……I’m back from the cottage
New Flower (July 9, 2105) – Stripped Petunia
1
Share Your World 2015 – Week 26
…..half way through the year….thanks Cee for 4 more questions
In a car would you rather drive or be a passenger?
It depends. On long trips I like to switch it up. I find I get tired very quickly and need to take frequent breaks. It also depends on whose driving. If it’s my Dad I’d rather be driving.
If you were handed free opera tickets, would you go or sell them? Why?
I would go. I’ve only been to one opera and I wouldn’t mind seeing some more.
Describe your own outlook on life in seven words or less. (NOTE: does not necessarily have to be a sentence.)
Experience all that life offers. Keep learning.
Which would you prefer: a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure–intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks; or a contented bordering on happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood?
Can’t I have a combination of both? I like the idea of joy, passion and adventure and living a contented life surrounded by friends and family. When I was younger I used to think that fame and fortune were important. Not so much anymore.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful that school is out and that I’m finally on vacation. I spent a wonderful weekend with family and friends and I finally spent time with my friend MC who is recovering from hip surgery. I’m grateful that she’s doing so well. I was worried for her because she doesn’t handle pain medication well but it looks like they found right dosage so that she didn’t have to suffer complications from the medicine.
This week I’m looking forward to getting up to the cottage. It’s taken me longer than I had planned but as soon as I finish this article I’m off.
I’m Still in the City
….I woke up with every intention on leaving for the cottage today
I woke up fairly early and started to gather up the things I need for the trip to the cottage. My husband left with the dog to visit our daughter in Hamilton. He has an appointment tomorrow so he wasn’t able to join me on this trip. After he left I started looking for the cooler to pack my food. I couldn’t find it. There was an old one here but it needed a good cleaning. Then I couldn’t find the drill. Without it I won’t be able to get into the cottage.
I texted, emailed and phoned my husband. It took awhile before I heard back from him. The drill was at our daughter’s place and the cooler was in the back of his car. He said he’d hurry back after lunch but I told him to take his time. The drill needed to be charged anyway.
So I packed my clothes, wrote a letter to a friend in the U.S., cleaned the kitchen, did more laundry, put away some clothes, and cooked dinner. I then walked up the street to mail the letter and pick up some fresh berries and vegetables to take with me tomorrow. I also ordered tickets for the Pan Am Games. We’re going to see three women’s soccer games with our daughters. The last one will be the finals. There has been so much pessimism about these games that we felt we really had to support them. Maybe we’ll pick up a couple more events when the Para Pam Am games start in August.
I also found the time to upload three new books to my e-reader. In the past I’ve had issues getting the books from my computer onto the Kobo but today I added wifi to the devise and the transition was seamless. Ahhhh, technology. I love it when it works. Now I also have my summer reading at my fingertips.
So I thought I had used up all my excuses for not getting up to the cottage. Hopefully there won’t be anything else keeping me here in the city.
No More Excuses!
….well I can always find more excuses
I’ve been looking forward to going to the cottage for months and I’ve been off school since Friday and I still haven’t made it up there. What’s wrong with me? Well nothing actually. I have some good reasons for not being there yet.
On Sunday my very good friend, AB, was having one last party at her house before she moves to her new condo. She’s been in that house for over 30 years and we’ve had many a celebration there. It was great seeing a lot of the old faces from past parties and we also celebrated AB’s birthday.
On Monday we had to wait for the guys from the appliance store to determine if our new washing machine should be replaced. They were there less than 5 minutes but it was at the end of the day. They delivered the new machine today.
Before the appliance guys arrived I did some shopping and I purchased flowers for my containers in the front and back yards. I don’t know why but I always leave my planting till well into June. Of course I couldn’t go to the cottage with that weighing on my conscience. I also renewed my membership for the concert series and mailed the cheque.
Today I filled up the car with gas. Tomorrow is a holiday in Canada so I wasn’t sure if the Costco gas station would be open. The store is closed for sure. I also filled one of our propane tanks to take with me and I purchased two large bottles of water and a few supplies that I will need for my trip.
At home I cleaned the bird cage, cleaned the debris off my lawn (branches and leaves that had fallen during Sunday’s rain storm), pulled a few weeds, and swept the porch, sidewalk and the street in front of our house. Actually I couldn’t believe that I was compelled to sweep the leaves off the street. It seems that I kept finding jobs to do that kept me from getting in the car and driving north.
After the new washing machine arrived today I did a couple of loads of washing. It seems to be working just fine. I went for a long walk with the dog, helped my husband make dinner and then watched the FIFA Women’s World Cup game.
Well I think I’ve run out of excuses to not go to the cottage. Except that my oldest daughter called tonight and thought I was driving her to the airport tomorrow night. She’s okay with me not doing it but I’m feeling a little guilty.
My husband won’t be coming with me tomorrow and I hate opening the cottage by myself. I have to take the board down over the main door, move the fridge and connect it to the propane tank and set up the BBQ. Then there’s checking all the rooms for evidence of rodents and possible water damage from all the rain. I have to clean out the water barrel and fill it up and put away the food, make the beds and sweep the floors.
Once this is all done I can relax, assuming that no problems are lying in wait for me to fix. Of course I could stay home and not go up until my husband is able to join me but that could take another week or more. I think I’ll have to chance it and go up on my own. Wish me luck. By the way, I have no electricity or wifi connection so it may be a few days before I can post another article.
Sunday Trees – 189
….rained all day weekend so I had to go into the archives to find a tree for Becca Givens weekly challenge
Branching out from below. Not sure why this old tree decided to start branching out closer to the ground.
Should Have Gotten on my Hands and Knees Right Away
….my last resort should have been the first thing I did
I found my glasses! Yay!!!!!
It only took 2 1/2 days. After sorting through mounds of paper, piles of clothes, numerous purses and bags and getting my husband to look under the seats in my car I knew that I had to start looking under furniture. If I didn’t have such a sore knee I would have done it sooner.
Last night I took a flashlight and started upstairs in my bedroom. I looked under the bed, behind the blanket boxes and under and inside the night tables. No luck. This morning I went to the chair that I sit in all the time to write my blog posts. I carefully lowered myself to the floor, being careful not to put too much weight on my right knee. Voila! There it was, between the chair and the bookcase, hidden by the power bar and the cords. Why didn’t I go there first? In hind sight it was the most obvious place.
Oh well, the main thing is that I found my glasses and I no longer have to wear my sunglasses on cloudy and rainy days. In the process of looking I found several other things that needed my attention, like paying for the dog’s license, renewing my subscription to the WMCT concert series and finding things that our dog chewed up and needed to be thrown away.
Maybe someone should invent a tracking device to put on glasses. It seems that losing your glasses is not such an unusual occurrence.
Cheers!
Travel Theme – Tiny
…..thanks to Where’s My Backpack? for hosting this week’s travel theme – tiny
Time for a Good Cleaning
….when things start to go missing you know it’s time to clean
The first official day of my summer holiday and it’s pouring rain. Luckily I got out for a bit of a walk this morning before the skies opened up. The boys came over early enough to cut the grass as well and I got a little bit of weeding done.
My daughter A and her partner J ran a 5km race today and I missed it. They also lucked out and finished before the rain started. My daughter finished her race in 27 minutes and J (her first race ever) completed it in 33 minutes. Very impressive!
Unfortunately we didn’t get out in time to take in the Farmers’ Market. By the time we got there it was teaming with rain and most of the vendors had already packed up and left. We headed back for home but stopped at the top of the street and had a coffee at the Portuguese Bakery. Our son texted us from Paris with a photo of him and his fiancé at an outdoor cafe so my husband took a photo of me with my latte and sent it back to him.
My husband’s caption: Enjoying a latte from our own Paris cafe in beautiful New Toronto.
Notice anything different about me in this photo? Well I’m not wearing my glasses and not because I’m vain (I am a little bit). Remember when I said that ‘when things go missing it’s time to clean’? Well it’s my glasses that I’ve lost. I know that I wore them home on Thursday because I drove home and I would never drive without them. I do have prescription sunglasses and I wore those yesterday and today when driving but I’m really stumped as to where I’ve placed my regular glasses.
Since we’ve been back I have been cleaning the kitchen, going through my school bags, turning things upside down and looking in the most unusual places and I still haven’t found them. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go on my hands and knees and start looking under things, like my bed, night table, living room couch, and bathroom vanity. The only reason I haven’t I haven’t done it yet is because I fell a few weeks ago and I injured my right knee. The only time I feel any pain is when I kneel on it. A few times I’ve forgotten about it, especially when I go to bed. I can’t crawl into bed because I get a searing pain in the knee so I have to sit on the bed and swing my legs over the edge.
Well there are still a lot of places to clean in my house so I guess I’d better get back to work. The rain still hasn’t let up.
If you have any suggestions as to where my glasses might be drop m a line.
Cheers
Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge – Week 50
….Ronovan has given us the prompts ‘gain and hound’ for this week’s challenge
No Pain, No Gain
My fitness tracker
hounds me daily to walk more
for modest health gains
The Lake is my Muse
….this week’s Word Press Photo Challenge is muse
I am attracted to water and because I live in Ontario most of my water photos are of fresh water lakes. I live 100 meters from Lake Ontario, 100km from Niagara Falls and my cottage is on Georgian Bay.
