The rain is gone???

 Well it looks as if we might see the start of some sunshine today.   Still looking a bit grey in parts of the sky, however, it is brighter.

The weather has a big impact on me, this past few days when it has been grey and wet I have had absolutely no energy to do anything.  Coupled with that seeing how uncomfortable Hubby has been feeling, I have done nothing and I mean nothing, just a swish around the bathrooms, they need freshening up every day and getting meals.  The rest of the time fitting around in the sewing room.  So today I should get my rear in gear and do something, housework needs to be done.  My house is not dirty, but I know the vacuum, dust cloth and mop have been in the cupboard and not used.

Hubby is now feeling a lot better, still a lot of bruising but, time will take care of that.   The stitches are the dissolving kind, so they should start doing that within the next few days.   He can't believe he has done nothing for the past week, certainly not like him at all.  Actually the wet weather has been a blessing, for him anyway, as he could not do anything outside.   That could all change tomorrow as the grass has been growing with all the rain and is in need of a trim. 

Went into our local well known world wide department store yesterday, and found it very untidy and dirty and felt as if I was in a different country with all the nationalities of the staff.  I don't like to mentioned what I am about to write, however, I had to come outside and see what country flag was blowing on the pole in the parking lot to make sure I was in Canada.   Everyone is entitled to live and have a job any where they want to, (there are limits, I know), however, if you move from the country you were born in to another, at least learn the language and follow the customs and laws of the new country.   Don't try and change your new home into the one you just left.   I am an immigrant, I had to change, not as much as some but, I had to change.

Don't know if I will shop there again, however, having said that, I do get a vitamin that Hubby and I take for our eyes, it is a lot cheaper, at least half of what the drug store charges, so will go to above store for that and only that.  Rant over.

October is going to be a very busy month for us, birthday parties, appointments, theatre, meetings, a quilt show and more meetings.   I have a feeling October will be here and gone before we know it.

Dinner?   a good question, should go and see what I feel like preparing, so with that I am out of here.

Cheers.

Amongst the living

 Hubby is feeling a bit better today, still bruised and sore but, not so much.  On the road to recovery, he is certainly hoping so.

Damp again over night and again this morning, we are suppose to get full on rain this afternoon.  The sky is looking very grey and heavy so, it looks as if the forecast is going to be right.   

I was sooooo lazy yesterday, I did clean up the kitchen appliances, fridge, stove, microwave etc etc. but that was about all, then went into the sewing room made a mess in there but like the result from all the bits and pieces of fabric which are now strewn all over the place.  Organized mess? sure, I know where everything is but, soon all will be cleaned up.  When finished, which will be soon, as it will be going into a quilt show in October, I  will post a photo.

Not much else going on here today, we did get groceries this morning, store not very busy at all.

Dinner tonight chicken not sure what else, will find something I am sure, as all the cupboards and fridge are full once again. 

Cheers. 

Monday

 It is raining again, just as was in the forecast, hope it dries up towards mid week as I do need to get into the garden, empty the annuals in the planters and also do something with the tomato plants.  They did not do well this year, too hot and dry even though they did get watered every day.  Trying to remember the poinsettia every morning and evening, just need to get into a different routine to do that.

Hubby is still feeling very sore, lots of bruising down the upper part of his back around the left side of his neck.  One of the incisions is located on  a crease in his neck, so anticipate a long healing process for that particular spot.  Still not doing anything but, catching up on his reading, watching TV and doing more things on his computer.   I am glad that it is raining as it is keeping him inside, I know he would be chomping at the bit to do some work outside if it is nice weather.

I worked a a new sewing project yesterday afternoon, a collage of a bumble bee, want to get it completed if I can to enter into a quilt show later October, should be no problem if all goes the way I want it to.

Had call from GD "K" yesterday, she is having to get use to a new routine going into the university lab every day and writing papers  about her experiments, some of which she will be submitting for publication.   A prof. she had last year invited her to go to the Agriculture Canada lab to work also, so a busy young lady.  Her bicycle was locked up in the hall of her apartment building but, got stolen recently, now she is having to walk or take the bus everywhere she wants to go.  Such an inconvenience for her.

Cooked a delicious, if I do say so myself, roast beef dinner yesterday.  Potato, brussels, carrots and gravy and of course horse radish.  Enough left over for dinner tonight, so don't have to cook, just nuke it.

My fridge needs a clean today, so when this is finished I will do that.

Cheers\

Weekend...already!!

Really, where do the days go, seems as if it was Monday yesterday.

As mentioned previously we live in an area not far from a university.  This weekend is traditionally an unofficial "Home Coming" weekend.  Students party and I mean party, not a few friends but, hundreds flock to certain streets near the university and drink, cause a lot of noise, damage to property and  some end up in hospital in  serious condition from antics that went wrong.    

Late yesterday there was a note stuck to our door which advised the house across the street, (in which students live) was going to have a party and if they got too noisy to text a number to advise them to quiet down.  Their get together did not bother us as we were on the opposite side of the house, however, looking out the window when we went to bed, hundreds of people and police were out on the street telling everyone the party was over and to leave.  I don't wish anyone to be ill, however, hope these young people are feeling just a bit worse for wear this morning.

Hoping the weather, rain will dampen any parties that are happening tonight, time will tell.

Hubby is hurting still and it must be more than he is letting on, as usually he is up and on the go all the time, however, yesterday he had a couple of naps and still not doing anything today.  His body is telling him to take it easy and for once he is listening.  

Laundry on and should do some more housework,  then plan on going into the sewing room this afternoon.  Today, there is not much that can be done outside, even though there are some things that need to be taken care of.  I did bring my poinsettia in yesterday and put it in the dark fruit cellar, now I need to remember to take it out every morning and put it back in the dark in the evening.  

We had burgers and corn on the cob for dinner. it was so good even if I do say so myself.  Corn on the cob is the only way I like corn and what I got from a local farm is delicious.  The corn will be coming to an end very soon.

Cheers

Meeting and change of plans.

 Yesterday was a miserable cold wet and windy day, just like one we would expect in November.  Last night it was cold!! temp went down to 5*C and the furnace is now on.   Today, well it is a lovely sunny day but, still cool.  "Tis that time of the year.

Last night was my first quilting meeting since June, lots of business to talk about and it was so nice to see everyone again.  

Yesterday, Hubby had day surgery on the back of his neck, he had a cancer cell removed.   We expected just a small cut to remove it as he has had done twice in the past.  Well, it looks as if Zorro used his sword to carve his initials  on his neck.  Up into his hair line and down the back of his neck,  30 stitches to close it all up and lots of bruising.  We therefore, have postponed or maybe even cancelled our trip we were going to take.  Even moving his arms to drive is painful for him.  

As we were expecting to go away we did not buy a lot of groceries earlier in the week, so this morning I made a trip to stock up on fruit, veg and dairy products, did not need much more.  

Now, I will go and get our mail, then go into my sewing room for an hour or so.

Have a great day.

Cheers

Pat

I am back

 I have had a break from blogging, nothing much to tell you about, however, back now.

We have had several heavy showers and thunder storms during the past few days and the temps have dropped considerably today, a sure sign Autumn is here.   It is very windy here with a mixture of sun and cloud and cool.   

Some of the leaves are starting to change into their Fall finery,  it seems as if they change later in the season every year.   Hubby believes the seasons are shifting, thinking he maybe right.   

Another reason I have been absent is because DD1 has a family baby shower to attend this weekend, I should say babies as there are going to be twins arriving shortly.  She wanted me to make her a couple of baby quilts.  OK, she gave me ten days notice, I could easily make a quilt in that time, until she told me she wanted two.  What!   So I have been busy, they were picked up last evening and she was pleased with them.

This is a photo of the two quilts.

Tonight is the first meeting for our quilting guild since June.   We will have a lot to talk about so it will likely be a longer meeting than usual.  Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Hubby suggested we take a few days away, the weather does not look too promising for the beginning of the week, but if we don't do it now, we will likely not go.   We plan on visiting my two youngest granddaughters and also visiting a friend of Hubby's.   They live further north than us and usually the leaves turn colour before ours, so looking forward to some lovely colours.  At this point in time it looks as if we will be leaving on Sunday.

I have some cabbage to use up so thinking about making some lazy man's cabbage roll casserole.  There is also so broccoli too, so should do something with that,   soup sounds like a good idea, it is that time of the year.  

So I should make myself scarce and get busy.

Have a great day.

Cheers 

BBQ

Catching up......Friday was a lovely day, too nice to stay home, so we were on the road again.  This time visiting an area where a lot of Amish Mennonite families live.   We made our way to what I remember being a quaint village, now a commercialized town, so disappointing to see how much it had changed.  We stopped long enough to take a short walk then we were off again.   Driving along the roads we saw neat farms and the ever present work horse in the fields.  Also saw their mode of transport on the side of the road as we drove by,  the horse and buggy, likely taking the farmers home for their dinner.   As it was getting time for us to eat we decided to go to a restaurant I had also visited many years ago.   It is also run by one of the Amish Mennonite families, and has done for a long time.   It was a small quaint place back when,  now other dining rooms have been added on, likely due to the fact the food is delicious.   We had a nice roast beef dinner enjoyed it very much,  then had to walk through the every present, these days, the store to pay the bill.   The shelves were laden down with pies, preserves etc. all looked delicious but, we resisted the the temptations.  Now it was time to travel back home, the nights get cool when the sun starts to set, especially when the top is down.  Lovely day out.

Yesterday, was our family reunion BBQ get together,  all three of my children and their husbands and wife were there which was nice to see, it's been a long, long time.   My GS and his wife, GD and her husband, as well as all of my GG children.  My two GD and their husbands were not able to come and neither were the two GD;s  at university and collage,  The weather was warm enough the four youngest were able to be splashing around in a big wading pool, the older ones played a couple of games with myself and other adults.  Snacks and drinks through out the afternoon and  then dinner.  BBQed  burgers, sausage and hot dogs,  two  bean salads and cucumber salad,  potato casserole, and all of the accompaniments for the meats.  Fruit, cookies, cup cakes, brownies and ice cream for desserts.   Enjoyed by everyone.   All the little ones ranging in age from 12 to 3 years helped with the cleaning up by putting all the toys away and cleaning up the paper plates, cutlery etc.  Sorry, with that many people we used disposables, something we don't normally do.   Time for little ones to call it a day, they had had a busy one.  My son and DIL had a two hour ride home so left also.  We were not too far behind them arriving home at 8:30 p.m.  I had such a nice day, the weather co-operated, no tears from the littles, good food and family, what more can anyone ask for.

Today, is wind down day for me, it has turned cooler, no sunshine to speak of and rain is forecast for later in the day and tomorrow.  Going to go into my sewing room for a little while this afternoon.

Not sure what we are having for dinner, have not cooked in three days,  so better get my thinking cap on.

Concert & day trip

Sad news regarding Queen Elizabeth II.  I remember the Coronation and fancy dress parade and celebrations we were involved in when my sister and I were in England.   Sister "B" was "Little bow peep", instead of sheep, she had one of my Mother's goat's, Dad made a crook and a neighbour curled her hair in rags.  She won first prize, what it was, I don't remember.   I was dressed as Queen Elizabeth Ist, wearing a ruffled collar and a pale purple dress, which belonged to my aunt when she was the maid of honour at Mother and Dad's wedding.  In my china cabinet I have the mug which was given to all the children from our village to celebrate the coronation.  Such memories that are still in the back of my  mind.  

We registered for the free tickets for the Jazz concert some time ago, and went to the concert on Wednesday.   
After skirting around all of the road construction in this city (Summer is not called Summer here, the season is called Construction) we found a parking garage and  arrived in plenty of time to get a decent seat.  It was a full house of approximately 200 people, the concert started at 7:00 p.m. with, for the first time "door prizes", as our luck runs, we did not win any of the tickets to concerts  in other venues.   A group of three female singers were the special guests and sang some of the older songs of the McGuire Sisters, then moving through the years to  Abba then to more modern singers and their songs.  We thoroughly enjoyed the 1 3/4 hours of music.   The concert hall will have other special guests for the monthly concerts until the end of the year and we are hoping into 2023 also.

Yesterday, was a lovely day so the open road was telling up to take advantage of the warm temps and sunshine.  We packed our cold drinks and  ventured out, ending up along the lakeside.  We sat in the shade and watch boats of all kinds and sizes, which included a large lake freighter.  Dinner time, it just happens there is a fish and chip wagon parked nearby,  fish and chips was on the menu for us.   Oh, it was so good, and it doesn't hurt to be bad once in awhile does it?  Dinner was served in a plastic container, sprinkled with lots of malt vinegar, just as I like it..... yummy.    

 It was getting late in the day and as we had the convertible we needed to get going home before it got too chilly and dark.   An enjoyable day,  which could be the last one we have as Fall in closing in on us.

Obviously, no walking took place, however, on Wednesday I did 1 3/4 kms.

So what am I doing today, I will be taking some dessert to our family BBQ tomorrow, so need to make the Boston Cream cupcakes today.   Tomorrow, I will pick up a fruit tray at the grocery store.  Looking forward to seeing some of the family members.  My two GD's going to university and college live too far away to make the trip, but will see them at Christmas I am sure.  At the present time their education for their careers is more important.  GD "K" received her official letter of acceptance into the PhD program on Wednesday, and GD "C'" is now studying to fly larger planes.  GD's "N", "C" and 
GS "C" will not be able to come either, GD "D" and her family will be there.  

Dinner tonight liver and onions, need to source something else and desssert.

 

Salt & Pepper...Yellow?

 Yesterday, I had an appointment for a hair cut, the young woman I now go to is really good and does my hair just the way I want it.  In the past I have not had much luck with hair stylists, they seem to quit or move away, then I need to source another and "train" them.  Hope this one continues for awhile.

My hair colour was light brown, "mousey" brown is what was used to describe that colour, now it is "salt and pepper",   While the stylist was finishing up my hair she asked me "have you been swimming in a lot of pools this summer",  I have not even put on a bathing suit let alone gone swimming, which I can't do for the life of me anyway.  My swimming can be describe as "swimming like a brick", straight to the bottom.  I then asked her why she would ask that question, her reply, "your hair is a yellow tinge to it"  Well, she is not the only person who has said that, because Hubby did, as well as his cousin.  We though it might be from exposure to the sun, and it may well be.    I now have a shampoo to put on my hair to take that brassy look out.  In the shower this morning I poured out some of it out into my hand, "it's dark blue",!!! the suds were white, so time will tell if it changes my hair colour to just salt and pepper.

Fifty five years ago today, I was in surgery and looking forward to holding my baby after being in a hospital for a three months.  All of those months bedridden.  She was born about three weeks premature, healthy but small, so needed to stay in the hospital until she was at least 5 lbs.  Now she is a healthy woman, she had major issues trying to have her own children and she and her husband adopted two girls, one in 1999 and another in 2002, both very smart young ladies now.

I did not walk yesterday, my excuse...don't have one, with one thing and another I just did not seem to have time in the day to do it.  Was going to do a short on after dinner, but that did not happen either.

Hubby was up early this morning even before I woke up, put in a load of his dirty clothes  in the washer and dryer..  

Going to a jazz concert tonight, looking forward to that.  Need to have an early dinner, so it will be beef on a bun and salad.  Need to rustle up something for dessert, so better get moving. 

Cheers

Sunny

When we went into the grocery store this morning it was cloudy and looked as if it was going to be "one" of those days again, coming out after spending a small fortune, it was a different day.  The sky was blue and the sun had warmed up the air.  It amazes me how fast the clouds can disappear because we were not in the store for a long time.

I believe my antiquated pedometer  was not working properly for the first days of my walks, as  I have been doing the same route for several days.  Previous readings were 2 miles which is wrong as the new watch I now have indicates the route was not that long.   On Sept 2nd. I did 1.23 kms, not the 2 miles.   On Sept 5th I walked 2.13kms, trying to increase the distance a little each day by walking through the field across the road.   Will be walking later today as I have a hair appointment this afternoon.

Our area of the city is now full of returning university  students, it seems strange to see all of the people waking past the house again, (we are on a direct route from multiple rental properties to the main campus), it has been so quiet for the past two years.   We see people from countries far and wide, plus students from all over Canada come past our house during the school year.   

Yesterday, was Labour day here, and I did very little, worked on the two quilts I am making, it's not labour it is something I find relaxing, until I sew something together wrong.  When that happens it's time to take a rest and walk away from it and return later to fix.   

Had a message from my who is recovering from Covid, this is now the start of the 8th week, she is feeling better and stronger, and should be 100% in a few weeks.  So glad she is well on the road to recovery.

Dinner tonight, chicken, broccoli, baked potato and the remaining chocolate mousse I made yesterday.

Dull and dreary

Not very nice weather for a holiday weekend, Saturday was a lovely day, however, yesterday and today are damp, with just enough rain or drizzle to make everything wet.  A rain that does not do anything to help the ground get the moisture it desperately needs.   The temps are cooler than we have been used to, so that is shock to the system but, we will have to get use to it, it's coming.

My tomatoes are taking forever to ripen, only picking three or four a day, which is hardly enough for us even if they are added to a salad.  May have to put them in a paper bag with an apple later to get them to ripen.  I tried that a couple of years ago and it worked quite well,  every other day I checked them to make sure none of them were turning bad, some stayed green and eventually shriveled up, so obviously they were no where near ready to be taken of the vines.

Need to take some cuttings from my geraniums soon, to let them get the most of the sun and rain before they come inside to over winter in the house.  Also, need to make sure I bring in the poinsettia this month and put it in the dark "cold cellar", and hope it will be changing colour in time for Christmas.

 What am I up to this Labour day holiday, not much just the usual things I do on a daily basis, for us every day is a holiday, so this one means nothing to us.   Looking forward to next weekend when DD1 has invited family over for a BBQ.  We are getting together now and it will be a Christmas in Sept. get together.  The family is getting quite large and everyone is so busy around Christmas, we never seem to get together, so decided we should do this.  Hoping it will become a tradition.

Did not walk yesterday, my excuse, the rain, I don't mind the cooler temps, however, when you get wet as well it is not pleasant, so decided against it.  The sky is brightening up a bit at the present time, 10:15 a.m., so hopefully, I will get my exercise in today.  A Doctor I had some time ago suggested I walk to help keep me regular, for me, it works, so must keep trying to do a little every day.

Started on the twin baby quilts for DD1 yesterday,  I had some fabric that was appropriate just had to add some other with it, looking OK so far.  Will do a bit more on them again today sometime, after the daily chores are all finished.

Hubby had to use the umbrella to keep him dry while he cooked a steak for dinner last night, a baked potato and corn on the cob, plus a piece of lemon cake was on the menu. 

Tonight we are having pizza and salad, will need to source something for dessert.

Saturday

First load in the laundry, another one to go in soon.  We do not make seem to make a lot of laundry these days.  Just the usual towels, bedding and unmentionables, also enough darks to make a load, so it is done in no time at all.

I did get the step tracker and was able to get it working with my phone, however, this ancient mind has a lot of trouble doing this sort of thing, so it just needs to be tweaked a bit.   So asked son "B', (he is an IT manager for a big company that does payrolls for other companies), for his help.   He is a couple hundred miles from me so it is not easy.   May have to wait until I see him next weekend, if the problem is not solved by then.  I get so angry with myself for being so ignorant in things like this, it is hard to teach this  old dog new tricks I am afraid.   

Another lovely sunny day, Hubby has just gone off to take a load to the recycle depot.  Where does all of this stuff come from anyway.  At least we can recycle it, so it is not in the  garbage dump.

Neither Hubby nor I got a good nights sleep, very unusual for us.   He woke at 4:00 a,m, to make a trip to the loo,  in the process of getting back in bed he woke me, so off I went to.  He tossed an turned, which in turn made it hard for me to get back to sleep.   Apparently we both must have dropped off to sleep eventually, and did not wake again until 8:00 a,m,  

I did the same route for my walk yesterday, so another 2 miles done.  I will continue with this route for  seven days and then either change the location or make the current route longer, so as to increase the steps and mileage.

For all of my Canadian and American readers have a great Labour Day weekend.  In Ontario, families will be getting ready to send their children off to school on Sept 7th.   Hopefully, all of the students going to classes will be able to complete this school year without having to do at home learning. 

Dinner tonight is ham, veg and not sure what else, will need to get my thinking cap on soon.

Cheers

Got it

Up earlier than usual to get to the store for the step tracker I wanted to get before they all sold out.  The store that had the special is known to have only one or two of the items on sale and then try to sell a more expensive option, which of course, is shown right next to the empty shelf of the ones that were on sale. 

Lots of dew this morning, the sun is shining so it should soon be all dried up.   A lovely day of sun and warm temps, however, is suppose to get humid this afternoon and the temp feeling like the mid 30"s.

Had a visit from DD1 just a few minutes ago, a co-worker wanted some lettering attached  to a couple of quilts and then she asked if I had any baby quilts made that she could buy.  No, I didn't, so showed her some fabric, now I am making two quilts for her.  The babies are not here yet, so hopefully I have lots of time to get them finished.

The quilt top from h%ll is all finished.  not sure if I like it, however, the person receiving it will be a refuge so they will be happy to have it I am sure.

This is the quilt, as I have mentioned previously we were given the fabric and the pattern, both out of my comfort zone, as I usually work with more muted colours and a quilt not quite as busy.

Dinner tonight will be salmon not sure what else, I am sure we will have a well balanced meal on the plate.

Must get moving.

Cheers.

The saga continues

 A couple of days ago I mentioned the discovery of an old pedometer I had, I did, in fact have two.  One just registered miles and 10th of miles walked.  Quite ancient it seems from the sophisticated ones you can buy now.  The second one gave more information, calories used, steps etc. etc.   Did it work....of course not it needed a battery.   Hubby went to several stores to find the correct size..... nope.  I tried to call a well know world wide department store, not naming them to give free advertising for them,  maybe I should,  so that shoppers know about the poor phone service.  Anyway, I called customer service after pushing "0" , no one answered.  Tried most of the other departments, no answer, finally got the photo dept. and she put me on hold and then hung up.   Oh!!   I could get them on line, however, it would cost an arm and a leg to have them shipped.    

In the mail yesterday was a flyer for a well known store here in Canada which carries a wide array of auto, sports, household, garden and the like products.   On the front page was a unit much like a Fitbit, and as it was on sale, it was a very good price.  Normally these things are only guaranteed for a year anyway, so if it only lasts that long I would be happy.   So off we go, find a sales rep. (that seems like a task in itself these days) and took it to the check out.  Much to my surprise and the rep. it was full price on the screen, he could not understand until he looked at the flyer I took with me.   Well, sale does not start until Friday.  Oooops.  So you know where I will be first thing tomorrow.

Seems like I am venting here all the time over one thing or another.   Must be the age thing, anyway that is my excuse.

Today, to keep my promise to you I will use the mileage unit until I get the above tomorrow.

It is a beautiful day, so I am off of here and going to get my walking shoes.

UPDATE

Returned from my walk.....

Two and almost 2/10th of a mile this morning.    It was a lovely day so thoroughly enjoyed it.