Life's ups and downs

The rain and cool weather continues. If it isn't raining, it is overcast and threatening. We got another 3 inches early in the week. The mosquitos are loving it, us, not so much.

Despite the less than stellar weather, Matt was back on Monday putting up fence boards. His daughter, about a ten or eleven year old, was his helper for the day. While he installed the boards she used the wheelbarrow to move five or six boards at a time and bring them to him. I sent this photo to LND at the end of the day to show the progress. The fence is getting done, the tenant neighbours haven't done anything about the weeds. The fence means I won't have to look at them.

Tuesday I did my shift at the thrift store. I can't manage more than four hours or so on my feet. This is annoying to me, I feel I should be able to do more. My right foot cramps something fierce, less so if I wear sandals but with the rain I was in my sneakers. We are still getting piles of donations, some from the earlier garage sales but others from folks who are clearly using the poor weather to clean out closets and dresser drawers. We got two large tubs of baby/toddler girl clothing, from sizes newborn to 3T. I was able to about half of it out in the bins, the rest have to wait until we have enough room. When I left at 2:30, we'd filled four racks of clothing, with a lot of things being sent on to Value Village or turfed. (Just a hint, we don't re-sell thong underwear).

The Canada Day parade was held on Tuesday evening. That worked well for me, since I hadn't found anything to post for Wednesday. It was raining, as it had been all day, but the parade was short and we live less than a block away. Eli had a blast as most of the participants throw candy for the children, and his mom was prepared with a bag. Here are a few more photos from the event.

Sadly, Canada Day wasn't a good day. My daughter didn't get a lot of sleep and was frustrated with pretty much everything was going on. I was on the phone for much of the morning, with my brother and a friend. She was irritated that I wasn't helping with the housework. Later, wWhen I told her I didn't plan to go to the arena for the Canada Day event, she blew up and made some nasty comments to me (I won't share them). I think she wanted me to go along so I could watch Eli, while she chatted with friends. From my perspective, I find the events noisy and not knowing very many people yet, I feel a bit of an outsider. She doesn't take things out on me very often, but when it happens it takes me a few days to remind myelf I'm here for many reasons. Perhaps it is my penance for not being a great mom when she was young. 

Since I couldn't be outdoors on Thursday, and I wasn't on the phone, I helped with several chores in the house. In the afternoon I went to Knit and Natter in the library. Another regular was there and we spent our 90 minutes chatting about gardening and our knitting projects. When I returned home, Matt was there finishing up work on the fence. It turned out he was short a few boards and was back on Friday with his helper (daughter), to complete the job.

Friday morning, brought another storm of emotions for D, and I was on blast once again. I needed to pick up some groceries, so decided to head to NTO. That gave me a couple of hours to myself and by the time I returned home, she was calm. At the moment there are things going on her life that are causing her a lot of stress. While I understand that, I get tired of her turning her frustration on me. I have a week planned in Regina mid-month and I'll be happy for the break.

On a happier note, my garden is doing very well. The potatoes, cucumber, tomatoes and peppers are all flowering. The cilantro, basil and oregano are getting huge. The peas are climbing the trellis, the red and green onions look good, and the carrots while still small are coming along nicely. The darned lettuce and radish are still lagging behind but I'm hoping the heat in the forecast will perk them up. If not I'll re-seed.

With the fence nearing completion, I plan to get out in the yard and start working on the perennial beds. There is weeding to be done, and I want to clear away dirt from fence and put down rock and crusher dust. Then I have a number of perennials to be put in theground. The darned mosquitos are wicked but I'll bathe in bug spray, and I should be able to get much of it done over the weekend.

Have a great week ahead everyone! Happy 4th to those readers in the USA.

Friday Funny

 

Happy Canada Day!

  

Life goes on

Monday was a difficult day. The evening prior, two of our local police officers were shot when they arrived at a home for a domestic disturbance. Both officers are currently in stable condition in a hospital in the city, but sadly, both suffered life-altering injuries. We've learned that the dispute was between neighbours over a property line and a shed. It is just a horrible situation, and while the community is rallying around the families through fundraisers and creating cards and sending messages, our little town is shaken. By late afternoon, the lawn outside the RCMP office was filling up with Canada flags.

On Tuesday we were up bright and early and off to the city. Eli had an appointment with the developmental pediatrician at 9:30 a.m. We were far too early, so afterpicking up gas at Costco (15 cents a litre cheaper there than here in town), and a stop at McDonald's playland (with an iced coffee for me), I dropped the two of them off. D had been warned it would take most of the morning and it was nearly noon before I picked them up.

We got some good news on the drive in, when checked E-health records and read the report regarding his EEG, which showed no signs of seizure activity. She has a telephone appointment with the doctor in Saskatoon in late July, after which Eli can be weaned off the seizure meds. In addition after the discussion with the developmental pediatrician, D has been given permission to stop the anxiety medication he was taking. After the two meds are stopped, he'll just have his ADHD meds to take on a daily basis. He descibes those meds as "glasses for his brain", as they help him focus. 

Meanwhile I got in a short visit with my son and his g/f. I met them at the office and we went across the street for coffee. I was coffee'd out by this point, so just sat with them. They've got some plans for reno's and work to be done in the yard. I'm planning to spend a week there in mid-July, and will give them a hand with a few things. 

Since Eli was missing out on a school activity - it is the last week of school - we took the opportunity to visit the Saskatchewan Science Centre. Our boy is very interested in space and one of the main exhibits related to that subject. G'ma wandered a bit, but then found a place to sit and relax. Then it was time to head home.

We had more rain while we were gone, 8 cms or over 3 inches and D spent the evening in the basement. Our attempts to mitigate haven't completely been successful, but at least there is less water making its way in. We're planning to open up the wall below one of the windows to see if there is a crack in the foundation as it seems to be a potential source. That's on the agenda in next couple of weeks.

We've been having some issues with the front and back doors not properly latching - and one sneaky cat who figured out how to open the doors on his own. I called in a locksmith on Wednesday to check things out. He was here for about 45 minutes or so, and replaced the latch in the front door, corrected the knob placement in the other (it was upside down), and adjusted the hinges in both. I'm happy to say they are both working well now. I'm even happier to say that he advised we do NOT need to replace the doors. This was something D and I had discussed doing at some point.

Before he finished D and Eli headed off to the farm for his equine therapy session. This is the last one until next fall. His work with the horses and guidance from the therapist has really given him more confidence in doing hard things, and tolerance for doing things he'd prefer not to do. He's now working with a pony named Indie - at his regular session on Monday, he read to her in both English and French. This session was a make-up as he missed an appointment when he was sick last month.

I had Knit and Natter at the library that evening. Again, I was the only one there, which is disappointing, but I certainly didn't lack for company. One of the librarians, J had her daughter drop by with three small children she was babysitting. They were between the ages of 3 and 7 and provided live entertainment. They found a number of books, their babysister read while the oldest read on his own, while I continued to knit on my shawl. Things got quiet about 20 minutes before I left, as she took them out for ice cream. 

The fence guy let me know they would be starting work on Thursday. Phase 1 was the removal of the fence panels, posts, and the concrete that ran the length of the fence. I think it took Matt and his brother 15-20 minutes to take down the fence panels. The posts and the concrete took the rest of the day. Initially he had indicated that a buddy with a small skidsteer would be assisting with the removal of the concrete, but he injured his wrist and wasn't able to help so the two of them used a sledge hammer to break up the concrete and a crowbar to lift it.

When they removed the fence panels, I discovered that years of falling leaves and twigs had created a wonderful batch of compost between the neighbour's shed and the fence. While the guys worked at the other end, I dug out the compost and sorted through to get rid of some bits of garbage, a single brick, and tree roots. Most of it went into the compost bin, but some of it was moved onto the the space where we had removed a spruce tree last year. I managed to get the concrete cleared off before they made it that far. By 3:30 they were heading out with the third and final load for the dump. Matt mentioned he was hoping to be back the next day to set the posts.

He arrived about 9:15 to drop off his tools and wheelbarrow.  We're expecting a lot more rain over the weekend so I know he wanted to get the posts in. To stay out of his way, we headed into the NTO to do a little bit of shopping, visit a few garage sales, and stop at Walmart for a few groceries. We did visit Value Village where I found a tall metal vase and a weathered child's chair (total cost $12) I plan to use the latter in the garden as a plant stand, the vase will go south with me in the fall. The only thing I purchased at the garage sale was a pair of box cutters for $1. The groceries were more expensive! However, I did get Oreo cookies for Eli for $2.98 - similar cookies at our local stores are $5-6. 

Back at home, we found that Matt and his brother were making good headway with the posts and cross-members. They were  away for lunch and it was raining, however had left everything behind so I assumed, correctly, that he would be back. By late afternoon they had finished this stage of the fencing. I sent photos to LND; we both agreed it already looks much better than the old rickety fence. The last stage will be the fence boards which I anticipate will be done later next week.

Today is a quiet day, with nothing much planned. I had thought I'd do more weeding but it is cool and threatening to rain so indoor activities will suffice. As I'm writing this Eli is finishing his breakfast, we will be doing some reading together before heading downstairs to pick up his toys. D is rearranging the basement in anticipation of the changes to the area behind the furnace. I'm staying out of the way, she's a woman on a mission.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

A Day Late - keeping busy

The first peony bloom!

The weather continues to be erratic, with rain almost every day, but in small amounts. We had sunshine too, and I've spent some time outdoors, doing chores, and reading in my downtime. At this point the planting is done, now I need to catch with the weeds.

Our first piece of business on Monday was purchasing an upright freezer from our local hardware store. D has been suggesting it for some time and we arranged with Matt to pick it up and deliver to us. It will stay in the garage (which is insulated) and keep most of our meat and frozen vegetables. With our meal planning we'll bring in what we need for the week to keep in the fridge freezer, while the basement freezer keeps bread products, frozen pizza (Eli's favorite ones), french fries, perogies, etc. It's a bit of an experiment for now but when we filled it on Friday, we discovered I do NOT need to buy meat for some time.

I did my shift at the thrift store on Tuesday. As predicted we received and continue to get donations from the community wide garage sales. In addition one family is clearing out their mother's house and lots of treasures were found among the donations. One was a vintage Carnival glass small sugar bowl. It was set aside fo the woman who prices the more precious items. It would be worth more had it come with the creamer. We'll either sell it in the store or she'll post it on-line. There were also button containers (did your mom have a button jar?), with some really unique buttons, as well as homemade ones as well. I remember my mom making the matching buttons with material from an outfit. I did come home with a pair of wide leg palazzo pants for my daughter, but otherwise resisted the urge to shop...at least for a couple of days.

Wednesday, we had an appointment at the local credit union to open accounts for Eli and I. His mom wants to encourage him to start saving; she'd held onto the money he received for his birthday for the deposit. In my case, there is no branch of my usual institution, so I had opened an account at the local Bank of Montreal when I first moved here. I used it primarily to retrieve cash from the ATM, but they are closing as of Friday this week. Just a note: if I had withdrawn from my regular account at another institution there is a fee of $3-4. So, I closed that account and opened one at the credit union. That will allow me to access cash at the ATM with no fee. At some point, I'll start moving things from my current institution to the credit union, but that will take time as I have regular deposits and withdrawals that will need to changed. 

On Thursday, I went shopping at the thrift store - my feet are always tired after my shift. I found a number of items, though I messed up on the sizing of two of them so they will be returned as donations. Even so, I spent less than $15 for 5 pieces of clothing, one of which was a pretty top to match the palazzo pants I bought for my daughter. I noted that the sorting room wasn't as full as it had been when I left on Tuesday but the racks are full again. There may be another "sale" in the near future. 

One of the women from the thrift store mentioned that Canadian Tire had there annuals reduced in price. Can't pass up a sale, right? I picked another four six packs and a Gerbera daisy. I've never had much look with the daisy, but will give it a try - at $4.99 for the plant I won't be out much if it doesn't survive. 

On Friday, D and I visited a pair of garage sales, where she picked up some new baby clothes for her friend S. My big splurge was another puzzle and a piece of metal art for the yard. I was looking for a plant stand to put up in front of the house but D convinced me a bench would be better. Home Hardware had one for sale so I gave in a purchased it.

On Saturday, I put the bench together, and got the new plants into their pots. I'm now up to seventeen containers, although three of those are perennials that will go into the raised flower bed in the back yard. At the moment that project is on hold until the fence is complete. The next project will see me recaulking the windows and painting the trim in the front of the house.

On a happy note, I finally heard from LND and the fence is a go with Matt. The actual work won't start until July. Matt works full-time for the fire department and is busy with ball season with his daughter. We're also having him do a bit a reno in the basement to remove a wall behind the furnace. The water leak has made it's way to that area in the past and we'd like to have better access to that area.

We've done everything we can to mitigate the leak. I added the rain guards to the window wells. I did dig down and discovered that the wood window frame is rotten. There is a plan to replace windows in a few years so the basement windows to that list. D managed to get the sealant applied to the wall this week, and while we've had rain we haven't seen any evidence in the a basement. There was an area in the back where water was standing. So I've added soil and sloped it away from the foundation. I'll need to let it settle and add more as needed. But fingers crossed, that issue is managed for the time being.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

A trip to the city, more rain, and the continuing saga

After Eli went to school on Monday morning, D and I did a bit of packing for a short trip to the city. A small suitcase for clothing and toiletries, a backpack for swim gear for the three of us, a cooler for a Costco run, and D's bag for meds, electronics, and other sundry items. We were only there overnight. 

I went out to load the car while they went to equine therapy that afternoon, as well as to clear out any garbage and vacuum up the floors and the back seat. When they returned we stopped for Eli's supper at Tim Horton's (he loves their grilled cheese and bacon sandwich) and a cold drink for me. The trip is about an hour and half and we were in Regina by about six, stopping at a Burger King for D and I, before heading to the hotel. 

After dinner we went to the pool - I enjoyed the hot tub! D sat with me for a bit, and then went to keep an eye on Eli who was using the water slide. We later made a run up to my son's for a visit. Sage (the pup) was thrilled to see us, and after a bit of jumping and occasional bark, settled down. Eli and his uncle had quite the conversation, while Kota (one of the cats) cuddled up next to the kid. D and C's g/f visited on the front deck. 

Back at the hotel we all stayed up until 12:30 a.m. when Eli and I went to sleep. D said she did not sleep at all, and we were all up at 4:30 a.m. Eli's EEG was scheduled for 10 a.m. and they wanted him tired. D was given instructions that he should have no more than 4 hours of sleep. We were all tired, but he seemed to be less so than the two of us. After showers and baths, I took down our bags to the car and found that the breakfast room was set up so we headed down for a leisurely meal. We still had some time before we needed to be at the hospital, so wandered over to Dollarama and Walmart.

I dropped the two of them at 9:15 a.m. which turned out to be fortuitous, Based on the letter D recevied, the directions had them finding that the admitting desk at that area of the hospital was closed due to staffing shortgages. By the time they made their way to the main doors and back to this building, they didn't have a very long wait. Unfortunately Eli wasn't able to fall asleep during the test and we won't know until the pediatric neurologist looks at the film whether the test was successful or not in determining if he has had any further seizure activity.

Meanwhile I made a run to Costco, returning with an empty wallet about 90 minutes later. I parked in a nearby Shopper's Drug Mart lot until D texted to say they were ready. From there, we skedaddled for home. There were things to unload and unpack, and Eli had a Big Brother, Big Sister event after the school day was over. Noah, his big brother, is graduating this year and will be off to University in the fall. The two of them have created quite a bond over the two years, meeting most every Wednesday for lunch at Eli's school. D took photos of the two of the together and plans to gift Noah a framed photo to take with him. 

I went to Knit and Natter, and I suspect due to the inclement weather, and was the only one in attendance. Since I was finished the mittens I decided to start on a small project for a friend. L is undergoing cancer treatment, and is a big fan of chickens. I figured she needs an emotional support chicken. The crocheting was pretty much finished before I left that evening, and I finished it up on Thursday morning, adding the comb and beak, and added the safety eyes and stuffing. I'm not entirely sure I like it, and may use a different pattern to make a second one. 

Thursday marked the final swimming lesson for Eli for this session in the NTO. He'll continue in July at the local pool. Since there was little I could do outside, I went along. We dropped by Value Village with some donations and did a wander in the store. I found a couple of pieces of outdoor decor, a cake of yarn, two "basement" towels, and two brand new bras.

After a quick meal at Burger King (Eli's choice) we stopped at the Bookworm, a used book store. They had moved locations last fall, and this was our first time in the new spot. They still have mounds of books and of course, I came home with a couple. I dropped D and Eli at the pool, and headed over to Walmart to pick up some fruit and veg. It was a productive afternoon.

On the home front, we have battled the weather all week, with rain every day except Monday. AND thank goodness for that as we were away. I'm also grateful that the hail that hit the city happened Tuesday evening and we avoided it here. However, with more rain on Wednesday the basement continued to let in rain. We now have two fans blowing constantly to help it dry and lay down towels on various areas in the laundry/furnace room as needed. These are spun in the washer and then dried several times a day. D generally gets up once in the middle of the night to use the wet vac, replace the towels, and empty the two humidifiers. If I'm awake before her in the morning, I've been taking a turn. The ground is so saturated that the water is looking for anywhere to go. And of course, there is more rain in the forecast!

The rain guards arrived on Friday morning and I got them installed. Not perfectly, as there isn't a smooth or straight surface to watch them to. The recommended option was to screw them to the house but the base is concrete and the house is stucco. So I used window caulking....lots and lots of it. Not pretty but the seal is tight.

Despite all the rain, my plants continue to grow, along with the weeds. I can manage in the raised beds as I can reach from all sides, but the garden itself is far too wet. In the flower beds, things are starting to show blooms; lamium, dead nettle, poppies, and columbine. I had picked up a sunflower last week, and got it planted as well. It sure brightens up the flower bed!

Update on the fence situation - LND is dragging this out longer by insisting he ask his mother's husband (an accountant by trade in the city) to contact some of his customers to get quotes as a favour. When I pointed out that any contractor would likely be charging for mileage and thus increase the cost, he snapped back that he had his furnace, water heater, and drywalling his basement this way. I didn't bother to respond, but will text him again this weekend and I plan to set a firm deadline. If he hasn't got additional quotes by the end of June, I will go ahead with or without his contribution. I won't tell him that part of it, but will insinuate that I'll send him a bill at the end of the process. 

We're expecting a warmer day today and I'm hoping to spend a good part of it outdoors. There is, of course, much weeding to be done, the potatoes need to be hilled, and I want to replace the gate latch on the front gate. I may also have picked up a few more plants (just three) on Friday, and those need to go in a container as well. If it's decent enough I need to do some caulking on the window panes out front. That needs to be done before I can get to the painting...and that won't happen until the weather stays nice for a bit. Wish me luck!

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Almost Wordless Wednesday

 Don't mind the weeds - it has been raining almost non-stop the past week and the garden bed is too wet to venture into.

Thankful for the rain, but that's enough already

Wednesday's photo was definitely a lucky chance photo. I was planning to take a photo of the peony buds, when I spotted the ladybug attended by an ant and a fly. I've not seen that before, and likely won't again. The peonies are budded out and when we get some sunshine and heat I expect they'll be blooming like crazy.

It's rained this week, enough that the rain barrels are full and I haven't had to water the gardens. Wednesday evening was the worst, as it rained so hard that it came through a basement window. D was downstairs and hollered for help. We put down towels (kept for this purpose) and she set up the fan immediately. Thankfully the rain let up after a few minutes, but even so, it made a mess in one corner of the basement. I went out and measured the window wells the next day and ordered rain guards. I've watched a couple of videos and am convinced I can install them myself. The rain gauges showed we had nearly 1.75 inches in less than a half hour!

On Tuesday I did a four hour shift at the thrift store. The amount of donations waiting to be sorted through was crazy, again. We were running out of rack space in the sorting room, so I checked for gaps in the racks inside the store. Men's shirts, women's summer dresses and skirts, and sleepwear needed some additions, so I went through the racks and pulled items to put out on the floor. One of the other volunteers was clearing the "new arrivals" racks in the store as well. The store was actually quite busy and we were able to keep moving items. As for hangers, L purchased three hundred hangers from a store for just $10! I'm guessing they are changing the style of their hangers. She also purchased five more racks. 

I learned that we get a lot of donations from communities within an hour of our town. Many people don't like to donate to Value Village because it is a for-profit store. We do send a lot of things to VV that don't meet our standards. What might those standards be? Items that we don't think anyone would wear, at least most of the time. One of the outfits I put out on the floor was a woman's matching jacket and skirt, made of polyester and salmon coloured. It was in great shape but I suspect was purchased in the 90's. I wouldn't wear it but was assured by others that someone else might. We also send on clothing that has small stains. However, anything that is torn or smells of smoke ends up in the garbage. We don't have a washer/dryer to be able to clean the latter items.

Knit and Natter was held on Thursday afternoon. I couldn't do anything outdoors, so it was a nice way to get out of the house for a bit. There were two of us there. I finished a second mitten and the thumbs for both. I'm only knitting when I'm at the library so I'm pretty slow. I just need to sew in the yarn ends. For my next project, I'm planning to knit or crochet an emotional chicken. More on that  later.

Friday, I was up and moving early as I had received a call last week that I could get my mammogram at the hospital in the NTO. Booked in for 9 a.m., I was asked to be there 45 minutes early, it's a 20-25 minute drive, so I was on the road around by 7:45 a.m. to ensure I had time to find the hospital. I have a family history of breast cancer (including my Dad), thu I have an annual mammogram. For those readers who have never had the experience, I heard a comedienne once describe it as having your breast put in a vice, and then taken into another room. It's not quite that bad but bad enough. :)

A couple of updates: the fence saga continues and I am reaching the end of my rope with the LND. He, apparently, cannot connect with his realtor. My guess is things didn't go well when he listed the house a few years ago - she took photos, put up the listing and the sign, and then he pulled it down within a week to rent it out instead. If so, I wouldn't blame her for ghosting him.

Now he has decided that he needs to find a friend to remove the concrete, as he thinks Matt's price is too high. It isn't. We had Matt here earlier this week to remove some yard waste. We were discussing the issues with LND and Matt mentioned that he's dealt with him before. He wants the quote yesterday and then will hem and haw for four months before he makes a decision. I'm not having that happen. I'll give him until this weekend, and then we're going ahead regardless. I'll pay the extra to get it done because it is an eyesore and a nuisance. 

On a happier note, my gardens are doing well. The potatoes, corn, and peas are up. The carrots and green onions are lagging behind and I may need to replant the carrots. I've learned that carrot seeds like to be kept wet; we had some really warm temperatures and since they are planted in about 1/4 inch soil, I suspect these won't sprout. I'm not sure if it is the same for onion seeds, but I'll replant those as well if I don't see anything in the next few days.

Today is the community wide garage sale. Some of the sales started on Friday, so D and I did a circuit while Eli was at school. We'd planned to go out early Saturday morning, but I'll be working at the thrift store from 10-3. Normally, not opened on Saturdays, we're expecting to be busy with all of the folks out and about. It's forecast to be a warm day with a high of 25C/77F with potential light rain in the morning, and a chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

The heat is on!

Most mornings this week saw me outdoors working on the garden beds, and attempting to rearrange the rocks in the flower bed. I managed to get most of the vegetables planted on Sunday, in both raised beds and the original garden bed. In the raised beds, I've got tomatoes, basil, peppers (green and jalepeno), oregano broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, radish, red and green onion. In the larger garden bed, I have peas, carrots, potatoes, and corn. The orginal asparagu s and the chives I'd planted last year are doing well. It appears I may have missed a few strawberries as I'm seeing some evidence some made it through. I'll leave them if they aren't in the midst of the other plants. 

The containers were planted on Monday - or at least most of them - I may have bought a few more plants since then. If you've been around for a number of years, you'll know that I have a bad habit of having more containers than I originally intend. As of this writing there are four containers out front, and seven in the back yard. Several of these are hanging containers, two I purchased and the others I planted with annuals I'd purchased last week.

On Monday, the Landlord Next Door's construction guy (Matthew) stopped by to measure the fence. When I'd talked to LND, he hadn't wanted to commit to the quote I'd received as he "didn't know the guy". Matthew is well known here and in fact, we've used him for other smaller jobs. I just didn't realize he was set up to do larger construction jobs. It turns out he is, and later that afternoon, he returned with a comprehensive quote that is much more detailed and definitely higher in price. It was clear to me he's prepared to do the work and has the resources so I'd be quite happy to go forward with the work. However, when I contacted LND he advised he would be talking to a realtor on Wednesday to determine whether replacing the fence would be beneficial in a possible sale. Hell yes! In any event, he is supposed to contact me this weekend to advise whether he's prepared to share the cost. If he doesn't, this neighbour may feel the need to point out the condition of the fence to anyone I see viewing the property. 

I spent part of Wednesday morning, digging more rocks out of the flower bed. I'm trying the move them out of the way for the fence removal and replacement. I think I mentioned last week, I'd discovered a concrete border covered by dirt and rocks. More of the border was uncovered, and I'm hoping to locate several of the rocks within that border.  Others have been moved to an area to the west of the garage. I'm not certain what we'll do with them but they're out of the way there.

Some afternoons were spent relaxing in the backyard. The area near the firepit is shaded by the tree by mid-afternoon. It's a great place to sit and read, and listen to the birds. While I've not seen many (except for the prolific robins and grackles), the Merlin app tells me there are Northern wren, chipping sparrow, goldfinch, and several others visiting the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, I'm reading Malice by Lisa Jackson, the story of a former LAPD detective Rick Bentz, his dead ex-wife, and a serial killer determined to torment Bentz. 

The temperatures were decent through to Thursday, cool in the morning with highs around 27C/80F in the afternoon. But that changed that morning, when we woke to 20C/68F, and the mercury climbed to 34C/93F. I went out to water early in the morning, and then again in the evening, and spent the rest of the day indoors. I had been weeding in the peony bed the day before and when I was out watering, I could swear they had grown at least 3-4 inches in one day! On Wednesday the plants still had a bit of a purple hue, but were now totally green. The buds are showing, and I expect we may see the flowers next week.

Our air-conditioning unit frequently throughout the day, and continued to do so on Friday. It didn't get quite as warm, a few degrees cooler, but with winds gusting to 60 km/h (about 38 mph). The plastic Adirondack chairs were blown about, while the garden and containers dried out quickly. I watered well twice, once in the morning and then again in the evening. 

It is Tourism week here in town, and D and Eli made it to three of the events. The Heritage museum tea, the Library open house, and the old Rail Station tour. I went along to the latter event, and found it quite interesting. The building was set to be demolished but with some CN rail funding they were able to start the restoration of the latter. Thus far, they've repaired the roof, added insulation, and created two lovely foyers. The fellow who did our tour suggested it could take $1 or 2 million to finish it. I suspect it won't be done in my lifetime. 

The weather is expected to improve, that is cool down over the next week with rain in the forecast. I'll be happy for both! The yard work continues, with the weeds doing their best to overrun parts of it. We'll be planting a few things tomorrow, including a couple of mint plants (peppermint and spearmint) in a container, as well as an apple seed that I was able to germinate. I doubt anything will come of the latter, but Eli was curious as to what would happen if we planted apple seeds. 

Have a great week ahead everyone! I hope the weather is fair and the temperatures to your liking.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Getting my hands dirty

I'll start this blog by assuring all the readers and those who commented that, yes, the snow photos were taken this week. The snow started on Saturday - the first two photos - we woke to snow but by mid-afternoon it had melted. Not so on Sunday, third photo, and it continued to snow all day and through the night. The fourth photo is what I woke to on Monday. It melted quickly and by afternoon, all that was left was what you see in the fifth photo. There were remnants in shady corners until Wednesday but the 17C/63F temperature took care of those.

I quite enjoyed my volunteer shift on Monday at the thrift store. When we walked in there was a mound of bags to be sorted through. But instead of sorting, I spent my time in the store, sweeping the floor, pulling empty hangers, and putting "new arrivals" on the shop racks. Meanwhile in the sorting room, the other women had managed to make a good dent in the bags of donations. Again, we were running low on hangers! It's amazing how much comes into the sorting area. As I was leaving with L, we noticed that in the two and half hours we'd been at the shop, the donation bin outdoors had been completely filled. She went back to grab a cart and with the help of a few others we emptied the bin onto the cart. While I headed home, two others took the cart back to our hallway. I bet the Tuesday shift were kept busy.

Since Tuesday morning was cool, I spent the time indoors doing very little. It warmed up nicely in the afternoon, so the three of us went outdoors. (It was an in-service day at school so he was home). I did a bit of reorganizing in my garden shed, sweeping it out and moving things to open shelves. We won't be putting up our gazebo until the fence is replaced, so it is sitting on a shelf for now. :( I did discover that I have five bags of mulch...won't need to buy any this year! I also got a string of LED solar lights hung on the shed. It wasn't a particularly sunny day so they didn't light up that evening.

D and I went to NTO on Wednesday morning, after dropping Eli at school. Our first stop was Value Village (I know, I know - I volunteer at a thrift store). But we had coupons to use, D and I each found two summer dresses, and I picked up a towel and a couple of face cloths. The latter items aren't something we see a lot of in our thrift store.

We stopped at the dollar store - they have inexpensive garden planters and tools, and D met a friend in one of the aisles and had a good visit while I shopped. In addition, there were stops at the garden centers at Canadian Tire (bell peppers and pansies), at Real Canadian Superstore (two bags of compost and jalapeno peppers). The garden center at Walmart was a huge disappointment, so after we picked up a few groceries it was time to head back home.

We unpacked our purchases before I headed back out to the garden centers at Independent Grocer and Canadian Tire. I was "only" looking for vegetables but some darned annuals just jumped into my cart. I picked up red onion, broccoli, curly grass and two baskets of annuals at the first store, and geraniums, verbena, salvia, and calibrachoa at the second. There were many more options but I'm trying to limit myself to a half dozen containers of flowers this year and focus more on the vegetable gardens.

Back at the house, D was out running errands, so I got busy in the yard. I took all of the plants I've started in the house to a table outside to start the process of hardening off. The new plants have been out in the greenhouse or on racks outside so they were set out as well. The raised beds needed more soil as it settled after the snow, so I added more soil and compost, along with some fertilizer. The soil got turned in the beds as well as the larger garden bed. I had drawn out a plant map one evening and I took advantage of a rest in my chair to reconsider the plan. Oops, I can't plant carrots in the raised bed as they aren't deep enough! That meant a little more shuffling in my plan. I am trying companion planting as well; basil and tomatoes, onions and peppers. I'm also going to try putting a row of radish between two rows of lettuce. I've seen suggestions that the lettuce will shade the radishes, and slow down the potential for them to bolt. 

When my work was done, I sat and read and listened to the birds before dinner, and then again after dinner. It was so nice to enjoy the warmer weather. The robins, grackles, and sparrows were happy too. There was a potential for rain that evening but it did not come to be. Before heading indoors I moved the plants into the shed for the night. While no frost was forecast it would be cool overnight at 5C/10F.

The rain came overnight, not a lot of it but enough to wet down the grass and garden soil. Time to pull some weeds! They're far easier to pull when the ground is wet. The plants came out of the shed to enjoy the fresh air too. 

The rain fell overnight and everything was wet! I took advantage of the loosened soil to tackle the day lilies in the area in front of the flower bed. They block the view of the lower plants in the bed, and we've got mounds of them in other locations in the yard. I will tell you, in case you didn't know, that day lilies have a ridiculous root system. The tubers look like gnarled old feet with strings or roots going everywhere and to a depth that is hard to conceive. Remember when you were a kid and tried to dig a hole to China? Or was that just me. In any event, that's what I felt I was doing.

This photo was taken mid-way through the process.

I filled three garbage bags with detritus from the lilies. What I discovered was the bed is, like the peony bed, encased in a concrete edging. The lilies had spread well beyond this barrier. Imagine the fun I had when I hit that hidden concrete with my shovel! I plan to move the dirt out completely, locate that border and then refill the space with a ground cover of some sort. We have dead nettle and other lamium, and will use a piece of one or the other. I'd prefer phlox but can't find it at our local garden centers. Perhaps I can find some in the neighbourhood and beg a piece from another gardener. 

Friday was wet and cool, with more rain having fallen overnight.  I did get out and move the plants outside when I picked Eli up from school. It had stopped raining and the temperature reached 12C/54F. I'm eager to get out to the garden this weekend to plant seeds and start the process of transplanting the starts. Hopefully things won't be too wet to get at it on Saturday. 

The weather forecast suggests we're in for a hot week next week (in relative terms). Most of the week will range between 25C-30C/77F-80F. No concerns about frost or snow. I'm looking forward to it! 

Have a great week ahead everyone!                                                                              

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday