Weather woes, cat worries, and lots of harvesting

We got rain, a lot of it, over Sunday and Monday. The first day we saw 52 millimeters and the following day another 20 millimeters. That is approximately 3 inches in total. The worst of it was the inch or so that fell in less than an hour on Sunday. Again, we had water in the basement, through the one window well. I'm considering digging out the well and added a layer of heavy plastic to cover the bottom and sides, then a layer of rock, and replacing the window well cover. The one I have doesn't fit snugly so I'll have to do some finagling to get it to fit better. There's a bit of a low spot in the pavement which creates an issue I can't correct. The window and it's rotting wooden frame is the big issue, but that will have to wait until spring to be dealt with. 

Regina had a deluge of even more rain. I've heard four inches on Sunday alone. A friend posted video of her street; their car had water up past the wheel wells, and across the street cars had been moved by the current and were perpendicular to the sidewalk. More fell on Monday, and my son called to tell me his basement was flooding as well. He contacted a plumber who came out and removed the drain cover to allow the water to flow. C is going to have to arrange to have a sump pump installed soon, and this was a good reminder to him why he needs to clean the gutters regularly!

Tuesday started out with a bit of sun but it soon clouded over. Oh, and the wind! My corn stalks were nearly blown over by this point. The gazebo frame had been pulled out of the pots of sand that we use to stablilize them - thank goodness we have it staked down too, or I think it might have ended up a few doors down. 

I did my grocery shopping, mostly sale items and D dropped her vehicle off at the dealership for some warranty work. What was supposed to take about 45 minutes stretched on into the afternoon. Part of this was a software update that took far longer than expected. We did a bit of housework in the morning before Eli came home from school at noon. Then the two of them were off to equine therapy and Eli's haircut. That meant I had much of the afternoon to myself.

Wednesday, we had sun in the morning, hooray! But it also started with some not so needed excitement. Stanley, D's cat - age 11, was exhibiting behaviours that had us thinking he had a blockage of some sort. A few years ago, she lost her Sheldon to a twisted bowel, and of course, our minds went to the worst case scenario. She called the local vet office when they opened at 7:30 and we were able to take him in immediately. The vet's examination indicated a urinary tract blockage and surgery was required. By lunchtime, they had called to say the surgery went well, he was cranky but resting. He remained at the clinic until the following day.

Meanwhile I kept D outside after she dropped Eli at school. We took down the gazebo, dug potatoes, picked the remaining tomatoes and cucumbers, and put away some of the decorative items. The cucumbers were quite the surprise as the two were well hidden in the foliage. Both are overripe, one more so than the other. I plan to keep the largest one on the counter for a few days and harvest seeds from it for planting next year. 

I continued to toil away when she'd had enough, then I harvested the basil and oregano, and weeded the raised beds. Everything was cleared out except the marigolds, oregano, and the green onions. The latter were left for harvesting on Thursday. I determined that the oregano is hardy to Zone 4. We're more in Zone 3 than 4, but with a good covering of straw and leaves, I'm hopeful it will survive the winter.

In the evening, I headed to the library for Knit and Natter. Another new woman joined me, she hasn't knitted in 40 years but thought she'd try it again. Good on her! She brought her knitting needles, some yarn and a few patterns. After some thought, she decided to start with a slouch beanie, knit flat and seamed. The pattern was a lousy one (in my mind) as it didn't give instructions for the number of stitches required to start. I recommended she start with a swatch to decide the opening row. I worked on my cross-stitch ornament. It is taking forever as I have to change colours frequently. Also, because I have had time to work on it at home either.

Thursday morning was busy, with more harvesting of corn and green onions. I didn't have great luck with the corn, just six small cobs. That was likely my fault because I planted it in rows and apparently they prefer to be planted in a square pattern. I also planted them behind the potatoes which grew faster than the corn and shaded them for a good part of the summer. We'll get a decent feed from them, as part of our Sunday dinner this week.

Potatoes were peeled for hash browns, and after blanching set on a tray to dry a bit before going into the freezer. The green onions were cleaned; some went into the fridge for use this week, while the rest was chopped up to be frozen. I added about a tablespoon to the slots in an ice cube tray, then added a bit of water to cover. We can use those over the next while in various dishes. 

I had washed and dried the basil the day prior, along with dehyrdrating the oregano. D and I made a small batch of pesto with the basil. Friday night's dinner is a chicken pizza and we'll be using the pesto as the base. It tasted delicious on the spoon, so I was sure it would be fantastic on the pizza.

D and Eli left to go to NTO about 2 p.m. and I took advantage of their absence to sweep and mop the kitchen floor. I'm not the neatest prep cook. :) After a bit of a rest, I headed over to the vet clinic to pick up Stanley. After I paid the bill and got instructions, they asked if I would go to the back to get him into the carrier for the ride home. Apparently, he'd been quite cranky with them. He seemed pretty happy to see me, but still fought going into the carrier a little. But he didn't fuss at all on the way home. I brought him into the house to the front porch as we'll keep him isolated from Spencer and Saku for a few days. Of course, they're curious and he wants to be in the main part of the house. Trying to get in and out of the porch without a cat escaping can be a challenge. 

The librarian had given me a bag of white onions on Wednesday evening (in exchange for some tomatoes...though she didn't need to do that). Friday morning, was spent peeling and chopping onions, some were carmelized and some were dehydrated for onion powder. The remaining half dozen were tucked in the pantry for cooking. When cooled the majority of the carmelized onions were placed in ice cube trays for future use, though I put some in a bag for our pizza. It was a very flavourful pizza with pesto, carmelized onions, BBQ chicken and of course, ooey gooey cheese. :)

Meanwhile I also cut up more potatoes for French fries. Some became my lunch. They do take a little longer to air fry, but definitely worth it to me. There is still a container of potatoes to be dealt with. We'll have some with our Sunday dinner, but I suspect I'll be making more hashbrowns and fries over the next several days. I do wish we had some cold storage! Next year, I'll just plant a couple of hills.

Garden update: The only thing remaining to be brought in are the carrots. We may see a mild frost this weekend, so I'll leave them out until early next week. Mom always said they tasted sweeter after the first frost. I must say the ones I've had so far were plenty sweet...but one should listen to their mother, right?

I'll keep watering the flower containers (has not been needed this week since the rain). But it won't be long before the plants start dying back. I'll pull a few more marigold seeds and perhaps the pansies. The good landlord has given me permission to harvest seeds from their hollyhocks as well. 

There are four CFL games on Saturday - I'm guessing scheduling has something to do with the NFL. Hence, I'll be doing not much of anything. Maybe I can work on my cross-stitch.

This post is getting incredibly long...and probably very boring. I'll end it now with a photo of my granddog Sage and her bestie, Kota. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

A not so busy week

A word about Wednesday's photo; the potatoes are from two plants. I still have six more to dig up! We really don't have anywhere to store them for long, as they need a cool, dry place. The basement tends to be too humid and the pantry too warm. So I plan to dig a hill or two over the next few weeks...at least until there is a threat of frost. I grew up eating potatoes every day, and could do so again. We picked up a machine to cut French fries and will bag and freeze a fair amount as well. 

Garden update: The tomatoes were coming faster than I could eat them, so I picked several and took them to one of the thrist store volunteers. Her tomatoes did nothing this year. D also took some, along with a cucumber to the librarian. She was thrilled to get them, as she's only grown cherry tomatoes this year and exclaimed how excited to eat a tomato sandwich. 

Speaking of the tomatoes, a second volunteer has popped up in the perennial bed. The first one has flowers now, and maybe, just maybe we'll see a wee bit of fruit from it.

The long range forecast doesn't indicate any potential for frost until well into September. My corn cobs are growing and I'm hopeful we'll get a feed from those yet. 

This photo is simply to illustrate how much the oxalis has escaped the perennial bed and is filling in the rock area in front of the gazebo. Too, the lamium is also setting up outside the rock borders. I dug up a piece of lamium and put it in the new perennial bed. Oh, and my lilac bush is slightly confused and blooming!

I did shifts at the thrift store on Monday and Tuesday. Monday was our last "August" cleaning day, but we came into an pile in the sorting room and a full bin to boot. There wasn't a whole lot of cleaning completed that day as several of us spent the time sorting. When we left, there were just a few bags left...something for the Tuesday crew to manage. I got a call that afternoon from M, the team leader for Tuesday's volunteers asking if I could come in for a few hours. I agreed, and when I arrived just shortly before 1 p.m., the store was busy (we're open 11-4 on Tuesdays and Thursday's), and a few volunteers were busy in the sorting room as well.

Why, you might wonder, since we'd left so little the day prior? Well, the donation bin was full on arrival that morning, and more donations kept coming in during the day. My first task was to take the large cart to the bin area and bring another round in - several boxes and a number of bags. Again, I spent the three hours I was there assisting with the sorting. As busy as we were, the store continued to do so as well, so we didn't run out hangers or racks. At 3:55 p.m. an announcement was made in-store that we were closing in 5 minutes...didn't slow some shoppers down. The store has late hours on Thursday, until 8 p.m. so I told every one I came across they were welcome to come back. It took until nearly 4:15 to clear the store!

I got a call as I was leaving from SaskEnergy (our natural gas provider). I'd been in touch with them the week prior because we hadn't received a utility bill from them for mid-August...very unusual. While I was told to expect the worker last Friday, he didn't arrive until this week. Apparently there was issue with a battery in the equipment, though I don't quite understand how that would impact the issuance of a bill, as they just estimate our useage. In any event, the part was replaced and I should see the next bill by the 15th of the month. To avoid a big surprise, I paid the same amount we'd paid the month previous.

Wednesday was Eli's first day of Grade 4. This is his last year at the junior school. How can that be? His mom took photos of him and I stole from her. He's certainly growing! It won't be long before he's as tall as I am. 5'2" and shrinking. :)

Thursday morning, the plumber arrived to install the new range hood. The old one was likely put in 20 years ago, and the fan didn't work well. He wasn't able to hook up the electrical based on a conversation with his employer (though he assured us he could have). The electrician arrived a few hours later to finish the job and to install a Google Nest thermostat. They left shortly before I headed over to the library for Knit and Natter. G was there and as we haven't seen each other for awhile, it was a good opportunity to catch up. One of the librarians visited with us for awhile...lots of garden talk!

When I returned home, we went to the thrift store to do a bit of shopping. I had talked to one of the other volunteers earlier in the week, and she had suggested I might be needed for the late afternoon shift. She wasn't there but I checked with one of the board members but she said they figured they had enough volunteers. We spent $30 on two baskets and went home with at least three dozen pieces. Many were for Eli, I had four but will be returning two, my daughter found a number for herself and for her friends children. My two purchases were a pair of jeans and a light jacket. D has a couple of pieces I may just steal or at least borrow from time to time - one is sleeveless t-shirt and the other is a black dress.

The roof guys were back on Friday to finish the shingling next door. It was odd because the previous tenant who hasn't been seen for nearly a week arrived shortly before they did. He brought in the recycling bin (put out on Monday) and was seen carrying a small bag into the house. No one seems to living in the house any more and we've seen no potential buyers though we could have missed someone coming in and out. In any event it appears the roof is finished.

I'm not certain if it will help sell the house or not. There have been at least three other houses of similar size listed here in town. One of them is listed at $5K below LND's asking price and the other two are between $30-40K lower.  I won't be surprised if we don't end up with more tenants.

Meanwhile D and I tackled a few things in the kitchen. I had purchased a pork loin and cut it into a roast, a few pork chops, and cubes for stew. While she sealed these into freezer bags, I cut up the rest of the potatoes into fries and hash brown cubes. The machine we'd bought to cut the fries was actually broken - D had found it at a garage sale so no significant loss. After blanching the potatoes, I set them out to dry on cookie sheets, and she sealed them into bags. The hash browns were for breakfast bowls that evening.

The rest of the day was quiet, as D hadn't slept well the night before. Eli was home mid-day so he played and I watched some television and worked on my cross stitching. 

Today will be another quiet day, no real plans on the horizon. I like those kind of days.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Goodbye August

The end of August already? Our summer is nearly over, though we don't count it done until after the long weekend (Labour Day) which falls on the 7th of September this year. 

Interestingly, the provincial government, in power since 2007, legislated that school was not to be in session until after the long weekend. Apparently no one could read, or perhaps, understand how the calendar works. If school started on September 8, classes would run until July. That's not allowed either, so I'm assuming they've made an exception. D had a meeting with the school team on Friday, and it certainly sounds like they are ready for Eli's return. He will start with part days with a gradual increase to full days, hopefully by October.  She learned he has a new E.A. this year, along with a new school counsellor. The principal isn't entirely new, as he filled in for last year's principal when he was ill, and was a teacher at the school for many years prior.

Something else that is confused is the lilac I planted a few weeks ago. It is blooming!

My week flew by. It started Monday with the cleaning shift at the thrift store. We arrived to a van being unloaded into the bin, and found a huge mound of donations in the sorting room. I worked there this week, leaving the cleaning to others. It was another week of sending wrinkled clothing to Value Village, we just don't have the room for everything. G and N opened boxes and bags containing glassware and household items. N had told one of the board members that we needed to hold a glassware sale a few weeks ago...it didn't happen and now we have even more of it!

Tuesday was housework day, as it has been the last few weeks. I've totally forgotten what I did on Wednesday - probably not a whole lot. Thursday we were up early in the morning to head to Regina. D hadn't heard from the doctor's office in time to arrange for a blood test at the hospital for Eli - for genetic testing - but had arranged to have eye exams for the two of them. 

We stopped at my son's place first to drop off a couple of things. I was glad to see B (g/f) was working from home that day. Sadly, Oliver, her 17 year old cat had passed away the previous morning. It's hard losing of our fur babies. After a hug or two, we headed out.

Next up was the bank where D was able to get a new debit card, then to Walmart for shampoo and conditioner. She is quite concerned that the upcoming tariffs will increase the price so bought enough to last several months. I picked up my preferred brand - just a couple of bottles. While there I popped into the Magicuts to make an appointment for a haircut. Our last stop was Costco, where she shopped and mainly stuck to our list, while Eli and I had a bite to eat. 

We made it to the optometrist office in good time, where I dropped the two of them, and drove back to the hairdresser. I was in and out quickly, arriving to pick them up, within a few minutes of them leaving the office. We left at 8 a.m. and were home by 3 p.m. (3 hours driving with a couple of brief stops for construction) so we ccomplished a lot in a short amount of time! 

I didn't sleep well that night, up from 2 - 5 a.m., and was up at 6 to feed the cats. D and Eli were up shortly thereafter but I managed to doze off and sleep until 9. That's the latest I've slept in a very long time. Remember when you were a teenager and could sleep until noon? Or was that just me?

The day's entertainment was watching a crew of two work on the garage roof of the LND (landlord next door). Did I tell you he has the property listed for sale? It is way overpriced for the community and I doubt he'll see a sale until he reduces it. Meanwhile the family that was living there appears to have moved on, but the original renters have been back and forth though don't seem to be staying overnight. Some mattresses were taken out but otherwise we haven't seen a lot of household items being removed. Their lease is up on Monday so we'll see what happens next.

Back to the entertainment. I was making my breakfast as they started work to remove the shingles. Clearly whoever did the work last failed to put the paper under the shingles and they were having a heck of a time peeling the shingles off. AND then there were the holes in the roof! By late afternoon they had replaced the rotten plywood and laid the paper. 

Garden update: 

On Saturday, I dug two hills of potatoes and picked three more tomatoes. I had chopped up six tomatoes earlier in the morning, which made 4 cups, added a teaspoon of garlic per 2 cups, and placed in freezer bags. D makes this awesome pasta recipe (it was a viral Tiktok video) last week. It calls for the tomatos, garlic, and onion to be placed in a oven proof dish with a block of feta, baked for 20 minutes or so, stirring every so often. Add the pasta, salt and pepper to taste and serve - though we do add a bit of grated Parmesan. It is easy and delicious, especially served with marinated grilled chicken.

Back to the garden, I yanked up dying lettuce, the pepper plants that did nothing, and the patio lilies. The latter did nothing except get bug bitten, but I did keep the bulbs to replant somewhere else in the yard later this fall.

My corn has very small cobs forming. Since we're expecting decent weather for a few weeks yet, I'll leave them be for now. I checked my carrots and many are looking to be a good size. 

Christmas preparations are continuing. I finished three of the ornaments for the educators, and started another ornament for my nephew/niece. I decided the first cross-stitch pattern was larger than I liked. These won't be more than a couple of inches in diameter and should hang nicely on the tree. Eli is printing his name on the back and his mom is adding other details. As they do their thing, I'll complete the ornaments.

For other gifts, I've been looking at a website started by Tod Maffin of Nanaimo, B.C. He asked small businesses to contact him, provide a short 10 second video of their products, and has created a database of these companies. Many of them will be impacted by the tarriffs and countertarrifs that have been applied as a result of the recent trade talks. There is everything from arts and crafts to clothing, paper goods to household items, jewellry, tools, and so much more.  Supporting these small businesses is important, not only for the financial aspect but as a show of support for Canadian sovereignty. Many of these businesses ship to Canada and the United States, and some even worldwide. If you are interested the website is mainstreet.todmaffin.com. Scroll down the page to view the various sites or sort by category.  Each time I've visited there are even more options to look at. 

Well, I'm a day late and probably a dollar or two short. Even so, it has been a good week with a few things accomplished. The gardens continue to delight me, though I may be sick and tired of tomatoes shortly. Too soon, it will be time to clear the garden beds and put away all the garden tools and decorations for the winter. 

We're expecting rain today, up to 30 millimeters, about 1.2 inches. It will be an indoor day!

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone.