Travel Day 2

It turned out the highway traffic noise was a bit more than I originally thought. After watching the final game of the World Series, I was kept awake for a few hours before I could tune out the noise...or maybe the traffic slowed down.

In any event I was up and down to breakfast just after 6 a.m. it certainly wasn't anything to write home about. After a chat with my daughter I was in the car and heading out of the parking lot by 7:30 a.m.

I had chosen the route through Ennis as it looked less "moutainy" but my GPS switched me to the 91 which had me driving through Yellowstone National Park. It definitely had some twists and turns but didn't make me feel we were constantly climbing or descending. I kept under the posted speed limit as did those in front and behind me and never felt concerned. It is a pretty drive, with the forest and mountains on either side, following the meandering Yellowstone River.

At one point the GPS announced "welcome to Wyoming ". I thought what??? That's not the direction I want to take. It only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes when I heard "welcome to Montana". I took exactly one photo as I was leaving West Yellowstone. 

From there I took highway 20 to Idaho Falls, the I-15 to Twin Falls. I know that Idaho has some lovely natural areas but the highways are pretty boring. I did see a sign for a potato museum but chose to drive on.

My next stop was Twin Falls where I found gas at $4.219 per gallon at the Fred Meyer Fuel Stop. Most other stations were $4.55. Any savings were likely erased when my GPS took me north and west and finally south of the city before connecting me with highway 93 to Wells.  

I'm spending the night at the Sure Stay by Best Western.  Ot won't win any rewards for beauty but seems clean. It too offers a continental breakfast...we'll see how it compares to the Microtel. 

P.S. a note for Kim and anyone else who may be curious.  Yes, Kota has taken over Sage's crate. Sage only stays in the crate when my son and his g/f are away for work or running errands. Otherwise she prefers to hang out on the couch. :)

Travel Day 1

I managed to get everything on my list for my time in the city completed by midday on Tuesday. And then it started to sleet/snow. While my original plan was to head out on Friday the weather was the proverbial straw. 

I was up and out the door shortly after 7 a.m. this morning. The border crossing is a little over a 2 hour drive and it went fine though I did have to deal with some slush on the first hour. Then it was light rain for a bit. Crossing the border was quick, a few questions and a glance at the containers in the back ( through the back  passenger's window) and I was waved on with a "have a good trip". And I was in Montana!

The clouds stayed with me for awhile but the highway was dry and clear. I stopped at Glendive Conoco for fuel ($3.859 per gallon), the best price I would see all day.

I had originally planned to stay in Billings for the night but arrived there about 2:30 p.m. It was too early to stop for the day so I carried on to Bozeman. Below was my first full view of the mountains ahead.

My first stop was to fill my tank  ($4.256 per gallon)and then i headed to the Microtel Hotel.  At about $115 Cdn for the night, they offer a continental breakfast. There is a highway just a short distance away but it doesn't seem too noisy. 

I arrived shortly before 5 p.m. and was very pleased with my room. Here's a photo.

I've enjoyed a soak in the tub, put on my nightgown and am watching the 5th game of the World Series. All in all a good day.

 



Wordless Wednesday

 

Another busy week, almost on my way

I normally don't cover the previous weekend but for this post I'm making an exception. 

What a day Saturday turned out to be! When I arrived at the community center at 9:15 a.m. one of the board members asked if I would work in the store that day, rather than in the gym. I readily agreed, as I knew it would be a busy day in both locations. Two women were assigned to the cash desk in the store, and I roamed, picking up clothes that were dropped on the floor, collecting empty hangers, and helping customers with their questions.

The gymnasium where the winter/autumn sale was being held was incredibly busy, and in turn the store was too. Folks would walk down to the store after visiting the sale and buy more stuff. Keep in mind that very few items in either location were priced at more than $5. I won't give a precise number but if all of the items were $5 each, we sold over a thousand items. In actuality it was a lot more items than that as children's mitts were 2/$1, winter coats were $3/children, $5/adults,  children's clothing is $1-2/children and adult clothing is $2-3 in the store. Another volunteer arrived at the store shortly before noon, and I moved into the sorting room to sort...hangers!

As a result, I didn't get the annuals pulled on Saturday when the temperature reached 20C/68F. Instead the job was done on Sunday afternoon. It was a bit cooler (13C/55F) but in the sun it felt quite warm. All the containers and garden tools are now tucked away for the winter. It looks barren out there now. 

With everything done outdoors, I'm ticking off my list indoors. The Christmas gifts were wrapped and tucked away in the closet, or in my bag to be dropped off at my son's this weekend. I finished a snowman for my daughter - realizing that I didn't have any yarn for the nose, D used her cricut to create a cone out of foam. I think it turned out pretty cute!

I also updated my list for the items I'll be taking to Yuma, revised my itinerary slightly. It adds about a half hour of driving time, but the cost of a hotel for the night is less than I'd pay for accomodations on the other route. I've double checked my Airmiles (now Blue Rewards - I believe this is a Canadian thing) and can book at least one of the hotels on their website using points, thus only paying for taxes and fees.  

I put in another nearly 5 hours at the thrift store on Tuesday. More donations had come in through the week including Saturday, and the volunteers were piling them in every storage area they could find. We were able to sort clothing donations but only until we filled the available racks in the sorting room. Several racks from the winter/autumn sale were brought in to the hallway and store. I spent some time sorting and then went into the store to help the lone cashier. It was busy again, as families had received child benefit that day and were filling up their baskets. There was also a woman who shopped for a group of South African individuals expected to arrive in the community in the next few weeks. It was wonderful to see so many items head out the door as there is still so much more to be sorted and put out in the store. That includes about 15 or 20 bins of winter clothing still in the bins from the weekend! 

Neither D nor I had anything booked for Wednesday. While she worked on tidying counterd and then went for a nap, I started on the Christmas baking. She had asked me to make my shortbread. It's the easiest recipe but she insists that I make it better than she can.  One half cup of butter, 1/2 to 2/3's cup of berry sugar (I prefer the lesser amount), and two cups of flour. Cream the sugar and butter together until smooth, and add flour a half cup at a time. I usually turn the dough out on the counter to add the last 1/2 cup of flour and knead the dough. Divide the dough in half and refridgerate for about 30 minutes or so (or leave it overnight). I shape the dough in small balls, press with a fork and bake on ungreased baking sheets for about 10-13 minutes at 350F, turning the pan half-way through. If you prefer you can pat the dough into a round cake pan and bake, though I've no idea how long it would take as I've never done it. For fun, I sometimes add sprinkles to the cookies.

In between batches, I got working on Eli's sweater. I'd started it last fall, put it away for the winter, and then couldn't find the pattern this spring. It's been lanquishing in a bag since then, but I recently dug through my patterns and found it. After blocking, it was time to sew up the raglan, the sleeve and side seams, and finally knit up the neck and button bands. 

I took it with me to Knit and Natter on Thursday afternoon, managing to get the seams completed and started on the neck band. I also a hat for Willie Wonka to go with the scarf I made last week. The librarian told me they'd received a gift from another patron of a red jacket so he'll be all decked out for the winter. :)

With rain in the forecast for the weekend, and possibly Friday afternoon, I spent some time in the morning cleaning up the car interior and loading most of the items I'm taking with me, either to the city or to Yuma. I'm hoping this year is the last of the multi-container loads. I'd like to pare down to a bag of clothing, personal toiletries, bedding, and a few food items. I bring home all of my unmentionables as elastic gets destroyed by the heat (no personal experience, this is what I've been told), and the bedding will go back and forth as I bring it home to wash. This year I'm taking down a Breville convection oven, a Costway washer/spin dryer, and several containers of craft, household, and food items.

In the afternoon I worked on Eli's sweater. The knitting is complete, but the buttons I have are too small. D will look for others and sew the buttons herself. That should be interesting as I don't think she has ever picked up a needle and thread. There is a first time for everything. 

The winds picked up overnight and parts of the province experienced heavy snow. We missed that, thankfully, and only got a bit of rain. I'm off to the city this morning and will spend a few days there. I've been watching the weather in Montana, thanks Jim for the heads up), and will wait until I'm certain the storm they are getting has passed and I get few things done. I originally planned for this upcoming Friday, but am hopeful I'll be on the road no later than Wednesday morning. Wish me luck! 

P.S. The photo on Wednesday was Eli, first time riding a horse. He has been working with the horses, especially the pony Rocket (since passed away) in the arena and lately has been learning to bridle the bigger horses. His therapist asked if he wanted to try riding, and he enthusiastically agreed. I suspect it won't be last ride. :)

 

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

So much to do

I had to chuckle; the post about blogger issues  garnered over 450 views and 15 comments. Much more than I normally see. Perhaps my content needs to change? I did find it interesting that some are having the same thing and others are not. In any event, I'll continue to write about the mundane moments of my life and toss in a rant every so often. 

We had a full week, though it started off quietly with Thanksgiving Monday. We'd had our big meal the day prior so dinner was easy, just leftovers. D and I did a bit of laundry (she washes/dries and I fold), and she unloaded, I loaded the dishwasher. Otherwise it was a restful day.

I did a five hour shift at the thrift store on Tuesday. There were more than the unusual number of volunteers as we were preparing for the annual fall/winter sale on Saturday. Three ladies were in another area of the building unpacking the totes and hanging coats and sweaters, folding scarves and toques (I think others call them beanies?), and matching gloves, mitts and boots. These are items that have come in over the year and are stored until this sale.

My time was spent clearing racks in the store and walking them down to the other room. We certainly didn't clear out the store but were able to take 5 more racks out to use for the sale. I also did something that has frustrating me for weeks; I sorted the children's clothing racks by age, there are now spaces for 2T-5T, 6-8, and 10-14. Not only was it all jumbled together, I found adult clothing mixed in too. It is easier to just stick things on racks, but this should make things easier for the parents to find what they need. 

I should note, we weren't sorting the regular donations that day, except to look through the bags for anything fall and winter related. It was a bit annoying to some as it means we'll be sorting those bags again in a few days. I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible and my self determined project in the store was helpful for that purpose. In the meantime, the donations have piled up in the sorting room, the back hallway AND in our coffee room. I can only imagine how much more shows up over the next week.

I'd had my tires rotated at the garage last week, and realized I'd only driven 7 kilometers (less than 4.5 miles), and needed to put 100 kms. on before the bolts could be re-torqued. So D and I decided to make a run to the next town over on Wednesday after Eli went to school. First though, we had our booster vaccines for both Covid and the flu. We hit up our favorite stores and were home in just under 3 hours, in time for lunch.

I found, in the night, that the arm with the Covid vaccine was quiet sore, especially when I rolled over and laid on it. But otherwise I had no serious reaction to either. I've found that continuing to keep moving my arms seems to resolve the tenderness. 

D and I dropped into the thrift store on Thursday morning. She was looking for clothing for a friend who has recently returned to work and has little that is business casual. The store was having a sale for $10 a basket; we filled those baskets to the brim, not only with clothing for her friend, but for Eli, D and I, as well as items for her friend S and her children. Here are the bags we brought home, with just under 60 pieces of clothing for $20! She mailed the package to K on Friday; she's receving six or seven pairs of dress pants and five or six tops. Even with the cost of postage, it cost less than a new outfit at a women's retail store. 

Knit and Natter was held on Thursday afternoon. G and I were joined by two young women. The youngest, has learned to spin her own yarn, and was knitting up a cable sweater for herself. The older sister was busy memorizing lines for a play she'll be participating in. I had finished the ornaments for my brother and SIL, so planned to started on a snowman that D requested. However the library recently acquired a decorative goose, named Willie Honka in a recent contest, that is in need of winter wear. While I was there I made a crocheted scarf, with fringe. Earlier this week, I'd tried to make a bell, that ended up looking more like a hat. I brought that home to add elastic so it will stay on Willie's head.

Definitely the final garden update: We had a heavy frost two nights this week, so it was time to pick whatever tomatoes we could and pull the plants. I so dislike pulling plants that have gone mushy from freezing. Here's our one and only pick from the cherry tomatoes. 

Friday was a very tiring day; I hadn't slept well through the night. On the bonus side, I nailed down my route for my travel to Yuma, had come up with a solution for a niggling problem, and had cleaned up after my cat threw up several times before my daughter woke and stepped in it. The latter was my fault, I'd given Eli ice cream for a bed time treat, and not reminded him to take his bowl to the kitchen. Saku loves anything dairy, anything dairy does not agree with him.  

After far too few hours of sleep, I had to be up and at it as I had agreed to help with the set-up for the Saturday sale. At the community center by 9 a.m., I worked alongside the rest of the volunteers until just after noon. Some came later in the morning, but there must have been 20 of us there. The gymnasium is an array of racks, tables, and shelving units holding all of the clothing. I did get a brief nap in the afternoon - I needed it.

Today, I'm heading back in for another shift at 9:30 a.m. A well-known fellow here in town died suddenly  From what I have heard, he was very involved in the community, active in his church, a volunteer fire fighter, played in a local band, and just a long-time resident. Many of the volunteers to attend the funeral, and one asked if I would replace her as a cashier, at least until 2 p.m. when they expect to be available. We are anticipating a good turn-out and will have two check-out areas staffed with extra people. 

This is anticipated to be our last day of nice weather, so back on home, it will be time to pull the remainder of the annuals. I'll miss the colour but we're waking to frost most mornings now. Time to get everything put away. My inner wimp is on high alert.

The day lilies have taken a beating from the frost, while the sweet peas on the fence are still going strong. Most of the deciduous trees have lost all of their leaves.

Have a great week ahead everyone!