Annaliese's Visit

Since I don’t blog every day, it is not so easy to recollect all the activities of the past couple of weeks.  Some days just flew by and I am sure I was busy with something but thought it not worthwhile reminiscing about it.  There were some days I sure do remember.  In the spring it was my intention to give our deck a good sanding to remove old wood preserver and residue that the pressure washer didn’t take off. My trip got in the way and then when I wanted to do it, we had a lot of rain that made the job impossible.  Finally, the weather was right and I took the opportunity to get on with the task.  The Thompson’s Water Seal happened to be on sale that week also, which was just perfect.  There was a lot of wind the day I crawled around the deck with the sander in hand and I decided to leave the dust collector off because most of the sanding dust just blew off into the sky.  However, I sure needed a good dusting and brushing before coming into the house for lunch and a powerful long hot shower before crawling into bed for the night. That sanding job took me all day and I certainly was glad when it was done. 

Reapplying the Water Seal with a brush I found works the best.  In the past I had tried a roller, that created annoying bubbles and the foam brushes ripped and didn’t reach the gaps.  This whole job of rejuvenating the deck once a year is a pain. Especially for my back!  In hindsight we should have used composite decking even if the surface gets hotter in the sun and mold could develop I read online, but it seems that is the way to go nowadays and sometime in the future we might exchange the existing planking for it.  Anyway, the job got done and our two Doxies are enjoying the deck the most.

The town of Wheatley next to Leamington had its annual town wide yard sale this past weekend.  There were a few things we had been kicking around the attic that were no longer of use to us and this yard sale seemed a good way of trying to find new owners for the things and to even get a little cash for them.  When it comes to small stuff it’s no use trying to sell it on the Internet but rather to put on a table and let people see and touch it.  The sale was advertised to run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. town wide.  A couple of days before the sale we put all the items for sale on two tables in the garage and stuck price stickers on them before we would load everything into big plastic bins to be put into the truck.

Two years ago several neighbors held a street yard sale at which we participated. We sold almost everything and got complaints from some of our neighbors that we hadn’t shown them our merchandise beforehand, because they would have grabbed some of it. 

So this time we went over to the neighbors to give them the opportunity to check out our goodies.  I guess we had some fine looking tools from the house construction and good clean stuff because the load became a lot lighter to bring to the sale!

Waiting for the customers

On Saturday sharp at 7 a.m., Benno and I set up our tables on a corner of a public parking lot at a major road in Wheatley.  Before we had a chance to unpack everything there and stage the tables a couple of guys stopping their van to see what we had.  Tools, tools, tools!! Five minutes later we had sold already a few things and had a few bills in the till and it was not even 8 a.m. for the yard sale opening. Yep, it was a fun Saturday morning, Mennonite families with children, men in pickup trucks cruising looking for a deal, plenty of tables along the curb. Down at the harbor free fishing for the kids with prizes.  At 1 p.m. we called it a day to drive home.  We were really cleaned out good and my wallet got zipper troubles, all what we had left were a handful of things from the camper’s renovation like a new plastic sink and kitchen stuff etc.  We were quite pleased with the outcome of the yard sale.

This summer we agreed to host our two eldest grandkids for several days.  Our middle granddaughter, Annaliese, turned 6 years old in June and she was to come first.  We picked her up in London, Ontario, almost a two-hour drive from our house and about halfway to Waterdown where they live.  Our son brought her in his car after work. This way we only had to drive 4 hours instead of the 8-hour round-trip.  At past visits with our two Doxies in tow there was never enough time for our granddaughters to bond with the dogs or opportunities to play with them.  Well, it turned out that our Reggy was totally smitten with Annaliese. While our Elsa was very generous to give kisses to Annaliese, Reggy couldn’t get enough belly rubs.  He begged her to be petted every opportunity he got.

There was a lot of laughing and giggling when Opa explained at the dinner table how he’d messed up his shirt the first time he ate Spaghetti by turning the fork too fast. 

One day while it rained outside, Annaliese pieced together (in record time) a 100-piece puzzle and when that was done she then drew a colorful picture.  In the afternoon she helped fill dessert shells with pudding and decorated them with strawberries and whipping cream.  But best of all was that she got to eat her creation, too.

At bedtime we spoiled Annaliese with fun DVD movies she was allowed to watch before going to sleep.  The Doxies would not leave her site until we carried them out so that she could rest, but all three would have preferred to cuddle together for the night.

Way too soon it was to say goodbye to Annaliese and to drive her back to our rendezvous spot in London where our son was waiting for her.  During the drive there was another fun movie for Annaliese to watch, which made the time fly by fast.

Sorry for the blurry picture it was done with my iPad

Back here at home, I have discovered that the empty bird nest in the Clematis plant at my shed is no longer empty.  There are new eggs in it and a Robin is nesting again.  My goodness, there must be a lot of Robins hopping about in our area.

Elsa on Benno's lap

And some other news: we think our Elsa will be a mommy.  It is still early and we cannot say for sure, but time will tell.  So stay tuned we will update you in the coming weeks what is happening.

Hello Everyone

Hi, I’m back from my trip to Germany.  Actually, I’ve come back several days ago, but I got immediately immerged into several projects here at home so that posting in my blog fell to the wayside.

Travel time to my parents house for anyone interested is a 20 hr. event and I’m up without sleep more than 36 hrs. It involves the drive to the Windsor Airport from our house, my flight to Toronto, then to Frankfurt Germany and on to Hamburg Germany, a train ride from the Airport to the Central Station and from there a fast train to a neighboring city close to my parents town and from there a car ride to their house.  Included are the waiting times in-between flights and delays!! Germany is 6 hours ahead of EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) so I’d been jetlagged there and coming back.

How do you kill time during the 8-hour transatlantic flight? One way is to getting entertained by watching several in-flight movies, snacking on pretzels and a Bailey on ice for example.

In my pre trip preparations I spent a lot of time on research as to what changes I might suggest and what services would be available in order to help my parents in a new situation.  I am happy to announce that my Dad’s recovery went very well.  Also my Mom is doing better considering all the ailments and pain that she has to cope with.  If you’ve been driving a car for over 60 years and all of a sudden it is being suggested that it is time to discontinue that practice, it must be hard to swallow.  Hopefully I’ve been helpful in the transition while I talked my 92-year-old Dad into driving a spiffy 16 km or 10 miles/hr. Scooter that is even allowed on the road but does not require a driver’s license and he doesn’t have to walk to the supermarket to get a few groceries!  Now, when is Mom going to get one too?

My parents have a beautiful property and garden that I wish it were mine.  Wait! It was mine for the duration of my stay and at times I didn’t know if I ripped out a weed or a seedling while trying to get in control of the flower beds that had been waiting for my arrival.

I thought my parents had a great idea when they converted the fire pit into a water fountain and the birds liked to drink from it also.

Speaking of birds, the very next day after I had posted about our Robin’s nest, all three Fledglings hurriedly flew out just as I was going to have a look.  The birdhouse has been empty since then but to my utter surprise a new Robin’s nest has emerged in our Clematis plant at my garden shed.  How those spindly vines support the nest I have no idea but it looks like there are at least three young Robins in it and the parents take turns all day long to feed them.

During my absence Benno had not been idling I discovered.  The runoff water from the rain gutter had been eroding part of the grass next to the house.  The ground is sloped and I had considered making a trench and creating steps to rectify that eyesore upon my return but Benno had a better idea.  He dug out and made a large hole in a triangle shape next to the walkway, that he boarded up with a plank and disposed of all the dirt.  It was a lot of clay I was told and then he waited for my return to finish the job ;-)  Together we hauled with our utility trailer three loads (buckets) full of gravel, which we poured into this catch basin that I had lined with a landscape mat.  This new invention passed the test, all the rainwater disappears into the gravel and no more water eats at the grass.  Why hadn’t I thought of that?

And while at the topic of water, this might be of interest to our RV friends.  Lately we had no reason to visit, i.e. go into our camper because it is parked right next to the house.  Benno washes it regularly and it looks like new.  Two days ago Benno went in and to his horror found the floor in the entrance way wet.  What happened?  The first thought was a window had been left open.  No! Rain came in from the slide-out. No!  The door doesn’t shut tight. No again!

A quick search in the galley underneath the sink in the counter and where all the water connections are to and from the water heater, a straight plastic Pex stop valve had popped the O-ring and was dripping a steady amount of water. Enough to get us jumping!

12 o'clock of the plastic valve you see the popped O-ring

The famous In-line water regulator, which we always use in RV parks to police the incoming water pressure somehow did not get mounted here at home in trust of our own city water pressure. This was like a shot in the foot; our city water must have coughed up more than the usual pressure and bingo, this blew an O-ring.

Benno replaced the leaking culprit with a Pex chromed brass ball valve. (We used numerous of these Pex chromed brass ball valves on our boat and never had a leak) I made sure that Benno mounted that water regulator at the city water tap on our post. Whew, and we hadn’t even traveled anywhere.

Since my return home I have tackled several garden related jobs but of course I forgot to take pictures. My brave husband had watered my flower beds like I had trained him, but he watered the weeds too. Yep! When I got back from my trip and looked at my flower beds I went down on my knees but not to cry (I almost did), but to pull the weeds for days to come!! 
Hopefully my faithful readers will forgive me and I promise to take my camera with me in the future.

Past week happenings

Our three nestlings have developed into fledglings in a matter of a couple of weeks.  They are still being fed and guarded in their nest by their parents, but I have the feeling that in a few days the nest will be empty and all three chicks will be hopping around in our garden.  With the dreadful weather that we experienced during their nesting time I had been worried that they might not survive the heavy downpours, strong wind gusts and cold nights, but all seems to be ok. 

The adult birds don’t seem to mind when we work outside around the garage.  Their nest is located in the birdhouse high up on the east side of the garage wall, however when I climb up on a stepstool to take a picture of their offspring, they protest loudly and stay close by to observe my every move.  Mostly I leave them alone, but to show these pictures of their development I had to invade their privacy.

Last Friday was Grandparents Day at the Catholic School in Waterdown, Ont. where our two granddaughters learn.  Last year we went to this event and this year we had also committed to come.  As most of our readers know, last Friday was the worst weather one could imagine.  We had heavy rain already on Thursday and our area was under flood watch. Nevertheless, at 5:30 a.m. we left in the dark with the rain coming in a steady downpour that never eased up.  Actually, it got worse since the traffic on the highway 401 (the 401Hwy is the major trucking corridor between Chicago, Detroit - Toronto and Montreal) was reduced to one lane for many kilometers because of construction and the many transport trucks that have to press on because they have deadlines.  We made the 280-km/175 miles long drive just in time for the start of the school’s grandparent’s attendance at 9:20 a.m. 

The kids, who normally wear a uniform, were dressed in casual attire with a green theme and various activities had been planned.  We, the grandparents, were shown around the school and attended the different activities.  Because we have two grandkids to attend to our time was split between the senior kindergarten class for Annaliese, and the 2^nd grade class for Heidi.  Our daughter-in-law’s mom had also come from Hamilton for the event, so we took turns in attendance in the classrooms.  

After the school’s visit we did a few shopping errands and then went to my sister’s house for a visit. She and her husband live in Mississauga, which is in the greenbelt of Toronto. The rain never stopped, but we all went for a walk with our dogs in their neighborhood so the dogs could get some exercise before our return trip.  Needless to say, we were a bit stressed coming home around 8 p.m. having driven in the rain the whole time and close to 600 km/375 miles in one day.

Last Wednesday we, and just about every neighbor were out to cut the grass before the ground would be too soggy with the proclaimed soaker we got.  That of course takes the better half of the day including the trimming and cleanup. And then I cooked up a storm in preparation of my trip to Germany so that my hubby and the dogs won’t go hungry in my absence. I just mention this in case anybody thinks we are lazing around ;-)

While I spent my time in the kitchen, Benno found something to occupy his time and came up with an idea to improve his workstation at the lathe. He made a really nifty shelf that is attached to the back with the multipurpose of protecting the wall from flying metal pieces and to house his various cutting oils and tools at a practical level.  When it was finished he painted it in the same green shade as the bottom part of the lathe and lined the shelf with a colorful liner.  Then he modified an Ikea LED table lamp and installed it above the shelf with the on/off switch at the side of the machine. It looks like the additions came with the lathe, if I may say so. 

While we were in the Toronto area on Friday Benno bought a piece of brass at the Metal Store.  Yesterday, he showed me his newest creation made from that rough piece of metal.  It is a scriber, which looks a lot like a pen. It is a pointed instrument used for making marks on wood or metal to guide a saw etc. Of course you could buy one of these instruments, but this one is unique and he had fun making it. For the pointed end he used part of a heavy-duty needle, which we still had, from our canvas repair kit from our boat.

I wonder what other fabulous creations will emerge from that lathe…