Tuesday to Saturday - August 10-14, 2010

Tuesday

I had planned to walk this morning but the humidity was already thick when I got up. It had apparently been quite foggy. I did get up somewhat later than usual. I've been so tired lately, don't know if it's the humidity or from my eye surgery or stress, all I know is I'm tired! That doesn't mean that I can sleep though!


Wednesday

I went for a short walk this morning. It was starting to get humid but was till not bad and the sun was shining.

This afternoon we went out to take another of Gordon's photos to Spotlight on the Rideau. While out we stopped at Home Hardware (our home away from home) and picked up what Gordon needs to hang the French door for the office.

Then we took a little drive along some of the back roads between Smiths Falls and Merrickville and stopped in Merrickville and looked around some of the shops. Merrickville is very artsy and has lots of cute little boutiques. Merrickville is now also called Merrickville-Wolford which has a lot of meaning for us. It's interesting to have the last name of Wolford and live near this
community.

A couple of barns

Brightly coloured bench in Merrickville


Dead tree/pretty setting



Thursday

Our freezer was scheduled to arrive between 8 and noon. The driver called around 11 and said they'd be here before noon and they were! They hauled it downstairs for us and were off! We were advised to wait 2 hours to plug it in and 4 hours to put anything in it that wasn't frozen. That's ok, I left it overnight.

Friday

Today was handyman day with Gordon being the handyman. We bought a French door a couple of weeks ago and it needed some taken off the top and bottom. Gordon decided to practice some first so the door to the laundry room needed some cut off it so he started with that one. Now it doesn't catch on the carpet anymore.

Next was the closet door in the master bedroom. He took both closet doors off and took a bit off the bottom of each as they were catching on the carpet. That didn't do anything to make them easier to move so he sprayed liberally with WD40. Now they work!

This is cottage weekend at my sister's cottage in Lindsay. We decided not to go this year as I don't want to do anything to screw up my eye surgery and I also don't want to be away from my doctor and hospital should anything happen. I'm not really expecting anything to but you never know! Needless to say, I'm not the most popular person with my family but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

We were sitting having dinner when we heard this loud noise. The blower on the furnace appears to have coughed. So no air conditioning till it's fixed. Hopefully our plumber/electrician will be able to come tomorrow. The joys of home ownership!

We went out for a drive just before sunset and drove some of the back roads northwest of here. The sunset wasn't much and we didn't see anything to take photos of but it was a nice drive.

Saturday

I've been doing well with my morning walks this week. I think Thursday was the only day I didn't go. I feel so much better when I do.

Gordon called the guy to fix the furnace blower but he was out so we had to wait for his call. He dropped by late in the morning and said it looked like it was a pulley that had come loose off the drive shaft of the fan motor so he went away with the pulley to get some parts.

While he was gone Gordon got to work on the French door. He had to take off about 3 inches in height for it to fit in the doorway but we now have a French door on the office!

He still needs to put up some moulding and the door needs to be stained. The doorway it self needs to be sanded and painted but since that's my job it won't be done for a couple of months.

Our guy didn't come back to fix the problem so hopefully he'll be back soon. It wasn't that hot today but it gets stuffy in the living room in the late afternoon.

We went out for sunset again tonight. Interesting but not as pretty as some.

Sunday & Monday August 8 & 9, 2010

Sunday

We had cloud, sun and quite a bit of rain today. I didn't do much but nap and make some banana bread as we had lots of bananas that were inedible in their usual form. This time I made it without bean flour using a gluten free all purpose flour so hopefully I can eat it.

I have to say it's a real pain trying to bake a recipe you've never used before having imperfect vision. Very frustrating! Generally I felt 'off' today. It was certainly the type of day for feeling that way as we had a real downpour in the late afternoon and into the evening.

Monday

I saw sun when I first got up but then it started raining again. The radar showed pockets of rain but most of it seemed to be south of us.

I had an appointment with the eye surgeon for a check up this morning so we prepared to go to Ottawa. I also wanted to look at a freezer that's on sale at Leon's (where we bought most of our furniture) and I wanted to stop at Bulk Barn and Farm Boy to pick up some groceries as well. I like to shop in Smiths Falls as much as possible but their meat is usually fairly expensive or not great. I sure miss Farm Boy!

The surgeon said my eye is almost healed and everything looks good. I have had some reflection from the lens but he felt that was normal and would decrease with time. My sight went from 20/25 to 20/30 which is in the wrong direction but apparently I still have astigmatism. My sight previously without glasses was 20/1000 so 20/30 is a vast improvement. I can wear a mild corrective lens if I want to. I'll decide that after my other eye is done.

We went to Leon's and got the freezer. It will be delivered on Thursday.

When we got home this afternoon, I called Social Security and I have a telephone appointment later this month. I explained the situation with not being able to enter the U.S. and they were very accommodating. Apparently I need to apply for a social security number which might be a glitch but they thought that the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa might be able to help. Some hope, maybe?

This weekend is my sister and her husband's annual cottage weekend near Lindsay, Ontario for our family. Unfortunately it's not a good time for me with my surgeries, eye drops etc. and with my depth perception being way off so we decided not to go this year. Bummer!

After dinner, we went out for sunset. The sunset fizzled but we had lots of mist!

A misty field

Mist over the road

A misty pre-sunset

Friday

Today was sunny but much cooler with a high of 21C (70F) and a breeze. Although the surgeon said I could go for my walks, since my depth perception is way off kilter I've decided to hold off for a while. I don't want to fall again at this point. I'm also not going to drive until my left eye is done. He didn't mention driving so I could probably do it but I'd rather feel that I could do it safely. LOL

Gordon drove me to pick up a few groceries this morning and came along to carry them for me. It's so difficult not to be able to do the things you normally do without thinking. Even typing. With my reading glasses, I have the left one covered and I find myself using the wrong fingers on the wrong letters way too often but I'm too stubborn and addicted to my computer to give it up!

When in the store this morning, I had to keep getting my reading glasses out of my pocket to look at ingredients and that has definitely been the deciding factor in choosing to do my left eye for close up vision.

I was able to make another load of bread. I know the recipe off by heart at this point so it wasn't too difficult. I just had to get Gordon to lift the breadmaker out of the cupboard for me.

Our neighbour sold her house. It wasn't on the market long at all. I told her it would sell quickly. It's a very cute little house. Apparently a young girl has purchased it.

We had another beautiful sunset.


Saturday

I woke up to a beautiful sunny day again, no humidity. I've been sleeping like a log the last few nights.

Late this morning we checked out a few garage sales and Gordon found a circular saw. I didn't buy anything. We decided to have lunch and go for a drive after. We headed for Brockville, Ontario. Down at the water in Brockville we can pick up the Verizon network so we were going to update our roaming. However, Brockville was a zoo! There was definitely something going on so we headed west along the 1000 Islands Parkway and found a spot there where we could update the phones.

Driving along the 1000 Islands Parkway

We stopped to update the roaming on our Verizon cell phones and I took a photo of this island

We stopped at the little tourist town of Rockport, Ontario. Again, people all over the place. The cruises to Boldt Island are still very popular and one cruise leaves from Rockport. We parked and walked around a bit and took some photos.

Tourboat to Boldt Castle

These pretty orange flowers were in a planter outside a restaurant at the pier


I liked the shape of this restaurant building

Not your average phone booth



Church taken from the pier in Rockport

Pear tree


From there we continued west to Gananoque. This is another nice little town but it was also busy. We parked and walked around downtown. I was hungry so we stopped at Tilly's. Gordon had some ice cream and I had an omelet.

Taken at Tilly's in Gananoque - my new sunglasses

Downtown Gananoque



From there we started north through the country and stopped to take some church photos in the little town of Elgin.




It was a lovely day for a drive!

Wednesday & Thursday August 4 & 5, 2010-One Down One to Go

Wednesday

The surgery went well. The surgeon did, however, say that my eyes were the most sensitive of all that he operated on on Wednesday. Amazingly I wasn't nervous but didn't sleep well the night before.

Once the operation was over, I just wanted to get home but instead we decided to stay at a motel in case of problems. As I said, I didn't know what to expect. Over the evening my sight got progressively better once the dilation of the pupil was gone. The only problem is the eyes don't work together now and my depth perception is non existent so I missed a step going into the motel office and fell. Luckily nothing was damaged except my elbow.

We had a nice dinner out at Zolas so Gordon got his gluten free pizza. I had a nice salad with a chicken breast.

Thursday

After very little sleep last night we were up early and went for breakfast before my appointment at the surgeon's. He examined my eye, found no redness or swelling and was very pleased with 20/25 eye sight. He has hopes that it will improve. He also talked me in to doing the other eye for close up instead of doing both for distance. He knows that after over 50 years of wearing glasses I'd like to not wear them anymore so I think I'm going to go with his recommendation. I have another appointment with him on Monday.

He told me for reading and computer work now to go to the dollar store and buy either 2.0 or 2.5 lenses. I bought 2.5 and they will do for now. When I'm not reading I'm pretty much not wearing any glasses at all so I bought a pair of cute sunglasses. Other than the two stints I had with contact lenses, I've never worn real sunglasses, always either prescription or clip ons.

The last two nights of not sleeping well caught up with me this afternoon and I slept all afternoon.

Monday & Tuesday August 2 & 3, 2010

Monday

Today was our Civic Holiday in Ontario but I had work to get done. Work like changing the bed, vacuuming, thankless stuff! I'm trying to get stuff done before my surgery on Wednesday. Gordon will be taking over most of the duties that require lifting and bending for a while.

I did get my walk in this morning, the sun was shining but it turned cloudy and we had some rain late this afternoon.

I talked to both sisters on the phone wishing me well for my upcoming surgery.

Other than doing some reading and going to see a used freezer which we didn't buy, that was our day!

Tuesday

I woke up to rain and high humidity. It was only 21C (70F) but the humidity was 99% according to the Weather Underground site. Needless to say, I didn't stray outside this morning!

Today was another day spent getting things organized, doing laundry, more cleaning and trying to make things as easy as possible. I'm not supposed to 'look down' for a while after my cataract surgery. That's going to be a toughie. You do things like that automatically. So, does that mean I have to give up my laptop for a while?

I went on a Bejewelled marathon today while I was waiting for laundry to wash and dry. I even managed to get a decent score for a change! It might be awhile before I can play again. Too bad the scores renew tonight!

Other than going out with Gordon while he got a haircut and driving around town a bit, we stayed home today.

Wish me luck tomorrow! I'm a weenie when it comes to hospitals.

SQUIRT IT IS!

Saturday & Sunday July 31 & August 1, 2010

Saturday

This morning was much cooler when I woke up 10C (50F) but it was lovely and sunny.

After breakfast we washed and waxed the car. I'm glad it's a small car! That was a lot of work for us. I expect we'll be sore tomorrow.

When we finished Gordon went to see the Railway Museum here in Smiths Falls. He's been wanting to go for some time and I had no desire to see it.

When he got back I headed out to get some groceries and other things. It's so much fun to drive the car! After over six years of driving the truck, it's a real treat to have a small car again. I also like the fact that it has a trunk area so groceries don't fall all over the place like in the truck when they're in the back seat. I'm very happy to have a little car again! It's so much fun to drive!

Sunday

Another bright sunny day for my walk. I walked to the industrial area this morning as there wasn't much traffic and there are no sidewalks. Too bad the Hershey plant moved out before we came to Smiths Falls. It's in walking distance! That would have been a very bad thing!

I thought I would be sore today but I was fine. I guess my muscles aren't as out of use as I thought.

After breakfast I got another loaf of bread in the breadmaker and also made some gluten-free cookies from a Judy's mix that I picked up at the health food store in town yesterday. I need to bring my own snack to the hospital for my cataract surgery on Wednesday since they don't have any gluten free goodies. I put some white chocolate chips and walnuts in them to make them special!

Our truck has all the bells and whistles being a top of the line Dodge Ram Laramie. Although our little Kia is also a top of the line vehicle it doesn't have an inside/outside thermometer, a compass, or all the calculations that the truck had - how many miles you could go to next fillup etc. so we went out today and picked up a thermometer and a compass. We also need to get a new disc to hold Miss Pinky. Apparently they have them at The Source (Radio Shack) but they weren't open today nor will they be open tomorrow because of the Civic Holiday up here.

That accomplished, we went for a little drive around some country roads.

Part of the Cataraqui Trail


A dead tree with a pretty sky background

Country road


Gordon wanted to fill the car up on our return so he did that and put 17.1 litres into it (compared to over 100 litres in the truck usually). The car tank was only half empty though.

I also have a line on a freezer for sale right here in Smiths Falls! I'd like to get that before Wednesday as I won't be able to lift anything over 40 lb. for about 6 weeks or more.

Thursday & Friday July 29 & 30, 2010

Thursday

The humidity is gone and our high today was 24C (75F)! Just a gorgeous sunny day. I did go on my morning walk and it was very enjoyable.

Today we went to Tranquil Acres to move the Titanium for the last time. The people that purchased it from us wanted a site by the river and the site opened up this week. We had agreed to keep the truck long enough to do the move. Now we can prep it for sale.

We spent a few minutes with Dave and Shonagh before we left to go to Ottawa. We had stopped at the Home Depot in Carleton Place to see if we could get our small sink for the bathroom but the sink is discontinued and they didn't have any. So off to Ottawa and we got the last one they had! Back at Carleton Place Home Depot we bought a French door for the office since it's a shorter distance home from there.

We have enough projects to see us through the winter!

Gordon found a better photo of the Kia Rio 5 EX Sport so I changed the photo on yesterday's blog.

Friday

Another bright sunshiny day but way cooler than it has been. I even wore a jacket for my walk as it was only 16C (62F).

Today's highlight was picking up our new car. We had gone to get the insurance this morning so that was all finished and we had gone to the dealer this morning and signed all the paperwork. The car was finally ready around 3:30 p.m. so away we went to pick it up. Our salesman went through the usual 'getting to know your car'. The only new things were blue tooth and a sun roof. We've never had a sun roof before. We got our cell phones hooked up to bluetooth and now have to figure out how to use it.

I got to drive it away from the dealership. I had to go to the library so went there before going home. Gordon took a photo of me with it when I arrived home. Then off for a short drive before dinner. I think another drive tonight might be happening.

Now we have to name it, any suggestions?

Wednesday July 28, 2010 - A New Car!

First of all, Happy Anniversary to Nick & Becky - four years already! Congratulations, guys!

The second exciting thing for today is that we bought a new car! It's coming close to the time when we're going to be selling the truck so to be sure that we would have a vehicle we decided to buy the car now. We first went to the Ford dealer as we hadn't looked at Fords yet. All they have is the Fiesta and they don't have any. It's also the first year for them so we weren't interested.

Across the street to the Kia dealer we went. Way back in early spring we looked at the Kia in Ottawa but we were nowhere near ready to buy then. Today was the test drive. We liked it, they were able to find us a silver Rio 5 EX Sport and we should have it by Friday.



In the meantime here's a photo off the internet. It's not a very good photo but I'll have one for you probably Friday. It's small and I can rod around again. The truck was something to do a job but I never enjoyed driving it.



When we got back this afternoon, I started painting doors. I do really hate painting but George wasn't doing a very good job. I figured I couldn't do any worse. He was painting right over the fuschia with the red. It didn't make for a very nice colour on the back door so when I moved to paint the front door I went out and got a grey primer. I'm just about to put the red over it. We'll see if that turns out nicer.

Monday & Tuesday July 26 & 27, 2010

Monday

What an absolutely beautiful day, bright, sunny, no humidity and about 28C (83F). George arrived this morning and put the back door back on. I'm not happy with the paint job at all. When he started to put the hardware back on he couldn't get the dead bolt installed so he went out to buy a new one. While he was gone, Gordon put it in. George is a very nice man but he's definitely getting too old to do some of these things. I think I'll be putting a coat of paint on the back door and do the front door. I think I can do a better job with a small roller and taping off the hardware.

George left early so we got ready and headed out for a drive. We were gone over six hours, driving back roads southwest of here. We ended up at Chaffey's Locks at the Opinicon Resort where we had dinner. We had an omelet and they were huge. Gordon thought it was great but my opinion was it was okay especially for the price charged.

Here is a blockhouse that was built along the canal. It is one of four that were built. To read about it, click here and here. It is not a house that people live in but was built to protect the canal from American attack. Remember this was 1833. This one is located at Newboro Lock southwest of us.

I thought these lawn chairs were quite pretty and colourful sitting on someone's dock.


This photo reminded me of Lake Martin, LA with all the green algae on the water.

A view at Frontenac Provincial Park
'Opinicon Resort - beautiful old building built in the 1800s.

The grounds are beautiful too with lots of trees.


We had a good time though and took lots of photos.

Tuesday

Today was more humid so it felt hotter but it wasn't too bad when I went out for my walk. At least there was a breeze then. Later in the day it disappeared.

I got ready to leave early today as the guy putting tar on the roof was supposed to be here first thing this morning. So I was gone by about 9:30 or so. I was looking for a plant pot for my front step. Didn't find what I wanted. I looked through about thirty wallpaper books and picked out some likely contenders for redoing the bathroom. I think I can handle wallpapering that small space. I made a few other stops and got home around 12:30. Hmmm...no tar smell. George didn't show up!

Gordon's photo was ready at the framers so we went over there and picked it up after lunch. It's one that we're keeping so it's hung over his chair in the living room.

When we got back I put another load of bread in the breadmaker. We're going through a lot of bread. The loaves are small so if we're both eating it it's gone in 2-3 days.

This afternoon I went out to the garage to get the trash ready for tomorrow's pickup. What a mess I found! This guy opened cans of paint and left them open with the paintbrushes in them. He had white paint spilled all inside my blue box, white paint on the rug that's just inside the garage door and just a general mess. Maybe that's why he didn't show up today! I think I managed to save the red paint, I put some plastic over it as who knows where the top is and since it's so hot the black paint didn't dry up either so I used it and the brush that was in it to paint some of the cupboard doors in the garage. Now, of course, I need more to finish it!

Methinks we'll have to find someone else to finish up the jobs we have. At least the deck looks good but he did get stain splatters on the white siding of the house from staining the deck. They aren't noticeable till you're up close but I doubt if there's anything that will take stain off siding. If there is, please let me know. He also got black paint all over the cement in front of the garage door. I tried TSP but that didn't work, any ideas for that?

Saturday & Sunday July 24 & 25, 2010

Saturday

The air was still this morning and it felt hot and humid so I stayed inside. No sense it getting overheated before the real heat sets in!

We discovered yesterday that we have a very ugly problem in the house. Without going into gory details, it is plumbing related and it is very, very yucky! We had called the plumber that did some work for us when we first moved in but he said he was unable to do it and gave us the name of someone else. He came this morning and was able to get the problem solved for a very reasonable price. We also found out that not only is he a licensed plumber, but also an electrician and gas fitter. A well rounded person to know!

Needless to say, we were not very happy with this problem but I guess you have to expect it in such an old house. We were just happy that the problem wasn't further out in the yard or on the street!

Sunday

It was cooler with a breeze this morning and also cloudy so it was a nice morning to walk. When I was cleaning out the basement I found more CDs so I had put them on my ipod so I had some new tunes to listen to!

While doing laundry today, I filled the big plastic bin that I purchased when I was out a couple of days ago so I now have all my linens and some winter clothes packed in it.

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday - Happy Birthday Carol!

The afternoon was beautiful today, no humidity and 24C (75F). We had some aging bananas so I decided to make banana bread. I got out all the ingredients and realized that I didn't have any baking powder so had to go out and buy some. While out we noticed there was a car show at Lower Reach Park so Gordon dropped me back at the house and I got my banana bread made. He headed out for the car show. Shortly after arriving he called and told me that I should be there as it was a good show in a scenic setting so after the banana bread was out of the oven we went over.

It was indeed a good car show set along the banks of the canal and a perfect day for it.

On our way to the car show we had to stop for the swing bridge to let the boats through the lock.


We parked near the locks and walked along the path to the car show.


The Car Show

A candy apple red Corvette

A row of cars

Really nice Studebaker!

An old Woody

Mustang Cobra with a tricked out paint job

1952 Chevy - we had one of these on the farm but it was blue

Loved this car! It looked like it should have machine guns sticking out of the windows - very low to the ground & a beautiful paint job - it looked purple or gold depending on the light

This truck was painted with Aultsville, Ontario on it - Aultsville is one of the lost villages now underwater since the Seaway went through in 1958

Beautiful setting for this car

Green on green

This vehicle had a sign that said "My 1946 PT Cruiser"

This Caddy had quite a paint job - Spiderman all over it

This paint job is flat black

And my car peels away!

It was a much better car show than the one we went to in Lombardy shortly after we moved here and it was free! We had a good time!

The banana bread turned out great as well. There's a couple of pieces missing as you can see.


George, the handyman/contractor showed up this afternoon and painted the back door.