Sunday & Monday June 20 & 21, 2010

Saturday evening

After I posted, Gordon decided he wanted to go for a drive so away we went to the wilds south west of here about an hour or so away. We found some nice spots for photos and a really beautiful spot for sunset.

Osprey on nest


Along County Road 10 southwest of Smiths Falls


The sunset over Devil Lake


In response to Penny's comment on my last blog about our vanity, the vanity is 49 inches long and 19 inches wide and the sink is offset to the right hand side.

Sunday

We went out to pick up a few things Sunday morning. It was very hot and humid today although not what folks in the U.S. are experiencing.

This afternoon we went to the RV to get some more stuff. The interior is cleaned out and just the lower storage area left for another day. We took some photos around the park but the mosquitoes were out in force today!

A flower in the Tranquil Acres garden


There was a beautiful sunset tonight but I elected not to go out. Bummer! Gordon saw three loons at Kilmarnock Lock where it also has a beautiful view of the sunset. Oh well, I'll learn! I did take a photo of it from our front yard.

Taken from our front yard


Monday

The humidity was gone as I went out for my walk. It was really beautiful and sunny. I'm enjoying my ipod with all the new music I've put on it.

Gordon got some little jobs looked after today. He worked on plugging the hole in the cinder block foundation and also worked on straightening and securing the rain gutter that is part of the porch canopy. The guy who owned the house before us was a Red Green type of person - fix it with baler twine and duct tape and he was supposedly a contractor. Sure hope he did better on the houses he was building than he did on his own house!

I went out and picked up some groceries and a couple of trips were made to the hardware store. Glad it's not far to go!

This afternoon I had a nap as my eyes were getting really tired.

It was a really nice day, sunny and warm 32C (89F) but with 39% humidity. Dee, you need to be up here!

Friday & Saturday June 18 & 19, 2010

Thanks to everyone who left a comment saying they still liked to read my blog.

Thursday night

Got my first phone call on the RV. Unfortunately the Titanium was too heavy for their truck. So far I've gotten three scam emails and this call. Not much happening there since I first put it up for sale online in May.

Friday

Friday was a beautiful, bright, sunny day. I started the day off with my walk.

In yesterday's paper it said that tax bills had been mailed out and were due June 30th. I hadn't received a tax bill so I called the Town Tax Office and was told we weren't showing as the owner of our house. So I called the lawyer's office AGAIN and this time spoke to the secretary and told her of the problem. I said that the lady at the Tax Office needed a fax from them TODAY!

I then went out to run some errands, one of which was going to Home Hardware to discuss options for our vanity.

#1 option is to go with the moulded vanity top and sink like we have now. Since our sink is offset to the right the cost is $630.00 plus tax.

#2 option is to go with a bar counter which has no backsplash and the only sink they have that would fit is a vessel sink which would be sunk into the counter with just an inch or so above the counter. That would fit the tap we had installed yesterday. The cost for the counter would be about $175 and the sink is $60. We would then have to put tile where the backsplash is presently.

#2 is a less expensive option but more work. Decisions, decisions. I think we'll let it be for a while. We've had a few really expensive months.

After that I went to Walmart as I needed to pick up some stuff.

On my way home I stopped at the Tax Office. They had received the fax from the lawyer's office and Beth (lady in Tax Office) said she was going to email our lawyer as he is causing problems. Apparently this isn't the first time he's led new owners astray. I got the tax bill and paid it.

When I got home, I decided to sit outside on the swing. It was cool out there even though it's 28C (82F) under the tree and I had to get a blankie.

Saturday

It was nice and sunny when I got up and went for my walk. While I was out I attended a couple of garage sales and found some glass desert plates at one - 6/$1. I didn't have any money so came home and got my $1 and went and got them. Luckily it was just in the next block.

After breakfast I started the laundry. Gordon said he wanted to go out to get a saw as he needed to cut the downspout extensions so we set off finally ending up at Canadian Tire where we got what we needed. It clouded over when we were out and shortly after our return to the house it started to rain. This is what I saw on the radar. Luckily it's only a thin line of storms coming our way. Most of it was going north of us.



While we were away this morning doing errands, I had a CD that was downloading to my ipod nano. It's really easy to do. I've nearly exhausted all our CD collection, which wasn't very big to begin with however they are all now on my ipod. I really like Shania Twain but that's all I've had on it for a few weeks so I thought I should update it and have more to listen to on my morning walks.

I sat outside after the rain and read for a bit. It didn't amount to much.

View from my lawnchair

Our front door


Gardens

I don't know what this tree is called but my sister calls it an upside down tree


When I came in I had this craving for peanut butter cookies but wasn't sure I had any shortening. I did and here they are! I rarely make cookies and when I do they are not usually made from scratch but thanks to Nancy for the recipe!

Peanut Butter cookies



Hope all the fathers out there have a Happy Father's Day tomorrow!

Wednesday & Thursday June 16 & 17, 2010

Wednesday

I went for my walk this morning. It was cloudy but hadn't started raining.

Other than that not a lot was accomplished today. We went out to Home Hardware and found that they don't cut counters there. They have to be ordered and since ours is a special size it will probably take two weeks. I phoned Rona and they said the same thing. I called Home Depot in Carleton Place - ditto for them.

So, Gordon called the plumber with the idea of cutting out the counter we have to fit the new sink. We'll see what happens there.

We went back out this afternoon to Home Hardware and picked up some caulking that expands for the hole in our cement block foundation. The inspection had said it wasn't serious but it did need to be done. We also got some downspout extensions. Home Hardware is becoming almost a daily event!

This afternoon I had a nap and I slept very deeply. I had a dream that my stepdaughter, Michelle came to visit with the two girls and some other lady and Faith found another bathroom in the spare room. You wonder where these things come from. I also remember thinking that I didn't have enough meat loaf to feed everyone and wondered what I was going to feed them when the door bell rang and woke me up. Gordon went and it was some guy selling home alarm systems. That's not something you buy from a door to door salesman!

It rained hard this afternoon for a while. I think we've had enough now and this summer is now feeling suspiciously like last summer. At least everything is green and the rain doesn't bother me as much in a house as it would in the RV. More pouring rain after dinner!

We went out for sunset as it looked like it might be a good one but it fizzled. We did get some photos before it fizzled, then went to a different spot and took a photo of this old boat. The Fire Department were playing with their hoses and I had to cross the locks to get over to see it. Scary!

Sunset from Lower Reach Park near us


Firemen playing with their hoses


Crossing the locks


Boat houses near locks




Old boat at locks

Osprey in nest


Thursday

It rained a lot overnight. I woke up around 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. When Gordon got up around 5 a.m. I turned on the radio. That usually works to put me back to sleep and it did it's work.

Since the plumber was scheduled to arrive at 9 a.m., I reluctantly got up at 7 a.m. and headed out for my walk. There were lots of big puddles around but it wasn't raining. It was chilly though at 14C (57F) with quite a breeze. It seemed strange walking that early. Instead of lots of kids around when I usually walk, there were lots of people going to work.

By noon the plumbers were gone. I had a new kitchen sink and taps, the downstairs bathroom was fixed, the inside part of the outside tap was fixed but they couldn't find a sink small enough to fit in the vanity we have in the upstairs bathroom. Gordon decided we should just replace the taps today and we'd do some research on a bathroom vanity. I had found a small sink at Home Depot in Carleton Place and it would fit but the taps would have to be offset, which is a possibility. The other possibility is to go back to the moulded sink that we have now as they do make those vanities in the right size. It still has to be ordered as our sink is offset so that's possibility number two.

I was too tired to think about it so even though we still had lots to do I decided to lay down and have a nap. It turned into about 3 1/2 hours but I felt like I would live.

The day also turned into a bright sunshiny one so another day I spent having a nap when it was beautiful.

For those of you that I'm boring to tears with my blogs lately, remember it's a diary for me too!

Monday & Tuesday June 14 & 15, 2010

Monday

This morning was kind of rainy so I just piddled around the house, didn't do anything useful.

We had an appointment in Ottawa with our financial people to get set up with some life insurance and a follow up appointment with my family doctor to discuss the results of the tests taken after my annual medical. All my tests were within normal range but she is concerned that I might have sleep apnea so she's scheduling me for the overnight test.

In between appointments we stopped at Ikea and I found a stool to hold my fan. I always have a fan on at night in the bedroom and I'd been using my outdoor table but I need my outdoor table for beside my swing so I've been looking for something for a while, something else off the list!

My new stool holding the fan


That accomplished we stopped at Natural Food Pantry to get some gluten free stuff, then we had an early dinner at Wendy's before going to see another desk that I had found yesterday. We needed something to put our new printer and the scanner (that's still in the RV) on. It was in good shape and was a fair price so we loaded it on the truck and it's now in the office.

The office is furnished now


I've discovered that lifting something heavy immediately after eating is not a good idea. It causes a lot of gastric discomfort! Remind me not to do that again.

Only a couple of more things are needed - a small freezer and some sort of storage for extra bedding - a dresser or chest of some kind.

We had rain and cool temperatures on our way in to Ottawa and sunshine and warmer temperatures on our way home.

Tuesday

I've felt lethargic for some time now on waking up in the morning. This is one of the reasons why my doctor wants to send me for sleep apnea testing. As I've said before I've been very negligent in going for my morning walk so since it was bright, sunny and beautiful this morning I decided to get off my butt and go. I really enjoyed the walk and even did a bit of running but I still feel lethargic!

I called the Smiths Falls hospital to see if they can do the sleep apnea test here but they don't have the equipment so I guess I'll have to go to Ottawa. Bummer!

I got some energy later in the morning and got the front door washed, then I washed some of the siding around the door. After that, I went to the basement and tackled some of the boxes. I made a lot of headway.

The plumber stopped by to show me some brochures on sinks and taps. We picked out what we wanted. They said we should go to Home Hardware and pick out our counter top. Later in the afternoon they got back to us with a good price and they will start the job on Thursday. It will be good to get it done before the dreaded HST tax starts on July 1st. Instead of 5% on some items, we will now be charged 13%. It's too complicated to explain and very depressing! The provincial government tells us it will create jobs. Let's hope so, some good has to come of it.

This afternoon I put a bread mix in the breadmaker, then took off to pick up some groceries. My new stamp came in so now I have a pre-inked stamp with our address on it. No more hand writing!

Sunday June 13, 2010

This morning we headed out to more flea markets. On the way to one we saw a garage sale so stopped on the way back. I got an inside garbage can that is separated with one small black box and one small blue box for recyclables. I've been using plastic bags in my broom closet so thought this would be more efficient. However, the garbage can is too big for the closet. I can get the black and blue box in it though.

My $3 purchase


We didn't find anything at any of the flea markets.

Before we went out this morning, Gordon got our wireless doorbell in place. The front and back doors have different chimes. Cool!

This afternoon we went to the town of Perth which is about 20 km (12 miles) or so from Smiths Falls. Perth is a very pretty town and in fact claims to be the prettiest town in Ontario. We stopped by the Perth Conservation Area on our way as we took the Rideau Ferry Road to get there. That is also a pretty drive. We stopped at a flea market in Perth but this was more of an antique market and had prices to reflect that so on we went, parked the truck and took a walk around town. We took a different route home. It was a nice little Sunday drive.

Perth Conservation Area & Tay Marsh Butterfly Trail - leads out to the marsh

Fountains in the Tay River in downtown Perth

This tower is part of the Perth Public Library. It is called the Hose Tower as it is where the firefighters hung the hoses to dry out.

I thought this slogan was kind of catchy for the Perth Courier newspaper

This reminded me of a Japanese Bridge

More of Stewart Park

Sitting on the end of one of the bridges in the park



I decided to get some swing time as it's a very pretty day here and then came in and made some meatloaf for dinner. It was excellent!