Not An Auspicious Start To The Day!

 I went to bed last night with possible symptoms of a cold which I treated with a few OTC meds but woke up this morning with more vague symptoms. So, I popped a Claritin and within a couple of hours or so I began feeling better. Now, at 4pm I have fewer symptoms and am continuing to feel better. Yay! I will continue the Claritin for a few more days, as allergies hit me hard every year at the serious onset of autumn. 

Today has been cold and rainy in our little city, with freezing slush needing to be shovelled from our back deck. The morning was filled with deep grey clouds overhead, rain, sleet and snowfall. Thankfully things will clear up over the next day or so……at least the forecast tells us so…so who knows?

After breakfast I decided to water all the plants in my dining room. The Christmas cactus sits on two plastic placemats at one end of the dining room table. Somehow I also managed to soak not only the placemats with water, but the water also ran under the mats and all over my teak table! Noooooo….I was fortunate to be able to move the pot of cactus easily and pick the mats up in time to remove the table water quickly. 

As I was trying to get the water mopped off the table my husband wandered into the dining room with a peanut butter sandwich that proceeded to drip oily peanut butter onto my winter coat I had just hung on a chair, as well as onto the dining room carpet. Aiii yiiii what a mess…again with a mess, one each! My coat was easy to clean and we eventually got the peanut butter scraped and washed out of the carpet. Aiiii yiiii…

Later this morning we were in Moose Jaw so my husband decided to take advantage of the low price at a discount gasoline station and fill our car’s tank. At $1.69/litre compared to $1.83/litre at home, it was a GREAT price. Unfortunately my husband got the numbers of the avenues mixed up, drove over the wrong bridge to get to the gas station and ended up driving us back and forth, up and down the streets all around the north end of the town before finding the station at last! Thankfully he eventually figured out what he had done wrong, haha. So, not the most encouraging start to the day, but things could only get better from there….and they have. They have!! Yay!

From shovelling freezing slush off our back porch this morning to losing our way in a town that is familiar to us, we can only be thankful all our “messes” were so easily cleaned up and corrected!

Still Waiting On The Fridgeman!!

 No sign of our refrigerator fellow yet so we will give management until noon, then call if we have not yet heard anything.  Our cost for ice blocks to retain sufficient cold in the refrigerator compartment has climbed over $20 as of last night and I don't want to think about how much power we will be paying for to continue running the camp freezer unit.  I know they are busy and the department is badly understaffed, but I am not interested in losing any more food than we did when we had to throw out some smaller freezer items on the weekend before the freezer unit was up and running and my husband is definitely not interested in spending any more money on ice blocks.  So....we shall see how it goes today.  

My walking partner and I were unable to spend time walking and visiting today as she is not well, but she was able to stop in long enough to pick up a book she lent to us recently and have a brief chat before she was overcome with a coughing fit and fled so that she wouldn't spread her illness to  us. Bless her heart.

I had a nice chat with an Island friend, so that was fun interlude in a busy day.

Got a bit of a sad surprise this morning: I told a friend on the weekend that I would drop by the Diabetes Canada office here in Regina and pick up some information she needs after finding out her rather high blood sugar count showing up in recent medical tests.  Surprise surprise (NOT!), this branch was permanently closed fairly recently.  After some online checking and a phone call to their central phone number all I can get my hands on here is whatever info is on the national website. While most of what I need for my friend is there, it is scattered all over the site instead of being neatly compacted into one small booklet like I was given when I was first diagnosed.  My friend is quite capable of accessing the website on her own and I sent her a list of what to look for, so hopefully she can get some more assistance from her GP about whatever may be available in her own city for written information that is more concisely organized than having to cobble it together from the many pages on the website. 

I will do one more short post with a handful of photos from The Morgan and The Cloisters and that will be it for photos.  We are appalled by the number of photos that didn't turn out well enough to post. For some reason my husband's camera has ceased to adjust the light conditions for taking photos.  Oh well.  WE know what the photos are of and our memory retention is good for now so, it will be fine. 

We are having another cool but sunny autumn day today.  I love seeing that blue sky with only a few scattered clouds.  Looks like the possibility of flurries and a bit of short lived freezing rain toward the end of the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend but then it should be clear, if cooler, again.

 

 

A Perfect Day All Around In My Opinion!

 We had a most lovely day today. It was a perfect autumn day....clear but not cold, no wind to speak of, sunshine and perfect driving conditions to be out of town.  Our friend preached very well this morning at the church we attended, another old friend who now lives south of the border was there visiting unexpectedly, we had a most wonderful afternoon over a bbq'd meal with dear friends and we got away from their place just in time to make it to have dinner with friends back here in our fair city this evening.  Gone for the whole day; a wonderful church service, surrounded by loving friends for the whole day; perfect weather for the whole day....it doesn't get much better than that for us. It was a day to be grateful for, fer shur!!

Early this morning my husband went over to the gasoline station near us and purchased 3 large bags of ice to put into our failing refrigerator to protect specifically the milk, eggs and mayonnaise.  After we had been out of town for 9 hours we stopped back in quickly before going out for dinner to check on the condition of the ice blocks.  Although the leaking freon gas has caused the freezer compartment to fail completely, the fan in the fridge is still running and recycling whatever freon is left in the system, so the ice blocks have not melted much yet and should last us until whatever time tomorrow the maintenance people arrive with some kind of replacement fridge.  In the meantime the camping freezer is doing its job well, so it appears all our meat has been saved!  Thank you Jesus, for that little freezer!  

My dear walking partner has come down with a bad cold, so we have cancelled our meeting together in the morning and perhaps if it happens that we have people moving refrigerators in and out of the kitchen it is just as well.  Please send up a quick prayer for my walking partner.  Thanks!  She is always cheery even when she doesn't feel well, but her description of her cold makes me suspect she actually feels rather rotten.   

Tomorrow after my husband's regular online meeting with some of his retired cronies we are going to have to get in touch with our tv service provider and change a few of our tv packages.  Changes are occurring to the line up tomorrow and if we don't make the changes we will lose two of the channels we watch the most.  We are hoping that in the process of making the changes to the available packages we will be able to drop a few channels that we never watch and save ourselves a few dollars.  I feel badly for the tv providers because streaming is taking over and that leaves the cable providers scrambling.  If streaming services were more reliable we would probably follow along with what is currently happening in new tv technology, but for now we will do our best to pick up a few shows we actually like through the tv packages.

It is going to take me a little while to fall asleep tonight as I am still rather jazzed over our wonderful day of friendship and worship and special meals, but I hope to sleep well when I eventually reach that blessed state of unconsciousness! 

Getting Ruthless With The Wardrobe!!

Today we delivered a huge bundle of my clothes to the Salvation Army thrift store.  As I was unpacking my winter clothes last week and repacking the summer wardrobe I decided it was time to go through all the items with an open mind as to how often I wear each one, if I truly liked it or not, if it was a piece of clothing I enjoyed wearing over the past year or was deliberately ignoring it in favour of other items, keeping the ignored item because of some weird internal self imposed obligation to keep it when rationally I knew I would likely avoid wearing it at all costs.  The amount of clothing I dragged to the thrift store today nearly filled a giant backyard leaf collection bag!!  Wow, it felt good to rid my closet space of items that have been less than satisfactory for one reason or another for the past year or two. There are so many other people who could enjoy having them.  They are great, in most cases still pristine, condition. Most of them look new or nearly so. What a waste to keep them hanging unattended and unworn here in my home.  As the bag left the back of our car to be put into the collection unit at the store it felt like a small weight was lifting off my head.  Hallelujah!  So grateful it was this easy to part with my nice, but relatively unworn clothes that have been collecting for the past three years or so.  Purses, belts and jewellery accompanied the clothing. When the day comes that we finally get to move out of here I will be far more prepared in terms of having less personal "stuff" and that feels amazing! I am not certain I want to Do The Drastic that some friends have done by keeping only two weeks worth of clothing and getting rid of absolutely everything else, but I don't need to have a couple of months of outfits hanging up in this tiny room taking up space! That's just bad stewardship on my part.

Speaking of clothing, we were at a mall today where my husband was seeking to purchase some items at a fabric store that will repair a couple of small glitches in two of the coats he received last weekend.  He found exactly what he was looking for and it won't take long to make the repairs. Both jackets will be like new once those are done.  While he was in the fabric store.....a venue I avoid like the plague because of the guilt I feel for being so Sewing Ability Challenged.....I looked at the few stores remaining in the big old hunk of mall and found a nice little clothing store.  There hanging on a rack was the perfect black dress I have been looking for since the winter clothes first showed up in town as we were preparing to leave on our holiday. It is lightly patterned with leaves in fall orange and white, but the black background takes up most of the dress.  It is long enough to wear as a dress but I can also put skinny pants/leggings under it for the winter and wear it with my patent leather winter boots.  SO HAPPY!  I have given up on getting new shoes.  The only shoes I can get narrow enough for my quadruple A feet here in town are not actually here in town. They have to be ordered in from the USA and with the tariffs on materials etc., one hundred or more dollars has been added to the cost of each pair.  The pair of shoes I purchased on an out of country order three years ago at $170CAD including sales taxes are now now nearly $300CAD, plus then I have to add on the Canadian sales taxes.  I have a pair of sandals that are created to handle wearing pantyhose in them if necessary without looking odd to be wearing in October and those are going to have to do. Getting my dress today on sale just solidified my decision to leave the shoes until either the present issues of getting shoes imported from the U.S. are solved or they are obviously not going to be solved and I will know I have to fork forth on a big price for any kind of decent footwear.  Local shoe shops had already stopped bringing inventory in my sizes some years ago simply because there is so little call for shoes that narrow, so special ordering has been the done thing....until now.

My husband cleared all the glass recycling out of the basement today, so that was a big deal and has left him with more sorting space for going through his old camping and climbing gear.  Most of that will be leaving us and only the most basic camping equipment will stay....a proper two man tent, a few camp pots and utensils, a camp stove and kettle, a sleeping bag and mat.  The rest is all going very soon.

So, a good day all around! Now I will iron a few items from this week's laundry and we have leftovers to eat for dinner later so we don't have to worry about cooking tonight.  YAY!

It is chilly today, but the sun broke through the clouds late this afternoon, making the last part of the day much nicer than the first part.  Despite the chill I was able to wear only a winter cardigan over my blouse and wear open toed sandals on my feet, which I will do as often as possible on any "not going for a walk today" days, until the ice and snow arrive or the temperature during the daytime hours dips below +10C.  More nice, dry weather is forecast over the coming week!  YAY! 

A Sunday The Way I Like 'Em!!

 Today we are experiencing the first day that truly feels like autumn around here.  I didn't take a coat with me for our drive out of town this morning and when we stopped along the way to fill the car with gasoline I nearly froze standing outside at the pump.  Brrrrr....the wind was winter cold and continues to be as the day goes on.

Apart from the cold wind though it was a lovely Sunday for a drive out of the city.  Although the scenery is changing from ripe crops and green trees and plants to the browns and pale golds of harvest and more barren tree limbs with piles of dead leaves alongside the highway, it was still a pretty sight with the lovely blue sky above.  I enjoyed driving today in both directions.

The church service went very well, but I got a bit of a shock when my husband informed me that this very well may be the last service he takes for anyone.  Preaching and teaching he will still do occasionally, but taking the entire service is no longer comfortable for him, he is getting stressed out by it....well no guff Buff, after the neck pain and misery he experienced all day yesterday that was brought on mostly by stress. And how do I know stress played such a huge factor?  It is because once the service got going I could see the change in him...the positive, "Oh gosh the pain in my head is finally gone!" change in him.  I am so impressed he has finally been able to admit that since he doesn't take services regularly any more he feels uncomfortable and not in control the odd time that he agrees to do it.  In fact he also said that after yesterday he has a new feeling of freedom to say "no" to a few invitations to teach.  I am so proud of him.  It was a big admission for him to make out loud.  Bless his heart.

Coffee hour was a lot of fun after church; so many old friends and acquaintances to meet and greet.  The friends I sat with are long time besties and the way they talk to each other made me feel like I was at a comedy show. SO MUCH FUN!!!! 

One of those dear friends had set up a reservation for us at a local restaurant for lunch as well.  Great conversation, delicious food and the restaurant wasn't overly crowded so we were able to talk above other "people and music noise" in our regular "inside voices". 

After lunch we went over to Nan's house where she had an offering to make to my dear husband: several of Cee's jackets he had worn before he passed away. What an honour for my husband to receive these beautiful coats and outdoor vests at a time when the old coats he has been wearing for years are as worn out as it is possible to be.  Every time he wears one it will remind him of our wonderful friend Cee and it will certainly keep his memory alive for us both.  What a lovely, thoughtful gift from Nan.  Bless her heart.  It isn't easy finally passing on Cee's clothing to others.  She is very brave these days despite the ongoing grief.   I am learning a great deal about grieving processes from Nan and from my husband.  It is good for me as I tend to allow practicality to overcome my emotions sometimes and I am wondering these days what kind of griefs I have tucked away, repressed, tamped down and waiting to emerge to be dealt with at last in my life.

Tonight there is a murder mystery series on tv that we will watch together, along with last night's Sumo highlights.  The likely winner is pretty obvious at this point, but you just never know with sumo. Sometimes what is seemingly obvious is completely overturned in the last two days of the competition.  Supper will be light after our large lunches of fish and chips with salad for my husband and my huge, yummy taco salad.  The amount of taco chips in the salad was minimal, so just perfect for my carb count.

Tomorrow will be a busy day....my husband will have his usual Monday Zoom meeting with his retired pastor friends and then we have to call the car dealership for the winter check up on the car and to purchase studded tires for the winter. Then we have to contact our tv service provider as all the theme packs are changing as of tomorrow and we want to get things changed over immediately in case I have to revamp taping schedules for the handful of programmes we watch each day/week.  Lots of changes lately with that service provider and we suspect they may be struggling to continue to carry the channels we like due to the number of people able to use the new streaming services.  It will be interesting to see how it goes this coming year.  Our complex has an agreement with that provider that gives us a price discount for our monthly tv bill, so we are unable to utilize streaming services...and we don't want to as everyone we know who uses them has no end of issues with them blipping out every so often and creating problems in the midst of being watched.  Whatever....maybe when we move out of here...she says in her never ending Pollyanna style of faith that one of these days we WILL actually move.....we will be able to modernize our tv viewing. 

An Unexpectedly Marvellous Day!

 I use the word "unexpected" because when we first woke up this morning the day seemed destined to be less than satisfactory for both of us.  The sky was losing an overnight fog, the clouds were grey, it was cold and my husband admitted to me that he simply wasn't up to walking to church and back in a chilly wind because he had not slept well during the night.  He had a foot cramp that wouldn't go away, he ran out of water from his bottle beside the bed, he had dreams that kept waking him....it as quite a tale of woe and I felt badly for him as I have been the victim of many a sleepless night, but it is rare for him.  He was as "white as a sheet", but insisted on going to the adult Sunday school class as it was going to be the introduction to a series of which he has a class to teach in a couple of weeks.  He felt so lousy he couldn't even eat breakfast so barely managed to force down a very small banana and half cup of tea to prevent him from passing out.  

As I suspected and hoped would happen, the class material and the socialization restored his good humour and he decided that we could stay for church after all.  I am glad we did because we were warmly welcomed back by quite a number of people who hadn't known we were on holidays, but wondered why we weren't there. That was a nice surprise.  

I assumed that as soon as the service ended we would be on our way home to get my husband some lunch, but shucky darn if he wasn't feeling extremely hungry and preferred lunch out at Fancy Fork instead, despite it being a longer wait for the meal to arrive in front of him.  He even looked about the congregation for someone to issue a spontaneous invitation to join us, although that didn't pan out this time.  Our meal was delicious and not expensive.  My husband had the 3 paper thin crepes stuffed with chicken and mushrooms and sliced onions, covered in a yummy pesto sauce and the plate had a large number of hash browns as well. He was delighted.  I ordered the Greek Bowl: a base of hash browns with fresh spinach leaves, sliced chicken, cubes of feta cheese and blackened red and green peppers and tomato slices.  It included a side dish of a delicious take on Hollandaise sauce. on  My meal was equally yummy.  We took our time, relaxed, chatted. For the first hour we were the only customers in the place and usually it is teeming with people. Don't know if a special event in the city took the customers away, but we certainly got specialized service as a result.  The server even managed to change the music line up on their Spotify system at our hopeful request. hahaha  We were able to change the twang, twang a deedilang country music to some more classical pieces.  Cool!!

We arrived home early in the afternoon, my husband was feeling much better but had a short nap while downloading Day 6 of the current Sumo Basho from NHK Broadcasting Network.  After we watched that I headed upstairs to start part 2 of my huge pile of ironing.  Half way through my husband called to me that company had arrived.

It was our former next door neighbour who had come to pick up her post-move mail...my beloved Afaf!!!  She and her family are very, very happy to be living in their new digs...twice the size of the place they were crammed into next door to us and they are saving nine hundred dollars a month in rent. The federal portion of their refugee status has now ended and they are living on provincial social services until Salim is able to find work. The kids love their new school and the two youngest are able to walk as the school is so close to their residence.  The oldest boy entered high school this year and is getting at least 3 hours a day of English instruction, as are his two younger siblings.  Afaf's English classes are paying off.  She has improved leaps and bounds since the spring. The great news is that after searching for months for a decent car, a friend from Edmonton found them exactly what they are looking for and delivered it to them a few days ago. Salim passed his driver's test and once the car is insured on Monday afternoon he will bring it by to show us.  Getting the license and now the car has kick started Salim mentally after a wretched year of fighting with the emotional trauma of having to flee for their lives a year ago from Lebanon.  He not only passed his driver's test, he is now signed up for English lessons starting in one week's time at the same school his wife has been attending.  We are thrilled for them and thrilled that they want to keep in touch at least somewhat.  

While we were visiting with Afaf, there was another knock at the door. It was the mother of "our little trouble maker", come to tell us that they too are moving out today....the last of our Syrian connections here in the complex.  After eleven years in Canada spent scrimping and saving, they have been able to purchase their first Canadian home in another part of the city, a brand new house in a brand new housing development.  How happy we are for them, but we are going to miss their boys and their constant invitations to play football and soccer. hahaha  (You haven't lived until you have seen moi attempting to keep up with those kids and their sports! hahaha BUT they continue to ask both of us to play with them, so what the heck, right? If nothing else I am able to give all of them a good case of the giggles with my fumbling attempts!)

I also finished my ironing after the break for visiting.

So, it has been a wonderful day after all.  Good things.

I also heard from our daughter in law as she was on her way to the Kol Nidrei service at Synagogue for Yom Kippur.  That was a special treat. We had an email from her aunt today as well and an email from our son to let us know he has an interview about his next set of green card requirements in a few weeks' time, so we are surely praying hard about that.  He is enjoying his new painting studio and is keeping busy at work as well.

What a marvellous day it has been after a rocky start.  

Tomorrow morning my walking partner and I are going to actually go for a real walk, for the first time in about a year and a half or so and I am so looking forward to that.  Rain, rain, stay away!!! Come again another day.  For today the weather has warmed up nicely and the threat of possible rain has ended.  We DID get a bit of a walk in as we walked a few blocks to the restaurant and back....a total of 10 blocks without my cane!  YAY!!! A new first....thank you NYC for all the enforced walking.

Good thing tomorrow is going to be great as well because the next morning is our next dental cleaning and annual check up. Blecch!!  However, I have a haircut that afternoon to look forward to.  I have to somehow work a thorough housecleaning into our schedule because we are having another couple over for dinner the following evening...and then it will be time to see my coffee buddy again. This week is going to fly by, all going to plan. Here's hoping!

Knocking Off The Details One By One!

 It feels great to be checking off so many things on my pre-travel To Do list, but wow, there are still so many things to do in the next four days.  As far as actual travel preparations there are only a handful of last minute tasks. The rest of the commitments are friends wanting to see us before we go and various board and diocesan meetings that cannot be missed. Thankfully those are able to happen this week to accommodate us.

Our son has been contacting us to ask if there is anything he needs to purchase for us that we may not have room to carry in our luggage, giving us good information regarding the grocery stores and pharmacies in the area near our long term stay accommodation and offering us financial assistance if we run out of cash and credit toward the end of our stay.  That last offer is most unlikely to be needed, but for our artist son to finally be at a point where he can genuinely offer to assist us if necessary signals a huge change in his circumstances.  Thank you God that he has sold paintings so far this year and is also gainfully employed at an excellent part time job.  Our daughter in law is also being extremely helpful and we really appreciate that.  It is great to see our kids being successful and willing to offer help if needed to these old codgers.  As each little detail falls into place we are looking forward more and more to this longer term get away.

It is chilly and overcast today. There was a bit of rain early this morning and I know that because I was rudely awakened by an incoming text message at 6:35am.  I forgot to turn off my mobile last night when I went to bed so it is my own stupid fault.  It was from my early rising Thursday morning coffee buddy who had likely been up for at least an hour and a half before sending the text as she was on her way to her morning gym workout.  She is older than I am, but physically getting into better and better shape. Her husband's doctor ordered him to go to the gym each week and so she is going and benefiting as well. Awesome!!  And here I am just glad I can limp along for a few blocks without a cane. hahahaha  

Last night we went to India House and had the buffet.  It was much better than I remember it being when they first opened a few years ago. Buffet cooking quality, at least at some of the local Indian restaurants, is different than menu offerings, but this was most tasty.  There were many options.  I was surprised to find that my favourite vegetable dish came from the salad bar: a mung bean and sprout salad with bits of chopped tomato and not much added for herbs or spices.  I loved it so much I had seconds.  Yum!!  I treated myself to TWO piping hot gulab jamin balls because they were teensy weensy, so I could get away with it.  I drained off as much of the sweet sauce they were floating in as I could, so that helped cut the sugar ingestion too.  We went with good friends from the church, younger...natch...SHE is the same age as our son....just a lovely couple. He is Irish and full of good humour and she loves books: Sci-Fi and religion and philosophy just like my husband loves, so they had a great time talking about books they have both read while her husband and I enjoyed chatting about the board meeting we are both going to tomorrow evening.  I don't know when we had time to talk while we were all so busy stuffing our faces with yumminess, but the restaurant wasn't that busy so we were able to sit around for over an hour after dinner without being in the way.  The staff couldn't have been kinder about our prolonged visit after the bill had already been paid.  Bless them.

Now it is time for me to get some details lined up for tomorrow's duties: ordering prescriptions, getting my hair cut, the board meeting. My husband has almost completed his own chores related to the trip other than making last minute decisions about what clothes to take for sure.  Yesterday we went on the hunt for a windbreaker shell for me...just the shell, no lining...as my current waterproof windbreaker is very hot and isn't light enough to fold into a size that will reasonably fit in either my carry on or handbag.  After a long search we finally found a "shell only" windbreaker with a hood that is at least sprayed with a water resistant product so after I finished gasping at the price of the thing, I bought it and it is now folded neatly into my travel handbag. I am delighted.  Looking at the forecast temperatures for our destination, I do not regret buying that lighter, unlined shell. The one I already had would suffocate me. It is great for fall, winter and spring in Vancouver, but way too hot for summer on the east coast of the USA.  After I bought it I started realizing how many times in the past couple of  years I could have used it right here at home, but kept making due with unsatisfactory substitutes.  This little windbreaker shell is going to get a ton of use on both sides of the border.

Off again to set up for more chores.  Today I want to deliver a bag of unused medications to a pharmacy that has advertised themselves as taking them after discovering yesterday that not every pharmacy here takes such things for disposal.  That will get us out of here for a half hour and perhaps we will think of other away from home chores that don't need to wait any longer to accomplish. 

Thus far the glitches this week have not been insurmountable and soon we will be winging our way south. 

Waiting For Over Four Months For That Healing "CLICK"!

 I am most grateful that, after four months of constant pain and discomfort with the reawakening of an old knee injury several months ago, this morning at around 3am I rolled over in bed and heard the satisfying "CLICK" sound as my knee cap went back into place.  Oh dear Lord Jesus, long may it last this time!  If it stays in place it will make all the walking I have to do during our upcoming trip so much easier and less painful on a daily basis.  Oh, so happy for this little medical encouragement. Today I was pain free at last...ALL DAY LONG!!

Tonight I found out that an elderly friend of ours fell victim to a scammer that was on "ITS" way, (sorry but to me such scammers are some kind of sub-human creature), to her bank this afternoon to pick up three hundred and fifty thousand dollars from her account.  Thanking God her Financial Advisor was on top of things, realized what was going on and refused to release the money.  Please please pray for all the seniors you know who so easily could fall victim to such a scam as this.  They know how to get at the emotions and fears and inability for fast thinking of the elderly in particular. Our friend is not an unusual case unfortunately. 

We are so enjoying the cooler temperatures this week.  It is possible to go outside in the sunshine and not worry about fainting from over heating and dehydration!  What a treat!

Tonight we went over to a friend's house where our canoe is stored.  We took over four pots of mint that we have harvested sufficiently for our own needs over this coming winter and planted the mint around the the sides of the canoe storage for ground cover.  That mint is extremely hardy and will likely survive the winter just fine in the protected area where we planted it. If not, no big loss, but we have had good success in the past wintering over mint plants so here's hoping.  It makes the storage area look so much nicer.  It was fun wheeling the barrow about to haul fertilized black soil, plant pots and long handled spades.  My feet were filthy with black dirt when we got home, as were my hands and now I am all washed up and clean and that feels wonderful.  I did okay hobbling around with the wheelbarrow, so that was encouraging; still awkward with my gait, but still improving too. YAY!!

Tomorrow is the last call for doing the laundering of items specifically for our trip.  Once those things are worn they have to be set aside on the clothes racks for packing up.  I have so many other things to do next week now that are not trip related that my planned time for preparation then is being eaten up by other unexpected but necessary tasks. Never fails... 

Another Loss For Our Family

We arrived home after church this morning to the sad news that my husband's last remaining aunt passed away this morning. She was the youngest in my father in law's family of 11 siblings and is the last to pass on to better things.  She and her husband had incredible ministry and social outreach for several decades in Africa. We always called her a force to be reckoned with, which she was, but it was a force for good everywhere she went.  She was organized, forward thinking and very, very kind.  Uncle passed away a very few years ago and now we have lost our last Auntie as well.  We are very sad to lose her but happy to know she is no longer suffering the physical pains and mental indignities of old age in the midst of her 90's. My husband is very sad to lose her.  She and Uncle hired him several times when he was still in construction to build various projects at their home in the Okanagan.  During their last trip to Africa a few years ago they offered us the job of house sitting for them as we were "between residences" at the time and we were touched and delighted.  It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for our last summer before my husband went to seminary.  The house was filled with beautiful African artifacts and their wooden floors were inlaid with gorgeous patterns made of African wood that they brought back with them after one of their many sojourns there.  It was like living in a foreign palace.  It was a house of healing for us after a very rough time in our lives.

Dear dear Auntie...may she rest in peace and rise in glory! 

Church went well this morning. My husband's sermon based on the parable of the manager who hired workers one day at various times of the day, but paid them all the same exact wage, certainly had us thinking about "fairness" vs "justice" and why we have that built in mechanism that makes us quick to address things we see as being unfair in this world....how it is a good mechanism that is based on our creation in the image of a just God, but often poorly utilized due to our issues with greed and envy. He was delighted that one of his non-believing friends came to hear him preach and stayed to have a visit over an outdoor lemonade in front of the church when the service ended. Afterwards we went to the Fancy Fork and enjoyed our lunches: 4 item customer's choice egg plate breakfast for him, (he chose 2 scrambled eggs, asparagus, three strips of bacon and hash browns, plus he was given a hefty slice of watermelon as a bonus), and a very filling beef dip with a side of ginger carrot soup pour moi.  My husband ate most of my Italian bun so I could keep my carbs down and I pulled the beef slices and onions and Swiss cheese out of the bun and onto my plate where I could pour the delicious pan drippings au jus over it.  It was delicious!!  The prices were very good as well.  Our food and drinks came to just over forty dollars!  What I like about their breakfast and lunch menus is that there is such a broad range of prices.  

Now my husband is napping and I am going to try to complete a silly computer game I have been working on in my spare time over the past few weeks...another of my mouldy oldies from way in the past that today's game players would find incredibly boring, but is perfect for this old gal. 

The weather is delightful today now that most of the smoke has blown away.  While the temperature is still a bit high, there is a stiff breeze blowing so even this early in the afternoon we can have all the windows open on both sides of the house to stay cool. Wonderful!! 

Maman Is One Tough Cookie!

 Today, 93 year old Maman is going home! She will be able to have the valve replacement in a few months, so that is great news. Maman is a journalist and along with being able to walk and eat properly again, she has also begun writing up the details of her brush with death.  My friend is amazed by how well she is doing and is grateful for such positively answered prayers.  I am very happy for all of them. ⛪️

We had our first lower atmosphere forest fire smoke overnight, so this morning my eyelids are swollen and my lungs feel irritated. What a blessing that we made it through June and July with only a few overnight hours of higher altitude smoke that didn’t even rate a Smoke Warning from the weather forecasters. The sun this morning is a giant, flaming orange red ball, similar to the sunrise suns we used to see in Tokyo on a typical smoggy morning. I was so exhausted overnight that only once was I vaguely aware of smelling smoke and I was so groggy I couldn’t wake up sufficiently to get up and close the windows. What a trade off: breathing in poisonous particulate matter with the windows open or sweltering, sweating, headaching heat. Happy summer night to you too! 😉

I haven’t been able to force myself to get up and check the leaking spot in the kitchen ceiling. My husband is preaching at our own church this morning so he hasn’t the luxury to staying home to babysit that dripping crack and I have no intention of missing his sermon, so hopefully the large catch basin we have on top of the cupboards will hold however many more drips drip! 💧 

Maman's Continuing Health Journey Update

 I have another update in regard to Maman's recovery.  She is still in hospital after all because it has been discovered that she requires a new aortic valve.  While there is no huge rush for the surgery itself, she will need to have an angiogram to ensure the valve will be able to be installed through a vein in the groin.  If the angiogram shows otherwise she could be in need of open heart surgery.  Her angiogram should happen next Tuesday.  Hopefully it will be possible to insert the new valve using the usual method and once that is established she will likely be sent home to await the surgery.  So, more to pray about, but overall things are so much more positive than they appeared they would be, particularly after her actually dying for a bit before the temporary pace maker was put in. Whew....Thanks for praying for her and for her family.  It is very much appreciated.

It is another very warm day here, the forecast is for +32C; not the hottest we have had, but today there isn't a hint of a breeze anywhere near our area of the city, so even though it is currently only +25C it feels too hot to be comfortable outside.  I had to drive to the nearest grocery store instead of taking my intended walk due to a late start to my now overly warm day. I DID manage to fall asleep again after the 5:30am "Fight Club" on the front lawn and I slept for over 90 minutes.  It was worth getting a late start on the day just to feel better for the rest of the day.

My husband is meeting a friend for coffee this afternoon so I think I will tackle the needed executor's package updates.  I never want to go away without all that information being immediately available to one of our executors.  I learned from my parents' well organized banking and other financial records how important it is to have all the required information ready for the executor, as well as a list of where to start and in what order to do things like getting death certificates, adding up the monies in accounts and investments to take to the lawyer for access to the wills and to find out if probate will be necessary.  There are so many steps and each time something is attempted out of order it slows everything else down sometimes by several weeks.  Mom and Dad made things very smooth going for me in terms of available information that I needed. The financial institutions were the main hold up as probation was completed sooner than expected and caught them unawares.  I learned so much so we want to make everything as easy as possible for any executors when it is our turn to go. 

Red Welts, Itching And Over Heating BUT Still A Productive And Happy Day!!

Today turned out a bit differently than expected, but happily so!!  My husband woke up early enough to get over to our friend's place to work on part one of his outdoor carpentry project for over two hours before the temperature became too hot for him to work, so less than two more hours of work some morning between now and Monday will complete the project. He is delighted to find himself still able to repair fences and dig and spread quantities of dirt about to prepare a flat surface for the rest of the project he is building.  Kudos to him for continuing to enjoy doing woodworking and other projects to keep himself from spending every day in his own head pondering various philosophical and theological issues!  

We chatted briefly about the trip to the telephone company he originally planned for immediately upon his arrival home from the outdoor building project and decided that late in the morning, closer to noon, is the worst time to go and stand in line waiting to see an agent, particularly after my husband spent the earlier morning outside in the growing heat.  So, we waited until after lunch instead and drove to our travel insurance agent's office instead and purchased our travel/health insurance for our trip.  She had time to see us immediately, got the plan put together, I paid for it....about eight hundred dollars less than I was expecting, YES, and the entire process took less than a half hour.  Depending on what time my husband wakes up in the morning, we will likely do the telephone plan then or wait until immediately after his early morning doctor's appointment on Monday morning.  

The joy for me this morning is that as my husband calculated how long he was going to need to complete the first part of his carpentry project, he realized that since we weren't going to have to rush off immediately afterwards to get in line for a telephone agent, I should call my coffee buddy and see if there was any chance if she could use her and her husband's car to come to our place so we could have our usual weekly chit chat.  SHE COULD, so SHE DID and it was a lovely surprise for us both to still be able to get together.  I am so grateful that my husband thought it through and presented the possibility to me and I am grateful to my buddy's husband that he was willing to give up whatever plans he had made for himself this morning that required his own use of the car so that his wife could visit with me.  

Just before we left for the trek to the travel insurance agent another friend called and asked if I could come to visit with her after our appointment.  YES, I COULD and I DID!  It was another excellent heart to heart visit that lasted well over two hours.  It was worth driving back home after that in rush hour traffic!  Still got some home chores done as soon as I arrived home.

Last night at about 3am the box fan, that  I use for white noise so that I can sleep through the traffic and other noises here during the night, gave up. Bearings whining and screeching were likely loud enough to wake the neighbours on the other side of the wall as well....wow....it was so terribly loud and horrific to listen to that I expected to see smoke and/or flames coming out of the fan.  No such distress, BUT I had to shut it off and unplug it and prepare it to go into the garbage today.  While I was out at my friend's this afternoon my husband got online and researched where in this town we could find an identical replacement, so as soon as I arrived home we headed out to Home Building Supplies and came home with exactly what I wanted: a clone of Fan Number One.  Plus it was on sale, so that was a bonus.  It is now hooked up, checked thoroughly to ensure it is working properly and I look forward to a stress free sleep tonight with it whirring efficiently in the background.

I seem to be getting more acclimated to the heat as this week rolls along.  The big blankets my husband has on rollers are up in the east facing windows so that the radiant heat from the morning sun doesn't cause the entire suite to overheat by 9am!  Tonight all the windows on both floors are wide open and although it will be a fairly warm night, there is just a slight bit of cooler breeze coming through. If the forest fire smoke is as high in the atmosphere as it has been the past two nights I won't have to close the windows before the usual closing time of 9am to keep the suite bearable for temperature as the day progresses.

My walking partner just returned from a life long dream trip to the UK and I can't wait to hear about her adventures there. She said she took thousands of photos and I hope she realizes I am going to want to arm chair travel and see every single one of them, hahahaha.  I believe her ancestors came from somewhere in the UK, as some of mine did, so I am really stoked to learn what she discovered about her ancestral roots.  It was most considerate of her to take part of the trip my husband and I were planning to take before our son decided we should come to NYC instead, hahaha.  She has covered that ground for us....God bless her!!

It will be another couple of degrees warmer tomorrow as we head for the weekly highest daytime temperature of +36C on Saturday....no change in forecast in sight as the low to mid range +30C temperatures are to extend well into next week.  Our idea this spring and summer of going out for walks at least 3 times a week got lost somewhere between the 3 weeks of extreme daily rainfall and the ensuing heat wave, so all I can do is refuse to use my cane every time we go anywhere and try to do as much necessary shopping as I can in large grocery stores and shopping malls.  My operated hip and the surrounding muscles are slowly strengthening despite the aborted longer walks outside attempts, so that is most encouraging.  However I am taking my cane on our trip next month "just in case". With the other hip starting to disintegrate now I am not sure how the trip will go if I don't have support available for the massive amount of walking we will be doing. 

Heat And Mosquitoes...Welcome To Prairie Summer!

My arms and legs are covered in small red welts aka mosquito bites after spending last evening out on my neighbour's back deck gorging on fresh fruit and visiting together while my husband drove her husband across the city to look at a vehicle he was thinking of purchasing.  I went out there prior to 8pm and by 9:15pm I had to call it a night and retreat back to the inside of my own home.  There is something positive to be said for the long gown and hijab my neighbour wears....she was barely bothered by the little blood suckers while I, with my bare arms and shins and ankles am suffering the itchy effects of all those bites!!  Owie, owie, OUCH!!! Itch, itch, itch, scratch, scratch, scratch......yikes!!! The local mosquitoes seem to be uneffected by Deep Woods Off, unlike the mosquitoes at the badlands the other day, who respected the bug repellent and minded their own business!!!  From an entire day there I came home with one bite...ONE bite!!! 

Today was a good day despite the temperature getting into the +30C's once again.  I was able to get out and purchase a couple of bags of groceries and tackle the ironing from Monday's laundry day.  I was able to get all but four items ironed and I will complete the other four after dinner tonight.  It was just too hot to continue the project until it was finished.  I actually remembered to thaw meat out for dinner tonight so I just have to think of something creative to use it for.   

My husband has finally tracked down the offending food that has had his tummy on the verge of another "episode" for the past three days: potatoes we were given a week ago, but which became very mushy when we cooked them and then the leftover cooked potatoes became downright slimy when refrigerated overnight.  No potato is supposed to retain that much moisture.  I didn't like the taste of them the first night we cooked them so didn't eat any more, but my dear husband who would rather risk making himself ill than wasting any food, tried frying up the leftovers for lunch yesterday despite already having an iffy tummy. Oh he really paid for that second helping.  He was kind of a mess for the rest of the day yesterday and still not completely back to health today.  This afternoon he is finally feeling that he is better again, just about twenty four hours after ingesting those potato leftovers that were so slimy he actually washed them off before he fried them.  He HAS to learn that if there is any doubt whatsoever about the condition of any food it is wiser to toss it out than end up making himself ill.  It is a hangover from growing up in abject poverty, but one I wish I had a "hair of the dog" to give him so he could get over this habit!  

I had to cancel my weekly coffee time with my friend tomorrow.  My husband needs the car earlier in the morning for a short carpentry project he has been putting off  and then we have to go to the phone company, so that is disappointing, but there is always next week.  At least we will accomplish a few more things tomorrow that have been outstanding for some time. 

Feeling More Motivated And Productive As The Weather Cools A Bit!

 Yesterday was a better day than usual.  As soon as I woke up, after a fairly decent sleep, I forced myself to get out of bed, get fed and cleaned up and out to the store to find the last of the clothing items I need for our trip.  

Finally I had better success at locating an appropriate wedding reception outfit: black wider legged pants with a transparent black panel around the outside of each leg that is open along the inseam, so the pants seem to flow as I walk.  I will pair them with either an emerald green top I found that has short sleeves and a bit of a collar, or, more likely with a beige cowl necked sleeveless top because I have good jewellery pieces to pull the top and pants together and give me the appearance of colour in my pale face.   I am finally satisfied.  Out of my next three stores of interest only one of them was a waste of time and I quickly located my other needs in the last two stores. YES! 

Shopping completed for vacation trip: check!!✔

It was great fun getting out of doors once again, mosquitoes and all. (Apparently our fair city has one of the largest populations of mosquitoes in the province right now and I can attest to that!!)  So I was very happy to be able to go back out after lunch for a hair cut and a couple of bags of groceries.  My husband and I were hoping to run a few errands today as well, after rain showers overnight cooled things down just enough to be comfortable outside, but he is feeling kind of dizzy and out of sorts, so I guess we will have to remain at home.  I suspect he wore the wrong glasses this morning to clean our old box fan that started rattling and gasping when I put it on last night for white noise at bedtime.  Hopefully a big glass of water and a lie down for an hour sans glasses will help him to feel better.  I am hoping our trip out of town tomorrow will not give him heat stroke and I am hoping that the evening tour of the badlands south of here will not result in us both being eaten alive by mosquitoes.  I found a bottle of mosquito repellent in the basement this morning I didn't know we had and it appears to be full enough to do us well on tomorrow's foray out of town.

So....since we are likely not going out today after all, how shall I productively fill my time?  So many little indoor projects to tackle, so it is just a matter of choice.  I am enjoying the overcast skies as it keeps the heat down, but I know the UV index is still quite high so maybe being inside today is the wisest thing after all. Summer is half over and we have done very little away from home due to the heat....if we didn't have this trip upcoming next month I would be terribly discouraged.  However....we DO have the trip coming up and that will suffice as my own personal summer season.

A More Reasonable Day!

Today is a far more reasonable day for temperature.  We are about to achieve the daytime forecast high of +28C  This we can live with, especially after our better than expected sleep last night.  We were both asleep by 1am and not awake until nearly 8am, so that is incredible....what a blessing for us both.I suspect we slept well because we were so exhausted from three days of intense heat.  We were properly hydrated at bedtime as well after keeping up the water intake all day long.

By 1pm today the insulation blankets had already been taken out of the east windows and those windows were able to be opened as a slight breeze arrived.  How lovely.  The overnight temperatures will still be high, but with highs of average +28C all week, it will be fine.

Tomorrow morning I plan, hope, want to get out shopping for a couple of clothing items I need for our trip and then I have a haircut appointment to enjoy after that.  After being rather home bound for much of the weekend, I am geared up now to get out and boogying again!!  Here's to tomorrow!! 

Sweltering Our Way Through Church and Lunch!

 It is early in the afternoon and we have so far reached a breezeless, (and seemingly airless), +33C on our way to +37C.  Outside it is like a sauna and inside it is like.............. a sauna!  hahaha  

Going to an air conditioned church service this morning was quite a treat. Even if the service had been less than enjoyable I would have remained in my seat quite happily being blessed by the Air Conditioning...yes, living in a place with out any A/C means that the words Air Conditioning deserve to be written starting with capital letters!!  That is how much respect I have for Air Conditioning!!  AIR CON-DIT-ION-ING!!!!!!

The service was good, if not our style of worship and it was a treat to hear my newly found cousin preaching the sermon and comparing it to the sermon on the same parable that we heard at our own church last Sunday.  So many good encouragements from one short Scripture passage. She seemed pleased that we came to support her, so we felt good about attending.  Unfortunately her final stress on the sermon's main points, right at the end of the sermon, was kind of lost as various musicians started wandering about on the platform around and behind her and getting their instruments ready to play right at that time. They started to play the intro to the final song while she was still speaking.  How very distracting for the congregation and how very rude and disrespectful to the poor preacher.  Yes, it is a common style now to have more of a concert venue style of building and worship, but I don't like not being able to hear the rest of the congregation singing over top of the drums and electric guitars.  I am afraid that if either my husband or I had been a guest preacher this morning we would have asked the musicians to go back to their seats until the sermon was completely over.  What church leadership decides on for worship style for their own churches is not my business, but I have to say this modern style of sanctuary space and worship style just isn't my own favourite.  It does give me more appreciation for my church's methods and treatment of congregational worship space.  HOWEVER, that being said we both enjoyed visiting the church and being able to support my cousin. She did well.

Since we were in an area of the city we rarely visit, we looked around for a restaurant that was new to us for our lunch.  It is a newly developing part of the city, but already every possible fast food outlet has set up shop.  It look us a while to find an actual sit down restaurant that didn't specialize in Indian food....we LOVE Indian food, but today was too warm and muggy for us to find hot spicing appealing.  We eventually stumbled on another chain restaurant, Brown's Craft House, (another outlet of Brown's Restaurant Group along with Brown's Social House and Scotty Brown's in the USA), but at least we could sit inside (or outside with other souls more heat brave than ourselves) in comfy booths with padded seating and order off a proper kitchen menu.  We generally enjoyed it, our burgers and fish and chips were yummy and the salads were....well...interesting in concept. The dressing on my Caesar salad seemed to be comprised almost exclusively of lemon juice and the addition of some chopped parsley made it very bitter indeed, BUT the bacon was actually fried and chopped bacon slices and the lettuce was green and fresh. My husband's cole slaw had, for some mysterious reason, the addition of unsalted sunflower seeds...interesting but not a fan.  The in house batter had baking soda in it, so the batter was certainly crisp, also fine and crumbly. It was like the batter had been velveted, similar to the treatment of beef and chicken in some oriental food dishes.  I think I will try that if we go there again.  My crunchy chicken burger was very crunchy and delicious with a hot mayo and such a pile of shredded lettuce on top of the cheese and pickles and tomato, it was like being back at Freshness Burger in Tokyo....just exchange the nearly 5 cm high stack of lettuce for shredded cabbage and I would have thought I was back in our old neighbourhood there. YUM!

So now we are home again. It is currently +18C in the basement where my husband is trying to cool off, but I have him beaten upstairs where the thermometer is showing a balmy +27C and climbing.  Wow, it is HOT IN HERE, hahaha.  Mind you it could be, and before I discovered my routine for opening and closing windows and blinds and curtains it often was, much much hotter and more unbearable in here.  I am grateful that we have a place to live and lots and lots and lots of cold water to drink. Speaking of which, it is time for another drink.  

Our son is at a beach on Long Island today with his former boss and family, so he is taking the heat there in stride.  I am very pleased for him!!  Our daughter in law is away again for a couple of weeks of writers' retreats so she is happily busy.  We are all doing well this weekend. 

Celebrating A Small Milestone!

 For a day that had no plans set up apart from my doctor's appointment and my husband's phone chat with our kids, it has turned into a busy, happy day for us both.

We relaxed this morning eating breakfast while we watched last night's Stampede chuckwagon races on tv.  At noon our quiet day at home changed.  About the time our son and his wife called to chat with my husband to firm up their wedding reception programme plans, our panicked next door neighbour discovered he had no ride to his drivers' license examination and pulllleeeease could my husband take him.  My husband quickly arranged a new call time with the kids and got himself ready to go with our neighbour.  In the process he had no time to eat his lunch, so downed a glass of milk and tucked a nut bar into his shirt pocket to eat while our neighbour was having his test in our car, which he had never driven before.  NO problem with figuring out all the quirks of our vehicle and the examiner said he had great control of the vehicle and good knowledge of MOST of the road rules.  Unfortunately as he was following another car at a stop sign, he forgot that even if the road past the stop sign is completely clear you still have to come to a complete stop before proceeding and not just brake slightly and roll on through behind the first car. The other issue is that one of our homeless people was struggling to cross the street sans crosswalk and light controls.  Our neighbour handily avoided him, thinking that he was giving the fellow lots of leeway should he start staggering toward the car, but the instructor disagreed and hollered "STOP!" at our neighbour.  Fortunately my husband was able to explain to him after the test why he had failed this time around, (my husband is getting better using the interpreter app our neighbour's phone), and that he had to improve his abilities at the stop signs and always to come to a complete stop when a pedestrian is staggering around in the middle of the street.  Hopefully that second incident will not repeat itself in two weeks when the next test is scheduled.  When I arrived home from my medical appointment I found my husband and our neighbour and his wife enjoying a round of tea and almonds around our little plastic deck table that was set up on the back lawn, so I got to enjoy their company too for awhile.  (Speaking of the wife....she informed me that she has just discovered she is pregnant! It is quite a surprise because her youngest child is already 8 years old, but she is only 33 so is carrying well....unfortunately for us it does mean an even greater likelihood of them moving next month into larger government subsidized housing which will be much less expensive for them as well.  I do wish them all the best as they prepare to welcome this surprise child.)

SOOOOO....the milestone event:  I decided since my husband and neighbour had our car I was going to try walking the six blocks to the doctor's office and back sans cane....the first time I have deliberately gone walking outside without it. While I have quit dragging it along with me now for some months to run errands, it is the first "prolonged" walk I have taken with just me and my wonky wobbly limp for more than a block or so.  Also, I was alone with no one to assist me if those hip muscles or my non-operated hip were to give out on me.  Weeeelllll....it all went okay! I was limping a bit more as I approached the office because it was +32C outside and I wasn't exactly taking my time and I wanted to get out of the heat, BUT coming home I slowed down and took the shadier side of the street under the branches of the tall trees in a park and I walked a bit more normally.  Until I either improve my gait some more or the rest of my body adjusts to a new limping normal, even walking that 12 block round trip with a half hour break in the middle with the doctor, was absolutely exhausting!  BUT I am rejoicing. I did it! I did it! I did it!!!  

There was no time to rest when I arrived home because of the neighbours visiting, but I thought if I could  just have a short rest...it was about 3:30pm when they went home....then I would gather my flagging energy and make dinner.  However, about this time my husband realized he still had only eaten that nut bar and a handful of almonds since his 8am breakfast and the thought of having to wait for me to prepare a good meal was more than he could bear thinking about or that his very empty tummy could handle. "We are going to celebrate your successful walk and go to London Belle for your very early dinner and my lupper!", he informed me, so in less than a minute my sandals were back on my feet and we were on our way.

It was a lot of fun getting to the restaurant at 3:45pm for a meal.  There was one fellow in there at a table, we got to sit at our favourite spot and by the time we left an hour later there were two other old geezer couples like ourselves, but we beat the Friday Night After Work pub crowd and thoroughly enjoyed our meal from the Happy Hour Menu. My burger was only $10 and my soda only $3, but because I skipped the fries I was able to do a bit of a cheat and get away with ordering a sticky toffee pudding. teehee...well, my husband was away on my birthday last month and I never did have my special sugary birthday treat so....is it the best sticky toffee pudding ever?  Nope, not at all, but I did enjoy it anyway and my husband was delighted to eat the accompanying scoop of iced cream.  He had eaten a huge off the menu burger and an equally huge salad, so the iced cream was a light dessert treat.  It was a nice date together.  

As the sun goes down the breeze is almost non-existent and the temperature tonight is unlikely to drop below +16C, so that is a great set up for our next hot day tomorrow....+35C, followed by Sunday's +37C. The humidex is going to be around 45 for the entire weekend. I think we have decided we will not attend our own church on Sunday as it has no air conditioning and my husband will end up ill, but I have located a church that has AC so it won't hurt us to visit a different congregation this Sunday and see what they are up to.  I have met the person who is preaching there once before so it might be kind of fun to hear her take on the same Scripture parable our own minister preached on last Sunday, hahaha.  Tomorrow, I suspect we will just remain at home in our cotton summer jammies and wallow in our suffering in the heat, interspersed by a couple of showers throughout the day.   By Monday the temperatures should be slowly starting back down to the mid to high +20C's. I hope so because we are supposed to be going with friends later next week on a day long adventure out in the country.

 

Out And About At Last!!!

We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day today and go for a decent walk.  My husband had a letter he had to take to the Synod office so we took the longest way over there, had a great chat with the office administrator and then took a different route home.  It took half the distance for my operated hip muscles to stop aching, so I HAVE to take advantage now of every day without rain and get a move on.  It has been so wet and windy outside during the rainfall that being outside walking for any kind of non-emergency reason has been beyond me, but now I need to get moving!!!  Wow, it felt SO good to be outside...no wind and just enough heat to let me know there will likely be another thunderstorm possibility later in the day.  Yup, I am looking outside my window right now watching the thunderhead clouds forming up there in the sky.  Rats....BUT I surely did enjoy walking without my hair blowing up over my head and blocking my vision.  It really was a nice walk together.  We both need exercise so we are grateful for today.  

Gimme That Bumpy Thumpy Music!! Happy Canada Day!!

The rain has let up sufficiently over the past two or thee hours to allow the Canada Day bands to play their sets in the park near us.  Even though when the direction of the breeze sends the bass vibrations coursing through our apartment to drive me kinda nuts for about 12 consecutive hours, I don't begrudge the participants in the park events their once a year fun celebration of all that remains right in our country.  We went out for a very late lunch to get a break from the bass line and then drove through part of the park on our way home. From what we could see many of event participants are immigrants from other countries and it always makes me happy to see them celebrating their new country despite all the upsets and fears and stresses of coming to a place so different from many of their homelands.  God bless them all!!

We received hot, nutritious, home made meals from both our Syrian neighbours next door and the Nigerians across the parking lot in honour of the day, so it was fun for us to be able to reciprocate with some Canadian food.  I haven't yet had a Middle Eastern or Nigerian meal I have not enjoyed fully. Yum, yum, yum!!!  We will have a grand feast for dinner this evening.  As delicious as our meal was at the restaurant to which we made a spontaneous lunch visit, it cannot compare to the ethnic foods currently sitting in our refrigerator.  

The sun is VERY close to breaking through the clouds late this afternoon, but more rain and possible thunderstorms are in the forecast for this evening, so I suspect our beloved and long awaited firework display isn't going to happen. Oh well, there is always next Canada Day....or perhaps they will take place on the August Family Day long weekend instead?  Since the little island in the lake from which they are fired into the air is presently booked by our church for their annual summer picnic that same day, it is looking doubtful. Oh well....I just miss very much the fireworks we used to see fairly often in larger cities where we have lived in times past.

Anyway, I hope you are having a very good day today, wherever you may be and for those of you in Canada we hope you are rejoicing in what we have here still for freedoms; that those of you who are so inclined are praying for God in his mercy to help us preserve those freedoms and to protect us all going into the future.  May we as a nation be worthy of his divine help. 

Nice To Have My Husband At Home Again!

 As expected, my husband was bubbling over with joy when he arrived home last night...and it increased when he discovered I had a decent dinner prepared for him to eat right away, haha.

We had so much fun rehearsing his trip while we ate dinner and he was happy to hear I am feeling better and had many good times with friends in his absence.  

He spent the entire trip headache free after going off his statins again before he left, in the final experiment his doctor asked him to do before he will have his meds changed.  I remember him coming home from a couple of short canoeing expeditions last summer and being just wiped out for days afterward, miserable. headachy, exhausted....not so this time.  Apart from a short nap this afternoon after an early rising this morning, he has had energy to spare all day long...this is the most like my "real" husband he has been in many months. How grateful am I??? SO grateful!

This afternoon we unpacked his gear from the Honda.  I got all the camp dishes and containers washed right away, then cleaned out the cooler while he trekked the rest of the items down to the basement and got them sorted out and put away.  Then he vacuumed the inside of the Honda, took it to the car wash and filled the gas tank with fuel before returning it to our friends...one of which had a MOST exciting day being a birthing coach for her daughter in law's delivery of grandchild number two!! New life...always wonderful to behold.

My husband has begun his guilt induced make up dinners out since he was away for my birthday once again, teehee....I wonder if I can arrange for him to be away again next year for that date? hahaha  We had pub grub tonight but it turned out to be pretty tasty pub grub and we had lots of laughs about everything and nothing while we ate our meal.  There was a bit more rain tonight, but nothing substantial.  In the past couple of days a few downspout tornadoes have landed in smaller centres around our city, but we have only had a few short lived blasts of wind accompanying some of the rainfall.  I am grateful to be missed by tornadoes and grateful that the places where they did land weren't badly damaged by them.  Looks like our tornado season is starting up with a vengeance in comparison to years past and I do hope and pray there won't be any huge damage causing disasters.

Out for lunch tomorrow with my Thursday morning coffee buddy since my ear infection caused me to cancel last Thursday.  We are going to a fairly nice place that has delicious lunch specials, so I am really looking forward to the food and the good chat we always have together.  

Hopefully my ear infection is gone. I took the last meds this evening, so......  I forgot that when I was walking home from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon the wind was howling before I got home so I am a bit concerned that my uncovered ear is going to be prone to another flair up. Hopefully not.  Why I didn't take a head covering with me I have no clue...duh!!!