My kind of week - mostly

I have won the battle but not the war on weeds. This week was spent cleaning up the weeds in the areas that were xeriscaped by one of the former owners. Over the years as leaves and seeds fall, a slight build up of soil is created, and weeds are nothing if not persistent. It has taken most of the week and made possible by the weather. Yes, we finally have got some nice weather with temperatures in the mid-20'sC/mid-70'sF.  The area behind the house was definitely the worst, and I spent both Sunday and Monday morning working on it. 

I also got the raised flower bed planted with the perennials. Some I had removed to keep them out of the way of the fence build and a couple I'd purchased recently. The Jackmani clematis is to the right and hopefully will fill the trellis before summer's end. At the base, I've re-planted a cress - the clematis likes to have it's feet shaded, so this should help

To the right and behind the fading poppy bloom is sedum. It is small now, but will grow up to 12-24 inches and fill in to a similar amount. As you can see the purple lamium, dead nettle, and oxalis are thriving. In fact, these plants have sprouted outside the garden bed, in the rock areas. I've been considering leaving them to continue to spread...perhaps they'll choke out the weeds? That would be nice. :)

The peony show is waning and I've started cutting back the spent blooms. The lilies that live among them have taller now than the peonies and I expect they'll start putting on a show in a week or so. (The vacant house next door has some blooming.

Tuesday was the start of day camps for Eli in the NTO. He'll be attending the camp at one of the local schools Tuesday and Thursday mornings, while the SaskAbilities camp is being held on Tuesday afternoons. He's been attending the summer day camp (mornings) for three years and there are many familar faces who face similar challenges. The afternoon is new, and the children have a wide range of disabilities. This week they were transported to a small town swimming pool, which features two water slides and a lazy river. Apparently Eli was fascinated by the lazy river. His mom is keeping him busy, as he's also enrolled in the library program on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. It's a short walk, down the block and across the street from our house. This year there is a mixed group of kids, boys and girls with a good age range. D says he still gets a long weekend, though they will be doing some learning activities as well, and private swim lessons (evening) are coming up shortly. The summer will fly by, I'm sure.

I didn't go along, as I was scheduled to work at the thrift store. This week, I spent most of my time in the store, rather than sorting. We have multiple racks of clothing from the recent donations, and I tried to move as many of them as I could. Still we had four racks of "new arrivals" for the customers. AND customers we had - with the exception of our sale days I have never seen the store so busy. Nice of them to come in, as I was able to move things to the regular racks (note the prices are the same for the new arrivals). Two of us put out items on the shelves as well, small appliances, glass ware, shoes, bedding, craft items, etc. Some of these items were sold before I left the store. Nice to see!

As usual, I came home exhausted but it was my night to cook. I made up taco meat with a portion of the beef/pork mixture and "mom" burgers from the rest. We are expecting temperatures this weekend over 30C/86F. I expect I'll be doing a fair amount of grilling in the next week. Once I had these chores done, I collasped on the bed until D and Eli returned.

Wednesday, I was back at the weed picking in the rocks, this time on the side of the house. I wanted to put up the gazebo and needed to clear the area around the patio, in particular, otherwise those weeds would be there until fall as I haven't enough room to get to them. Not that many won't appear/reappear. I dodged the sun as much as possible, and managed to get a good amount of the area cleaned up. I also hung up a couple of pieces of garden art on the fence, and started digging up the new perennial bed. I've decided it will be the bulb garden. Once I've cleared up the weeds, as much as possible, I plan to plant the patio lilies I purchased last week, as well as a few bulbs I picked up earlier this year. Hopefully I'll find some tulip bulbs too, and get them in the ground before the end of fall. 

This is the ugly area of the yard. It does get direct sunlight for a few hours a day. I'm hoping that in a couple of years, it will look pretty too. 

The photo of the bunny wasn't a great one. I was clearing weeds around the perennial bed when I saw something streaking down the sidewalk towards me. Initially I thought it was Stanley, our cat who loves to get outdoors un-noticed. When I realized it wasn't him, I tried to grab my phone to take a photo. It took off a short distance but didn't immediately leave the yard. As I said to D, we've got lots of food here for it. She told me she saw two black bunnies and a grey/white one in the back alley. I suspect they were someone's pets that they tired of. I did post on the local lost pet's FB site but no one has responded. Poor things, I don't suspect they'll last long...despite the food source. When I went out to check the garden, I found that something had chewed a good amount off a pea plant, decimated a sweet pea, and the little bugger has been nibbling on the broccoli as well.

In the garden update, the potatoes are blooming, as are the peas, tomatoes and cucumbers. I am seeing a few cucumber blossoms dropping but my research suggests these are likely male flowers that have made their contribution. I'll have to wait and see. I'm happy to report that the tomatoes are setting fruit. This is much earlier than what we experienced last year - though I am growing a different variety.

Guess what I did on Thursday? If you guessed I bought more plants, you would be right. The garden centers are selling off much of their stock, and our Independent grocer had the best prices. I found a planter containing cosmos, one struggling petunia, and one, as yet, unidentified plant. This will end up in the raised perennial bed, with the hopes the cosmos will drop seeds and I'll see volunteers next year. The second plant I bought is a lilac bush. I've got a place in mind for it, inside the front gate. I bought both for less than $20. 

We had a thunderstorm with a heavy downpour in the early morning, which was welcome as the rain barrels were nearly empty. They were almost full in less than an hour. No water in the basement, thankfully. Oh, but the humidity was so high. The mosquitos were out in force, so I forwent working outdoors and did some housekeeping instead. My bedroom needed a tidy, and the kitchen counters were cleared and scrubbed. I don't touch D's doom piles though - she seems to know what and where things are in these spaces. 

Friday morning, with lots of bug spray, we were able to get the gazebo up. With the table and chairs tucked inside, it is now a place where I can sit with a cup of tea and my breakfast or just hide from the weeds. ;)  I know that once the clean-up in the rocks is complete, I'll start my weeding in the flower and garden beds again. I'd like to have everything reasonably cleaned up before I leave for a week next Wednesday. I'm off to the city for a visit with my son and his g/f. 

I also managed to wrap the garden bed in a plastic webbing. It's about 24" tall and should help keep bad bunny out of the vegetables.  The planter of cosmos was put in the perennial bed and all the containers were watered.  Last up was more rock weeding before I headed indoors to avoid the heat of the day.

Today, I'm planning to head out early to get more weeding done. At some point I plan to pick up fuel at the local Co-op, as 10 cents of every litre will be donated to the RCMP officers who were injured in the shooting. I suspect the line-ups to the pumps will be long. There is also a BBQ and silent auction we'll likely attend.

The forecast says we'll reach a high of 33C/91F - I'll be hiding indoors in the a/c for the rest of the day. I've got knitting to work on, a book to read, and there is Canadian football to watch - though our team won't have a game until Sunday.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Life's ups and downs

The rain and cool weather continues. If it isn't raining, it is overcast and threatening. We got another 3 inches early in the week. The mosquitos are loving it, us, not so much.

Despite the less than stellar weather, Matt was back on Monday putting up fence boards. His daughter, about a ten or eleven year old, was his helper for the day. While he installed the boards she used the wheelbarrow to move five or six boards at a time and bring them to him. I sent this photo to LND at the end of the day to show the progress. The fence is getting done, the tenant neighbours haven't done anything about the weeds. The fence means I won't have to look at them.

Tuesday I did my shift at the thrift store. I can't manage more than four hours or so on my feet. This is annoying to me, I feel I should be able to do more. My right foot cramps something fierce, less so if I wear sandals but with the rain I was in my sneakers. We are still getting piles of donations, some from the earlier garage sales but others from folks who are clearly using the poor weather to clean out closets and dresser drawers. We got two large tubs of baby/toddler girl clothing, from sizes newborn to 3T. I was able to about half of it out in the bins, the rest have to wait until we have enough room. When I left at 2:30, we'd filled four racks of clothing, with a lot of things being sent on to Value Village or turfed. (Just a hint, we don't re-sell thong underwear).

The Canada Day parade was held on Tuesday evening. That worked well for me, since I hadn't found anything to post for Wednesday. It was raining, as it had been all day, but the parade was short and we live less than a block away. Eli had a blast as most of the participants throw candy for the children, and his mom was prepared with a bag. Here are a few more photos from the event.

Sadly, Canada Day wasn't a good day. My daughter didn't get a lot of sleep and was frustrated with pretty much everything was going on. I was on the phone for much of the morning, with my brother and a friend. She was irritated that I wasn't helping with the housework. Later, wWhen I told her I didn't plan to go to the arena for the Canada Day event, she blew up and made some nasty comments to me (I won't share them). I think she wanted me to go along so I could watch Eli, while she chatted with friends. From my perspective, I find the events noisy and not knowing very many people yet, I feel a bit of an outsider. She doesn't take things out on me very often, but when it happens it takes me a few days to remind myelf I'm here for many reasons. Perhaps it is my penance for not being a great mom when she was young. 

Since I couldn't be outdoors on Thursday, and I wasn't on the phone, I helped with several chores in the house. In the afternoon I went to Knit and Natter in the library. Another regular was there and we spent our 90 minutes chatting about gardening and our knitting projects. When I returned home, Matt was there finishing up work on the fence. It turned out he was short a few boards and was back on Friday with his helper (daughter), to complete the job.

Friday morning, brought another storm of emotions for D, and I was on blast once again. I needed to pick up some groceries, so decided to head to NTO. That gave me a couple of hours to myself and by the time I returned home, she was calm. At the moment there are things going on her life that are causing her a lot of stress. While I understand that, I get tired of her turning her frustration on me. I have a week planned in Regina mid-month and I'll be happy for the break.

On a happier note, my garden is doing very well. The potatoes, cucumber, tomatoes and peppers are all flowering. The cilantro, basil and oregano are getting huge. The peas are climbing the trellis, the red and green onions look good, and the carrots while still small are coming along nicely. The darned lettuce and radish are still lagging behind but I'm hoping the heat in the forecast will perk them up. If not I'll re-seed.

With the fence nearing completion, I plan to get out in the yard and start working on the perennial beds. There is weeding to be done, and I want to clear away dirt from fence and put down rock and crusher dust. Then I have a number of perennials to be put in theground. The darned mosquitos are wicked but I'll bathe in bug spray, and I should be able to get much of it done over the weekend.

Have a great week ahead everyone! Happy 4th to those readers in the USA.

Friday Funny

 

Happy Canada Day!

  

Life goes on

Monday was a difficult day. The evening prior, two of our local police officers were shot when they arrived at a home for a domestic disturbance. Both officers are currently in stable condition in a hospital in the city, but sadly, both suffered life-altering injuries. We've learned that the dispute was between neighbours over a property line and a shed. It is just a horrible situation, and while the community is rallying around the families through fundraisers and creating cards and sending messages, our little town is shaken. By late afternoon, the lawn outside the RCMP office was filling up with Canada flags.

On Tuesday we were up bright and early and off to the city. Eli had an appointment with the developmental pediatrician at 9:30 a.m. We were far too early, so afterpicking up gas at Costco (15 cents a litre cheaper there than here in town), and a stop at McDonald's playland (with an iced coffee for me), I dropped the two of them off. D had been warned it would take most of the morning and it was nearly noon before I picked them up.

We got some good news on the drive in, when checked E-health records and read the report regarding his EEG, which showed no signs of seizure activity. She has a telephone appointment with the doctor in Saskatoon in late July, after which Eli can be weaned off the seizure meds. In addition after the discussion with the developmental pediatrician, D has been given permission to stop the anxiety medication he was taking. After the two meds are stopped, he'll just have his ADHD meds to take on a daily basis. He descibes those meds as "glasses for his brain", as they help him focus. 

Meanwhile I got in a short visit with my son and his g/f. I met them at the office and we went across the street for coffee. I was coffee'd out by this point, so just sat with them. They've got some plans for reno's and work to be done in the yard. I'm planning to spend a week there in mid-July, and will give them a hand with a few things. 

Since Eli was missing out on a school activity - it is the last week of school - we took the opportunity to visit the Saskatchewan Science Centre. Our boy is very interested in space and one of the main exhibits related to that subject. G'ma wandered a bit, but then found a place to sit and relax. Then it was time to head home.

We had more rain while we were gone, 8 cms or over 3 inches and D spent the evening in the basement. Our attempts to mitigate haven't completely been successful, but at least there is less water making its way in. We're planning to open up the wall below one of the windows to see if there is a crack in the foundation as it seems to be a potential source. That's on the agenda in next couple of weeks.

We've been having some issues with the front and back doors not properly latching - and one sneaky cat who figured out how to open the doors on his own. I called in a locksmith on Wednesday to check things out. He was here for about 45 minutes or so, and replaced the latch in the front door, corrected the knob placement in the other (it was upside down), and adjusted the hinges in both. I'm happy to say they are both working well now. I'm even happier to say that he advised we do NOT need to replace the doors. This was something D and I had discussed doing at some point.

Before he finished D and Eli headed off to the farm for his equine therapy session. This is the last one until next fall. His work with the horses and guidance from the therapist has really given him more confidence in doing hard things, and tolerance for doing things he'd prefer not to do. He's now working with a pony named Indie - at his regular session on Monday, he read to her in both English and French. This session was a make-up as he missed an appointment when he was sick last month.

I had Knit and Natter at the library that evening. Again, I was the only one there, which is disappointing, but I certainly didn't lack for company. One of the librarians, J had her daughter drop by with three small children she was babysitting. They were between the ages of 3 and 7 and provided live entertainment. They found a number of books, their babysister read while the oldest read on his own, while I continued to knit on my shawl. Things got quiet about 20 minutes before I left, as she took them out for ice cream. 

The fence guy let me know they would be starting work on Thursday. Phase 1 was the removal of the fence panels, posts, and the concrete that ran the length of the fence. I think it took Matt and his brother 15-20 minutes to take down the fence panels. The posts and the concrete took the rest of the day. Initially he had indicated that a buddy with a small skidsteer would be assisting with the removal of the concrete, but he injured his wrist and wasn't able to help so the two of them used a sledge hammer to break up the concrete and a crowbar to lift it.

When they removed the fence panels, I discovered that years of falling leaves and twigs had created a wonderful batch of compost between the neighbour's shed and the fence. While the guys worked at the other end, I dug out the compost and sorted through to get rid of some bits of garbage, a single brick, and tree roots. Most of it went into the compost bin, but some of it was moved onto the the space where we had removed a spruce tree last year. I managed to get the concrete cleared off before they made it that far. By 3:30 they were heading out with the third and final load for the dump. Matt mentioned he was hoping to be back the next day to set the posts.

He arrived about 9:15 to drop off his tools and wheelbarrow.  We're expecting a lot more rain over the weekend so I know he wanted to get the posts in. To stay out of his way, we headed into the NTO to do a little bit of shopping, visit a few garage sales, and stop at Walmart for a few groceries. We did visit Value Village where I found a tall metal vase and a weathered child's chair (total cost $12) I plan to use the latter in the garden as a plant stand, the vase will go south with me in the fall. The only thing I purchased at the garage sale was a pair of box cutters for $1. The groceries were more expensive! However, I did get Oreo cookies for Eli for $2.98 - similar cookies at our local stores are $5-6. 

Back at home, we found that Matt and his brother were making good headway with the posts and cross-members. They were  away for lunch and it was raining, however had left everything behind so I assumed, correctly, that he would be back. By late afternoon they had finished this stage of the fencing. I sent photos to LND; we both agreed it already looks much better than the old rickety fence. The last stage will be the fence boards which I anticipate will be done later next week.

Today is a quiet day, with nothing much planned. I had thought I'd do more weeding but it is cool and threatening to rain so indoor activities will suffice. As I'm writing this Eli is finishing his breakfast, we will be doing some reading together before heading downstairs to pick up his toys. D is rearranging the basement in anticipation of the changes to the area behind the furnace. I'm staying out of the way, she's a woman on a mission.

Have a great week ahead everyone!