Wordless Wednesday

 

Weather report, yard work, and a surprise or two

The smoke started to clear out on Monday evening and we even saw some blue sky! By the morning we were clouded over and it stayed that way all day, but I was able to get outdoors and do some yardwork. The mosquitos were wicked, but with a high of 24C(75F) it was a decent day.

This is the bed that will be the bane of my existence. It is full of weeds, as well as the lilies, poppies (which I've cut down as they have died back), lamium, false nettle, and oxalis. Because of the lilies and the weeds we couldn't even see the latter three plants. I want to roll back the stone border, dig everything up and replant. I did use Round-up along the fence line in an effort to kill some of the creeping bellflower, thistles, and other weeds. I think I'll dig out the lilies as well - we have plenty in other parts of the yard and they hide the shorter plants. We'll see how far I get before I leave here at the end of August.

I got the containers watered and deadheaded as well, and clipped off the last few blooms on the peonies. The lilies that were planted on both sides of the peonies are close to blooming - I'm looking forward to seeing what they will be. A surprise this week was the hollyhock - the photo I posted on Wednesday. I've never seen one that colour before; my neighbour in the city had reds and pinks. 

 

I talked to my son this week, and apparently the back yard has recovered from my efforts to tame the weeds. The plan is to have a bobcat in to regrade the back yard to keep water from getting into the foundation. I'm thinking I'll get it roto-tilled as well and work at the weeds over time. 

Eli's day camp changed to Monday and Wednesday this week, and will continue through to mid-August. He had been in a small group, but the other boys were non-verbal. That's not something that is a challenge for Eli! He's now attending 3 hours each of the two mornings, with a larger group and has made a friend, Sam. The coordinator said the boys played very well together. They weren't able to venture outside on Monday due to the air quality, but on Wednesday, they went to the splash park. 

I went in with D and Eli, to pick up some more foam tiles for the basement. We made a stop at the drugstore too, for calamine lotion. Mosquito bites are itchy! The used book store was also on the list of things to do. I picked up another James Patterson book, the fourth in the series and another novel by a new to me author. I'll let you know what I think when I finish reading it.

The heat was blazing by the time we arrived home after lunch (30C/84F feeling like 38C/100F with the humidity). As a result we stayed indoors for the afternoon; I watched baseball, Eli played video games, and his mom went upstairs for a lay down. I did go out in the evening to water the containers and picked a few tomatoes.

Thursday morning was cloudy but warm with 100% humidity! We live in a climate that is usually considered arid and dry. Not this year. Sadly, there was no rain accompanying it. By noon, the temp was closing in on 30C/84F again. D and I worked in the basement in the morning, placing the remainder of the foam tiles. These are soft and warmer on the feet than the concrete and should we again have water in the basement, much easier to lift and replace. She's planning on numbering them just in case, to make it easier to know what piece goes where. Baseball kept me entertained in the afternoon, while I continued knitting. The fourth pair of mittens is near completion, just two to go.

This is the sensory area, where he can swing on the bar, walk on blocks, teeter-totter (or balance beam), climb and slide, or his favorite, the sensory swing. That's the cloth hanging from the ceiling. It will also hold an adult - ask me how I know? :)

This second area is where I expect he'll spend more time as he gets older. He has his own television, a mini-Nintendo (comes with a few cames), his Paw Patrol collection of vehicles (on the shelf), his bookshelf and other toys in the cubbies and unit to the right.

There is one more area, that is still a bit of a jumble. D picked up peg board to hang his Nerf guns but didn't realizes we'd need strips of wood to go behind. She also got shelves that we need to put up. There is a "stuffie" net that hangs from the ceiling, as well as a desk and containers for his Playdoh, crayons, and coloring books. Yes, he has a lot of stuff, much of it meant to meet his sensory needs, as well as to encourage him with his fine motor skills. Thankfully, D gets provincial funding that pays for a good portion of this, as well as his day camp, swimming lessons, and other activities. 

On Friday, he and I went to the park while D had a telephone appointment with one of her doctors. There was only a few other children there, and he played with a brother and sister who I assume, based on their size, were a similar age. They had a blast moving among the equipment and he was thrilled to be able to pet their dog. When they left, he ran through the splash pad. I saw him tuck a rock into one of the pieces of equipment and when I went to remove it, I got drenched as the water came out of it. He, of course, thought this was hilarious! We were both wet and decided it was time to head back to the house. (Apparently, one of his friends had put a bottle cap in this piece with similar results...he decided to try it with G'ma.)

He and his mom went to the library for a magic program in the afternoon, while I got caught up on paperwork and simply relaxing. After dinner, I watched football while keeping on eye on the baseball (Jays won!). We'd gotten a bit of rain overnight, but the containers still needed a slight watering so I did that at half-time.

Oh, and the other surprise this week? I received an e-mail from Princess announcing price drops on several upcoming cruises. One caught my eye, an 11 day return trip to Seattle via Victoria, B.C, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego for the end of September. The price was terrific, and even factoring in airfare, hotel for one night pre-cruise, and transportation to and from the port, it was within my preferred daily rate. So I jumped on it! The hotel I've chosen has an airport shuttle as well as a free breakfast, and is a short walk to a mall...just in case I forget something. 

I'm looking at excusions in San Francisco (Golden Gate and Fisherman's Wharf) and in San Diego (the Zoo). For L.A., the Los Angeles Maritime Museum is within walking distance of the pier and sounds interesting. I've been to Victoria several times, and will likely walk the sea wall, find a restaurant for lunch, and perhaps find a walking tour. In truth, I'm most looking forward to our 6 sea days, where I can rest , relax, and watch the ocean go by.  Just over two months to sail-away!

Today is supposed to be warm at 26C (79F), so we'll likely head to the pool at some point. I want to try digging out some of the weeds I sprayed early this week, and between baseball, football, and the Olympics, there will be lots to watch on television too.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Weather, an anniversary, and time to relax

The storms that blew through and around us on Sunday and cooled the temperatures down in the early part of the week. We were able to open windows at night, allowing the house to cool off. In fact, on Tuesday morning my daughter was considering whether to turn on the furnace. NO!!!

Swim lessons continued for the week, at 8:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Eli also had day camp on Tuesday, though Thursday's session was cancelled. I went with them on Tuesday, and D and I visited Value Village, Walmart and a used book store before returning to the school. We sat outside in the car, windows open as no a/c was required, and read. At V.V. I picked up a small bookcase and found it fits perfectly behind my bedroom door. I've been gathering books at garage sales and picked up a couple more at the used bookstore. There is room enough on the shelves for a couple dozen books, though I'll like swap them out before it is full.

The heat returned on Wednesday and has stayed with us. I ought to have been outdoors in the morning working in the yard, but the mosquitos are wicked bad. Normally, they don't bother me much, preferring other, younger subjects but there are so many of them, they're not fussy. Instead, I stayed in the house, read blogs, played Mahjonng on-line, did some knitting, and binge-watched NCIS. Oh, I read too, finising James Patterson's NYPD Red2, one of the two books I picked up at the used book store on Tuesday.

Thursday was the 10th anniversary of the death my aunt, my mother's youngest sister. I shared this photo on FB, taken when my mom was about 14-15 years old.

From left to right, my Aunt Ann, Aunt Enid, Mom (Betty) and Uncle Bob. He passed away at the young age of 45 of lung cancer. Mom also passed away of cancer, just over 20 years ago, just 9 days prior to her 75th birthday. Aunt Ann died about 3 months later - I'm not certain what caused her death; she had just turned 73. Aunt Enid had several strokes and was living in the nursing home when she passed away at the age of 80.

We woke to the haze of forest fires on Friday morning. The sun was red and there was a hint of smoke in the air. It didn't help keep the heat at bay but did cool it slightly by a degree. I did get outdoors for 20 minutes or so to bag weeds I'd picked up earlier, and pulling more of the darned things. By the time I game indoors I was soaking wet. Normally we have dry heat, that day the humidity was nearly 50%. Again, I realize this is lower than what many of you experience, but we're not accustomed to it. 

It was Eli's final day of swimming lessons, so I went along for the evening lesson. To celebrate we went to the local ice cream shop for a treat too. Then there was football to watch. Good news all around as the coach of the Edmonton Elks was fired (not my team but I disliked the guy from the time he was here), and our Saskatchewan Roughriders won. It was an ugly game with more defence than offence and some questionable calls by the refs - one of which likely won the game for us. It ended with an ugly take down by one of the opposing team on our running back. Needless as there was no time on the clock at that point. The television coverage ended and I haven't heard if there will be consequences.

We ran out of water in the rain barrel on Thursday, but the garden needed watering, so early this morning I put out the hose to give it a good soaking. D mowed most of the back yard about 8 a.m. We're back in the house now, the a/c has been cutting in regularly and I suspect we may head to the pool this afternoon. Otherwise it will be a quiet day, with baseball and football to watch, and I'll keep working on the mittens.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Heating up!

 Summer has arrived! We've had temps ranging from 25C(77F) to 31C(88F) over the week. That may not seem overly warm/hot for most of you, but as we've been experiencing much cooler temps, the difference is truly noticeable.

I've spent time outdoors, early mornings with my tea, and later, tackling the weeds. We've had a lot of dew in the morning so it is often too wet, at least for me, to get down in the dirt. The garden is starting to look quite tidy or at least half of it. The asparagus is quite overgrown and the strawberries make a thick carpet, hiding some of the weeds. The photo on Wednesday was half of the pickings from earlier in the week. It's a small patch and I expect there will never be enough to do any canning/freezing, but they sure are delicious fresh out of the garden.

The large flower bed, on the other hand, is a jungle of weeds and plants. A number of the weeds are tangled among the rock surrounding the bed and impossible to remove. I've decided to cut back the alyssum (already started), and will dig it and the lilies (we have plenty) this fall. I'll harvest the poppy seeds and allow the lamium and the oxalis to do it's thing. We'll have to move as many rocks as possible - I'm thinking we'll roll them away temporarily - to get at the weeds. 

The peonies are still blooming, though I'm having to remove spent blooms every day. The containers are doing well, with the exception of one of the tall ones. For some reason it wasn't draining and the petunias I had planted in it were drowned by the excess rain. Poor things! The cherry tomato plant is doing very well, and seems to dry out quickly; apparently they are very thirsty.

Eli had twice a day swimming lessons, and day camp on Tuesday and Thursday as well. I drove them in on Tuesday, and while Eli had fun at camp, D and I went shopping. We went to Value Village first, where I found bath sheets, several brand new tea towels and dish clothes and a blanket for less than $15. D found several pieces of clothing for Eli and three bags of "real" Lego. In total we spent around $50 with my senior discount. Our next stop was Sport Chek as D needed a new pair of walking shoes, and found these and two pairs of shoes for Eli for school this fall (indoor and outdoor). She still has an employee discount as she is off on sick leave. I won't tell you what she spent, certainly more than I would have but with her discount, the cost was nearly half of what she would have paid at regular pricing. 

A trip to Dollarama and then to Walmart finished off the shopping for a few items she wanted and a few groceries we needed. It was time to pick up Eli at his day camp. They had taken the children to a nearby beach where the kids played on the playground equipment. With no lifejackets they weren't able to go in the water. That was okay, as Eli was in the pool before day camp and again in the evening.

We also had the contractor out on Monday and a half day on Tuesday. He replaced the screen door on the front porch with a proper door with a venting window. He also replaced and installed door knob kits and dead bolts on the door between the porch and living room, and the side door as well. He and his helper also did some caulking where the gate latch had damaged the exterior stucco, repaired the latch itself, installed a hook in the basement ceiling (after beefing up the joists) for a sensory swing, and repaired the door sill at the back door. He'll be back later this summer to retrofit the garage door opening to put in a header for a roll-up door. I don't think we were ever told that the current garage door is so bent it won't open. D will want to park the car in the garage in the winter, so the work is needed.

We made it to the pool once this week on Wednesday and she and I also got the basement set up again for Eli's play zone. Stanley, the cat also got his very own Catio as he likes to be outdoors. Now, when we try to catch him to bring him back indoors, it's much easier. He still argues, but I've been taking him out in the morning when I have my cup of tea and letting him hang out with me. Eli, decided to try it out too. :)

D took Eli to his day camp on Thursday while I stayed home (out of the heat, as I'd been out weeding and cutting back the peonies for most of the morning). Eli was a tired boy when they arrived home, so he missed out on his evening swim lesson and was asleep in no time. 

Friday, we awoke to a thunderstorm and rain. It didn't last long but remained cloudy until about 9. D and Eli headed to his swim lesson, while I went to pick up a few groceries. The heat and humity was high, the mosquitos and dragonflies were out in force (go dragonflies), so Eli and I spent the remainder of the morning indoors, while his mom went to get her hair cut and coloured. She wasn't happy with the cut at all, as she'd asked to have it cut to shoulder blade length, but the hairdresser took about two inches more.  She won't be able to put her hair in a pony tail for a few weeks but will try pig tails to keep the hair off her neck. It's a true shame as she paid a crazy amount of money for the cut and colour, and while the latter is lovely, the former is not.

I finished two books this week. The first was James Clavell's "King Rat", a story of POW's in Manila during World War II. It was definitely something different, and somewhat disturbing. The second book was "NYPD RED3" by James Patterson. It took me awhile to get into the book and I can't say it was my favorite book of his. I do like mysteries and this had some of that, but I felt there was some unnecessary incidents and the explanation at the end wasn't entirely satisfying.

 

Today we're expecting more stormy weather, but I think we'll head over to the park later this morning where he can play with friends. We live just under two blocks away. I'll get some more weeding done, and there is baseball and football to watch. I've also started a third book and there are mittens to be knitted. I'm certainly never bored, as I have lots to do.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

No sun, still fun

My daughter has spent much of this week cleaning up after the 5 inches of rain that fell over a period of about 48 hours. The sump pumps, newly installed in April, couldn't keep up to the deluge. There was water coming in too, through cracks in the basement floor. The shop vac got a good work out on the weekend, and the dehumidifier is still running. 

We had a local guy come by and clean out the gutters. My bad, because it was noted in the inspection report that they needed cleaning and I had thought we could manage it this summer. Well, we/I waited too late and the gutters were jampacked with leaves and debris. While some water was getting through, the sheer amount of rain was overflowing the gutters and clearly finding its way into the basement. He also cut back several branches on a spruce tree just outside my bedroom window as they were brushing across the roof.

D lifted all of the foam tiles that she'd laid down just a few weeks ago. I'm so glad we went with those rather than carpet tiles. The latter would have been ruined, while the foam tiles needed to dry and then were sprayed with a bleach/water mixture and allowed to dry again. She's still in the midst of putting these in place. We did have to throw two rugs out that I'd brought from the sunroom at the house I'd sold last November. They were soaked and by the time they were mostly dry, had a funky odour. We're looking for a less absorbent rug for the area that includes Eli's modular couch and television. The couch comes in several pieces and can be transformed into a fort, or a lounge chair, or whatever a child might imagine. The covers are removable too, making clean-up easy.

While she was working in the basement, I spent cleaning house and hanging with Eli. Although he hasn't had a seizure since February and is on anti-seizure meds, we're cautious about leaving him on his own for too long. I did manage to get outdoors early one morning to do a bit of weeding in the small garden. The lettuce is ready for eating, and I pulled a few radishes too. My peas are coming up nicely and reaching out for the trellis, while Eli's carrots need thinning. My carrots are up too, but I didn't make it that far into the garden to weed. That's because it continues to rain, just enough to keep the garden wet and mucky. We are looking for the sun to finally appear on Sunday. 

We did have a nice evening last Sunday and enjoyed the parade. It wasn't a lengthy event, and we live a mere block and a half away from the route. The highlight for Eli was the candy that the participants threw from their vehicle and/or float. He was recognized a few times by friends. 

Later in the evening there were fireworks. We were able to watch them from Eli's bedroom window on the top floor! So much better than sitting in the park being eaten by mosquitos.

Because of the rain, the Canada Day activities had to be moved indoors on Monday. There was a giant blow up slide, a bouncy castle, and a fort like structure too. On the other side, there were games of chance, set up by one of his teachers and her husband. The proceeds from the games go to a charity here in town. Even so, each "winner" (and I didn't see many who didn't win) receives a small prize and Eli won a new fidget toy. There was a long line-up for face painting. We also got to see a kung-fu demonstration by a local club. Eli had enough by this point, and since it was actually quite nice outdoors despite being cloudy, we went to the pool for about 45 minutes.

On Thursday, Eli had day camp in a nearby community. It's a small group, meant for children with special needs. There were just three that afternoon, and the group leader decided he would fit better in the morning group as he is quite social in small groups and the other two children are not. D had booked swimming lessons next week in the morning, so he'll continue for the two days next week in the afternoon group and then switch. There were nine in the morning group and I know he'll have a lot of fun.

D and I went shopping while he was at his day camp. Rather, she went shopping and I tagged along for the most part. I did pick up groceries when we got to Walmart. I wasn't able to get some of the items on my list so planned to get those in town on Friday.

I slept in Friday morning - it was after 8 a.m., but in my defense I was sleeping with a cuddly kid. He took his time falling asleep and there were several stories told. Not only was there a scary story about a snake, but a bank robbery too (we were the robbers, but at least we gave the proceeds to the poor). The child has an incredible imagination. I'm supposed to tell him a story, but he always takes over with his suggestions.

It rained, again, overnight, and since I was late waking, I didn't get out to the garden before it was getting too warm to be comfortable out there. I picked up the last of the groceries, and after dropping those off, D, Eli and I went to a couple of stores for items D was wanting.  

Meanwhile there were storms building all around us. Our a/c cut in for the first time since I arrived. We keep it fairly warm in the house to cut back on the electrical useage, about 24C/75F. The upstairs tends to be warmer still as there is only a single vent up there. My brother had a/c installed in the house in the city (his son and a roommate live there), so he gave us a portable unit. D was able to get a conversion kit for her bedroom window and we got it hooked up and running as well. The temperatures are expected to increase steadily through the next week, and the a/c on both levels will be much appreciated!

Back at home, D put together a Lego table for Eli. He had been using the dining room table, but with three of us, there wasn't a whole lot of room left for dining with all the pieces scattered. The Lego table has a shelf below for larger pieces/projects, while the pieces he is working on fit inside. It has a lid, which will hide some of his Lego too. I should say, he also has a six or seven tier plastic container that holds the rest of his Lego. Some of the pieces were from my son, as I'd kept his Lego for "some day" when I have grandchildren. Eli often gets Lego kits for Christmas and birthday, and his grandma's look for it at the thrift store too. His paternal grandmother works in such a store in B.C. and sent a whole bag full of pieces just a week or so ago. Can you say spoiled? Just a little bit! :)

Not only will it be fun for Eli, but with the lid, Stanley the cat can reach the window sill. Two birds, one table. 

I did get out in the afternoon and did some weeding in the small garden. There was too little space between the rows, so I pulled the radishes that were getting close to flowering anyway to make more room for me to maneuver. The peas are beginning to flower, and once I cleared the weeds, I could see that the sweet peas are starting their climb up the trellis. I do hope I'll see some flowers this year. The strawberries are doing well and we're picking a few berries every day. The asparagus has started going to seed; because of wind and rain are covering some of the strawberry patch. I'm guessing that's why the birds aren't getting to them. 

Today, I'm planning to be out in the yard again. I'll finish off the garden first, and then head for the flower beds. Some of the weeds are massive and I don't need them going to seed. I'll spray too and lay down more cardboard on the rocks. We'll probably go to the park or the pool at some point. There is a baseball tournament happening this weekend, so the pool might be quite busy. They do have a capacity limit that they actually adhere to! 

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday