sleepout…

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last night I had my annual sleepout…

I miss camping and this is a fun way to get the feeling… also a great opportunity to see the stars;-)…

it is a process and I left it a bit late to get organized… it was dark by the time I brought up the air mattress from the basement… I always put down a comforter underneath to be sure that no slivers puncture the mattress…

I couldn’t find the cap that goes on once it was filled with air… searched upstairs where it had last been set up but could not find the cap… came downstairs thinking there wasn’t going to be a sleepout… started to take out the pump, only to discover the cap was on a string which was inside where the pump was, lol… clearly I should have done the set up in the light…

then it was on to bringing up comforters and bringing down pillows…

had a great sleep, although the mattress went down a bit, likely because it cooled off a bit… not a single mosquito, woo hoo…

a lovely view to wake up to… took everything down, put things away, had a hot tub and then the sky clouded over…

great timing… looks like it will be overcast and rainy most of the day…

regatta…

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spent Saturday at Rabbit Lake watching a rowing regatta

last year my grandson was only in two races… this year he was in quite a few…

in his first race he was with someone he hadn’t rowed with before and they came in second, which meant they would row in the finals later in the day…

the process is very interesting… before they can put the boat into the water an umpire has to check that everything is correctly placed… then they have to put the boat into the water, get set up in the boat and head down to the starting area… when they have completed the race they row back, wait for directions to land, take the boat out of the water and then put it back with the rest of their team’s equipment…

then they might have to rush to get ready for their next race… he ended up a couple of times running from the end of one race to the start of another…

the most fun was a four hundred metre mixed race for eights… these huge boats are fun to watch and have very few races, lol…

at one point the proceedings were called due to lightning… so for nearly an hour everyone had to come off the water and tie down their equipment… then the sky cleared and it was back to racing…

much later the lightning and thunder ended the regatta… it was interesting to watch everyone get off the water and pack up all of the equipment…

and then it poured, cleared up and the sun came back out in time for a bbq and award ceremony…

a great fun day… then the long drive home…

duck…

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Friday morning got to spend time with my sister-in-law who was in from Calgary for the weekend…

picked her up at the airport and headed over to the Park Cafe for breakfast and a wander around the Duck Pond and Gardens…

was able to see the new island in the Duck Pond… it will filter the water in the pond and help with algae control… looks really neat… a duck or two came up to us as we were admiring the pond…

had a wonderful visit as we checked out the Gardens… got a fun shot of three wheelbarrows lined up as a crew of gardeners were weeding a bed at the entrance to the Leo Mol Garden…

haven’t seen my sister-in-law for ages so it was a real treat to spend time with her… she was married to my brother and when they divorced we kept her and let him go;-)…

nails…

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gave myself a lovely treat as I start this ten day vacation…

went for a pedicure at Total Wrapture and was looked after by Shauna who was so gentle as she worked on me…

I have sensitive feet and she was ever so careful as she went through the process of getting them ready for the colour…

I sometimes get ingrown toenails and she put a tiny piece of cotton under the nail which will help keep that from happening again… sure hope it works…

meatballs…

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just had a lovely conversation with a friend I haven’t seen for years…

we worked together for Transport Canada when we were in our twenties… a couple of years ago, lol…

she made the very best little buns with beet greens inside them that were cooked in a cream sauce… absolutely delicious… I have found no one else who knows how to make them…

she mentioned that every time she makes meatballs she thinks of me… I taught her to use Worcestershire sauce and A1 when making burgers or meatballs… a trick from my dad;-)…

I often think of others when I do or make certain things, but it never occurred to me that others might think of me, lol…

was just thinking of the most amazing tomato sandwiches that George would make…

what a lovely way to start my vacation

dermatologist…

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this morning I had an appointment to see a dermatologist

I always find seeing a new doctor a bit stressful and this was no different…

a colleague had seen this particular specialist before so I kind of knew where I was going…

arrived a few minutes early and then waited for quite a while before making it into the actual room…

the chair was huge and I waited till he arrived before sitting in it, lol…

from there it was very quick, as he looked at the spot under my eye, confirmed it wasn’t anything to be worried about, and then sprayed it with something to freeze it off… didn’t hurt as he was doing it but sure did sting later…

will need to go back in a couple of months as he didn’t think one application would remove it…

classic…

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wondering if the reason I’ve been missing my beloved so much lately has to do with the social media reminders of how difficult Julys have been for me…

he was always there to look after me…

eight years ago today I had a procedure which gave me pancreatitis and kept me in hospital for six weeks… my beloved came everyday and often brought photos of the morning glories that were blooming that day… this was by far the most painful health experience of my life and I cannot imagine how I would have managed without him…

six years ago in July I had surgery for cancer and to repair a hernia… he wasn’t there to support me for that one…

but I also remember the wonderful trip we had in July of 2011 when we went to Courtenay to visit the kids… we saw hundreds of classic cars, walked among the huge redwoods, went up the chairlift on Mount Washington and lived to tell the tale… anyone who knows us would know how afraid of heights we both were, and I still am…

a glorious time…

so amongst the dark times there were also some great times…

really, how blessed have I been…

critters…

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this morning after a hot tub I walked over to the Park, and then around the Gardens…

found a few critters in my travels…

first was a frog in the lily pond… only one I spotted today… there were many open lilies but no other frogs…

took quite a few photos of this cool flower and found this wasp

the hydrangeas are blooming everywhere and when I took this shot caught a fly in amongst the flowers…

no spiders today;-)…