Heart ache

We get some wacky weather in Saskatchewan.  As you'll have noticed, winter didn't give way to spring until very recently.  After this lovely weekend past, it seems amazing to think the last snowstorm happened only three weeks ago.

In recent years, in the summer months, we've had some phenomenal thunderstorms and damaging winds.  Thankfully, in recent memory we've not seen a tornado.*

I'm sitting here watching the television and reading the news on the internet about the devastation in Oklahoma.  It makes my heart ache to see the destruction, to read about the lives lost, and to hear the sound of fear and sadness in the voices of the survivors.  To stand where one's home once stood and know there is nothing left must bring a feeling of helplessness second only to the loss of a loved one.

Once again, Mother Nature has reminded us she has the power.  We can create radar to track the weather patterns, we can predict what might be coming our way, and we can build early warning systems to (hopefully) save lives.  But she wins, hands down, every time.

Stay safe, where ever you are.

*The last tornado (or cyclone as it was called then) to touch down in Regina occurred June 30, 1912.  

Stalled

Progress has ground to a halt in the front yard.  Sigh...I was so hoping it would be finished today but no such luck.  The owner came by today to check on his crew and apparently he wasn't entirely happy with the progress.

He enlarged the patio further, which I'm thrilled about, and he had them re-level the dirt between my house and the neighbours as rain water would have pooled on the patio.  Then they poured a whole more lot more slag, but before they finished they ran out.

The crew is supposed to be back tomorrow to finish the slag, lay down landscape fabric and rock in front of the tree, and install a border between my yard and the neighbour.

The bricks are here, or a least some of it is.  This is the Sierra gray stone that will form the main part of the patio.  It will outlined in smaller buff colored stone.  Unfortunately because of the delays, it won`t happen until next weekend.

Oh well, I guess with any construction there are always delays.  Besides, it was a delay in another job that got them here this soon, so I should just count my blessings!  It means I won`t have to mow the front lawn, ever again!

This is the last day of the long weekend, and we couldn`t have asked for better weather.  It reached  22C (72F), there was a bit of a breeze, but it was a perfect day for being outdoors.  I puttered around the back yard for a while and sat on the deck enjoying the sun.  (I`m just indoors to change the load of laundry for a few minutes).  Too bad I have to go back to work tomorrow!

Have a great day everyone, I hope the sun is shining where you are!

Easy on Sunday

It doesn't look like much progress...at least to me!

They did get the yard leveled and dug down the four inches for the new patio.  The next step was to put in the slag, wet it down and use that machine you can see in the pictures to tamp it down.

By the time they finished, it actually looked a little like a concrete pad.

 The brick patio will be in sort of fan shaped, coming out from the sidewalk and stopping short of the evergreen.

I was so excited, I went out and bought a small bistro table and chairs. Both table and chairs are actually folding so can be put away in the shed over winter.

And here is the boring space in front of the tree.  I have plans for this area.  For certain there will be planters, and possibly if I can find something I really like, either a statue or a bench.

I couldn't find anything in the stores and a friend and I are planning to go garage saling next weekend.  Maybe I'll find something unique and interesting that someone wants to part with.

I spent part of the day planting containers for the front yard.  I also got my tomatoes plants today, a tumbler and a beefsteak.

There are now fourteen containers in the back yard, and five in the front yard.  I'm under twenty!!!!  It's not going to last though because I bought more plants than I needed.  Oh well, the patio is going to need some color, right?

Hope you all had a wonderful, easy Sunday!

What a difference!

What a difference 24 hours make!  I thought this was going to be a quiet long weekend/  Perhaps I'd get some extra sleep, take some time to read and relax on the deck, and just putter around the yard.

Instead, I got a call from the landscaper last night.  He'd been over the week before and provided me with a reasonable quote (unlike the first one I'd gotten last year) which I immediately accepted.  He told me that one of his jobs had been delayed because the materials weren't available, and would I be okay if they started today.  Are you kidding me????? Of course I was okay with it!

So last night the front yard looked like this:

I have a large evergreen which splits the yard into two parts.  This is the area where a small patio will be installed.

It gets late day sun, the rest of the day it is shady and cool.  The evergreen provides privacy from the street.

The front of yard is so boooorrrrrrrinnnggg!

The grass has always been sparse and full of weeds, mostly thistles.  I especially hate the deciduous tree but unfortunately it`s a city tree so I can`t remove it.

The next few pictures show how it looks today after a lot of hard work (NOT by me!).  This was all done by hand by four young people.

Both of the evergreen bushes have been removed, neither was particularly attractive and mostly collected leaves and other debris...I won`t miss them!

 Out in the front, you can see the roots of the trees were plentiful.  Maybe, I`ll get lucky and they`ll have damaged the city tree?

They also pulled out the irrigation system, and capped it off.  It never worked the entire time I've lived here so I won't miss it either!

The bricks they will be using for the patio will also be used to outline the front flower bed.  I have chosen the colors but haven't seen the paving stones yet.

The rest of the yard will have landscape material and gravel laid over it.  To add some color in the front I picked up a couple of large planters.



While the workers were busy, I went shopping for plants.  I`ve got a couple of perennials, and mounds of annuals.  My goal was to keep the number down to about 20 this year.  I planted the containers in the back yard today, and I have eleven twelve filled so far.  I was looking at the plants I still have to pot and I realized I did it again!  I`ve bought more than I need. ;-)

They will be back tomorrow morning to level off the yard - they are ensuring it slopes towards the street and not the house. The owner told me today, they`ll have it done this weekend.  I`m looking forward to the changes tomorrow brings.

AND one more thing I`m not going to miss?  Mowing the front lawn.  I still have a tiny bit of grass in the back yard...I won't get rid of that as the cats and I enjoy it.  But I won't have to haul the mower back and forth.  It will be like living in a condo without the fees!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend too!

Random Friday

I'm working today, although I was scheduled to have the day off.  I have to attend an appointment with one of my staff.  I can't complain too much, I expect I'll be done by noon, this is a long weekend, and I can bank the time for later.

The weather forecast earlier in the week was for rain all weekend; now we're expected to get less than a millimeter of rain on Friday and Saturday.  That's just sprinkles!  My plan is to get to the garden centers to start my plant shopping.  No planting this weekend though as I'll have to harden off the plants for a few days...get them used to the outside temps and the lovely wind that blows incessantly here.
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So, I didn't go to my last photography class on Wednesday.  Yeah, I played hooky!  I'd talked to a couple of people from work who attended the Monday class (the same class was offered three times a week) and it was merely a summary of the first four, and a chance to go outdoors and practice.  I decided I'd rather stay home and hang out on my deck, although as it turned out I didn't get the chance.

I received a call from a friend and we talked for nearly two hours.  She was one of the unfortunate federal government employees who was "work force adjusted".  Basically that means she was out of a job, unless her department could find another place for her.  She's worked for the feds for over 20 years and this the third time she's been WFA'd.  I think I'd have told them to WFO myself, but she's more patient than I!  She has been able to find another temporary position in the organization she works for, but it's only for a year.  So she has been applying for other positions, including for the department I work for.  We spent the time talking about the most recent interview she had.  I hope she did well, she deserves a chance for some security....though there's no guarantee of it with us either.
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This story just angers me!  Bentley, an eight-month old St. Bernard was shot and killed by a neighbour because he ventured onto their property.  Thus far, no charges have laid nor is it likely there will be.  AND (forgive my language) but the b*stard shot the dog in front of the 16 year owner who had come to retrieve the dog.   

Different news stories suggest there was on-going dispute between the neighbours.  I understand there are two sides to every story.  But to take his anger out on a helpless animal reminds me we humans are often less human than our pets.  
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On a happier note, check out this video clip.  If you haven't seen it already, it is a cat who loves the vacuum!

Have a great weekend everyone!

What a great day!

We had marvelous weather for Mother's Day.  The temperature reached 26C (79F) and though it was breezy, it was a great day to be outside.

I got the leaves raked up in both the front and back yards.  This is the little bit of grass I have in the back yard.  It's starting to turn green!

I'm grateful my yard is small, because even as tiny as it is, I still got two full large bags of debris picked up.

I also had to pick up another dead bird in the front flower bed.  Any one have ideas on how to keep them from flying into the window?  It's not like it's clean!

I also put out the deck furniture.  The cushions had been hung in the small shed for the winter, and this kept the mice from getting into them.

The furniture is metal, and boy was it dirty from sitting all winter.  It took two pails of water to get the worst of it off.

I spent a good deal of the afternoon out on the deck, with a cold drink, reading and enjoying the sunshine.  There was a robin in the tree - I should have gotten the camera, but I didn't want to disturb him.

In fact, I didn't get around to picking up the camera until early evening.  So if the pictures are a little dark, it is due in part to the evening light and the fact I'm using the manual mode on the camera.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  My son fed the cats and made coffee in the morning, so I actually slept in a little, and my daughter helped me with dinner.  I got to do the things I love to do, a little gardening, reading on the deck, a nap with Sami and Saku, and enjoying the fresh air.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Mother's Day

I must admit to having mixed emotions about Mother's Day.

As a mom, it's great to be acknowledged for the work and worry of motherhood. Though frankly, rather than flowers and dinner, I'd rather my adult children moved out did their fair share around here.  If one of them were to vacuum the entire house, I'd be thrilled to bits...especially if they kept it up week after week.  

But I digress.  The other side of Mother's Day are the memories of my Nan and my mom.  My Nan was my mom's mom; a woman who refused to be called Grandma or Grandmother because she wasn't that "old".

She was right, she wasn't old.  Nan passed away, forty-one years ago this weekend, at the age of 65.  She and Grandpa (he was old....er) had spent Saturday afternoon, as they often did, at the local pub having a couple of beers with their friends.  Grandpa drove home and as they walked towards the back door Nan stopped to sit on the step.  She told Grandpa she was tired, wanted to sit for a minute, and he went indoors briefly.  When he came back out, she had fallen over, and as we learned later had passed away of an aneurysm in the main artery of her heart.  

I was 13 years old that year, and I recall Mom getting the phone call from her father.  We had just finished signing Nan's Mother's Day card.  She and Grandpa always came for Sunday dinner.  Mom didn't tell us what had happened but simply said we needed to go to town.  When we pulled into their yard, we stayed in the car with Dad until she went in and came back out to tell us.  Dad then took us to our aunt and uncle's home to wait for them.  I recall feeling overwhelmed and frightened, and I cried for what seemed like hours.

The memory of her death has always been entwined in my mind with Mother's Day.  As I grew older, I was grateful she had a good final day spending time with friends though always wished we could have had her with us longer.

I feel much the same about Mom.  I know she was ill for a very long time and I wouldn't have wished another day of suffering on her.  But damn I miss her, and Mother's Day just brings those feelings to the forefront even more.  I think no child, no matter their age, ever really gets over that need for their mother to be part of their lives.   

Well, at least I haven't and it doesn't look like my children will ever get there either.  A little distance would be nice though!

Where ever you are today, have a wonderful day.  Phone or hug your mom, if you're lucky enough  to still be able to share time here on earth with her.  And if, like me, you are missing your mom, I leave you with some of the lyrics of Diamond Rio's "One more day with you". 

Last night I had a crazy dream 

A wish was granted just for me, it could be for anything 
I didn't ask for money or a mansion in Malibu 
I simply wished, for one more day with you 

One more day, one more time 
One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied 
But then again, I know what it would do 
Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you 

I love you Mom, always and forever.