Wacky weather, travel prep, watching sports

Wednesday's photos were take on Tuesday afternoon. It was a lovely day, we reached a high of 26C/79F. As you've seen we are just starting to see the leaves changing colour. Early that evening, we started receiving watches and warnings for thunderstorms on our phones. AND oh boy, did we get storms! I stood outside for awhile and listened to the thunder in the distance, but quickly went inside when the rain started. At times, it was very heavy, to the point the eavestroughs were overflowing. The storm moved past us later in the evening but more followed through the night and into the early morning.

In the morning, I went out to check the back yard. It wouldn't take much effort to pull up the weeds after all the rain (about an inch by 9 a.m.), but the back yard is a mud pit. Although I have rubber boots, I can imagine I'd get mired in the mud. So indoor day it was!

I had been out Tuesday morning and cleaned up more weeds...I'm getting there but there is still work to do. The worst part is the tree roots I've encountered. I've asked my son to help with this task on the weekend, as we need to use an axe to complete the task. It's clear that the weed barrier that the former owners had put down was meant to conceal the mess underneath. Once I've cleaned it up as much as possible, I'm considering having it roto-tilled later this fall, and then covering it in black plastic until spring. Ultimately, I have plans to have it regraded (to keep water away from the foundation), to seed half of it with microclover, and lay down gravel for parking. My son will be replacing the old fence in the spring too. 

I did some prep this week for my cruise. I tried on items that I consider "cruise" clothes, some no longer fit, and I know darn well I won't be losing weight before or during the cruise. I also sorted out my regular clothing and decided on those items. I realized after I'd layed everything out, I had a colour theme going: mostly blue for daytime, mostly pink and black for evenings. I've limited myself to about 6 days of clothing, as I have access to a diy laundry, as well as the ship's laundry. Since I've reached the "elite" level, the latter is free to me. There are very few perks left at this level, but laundry is definitely a nice one to have. However, the downside is on a full ship, it can take up to 72 hours for the return of one's laundry.

It appears this cruise won't be completely full. Last week I received an e-mail offering an opportunity to bid for an upgrade. I decided to send in a lower than minimum bid for an obstructed balcony. This just means that the lifeboats on the side of the ship obstruct a portion of the view. This week, I got a counter offer for a standard balcony for the original minimum bid and the offer was in Canadian dollars. I decided to go for it, and after the bid was accepted, I moved down the floor a few cabins from my inside. I'll be on the starboard side on our way south - meaning there will be sunsets from my balcony!

Out of curiousity I priced out the current cost of the cabin, if I were to purchase today. Funnily, the only one available on the deck I've chosen was the one next door. Overall, my cost savings is about $200 in comparison to today's prices. Speaking of money, I went into the bank to pick up US dollars. My goodness, the exchange rate is ridiculous. I don't intend on spending a whole lot of money on this trip, an occasional drink in the evening, maybe a t-shirt, and of course, some sort of souvenier to bring back for Eli. :) I do have a USD account that I can use while I'm there as well, if needed.

For a few days this week the city has been cutting and removing a portion of sidewalk across the street. I'm not sure why they only work on it for an hour or so at a time. On Thursday morning, they were working as the rain fell excavating the sidewalk. There was rain in the forecast until today, and I'm sure they don't work weekends, so I expect it will be next week before the concrete is poured.

Clearly, I wasn't spending time outdoors. I sat down to watch the Blue Jays game that afternoon, then lay down with the cat and after 3 innings, I found myself watching eyelid theatre (thanks for that expression, Anne!) I woke just as the announcer commented that the Jays won their game. 

There are a couple of curling events happening as well, so Thursday evening and most of Friday were spent watching live curling from Okotoks, while keeping an eye on the scores from the other event. The Blue Jays (baseball) had a late afternoon game, and the Riders (football) played in the evening. It's really hard to get much done! I did some knitting and finished another mitten, and when my son came home from work, he helped me remove and replace the dryer hose. The old one had been taped a bazillion times but clearly was leaking as I was constantly cleaning up lint particles. Oh, and I baked a cake in the morning - from a box - I was really lazy!

Today, there will be more curling, more baseball, more football to watch. Besides reading blogs while I watch I'm planning to get more knitting done.  It's also going to be the coolest day we've had for some time, with a high of 15C(59F). I woke to an outside temperature of a mere 7C(45F) this morning. The house has been cooling off at night (17F/62F), so I may have to bake something to warm it up slightly. The forecast is for more normal temperatures through the rest of the week, and it is just too early to turn on the furnace.

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!