Saturday to Tuesday August 28-31,2010

Saturday

What a beautiful day we had today, warm and sunny with a breeze and no humidity. After my morning walk where I stopped at a couple of garage sales, we had breakfast and then went out to more garage sales. Today was actually quite a productive day. I got four chair pads that are more gold than yellow but with blue in them, a couple of rooster ornamental things for my kitchen, a small shelf that I want to redo for the bathroom and Gordon got a small Jobmate, all for about $16.



We also went for a little drive and saw this great blue heron

and this tiny turtle trying to get across the road

to the swamp


After lunch, I went back out again mostly to go to the library but I did visit a few other garage sales but didn't see anything. I also stopped at a thrift store downtown that I hadn't been in before but it was mostly junky stuff.

When I got back I sat on the front porch to read for a while.

Can anyone identify this tree for me?



Sunday

Today was a little warmer but mostly a carbon copy of yesterday. I even got to wear shorts for my morning walk. I've been wearing pants the last few days!

Gordon had gone on a long photo shoot this morning and he was arriving back just as I got home from my walk.

This afternoon we decided to go in to Carleton Place. Home Depot had a sale on garage door openers. However when we got there, they didn't have any. While there we stopped by Tranquil Acres Camping for a while to see how things were going there. We chatted a bit with the owners and the people that have parked next to us for the last couple of years, walked around the park and came home. We didn't even take any photos!

When we got home I put a loaf of bread to bake in the breadmaker. Margie, John, Danica and Jasper (their wire haired terrier) stopped by on their way home from visiting John's sister in Brockville. Danica hadn't seen the house yet. They didn't stay long but it was nice to see them.

I had a question from Karen wanting to know how our fireplace animated .gif was done. Actually, Gordon did it but the instructions were on google and can be seen here. You can also buy animated .gif software like Easy Gif Animator.

Monday

Yesterday I had planned to get so much done today! It wasn't to be. I woke up about 4 a.m. with the same shoulder problem I had before we moved here only this time it's in the right shoulder which is even worse since I'm right handed. I can't get comfortable anywhere. If I lie down, I have trouble getting up. I'm feeling really useless about now!

Tuesday

No shoulder muscle spasms today, still a bit sore but spent the day sleeping off the muscle relaxants. It was very hot today here. It's not usually so hot here at the end of August. I stayed inside in air conditioned comfort!

Wednesday-Friday August 25-27, 2010

Wednesday

Today was mostly unexciting.

I did have a telephone interview for my application for social security benefits. Now as long as the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa will certify that they have met me and I am who I say I am, certify my documents and my application, I should be good to go! I have to call and set up an appointment as soon as I get the application from the Social Security Office in Ogdensburg, NY.

I finally got out for my morning walk. It was cloudy and cool but humid. Most of the day was cloudy with sunny breaks. Thank goodness it wasn't hot as it was humid!

We went to Home Hardware to buy another doorbell, this time a wired one since the wireless one didn't work for long. Batteries ($13/each) don't last long in the summer so I can't imagine how long they'd last in winter! It should be installed tomorrow.

Sunset looked like it might be a good one so we went out and instead caught this pretty partial rainbow. The sunset itself turned into a non event.

Our pretty rainbow

Golden light, dark sky

The marshy area on the Jasper Road at golden light


Thursday

I went for a long walk/run this morning. It feels really good to get back in the swing of things finally.

We had strange weather today as little pockets of rain were all over our area on the radar map. It was quite cool as well with quite a breeze. Our high might have been somewhere around 20C (68F). I didn't really look.

Late this morning our plumber/electrician came by as scheduled. He put in our doorbell with both front and back bells and our dedicated plug for our electric fireplace but most exciting for me was finally getting my bathroom counter and sink in!

Note our 'working' fireplace

And our new bathroom counter, sink and tap

The taps that we had installed a couple of months ago wouldn't work with this sink so while our plumber was putting in the pipes under the sink we took off to find new taps. We got some that are quite different.

Due to the width of the counter and the size of the sink we had to offset the taps but I think it looks cool!

Friday

My day started with another walk/run in the cool sunshine! Definitely a feeling of Fall in the air the last couple of days. It was only 11C (52F) when I was out this morning. The weekend however is supposed to be hot and humid.

Our plumber was here bright and early to install the taps that he took out of the upstairs bathroom downstairs in our half bath. His bill wasn't all that bad considering the work he did. He was much cheaper than the guy who came a couple of months ago and he also did more work!

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. We did have to go to Home Hardware again (our home away from home) but other than that my day consisted of reading and napping and computer time.

Tuesday August 24, 2010-Checkup and Obituary

It was cool and foggy this morning but it had mostly cleared up by the time I left and the sun came out as I was on the road. I was up early as I was driving myself to Ottawa for my one week checkup at the eye surgeon's office.

The surgeon is happy with the way the eye looks so I don't have to go back for a month.

After my appointment I ran some errands and picked up some groceries in the city. It was while I was driving around the city that I found out that Dick Maloney, a local crooner and celebrity who sounds a lot like Frank Sinatra passed away late last week. He had been a quadraplegic for the past four years and although unable to move managed a radio show every Sunday morning from 6 a.m. to noon called Sentimental Journey. I've missed it since I've been in Smiths Falls. I really like listening to him sing although most of his music was from the 40s and 50s.

I arrived home just in time to get dinner ready.

Monday August 23, 2010

We had more rain this morning but by noon we were getting some sun, thank goodness!

We had planned to go and pick up our bathroom vanity counter today but they're closed on Monday. Instead I went out and paid the last tax installment and got my license changed to show that I don't have to wear glasses for driving any more. I had to have a short eye test first but I passed that with flying colours! I checked out a couple of thrift stores but only bought another pair of reading glasses and a couple of funnels at Dollarama. Big purchases today!

Today is my sister Margie's birthday. Happy Birthday Marg!