep it good for skiing on.
