Getting things done, taking it easy

It has been a quiet week around here so this will likely be a pretty short post. I did my errands on Monday; grocery shopping, dropped off a donation and did a little shopping at the thrift store, made a run into Michaels that netted more than I anticipated, and ended with my annual mammogram appointment. It was a full day!

I'm on target to remain under budget on grocery shopping this month despite the continual increases in prices. There are four grocery stores within a five'ish minute drive from my home, (though I only visit three at most), and I use their flyers to determine where to get what I need. Since I got rid of the old freezer, I am limited to the volume of frozen items I can keep but I'm finding it works well for us. Nothing ends up at the bottom of the freezer and forgotten like it used to! 

The thrift store took the stereo that I mentioned last week, along with a bag of pillows and a small bag of clothing. This netted me another 20% off coupon which I immediately used. Another oops happened that morning. I had put my car keys in the front pocket of my capris, rather than my purse, and apparently the cloth was close to threadbare as the keys tore a hole. I realized it as the keys fell to the ground (not once, but a few times before I clued in). I was happy to find three pairs of capris, and two t-shirts for less than $20. 

The trip to Michael's was made to pick up a package of alphabet stickers for a sign I'm making. Yikes those things are expensive, but I had checked at the dollar stores and none carried what I was looking for. I'll share a photo once I decide on the wording. Of course, since I was there I had to take a wander through the yarn section where I found clearance yarn for $3 a ball. The marked regular price was $14.99. I purchased seven balls, three yellow and four cream colored, at that price. They are different weights so I can't use them together but I've got a couple of ideas already for all of it. 

The mammogram appointment was quick - I think I was the only client there and the tech did her job efficiently with a minimum of discomfort. I don't expect any issues but with a family history of breast cancer (on my dad's side), I'm willing to undergo the procedure to be safe. The appointment was a lot sooner than I expected - when I had called to make it, the earliest they could see me was December 29. There must have been a cancellation as I had a call two days later that I could get in this week. 

Other than that, I did some of the always needed housework and a bit of yard-work. The weeds are certainly enjoying the weather we're having! Back indoors, there was baseball, hockey and football to watch. I do enjoy the games and the time it gives me to knit and crochet. I finished the mittens, and used the remainder of the yarn to make a slouchy hat, as well as finishing the straps on the bag I made on the cruise, and a doll blanket and pillow. This used up a small amount of stash. :) I've since pulled another UFO, a tank top I started a few years ago, and decided to unravel it for another project. It took me awhile to find the pattern I wanted to use, but there is the start of a sweater on the needles. I realized that the top wouldn't use up all of the yarn I had on hand. Wish me luck, because I'm sure this project will be a lengthy one. I'm much better at finishing the small ones.

I did get out to walk one morning too, rather than walking in the house. Here are a few of the photos from that day.

I'm always happy to see the wild roses. These are flowers of my childhood.

The wildflowers were prolific along the path on the opposite side of the creek. This is the area where there is no sidewalk so unless one ventures off the path they wouldn't see these.

At the pond, there aren't as many geese, and I was a little surprised to see this late batch of goslings. Most of young geese have lost their yellow fuzz and are starting to spend time on the water.

This pair and their youngster have been constants at one end of the pond. They were obvious because there was just the one gosling.

And another female red-winged blackbird posed for me!

Today, it's been raining most of the night and expected to continue throughout the day. It's also very cool, especially in comparison to temps we had earlier in the week. We'll be lucky to reach 19C (66F) later today. More time to knit this afternoon and evening, while I watch baseball and football. Before that I need to get my walk in - with the basement mostly empty it makes a good walking track.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Another week bites the dust

 Another week where time has simply gotten away from me.  Had I not kept track on my calendar, I'd have no idea what I've been up to this week.  I mean I do remember going for groceries at one point, doing some housework, some yard work, reading, watching television, going for a few walks.  Pretty much a normal and mundane week around here.  

We've had some more heat early in the week, so the containers needed to be watered daily.  My tomatoes are starting to bloom. This has become a hot topic on a gardening group I follow on FB.  To pinch the first flowers or not? Some believe you'll have more fruit if the first flowers are removed, others say don't.  To be honest, I haven't a clue and I've never removed the flowers on the tomatoes I've grown in the past.  So I won't this time either.  

I ran out to Costco to pick up cat food for D on Wednesday - the sale price was terrific and much cheaper than she can get in her small town.  While I was out, I went to Home Depot to pick up a few bags of dirt and a peony. I've been so very envious of the various blog and FB posts this spring but didn't think I really had a spot for one.  But then I had lightbulb moment!  There is corner of the lawn area in the back yard, where the sunroom and deck meet, that is very awkward to mow. I always end up using a pair of scissors to cut the portion I can't get at with the mower.  So the next morning I spent some time digging up the sod, adding fresh dirt and mixing it in with our not so wonderful clay soil, planting the peony and adding mulch.  Then I mowed and appreciated the changes I'd made. 

This area is shady in the morning because of the spruce tree, but gets lots of sun as it faces south. I know I won't see blooms this year but maybe I'll be lucky and it will next year.

While I was out and about, I made a stop at both the Salvation Army and Value Village stores.  I picked up a couple of books by Sandra Brown (both mysteries) at S.A.  I did well at V.V. finding another pair of shoes and a bag of Lego for Eli, a t-shirt for myself, a candy jar, and a board to use for a sign for D.  

I had picked up the stencil at the $ store, so it was a simple process to add the stickers.  On the back I've attached a couple of picture hangers as the board is pretty heavy - we'll just have to put in a couple of nails in the wall to hang it from in her laundry area.

I did manage to walk several days this week but I didn't have the camera with me until Friday.  It was cool and overcast when I started out but the sun made itself known occasionally.  The breeze was nice as it kept the mosquitos (mostly) at bay.  

My maternal grandmother used to say it wouldn't rain if there was enough blue sky to make a Dutch boy's pants.  Apparently this was enough because I did not get rained on.

The gophers weren't the least bit shy this day.  I saw a least a half dozen of the critters.  This one appeared to be yelling to its buddies. :)

The wildflowers are blooming and some of the grasses are heading out.  

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I've no idea what any of these are, but they sure are pretty.

During my walk, I saw the Avocet pair - I'm still hopeful they have had young ones though I've not seen them.  But more exciting (to me at least) was spotting the Killdeer.  There was a pair nesting last year at the creek and it would appear they are back.

Over at the pond, most of the birds were on the opposite bank, until I reached the far end.  There were three pelicans, one grooming itself and these two coming in for a landing.

I've only seen the cormorant once this spring.  The water level was very high so the spot where it often sat (some sort of a pipe) was underwater.  It isn't now, but I have to wonder with fewer goslings and ducklings this year if it found another area to feed. There certainly aren't fish in this pond, yet last year the cormorants were around most of the summer.

Speaking of goslings, they are growing up quickly. While there are some more recent youngsters, this group are rapidly approaching adulthood.  Teenagers perhaps?

Today, we started out sunny but it is clouding over as the day goes on.  We may get some rain this afternoon but the possibility is still low.  I should have gone out and weeded the side yard this morning but instead I've been sweeping and washing floors, cleaning toilets, interspersed with reading blogs and FB, doing some Sudoku and crosswords, and putting things back where they belong. It isn't the most efficient way to get things done but it seems to work for me.

On that note, I'll wrap up this week's post. I'm sure you're all bored by now. Have a great week everyone!

Heat wave

We're on day 2 of a mini heat wave here in Saskatchewan.  Normally overnight the house cools down and the a/c doesn't start running until mid-afternoon.  This morning it kicked in at 7:30 a.m.  The cats aren't happy with me, as I've already closed up the sunroom for the day.  But they've all found somewhere to sleep so they'll be fine.

I can't imagine living through a heat wave for days on end, as has been the case in Ontario and Quebec.  The latest article I read reported 54 heat related deaths in Quebec alone.  Most of those individuals were over 65 with chronic health issues, living without air conditioning, and in multi-story buildings.  I heard a fellow on one of the news channels suggesting that we may need to consider that not only heating is a necessity for adequate housing but cooling as well.  I know I lived without a/c for many years, but I don't think I could do it now.  Is it because I'm getting older, or because the temperatures are higher?  I think it's a little of both.

Today is day 11 of my daughter's trip to B.C.  Things got heated there last night and I had a call from her saying she's was getting on the next flight home. After some convincing (and perhaps a couple of stern comments) she agreed not to drive off into the pouring rain for what would be a 4 hour (or more) drive.   I've talked to J's mother this morning, and learned that things settled down after that call, and D and J are supposed to going to Nanaimo today to visit his grandmother.  I know that D was excited that Eli would meet his great grandmother so I expect the crisis has been averted and she'll be back here on Thursday as originally planned.  Sheesh!

I've made good progress cleaning up the house while she and Eli are away.  Yesterday I spot washed walls, cleaned the carpet on the stairs to the basement, finished cleaning windows including the front and screen doors.  Apparently I wasn't paying attention to what was happening at my feet though, as after I'd put away the cleaning supplies I noticed Saku hanging around the front door.  Then I heard a loud noise at the door and suddenly thought, did I let Sheldon out?  No, that wasn't the case, but I had trapped the cat between the two doors.  I think he's learned a valuable lesson, as have I!  

Today, I'm planning to clear up the desk and perhaps tackle a couple of closets.  But I also agreed to drive out to the farm to check on it as my brother and his wife are away this weekend.  P (his wife) is in Portland, Oregon with their daughter L for a basketball tournament.  L is part of the Saskatchewan under 17 team this year, quite the accomplishment for a 15 year old, I think.  R is in Alberta - I believe near Crowsnest Pass for an ultra race of 100 kms.  He's NOT doing it solo, but is taking part as a relay team of 7.  The e-mail I had from him this morning, suggested he'd be running about 2 a.m. tomorrow morning, for leg six.  I think he's nuts but he loves to run and I'm sure the scenery would be gorgeous....except he'll be running in the dark.  He did walk the trail yesterday to check it out.  The temps there are quite reasonable, about 19C(70F) right now with overnight low of 7C(45F). Sounds a bit cool to me, but he will be running so I guess it will be nice.

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I decided to take a break and make the drive out to the farm before it got any warmer today.  In the two hours I was gone the temperature rose 4 degrees from 24C to 28C, and with the humidity it feels like 33C(91F).  That may not be extreme heat, especially for those in lower U.S. but it is plenty warm for me.  Funny, though because when I got home I noticed several of my neighbours out working in the heat.  That's funny because I so rarely see them outside any other time.  So they pick the warmest day of the year???  


I have a couple photos I took with my cellphone - forgot to take my camera.  After feeding the cats (wet food, as they had lots of dry), I wandered around the side of the house to look for a watering can and found this little guy/gal.    

There is a bird feeder just to the south of the a/c unit.  I suspect he/she was trying to get to the food supply.  It appeared to an immature squirrel as it was quite a bit smaller than others I've seen.  He/she didn't move even after I took the photo.  I think it thought if it didn't move I would be able to see it. ;)

I stopped on the gravel road to get this shot of the wild roses.  There were mounds of these flashing pink as I drove along.  I don't remember seeing so many in the past.  I also spotted wild yarrow (white) though I didn't stop to take a photo.

The route I take includes a short cut between grid roads along a narrow gravelled road.  As I came up to the corner where I turned back onto the grid I stopped to get this shot.

I was pretty much shooting blind as it was so bright out there.  But this to me is quintessential Saskatchewan.  Gravel road, rural mailboxes, the ditch is full of weeds, a canola field in the back ground and the blue sky with just a few clouds.  It is what I grew up with, sans the mailboxes as we had to go to town to the post office.  

I didn't bother using the car's a/c but left the windows open in the car.  The smell from the fields was incredible...well, at least until I passed the pasture with cattle in it.  

When I got back to the city I took a drive out to the new Save-On Foods grocery store that was opened close'ish to my house recently.  The chain stores are only located in Western Canada and the Yukon.  The first store opened up in Regina a few years ago and this is the second.  I really like some of their products but it seemed too far to go to very often.  I'm pleased to see it opened nearby, as it carries products not available at Safeway/Sobey's, Co-op or Superstore.  

One of my favorites is in the deli - Popeye's mac and cheese salad.  It contains spinach, feta and Parmesan cheese, with shell pasta and a light mayo dressing.  Today I picked up a small container of it as well as an 8 bean salad.  I had the latter with my lunch...oh, it was good!  It was similar to other bean salads with a vinaigrette dressing, red pepper, onion, and various beans.  B.C. cherries were on sale too so I grabbed another bag...I've already polished off one bag that I picked up at Safeway last week.  

Well, I suppose this isn't getting the desk or the closets cleared of clutter and I wouldn't be surprised if you are tired of the blather.  Besides Saku has decided that he needs some lap time.  

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend everyone!