I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today. Enjoy your weekend.
I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today. Enjoy your weekend.
Hi friends,
Are you all looking forward to spring? The community gardeners are gearing up and plans must be made because there is a contractual obligation to plant the garden by May 1st. My nephew's girlfriend is still interested in gardening and so we're trying to get her a plot of her own. We should know soon enough. If she doesn't get one this year she can continue sharing mine. My DH Jonah also loves the garden and takes a walk to the garden and park every day in summer. This year he might also share a roundabout plot with another gardener so we can plant some veggies there.
I didn't do much in my patio garden last year. Largely because I heard the strata management was investigating the garden membranes and awaiting a report about whether they need replacement. It seems they do need replacement and one of options for strata members to consider is to do away with the gardens altogether with the exception of what you plant in a container. Not everyone in the building has a garden that has a retaining walls, dirt and trees like I do. Some people have much smaller patios and no gardens, some have large patios and no gardens, some have enclosed sunrooms and no gardens and some have large patios and a decent sized garden. Over the years it seems like there are more and more rules to follow largely due to critters in the city. We can't even feed the birds or grow vegetables. We can still plant flowers. I think most people with no garden will not support the idea of replacing everything for those that do because of the cost and also the cost of living increases. I'm okay with this outcome to be honest. I too don't want to be shelling out extra money for a garden I don't really enjoy with the unpredictable climate we've been having year after years for many years now. The decision about the garden will be made soon. In fact I'm surprised I haven't received notice of the Annual General Meeting though it should be delivered any day now.
I loved my garden when it's done well. But I'm at the point where I really don't want the responsibility of the garden any more. Not only is the weather very unpredictable but I'm not a natural gardener and I don't keep to a gardener's schedule very well. I have one bush that has such extensive roots that it's very difficult to grow anything in the rest of the garden. I have another tree, my favourite Dogwood. It died last year after hanging on for several years. I'm not actually sure what happened to it because my neighbours Dogwood has done very well compared to mine but that corner of my garden isn't very good in general for growing as the sun very seldom reaches it and it remains cold a lot of the time. On my neighbour's side, the sun's rays reach her Dogwood tree a good deal of the time. Perhaps that is why her tree is much healthier.
There is also the building's structural issues to consider. I understand there are some concerns about the weight of the gardens and the impact on the structure. To be honest, I wondered about that when I first moved in. Not only is the dirt very heavy, but some gardens like mine have bushes and trees planted in them. When you add the weight of all the watering, it can all get very heavy indeed. So I've come to appreciate there are lots of good reasons for eliminating the buildings 'planted' gardens.
Indoors there are plans underway for gardening too. I started buying plant soil so I can replant my succulents and tropical plants. I got started on the planting but before I can finished I to find some of pots which I stored outdoors. For now I've cleaned off the mantle. My it sure collected a lot of spilled dirt from the plants over the winter . I've made do with the pots I had indoors but I may need to repot the one in the terra cotta planter. I love terra cotta pots and largely use them outdoors. The colour doesn't go well with the gray, white and black theme on the mantle.
I'm loving my new flameless LED candles. |
Hello friends,
Thank you to all who left well wishes and comments on my last post. I truly appreciate your beautiful words.
I trust you are well and enjoying summer/winter wherever you are in the world. There is so much going on around the world. Most of it is not that positive so it's important we do what we can to safeguard our mental and physical health to help us cope. Some of the ways I safeguard mine are through enjoying nature (the sky and gardening), reading, short walks and some self-care now and then (exercise, prayer, deep breathing, relaxation, slow routines, mani-pedis and massage). I was blessed to do most of the above this week. All the photos in this post were taken this week.
Today (July 10th) was a lovely day. |
I had my second booster shot a few days ago. All went well save for a sore arm on the second day after the shot. Not everyone in my province has had their first booster shot yet let alone their second shot. They have to be eligible first and eligibility is generally based on health status and age. For some reason the head doctor here makes the age cut off very high unlike all other jurisdictions in the country. I think that is wrong headed but I'm not the one making the decisions. Just the other day however I read that the government has opened things to everyone aged 12 and older to get a booster shot in the fall when Covid cases are expected to increase once more.
Jonah had his 2 vaccinations in Kenya and that was good enough to travel and enter Canada when he travelled in May. But like most insurance there is a waiting period to get a health card here in the province of BC before he can register for his booster shots. Once the waiting period is over he can complete health card registration provided he has received the permanent resident (PR) card issued federally.
Canada is very backlogged in virtually every area of service due to the pandemic so PR cards and other things are taking months to receive instead of a week or two. We were happy that Jonah's card did indeed arrive at just under 2 months wait time and he has been able to register or apply for the last bits of documentation he needs. It's a huge relief since many people are experiencing significantly longer wait times.
Jonah has been very busy getting accustomed to life and work here and he has been enjoying both. The other day he joined the work party at the community garden to help repair the raised beds that were falling apart and to do some extensive weeding around the plots. Weeding and general upkeep of the community garden area is the responsibility of all gardeners who have a plot but most of them don't seem to do much. Maybe they don't know that they have to volunteer 4 hours of time over the summer to the work needs of the garden. I certainly didn't know until the new chairman pointed it out a few weeks ago. Basically, Jonah's garden work on Saturday fulfilled the volunteer hours required for this year. In addition, my nephew's girlfriend put in several hours of work a few weeks ago so we have more than covered our volunteer work hours requirement for the year. We only have one plot which my nephew's girlfriend has planted and tended this year. I'm hoping next year she will be able to get her own plot because she loves the gardening process. I hope they don't say she is disqualified due to living too far from the neighbourhood.
My left leg is still giving me problems though I do see signs of improvement here and there. I'm trying to make sure I take time to do the exercises and the walking recommended by the physiotherapist. It's been a difficult balance because it doesn't take too long before I've overdone the walking. I had such a day on Friday when Jonah and I went out to do our business. I came home very tired and spent the rest of the weekend indoors to recover and get the housework done slowly so I can be ready for the week ahead. I also spent some time outside in the garden. When I wasn't outside I left my patio door wide open and enjoyed seeing the little hummingbirds come by. I also enjoyed the chirping of birds. They were very active this weekend. I don't remember hearing them last summer when there was so much smoke in the air. That couldn't have been good for their little lungs at all.
Last, but not least, I finally made time on Wednesday to get a mani-pedi. I've been needing a good clean up of the nails for quite some time but don't like to pay the prices or sit for so long. I was glad I did get there as the young woman who worked on me had a very pleasant personality and I asked her to give me an extra long hand massage because she asked me to wait for my manicure while she worked on another client who was there with a friend. I agreed to her request and she gave me a nice long massage when she returned to work on my fingernails.
In the "old" days one would always get a wonderful hand and foot massage as part of the mani-pedi. Nowadays you mostly have to pay a premium for these services. If a salon does happen to include a massage with their basic service it is usually nothing to speak of. Often you don't even get one especially since they started using gel nail polish. While I was waiting for the nail tech to be free, I enjoyed a nice, long massage on the massage chair.
It's been a busy week despite the leg issue and I'm expecting another busy week ahead.
I wish you all a wonderful and happy week where ever you are in the world.
Stay safe. 💓💓💓
Hey friends and fellow bloggers,
I hope the week is going well for you. It's been a bit busy for me but not with anything major. I just have a lot of little things to do and small things to catch up on. Don't you find that little things seem to take more time somehow?
I completed the murder-mystery by Canadian author Shari Lapena. I enjoyed it but the ending left me a bit disappointed though I think someone else may find it suits them fine. I don't want to say more because I know many of you are fans of murder-mystery novels so I don't want to give anything away. Currently I'm reading, The Lemon Tree Hotel and Arctic Man both of which are good for different reasons. However I wouldn't say they are totally engrossing. Just satisfying and satisfying is good enough.
I'm still working to try and keep the meals tasty and interesting.
These are a few of the meals we had in the past few days.
Stir fried beef and onions and stir fried noodles with chili and vegetables. |
BBQ Ribs and Kraft dinner with side of coleslaw (coleslaw not in photo) |
Curried cauliflower & split peas served with rice and homemade chapati |
Penne-pasta-lox-n-spinach with caesar salad. |
BBQ-salmon-pilaf-salad |
I think I mentioned that I try to follow the Fly Lady household routines. One of the big principles is to clean and shine your sink at least once a day. I try but often it seems like I don't get to it until very late at night. It takes me so long just to wash the dinner dishes after I've finished eating dinner. Now and then I get ahead of the game and it always feels good to have a nice, clean sink.
Yesterday I paid the fee for the community garden and asked my nephew and his girlfriend to take over the plot once again this year. After that I'll decide whether I want to continue renting the plot going forward. My nephew and his girlfriend gained some valuable gardening experience and I was able to focus on my patio garden and also catch up with a lot of projects and tasks at home.
One of my favourite days is Wednesday which is called anti-procrastination day in the land of Fly Lady. I usually am able to get one niggling item out of the way on that day, sometimes two. I think it helps me to stop thinking about my long list of items during the week if I have a dedicated day to work on them. Of course, if I'm up to it I can also work on such tasks on any other day.
Errand day is on Thursday and I usually run to the post office, grocery stores and the library. Actually grocery shopping usually takes me about 3 separate errands on different days but Thursday is the main shopping day and some weeks I don't have so much to buy. Tomorrow I am expecting a package and I'm looking forward to it. If it turns out to be helpful I will write about it in a future post.
Friday I'm also expecting a long awaited delivery of grass fed beef from an area where the ranchers were flooded out in November. You might remember me writing about the floods and the destruction of a major highway from Vancouver to the Interior of BC and beyond. I'm surprised the rancher has anything to deliver but I'm anticipating they won't be able to fulfill all their orders, possibly even mine so we shall see what happens.
We had some sunny days last week and fog earlier in the week. The weather forecast was for possible snow today. In fact it is did snow but barely and it quickly melted before the rain started.
As you can see, the sky is very gray and not very interesting unless there are some distant lights to look at.
Other things keeping me busy are liaising with long distance friends and relatives, watching a lot of Netflix, daily devotions and prayer and the daily things that keep the household going.
What about you dear reader? What things kept you busy this week?
Whatever it is you are doing, I hope you are keeping healthy and happy.
Sorry for the blurred photo. I bought a bag of organic sweet potatoes (right) $6.99. |
I like the price of cherry tomatoes. I buy a pint of cherry or grape tomatoes every week and/or tomatoes on the vine. |
The cucumbers were $1.29 if you have the store app (which I do). |
The path leading to the garden shed where all the tools are stored for use by the community gardeners. |
We went early to the dog show to get a good seat. |
The dogs move so quickly that it is hard to get a good photo. |
I was seated at the pretzel place having a salty pretzel while my niece had a vanilla one. |
Hello friends and fellow bloggers, It was a spectacular, sunny day where I live. It's still rather chilly from my point of view but the ...