A long weekend is soon upon us!

Where has the summer gone? Seems like we were just getting ready for the Underwear Affair (June) a bridal shower, and then Heather & Jeff's wedding day. August had flown by also...Alex's big birthday bash, Brian moving back in...kids...they do come come you know!...and on the 31 August, we will be welcoming Kevin into our home. September looks just as busy...Eskimo football, UFC, MMA, Peter Pan, AJHL hockey...the list goes on & on!

I think this photo is hilarious...enjoy and have a great weekend!


Who slept with who?

I think I'm going to be busy!

Once again I/we have joined the Underwear Affair which will run out of Calgary June 6, 2009. Team Crockett is no more. After joining forces with Janine and Chris, we have become Tarts and Tallywackers. Please follow the link and check us out. Lesley is all her efficiency has the big fund raiser already planned out...now to get some goodies for the ever popular silent auction.

This weekend we will be moving things around to make way for a new family member. Kevin has decided to join us for the upcoming school year. grade 11...if I remember correctly, I had tons of homework to do. I also switched schools for that year...I had previously attended Bathurst High School for Grade 10. I can remember missing the bus sooooo many times and having to walk home over the Bathurst bridge and down St Peter's Ave...not fun. Yes we were a family with 1 car and Dad took it to work with him. I thought MVHS was a breeze...just a short walk back of the school, over the tracks and I was home after my sports practice or games. Yes, I enjoyed my last 2 years of high school.

Brian continues to breeze in after long hours of driving. He managed to eat supper, do 1 load of laundry before collapsing in bed.

I'm still walking with Jo & Caidin...new extended route...doing 2.67 miles in near darkness. It's light by the mid point range and by then our shoes are damp from the morning dew. This morning we came across Joe parked on the side of the road...by A&W...I thought he was getting a bacon egger...but he wasn't...just fine tuning his bike mirror which I probably bumped taking out the trash. A few minutes later we get the big wave form Brian as he left for work...ahh the house was nice and quiet. Not sure how Kevin's routine will blend in, but we'll give it a day or 2 to fall into place.

We are eating fresh vine ripen tomatoes almost every day. I have some beans to blanch for the freezer and the carrots are yummy...I pick one or 2 a day, wash them in the rain barrel and snack on the way back into the house. What more could you ask for?

This & That

  • As the list of recalled products expand, doubts about overall food safety, especially convenience food, must also be expanding. I don't make a habit of using cold cuts but on a hot day, that on a fresh roll with a salad sounds like a great lunch to me. If you haven't checked out the recall list lately, CLICK HERE.
  • Today marked the start of week 2 of early morning walks with Jo & Caidin...soon we'll be needing a flashlight! On our swing back towards home, we met Brian leaving for work. It was nice, he stopped and checked to make sure I had my house key with me! Ahhhh!
  • Kevin was here almost a week, not that he was underfoot...just the opposite! Except for the lump in bed, I wouldn't know he was around! He had fun, hung out with Brian and seen a lot of back roads in northern AB. He was talking with us, mentioned his business classes at school that he enjoyed and that he wanted to be a business owner. Well that discussion could flow into quite the money making venture...water hauling for the remote service industry! Now his mind is working overtime trying to figure out how much a second hand truck would cost, then the water cost, disposal etc...a great grey matter workout.
  • We all had a lesson on how quickly your life can change Sunday. We were driving Kevin to his chariot aka bus, when we seen a big accident happen. A car ran a red light and the vehicle on the curbside lane got hit by the back tire. Windows blew, the car spun around and airbags deployed. A few seconds and that could have been us first through the intersection.
  • The guys are back to work after a fun weekend, the house is quiet except for the washer trying to catch up. Things are good in the Lil Salmon House...hope they are good for you!

Walking on the dark side

I started walking first thing in the morning with Jo and Caidin. Jo forgot I was joining her on Monday and left without me...I got over it! Then sometime through the night Tuesday our block lost all power and it was just such a scramble to get re-oriented...I didn't walk. I did however walk Wed - thru Friday. Using Google's map and their walking program, I calculated we did about 2 miles each morning. Not bad, but I still have to do the walk trots and the stepper...grrr...that's a love hate relationship....mostly still hate! lol Is anyone else doing anything to get more active? Drop a comment and we can all support one another.

Kids & smiles

Joey has been climbing this play structure for a few seasons and he was so proud when he reached the peak!
This is one of the best slides a kid could want...it's an incline conveyor belt, so they get a bumpy but smooth ride down.
Alex has a love of seeing things through binoculars! Unfortunately they left before we could get the telescope out on the back deck.
Both boys wanted their photo taken on Papa's bike. He was only too happy to oblige...but if you look at a certain someone...he's busy picking off one of the studs! Now to figure out how to put it back on.
Bottoms up! This was a common site. Despite this being big enough for 6 adults...it's only big enough for these 2 active boys.

Jonathan...we'll have to wait another 4 years or so before your solo visit! Until then, you are such a cutie!

A small corner of my garden. I have to take more photos because the leaves on a tree out front have already started to turn yellow. Autumn is on it's way.



I think I'm getting company

Kevin called late Sunday night to say he just got his work schedule and had Tuesday - Thursday off...could he come up. I said sure as long as we can work out the traveling details.

Well he arrived in the city this morning, Brian picked him up and I guess after they did a few small tasks around the office, Brian got a long haul run and Kevin is going as shot gun. So dinner for 4 has dwindled down to 2 diners...and I won't see Kevin until Wednesday. I wonder if he'll ditch me to hang with his brother @ work???? Can you blame him...I can't!

After the second heat wave this month, we are getting the type of visitors that Joey likes! Where is he when I need him? Widden has appeared as the back green space is drying up and as I mowed today, I disturbed a few too many grasshoppers. I should consider myself lucky...it's the third week of August and they are just arriving.


Not so good news...my financial program for Dad seems to have cr*pped out. I'll be buying a new one the next time I'm in town.Such is life...things and people don't last forever.


New Kid on the Block

Check it out!

Fumbling Feet

After not exercising since early June, I decided to get back at it before September. I did my walking three times last week and thought the Sunday would be stepper day. I re-borrowed the steps from Aaron - Thanks! Did I get all the risers? I thought there were 4 for each side but I may be mistaken. Don't rush to look...I won't be needing them for a while! And bought a cheap video, which I watched ~ 20 though twice while ironing.

Well that didn't look so bad...everyone looks cute in their little outfits, legs stepping, arms pumping. Now how did it come to pass that I have developed 2 left feet! I can't keep up! So, I slowed it down to half speed and could ALMOST manage for about 2 minutes and then my feet are going in all directions, none of which are right. So, this isn't as easy as I first thought. I will however try it again and see if i can come close to managing the first few minutes without tripping myself.

OT-I've been doing a lot of stuff in the basement, avoiding the heat. Today is Day 3 of 5 hot days forecasted. The good news, I've got my mending and ironing caught up, purged some stuff...once it's in the bag, it doesn't come back out!

Went over to my GF's yard last night to admire her hard work in developing more garden beds. She's grown so much with her green thumb, it's just great. We were enjoying some cool strawberry wine while planning next year's growing season. Even Ken got into it. He wants some cactus - tall ones for a special corner he wants to design. Not sure where to find such a thing and whether one that far out of the ground would survive our zone 2 winters. But it's something to research and you never know what kind of a micro climate you can create and sustain.

I'm happy that Canada finally has some Olympic medals to show...let's hope for more!

Thanks for that vote of confidence Josephine!

Jo is home again and I could her on online...so nice to have an e-chat. In person would be nicer so I could give her a hug but I'm grateful for this chance meeting.

If it sounds all weird, well it was a bit scary for me...I was trying to tweak the blog and things went very wrong very quickly despite my backing up everything before making any changes. At one point I had nothing but the top black strip where you can go to the next blog randomly. I honestly thought I had done a Lucie!

Sorry Lucie but that is what was running through my mind. Lucie is having problems getting into her blog. Hence no updates in a looonnnggg time.

Anyways, while chatting with Jo she said I could figure it out...and after that I sat quiet and it came to me. And couple of key strokes, a save template and voila! I'm back! Thanks Josephine!

OT Joe & Brian are on a hot shot to High Level today. They may start the return trip tonight when things cool down. I had hoped for some manpower outside but it's way too hot for that foolishness. We learned our lesson in July...heat stroke is not fun! The project can wait. So I've been catching up on mending, shampooed the basement carpet and finally got rid of that horrid spot from the leaky bag of bottles for the recycle depot. I used Folex on it before the machine and it looks great. Great that name in mind for your carpet spots. The nice thing...non scented.

Well must publish this as a final test that Yes,I did fix my booboo. Enjoy your weekend!

It's finally arrived!

What you ask?

August 15...my day to rest!

Back in the crazy busy days on June & July, if anyone asked about our plans, I would say I was taking August 15 off...and I am!

Not sure what I will do after making potato salad for tonight's BBQ supper, clean the bathrooms, vacuum and do my walk/run. I do have to run into the city to do some banking, mail a small parcel and perhaps get a haircut. If I can find some parking I'll pop into the library and see what catches me eye.

Other than that...I have a free day just for me! Wanna join me?

What the heck?

I must be working too hard or something is creeping up on me or I have too many important things running around my head...

I threw my laundry in the washer, added the soap, closed the door and headed out to mow. Came in, pleased with my effort. I went to get my wash to hang outside and had a not so nice surprise...the clothes were already dry.

I forget to turn the machine on! DUH! Oh well, I'll go for lunch and then try this green drying in 45 mintues! Ciao!

Treadmill note

Lesley reminded me the other day about a great website Couch to 5 km I had forgotten about it. So I checked it out, basically it helps you go from couch potato to pseudo athlete running a 5 km race. I'm so not up to Mitch's level...I don't think I would qualify as water girl!

Anyways, I soon realized that I'm not at that level...some of it my own fault...aka...my couch-ness...and some of it is my limitations due to my chemonucleosis to repair a protruding disc in the 80's.

So I am back to the program recommended through The Running Room and going slow by walking 4 mintues and jogging 1 minute. four repeats and then a cool down walk. Each week you decrease the walk and increase the jog. My first 2 repeats went by like a breeze but I was challenged by the last one...so glad when I could do a brisk walk. The true test will come later in the day/tomorrow as I see how much muscle discomfort I experience.

If anyone else wants to join in with this discussion, please do so. It's nice to have the company even if it's virtual!

Stuck in a rut


Thanks to Lesley for keeping the blog going...I have lost interest or is it ran out of things to post or hit a wall. Not sure which, but I'll try my best to pick up the slack a bit.

News...we survived the grandkids Thing 1 & Thing 2. It was more of a challenge than expected. I lost count of "You're not the boss of me". But they were good, listened for the most part, bedtime was a problem, and we had fun. Alex has now graduated to going under the water almost all the time. The tub got so small, even Joey came out to look for bugs or play soccer. When we took them to meet their parents Thursday night - we were planning to drop them off Friday when we went down for the birthday bash - they weren't too chatty. However when we arrived at their home the next day they were excited to see us and said they would come back for another visit. i would like solo visits next summer if Alex is up to it. We could then totally spoil the one without the other knowing and build those memories for years to come.

We have another house guest. My nephew is here, working for Joe's company as a driver. He arrived here Sunday and the next day he put in 18 hours on an overnight trip to who knows where. He arrived back so tired but managed to do a load of laundry, call his Mom, check his email and study for his class 3 learner's which he passes today. And he got an unexpected run this afternoon, another long day on the road tomorrow and guess what...a start up on Friday! I think I'll see him sometime over the weekend, unless the phone rings.

We are eating our own vine ripen tomatoes. Joey almost cleaned out all my peas... if I couldn't see him, he was in the pea patch! We had purple beans with supper last night. There's a zucchini we are going to cut and bread and deep fry this weekend. I think we should have a pub night and just relax a bit. I'll let you know if either of the guys are here to do it with me. I hate solo deep frying!

I'm back on the treadmill, literally. I also borrowed the steps from Aaron...now to figure out the dvd player so I can follow along. For those who have seen me dance...you know i need all the direction I can get!

Tadpoles


Self explanatory except I think these little guys need swim lessons because you know they are going to cannonball off the houseboat next summer!

Days of play

This past weekend I went to the Zoo with the grandkids...seen the BIG snake which was actually huge, and caught a photo of the boys on the rocks.
We brought both boys home on Sunday...Alex's first trip sans Mommy and he's doing very well...check for yourself. Not sure what we are doing today, but it'll involve water for the most part. Temperatures are supposed to soar to the 30's for the rest of the week. Move over boys, Nannie's coming in!

August already!

Well I must start by wishing a very Happy Birthday to Joe's Aunt Betty who is turning a magical age. You guess which one! Hint, it's not 50! There are lots of notes on my August page...birthdays galore...hope I don't miss anyone.

  • Betty
  • Alex
  • Brian
  • Kevin
  • Mike
  • Betty
  • Gary
  • Tanya
  • Tara
  • Gayle
  • Maria Paul
  • Eunice
There's also Aline & Nic's anniversary.

Joe is heading one way and I the other. Hopefully we'll meet up over dinner Sunday. I'll have human company on my way home Monday...not sure if it will be both Thing 1 and 2 or if one will opt to tag along with Papa. That's right...2 grandboys for the week! Should be fun...now if the weather will cooperate, we are good to go. Otherwise I might be in a world of hurt! Rumour has it, a certain auntie will also be visiting...her men are in SK on a biz/pleasure trip. It's all good.

Have a great weekend!