It never ends

Early this week I had thought of an awesome title for this post...I've forgotten it now, so who knows what it will be, if any. I'm tired.

It's been another busy week, with day camp, the library program, and swimming lessons for Eli, with mom or G'ma taxi for the assist. Household chores including laundry, vacuuming, dishes, cleaning cat litter, menu planning and meal prep for both D and I, and of course, the inevitable weeding for me. I managed a bit of knitting too.

With D and Eli off to the library (Wednesday) or swim lessons (every evening at 6:15), I've had the house to myself for a bit more than usual. The swim lessons are generally when the Blue Jays play baseball, so I can't say I've done much in those solitary moments. I did tackle my bedroom on Wednesday, as between my stuff and the cat's (Saku) stuff, it was feeling a bit cluttered and untidy. 

Speaking of Saku, the integration with Stanley and Spencer is happening very slowly. He can tolerate being in the same room for brief periods (always supervised), but heaven help either of them if they dare enter his space (my bedroom). This cat can yowl with the best of them. He also gets annoyed if he feels one of them is between him and the nearest exit. But he has fed in close proximity a few times. Again, just briefly but without any cranky interaction. One day, he was drinking water from the cat bowl out in the front porch; Stanley was sleeping on the chair just a few feet away. They were aware of each other but neither had a reaction to the other. Poor Spencer doesn't fare as well. Saku seems to dislike her, no apparent reason, and she has once or twice expressed her displeasure as well. We're hoping that by Thanksgiving (mid-October) they'll be more tolerant towards each other. 

By the way, Wednesday's photo was indeed, a field of canola against the very smoky sky. We were under a air quality advisory and it has lasted through the week.

Friends were camping in central Saskatchewan and had to leave early, as it was worse there. The province reports there are currently 56 fires burning in the province, four considered contained, 15 not contained and 19 being investigated. Now, I don't know about you, but that only adds up to 38 fires...no reporting on the other 18 fires. Eleven communities/areas are still under evacuation orders. Our provincial government is nothing if not incompetent. In fact, they have only now agreed to have the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) provide firefighting crews to assist. Meanwhile the northern half of our province continues to burn. 

On to lesser frustrations, I pulled the pea plants this week and re-seeded. I was hoping they'd put out another set of flowers and pods but after a week, I had nothing so they're gone. Peas tend to prefer to be planted in cooler temps so I may not get anything, but I'll give it a try.  My tomatoes have been busily putting out flowers but I've found only a few tomatoes that have set. I don't know if they are simply late or just not being pollinated. So I did what some annoyed gardeners would do, I used a paint brush to hand pollinate the flowers. I should note there have been bumble bees and various flies around the plants but I think other flowers have been more attractive for whatever reason. I'll let you know if it works.

The major weeding is finally complete, and I'm on to the maintenance portion. Basically that means I'm starting all over, just with smaller weeds. :p To hopefully reduce the weeding efforts, I picked up mulch on Friday for the front flower bed and the raised bed in back. I used a push hoe to weed the vegetable garden, but was on my hands and knees again to clear the front flower bed. The hollyhocks are just starting to bloom. (Don't mind the window sills and frames that need painting - that's a next spring job). 

The heat returned on Friday; just after noon it had reached 29C/84F and by 3 p.m. it was 32C/90F

Today is supposed to be slightly cooler 26C/79F and we may get rain and thunderstorms on Sunday. I know the temperatures I've shared don't seem that hot for many of you, but it is too much for this wuss. We've been watering from the rain barrels, except for the veg garden, and they are still pretty full. Even so, it would be nice to get a refreshing rain.

With the heat, I'm only working outdoors in the morning and back indoors for the afternoons. Besides the weeding, I have a couple of other projects. The shed is a total mess, as things have been rummaged through, with tools and bags of potting soil and fertilizer simply dumped inside. There are also items that need to be moved to the garage (my other project) to be taken to the dump. A couple of mornings should see it better organized. 

Indoors with baseball and football to watch, and a knitting project, I'll be a cool and happy camper!

Have a great week ahead everyone!

P.S. Five months until Christmas...and all the weeds will be gone.