the coneflower has finally bloomed… this one was planted on the south side of the house, next to the furnace vents… I think this is a much better spot than the pergola garden…
whenever the hose has been put out it has gotten water and has been growing nicely since it was planted…
not too long ago it produced a bud and it has slowly been opening over the last few weeks…
the petals still need to bend completely, but it is looking pretty good now;-)…
seeing it reminds me of how every year I would buy one, we’d plant it in the garden, and then in the spring my beloved would pull it out thinking it was a weed, lol…
my blood pressure medicine was increased a month ago, so the doctor wanted to see how it was doing and didn’t want to wait three months till my next usual appointment…
the only side effect to the increase in the meds had been being exceptionally tired for a week or so…
I’d been taking bp readings since the change and the numbers had been good, so I wasn’t worried…
the numbers were also good in the office…
I mentioned a text I’d received at the end of May recommending a covid booster, but I hadn’t heard anything more…
but apparently, today was the last day to receive the phyzer booster… they still had some in the office, so I got it… the next one will be in the fall around the same time as the flu shot…
sometime back, we picked up a new hose as the old one had sprung a leak…
we ended up with a different type… not an expanding one…
I have used it and discovered that it didn’t work for me… it was 100 feet long, like the old one, but it seemed to kink more and the water flow seemed to come and go…
I’ve been sharing my complaint about it for weeks, so finally, we picked up the type I’d had before;-)…
it isn’t exactly the same as the old one, but is much better and lighter than the one I’ve been using…
now it is much more fun to water the plants and grass;-)…
once orientation was completed, I signed up for my first of three (3 hour) different sessions…
the first session consisted of a tour of the zoo with a more senior volunteer and two other newbies… everyone we met was so helpful and provided us with lots of information…
I hadn’t been to the zoo for a while so it was a lovely refresher… the zoo is a very busy place…
and I left with my volunteer t-shirt;-)…
the next session was with a mentor, usually one-on-one, but it ended up with two newbies with our mentor… they know so much about all the goings on at the zoo, and were happy to share with us…
part of our training included time at the McFeeter’s Heavy Horse Centre… we got to watch the new Shire horses, Willow and Willy, move from the barn to the paddock…
I must say, by the end of our three hour shift, my feet were a tad sore, lol…
my last and final session was at The Leaf… the first half was touring the space and learning a few new things… one exciting thing was getting to walk out on the second floor balcony that overlooks the Tropical Biome…
it is reserved for those who rent the various spaces on that floor… and, that the floor on that level is sprinkled with the glass from the old Conservatory;-)…
then we practised in three different areas…
I learned that there are a few places between the zoo and The Leaf that have to have someone in attendance at all times…
so, if no volunteers are available, a staff member has to take over… it is clear that volunteers save time so staff members can focus on their important work…
I have now finished my first two shifts as a bonafide Volunteer Ambassador…
say hi if you spot me… most likely at The Leaf for now…
for quite some time my family have been encouraging me to volunteer at The Leaf…
I considered it and eventually decided to apply… the application process begins in March and starts with an online form… I still find it difficult to talk about my qualities…
after a few weeks I was invited to register for an in-person meeting, which I did… I got a message two days before the actual meeting time saying they were expecting me that morning, about 40 minutes from when the email arrived… yikes… thankfully I called and was told the email was an error and my appointment was when I expected… took a few moments for my heart to settle down, lol…
I arrived for the meeting right on time and had a lovely half hour with a volunteer who shared information and also asked a few questions… it was interesting to learn about some of the opportunities that are available…
next was an email with four modules to review and then register for an in-person orientation…
the four online modules were informative and straightforward and once they were completed, I signed up for a three-hour orientation to take place somewhere at APC…
the first one was cancelled due to illness, so I ended up at one a few weeks later… we met in one of the zoo camp classrooms…
there were twenty of us in the class and we learned together in small and large groups… it was a great opportunity to meet with others who wanted to help out as volunteers…
after nine more hours of training, I will be an APC volunteer…
quite a while ago, the hose connecting the washer to the drain broke… we had another flood, sigh…
we had someone in to figure out how to fix it, only to discover we needed a new drain hose… the technician siliconed the old pieces together while we wait for the new hose to arrive… for the first few times I stood and watched when the washer ran, just to be sure the hose didn’t pop off…
then we had to decide if the drywall needed to be replaced, but in the end decided on a paint job as there were no signs of water marks…
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it now has the new hose and freshly patched and painted walls;-)…
Friday was a delightful day… the sun shone and the temperature rose to 25°C…
throughout the day, I prepped for a dinner party… between organizing and setting the table on the deck, there were plenty of opportunities to sit, read, and relax…
preparing a space or food for special people is always enjoyable for me as I think about those who I am doing this work for and how important they are to me…
for this gathering, it was mainly about making the space comfortable and considering what dishes we would need as the food was being picked up from a Charleswood Rotary fundraiser…
they provided a whole lobster, baked potato, fresh bun, coleslaw, brownie, small bottle of wine, with a bib and a lobster fork;-)… each person received a shopping bag with all of the goodies in it… I added a few fixings for the potatoes, warm facecloths with lemon for our fingers, and garlic butter in warmers…
once the food was warmed up, we had a lesson in how to eat the whole crustacean… I was a bit slow, lol, so had to keep having information repeated…
the weather was perfect, well, except that the wind kept blowing out some of the butter warmers… lots of conversation and story telling kept us busy throughout the meal…
my housemate took the requisite group photo which he was happy to do (and not be in) before we spent time around the pond…
happily, the fish came out for a short visit before returning to their favourite spot under the bridge…
and before you knew it, everyone headed off into the sunset;-)…
Thursday evening I discovered that the kitchen tap was very loose…
I was concerned that it might pop off, start spraying water, and cause another flood…
my housemate worked late and didn’t have a chance to look at it, but the next morning, as I started prepping for a special gathering, I decided to get help…
I called around 9:30 and my friend Al (I have made way too many calls to these folks, lol) turned up around 12:15… this local business is located on the street corner four minutes from my house, so it is very handy …
he tightened the nut holding the tap to the sink, fixed the loose handle, and advised that there wouldn’t have been a flood if the tap completely disengaged…he filled out paperwork and was gone…
amazing what a quick response could do to settle my nerves and let me continue my preparations for the evening’s gathering;-)…
walked over to Ultracuts for a trim and on the way spotted a plant that had not been put into the soil in one of the big city planters…
I didn’t want to arrive at the salon with dirty hands so I decided to wait until I was on the way home…
when I did arrive back at the planter, it was clear that the plant had not been planted as it was just laying on the soil… I had wondered if a critter had maybe pulled it out of its spot…
I dug a hole and popped it in… hope it is happy now…
herbiggirlpants 