Good time in the city, back to the yardwork at home

I had a good trip to the city, a lovely visit with my son, his roommate B, grand-dog Sage, and three of B's five kitties. (The other two would have nothing to do with me). One of the cats, Kota, decided he was my cat. At one point, he even jumped out of B's lap to come running to me as I came through the door. He also liked to spend time with me in my room though could be coaxed out by shaking a bag of treats. That also brought three others to the door. :) Yes, Kota is a black and white cat who looks a bit like Saku.

B and I went shopping on Monday morning to Costco as I needed some dry goods for home, and we picked up meat for their freezer. They should be set for a couple of months. We made a stop at Pet Valu for B to pick up cat litter, and then Home Depot, where I picked up C's Christmas gift. I'd promised to purchase a snow blower last year for him, but couldn't get him to tell me which one he would like. So this year, I said to heck with it and bought a Toro. It has good/decent reviews and as it was the last one available at the store the price was right. I'm sure they were clearing it out for the new models. The Farmers Almanac is forecasting a cold and snowy winter ahead. 

B suggested we go for lunch at Boston Pizza, which was right beside Home Depot. We had a really nice chat, while I've known her for a number of years, I haven't really sat down and talked with her. 

When we arrived back at the house, C was out on the deck and he helped unload the vehicle. Then I was off to the hairdresser to get my hair cut. What a relief! It's been getting shaggy and I am not talented enough to cut my own. (Looking at you, Patsy). My final stop was Walmart where I purchased C's birthday gift. B had shared that he really wanted a wok. While I will be back in the city in October, I figured he could use it now. 

In fact, within an hour of arriving back at the house, he had the wok seasoned, meat marinating in the fridge and the rice cooking in the rice cooker. He watches a lot of cooking shows, one of which has two chefs that have worked in Michelin star restaurants. These guys are fun to watch, because they can put together an amazing meal together in short order with pretty much anything. He has learned, and I had no idea, that after cooking the rice is spread out on a cookie sheet and allowed to dry. I've always just put the pot in the fridge and left it over night....and I used Minute Rice, not long grain. :) 

I didn't get to enjoy the meal, as I left mid-morning Tuesday to return home. The day was hot, by 11 a.m. it was 27C/80F and I didn't want to drive in the heat of the day. It reached a high of 32C/90F but with the humidity felt even hotter. D and Eli came out to help me unload the vehicle and other than watering plants I stayed indoors until the tree guy arrived. We had the evergreen removed, as well as the two cedars against the house, and several branches removed that were hanging over the power line. D has been concerned about those, as she has experienced an ice storm here a few years ago. In less than an hour the guys had done their work, cleaned up the majority of the debris (there are dry needles from the cedars left for me), and had everything loaded in the trailer for removal to the dump. They even took the seven bags of garden waste that I've gathered up over the summer.

This is area in front of the tent gazebo. The path leads to the front yard. It gets a fair amount of sun in the afternoon but the only thing growing there (besides the old evergreen) is weeds. D is planning to put up poles to hold a line. It can be used as a clothes line but also can be used to hold various apparatus for Eli to play on. That's a next year project.

The two cedars, the tall one and a globe cedar were too close to the house. Debris from the taller one was collecting in the gutters as well. 

Wednesday was hot, though slightly cooler than Tuesday as we got some rain. I spent the first part of the day outside cleaning up debris from the cedars. That's the second bag up against the foundation. I want to move out those rocks and will allow the day lilies to fill in much of the area. 

D ran some errands in the morning and she and Eli went to the library in the afternoon. Before they left for the library, they followed me to the car dealership where I left my SUV for the installation of a front and rear dashcam. They were back from the library a half hour or so, and the dealership called to say the car was ready to go. I was able to sync my phone to the camera but have no clue how it works. I guess I'll have to read the manual. :p

Thursday was a quiet day, and Friday was much busier. We went into the next door town where I picked up a small laptop as a back-up for my current machine. We also made a stop at the book store, where D picked up four more books of a series for Eli using one of my old gift cards. She's been reading the first two books to him, and he's gotten in to the series. There are dragon masters!

At lunchtime we headed to the library for their free BBQ, where Eli and I shared a hotdog. 

There was a presentation on fire safety inside the library, and outside, children were allowed to climb into the truck, and push the buttons for the sirens. He enjoyed that, a lot!

Next up we went next door to City Hall for the "Escape Room". D had booked it for the three of us. We had a rocky start, as we didn't clue on the clues in the audio recording we listened to upon entering the room. However, the staff gave us a hint and we started working our way through. It took a couple more helpful hints before we "made our escape". In fact, we weren't locked in and could have left at any time. While we had 30 minutes, we finished in just over 20 minutes. I think Eli enjoyed it, and though I have no idea how D figured out some of the clues, it was a nice way to spend time with my family.

We had quite high winds on Friday as well, and our poor tomato plants were blown over several times. One of the containers landed on a container of peppers. I had to stake the peppers and tie them up before D and I moved the tomatoes to another spot in the yard. Even then, we found the containers blown over more than once. I'm not certain how much damage was done to the branches, time will tell.

Today, with the cooler weather we're planning to put a pork loin in to the slow cooker for pulled pork. D will bake buns, and we're also going to cook up sausage rounds to make breakfast sandwiches for the freezer. If, and I do mean if, we are feeling especially productive, we may make perogies. Or at least I'll cook the potatoes so we can make them later this weekend or early next week. 

One last note: today would have been my Dad's 115th birthday. He always wanted to reach 100, but left us a few weeks after his 98th birthday. He'll be in my heart and mind today, as always.

Have a great week ahead everyone!