3 generations

 The mercury in the villetta registered at 15C Wednesday morning. Piles of blankets covered Spike and Adia were burrowed into a thick comforter, I was snug under my dounduna… but throwing back the covers to go outside was a feat of immense bravery. 

The sun barely peeked from behind thick clouds and an icy wind blew all day. The second last day of September threw a taste of the winter at us. Yuck. Meanwhile, Mom and Kirsten worked hard at weeding and trimming, I pulled the odd bit of grass, but honestly I was useless. I don’t know why but I felt sick, perhaps from a night of insomnia? 

I’m useless in the garden but I could at least put a few meals in front of people - yah, that’s my excuse for slipping away! And then there was the 2 hour nap that I took...

It has been 2 years since Mom and I had our last Mother Daughter night and forever since we’ve had one with Kirsten. Luckily Shenna was also able to be with us so we had 3 generations connecting over an aperol spritz. Love.

After another cold but cosy night I am home. 

Dogs are happy to have the extra room although they did seem to enjoy stretching out in front of the ‘fireplace’. They were pretty well behaved overall but I’ve got to work on getting out of the camper one dog at a time. I can get Adia to stay for several seconds but it’s hard. She has to wait while I lift out Spike and put him down. On the first day Spike got ahead of me at the door and tumbled down the stairs to the ground. My heart was in my throat but he got up and carried on. He’s a brave little dog.

Sometimes you do things that you quickly regret… that was me a few days ago when I asked Spike to find my socks. It was so sad to see him walk around without a glimmer of a memory of bringing them to me everyday for years. Not a glimmer. There was however a glint of tears in my eyes watching him struggle. Well, not struggle, he had no idea that he was supposed to do anything.

The same thing has happened when Mom or Jo Ellen are around. In the past he would go CRAZY to see them… now… nothing. At least he’s gotten over his intense dislike of being picked up. He seems happy enough overall so we’ll just continue to support him as best we can. 

Thank goodness he has Adia.

Awesome!

“arriving at my destination”

“girls night in the trailer”

“Spike sleeping in”

“purple asters in the field”

“Adia zooming past me at full speed”

outside in

 Leafy greens from the deck are now lining the window seat in the livingroom… almost 24 feet of green brings the essence of summer into the house. A bit sad now but it will be wonderful in the depth of a snowy winter. With a south face the herbs might continue to produce.

We also brought in a horde of creepy earwigs.

I ran out of motivation this week - oh sure, I peeled 30 more apples, but Carm took over with the tomatoes and made 4 containers of diced for the freezer. Tomatoes will feature heavily in this winter’s menu. Thankfully the last of the tomatoes were gleaned from the dying plants.

I have been slowly harvesting herb… it’s a lot of work to trim but hopefully it will be worth it.

It’s raining today, a sure way to drag down my energy. Carm’s out golfing though! I expected him home ages ago. He’ll need a hot bath to warm up and a fluffy towel to dry himself off. 

I’ve been seeing more blue jays lately and have been hearing geese overhead at times. Winter is coming… What is this winter going to bring? Will we be isolated or will we finally get over the fear and bring people into the house? I don’t know. We are fully vaccinated but so many places are going to hell that it’s easy to stay scared.

Awesome!

“a jungle of plants in the living room”

“watching a program on my tablet while on the treadmill - the screen rocks”

“beef, potatoes, and olives”

pathetic playlist

 I stepped off the treadmill as close to tears as one can get without actually wetting one’s cheeks… today’s playlist ganged up on me, playing emotional song after emotional song.

It started with ‘Roam’, the song I played every morning on our amazing Alberta trip 8 years ago. I was so excited on that adventure to my birthplace that I could barely contain myself at times. This song was written to be a tourist advertisement for the province and by gosh, it hit many notes of the highlights. I really did see the sun jumping into a stream - I can remember the exact moment as if it had just happened. What a trip! 

https://youtu.be/ThFCg0tBDck

Right after that it inflicted ‘Photographs and Memories’ by Jim Croce… this was the song with my first serious boyfriend. I remember many times sitting in his room singing the lyrics to each other. We had a tumultuous breakup 4 years later and I suffered greatly. I suppose there is a corner of my heart that is still broken. 

https://youtu.be/nucJtTPqSxg

And still the playlist continued to taunt. ‘Farewell to Jamaica’ by Harry Belafone played next. I always associate this song with my dear Uncle Graham who was like a beloved older brother to me. I rarely see him now as he lives several provinces away. 

https://youtu.be/KFFlWtlDRqk

Normally I’d be half listening to music so these songs would play and I might sing, but I’d be doing something else so no time to really think. And not 3 in a row!

But! I did spend a few minutes on the treadmill. It’s the third day after a 2 year hiatus… I am shockingly out of shape and that’s no way to pass my last year in my 50s!

You all probably think I’m crazy with talk of sequins and other glitzy stuff… I’ve always loved a bit of bling, which is funny since I’m usually in jeans or leggings and t-shirts, surely the two don’t go together… but yes! Bling is quirky and a bit funny, like a sparkly joke, a bit of a mock. It glitters as if little bits of the sun have been trapped in them. I love the sun! I love jokes! I love sparkle.

With Carm’s help I made 4 more containers of ragu - 1 for last night with Jo Ellen and Don, and 3 for the freezer. Carm’s happy to have all this sauce - it means we’ll be having pasta on a regular basis, a bit of a touch to his youth. And I’ll get practice making meatballs :-)

Awesome!

“finding riblets at the grocery store for the ragu”

“3 containers of ragu tomato sauce added to the freezer”

“adding the meals to our calendar - we’ll be having ragu every 3 weeks through the winter!”

“the rain holding off so we could have Jo Ellen and Don for an outside supper”

“a stack of bags holding apples for the freezer”

“wearing the pearl necklace that Carm got me for my birthday”