| Posted on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 03:28 am: |   |
Time sure flies ... especially when you're having fun! We had a wonderful holiday. Actually, it was that word, holiday, that gave us away as Canadians, apparently. We didn't meet one person on our cruise who didn't know where Vancouver or Victoria is, and many had been here. We didn't meet one person who had not cruised before. And we were so welcomed everywhere we went.
I have to organize my photos of Derek and Marlene's gardens, but the visit with them was definitely the 'icing on the cake' and the part of the cruise that we absolutely enjoyed the most.
It seems like we've been gone for ages. I looked out the window today and the leaves on my Virginia Creeper have turned red and fallen off the vines. I missed it. And an odd thing is happening with the Boston ivy on the deck. About a quarter of it has turned red and the rest of it is still green. That has never happened before.
Am bushed. I came home tonight with a huge bag of beans to freeze, and news that we have a bear in the neighbourhood. I hope it moves on soon. Bears can be so destructive.
Okay... bath time. I love my tub!! |
| Posted on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 11:44 pm: | |
Dug potatoes today. I think we're in for some rain, so the timing was right. I still have squash to deal with, but it will be okay until a good frost, and so will the carrots and Swiss Chard.
My head hurts tonight. Don't know why. We're pretty much caught up on everything since our holiday. Tonight we're having coffee with Bonitoad! And I'm hoping for some quiet time at the computer tomorrow to edit photos and post some.
Our hydro man was here today to look at replacing the pole that that the woodpeckers used for their nest. He found more holes than we knew about and has tagged the pole to be replaced. I'm hoping we can catch the right fellows when they take the pole down and have a good look at the nest. Of course there's the telephone lines to move, and cable. I'll be keeping my eye on it. They will place a new pole in first and move everything over to it before taking the old one out.
And we're keeping an eye on Mt. Saint Helens too. Already some of the underground activity has caused some problems on the mainland. So much for the little burp it gave and we sighed with relief. The pressure keeps building... and I'm glad to have some distance. Worry about our neighbours to the south though. |
| Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 03:10 am: | |
I'm still trying to sort out my house so I can set up a painting area for the winter. I don't know how all five of us fit here when the children were growing up!
We've had a few days of rain but many of the wonderful fall colors are out right now. Must capture a few of them on the camera!
Busy day... Took the car to the shop, walked to the mall and strolled for 1 1/2 hours, then went back to the shop and picked up my car. Then swam for an hour. Came home and did chores. Sat down at 3 p.m. and woke up with a cat on my lap! Zonked.. I was so tired.
Wayne's back to work now. The holiday is over! |
| Posted on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 04:26 am: | |
Cruising the high seas on a huge ship like 'Jewel of the Seas' is like entering an entirely different world, and it's not real, but it does present an atmosphere that is very conducive to relaxing and 'getting away from it all'. The guests at our dining room table commented on that somewhat the last two nights of the cruise. One guest inquired about how we celebrate holidays and how close our families are, but there was a general discussion about how we don't really know what is going on in the world when we're on a cruise. I don't know if any of us had newspapers delivered. We turned the television news channel on only a couple of times, and heard about the disaster in Haiti. And then we carried on with our wonderful holiday.
Coming back home, I was surprised at the amount of televison commercials during a half hour show. I had to push myself to prepare meals. I missed the gentle rocking of our bed on the ship (I never get seasick and just thoroughly enjoy being on the water).
But life does have a hard reality to it.
I enjoy my days, but need to put more effort into looking after myself in all ways. I have such an opportunity now to do this.
Years ago I heard the saying, "Will is habit", and I totally agree. I need to put the stuff away that just clutters and get on with producing results.
I have ideas for next year's garden, and hope to be 'closer' to the garden next year. This year was better than last, but the relief from my back surgery did not last and I changed drugs (a huge improvement to my level of pain) but now I must improve my coping skills.
This web site offers so many ideas, different views and such support, and I appreciate it all. I love the humour!
It's not only a special part of my gardening experience, but of my life, especially in this, the real world. |
| Posted on Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 03:43 am: | |
Had a wonderful day with grand girls! Just wonderful! Our weather was a little blustery but it's not cold yet. Most of today we had two flickers feeding on the berries from the Virginia Creeper. Wish I had a good photo of them. They were so close to the computer room I could hear them talking to each other!
We had an early dinner because Wayne is working and finished off the pie made with graventsteen apples. Our tour guide in Nova Scotia must have been very hungry that day because he talked so much about food, and that pie, in particular, was on my mind. He was right. It was delicious!
Anyway, it was a wonderful day.
I talked with our first born twice (youngest is in California right now) and everyone is well.
Tomorrow I must tackle some of the squash. I'm hoping to find some homes for them! |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - 03:51 am: | |
I think Daddy is going to have his hands full when the young lads come calling... He has three beautiful girls..
Sierra
Rebekah, with the green eyes...
And Cynthia, with her favorite 'pillow'...Papa Wayne
 |
| Posted on Monday, October 18, 2004 - 12:04 am: | |
It's been flare-up time and I've had so much trouble just getting through the days. Last night was particularly rough and I spent today being resigned and angry - back and forth. Tonight seems just a little better.
I did some running around yesterday. Picked up the 100 pounds of cabbage I ordered from our farmer's market (it was loaded and unloaded for me), stopped at the vet's and had a quick visit with Bonitoad. Our youngest daughter phoned me there, said they were at our house, so I came home. Our son-in-law split the rest of our latest cord of wood, and stacked most of it. The lawn was mowed and leaves and compost was wheel-barrowed out to the barn area and burn pile. They are just back from a holiday to California and Mexico so, when Wayne came home from work, we had a picture show and many laughs. And they saw the photos from our trip. It was so nice to have them here. We are so rich with our family!
And when I checked into gardenbuddies, there was Ej's smiling face. Wow!
Our weather is quite blustery now and so I'm expecting that many of the leaves will be gone from the trees tomorrow, but I have so enjoyed this fall.
Perhaps tomorrow will be better. I have looked at so many threads and just couldn't comment. |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 03:51 am: | |
Just popping in and out. I've so enjoyed gardenbuddies today!.... the tour around Deanne's garden, harvesting with Derek, I've missed classes on Photoshop and will have to catch up...so much. If I could just get this back pain under control. It's annoying how this pain tends to exaggerate other frustrations and I spend so much time putting 'things back into perspective'.
Big news today was snow on the Beaufort Range, a true indicator that w******* is approaching. A friend told me last night her husband could smell snow in the air. He was right! |
| Posted on Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 12:58 am: | |
A better day!! I went swimming! Actually, I did some exercises and sort of hung in the pool for a while, and it made my back feel so good. Wish I could remain that 'weightless' all day. So, coping skills have improved, thank goodness. Bad news is never very far away. Yes, life does feel a whole lot better.
Wayne's looking into another trip to northern B.C. but I am quite content to stay here and carry on with what I do. (They have snow there right now...)
I'm hoping to look at some bulbs tomorrow. Just wish I could have tulips, but the deer eat them every time, even in a planter by the door.
Amazing what gardeners will do. As soon as we feel a little better we're planning to garden again! |
| Posted on Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 11:43 pm: | |
Better and better. The doctor advised me today to live like today is the best day of my life! Excellent advice. I'm off to the hospital for tests and have had my meds changed, so I'm looking for improvements.
Wayne and I were in the pool for 1 1/2 hrs today, had lunch and then enjoyed the sunshine. He worked on the chicken coop, so it's all ready for w.....r, and I put clothes on the line and dug up my tiger flower bulbs. I'm hoping they will store well and bloom nicely again next year.
I'm going to research hydrangeas as well because I haven't been able to get mine to bloom. They're gorgeous healthy plants, but no flowers. And I adore the blooms.
Did some bird watching today and I realize how lucky we are that we have so many birds that are compatible! |
| Posted on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 04:30 am: | |
Shredded 100 lbs of cabbage today, packed it into a crock for sauerkraut.... ow! |
| Posted on Thursday, October 28, 2004 - 06:22 am: | |
Watched the eclipse tonight! What fun! |
| Posted on Friday, October 29, 2004 - 03:37 am: | |
I have spent so much time today in the middle of travel plans between my family members and finally have everything sorted out. The thing is... I'm not going anywhere! Oh well. I hope they all have a good time. I have a week and a bit at home by myself. (Just think of the things I can do!!)
We're heading out of town for the day tomorrow. It feels good to do this once in a while, so we're off to the 'big city', Nanaimo, population of about 70,000 (or 120,000 with out-lying areas). There are computer shops, camera shops, crafts, bulk, and nurseries.....
We will have a wonderful time. No swimming for us tomorrow. Our exercise will be walking.
Today we put out more bird feeders. My step-dad made one that only the little birds can feed at while being protected from the larger birds. We put it close enough to the house that I can watch, but where they are still protected from other predators. So, I'll see how this works. |
| Posted on Monday, November 01, 2004 - 03:05 am: | |
I did nothing even resembling gardening today, except hose down the driveway (Wayne cut the grass yesterday and it was still quite damp, so the wheels of the lawn tractor left a lot of bits on the asphalt). I topped up bird feeders.
I'm on a new drug. In one way it is working very well. In another I'm struggling to get beyond the headache side-effect. It's almost like two of the cats knew I was not feeling well today and stayed very close. However, it's bed time now, and I'm have trouble getting them to stay off of me now. (They never sleep on me... or even with me. Odd.)
So I took something for the headache and thought I'd check email before going to bed.
Wayne lost his 'BumbleBee' gloves at work today, somewhere between the paper machine and the shower. He mentioned it to his relief. Tonight's email read... "Wayne, we found your gloves and are holding them for ransom. Signed, the Papermill Gang".
Well, we're almost into November.
We've been talking about having a big barbeque here next year for our 40th wedding anniversary. Wayne has a few trips to make, but I hadn't planned any big holiday. We have plans for the house and the garden, and, after all, it is a big anniversary. I mentioned it to our youngest, and she likes the idea. Will talk to the other two. So far it's just an idea...
What an incentive, though, to do up the gardens!
We're replacing the roof, and some of the fence, painting the house, the fence, the woodshed and the barn. I was considering having the sidewalk redone, and the concrete in the carport.
I wonder if this is where the headache came from.... |
| Posted on Wednesday, November 03, 2004 - 05:44 am: | |
I spent some time with Bonitoad tonight looking at some beautiful plants at some gardening sites on the internet. Wow! And great photos!
I came home thinking about a 'Calvin' cartoon caption where he is standing under the stars. And now I can't remember if he says, "I AM significant (or I am insignificant)", said the speck of dust in the universe."
I've been dealing with sick cats. Their little pure bred systems are so delicate... Anyway, I was hopeful that Solomen was better.
However, I've ordered a floor cleaner for hard covered floors. It vacuums, washes (scrubs) and sponge dries all in one. I am looking forward to knowing that the floors are clean again.
Tired. My head hurts.
Hope to dream of some of those gorgeous plants I saw on the internet tonight! |
