Transition time

Wednesday's photo was taken at the local rodeo event on Sunday. For $5, a child could ride on a Shetland pony or the donkey, and he chose the donkey. Understandable to me, as the two ponies were a bit of a handful for their workers. The donkey was far friendlier, coming to the fence for scratches and it didn't seem to be bothered by a child on it's back. In addition, there were a couple of bunnies but neither were interested in being petted.

We went about 1:30 thinking the races that started at noon would be over, and the children's rodeo event would be soon after. However, by 2:30-3:00 only four of the six horse races had been completed so we decided to cut the day short. We took Eli to the local arcade where he played various games and came home with a lollipon and a hand fan for his prizes, and G'ma bought a frozen slushie. Overall a pretty good day for the kiddo.

Monday and Tuesday mornings were spent out in the yard. D mowed and trimmed, while I dealt with weeds and debris, transplanted the geraniums into their winter pots, put away solar lights and garden knicknacks and cleaned out and reorganized the shed. D doesn't enjoy yardwork, so dealing with some things now will make her work easier later. While we were outside, Stanley was able to hang out in his catio, and when we finished, I brought my tea and sat out and enjoyed the view. He was a pretty happy cat with all the outside time, and ready for a long nap indoors.

Tuesday afternoon, the handyman carpenter and his helper showed up, followed shortly by the garage door company. CT removed the old garage door and mechanical, and built a header for the new door. Meanwhile his helper hung pegboard and shelving supports in the basement for more of Eli's toys and multiple Nerf guns. They finished up fairly quickly, though CT needed to return to install the flashing above the near garage door. Meanwhile the other two guys installed the new door and hardware, along with the door opener. The old door was bent and impossible to open - now D will have a place to park the car in the winter out of the snow and cold. 

Wednesday was packing day for me. I had made a list earlier in the week, so was able to get everything organized in short order. I took Stanley outside for our last tea time together, and did some deadheading, and pulled the rest of the tomatoes. D came out briefly, and we loaded the bags of sand that hold down the trampoline, into new bags and someone's little fingers had poked holes in the original bags. (I wonder who?) 

In the afternoon, I took Eli to the park. It was sunny with a slight breeze when we arrived but two hours in, the sky was overcast. It feels like the beginning of fall, the sun is warm but the breeze has a hint of the cool weather that is to come. There were several children in the park. Unfortunately, Eli doesn't always grasp social cues and a couple of the kids were quite annoyed by him. There was some pushing and shoving at one point - I intervened.  The children were not being kind to him, but he doesn't understand when they ask him to leave them alone, he ought not to follow them. 

On Thursday, I was up about 6:30 with plans to get away by 9 a.m. After Eli's bath, I had a shower, and then stripped my bedding. D put it in the laundry so we could re-make the bed before I left. I left the house just before 9, right on schedule. It was cloudy and cool, with a high possibility of rain. About 45 minutes into my drive, I noticed the highway was wet, but I drove another 15 minutes before the light rain started falling and about 5 minutes later, it started to pour. That lasted until I was nearing the city when the rain just seemed to stop. 

Saku (the cat) was thrilled to see me, though I wasn't at the house long. Just dropped off what I'd brought with me, checked the fridge, freezer and pantry and headed out to buy groceries. My son (and daughter) both eat differently than I do, so there was very little in the fridge for me. I brought home fresh vegetables, whole wheat bread and bagels, some meat for the freezer, and cat food for Saku. He didn't know it, but he was down to a few cans of wet food and a container of dry. 

I had to laugh when I saw this sign at Walmart.

That's quite the rollback (not).

I spent the rest of Thursday afternoon and Friday morning catching up on housework. Before I leave this time, I'm going to give my son a lesson on using a vacuum cleaner. I ran out to run a couple of errands, and stopped by the walk-in salon to see if I could get a haircut. They were busy, but were able to fit me in that afternoon. By the time I left the salon, I felt human again. 

I ought to have spent time outdoors weeding, but knowing that my son likes to sleep in on the weekend, I figured I'd wait until today. (At least that's the excuse I'm sticking with.) The temperature is lovely this morning, around 13C(55F), so after a cup of tea, I'll go tackle the front flower bed. The backyard is going to take several days. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Back on pace

This week started off with a busy, busy day! Eli and D had doctor's appointments in the city, and we were on the highway by 8 a.m. Their first appointment was with the neurologist to discuss Eli's medications and to address his hand tremor. This neurologist doesn't generally treat children, but all of the ped neurologists are unable to see him at this time. We think Dr I enjoys seeing Eli, at least based on his conversations with D. He's decided to request another EEG to determine if Eli is continuing to have mild momentary seizures that are not evident. D got a call later in the week with an appointment for early October in the city.

This appointment was short - I'd run to Value Village (no deals worth getting) and had arrived back at the office just as they came out.  We headed over to my son's house. He was fast asleep and we didn't wake him, but Saku (the cat) was happy to see me. Eli watched a bit of television, before I went to pick up lunch for all of us. We left about an hour before the next appointment and found a park where Eli could run and play. It was stinking hot and humid at 32C/90F and after 40 minutes I was more than ready to drop them off at the doctor's office. These appointments were with their GP. 

I made a run over to the nearby Home Depot to pick up nail strips so we can hang some peg board in the basement. There was a bit of time to kill, as I knew Dr J often runs late. So, I wandered through Walmart, and as I pulled back into the lot, I received a text from D saying they were ready. Perfect timing. 

Our last stop on the way out of the city was at the Costco. OMG, that place was insane. Eli wore his noise cancelling headphones and I was wishing I had a pair. We managed to get everything on our list...plus there were several impulse buys (my daughter). There is good reason why I don't let her grocery shop with me very often. We were home by about 4:30 p.m. I was exhausted by this point, so it was a quiet evening.

I slept late on Tuesday morning (until 7!). I was happy to see we'd had rain overnight, nearly 3/8th's of an inch. Poor Stanley wasn't happy because I didn't have my tea outdoors that morning. It was too wet, humid and buggy!

D had another appointment at 11, this one by telephone, so I took Eli out for an hour or so. We dropped by Canadian Tire, Pet Valu (where we visited with Marmalade, a wee orange kitten), McDonald's for lunch, and then a stop at the park where he played with several friends. He climbed the tree, the playground apparatus, and played in the splash pad. He wasn't happy when I said we needed to leave, so we drove around looking for houses numbered 303. Don't ask me, it has something to do with the video games he plays or maybe it is part of the videos he watches. His mom was just finishing up her conversation when we walked into the house.

In the afternoon, we decided to spend some time at the pool. It was closing on Thursday as the student lifeguards are going back to school soon. It was again, a hot afternoon but dipping into the pool to cool off, we spent over two hours there. I managed to read a portion of my book.

The temperature dropped a bit on Wednesday, but it was very humid. I did have my morning tea with Stanley in the catio, but only stayed outdoors for a half hour or so. The rest of the day was pretty quiet, as the clouds would roll in and it would look as if we were in for a thunderstorm, but then the sun would return. We decided to take the day off and got some meal planning and housework done instead while Eli played in the basement. He has the most interesting way of watching television!

BTW, the carrot he was holding in the Wednesday photo was one of the seeds he had planted. I didn't thin the plants as well as I ought to have, so I'm not sure how many more we'll see from his planting.

We had a thunderstorm roll through on Wednesday night and by morning we'd had about a 1/2 inch of rain. It is well appreciated. I did the weekly grocery shop in the morning and took Stanley out for a half hour or so just around lunch time. It was heating up, although the temperature was 23C (73F) with the humidity it felt more like 26C (79F). He didn't sit in the sun long, and found his way to the portion of the catio I'd placed in the shade. Meanwhile, I did some deadheading, pulled a few weeds, and gave the petunias in the front yard a haircut. They were getting very leggy but will come back fuller in a couple of weeks. When I got back to Stan, he was asking to be let out of the catio, so we headed back indoors.

D and Eli ran a couple of errands and then we all got ready to go the pool for the last afternoon. I was expecting a big crowd for the last day, but it wasn't too bad at all. I cooled off in the pool for a bit, then sat in the sun to read. It didn't take long to feel heated in the sun, so back in the pool again for another dip and back out for more reading. We didn't stay too long, just over an hour, but we all felt refreshed. At home, Stanley and I went out again so I could read and he could hang in the catio. The book I'm reading isn't very good, but I'm determined to finish it because I want to know, "who done it".

We haven't made it to the nearby lake and beach yet this summer, so Friday was to be our day. However, we woke to heavy smoke from the forest fires blanketing the area. I had left a window open overnight, and woke coughing about 4 a.m. It was closed in a hurry, but although I dozed a bit, I was up for the day.

It may look like rain, but that is all smoke. It didn't dissipate until mid-afternoon. D and I tackled some more housework including vacuuming and laundry. I also tackled the pantry, sorting and reorganizing. Eli was happy to hang out in his basement - it too could use some clean-up and organizing, but his mom says she'll wait until he's back in school before tackling that area.

This weekend we're planning to go to the rodeo in town. There are horse races both days, but on Sunday the youth rodeo will be held featured with barrel riding, steer riding, and the event I always find hilarious, mutton busting. Imagine a child (usually from 6-12) leaping onto the back of a sheep, that is being sort of held by two other youngsters. The goal is to ride the sheep for as long as one can...think seconds, not minutes. We likely won't stay at the park long enough to watch that event, but we'll see.

We had more rain overnight, just over a quarter inch, with thunderstorms expected throughout the day. Unless the sun comes out, I suspect we won't venture far today either. I've got rhubarb out to make a galette, the kitchen floor needs washing, and D has some things to do for Eli for school and fall activities.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Time flies by

Another week has ticked by, and I'll be back to the city in just over two weeks. I've definitely gotten into a routine/rhythm here with Eli and his mom. She is always up early and I tend to follow here between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. After my first cup of tea and a bit of time on the computer, I get dressed, make my second cup of tea and head outdoors with Stanley, the cat. He gets tucked into the catio, while I sit in my chair to drink my tea - both of us listening to the birds around us. I'll putter around, watering containers, deadheading the lilies and other flowers, and picking lettuce or herbs. Often my brother will call while I'm outdoors and we'll chat for 15 or 20 minutes. After an hour, the cat and I will head back indoors where he goes for the first of his many daily naps, and I do a bit of housework before I head to my bedroom to watch television or read, knit or crochet, or update my spreadsheets or work on Ancestry. It's a wonderful way to start my day.

On Sunday, Eli and I went to the park so his mom could have an afternoon nap. The photos on Wednesday are his descent from the tree and the highest point he reached. He would have gone higher but G'ma was terrified he'd fall. There were only a few children at the park, all much younger than he, so we stayed for only 45 minutes. I pushed him on the swing, he ran through the spray pad, and slid backwards down the slide. Crazy kid.

Monday was his second to last day camp session. It was pajama day, and I assumed they'd stay indoors but that wasn't the case as they were out on the playground when his mom picked him up.  I stayed behind to do a bit of housework that is easier to do when they are out of the house, ran a couple of errands, and enjoyed the quiet. I spent most of the afternoon working on Ancestry, and was excited to find information on my maternal grandmother's youngest sister (she was 5 years younger than my mom), and her family. 

Tuesday was just a regular day with nothing to write about while Wednesday was Eli's last day camp session. I drove them as I wanted to pick up some inexpensive containers for overwintering the geraniums and ivies. There are lilies too growing into the lawn, so I want to dig those out and take them to the city for my son's yard. Shhh...don't tell him. I'm not supposed to plant anything there but it will help improve the appearance of the back yard and hopefully choke out some weeds!

My sweet peas have finally bloomed. They were supposed to be a mix of colours but for the most part are red and dark pink. Oh, they bring back lovely memories of my mom and her humongous gardens. She always had a row of sweet peas. I plan to put them in the ground earlier next year and hopefully have blooms by July.

This week I pulled the peas as they were dying back. I found a few pods of dried up peas. I've kept them and we'll try planting them next spring. I don't know if they will be viable but it is worth a try.

There is a story about these geraniums. D had attempted to over winter two plants from last year, along with a pair of ivies that I had brought from the old house. One of the geraniums died, and the second did well, until we planted it in the outdoor container this spring. It seemed to die back, I'm suspecting from shock, but we kept it because there was a bit of green. I bought the white geranium and added it to the same container. It took several weeks but the red ones have made a comeback! We're going to try to overwinter these again. 

Thursday was quiet, with D and Eli heading to the pool in the afternoon. I finished off the last of the mittens and got them in the mail on Friday. I've started working on a crocheted lapghan, but will pick up the knitting needles again, as I want to make more mittens for Eli's school. 

The smoke from the forest fires rolled in again, so outdoor time is limited. By the time I came indoors that morning, my throat was sore. When D and Eli decided to go to the pool that afternoon, I stayed behind at the house and took a short nap. The Riders played that evening, and I wanted to stay awake through the entire game - I only made it throught the 3rd quarter of the Thursday night game. :)

Another photo of the tiger lilies in the side yard. These plants get very little direct sun, so they are nearly 4 1/2 feet tall. The blooms are just incredible and this photo doesn't do them justice.

Today, I've nothing much on the agenda - more sitting in the back yard with the cat in the early morning. It should be cool enough to get some weeding done too. Baseball and football to watch, while I work on my crocheting. And, of course, having more time with my grandson. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

  

Boring post ahead

Another laid back week, I could get used to this. :) And oh my goodness, the cool temperatures definitely settled in. While we didn't see it here, portions of the province did see frost overnight mid-week. There were many photos of sad cucumber and pumpkin vines on the FB Saskatchewan gardeners group. Here the cherry tomatoes continue to keep on coming, the lettuce hasn't yet gone to seed, but the peas are done. 

I was late planting sweet peas, and they are finally blooming. My mother always had these, usually marking the entrance to her vegetable garden. The flowers bring back many memories.

I did spend a wee bit of time a couple of mornings, moving rocks and digging up the flower bed. It's slow going though, as there are rocks under the dirt as well, and some of the rocks are large and too heavy for me to move very far. I suspect D and I need to work together to continue this process.

Both the day lilies and regular lilies are blooming all over the yard. According to Google lens, the lily in Wednesday's photo is a tiger lily. I believe there are wild and domesticated version of these lilies. When I was a child, I remember searching the ditches near the farm for them, but I don't recall my mom growing any. We have masses of them in this yard, along the fence and on either side of the row of peonies. ( as viewed from my bedroom window) Whoever started the flower beds here in this yard had imagination and put in a lot of work. However, the previous owner allowed the weeds to make serious in-roads, while the house was vacant for a year. To his credit, he did hire someone to mow the lawn.

Meanwhile, I watched more of the Olympics. Men's and women's hammer throw was interesting and particularly exciting because both golds were won by Canadians. I've been enjoying watching the various races, the steeplechase was exciting and then sad, as one of the racers was hurt and taken off the track on a stretcher. I do hope he is okay. By end of day Friday, Canada had doubled the number of expected medals, with at least a couple more possible over the end of the event. Good for the athletes who worked so hard to get to the top of their chosen sport.

Eli had day camp on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Because of the cooler weather, they were able to play outdoors all morning on Wednesday, something our (not-so) little guy enjoys very much. Thursday was even more exciting as the program came to our town to visit the arcade - another one of his favorite activities. I took advantage of the time to myself to catch up on some housework, vaccuming the main floor, laundry, and a bit of decluttering.

I ran out briefly to buy a few grocery items - mostly sale items - on Friday, and then spent some time outside deadheading flowers and chatting with my friend S on the phone. She's been quite sick for awhile and has finally convinced her doctor to send it to a specialist. Hopefully she gets some answers to explain the issue and find proper treatment.

I did manage to finish the older children's mittens made - there are five, and have started the baby's. He's about five months old, so I need an infant size. Free patterns for thumbless mitts seem to be hard to come by and are generally knit with two needles. I prefer four double pointed needles so I don't have to sew up seams. So, I'm playing with the number of stitches and the size of the mitt - I've already frogged it twice. Wish me luck!

The warmer temps are expected to return early next week. In the meantime, I'm enjoying not needing to use the a/c. A night or two of open windows cooled the house down nicely. We've nothing specific planned for the weekend. More Olympics, baseball, knitting and perhaps some park time is likely.

Have a great week ahead, everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

A restful week

I'm trying to recall what happened this week and the short answer is, not much. I spent a LOT of time watching various Olympic events. I caught the 2nd half of the women's Rugby 7's. (I'm not even certain I've written that correctly.) Our Canadian women were in the final playing New Zealand. I've not watched rugby, ever, but the game was entertaining and while N.Z. prevailed, our women played well. 

Gymnastics is a big draw in our household as both my children participated as children. D continued into her teenage years, competing in T&T (trampoline and tumbling), as well as coaching younger athletes, and at some point did some judging at various meets. Watching with her is interesting as she points out every miniscule error where I see nothing. Two our women's team made it to the all-round final, though did not medal. 

I missed the diving events which was a shame. One of the athletes in the men's synchronized diving is from my home province. I did manage to watch some of the swimming including the final of the men's 200m butterfly where Ilya Kharun of Montreal won bronze. Summer MacIntosh of Toronto won a silver and two golds, setting an Olympic record in one of the events.

Canada typically doesn't perform as well at the Summer Olympics as they do in the winter. I guess having cold and snowy weather for nearly 6 months of the year would give us a slight edge. But by the end of the week, Canada had a total of 11 medals. Preliminary estimates were 12 so the team will likely exceed that number.

Other happenings of the week: Eli had day camp on Monday - I went with he and his mom. There was a little shopping done, then we sat in a church parking lot and read until it was time to pick him up.

The heat continued with temperatures near 30C(86F) most afternoons. I would take Stanley, the cat, out with me in the morning. He'd enjoy his catio (he's in there but a black cat doesn't show up well), while I drank my tea, watered and dead-headed the containers. One morning, I picked up the piles of weeds into garbage bags, while D whipper-snipped behind the shed and near the garage. We only have garbage pick-up every two weeks, so I've been stacking the bags and putting one or two in the bin for pick-up. The daylilies started opening this week, as you saw in Wednesday's photo, and are beginning to put on a real show. The regular lilies are close to opening too. From what I can tell, they too will be orange in colour.

She took Eli to the pool too, while I stayed at home catching up on paperwork and watching more Olympic programming. I should have been knitting but instead turned my focus to Ancestry. I'd renewed earlier in the month with a reduced cost, and decided to catch up on the hints and other information. 

While searching for information on one of my paternal grandmother's nieces, I came across an interesting article that outlines some ideas for re-using and recycling household items:

Cut old rubber gloves from the wrist up to create sturdy "rubber bands". It was recommended to keep these in a jar and shake a bit of talcum powder in the jar to keep the bands from getting sticky.

Wash and rinse milk cartons and use these to freeze summer berries (I suppose these could be used for other items). Staple shut the tops and stack in the freezer. Saves using freezer bags, but if bags are used, cut up old panty hose for bag ties - no wires to puncture other bags.

Store your patio umbrella in winter in the one leg of a pair of panty house, using the second leg to tie around the bottom of the umbrella. 

I wasn't able to find anything about my relative, as the person referred to in this article was definitely not her. But it was a fun read, nevertheless.

I did go for a short walk on Friday afternoon. We live about a block and a half to the Post Office, and one the way home I dropped in at Home Hardware on my way back. Whoo boy, was it ever hot out there (30C/86F)! I was glad to be back in the a/c at home. I did run out to put the faucet wheel back on one of the outdoor spigots with a screw I picked up at the store. 

Today, I've no plans to do much different from the rest of the week. More Olympics, baseball and football, back to my knitting, a bit of Ancestry, and time with my grandson are all on the agenda. That reminds me - one evening he and I were telling a story together. We were on a train ride to Ohio where, according to him, there are many haunted houses. Who knew?

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny