hmmm…

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first thing this morning I spotted a purple finch at the front bird feeder… from there the day went downhill a bit…

Purple Finch...

Purple Finch…

the kitchen sink appeared to be blocked, even though I thought I had unblocked it on Sunday, what with the big girl pants and all…  my son-in-law came over to check it out and discovered it was actually broken and leaking when the tap was running… he found George’s plumbing supplies and picked up a few things and thought he had it fixed, but not so… so he contacted a plumber friend of his to stop by and see if he can sort it out… now the plumber needs to come back in the next few days to fix it, sigh…

Jeff couldn’t even mow the grass while he waited, because the pond guys were busily working and had blocked the entrance to the shed where the lawnmower lives…

trying to sort out the landscaping for the new pond area seems to be a bit difficult as well… not sure exactly what plantings are included so look forward to getting this sorted out…

and their electrical guy is very busy so I am trying to connect with my guy to see if we can get this piece done in the next few days…

feels like the money is flying out the doors and windows, lol…

good news is that my colleague is back from a few days away and another colleague who has been off for a few months has also returned…

Canada Day…

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lovely day spent in the garden…

last night I slept on the deck under the stars… Sadly there were lots of mosquitoes…

goldfinch boy...

goldfinch boy…

this morning I planted and repotted and rearranged… and sat in my chair in the shade…

goldfinch girl...

goldfinch girl…

had beautiful visitors… the goldfinch couple and a lovely purple finch and a mostly black butterfly… the neighbours’ cat stopped by a few times for a drink and to wander through the garage…

purple finch...

purple finch…

had a nap, watched some tv and got dinner ready for the kids who came in from a day of boating in Gimli…

kids having a hot tub...

kids having a hot tub…

great dinner, then we walked to Sargent Sundae’s for ice cream, and got home just in time for the fireworks…

everyone is gone and I am heading to bed…

the Park…

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this morning I got up and headed over to the Park to see if I could find the Memory Stone that I had commissioned at Christmas time…

it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the walk over… there weren’t many people about and it was easy to soak up the peace and serenity…

waiting for Canada Day crowds...

waiting for tomorrow’s Canada Day crowds…

found the stone without too much trouble… happy they had done a good job… it did make me laugh a little though, because obviously a duck or goose had left a little memento, right on my stone, so I had to clean it off with my shoe before taking any pictures…

while I was there I got a few cute shots of some ducks sitting all in a row…

ducks lined up all in a row...

ducks lined up all in a row…

there was a group of men on the other side of the pond with their motorized boats and I took a few pictures of them…

the Park was clearly waiting for Canada Day… tents were all over the big field and there were rows on rows of port-a-potties just waiting for the crowds…

port-a-potties waiting...

port-a-potties waiting…

I walked through Bruce Park on my way home and encountered woodpeckers, squirrels and bunnies…

to top things off I stopped at the “A” for breakfast on my own… it was very difficult and I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I sat down, ordered, and ate my breakfast… this was one of the spots that George and I would have breakfast on a Sunday morning and I have only been there once since he died…

on the walk home I held back tears and worked at remembering the fun we had when we went for breakfast there… he would usually drive and I would walk and he would already have the tea ordered by the time I got there… he wasn’t supposed to eat bacon, but that would be the one day that he would get to and we always teased one another about it…

today as I sat listening to couples talking, I hoped they knew how lucky they were to have time together..

weeding…

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spent a good portion of this beautiful day in the side garden…

started weeding just after nine… worked for a bit, had a rest, worked a bit more, and so on and so on…

before weeding...

before weeding…

at one point I stopped to show someone the closet that needs doors… nice to have a little break… set out a chair and cushion on the back deck which has been moved forward about a foot and a half… wasn’t going to sit out there, but decided it would be lovely to sit in the shade…

after weeding for half an hour...

after weeding for half an hour…

filled three pails with weeds… probably have another three to go…

after an hour of weeding...

after an hour of weeding…

George worked really hard in that garden, sigh…

DSCN0519after an hour and a half

I was missing him all day as I was wearing those big girl pants…

ran to Rona and got a few more things to plant… there are two planters on the wall that need something in them and a couple of other things jumped off the shelves into my cart, lol…

then I had the water tested, ran a few errands, came home and added the necessary chemicals to the hot tub…

dinner…

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started the long weekend off with appies on the patio at The Keg… that was my dinner…

brie and tiny toasts...

brie and tiny toasts…

the sun shone, birds flew by, wind blew, rain came down gently amid the sunshine… all in a couple of hours, lol…

chicken wings...

chicken wings…

a lovely interval…

cute little hot dogs...

cute little hot dogs…

enjoyed the warm Brie and tiny toasts and the salt and pepper chicken wings… cute little hot dogs and the always popular stuffed mushrooms…

stuffed mushrooms...

stuffed mushrooms…

then home for a nap…

put on the big girl pants last night and got the air conditioner going… ran it all night to be sure everything was working… temperature has been around 28C last few nights when I got home… bit too warm…

great ending to a busy week…

pond construction…

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today's view of the pond...

today’s view of the pond…

lost track of which construction day it is… they didn’t come for a few days while they were waiting for the pump and slate to arrive…

cleared away the gravel...

cleared away the gravel…

they were here on Monday and removed some of the rocks and remarked the front edge of the pond… also brought some edging samples for me to look at…

deck has been moved...

deck has been moved…

they were here yesterday or the day before… put in the pump and leveled off a few spots in the pond for plants to sit…

trench for electrical...

trench for electrical…

today they cleaned away all of the small rocks, moved the back deck, finished the trench for the electricity, brought in some big pieces of slate and did a bit more work on the deep part of the pond…

the bridge I'm guessing...

the bridge I’m guessing…

getting a little more exciting every day when I come home…

for the waterfall???

for the waterfall???

today I arranged to meet at the greenhouse Tuesday night to choose plants… getting closer every day…

sporty…

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been very busy with sports the last few days… last night had dinner with my daughter and oldest grandson and then went to watch his soccer game…

Kyler's team taking a well deserved break...

older one’s team taking a well deserved break, it was very hot…

tonight I went to their house and we had Chinese food for dinner – tomorrow is Jeff’s birthday – and then went to the second grandson’s soccer game…

Tavin on the way to a goal...

on the way to a goal…

both nights the weather was great, although clouds blew by… both boys played very well and I could see the improvement in the oldest, as I had been at one of his games before going to the coast…

reminded me of my dad… he was an athlete in his youth but as an adult he suffered from emphysema so couldn’t participate in sports but he loved to watch and support them… we often went to events at the Arena – for skating and running… Dad taught me that the important thing was to do your best and we always cheered for everyone, not just the front runners…

we followed that same philosophy with our children and now our grandchildren…

what a blessing to be able to see them having fun and learning great life skills…

rainbow on way home...

rainbow on way home…

visit…

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had a lovely visit with a young friend who has gone through a lot recently…

it was good to spend some time together…

spent a few minutes in the garden when I got home from work… the team had been in and put in the pump, made spaces for plants and moved everything off the back deck… there are a variety of edging for me to choose from and a sample of mulch to think about…

stopped in at Rona tonight and saw a few of George’s co-workers… made me feel sad…

here’s a picture of a hosta covered in water drops…

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wild roses…

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found a picture of the front bed on the weekend… here’s the one from the other day…

front left flower bed overrun by wild roses...

front left flower bed overrun by wild roses…

and the one from last year…

front left flower bed 2012...

front left flower bed 2012…

I remember that Crystal came and planted all the allysum because I couldn’t do anything at the time as I was waiting for my surgery…

obviously needs a bit of work including planting this year’s allysum… it will be interesting to see if the hostas, Jacob’s Ladder and monkshood are still in there, lol…

more flooding…

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worked for quite a while in the garden this morning… had a lovely time… got the last of the purchased plants into pots… pulled some weeds, although it is really hard to tell…

two more pots planted...

two more pots planted…

tidied the bed beside the garage and got a pump going in that pond… hopefully that will help with the mosquitoes…

pond and bench...

pond and bench…

then the skies opened and it poured rain for quite a while… for some reason, I went downstairs to check for water and found some about two feet from the new carpet…

put towels down and stopped it… it was coming in from the back corner, likely from under the air conditioner outside… kept changing towels and ringing them out and eventually the rain stopped and the water dried up…  since then it started to rain a couple of times, but it was lighter and nothing seems to be coming in…

Jeff stopped by to pick up potato salad and spinach dip that I had made for the 8 year old’s birthday party, which I decided to miss, just to be sure nothing else leaked…

have been downstairs at least twenty times to check… washed and dried the towels so they will be ready if needed again… hope to sleep through the night, although I might just put some towels down for safety…

can you believe it…