List - Less

Ok it was the week from hell and I managed to get through it. Caseloads out of control, budget changes and month end all rolled into one. Not to mention my work buddy took this week off , which meant double duty for me, I thought I would snap in half. Crack like crystal hitting cement, go postal, complete and utter mental breakdown. At the beginning of the week, I gave myself a talking to. The difference between a disaster and an adventure is attitude, so I swore I would go to my happy place, keep a positive attitude and not let the situation overwhelm me. It was HARD!! The older I get the less tolerance I have for things but I hung onto my calm, my self control and I made it through the week but I am/was tired. I did not have to ask anyone to help me, I got the cheques out, people dealt with and phone calls returned. Beat me down to a rubbery pulp. Not much done around home this week, all my energy went into my work day and dealing with the public. The needy, duck pecking you to death public................happy place, go to your happy place...............

So this morning I did not exactly jump out of bed. It fact I woke, snoozed, read, snoozed and then got up. I went to the coffee place, got breakfast biscuits and coffee for me, came back home and thought about the day. WHAT THE HECK WAS I GOING TO DO????????? I have to admit, I am without a "to do" list this weekend. EEK!!! I am never without a list. I decided that groceries were non-negotiable, they had to be gotten. That I did, in the hot, humid, soup of a day that we are having. Came home and decided I was done. No list to guide me, I was tired, sweaty, burnt out, I gave myself permission to do nothing for the rest of the day. I did strip the bed, wash the sheets and run the dishwasher but apart from that I settled into a day of knitting and working on my quilt.

Then Mamabug called!! Mamabug who sent me my lovely birthday flowers which are still looking gorgeous more than a week after their delivery:

Anyway she was in town and at loose ends so we met for lunch. I was so happy to see her and it gave me a chance to get Ladybugs quilt squares to her. We had a lovely lunch and a gossip. Good conversation, good food, good friend, I like this sort of a day. After lunch she asked if I wanted to go to the movies that is if I had nothing else to do, which I didn't, so off we went. It was  a lovely way to spend the day. She headed home to the other Bugs after Tom Cruise was done saving the world. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a wet gloomy Saturday. It did a lot  to recharge my batteries and regain my steam after a rough week.

Tonight, I made a little list of things to do tomorrow, sort of to set the world back on track. I don't function well without my lists. I actually have two, one if it rains and one if its nice enough to do some yard work. I know for sure I will not be running errands tomorrow, its Sunday. I usually talk myself out of going shopping on Sundays. I have Monday off and Tuesday is a holiday so I have four days to get recharged!! BRING IT ON!!!

For now I am headed to bed. I have some stuff to get done tomorrow!!

Toodles
Linda

A Burst of Productivity

This weekend started out as the majority of my weekends do, with Friday Night No Cook. The Banker is off vacationing with her Sweet Baboo, The Teacher had to baby sit her grandchildren, and Cupcake Lady came for supper but had to leave us for a social, so it was Teddy Bear, Kit Kat, the Sailor and I who went on for coffee and giggles. We did not linger as long as we usually do, everyone was tired as its been a hectic week. Still it was good to all be together.

This morning, I got up, went and picked up breakfast, and then made a plan of action for the rest of the day. I had my "To Do" list but I had to organize what was going to happen when. In a burst of productivity. a short burst but things were accomplished, this lily bed:

was finally dug up and turned into this at long last:

The lily plants are all stuffed into a garbage bag and actually made it to the dumpster, unlike the dogwood bush which is still under the kitchen window in a tub. But joy of joys, the hostas that I bought a while ago are firmly planted in there new homes. I have a hosta that I will be moving from the back flower bed  but my burst of productivity did not last that long. I cannot tell you how happy I am that this is finally done. I need to put some edging in and then plant some more grass. The lawn shape has changed now I have been digging things out and putting new in. I will not mention that the lawn need mowing but that is a Sunday job in my mind, for some reason. The little garden statuary is a garage sale find that cost me $2.00. Its been living under the kitchen table for the last year or more, waiting for me to finally do this. The last of the inpatients plants are in their pots and tomorrow I will finish the rest of the planting, maybe, hopefully.........we will see.

I rounded out the day with cleaning the kitchen and starting the laundry. Some veranda sitting was also done in-spite of the mosquitoes which are currently swarming everywhere in clouds. Yuck!! No donations made it to the local charity shop, the boxes are still in the kitchen. One of these days!!

I am now going to start on the back flower bed and work at getting it cleaned u but I think that that will be done little by little over the next week. I am hoping to get some of the painting done tomorrow. You never know I may just burst out again!!

Toodles,

Linda 

The Power of a Good Pout

I should be at home this weekend, celebrating Busy's retirement, seeing the family, getting some Tater Tot smooches (little man has learned to give kisses and I want some!!) but schedules, financing and life in general got in the way. I could not make it and I feel bad, I would have liked to have been there. So as I usually do I took the mature route and I am pouting because I can't do it all when I want to do it. There is a silver lining in this pouting malarky, one just has to channel that pouty energy into positive busy-ness and things happen baby, things get done!!

So that is what I did, because I even annoy myself when I am pouting, I got at things. Kit Kat has wanted to go to a local flea market since it started up but she has had no one to go with. As I was at loose ends, we went together. I managed to buy a lovely big basket, a wooden pencil box and a little wire shelf that I am going to paint and see if it will work in my bedroom to hold some of growing egg cup collection. I will post pictures later. We also went to the green house and I got the last of my marigolds, Kit Kat got some plants for her place but could not find a piece of statuary she wants. I did, they have the cutest pig statues for a garden that I covet, covet, covet, but they are $169.99 EACH and that is just out of the question, now and in the foreseeable future. Two three foot tall pig gent and his lady, all dress in their Sunday best and I WANT THEM!! ( I can be childish, in case you didn't know that). I should have taken a picture of them. I will if they are still there when I go again. We stopped at the hardware store for spray paint as I have old plant pots that need a refresh and a garden gnome that is so pale he is almost a ghost.  Lunch was consumed and then we parted ways.

I just got in the door and the plumber dude called to say he could FINALLY come do my taps. WHOOPEE no more drip, drip drip of money going down the drain in the kitchen. So this:

now looks like this:

I decided that since I have always not liked the original taps, I would change it out for ones that I did like. I bought the new set some time ago, thanks to some puppet sales and I have to say I love it. I like the high curved faucet. While I had the plummer in my clutches and had this set of taps waiting to be installed since I had the ones in the upstairs bathroom changed, I had him turn this:

into this

Now the two bathrooms have the same taps. Yes,yes that is very important!! I like the look of these. To me they look old and match the house.  He had a horrible time in the bathroom, its tiny and the sink is even tinier so it was a horrid job to get this switched out. Since I tiled the wall into the sink, he could not remove the sink without breaking the tile. Poor man had a hard time getting his hand up where it needed to be. OOPS. Never thought of that when I was tiling.

While he was slaving in the house, I was outside changing things. Getting stuff done while I had my pout on. Where there once was a blank space:

There is now a new flowering weigela bush and some dainty marigolds as filler. The bush is tiny but I have high hopes it will grow and flower beautifully in a year or so.

The petunias are still in their store containers and waiting me to get some soil hauled from the back yard to the front so they can get planted in Mom's wash tub. That may just happen sometime today. I planted the last of the bedding plants and even planted window boxes this year. I did not bother with them last year and I missed them

And I did my usual thing and plopped a hanging basket in the piggy planter by the step. I like the way it looks. This little piggy is also going to get a new coat of paint once the sun comes out of hiding and the weather is cooperative with outdoor painting.

The last job is this mess:

This assortment of lilies popped up when I removed the wood chips that covered my front lawn and planted the grass. I do not like them. It looks messy. They will be removed in due course and hostas will be planted in their place. I have a hosta I can split from the back yard and two new ones waiting patiently to be planted. I think I have room for 5 but the remainder will have to wait until the cash begins to flow again. Ignore all the trees growing in the front lawn. I cannot keep on top of pulling them out and they are everywhere!! Little bastards.

I turned this poor sad little table that lives on the back step and holds my laundry basket for me, from this

into this:

The tile was given to me and I used an old board for the top. It just sits on the top but it has freshened the old table up and it will stand up to the weather much better now. That window leaning up against the wall will one day be a picture frame and the electronics are waiting The Banker to come with her Sweet Baboo's truck and carry them off to the dump. Several of the No Cook Group have stuff to go to the dump so she is going to do a big run for us.

I have been doing some sewing and the other general housework stuff one does on the weekend. I will share the photos as these things get done. I have some mending to do for some of the ladies at work. That should be my day, I would like to dig the lily bed out and I should finished the last three pots but we will see how it goes.

So that is the up side of pouting!!

Toodles
Linda

LAZY LAZY SUNDAY

Well you could have taken my bet yesterday. Did I go shopping to day? NOPE, totally talked myself out of it when I found a second can of tuna fish in the pantry this morning. Second can of tuna means the cat has something to eat and then I promptly talked myself into staying home. I can make do but Minou is not going to be make to suffer because I have Sunday issues.

Another beautiful day, sunny, cool, gentle breeze. I parked my butt on the veranda and lazed away a good part of the day watching the world go by. A friend stopped by with a scrabble game she had purchased at a yard sale for me. Then Mamabug stopped in for a short moment to pick up Babybug's quilt. It was lovely to see her even if it was only for a few minutes. Finally that poor little man has his quilt. I hang my head in shame that he did not get it earlier.Now if I can get LadyBug caught up on her birthday story quilt blocks I will feel so much better about myself. I am not even going to talk about the second quilt I was going to make for The Tater Tot. ARGUE!! I need to retire, I need more time to do my projects. Teddy Bear popped in to borrow my wall mop and we had a chat. Lots of company today which is wonderful.

Today I did no more yard work, I did not go shopping and I did not do a lot of the things I had planned. Partly I was not in the mood and partly I was not feeling on top if my game. Maybe actually doing some work yesterday shocked my system. Ah well, I did strip the bed, washed the sheets and mattress cover, then I plan to make it up with the cotton sheets. The flannelette can finally go for a rest and the cotton can come out for their season. The mattress cover is drying on the clothes line even now. My bed is gonna smell so good tonight. Lavender and fresh air, yum!! I use lavender sachets in my linens. I am feeling more like my old self this afternoon. My story is that I needed this day on idleness for my mental health......for my peace of mind.........or maybe just cause I could.

I did some more tiling on the table that lives on the back step. I took a before picture with my old camera so I will share the before and afters when I get it grouted and then it can be outside. Once its completed, I will take to tiling the tv table for the patio.

 Ah well there is always tomorrow.

Toodles,
Linda

AND THERE WAS YARD WORK!!

Yes, yes, yes, a miracle took place and I actually got some yard work done. I even took some pictures but they are on my phone and I don't know how to transfer them. I managed to transfer one to facebook so I have one lonely little picture to share.  My camera charger is still at large. I give up, I am going to have to go buy one so I can find the old one. It always happens, we all know it but I digress. Yard work. There has been progress and this make me happy.

I did goof off a a bit this morning, I went got my usual breakfast biscuit and coffee, then I sat on the veranda and watched the summer fair parade get ready out on my street, drinking said coffee. It was a perfectly beautiful day to day, sunny, cool, perfectly perfect. On my street this morning, there were dancing girls, cowboys, nursery story characters, dogs of all sorts and lots of men in kilts with bagpipes. I totally thought Sir Barks A Lot was going to burst a blood vessel with all those other animals and people to bark at. I was going to work in the yard but I put it off until the street cleared. No point in having an audience while I grunt and sweat my way around.

The Sailor stopped over to borrow the miter saw. Once that was accomplished I could put it off no longer. Out came the garden tools and I got stuck in. So far the front flower beds are dug up, the weed whacking has been done and the variegated dogwood bush that I innocently killed with weed killer has been removed from the front corner. See all gone:

I will replace the poor dead dogwood with another bush of some sort. I want a flowering one of some kind.  I need to get some more grass seed and get the hostas put in. Speaking of hostas I also need to get my bedding plants, I have to go shopping. I have a list and I am hoping to get some tomorrow.

I admit my yard is very small, and this did not take all that long and I do not do the best job but I am so happy to at least have started. There is still a lily bed to dig out and replace with some lovely and yet unpurchased hostas. The lilac bushes need trimming and weeding. I have "new to me" wood chips to put down but I got started and in Linda Land that is a very big deal. If I could be on my knees, this all would be so much easier but I just can't. It is way too painful and if I got down, I may never get up again. So I do a little, rest a little, do some more and it works.

Tomorrow I hope to paint some plant pots, weed whack the heck out of the back section of the yard where I park my car. Its weedtopia back there. I hope to get a start on some of the flowers as well. I need to check out how much spray paint I have and what colours. I need to grit my teeth and actually go out on a Sunday and get some supplies.I need to do a lot but anyone wanna place bets on me talking myself out of shopping on a Sunday??? Anyone??

Teddy Bear and I met The Hostess today for coffee. Oh, it was so nice to see her. We had a lovely visit. She is eagerly waiting the birth of her second grandchild. She is also starting to do some renos at her new house. We chatted away a couple of hours in no time before she had to move on to her next visit. Teddy Bear and I lingered over coffee then went our separate ways.

I, now need to figure out what I am going to do for the rest of the evening. I did have one plan but I am not in the mood and for that project you have to be in the mood because I want it to be the best that it can be. So now I am at a loss. Certainly not that there is not plenty to be done. Its just a matter of figuring out where to start.

I think I 'll start with a cup of tea

Toodle
Linda

Lovely Weekend or I Don't Want To Go To Work Tomorrow

Why are weekends only two days long?? I think they should flip them, five days off and then work for two with the same or even a bigger wage!! WHOOT WHOOT, I could go for that. Well, since I do not live it an alternate universe, the weekend is two days, its nearly over but its been a very good one in which even some work at home was accomplished.

Friday Night No Cook, of course, wa filled with silly giggles, fun times, good food and good friends. Laughing until tears stream down you face is the very best way to end a stressful work week. I highly recommend it. Our little No Cook group has been going for 5 years and we all hate to miss out on being together for our Friday nights.

Saturday, The Banker, Kit Kat and I made a date to go garage saling. Teddy Bear joined us after she was finished her weekly breakfast with her other friends. Oh my, we had a great time. Laugh laugh laugh!! finding great bargains, getting lost, poking fun at each other, indulging in a super lovely lunch at one of the best places in town. More yard sales then ending the day in Teddy Bear's kitchen with a cold drink and more chatting. I love this sort of a day. I like to look for deals and inspiring finds and I have gotten so good at not buying all sorts of junk. I like it even better when I have great friends to share it with.

I have no pictures to show because I still cannot find the charger for my camera and I have not gotten to the store to get a new one. I never even got groceries this weekend, too busy yesterday and too lazy today. At the yard sales I got some odds and ends like a cookie tin and a veggie tray which were 25 Cents and 10 cents each , so no heartbreak if I take them someplace and they do not come home. I got a lovely little stained glass candle older that looks like a little lamp. I got a purse made out of recycled seat belts for 25 cents. It needs a little cleaning but since they sell for over $100. I am doing the happy dance, I have wanted one for a long time. I got a couple of pieces of rug canvas which means now I can try out locker hooking, a plant for the flower bed and a tv tray. The tv tray will be mosaic tiled and used outside by the barbecue. I was going to use another table for that but I like the other table where it sits at the moment. Its handy to put the laundry basket on when I am hanging out clothes. My $1.00 tv tray will be fine to use on the patio. I also got a lovely acrylic tray which will be super for fruit and dip.( $2.00 ) I picked it up and looked at it three times before I decided it need to come home with me. I got a wooden bottle divider which would sit in a crate but it does not have its crate anymore, what it has is it has is lots of possibilities. I think that was all. I doubt I spent $12.00 and I had an entire day of fun fun fun!!

Today I FINALLY got the lawn mowed. I have decided to do the yard work like I have been doing the house work lately, a little at a time. SO today I mowed the lawn, weed whacked and then washed down some of the veranda furniture, swept the sidewalk and had a chat with the nieghbour. He is a nice young man, I am going to be sad to see him go when he sells his house. He is going to take my portable air conditioner that I no longer want and leaks. He thinks he can fix it and I want to get one that does not need to be emptied over night. I want a continuous running one. Tomorrow night I hope to get the front flower beds dug up. I want to plant this coming weekend. I think I am going to paint some of the plant pots this year, give them a bit of a brightening up. Gnorm the Garden Gnome may get a paint job too. Poor baby is so sun faded its tragic. I think I will paint him solid colour and see what he looks like. You can paint anything!!

My back flower bed is at a point where I need to start from scratch. The little plant I bought at a yard sale, will turn into a bush. So out goes the half dead spirea bush in the back yard and in goes the new plant with high hopes that it will grow up lovely!! So many poor plants died over the last two winters. I have finally figured out where to move the lily of the valley!! I love that stuff but its invasive. I am scared its going to choke out my lovely hostas.

I have been making baby blankets and plotting big plans for the yard this weekend. I am  looking foreward to getting the pad under the kitchen window made. It will eliminate a lot of weeds and allow the barbecue to sit level. I should paint the bench that is out there too. It all lovely chippy paint but I think its too chippy now and it needs to be saved. just have to figure out what  colour to paint it. Its green at the moment, like the trim on the house. Needs a change. I will consult The Banker, she is always good for an idea.

I will get a camera charger and I will be sharing before and after pictures as these little projects get done!!

So that is my weekend in a nutshell. I am not sharing how the work week went. It was Craptastic. I am more and more getting to the point where going to work to day is losing its charm. I am getting too old to deal with all this drama. I want quiet, puttering around the house, setting my own schedule. Ah if wishes were horses.......


Toodles,
Linda