Thoughtful Thursday

I read a post sometime back, I've forgotten where, in which the writer talked about her name and how it came to be.  Names are funny things, they are chosen for us, and unless one's willing to go through the legal route we're stuck with them for our entire lives. 

At birth I was named Frances Eileen, but I've never used the name Frances with the exception of my passport and birth certificate.  A big reason for this is an aunt who informed my mother she would call me Frankie!  Mom wasn't about to have that happen so Eileen it was.  I hated my name as a child because it was different.  I wasn't Cathy or Jane or Jane or even Ellen, any one of which would have better than Eileen in my mind. 

My name was SO difficult for people to pronounce though in truth it is simply I lean.  (Pretty easy when you see it written that way, isn't it?)  As the years went by, I got used to answering to Aileen, Ellen, Evelyn, or even Eleanor.

I was named for my maternal grandmother, Mary Frances, and another aunt whose full name was Nellie Mae Eileen (she used Mae).  I suppose it could have been worse - I could have been Nellie!  My father's family is Irish, and Eileen is an Irish derivative of the name Helen.  It's meaning is light...which makes me laugh because one of the meanings of my last name is flame.  Apparently I'm a fire burning bright! (I certainly have the hot flashes to support it).

Now that I'm older I like my name. Although I've met a number of others with the same name, there are far fewer of us than the names I once craved to own.  New acquaintances still mis-pronounce my name or call me by some other derivative.  Sometimes that's just fine with me...

Is there a story of how you were named?  Do you like your name?  If you could chose your name what would it be?

Wordless Wednesday

The Rest of the Story

One of my goals for the cruise was to see a whale (or two) hopefully from the cruise ship.  I can confirm that I did indeed see whale(s) on Friday morning right after I woke up!
See!!!

My friend K had gotten up ahead of me, pulled pictures from a child's story book and taped them on the balcony window.  Silly woman! 
AS it turned out, we did actually see a whale beside the ship just a few hours later. We were enjoying the sunshine on the balcony when I looked out and saw a spout.  I pointed it out to K and we saw the whale's back come out of the water.  It was truly a amazing experience!

We spent the day at sea and spent most of it hanging out on the balcony enjoying the sun and reading.  We both finished our books that day and returned them to the library.  (I didn't even start the Hunger Games until the final day.

This was the Friday's sunset from the balcony...so lovely!

The ship arrived in port early Saturday morning.  We were in berth beside this fishing vessel.  I had a great laugh when I realized that some of the people on that boat were taking pictures of our ship at the same time!

There was a fair amount of haze in the air, smog maybe, so I didn't take very many pictures.

We took a cab downtown to Pike Place Market as we had several hours remaining before our flight.   We were hoping to see the workers throwing the fish - we did - but I never managed to get a decent photo.  From there we headed over to Westlake Centre, relaxed on their outdoor deck, watching people as they went by.  All I will say is there are some really interesting people who live/visit Seattle! 

Our flights were on time, getting through customs was an easy process, so we were both home by 10 p.m. that evening.  It was a great trip, short and sweet, but with memories that will last a lifetime.

Next up, planning for our trip to Saint Lucia in January 2013!

North to Alaska (Day 2 & 3)

Day 2 of our cruise was a sea day.  We woke up to gray skies, with the sun trying very hard to break through, but it was never very successful.  Since it wasn't nice enough to stay outdoors we spent the day moving around the ship, the library, a movie, the sale in the piazza, the comedian, and of course eating!

The following morning we arrived in Ketchikan, Alaska to sunshine and the sounds of float planes taking off outside our window. (This is our view from our balcony at 5:30 a.m.!)

Ketchikan is such a beautiful little community.  We visited Creek Street, went shopping on Front Street and took a walk down the street to the charter air services. 

Creek Street was once the red light district of Ketchikan.  The little green house was the home (and work place) of Dolly Arthur.  We visited the house and did a short tour.  Here's the bathroom shower curtain.

Why am I showing you this?  Well, there is a story behind the flowers...these were handmade by Dolly from ...can you guess?  Believe it or not, these are condoms that were provided, but Dolly refused to use them! 

Of course you can't visit Alaska without seeing a totem pole.  My friend K is checking out another one nearby...didn't even know I took her picture!

In a past life (30+ years ago) I worked at a northern Saskatchewan air charter service and I've never lost my love for sea planes.  We wandered down to the docks, were told we couldn't be there by the ramp rat (the guy on the deck) but when I explained whined, he let us stay and even pointed out the washrooms and the soft drink machine! 

We had a wonderful day in Ketchikan, Alaska!  The people were friendly, the sights were interesting and the shopping was terrific.  What more could I ask for?  Oh I know, enough sun and heat to get a slight sunburn.  While we were enjoying the warmth of Alaska (65F) my children were calling me to say that our city was expecting frost that night.  Yikes!

Tomorrow...the rest of the story.

Short and sweet - the trip, not the post!

I returned home last evening from my mini-vacation; wishing it has lasted a little longer but feeling relaxed and refreshed nonetheless.  While I was away it apparently rained EVERDAY!  In fact, one evening it apparently fell below zero.  My marvelous children (I know, I'm surprised too!) took note and moved all of the containers into the sunroom and garage overnight, and even put a blanket on the front flower bed.  I did a walk about this morning to check - everything has survived and is looking great.  The heat is supposed to return Tuesday so I expect everything will start filling out!

The trip was great, Vancouver was cool and overcast, but no rain so we took the chance to head out to Stanley Park for a few hours before we boarded the ship.

We took the LRT to the pier, dropped off our luggage, then hopped a bus out to the park.  Everything was lovely, and the gardners were busy removing some of the early bloomers to add summer color.

 My favorite part of the garden was the forest as it reminded me of my childhood.  Of course, our trees were not nearly as tall or as big as the ones in this park!

In one place it appeared that the trees were dying off, the branches looked like lace with the leaves got up in them.  It was so magical.   Unfortunately my photo doesn't do it justice.

We found this little big friend on our way down to the Beaver pond. I'm not sure I've ever seen a bigger frog!

On the way out of the park we stopped at the rose garden area.  The roses aren't blooming just yet, but there were lovely beds of various other flowers.

We relaxed on a bench for awhile, chatting, enjoyig the beauty around us, and watching the float planes fly over.  

It was just a perfect way to spend the afternoon before we sailed out of the harbour on our way to Alaska. 

More to come tomorrow...

Here's the birthday boy in his first home (our previous house).  Happy Birthday, Sasha!

I can't say for sure today is his birthday but May 25th is the day we moved into our previous house.  Sasha was a rescue kitten, who came to live with us in early July 2000 at the age of about seven weeks.  Counting backwards, this date seemed about right so we've marked it each year since.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of him as a kitten, as the computer I had at the time died before I had a chance to recover any.  He had (and still has) the loveliest green eyes, and as a baby was a fuzz ball with the biggest eyes I've ever seen on a cat. 

Now at the age of 12 he shows no signs of slowing down.  He still plays with his toys like a kitten.

He is a little skinnier now, though his health is good, his coat is shiny, and his eyes are bright.  I think having Saku around to chase (and be chased) in this larger house has slimmed him down.  He certainly still eats like a champ!

Although Sasha has lived with me all his life, and despite the fact C lived away from home for 2 years,  he remains my son's cat.  All I have to say is "where's C, where's your boy?" and Sasha is off looking for him. 

 He's a noisy cat too when C is around, talking continuously, in the hopes that C will take him outdoors. Here he is scratching at the door to the sunroom...if there were sound you'd here him asking to be let out!

However, he loves me too.  His favorite spot to cuddle is right beside in my chair and at night I often find him curled up against my side or up near my pillow.

I do so love this boy!  Happy birthday, my big guy - I hope we'll have many, many more years ahead to share. 

 

Lost in time

When I started this blog a year ago, I didn't have any particular goal in mind, it was merely a opportunity to work on my writing skills and perhaps share my experiences in a more detailed way than Facebook allows.

I don't think my writing has changed much.  I still use run-on sentences, I still like commas (a lot), and dashes and .... are still a big part of my repertoire.  I've learned to use the on-line dictionary and thesaurus to find the words that I can't bring to mind or simply when I cannot recall the appropriate spelling.   On a side note, it amazes me the multitude of options that these tools provide when my mind doesn't measure up to the task.

I'd found blogger when I visited a friend's photoblog.  A while later, I was reading an article from a news outlet about a man who used his blog to describe his battle with cancer.  He had written a final post to be published after his death.  I pulled up the link and days later finished reading his story from diagnosis to death. 

I think know that is when my interest in blogs really took root.  I have always been intrigued by the lives of ordinary people. From an early age I enjoyed reading autobiographies.  I've found the blogs I read give me a similar glimpse into the lives of others.  As I find a blog that interests me I save it to one of my folders.  I'll "lurk" for awhile before I join a site, much like reading a few pages of a new book before committing to its purchase. 

As a result I have a lot of blogs in my folders; there are craft blogs, cooking blogs, family blogs, cat blogs, health blogs, women's blogs, and more that I check our frequently.  I get caught up in the stories, I cheer for the happy events, cry when things go wrong, get angry when life just isn't fair, and laugh out loud at the silliness of life. 

I found most of the blogs I read by hitting the next blog button.  It's taken me to some interesting places.  But the one thing that puzzles me though is this - what causes someone to stop blogging suddenly?  There seem to be so many blogs out there without an end.  Just one day, the writer stopped writing.  The reader is left hanging, wondering what might have happened, and hoping that one day there will be an update.

There will be an end to my blogging I'm sure.  Even now, I struggle to come up with a subject that I might consider half interesting - I can't imagine what it will be like 2 or 5 or 10 years from now.   Until then I hope to occasionally pique your interest, make you laugh, or cry, or just shake your head.

Sail away

By the time this posts, I should be onboard the Golden Princess as it sails away from the cruiseport in Vancouver.  We'll be sailing the  inside passage; when I look at it on Google maps it hardly seems a large enough channel for a ship that size!

We'll be sailing past Parksville and Campbell River, each of which is home to two of my cousins.  I haven't seen either of them for 30 years though have recently been able to reconnect because of Facebook.  One of my goals is make a trip out there in the next year or so, not only to visit, but perhaps even to look at property. 

Campbell River is a little far north on the island, but Parksville, Ladysmith, or even Nanaimo are options I'd like to consider.  I'm not sure I've shared this before, but my goal for retirement is to have two condos, one in Saskatchewan and one on the island.  They would both need to be apartment style so that I can latch the door and travel when I get the urge (and can afford it - a lottery win would be helpful!).  This is just a dream for now, but one I hope to someday make come true.

For now, I'll satisfy my desire by taking a short cruise up the coast.  I've checked the forecast (again!) and it appears the rain is going to be isolated with temperatures in the range of 13-15C (mid 50-60F).
By the time we reach Seattle on Saturday, we should be in the sun with 22C (72F).  I added a pair of shorts to my suitcase in the hopes I'll be able to wear them on the way home!

I've got a few posts scheduled for when I'm away but I'll wait to update on the trip when I get back.  Crossing my fingers, I'll have some pictures of whales, bears, and maybe even a lumberjack or two to share with you! 

Hope every one has a great week!

Abby's Home!

Hurray, Abby is home safe and sound!  This morning after I had watered my plants, I had my breakfast and took a cup of coffee out to the sunroom to enjoy while I read.  I'd been out there about 20 minutes or so, when I had the presence of mind to recall that one of my solar lights hadn't worked last night.

I walked out to the deck, pulled up the solar light, made the adjustment and put it back in the pot.  And that's when I heard the meow behind me.  I turned around and there was Abby.  I called her name and she came right to me! 

When I had picked her up I started calling to my daughter whose bedroom is just off the deck.  She came to her window and I asked her to call the housesitter.  I knew my cats would be upset when I brought Abby into the house but I couldn't leave her outdoors on her own so I carried into the spare room.

Meanwhile D had reached the woman on the phone and she said she would be over in 20 minutes.  I had D get me another cup of coffee and my book and I settled down to wait with Abby.  As I expected, my three were not happy.  They sat outside the bedroom door, either yelling or hissing.  Poor Abby, I know she was frightened but she hung out with me on the bed most of the time. 

At one point, she got off the bed to get some water I'd had D bring in for me.  She went and sat by the door and that's when Sasha hissed so loudly that Abby started hissing as well.  I let her hide under the bed for a bit, then called and although she hissed at me a couple of times, she eventually came back on the bed.

Nearly an hour after our call (20 minutes, hah!) the woman arrived with a cat carrier.  She was with her mom who said they were taking no chances.  We learned Abby is NOT an outdoor cat, she's a chunky monkey like my Sami, and the fact she survived at least two full days outdoors is amazing.  The woman had, at least, put out food for her and it was gone when she came on Saturday so she had hoped Abby was alright.

She did say, she has no intention of telling the neighbours that Abby got away.  I'm not sure that's a good thing, but her decision not mine.  Hopefully Abby has had enough of the great outdoors to last her for the rest of her lifetime!

Since I didn't get a picture of the pretty girl, I'll share the photo I took of the solar lights last night.  I like the way the lights reflect off the plexi-glass panels of the deck.  I wish I were a better photographer though!  I'm thinking it's something I should add to my list of things to learn and do, and look into taking classes.  A better camera would also be a good thing too!

Sunshine - you make me happy

Today was garden day.  I spent nearly four hours in the yard getting the containers fertilized and potted.
I have two large pots out in front of the house.  They contain African daisies, curly grass, callibrochoa, and an ivy.  I tend to overplant my containers because I love the way they look when they fill in.  Someone mentioned putting a solar light into the pots - I'm trying it for the first time this year - I think it would look really neat.

I also planted a couple of pots I use to fill in along the walkway.  The grass never grows there, just weeds, so the planters help to make it look a little nicer.  These hold impatience and snapdragons.  This seems like an odd combination since impatience are conidered shade plants (at least here) and snapdragons prefer the sun.  In fact, I've seen impatience growing well in the sun in the Caribbean so this is a bit of an experiment.  The pots get more afternoon sun than early day so I'll have to wait and see how the snapdragons do.

I moved around to the back yard where many containers and lots of plants were waiting for me.  I know when I purchased them I had a plan for everything, but today, that plan was missing in action.

This is the lower level of the deck.  Three of the containers have osteospermum, a favorite of mine, paired with callibrocha and an ivy.  I'm also trying the solar light in the planters here in the back.  The middle of three pots at the top of the picture holds marigolds and morning glories.  My thought is that the marigolds will have filled in enough before the morning glories cover the trellis.  I'll have to wait and see how that works out.

The container on the chair has some of my favorites, gallardia and lime creeping jenny.  They don't quite fit my theme for the garden this year, but I could not imagine not having a pot or two of them.

I'm trying a different variety of tomato this summer.  I can't recall the name, but these are a small tomato (not Tiny Tim), that are supposed to mature in 65 days.  Our growing season here tends to be very short so hopefully these produce well, and quickly.  I've planted with marigolds - the smell of the flowers is supposed to keep bugs away.  At least that's what I've read!

I love mini-carnations too, though haven't had much luck with them in the past.  I'm trying them again this year, with more creeping jenny. 

On the upper part of the deck I have four more white planters, three of the brown, and another two window box style above these.  These two white planters have purple callibrochoa, geraniums and ivy.  The others (not pictured) have petunias and marigolds.  The low brown containers hold more marigolds, petunias, and another plant I've forgotten.  It's something new, reminds me of a cosmo, it will be a bit of an experiment to see how it does.

The window boxes, have the rest of the gallardia, some marigolds, and in one the catmint.  It certainly smells nice!

Finally, here's the front flower bed. 

The perennials are coming in nicely, there is a lily, two hostas, a little bush, and the cabbage looking plant at the front.  I planted nicotiana as this bed tends to get a fair amount of shade, and put the rest of the marigolds in as well.  It looks a little sparse but it should fill in fairly well over the summer.  Of course, I could always go shopping for more plants!  This flower bed is very frustrating because it's full of rocks.  The previous owners were obviously NOT gardeners!  I've tried screening some of it out but there is just too much.  I'd like to have all the dirt removed and replaced when we finally find a landscaper. 

Although I thought I hadn't bought that many plants, I wasn't able to keep to my 20 container limit.  There are 20 in the back yard alone and another 5 in the front.  Still that's eight less than I had last year.  There will be a little less weeding, deadheading, and watering to do, not much, but a little!

Hope every one is having a wonderful weekend of sunshine!

300

Really?  Three hundred posts and I have nothing profound or even remotely interesting to say tonight.  Oops, I realize the number includes one draft and one pre-scheduled post..but still I'm almost there!

It is a normal Saturday here at home.  My dishwasher is definitely kaput - my daughter ran a load through two evenings ago.  Nothing was clean so this morning I washed three sinkfuls of dishes, drying and putting them away between loads,  Normally I like doing dishes, but three loads was more that even I can tolerate. 

Since I'll be away for a few days next week, my daughter informed me that we needed groceries.  This despite the fact that the fridge, freezer, and cupboards are full.  But some of the favorite items were in low supply.  So because my children are spoiled I made a trip to Walmart and Safeway to grab a few things.

That saying, don't go grocery shopping when you are hungry, held true today.  I came home with 8 bags of groceries!  I threw a meat loaf in the oven for sandwiches later this week.  So I'm pretty certain C & D won't starve while I'm away.

While I was out the house sitter for our neighbours came by.  The young couple next door have two cats and one of them had slipped out and is missing.  Actually I saw the cat last night in my yard when I was out watering my plants.  She ran when she saw me, though I did try calling her, but I assumed she was one of the unfortunate kitties whose people don't keep them indoors.  Her name is Abby and she's a lovely orange tabby with a white tummy.  I'll be certain to keep an eye out for her - hopefully she comes home safely.  It would be a horrible thing to come home and find one of your babies had gone missing while in the care of someone else.

And just to add insult to injury there is a frost warning out for tonight.  My plants need to be tucked away in the shed for the night, and I hope Abby is safe tonight, perferably in her own home.

Countdown - 3 more days

So much to do, so little time before I leave on vacation.  Laundry is started, suitcase is waiting patiently to be filled, and I'm officially done work for nine full, wonderful, glorious, omg I'm so happy days!!!

Honestly, I haven't put much thought into what is going into the suitcase.  Today I checked the weather forecast for Vancouver and Ketchikan, Alaska.  The weather should be 10-16C for most of the time, with light rain or scattered showers most days.  I'm crossing my fingers because so far, the weather in Ketchikan on the 24th is supposed to be overcast with sunny breaks but no rain.   For certain, I'm hoping for no fog as I hope to spend much of my time watching for wildlife on the coast or in the ocean.

I've got something new to read.  I've heard a lot about the book and the movie, hoping that it will be as good as I've been told.  If not, I'll donate it to the ship library and find something else to read!

Before I get to relax, though, I have to get all my containers planted, mow the lawn, clean the house, finish my laundry, and get that suitcase packed!  It's going to be a busy, busy weekend.

Live entertainment

I'd get Sami and Sasha to tell the story but they are still laughing their tails off.

Yesterday evening, I went out to the deck to put away my little plants.  It went down to 0C (about 32F) the other night so I'm not taking any chances yet.  They'll have into the pots this weekend because I'll be gone next week.  Once again, I digress.

When I came indoors I realized I had a moth on my shirt. I HATE moths...they're dusty and creepy and basically mini-bats!  I freaked and brushed it off my shirt about a dozen times (despite the fact it was gone on the first try).

The moth flew off into the cathedral ceiling in the living room while I went for the broom.  No way was I alloweing that sucker insect to hang out in my house overnight for the cats Saku to catch and eat.  I'd already cleaned up kitty moth vomit earlier in the week!

Picture this - I'm standing on my couch in my living room with a broom in my hand flailing like a mad woman at the moth on the ceiling.  He flys out of reach towards the front window.  I am glad because the ceiling is lower in this area and I don't have to stand on furniture tempting fate.

Once again, I am flapping my broom at the moth, missing every time as the moth dive bombs towards my head.  He eventually lands on the end table beside my chair.  Bad idea, moth!  Saku who has been watching my antics from the safety of the floor makes a leap onto the side table knocking the remote and the moth to the floor.

I try to get the moth before Saku can eat it and I succeed  by pushing him aside with the broom.  I then take that broom and hit that moth as hard as I can...but apparently he's tougher than I think and he's merely winged as he turns himself in circles on the floor.

Saku makes one more attempt but again I thwart his efforts and Mr. Moth goes down with another thump of the broom. I grab a kleenex and allow him to have his eternal rest (until Thursday at least) in my garbage can.  So there!

After all the excitement I realized that any of my neighbours out for an evening stroll could easily have viewed this live event.   I wonder what they would have been thinking, yikes!

Here's my hero, Saku resting after the adventure in hunting the dreaded moth.

Remembering Shady

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of Shady's trip across the Bridge.  I couldn't let this day go by without sharing a little of her story, because she is such a special girl, and since I started this blog after her passing, I haven't shared her story in any detail.

Shady is Silas's sister, born in June 2004 in a litter of six kittens, on my brother's acreage.  There were four black kittens, one calico, and one orange tabby (Silas).  My daughter wanted the little orange kitty and I wanted a black one, so of course, we took both.  I had three others at home, Sasha, Silver, and Sami.  Sasha was all "not again", Silver was more "stay the heck away from me" and Sami became their surrogate mother.

Shady was a big girl, at her heaviest she weighed 17 pounds, but she was always elegant and graceful in her movements.  She was a heat seeking missile, looking for the warmest spot to sleep, whether that was the top of the television, lying on a heat register, or cuddled up on my legs at night. 

Her favorite toy was a hard plastic strawberry with a short stem....perfect for carrying in one's mouth.  Her favorite game was to take said strawberry and drop it down the wooden (no carpet to soften the sound) basement stairs.  She'd race down the stairs, chase the strawberry around in the basement, carry it back up the stairs and do it all over again and over again and over again.  AND her absolute favorite time of the day to play this game was....4 a.m. 
She had a purr, and a snore, that could be heard in the next room.  Shady slept so soundly, I could pick her up and move her to another spot, without waking her.  She loved to play with her brother Silas, wrestling, kicking and giving one another love bites.  Her nickname was Fuzzy because she had the softest fur of any cat I've known before or since.

In May 2010, I made an offer on the house we live in, was successful, and suddenly realized I had a house to sell!  My son was living at home with me, my daughter came home early from her teaching job, and I took a week off work in order to get the house ready for sale.  I recall a flurry of activity, sorting and clearing out the clutter, packing items for storage, painting and touch-ups, and even putting in flooring in two bedrooms. 

In the midst of all this activity, C informed me that Shady was sick.  She wasn't able to eat or drink because when she tried she would gag.  I took her to the vet who checked her out and determined she'd lost weight, about five pounds, but there was no blockage in her throat, no detectable masses, nor anything in the bloodwork to indicate a specific diagnosis.  After a injection of fluids, I took her home, tried feeding her milk (vet's suggestion), and small amounts of food. 

Within two days, it was evident that the new diet wasn't working.  Shady continued to gag, was becoming lethargic, had lost more weight, and although she would still purr when you held her, was obviously not feeling well.  She and I returned to the vet where I was offered the option of leaving her hooked up to intravenous fluids for several days while various samples were taken, and were sent to a lab for testing or the other option was euthanasia.

I choose to allow Shady to go to the Bridge.  It was a painful (and still is) decision.  I've felt guilty because I wonder if I took the simple way out because I was so busy and feeling overwhelmed.  At times I've felt I didn't give her a chance.  Looking back now, I realize that my choice was made in part due to the guilt I felt over Silver's death, because I felt guilty for not making the decision earlier, and causing her to suffer.  I wasn't about to allow that to happen to Shady.

I held her in my arms for one last cuddle, she purred and rubbed her face against mine, and I cried.  The vet came in and allowed me to continue to hold her as the meds were injected.  Shady sighed once and slipped away.  It was such a peaceful moment, so different than my experience with Silver.

Everyone should be so blessed to have a cat in their life like Shady.  She loved us with every fiber of her being.   She would climb into my lap, and punch the bread (claws and all), and purr like she was heaven.  I hope she knew she was loved as much.

Catching up

I'm still a day behind but this post will catch me up...you'll understand why shortly.

Sunday was, of course, Mother's Day.  Guess how my day went!  If you guessed I woke up to breakfast in bed, the house clean, and my kids giving me hugs and kisses.....you'd be wrong and I'd be dreaming. 

What I did do was spend more time out on my deck and go shopping for MORE plants. 

This time I got petunias and mums, carnations, more callibrochoa (apparently I like these - a lot!), german ivy, and ....can you see it in the picture to the left of the carns, and to the right of the ivy?

It's cat mint!  According to the label it's supposed to attract cats.  Now this is a dumb question, but is cat mint the same thing as catnip? I guess I could check with the cats but I know some of you will know for certain!

I also picked up my tomatoes, the only vegetable I bother to grow, and a few bags of potting soil.  I'm all ready for the long May weekend, the traditional time for planting in Zone 3.  Now I just have to get my son to move some containers around for me and I'll be set.

My children gave me this lovely candle holder for Mother's Day.  Each of the sides is magnetic and be changed out.  So besides the geometric shape and the branch you can see, I also have the plates for winter (snowflakes) and Halloween (jack-o-lantern) as well as a couple of other geometric plates. 

My daughter D, thought it might keep Saku from dipping his paw into the wax.  So far, so good - it seems to be working.  Of course, she also broke my washing machine this weekend but that's another story!

Finally, we come to Monday.  All I can say is....eight more sleeps to my mini-vacation!!!  And that, my friends is how I catch up two days in one. 

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day and a great Monday too!







I'm late, I'm late

I didn't have time to post yeseterday because I was busy, busy, busy!  I spent much of the day outside, cleaning up containers, mowing the lawn, weeding the front flower bed, and sweeping the deck.  The mowing doesn't take very long but cleaning out the planters took a LOT of time.  I counted and I had 33 containers with dead plants in them.  (I don't always leave the plants in the containers but was either out of town or simply lazy last fall). 

After clearing the containers I decided that I am going to limit myself to 20 pots this year.  That will require that I plan what I'll put in each container and then purchase the plants, NOT purchase plants and then find I need more containers as I did last year.  I also decided I'll try to re-use the potting soil from last year.  I toodled off to Canadian Tire to pick up slow release fertilizer.  While I was there I took a quick tour of their greenhouse.  Most everything I saw wasn't in very good shape but I did find a lovely fushia to hang in the front flower bed.

I hadn't planned to buy any plants this weekend, but the bug bit and off I went to Rona (found nothing there) and across the street to Superstore.  Over the years I've found, if I arrive at the store shortly after the trucks come in, the plants Superstore brings in are good quality.  I picked up osteospermum, lime creeping jenny, curly grass, callibrochoa, and gallardia.  I also found a large pot of pansies that I'll eventually split into two or three.  

At this point I decided I'd better go home because my plan to shop only for what I needed was starting to go out the window! At home, I took stock of what I'd purchased, and the containers they would go into. I've still got a list of things to get but I'm no where near my 20 container limit (yet).

Late in the afternoon I met my sister-in-law P at a restaurant for a drink and early dinner.  Meanwhile, her daughter L, my deniece, was at a birthday party.  We had a really nice visit, then picked up L from the party.  We had tickets for Stars on Ice but the event wouldn't start until 7:30, so we took a drive down to a local garden centre and wandered among the plants and the garden decor.  Lots of oohing and ahhing could be heard!

Stars on Ice was great...I'm such a huge fan of Kurt Browning and he didn't disappoint.  Our seats were in the second level, first row so we had a great view of the entire ice surface.  It was a little disappointing not to be able to see their facial expressions but I suspect only those at ice level really could see them clearly.

They wouldn't stop moving enough for me to take a picture.  I'm thinking I need a "real" camera, not the little point and shoot I currently use, and a few lessons in setting up a photograph would be useful too!

It was a truly a good day, fresh air, lots of hard work mixed in with laughs and fun with family.  I can't think of a better way to spend a day!

One gift

Up until a few days I hadn't realized that this weekend was Mother's Day.  When it finally dawned on me, I mentioned to my son, teasing him about what he was going to do for me on Sunday.  He informed me his sister has already purchased a gift so he owes her money.  I was sort of hoping someone would make Sunday dinner but I guess I'll come up with something!

I love secrets, well, sort of.  I like the anticipation but I also like trying to figure out what might be coming.  I'm pretty sure it won't be any of these things:

As lovely as flowers are, the cats tend to knock over the vases, eat the flowers, and then heave them back up.  In general, real flowers tend to be messy.



 It won't be perfume either, as I have sensitivities to strong scents. Simply going into a department store entrance where the perfume and makeup counters are found it torture.  (The cleaning aisle at Walmart is just as bad!)

It won't be chocolate because I have been known to get wicked

migraines from "good"chocolate.  Isn't that awful? 

Nor am I a wine drinker - in fact, my daughter gave me a bottle of wine for
Christmas that I finally decided to open last weekend.  It wasn't there!  She informed me she'd drank the wine and replaced it five times since Christmas!  She replaced it one more time and I finally had my glass of wine.

What I would really like for Mother's Day is something I know I can't have.  No amount of money or effort would ever be enough to allow me the one best gift...a day with my Mom.

Betty H.

1928-2003

Almost green with envy

This evening I went to a local restaurant with several people from work to help B celebrate her upcoming retirement.  She's expected to make one last appearance at work tomorrow and will finish her last two weeks of employment on vacation.  Lucky woman!

We worked together a few years ago in another division within our office.  She was there for many years, I was there for less than 2.  I know that everyone who has worked with her over the years will agree that B will be missed by her co-workers.  In her role, as the division's clerk, she took care of ALL stuff that needs to be done to keep things running.  She kept the supply cabinets well-supplied and organised, picked up and made coffee for the team , arranged the birthday, Christmas, and lunch pizza events, in addition to doing her job and doing it very well.  Best of all, she did with a smile on her face.  Though I'm sure there were times she got fed up with the mess and the last minute plans we made she would only laugh and take care of it.

Next week, she's taking a brief holiday with a bus tour to a casino in N. Dakota.  Then she plans to come home to start getting used to being retired.  I have to say it all sounds good to me!  Only 7 years, 3 months and 15 days to go....but who's counting?

The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.

— Abe Lemons



It was a nice evening, since I haven't worked with most of the people for a few years, it was great to catch up on what's happening in their lives.  Never mind, that we only work three floors apart in the same building.  It may as well be in a different world for as often as we even see each other in passing.  Maybe when I retire I'll have more time for get togethers!

Wordless Wednesday