Better or worse weather, pain or no pain

I had no problem keeping busy this week, starting on Sunday when we made a trip into the city to Costco. I was watching a You-tube video from a Canadian creator who showed all the sale items ending May 10, and some for the the entire month. So many of these items are ones we use regularly; furnace filters, toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher tabs, batteries, and other shelf stable food items. The sale prices made it make sense to make the trip in. Of course a few others jumped in our cart and the end of the day the total was a wee bit eyewatering. However, the savings based on Costco pricing was over $100 and when we compare prices to what we would pay for the same amount of product the savings were even higher. For example, furnace filters are about $25 each in our local stores, and three were $40 at Costco. I won't bore you with more examples but suffice to say we are stocked up now for awhile.

We left home around 7:30 a.m. and were home before noon. After a bite to eat, D and Eli headed to the nearby park, while I went to the backyard to start building my raised beds. D and Eli returned as I was readying to set up one of the beds, and she gave me a hand connecting the side rails. The neighbour children came over to play as well, so it was a bit chaotic with four children running about, jumping on the trampoline, riding scooters, etc.

After grocery shopping first thing on Monday, I headed over to the thrift store for my shift. When I had left on Thursday, there were no bags to sort through. Not so on Monday! The area in the sorting room was filled, and there was pile of bags and boxes in the back hallway. We managed to get through the pile in the sorting room, and made a start on the second pile. Obviously there was a fair amount of clearing out by some folks on the weekend. We also clean the store and tidy the racks - with eight to ten volunteers, a lot gets accomplished. AND I came home with nothing. :)

D and Eli went to equine therapy that afternoon, and we were all saddened to hear that Rocket, the miniature horse he worked with early in therapy had to be put down over the weekend. Apparently she developed a lung infection, and at her age, they decided the kindest option was to let her go. On the other hand, there was a new foal in the pasture and Eli and his therapist were able to go see the baby. The mama is a bit protective but allowed Eli to pet her. There were also baby chickens and baby kittens to see. One of the cats is called Potato, and her kittens are Potato chips. 

Tuesday morning, I was helping D unload and reload the dishwasher when I felt a pain across my lower back. I took a pain med, and used some cream and carried on. We had a busy day planned - we may have found someone to tear down the old fence, remove the concrete, and rebuild it. Wally came by to take measurements for his list of supplies. Once he has a cost for those, we'll discuss the cost of labour. We'll be in touch with the next door neighbour - he lives in Winnipeg and rents the place, and has agreed to share the cost. We'll see what he says, if he doesn't like the price, we'll suggest he find another quote.

In the afternoon, we headed into NTO to do a bit of shopping, some time for Eli to play at his favourite park, and for his therapy session. Our first stop was Value Village, where we dropped off several bags of donations. In the store I found a couple of glass baking dishes (I'd broke the one we had), a good quality towel, two plant containers, and a pillow insert for less than $20. D was looking for books for Eli - the child would prefer not to read, but reads with understanding and emotion when he does. He read a chapter of a book on the way in, and he had me giggling. Not only does he read, but he has a habit of making side comments as well. 

Since we were at the mall, we stopped in at Coles bookstore. I had a gift card from Christmas, so we used that to pick up a book for Eli, two for me, and got convinced to purchase a beach blanket. It will be handy when we go to the lake (soon, hopefully).

After a bite to eat, we dropped Eli off at his therapists, then dashed over to Walmart where I picked up garden soil, topsoil and potting soil. D stopped to fuel up her vehicle, so we didn't get into the store for the few grocery items we needed, so did that after Eli's appointment. We were home shortly after 6 p.m. and after unpacking our purchases, a painkiller and more lotion, I was in bed. In all of the movement I'd done,  I had realized that my hip was out of place,  It has happened before, especially when I was driving my standard transmission vehicle. How I managed to do that just bending over, I have no idea.

It was a restless night, and at one point, I could barely straighten up to walk to the bathroom. By morning, I had decided to call the chiropractor's office to see if I get an appointment. In the meantime, I headed out to the back yard to put away some items that were left out overnight. We were expecting big winds later in the day, between 80-110kph (50-68mph) and I didn't want things to blow away. As I was moving something into the garage, I managed to catch my foot on the threshold and tripped, catching myself before I fell. Within in minutes, I realized that my hip wasn't giving me grief, and though there was still muscle tenderness, I was walking easily again. Crazy!

In fact, I walked to my appointment with the hairdresser just a few blocks away. The temperature had already reached 20C/78F. She and I had a great conversation about gardening. She did a great job of my cut, and I left the salon feeling human again. 

D had something to pick up at Canadian Tire so I rode over with her and walked through the garden centre. Oh my, there are so many things I'd like to purchase. But despite the wonderful weather, we still have a couple of nights ahead where the temperatures could fall to near freezing. I likely won't be able to hold off for more another week but the less time I have to haul them in and out of the garage the better. First I need to make a solid plan for planting the vegetable gardens. My peppers never did come up, so I'll need to buy those, along with a broccoli (D's request), and red onion. 

Back at home, I felt good enough to empty the bags of soil into the raised beds. D was concerned that the loose dirt might be blown around by the wind, so I opened up a couple of Amazon boxes, covered most of the beds, and weighted them down with rocks. I don't know that the wind would be that much of an issue, but it will keep her happy. :)

Last, but not least, I did some weeding out front and planted a lily bulb that D had purchased. I had planned to plant others I had bought but the package suggested they wouldn't do well in full sun, so I will have to hold off and plant those later in another spot. I am truly enjoying getting my hands in the dirt.

The weather turned on Thursday, with potential rain and heavy winds forecast for the afternoon.  I was determined to get some work done outside so was out in the garden bed when D left to take Eli to school in the morning. My goal was to remove the rest of the old strawberry plants. They didn't produce much and were full of weeds. D ran a few errands and I was just finishing up when she got home. 

As i mentioned, we have found someone to tear down and replace our fence, with reference from one of the thrift store volunteers. When Wally first came by to check the scope of the job he brought a friend with him. When I learned that Chris was a mechanic, I asked if he might be interested in a used car. Long story short he purchased D's old car and took it away. 

This left the garage empty so D and moved things out of the garden shed. Camping gear, the lawn mower and trimmer, snowblower, and weed torch all found a new home. (Neither of our SUVs for in the space.) I'm addition the bins of outdoor toys were moved in too. Later she moved tools from the back porch and basement.  I still need to clean up the garden shed and I have the space to reorganize it.

I attended Knit and Natter at the library, while later in the afternoon, D and Eli drive to NTO for his swim lesson. It continued to get cooler and more windy. Shortly after the returned home we had an hour long power outage. We were fortunate as several areas in the province lost power for nearly 24 hours. 

As a result Friday was a quiet day. D and I did run out after Eli went to school after lunch to an Estate sale. Our purchases included a step ladder, a large water jug, and a pretty kitchen towel. I've been planning to buy a step ladder so finding a lightweight aluminium one for $20 was a real bonus. 

The forecast is suggesting we may see a bit of that dressed 4 letter word overnight. It should melt as it falls....

Have a great week ahead everyone!