More weeding, decluttering, and day camp

Another week with lots of weeding, interrupted by rain, trips to day camp, and some crafting.

I spent three hours on both Saturday and Sunday tackling the weeds in the area outside the side door and in the raised flower bed. The original plants in this bed are the day lilies and poppies, as well as some other plant that I didn't like and dug out last year. The bed also had the red oxalis. It was overshadowed by the larger plants and wasn't doing very well. Next spring, I plan to remove the day lilies and poppies. There are lots lilies elsewhere and I'll keep seeds of the poppy to seed later in another bed. In my mind they are in the wrong space - they should be at the back of the bed, not the front. Another project for next spring is replacing the fence. It is in rough shape and my brother braced it for us in a couple of places. So I don't want to move anything to rear of the bed until the fence replacement is complete.

Last year I added a small piece of Lamium (pink flowers) from the yard at the old house. It is a form of dead nettle, of which there was another variety here (yellow flowers). I moved a piece when we had the air conditioning unit installed. This year, I've planted tulip bulbs, gladiola bulbs, and two small rock cress in the back of the bed. I'd cleared the bed, as best I could early in the spring, but by the time I returned it was overgrown with cleavers, bindweed, thistle, and others. Our problem is the next door neighbour and their un-used dog run. By late last summer the weeds in that area were taller than the fence. D called the bylaw officer and they did cut things down, but did nothing to get rid of any of the weeds. As I was weeding, I was pulling on plants that were coming through the gaps in the fence and growing into our side. I suspect we'll continue to have issues, as the  weeds in their yard will continue to go to seed. It does look like they may be mowing that area this year.

Just in case, you are concerned about me removing the daylilies, here is the area behind the house where the lilies are almost a hedge!

Another view taken from the bottom of the stairs provide a view of my container garden. There are five tomatoes here, peppers, parsley, sage, and basil. Since this area gets a lot of sun, I've added a pot of portulaca for colour.

We had a rainy and cloudy day on Monday. It didn't rain a whole lot; the gauge held about 4 mm, just over a 10th of an inch. But it was enough for me to declare it an indoor day. Besides some housework, I did a bit of crocheting and knitting. D is planning to make sunflower pens for appreciation gifts for Eli's teachers. She'll wrap the pen with floral tape, and glue two flowers together for the head of the pen. I think they will be cute. I finished a toque I'd started some time ago, and started another. These will be added to the bag for Eli's school to provide to children who don't have the proper winter gear. 

Tuesday and Thursday were Day Camp days. Eli enjoys the camp so much. It's offered through SaskAbilities. Their mission statement is, "SaskAbilities supports people experiencing disability with program and services that enhance their lives". The Day Camp he attends offer opportunity for indoor and outdoor play, as well as field trips. Eli loves it! They offer the program during school breaks in February and at Easter break too. Thursday was exciting as they brought in a bouncy castle!

D and I took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping and a whole lot of browsing without buying. One of our stops was the Book Worm, a used book store, and picked up a pile of books for ourselves and Eli. Everything in the store was buy 1, get one free. The store owner told us she is moving the store in September to a larger pace, about twice the size of the current store. I can understand why. There are wooden shelves (appear to be homebuilt) that are at least 8 feet tall. She keeps step stools available so one can climb to find books on the upper shelves. In back, she has an curtained off where the books she hasn't room from out front are stored. She wants to sell as much as she can before she moves. Like a regular bookstore she has the books organized by genre and by author. As far as I know, she works alone, so it must be a lot of work!  She told me the books come from donations, from garage sales, and through exchange. Once we've read the books we can return them for a credit against the cost of new books. (obviously for less than what we paid). It is pretty impressive for a one woman business.

Wednesday, Eli and D went to the library for their summer program. I met them there towards the end of the day's event, and had a chat with the librarian. She's agreed to allow me to set up a Stitch and Chat group in the fall. We'll put up a poster in the library, and D will post to local FB groups later this summer. I've been here for just over a year, though not full-time, and I've yet to meet any folks my own age. There is a senior's center, but I haven't made it there, as yet. I should, but I seem to fill my time with things at home.

I also did some sorting and rearranging in my bedroom. When we bought the house (over a year ago), I asked that the nine drawer dresser in the room be left behind. I quickly filled that up, with clothing, bedding, table cloths, and personal items. I've found another space for the table cloths and some of the toiletries. We have no linen closet and our bathroom is tiny! I found a box of books that hadn't been unpacked, and I set aside half of them to be donated. Along with three bags of other items D has gathered up, we dropped them off at the thrift store on Thursday.

I was ready to get out early on Friday, and finish weeding the last area in the side yard. First, I went to the front yard and weeded between the cracks in the city and our sidewalk. When I finished there, I took the now full bag of weeds to the garbage bin, and managed to trip over a downspout landing on my knees and jamming my left wrist. I lay on the ground for a couple of minutes catching my breath before I got up and continued on. I did manage to finish half of the area before giving up and heading for the shower.

We still have the parking area behind the back fence but D bought a weed torch to work on that...and I'll let her do it. I'm hoping, once I've done the weeding in the main yard, that I'll only have to maintain - maybe a half hour each day? We'll see.

Out in the wee garden out back (Wednesday's photo) are peas, carrots, onions, lettuce, asparagus, and strawberries. The last two were here when we moved in. We did get a few misshapen berries the last two years, and I think the plants are just too old. While they are lush and green, I plan to pull them this fall. It will give me more room to get the bed fully weeded, and more space to plant vegetables. I picked the last of the peas on Friday - Eli's had three feeds off the few plants. The carrots and green onions are looking pretty small, but they still have time. The lettuce that Eli planted at school is doing well, and I've picked the first bit for a salad this weekend. I also have sweet peas planted on the trellis - it' a throwback to my mother's garden which grew (like crazy) on a lattice fence.

Today, I hope to finish off that last area of weeding, and then it will be time to go back over the areas I've already weeded to get rid of the stuff that's popped up. We're supposed to get rain starting this evening and continuing the next few days. The gardens will be happy...as will the weeds. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Running around

The photo on Wednesday was taken early one morning from my bedroom window. The rabbit was trying to get under the gate and out of the yard, and not having much luck. It wasn't trapped though, as there is a larger gap at the back of the yard where it can get under the fence and into the neighbour's yard. I was happy to see it is turning color, but winter is still hanging in here. We were supposed to be above freezing one day this week and it didn't happen. In fact, we had cold temperatures later in the week, with lows of -22C and -25C (-8 to -13F). 

Unlike the past couple of weeks, this week was a busy one. In fact, I was away from the house for periods of time on four days this week!  The driving started on Tuesday with grocery shopping. Like last week, I didn't need a lot, and shopped for the basics and a few sale items. 

I'd also managed to get some decluttering done on Monday, going through my closet and my dresser drawers and filled a bag with clothing I haven't worn in a long time, and items that don't fit well. I took the bag as well as several boxes of items I'd filled from the kitchen, and dropped them off at the thrift stores. The Salvation Army has been requesting donations of clothing so I went there first. Of course, I had to go shopping too - I picked up a cat food bowl for Saku and a book to read. Then it was off to Value Village to drop off the rest of the items. There I found yarn to make scrubbies, and a container of several birthday stamps. My daughter likes making cards, so I picked those up for her.  

I've also started my de-cluttering and tidying of the craft room, but I know it will take some time to get through it all. The two tables have been mostly cleared, and I've moved all of my UFO's into a single tub. It's clear I don't mind starting things, I'm not so good at finishing them! Perhaps to help hold myself accountable, I'm putting it out there that my plan is this: when I start a new project, I MUST finish a UFO as well. 

Wednesday was stitch and chat - there were just two of us there; R and I, the lady who had come a few weeks ago for the first time. The other regular texted she had something come up and couldn't make it. R mentioned she had thought a friend of hers might have attended but did not show, so we spent the two hours happily chatting.

On Thursday afternoon, I had my appointment with the bank to close the trust account and open the new one. Sheesh, what a process! It took nearly 45 minutes to get things dealt with. There were questions I wasn't expecting which didn't appear to relate to the opening of an account and, of course, an attempt was made to sell me other products. No thanks, I'm good. I've been banking with this institution since 1982 when I was hired at the branch in my hometown. My daughter was a baby, and we moved onto my parent's farm yard in a house trailer. During my tenure at that branch, there was a large construction project in the area and we had hundreds of new accounts opened as the employees came to deposit and cash their pay cheques. My memory suggests we opened accounts in no more than 20 minutes and that was pre-computer so everything was handwritten. (We did have "green-screen" computers but there was paper-work for everything we did.) I understand this appointment gave the bank an opportunity to update their information but seriously it took a ridiculous amount of time.

Friday morning, I took a drive out to visit my brother at the farm. I haven't seen him in person since before Christmas. He had a day off work and I decided a drive was in order before the spring thaw when the roads get quite messy. He texted me in the morning to wear my boots and bring my camera.

In summer he mows the hiking trails and in the winter he pulls a tire to pack down the snow. We left the yard and went for a short loop, and quickly learned I'm not very good at staying on the packed snow. I fell a few times when my foot sunk into the deeper snow beside the trail. I was grateful he was there to help me get up. (Do you remember the commercials, "I've fallen and can't get up?" That would be me.)

It was cold out (-18C or 0F), but I was bundled up and the sun actually felt warm. No wind to speak of, so it was nice to be out in the fresh air.

It's not easy to see in this photo but just ahead and to the right is a deer trail that climbs the hill. R says the view from the top is really nice...I'll take his word for it.

Another deer trail through the bush. 

Heading back into the farm yard, I saw the picnic table and said to R, "worldest largest bird feeder?" He said no, this is feed he's put out for the deer. They were cleaning out the bird feeder, so he set this out further from the house.

On the drive to his place, I stopped on the hill for a photo of the red-roofed church. The gravel roads were in good shape, but the ditches are definitely full of snow. Despite the cold, it was good to get outdoors and spend some time with my brother.

The Women's World Curling starts today,  and is being held in Sweden. The first draw is at noon (my time), and only the Canada games will be televised until the playoffs. I've looked at the schedule and some draws will be aired in the middle of the night. I'll have to PVR those games and watch them at a more reasonable hour. Even I'm not that big of fan that I'd get up at 2 a.m. to watch the live game. 

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone. I hope spring is well on its way, wherever you may be. I'd just ask you send some of my way, when you get a chance!

Here comes the heat

Hooray, summer will officially be here in three days! We've had several days this week of cool and sometimes rainy weather. We even had hail one afternoon. I made a mad dash out to the deck to pull the containers of tomatoes and peppers under cover, though I probably didn't need to, as it was just pea-sized. The heat arrived on Friday and will last through the weekend. Now I realize this is relative but when the average temperature has been around 19C (66F) for much of the week and then it suddenly jumps to 28C (84F) and 35C (95F) - Friday and Saturday - it is a shock to the system. Most welcome, though I'm grateful for the a/c.

Since the weather wasn't great for puttering in the yard, I spent most of the week indoors. Monday, the plumber arrived just before lunch to replace the bolts in the downstairs toilet. Thankfully that was all that was needed. Because it wasn't a big job, he gave me a break on the labour cost. On his way out the door he jokingly asked when I thought I'd need his services again. I laughed and said, hopefully not until the work in the upstairs gets started. 

The rest of the week was fairly relaxing. I've started the process of de-cluttering once again. I needed to move several boxes of photo albums, photos and books that had been stored in the now-renovated room and temporarily stored in the furnace room into the storage room. Don't ask me why I didn't complete that task in the first place; I don't know why I didn't. Of course, this meant moving things around in the storage room to make room for the additional boxes. I had my son give me a hand with some electronics - an old computer and a stereo system. He removed the hard drive from computer and loaded it in the trunk of my car so I can take it to the recycling. The stereo, he tells me, is a gift I gave him for Christmas more than 20 years ago. He no longer wants it so it will end up in the donated items.

I realized I really need to do additional paring down of decorative items (especially Christmas), but I left those tubs alone for now. I did clear out a few items that didn't fit into the tubs that I no longer want. As well, some exercise equipment (fitness ball and weights) have been donated to a youth center here in the city; those were picked up by one of the staff mid-week. By the time I finished, all the boxes were on the shelves and one shelf is empty. 

One of the boxes that I pulled off the shelf to go through was a box of old ledgers from my dad. He farmed for close to 50 years and these contained the records for about twenty years or so. The oldest is dated 1945, the latest was about 1984. Obviously there were many years that were missing. I've recycled most of them, but have decided to keep one for myself and will distribute three others to my siblings. They can discard them if they wish.

Later in the week, I tackled my bedroom closet. When C moved upstairs all of the items that were stored in the spare bedroom closet were moved to my closet. This included extra pillows and bedding and a few other random items. The latter have been returned to their appropriate locations or put in a box for donation, along with the pillows. The bedding remains as I expect I'll need it at some point. Or perhaps I'm just not ready to let it go. Maybe in the next purge.  

On Thursday afternoon I wandered into my craft room. Oh boy! I'd forgotten that we'd moved other items in there from the spare room - Eli's toys and another big box of framed photos. I really need to go through these photos (and the ones in the boxes downstairs). Most have been packed up for a year or more so....I probably don't need to keep all of them. I did a bit of re-organizing but that's a room that will need more time and some ruthless culling. 

Some of my down-time was spent doing other things I enjoy. I had picked up a jigsaw puzzle last week on my trip to Value Village so I started that on the weekend. It was a real surprise that it went together so quickly and none of the pieces were missing. Isn't it pretty?

The other activity that kept me on the couch was watching sports. I've really gotten into baseball this year watching the Blue Jays. They split their series with Baltimore this week and lost the first game of the next series with the Yankees. I've got the television on now, and it is scoreless after the first inning. 

The NHL (hockey) playoffs also started this week, and it is week 2 of the CFL (football). I'm rooting for Tampa in the hockey, only because one of the players is a friend of my daughter, and I'd be happy if he is able to be on the winning team as I expect he'll likely retire if he does. Our Riders won their first game last week coming on strong in the fourth quarter. They're playing Edmonton this evening so you know I'll be yelling at the television. 

While watching television, I finished three more dishcloths for D, and pulled a UFO from earlier this year - a mitten that was barely started. I had done some crocheting during the cruise and finished the body of a small bag; it's been pulled too and I'll crochet the handles and finish it this weekend. 

Finally, I did get out for a couple of walks this week as well. Once with my camera so there is evidence. I'll end with a few of my favorite shots.

Two curious gophers - one my second walk (no camera) one ran on the path in front of me. I wish I'd had the camera as it was just a couple of feet ahead.

My favorite shot of the day; this is a female red-winged blackbird. I so rarely see them, as they seem to hide out in the reeds along the edge of the creek or pond. I wonder, was she taking a break from the kids?

There is nothing exciting about this photo. I took it only to demonstrate how thick the pollen is this year from the trees. All that yellow you see at the water's edge is pollen! I'm so glad not to suffer from allergies.

Edited - Marie has commented this isn't a cormorant but rather a red-necked Grebe. She is absolutely correct. I'm accustomed to seeing the cormorants on this pond so this one is new to me! Over at the pond, a pair of Grebes cormorants have actually built a nest at the standing pipe. This bird has a distinctly different coloring than the cormorants I've seen in the past. 

Finally, here is the male red-winged blackbird, happily singing his song as I walked by. They really are one of my favorite birds.

One more thought before I hit publish on this post. It's clear that comments are being marked as spam by Blogger. Now that I'm aware of this, I've been able to retrieve a couple on the latest post and going forward, I'll keep an eye for them. I'm not sure why it doesn't catch the real spam comments and once reported, not allow them to comment, yet it marks these. SMH!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Projects, plans, and purging

Wednesday's wordless was indeed a photo of my efforts to get part of the basement floor ready for new flooring. The family who lived here prior to us were a foster family, and they had put down indoor/outdoor carpet in that area - I assume to add to the play area for the children as there was a gate in the open doorway at one time. Several years ago, I had the interior walls framed in, insulated and drywalled, however since we didn't use the area except for cat litter boxes and some dusty exercise equipment I hadn't done anything more with that space. 

When I had the house listed in 2019, it was a bone of contention for the potential buyers. They couldn't identify it's purpose and didn't want to have to spend the money to finish it themselves. As I said then, damn HGTV and all the shows that provide, at least in my mind, unrealistic expectations. 

I've told my son that I will not, repeat not, live in this house beyond the summer of 2023. Between the yard work and the upkeep of the house, I'm ready to sacrifice space for less work. Plus I really don't want to spend another winter in the cold - or at least not all of it. 

I've yet to call the contractor for a quote, but expect I'll do so next week. He did the work in my brother sister-in-law's property here in the city and did a fantastic job. The work to be completed includes, not only the flooring through the entire basement and stairs, but installing a wall between the furnace room and the open area (which will put the cat litter boxes out of sight), a closet, and install a door. There is some electrical work to be done as well. I'm steeling myself for the price but it does need to get done. Besides I've finished paying off the roofing and fencing that was completed last year. :)

The weather finally improved this week, and I was able to get out of the house for a bit. While out, I made a stop at Value Village and the Salvation Army thrift stores before picking up some groceries. At V.V. I got six small balls of yarn, originally priced at $9.99 a piece, while I paid $7-8 for the complete lot. I did even better at the Salvation Army store, finding a pair of Roots sweat pants and two pair of Osh-Kosh summer shorts for Eli for about $6. My daughter tells me she won't use the sweat pants as is, because the cuff isn't elasticized. 

Well, I'll fix her. I had already planned to drive out this week to deliver her television and few other odds and ends that got left behind, so I measured a pair of his current pants to determine the length of elastic I'll need. Now I just have to pick the stitches of a small portion the hem on the pants, insert the elastic and sew it in place. 

The drive out on Thursday was occasionally white knuckled as there was heavy fog in some places. For the most part visibility was better than a half mile but there were times when it dropped to less than a quarter of a mile. My worry is always the dummies driving without headlights (there were a couple) or those that try to pass when visibility is poor (thankfully that day, none).  

After a short visit and a bit of lunch we headed off to Eli's occupational therapy appointment. D's car had to go into the garage for some work so we took my car. I dropped them off and scooted over to the Dollarama for a few bins, and Canadian Tire for some weather strips. I had a plan for the first, and had noted some gaps at both back and front door that needed some additional sealing to keep out the cold weather.

On Thursday evening and overnight we got about 5 inches of snow. D's car was at the shop and she'd ordered groceries for pick-up that morning at 9. Our first order of business was to shovel ourselves out. She did the front sidewalks while I started behind the garage. It took the two of us about 45 minutes to clear the snow so I could get into the alley. Thankfully, a neighbour with a truck had gone through so I had tracks to follow out to the street. 

Back at home, D unloaded and put away the groceries and then we got busy. We pulled everything out of her freezer to defrost it (the front porch was a great freezer until we were ready to put everything away). We sorted everything and put like products in bins. She has a small chest freezer and whatever she wants seems to be on the bottom. This way, she still has to lift out the bins but things won't get knocked upside down or simply lost. She was thrilled when that project was complete.

Then, while the deep freeze continue to defrost, it was onto clearing counters and shelves, sorting through toys and clothing and hanging and putting away clean laundry for her and Eli. When we finished there were four part bags of clothing for drop off at the local thrift store, and a bin of clothing to be taken to a consignment store here in Regina. Much of the clothing was Eli's, that he has simply outgrown over the past two years, but D found a tub in her closet of old clothing she'd forgotten about and lot of that was added to the donate pile.

By the time we finished all the sorting there were two full bags of debris, broken toys, papers, stuff from the bottom of the deep freeze, and other items to be disposed of. It was garbage day so the bin was empty when I took it out. I also put the four bags for the thrift store in her trunk so she can deliver it next she's out. Oh, that reminds me, we ran out after lunch to pick up her car from the shop. Hooray, the repairs cost less than she had anticipated! 

By late afternoon we were all exhausted and my fit-bit said I'd gotten in nearly 14,000 steps and 70 minutes of excercise. I will tell you, it felt like more than that! After dinner we relaxed, watched some television, and went to bed early. Both nights I had company; Eli decided he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed with G'ma. I must have been tired because I actually slept reasonably well with a kid who likes to spread out. Add on a cat (Sheldon) and it was definitely tight quarters.

Saturday morning was busy too.  The television stand she had in the living room wasn't large enough for the base of her new television so we did some furniture swaps in the house as well. There was a credenza in her office/craft room that was originally used as a tv stand when she first bought it (about 2007?), but had been put into use for storing craft supplies. We switched it out for an old dresser in Eli's room, and took the shelving unit she had been using for the tv stand up to his room. Have I confused you yet? This necessitated the movement of books and other items from one room to another. Once the furniture was moved, she took care of the vacuuming on the second level, while I swept and mopped floors on the first. By 9:30 a.m. we had pretty much everything done that needed immediate doing - we'd been up since 5 a.m., and I started getting ready for the drive home. 

The drive home wasn't all that great. The snow plows had been out but the highways still had snow on them with bare tracks where the majority of the traffic drove, there was blowing snow, and in some spots, even wet pavement. I used a fair amount of windshield washer fluid keeping the windshield clear of the moisture flung up by passing vehicles. Semi's are the worst.  

I was home by 10:30 this morning, and back out shovelling snow not long after. We didn't get nearly the amount of snow D did. I cleared the driveway and sidewalks, fed the birds, and then came in to get some lunch and just chill. I can already tell it will be an early night here. 

On that note, I'm off to catch up on my blog reading or maybe that will wait until I've had an afternoon nap. Take care everyone, stay well and have a good week ahead.

Two years in

 The week started out cold, so very, very cold.  Mornings were around the -30C (-22F) range and warming only a couple of degrees during the day.  And it was windy too, which made it feel much colder! I bundled up each morning to feed the birds but avoided the outdoors as much as possible the rest of the day.

I ordered groceries for pick-up at Walmart on Wednesday for a just a few items, including more birdseed, and stopped at Safeway where I found packages of chicken breast on sale, buy one get one free.  Since I no longer use the large freezer I only bought the two packages, with four chicken breast for a total of $8.28. I'd gone in for lean ground beef - I cringe at the price $4.99/lb. but it costs what it costs these days.  With a stop at the drug store post office to mail a package to D, I finished my pick-up at Walmart and was home in less than an hour.  It was a balmy -23C (-9F) at that point.  

I've been doing a bit of decluttering this week, I've tried to pinpoint an area to focus on each day with some success.  Two years ago, when I retired, I spent a good 6-8 weeks going through the entire house.  This time I'm focusing on those items I kept that I haven't used in that time period.  In the front closet I found three coats, one of which I've never worn, that will be donated, along with a pair of sneakers, also not worn. 

In the living room I went through various drawers and the desk. There wasn't as much items that weren't used, but there were items that weren't where they ought to be.  What I thought would take 15-20 minutes actually took an hour and half.  No wonder I can't locate things when I'm looking for them. From the spare room closet I let go of a couple of blankets that haven't been used.  However, the linen closet defeated me and I've decided to leave it until next week.

We've been getting a bit of snow over the last couple of days, but so little it's hardly worth shovelling.  But I need the exercise and the fresh air so have been going out and pushing it off the driveway.  We even had a plow go down the street on Wednesday; it just scraped the top inch or so off the street and deposited it on our sidewalk.  Grrr!  

I did get a the baby blanket finished this week and started on another. This was a bulky yarn so didn't take a lot of time to put together.  I still almost a full ball left, so I'll have to find a small project to use it up.

Speaking of small projects, I made this little gnome from a pair of dollar tree socks. I've been watching more FB videos and saw people making these...my first thought was nah, but they grew on me.  I should have turned the sock on top the other direction as the hearts are upside down.  It's a nod to Valentine's day but I suspect a certain little boy will want to play with it.  

A lot of my idle time has been spent on Ancestry.  In my research I discovered that a woman I worked for several years is a relative.  Her mother and my grandmother were first cousins, although her mom was closer in age to my mother.  I made the connection when I was reading her mom's obituary and saw my co-worker's married name.  We have a mutual friend, and I was able to confirm her maiden name with L. Someday when things are back to normal, I'll reach out to my previous co-worker to share the information.

I've been working on my dad's history over the past couple of days.  His mother's family is almost a complete mystery once I reach her paternal grandparents. I had found baptismal records for the three children but little else.  After a bit of guesswork on birth years, I found her grandmother's death certificate indicating she'd passed away at the age of 42 in childbirth with their fourth child. This led me to the discovery of the grandfather's second marriage two years later.  So I have something to build on and perhaps unlocking that information will be the key to figuring out when they arrived in Canada and identifying other family members.

Tomorrow marks two full years since I officially retired.  It hasn't been exactly as I anticipated, and in many ways, it's been better than I would have thought, despite the current pandemic.  I've discovered new interests, spent more time on those I enjoyed, and have been able to see my grandson both in person and virtually.  While I miss going out with friends and family and especially travelling, I've definitely saved money.  Those funds I can put into the house or just save for the future.  

Take care everyone, stay well and have a wonderful week ahead.

Getting close to the finish line

I am getting very tired of cleaning and clearing...and I think I'm reaching end of it.  I vacuumed the entire house yesterday (thinking of you Carole), replaced the fixture in the spare bedroom (on my own and it worked), and took the last batch of stuff to Value Village.  Today I washed walls in the living room and windows in the kitchen and living room.   Here are a few photos of the "finished product".  

 According to staging info I should remove the ottomans so that the room appears larger.  I'm of mixed feelings about that...I think the room is plenty big even with these here.

The now nearly empty spare room.  When we moved in just under 9 years ago, it looked like this!  Bit of a difference,

The main bathroom - the cabinets were refaced last year and the new counter top, sink and taps put in. It's a similar counter to the kitchen but with a shiny surface.  My bathroom had a similar treatment but I'm not sure how to take a photo of it, without putting myself in the picture.  It's a small bathroom!

The master bedroom with new curtains.  It is a large room as well.

The basement is pretty much empty, though at the other end of the room is my son's computer.  That area needs to be tied, and his bedroom too.  He's promised to spend part of the long weekend cleaning, so I can clean carpets next week.

 This is the area of the basement that I had insulated and drywalled several years ago.  The ceiling is quite low in this part, about 7 feet so it's not really usable space, except for storage.  My son does use the weight bench occasionally, but my daughter's elliptical hasn't.  So it is going out with the pile of rubbish in the garage as we've tried giving it away for free.  I suspect whoever picks it up, may keep it.

 The basement bathroom was redone a few years ago, with the addition of a shower, and replacement of the shower and sink cabinet.  It's so much nicer than it was when we moved in...no photos from that time but I assure you, it wasn't very pretty!

Finally the laundry room with the chest freezer and water softener.  I wish I had a couple of shelves to put the cleaning supplies on but I don't.  I'll leave that to the next owner.

I can continue to work on the garage and yard after it is listed though I'm hoping to get to do some work this weekend.  We're forecast to have lovely temperatures (up to 18C/66F), perfect for being outdoors.  The pine cones and needles on the front patio need to be swept up and put in the bin.  In the back yard, I need to go through the sheds and clear these out. There are some things that need to go to D; she can pick these up when she comes at the beginning of May.  Near to the end of May, regardless of whether the house is sold, I'll plant a few containers for some color.  This year though, I plan to keep it to no more than eight...or maybe nine or ten. :)

I'll call the real estate agent next week as I had forgotten this weekend is Easter. I'm sure he'll have some ideas for me as well...hopefully they won't cost me too much!  I do know the carpet in the master bedroom needs to be replaced but I'd be more willing to provide a credit to the purchaser.  It relieves of the need to move all the furniture out and they can put in what they would like.  We'll see where that gets me. 

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Keeping busy

Goodness, another busy week is nearly in the books.  How the heck did I get anything done before I retired?  From the state of the house I would tell you I didn't.  At least not more than cursory clean and dusting.

This week, however, was more about spending time with others, rather than house cleaning.  Wednesday I met a couple of former co-workers for coffee/tea at a nearby coffee shop.  The one individual is still working, so a good deal of our conversation revolved around work and people we worked with through the years, as well as catching up on our personal lives.

Before heading to the cafe, I'd spent a good 90 minutes doing a quick clear of the garage, sorting items for donation, removal, and retention.  I also gathered up items my daughter had left behind in the move last fall.  Between these, an outdoor water table, and some items from the latest house purge I had set aside for her, the trunk and backseat of my car were packed full!  The removal pile isn't as large as I thought it might be but I know there are still things in the house to go out there so I'll wait before I touch base with a removal company.  The donation box was brought into the house and added to that pile.  

I have several cans of paint, some from the previous owner, to get rid of too.  I checked on our city website and the next hazardous waste drop-off is on April 26.  I'll put a reminder in my calendar to load the car with these items the day prior so I can get there when they open.  They do several events each spring, you load your car, drive onto the lot, open the trunk and the city workers unload.  No getting out one's vehicle at all!  I think it's a great idea and diverts these items from the landfill.

After my visit with C and R, it was off to Melville to visit D and Eli.  I spent the night there and drove back on Thursday.  We celebrated Easter a little early, with Eli searching for a dozen plastic Easter eggs his mother had hidden in the living room.  Each egg contained two small chocolate eggs....once he found one he was off in a hurry to find more.  When I left Thursday afternoon there were still three in hiding.  

Here he's putting the basket I made on his head.  What a silly goose!  We had a lot of fun, he and I, we read books, watched Paw Patrol cartoons, danced, ran around in the yard where he slid down his slide, hit the T ball with his bat, and enjoyed the sunshine.  It was chilly, just a few degrees above freezing, but he didn't mind being outdoors at all. 

Eli also enjoyed climbing on me for cuddles and/or tickles.  He makes me laugh with his giggles.  He likes to play with the cat Stanley with a toy tied to a string. Stanley chases him and Eli laughs and laughs.  The floor plan is fairly open, so he can run between the living room, kitchen and front hall easily.  Just watching him play is so joyful.

His vocabulary continues to increase including a couple of sentences, "where is it?" and "here it is".  I suspect his mother says this to him frequently.  He knows and can vocalize the sounds a lion, wolf, cat, dog, bird, cow, horse, and dinosaur says.  Do we really know the sound a dinosaur would have made?  Eli can pick out items in the books we read.  He asks for ap-ple, 'nana, cheese (but only smoked cheddar or Gouda), cook-ahs (cookies), and sometimes even says please.  He'll let you know when he's "all done", wants up or down, and has an attitude when he doesn't get what he wants.   He's beginning to recognize when he's tired and will ask for his bi-bi (blanket) and bub-ba (bottle) and take himself off to bed.  All in all, he's a two year old. He drives his mother batty at times, but he's a loving, sweet child most of the time.  It was a wonderful visit and we're planning the next for the end of May.

It may need to be postponed but that will depend how the house selling process is going.  I'm aiming to have it listed by the beginning of May, though will ask the agent to do a walk through perhaps as early as next week.  I'd like to get a sense of how much more I need to do before the listing is put up.  There are a few items on my own to-do list but I'm close to being ready.  

On Friday, I crossed a couple of these off the list. First though, I met K and J and our travel agent L at a lovely little cafe for a visit. We've been trying to get together since January and it just hasn't come together until now!  We talked about various travels both past and upcoming (for K and J, not me...yet).  L is just a lovely person, she puts a lot of work into assisting her clients, and worries when things don't work quite as expected.  For example, when I got back from this last cruise, I let her know the cabin had drop down bunks, just for future reference.  She was so apologetic, and I kept telling her it wasn't a big deal and I'd liked the location very much.  I know, if I book another cruise with her, she'll check and double check the style of the room. 

In the parking lot I transferred three boxes of books to K and J's car as they will be volunteering at a book sale this summer.  They can pick through the books and read what they like before hand if they choose.  I did mention one of the boxes was just cookbooks and another was mostly business and self-help books.  So happy to be rid of these items.  I have one small shelf left of favorites that I'll pack away.  Next up, I headed to SarCan to drop of old electronics, all computer equipment.  K mentioned she has a friend who will take old televisions, so I'll get the phone number as I have two of these sitting around as well.  They are the old tube televisions, so very heavy.  But K says this person will pick up as well, so I won't have to try to get them into the car.  

The de-cluttering continues.  I packed away the extra bedding from the spare room and tucked the bags into the closet.  The only thing left to do in that room is to replace the light fixture.  I've read up on it, and watched a couple of videos but I think I'll wait until my brother comes for visit before I tackle.  He can help with it or watch me electrocute myself and call for help. :)  In my bedroom, I've finished clearing the closet of non-essentials and have hung new curtains.  The craft room still has a few items I may decide to get rid of, but for the past part it is done.  I did a little more clearing of the counters in the kitchen, took all the magnets (except one...it looked so bare) off the refrigerator.  I pulled everything off the pantry shelves, cleaned the shelves and replaced the contents.  I still have to finish the lazy susans and give the refrigerator and freezer a quick scrub.  The latter are not horrid but when I'm in the mood I need to take advantage.

Next up is to tackle my desk.  I went through it in early February, but I've come to realize that I rarely go into it and retrieve any items. So why am I keeping all of it?  I have no idea...so that's one of this weekend's projects.  Back to my original comment, I'm finding there is always something that needs to be done and the more I clean and repair and de-clutter the more I realize this house is just too big.  I don't want to spend days of my retirement being a maid to this house.  So it is definitely time to let it go.

I was asked where I'll move to once the house has been sold.  To a certain extent, that decision is still up in the air.  C and I recently had a conversation; I asked him how he felt about living with his mother.  It turns out, he's okay with that.  He was planning on buying a condo this year and will do so, but now I'll pay half the down payment and we'll find a two bedroom.  Since I'll need the proceeds from the sale of the house, the search will have to wait a bit.  

In any event, this way I'll have a home base which will allow me to be flexible in my future plans.  We've agreed I'll pay half the costs while I'm here in Saskatchewan and he'll manage on his own when I'm not.  I still would like to be on Vancouver Island for the winter months, though I may try to rent for the first year or two, and put the rest of the proceeds from the house in an investment account for a bit.  Or maybe I'll head further south to the States, to Arizona perhaps.  That is less likely simply because of the additional costs due to the exchange rate.  But it is worth exploring. To be honest I've even considered, very briefly, buying a Class C motorhome to spend the winters away from the cold.  I say briefly, because I'm not certain I'd be prepared to deal with the emptying of tanks or any mechanical issues that might come up.  At this point, it's all a bit hazy and predicated on the house selling.  The market is slow here, in my neighbourhood it seems to be taking nearly 6 months for most to sell, usually with a price reduction. I plan to list the house slightly below market value as I think the odds of selling quickly will be better.  

In the meantime I'll keep busy cleaning, de-cluttering and crafting.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Continued preparations

In between curling matches, reading and posting blogs, chats with D and Eli (FB Messenger is great for this), and regular housework, I've been busy with more de-cluttering and minor repairs in the house.  I'm finding there is a lot of work to getting the house ready for sale.  I made the mistake of searching for "top tips for selling a house" yesterday.  Phew, there are a lot of ideas out there.

One of the top tips is to clean surfaces.  In the kitchen it's meant to show how much counter space is available.

Here's my kitchen....I tried, I really did but there are just too many things I need out. The coffee pot, kettle, toaster, and breadbox are going nowhere.  Though looking at the photo, I'll make sure the broom is put away in the closet. 

My living room is much better, with the exception of the table beside my chair.  I keep my remotes, address book, telephone, cat brush, pens, etc.  in a container.  It's is really cluttered but the drawer in the side table is full too.  So, I'll have to do something else with it.  

In my de-cluttering I've managed to fill another large box and started a second one with items to donate.  A lot of this came from a second round of going through Christmas and other seasonal decorations.  In addition, I'm taking a tub of assorted items to my daughter at her request.  I cleaned out three tubs but must admit I filled two of them with items that used to sit out on the shelves in the storage room, mostly stuffed animals and Santas.  I did get one empty tub that I'll use for the stuff that I need to hide during showings.  

The paint touch ups are complete.  When Eli was little we had installed a gate at the top of the basement stairs, when it was removed, there were holes that needed to be patched and the walls repainted.  Luckily I had the paint from the bathroom renovations and was able to use that.  I did pick up a small tester of white paint for touching up baseboards and the railing on the steps up to the kitchen. Some time ago, my nephew for some reason known only to him, scratched up the railing with a sharp object.  I'd ignored it until now, but with a bit of wood filler and paint it looks fine.  

One afternoon last week it was warm enough to open up the sun room, so I took the opportunity to clean it thoroughly.  All the toys have been put away, the floor was swept and then vacuumed, and I pulled down some of the curtains and washed them.  I'll continue that process until they've all been cleaned. (Why I haven't done this in the years I've lived here is beyond me).  

Tucked away in the coffee table are a set of towels, teal and white striped, that I'll use to cover the furniture.  The cat's claws have done a number on the existing towels but I won't replace them until necessary.  For showings yes!  One of the curtains was torn by Sheldon, I think he was trying to chase a bird.  It's the second on the left in the picture; I took it down and patched it, then moved it to a corner where it isn't likely to be closed.  I could try to replace them but there are 12 curtains and at an average of $40-50 each I'm not prepared to spend that much money, and it's not likely I could find one that would match the current ones.

Another repair made was the front hall closet door.  The one on the left had split at the top when I was trying to open it one day.  I probably yanked on it too hard.  For the longest time (a year or more) I lived without a closet door.  It certainly ensure I kept the closet tidy. :)

I had been looking on line for replacement doors but was trying to figure out how I'd get them home.  I sure didn't want to pay the $75 delivery charge! As I was getting out of my car the other day, I noticed a couple of panels on top of the shelving unit.  There were a number of pieces of wood left behind by the previous owners.  I checked, and sure enough the panels were the right size.  One of the panels matched, almost to a T the broken one so this weekend I took them all down to basement where I could lay them out on the floor and replaced the broken panel.  My son gave me a hand re-installing it. It's not entirely level but as my dad would have said, "a blind man riding by wouldn't notice the difference." Hooray, another fix with no additional cost!

I did go out the other day and spent a few dollars on towels.  I bought new white tea towels for the kitchen and patterned hand towels for the bathroom.  These will only be used for showings...my ratty old stuff is for everyday.  That plastic tub I mentioned earlier can be used to hide the ratty old stuff while the showing is happening.  I'll just toss it in the car to take with me while the showing is going on.

I'm still about a month away from listing, partly because D and Eli will be here in early May. AND I know the house will need some serious cleaning after they leave.  As well I want to get the garage and yard in tip-top shape and that can't happen until we have some nicer weather.  Sunday was another lovely day with temperatures reaching 15C(70F), but it won't be that warm every day for quite awhile.  My theory is, I'll get as much done in the house as I can now, then will be able to focus my attention on simply keeping it up, and working on the outside.

In the meantime, I've done a little bit of crocheting.  I started an Easter basket for Eli before I left on my cruise and took it with me to work on while I was away.  When I returned home, I realized I didn't like what I'd done so I unraveled it and started again! 

Here's the final product with a few goodies tucked into it (he's only 2 so that's all he's getting).  The basket itself is made using two strands of yarn, all of it scraps I had from other projects.  I knew I didn't have enough blue so used the green and yellow to make the stripes.  The handle is also made with double strands but for additional stability I used three pipe cleaners, side by each, crocheting around them.  I sewed the handle onto the basket, and used the little foam pieces I got at the dollar store to decorate it.  With a bit of paper, and the goodies, I think it turned out pretty well.  

I'll deliver the basket and other items I've gathered up around the house to D and Eli on Wednesday when I drive out to visit.  D wanted me to come for Easter weekend, but I'd rather not deal with the holiday traffic.  Eli has no idea yet, what Easter is or when it is so he'll care less. Though I do know he'll be happy to see me as I will be to see him too.

Have a great week everyone!

Making headway

Finally, we're getting some weather that is near normal temps for this time of the year.  In fact, I was able to open up the sun room on Tuesday afternoon!  The outside temp was -10C (14F), but with the sun the ambient temp inside the sun room was just above the freezing mark.    

I had two very happy cats!  Sasha especially loves to spend time out there with the sun on his fur warming his old bones.  

The room needs a good cleaning, since it's been sitting all winter but I'm not nearly as enamoured about spending time out there just yet. The floor is cold, and I don't curl up quite as well as a cat. :)  The cleaning can wait for a couple of weeks yet.

The curling continues this week with the men's Brier, being held in Brandon Manitoba. That's given me lots of time to work on my crocheting and knitting projects.  I've finished the table runner, though I plan to add a backing to it so it's currently sitting on my sewing table.  I did however, finish this:

This is the cat bed I mentioned.  It took one skein of Bernat blanket yarn, and because it is such a bulky yarn it made up very quickly.  I had thought I would knit it, but this pattern (crochet) was so simple, I went with it instead. I did end up ripping it back because the center wouldn't lay flat.  I realized I'd added an extra stitch (or two or three) at some point that was messing me up but once I figured that out, it was done in just a few hours.  I like those kind of projects!

I have enough yarn to make a second but will leave it for now, as Sasha never uses a cat bed.  Saku will though and within minutes of my setting it on the floor, he was curled up in it.  Later, that evening, he even took a nap in it.  So while it seems a little small to me, it's apparently "purrfect" for him. 

You would think with all the projects I've been working on, I'd be close to using up the yarn stash.  You might think that but you'd be wrong.  I had no idea how much yarn I had packed away.  It will be some time before I get through it all!    

I wasn't certain what to start on next, so I went to the bin and pulled out a couple of balls of yarn.  After a search on the internet I found a pattern using that specific yarn and only needing two balls.  What I'm making is a scarf/shawl with a lacy pattern.  It's a bit fussy so will take some patience and some time.  Pictures will come later when I have a bit more completed.

On Wednesday I made a run out to our new Costco store.  It opened in late November and is a bit of a drive further out of the city, where it used to be a few short blocks from home.  I didn't go often, but I will likely go even less now.  But they had a few items on sale, that I wanted to pick up including pull-up diapers for Eli, chicken breasts, and flour.  As is the case with Costco, I ended up buying other items, hot dog buns and hot dogs, and I forgot to buy flour.  Oh well, I'd made two dozen buns and a batch of muffins on Monday, so I really don't need the flour just yet.

Not much else happening here.  My purging of household items has slowed, though not completely, as I keep identifying items that I no long need or want.  The decision then is, whether I keep for one of my adult children or if it goes in the donate bin or the trash.  I'm really enjoying this because as the items are leaving, the house is getting easier to keep clean.  Go figure!

Retirement has also brought on a couple of other welcome changes.  I'm sleeping far better than I was before.  I used to wake up two or three times a night, and on occasion lay awake for sometime; now most often I sleep for a solid eight hours.  It's wonderful!  Today I even slept through C leaving for work - normally I would have heard the garage door open and close. 

I'm always eating much more healthily.  I have time to plan and cook evening meals (I think I probably had time but I was too lazy) and when I'm on my own I actually take the time to make something and sit down at the table to eat and enjoy it.  Add in the extra activity of working around the house and I've actually lost 8 pounds.  The difference wouldn't be noticeable to anyone but me, but I can feel the difference in how my clothing fits.  (Not enough that I need to rid myself of any more clothing.)

Basically, things are chugging along here.  That's a good thing.

Have a great weekend everyone!