Goodbye August

The end of August already? Our summer is nearly over, though we don't count it done until after the long weekend (Labour Day) which falls on the 7th of September this year. 

Interestingly, the provincial government, in power since 2007, legislated that school was not to be in session until after the long weekend. Apparently no one could read, or perhaps, understand how the calendar works. If school started on September 8, classes would run until July. That's not allowed either, so I'm assuming they've made an exception. D had a meeting with the school team on Friday, and it certainly sounds like they are ready for Eli's return. He will start with part days with a gradual increase to full days, hopefully by October.  She learned he has a new E.A. this year, along with a new school counsellor. The principal isn't entirely new, as he filled in for last year's principal when he was ill, and was a teacher at the school for many years prior.

Something else that is confused is the lilac I planted a few weeks ago. It is blooming!

My week flew by. It started Monday with the cleaning shift at the thrift store. We arrived to a van being unloaded into the bin, and found a huge mound of donations in the sorting room. I worked there this week, leaving the cleaning to others. It was another week of sending wrinkled clothing to Value Village, we just don't have the room for everything. G and N opened boxes and bags containing glassware and household items. N had told one of the board members that we needed to hold a glassware sale a few weeks ago...it didn't happen and now we have even more of it!

Tuesday was housework day, as it has been the last few weeks. I've totally forgotten what I did on Wednesday - probably not a whole lot. Thursday we were up early in the morning to head to Regina. D hadn't heard from the doctor's office in time to arrange for a blood test at the hospital for Eli - for genetic testing - but had arranged to have eye exams for the two of them. 

We stopped at my son's place first to drop off a couple of things. I was glad to see B (g/f) was working from home that day. Sadly, Oliver, her 17 year old cat had passed away the previous morning. It's hard losing of our fur babies. After a hug or two, we headed out.

Next up was the bank where D was able to get a new debit card, then to Walmart for shampoo and conditioner. She is quite concerned that the upcoming tariffs will increase the price so bought enough to last several months. I picked up my preferred brand - just a couple of bottles. While there I popped into the Magicuts to make an appointment for a haircut. Our last stop was Costco, where she shopped and mainly stuck to our list, while Eli and I had a bite to eat. 

We made it to the optometrist office in good time, where I dropped the two of them, and drove back to the hairdresser. I was in and out quickly, arriving to pick them up, within a few minutes of them leaving the office. We left at 8 a.m. and were home by 3 p.m. (3 hours driving with a couple of brief stops for construction) so we ccomplished a lot in a short amount of time! 

I didn't sleep well that night, up from 2 - 5 a.m., and was up at 6 to feed the cats. D and Eli were up shortly thereafter but I managed to doze off and sleep until 9. That's the latest I've slept in a very long time. Remember when you were a teenager and could sleep until noon? Or was that just me?

The day's entertainment was watching a crew of two work on the garage roof of the LND (landlord next door). Did I tell you he has the property listed for sale? It is way overpriced for the community and I doubt he'll see a sale until he reduces it. Meanwhile the family that was living there appears to have moved on, but the original renters have been back and forth though don't seem to be staying overnight. Some mattresses were taken out but otherwise we haven't seen a lot of household items being removed. Their lease is up on Monday so we'll see what happens next.

Back to the entertainment. I was making my breakfast as they started work to remove the shingles. Clearly whoever did the work last failed to put the paper under the shingles and they were having a heck of a time peeling the shingles off. AND then there were the holes in the roof! By late afternoon they had replaced the rotten plywood and laid the paper. 

Garden update: 

On Saturday, I dug two hills of potatoes and picked three more tomatoes. I had chopped up six tomatoes earlier in the morning, which made 4 cups, added a teaspoon of garlic per 2 cups, and placed in freezer bags. D makes this awesome pasta recipe (it was a viral Tiktok video) last week. It calls for the tomatos, garlic, and onion to be placed in a oven proof dish with a block of feta, baked for 20 minutes or so, stirring every so often. Add the pasta, salt and pepper to taste and serve - though we do add a bit of grated Parmesan. It is easy and delicious, especially served with marinated grilled chicken.

Back to the garden, I yanked up dying lettuce, the pepper plants that did nothing, and the patio lilies. The latter did nothing except get bug bitten, but I did keep the bulbs to replant somewhere else in the yard later this fall.

My corn has very small cobs forming. Since we're expecting decent weather for a few weeks yet, I'll leave them be for now. I checked my carrots and many are looking to be a good size. 

Christmas preparations are continuing. I finished three of the ornaments for the educators, and started another ornament for my nephew/niece. I decided the first cross-stitch pattern was larger than I liked. These won't be more than a couple of inches in diameter and should hang nicely on the tree. Eli is printing his name on the back and his mom is adding other details. As they do their thing, I'll complete the ornaments.

For other gifts, I've been looking at a website started by Tod Maffin of Nanaimo, B.C. He asked small businesses to contact him, provide a short 10 second video of their products, and has created a database of these companies. Many of them will be impacted by the tarriffs and countertarrifs that have been applied as a result of the recent trade talks. There is everything from arts and crafts to clothing, paper goods to household items, jewellry, tools, and so much more.  Supporting these small businesses is important, not only for the financial aspect but as a show of support for Canadian sovereignty. Many of these businesses ship to Canada and the United States, and some even worldwide. If you are interested the website is mainstreet.todmaffin.com. Scroll down the page to view the various sites or sort by category.  Each time I've visited there are even more options to look at. 

Well, I'm a day late and probably a dollar or two short. Even so, it has been a good week with a few things accomplished. The gardens continue to delight me, though I may be sick and tired of tomatoes shortly. Too soon, it will be time to clear the garden beds and put away all the garden tools and decorations for the winter. 

We're expecting rain today, up to 30 millimeters, about 1.2 inches. It will be an indoor day!

Have a great rest of your weekend everyone.