leder legends

We are in Phoenix visiting with Arie’s brother and sister-in-law... John and Sally.  The weather is perfect too!

Yes!  Life could be better!  Snow...too soon! and other stuff!! This puts things into perspective somewhat!

It would be so nice to be productive...I need some motivation! The white stuff covering everything outdoors is pretty for a while but it has its downside as well. It's cold! and Wet!

An ambitious mature friend helped me load a trailer with brush, yard debris and small trees.  There was a large pile of brush here. We loaded the brush pile plus a few 'small' trees on the trailer. There's always way more than I anticipate! Adding a tarp tamed it it! In the end, it was worth it.  Now I want to go back and cut down a few more saplings that want to live there! My friend just wrote a blog post about time... I think it might soon be time that we stop doing such crazy things. Time changes things. I don't think my mother would have ever  been able to do this sort of thing at my age.  She would have been 108 this year (if I did the math right).  Hard to imagine that she died almost 29 years ago. It was a different generation, that's for sure. I found these two pictures of my folks a few years ago.  Engagement! I'm not sure when this was taken ...but they were only 79 when they died.  I'm 69 right now...

We went to see DUMMYCRATS tonight! If you don't know anything about it google Diamond and Silk. Lots of people are full of Sugar Honey Iced Tea! lol

I FINALLY emptied the last of kitchen cabinets today! Hooray! Now on to cleaning and painting!   I have one week...ha ha ...it'll never get done by then.   In the process one other important thing was accomplished. Quite some time ago we started seeing little pantry moths. They are much smaller than this but the problem was much bigger! I googled (of course) and learned this: my pantry has been infested with Indian meal moths, also known as pantry moths.  The tiny, nearly invisible eggs come into the house in food packages, and they can hatch into larvae and later turn into moths that wreak havoc on your food stuffs.  And wreak havoc they did. The annoying little things would fly everywhere.  They seemed to particularly show up when we had company (why not?) I bought traps and then more traps (I'd recommend Black Flag traps) The traps worked!! Gross, right? I had also put EVERYTHING in plastic or glass containers with tight fit...

Pet Peeves We all have them! Mind are strange. A Happy belated Birthday??? Not !!! A belated Happy Birthday (wish)! What's wrong with using the pronoun ME! We've been scared off and so now everyone misuses I. example: This is a picture of John and I.  Would would you say this is a picture of I??? Not! Who was there?, I ask.  Bill, Susie and myself! Really? I ! More later hahaha

Isn't crazy how so many things can happen at once? The Furnace needs work. I had to buy a new washer today. all on top of the kitchen getting done... The bills will be arriving soon. We postponed the furnace replacement until it really needs doing. Lets hope it last for a bit longer.  In the meantime almost all the kitchen cupboards are empty. Who knew one cabinet could hold so much stuff? It's time to purge but...easier said than done. We are living in Chaos!

Today it was 80 degrees. It felt so odd! Aaron captured two deer in my front yard, on his phone the other day.  I was not too happy. Tonight at around eight they were back for second helpings.  He said he chased them off.  I was especially disappointed to hear that since I had spray with Liquid Fence this afternoon and with pepper spray. I hope they found things less than tasty. The deer march to the beat of their own drum...I guess. I woke at 4:00 this morning.  It's now 12:45 and I'm not sleepy. My beat goes on. Hah! I'm waiting for a sleeping pill to take effect.  Went to book club tonight.  The Woman who Smashed Codes was the title of the book by Fagone.  Also a very weird beat and it went on and on! Although I plowed through it in two days, I would not recommend it for a lively discussion.  We all agreed we had learned a lot about a new subject but it was okay!

A MONTH?? I can hardly believe that it's been almost a month since I felt like posting anything.  So many changes. So many adjustments. I liked being an empty-nester! At 69 (on Wednesday) I don't like changes...very much! The weather has changed!! Hooray! 70ish degrees during the day and 50-60 at night!! It's glorious!  Bonus! I'm working in the yard again! and boy does it need some loving attention. I got out the liquid fence again today and generously sprayed and sprayed.  I fertilized the flowering plants..believe it or not there are still plenty of fall flowers! I used the rain water from last week so double bonus! While the carpet is dirty and the dog hair has invaded the house, we are loving seeing Asher and his Dad a lot more! Bonus! The washer needs repair and I was able to get two parts on line. Bonus! I went to Brampton to see Tante Tini and had a good time.  The car had some issues and so did the AirBnB but I survived them both....

Blowing out a dog's coat I'm not sure that's a thing... but he looks good.  He got a bath first. He looks so sad when he is wet. I'm hoping there will be less hair flying around.

We have a son who has a son and a dog. He split up with his fiancee because they were fighting constantly.  (It seems she instigated a fight every time she could because she had a new love interest...he didn't figure that out! ) Life was pretty unbearable. He accepted a friend's offer to move into her house.  Asher and Aaron would have the upstairs so he cleaned and painted etc and moved in.  He would get free rent in return for fixing up the rest of the big mess. It sounded like a good deal for both of them.  But life got unbearable again. (It seems the friend wanted to be much MORE than friends... he didn't figure that out!)  So what to do??  Happy 2nd Birthday Asher! He moved into our house yesterday!! We'll see how that goes!! ( I hate dog hair!!!) Is there a statute of limitations to NAIVETE?

It rained just a bit last night-- 1/2 inch but it made we want to go out and dance outside ha ha! It rained one month ago! I'm hoping for a few more showers this week. My flowerbeds look tired...like me and my brain lol! Maybe on Tuesday! 90% chance of an early morning thunderstorm. Why does weather seem so important?

I think I have an old brain! (It does not seem to function the way it used to nor as it should! ) Actually, I think I'm just in denial! I'm retired and in my mind I am free of commitments.  We agreed to a date at least two months ago.  A friend likes to set things up way in advance. It's this Tuesday and I just now figured out I can't do things on Tuesday anymore.  My brain took a long while to connect the dots. We babysit Asher now on Mondays and Tuesdays! It's fun but my brain and calendar need to start connecting!   Hate this!!

It felt like a whirlwind.  What a week it was! We headed out to Grimsby for a funeral of a dear friend. We left Monday and got there on time for the visitation. Tuesday morning was the interment and the funeral.We were on the road again by 1:00 pm. Home by 8:30. What to pack?? Wednesday morning we had a 5:30 to Seattle. We were on the road with Nathania and the kids by 11:00 AM Seattle time. We got as far as Williams Lake. Google found us an hotel with a pool.  The kids did great. We arrived in Smithers around 4:30 the next day. Joe and Sadie hosted all of us...such dear people. Friday we visited Louise and Mack and visited with a ton of people -my nephew Rick and Donna from Vancouver Island, Art (my younger brother) and Mary, Darryl and four  kids (Michael, Ryan, Lauren, Aiden).  I heard that more people came to visit after we left. I think Louise needed a week to recover!  6 of us were there. Juli-75, Art-66, Me-69, Chris-72 Louise- 80 and Paula-84 ...

Finally...it rained!  According to my rain gauge, we have had a bit more than one inch over the last 24 hours!! I never thought I would or could appreciate 24 hours plus of dark skies and gloomy drizzly weather in the middle of July! Facebook reminded me that in the past the same thing has happened and I had the same "let's dance" reaction!  How soon we forget! In the meantime...I'm dancing! and so is my garden and even the straw-like grass! even the birds!!

Happy Canada Day! (We used to call it Dominion Day ha ha) World Cup soccer is being played in Russia. We watched Russia beat Spain and Croatia beat Denmark! Both were won in the goal kicking at the end--one player against the goalie! (Powerhouses Argentina and Germany have also been eliminated) Aaron came and picked up Asher early on Friday...It was very hot and Aaron was very grumpy.  He doesn't handle bad news or the heat very well.  (can't blame him).  Saturday Ava was here.  It was so nice since that hasn't happened for a long time.  We baked, even though it was very hot, because she loves baking.  Brownies, lemon bars, chocolate-cream cheese cupcakes, Jan hagel cookies.  Seems like a lot but it never lasts too long over here.  We also went shopping and played her favorite game- Qwerkel.  Nathan invited us over in the evening so we went and sat on his deck and chatted etc until I couldn't stand the heat any longer.  I don't enjoy...

The last time we had a heat advisory it 2012.  I remember because a post came up on Facebook memories today!  I am not a fan!  Asher was here for two days and I was thankful that water could keep him happy for hours.  He’s only 22 months old and as tall as a 3yr old 

When I think back to how we started out, I wonder if things would have been different had we lived close to family.  We were not sweet children...we were extremely independent. We went to college far from home, got married far from home, lived and traveled very far from home, had our children (except one) far from home.  We did it together and survived all the good and happy and all the bad and unhappy.  There is only one time (at the end of college) that we asked for monetary help.       Don't get me wrong...we loved our families and wanted our children to do the same.  What we couldn't do, is what we can't do for two of our children who have chosen to live FAR away from home.  The two who live close by often have needs on the same day.  It's a good thing we are both retired.  Yesterday we had agreed to babysit the almost two year old all day. He came early and we enjoyed a morning of fun outside.  At 11:00 he was done....

Asher arrived at 7:15 this morning. He's been fairly quiet but oh so sleepy so he is taking a nap (11:20) and he slept until 1:35.  He was very vocal and loud after that...a good sign that he really needed that. At 3:15 we packed up and went to a friend's pool.  Asher's first experience in the deep water.  He has a natural kick. This kid really loves the water. It was 90 degrees out today so I loved it too.

I received  this last night from my sister-in-law Louise. My oldest brother Chuck is 82 and has vascular dementia. This is so difficult. I'm posting this here in order to keep a record etc Respite….hmmm….not quite what I imagined it would be!! Dropped him off Tues afternoon, got him settled and walked around to get him familiar with the place and he seemed to understand why he was there. In the morning…not so much…up wandering all night…didn’t understand what all these people were doing in his house…and the next 2 days were much the same only he was becoming more agitated about all the people in his house and angry at me for letting them in.  They called me in a few times to calm him down and help get some meds into him to calm him down…not what I imagined my rest would look like. Thursday  night they called me at  10pm  to ask for help to get some meds into him that they put in his coffee but he was refusing to drink it.  When I got th...

They say the temperature should reach 94 degrees today. Church Golf World cup soccer-  upset-  Mexico beat Germany Ice cream Nap In random order...

After all the work of the past few days my goal today was to do as little as possible physically.  I was tired! I did some fun things. 1. Rose and I headed out to the OTTAWA neighborhood garden tour.  This year was their 25th anniversary and they had 25 gardens on the tour. We decided to go early to beat the crowds and beat them we did.  The sprinkle of rain at the start turned into a downpour but fortunately the high temperature kept it semi-comfortable. We didn't do all 25 gardens but the ones we did see had beautiful plants and ideas and enthusiastic garden owners. I appreciated that in the midst of the pristine gardens there were also some that were a work in progress. There is still hope for mine! Next year I'll take some pictures. In all of the 25 years, this was the first time it rained. 2.  We then headed out to Allendale to drop off a bunch of gardening plastic that they will recycle at Countryside Greenhouse.  Rose had two very large garbage bags f...

Survive another day...that's my goal! Yesterday was an outdoor day.  It's not all done but the yard looks better. Planting everything I had in pots and giving all the other plants away has made a big difference. I swept the sidewalk and watered the front yard pots and transplants. I'm going in to help at Toppers from 10 to 3.  That's what happens when you say you can help a bit.  You get put on the schedule for an entire shift. At 4:00 I'm going to New2You.  I'm such a sucker. I can't say no.  I was asked if I could come in Friday from 4-7 instead of Thursday. Volunteers are hard to come by sometimes. Arie "volunteered" to do deliveries from 2-3.  He's such a sweetheart! I'll go home for a 15 minute nap and then I WILL survive!

It's 9:40 PM I'm done!! Hooray.!!!!! Not only did I get EVERYTHING planted, I transplanted, thinned,  weeded and best of all gave all the extra plants away! I had lots of responses to my posting for free plants.  Some were very weird. I did have to say no to a lot of people.  Eight people got the plants. A few pics new hostas, transplants, WHEE, lilies I was informed that the official name of the fun hosta is WHEEE!  The name includes the exclamation mark. 

I often set small goals for a particular day and then often find that at the end of the day "failing" to accomplish those goals.  I think that's pretty normal, right? It does help to write things down ...so here goes. TODAY-  I will plant everything that needs to get in the ground before they die!                  6 perennials --Bear's breeches and 5 new hostas                        Annuals-- some dusty miller  (4), some tall yellow                                   marigolds ( 8), some pink petunias (1/2 a flat)                                    and a few cosmos.  If I have the energy ( at this age it's all about that and not time, right?) I'll transplant.  It's a lon...

It seemed like I was doing nothing ALL day yesterday.  I actually took two naps on the couch and played around with electronic devices for a long time while watching some CHOPPED shows. When I tallied up what I had done, I actually had accomplished much more than I realized. I pulled weeds quite extensively during my walks around the yard. I mixed fertilizer and generously watered the pots and flowering plants in the front yard with it.  I think it was at least 20 gallons! I hope the plants are happy.  Next time I think I'll sing to them at the same time.  That's what they say, right? " plants do better if you talk and sing to them?" I was out of Super Bloom and happily so because I don't like mixing it.  I found another product in my cupboard that supposedly also encourages blooms but this one I could attach to the end of the hose.  The backyard got a good feed.  One of my goals for the garden this year is to "formalize" it some.  I don't wa...

Asher joined us from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. I got up at 7:45.  In 15 min I got dressed, put a load in the washer, picked up in the back room ( so it was child-proof) and had some breakfast (with my 2 cups of coffee of course.) It was a productive 15 minutes. Asher is so cute. He's 21 months old now.  What he likes to do most is run....as fast as he can. He runs from the back of the garage all the way out and down the driveway and...yup...into the street. Thoroughly reprimanded and a good swat on the behind cured him of that quickly! He stopped with room to spare after that. He such a  little stinker.  After Aaron picked him up I was on the couch.  I finished my book and then, in spite of having been up since 4:30, I could not nap. Typical. New2You from 4-7 was hectic today.   Rachel, a Plymouth house tenant, procured a Bears Breeches for me.  So excited! Hope mine will bloom this year! The weeds in the backyard there are s...

I often find myself with 15 minutes before I need to do whatever.  This morning I went out and walked all around the yard and took pictures of my irises.  There are 9 different ones blooming at the moment.  I will post them later.  i have to go.  My 15 minutes are up.  Don't want to be late!   first one peonies meadow sweet geranium columbines pinks bear's breeches