dancing in the streets

 It took 11 hours of sleep overnight plus 2 hours yesterday afternoon before I felt back to normal, however my muse has not yet returned so I’ll have to hack this out for posterity.

I’d had a few early mornings last week leading up to this weekend's stay at the villetta, and then there were a few late nights on the weekend coupled with early mornings. Gosh I was exhausted! 

Our weekend started on Wednesday afternoon after golf. We loaded a bunch of stuff, including my amazing vacuum, into the car and then headed cross-country to our vacation home. It was easy to unload and soon we were settled. Kirsten joined us for a quick beverage and then we headed to SF for a wee bit of shopping. It wasn’t long after we were back before K&S came by for an after supper drink. Ahhh!

Thursday we trundled over to Perth for a new tv remote and a scenic drive. We weren’t back for long before Olaf, Stephanie & Freya arrived. I sat on the sidelines watching everyone struggle to erect the nylon tent as they made their home for the next two nights. Graham arrived sometime before supper. Then the festivities began. 

I did some of the cooking and baking last week in preparation for the festivities which made some of the meals a bit easier, although Kirsten and the girls bore the brunt of the work.

Mom and Dad came by for lunch on Friday - it was cloudy and ever so slightly cool - perfect for some time on the patio although some did brave the frigid waters of the pool.

Friday night our hair all came down (those that have hair) and we danced and sang and rejoiced late into the night. It was wonderful! 

We came home yesterday after a congenial breakfast and hearty good-byes. 

The dogs have barely budged. We’ve been leaving Adia loose in the camper when we head over to K’s - I’ve heard her howl a few times but otherwise she’s settled in. At times I’d bring them over to the patio or for a little walk in the backyard - Adia was good for sticking around but Spike would eventually wander off, confused about where he was. I have to keep an eagle eye on him as he would for sure get lost. When I call him he is often unable to locate where I am, more reason to keep a close eye on him.

Awesome!

“a hot bath after a few days of short ‘navy’ showers”

“dancing and singing all night”

“having a 2 hour nap after we got home”

“seeing everyone so happy”

“the vibrant green of the young cedar”

new new zealand

 Saturday: We are comfortably settled into our seasonal campsite in New New Zealand. Yesterday afternoon the sky was spitting at us, daring us to make the trip. We took up the challenge, fists raised at the dark sky as we drove. The rain came down a little harder as we got here, but not hard enough to dissuade us from our task. 

Once the trailer was comfortable situated (with Kirsten and Shawn’s fine help) we got to work setting up. Stall mats were dragged into place to make a pad of sorts, we unhitched and leveled the beast. Then I got to work inside while Carm and Shawn hefted out Grace’s outdoor cage and then ‘built’ the patio. Heavy work as each mat weighs close to 100lbs, but an awesome result!

It was wonderful to spend time with everyone, pickup up exactly where we left off last fall.

This morning dawned bright and sunny. Yes, dawned. I know this because I left the blind open on the east side of the camper and the sun shone in my eyes at exactly sunrise! Spike woke up not long after so the dogs and I trudged outside for a few minutes. Hordes of hungry mosquitoes descended on us.

We puttered around the campsite the rest of the day, settling in and relaxing. Eventually Olaf, Stephanie, and Freya arrived.

Sunday: All the fun continued into today’s Father’s Day celebration. 

We arrived home late in the afternoon exhausted but happy. Spike has been on the futon since his supper with barely a flutter of an eyelid, Adia curled up beside him.

Thursday was a slightly different scenario. Oh gosh, I felt like crap and so did Carm. We struggled through the day, breaking up tasks with short rests, but we got through it happy with the knowledge that we are double vaccinated!

Awesome!

“feeling sick after the vaccine and knowing that it’s my immune system at work”

“pulling out of the laneway as we start our short journey”

“being with family”

“Adia doing her pee on the leash right away - she’s not used to ‘going’ while on leash”

“the new leashes worked out great”

“family all together”

fully jabbed

 It’s done! We’ve had our second shot and I didn’t even cry (although I was close a few times). The feeling of relief that isolation might soon be over was palpable. Plus the jabber kept the needle in my arm for ages as Carm futzed with his camera. 

When it was my time to go into the building, Carm asked the gatekeeper if he could come with me and get his at the same time instead of waiting for 2 more hours… well… YES! So we marched through the process together, each step bringing us closer to freedom (sometime in the distant future but we’re going in the right direction).

When it was all done and dusted we went to the local Canadian tire for some fabric glue to do more bag modifications. We were in and out pretty quickly thanks to the CT website aisle number directions to the product. It was hard not to be distracted by all the stuff.

Next stop was a lovely visit with friends. And then later with O&S online. 

A truly awesome day :-)

74.56% of Canadians 12 and older have had at least one vaccine.  

16.58% of Canadians 12 and older are fully vaccinated.

Awesome!

“Waking up knowing that it’s vaccine day”

“getting the jab!”

“waving at friends as we pull into their driveway”

helping hands

 Sometimes things happen that make me think I can’t just be lucky, no, there must be someone looking out for me. I’ve wondered if it could be my grandmothers - I say plural because at times I’ve needed 2 guardian angels to pull me from the brink. I never met either of them but feel a connection with both. 

Well today they were hanging around ready to give a hand… I’ve been stressed about driving to my far away vaccine appointment tomorrow, plus a little sad that Carm’s appointment on Friday was going to impact our weekend plans - both minor things but niggling in my brain.

Carm got onto the booking site this afternoon and refreshed his screen over and over and then suddenly! An appointment tomorrow! He thought it was in the city but no, it is at the same place I’m getting mine and just 2 hours later. Hurrah! And for more icing on the cake, we get to visit friends that we haven’t seen for 1 ½ years (outside of course). 

Very excited.

It’s been raining on and off again today, welcome moisture for the growing things. Sadly the rain has decimated the peonies.

Awesome!

“Carm getting an appointment for tomorrow at the same place I’m having my vaccine AND we have friends we’ll be visiting. Double Awesome!”

“Spike’s made it onto the futon multiple times today - he’s looking like his old self”

a systems background

 We’ve got appointments booked for our second vaccine! Mine is in 2 days while Carm has to wait till July 2nd - although we are working on that (at end of day it was changed to this Friday). We’ve had a chance to give the booking system a workout and I’ll have to say it’s not too bad if you know a few basic things and are patient/persistent.

We got on before 8am with a 18 minute wait - not too bad. The wait screen was informative and had a slider to show progress. I’d give it an A+. From there you are shuttled onto a window to collect your information - straightforward. Next a screen to choose vaccine (mnra or AZ). Then you enter your postal code and press enter. 

A screen with locations displays with a button to see appointments. Usually 0. Press the back button. choose the next location… repeat. Once you’ve gone through once we found it helpful to go back another page (to the postal code) and repeat the above steps. We did that countless times. I’ve scored 3 appointments, each one better than the next. The system automatically cancels your previous booking. 

This afternoon we went on briefly 2 other times with little to no wait times. This is when I scored my appointment for Wednesday. And one on Friday for Carm. It took no special skills to do this.

(a little while longer) I signed on as Carm and within 5 minutes (including entering the health card info) changed his appointment from July 2nd to June 18th.

The sewing machine still commands a portion of the living room, mocking me about my ineptitude. I might send it back to exile for a week before attempting another bag. (nix that - I’ve hidden it’s evil eyes away).

This morning we caught sight of a snapping turtle laying her eggs on the shoulder just outside our gate. Good luck to those babies.

Awesome!

“Spike up on the futon”

“snagging an appointment for a 2nd vaccine”

“snagging an even better appointment”

“getting a good one for Carm too”

a sewing skirmish

 I had a skirmish with the sewing machine today. It started off well with a bit of webbing formed into a belt, and a bit more to make up a set of bells for Adia on the trailer. Then my endeavours took a downturn.

I had a vision (ha ha, my first problem) of a cross-body bag to carry my phone, some dog treats, and a roll of poo bags. Simple right. NOT! I spent days figuring out what gets sewn where and what turns inside out before being sewn onto the next piece. I broke it down into little steps which seemed to be going well. First the poo bag holder was made then sewn onto the back of the bag. Then the strapping. So far so good. 

The front would have the treat pouch which seemed simple enough (foreshadowing). I forgot to fashion a flap to go over the phone section so had to kludge something lame. Finally the front and back were sewn together. With bated breath I turned everything right side out… and tried to put my hand in the treat section. Epic Fail.

Fiddlesticks (not my exact words). Yes, I had to rip apart almost the whole bag!!!! At one point at the beginning of the project I had considered using a thread that wasn’t the exact colour of the fabric but took my chances.  

I made a few hacked changes and finished it back up. Well, it’s functional but looks like crap. I should accept my limitations and buy stuff pre-made. Having said that, I’ve given it more thought and think I can make something better. I’m nothing if not stubborn.

the treat pouch after some ‘creative’ changes

the bag dispenser. This part actually works.

general crappy implementation

Remind me to never take up quilting.

Awesome!

“swimming on a gorgeous day”

“Adia zooming around me”

“the smell of baking cookies”

“visiting Mom & Dad in the laneway under the apple trees with the fragrance of peonies”

“pink lemonade”

as a grappler myself

 As a grappler myself… we’ve been binging ‘Battlebots’ these last several weeks. Yes, we’ve sunk to that level. Actually it’s kind of fun and with the pvr we can skip through all the babble and just watch the fights. When the bots go flying on.

Grace turned 23 a few days ago. No chicken wings for a special supper but she did have some hamburger ;-) And maybe an extra chip. We’ve been too busy to sit outside with her so she’s not been getting outside enough. Maybe tomorrow.

Today was a busy day. The weather was perfect for washing 2 years of dirt from the camper: sunny, warm, low humidity. We even moved it into the laneway so we could roll out the awnings. I did the windows separately with a wash that had Finish dishwasher stuff, a hack that claims to stop spotting.

Motorized vehicles were washed, muddy boards were washed. Gardens were fertilized. More stuff was loaded into the camper and more stuff was unloaded from the camper.

When we were all done we had a long swim, watching the farm implements roll the cut hay into giant rounds. He only got 3 bales :-(  Once I was dried and dressed I set out chairs and made some cookies & (pink) lemonade. Mom and Dad were coming for a laneway visit! 

Speaking of visiting… yesterday we had a distant visit with Trudie & Leo and the day before that Jo Ellen and Don were here. We were social butterflies :-)

I read an update today that says that we will be eligible to get our second vaccine next week! Yahoo!

Awesome!

“rivers of dirt coming off the camper”

“sparkling windows”

“visiting with Mom & Dad”

“Spike has been running around the house”

am I

I could see the heat rising from the gravel laneway from the late afternoon sun so I grabbed my little speaker and headed to the pool. As I slipped into the cool/warm water I thought back to this morning’s swim straight out of bed. Luxury.

‘Stairway to Heaven’ was belting out of the grey music miracle as I floated around and around supported by a pool noodle. Bliss. Around and around I went, at each lap I thought “just one more’ and so it went. Then I realized that I didn’t have anything else to do so why not float as long as I wished. Freedom.

The music reminded me of so many high school dances where I’d cling to some boy, the latest crush. So much angst: did he like me? am I pretty enough? am I smart enough? and so the “enough’s” went. I’m not sure when they ended but thankfully age eventually erased most of that anxiety.

I segued to laughing out loud thinking about the countless bad perms that I had in order to feel ‘pretty’ enough. The first one basically made my head look like a triangle. A really fuzzy triangle. Sadly I don’t have any photos.  Oh so many tries (cause surely this time it will happen) to look like Farah Faucett. Oh so many failures!

Awesome!

“pool noodles - $2 will buy a summer full of joy”

“the filter for the water pump was delivered today and it fits perfectly”

“peonies”

“music by the pool”

blooming

 Oh, how I’d like to lie down flat to ease my full belly… tonight for supper we had peppers and sausage with rice, a concoction of cut peppers (5!) and little ‘meatballs’ of sausage tossed with Italian spice, garlic, and granulated onion. After that wasl sauteed I added 1 cup of dry rice and an equal amount of chicken broth. Close the instant pot and 18 minutes later I was spooning it into our bowls. So yummy! And leftovers - hurrah.

Summer was most definitely here today, the sweltering air kept us mostly inside. I did go into the camper a few times (90F/32C!) to run some water. We are determined to have sparkling water lines. Another trip outside to water plants and a few to dip into the pool. It was a lazy day (we did do a bit of house cleaning so we don’t feel totally disgraceful).

The peonies are spectacular. Overnight buds turned to luscious blooms. The burgundy one hasn’t fully flowered yet but there are a few partially opened flowers. Tomorrow will be the peak.

I was happy to hear that Graham got himself signed up for his second dose of the vaccine. Mom and Dad are also eligible and are on a waitlist. We are a few weeks away from being eligible, but slowly but surely life is opening up. Will we ever be back to normal? Will we ever take the simple act of sitting down at the table with extended family for granted again?

Awesome!

“smelling the peonies from the bedroom”

“smooshing my face into bloom after bloom and not getting an ant up the nose”

“getting an email that the roll of nylon webbing has been shipped”

“discovering that I’ll be able to harvest some bells from the dog doorbell to make one for the camper”

“rushing around getting ready for a chat”

“pink clouds high in a darkening sky”

flushing with pleasure

 I hadn’t even finished my coffee this morning when we ventured outside to get some water flowing into the rv fresh tank. I thought we’d just dash out but we ended up doing the rest of the job. Luckily I like cold coffee!

While the tank filled with fresh water laced with chlorine we futzed about trying to get the water running through the taps. We flipped switches but had no luck. Carm thought to check the filter on the pump and sure enough, cracks. They are doctored up with glue for now with a new filter on order.

With the pump working we ran water to the facets and toilet, getting rid of the pink antifreeze and spreading the heavily chlorinated water through the whole water system. We’ll leave that to soak for a day or two then flush with a few tanks of fresh water.

The water in the pool warmed up to 25+C… lovely for floating around with a pool noodle.

Oh! The golfer that we watched with dismay as he got tossed from the tournament for having covid-19 was likely not vaccinated, neither were the two other golfers he was playing with… sympathy withdrawn.

Awesome!

“flinging open the bedroom curtains to be surprised with some open peonies!”

“smooshing the mosquito before it has a chance to bite”

“stuffing my nose into a flower”

“seeing Spike on the futon - twice!”

“getting supper together even though I wasn’t in the mood”

sleepless

 We watched golf all afternoon, cheering on the leader as he played an amazing game. zzzzzzzzech… on the 18th hole they came out to tell him he has covid-19 and had to withdraw from the tourney. It’s not gone yet…

I woke up (or did I? I actually think I never got to sleep) with plans for doing some things with the trailer. However, a thunderstorm rolled in at 11am and the skies never really cleared after that. Occasional rumbles of thunder through the afternoon kept us safely inside. 

All in all we only got a measly 1mm. Not even enough to wash off the dust.

We found things to do though… a package of giant hotdogs is resting in the freezer after being enhanced with cheese and bacon, and Carm made me a giant jar of chopped garlic. We still have a little bit of garlic left from last year, enough to last till harvest in July. I love having a jar of the pungent allium ready to spoon into whatever I’m cooking.

I started reading some Ray Bradbury today.

The trailer waits patiently.

Today’s post is a bit of a bust as my eyelids are drooping and my brain has been stunned. Racing thoughts about dumb stuff kept me awake for almost the whole night last night. I looked up stuff on my phone, I shopped Amazon, I read facebook, I read some posts from last year, I stared at the ceiling, I got up and walked around multiple times… I might have dozed off for a few short minutes. Dooh!

Awesome!

“some of the peony buds are starting to open”

“watching the rain come down”

“chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven”

sew sew silver

 Expletives flew out of my mouth, I stomped my feet in fury, then stood up and threw the offending item down… yes… I was sewing… and it wasn’t going well. Why do I torture myself doing something that obviously frustrates me so much? I say it builds moral fibre.

In the end though, I got the last of the dog tie-outs/leashes/collar done and am happy with the result. For the collar I took an old chain martingale collar and used bolt cutters to remove the chain (another adventure in frustration). It was (almost) easy to replace the chain with webbing. Unfortunately I made it too long and had to rip out some ugly sewing. In the end it fits perfectly. The bright silver looks awesome on Adia’s red fur.

I LOVE the silver webbing and may have to order another roll to make a long piece for Spike to drag around as well as some belts and bags. Sewing projects swirl in my head (ha ha ha). 

I also made 4 little lumbar support pillows out of outdoor toile fabric to have on the villetta. Some of it is shoddy workmanship but I challenge you to point that out to me! I just might take a swing at you!

We are on the cusp of a wicked heat wave! And by the time supper was done the water was just shy of 74F/24C. I didn’t stay in long but honestly it wasn’t too bad.

Since his haircut Spike has been doing great. He’s been rejuvenated and is perky and running around having fun. Oh, he’s still sleeping for most of the time but when he does get up it’s with pricked ears and bright eyes. I think he’s resigned to being carried up and down the stairs and onto the bed but he cooperates so it’s no big deal for us to help him.

Have you been following the reports about UFO’s? I’m trying not to pay attention as an alien invasion is something I don’t want to think about. I’ve seen ‘Independence Day’ way too many times to think it would be a cordial meeting.

Awesome!

“the satisfaction that comes from a job finished”

“hearing Spike run up and down the hallway”

“a few little tomatoes on the plants in the barrels!”

“the smell of the world as I walk down the laneway - sweet”

raindrops on roses

 This morning I woke up to the sound of light rain pattering on leaves. Oh, such a lovely sound when you’ve just come out of the driest May in over a century. I could almost hear the earth sigh in relief. The rain didn’t last all day and wasn’t nearly enough, but the rain guage was still celebrating the 18mm that did fall.

We were ‘up and at em’ this morning as I had the extreme pleasure of going to the dentist to have a filling redone. Carm dropped me off to do a Costco run and visit his sister - both more pleasant than my time in the chair. It wasn’t actually that bad - Dr. Racicot has the latest technology, including a way to freeze that doesn’t include that huge, horrible needle. 

I don’t get out much in the car so I’ve become accustomed to moving so fast. A trip down the 417 is nerve wracking...

We weren't home for Spike’s afternoon pee break which is when he’s had accidents in the past. I got some ‘belly band’ diapers for him but hadn’t tried them yet, so, with fingers crossed I fastened one around his belly. Would it stay on? It fit around him nicely and by some sort of miracle, it was still on him when we got home. No accident - he was pretty happy to get outside..

Heat wave is starting tomorrow so we’ll be swimming again by the weekend! Hurrah.

I did some sewing yesterday… not the dreaded cushions tho. Instead I fashioned silver nylon webbing into 2 custom leashes. I’ve got one more length left for the camper tie-out but I don't think it’s long enough - might have to order another reel!

Awesome!

“sunlight dappling through leaves will always be a pleasure for me”

“leaves dripping with raindrops”

stalled at Kirsten's

 The title of an old book that I periodically re-read has snugged a place in my mind these past few days. It’s been cool, almost cold, but the mornings: still air, birdsong, and bright sun have hollered out ‘the perfection of the morning’ ‘the perfection of the morning’ over and over again. At 6am I’m ½ asleep but the beauty wakes at least part of my brain. And then I go back to bed...

Saturday we ventured out beyond our neighborhood to pick up some rubber stall mats. These 4’x6’ sheets of rubber will make a great patio for the villetta when it’s parked at Kirsten’s - if the stench of rubber goes away. Since we were closer to Kirsten’s than home we dropped the stack off there and had a ‘distancing’ cup of tea and a scone with K’s family. It was SO WONDERFUL to see them all.

We had the dogs with us. Adia was great while Spike seemed confused and disoriented. Hopefully once we have the trailer there he’ll get a bearing. I know for sure that I won’t be letting him off his leash as he’d likely get lost.

All this after dealing with a poopmagedin before we left Saturday morning… poor Spike was stuck in his crate and had an accident… he trampled it into the blankets, squishing it between his toes. Yikes.

Sunday we assembled the new giant deck box. Seriously, this thing could easily be a spare bedroom! Initially we put it where the old one had been, but it dominated the space so we’ve tucked it in beside the house where it doesn’t loom over the whole deck.

After the construction project we had Trudie & Leo over for a laneway visit. 

Monday I puttered around, not doing much at all, mostly I just moved stuff from one location to another. I’m dragging my butt for some reason but can’t think why I’d feel this exhausted.

Adia loves these days of spending time outside. She noses around with the occasional zoom to burn off that ridgeback energy. She’s good though, mostly sticking around me. I was saying to Carm that for some things she’s a better dog than Bella and Kabira were. Bella would get into hunting mode and would be so focused on her prey that we would cease to exist, while Kabira prefered to lie on the deck (if she wasn’t hunting with Bella). Spike would be hunting too, disappearing quickly if he wasn’t tied up. It’s fun having Adia out with us - she is so full of joie de vivre that it’s hard not to feel a little bit of the same joy.

I folded the piles of fabric but also dug up some pillow filler so I haven’t given up on sewing yet!   

Carm’s tomatoes may have been wiped out.

This morning it was haircut day for Spike (I did Carm the other afternoon). Spike was very fluffy and hot all the time so it was overdue. I didn’t clue into how long his hair was until we were at Kirsten’s. The de-puffing didn’t go well, Carm had to wrestle him the whole time. But he’s done and seems more energetic already. If only he had the mental ability to connect feeling better with getting a haircut. Alas, he does not.

Everytime he shuffles around looking lost and confused my heart breaks a tiny bit more.

Awesome!

“the excitement of going somewhere”

“seeing Kirsten and family”

“looking at where we are going to park the camper for the summer!”

“Adia running around with a big grin on her face”

“realizing that mentally I feel great”

“the awesome flavour of a leaf of arugula plucked from the garden”

“it was a perfect night for supper outside”