Saturday 15 February 2020

And so it goes

Another week is nearly past, and I'll gladly say goodbye to it.  We've had another death - a friend of my daughter's and another separation - C and N were back together briefly before he left again.  It's been an emotional time, more so for others, but I've spent a good amount of time being there for the three of them.  Unfortunately, my involvement and words between us have caused a rift between C and I, one I'm not sure can be mended.  At this point, I'm backing away as well, as the drama is more than I can bear.  Frankly, I have enough issues to deal with in my own life.

I did get the normal housework done, laundry and grocery shopping on Monday, floors swept and washed on Tuesday.  Wednesday I didn't do much, though did attend my stitch and chat group.  It was cold that day, -24C at noon with an extreme cold warning in effect.  Thankfully it didn't last long and by Friday we were up to the freezing mark.  It appears the weather will be up and down for the next couple of weeks.  Today it's cold again but sunny.

On a happier note, last Sunday I visited the farm very few photos were taken, as I was late getting away from the house and in a hurry to get home.  There was curling finals to be watched!  
I stopped on the hill road leading down to the valley to take these two photos.  I have never seen the valley with as little snow at this time of year.  It doesn't bode well for the spring.

I spent about 3 hours with my niece working on her sewing project.  She isn't working with a purchased pattern, but had hand drawn a pattern based on a Pinterest picture with careful measurements.  Thus the top is one piece, but the edges needed to be finished.  She had some binding tape that we used to do this one piece at a time.  She and I are both pretty particular so it took awhile to measure, pin, and sew the pieces to our satisfaction.  She learned the basting stitch and how to rip out stitches too.  We needed to make straps as well, and used the same wide binding tape.  That was as far as we got, the next time we get together she will finish sewing on the straps, and we'll figure out how to do button holes (something I'm horrible at even with the special foot), and hem the top.  Once the buttons are sewn on it will be ready to wear.


While we were working on it, this snowy woodpecker showed up at the feeder outside the window.  It's a poor quality photo as I had to zoom in with my cellphone and the glass in the old house distorts the photos too. 

I don't see these birds in the city so I was excited to see the woodpecker at the feeder.  He/she moved pretty quickly too so I had to be quick.






This week I also made my final payment for the June cruise.  When I received the final information from my travel agent, I realized that I'd booked the flights home a week too late!  I have no idea how I did it, but this error not only affected me, but L as well.  I called WestJet and learned that they had changed my flights (I hadn't received any e-mail), and since I wanted to re-book within the 7 days, all I had to do was decline the change and they were able to re-book me at no cost.  Next up, I contacted L and let her know as well.  We were doubly fortunate as WestJet had also changed her flights so there was no cost to re-booking hers either.  Phew!  I dodged a bullet there as I would have insisted on paying the change fee since it was my error.

Good thing too, because last night my kitchen tap went kerflooey. (That's the technical term for it broke!)
The piece on the top of the spout allowed me to switch between full stream and spray mode. The internal workings include a spring that lifted the valve in the center.  Around the valve was a piece of plastic.
 It was this piece of plastic that broke.  It sent the spring flying and the top of the faucet too.
I spent some time researching to see if I could find a replacement part - I can't.  This particular model is no longer made so I'll need to replace the entire tap.  I priced it out at between $250-$500 and then there is the installation costs on top of that. I did watch a video...but I'm not a plumber and it needs to be done correctly.  

I'll spend the rest of this weekend watching the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canadian women's championship curling), work on my knitting project and researching London and the various ports we'll be visiting.  That will be my happy place.  

I know that for many of you, your week has been as eventful as mine.  Hope you all have a good week everyone!

12 comments:

  1. Sorry for the loss and the problems this week. Some times you have to walk away. I basically have no MIL now, as I just couldn't deal with the "it's all about me' attitude and her nastiness. She had been that way for years and my sweet Glen just decided to tell her how he felt and was pretty much done with her. I kept trying, but you can only be treated badly so much then it's over. I, like you, don't need that negativity in my life. I am done.

    I had that happen to a faucet like that and the same thing happened. Nope, just replaced it with a normal one - so much cheaper.
    Hope you have a nice weekend.

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  2. Family eh! They can drive us right 'round the bend with their drama.
    Our expensive faucet broke recently. We had to fix it several times but now the innards are not to be had. Fed up, I went to Canadian Tire and bought something similar but MUCH cheaper on sale.

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  3. I'm very sorry for the death of your daughter's friend, and the rift between you and C. Sigh. I don't know how we ever can think of ourselves as logical; we're ruled by emotion. I hope that with time, and some distance and calm, things will improve. In the meantime, you're wise to step back and let things go. Some people do revel in drama, but I don't think it's healthy.

    I'm glad your flights got sorted out, with no charge to you! Don't feel badly about the mistake in booking the flights home. I remember one year our former (retired) director had attended a conference on the U.S. west coast and booked his return flight for the right date...a year later. LOL. It was winter, with storms impacting travel, and he had a heck of a time getting flights home, though he finally made it. :-D

    Take care and good luck with the faucet. Someone recently told me that even the good plumbing fixtures (like Moen) that are sold in box stores have plastic innards, whereas the same brands at plumbing supply companies have metal innards (and therefore last longer). But you'd need to know someone in the plumbing business who could get a discount for you!

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  4. I am sorry for your loss.

    Faucets are so darn expensive! I believe that Harvey is going to replace the showerhead in our bathroom. I hope he can find something not too expensive, but not so inexpensive that it needs replacing almost immediately.

    God bless.

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  5. I, too, am sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, separations are best left alone but sometimes when we want to help, it puts us in the middle.
    A June cruise sounds lovely, glad that got straightened out. Nice job on the tap fix.
    Nice picture of the woodpecker on the feeder. They are fun birds to watch.

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  6. When our people we know separate, it is almost impossible to remain friends with both. So sorry for the loss also.
    Feeling for you with the plumbing problems. I am having the same. My tub faucet wouldn't shut off. Seems I have an old one also but the plumber thinks he has found the replacement parts. I am holding my breath till I get the bill. Plumbers are soooooooo expensive.

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  7. Hubby installed our kitchen tap which replaced the old scratched one, it wasn't too bad at all, but definitely get it done right if you don't feel confident doing it yourself. We ended up spending about $250 on a decent Moen. It seems like there are so many deaths lately, is it something about January and February?

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  8. Thank goodness you got the flights straightened out at no loss to you. That seemed to have been a close one! Friends and drama...a hard combination to deal with. Had to in my friendships occasionally as I guess most of us do. I'm sorry you had to go through anything with C and N. It is hard on us as friends to not take a side.

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  9. I'm sorry that there are problems between you and your friend, C. I can't imagine that anything you could have said or done would cause trouble, but when people are going through emotional turmoil, they are ready to seize upon the unlikeliest reasons for anger. I hope things will come out well eventually. It may simply be a matter of time.

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  10. So sorry for your stress. That is one expensive faucet...I would look for a cheaper variety:) Yes deaths this time of year seem to come one after another I am sending out at least two sympathy cards a week :(

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  11. I am so sorry for all the stress that you've had lately. I am sorry that I wasn't here to comment sooner. Hang in there, my friend.

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  12. My heart pangs for the loss of a friendship but like you, I don't believe some are worth the stress anyway. Feelings should not be hurt so easily between buddies. xoxo

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