Saturday, Sunday Monday, July 3,4,5, 2010

Saturday

We started out for Ottawa this morning with a short side trip to Burritt's Rapids for a few photos. The first order of business was to get the cheque for the RV in the bank. Small town banks aren't open on Saturday. After that we checked out a few garage sales and headed home for lunch, then I crashed. I didn't sleep well last night.

Lily in the water at Burritt's Rapids

Swing bridge at Burritt's Rapids. There are a lot of swing bridges in this area to allow boats through.



Today was a beautiful sunny day, hot but with a good breeze. I saw 31C (88F) on the thermometer this afternoon.

When I got up I put a bread mix in the breadmaker.

It was hot today but there was a nice breeze.

Sunday

Today was another beautiful, sunny hot day with a lovely breeze. The temperature was 33C (91F) this afternoon.

We spent most of it at home except I went out for a bit to pick up a few things. This afternoon I spent a couple of hours outside on the swing. Although it was hot it was beautiful under the big tree with the breeze.

I finally spent some time this afternoon getting our monthly expenses sheet updated. Not a good month!

When Gordon was out barbecuing our dinner he was talking to our neighbour, Pat. She just bought the house next door in February and she's selling and moving to a nearby town . I'm really bummed because that's the house I wanted in the first place but by the time we got around to buying, it was too late. Guess it wasn't meant to be! It doesn't have a finished basement or a garage but it does have a fireplace in the living room!

Monday

It was already pretty warm when I got up this morning at 23C (73F). I checked the weather in Port Lavaca, TX this morning and it's going to be warmer here this week than there. We're supposed to have high temperatures and high humidity. This will NOT be my favourite week!

Today I started calling for estimates on repairing or replacing our front porch. The first guy I called is booked till October! He suggested I call the Commercial Division of the local Home Hardware for some recommendations, so I did and got two names. The first guy I called said he could come to look at it this afternoon. He arrived early and looked at our front porch and said it could be repaired. Then he came back late this afternoon and started taking the black carpet off the steps and they disintegrated! So he's giving us a price to build a deck over top of the porch and steps instead. I've never seen anything like it. Now I know why the carpet was there!

Porch with the carpet on it holding things together. The carpet was worn through on the edges and looked very unkempt which is why we were taking it off.



Disintegrating steps

This afternoon we decided to go out for a drive. We ended up going further than planned. We first stopped at the locks that are in Smiths Falls' downtown area.

Wooden boat on the Rideau Canal downtown Smiths Falls


Song sparrow on a sign at the locks downtown Smiths Falls







As you can see the lock at Smiths Falls is very deep

Boats in the lock


Then we decided to drive over by Portland to the Narrows Locks. These are small locks and only fit about eight average size boats in it. We spent a while there then started back but took a detour on a side road just because we had never been on it.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies at the boat ramp at Narrows Lock. There were a lot of them vieing for one spot. No idea why.

Closing the locks at The Narrows

Pretty little Anglican church at Portland

Motts Mill Conservation Area


A short stop for a cold drink and the grocery and we were home. It was 34C (95F) with 58% humidity. If it weren't for the breeze it would have been unbearable for me. When we got out of the truck at one stop I was actually dizzy. That's when I know heatstroke is setting in!

Luckily when we got home the air conditioner was working well!