What happened?

Is it just me, or has this summer been flying by for everyone? How can it be mid-August already with just a couple of weeks to go before school is back in session?  I know we've been busy, but really?  D has worked all summer with Eli on his school work including French and English language, reading, and math. They've started in on learning about money, too.  He isn't particularly happy doing school work, but is rewarded with an hour of You-tube videos. He'll even do extra work for more time. :) She's hoping that he will have none of the "summer slump" that other students may experience.

I got most of the creeping juniper cut back, but will be digging roots for some time yet. The weeding also continues, and I've started cutting back some of the perennials. The poppy heads were brown so I've cut those off as I don't want them to be seeding in the raised flower bed. The strawberries are on the list to dig up as I'd like to make room in the bed for more vegetables, and will move the gladiolas. The latter will get more sun there; while they've grown quite tall there is no indication of flowering. 

The photo on Wednesday was of a few of the very many lilies we have out front. They line the exterior of the peony bushes. Next year, I am going to try pruning the peonies back early, to allow the lilies more space. This year the peonies blooms were pretty sparse, with a lot of seed pods setting instead. The lilies, though, have been putting on a real show. Bob was close when he called them leopard lilies, they are actually tiger lilies. The ones that grow in the wild are our province's official flower; the flower petals grow upward rather than . These are domesticated and the petals grow downward. 

We had our two trips into the next town over for Eli's day camp. D and I had a very successful trip to the thrift store for clothing. She got two or three dresses, a pair of leggings, two t-shirts and a pretty knit top, while I got two dresses and a knit top. Between the two of us, we spent less than $100. 

After day camp on Tuesday, we dropped D's car off at the dealership (again). They had early replaced some spark plugs, but not all, and one of the ignition coils. The car had continued to misfire when idling, so it needed to go back into the shop. This time, they replaced the remaining spark plugs and an ignition coil. It was ready for pick-up later the same day and she took it for a drive. She's driven a couple more times and all seems to be good. 

Eli had the local library program as well on Wednesday, and on Friday the group went to the spray pad. The park is just a short block and a half walk from our house and the weather was cool, but Eli had a great time playing with some other children. D hadn't gotten around to eating that morning/noon so it was thrilled to find that the Jamaican group had set up a food tent in the park, and enjoyed a meal of jerk chicken, rice, and veg. (I don't skip meals, she does.)

Early Thursday morning, about 1:30 a.m. we had a storm blow threw bringing thunder, lightning and pouring rain. In just about 45 minutes we had an 2.5 cm./1 inch of rain in the gauge. It came down hard and fast, and at one point even a bit of hail. Thankfully, no real damage was done. There were just a few branches from the trees out front on the sidewalk.

That put a kibosh on doing any more gardening/yardwork for me for a couple of days. The ground was saturated! While I did get out, ahead of the rain, and cleaned up the raised bed, I still have weeding to do in the areas that are primarily rock. It's not the most comfortable area to weed. I can't kneel as my right knee won't take it even with a pad, so I sit on my bum on a child's boogie board. I'm not quite to the point my mom was in her last few years, where she would lay on her belly in the garden and pull weeds. On occasion, her method put a scare into the neighbours as they drove by. :)

Out in the garden, the peas are up. I don't know that we'll actually get a crop of them before the first frost but I tried. Our containers of tomatoes are going strong, though a couple of lower branches were slightly damaged in the storm, and are looking a bit yellow.  The green peppers are starting to show some promise, though I don't think we'll get anything the size of store bought peppers. The lower one in this photo is about the size of a fast ball (smaller than a soft ball, bigger than a golf ball).

On another note, the cats have reached to level of tolerance to be in the same room together. Saku still doesn't like it if one of the others jumps up on my/his bed. But Stanley came for a cuddle on Friday, and while Saku looked a wee bit annoyed, he was fine as long as Stanley wasn't too close. We started feeding them together out in the kitchen, supervised of course, just to get them accustomed to being in the same proximity. Then we started leaving the bedroom door open to allow Saku to wander, again supervised. One morning I put the cat TV (on You-tube) on my television, walked out of the room, and came back to find all three watching. Saku was on the bed, Stanley was on the cat tower, and Spencer was sitting on the floor. Okay, then...so I left the bedroom door open overnight and found no fur or blood shed in the morning. By Thursday we felt it was safe enough to leave them on their own while we were away. And again, there was no indication of any kind of kerfuffle. I thought it would take longer for this level of tolerance but I certainly am not complaining. 

Just in time for me to make a quick trip to the city. I'm heading out on Sunday and will return on Tuesday. D has a friend with her two young daughters coming to visit. Three children under ten, and two young women who like to talk, a lot, is more than I can tolerate. In any event, I need a break. Living with one's adult child can be a bit much sometimes. We both have our own way of doing things and expectations and lately these seem to be at odds. A couple of days away should give us both a chance to reflect and re-set.

Today, I'm planning to get a bit more weeding done and I may move some rocks to another area of the yard. There is baseball and football to watch (Go Riders!), and another toque/beanie to finish off. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

P.S. Maxine's best before explanation reminded me of my mom. When she passed away, we were clearing the fridge of items we knew dad would never eat. The oldest item was a bottle of salad dressing dated 1989. Mom passed away in 2003...

Back to the city

Finally, the painters arrived on Monday to start the job of transforming the old house from worn out and drab to fresh and slightly less worn out. We are talking about a house that is nearly 115 years old, after all.  I met them at the house and walked through with one of the painters to confirm the work we needed/wanted down. I also mentioned that I was adding to the scope of work as I needed them to paint the ceilings in the kitchen and living room/dining room because the repairs CT made were obvious. Let's just say those ceilings turned out to be a real pain in the butt!

I walked down early in the afternoon to meet with the guys who were making a dump run to get rest of the crap out of the garage. Stepping into the house briefly, I was pleased to see the progress and the lighter colored walls. Caleb had met with us Sunday to test the color and I liked it then, and seeing several walls with their first coat had me liking it even more. Out in the garage, the guys first cleared out the cardboard boxes that I'd found in one of the old sheds and took it to the owner's blue bin. They returned with two vehicles and took away the rest of the stuff, along with a pile of yard waste. I was cringing at what the cost might be...I shouldn't have been as the price was more than reasonable in my mind. I sure wouldn't have hauled it all away for what they charged me.

Tuesday was a quiet day for me, as the painters were busy working, and I stayed away until late in the afternoon. I went over and walked through, and failed to notice that the ceilings were still an issue. D noticed it though, they had cut in the ceiling with one color of white and painted it with another. It looked terrible. She reached out to Caleb and he agreed they would return to make it right later in the week. (Not sure if you can see it, but the pink on the underside of the window sill is the spackle I was using for fill. It starts out pink and dries white).

Meanwhile, back at the new house, the heating/plumbing company was there to install an air conditioning unit, and a cold air return and heat vent in the basement. Eli's play area is set up in the basement, and it is quite cool down there despite a couple of vents on opposite walls. Part of that is likely due to the lack of the cold air return, and there has been a noticeable difference since the installation. It doesn't look like we'll need the a/c for a few weeks yet, but with a second story, it should help keep D and Eli's room cooler in the hot weather.

I spent the day Wednesday, painting window trim and the stairs, hand rail, newels, and spindles, as well as the baseboards in the upstairs bedrooms. D came to help clean up some paint spatters on the floors left by the painters, but mid-way through the process she called Caleb and he agreed they would finish this job as well. With my hip still grumbling at me, I came home exhausted and in a lot of pain. After a shower, I climbed into my pj's, ate dinner, and was in bed and asleep by 7 p.m. 

Thursday, I returned to finish the painting, including touch-ups, and second coats on a baseboard in the master bedroom that had, for some reason, been painted gray by the previous owners. All of the other baseboards were white. D came over in the afternoon, and she took apart the stove door, as there was a spill a few years ago that never been cleaned up.  I scrubbed that while she did some vacuuming, but the mess was cooked on. We took a drive to Canadian Tire, where she bought some oven cleaner, and I talked myself into buying a couple of hanging containers. At $19.99 a piece, I just couldn't resist. I knew I'd left two shepherd hooks in the city, and will take them back with me.

On Friday, I returned to my son's place for a couple of weeks. I've got yardwork to do in the back yard - he'll have to help me with it as there is some heavy lifting to be done. Meanwhile, D has been left a list of things to do to finalize the preparations for the house sale. She met with the painters that morning, and they re-painted the ceilings. Neither she nor they were satisfied with the results, so they'll be back on Tuesday to try again. She's since told me it looks better but still streaky. They also took the time to clean the floors of the paint they dripped.

I had planned to return to the city for an appointment with the autobody shop to replace the side mirror that I broke last winter. The operative word here is "had". I first visited the autobody shop in February, so they could determine what they needed to replace the mirror. My appointment was scheduled for early March, however the night prior to the appointment we had about 6 inches of snow. I called and advised I wouldn't be able to make it due to the heavy snow and they rescheduled me for the next available appointment, May 21. I managed to tape the mirror to the side of the car and have been driving it since. However, with the recent warmer days, the tape I used came loose and while the mirror didn't fall off, it was clear it wasn't where it ought to be.

On Tuesday, I received a call from the autobody shop - I assumed to confirm the appointment, but no. The clerk advised me that the mirror had been lost in transit. When I questioned how that could be, as they'd had the part in March, she advised that they don't have space to keep parts in stock, so it had been returned in March. What? It's one mirror! She could not give me an estimate for either the availability of the mirror or an appointment. 

My daughter called the local autobody shop who had replaced a mirror for her a few years ago, and I went down to their location Wednesday morning. Within 20 minutes, the part was on order - it should be in within 10-14 days, and the job will take about an hour. Better still, the quote was about 50% below what the city shop had quoted me. The owner Paul, also taped the mirror back on but wasn't sure it would hold (it did not).

Meanwhile, the exhaust pipe on my car gave up the ghost. The noise is annoying as all heck, and I'm sure other drivers are surprised to see a gray haired old woman driving when they'd expect to see a teenager. I was able to make an appointment with a muffler shop here in the city for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Hence the cartoon on Friday. I'm not sure what the repairs will cost but I expect it will be more than my last muffler repair - on a different vehicle about 30 years ago.

This is our May long weekend and I plan to relax for much of it. My hip is getting much better, unless I sit too long, and I'm tired. It has been a very busy few weeks and I'm ready to curl up on the couch with Saku and watch television. It rained overnight and we're expecting showers for much of the weekend. My son has plans for the evening, so I'll have the peace and quiet of the house to myself. 

Have a great weekend everyone!