Saturday to Monday September 18-20, 2010

Saturday

I was up at 7 a.m. to go to what I thought was a five home garage sale on Broadview Ave. We drove along Broadview-no garage sales so we came home and I looked it up. It was online and the sale was last week! So, I checked the local paper and found one at Port Elmsley. We headed in that direction and I found a storage unit for the basement for $50! We had to come home and get the truck to bring it home. I now have storage, finally!


Gordon then took the car for it's first oil change and when he came home he said he had seen another garage sale on his way home. So we went to that one but didn't find anything.

The other day when I made bread I put gluten free gluten in it. It came out with more elasticity than normal. I haven't decided if it's worth purchasing it as it's $6.79 for about a cup. I only used 1/4 cup of it for a loaf of bread. The jury's out on it right now.


We came home and Gordon got the towel racks put up in the bathroom and then I put the border up so the top edge of the wallpaper looks much cleaner. It also spruces up the wallpaper.

Sunday

I slept later this morning since I got up so early (for me) yesterday. My lower back was also bothering me quite a bit yesterday so I took 1/2 muscle relaxant which contributed to my long snooze.


This morning I took my camera on my walk so have some photos to share.

Grounds of the public school close to us

Leaves have changed on this tree

One of the residential streets nearby - lots of trees in this older section of town

A lone red leaf on the sidewalk

Squirrel running along the street

A shorn weeping mulberry (not ours)

This house is really close to the railroad tracks

pretty in pink

Dragonfly on the sidewalk

This sidewalk runs throughout our residential area

Lots of squirrels preparing for winter

Bluejay on a lawn

Sidewalk at the front of the houses on our street

And I'm home!

After breakfast I started doing some arranging in the basement. Gordon helped me get my new cabinet in place so I could put my linens in it. I don't think that this basement is going to be in any kind of order anytime soon.

We had an absolutely gorgeous sunshiny early Fall day today with a high of (21C) 69F.

We had a guy come and look at the truck for the second time this afternoon. He really liked it but wanted us to give it away. We had a young guy here Friday who was very interested as well. He is working on the new arena here and left to go home for the weekend so hopefully we'll hear from him soon.

I painted my little garage sale shelf this afternoon. Instead of blue, it's now green. I hope it will look okay in the bathroom. That was why I purchased it.

Gordon spent the day preparing for his colonoscopy to take place tomorrow. YUK!

Monday

Up at 6:45 a.m. to get ready to head to Ottawa for Gordon's colonoscopy. We were there lots early but you never know about traffic at that time of day. Suffice it to say it wasn't a good time for Gordon but now it's overwith and all was well. We were home by shortly after noon.

I went out to get some things done while Gordon rested. When I got back it was time for a nap myself.

We had another nice sunny day today. I really prefer this time of year to the hot, humidity of the summer.

Tonight we watched the Queen in 3D. We picked up free 3D glasses at the post office. Apparently they have recently discovered that her coronation was filmed in 3D back in 1953 so that was what we got to watch. It was quite good considering it happened nearly 60 years ago.

To read Gordon's latest update, click here.

Friday September 17, 2010

After yesterday's deluge of rain this morning was bright and sunny but chilly at 8C (46F). Luckily I had left out a pair of gloves when we moved so away I went on my morning walk. The last two days I have been conserving my energy for wallpaper removal and installation. As I was walking I noticed little black and gray squirrels scurrying around carrying acorns in their mouths. I hope that's not a sign of early winter!

I spent the morning running errands.

This afternoon we got some energy and cleaned and vacuumed out the garage. There was all kinds of cardboard and styrofoam that had to be cut up. We have many, many garbage bags. At 2 bags per week that we're allowed it will take till next year this time to get them all sent off to landfill. I wish there was somewhere that would take back styrofoam! The cardboard will be recycled. We have a garage door opener that Gordon is going to install so we can put the car in the garage this winter. We believe that garages are for cars not junk!

Tonight it looked like there would be a nice sunset so we went out. It was pretty, not as spectacular as some earlier in the year but definitely worth missing Jeopardy!

Sun on the water

Cloud reflections

Purple clouds

Thursday September 16, 2010-Happy Birthday Gordon!

Thursday

We had some sun this morning but around 2 p.m. I looked at the radar and this is what I saw.

Guess we'll be dealing with this for a while! It was a good day to do indoor stuff.

After breakfast this morning I got busy on my wallpapering job. I'd do a couple of strips, then do something else like make Gordon's favourite Butterscotch Pie (his mother's recipe slightly adapted by his daughter to be gluten free). Today is Gordon's birthday. Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! This time I used corn starch and it thickened nicely. The last time I made it, it was kind of runny.

The wallpapering went okay. The walls aren't straight and they're in poor shape but I managed to get it done with only one major boo boo. I'll have to ponder how to fix that. It's in a really noticeable spot too.

Afterwards, of course, I had major indigestion from bending over so much.

Then it was clean up and getting the glue off everything including the bathroom mirror and floor. Now it's rest time, oh, after I get some laundry done.

Tuesday & Wednesday September 14 & 15, 2010

Tuesday

Today was what is called an 'unsettled' day. It rained then the sun would shine, then cloudy & rain & sun again. I managed to get my walk in without getting wet.

We took the truck in to be safetied this afternoon so it will soon be ready for sale! While out we stopped and got some wallpaper so now I have a job to do. I think the wallpaper in the bathroom will come down quite easily as it's lifting in spots. We also stopped at the library and I stocked up on books.

When we got home I started stripping wallpaper. It didn't come off nearly as easily as the bedroom. The top came off fairly well. Then I had to spray the backing and scrape and then scrape the glue off. Now that I've got some of it off I think I'll have to paint before wallpapering. The drywall just isn't in very good shape. I just keep thinking how nice it will look when it's done. That's all that's getting me through it!

Wednesday

It was up and at 'em this morning. I got the rest of the wallpaper backing and glue off, sanded the walls, washed them, washed the ceiling, painted the ceiling (never again!) and put some paint on the walls just to give the paper something to adhere to. Then sanded the walls again and I'm ready to start wallpapering tomorrow. Pray that it sticks! I just hate all the mess that goes with painting.

In the meantime Gordon got the truck finished and ready for sale. It's now in our side yard by the road with a For Sale sign on it!

A bit of sun, a bit of cloud but I didn't see much of it!

Friday September 10-Monday September 13, 2010

Friday

I thought it was supposed to be raining this morning but the sun was out although a bit chilly. I went for a long walk despite the aches and pains I have that started a couple of days ago. This is over and above the shoulder problem. My body definitely knew a birthday was coming up!

I did some cleaning this morning. When I looked outside someone had put a big red bow on the door of our neighbour's house. Our new neighbour was to move in today. There were balloons and things tied to the porch as well.

Around noon I decided to make some cookies. I've had a sugar craving so this probably wasn't a good idea but I made some gluten free peanut butter cookies anyway using Nancy's recipe and gluten free flour. They turned out very well and aren't all that difficult to do.


While I was baking cookies the neighbour arrived with, I think, her Father. I guess it was her Dad that put the bows and balloons around the house. She came carrying a vacuum cleaner and later went back to her van for bucket, mop and cleaning supplies. That's always a good sign. She's quite young, 20s or 30s. She also has a child but I didn't see him/her yet.

Saturday

Today was an absolutely beautiful early Fall day. After my morning walk and breakfast Gordon said he wanted to drive to the Baxter Conservation Area. It was a beautiful day for a drive.

We parked, paid our money and started out on the hiking trails. We haven't done any trails this summer due to the heat and my eye surgery so it was so nice to get back to it.

Here are some things I spied with my little eye.....












On our return we had a late lunch and then a nap.

Sunday

I had taken a muscle relaxant last night as everything was hurting so I slept about 12 1/2 hours. Even for me, that's a lot!

Although it was cloudy with the threat of rain, I started out for my walk but developed a new pain so made it a short one.

I spent the day with my book.

Monday

More rain but we did get some sun in between showers.

I put a loaf of bread in the breadmaker then headed out to do some errands this morning. When I got back I made some stew. It seems like stew weather! Then I coloured my hair. I'd been toying with letting it go gray but after I got a haircut today, I decided not to.

Tonight we decided to go out for our birthdays. We wound up at Chuckles Jack. It's in the same building as the Comfort Inn but they aren't affiliated.


We were celebrating our two birthdays. Mine was last Thursday and Gordon's is this Thursday.

The restaurant was very accommodating. I had the Jambalaya (Cajun style) and he removed the tomatoes. Everything is cooked from scratch. It was very spicy so I've taken some Divol tonight!

It was a good night, a nice restaurant on the water and I expect we'll be back. I like restaurants that accommodate our food problems.

Wednesday & Thursday September 8 & 9, 2010

Wednesday

It was cloudy this morning but fairly warm for my walk. The sun did come out and then we had some rain later in the afternoon. A real mixed bag. It's been the same all week.

This afternoon I attended the Volunteer Fair. I registered as a person who is interested in volunteering then went around to the various booths to find out what might interest me.

The first stop was the Gordon Pipe Band. They have need for people to run them back and forth on parade routes, people to carry flags at the head of the parade and such and they also tried to talk me into learning to play the bagpipes. Apparently they teach for free and there's only eight notes so it's not that difficult. Since I already know music...well I took two years of lessons when I was about six. Hmmmm, maybe.....

I moved on to several other booths but the next one that caught my eye was researching genealogy at the Heritage Museum. Apparently people come in with requests to have someone search their family tree - right up my alley!

My next interest stop was at REAL. They are all about recycling. Something else that I'm interested in. There was even talk of crafting. Wow!

Thursday

Happy Birthday to Me! Too bad the weather didn't cooperate. I woke up to a rainy day so took the day off from walking. I received lots of Facebook greetings and emails. It's so nice to be remembered!

After wearing glasses for over 50 years I decided to splurge today and went and got my eyebrows tweezed. I can't do it myself, it hurts! She offered to wax but I thought this time I'd go with tweezers. They look great!

When I got home I got a birthday phone call from my stepdaughter in Columbus. Thanks, Michelle!

I had put pork tenderloin, veggies and rice in the crockpot this morning so didn't have to worry about dinner. Since Gordon's birthday is exactly a week later than mine (although he's much older LOL) we usually go out for dinner on the weekend between.

Sunday to Tuesday September 5-7, 2010

Sunday

It was much cooler for my morning walk. I even had on a sweater and was still chilly till I got moving!

I was out of eye drops so I headed over to Walmart to get my prescription filled. While out I did a few other errands.

After lunch, I went out and washed the interior of the truck, then tried to get the bugs off the grille. Gordon came out and cleaned the hubcaps and then washed the outside of the truck. While he was doing that I washed the car. We went out to get some Armorall and some For Sale signs but they were all out of them at Dollarama and they wanted $5.99 at Canadian Tire so we'll wait till we go to Ottawa next week and get some there. Why pay $5.99 when you can buy them for $1.00?

And then, of course....it rained!

Monday

Happy Labour Day!

It was sunny and cool for my walk this morning. I took a different route and walked a bit through the eastern part of downtown. In walking past the Comfort Inn I saw that they have a deck built for outdoor dining. Might have to look into that!

I got one thing done today - I put mactac on the shelf below the bathroom sink. Other than that I read.

We had more rain.

Tuesday

It was raining when I got up this morning however it turned into a beautiful sunny, warm day.

I was up early as we had to go to Ottawa for an appointment with my periodontist's office to have my teeth cleaned as well as one to get our shots for shingles. We got that out of the way and ran a few errands then headed home.

I even got to sit out on my front porch and read for a while today (and listen to my wind chimes). It was just a beautiful afternoon which turned into a really awful evening with lots of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Today I'm done with eye drops in my right eye which was the first one done on August 4th. It will be two more weeks for the left one. It's been said that the worst part of the cataract operation is the eye drops and I have to agree with that although having someone poking around in my eye wasn't fun either but at least it didn't take long!

Wednesday to Saturday September 1-4, 2010

Wednesday

Today was another hot, sunny day. I did go for my walk this morning as my shoulder is improving greatly. I can't say enough good things about A535! I did notice when I was out this morning that a lot of the green trees now have red leaves. How does that happen when it's been so hot?

I went out for groceries this morning. Thank goodness I took the cooler with me!

When I got back I did some couch time with my book. I got regular print books instead of large print at the library this time for the first time in about 2 years.

Thursday

It was cloudy and humid when I took off for my walk this morning. We had sun, cloud and rain today, a real variety.

We made one trip to Home Hardware this morning but other than that stayed home all day and read or was on the computer. I have a huge amount of stuff piling up to do, one of which is posting all my receipts to my spreadsheet which I have only done once since we moved here. That is going to be a very tedious job.

Friday

It was sunny and humid this morning as I set out for my walk.

The plan for today was to head in to Ottawa, go to Ikea to get some bookshelves to surround our TV then go to my sister's for birthday dinner for Gordon and I. I had a sleep test scheduled at the Queensway Carleton Hospital so Gordon was dropping me off and going back to Margie's to spend the night as I was to be released between 5 and 6 a.m. and it's too far to drive for that sort of timeline. Originally I was going to drive myself but when Margie suggested the birthday dinner, other arrangements were made.

We had a nice dinner at Margie's. Danica had to leave to referee an old timer's soccer match but Nick and Becky and 'Bean' were there along with friends of theirs and their baby.



I arrived at the Queensway Carleton Hospital early for my sleep test, sat and read my book for a bit, then filled out the required forms when the night staff showed up and was given my room and wired up for the night. It's not easy to sleep with all those wires hanging off you!

Saturday

I think I slept about 3 1/2 hours so hopefully they were able to get enough information. I was roused at 5:30 a.m., filled out more forms, called Gordon to come and pick me up and we headed home.

It was much cooler this morning after the rain we had last night and the wind today was almost chilly. This morning was also the first sunrise I have seen in quite some time but there was quite a bit of cloud so it wasn't spectacular. We did stop along the way and took some ground fog photos.

Ground fog

The sky lightens

And the sun casts a golden glow on the trees

The sun coming up behind the trees

We thought this cloud looked like a piece of blueberry pie with a scoop of ice cream

After unpacking the car, putting away presents and having breakfast we headed out to see if there were any garage sales. I managed to find a corner shelf that I've been wanting. There weren't too many happening today. It was supposed to rain all day so I guess people decided not to bother. When we returned home we both lay down for a while but I couldn't sleep so after lunch I suggested we start getting the truck cleaned up in preparation to sell.

Somewhere in there I had to have a shower to get all the goop out of my hair from the electrodes. YUCK!

We cleaned all the stuff out of it and Gordon moved that to the basement while I did the best vacuuming job I could with the little shop vac we have. It looks better but there's more to do!

Gordon also hung my shelf and I have put some stuff on it already!

The shelf is a good match for the woodwork

After that it was time to relax and I was able to have a nap while listening to the wind chimes that my niece gave me for my birthday tinkling from the front porch. A very pleasant sound......

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!