As the garden grows

The week I spent at my son's flew by; yard work, visiting with friends and family, and some thrift shopping filled the majority of the days. I also finished knitting a scarf and started a Christmas ornament for my brother's family - tbd when I'm finished making a few of them.

Monday, I was able to spend time with my friends K and L. K and I worked together for many years, and she is responsible for my love of ocean cruising. L was K's friend and travel agent and has become a friend to me as well. We met at a cafe where we sat and visited and caught up on each other's lives. It was wonderful to see them both!

Back at the house I finished a project I'd started on Sunday. The back patio had weeds growing around the blocks. I used a scraper to cut them back, and then pulled or dug out (with a knife) as much of the roots as possible. Since B doesn't want chemicals used in the yard, I sprayed a vinegar/water mixture. It's best done when it is hot because the remainder of the plants take in the moisture and it helps to kill off the roots. 

That only took a half hour or so, and I had plans to go shopping with my son. He needs to get a new front door - the fancy hardware had a small wee piece in it break and it cannot be replaced. And the door won't accept any other type of hardware....so new door it is. We went to local business that sells windows and doors, that I'd used on my previous house to replace windows. We left with a book of options, a business card, and a good idea of the cost. C will need to forward a picture of the current door, their decision on which door to replace it with and then the salesperson will provide a quote. He gave us a rough estimate and in my mind it is very reasonable. 

Next up was Canadian Tire, where we looked at barbecues and picked up hardware for the new doors. (Yes, there is an interior that needs to be replaced too.) We stopped at Rona, where we talked to a clerk to arrange for a call from their installation team. The door from the kitchen to the basement will be replaced to include a cat door to allow B's cats access to the main floor. The cats have acclimated to Sage, the granddog, and while Sage isn't permitted in their space, they are allowed upstairs most of the time.

While we were there we looked at barbecues and then wandered over to the lawn mowers. Even before I had my accident with the cord, C had mentioned he wanted to purchase a battery operated mower. After some hemming and hawing...he chose a mower and we loaded it into the back of the SUV. It is now in the garage, and needs to be put together. As he is a bit of a procrastinator I won't be surprised if it takes a few weeks before it is put together and in use. In the meantime the old mower is available along with the new power cord.

On Tuesday, I headed out to the farm to visit with my brother. The photo from Wednesday was taken from the near top of the hill heading down into the Qu'Appelle Valley. At this time of year, the grass and foliage is often drying up but with lots of rain everything is still very lush and green. However, the smoke from the forest fires was hanging in the air. The hill I drove down is just a few miles from the actual farm. There I was welcomed by the next door neighbour's dog, Wally. She's big girl and likes to chase cars, but is absolutely a sweetheart. Unfortunately, her owner isn't around a lot so she spends much of her time at my brother's place. R alo has a dog, Kola - a German Shepherd and was taking of his son's two dogs, Rider Whistler too. Quite the greeting party! R and I took our tea out to the front veranda, and the two youngest cats, Skodi (Scotty), and Moufette came to visit. I gave him the gears as the bushes in front of the veranda are so tall now the view of the valley is minute. They live in a fieldstone house that was built about 1906, I believe. Here's a photo of the house from the road. The haze in the air is smoke from the forest fires in Northern Saskatchewan.

Back in the city, I did a bit of housework and started packing for the trip back home. I got away from the city by 8 a.m. on Wednesday. I had intended to stay and mow the back yard one more time, but both C and B came home feeling punky the day prior, and I decided to forgo another chore to avoid whatever they had brought home.

D helped me unload the car and then I got to unpacking before dealing with dishes, sweeping floors, and straightening up the kitchen when the two of then headed off to the Library program. Hmm, I left one chore behind to come home to many more. That evening I went to Knit and Natter at the library, though again I was the only participant. It was quiet and J, one of the librarians sat and visited with me.

Thursday, D and Eli left for NTO for his morning program. I was in the midst of some housework when D called to say she had forgotten Eli's backpack. I offered to drive it in, but she decided to make the drive instead. We decided I'd go with her to NTO, as I needed to pick up a few groceries - and we made a quick trip to Value Village as well. I was well behaved and only purchased two clothing items. While they went to the Library program in the afternoon, I went through my drawers and closet pulling items that I no longer wear; some went to the bin, others will be donated to the thrift stores.

In the evening I went along to Eli's swimming lesson. He loves to dive to pick up a ring tossed by the instructor.

He can tread water very well, and is learning the flutter kick, front and back crawl. 

Garden update: I've been watering in the evenings, as the heat has continued and will do so for several days now. I do need to get out there and weed the garden, but that hasn't happened just yet. On Friday, I picked the first peas - unlike last year, I'm going to get more than one picking. Exciting news! I found a cucumber hiding in the foliage, and there are more coming on. The tomatoes are getting large, though something got to the largest one. It is nearly baseball sized, so a bit disappointing but there so many more to come.

I did learn something from the J (librarian). She grows peppers in containers, as they like the heat but they also like wet feet. Her peppers are nearly store sized, while mine dropped their flowers and are stunted. We've been eating fresh lettuce from the garden too. The potatoes have been putting out seed pods, which we've been removing from the plants. They are toxic to both humans and animals so they go straight to the bin. In addition, the corn is catching up in height and should soon tower over the corn. As you may remember I planted the seeds and seedlings closer than recommended. I wasn't certain how this might impact the outcome, and so far I'm more than pleased.

Today, we're off to check out a few garage sales around town. I'll spend a bit of time early in the morning, out tackling some of the weeds. With a forecasted temperature of 33C/91F the remainder of the day will be spent indoors.

Have a great week ahead everyone! Stay cool.

A walk to remember

When I went for a walk on Friday, I made a point to walk around a nearby urban pond.  It's called Riverbend but there is no river, it's a low spot between two condo developments.  Regardless the birds enjoy it and I love watching them. 

I'm not sure if the goose below was one-legged or if the foot was cold!

On the way back to the house I spotted a robin in a tree.  Seeing them makes me hopeful spring will be here soon.

I spotted this display in a neighbour's window to show support to all of our essential workers.  I didn't realize there was a little guy looking out the window at me. 

At the mailbox someone has placed this gentle reminder.

Take care and stay well!

The calm after the storm

The sun is shining outdoors, the cats are napping, and the house smells like chili and cinnamon.  Sounds like an odd combination, but the former is tonight's dinner and the latter is a candle burning on the china cabinet.  It would seem all is good in my world and I will grasp this moment and hold it close.

This morning was another story.  My daughter is reaching the end of her pregnancy - just over five weeks until her due date.  I know the hormones are raging so when the meltdown occurred this morning, I wasn't entirely surprised. She had received a call to go into work for a three hour shift and was struggling to find something to wear.  Since I'm a little lot overweight I suggested she try to find something in my room to wear.  After trying on a number of t-shirts she settled on one, until she decided it did't look right, and the melt-down was on.  She raged at me that she hates her body and she looks ugly and fat.

I didn't try to reason with her, but told her that she looks beautiful to me.  That wasn't the right thing to say.  She told me she's gained forty pounds (most of which has been since the first of December), her face is sooo fat, and she can't possibly be beautiful.  Part is this is due to the raging hormones of pregnancy, but I suspect it is more likely due to her long term body issues.

I won't get into the history, but suffice to say she's struggled for years and has never reached a period where she was entirely happy with how she looked.  She was close to reaching that point in the months prior to getting pregnant.  She had lost nearly 75 pounds and was nearly back at her weight in high school and university.  I know she is feeling frustrated, and although there are only a few weeks to go those last weeks of pregnancy can seem an eternity.

What I did say to her, was that when they put that little baby in her arms, all of this will have been worth it.  That did seem to calm her down and she left the house a little less angry than she had been.  At least until the next melt-down occurs.  These seem to be happening every time she's home....at this rate, the five weeks or so until the birth are going to seem very long to me as well.

Hence the reason I am holding onto that particular moment, because surely the clouds will come in again.