Sore Back, Reading and Potluck

Today was mostly cloudy with temperatures hovering around 21C (70F). We had a few sunny breaks here and there. I had to cut my walk short as I got a pain in my back between my shoulder blades (from doing arm circles) and couldn’t take a deep breath. I tried to work it out with our massage cushion. It helped a bit but didn’t cure it so wound up taking a muscle relaxant.

I was on Facebook this morning and saw that they have now added Morrisburg High School to the list of schools so I joined Classmates.com and saw a lot of names of people I knew way back when. I’ve sent out a couple of emails.

I slept most of the afternoon away thanks to the muscle relaxant. I did manage to read a few chapters in my book by Kathy Reichs. The weather wasn’t very nice anyway.

Just before 6:00 p.m. we headed over to the rec hall for the potluck. Since it was spitting rain on and off we expected it had been moved there instead of having it on the beach. It was another really good potluck with an excellent turnout and I ate far too much as usual!

I took the photo above a couple of evening ago. It’s of the Jock River off Cemetery Road near Carleton Place.

Friday the 13th!

I woke up this morning with a headache to pouring rain and thunder so no walk first thing this morning. The next thing was I couldn’t get my underwear drawer open so Gordon had to come in and get that open. Drawer brackets that hold the slide rails in an RV usually have to be replaced in the first year as they build them out of cheap plastic. We’ve replaced just about all of them but not this one (until today).

Around 10:00 a.m. the sun came out so I went for my walk then. I’d rather walk first thing but I was glad that it stopped raining long enough for me to go at all. While I was walking, Gordon fixed my drawer.

This morning I took some more flower photos around the RV park.

This morning we went into Carleton Place to renew Gordon’s driver’s license and get our new truck plates. We picked up the paperwork with our mail yesterday. Gordon had to have a new photo taken and it will be 2-4 weeks before he gets his new license so hopefully we’ll have it before we leave Carleton Place.

While we were out I took some items to the thrift store located on Hwy 7. It’s the end of an era. I gave away all my toe socks!

We also stopped to take some photos along the way. There were lots of different clouds in the sky making for some interesting photos.

This afternoon was spent reading. I’ve got six books to read before July 28^th!

Laundry, Hair Cuts, Dinner and a Visit

Last night after dinner and doing a mountainous stack of dishes, we took a drive for sunset. We wound up going to Playfairville and McDonald’s Corners but the sunset fizzled again. We took some photos, saw a few deer and that was about it but it was a nice evening for a drive. Below is a photo of the little church in McDonald’s Corners. I love the gingerbread!

What a difference a day makes! This morning was bright, sunny with no humidity and 14C (57F). I did my two miles this morning and actually did a couple of running spurts neither of which I’ve been doing the last couple of mornings because of the heavy air.

After my morning ritual, I took the laundry in to Carleton Place to get that over with then on to the grocery to pick up some items to make my Calico Beans for the potluck at the campground this weekend. When I returned the sun was still shining so I sat outside and had my lunch.

Late this afternoon we both went into Carleton Place and got haircuts. Here’s mine:

Then we headed in to Ottawa. Gordon needed a new camera strap. He’s worn his out so we decided to go to Swiss Chalet for dinner. Nick and Becky had given us gift certificates last September for our birthdays but since there are very few Swiss Chalets in the U.S. (I think only in New York) we just got around to using a couple of them. It was really good too, thanks Nick & Becky. After that we stopped at my sister’s and visited with them for a while and picked up our mail. One of the things in the mail was a package from Laura (my friend who got married in May). It was our name cards that she had made for us but unfortunately we didn’t stay for the reception. They are really cute too. Maybe I’ll post a photo of them tomorrow night. Thanks Laura & Steve!

On our way back to Carleton Place we took the back roads and took a few photos. There was an interesting sky in the north. The clouds looked like snowy mountains along the horizon. Here’s a photo.

And also a photo of a couple of old log barns.

Just Sittin' Around

It’s still warm and humid here, 20C (68F) for my morning constitutional. I had a bit of sun and no rain this morning. I know this temperature isn’t really warm compared to the 41C (106F) that some of my daily bloggers are having but it feels very humid for me!

When I went in to Ottawa on Sunday I took the sneakers that I bought last week back to Tootsies and they exchanged them for a pair exactly like I bought last year so I wore them this morning for the first time since my blisters have now healed and they worked great! Note to self – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! In other words, why didn’t I buy the same ones again the first time???

The plan today had been to go into Carleton Place to do the laundry but late this morning we had rolling thunderstorms which lasted into early afternoon. We also had rain and high winds so I decided it could wait till another day.

This afternoon I read my book and made a pot of baked beans. This makes for lots of dishes to do tonight!

This morning we were told that there was a large frog sitting on a tree down by the water so down we went with our cameras and here he is! Not sure what kind of frog it is but he isn't scared and just sits there and gets his picture taken.
He sure is fat though!

Frustrated!

Last evening after dinner we took a drive as a sunset was looking promising but that turned out to be a flop so we drove around on a few roads we hadn’t been on before and found some deer who seemed to want to pose for us.

This morning was 20C (68F) and a bit sunny as I walked out the door following by rain as soon as I hit the road going southbound so I walked for a while, realized it wasn’t letting up a lot so came back and walked west down the side road, then around the park. I was only gone for 20 minutes but was quite wet by the time I got home.

My U.S. Visa card has a credit balance and I’ve been trying to get it back from them since May 15^th. I’ve called three times each time getting ‘the cheque’s in the mail’ sort of answer. Finally today I got angry and asked for a supervisor. He reactivated my card (it had been cancelled on May 15) and said I could go to any branch of CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) and get a refund there. So, I decided to go back to Ottawa and go to my branch there. Not as easy as Mr. Supervisor had said. Mind you they were having problems with their computers freezing up today. All in all I was there for 1 ½ hours. They have the paperwork ready, just have to wait for their computers to be fixed but here were the problems:

1. We can’t do cash advances on U.S. Visas.
2. After a phone call to Visa – we have to change the U.S. funds back to Canadian and then back to U.S. funds to put in your U.S. account.
3. After my nixing that idea and another phone call they found out how to do it (I hope).

Now I just have to wait for their phone call or email to let me know that the transaction has been done. The lady who waited on me was really nice and very patient. I used to work in a bank so I know what they have to go through and I’m not sure I could be that patient anymore!

After stopping at the Hazeldean Mall to pick up a couple of things, I headed back to Carleton Place and did the remainder of my grocery shopping there. Then home. Feels like I’ve been through the war!

Another Brief Trip to the City

It was cloudy, humid and 18C (64F) this morning as I set out however on my way back it started to rain. Luckily I had my wind jacket with me. It’s not waterproof but it helps.

After breakfast we got ready to go into Ottawa as Gordon had a late morning follow-up doctor’s appointment. I had made a chiropractor’s appointment for tomorrow but called and changed it to this afternoon instead so between appointments we stopped and had some lunch at Wendy’s, picked up a few groceries at Loeb (local grocery chain) and then drove down Richmond Road to Wellington Street to see if there were any changes. Most of the changes were in the little community of Westboro. It's really becoming built up and quite trendy.

We came back on the Ottawa River Parkway and stopped at Remic Rapids where we came across these pretty rock sculptures. They are created by hand by a man named John Félice Ceprano and are quite pretty to look at. It’s too bad it was very cloudy at the time these photos were taken.

We arrived back home early this afternoon in time to read and nap!

Seeing Friends

I’m not a fair weather walker but it was drizzly, 17C (63F) as I took my walk and my camera. Of course, I didn’t see anything this morning. Often deer are out when it’s rainy but I guess they were taking a break today. I wore my old sneakers this morning as I knew just by putting the new ones on, I wouldn’t be walking anywhere in them.

Today was the day that I was to get together with my friends, Sandy and Nancy. We all worked at Nortel together and we meet once a year and have lunch and make an afternoon of it and today was no different. We met at Kelsey’s at the Centrum Plaza in Kanata. Luckily our waiter was a friend of Sandy’s daughter so we didn’t have to rush to leave and spent 3 ½ hours getting caught up and looking at Sandy’s photos of her five week trip to Australia and Tasmania last year. What a beautiful trip!

When I left it was pouring rain but as the day progressed the weather got better although the sun never really came out all day (at least at this point in posting). I arrived home just after 4:00 p.m. under cloudy, quite humid weather.

Pictured below are “the girls”.