Maybe finally spring, family news, and good curling

I cannot say the week was particularly busy, but it was full. Mostly with sports watching, knitting, with a bit of housework and shopping thrown in for good measure. I've finished a total of four pairs of mittens and a toque/beanie as well. The next pair of mitts is now on the needles too. I always get more done when watching sports - knitting keeps my hands busy so I'm not snacking. 

(Sorry, I could not get the photo to rotate, so you're seeing it sideways!)

The curling has been good, no real blowouts for or against the Canadian team. I do enjoy a game that comes down to the final rock in the final end. I'm sure the curlers prefer otherwise. The Blue Jays started the regular season this week, with mixed success. They have some new players on the roster too, and it is fun to see what they may mean for the team.

We had more snow overnight and into the morning of April Fool's Day. I didn't appreciate the joke. Before taking Eli to school, I shovelled out the back parking area and the sidewalk. It has since started melting and D has been sprinkling de-icer every morning. Neither of us want a repeat of my fall last week. The cut has completely healed but the spot on my head is still a little tender to the touch. 

Wednesday's photos were sent to me by my son, C. On the weekend he brought home another pup from the shelter. She is an eleven month old German Shepherd now named Shadow. She and Sage were immediate friends, racing around the house. C said they both slept well the first night. 

Saku, the cat has not yet been introduced to the new pup. Sage is excitable, but less so than Shadow. To be honest, I'm thinking I'll move Saku here this summer though the transition will take some time as Stanley and Spencer rule the roost. That means Saku will spend his time in my room while getting accustomed to the other cats. I suppose it will be no more difficult for him than learning to live with two dogs.

Btw, you may have noticed that all of our pets have S names. It started 25 years ago with Sasha and Silver. When we got our third cat, I told the kids it had to have an S name ... we couldn't call it Bob so she was Sami. We kept it up through the next three, with Silas, Shady, and Saku. Since then, my now adult kids have kept up the tradition.

This week brought some sad news. Our cousin K passed away on Thursday due to that damned cancer. She has been battling it for many years but it makes her passing no less sad. My brother and I are planning to attend the funeral. I'll drive to his farm and he'll do the driving from there. Another cousin was also hospitalized with a stroke on Friday. He neither smokes, nor drinks, still runs though not as much as he used to, so this was a real shock to all of us. Initial testing did not indicate a brain bleed, so the assumption is he had a blood clot. Still early days, and I'm sure we'll learn more next week.

The weekend should be quiet, with the final few games of the curling, more baseball, and hopefully lots more melting. My daughter had her car in the shop for a couple of days, and the ruts that have developed in the alley means she has to park out front of the house. I'm hoping more of the ice and snow will disappear so she can bring the car around back soon.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Winter, winter, go away!

The week here at home with my daughter and grandson, started out busy and slowed down at the end of the week. First up, was some tidying and cleaning on the weekend. With two of us working, it didn't take long at all until the main floor was looking good...at least briefly. I have nearly forgotten how much of a mess one small child can make. Though his play area is in the basement, several items get transported upstairs. The kitchen, too, tends to get to be a bit of a mess.

I set an alarm for Sunday morning at 1 a.m. so I could watch the final of the women's world curling. Canada's Team Homan prevailed over the team from Switzerland. This was a repeat from last year! As I've commented on an earlier comment, it was a close game through to the 7th end (a full game is 10 ends). Canada managed to get a deuce (two points) and led Switzerland 4-3 at that point. Then the wheels fell off for Switzerland, as they allowed a steal of two in the 8th end and another one point in the 9th. With a score of 7-3, Switzerland conceded defeat and the teams shook hands. The Swiss third and skip both missed shots in the two ends, something that is quite unusual for the two curlers. To be honest, while I was quite happy for Canada to win, I do love a game that is decided on the last rock in the 10th end. If I were on the ice, I'd likely be happier with a blow out.

On Tuesday, we dropped Eli at school and drove to the next town ever for a bit of shopping at the thrift store. We did extremely well there, I found a wind jacket, a hoodie, D found a hoodie, leggings for herself, a fort frame for Eli, and we bought a wooden breadbox. Total was about $55. The one hoodie she bought was a brand name that sells regularly for $60-70 and was in new condition. The leggings were definitely new as the tag was still on them. After a quick stop for a few groceries we were home in time to unload before it was time to pick up Eli from school for lunch.

Unfortunately, I had a fall on some ice as I was bringing in some of the groceries. I landed on my back and my head snapped back and hit the pavement, and likely a bit of ice or a stone. Like all head wounds, it bled heavily, and took forever to completely stop. I used a head band to hold the paper towel in place (hence Wednesday's photo). While D ran to get Eli, I managed to get our shopping put away and then I settled down to rest for much of the afternoon. D had a telephone medical appointment at 2 p.m. and I had decided if the bleeding had not stopped by then I would go to the ER to see if it needed stitches. In the meantime, a friend called and in our conversation reminded me to put something cold against it to restrict the blood vessels. That helped, the bleeding stopped and with an Advil the headache abated.

I didn't sleep particularly well overnight, awake every few hours and some weird dreams, but other than pain in my neck (muscles), I felt back to normal. I'll admit to some fuzzy thinking the previous afternoon. In fact, I handed the keys to my vehicle to my daughter and she drove it while I stayed at home.

Wednesday was a mostly quiet day, I did get out for a walk for a bit with a little shopping thrown in for good measure. At the hardware store, I picked up an indoor plant starting kit, some seeds, and a pretty kitty solar light for the garden. Later in the afternoon, we were able to pick up her car from the garage, the damage of the winter repaired, and the car looking pristine.

It was good that I got out the day prior as the snow started on Thursday morning. D took Eli to school in the morning and they had their parent-teacher interview. He is progressing well towards his goals in his IEP and is showing strength in both his mathematics and phonics. We're pretty darned proud of him!

D parked in the garage when she arrived home, and I drove to pick up Eli at lunch. While I waited, the visibility decreased significantly, with the snow falling heavily and blowing. At point I could barely make out the headlights of the vehicle just a block or so away. It slowed down by 3 p.m. This photo was taken about a half hour prior.

D went out and shovelled the back sidewalk out to the parking area while I made dinner. We had more snow overnight, and she was out by just before 7 a.m. shovelling again. I joined her for about 15 minutes or so to finish clearing off the parking area, and to clean off my car. I drove both drop off and pick up for Eli at school; the alley was a mess initially, but the city had the machine through to flatten the snow by the time we returned at lunch.

We're expecting a couple of cooler days with cold weather overnight this weekend, but more spring like temperatures should arrive by mid-week. In the meantime the pile of snow in the parking area is nearly as tall as my SUV!

I've done some cross-stitching this week, and started on the mittens for next year for Eli's school. One pair is complete and the second pair has one mitten finished. The Men's World Curling championship starts today, so this weekend and upcoming week should be good for working on these projects. Vacuuming...who needs to vacuum? :p And I won't need to stay up late, as the event is being held here in the province.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Back in town

The painting in the basement is complete...at least for now. As I mentioned in my last post, I've decided to hold off painting my bedroom until later this spring or maybe in the fall. I'm glad I did the bathroom first, because it was a small project and, I suspect had I not, that job would have been held over. The foyer, stairwell, and the rec room including the alcove were a lot of work. There were lots of holes in the walls, several cracks, etc. that needed to be filled and sanded before I could even start thinking about painting. It is clear, that the walls were not floated when they did this reno and a lot of it was DIY. If my son ever wins the lottery, I'd recommend he tear it all out and start fresh. But for now, the area looks lighter and cleaner. I've done what I can.

On a vastly different note, we had more snow on Sunday into Monday, about 6-8 cms/2-3 in. I DON'T want to shovel snow again. Yes, I know I got away with not shovelling for two months. Still, it's time for spring...though we're more likely to see fool's spring and second winter before the real thing arrives. I'm envious of all of you, who are seeing snow drops and daffodils beginning to pop up in your gardens and neighbourhoods. Wednesday's photo showed the aftermath.

Monday, I finished the touch-ups and cleaned up the paint supplies, and vacuumed the basement. I did have another oops...this time I accidently hit the switch and turned off the furnace when I replaced the switch cover. It got pretty chilly, though my son didn't notice upstairs. He wasn't happy with me when I told him I thought there might be something wrong with the furnace and we discovered it was just my boo-boo. Oh well, it warmed up quickly and he'll know to check the switch should it ever happen again.

Laundry and running errands was the agenda for Tuesday. I dropped off some donations at the thrift store and got 5 balls of yarn for less than $6. These will be used to make more mittens for Eli's school this fall. I was happy to see my favorite cashier back in the store. She's been off work for several months due to a cancer diagnosis. I wasn't able to chat with her as she was busy with other customers, but I overheard her say, she's worked at the store for 20 years! She's definitely a good ambassador for the store.

Wednesday was mammogram day. I got lucky that there were a couple of cancellations and I was able to get an appointment in just a couple of weeks. Way back, over a year ago, I'd booked an appointment in the city for December. This was pre-purchase of the house in town, and I totally forgot about it. When they called to remind me, I tried to reschedule for March, and they had nothing available until August! I try to attend every year, as we have a family history of breast cancer. I've offered to have them remove the damn things since I don't use them anyway, but the medical professionals won't take me up on this.

I had a bit of a wait at the Breast Screening clinic, but the test took no time at all, and the x-ray operator was as gentle as possible as well as efficient. From there, I was able to visit with my friends L and K. We try to get together every few months to catch up. K introduced me to L, many years ago, as she is a travel agent and has been a friend as well. We talked about our various travels this winter, and upcoming trips. K and her partner J are the ones who drove me from Phoenix to Yuma, and will be off on a trip to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland mid-May for about five weeks or so. In fact, they'll likely be back in Halifax when D, Eli, and I are there in June! L has a trip planned in June, too. She'll be off to Spain for a week or 10 days at the invitation of Spain's tourism board. She and her family spent a week or so in Alberta in February in the Banff and Lake Louise area too. It's likely their last family trip, as their daughter is now 18 and will be starting university (nursing program) in the fall. Thinking back, I met L when her daughter was still around kindergarten age. 

Throughout the week, I had an opportunity to watch some of the women's worlds curling. I did not watch those games that were aired in the middle of the night. Sadly, TSN did not replay those games Curling Canada only provided the highlights on You-tube. However, I was also able to watch mixed doubles curling (also You-tube) which is underway in PEI. (I hope you've enjoyed watching some in person, Marie!)

While watching, I got some addition cross-stitching done. At this rate, I may finish this piece in time for Christmas!

This is from a kit I picked up at the thrift store. Cross-stitch kits are pricey. This would have been at least $40 when originally purchased. I picked it up for $3.99 plus taxes.

This is the front of the package. The kit came with all the materials needed to complete the project, including the felt for the backing. I'll have to pull out the sewing machine, once the stitching is complete to finish it. That will be the hardest part for me. 

If you recall I had an eye appointment a couple of weeks ago. The lens finally arrived on Friday at the north store but missed the pickup for the lab. The dispensary asked if I would mind delivering them myself, and they would put a rush replacing my old lenses in my glasses. I agreed as I wanted the new corrective lenses.

There was freezing rain in the forecast for Saturday morning, and I decided I'd like to get to my daughter's on Friday. I packed up the vehicle with my bags and things I'd picked up for D and Eli, picked up the lenses and delivered them to the lab at the east store. I spent the next couple of hours walking; first to Tim's for lunch, back to mall, around the mall, to the car, back to the mall, to the Dollar store, to the car, back to the mall. (I had parked a good distance from the mall on purpose, wanting to get some steps in.) I arrived back in the mall about 10 minutes ahead of schedule and took a break on a bench while I waited. 

I was back in the car and on my way by 2:20 p.m. and arrived at home just around 4 p.m. D, Eli, and I unpacked the car and put everything I'd brought away. At that point I was done, so sat while D made dinner. She and I watched Blue Jays pre-season baseball, before she took Eli up to bed about 7:30 p.m. I stayed up watching the Women's World Curling qualifier between Canada and Scotland. The Canadian team (Homan) prevailed and went on to win the semi-final overnight. They will be in the final (at 3 a.m. ET) in a repeat of last year's final against Switzerland. The Homan team won the title last year, and I'm hopeful they'll do the same this year.

We've got a couple of things to do here today, mostly tidying and cleaning up living areas. D has an errand she needs to run this afternoon too. But otherwise I plan to continue doing as little as possible. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!