What a day!

Neither of us has been sleeping well, so we were both up before the alarm at 7:00. David had a 8:00 at Goodyear to have the tires checked. They took a cursory look and said there was nothing wrong with them. After, David spoke to his contact at our dealership, who gave him the name of a company who have a special means of checking them out, but we would have to pay for the test--about $100. However, if there is any problem identified, Goodyear will have to accept the result and we could save a bit on the price of new tires. Then we were off to the grocery store. We are on a strict budget this month, but I took along my coupon for a free ham if we spent over $250 on groceries. No problemo!! So I now have a ham in the freezer, but not a hot clue what the h__l I'm going to do with it. But it was free!! This trip was made particularly difficult as they are in the midst of a major renovation of the store and everything had been moved. Frustrating!

Home for long enough to put everything away and grab a sandwich, then off to Michael's to buy the rest of my paint for the class tomorrow--'cause I had a coupon, you see. Well, they didn't have the colour of paint I needed--but the paint was on sale!! And I had a coup0n!! Common sense prevailed, sort of, and we went half way across town to the other artists' store, because I had remembered that the illustration board was much cheaper there than the ones we found at Michael's, and--wait for it--I had a coupon!! I found the colour of paint I wanted--not cheap--and the illustration board, and she let me use my coupon. Then she carefully blacked out the coupon and kept it. Now last time I was there, I had used the same coupon, and the fellow had given it back to me. I wasn't silly enough to tell her that!

We had also been to Fabricland, where I had a coupon worth 50% off any five metres of regular priced fabric, that had to be used before the end of the month. What a surprise! All of their fabric was on sale and I had a terrible time finding any "regular priced" fabric, but finally, on a back shelf there was sturdy, 100% cotton drapery lining, 60"wide. I had some of this before and found that it dyed beautifully. So I used my coupon.

Then, later was the final part of my pulmonary function tests. He gave me several different short term drugs, one at a time, with breathing tests after each. Of course, he can't really tell me anything, but toward the end he said that I was just "borderline" and he wanted to try one more drug. Now, I knew that this section of the testing was for asthma, but I don't know if he knew that I knew. So there is a remote chance that I'm not a total hypochondriac. Maybe.

So, now its going up 4:00,and we are in rush hour traffic and there is nothing for supper, and we're both beat. So we went to buy a pizza--something we haven't had in ages. We waited for almost 45 minutes, after being told that it would take 15, then got caught in a traffic jam on the way home. However, luke warm pizza still tastes great when you're really hungry. We scarfed that sucker down so fast!!

I ead a response to the very, very annoying " Have great day!" (Barf!) You politely reply " That's not in my plans at this point,but thank you for the thought" Oh!! I like it!

Be - the "s" word..

The weather forecast on the TV tonight has mentioned the "s" word for the weekend (yes, that would be snow) At times even now with the drizzle outside most of the day, it almost feels like it is snowing. We went to North Bay today and bought a new portable phone for Mother - it is set up here at home to charge and I have to read the manual tonight to see how it will work and how to set up the speed dialing for her. On Thursday when we go, the real fun will begin when we try to instruct her. If it becomes too much, then we will have to stop and it would seem that we will have a new phone for ourselves I guess! New devices these days are not made for those with visual, or manual dexterity deficits. As I browse through the manual I wonder if even I have the intelligence to make sense of it all.
The little convenience store up at the corner called The One Stop will close its doors on Sept 30 after over 30 years in business. This is where I buy all my lottery tickets, and cards, and the sudden impulse bag of potato chips. I shall miss it - the trail I took from home to the store was a favourite for me and the dog. There are two other stores in town - neither as close nor convenient, nor as friendly. The owners say they can no longer compete with the Grocery Store - Foodland in town and be able to keep their staff paid well - they both were covering a lot of the shifts themselves and they say it is now time to retire. There is no sign of the store being sold yet but they may have something in mind down the line. It was always a favourite stop for all the kids (and grownups I'm sure) on Hallowe'en as the owner would dress up and always had a table of chocolate bars, or chips,or pop to give away - really good stuff!
Well, I better finish the phone instructions as I wish to watch the new season opener for Rick Mercer at 8 pm - it will feature a Winnipeg Goldeye baseball team game and I like to see things about Wpg or Manitoba. Take care.

Be - Yeh, Sunday again

Sounds as if everything is well on the western front by you two...here it is still very interesting. I am trying to practice violin this morning but had a chance on the computer so will take advantage. We are still experiencing some unexpected challenges with Mother and trying to sort things out eg strange 911 call came into Police from her phone at midnight - Police came to house - knocked on neighbours to get a key - phone call to us as to location of key - Police went in and found Mother sound asleep in her bed so made a quick exit. We shall not be telling her about her visitors! Harry's sister just called from Mothers (wow, some action on her part to visit ??) Harry has told her to follow up with Bell. Since the storm and disruption of services weird things have been happening related to the phone. What a worry. I was finally able to do some of my own housework yesterday - not near what is needed but enough to make me feel some hope haha
We heard from Mike who is on course in Sault Ste Marie - he should be home by Wednesday, so we shall go up again on Tuesday to check his place and feed the animals.
Tomorrow it is to Mothers again. Where do all the days go, and when do we start to have fun??
Patty, I'm so glad my little bag of goodies will be put to good use. Hope you really enjoy your course. Cathy, are you involved in any "onstage" fun this fall?
Must go for now.....Take care

Sunday Morning

Yesterday was not the warm and sunny day that was forecast. I kept checking the weather on the internet and then looking outside. Obviously the forecast was for another dimension. We did get a lot of the wood in the yard cut up, but it was too damp to try and haul anymore out. Pulled all our onions (not a good year for onions) but it wasn't good drying weather for them. It is supposed to be warm and sunny all week. So far so good...... the sun is out. Jim's sister Glenda is visiting Jean, as well as Jean's son Mike. We met with them at the legion yesterday afternoon. Mike has not been well. (Glenda told us a couple of months ago... Jean has not said a word)He sees the specialist on October 20th. His internet research has led him to suspect MS. It is something neurological. You can tell from the way he moves and speaks. We are going to Jeans for supper on Wednesday (her birthday) Glenda and Mike are preparing it. We are taking the bottle of wine you left, Beth. I had been saving it for company and I think this will be a great time to drink it. We are cooking Thanksgiving dinner, but I am not sure what day. That is when Mike is going home, and I think he leaves on the Monday, but I am not sure. Isn't it interesting that are social life centres around food! I promised Jim a quiche for brunch today, so I sure hope I have everything. IF not, I'll improvise. Then it is off to work outside again. We still haven't put the pool away. It needs a good cleaning and it has been too cold and wet to stand in water and scrub. It's still too cold, but It is not going to get any warmer and it really has to be done. The last of my tomatoes are going to be chopped up and frozen raw. We can toss them into anything we want. I ended up with about 30 bags of tomato sauce. I would make more but we would never eat that much in a year. (watch... we'll be out by January) Next Thursday is my 1st aid refresh. Hopefully I never have to use it. Quiche time!!!!

Test almost done

I had the pulmonary function tests --the first half--yesterday, and was told that I'm perfectly normal. I see this as a terrible thing in today's healthcare. Now I'll be labelled as a hypochondriac. I know I was sick this summer, although I also know that I'm much, much better now. but over all, I gues this is good news, and I should be happy. Next Tuesday, I have to go back to be tested for asthma, but I'm not the least bit worried about that.

I bought most of the supplies for the painting class I've signed up for, and then came home to gather together the supplies I thought I had on hand. A couple of years ago you sent me a plastic bag of brushes, Beth. I grabbed it thinking that I would take if for the first lesson and then buy anything else that was suggested. Lo and behold, if there weren't a bunch of palette knives in the bag as well--just like the one I had just bought. Well, the one I bought was so cheap that it would cost more to drive across the city to return it than I would get back, so I guess I'm keeping them all. I got a course outline this week and now I'm really excited. It sounds like we're going to be exploring a different technique every week, and I won't be expected to paint copies of picture after picture. The last week we're to take 2 or 3 old pictures to colage over. I won't have any, so will probably go to Value Village and try to pick up a couple cheap.
So now it's Saturday night and I spent over two hours this afternoon herding two little girls through a sidewalk sale at the mall. I'm beat. David has been sick for three days now, and not wanting anyone hovering, so, when Amber asked, we didn't want to baby sit here and expose them to his germs. I don't know if the mall was any better. I meet Amber at the children's play area and we stay there while she runs errands, then I usually leave, but this time we wanted to see the sales. We ended up at a "buy one, get one" (at half price) sale at Payless. Amber was determined to get sneakers for the girls and just couldn't find any that fit, so she and I both got a pair of shoes. What a hassle! Big sale and two restless girls! Not my cup of tea.

Be - My "sleep over" is over

and I am now back home. On Tuesday we experienced a horrific storm with heavy winds and rain causing considerable damage in the area. However worst hit was around Sprucedale where Harry's Mother lives. So after we suffered through no power at home for 12 hours, we drove to her home where I stayed with her until things got back to normal which was this afternoon. Without power and water, it was indeed a challenge for me to care for her but nevertheless, I prevailed. Of interest to me was to watch from her front door the Hydro One crew installing new telephone poles along her street and rewiring all the downed wires. Huge trees were broken and thrown across roads tearing down poles and wires as if toothpicks. It was a miracle that nothing occurred directly on Mothers property or house except the power outage. It was reported that one young Hydro worker was killed in the Huntsville area trying to install new wires as result of the damage. Two people were injured when a large tree fell onto their car. I haven't heard of other injuries. Now, there is a rain warning for our area. One wonders if we are not paying back now for the wonderful Spring that we had?
So I have felt left out of communication for the last few days and suffering from lack of sleep and a clean body! I just had a bath, and after this blog shall jump into bed and hope for a good nights sleep - if the rains come as they are reporting I may have to be up to man the sump pump outside . The water still accumulates under the living room window and seeps into the basement if it is allowed to go over the basement window casing. Thus we use a sump pump.
And this has been my week and by the sounds of the one posting so far, it hasn't been any better for you? So as I sign off for tonight, I think of you both and sent my best thoughts and wishes for resolution of all our worst woes! Take careXX

Some days---

Pati here
Somedays are better than others. This wasn't one of them.

Be - Early Monday morning...

...and the week begins again. Sounds as if you both had very busy and full weekend with all your events and activities.
Today at Mothers I shall refresh the back bedroom in preparation for Harry's brother and wife to visit at Thanksgiving. Don't know for sure if they will come but will get the bed /room ready anyway. Her Mother has just come back to her apt in Kirkland Lake after being in the hospital and then a retirement facility from which she signed herself out - the room was as big as a cupboard and she could not stand it - even though she requires 24 hours supervision. So they are just as busy up in Kirkland by the sounds of it. Then we will have to clean up some of the leaves on the ground - this seems to bother Mother so we try to keep up with it best we can.
We will have to bring all of our house plants back into the house from outside and in the greenhouses, as the nights are cold now with borderline frost. Actually last night Harry put a little heater into the one greenhouse after we bought a heavy duty outside cord at Canadian Tire and hooked it up from the house to the greenhouse.
Friday is Harry's birthday and we have decided to go out for dinner at a local restaurant which is not a regular thing for us anymore. We used to go out more when I worked but that seems to be a thing of the past so this outing will be something to look forward to.
So have a great week both of you - thinking about you always. Take care...

Weekends and rest?!?

There was a work party at the Legion yesterday, but was supposed to be both days, but I guess we worked real hard on Saturday 'cause we did all we could. We were going to dig out the ground Junipers, but there was no way. We talked about pulling them out with a chain and a four wheel drive, but we are going to ask a guy with a back hoe to dig them out. The yard looks way better with what we did. They also cleaned out an office and a storage room at the back. There was a lot of stuff hauled to the dump. Today I froze carrots and made more tomato sauce. Jim cleaned off all the tomatoes. I think I will take a bunch to the legion and see if anyone wants green tomatoes. I'd make jam but I'm the only one that eats it, and very seldom. And, no, I do not want to make green tomato relish, or green tomato mince meat, or any thing else. Back to work tomorrow and another meeting in the evening. I finally get to meet my new doctor on Tuesday. He is the one that Dr. Chapman recommended when he left, so I will see what I think. I have not heard anything bad about him yet, so I think it will all work out. One of the things thrown out at the legion was a bun warmer. Jim is trying to figure out how to turn it into a dehydrator for me. That would certainly open up other ideas for me. My dehydrator is a small k-tel special. I have to type up some minutes after I do this. The meeting started and I appeared to be the only one that noticed that the secretary wasn't there, so I started writing. Now I have to try and decypher what I wrote. You'd think I'd learn.

Internet recipes

While you can find some really great recipes on the Internet--what does the jam taste like? Is it any good to eat? Green tomatoes and sugar you say? Hm-m-m-m?

I had a lesson on my new sewing machine yesterday, and I'm really glad I went. Auntie Lorraine always said that even if you just learn one thing, a workshop is worth the time. Well, I learned what stitches to use when sewing knits. This has been a "bugbea"r for me for years!

Then home in time to get a hot dog for lunch at the church across the stree, while Jessica and Samantha tried to drink pop out of cans and play in a "bouncer" at the same time.. They didn't get away with it, but they tried. Samantha was so very, very proud of herself. She had a real drink --in a can! She didn't do too bad a job of it either.
then we were off shopping agian for craft and painting supplies.

Today I have a meeting out in Seddon's Corner over lunch and then a funeral/Celebration of life just out side of Lockport. I haven't even unpacked my sewing machine yet!

Be - Here I am... after lots of jam has been made

Do you want some jam? Green tomato jam that is... Harry found a recipe on the internet using only green tomato pulp, sugar and jello. This week at Foodland the jello was on sale so we lucked out - I think in total we must have purchased about 40 packages. And we now have jars and jars of jam, but, we do not have any more green tomatoes. The weather is calling for colder nights which means frost so I am so happy that we will not have to cover anything up. But I think that Patty cursed us with all her jam and jelly making - talk about crossing over to the "dark side " !! Who is going to eat all this jam? I think I shall be having toast and jam every morning all winter - can't you just see my hips getting broader and broader!
Today I went to Huntsville to meet my friends for lunch at Swiss Chalet - and I must say I was very excited for the get together. We had a good visit and lots of talk. Both have and are going through care giving roles with parents and it was good to vent a little bit without sanctions. Each said that their Mothers had cautioned them never to talk badly about their mother in law in front of their spouse - too bad my Mother never had the opportunity to tell me about this cardinal rule. I shall learn from this and hopefully profit from this advise. Perhaps both of you had burning ears because I took pictures of you both from my trip to show them, and talked a lot about my sisters - my friend Sue was the one who purchased a few of your art works at Wilno and was so complimentary in her assessment of your work Patty! Before I met them at noon, I purposely made some time to myself to do a little shopping at the Mall- I bought a Quilting Book at Coles, and some CDs cheap at CD Plus store. I was looking for a compilation CD of Blues Masters and I actually found an excellent one - also a Fiddle CD of Metis Fiddle Music produced in Selkirk Man, and the music CD from the opera Mikado. What a mix of music!! Do you know how excited I was - I felt free and happy just to have had some time to wander! I intend to settle tonight and do some reading of the quilting book while listening to Randy Bachman ( yes it is Sat night again ) and my routine of tuning into Randy's Vinyl Tap show in CBC radio from 7 to 9 pm and then from 9 to 11 pm it is Holger Peterson and the Best of Blues. I have really taken to Blues Music even though I don't really know all the Blues performers names - but with this new CD I just bought, I am educating myself a bit!
Well, we shall be going to North Bay tomorrow to check on Mike's place - he is off to Sudbury and then Sault Ste Marie over the next two weeks with work so we shall help him out with ensuring his place and animals are looked after. I must also wash my kitchen floor tomorrow - with all the preserving and jam making over the last few weeks, I am actually starting to stick to the floor when I walk - sounds like a good scrubbing is in order???
Take care...

Re-focusing

Oh Cathy, you do sound down. How can we put a positive spin on this? Coaching is always to your advantage. It is focussed on you, and your situation. Take advantage of every tiny bit of coaching you can get. Is there any other help available through your EAP Program? Grab whatever you can. Are there more personal things you can do for stress relief--meditation, herbal teas, yoga classes--not alcohol and gambling, although we know what fun they can be. Plesurable physical activity--not physical work, unless that gives you pleasure-can be a real help. Why do you think I bike? I certainly found some degree of peace in music, but I really homed-in on the Solitudes line of stress reducing nature related music. Still use them almost every day. The Morning Pages were a tremendous help for a certain period in my life. You have described how you have a short period every morning when you are by yourself and over your coffee(?) checkyour e-mail etc. This can be a kind of meditation, and a time to prepare yourself emotionally for your day--it can be an important internal shifting of gears. Do you have the opportunity for a gear-shifting process after your day at work?

What I'm saying is that this is the perfect time to focus on you. You have to try to train yourself to put yourself first for, at least, part of every day.

What a day....

I wasn't sure what to expect today from our Early Intervention, and I am still not sure what will be happening. We met together for about one hour, and then she met with each of us seperately, off site, for about an hour. Everything is private, so we have no idea of what was said or what she said to others. She has already told me that I will receive coaching to try and change my attitude, (I also seem to have a lack of respect for my managers that will have to be addressed). I agreed to the coaching. I have no idea if anyone else will be receiving coaching, and I may never know. I guess time will tell. Meanwhile I am still sitting here wondering what I did wrong. A lot of the things I had listed in my journal have no bearing on this situation. Values are not considered, so I guess Daddy instilled a work ethic in us for nothing. You are given time to change your attitude or actions and if you do not change within a certain time period, everything is turned back to management, and you can be disciplined. Nothing that happened before today can come back on us. Only what we do from now on. I guess I really have some thinking to do. I know I sound down right now, but I really think that only something positive can come from this process. I am just down because I still don't know what I did wrong to cause all this. I guess I will find out. so, how was your day?

Lots to learn

The new computer has Windows 7, while the old one had Windows XP. Of course the lap top has Vista. The "Geek", Chris, explained that Windows 7 has integrated all of the office-type funtions in one program, so there is no need to to install three or four different programs. So now my calendar, and e-mail are all on one screen, which is fantastic for the way I work--not that I'll get much chance until David has had his fill of poker. Chris was able to recover not only my e-mail "saved" folders, but also all of my contacts, all of my documents, and our taxes for the last few years. As part of the recovery process, he loaded everything onto a memory stick for us to use as backup in case this ever happens again. We had been quoted $29.95 for every single item that we asked him to recovery, and we had paid for the e-mail files, only. The fellow making the appt said that he( Chris) might give us an extra "free-bie", but we sure didn't expect that he would so so much. He also took away the old equipment. He said that he volunteered at a day care that used computers as part of preparing children for school. It sounded as though the Day Care also had an after school program, so older kids would be able to use them too. So I guess there was a little "tit for tat".

By terrible coincidence, while he was demonstrating the new e-mail program, a message came in telling us that our friend Garry had died Saturday evening. I think I mentioned a friend who had gone into hospice in Selkirk, although I probably didn't mention him by name. His daughter had brought her child to visit from the Netherlands when he first started on the bone marrow transplant unit in June, and managed to get back to be with him ( as did the rest of the family) when he died. This has hit me harder than I expected. I count his wife, Susanne, as one of my very few true friends.

re\; Wind

Yeah! This is the weather I expect in mid-October, not September. I won $20 on Lotto Max last night. Forgive me, ladies, but I'm not going to share. It all got spent on sugar for the jelly we are making today. This is the biggest win I've had all year.

So far we've made 24 jars of bramble jelly with another 32 to go. It is deep, deep red with a marvelous flavour. We shouldn't have to make any more jam or jelly for a couple of years after this marathon. We were both exhausted after the three cases of jam got put away last night, and I notice we are both slowing down already today. Yesterday evening, I spent two hours vegging out in front of re-runs of T'll Debt Do Us Part. I was too tired to sew.

Today was the give-away weekend here. When I looked out there was no sign of anything on the street, but we put our stuff out anyway. While we were walking back to the house the first car stopped. David had to help her take the legs off the table she wanted, but most of the stuff disappeared into her SUV. The rest of it was gone within 20 minutes. When we were out getting the sugar, I only saw one other house with anything on the boulevard--and that was mangy looking kids toys. I know that most of the stuff is destined for a flea market somewhere, but it's out of our house. Earlier this week Amber bought a Nintendo off of some sort of Internet swap group. David and I ended up going over to Giant Tiger to meet a guy " in a white shirt and blue shorts", and giving him money for something we would have had no idea whatsoever if it worked or not. Darren came by later to pick it up and pay us and he seemed really please with it. I wonder how many people in Giant Tiger thought they were witnessing a drug deal or something similar? Actually Amber figured that the price was so good that it was probably stolen.

Thank Goodness for these little moments. We are no well into week two without a desk top computer. David is reduced to playing solitaire on the lap top. For some reason, in the the solitaire program, the mouse has a mind of its own. If it gets too close to the toolbar, it goes berserk, and you have to physically fight for control--so solitaire is an ordeal more than fun--but he's that restless. Tomorrow morning at 9:00 the Geek Squad arrives to set up the new machine. Yes, Sunday morning at 9:00. Great news, but it still means that after finishing the jelly, I get to tidy up the computer room. OMG!

Wind

We had a windy spring and now it appears a windy fall. (even though, technically, it is still summer) I better hurry up an win the lottery so that I can retire. I am so tired of working all day and then coming home and working again. Yesterday I got some more corn in the freezer, the last of the green peppers, and some more green peppers in the dehydrator. All the cucumbers are picked (I have no use for them, nor a desire to find a use for them) I was looking for something other than pickles to preserve them but nothing magically appeared. We don't eat cucumber soup, but we may start if I have to puree and freeze them all to keep them. Today is tomato sauce. I got your recipes in the mail, Beth, but I had already tried a sauce recipe before they arrived. The one with wine does sound appealing though! It will be nice to get all this kitchen work done so I can wash the floor. Never thought I would look forward to washing a floor!Tuesday is our early intervention at work. Things have been going so well this last week that I am almost afraid the intervention will open things up again. Or maybe everyone is being nice so that there will be nothing to bring up at the meeting. Who knows. Mallorie has been transferred to Brandon for a week to help them get caught up, so at least I get a change of pace doing verifying. I get a week off the middle of October and then a week off at Christmas. Life is dictated by my holidays! Jim is up and about. Time to be civil. Love Ya

Finally--jam

Yes I mentally "girded my loins" and the two of us got down to it. We carefully calculated how many jars we had and how many lids, then determined that we had to go shopping before we made the stuff. I don't mind the making of the jam, it's the preparation and clean-up that is so doggone much work. Anyway we now have 30 jars of Rhubarb Pineapple, Strawberry Rhubarb and plain Strawberry jam labeled and put away. Then David got out all of the fruit we've been putting away over the summer, and that has been prepared and strained and I have a full ( read full) large mixing bowl of juice to turn into jelly tomorrow. This will be my bramble jelly--all the fruit that is in the freezed and getting out of date. Usually this has been strawberries, blueberries and a few respberries. Then I buy a bag of frozen mixed fruit and throw that in. This year for some reason there have been blackberries in the store, and we didn't go out to Portage to pick strawberries. So the jelly willl be very heavy on blackberries, a few blueberries ( I keep buying them to eat, and when they taste like dreck, I freeze them.), a couple of bags of strawberies ( dated 2008) and one pint of raspberries. Then David threw in the last remaining bits of rhubarb. That I get to process tomorrow.
When we were done I sat down with a cup of tea and decided to play one poker tournament while I calmed down and got ready for my nap. Darned if I didn't do well ( the best I've done in over three weeks), and ended up playing for over an hour.
No bike riding the last couple of days--poor weather--and the weekend doesn't look good either. I've been reading books by Karen Robards--romantic suspense. I tried a British police book by Ian Rankin that I just gave up on--far too gritty for me. He's a well known and respected suthour,so maybe one of us was having an "off" day.
Uesterday i got the top finished for a small wall quilt with pandas on it. I'm quite pleased. Now I want to start the another top with fish, and using the African fabrics I bought. I would like to have both of them done in time for a sale october 23rd in Steinbach.
but my nap was short and I don't think this is a night for sewing.

Be - Geese on the fly

For the last two days I have been drawn to the skies by the squawking of geese in V formation flying south. Can it really be that time again? It seems far too early from my perspective but then, it is Sept 10. The garden production is waning thank goodness, but still lots of work must be done. Today we set up huge poles into the ground by using post hole digger to make a big hole and then sinking these poles into the holes, and filling them up again. Eventually they shall become the framing for the grapes as the next step is to erect green fencing from pole to pole - this will probably be my tomorrows delight. The little kitten started to pee all over the place and I knew it had a bladder infection so off to the Vet this afternoon - a needle given there, followed by pills that I have to give should clear it up but in the meantime we have coralled him in the bathroom. We took the dog in as well for her regular needles so you can imagine the bill$$ for 10 minutes in the office. Well, it is Friday night and the weekend is here again but there is hope eternal as I have a ticket for the Lotto Max for tonight - so cross your fingers girls - we may be taking that train trip together afterall.... haha I know how much you both want to join me on my cross Canada train ride ....so amuse me please! Anyway, off to bed. Take care

Be - Burrrr - cold and drizzly

Good to hear all about your fabric day Patty - I can picture it so clearly especially after having attended a similar day at your place a few years ago. Cathy, you really put a push on to get all that work done but what a shame to sleep through a movie. ......And so we are into another week. I had to go to Mothers this morning to orientate a new homemaker to the work. Her current homemaker is off for at least a month for foot surgery and we had to get the Red Cross to send someone else who could take over consistently through this time frame rather than a new worker every week. But there is no guarantee so we may be going through a few rough weeks. I stayed only for about one hour this morning but we go tomorrow again for our regular visit. I just finished baking a double batch of zucchini muffins to take for her freezer, and I have sausage planned for lunch. We went to North Bay this afternoon to get the pictures developed from Mikes grad but at Walmart all the little kiosks were being used and each one had a notice that "pictures developed in seconds" was not available. So we left without pictures, and I am sad.
Patty, I am the queen of procrastination so you cannot practice anymore! I had stuff I should have done yesterday but instead I looked for other stuff to do eg I cleaned out the linen cupboard - sorted through all the sheets and washed and ironed all the pillow cases. So although I was productive, I was avoiding the inevitable that being, to get rid of all the vegetables and turning the cucumbers into pickles, and making space downstairs on the shelves to store them. But I have put a dent into the zucchinis by making muffins tonight.
Here is some news that is interesting...an aquaintance called me yesterday to ask if I would be interested in curling in a league starting this fall at the arena. They are trying to get enough interest to start it up. I said no immediately, of course. Then I started to think about why I could not go, and why I always say no to every potential adventure, and so I called her back and said yes I was interested. Now, I will have to see how it will play out. I have an appt to get my hair cut on Friday and that is always a mood booster. And I still have my luncheon date on Sat Sept 18 to look forward to. Anyway... dishes to be done, and then to bed. Take care

Fabric Day

is now over and what a day it was! There were 6 of us, the first arriving at 9:15 ( they were told not to come before 10:00), and then not leaving until 4:00. David and I had spent most of Sunday getting ready for them, hauling stuff out to the garage, washing down furniture and scrubbing out the bathrooms, cutting grass etc. Then when they started work I spent a couple of hours fetching and carrying-mainly from the basement. We walked over to Subway for lunch, but David and I had supplied coffee and donuts in the morning. Can't you just picture me riding home from Tim Hortons with two boxes of donuts in my carrier basket? The sun shone, and the wind blew. We used rocks to hold everything down. I got three, and maybe four, good useful altered fabrics out of the day. And then they left and I was so exhausted that David had to cook supper and then I struggled to keep awake until it was time for bed. Today I haven't even worried about getting everything back in from the garage. It'll get done bit by bit as I need it--although I'm sure David would like his work bench back.
So today it's cold, still windy, and we're huddled in the house reading--which is probably what we'll be doing for the next 7 months.

Heard, today, about a close friend's husband who was doing quite well a couple of weeks ago and has now lost his battle and entered hospice care in Selkirk. This is a very close couple whom I've known for over 30 years. This could leave me as the last member of my stitchery group with a living spouse. Already, I've been sensitive at our meetings about what I say. I have to wonder how this might affect the group.

Day by Day

You really don't want to know what I am up to. I fell asleep during a movie I wanted to see and woke up to Failure to Lauch. Not wanting to spoil it for you but they get together in the end. Today I froze corn, put green onions in the dehydrator, did two batches of tomato sauce , put the cucumbers and onions or for another batch of relish, and, believe it or not, I cleaned the kitchen up after every batch!! No wonder I fell asleep during the movie. Sam came over and borrowed the quad to go berry picking. We went to the legion yesterday because April phoned to tell us that her EI came in early and she could pay us for the meat she ordered. While we were there Sam phoned to say that he had some corn for us. April heard corn and, with mouth frothing, asked if she could have some. A low income family (been there done that) with 3 kids, of course we said yes. They came over today and picked up some of the corn and (YES!!) took some of our green onions, too. Their oldest daughter has some development problems, and the two younger ( 10, 9 & 8) tend to band together against Trinity, so I have a soft spot in my heart for her. Sam (the Hutterite with 8 kids) took all of their kids for a quad ride. They were in heaven!! I, however, was fading fast, and by the time every one was gone, I was beat. Jim heated up some frozen hor'd'oevres we had been given, for supper. Now, having slept for an hour, have some energy. Not much though, so I am off to bed. Love Ya

Be - Computers

They say (I never know who "they" is) that computers are like small appliances and last only so long and then it is best/cheaper to buy a new one (newer upgraded model) than to fix a broken one. I guess for this reason it is best not to save too much of importance, or at least to have a back up plan. I hope that you are lucky Patty in retrieving what is most important for you. I don't have any files saved because I don't use the computer for anything other than quick log ons to check e-mail, and to follow and write on this blog. Harry is on the computer mostly the rest of the time.
Busy weekend so far with baking, and preserving but have managed to eliminate a lot of the vegetables hanging around in form of cakes and muffins with the zucchini, and pickles with the cucumbers and juice with the tomatoes, and have made lots of meals of green beans, and pepper/zucchini stir frys etc. Tomorrow it is to Mothers ( it must be Monday again!) and I have pork chops, mashed potatoes planned for the meal with cake and fruit. Today I actually practiced some violin and I must say, I am very rusty. My first lesson is planned for Oct 5 ( my choice not to start in Sept because it will be so busy around here and I haven't practiced much anyway) I have had to use my sewing machine over the last week to mend articles including Mikes dress uniform jacket and it has stirred up my enthusiasm ( need?) to sew again - if only I had the time and space, as I have a lot of ideas flowing. Perhaps as winter draws closer, the time will materialize!
Anyway, hope you are both enjoying the long weekend. Patty, you will have the Ravenesque group over tomorrow, and Cathy, what are you up to? Take care....

Done deal!

David has a new computer. We have to wait over a week until they can send someone out to set it all up. Evidently this is their busiest time of year. Another rough day. We're going to crack a bottle of wine tonight. We only have 6 left and the new batch won't be drinkable for about a month. They have been able to save my e-mail saved files. They charge $29.95 for every type of file that they recover and put in the new machine, so we had to make some choices. I may be able to get my contacts, as this is part of the e-mail program--and they might decide to charge me. I've more or less decided that my schduling system might be more important. Oh well, I have a week to make up my mind.

How to waste time.

I have spent the day practising my procrastination over and over again, and it's still not perfect. but I did manage to waste several hours.

The computer is still at the shop but we have been assured that the memory is intact. However something else is "heating up" and they don't want to give it back until it's really fixed. Ka-ching! Ka-ching! so, today I brought the laptop upstairs to check on my e-mail--my little routine over my morning coffee. E-mail problems, but one message out of 13 got through. A troublesome one pertaining to one of my volunteer groups and something I had to deal with. In the middle of typing up a lengthy, considered response explaining why the organization is expected to adhere to privacy legislation,and why that meant that we didn't give/sell our membership lists, my laptop died. Turned out it hadn't been plugged in for two days. Thank Goodness the answer was that simple but talk about a shock.

Then downstairs to make little neck bags for the up coming retreat. I had bought decorative ribbon to use instead of cording after calculating the cost of each. So I worked out the pattern--including a trip to the store to buy more ribbon- and made up a prototype. I needed permission to proceed--no e-mail--and it had been strongly suggested that I have 16-20 of them done by Monday. So, I left a phone message. Now--she knew I was having computer problems-but she e-mailed back telling me that she had some cord and would bring it with her on Monday and she would get them done, using my machine! Say What! Well, of course, I cooled off before replying that this would be great.

All the time this was going on, I was working with Shaw Cable trying to get the e-mail back up. Obviously they are having problems all over today, as there were long waits and call backs, but finally I got to talk to a real live technician. He walked me through the system and then we discovered that the power bar for the whole system was off. One of the tricks we've discovered is to turn everything off for a couple of minutes when we are having "internet connectivity problems". this usually works but, my laptop, it now charged up, and I had been able to turn it on using battery power without turning on power to the whole system. Without power the modem won't work.
Ar-g-h-h-h-h.

Last night I went to an Embroidereres' Guild meeting. My internal response to the meeting/discussion/environment was frustration and anger. During the drive home, I spent a lot of time talking to myself and coming to the realization that--right now--I'm in a very unpleasant space, and I'm not very happy with the person I appear to be becoming. This morning, when I looked in the mirror, I noticed that my hair is getting very thin again--a sure sign of stress. I'm not sure how to deal with this, or even what's causing it.

Then, when I finally got e-mail there was a message telling me that a friend had died last night. I had been told only two days ago that she had made the decision to d/c treament for cancer and was entering a palliative care program. So quick. She was about 10 years younger than I am. Another incentive to figure out what's going on and fix it. Life is too short.

Be- What a week - what a day!

Left at 5 am this morning for Petawawa and was in time for the Graduation Ceremony. It was held outdoors on the parade square with podium set up and chairs for audience under awnings. What a thrill to see the graduates march on in drill formation to the drums and bagpipes playing behind them. I got a few really good pictures of Mike using my zoom lens but as with my trip, I cannot see what I am taking because of the sun on the little camera viewing space. So it was by guess and by golly but seemed to work. I will get them developed at WalMart on Tuesday. We left the dog at home and when we arrived back at 2:30 pm she was well ready to go outside and pee. I just went up to the corner store and bought a ticket for the draw tonight and also a bag of potato chips. This is a real treat for me and I figured I deserved it for getting through the week! Don't you think that's OK?
The long weekend traffic was terrible and I imagine will just get worse before tonight is over. I am thinking of Mike who is also driving his car back to North Bay with his friend who was also on the course, this afternoon after they had lunch - I will relax when I get his phone call that he is safely home. He says they plan to celebrate tonight once home.
Well, after not being home much this week, I know what my weekend will look like - all the vegetables have to be processed - tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers. But tonight I need to just chillout, or else go right to bed. But then when will I eat my bag of chips if I don't stay up for awhile?
Hope you both have a great long weekend - it really is the "end of summer" isn't it. How is the computer making out at the doctors, Patty? It is always a scary process especially since I know so very little about them and how they work, I would never know if the technicians are credible or not. Take care...

Morning or evening...

I find that when I wake up in the morning my mind is not functioning enough to write, and by the time work is over I am either to frustrated or too tired or both. I think that is called living. I got your letter full of "sayings" Tuesday, Beth. Thank you so much. I have already used two of them. Elizabeth was there last night when I was putting a new one up and I asked if she thought it was worth it. She said she enjoys them and she is sure everyone is reading them even if they don't say anything. I will keep going. It's becoming almost a ritual with me now. Still cool and rainy here. The cucumbers and tomatoes are getting ahead of me now. Like I said, I am so beat after work I just want to sit. It's a good thing that I don't have a physical job! It's just getting light when I get up in the morning now, and dark long before I go to bed. Why is summer so short?! We work meat draw tomorrow night, and then as far as I know Whitemud is in rehearsal starting next week. I foolishly offered to be prompter again. I also seem to be ending the summer with a cold. I thought it was allergies, but I have had a sore throat the last couple of days. Oh goodie! I checked my lottery tickets and I have failed us again. I'll have to keep working another few days (just until the next draw :P) Time for an0ther cup of tea and then I better get ready for work once again.

Music

Lately I've been listening to some of my older cds. These are often compilations and often contain a couple of operatic pieces--which I've been enjoying. Well, I was in Chapters yesterday, and went into the music section to see if I could find a cd of opera with tenors. With my hearing, I just can't deal with sopranos or violins. Beth, I dealt with the same funny little man as we spoke to when we bought the k.d. lang cd. I thought he was going to pee himself when I told him I was looking for "Opera for Dummies". He found a wonderful compilation for me with a tremendous variety of pieces and singers--including several sopranos. So I had to tell him that I couldn't deal with sopranos and only wanted tenors. I don't think that man will ever forget either of us. Anyway, I ended up with The Best of the Tenors--selections from three different concerts by the "Three Tenors". I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Disaster here. The desk top died on Monday. It's in "computer hospital" ( Ka-ching! Ka-ching!) as we speak. We are told that if it's the operating system, ( their first suspicion)our data can probably be saved, as the hard drive would be safe. If the "mother board"is involved, or the hard drive itself, we can still recover data but it's a very expensive process--and not one that can probably be justified for a home computer. Anyway, David may go into "poker withdrawl" any time now. But with the computer room in a termoil, it gives us a good chance to clean up in there. Unfortunately, I've been keeping all of my important e-mails in folders within my e-mail program. I'm worried about that, along with my e-mail addresses. Thank Goodness I've been using memory sticks for a lot of my volunteer activites.

David took the car in for an oil change this morning, and was told that we have a problem with our tires--they appear to be separating ( whatever that means!) They are fairly new tires with very little wear, so they are calling in an appraiser from the tire company-- who just happens to be on holiday right now. And our service guy is starting holidays on Friday. So it'll be a couple of weeks before anything can be done. They assured him that we are safe in the meantime. We're really hoping to get some sort of pro-rated price for new ones, but, even so, we'll still have to pay for installation and balancing. Amazing how everything appears to come at once. Looks like a lean month at the Findlay household.