Rollercoaster weather, more weeding, day camp and shopping

Summer time, and the living is easy.....not around here! I spent much of this past weekend and week weeding, clipping spent flowers on the peonies, and catching up on housework. We did have a morning or too with a bit of rain, but as long as it was cool, I managed two or three hours a day. 

We had a trip into the next community over on Tuesday, as Eli had day camp. He'll be attending two days a week for 3 1/2 hours each time. I drove my car, as D's car continues to act up (despite the repairs that were recently made) and she would prefer not to drive long distances. It was just as well, as we managed to fill the SUV with our shopping! I picked up two raised garden beds on clearance that I plan to set up next spring. For now they'll be tucked away in the shed. We also made a trip to the thrift store where we found a next to new bread machine. D was gifted one nearly ten years ago, and while it continues to work, it had vibrated its way off the cabinet so has some cosmetic damage from the fall. She listed it on the local free site and someone was happy to pick it up. I found a vintage set of two small mugs, a creamer and sugar set that I couldn't pass up. The colours bring back memories of my childhood. 

A stop at the dollar store for just a few items, and then we went to get groceries. We were low on a number of items, including cat food and treats, and I had a list of a few things that were on sale. Our local Independent Grocer's pricing is quite a bit higher than these prices. However, I do buy locally most often, it just made sense as we were there for Eli's program to pick up what we needed. 

Wednesday's photo was of a funnel cloud that my nephew spotted in north Regina on the weekend. There were a number of funnel clouds spotted, though thankfully none touched down. We didn't see the same weather here, though we're a mere 90 minutes away. 

It was a scorcher here on Wednesday, with a high of 35C/95F. For gardeners this story might resonate. While we were away we had a young person come in to feed the cats and water the containers. When we arrived home, it was clear that, at least one of the tomato containers had not received water consistently. The leaves were curling up and it looked stressed. I've been watering regularly, but we've taken to calling it the dramatic plant because whenever it gets hot'ish, despite being watered, it does the same. It is my signal that the containers need water - on Wednesday I watered three times! Our rain barrels still have lots of water; I'm thankful not to use city water - it's expensive.

Thursday was another day camp for Eli. We dropped him off and went to get breakfast before doing a bit more shopping. At the thrift store we found two curtain rods for $4.99 each (we saw similar ones at Wally world for $17.99 each). We have tacked up black out curtains on the large dining room window, and need to cover the kitchen window as well as the early morning sun heats up the kitchen.  D also scored finding two full bags of Lego for about $15. Retail pricing would have been closer to $40. Both she and Eli enjoy building with Lego...I'm good with it unless I step on a piece.

The sale flyers for the week were out, so we picked up a few grocery items on sale. I also found a half price hanging basket of flowers. One of two basked that I purchased this spring appeared to have been missed a few times when we were away, needs some tender loving care to come back. In other words, I'll cut it back, tuck it in a less sunny area, fertilize and hope it comes back. 

We were under a smoke advisory in the morning, and it was particularly bad in the next town over. By the time we left at noon and headed home, most of it had cleared out, and it was getting quite warm. I didn't get out to weed, but spent time indoors prepping meals. I seasoned several chicken breasts for the air fryer, boiled eggs for egg salad, and par-boiled potatoes for hash browns. Later I cooked up some bacon, cut up peppers and onion, for a chicken bacon ranch pizza for our dinner. Delicious. 

Friday as an indoor day, rainy and much cooler. We had about a 1/4 inch overnight, with the light rain continuing to fall throughout the day. The temperature reached only 17C (63F). Quite the difference from the temperature from earlier this week.

In the morning, I caught up on my financial spreadsheets, reconciliation and budget for expenditures from the last few days. In the meantime, D set a batch of dough in the new bread machine. It works perfectly, though it was a small batch; I only got ten buns out of it. I guess that's the point, fresh buns or bread every few days. Not like the baking my mom used to make when I was young. We'd arrive home on a Monday after school, and she would have a dozen loaves of bread made, often a pan of ooey-gooey cinnamon buns, and a week's worth of laundry done too! I loved slicing the heel of the bread while it was still warm and slathering it with margarine. There was a price, she usually left the ironing for me when I was a teenager.

My next task was to start re-organizing the pantry and cleaning the shelves. I did not take any before pictures because it was a mess. Items were purchased and put away mish-mash. What I originally thought was a container of chocolate chips was actually a container of cat food! Good thing I checked. I cleared a shelf at a time, scrubbing it down, drying it, and replacing items in an order that made sense to me. I made certain to explain my logic to my daughter with the hopes that it will remain (relatively) tidy.

Today, we're expecting a temperature closer to 24C/75F. D is planning to take Eli to the pool at some point, and I'll be back outside doing more weeding. The raised flower bed is a mess of weeds, so much so, that I can't see the gladiolas I planted this spring! One of these days I'll be back to just maintaining the yard, but for now, it's a challenge.

Have a great weekend everyone!