Visiting

Today was humid but not as hot so we didn’t use the air conditioner, just the fantastic fan and our two fans so it was quite pleasant in the RV.

I went out for groceries this morning and had to have my glasses adjusted so went to WalMart in Barrhaven. They have also opened a Food Basics there so got my groceries.

I was back home around 2:00 p.m. My afternoon then consisted of reading and napping.

Tonight we were invited to our former neighbour’s house, Bridget and Jim. We hadn’t seen them since we moved out of the house in 2004. They are getting ready to pack up and move back to British Columbia for the end of June. They’ve been in Ottawa for three years and don’t really like it here so when their landlord told them they had to find a new place as their son wanted to move into the house they decided now was the time to pack up and go back to the west coast.

Just as a note, Gordon is still #1!

That’s it for today. No photos again.

Last Day of May

Photo today is of a hand made thank you card that Gordon’s daughter, Michelle made for us. It’s a very pretty card. She showed us some that she had made when we were in Ohio and she’s doing a good job. She also does scrapbooking and this ties in with it. Don't know where she finds the time with three kids!

Today was another hot, humid day. I decided to get the laundry done anyway. The laundry room in the campground is located at one end of a concrete shed. It’s very small holding two washers and one very large gas dryer and a folding table. There’s little room to even sit in there so I sat outside in a lawn chair. It was quite pleasant as there was a breeze so it wasn’t too bad until you start unloading the dryer. That done, I actually set up some towels on the counter in the RV and did some ironing. I must be nuts! We do have the air conditioner on and it makes a lot of difference. It was 23C (73F) in the RV at about 5:30 p.m. and it was very cool. In the house that would have still felt warm.

This afternoon, after my ironing, I lay down on the couch to read and fell asleep for a while, then worked on the computer getting May expenses updated, then sat outside and read for a while till I started to hear thunder. Our thunderstorms here in Ontario are nothing like the one we had in Branson, MO. Thank goodness! That kept me awake most of the night. Usually I sleep through the thunder storms we have here.

May Expenses

Campground Fees - $528.40
Groceries - $400.22
Laundry - $83.55
Wine - $31.95
Entertainment - $0.00
Snacks - $7.83
Eating Out - $92.21
Fuel – Truck - $293.00
Propane - $36.91 (includes buying 3 bottles of propane for BBQ)
Dog Food/Vet etc - $212.00
Repairs RV/Truck - $0.00
Misc. - $443.67 – includes safety deposit box rental & 17” flat panel monitor
Insurance - $153.74
Internet - $114.99
Cell Phones - $112.06
Medical/Dental - $445.83 (over and above what extended health care pays)
Gifts - $30.00
Total - $2951.96

We did okay for the month of May but June and July will be a total washout with a birthday, a wedding etc. and also our campground for June is more expensive.

Another Hot Day!

Today was very hot and humid but there was a slight breeze so it wasn’t too bad.

I left around 10:30 a.m. to go to the periodontist. My appointment was for 2:30 p.m. but thought I would look around some before my appointment. I went to Bayshore and picked up a prescription and then to Carlingwood and looked around there before heading to Westgate which is right beside the periodontist’s office.

I actually had my teeth cleaned by the man himself as his hygienist is on disability. He suggested that while we’re away I should consider having my teeth cleaned as having it done twice a year instead of four times a year which I had been doing prior to our nomad lifestyle apparently isn’t cutting it.

On my way home, I stopped at my sister’s to pick up our mail and have a chat.

When I got home I found out that Gordon had lunch out with the guys. They came and picked him up and went to the Greek Souvlaki House at Baseline and Prince of Wales.

For the third day in a row, Gordon's White Sands Gallery is #1 on pbase!

That about covers today. Again, no photos.

Hot!

It was very hot today. Even when I went out to walk this morning, it was showing signs of being a hot one. So, I took advantage of it by sitting outside under the awning and reading my book. Late in the morning we went to Superior Propane to get our propane tanks filled. They wouldn’t fill the small one that we use with our BBQ as it had a broken weld on the collar and they wanted $90+ to replace it so we decided against replacing it. Instead we went to Canadian Tire and got some propane bottles. They are easier to carry around. We also stopped at the post office and the bank and then came home. Back out to my lawn chair.

We did turn on the air conditioner today before we went out and it did a pretty good job but at 30 amp service we’re just borderline on being able to run it and anything else at the same time.

We got our reservations at Tranquil Acres firmed up for a month beginning July 11th.

Gordon is still #1 on pbase. He’s very proud of that!

No photos for today.

Gordon is #1

Faith and Grammie taken April 06 by Grandpa

As far as I’m concerned, he’s always Number 1 but his White Sands Gallery is now #1 on pbase (that's worldwide)!

Link below to his White Sands Gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/galleries?view=popular

Happy 3rd Birthday Faith! Photo of Grammy and Faith doing kissie face when we were at her house in April.

We spent a lot of this morning trying to decide our itinerary for the rest of the summer and I think we’ve got it down now to the beginning of September. Most of the time will be spent here in Ottawa but we plan to spend a week in the Upper Canada Village area, a month at Tranquil Acres near Carleton Place and a month in Lindsay, ON and from there probably go to Pt Pelee area for a while before coming back to Ottawa to get things ready to head south again the last week of October.

Sat outside, read, tried to get through all the magazines that we got over winter. We don’t have them mailed to us because of the cost. Sure wish these RV clubs would put all their magazines on line instead of sending them to us!

When I finished with the magazines, I took some over to the laundry room and was talking to a lady from Houston, TX. They have been in the park for a couple of weeks in their Class B. They call themselves ‘sunbirds’ as they follow the sun but their purpose is to get away from Texas’ summer heat. They plan to spend July and August in Nova Scotia.

That’s about it for today!

Feleena's Yummy!

Fountain at The Garden of the Provinces and Territories

Lilacs along Bay Street

This morning was busy. I coloured my hair, cleaned and vacuumed, got showered as I was hot and sweaty and then sat outside and read for a while. The sun had come out around 10:00 a.m. after starting out as a cloudy day.

Yesterday afternoon I cleaned out under the bed and found a coat that I didn’t know I had kept. I’m really happy about it as I really liked that coat. I had bought another one at the Thrift store but it wasn’t all that warm and it was bright red so I’m glad I found my own. I was sure I’d given it away. You’d think with the small amount of storage space we have I’d know everything that we have but obviously not! Unfortunately it’s almost out of time for wearing this season but I’ll be happy to have it in the Fall.

This afternoon, I sat outside and read again. Bib sat with me for a while.

Late in the afternoon, Gordon decided he wanted to go downtown to take abstract photos so off we went. We parked on Bay Street near Wellington and took some photos in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories then walked east on Wellington, south on Bank and back to the truck through the Sparks Street Mall.

We decided since we were downtown to head south on Bank Street and have dinner at our favourite Mexican Restaurant, Feleena’s in the Glebe. Bad move – today was the Glebe Garage Sale. They were really busy and had two parties besides but we only waited 10 minutes or so for a table. We didn’t get to sit outside but that’s okay. We’ll be back!

Then back home for our usual TV and internet. Bib was glad to see us. He couldn’t come with us as it was too hot in the truck to leave him and he’s scared walking on the streets downtown. Too much noise!

Cloudy & Rain

This morning I decided I had better get the refrigerator defrosted before it gets really hot. It doesn’t take that long to do, it’s just to get at it. Thank goodness that’s done.

At about 11:00 a.m. I went out to pick up a few groceries and some wine before the weekend rush. Also got some photocopying done to send for my extended health care. It had been mostly cloudy but when I was out there were a few sprinkles of rain.

No heavy rain up until posting time just sprinkles and cloudy.

Photo today is of Bib. I just caught him as he was licking his chops.

Chapman Mills Conservation Area

Rideau River from Chapman Mills Conservation Area

Pathway running through the Chapman Mills Conservation Area

Boardwalk running through Chapman Mills Conservation Area

Downy Woodpecker (cropped photo)

I stayed up till midnight last night to watch the season finale of Lost so I was still tired this morning. After walks and breakfast, I went outside to read but it was too hot in the sun and very little shade on our site so I came in and fell asleep.

When I woke up, Gordon wanted to go south on Prince of Wales (Hwy 16) to the Chapman Mills Conservation Area where he had gone yesterday so Bib and I went with him. Photos today were taken there. It's located on the west bank of the Rideau River just south of Black Rapids and off Winding Way. We walked for about an hour and then came home. It's a nice walking area. There is a pathway but most of it is boardwalk.

I sat outside when we came back for quite a while and read my book.

Our neighbours were at a rally at Stratford, Ontario this weekend and on their way back stopped at Lindsay and got their satellite dish from 3i Communications so we made a quick $100 for the referral!

It’s TV and internet tonight!

A Beautiful Day!

Wow! What a change in the weather from the last week. Today was sunny and warm and reached 25C (78F)!

We left the RV at about 6:50 a.m. to go to the lab for Gordon’s bloodwork and then went to Zellers at Bayshore for breakfast. Gordon was going to visit his friend, Leroy so I stayed and looked around at Bayshore and he picked me up around noon.

Neither of us slept very well last night so this afternoon, I sat outside in my lawnchair with Bib for a while and read, then came in and read some more. I thought I would take a nap but that didn’t happen. Gordon went out in search of photos but I didn’t feel like going out again. Consequently, I have no photos for today.

Busy Day!

Flags in front of the War Museum

Downtown Ottawa from the War Museum

Canadian War Museum

Today was fairly busy. I got ready early and headed out and got groceries and some photocopying that needed to be done before I went for my mammogram. OUCH!

When I came out of the grocery store, a familiar car drove by so I ran over and just caught our lawyer, Liz getting out of the car to go into her office. Liz bought our Saturn nearly two years ago when we started our odyssey. It was great to see her again!

I got home around 12:30 p.m. and had lunch in time for Gordon to go for his appointment with the ENT doctor. He has something on the inside of his lip that hasn’t gone away so our GP wasn’t sure what it was and made the appointment for him to see the ENT. He has another appointment in June to go to the Ottawa General to have it cut out. It’s nothing to worry about, no malignancies or anything, just annoying.

After that we picked Bib up and drove down the Driveway to downtown and took the Ottawa River Parkway west. We stopped at the Canadian War Museum and took a few photos. Looks a bit like a bunker. We continued west on the Ottawa River Parkway but it was really backed up at Parkdale so we took Parkdale south and got back about 4:15 p.m.

Just TV and internet tonight!

Last Day of a Long Weekend

I woke up to bright sunshine this morning. Haven’t seen that in a while.

Got the laundry done this morning. Early this afternoon my sister, Margie called. She saw a dress for Nick and Becky’s wedding and wanted me to go and look at it with her. She wound up buying it.

Got home around 3:30 p.m. or so and read for a while.

It’s very cold today for the time of year but at least it didn’t rain much.

Still no photos.

Sick to Death of Rain!!!!!

I woke up to, guess what – rain! Can you tell I’m getting very sick of it? After taking Bib out, I had thought about doing my walk in the rain but then it started to come down more heavily and I changed my mind. So back inside for breakfast and by the time showers and such were overwith and some reading it was nearly noon.

The sun came out for a bit so I did manage to get my walk done but since I hadn’t gone yesterday because of the rain, I’m still a day behind there.

I decided to go out and pick up a few groceries since tomorrow is a holiday. Our holiday weekend here in Ontario is Victoria Day in honour of Queen Victoria. Too bad it’s such nasty weather! I seem to recall last year was much the same on this weekend.

Bib was getting bored being inside so he and I got in the truck and headed out to do some shopping. I went to Merivale Mall with the intention of getting most things at Farm Boy. I met my brother-in-law, John in the mall and he said there was quit a bit of mail waiting for me at the house and that Danica was there so I could drop by. When I got to Farm Boy, I met he and my sister and we chatted for a short time. Next to the Zellers mall to pick up some things and then on to my sister’s house to pick up the mail.

Danica was there and I got some info on how she enjoyed musicfest. One of my friends, Laura asked me if she played jazz trumpet and she does but thinks she’s more suited to concert band. She said she had a great time and loved it but there was evidence of her getting homework done. With going to New York for a few days and being at musicfest all week, she now has to get back to the grind. High school will soon be over and she graduates on June 28th, then on to the University of Ottawa in September!

I didn’t get to see Nick, he was sleeping. He’s been working and it’s a bit of a grind for him having to get all the way to the southeast end of the city at all sorts of hours.

Can you tell I’ve been reading Rosamund Pilcher again? I seem to be adopting some of the British way of writing.

After that, I stopped at Your Independent as I had forgotten to get bananas and I needed to pick up something else I hadn’t found, that done, I headed home.

More reading, naps and getting ready for Desperate Housewives grand finale tonight!

Again, no photos. Just isn’t the weather for it!

Rainy and Cold!

Another nasty day, rain and cold for most of the day. It stopped late in the day but was too late to do much at that point.

My back was really bothering me today and Gordon managed to put his out getting his tool chest out of the storage compartment to fix the kitchen drawer that broke last night so neither of us was in very good shape today.

I took ½ a muscle relaxant this morning so my day was spent reading and napping on and off. I didn’t even get to take my walk this morning due to the rain and cold. Not very nice for a long weekend and the last weekend of the Tulip Festival!

No photos taken today.

Thursday Update and Friday Review

Trees Reflection-Andrew Hayden Park, Ottawa

Mist over Ottawa River - taken from Andrew Hayden Park, Ottawa

Goose and goslings taken at Andrew Hayden Park, Ottawa

Andrew Hayden Park scene, Ottawa

Our annual physicals yesterday turned out well. My doctor says that retirement is agreeing with me. She's even given me the ok to go off my blood pressure medication to see what happens. Luckily since I had all the blood tests done when I was in the hospital in Cincinatti so I don’t need to have them done again! YAY!

Yesterday afternoon turned out to be not too bad so we took the dog and went back and parked at Hog’s Back and then walked a bit along the canal. The sun was out for a while so glad we took advantage of it. We took a few photos, then returned to the RV.

Our niece, Danica has the honour of being one of the best young musicians in Ottawa and is presently spending the week at a festival in downtown Ottawa. Here’s the writeup from yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen.

Here’s the Musicfest website: http://www.musicfest.ca/
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The Ottawa Citizen
Young Ottawa-area musicians to play with the best of Musicfest

Published: Thursday, May 18, 2006
A handful of Ottawa-area musicians have been picked from among 9,000 young players to be part of two bands that represent the best of Musicfest, a week-long festival that brings thousands of young musicians from across the continent to Ottawa.
Included in the National Concert Band are Ottawa-area musicians Melissa Jerome (bassoon), Christian Paquette (flute), Jonathan Camire (French horn), Gabrielle Smith (alto sax), Patrick Trahan (baritone sax), Julian Simard (trombone), Jeffrey Teutsch (trombone ), Danica De Jong (trumpet), Isabelle Lee (trumpet) and Sebastian Bouchard (tuba).
Included in the Yamaha All-Star band are Ottawa-area musicians Nathan Cepelinski (sax), Megan Jutting (trumpet), Eric Cathcart (guitar), Lucas Haneman (guitar), and Alex Mastronardi (bass).
Both bands will perform at the National Arts Centre during the final days of Musicfest. The concerts are open to Musicfest participants only.
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Today Gordon was supposed to go for his bloodwork but he forgot and drank some coffee when he got up so we canned that for today. I went to the chiropractor and then to the library. I decided to take advantage of my library membership while we’re here so now I’ve got a lot of reading to do! The morning was cloudy and not very nice but at least it didn’t rain while I was out. When I returned I started to read and of course, fell asleep. More reading, interneting and that was my day!

Later this afternoon, Gordon was going to update my Firefox but somehow lost my bookmark folder, I guess he reloaded the program or something. Anyway, I’ve been trying to recreate it. Thank goodness for history!

Introducing Luke Charles!

Baby Luke

Luke and his Mommy

Since I don’t expect much to be happening today and it’s still raining, we probably won’t do much. We have our annual medicals this morning so we’re getting ready to go to our doctor for 10:00 a.m.

Luke’s picture was finally posted on the hospital website so thought I would post this morning. He definitely looks like his sister Grace did at that age except for his hair. Grace had a rooster comb. Here's the link to his photos that I've uploaded to Yahoo: http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/smerrikin/album?.dir=7588&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/smerrikin/my_photos

I'm Really Really Really Tired of Rain!

Rain again today. Starting to feel like we’re in Harlingen, Texas again. We had three weeks of cloud and rain in our 2004/2005 winter there.

Today I had another chiropractor appointment and I needed to do some errands and get some groceries so I went by myself and Gordon stayed home with his computer. On my way home I stopped and got to spend some time with my sister and her husband but she had to go back to work for a meeting so I got home around 4:30 p.m.

The rain stopped for the evening but more is expected.

Still no photos of our new grandson! We’ve been checking the hospital website several times a day but so far no Luke!

No photos today due to errands and rain!

Appointment & Other Things

Watson's Mill, Manotick

A.Y. Jackson Park, Manotick

Bib having a nap

This morning was a typical morning, walks, TV, naps etc.

We had an appointment to see our financial advisor this afternoon to get finances straightened out, that being done we came back to the RV, picked up the dog and headed to Sleepy Cedars RV Park at Manotick Station. We had never been there before so thought we’d check it out. Too many trees. We like Tranquil Acres at Carleton Place better. After that we drove into Manotick and took some photos of Watson’s Mill and A.Y. Jackson Park, shown above.

I made a nice Salsa Chicken recipe for dinner. We had something like it at my sister’s last week so thought I would give it a try. It turned out quite well. I did a few adaptations to my brother-in-law’s recipe but it was the same idea.

Another night of TV! The joys of being retired! Not much different than when we were in the house.

Baby Update

Luke Charles Bylaw born 9:32 p.m. on Monday May 15, 2006, weighing 9 lb 7 oz, 21 ¼ inches long. Mother, Father and Baby doing fine. According to his father he looks like our oldest grandchild, Grace.

Photo to follow.......

Our Week of Mostly Medical Appointments Begins!

When I first woke up this morning very early it was pouring rain so I snuggled deep in the covers and it had stopped when I got up at about 7:30 a.m. so was able to go for our walks. It was still cloudy and windy at that time but the forecast was for sun this afternoon.

Unfortunately this afternoon, I had a dentist appointment so wasn’t able to sit in the sun. I thought I had one chipped tooth but I actually had 2 chipped front teeth so she filled both of them, thank goodness. I had visions of crowns! We were home by 2:00 p.m., the sun came out so we took Bib and went to take some photos at Hogs Back Falls Park which is really close to the RV park.

The sun stayed out for the better part of an hour so Gordon took 93 photos. I took some as well but not nearly that many. Photos for today are, of course, of Hogs Back. Hogs Back is a very pretty place and if anyone is visiting Ottawa you should make a point of visiting.

About 3:00 p.m. we received a call from Gordon’s daughter, Michelle. She was on her way to the hospital to deliver our second grandson, Luke. She called again at 6:00 p.m. to let us know how things were progressing so we’re looking forward to the next phone call!

Tonight Regis Philbin is supposed to guest star on Deal or No Deal so we’ll have to watch that. Then it’s two hours of Gray’s Anatomy.

WalMart Day!

Today was another cloudy, rainy day. I managed to get my walk in this morning before it rained. I walked across the street to a dead end street called Stephanie that runs along the river. Of course, you can’t see the river for the houses and trees but I had never been there before and during the week the traffic is too heavy to try to get across Prince of Wales Drive. I did manage to get a photo of a little rabbit and a goldfinch.

When I came back, I called my sister to see what they were doing today. They had some shopping to do so I headed to WalMart in Orleans and it started raining while I inside. I had tried to go Friday but the traffic was too heavy. I managed to find it but didn’t find what I wanted there so stopped at Giant Tiger on Walkley on the way back and then WalMart on Bank Street where I found my duck boots. I got home shortly after noon.

My sister then called to see if I had gone out shopping. She and her husband were just setting out and offered to drop our mail off. I wound up going shopping with them and hit yet another WalMart, this time in Barrhaven. Margie is looking for a patio set and Danica is looking for shoes. We weren’t successful for either item. I got home just before 4:00 p.m. in time to feed Bib.

Gordon went out after dinner to get his photo of the day and Bib and I stayed home.

Tonight it’s TV.

No photos for today. My photos of the goldfinch didn’t turn out very well.