Tuesday to Friday October 26-29,2010

Tuesday

It  looked like it had rained most of the night but when I went for my walk the rain was over and it was just cloudy but warm at 13C (55F). It was lovely for walking and listening to Wayne Rostad!

Last night our fireplace quit. It's only five months old so we pulled it out and Gordon looked at it but he couldn't find the problem so sent the customer service department an email.

By that time the sun had come out.

The good news is that our old mayor got back in office but only by the skin of his teeth. He won by 68 votes! The other good news is four of the six councilors I voted for got elected!

When I was outside the other day I saw that there was some stain on the side of the house. I thought that George's sloppy painting of the deck was limited to the front. Not so! So I took my trusty Purple Power out since it was such a nice day and removed it from the side of the house.

I was getting ready to do some bill paying this morning when I saw that I had been charged $10.19 for data last month on my Verizon bill. When I had looked at the bill last month to pay it, that charge wasn't there and besides, I had the data feature of my phone turned off two years ago! So, I called Verizon. The lady I spoke to said that this data didn't come through the internet (???) and that I had to text them with the word 'stop'. I said I'd never texted before in my life. She suggested I go to the nearest Verizon store to have them help me and I told her that wasn't likely to happen since we're in Canada (I didn't give details) so she removed the charge for the data as well as the $5.00 late fee that's on this month's bill. I always love dealing with Verizon. They're so accommodating and customer oriented. We only have one more month on Verizon and then we're canceling since our contract is up. I'm not looking forward to dealing with cell phone companies up here. In a previous life I've already had run ins with Bell Canada and Fido. We're only looking for emergency service when we get our new cell phones and our cell numbers will only be known to the two of us so we need to get information on what's available. I've been looking for a while but everything is so complicated! We need something cheap but reliable.

We reached a high of 23C (73F) today. This must be our Indian summer.

Wednesday

Today was an absolutely beautiful sunny day and again 23C (73F).

I was up early as we had to go in to Ottawa again. Gordon had an appointment to pick up his new glasses and I had an appointment to get the second coat of resin on my sensitive tooth at the dentist's. I was also picking up our records from the dentist as we will be going to a dentist here in town.

On our way to Ottawa we saw these interesting barns

With a sheep door

We stopped and picked up some things at Natural Food Pantry then on to Leon's to look at DVD recorders. They didn't have what we wanted in stock so we drove back to Kanata and wound up getting what we wanted at Best Buy for less money.

We had lunch at Wendy's. We wish there was a Wendy's here in Smiths Falls but the closest one is in Perth about 12 miles away.

When the appointments were finished we stopped at my sister's to see them and to draw names for Christmas.

On the way home the sun was brutal, not complaining, just sayin.... We stopped for a few photos in the little town of North Gower.

This is the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in North Gower

A closeup of the doors on the church

Thursday

My father used to say "Yellow sky in the morning, sailors take warning". The southern sky was yellow this morning as I went for my walk. Made me wonder what kind of day we had in store.

I got this from Old Wives Tales archives

Red [yellow] sky in the morning, shepherd’s (sailor’s)warning;
Red sky at night, shepherd’s (sailor’s) delight.

I borrowed Gordon's photo of this morning's yellow sky.

Gordon went to our new dentist here in town this morning and had his teeth cleaned and a check up. He has three more appointments next month. He said the people there are really nice. For him to say that, they must be! He doesn't much like dentists.

When he returned I went out on a grocery/errand run but was back in time to make some bread, do some reading, and take a nap before getting dinner ready.

While I was out, I also checked into more cell phone plans. They're selling phones at pharmacies now and I actually got more information from the lady at Shopper's Drug Mart than any other place we've been.

We had both sun and cloud today but it was windy for most of the day. It was also cooler than it's been the last couple of days.

Friday

It was cloudy this morning and while the radio said there was a misty rain, it wasn't raining here so I had my walk.

After breakfast I had to go out and do some photocopying. After only about a month, our fireplace quit working so the repairman is coming this afternoon to fix it under warranty and he needed a copy of the receipt.

While I was out Gordon was busy hooking up our new DVD recorder. It's working but we have to figure out how to set it to record by time.

This afternoon the repairman came and fixed our fireplace. After a month of use, one day it wouldn't turn on. Turned out to be a bad fuse. Now it's working so we hope that's all it was.

It looked like we might have a sunset tonight. Unfortunately the sun has moved a lot in the last few weeks so we'll have to find a new spot for sunset for winter. There was a lot of pretty golden light though.

Thursday to Monday, October 21 to 25, 2010

Thursday

It looked wet out when I got up but my trusty radio station said that it wasn't raining so I got dressed for rain anyway and headed out. It started to clear when I was out and I didn't get rained on. I added a couple of new residential streets to my walk this morning. 

The power head on my vacuum kept cutting out on me this morning. Gordon looked at it and the wire for the power was broken so I packed it up and took it to the Vacuum Shop. Christine, the owner, is really nice and promised it would be ready today. I continued on to the grocery store, then home for lunch and a nap. Mid afternoon I went back and picked it up, all done. Thank goodness. I'd hate to be without a vacuum with this burgundy carpet! 

It was chilly today but we did have some sun. If we were still in the RV we'd still have about a week to go before crossing the border. Way too cold for that this year! 

Friday


It was way cold this morning. I could even see my breath when I went for my walk. It was cloudy too but later in the morning the sun came out although it remained cold.


I found a recipe at the optometrist's office the other day for Health Bars and decided to try it with a few adaptations to accommodate my food sensitivities. Unfortunately the basis is oatmeal so Gordon can't eat it. Here's the recipe for anyone who would like to try them.

Health Bars

 (The photo is before they were cut up into bars)

1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used gluten-free AP flour)
1/2 cup uncooked old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, not instant
1/4 cup wheat germ (I used flax seed)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds (I used walnut bits)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup dried fruit bits (I got dates and cranberries)
1/2 cup honey
2 Tbsp molasses

• Preheat oven to 325F
• Grease a 13x9" baking dish. Line with wax paper; grease paper.
• In bowl combine flour, oats, wheat germ and salt. With your fingers rub butter into dry ingredients until blended.
• Stir in next five ingredients until well blended.
• Wet hands and press into pan.
• Bake 35-40 minutes until golden.
• Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes.
• Invert onto cutting board; Remove wax paper while still warm.
• Chill on cutting board 1 hour.
• Cut into 12 bars.
• Note: Store chilled in airtight container up to 2 weeks. Place sheet of wax paper between bars when storing.
• Makes 12 bars.

Note: These bars are awesomely good! 

I spent the afternoon snoozing on the couch. Don't know why I'm so tired today.

Saturday

We had some s*** overnight as evidenced by the roof of our shed (see below). It was cold and cloudy this morning but at least there was no wind so it wasn't bad for walking.

This afternoon I took a couple of boxes of stuff we don't want or need to the Thrift Store. They were happy to get it.



We did get some sun today but it wasn't very warm. It's the last day we'll be seeing sun for the foreseeable future, probably Friday. It will be warmer though!


We actually turned the furnace on today. We've had it on briefly a couple of times but not to leave it on.




Sunday

Yup! Woke up to rain this morning. I went out for a little while but only about 15 minutes. I was wet! 


After breakfast I was trying to organize the broom closet. It looks slightly better. That lead to putting something on top of the cupboards to make it more level so I can put my roosters and stuff up there. Gordon got that done. Then cleaning up and vacuuming. 


It rained all day. I read and did computer stuff and made some chicken coated in bread crumbs for dinner. 

Talked to my older sister early this afternoon. I used the Google Voice function through gmail to telephone her as I had to call her back to tell her something. It works really well! They say on the link above that it's only available in the U.S. but it works here too! You can also call other phones not just other computers which is handy.

 

Monday


Another gray day but at least it wasn't raining when I went for my walk.


After breakfast I headed out for more groceries. I can't believe what we eat! It was mostly for perishables but I always manage to find something else. I even bought some Hallowe'en candy as I expect we'll have some munchkins on Hallowe'en.

When I got home I found that the two Wayne Rostad CD's that Gordon had ordered for me last week had arrived in the mail. Since I had to go out to the library, I took them with me and went for a little drive to listen to one of them. 

Wayne is local so all the songs he writes are about the local area. They a folksy kind of music. He's well known around the area and across Canada as he had a television program for a number of years called 'On the Road Again'. He's been called Mr. Canada and Canada's Storyteller. When we had the house I had the LPs but, of course, sold them when we went on the road and I've missed his music. It's not something that you can pick up on any radio station. He used to perform live in the area as well and I've gone to see him often. He's a great entertainer! Unfortunately he doesn't do that any more, he's more involved in the community, especially the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the Ottawa Heart Institute Telethons. The photo to the right is Wayne, he's just a good ole boy!


These are the two CD's

If anyone is interested in hearing him sing and entertain he's on You Tube.

Today is Municipal election day. I mailed my ballot in a couple of weeks ago. I like the idea of not having to go somewhere to vote.

Sunday to Wednesday October 17-20, 201

Sunday

It was very cloudy when I woke up. I chose a different route for my walk today. I'd not been on these residential streets on foot before.

After breakfast Gordon wanted to go for a drive since the sun had come out. It turned into a beautiful day. Here are some photos:

Lone tree

That's one long horse!

Pretty little church

Stewart Park, Perth

Dead tree

Old shed and pretty trees

Little red barn

This afternoon I got my October expenses spreadsheet updated. I still haven't finished July. It's a nightmare but all the other months are done and now that the house is furnished we seem to be doing ok budgetwise. 

Monday 

A lovely day but cool for my morning walk. After breakfast I went out to do some shopping. I was surprised that the grocery shelves didn't seem to be better stocked. Guess I don't often shop on Monday mornings!

This afternoon I unpacked my china and crystal that we brought home from my sister's last week. A few casualties with the china but I don't expect I'm ever going to use it that much. I have plates galore, I didn't realize how many. The teacups took quite a hit and I didn't have too many of them to begin with but again, rarely used. 

I thing the blogging community has made a group decision to give access to our blogs to someone who can update our blogs should anything happen to us. After the untimely deaths of Bruce and Margie, the situation has caused all of us to realize that none of us are immortal. I decided to give my passwords and instructions to my younger sister and my niece. Since Gordon and I are usually together when traveling, I thought this was the best choice. 

Tuesday

It was nice to see the sun again this morning and again I headed downtown for my morning constitutional. It was 0C (32F) when I woke up and it had only warmed to 1C (34F) when I left the house.

We carried this Mola (above) with us all the time while we were fulltiming so I decided it was time it got hung on the wall. It's now in the bedroom and adds a punch of colour to a beige/brown room. We purchased this Mola on our cruise to the Panama Canal. This was bought on a side trip to the San Blas Islands.

 After breakfast, I got out the breadmaker and made a loaf of gluten free bread. Since we had some bananas that were getting ripe, I decided I may as well make some gluten free banana bread too. It turned out really tasty but pretty crumbly.

We got the results of Gordon's MRI, no changes in his lungs so that's a good thing. 

 The rest of the day passed with little getting done. I now have something on all of my bookshelves. That didn't take long!


Wednesday


I was up early today as we had to go into Ottawa for some appointments. The forecast had been for rain but this morning the radio said that we wouldn't have any till tonight but it would be windy. 

We set out early as we had a few stops to make before our eye appointment. First we went to my favourite radio station when I was in Ottawa. Oldies 1310 is no more and has now converted to a news station. I had a bunch of points to use up so I had ordered a baseball cap, two t-shirts and a coffee mug that I had to go and pick up. That done, Gordon wanted to go to Henry's Camera Store as there's a new camera out that he wanted - the Canon 60D and it was on sale. So we stopped, he bought the camera. From there we stopped at a couple of grocery places to pick up things that I can't easily get here in town. 

Then to the eye doctor. He said he could give me a prescription for glasses that would make it easier to read but since I don't have a problem reading I decided not to get them. I do have to go back mid November for a visual field test.

Gordon had his eye test and decided he wanted glasses for the computer so he picked out some frames and we'll have to go and pick them up in a few days.

We had some time before the dentist so Gordon put his new camera together and we went to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. It had clouded up but we still took some photos.

Next stop - the dentist. I have a tooth that has been sensitive for years and every so often I go and my dentist paints a resin on it which helps a lot. There is now a new procedure out so I have to go back next week to have a second coat done.

I hadn't gotten anything out for dinner so we went out to the Smiths Falls Restaurant and Deli. We had some problems with getting the food right but it was good when we got it. Lucky we weren't in a rush. Just hope it agrees with us!

Thursday to Saturday October 14-16, 2010

Thursday

The threat of rain was in the air and in fact it had rained during the night but I went for my walk anyway. We had a few sprinkles on and off this morning.

My Immigration lawyer had requested that we print out the statements that we had prepared for him, sign and date them and mail to him so we got that done this morning, then I went out to the post office. While out I stopped to get a key made (it doesn't work) and picked up a few things, one of which is a kneepad so hopefully this will save wear and tear on my knees for jobs like gardening.

We had to go out and put gas in the car so took the key back and the lady made another one. This one is tight but it works.

I was looking around in blogger this afternoon and found they've updated it. You can now apparently upload as many photos as you want and move them around so I've switched. I'll have to take some photos to give this a try!

I made a meatloaf for dinner and we just hung around for the rest of the evening. Gordon had an appointment for midnight for an MRI at the Ottawa Hospital so we had to go out in the rain to go to Ottawa. Neither of us likes driving at night in the rain and on the way in to Ottawa it really rained. It felt like we were hydroplaning at times. But we arrived, safe and sound, about an hour early. He was taken early and we were headed for home about 12:15 a.m. It wasn't raining as hard then and we arrived home around 1:30 a.m. The MRI is to check his lungs from the Valley Fever and also to look at some fluid that they found in his spine the last time they did an MRI. The thought is that it's congenital. Hopefully,  nothing serious.

Friday

Needless to say, I slept late this morning and it was still raining. I decided to take the day off from walking.

This afternoon we had an appointment with our local bank to get all our accounts transferred here. They were very accommodating.

After dropping Gordon at the house I went on to Walmart to pick up some things, Zellers for a prescription and a grocery store. Very exciting stuff!

It rained all day and was still raining when I went to bed. On the radar it looked like we had a stalled system.

Saturday

I was surprised to see some sun when I got up this morning. I had an enjoyable walk and took some photos of my walk downtown.

The oak tree in front of the house is pretty now

Red & green leaves

 

 

 

Autumn sky

This is an interesting bridge

Downtown-Beckwith Street

I walk by this door often - the art is cute!

Plant cycle

 While I was cleaning out the front garden this morning, Gordon went off in search of something to cover the air conditioner for the winter. I got all the garden debris boxed up and Gordon came home with weather stripping and nothing to cover the air conditioner BUT he had found a tool chest that he wanted. So off we went to the dump site for garden waste, got rid of that and went and got him his tool chest.

While we were out we went to the cemetery beside the dump site. The trees were pretty.

After lunch he installed the weather stripping and did some caulking on the front porch roof so our mail doesn't get wet. Then we started putting away lawn furniture for the winter. It was a nice day to get things like that done.

While he was outside putting together his new tool chest,  I did some inside cleaning. I use my swiffer with either wet or dry cloths usually but every once in a while you need to actually mop (with something other than my socks walking across the floor LOL) and I love the smell of Pine Sol!

When he finished the tool chest he put together my yard cart so it's ready for spring! The yard cart is cool. It even has a dump feature!

I just read that the RV community has had another tragedy. Bruce and Margie went out for a walk this morning and were struck down by a car, neither survived. Apparently the driver of the car was trying to commit suicide. They will be missed by their family and by the RVing community among others, myself included.

Monday to Wednesday October 11-13, 2010

Monday

Today was a pretty low key day. I had filled in my ballot for the Municipal elections so my morning walk took me to the post office. In Smiths Falls, Municipal voting is done by mail.

After that, I filled in some documents for social security that I'll need at the U.S. Embassy tomorrow. Then did some cleaning and laundry.

I had cut up some of our gluten free bread and left it out to dry to try to make my own stuffing since El Peto's was not worth the $5.79 it cost. I used butter, onions, chicken broth, some seasoned salt and sage. I also had a chicken breast that I had bought a while back so that went in the oven.

I finished a J.A. Jance book that I started yesterday. It was easy reading but I had figured out who did it about half way through.

Tuesday

It was an early morning today as we headed in to Ottawa to go to the U.S. Embassy. Traffic in the city was horrendous even though it was after 9 a.m. by the time we hit the city so we wound up taking different routes and got downtown around 9:45 a.m. Gordon dropped me at the bank as I had to have part of the form for Social Security completed by them. That done, we headed to the Embassy where they went through purses, pockets and kept some stuff till we left. We were treated very well by Mary, the lady who looked after us. She photocopied all my documents for Social Security, will certify them and ship them to my caseworker in Ogdensburg, NY. So, hopefully, I'll be receiving my social security in due course.

We also stopped at Hog's Back Falls for some photos.

Hog's Back Falls

Rainbow at the Falls

On our way home we stopped at my sister's place and picked up more boxes of dishes and crystal. After we left there we had some sort of rattle in the car that we couldn't locate so when we got home Gordon took it to the Kia dealer. They finally found out what it was - the garage door opener - no charge! They are a great dealership!

While he was gone I watched a couple of TV shows that I missed on Thursday night at the cottage and read some and I think I had a nap!

Wednesday

It was another beautiful sunny but chilly morning for my walk. Someone wasn't paying attention and I almost got hit crossing the street. I saw the look on her face when she realized I was there. I was crossing in a crosswalk area and I have no idea why she didn't see me - not paying attention?

Gordon decided today was a good day to go to Jones Falls Locks. (There are four locks.) So, off we went. It's a very pretty area and I think I like these locks the best of any we've seen so far. It's definitely a pretty setting. There are also trails around there.

One of the locks at Jones Falls

Along one of the trails

Hotel Kenney at the Locks - We thought we might spend our 20th anniversary here. Unfortunately they close on October 25th.

How many hotels do you know that hang their sheets on the line?

Stone Arch Dam

Stone arch dam at Jones Falls - completed 1831

At 61 feet, the dam was the highest in North America in its time

This is what is left of Jones Falls after the Dam went in. It's now called a weir.

On our way home we took some photos along the road.

Old barn in scenic setting

An old shack by the marsh

The Anglican Church in Portland, Ontario, a very pretty setting

This afternoon I went out to pick up a few groceries. That's about it!

Thursday to Sunday October 7 -10, 2010-Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

On Thursday, we packed up and headed for my sister's cottage near Lindsay, Ontario. We stopped several times along the way to take photos. The whole weekend was beautiful, bright and sunny. Some days were warmer than others. In fact, Friday was like a summer day.

Photos taken along the route









We arrived mid afternoon and stopped by Double M Campground to see if Daphne was there but the office was closed so we just went straight to the cottage.

Betty and Garth were getting dinner ready. Ribs!

The GBH (Great Blue Heron) was also there to greet us

On Friday, I started my day with a nice walk on the cottage road. After lunch, Betty and I went shopping in Lindsay for a couple of hours before meeting the guys in the parking lot at Fleming College. The Trans Canada Trail runs behind the college so Betty thought since it was such a nice day we should walk part of the trail. It was indeed a lovely day for a walk.

Along the trail








After that we had dinner at Swiss Chalet. Betty thought that would be a good idea as we know we can eat the food there.

My morning walk


The kitties all came out to greet me

This is Freckles

And this is Tiger

On Saturday most of the day was spent getting Thanksgiving dinner together as this weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving. I did go for my walk first thing and then walked down to get the paper with Betty mid morning.

Garth's daughter and her family arrived mid afternoon and we had turkey, stuffing (I made El Peto stuffing for Gordon and I - it tasted like plastic) and all the trimmings. I love turkey!

This morning I didn't walk, just packed up to come home. It was only 2C (36F) when I got up but it warmed up to a respectable 20C (68F).

It was another nice drive but we only stopped for one photo as we were anxious to get back. I went and picked up some groceries and got everything unpacked then tacked email! Nearly four days without internet, I don't know how I survived! Gordon did go into Lindsay and found some open wifi so he had at least checked email. Actually it wasn't that bad without it!

My condolences go out to George on the death of his son. I have been reading George's blog now for about seven years. I'm very sad for him.