Spring cleaning and fun at the pool

This week was much busier than the last...which has it's good and less than good points. But before I start in on a recitation of this week's happenings, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sunday's special event. I posted a photo on Wednesday, of Eli with his mom and his godmother M, taken after the confirmation service. He did very well during the very lengthy proceedings. We did not stay for lunch, though, as we were all ready to get home to relax and visit. After our lunch, D and M left to do a bit of bonding (shopping), as it has been some time since the two have been able to spend time without children in tow. M's children range in age from about 12-19, and the two met when they both worked at a call center in the city.

I did my first volunteer shift at the thrift store on Tuesday. I arrived late, not realizing that I should have been there about 11 a.m., rather than noon. I met several ladies including our team lead G. They were having coffee when I arrived so we sat and chatted for a bit. G gave me a tour of the various back rooms, and I got a sense of just how much stuff that gets donated. We could use a thrift store that is 2 or 3 times it is now (and that's after they moved into this larger space this winter/spring).

It also seems that many people have recently decided to go their closets and purge! I can't tell you how many bags we emptied but when I left at 4 p.m. there were 5 racks of clothing filled, along with shelves of shoes, two or three carts of kitchen ware, and mounds of books, DVDs, etc. AND that was the better stuff as we filled three or four large bags of garbage, and sent off a few more to be donated to the NTO's (next town over) Value Village.

Wednesday was quiet, and a needed rest day. Late in the afternoon, D received a package for a new piece of furniture for the kitchen. If you recall, I purchased a storage cabinet for the office/craft room a couple of weeks ago, and D decided we needed more storage in the kitchen. That late in the day was not the time to start putting it together.

Thursday morning, we got busy and had most of the cabinet put together by lunch time. Eli went back to school after lunch; we picked him up at 2 p.m. and went to NTO to do a bit of shopping and for his swimming lesson at 4:30 p.m. at the indoor pool. D receives Autism funding for Eli (and will until he is 12 years old), so she arranged for private swimming lessons. He had a blast with his teacher, while D and I sat and relaxed. 

There was rain and snow in the forecast, and when we'd left town the highway was wet. After a quick stop for a bite to eat, we headed home with snow falling quite heavily. The roads were slushy and wet most of the way home, and though it was around the freezing mark, the conditions weren't as bad as I thought it might be. In fact, by the time we were about 10 minutes from home, the highway was almost dry, and there was only about a centimeter of snow on the ground.

On Friday, D and I finished the cabinet, and began emptying and cleaning three cupboards, and reorganizing. We moved the pots and pans to the new cabinet. These were originally stored in a cabinet near the stove that ought to have had a lazy Susan but instead was simply an large open cabinet with a small shelf at the back. It meant we bent over and sometimes knelt to get the right piece. The cabinet solved that issue. 

The old cabinet now stores a couple of small appliances that we rarely use, as well as the baking pans (in those standing trays), bowls, and measuring cups. The cabinet that previously held to the Ninja creamy, blender, and handheld mixer now holds all of Eli's lunch kits and water bottles (and he has a lot!). Finally the cabinet that stored the bowls and measuring cups, now has the crockpot and bread machine, and still has room to be our snack cabinet. Moving these appliances from the pantry provides more space, though I've no intention in filling up the shelves! We have enough items in there to keep us well fed for some time.

Despite the snow and cooler weather, spring has arrived. There are a multitude of robins, Canada geese, and most recently a pair of flickers. The latter were on the big tree out back one morning. D and I stood at the window and watched. What fun! I did notice a pair of juncos one day but we don't feed the birds, so they didn't stick around. The robins, though, are quite happy to hang out in the yard. Spencer, is quite fascinated by them and watches out the window, chittering at them. Great cat television too.

I'm late posting today because I got caught up in Ancestry yesterday. It's a cool and cloudy day, with snow flurries, but the snow is melting as quickly as it falls. I'm off to catch up on blog reading, and have no plans for the rest of the day. :)

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Weather woes and a celebration

This will be a short post, as I haven't done a whole lot this week, and I didn't start writing until Friday. 

As you will have seen, the big event of the week was the snowstorm that settled in on Thursday, followed by a bit more snow on Friday. Total accumulation was about 35 cms (14 inches). My daughter spent much of Friday shovelling the sidewalk and the parking area. While we had nowhere to go for a couple of days, we do have something special planned on Sunday.

The photo of Eli on Wednesday is our boy dressed in his suit for his confirmation and first communion on Sunday. His paternal grandmother was instrumental in having him baptized in the Catholic church, and he attends a Catholic school. This ritual is part of growing up with close ties to the church. His godmother is expected to drive in from the city, and the four of us will attend the service. The snow won't have melted by then, but we'll walk to the church if need be.

Since the weather was horrid, I missed out on Knit and Natter on Thursday afternoon, and in fact, I spent most of the day in my pj's just watching out the bedroom window as the snow fell.

It was a bit of a shock after Wednesday, when our temperature reached a high of 10C (50F). I had ordered new rain gutter downspout extenders, and they arrived in the mail this week, so D and I spent some time setting up the rain barrels. We've been having some issues with the parging on the corner by the back door, and water is making it's way into the basement. At least this way, the snow melting off the roof will be diverted, and we'll have to come up with a way to waterproof the foundation.

And I did get a call from the thrift store and will do my first volunteer shift next Tuesday. I've been put on a team, and our months are April, July, October, and January. I explained to the caller that I won't be available in January and possibly the end of October, but otherwise am flexible. I do know they are short staffed over the summer as many of the locals spend time at their cottages and/or with family. The schedule works for me, as we have no plans to go anywhere this summer.

Beyond that, it's been a pretty quiet, normal week here at home. I've done some organizing in the pantry and cupboards, spent many hours reviewing hints on Ancestry, did some vacuuming, prepared a few meals, and hung out with the cats and my grandson. What I didn't do was knit. So my project is again, at a standstill. :)

Spencer and Saku aren't friends, but do tolerate one another at least for a short while.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Not a Funny Friday

 The snow started yesterday about 8:30 a.m. and it continued until late in the afternoon.

I'm not certain how much we got...but whatever it is, it's too much. It's been snowing lightly this morning as well, and although we have nowhere to go today, we will need to clear out to the back alley at some point. Oh, funny it is not!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Slow down

After last week's busy-ness, this week has been a whole lot less so. I ventured out on Monday morning to pick up fresh fruit and veg, as well as a few sale items at our local grocery stores. My other reason for going out was to pick up potting soil for this year's planting. One of the cats, Stanley was very interested in the dirt, and kept a watchful eye on me as I seeded tomatoes (beefsteak), peppers, basil, and pansies. The latter are seeds I harvested from the plant last fall. Chances are they won't sprout but I figured it was worth a try. I learned my lesson last year and have reduced the number of wee pots. If you recall we were over run with tomatoes last fall. Our peppers didn't do as well so I've added a few more. 

The weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday was calling for heavy snow - up to 22 cms (8.6 inches). D has decided there will be no more shovelling this winter. This is Easter break and Eli is home from school, and thus, in theory we can wait until it melts. She ran out to do a few errands ahead of the supposed storm. In the end, it missed us entirely, and areas near Saskatoon and further north took the brunt of it. places saw about 18 cm (7 inches). We had less than a centimeter, and by lunchtime it was melting; walkways were clear as were the car windshields. 

The cat in the photo on Wednesday is the baby, Spencer. D found her in her garage in January 2025 during a terrible cold snap. D tried to find her owner through FB, and checked with local vets and the rescue in the NTO (next town over). No one came forward to claim her, and the rescue advised their waiting list to take in a stray cat was about 4 months. I was in Yuma at the time, and when D called to tell me about her, I said, I guess that means we have another cat. We certainly weren't going to euthanize her. D taught her the trick of standing on her hind end to ask for "uppies". Just like a toddler she asks for attention several times a day. However, she is terrified of men especially, and most any stranger. It took her awhile to warm up to me when I visited, but now she loves to nap on my bed...though my cat Saku isn't a fan. As for treats, she really doesn't need any. :p

Knit and Natter was held on Wednesday evening. There were only three of us there, but we had a nice evening. Both M and L were crocheting, while I continued on my knitting. I managed to get a lot done and should finish the panel this week. I'd hoped to have it done before this post but procrastination got in my way. 

As I've said it has been a quiet week. Some spare time was used to work on the Ancestry website updating information. My focus is on more current information rather than previous generations. I don't have access to anything outside of Canada (except newspapers) because the cost is prohibitive. But I feel that current and future generations would be interested in the materials and info I've found. That was the case this week when I received messages from two individuals who were interested in specific relationships. I was able to, at least, partially answer there questions.As an aside, this photo shows how I am using the external keyboard to access the letters s and w and the @ symbol.

I had thought that curling was done for the season but discovered the first Rock League event. It is being streamed on CBC sports on YouTube. The format is quite different with teams split between men's fours, women's fours and mixed doubles. The teams aren't specific to any one country and the members of the four person teams aren't static. That is to say that someone is generally a skip may be playing one of the other three positions. Scoring is different too and I haven't quite figured it out yet. 

Besides curling and knitting, I've no plans for the weekend. The weather is supposed to be lovely so we should see more melting. Spring is on her way! 

Have a great week ahead everyone!