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!