Better or worse weather, pain or no pain

I had no problem keeping busy this week, starting on Sunday when we made a trip into the city to Costco. I was watching a You-tube video from a Canadian creator who showed all the sale items ending May 10, and some for the the entire month. So many of these items are ones we use regularly; furnace filters, toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher tabs, batteries, and other shelf stable food items. The sale prices made it make sense to make the trip in. Of course a few others jumped in our cart and the end of the day the total was a wee bit eyewatering. However, the savings based on Costco pricing was over $100 and when we compare prices to what we would pay for the same amount of product the savings were even higher. For example, furnace filters are about $25 each in our local stores, and three were $40 at Costco. I won't bore you with more examples but suffice to say we are stocked up now for awhile.

We left home around 7:30 a.m. and were home before noon. After a bite to eat, D and Eli headed to the nearby park, while I went to the backyard to start building my raised beds. D and Eli returned as I was readying to set up one of the beds, and she gave me a hand connecting the side rails. The neighbour children came over to play as well, so it was a bit chaotic with four children running about, jumping on the trampoline, riding scooters, etc.

After grocery shopping first thing on Monday, I headed over to the thrift store for my shift. When I had left on Thursday, there were no bags to sort through. Not so on Monday! The area in the sorting room was filled, and there was pile of bags and boxes in the back hallway. We managed to get through the pile in the sorting room, and made a start on the second pile. Obviously there was a fair amount of clearing out by some folks on the weekend. We also clean the store and tidy the racks - with eight to ten volunteers, a lot gets accomplished. AND I came home with nothing. :)

D and Eli went to equine therapy that afternoon, and we were all saddened to hear that Rocket, the miniature horse he worked with early in therapy had to be put down over the weekend. Apparently she developed a lung infection, and at her age, they decided the kindest option was to let her go. On the other hand, there was a new foal in the pasture and Eli and his therapist were able to go see the baby. The mama is a bit protective but allowed Eli to pet her. There were also baby chickens and baby kittens to see. One of the cats is called Potato, and her kittens are Potato chips. 

Tuesday morning, I was helping D unload and reload the dishwasher when I felt a pain across my lower back. I took a pain med, and used some cream and carried on. We had a busy day planned - we may have found someone to tear down the old fence, remove the concrete, and rebuild it. Wally came by to take measurements for his list of supplies. Once he has a cost for those, we'll discuss the cost of labour. We'll be in touch with the next door neighbour - he lives in Winnipeg and rents the place, and has agreed to share the cost. We'll see what he says, if he doesn't like the price, we'll suggest he find another quote.

In the afternoon, we headed into NTO to do a bit of shopping, some time for Eli to play at his favourite park, and for his therapy session. Our first stop was Value Village, where we dropped off several bags of donations. In the store I found a couple of glass baking dishes (I'd broke the one we had), a good quality towel, two plant containers, and a pillow insert for less than $20. D was looking for books for Eli - the child would prefer not to read, but reads with understanding and emotion when he does. He read a chapter of a book on the way in, and he had me giggling. Not only does he read, but he has a habit of making side comments as well. 

Since we were at the mall, we stopped in at Coles bookstore. I had a gift card from Christmas, so we used that to pick up a book for Eli, two for me, and got convinced to purchase a beach blanket. It will be handy when we go to the lake (soon, hopefully).

After a bite to eat, we dropped Eli off at his therapists, then dashed over to Walmart where I picked up garden soil, topsoil and potting soil. D stopped to fuel up her vehicle, so we didn't get into the store for the few grocery items we needed, so did that after Eli's appointment. We were home shortly after 6 p.m. and after unpacking our purchases, a painkiller and more lotion, I was in bed. In all of the movement I'd done,  I had realized that my hip was out of place,  It has happened before, especially when I was driving my standard transmission vehicle. How I managed to do that just bending over, I have no idea.

It was a restless night, and at one point, I could barely straighten up to walk to the bathroom. By morning, I had decided to call the chiropractor's office to see if I get an appointment. In the meantime, I headed out to the back yard to put away some items that were left out overnight. We were expecting big winds later in the day, between 80-110kph (50-68mph) and I didn't want things to blow away. As I was moving something into the garage, I managed to catch my foot on the threshold and tripped, catching myself before I fell. Within in minutes, I realized that my hip wasn't giving me grief, and though there was still muscle tenderness, I was walking easily again. Crazy!

In fact, I walked to my appointment with the hairdresser just a few blocks away. The temperature had already reached 20C/78F. She and I had a great conversation about gardening. She did a great job of my cut, and I left the salon feeling human again. 

D had something to pick up at Canadian Tire so I rode over with her and walked through the garden centre. Oh my, there are so many things I'd like to purchase. But despite the wonderful weather, we still have a couple of nights ahead where the temperatures could fall to near freezing. I likely won't be able to hold off for more another week but the less time I have to haul them in and out of the garage the better. First I need to make a solid plan for planting the vegetable gardens. My peppers never did come up, so I'll need to buy those, along with a broccoli (D's request), and red onion. 

Back at home, I felt good enough to empty the bags of soil into the raised beds. D was concerned that the loose dirt might be blown around by the wind, so I opened up a couple of Amazon boxes, covered most of the beds, and weighted them down with rocks. I don't know that the wind would be that much of an issue, but it will keep her happy. :)

Last, but not least, I did some weeding out front and planted a lily bulb that D had purchased. I had planned to plant others I had bought but the package suggested they wouldn't do well in full sun, so I will have to hold off and plant those later in another spot. I am truly enjoying getting my hands in the dirt.

The weather turned on Thursday, with potential rain and heavy winds forecast for the afternoon.  I was determined to get some work done outside so was out in the garden bed when D left to take Eli to school in the morning. My goal was to remove the rest of the old strawberry plants. They didn't produce much and were full of weeds. D ran a few errands and I was just finishing up when she got home. 

As i mentioned, we have found someone to tear down and replace our fence, with reference from one of the thrift store volunteers. When Wally first came by to check the scope of the job he brought a friend with him. When I learned that Chris was a mechanic, I asked if he might be interested in a used car. Long story short he purchased D's old car and took it away. 

This left the garage empty so D and moved things out of the garden shed. Camping gear, the lawn mower and trimmer, snowblower, and weed torch all found a new home. (Neither of our SUVs for in the space.) I'm addition the bins of outdoor toys were moved in too. Later she moved tools from the back porch and basement.  I still need to clean up the garden shed and I have the space to reorganize it.

I attended Knit and Natter at the library, while later in the afternoon, D and Eli drive to NTO for his swim lesson. It continued to get cooler and more windy. Shortly after the returned home we had an hour long power outage. We were fortunate as several areas in the province lost power for nearly 24 hours. 

As a result Friday was a quiet day. D and I did run out after Eli went to school after lunch to an Estate sale. Our purchases included a step ladder, a large water jug, and a pretty kitchen towel. I've been planning to buy a step ladder so finding a lightweight aluminium one for $20 was a real bonus. 

The forecast is suggesting we may see a bit of that dressed 4 letter word overnight. It should melt as it falls....

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Funny Friday

 

Good days, good deals, and plans for the future

I'm starting this post on Friday, which might suggest I've had a busy week. That wouldn't be completely accurate though it has its moments.

I did my first shift on Monday morning at the thrift store, from 10-12. The store wasn't opened and this time is meant to give the volunteers time to clean and organize the store, as well as sort incoming donations. I'll be part of this shift for the month of May. (Not entirely sure what happens in June, but I'll find out later). 

We eventually ran out of hangers, and with one of the Facebook group administrators in attendance it was decided that we needed to have a sale. Most clothing items in the store sell for $2 or $3, with the option of getting a bag - filled as much as one can and be able to tie it closed for just $15. For this week, that price was changed to two bags for $20. One purchases the bags on entry and then browses and shops as long as they like.

D and I went to the store on both Tuesday and Thursday. Primarily she picked up items for her friend who is expecting her third child in August. I don't know what the count was on Thursday, but I do know that she got close to 60 items, mostly baby and small toddler sizes, plus a few items for S's older girls. We also found some t-shirts and shorts for Eli, and a couple of hoodies. I did get a few items too, but I won't be keeping the pants (too small) and a pair of capris (too big). We don't have the space for dressing rooms so it can be hit and miss.

On Monday, though, I did find a piggy bank for my daughter. She's been wanting one for awhile as she's been keeping spare change in a jar. Most piggy bank's at thrift stores tend to be missing their plugs...this one was complete.

Wednesday, we had a contractor out to discuss replacing the wooden fence. It was in bad shape when we moved in two years ago, and my brother helped us brace it as it was badly leaning. It's gotten worse, especially since the new tenants moved in last fall. The grandparents are great, their son and grandchildren not so much. When the elders are home, the kids are supervised and well-behaved. When left with their father, not so much. As you can see, several boards on the fence have been broken and the length of the fence is leaning even more so.

D has spoken to the owner, and he has tentatively agreed to pay his share for the fence. However, we cannot find a company willing to replace it with another wooden fence. I'm hesitant to put up a vinyl fence because I fear the damage those children might do. Plus the parking area in the back is gravel and I'm concerned about stones thrown when D is snowblowing. The contractor suggested that these vinyl fences are better than they were in the past, and can handle the impact - he suggested we might see scuffing. The benefit, of course, is no need to repaint or stain every few years and the posts used are steel. If any of my readers have experience with this type of fencing, I'd really appreciate hearing your opinions.

Something else I managed to finish this week was the poncho I started when I was in Yuma. It primarily used stash yarn from the previous owner of my unit (I did say I hit the motherlode when I found those containers of yarn), and about four skeins of yarn I picked up on sale at the Walmart. All in all, it likely cost me $20Cdn to make, plus lots of time. Unlike most ponchos it has a front opening, and I could crochet or braid a belt for it, but it works without one. It's quite heavy and warm and I suspect both my daughter and I will get use of it, especially in the cooler weather of spring and fall.

Back to the thrift store, I did another shift on Thursday evening as the store was open extended hours. There wasn't a lot to sort, so most of my time was spent going through the racks, removing empty hangers, moving mis-hung items to the appropriate and bringing out more items from the sorting room as needed. The earlier shift was apparently very busy, however we were pretty quiet. Remember how I said on Monday we were out of hangers - here are the hangers that were back in the sorting on Thursday evening! The sale certainly cleared out a LOT of items.

The weather hasn't been great this week, but I did get out on Wednesday to do a bit of cleaning up in the back yard, mostly of the day lilies. In the flower bed, I'm seeing the poppies start to show some growth, and in the garden the chives are doing really well - we can start using them any time. Indoors, I had to repot the tomatoes, as they starting to get root bound in the smaller pots. My cucumbers are both up, and once they have their third leaves, I'll repot them into something bigger as well. I am going to try to grow them in containers, using a trellis for support. It's the first time I've ever grown cucumbers so we'll see how it goes.

This weekend I'm hoping to spend more yard outdoors, and start the process of building two raised garden beds. I purchased the kits last fall on sale, and I need to put down cardboard to kill/limit the growth of the grass. But I also need to buy dirt to fill them, so I'm thinking I'll make a trip to NTO. There is more clean-up to be done as well, and I've bought chicken wire to attach to the fence as I'd like to have more sweet peas this summer. This is core memory from my childhood as my mom grew them every year. They separated the yard from the garden (perhaps to hide the weeds - not likely, her gardens were always well kept). I can still recall the scent of the flowers! I did have a obelisk for them last year and they did well, but I'd like to give them more space.

It will be a few more weeks before I can start planting outdoors, but that doesn't mean I'm not planning. I want to plant corn, carrots, peas, along with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and herbs. I haven't any luck with the peppers sprouting so I'll have to pick up a couple of plants at a garden center. The new garden beds will provide more space, though I'll still do some container gardening as well. 

I may have convinced my daughter that we should put in some raspberry bushes as well. Eli asked about growing apples, and I may try to find room for a Morden apple, which originated in Manitoba, Canada, and will be hardy to our climate. So many plans! Let's see if my ambitions outlast my energy levels. :)

Have a great week ahead everyone!

P.S. I've just realized I haven't been reading, and therefore commenting on blogs this week. Oops, I guess I was busier than I realized. I'm off to catch up now. 

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Hooray for May!

April is in the rearview mirror and don't a moment too soon. It was a month of weather, most of it not very pleasant. Between snowstorms we had cool/cold temperatures, lots of melting and that meant water in the basement. My daughter was responsible for dealing with that issue, thankfully. We're waiting for a warm day before we do some waterproofing both inside and out. I should note, we're lucky in that we know exactly where the water is coming in, as some of the parging on the foundation has come away. The best way to resolve the issue would be to dig up the corner of the house, put in weeping tile and paint the foundation with some type of sealant. We can't afford to do that, so we'll simply be coating the foundation and the interior walls with the sealant. With the rain barrels set in place and the water draining away from the house, we should be in a good place until we get a downpour...when the window wells become an issue. I've been looking for window guards, though my daughter doesn't think they will suffice. Instead she wants to put in new windows. Owning a house is never inexpensive.

Speaking of difficulties of home ownership, my son sent me this photo earlier this week. One of his g/f's cats managed to get into the drop ceiling. She started to fall through one tile and made a mad dash across the ceiling knocking panels out as she ran. C tried to replace the tiles, but the system is in rough shape, so has decided to contact the contractor who did the work in my house in the city to get a quote for replacing the entire ceiling. 

We had another full week, highlights included my second stint at the thrift store on Tuesday, and a trip to Saskatoon on Thursday. At the thrift store, I spent about 4 hours, again sorting items for resale, trash, and to be shipped on to the Value Village. The bags of donations keep coming in, though the store had a big sale on Saturday, with loads of items going out the door. Next month, my shifts will be shorter, just two hours on Mondays from 10-12. I must admit being on my feet for four hours straight was not easy. I almost left without buying anything, but spotted this bag on my way out the door. For $1, I came home with another bag to hold a knitting/crocheting project. Will that encourage me to finish one? No, I have not finished the project that I said was nearly complete two or three weeks ago - the knitting is done and it can be sewed up - but D has asked for pockets.  It never ends. 

The trip to Saskatoon has been in the works for over 2 years now. We just had to wait for an appointment for Eli with the pediatric neurologist. As many of you will know, Eli was diagnosed with epilepsy with absence seizures in February 2024. He had his first seizure in mid-January and then a second one in February. After the second seizure he was sent by ambulance to Regina, where he was in hospital for about a week. His diagnosis was made after an EEG. With medication, he has since been seizure free. There is no pediatric neurologist in Regina, so he's been seeing a neurologist who works primarily with stroke victims. He had another EEG that didn't indicate any issues, but it is up to the pediatric doctor to determine if he can stop the meds or at least reduce his dosage.

I went with them, as it is a 3 1/2 hour drive to Saskatoon (without stops), and after an appointment, I knew my daughter would be emotionally exhausted. We planned to take Eli to the NTO on our return for his private swimming lesson depending on how the two of them were feeling.    

Good news! The appointment went well, though another EEG will be booked in Regina (1.5 hours away). Once the neurologist has those results and confirms no seizure activity, Eli can be weaned off his seizure meds. If there is any evidence that suggests otherwise then he must wait for another year. I'm addition, further appointments with the neurologist can be done by telephone, hooray for no long drives.

We did get to Eli's swim lesson and he had a great time. By the time we drive home and had a bit of dinner, we all fell into our beds.  

Friday was our first day of truly lovely weather reaching a high of 19C/70F. I spent some time outdoors, cleaning up the peony bed. I ran out of steam after I cleaned up the debris, so will continue my efforts through the weekend. There are four more peonies as well as day lilies to cut back. Then there is the big project, moving the rocks from the flower bed in the back yard. It's supposed to cook down again by midweek so I expect that will be delayed.

In the meantime the seedlings I planted a few weeks ago are growing list with the tomatoes and basil looking good. No pansies or peppers so I re-seeded these as well as a couple of cucumbers. Fingers crossed! Can you tell I'm looking forward to this gardening season? I just have to be patient a little longer.

   

Yes, that is an onion in the middle pot - my daughter found an onion growing in the bag and asked if we could try to see if it would continue to grow - I don't believe it is, but sometimes you have to humour the kids (even if she is in her 40's). :)

With the nicer weather, I plan to spend more time out in the yard, though will work on some knitting this weekend. Happy May to all, and have a great week ahead!

Friday Funny