Not the same Sunday

It was the same old, same old kind of week.  No matter how hard I try, things at work continue to drive me crazy.  My friend C says I need to learn to laugh it off, but frankly, laughing seems like a lot of effort.

On the home front, I'm trying to get my craft room into shape.  I went looking for my sewing machine in the storage room, which is the last place I recall seeing it, but it isn't there. I've checked all the closets, the back area of the basement, and cannot find it anywhere.  I've only got one more possibility - ask my daughter.  She has a tendency to "lend" items to friends, even when they don't belong to her.

I'll get my chance to ask her when she comes over this afternoon to do laundry and watch the Rider game with me.  I hope she knows where it is.

Weather wise, it's been a mixed bag.  Cool and wet, warming up, then cooling down again.  On Saturday, just as my son was leaving for work a brief thunderstorm rolled in.

It was pouring so hard the gutters couldn't contain the water and it spilled over onto the patio.  The photo shows the line of water.

Within minutes the storm had passed and though it remained cloudy for most of the day, we didn't get any more rain.



Today, I've been putzing around the house, doing a little tidying, while watching Criminal Minds re-runs.  So far, at least two of the episodes are new to me.  Or maybe that's just my menopause memory kicking in.  The Rider game starts in about 90 minutes, so you all know what I'll be doing then. ;)  Go Riders!

It's been a pretty average weekend, but as the title suggests, today is a different kind of Sunday. Tomorrow I don't have to go to work because it's Labour Day weekend, with the Monday statutory holiday.  I can't tell you how happy I am to have an extra day off!

I'm hoping to finish the craft room, maybe even put a couple more pages in a scrapbook for the cats I started years ago.  But if the sun is shining I'll take my coffee and a book out to the deck and enjoy a few hours of the last few summer days.  Ahhh...what could be better than a day just to do as I like.

Have a great week everyone!

Friday Funny

Not a wordless Wednesday

If you hear screaming coming from my direction...don't worry, I'm just trying to cheer up!

Wet and worn-out weekend

The view from my front window this morning. There is a system moving through the southern part of the province bringing lots of rain and much cooler temperatures.

I think (I hope) we're on the edge of it.  We're only forecast to get 20 mm (3/4 inch).  Other areas, south of us, have already gotten 50 mm, with more expected to fall today.

Unfortunately those areas have had more than their fair share of wet weather this summer and more flooding is expected.

Our temperatures have dropped like a rock this week, from highs of near 30C (86F) to just 12C (54F) today.  When I got up this morning it felt a little chilly in the house.        

It's a good day to stay indoors, do a little baking, and watch football.

I mixed up a batch of apple spice muffins.  They look a little anemic don't they?  I think the oven was too warm so they baked too quickly, without browning on top.  Oh well, they taste pretty good.

I used a basic muffin recipe from my Canadian cookbook. This was my parent's gift to me when I graduated high school.  That makes it...37 years old.

As you can see, it's well used, the spine is broken and yet it's still my go-to cookbook.  I bought a newer version a year or so ago and I still use the old worn-out book.

Speaking of worn out, I finally broke down and visited the doctor's office on Friday.  The diagnoses is tennis elbow.  Of course, I had to use the well-worn joke, "I've never played tennis in my life".

The remedy is continuing to use the arm brace, icing the arm a couple of times a day, taking an anti-inflammatory for pain and lots of time.  So except for giving it a name, the doc told me nothing new.  And yet, today it feels better. Weird!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Friday Funny

Okay, I'm a little odd...but I found this very funny!

Random Saturday

This week has been painful. I'm still not sure what I've done to my right arm (since I refuse to go to the doctor again) but it is still giving me grief.  I've been wearing the brace and resting the arm by limiting use.  Typing is slow as I try to use one hand.  Hence, if you haven't seen a comment from me in the last week, please know I am still reading, just not commenting much.

The wrist is less achy, though the elbow and shoulder are still sore. Of course that may be my fault, as I painted my daughter's old bedroom last weekend. I finally found the perfect color chip at Rona.  It is called Berber carpet, which is odd because Berber refers to the loop not the color.  But in any event, it nearly matches the original color.  The room needed to be painted as she had marked and taped the wall (four years ago) to repaint it and never got around to it.  With the normal scuffs of daily living and removal of the tape and pencil marks, it desperately need a refresh.

I'm planning to turn the room into my craft area, and have slowly been moving things up from the basement.  I used to do a lot of scrapbooking, but since moving here I really haven't done anything. Then there is the sewing machine that has been gathering dust for years.  Maybe if it is within easy access, I'll get back to using it again.  At least that's the hope.

******
We've had heat all week.  Temperatures have been in the high 20's, low 30's (Celcius) with humidity making it feel 5-10 degrees warmer.  The humidity is unusual, as it's normally dry here, but with all the rain and flooding this year, it's not surprising.

I love the heat and humidity except at night.  I don't know if I'm merely feeling the heat or if it's a hot flash/night sweat!  All I know is, it's uncomfortable.

The forecast is for rain today of about 10-20 mm.  Of course it will rain, it's the weekend, and the Rider game is this evening.

******
I don't know if I believe that every cloud has a silver lining.  But sometimes things turn out better than one might think.  A few weeks ago, the parking lot next to our office was converted from a mix of daily and monthly parking to monthly parking only.  I've been parking there for years, initially with a month-to-month contract.  Then last year sometime, the monthly rates were raised to the point where it was less expensive to park at the daily rate.  So I cancelled my contract.

Then the daily rates were increased to $12 a day.  I kept parking there as it was convenient to the office and since I'm usually spend a week up in Saskatoon each month to six weeks, it was still less expensive than a monthly contract.

So I was really p'od when I couldn't park there anymore.  The nearest lots are a couple of blocks away from the office, so less convenient especially when winter arrives.  One lot doesn't provide electrical service but another does, but both are less expensive to park in.

As I was walking to the office the other morning, I had epiphany of sorts.  I realized that rather than causing me a disservice the parking company actually gave me a gift.  Not only am I getting a little exercise (not much, but a little), but I'm also only paying $8.35 a day to park.  It is costing me between $60 and $70 less to park every month.  Bonus!
******

While it is tempting to take my savings and go shopping, I've got some painting left to do.

When the kitchen cabinets were installed (nearly two years ago), the molding on the part wall was removed from the living room side.

I had found some gray paint but it didn't match so I just did a line at the top.

Today, I'm going to repaint this wall.  I am NOT going to paint the rest of the living room. When the time comes for that to be done, I'll be calling in assistance.  I'm nervous enough on the step ladder and the peak of the ceiling is waaaayyyy too high for me!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Friday Funny

What a night!

It as a dark and stormy night....*

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of weather geek, especially when it comes to thunderstorms.  When I was child, mom would take us out to the porch to watch the storms come in until the rain started. Although I have no memory of the event, she told me when I was 18 months, recall from the thunder sent me tumbling down the steps.  She picked me up, I cried a little, then got interested in the storm again. No fear.

For most of the summer, the major storms have missed the city of Regina.  We've definitely had rain but the light shows have been ...meh.  Not so last night!  For several hours I was watching the radar, tracking the storms as they moved closer to the city.  At two kilometers out, I turned the lights off and called to my son to come watch.

We sat in the sun room for nearly an hour watching the storm move closer.  There were almost constant flashes of sheet lightening but little thunder.  While it was pretty, it wasn't the storm I was hoping for. (Like I said, total geek!)

And then it hit...

I grabbed my camera and tried to get a few shots.  The quality isn't great but these are the best I could get.

There was a loud clap of thunder and the sky opened up.  This is out the front window of the house.


 We headed back to the sun room to watch the storm out the multiple windows.  It was freaky, as the lightening was colored red and blue. C used his camera as a light source so I could take this photo. The poor petunias took a beating from the rain.



I obviously caught this just at the right moment, as the lightening lit up the sky.

The two photos were taken a minute apart and yet the second appears to have been shot in broad daylight.




It was definitely the storm of the summer!  The show lasted another fifteen minutes or so before the storm moved to the east.

We lost our power for nearly three hours.  I'd left lights and television on, so when it came back I woke up to the noise.  Before the night was over, another thunderstorm came through.  I got up and watched from the living room for a short while.

We're getting more rain today but there are no storms on the horizon.  That's okay, because last night was stormy enough to last me for awhile.

Have a great weekend everyone!

* With apologies to the great writer, Snoopy

Friday Funny

Random Saturday

It's August long weekend here in Saskatchewan.  I took yesterday as my EDO so I get a four day weekend out of it.  Hooray!

Yesterday I started applying the waterproofing to one of the sheds in the back yard.  By 10 a.m. I had completed one side (the shady side) and it was so hot I gave up and came indoors.  Then, of course, we got a thunderstorm and rain last night.  According to the instructions it should have two days of drying time, but it seems to have worked as there is a difference in the color between the other sides and the coated one.

I won't do anymore today as everything is definitely damp.  Perhaps tomorrow or Monday.  What a wonderful feeling to know I don't have to rush.

*******
I spent the rest of the day shopping and pampering myself.  I wandered through several stores looking for a small round table.  With my daughter moving away from home I have an empty room, so I have to fill it right?  I'm planning to turn it into a craft/sewing room, and library/office.  That way I can get the bins that are tucked beside the couch out of the living room and have a small sitting where I can go to read (or the cats can nap....who am I kidding).

I didn't find a table but I did find this mirror at Winners.  I've been planning on replacing the picture I had hanging there for some time but couldn't find a mirror that I either liked or was a reasonable price.  This one was $40 so right on budget.

Now that it is hanging I'm not sure I like it as much as I thought I would.  I'll leave it there for awhile before I make up my mind. It may end up being switch out with this picture on the other wall at some point, but I'll decide that later.

I also picked up four lunch plates that match dinner plates I'd bought earlier this year.  They were on sale for $2 a piece so I was thrilled. I can finally get rid of what's left of the stoneware I bought from Sears 36 years ago.  It was a catalogue purchase, for about $60 I got a set of dishes for eight including mugs and cutlery.  All I have left is a few of the smaller lunch plates and two dinner plates.






After browsing for a while I went to my hairdresser and had my hair cut and colored.  It's much shorter and should be much cooler for the rest of the summer!

*******

I've been having a bad time with my forearm and elbow recently.  Earlier this week, I woke up one night and was unable to unbend (is that a word?) my elbow. I was in excruciating pain
so got up to take a pain tablet and try working out the kink.

On Thursday I saw the doctor and was told to get a wrist support wrap.  I've been wearing it in the evening and through the night, and it seems to be helping a little bit.

Wearing it is real pain (pun intended) as it hampers my use of the mouse.  I've also learned, that though I write left-handed, I do a lot of things with my right hand.  Brushing my hair, brushing my teeth, cutting with a knife, and even eating a sandwich.  Perhaps I'm not as left-handed as I always thought.

*******
Since the weather isn't cooperating, today will be a housework day.  My daughter is coming over to do her laundry, and while she is here I'm going to get her to finish cleaning out the closet in her old room so I can start moving some of my stuff in there.

Then there is the kitchen floor to be washed (if you've the cat's blog you'll know why), bathrooms to scrub, vacuuming, and cat litter to be cleaned.

Later in the day our Riders are playing the Ottawa Red-Blacks.  I'll be planted firmly in my chair watching every play. Go Riders!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Funny Friday