Tuesday & Wednesday June 22 & 23, 2010

Tuesday

Unlike yesterday, today's humidity was 73% and the temperature was only 21C (70F)! I was out for my walk earlier than normal today as we had plans to go into Ottawa.

Gordon had browned some pork tenderloin last night so I put it in the crockpot with some leftover canned veggies and a package of onion soup mix.

We headed out for Ottawa around 10 a.m. and stopped at Gordon's friend, Leroy's house. Leroy is our 'Mac' person. Gordon was looking for a commercial grade 2 TB hard drive which Leroy had. While he was there I hit a couple of grocery stores looking for a specific product but didn't find it.

After we left Leroy's we stopped at Best Buy and Future Shop as Gordon had his eye on a camera and he wanted to price it before going to his favourite camera store, Henry's. That done, we stopped at Home Depot to price vanity counters then on to Henry's. Gordon dropped me at FabricLand as I wanted to look for a blue and yellow fabric for chair cushions and a tablecloth for the dining room. I didn't find anything I liked but Gordon came back with a camera!

Gordon's new pocket camera




The only two blue/yellow/gold fabrics I could find

I didn't think this one would stand up to chair cushions

And this one was too loud!


Since it was nearly 1 p.m. and I had a gift card for Swiss Chalet we went there for lunch! Yay, I don't have to cook dinner tonight. The crockpot can go back in the fridge for another day.

Then we stopped at Natural Food Pantry to pick up some gluten free bread and also bread mix. Since Gordon hasn't been eating corn tortillas, he's been eating more bread. All symptoms point to a possibility that he's developed a sensitivity to corn.

On from there to stop and see Max. He was glad to see us and vice versa. He's such a funny dog, he almost purrs when you rub his belly or scratch his ears!

Max was happy to see us!


A short stop at Walmart to look at camera bags and we were on our way back to the beautiful little town of Smiths Falls!

We just got home when it started to rain and the temperature dropped quite a bit.

Wednesday

The day started out with 93% humidity but it was still around 19C (66F) so it wasn't too bad for my walk. There was quite a breeze blowing which I was thankful for.

This morning I got some cleaning done, my least favourite thing to do. When I was working when I started making enough money, I always had someone come in every two weeks but now I can't justify it. Lifting that central vac hose around isn't a lot of fun! The one in the RV is shorter and lighter but this is an old system. I expect the new systems have lighter hoses and cleaning wands.

Gordon got some of the half assed work that the previous owner did on the front porch fixed this morning. It looks much better. They have the front porch and steps covered with black indoor/outdoor carpet which has badly worn and the steps are crumbling, something else to do! I'd like to take the carpet off but I'm scared of what's underneath. He also took down the Christmas lights. Half of them weren't working anyway. They were put up with bits of string and shoelaces. Not very attractive!

We went out this afternoon and Gordon found a camera bag for his new camera. While out I got some more photocopying done to send to the Immigration lawyer and some other errands run.

We had just gotten home when we felt something that was like a big truck going by. A few minutes later I found that another lady that I used to work with that lives here in Smiths Falls felt it too. So we decided it had to be an earthquake. Then news started popping up on news sites that it was indeed an earthquake and a pretty strong one to boot. Here's the link.

This climbing plant is growing on our garage. Can anyone identify it? We thought it was clematis at first.

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!

Saturday June 12, 2010-Busy Day

We had called a plumber a couple of weeks ago and he was supposed to get back to us at the end of that week but we never heard from him. I found a plumber online that lives right down the street from us and we had made arrangements for him to come this morning.

He arrived and we went through our list. He had brought another guy with him, both of them are old timers. We went through our list of stuff and a couple of things he talked me out of even though it would have made him money. I like that. Anyway, he's to get back to us on Tuesday with a price.

Then I put a gluten free bread mix in the breadmaker and we headed out to pick up some more 'stuff' as if we didn't have enough stuff in the basement however the stuff in the basement isn't the right stuff if you know what I mean.

When we moved in it took us a while to notice that the house doesn't have a door bell on either door. Very odd. Anyway today we finally bought a wireless doorbell that will work for both doors. We also needed an outdoor trash can as we've been using bags however they tend to attract critters and we don't want critters in the garage.

Gordon is also fixing up his office so needed a desk lamp and a trash can so we got those items. Setting up house is costly!

Here are a couple of photos of the living room.




After lunch I was doing laundry and I lay down to read then I thought that since it finally stopped raining I should go for a walk. I haven't been nearly as diligent since we moved here and even before because of my shoulder so I took off and walked the circle around the river. I walked 4,862 steps and burned 203 calories. I have no idea what that is in miles but it took about 45 minutes. It seems like a long way but it's really pretty walking on the path by the river. I should have taken my camera but I didn't want the extra encumbrance and since it was cloudy, I didn't bother. When we have a nice day I'll take it with me.

I had gotten my second wind or else the walk gave me energy but I vacuumed and dusted the house with the exception of the room where the oil tank is. As far as I'm concerned that room doesn't exist and keeping the door closed works for me! Oh, for a gas furnace!

The sun started to shine so we went out for sunset. We went to the RV Park in town which is called Victoria Park. Here are some photos:

Sunset over Rideau Canal at Victoria Park

After that we went for a drive to Otter Lake - more photos. This is a great sunset spot about 15 minutes from the house.

Otter Lake Sunset

Thursday and Friday June 10 & 11, 2010

Thursday

I can't believe how tired I was this morning and how nice it was just to lie in bed.

Gordon had already been to the hardware store this morning and gotten what he needed to mount his DVD cabinet on the wall. Now he has a place for his photos (it's barely half full).

DVD cabinet attached to the wall - all that stuff on the floor has now been put away



Then he needed to go to Staples to get some sleeves for the DVDs. I went along as I wanted to order a stamp with our address on it. While there I also needed to get ink for our inkjet printer. Gordon looked at the price of ink for the inkjet and then started looking at laser printers. Needless to say, we came home with no ink for the inkjet but we do have a new laser printer!

Dee and I finally got to do chat and video on Yahoo Messenger! We were so excited!

Since not much was on TV tonight and our VCR isn't hooked up yet (yes, we still have a VCR), I thought I'd watch the Desperate Housewives finale on the internet since we now have high speed. Well, imagine my surprise when I find out that you can't watch a full length streaming video outside of the U.S. What's with that? Do they think only Americans are interested in this stuff? ABC needs to get with the times!

Friday

This morning Gordon took the truck in for an oil change. It's not nearly so far to go anymore! While he was gone I decided to line the drawers in the kitchen and bathroom with the wallpaper that I bought at the thrift store the other day. I did eight drawers in the kitchen and four in the bathroom as well as the bottom of the bathroom cabinet and I still have some left but not enough to do all the kitchen cupboards. I think I'll use it to line the cupboard in the laundry room.

Lining the kitchen drawers


We had to go out this afternoon to pick up some things and Gordon thought it would be a good day to go to the RV. We haven't been there in about a week and a half so he took the weed eater along. He looked after the long grass, I packed up almost all of the inside. There's one cupboard left for another day but my basement is bulging! I think I'm going to have to have a garage sale!

Tuesday & Wednesday June 8 & 9, 2010

Tuesday

To see the photos that Gordon took of Danica's graduation ceremonies and the aftermath, click here.

It was a low key day for us, both really tired. I had to go out and get some groceries. I'm also looking for a clothes hamper that will look nice in the bedroom since that's the only place I have for it. Sears has an assortment of bamboo hampers (if they have them in stock) but I'll check out some other stores first. The ones Walmart has are plastic or canvas and aren't what I'm looking for. When we had the house I had found a really nice wicker one at Winners so I'm hoping that when I go to Ottawa on Wednesday I might find something. Right now I'm using one of my collapsible net laundry hamper that I used in the RV. Not really very esthetically appealing but okay for hauling laundry down to the laundry room!

Wednesday

I was up and ready to leave for Ottawa this morning shortly after 9 a.m. My first stop was Ikea and it took about an hour to get there. I was disappointed. They didn't have the magazine rack that they used to have that I liked and the cord cover for our bedroom TV looks like a gray vacuum cleaner hose. All I bought there were some steak knives.

From there I went to Bayshore Mall. I was still early to meet Najat for lunch. I worked with Najat at the last place that I worked before I retired, Breconridge. She has been off work as she had an operation on her back but is returning on Monday.

I stopped first at HomeSense and found some laundry hampers but they were all round. I don't want round. I went to Winners but they don't have that sort of thing anymore probably since they own HomeSense and it is just downstairs from them. Guess I'll have to order from Sears. The good news is it says on sears.ca that they are in stock.

Then off to Moxie's for lunch. Najat had invited Sue who I also worked with to come as well so that was a surprise. Moxie's were very accommodating for my food sensitivities and I wound up with a salad with sliced chicken on top. Najat paid the bill as well. Thanks, Najat!

Back to my shopping after lunch. I got some coasters at HomeSense and a meat thermometer as I found out when we went to Nancy's that mine no longer worked.

I was also stopping at Nancy's to pick up some of our stuff that she found when packing up as I hadn't seen Max forever. When I got there, Nancy was home. Today was one of her compressed days so we got to have a chat and I got lots of doggie hugs.

Back on the road, a bit less than an hour to get home as I was coming from Kanata. It's nice driving through the country, very little traffic!

Sunday and Monday June 6 & 7, 2010

Sunday

Well the Oriental spaghetti salad verdict - it was very good!

We had rain all morning and Betty drove from Lindsay to Smiths Falls in the rain. It took 3 1/2 hours! She spent a couple of hours with us and got her first look at our little house.

Luckily it cleared later in the day so she didn't have to drive the rest of the way to Ottawa in the rain.

In fact, the sun came out later in the afternoon and I got to go for a walk and even got in some running. My new ipod nano is great!

Gordon and I went out at sunset and although the sunset wasn't a great one, I took a few photos in golden light.




Monday

I was up at 6 a.m. as we had to get ready to go into Ottawa. After four years, today was the day that our niece, Danica graduated with honours, magna cum laude from Ottawa University with a BSc in Biomedical Science. Here's a photo of her just as she had received her diploma. I'm afraid that my camera didn't do a very good job. Luckily, Gordon has taken quite a few photos.

The Convocation took place at Southam Hall in the National Arts Centre in downtown Ottawa.

After the ceremony we took some photos. We are all so very proud of her!

This photo symbolizes Danica on her way up (on the stairs) - her uncle's idea.

With the Parliament Buildings in the background

With her parents



From there John and Margie, her parents took us out to lunch at Swiss Chalet near their place. They chose this as they knew we can both eat their food.

Back at their house, Danica received a few gifts, then we headed for home after first stopping to return the comforter set that finally came in from Sears.

We got Danica a glass pendant in her favourite colours, black and orange.


After we got home, we both took a nap. I slept like the dead!

Saturday June 5, 2010

I was getting tired of my old template and the templates that blogger provides didn't inspire me so I decided to google it and found several sites that provide templates. This one feels kind of cheery!

This morning I made an oriental spaghetti salad. I got the recipe from one of our free weekly newspapers we get. Since my sister is coming for lunch tomorrow I decided to try to make something different. I was going to make a gluten free white cake from scratch but my baking powder had expired (in 2003). Shows you how much I bake! Instead since I had to go out for baking powder anyway, I bought a GF white cake mix instead.

We also picked up a new mailbox as our old black one was peeling and looked generally unkempt. So now we have a brand, shiny new white one. When we paint the interior doors (red), the mailbox might also get a coat or two of red.

While we were out I picked some wildflowers to dress the place up a bit so I have daisies and lupin. I also saw some Queen Anne's lace just at the top of our street. I might have to go and get some of that later.

I cleaned the whole place but no doubt will have to vacuum that burgundy living room carpet again in the morning. Tonight I'll get the laundry done and out of the way. The place is looking pretty good (upstairs anyway).

Here's the recipe for the Oriental Spaghetti Salad if anyone is interested in trying it.

Spaghetti with the lengths broken in about four pieces (I used a whole package of GF corn spaghetti)

2 carrots, diced

½ cup sweet red or green pepper, diced

½ onion, chopped

1 can tiny corn cobs, drained and cut into bite sized pieces

½ cup peas, fresh or frozen

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ cup mayo

½ tsp prepared mustard

Before you cook the spaghetti, break the strands into three or four pieces. Cook in boiling water just until the spaghetti has lost the starchy taste. Before you drain the spaghetti, read on.

If you are using frozen peas, measure them into the bottom of your colander. Drain the spaghetti by pouring it on top of the peas. The hot water will thaw them and they’ll be ready to use.

Run cold water over spaghetti and peas and drain well.

In a large bowl, combine the spaghetti, peas, chicken, carrots, onion, peppers and corn.

To make the salad dressing, mix the soy sauce, oil, mayo and mustard together. Use a whisk, or stir with a fork until the mixture is smooth.

Pour half the dressing over the salad, and toss to coat the spaghetti and vegetables. Add more dressing if needed. Refrigerate overnight and serve at room temperature.

For some reason Gordon can't eat store bought mayo so I made my own for this recipe. They do sell gluten free mayo so I might try that if the homemade doesn't go over well. My mother always made her own mayo when we were on the farm but hers turned out creamier than mine did. I'll have to research some more recipes.

Friday June 4, 2010

Last evening while the stove was cleaning and it was kind of smokey in here, Gordon went out and bought us some new smoke detectors. There was only one in the house and it was at the other end of the house from the bedroom so he got two.

Yesterday when we bought the comforter set at HomeSense, I said to Gordon, I'll bet the Sears order comes in now. Guess what? I got the email this morning. The Sears order is in. Since I've washed a lot of the items in the set I purchased, I'll be sending the Sears set back. Wouldn't ya know it!

Got lots of things accomplished this morning. Gordon worked his butt off but had fun playing with his new ladder.

This afternoon we went for a drive to the little hamlet of Jasper. We first stopped at Edmonds Lock as it's on the way. I can remember going there when I was a kid. There used to be a government surplus place there to get used office furniture. When my sister started high school we went there to get her a desk. I would have been about 8 or so. I don't remember much about it. It has some interesting buildings.

General Store in Jasper - reminds me of buildings in Texas

Old Community Hall in Jasper




At Edmonds Lock



On to Easton's Corners, another hamlet with more interesting buildings.

Old Carriage Factory building at Easton's Corners

Old wooden bridge at Kilmarnock Lock


Kilmarnock Lock


One thing I found out on our excursion today, this area has LOTS of places to picnic. There are lots of locks on the Rideau River and every one has a picnic area. If you're interested in the history of the Rideau canal, click here.

After that we came back to the city to run some errands and pick up some food for the weekend. My sister from Toronto is coming for lunch on Sunday as our niece's graduation from Ottawa U is early Monday morning. Betty hasn't seen the house yet so we've been trying to get the place spiffed up a bit.

Here's a photo of the bedroom for those of you who have wanted to see it. It looks like the head of the bed is really high but it's really only 4 inches off the floor. I need to look for curtains now.


I found some gluten free hot dog buns at our local grocery store today. So we're having hot dogs tonight and eating outside on our patio set for the first time! It's time it got christened!

Thursday June 3, 2010

For Gordon's latest blog update, click here.

Last night Gordon's son called him and left a message (Gordon was in bed) so Gordon called him back this morning. They have news. They're having twins in November. Our 7th grandchild will be the 7th and 8th! That's the first set of twins on Gordon's side of the family.

I was up most of the night with a sick stomach so stayed in bed most of the morning trying to catch up on the sleep I didn't get. Gordon had a scheduled appointment for a consultation with Dr. Tambay who was the doctor that diagnosed his celiac disease eight years ago.

By noon I felt a little better so we got ready to go in to Ottawa for his appointment. I dropped him off as there's no where to park a one ton truck. I headed to HomeSense which is a store owned by Winners. It sells dishes, bedding, some indoor and outdoor furniture etc. My main objective was to find a comforter set.

The only one I could find was a toile in black and cream so I bought it. I also bought a few towels. Their prices are really good on towels and they are soooo soft.

I was still in the store when Gordon called to say his appointment was over so I headed to the cash and got checked out. Then off to pick him up.

I showed him the comforter and he basically hated it. Since there's another HomeSense at Bayshore Mall, we stopped there and took it back. They had a different selection there and we found a set we both liked so bought it and headed for home. This comforter set also came with sheets which we didn't really need but we got them anyway.

Now I have to call Sears and get the other one canceled.

It's such a relief to be back in Smiths Falls after a trip to Ottawa. There aren't so many small parking lots here so not much problem parking the truck.

We decided we would have soup for dinner tonight so I made some cornbread from a gluten free mix that I bought at Bulk Barn. It's not as light as the mix I get in the U.S. but it will have to do.

I haven't used the oven since we've been here as it's been so warm. It was really dirty so I decided to clean it tonight. I love self cleaning ovens but they sure do smoke a lot and that really bothers my eys and Gordon's lungs.

I'll be taking some photos around the house now that things are pretty much in order. We have to decide on which of Gordon's photos we want to enlarge but for right now we have the pictures and frames that we've picked up at garage sales and flea markets. At least we have things on the walls!

Tuesday & Wednesday June 1 & 2, 2010

Tuesday

Tuesday morning I found a desk on usedottawa.com. That's the last big item to furnish our upstairs. We still have a couple of end tables to find. So in the afternoon we took off for the east end of Ottawa. We arrived without much of a problem. The owner and his wife are moving to Newfoundland so are selling a lot of their stuff. The desk is very big and heavy. Luckily the owner helped Gordon get it into the truck but I couldn't help but wonder how we would get it into the house.

When we arrived back at the house we got the smaller pieces inside but the top part was really heavy so Gordon decided to take it apart. However, he couldn't find out how to do it so I went next door to our neighbour to see if her son-in-law would come over and help us. He was there within 15 min. and all pieces are now in the office. Once Gordon gets the bottom part together we'll have to have him come back to lift the heavy top part onto the base. There's no way I can lift it. I managed to move it about 3 inches or so in the truck and it was all I could do.

Wednesday

This morning I went out to get some shopping done.

When I got back Gordon had a plan to get the top of the desk onto the desk. It took a bit of finagling but we did it!

After that, since I had seen a chair on sale at Staples, we headed in that direction. However, we also needed end tables for the living room. So we made a slight detour to pick up the tables, then on to pick up the chair and a chairmat to put on the carpet under the chair.

While I went outside for some swing time, Gordon put the chair together. My neighbour from across the street came over to chat for a bit. She showed me a public access to the water just two houses down so now Gordon has only a short walk to get to the water. Amazing what you find out from people who have lived her for 40 years.

Gordon is getting quite adept at putting things together. He's been quite cheerful about it but he tells me it's only because he's almost done. We now have all the furniture items for upstairs. FINALLY!

If I could only get my comforter set from Sears, I'd be happy and then I could take some photos!

Monday May 31, 2010

Today while I was doing the laundry I decided to clean up the laundry/furnace room. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the house was built. We're talking serious dust bunnies, spider webs and dust. My eyes are still smarting and it's late afternoon.

We've known since shortly after we moved in that our central vac system didn't work very well. Today I decided that we either needed to buy a new vacuum or fix this one. So away we went to the Vacuum Depot. The lady that owns it is very helpful. She had some suggestions one of which was cutting the PVC pipe to see if the pipe was clogged.

When we got home Gordon took the pipe off the canister and suction was good so he started taking the piping apart and we found a MAJOR clog. Once the clog was removed, we now have a central vac system back in working order! I am happy!

While we were out we stopped at Home Depot and got a closet rod to use for hanging up clothing out of the dryer so Gordon got that installed this afternoon.

While out, we took back the gray comforter to the Sears catalogue depot so now the only one I have is the beige and black one and they still can't tell me when it will arrive or if it will arrive. However I just got my new Sears winter catalogue so I'm looking at comforter sets in it.

Things are shaping up!