October???

last 2 weeks f August flew by....and so did September.

The temps are cooler, praise the Lord!

All I did this summer was sweat....I swear!

 This is my kitchen wall, the only one without cabinets.

My Dad had knife magnets installed, more than 20 years ago.

For some reason, I always have been skittish about using theThis m....

but after 3 years, I guess i am used to them...

This mug made me crack up...

I wish I pooped glitter!

 One of the last things I sold ....it makes room in the yard and fattened a bit the vacate fund.

 Bob Ross has a game named after him!

Who knew the guy was such an icon???

 On my way back to work from a doctor's appointment

I snapped this beautiful and intriguing fountain.

that sight really made my day!

                                Cleaning the carport, I opened a box and spotted these Pyrex treasures....
                                I am not ashamed to proclaim that I brought them back inside!
                                They appeared at my one and only garage sale in 2016.....
                                 They did not sell.....



So far the water feature is closed, the front steps have been repainted and I removed the weeds from the front of the house....

Next weekend it is Canadian Thanksgiving...and we plan to close both fountains and plant the perennials I purchased. And slowly closing the flower borders for the winter.

Maybe we feast and give thanks with oysters...or a roast...I have no idea yet

Stay safe,warm and happy my faithful readers

See you soon!

Last Thursday

So we are gently settling down in our new life....I cook healthier with even more veggies, less fat and less salt and more lean protein...

Dan is going to physiotherapy and doing the exercises and doing better.

I find that since things are calmer I am more tired and lazier.

I believe that is my way of heeling and coping.

Tuesday I worked in the office, Wednesday at home and was just too lazy to go out after...Thursday I could not wake up and kept snoozing...

Finally 2 hours later I messaged my boss and said sorry I will work from home, I could not wake up!

Yes I am grateful that my employer is flexible and I can work from home pretty much when I want!

So Thursday at around 5:00 PM , I decide that I need to go pick up essentials at the grocery store...

So I go outside and I see a lot of firemen.....and one tells me : Maa'm you can't stay there....this is closed up.....

So I just went back home....

 Good firemen but not calendar worthy....

They evacuated a lot of our neighbors....

 The street was blocked off for 2 hours because it turned out there was a 

gas leak.My SD came back from work and could not get in her apartment.....We sent her to a restaurant... And then they turned off the power for 28 blocks....

so I figured that I might as well use the BBQ to

cook turkey quesadillas!

 Since I was on the balcony I decided to take a picture of the snowed yard.

Sorry about the pic definition...since there was no light it is kind of fuzzy...

To be honest this really stressed me out!

Ever since the 1998 ice storm, I guess really stressed whenever we have a power outage...

Woohoo!

I am really happy to announce that the books in the green room are gone to their new home!

WOOT!

200 boxes....OMG

All gone!

 A big weight is off my chest!

I feel I can move forward, enjoy life and have fun!

 Speaking of fun....

we went to an amazing church basement sale....

and of course we are not even out of the car that we spot these beauties...

I need to add Charities to our list of vintage addictions....

the wood will be refinished and we will enjoy those in our 2 living rooms.

 This sweet thing I spotted in a container in a flea market in eastern Ontario....

I just saw the color and knew I had to check it out! 

The seller wanted $7 and I offered $5.....

DEAL! 

I kept it close to my heart until we came to the car...

Good thing I always pack bubble wrap and newspaper in the car!

 This past weekend was actually the first weekend in a long time without rain

and really cooler temperatures.....So we went to garden centers for supplies!

I bought a new papyrus plant for the water garden as well some water lettuces and originating plants.

It doesn't look like much now but as they grow it should look good.

One fountain started...one more to go!

this one is the easy one.the size is manageable and not

too heavy...the other one another matter!

The rhododendrons are in full bloom.

My Dad loved them so much.

And he was always pushing me to buy some...

To tell you the truth they scared the bejesus out of me!

But now that I have 15 in the garden...it is okay.

we do our best and that's it!

What more can we do?

Sunday

Okay so I didn't  post anything yesterday...

But on Friday night I made ratatouille  and meat sauce, so tonight we were able to have baked pasta.

Today we raked leaves, closed the 2 fountains and put away pots.

I have issues dealing with the water garden because it is stinky right now and there is a lot of water I need to dispose of.....

It  is not like I could just pour it down a drain....There is NO drain and the yard is mostly paved.

I might pour some bleach in it just to remove the stink, not a lot but just enough....


I never even thought of taking pictures....

Be well

and sleep tight!

In the garden

Every week, I make the garden a little bit more mine.

It is hard because I feel Dad everywhere but I am sure he would agree with my changes.

I think in the last few years he got lazy and just didn't bother with varied plant choices....

The garden is in dire need of fertilizer ! Which I will apply shortly .

 And it needs color, but it is harder since it is a shade garden...

I decided to put a pumpkin for fall color...

Those darn squirrels did quite to party with it...

The mums are doing better!

 I planted most of my spring bulbs: Snowdrops, crocuses,

bluebells....and a few bare root astilbes.

Like this one....It will be pink

Of course I am crossing my fingers!

This morning I went to visit Yoda at the vet.

She spent the weekend there....

Since she's diabetic and had diarrhea and some vomiting

for a couple of days...it was best they keep her to monitor the situation.

This morning she ate dry food and moist food and tried to make a break for it!

She is on the mend!

her cat friends miss her....

I had to replace my old laptop and I finally figured out how to add pictures to

my blog posts, with help of course, and hopefully I will post more often!

Take care! 

Herb Garden

I love gardening but I am quite lazy....

But I miss my veggie garden. A LOT.

So I bought some herbs and sowed some.

And this is the result

Chives, rosemary, kale, thyme, parsley, bell peppers, sage....

And this is arugula.

Since those pics were taken, I sowed some lettuce and yellow bush beans...

we will see what comes out of this impromptu veggie/herb garden

In the mean time...

stay well my friends!

Who Knew?

Growing up, my Dad was puttering in our small backyard every chance he got.

He worked 12-14 hours a day very often. He would go to his workshop on Saturdays...So garden time was Sundays.

I was young and eager to learn. I learned about the differences in plants, the bulbs, annuals versus perenials.

Dad would often find that I was all thumbs, but I loved hanging out in the yard planting bulbs and drinking tea.

When we bought the house in the burbs, I mostly planted plants I loved from my childhood. Lillies, irises, delphiniums, lupines and rosa rugosa.

Let's face it I bit off way more I could chew...eventually my yard was like a jungle and even if I worked on it
I felt overwhelmed....

Here in my new garden, I am still learning to know what every thing is, which plant needs what, how to trim the vines and clematis.

 The fountains are quite the new thing for me.

This cute one was called the cat's fountain by Dad.

Actually my cats are kinda scared of it...lol

But a lot of birds drop by everyday.

 I need to clean the pump every week or it gets full of debris...

 The pump died for the bigger one....I bought a new one....

And there is a piece missing!

All the components are waiting patiently....

and the mosquitoes!!!

Where I lived, since I was near the water we had millions of mosquitoes...

Dad kept telling me there were no mosquitoes in Montreal...

WRONG!!! I am full of bites!

I ordered some mosquito dunks to help with the problem...

I'll keep you posted!

Have a great night :)

In the garden

My Dad's house has a special garden.

It is a secret oasis. I have been told that people could never imagine that this kind of place existed in Montreal...

 Meghan is enjoying quiet time on her private island...

 A quiet green haven

 Do I spy a pink flamingo?

I love hearing the cool gurgling of the cat's fountain.

Yes my Dad had this fountain installed for his cats...

I have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that this is my garden....

The accountant/executor is being a total mean lady and doesn't share info at ALL

I am worried that she doesn't follow the steps as she should.....

this adds up to my anxiety BIG TIME!

If you are looking for me...I will be by the fountain chilling....

Hodge Podge

Today I have multiple things to write about so I decided to bundle them all together... 

 This picture was taken on Napoleon st. Near the top,you

can see Mount Royal and the cross. It lights up at night.

It was erected in 1643 by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (the city's founder)

 fulfilling his vow to the Virgin Mary in his prayers to end a disastrous flood.

The cross is made of steel and consists of 1,830 pieces joined by 6,000 rivets weighing 26 tons. It is 31.4 metres tall and its arms span 11 metres and it stands 252 metres above the St. Lawrence River. Following the latest renovation, it is lit by 158 18-LED bulbs.Next to the cross, a plaque marks the emplacement of a time capsule buried in 1992, during Montreal's 350th birthday celebration. It contains messages and drawings from 12,000 children, depicting their visions for the city in the year 2142, when it is scheduled to be opened.

It is one of my favorite things from Montreal and I would like to thank Wiki for 

that bit of history of our cross. I remember when I was a wee girl I saw the cross with red lights

during Holy week.

NEXT!!!

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for fennel italian sausage 

at the grocery store and could not find any....

I wrote the company and lo and behold they invited me to their company store!

 It was so clean and exotic!

Dad would've love that!

He was super curious and was always amazed

of how I would find out about good deals and special places!

 I got my special sausage at half price!

YAY for me! 

Next!

 What enchants me about Easter candy are the beautiful shiny colors.

Most of the time I am disappointed with said candy...

 Look at those beautiful eggs!

I want them all because they are so shiny, bright and colorful....

But I know I will be disappointed!

NEXT!!!

Since Spring is officially here...

This is officially the first Spring sprout.

Forget me not that I got in my Xmas stocking.

I think the tomatoes are sprouting too !

Until next time...

Take care and stay thrifty!

More TCB and Vacation Round Up

On my to do list was a clean up of the spices shelf.....I tend to get messy and just open the door and throw spice jars....

Before

After

 Yes I have a flashlight in my spice shelf....Most of the time I can't see what I have!!!

 The border were badly overgrown and some plants had overstayed their welcome!
I can't stand plants that run amock and take control of the garden!

 So were removed a lot of weeds and perrenials I couldn't stand. I have been lazy in the last
couple of years and it is high time I regain control of the yard!

 

In the corner we had an old climbing rose that had seen better days, out it went.

I will put an Alaska daisy in its place.

It is far from done. The grass you see will eventually be all gone too.

We also have rogue garlic growing all over the place....

So we dug some out.

I am letting it dry a bit.

And it seems I have a furry helper....

 So cute!

 The veggie garden is coming along....

And I started drying out herbs for the winter. Here's sage next to the garlic.
Also I dried oregano and lemon thyme...

This vacation was the best! We napped, shopped, ate out, read, gardened, swam,gardened, organized, laughed, gardened, laughed, gardened,stained,laughed and gardened!

Of course I wish we could have another week off....

And we will have to keep the TCB focus because we have more stuff to do!

Be well