Watermelons

My youngest great granddaughter M was one year old yesterday,  and an outside family party was held to celebrate.  

The weather was perfect for a swim in the pool, unfortunately not for me though, but everyone else had a great time, even the birthday girl in her umbrella covered floaty.  

BBQ and salad was our late lunch, all served on the theme of the day, watermelon designed plates, cups and napkins.   A birthday cake designed to resemble a watermelon  and a mixed fruit salad for dessert.

To keep everyone hydrated throughout the afternoon slices of watermelon were always available along with a can of sparkling water with a watermelon flavour.

Watermelon is not one of my favorite fruits, I did however, have some as it was icy cold and went down nicely to cool me down.

I also stayed for a later dinner of pizza and a mixed salad, which was very nice.   Then it was almost time for the little ones to get ready for bed, so I said my goodnights and my son brought me home.

I had a lovely day, as I do not get to see all the people I saw as they are all so busy working and my son and DIL live a 2 hour drive away.  

A good time was had by all.

Have a great day.

Cheers

Removed----NO

 I was hoping my appointment today, would result in the neck brace to be removed.   Another appointment with the specialist on August 20th will determine if it can be removed at that time.

Still waiting for a CAT scan which is scheduled for sometime in September and an appointment with an ENT Dr. when is yet unknown.

After I was all finished at the hospital I took both of my daughters out for lunch.

Lovely sunny day today.

Cheers

Have a great day.

Improving

 Glad to say I have a bit more energy, however,  because of the fracture in my neck the brace I have to wear 24/7 won't allow me to do much of anything.

Hoping my CAT scans at the end of the month shows sufficient improvement and the neck brace can be removed.

Having to rely on my family and friends to do things for me, makes me feel so useless, however, at this point in time I do not have any choice in the matter.

Several heavy thunders storms have rolled through the area this morning, looking at the weather network it shows that more could come through later today.

Cheers

Have a great day.

Home

 I went on my vacation. however did not have one.

Flew to Sweden, had an accident four hours into a tour and that was the end of holiday.

Spent 2 1/5 weeks in a Stockholm hospital, discharged when one of my daughters came to accompany me home.

Going to be a few weeks of recovery but expect to be as good as new eventually.

I am doing okay, when you are in your later years it does take a little bit longer to get back to the norm.

Just so glad I am home among family and familiar faces, being 7000 miles or more from home, alone in a foreign country is not a pleasant.

Cheers

have a great day.

 

Counting and bags

Finally, we have blue sky, but it is definitely cooler.  I will take it as I got a bit tired of grey skies, rain and wind.  Grey days are not my friend, I do not have much energy during those days.  Love to get outside but, I am not walking or even sitting outside when its so wet.   Oh! I  am starting to sound like an old woman. never mind I will get done what did not get taken care of during the past few days.

So, what needs to get done, just those little chores around the house that never seem to need to be taken care of, that will keep me busy for a little while.  Some fabric needs to be taken to a fellow guild member and a quick trip to pick up some milk.  

Counting?    Counting the days to going on vacation next week. 

I am sure Canada is just like many other countries in the world today, they are reducing the number of "one time use" plastic bags.  Which is long over due in my opinion.  When recycled bags were introduced, every store encouraged people to buy them for a small fee.  Very few people had used bags or even baskets when going to a store, so it was a big learning curve to take the bags you already had at home with you.  At the check out,  you realize no plastic bags, so people, me included had to buy bags to get groceries or what ever was purchased home.   After forgetting several times, bags piled up at home until finally we got into the habit of taking them with us.  Every store now gives recycled bags which advertise the store or product, adding to the pile in the closet.  There are so many recycled bags out there now, what do we do with them all.   As we are not sure what they are made of, what recycle container do we put them in, plastic, paper, fabric or just throw them in garbage.  I have given some to charity shops for their customers to use, however, that did little to reduce my pile.   What do you do with the excess recycle bags?

Now that I am on the recycling subject, there is another thing that upsets me.  I don't know if it is still done or not, however, some time ago, if you used the plastic milk bags, you were encouraged to donate the outer bag which contains the three 1 litre bags of milk.  Organizations would take these bags cut them up into strips and either knit or crochet them into mats.  These mats were then shipped to poor countries where there were a large number of people who had the bare minimum of possessions and they were  placed on the ground to be used as a bed.    This was and possibly still is a wonderful way to help these people.   However, even though it reduced the plastic going into our landfills and helped people less fortunate than us, it contributed greatly to the waste in the countries where the beds were shipped.  As I mentioned most of these countries were poor and I am sure had no recycling programs so what happened to these beds when they were no longer used.  Tossed on the ground, thrown in water ways that led to the ocean?  Your opinion on this subject.

Well those blue skies are calling and I need that milk.

Have a great day,

Cheers.

Butterfly

The month of May was a very busy month for me.

Birthdays in my immediate family and in my sister's family was the cause for celebrations for most of them, I even got to the point of not wanting to see another cake smeared with icing and flames burning from the candles.   Social and other family gatherings took up several days of the month also.  I was feeling like a social butterfly flitting here there and everywhere.

Butterflies!! Back in the spring I went to a butterfly conservatory and told my eldest daughter "B" about all of the butterflies and the different stages of their lives in which they were in.  She thought it would be a great idea to research this subject a little more for her grandchildren.  She eventually went to a school supply store and ordered caterpillars and all of the supplies for these wriggling hairy creatures.   The caterpillars recently arrived, so caring for them  has now begun.  

Instructions, containers and food were all included in the kit.  The caterpillar's ate most of the food provided and  the pictures she sent me indicated some of them are now hanging in the  container in the chrysalis  stage.  The next photo will likely show all of them hanging, so now they wait for the Painted Lady butterflies to emerge.  When they do they are released into the wild to continue to cycle of life.

This past month we have had a mixed bag of weather, hot, wet, windy and thunder storms.  Also very humid conditions and then a risk of frost, which thankfully, did not happen in my area,  Today, it is raining, quite heavy I might add.

I am expecting all of the paperwork for my trip to arrive soon, so then I can start counting the days.  I have mentioned in the past, I am a list maker, so yes, all of the lists have been made, ready to check off everything.

All of the new bells and whistles on my car are taking a lot of getting use to.  The instruction manual leaves a lot to be desired for this brain of mine.  Just as most manuals for equipment these days, they assume you know most of what it is trying to tell you.  I have been driving for a lot of years, so certainly know how to do that, however, now every time I go out I concentrate of mastering at least one new function this car has.   My old car was a basic key to start, look in the mirrors for traffic etc, and was certainly made before the screen that shows everything but the heart beat of the vehicle.  I am loving the way this car handles, so glad I moved up to the modern world of driving.

Next week my quilting guild will be having our pot luck lunch to end our meetings for the Summer.  We usually have our meal and social gathering outside in one of our member's lovely garden, however, the weather looks a bit unsettled this week, so other plans might need to be made.  

That's all for now.

Have a wonderful day,

Cheers

Out of town

After a lovely weekend of a birthday party and a Mother's day tea, I am still on the move.

After being advised on Saturday, my new ride would be ready for pick up on May 15th.  A trip to the big city with son and DIL late on Sunday, now just waiting for tomorrow.

My old car has seen better days, it runs well for it's age, however, now I drive on my own, I wanted a vehicle I could rely on to get me there and back again.  So, a new car was ordered and then had to wait a considerable long time for it to be made and shipped to the dealership.

Not having purchased a car for a good many years, and being an old woman did not want to be taken advantage of.  Not saying I would be but, it did happened to me during a repair job on my car years ago.  My son has helped with this purchase, so feeling a lot better about the whole process.

We had a brief thunder storm and rain last evening, and it is dull grey today with rain threatening for most of the day according to the weather forecast, only consolation it is not cold.

Hoping it clears up somewhat for my trip home tomorrow.  Not a fan of driving on the very busy road I need to go on, plus there is a lot of construction on it too.   It is now construction season in Ontario.

Have a great day.

Cheers.