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Author Archives: sulis303

crumby day…

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by sulis303 in Uncategorized

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busy, camera + app, crumby day, loose siding, planter, rainy, visitor, windy

was windy and rainy all day long… didn’t help much with energizing me to get stuff done…

spent a good part of the day in front of the TV, reading and packing a few more things into the suitcase…

went out to the garage and potted up the new planter I bought… it was raining a bit at the time, so I didn’t want to work on it in the front yard… then after it was filled with rocks and soil and plants, I managed to move it slowly to the front and got right to the steps but couldn’t find a way to get it up where I wanted it…

so it is sitting at the bottom of the steps waiting for my son-in-law to come by tomorrow and move it up…

planter waiting to move to its new home...

planter waiting to move to its new home…

while I was out there I checked the side of the house, because since yesterday afternoon I’ve been hearing noises from outside the bedroom… the first time I heard them I thought something had got into the attic… but as the evening went on I realized that it was likely loose siding… and it was…

siding flapping in the wind...

siding flapping in the wind…

then I got a couple of pictures of another new bird visitor I spotted a few days ago… it was so windy that it fell of the top of the bench while I was taking its picture with the new iPhone camera+ app…

new bird visitor...

new bird visitor…

looking forward to a busy couple of days before leaving…

preparing…

19 Sunday May 2013

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excited, garden, months to days, packing, planting, suitcase

ran out with Crystal and the boys this morning to find a few last items for the garden… couldn’t find exactly what I wanted and when we got home it was rainy and cool so we didn’t do any planting after all…

picked up a few items that I still needed for the trip… got a great rain jacket, some bigger sticks for both cameras, a battery for one and a cute little tripod to replace one that George had given me and I passed along to Cyndi…

new jacket and bits and pieces for the cameras...

new jacket and bits and pieces for the cameras…

spent a good portion of the day laying things out to take… tonight I put the majority of them into the suitcase… spent quite a while decided on which suitcase to take, thinking a little one might do, lol… the big one is just about full to bursting…

suitcase is filling up fast...

suitcase is filling up fast…

still have to figure out what I will use for the carry on and how much needs to go in it… let’s see, two cameras, tripod, meds, contacts, yikes, still have quite a bit to do…

don’t know how one minute it was months to wait to go on the cruise, and now I leave in just a few days and don’t really appear to be ready…

getting excited…

 

technology…

18 Saturday May 2013

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addictive, camera, Facebook, iPhone camera, Pinterest, tech tips, Technology, tidy, tricks and shortcuts

I am quite a fan of technology… today after reading a great article on Pinterest I purchased camera + for my iPhone… have already spent some time with it and look forward to the things it can do…

I quite enjoy Pinterest, and seeing what people I follow are looking at, as well as what others are pinning… it can be just a little addictive, lol…

one of the things I do at work is provide a monthly Tech Tip for my colleagues… it is great fun to search out new little tidbits to share… often I learn them from a colleague… it always amazes me what tricks and shortcuts each of us know and use, and just assume that everyone else knows…

one that I particularly appreciate was demonstrated by a colleague a few months ago… it has to do with Facebook and adding links to a post… the trick makes the post look so much tidier, so I thought I would share it with you…

you write the post, and then add the hyperlink… wait just a few seconds and the hyperlink goes into the post, along with the actual picture and story…

now you can delete the hyperlink and only the picture and story remain… you can see how this tidies up the look of the post…  I do like things to be tidy…

give it a try…

 

 

insurance continued…

17 Friday May 2013

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carpet, drywall, George, headache, insurance, physio, ServiceMaster, tucked me in bed

rough day as I was struggling with a very bad headache… haven’t had one like that in many months… was taking notes for two hours and wondered if I was going to make it till the end…

left work around 2:30 and headed out to my physio appointment… was heated up, bent out of shape, pummeled, iced and electrocuted, then sent home…

looking forward to sleep I found a message from ServiceMaster who wanted to come and check out the carpet and basement wall… one fellow arrived, had a look and called some other guys who came and removed a portion of the underpad and set up blowers and a dehumidifier which will run until Tuesday when they will come back and take out two feet of drywall across the entire wall…

looking into the basement...

looking into the basement…

then I will wait to hear what the cost of doing a complete fix will be…  they won’t do anything until I get home…

fans going under carpet...

fans going under carpet…

finally, after all that I got to have a short nap…

George would have known exactly what to do, sigh… I am missing him like crazy… he would have got me something to eat and drink and tucked me into bed and then dealt with all the craziness in the basement…

insurance…

16 Thursday May 2013

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40 years, additional fee for filing a claim, adjuster, big girl pants, carpet, damage, insurance, water heater tank

full day…

came home, had a quick peek at the new and non-leaking water heater and headed up to bed for a short nap while my dinner was cooking in the oven…

Crystal was here this morning to let in the repair guy who got the old tank out and new tank in in record time – I’m estimating $30 per minute he was here… luckily she can do some of her work online… then she came back in the afternoon to meet an insurance adjuster who came out to see what damage had been done…

new water heater...

new water heater…

have lived in this house for 40 years come September…  have dealt with the same insurance company, and never put in a claim in all that time… when I called this morning the woman I spoke with advised me, that besides the $1000 deductible, there would be an additional $100 fee for each of the next three years on my insurance policy for filing a claim…

wet carpet...

wet carpet…

the adjuster is sending out a contractor to look the situation over and get an estimate for drying out an insulated wall which might mean taking down a shelving unit that George built a few years ago and opening up the wall, and also lifting and drying a section of the carpet, which may also have to be replaced… hopefully they can come in the next few days to give me information so I can make a decision before I have to leave…

as a colleague said to me today, those big girl pants are getting to fit better every day…

burst tank…

15 Wednesday May 2013

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burst tank, draining, leaking, repair person, towels, turn off water to the house

so, got home around 6 after picking up something for an event at work tomorrow, and going for physio…

went downstairs to get something out of the freezer for my dinner, only to discover water running across the floor from the water tank to the sewer drain…

water still running to the drain...

water still running to the drain…

got the phone and called the number on the tank and spoke with a woman who told me what to turn off where, and then headed upstairs to wait for the person who was coming to replace the tank…

towels into the workroom...

towels into the workroom…

was supposed to be here between 8 and 10… didn’t seem like that big a deal, other than the money flying out the window, and apparently the tank had been installed in 2000 so it had a good run…

then I got a call just before 10 to advise the repair person was having a big problem at their current location and wouldn’t be able to come tonight… I went downstairs to discover that there was more water on the floor and it had gone into the family room under the heavy furniture… so then I moved the furniture piece by piece and put towels down on the carpet to soak up the water and tried to figure out how come it was still leaking…

towels by the tank...

towels by the tank…

the kids came by after a concert they were at and Jeff showed me how to empty the tank with a hose… now the hose is still running… possibly the cold water shut off valve to the tank is not working that well, lol… after a batch of the towels come out of the washing machine I will turn off the water to the whole house and go to bed…

of course both kids are working tomorrow but we’ve figured out a way for the repair person to get in and out in the morning… haven’t had a special event at work since early April, but we have one tomorrow afternoon, so I really need to be there to get all the bits and pieces done, sigh… thank goodness we have a plan…

the good news is that the physiotherapist was very pleased with how I am progressing, yay…

the game…

14 Tuesday May 2013

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blessed, Charleswood, enjoyed, George, Googled, Nanny and Grandpa, pond, soccer, the game

got to spend an evening watching my eldest grandson play soccer… had never heard of the field where he was playing but it was in Charleswood and we found it without a problem as Crystal had Googled it…

had to take a few shots of the pond...

had to take a few shots of the pond…

was a bit windy and for the first half of the game we were looking into the sun, but the second half we could see better…

running toward our goal...

running toward our goal…

the field is huge… but it was fun to get some action shots as the game went on… Nanny and Grandpa were there as well so we had a great cheering section…

middle of the action...

middle of the action…

we were kind of cool by the end of the game but it was lots of fun… was thinking how George would have enjoyed the evening…

watching intently...

watching intently as the sun goes down…

way to go Cobras…

grandson in motion...

grandson in motion…

I truly am blessed…

the estate of the late…

13 Monday May 2013

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American money, big girl pants, cheque, cruise, George, insurance, Rona, the estate of the late

received a cheque last week from the CRA… it was a refund for 2012 taxes for George… next year I won’t need to have a tax form done for him…

cheque...

cheque…

after work tonight I stopped in at the Credit Union to deposit the cheque into the Estate Account as I don’t have a debit card for that account…

a few weeks ago I received a couple of cheques from Sun Life made out to the Estate as well… they are providing medical/dental coverage for me for a two year period through Rona where George worked… whenever they send anything it is always to the Estate… most people only have an Estate account for a year but I will need to keep this one for the next couple…

I am still in a state of flux because my employer’s insurance company will not take me on, as I refused the insurance when I started working there, as George’s insurance was quite good… we had gone through a period where we both had insurance and it caused nothing but hassles, so I gave that insurance up and only used his, which worked very well…

now I have to get this sorted out before next March… another job for those big girl pants… no doubt it will involve many phone calls with a variety of people… not looking forward to the process…

been missing George a fair bit lately… I talk about him a lot, which can sometimes freak people out, but I don’t want to just leave him out of my life… he is still an important piece of it… I lived longer with him, than without him…

but I did get some American money for the cruise…

Mother’s Day…

12 Sunday May 2013

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big girl pants, breakfast, Hudson the polar bear, Mother's Day, nap, penguins, Peterson bird app, steak and lobster dinner, zoo

as one of my young friends wrote on Facebook today “celebrate your mother every day, not just one day”… and my kids do that…

made myself a lovely breakfast and sat out on the deck in the sun to enjoy it… spent some time with a new Peterson Bird app and figured out the songs I’ve been hearing lately… black capped chickadees and chipping sparrows have been serenading me…

my kids called to wish me a happy Mother’s day and make plans for the day… Crystal and all the boys came and picked me up and we went to the Zoo to see the penguins who have come for a summer visit… everyone in the city wanted to see them on this lovely day and we spent about 45 minutes in line waiting… but it went very well as the boys went off here and there while Crystal and I stood in the line… they had a picnic, visited Hudson, met a purple frog in the Discovery Centre, as well as visiting all the animals in the Barn…

finally we got to see the penguins… the three of them were in a small tank located in the old gift shop… they were all wearing cool jewellery… after a brief look we walked through the penguin gift shop and headed home…

hanging around...

hanging around…

great swimmer...

great swimmer…

after we got home, the girls had a nap, well maybe we should call it quiet time, while the boys entertained themselves… then we had steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, salad and lobster for dinner… yum, yum…

we all made funny faces...

we all made funny faces for the camera after dinner…

Jeff showed me a simple way to start the barbecue so I might just give that a try one night this week, wearing those big girl pants…

early birthday present from Auntie...

early birthday present from Auntie…

everyone left, I worked on a program for a group I belong to, printed some pictures, wrote my blog and am going to have a real nap… then a hot tub and to bed…

 

not so quiet day…

11 Saturday May 2013

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callas, Canadian Tire, chores, Costco, dinner, homemade caramel sauce, not so quiet, Safeway, seaweed salad, Shelmerdine, truffle oil

well, was planning on staying home and not doing much today, but that didn’t happen…

did a few chores around the house between TV shows and had a nap in the morning…

callas...

callas…

then got a call from my sister-in-law, who was in town for the weekend from Calgary, and we visited Shelmerdine, Canadian Tire, Costco, Safeway and then to my nephew’s house for barbecued steak dinner… it was wonderful to wander through Shelmerdine and see, smell and touch all the gorgeous plants…

steak, roasted potatoes with truffle oil and seaweed salad...

steak, roasted potatoes with truffle oil and seaweed salad…

not gonna lie, the seaweed salad wouldn’t be my top choice… we did finish dinner off with homemade banana bread covered with caramel sauce… yum…

homemade caramel sauce...

the end of the homemade caramel sauce…

I just got home and finally called my son-in-law in BC to wish him a happy anniversary… I spoke with Cyndi fairly early this morning, but with all the running around didn’t get to speak with him until now… looking forward to seeing both of them very soon…

heading to bed, not even sure I will have a hot tub tonight…

hopefully tomorrow will be a bit quieter, and warmer, although if there hadn’t been any wind today it would have been quite warm…

 

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