had fun preparing the table for Thanksgiving dinner…
planning on more company than I’ve had in years, so it made me happy to search out different plates and bowls to put the food on, and in…
from a platter and covered bowl from a dear family friend, to a gifted tray, special pottery pieces my beloved and I had purchased over the years, to a tiny handmade purple bowl, to a very old salt and pepper set that was my grandmother’s…
all set on a thanksgiving tablecloth with leaf napkins…
yesterday, as I was reorganizing the plants that have come in from outside, my housemate helped me with the monstera plant…
he brought it with him when he moved into the basement and had it down there for a while, but had to move it to the main floor as it wasn’t thriving…
It isn’t my favourite plant, but when all the plants were being moved around, we trimmed it and attached it to a pole and it looks much better…
in the same corner, I put one of the ferns that had been in the garden and was much happier than when it went outside… hope it continues to thrive there;-)…
we emptied the space out and my housemate discovered that the hose on the tap was leaking… that one had been installed in 2014…
we contacted our plumbing people and headed out to purchase a new tap… we took the $10 Canadian Tire money that has been in the drawer for years…
it was fun to watch various staff members try to figure out how to deal with the paper, lol… eventually they discovered the longest serving teller who was able to assist our cashier and away we went…
as we got home we heard that the plumber was on his way…
in just under an hour, the tap was changed, and they were on their way…
this tap has the handle on the right side, so I am getting adjusted to that, lol…
we had a fan on, drying out the inside of the cabinet before the “stuff” which was filling up a number of counters, went back in…
this morning, now that the space is dry, all of the items from the cabinet when back in… and possibly in a slightly more organized way;-)…
I’ve been listening to the smoke detector beep every few minutes to tell me it needs the batteries replaced… seems like it’s been going on for hours, lol…
I am waiting for my housemate to arrive home to change them as, not only can’t I reach it, I can’t figure out how to open it…
last year, around this time, my housemate decided to redecorate his space…
from removing the fireplace, to drywalling, to putting in new ceiling tiles, to painting the space with two colours, and reorganizing his stuff, he worked hard with help from friends and family…
it came out very nicely…
and he has enjoyed the space…
this fall he has been preparing for an interesting pet…
the strong winds we’ve had over the last week keep blowing these doors open so we went shopping for a better solution… the one we’ve had has been good for at least twenty-five years, lol, so a new one seemed in order…
we found one and got it onto the two doors and it looks like it is going to be perfect… and will make it easier for those trying to come through from the driveway…
then I had the brilliant idea of using the old fastener to hook the one door to the pergola instead of using a bungee cord to keep the gate open when expecting company or moving large things through the space… the second door has always just happily leaned against the garage when opened, lol…
since the spring, we’ve been working on a few projects outdoors and one of them involved removing a rusted out planter from the front steps…
next was to be removing and replacing the carpet which has been on those same steps for thirteen years…
I remember a friend of mine coming and replacing it while I was in hospital, not long after my beloved’s passing… it was such a treat to walk up the tidy steps when I returned home…
over the last few winters the carpet has been breaking down, particularly from my shovelling I think, lol…
we emptied the rusted out planter and dumped it right into the garbage can, kind of in pieces… we had a new one all ready to go but planned to wait for the carpet to be removed and replaced before putting it on the top step…
we picked up carpet and glue… next we planned a day when we had help to remove the old carpet and lay down the new one… unfortunately, it rained for most of that day, but during a break my housemate was able to remove the old layer…
that was on July 21st… it looked dreadful but we anticipated that it would happen soon…
every single time we planned to get the job done, it rained… I was starting to believe my grandson is a rain magnet…
well, yesterday, September 21st, it finally happened…
scraping, glueing, and laying down the carpet took a good portion of the day and there are a few bits that need to be trimmed…
can’t walk on it for a few days, but it already looks a thousand percent better;-)…
the power has gone off a few times over the last few days… only for a few seconds, and only in some parts of the house…
the only way to know for sure was the stove and microwave both flashing or showing 0…
many years ago we had an electrician tell us that there are two fuses that cover half the house each, but I couldn’t remember where they were, lol… my beloved had always dealt with those issues…
we called an electrician and he turned up early in the evening…
he knew right where those fuses were located (in a big gray box!) and then had to search online for where to find them as the electrical supply stores were already closed… so happy he found them and was able to pick them up and change them…
apparently this is an old way of putting electricity into houses, lol…
my daughter found a bunch in a used bookstore on a walk in Ottawa…
that meant I had to find, and compare, my list with the titles she sent me… found the list, phew, and sent her four that I could use…
this morning my housemate helped me double check the books on the shelf with the list, and I forwarded that list to my daughter… she found another four…
so, now that the comparison has taken place, it appears that I only need ten to complete my collection;-)…