buried treasures

 It’s been a busy few days with friends and family. Friday we had Pat over for lunch on the patio to celebrate her birthday. It was a lovely day to be outside.

Saturday we putzed around the house, enjoying the hot day and getting things ready for a night at the villetta. We arrived at Kirsten’s around 3 which left us plenty of time to get things cleaned up (but I forgot to vacuum). Kirsten & Shawn came over for a late supper of ravioli with a sauce made from the last of the cherry tomatoes and basil from the garden.

Sunday we visited with K&S over coffee and then hit the road around 11am. We got home and immediately dunked ourselves in the cold waters of the pool. Not too long after we got a text from Stephanie asking if we wanted to meet them at the flea market… we’d been planning on an afternoon of reading and relaxation but a picnic was too good to pass up. Funnily I’d been thinking about McCaffies the day before, wondering if we’d ever go again. It seems that the answer was ‘tomorrow’!

And luck would have it, I made a find as soon as we got there - I’d been planning a trip to home hardware in the near future for a few jars with the metal clasp lids - I found 3 for $5 - what luck. I bought another random thing that was a great find.

Another chippie has been transported bringing the total to 12! And one mouse met its maker last night. Save the cushions!!!

My plan for today was a bit of herb harvesting and then an afternoon lazing outside but alas. Workers are swarming the bridge with asphalt and loud beeping backing trucks. The smell of tar hangs heavy in the air. Mixed with summer scents it's a weird smell of summers long past, pleasant for a moment and then cloying. I did chop up some parsley, sage, rosemary, but no thyme into a fragrant mix of flavour (I did sneak in a bit of oregano). I froze it in baggies so that I can break off chunks to add to meat or soups.

I have a container of meds at the trailer but I forgot that I needed a ½ dose of the lithium so dropped down another quarter to 300mg. So far so good. No nausea, no mania, or anything else that might be related. Maybe a bit more trouble sleeping and perhaps more vivid nightmares. Or maybe that horror show in my brain was a fluke. Or maybe the bad dreams were triggered by the creepy dolls at the flea market!

I’ve been plagued by a body getting older these last few days… a stark reminder that I’m about to turn 60. I squatted down to do something or other and my knee, well, not exactly my knee but a muscle around there, protested wildly. I had trouble getting up. It’s a move that I do a million times a day without thought. Sadly, a replay again today a few times. A nasty reminder of my upcoming birthday…

Lupa chews her benebone for hours every day.

Awesome!

“arriving at the villetta and seeing Kirsten”

“Shawn on his lift”

“seeing Olaf & Stephanie across the parking lot at the flea market”

“picnic”

"The way the dogs look at me as if I am the greatest person in the world"

“preview of my birthday present”

God save the Queen

 It’s the end of an era with the passing of Queen Elizabeth today… she seemed invincible, immortal even, but alas, there is no cheating death even for the royal.

Almost 2 months to the day I turned into the barber shop parking lot, this time with cash in hand (no driving back to the house for dollar bills). It’s a walk-in shop but I only had to wait a few minutes for Pamela and again she did a great job on my hair. 

This afternoon there are only a few decorative clouds floating in the sky and the air was warm. A bit of fall was in the air though… I can see it in the trees which have a golden tinge to them. I saw some maples that were starting to turn red on my way to the hairdressers. Thankfully, we are blessed with a few more days of summer.

I was in the pool by noon but only for 1 ½ circuits as I couldn’t actually feel my skin as it was so cold. Being in for such a short time doesn’t make me shiver but it does take a few minutes to feel normal again. It was warm enough (outside the water), for 2 more dips through the day. By the end of the day the water clocked in at 69F.

Lupa actually remembered yesterday’s lesson… well, sort of remembered. She needed a bit of help at first. She’s got a quick lie down which is cute.

They (whoever they is), have been working on rebuilding the bridge that abuts our property all summer so we are used to construction sounds but it will be nice when the dust settles. At times the racket even drowns out my blasting music. Boo hoo!

Awesome!

“surviving a dip in the 66F water (again!)”

“I was next in line at the barbers so didn’t have to wait long”

“a quick drop on down”

“purple asters”

“stretching out on the patio furniture with music playing”

route 66

It’s an on again off again sunny September day with the temps getting up to 23C… nice but was it nice enough for a quick dip in the pool? Apparently the answer is yes, even though the water is a cold 18C (which translates to a frigid 66F)! I went in for half a lap around the edge but feel that next time (since I didn’t actually die), I’ll try for a full lap or maybe even two!

It may have left me feeling sick to my stomach or else it was something I ate.

I’ve been remiss in dog training this summer so while I was cooking a few pounds of bacon we practiced ‘out of the kitchen’ which involves, yes, going out of the kitchen, with the added step of lying down on the carpet just out the door. Adia knows this well but Lupa has never been taught. I noticed that at the beginning she’d watch to see what Adia would do and copy her. Soon she knew what to do on her own but I don’t expect her to remember later today. We’ll do more practice to solidify that behaviour :-)

Late in the afternoon the sky cleared but by that time the sun was off the deck so no more ‘swimming’! It was, however perfect for reading on the deck.

Awesome!

“surviving a dip in the 66F water”