Last week was a bad one for me … the kind of week where my goal was to get through it without hurting myself – or someone else.
It was a week of insomnia.
The garage made an unexpected jerk-move and leaped in front of me while I was trying to back out … smacking up the front-end of my car. Yeah, I know. It doesn’t sound right to me either, but I’m sure that’s exactly what happened.
A still-unidentified allergic reaction left my right eye red-ringed and swollen almost completely shut. Meantime, the lack of sleep made my left eye twitch uncontrollably. I looked outright scary.
Which brings me to the late night romp on the roof of the house with a flashlight in one hand and a broom handle in the other. The broom was for self-defense. I was alone all week and of course that was when one enterprising raccoon decided to climb on our roof and tear the cap off one of the vents.
It did occur to me as I crept along the roof, in my pajamas, in the dark, to confront a raccoon, that perhaps this could end badly. The only good part in the entire escapade was that it was so dark outside, I couldn’t see exactly how high up I really was. These things always seem to happen when Gilles is away.
No. Last week wasn’t a good one, and I wasn’t a happy camper.
So, this week I decided to shake the stink off from last week and go on a field trip looking for a sunflower farm. What could be better for lifting the spirits than spending some quality time driving down a peaceful country road and photographing fields full of bright yellow sunny heads?
Yeah, well, it didn’t exactly work out that way.
Oh, the driving up and down country roads part was pretty accurate. My GPS – aka The Bitch – took me on a convoluted tour of the entire countryside before finally deciding to have mercy on my frazzled soul.
But it didn’t get better from there.
I had missed the peak bloom of the sunflowers.
My Life Lived Full 
Dont have Raccons in the uk, byt sounds like an eventful time. Compare notes at allornothingblog.co.uk
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Stupid raccoons. I would happily ship the little devil who’s been plaguing us to you 😉
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He could be a plaything for my staffy
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hmmm – wonder which one I would put my money on in a face-to-face?
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Hihih, I had some fun with talking sunflowers too on my blog earlier this summer. Mine looked more like zombies than yours. They think we can’t hear them… 😉 I giggled loudly over yours. 😀
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omg – I’m glad I didn’t make the connection to zombies when I was walking through the field. It would have creeped me out … but yes! they do kind of look zombie-ish!!
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Once sunflowers peak they don’t last long. I drove by a field of them near Hamilton two weeks ago and they were looking even sadder than the ones you saw.
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A woman I talked to at the farm I visited said they tend to peak around the 3rd week of July. I’ll know better for next year.
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Oh man!! Sorry for the bad week and that you missed the peak of the sunflowers. That GPS likes to take the most convoluted ways for some reason!
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Sometimes I’m really baffled by the choices the GPS makes … not unlike some humans 😉
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Oh dear, I hope this week goes better!
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It was a much better week, thanks. I slept quite well and the worst thing I had to deal with was scooping dead mice out of the pool every morning.
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I’m not sure there was a peak season for sunflowers this year…don’t they require a fair bit of sun⛈?
On the issue of raccoons- best solution we found was to have our son urinate around the property – marking territory so to speak – worked a charm! Now not sure about what the neighbours might make of Gilles peeing on the roof though…
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Really? It worked? A very interesting solution. I was out at 5 am this morning to shoo the raccoon away from our backyard trying to get back on the roof again.
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I hate those kinds of days/weeks. The sunflowers were just commiserating with you. ;-0
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Thankfully I don’t have weeks like that one very often. Let’s just say some alcohol might have been required by the weekend 😉
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I should certainly hope so….
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OM goodness – the good news: look at how many commenters love you!
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It makes me feel warm and fuzzy and all over 🙂
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The sunflower photos and captions are SO funny Jo, I had to laugh, but commiserations with the raccoon and the eye. I suffered a similar reaction a few weeks ago on my hand, not sure what caused it but I ended up with bright red marks and blisters – looked as though I had dipped it in boiling water! Almost healed now, but I have managed to hurt my ankle again!! Bad days indeed…
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So many people have reported that the past week or two has been a challenge!! It must be the planetary alignment 🙂
It sounds like your hands got into contact with something rather toxic. Glad to hear it’s mostly cleared up. Thankfully my eye is almost 100% again.
Take care of that ankle! This has to be at least the 3rd or 4th time.
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That could be it! I think the toxic stuff was Leylandii trees – bad news! And the ankle is not the usual suspect, but the left one – no idea why it is painful, but I can’t put a lot of weight on it. Odd because it doesn’t look swollen at all. Anyway, sun is shining so I am off to finish off the garden redesign that I started months ago!
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Maybe the left ankle is just feeling a bit ‘neglected’ since the right one has had so much attention 😉
Happy gardening!
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Thank goodness for your sense of humour to carry you through a truly nasty week.
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It’s always better to laugh 😀
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Okay, first of all – hilarious! Especially about the garage attacking you. Secondly, I do not sleep well when my husband is away either – I have to have a lot of white noise going to block out the outside world. Lastly, I’m glad things are going better this week. 🙂
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I don’t know what it is when he’s away – I’m just wired. I’m up much later than I normally would be and then toss and turn. It’s not unusual for me to read until 4 or 5 am. Then I feel like dirt all day
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Oh dear, everything seems to have conspired against you! But I think you turned it to your advantage. While the sunflowers look a bit sad, they still make for good photos. Wishing you a better week!
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Last week seemed to be a perfect storm of trouble. This week is peaceful in comparison 🙂
Hope your’s is too!
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I had a complete visual of you crawling slowly across your roof with a flashlight! I am sorry but it cracked me up!! I think it’s just the way you described the whole scene! Hang in there, Joanne. Love the sunflower story with the gorgeous and very appropriate pictures! Priceless. 🙂 Have travelled with friends who have a GPS and they have come close to throwing it out the window! Take care of yourself. Best, Rashmi
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It did cross my mind while I was up there that I hoped the neighbours weren’t watching 😉
I’m glad it made you laugh because the entire scenario was more than ridiculous!
Stupid GPS. The worse part is I can’t function without her now!
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omi i had a bad week too… not as funny when lived but i laughed out loud at this.
in future do nto go on top of the roof after a raccoon… take it from me, a broomstick is no defense and they are very comfortable on the roof and can defend themselves quite nicely.
love thee images….
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This is actually a recurring problem we have with raccoons and periodically my husband has to go out and scare them away.
Then we figure out how they got up on the roof this time, come up with a fix, and then wait until they come back with a new plan.
They’re crafty little devils.
Several people have mentioned dealing with aggressive raccoons. I’ll consider myself lucky that so far they tend to run away when a flashlight is shined in their face.
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Is it wrong that I am sitting over here laughing, thinking of you in your pajamas with one eye swollen shut, on the chase in the middle of the night after a raccoon? I am such a bad friend! As for that garage door, I totally understand, it happened to me with a tree a few years ago! Hope you are having a better week my friend!
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me too.
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😀
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Laugh away! It was just one of those weeks that is funny in hindsight … not so cool at the time, but I can see the humour in it now 😀
It’s so inconvenient when stationary objects start to shift position. How are we supposed to predict where they are when that happens?!!
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You have a wonderful and descriptive way of sharing your tragedies. Not only did I smile, I laughed out loud. Does that mean I have sadistic tendencies? What an appropriate name for you GPS…we called ours Naggie because she always seemed to Nag at us when we went the wrong way…but BITCH seems far more appropriate. Eventually we gave up the Garmin and went for Google which was more user friendly.
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I’ve tried to use google on my phone as a substitute…the directions from Google are so much better, but I haven’t been able to figure out how to get it to talk to me with turn by turn instructions. Maybe I need one of my sons to give me a tutorial 😉
Glad to have made you laugh. My work here is done! 😀
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When I use it, I type in the address and hit start. You should see a map route showing your current location. It talks when I need to make a change in my driving. Sometimes if I choose directions from a web entry I have trouble getting it to talk, but never if I type in the address. My voice to text commands are iffy. When I had an iPhone it worked better so now I just use the old fashioned method. 😉
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Thanks … I do suspect that iPhones work better on this feature. I really should make an effort to figure this out so sometimes I get so frustrated with my Garmin.
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With all your excursions, you need a good navigator!
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That would be very nice 🙂
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I love how you can turn a bad week into a funny post. I laughed as I thought of you on the roof in your PJ’s. I am glad you found a way to change the tides and hope you have a great week
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Thanks 🙂
It makes me happy to learn I’ve managed to make people laugh!
Hope your week is going smoothly.
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That “Bob” caption cracked me up! I’m glad you had a nice drive, I’m sorry you missed the peak, and for the host of other tragedies having their way with you lately. There’s a Murphy’s Law aspect to when one’s husband’s away. It’s something all military spouses know well. When does the dryer break? When do you get a flat tire? When do the kids get rotavirus? The day your husband leaves, of course!
My giant sunflowers are just now opening and I will share lots of pics 😀
Thanks for sharing your human qualities with humor, Joanne. I hope this week is much better!
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Thanks Joey. It is Murphy’s Law. Over the years, the strangest things have gone wrong when Gilles was away. I used to panic and get thrown into a dizzy, but now it’s ‘yeah, whatever’. A few weeks ago it was me – in the dark – back-washing the pool in a monsoon because the water level was so high, it was about to breach the top of the pool deck.
I don’t understand why your sunflowers are just starting to peak now when our’s are done. When you first posted sunflowers on IG a few days ago, I assumed our’s would just be starting. I’m baffled how we could be ahead of you. Oh well, I got some entertaining captions out of it 🙂
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Oh my word. That must be all the water we didn’t get — in your pool!
There are many variations in sunflowers. I’m growing three, suited to my own location. The taller they are, the longer they take to grow and bloom. So while the dwarfs (2-footers) were blooming the first week of August, the others were still growing. And by the time the giants bloom (now) most of the dwarf sunflowers are petal-less.
Annnd, if the sunflowers are farmed for seed, they may use a specific cultivar for seed proliferation and may try to dry them out earlier.
You DID provide some great captions! 😀
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Of course – it didn’t occur to me there would be different species. The sunflowers on this farm are cultivated for seed. The kind lady I talked to said the plants would be left in the field to dry until around mid-September and then harvested.
We’ve had so much rain this summer – I would gladly have shared it. Sheesh.
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So now you know, you have to make plans to go back the last week of July, first week of August?
Yeah, it’s really too bad you couldn’t splash that water all up on my yard 😉
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You are one brave soul, Joanne. Alone, on your roof, in the dark of night? I stand in awe of your courage!
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I just do what I have to do when there aren’t other reasonable alternatives 😉
… but thanks for thinking I’m brave. I was actually terrified.
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Sometimes these times make for the best posts….later on. The writing was great and I could visualize your whole week. The photos and captions really topped it off. Well done! Hope this week is going better for you!
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I’ve always believed that today’s disaster is tomorrow’s funny story. We just have to let it simmer for a while to let the humour bubble to the surface.
I hadn’t actually intended to write this post. It was going to be all about the sunflowers, but then the words took over 😉
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I read this last night from the Facebook link, but WordPress simply would not let me comment. I’m very sorry to hear about so many things going wrong at once. Doing battle on the roof with a raccoon made me laugh a little, shake my head a little and fear for you a little. Maybe the sunflowers were sharing your sadness.
I hope you’re having a better week,.
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I’m curious … what would you have done?
The scenario is this – rain is in the forecast and you’ve discovered your attic is now exposed to the elements because the vent cap has been ripped off. Wouldn’t you also want to fix the problem asap?
I guess I’m surprised by some people’s reaction, because if it had been my husband who went out on the roof to scare away the raccoon and fix the vent, I can’t help but think some of the responses would have been different.
As for this week – I’ve slept like a baby, and my eye is almost completely normal again. Sadly, my car is still sporting a big boo-boo.
Progress 🙂
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I hope I didn’t offend, Joanne, Clearly, I think I would have done the same, but I would have worried about me, too. I emailed the post to my wife, who agreed that this is the kind of thing that would only happen when I was away.
Once, when I was away, the AC stopped working on a day when the temp was in the upper 90s and humidity was very high. Based on her description, I knew that the drip pan in the attic was full. She had to clear the condensate drain (which turned out to be easy) and she had to drain the drip pan below the level of a float-switch.
She climbed into the attic, drained the pan into a bucket which she periodically had to empty. I don’t go into the attic when she’s not home, but this had to be done, so she did it.
If you had described hubs up there, in his jammies, armed with a broom, I might have still laughed a little and fear for him. We’ve dealt with raccoons on the ground, and they can be scary.
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Oh Dan, you didn’t offend at all! I was just really curious because so many people were appalled, when in my thinking, I had little or no choices.
Your wife sounds like me – not thrilled about doing some of the things that just have to be done, but ready to pull the big girl pants on and make it happen.
I have NEVER been in the attic and pray it never has to happen. I don’t think even Gilles has been in there. It’s a crawl space only about 3 feet high. That would be a nightmare scenario for me!!
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It is weird how these things happen when you’re left alone. Our attic is big and comfy (ongoing project to be 2nd fl) but getting in and out is tricky. That was the hard part for my wife.
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Sorry about your mishaps. Also sorry you missed the sunflowers in full bloom as it is breathtaking when you do get to see them, but your wit with the pictures you took was spot on. Love to read something comical first thing in the morning as it sort of sets the mood for the whole day. Trust you will have a great day today.
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You just made my day 😀
I don’t often attempt to write humour because I don’t think I’m particularly good at it, so I’m always relieved when people do get it 🙂
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Thanks, I don’t consider myself good at it cause it does require work, but comments such as yours and other followers of my craziness make it all worthwhile. 🙂
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Shame you missed the sunflowers at their peak. But still a fine sight. Hope you are having a better week Joanne 🙂
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Thanks Ruth.
I am ever optimistic 🙂
Hope your week is going well too!
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Your week sounds like my month! I’m glad yours was only a week and that you can laugh about it.
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Why does it seem that ‘bad luck’ follows us around for a while? Or maybe it’s just our mood and everything gets amplified? Whatever the reason, I hope your month starts to improve soon. You’ve had more than your fair share of issues!
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I’m just glad you’re still here to tell us all about your week from hell, Joanne. That raccoon had both motive and opportunity!
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… and he was caught in the act! However he made a clean get-away! My objective in scaring him away succeeded 🙂
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How dare the garage move on you! Big hugs x Loved your talkative sun flowers.
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Isn’t it weird how objects have a way of moving when you’re really tired? 😉
At first I was very disappointed by the condition of the sunflowers, then they started talking …. I think my problems might be bigger than I thought 😉
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The sunflower conversations are a riot, Joanne! But what the heck–on the roof in the dark in your PJ’s and your eyes are almost swollen shut?? You are, beyond all doubt, the bravest woman ever.
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I do what I have to do … whether I like it or not. This has been an ongoing problem with raccoons. They have caused a lot of damage to our roof each of the last 3 summers and so far they seem to be winning the battle. They’re clever little devils and keep coming up with new ways to get on the roof.
I could have ignored him, but I would have been resigned to the fact that he would have likely caused another few hundred dollars worth of damage again.
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We just have squirrels here. Lots of squirrels. But they’re small. We had raccoons once but they built a condo in a dead tree in our backyard. The tree came down and the raccoons disappeared. I didn’t realize what kind of damage they could do.
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Yeah – they’re a pretty major pest here. This morning we had a stare-down in the backyard. It was a draw
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Great images Joanne but do you really think it was a good idea to go up on your roof with one eye swollen shut and the other blinking like you were sending Morse code ? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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LOL!! It definitely was NOT a good idea, but I had few other options. They are highly destructive little animals and every summer we’ve had significant roof damage caused by raccoons trying to break into our attic. They keep finding new ways to access our roof and we have to find new solutions to keep them off.
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Joanne–I am so sorry but this description is hilarious. Joe–is she laughing with me??!
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oh yes – I’m definitely laughing with you … now. I wasn’t laughing so much last week 😉
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Yeah, that sounded pretty crummy….but funny.
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Okay, you definitely win worst week. The next time you get the urge to go up on the roof in the night to fix something and chase a crazy four legged animal, call someone first. 🙂 You are so lucky you didn’t get hurt. You may have lost sleep, but you didn’t lose your sense of humor. Here’s hoping this week is a winner for you. 🙂
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I’m hoping this week goes much more smoothly. So far so good!
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So sorry to hear about your bad week. There must be something in the air because my week was filled with stressors on all fronts too, and culminated in having to see the doc and go on antibiotics for an infection caused by a wasp (aka flying asshole) sting on my forearm! Instead of seeking out sunflowers I dragged out my kayak and hit the river. Hopefully the eclipse has washed away all this bad juju and we can move pleasantly on from this crap!
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Funny – after the sunflowers, I went to Lake Simcoe and rented a kayak. I spent an hour paddling and drifting and paddling. It was wonderful. I came home with a smile and finally felt like all the crap from the previous week had finally gone away.
… and my eye is almost normal again!
Yes – wasps are flying assholes.
Wishing us both happy days ahead!
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I’m so sorry about your week of insomnia and eye stuff and roof-top raccoons. That was not fun for you. Then again, I’m glad you found humor and photos in the past-peak sunflowers. They’re stlll awesome and at least you had a nice, quiet drive with your navigational device.
GPS Bitch…that cracked me up.
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At least I’m reasonably confident that The Bitch isn’t trying to kill me anymore. She just likes to mess with my head
The worse part is when you don’t sleep properly. I think I could handle almost anything as long as I’ve had a decent night of sleep.
I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the sunflowers when I found them, but I’m glad I decided to take some photos anyway. When I downloaded them, the captions started to write themselves 🙂
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Well…. at least you still have a sense of humor. So sorry about the awful week and thank goodness you didn’t get bit by a rabid racoon and fall off the roof! I hope that all the troubles are behind you now. Sending much love and healing light your way, Joanne. Sleep well. 🙂
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Please send sleep – lots of it! It is such a valuable commodity!!
Funny, I wasn’t worried so much about falling off the roof as I was about falling through the roof!
You know the saying – today’s disaster is tomorrow’s funny story 🙂
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Insomnia is awful. I have trouble getting to sleep when the weather is making a change. I hope you had a good night ❤
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Insomnia really is the worst. With a good night’s sleep, I think I can tackle just about anything, but a shortage of sleep affects everything!
Last night was a good one and today I feel like I can tackle the world 🙂
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Awesome 😀
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“Which brings me to the late night romp on the roof”
…literally, I did a double take and re-read the passage. What the hell? I wondered if you were going to say, “And then I awoke from the craziest dream, EVER.”
I’ve come face to face, in the dark, with a marauding ‘coon – only a broom handle between us. In my case I was on the balcony of my condo. And could beat a hasty retreat. Which I did, actually, when he started to growl and make moves to fight back!
I’m glad you survived to tell the tale, but seriously, Gilles must never leave home AGAIN!
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Truth be told … I was terrified. I was worried that it was going to fight me – in the dark, on the roof – but it didn’t. I must have looked really scary 😉
I’m really glad I did go and check the roof though. By tearing off the cap, our attic was completely exposed to the elements … and you know how much rain we’ve been getting.
The worse part was actually trying to get the cap back on. I fumbled around with it for quite a while – trying to juggle the flashlight at the same time, constantly worried that I would drop it and have to make my way back without any light!
You know, we really don’t have any idea of what we’re capable of doing – until we have no choice and have to do it.
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Are you crazy! On the roof in the middle of the night. They have pest control companies that do that. It could have ended very badly.
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If I could have called a pest control company who would have responded, I would have. However, pest control companies do not come to your house in the middle of the night when the little bandits are causing damage to your house trying to break in. They can only help evict the little bastards once they’ve taken up residence. Then you’re still on the hook for the cost of repairing/cleaning the damage they’ve caused.
We’ve had hundreds of dollars in roof repairs every summer for past 4 years caused by raccoons trying to break into the attic.
They do not guarantee your raccoon problem will go away. Outside of the obvious solution of trimming tree branches, we’ve been left on our own figuring out solutions to preventing them from getting on our roof in the first place.
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Oh my goodness Joanne! On the roof in the middle of the night chasing raccoons?! I’d have to say you may be lucky not to be writing this from an intensive care unit. Sending hopes for better days ahead my friend. Tell that garage to settle itself on the foundation. Very rude of it to leap around like that.
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Stupid garage. It’s never done that before.
I have to admit I did question my own sanity at one point when I was already on the roof. The problem with being alone and sleep deprived is that there isn’t anyone to question your decision making ability
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Haha yes true enough there. Send me a text and I’ll remind you unless you have a superhero cape you should likely stay grounded at night. 🙂
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You win the prize for worst week. It doesn’t come with money like a lottery but it does come with readers who are laughing their butts off. On the roof? In the dark? Oh my!
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I’ve had some pretty rough weeks, but almost always I can laugh about it … eventually 🙂
I hope I don’t have to go on the roof again anytime soon – especially in the dark. It was pretty scary.
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You need to schedule some mountain climbing . . . I hear it’s safer than climbing across roofs in the dark in your pj’s wielding a broom to chase away nocturnal critters.
Just saying . . .
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At least I had the presence of mind to put on my hiking shoes before I went on the roof.
Just saying …. 🙂
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ROFL!!! I loved every caption and I really was laughing out loud! I’m so, so happy you didn’t fall off the roof, or get smacked by anything else. I hope the car will be alright and it’s an easy not too expensive repair. Droopy or not the sunflowers are cheery. I hope you felt cheery when you left for home. xx
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P.S. My house seems to have issues when He-man is away too. The plumbing will act up, or a machine I use decides to quit working and one time when he was half a world away I shattered my wrist. What law in the universe is that? I want a new law!
GPS names- The Bitch. 🙂 My good friend calls hers Bitchy, and I call mine Stuck up Stephanie. She is better than Randy who led me up a one way street going the wrong way in Salt Lake City at night, in the rain, with on coming traffic! I told Randy he’d better never do that again cause I had Simon in the wings. Randy unit died, and I replaced him with Stuck up Stephanie. 🙂 She gets it right most the time, gets lost rarely, doesn’t speak to me sometimes, hence Stuck up, but she has never led me up a one way street going the wrong way. YET. Knocking on wood now!
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I’m glad to hear it’s not just me. Some really weird things have happened over the years when Gilles was away and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it except deal with the problem as best you can.
I sympathize with you and your shattered wrist. Last year’s broken collarbone happened when Gilles was on the other side of the country.
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I’m always thrilled when I know I’ve made someone laugh out loud … when I’m intentionally trying to be funny 😉
I was disappointed when I saw the sunflowers, but took a bunch of photos anyway thinking that I would eventually be inspired by them. When I downloaded the photos, the captions started to write themselves. I love it when that happens (it’s SO rare!!) 😀
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I am glad you’re seeing the funny side now. What doesn’t kill us (or send us to hospital with falling-off-roof-injuries) makes us stronger and all that ….
I’m now hopeful that my current run of horribleness will end soon. In fact I was feeling very hopeful until the Big T unscrewed the light fitting in the downstairs loo to replace the bulb and got an impromptu shower. It seems we have a leak somewhere in the house plumbing. On the bright side, at least we know why the bulb blew. And it’s probably the only time … ever .. stuff like this has happened when he’s actually at home.
Hope things keep getting better for you. 🙂
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Oh. My. God. That’s exactly the kind of thing that would happen to me while Gilles is away… and then of course Gilles would also be really frustrated because he’s far away and can’t help solve the problem.
I’m sorry that your “mense horribilis” hasn’t improved. Hopefully all the drama will end soon … spring is coming 🙂
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Big T is the same. He rang me from London once to tell me about a great exhibition he was visiting at the Tate, and I was at the emergency room with the boychild — very late at night and surrounded by drunks. That was probably the low point. The “house-falling-down” stuff I can usually deal with OK. I’m pretty practical, and we have a couple of good neighbours.
We’re adjusting to the fact that what we thought was a small problem probably isn’t and we’re in a new reality. Sorry to sound cryptic; but it’s not quite my story to tell. I think the dramas will be on-going, but our ability to cope will improve.
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I’m so sorry to hear that Su. Sending you big hugs. It sounds like you could use a few ❤
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Thanks Joanne. Received with much appreciation and thanks 🙂
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This is the funniest piece I’ve read all day and today has been a longggg one. But I am not laughing at you, Joanne…laughing with you! And those poor pitiful sunflowers. What a hoot. 🙂
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So you’ve had one of those days too? If we can’t laugh at ourselves, it’s going to be a rough ride. Mind you, it’s taken me a few days to get to the humour side of the story 🙂
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You did hear me giggle, didn’t you? There are weeks like that and there is nothing you can do about it. It has to do with Murphy’s law, not that I would believe in horse hockey like that. But if I would I could tell you similar stories. As for garages, yes, there is no doubt in my mind, they can jump in our way. They are sneaky like that.
And now on a serious note. My right eye is swollen shut in the morning since a while. First I thought I had a pink eye, but that wasn’t it. It was all red and the swelling got better toward the evening…until the next morning. Since I have RA they thought it could have something to do with it. I gave up gluten about four weeks ago and the infection is gone, so is the brain fog that I felt so often.
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That’s interesting. Although my eye problem wasn’t quite the same … it stayed swollen and didn’t clear up at all during the day … I am starting to think I should give up gluten for a while. I did for about 3 months about a dozen years ago and I never felt better. I wouldn’t mind feeling like that again.
I’m starting to have a lot of issues with my hands and perhaps a gluten-free diet would help.
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I started to have problems with my hands and fingers, that’s how I got tested for RA in the first place. My fingers were swollen in the morning, I had a hard time bending them and making a fist hurt me.
Gluten intolerance or Celiac disease can have the same symptoms as RA. If that’s even close what you experience email me, please.
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Oh you made me laugh out loud….I thought I was the only one who’d named their GPS! Mine is named after a bitch named Kelly! A few months ago I woke up around 5am to an awful racket on my roof…there were 2 Canada Geese trying to perch on the peak! They were flapping, scrambling and honking like crazy. Sounded like adults up there fighting!
So sorry about your car, eye, sleepless nights and the droopy sunflowers. Finding humor in life’s setbacks makes them a bit more bearable!
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I know I’m guilty of taking myself way too seriously most of the time. Eventually I usually can find the humour.
I can imagine the racket on your roof. We’ve been woken up by raccoons in the past and it sounded like a small army landed on our house. At least the geese aren’t trying to break into your house looking for a warm and dry place to spend the winter
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On the bright side, you made me laugh. 😃 Some weeks are just like that, aren’t they? You’d swear the universe is out to get you for some misdeed you don’t remember.
As for climbing on the roof in the dark…. Have I taught you nothing??? (Of course, you know I’d be the one to do exactly the same thing. Even with past experience. 🙄)
Hope this week gets better. ❤
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I’m glad I made you laugh 😀 The beauty of hindsight is that I can usually laugh at all the things that were so dramatic days earlier.
… unless of course I had fallen off the roof. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be laughing right now.
Do you have raccoons? Maybe I can arrange for a special shipment to Australia. You don’t have nearly enough annoying wildlife 😉
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No raccoons but our possums could give them a run for their money.
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We have possums too and I compared your’s to our’s. They’re similar but not exactly the same. Ugh – they creep me out.
At least raccoons have a ‘cute factor’, even if I hate the little bandits intensely. They crossed the line when they started trying to break into my house looking for somewhere warm and dry to spend the winter.
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Wow, you have been through a lot, Joanne. I think all those sunflowers felt bad for you, just like we do. Hope you have a wonderful week this week. Take care.
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Thanks Helen. At first I was feeling a little pouty about the sunflowers, then decided I could have fun with it 🙂
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That one happy sunflower, with all those droopy ones, kind of reminds me of the day after a big lottery. I hope your eye and insomnia improve. And I’m glad you didn’t meet up with a raccoon on your roof. I understand they can be pretty mean critters.
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I did meet up with the raccoon on the roof … but he took one look at my swollen, twitchy face and decided that I wasn’t someone he wanted to mess with 😉
I would like to be that one sunflower on the morning after a big lottery draw 🙂
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LMAO at “twitchy face.” Sorry, but I had to. Now please excuse me while I compose myself. *snort*
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I know – ‘twitchy face’ really does create a visual, doesn’t it? Something like ‘crazy woman at 12 o’clock. Back away slowly’ 😉
When I get ‘twitchy face’ I know the Universe is really trying to mess with my head. Needless to say I didn’t go anywhere that didn’t involve sunglasses for several days.
Glad I could make you laugh 😀
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I’m glad you tagged this as a humour post, Joanne. I loved it! Your account reminded me of the Judith Viorst children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It ends “Some days are like that, even in Australia.” Well Joanne, some weeks are like that even in Canada. But they are so much better thanks to your ability to see the humour… and your great photos.
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Thanks Karen … I couldn’t have written this post last week. I just wasn’t seeing the humour in it – yet 🙂
You’re right – things are so much better, and easier, when we’re able to laugh at ourselves.
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