SUMMER..What's happening in your neck of the woods???

Good heaven Betty. I do so hope the teacher you mentioned did well.
I would have been a basket case had I been there and one of the parents who knew him.
The school Brooklyn is graduating from was going to SKYPE the grad to her, but, as of 1pm this afternoon, she is OUT and doing well.
So, grad is tomorrow with a banquet for family following, then a BBQ Thursday at my son's home .. busy days.

Susan, even if the secretary had felt bad we were there a day early .. she kinda did .. the doc in question doesn't work Mondays.
So, we saw her today .. she is pleased that Lorna's shoulder is kind of 'status quo' .. and, i mentioned that Lorna was being referred to her hubby (also an orthopedic surgeon) for her knee. WELL .. she jumped right on that .. looked at Lorna's knee MRI .. said that there were 5 other XRays he always asks for, wrote Lorna a requisition for them, and, we think she might speed up the wait time for Lorna .. makes a body feel good to know there are actually CARING physicians out there ..

Weather here in one word .. 'GRAND' .. 27C with a light wind ..

Take care everyone .. trying to get used to NO posts from 'FancyVan'

~M~

I don't know that it will be very soon that we'll get used to that........ no posts from Carol, I mean............

SO glad that Lorna's Dr is speeding up the process......... it can take ever-so-long to get app'ts for MRI, etc!
I know some caring physicians that I worked for - admin Drs to be sure, but they were those that held meetings specifically to address Wait Times for bloodwork, etc, etc. Charting when people usually came, and making sure there was enough staff for that coverage was one thing, adjusting hours of the clinic was another, and so on.
All facets of care rely on so many levels of physicians, so I'm pleased to say I worked with some really good ones!!

Susan, nice to hear you had some nice and efficient physicians to work with .. in my career i have met some who should never have broached the profession.

Another hot semi humid day on the rise here .. waiting for the Whirlpool washer repairman who announced to me this morning he would be here between 2-5pm .. I told him we were leaving at 4:30pm .. he seemed miffed about that, but, my granddaughters grad happens ONCE in a lifetime .. whereas these laundry horrors have become part of my life ... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Mr Smokey got pillow therapy this morning at 5:15am .. he has a habit of wanting 'company' and purrs from room to room until he gets it .. quite the cat ... usually a strategically thrown soft pillow is enough to make him stop ..

Lorna is on her way out to do some trimming etc .. guess I'll tag along for a wee bit ..

TTFN

~M~

Is Lorna using the beast to do the trimming? That ride-em mower is huge!
Miffed repairman, eh? Well, he doesn't like to be held down to a time.......... wants LOTS of leeway when it comes to his work. Not fair to the rest of us who have (gasp) LIVES to live............
lol on Smokey - picturing his displeased look when he got "pillow therapy" lol

POKER CHIP!!!!!!!!!! There was a blue plastic poker chip IN the washer motor!! Pooched the motor.
I have NO idea how that chip got in there .. we haven't played POKER from our set for OVER a year ... thank heavens for warranties ..

The grad went well .. have few pics as the place was so packed and busy, getting pics was difficult .. but, Murray did .. helps if your 6'5"
Bonfire BBQ at my sons tonight .. then tomorrow blessed rest !!! That is, if SMOKEY agrees LoL

Keep forgetting to remember it's a holiday weekend .. must get out and do some shopping ..

Off for lunch in a bit .. with my BFF who is leaving on July 3 to see her neice Jordan, graduate from the Royal Conservatory of Music in London England .. she studied VIOLA .. plays the instrument very well .. Jo tells me Prince Charles MAY give out the diplomas as he is one of the Patrons of the school .. all in all very exciting .. Jo is kind of not so happy re the length of time to be spent on the plane going over and coming back though.

Best boodle

~M~

POKER? wow - that chip must have been working its way through the workings clogging worse and worse until it jammed tight!

6'5?! lol sounds like a female friend of ours - towers over Bob at his 6'3"! lol she likes to do the "Vulture" thing to me lol

Just got a call from the Agency, and the client wants me to start work on Tues, not tomorrow, and - am I related to Linda MacKenzie?! Nope, not........... suppose that's someone that works there? dunno......... lol

GROAN ............. heat wave time in NorthWestern Ontario !!
Lawsie .. temps in the 30s with an incredibly hot drying wind .. thought I'd NEVER say this again, but, we NEED rain!!

The party at my sons last evening was lovely, but marred by the arrival of blackflies and mosquitoes, even though we were in an enclosed gazebo, they still got in.
Am happy all the graduation fallderall is done with, my son and his wife certainly put in manyhours of planning.

Betty .. are your guests there yet .. I sure hope you have an awesome time ^_^

Susan, how's the job situation? Funny, I worked with a colleague by the name of Linda MacKenzie .. she lives in Arizona now though.

Am NEVER ever going to regret having had AC installed ..


TGIF everyone ... what are your CANADA DAY plans ??

~M~

~M~ I start my job on Tuesday, not Friday as they originally asked for. Guess they forgot it was a long weekend, and maybe some people wanted to leave early LOL

Not really going to do much for Canada Day. Usually I decorate with hanging baskets - Red & White - from the eaves, but couldn't afford to really do much with both of us either new in a job, or not started yet. $$ was too tight.
We are going to our community hall "pub night" that happens every Friday night from 7pm to 1pm. I don't think it ever stays open that long though - us old folks "shut down" our systems a lot earlier than that LOL Usually stay until 10:30, then we give Doug a ride home ^_^

I think I might ignore the festivities on the Hill here in Ottawa. Hard to get there. The streets are closed for blocks around. Might as well stay home and deal with the pile of mulch at the end of my driveway.

Not much happeneing here either. There are loads of events to go to around the city, but, with this heat who wants to.
I can stay at home and either putz with the gardens, or stay inside in the air conditioning.
The dogs prefer the latter ^_^

Whatever you do, enjoy and be safe~~

~M~

Or maybe we will. OUR 2/3 of that pile are mostly used up. But I've still got other gardening that can be done.

Happy Canada Day to all of you.

Up and at'em on CANADA DAY !!
Seems the Crows/Blue Jays/Squirrels are ALL a buzz with 'noise' this morning !! Bothersome, but, nice at the same time.

An email friend sent me pics of the fires in Colorado .. good heavens .. what a horrifying situation there ! Devasatation everywhere .. our flood here in TBay was scary, but, these wild fires are 100 times as bad !!

Enjoy your day ^_^

~M~

OOPS, I forgot to include the link re the Colorado fires ... here it is ..

Colorado Wildfire Photos: The Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado SpringsPlog Photo Blog

~M~

Hmmmmm .. something tells me the link likely won't work :-(



This message was edited Jul 1, 2012 6:33 AM

nope it won't work as a link, but sure can Google it!!

Sorry bout that ... suffice to say I had seen bits and bats of pics of the fires, but this particular link showed at least 48 views .. terrifying ..

Survived CANADA DAY .. wasn't too difficult .. with the intense heat just sitting on the patio with a bevie was a chore LoL
The black bear came back last night (this morning) at 2am .. had thought the fireworks here bouts would have scared him off, but, NO!!
He hops into the dogs compound and just sits on his butt licking up SPENT balck oil seed .. so .. today we will get out the blower and scatter the seed off onto the other side of the fenced area and beyond .. keep thinking perhaps he'll get ZAPPPED by the electric fence around the veg garden, and, take off for good !!!

Hope everyone enjoyed has a good week

~M~

oh my........ a black bear? yikes!!

I hadn't seen any coverage of the fire until just now - thanks for bringing me up to date........ I'm so bad for watching news. I hear the news at Church (when we pray for things that are happening around the world and in our corner of it) and HERE. That's it for me, for news, so I'm often out of the loop, but blissfully ignorant lol

Morning all,

Happy Belated Canada Day..house sure feels empty since all my company has left..even the furries are out looking for someone to pat them, give them treats..

Will spend the morning doing all the bedding, give the rest of the place a lick and a spit of polish and call it a day.

I could not have asked for better weather..sunshine, breeze, just perfect!

I went over to Doug's place (78 yo man that Always has computer problems!!) this am. Told him next I'll have him find the boxes he bought the computer in, and return them to the store LOL
Seriously though, I installed a prog for him to transfer his tapes to CD and then came back to his place to show him again. Now today I came to install the program to do it because someone installed Win7 on his system, and he didn't have any programs installed or set up. THEN I showed him how to use the program AGAIN. This will be 3x and after the 2nd time I wrote down the instructions. I wrote down the instructions again today cuz he lost the last set of instructions. Bless his heart, he's a sweetie, but geeze.......... siiiiiiigh will do it again, should he ask......

Susan, I'm much like he is..have patience..our turn is coming lol

best of luck on your new job tomorrow!!

Yes, I was saying to Bob tonight "I wonder, when we're in our 80's/90's what it is the younger generation is going to roll their eyes at us about........"
Thanks, re: job - getting all kinds of advice on route to get to work! I used to take the busiest route to work, in the city, and I think I can handle this very-busy-but-not-as-busy-as-Deerfoot-Trail route..........

Good luck getting 'to and from' work Susan.
Lorna has a 9am docs appt and we will be 'in the thick' of our busy traffic time. Trust me, at 8:30am I think everyone in TBay is on the road. Keep alert, and, watch yer blind spot ^_^

MONDO thunder and lightening storm last night during the wee hours .. poor Piper .. he doesn't shake anymore, but he wants to be close to someone.
At least the bear stayed away !!

Off to put on some makeup .. since it's going to be 34C here today, it'll be a minimal amount !!


Cheers all

~M~

Morning all, just got into work and got a call that Suzanne has been ill with the flu all weekend...she started out but had to return home..just as well because I sure don't need to catch it.

Overcast here, possible showers..hope it does rain (can say that now that all my company has returned home), I neglected the gardens so it sure would do the gardens a favor if it rained.

"M", first trip in my new vehicle, checked out the mirrors and I've a big blind spot so will head to Canadian Tire at lunch and purchase those little round mirrors that give you more of a concave viewing so I don't end up into someone's car.

Brought my owners manual in so I could read up on what's what on all those knobs..will especially need to know how to open the gas tank cover lol first thing one should know

Good luck with Lorna's appointment

WOW .. when did you get 'new wheels' Betty ? Good for you .. I hope you're enjoying you ride and most especially, figuring out the Owners Manual. I. too. have a MAJOR blind spot .. mine can pretty much be fixed if I putz around with the passenger side head rest, it's too high ..
You must find it a bit less hectic with all the guests gone.

The heat here in the NORTH has gone crazy the last few days, and for more days to come. Walking across a parking lot is enough to make you want to faint the heat and humidity are so high.
Global Warming is most certainly alive and well !!

Haute Cuisine for supper tonight .. "HOT DOGS' LoL, and salad ..

TTFN

~M~

Picked it up Wednesday night, only drove to Midland twice so the real test was today. "M" I've always had those toonie size concave mirrors put on the mirrors as to have NO blind spot, complete vision.

Light rain here, not really enough to wet the ground, just a misting but it is hot and humid, thankfully sun isn't out.

"M", I've leftover steak so won't be hard to cook tonight..likely I'll be in bed early

How did Lorna make out??

Susan, thinking of you at work, soooo hope all goes well

1st day at new job was good - Boss asked me if I were coming back tomorrow! then she winked. I said "well, I don't know, you were so mean to me" I grinned, she did too lol
There's a lot to learn about the company & the things done in this job, but I'm up to it. Poking through files and things at the desk &have already found 2 different ways previous person was not organized and duplicated things unnecessarily - way behind on the filing of things. Plus, never kept written of computer documents of a meeting held June 14th - Agenda, but no Minutes...siiiiiigh. My poor boss - she didn't get the notes from my predecessor, & has little memory of what happened. No one should Ever rely on their memory for meeting minutes.

btw - only took me 20 min to get to work, and same getting home. Sure it was a bit bumper-to-bumper for about 5 minutes, but nada for trouble! I now know which lanes to be in and when, so it will be easier tomorrow, and also BTW - I got on the wrong roadway 1/2 way to work, and ended up going north instead of south on Crowchild, so spent about 5 min going wrong way and then getting corrected, so it would only have been a 15 min trip.......... not bad, eh?

Glad the first day went well, Susan and I hope it continues to work well for you.

Thank you ^_^

Morning all, walked the gardens this morning and for the first time this year a sense of sadness that the clock is ticking and soon the gardens will be finished for yet another year!! Rushing things aren't I but I usually go by what has bloomed, what is in bloom and what is yet to come..

Phlox are just starting to open..

Viola Ann, how are your gardens this year?? When I had the gathering last week Joyce from Cincinnatti said she had 131 named hosta's..she is in the pond/flower tour this year and is thrilled...

Best I get a move on, still moving slowly

Betty - I finally stayed home long enough to get in some mulch and the Canada Day weekend was spent spreading it - somewhat over 2 yards. Shared with a neighbour, but I think they used less than 1 yard; so I just charged them 25%. I'm up to about 180 varieties give or take some and counting some of my seedlings - have just finished putting up a series of threads on the hosta forum where all, even the losers, have been posted.

Hiya ..

Is anyone else getting a small 'pop up' on their computer with regards to Daves having a new 'Privacy Statement' to be read? I keep clicking on 'ask me later'.

Susan .. sounds as though work will be a challenge for a bit getting 'things' straightened up. Hope your ride in today is a better one.

My Hosta garden got devoured by either a discriminating bunny or gopher :-(
Looked at it on Sunday and was so pleased, went to water it Tuesday and saw nothing but 'nubs'.
Love country living, but, it does have its drawbacks.

Betty .. what kind of vehicle did you puchase .. I hope one that can carry LOTS of treasures ^_^

Doc visit yesterday was disappointing .. usually this fella is very 'up', but, I take it the first appt on the morning following a long weekend is not a good time for him .. his 'people skills' were lacking, very cut and dried re Lorna's knee .. ended up sending a referral on to an orthopedic surgeon, didn't really address the problems she is encountering with her prosthesis .. I would like to see her sent to Sunnybrook for a second opinion, he says we have to take it up with the prosthetist she goes to here .. sigh .. we don't want to do that so, we will keep on keepin on ..

Going to be another 35C + day ... staying home and making up dog food packets ..

TTFN

~M~

OMG ViolaAnn, will have to tell Joyce to go have a look,she has a love for hosta's
tremendous amound of work keeping a garden isn't it!! I bought red mulch for the secret garden this year and front gardens..think I used up about 15 green garbage bags..next year I'll find a trailer to pick it up..they charge $5.00 a bag so not really sure how much that would have given me...black mulch looks nice in the gardens as well...

Sorry "M" to hear about the doctor's appointment. I'm with you, Sunnybrook would be the place for her. Roger had his spine operation at Sunnybrook, I was really impressed with it...guess partly because the likelyhood of his never walking again, ended up walking so VERY/VERY impressed.

Remember the young man in the same room, he was mid 20's, could not hear or speak, joined a hockey league and ended up a quadrapoligic (?) I just didn't know how someone could cope as he couldn't do anything

Betty, send her this link - http://violaann.smugmug.com/Garden/Hostas-in-my-garden-A-B/7617361_qL3gHS

That's my SmugMug gallery or the first one where I've been tracking the progress of my hostas since 2008. I've not yet updated it for 2012 - that will likely happen in August - but it has all my hostas through last year and if she checks back later, she'll see the new ones.

I'm sure she will really appreciate it ViolaAnn, thanks

tired, not a great day for me - Baby was euthanized, and I may not be at this job (even as a temp) as long as I thought..... going day to day.

Good morning, record breaking temps in my neck of the woods! We did ask for this if I remember during blizzard days??

Susan, sending hugs....

Omg why so short a time, thought it was for 6 months and possibility of full time employment.

I'd be so discouraged, starting all these jobs with no full time employment in the offering!

Think I should go water the gardens,modest take long in this heat to kill them

Gab later

Ohmigosh Susan .. 'speed reader' that I am (to a point), I thought Baby said BOB !!!
Please accept my condolences .. such a crappy time in your life when that happens.

Hotter than a 2 bit pistol here AGAIN .. PLUS .. we have a DAYTIME bear problem .. just had a young woman bang on our back door, she had been jogging with her dog (in this heat) and a bear had come out of our bushes .. he scared the bejeebers out of her, I drove her home and have AGAIN called the 'Bear Hotline' .. course, Gord isn't here, I drove him to emerg at 8am .. he has a very sore L knee ..old firefighting injury .. our doc is away til August .. never did phone Gord with the results of the MRI he had in May .. so .. he said he was going to go and sit in the emerg and be seen !! Suffice to say 'things' are a bit tense in the Stephenson home right now ..

Betty, we seem to get even and early morning rains .. so .. have been off the hook re watering .. got 2/10 of an inch last night

Stay tuned for updates LoL

~M~

"M" sorry to hear about Gord's knee problems, drats, hate it when they say 'if you don't hear from us all is ok' lordy what if the misplace the file and something is wrong???? hopefully he won't be there all day.

Bears are getting pretty brazen aren't they..poor lady, likely she'll not go out jogging for awhile.

Tuesday we had a heavy rainfall on my way home but just outside Barrie to outside Coldwater, never did make my area. Felt like a rain storm might move in, moved chair and plant so Sailor coudn't make her way behind the dresser and boom there goes my stained glass lamp but once I did all this I listened to the weather report and we aren't suppose to get rain for the next week!

UPDATE ..

Gord had an XRay of his left knee .. seems he has NO meniscus left on one side (the meniscus is kind of like the 'shock absorber of the knee) .. he had a cortisone shot and came home feeling pretty good, with an advisory from the ER doc that TODAY it'll feel fine, but, the 2 days following he'll be having some pain issues.
Picked him by 11am .. pretty reasonable timing for emerg ..

Called both MPPs offices here re the bear problem .. I swear, the people answering the calls read the standard answer from a sheet !!
I cannot seem to impress upon them, the fact that calling 911 in a RURAL area will get me help in MAYBE an hour if the ONE officer we have is at another call. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ..
Just going to have to be extra vigilant ..

Betty .. sorry to hear about the lamp :-(
We're still sweltering here .. walking across Tim Horton's parking lot to go for COFFEE (in this heat) was agonizing ..

Made a strawberry pie .. new dough recipe, looks awesome .. hope it tastes OK ..
Strawberries are in full swing here.

TTFN

~M~

Hi all - feeling better today......... I keep looking for Baby, but it's not to be.

As for my job, I'm apparently impressing my boss, Darla. I'm "catching" things she's missing, and researching the network to get stuff done quicker than she expects (have to search, when she says "it's on the H drive" and I don't know which of the hundreds of folders what I want is in......), and doing things she hasn't asked me to do (wants me to do #1, #2, #3, #4, but forgets about #5 and when I do it, she's very pleased). I like to "dig around" and find out stuff that someone assumes I know....... but I get the info and move on with doing what I'm asked to do (with minimal direction).

Also - posted this some other DG room but it bears repeating......
Something nice happened to us yesterday.
Some of you will remember my "fight" with the City to get our mobile levelled BY the City......... they were saying it wasn't their fault our mobile's blocks were twisting, and "(we're) moving it in 2 years anyway, why not wait?!)
Our den's ceiling and walls were separating from each other and water was getting in behind the drywall, our bedroom was off level, etc, etc.
Well.......... the City came by yesterday am while both Bob & I were at work, and They Levelled The Mobile! Bob checked underneath, and the pillons that were twisted are now straight, the ceiling and wall at one side of the den (where they were separating) have almost closed the gap, and the bedroom is now on the level (my dresser is level, for sure!).
Now Bob is going to tear down the one wall in our den and replace the (now wet) insulation and drywall, and replace it with plywood and screw it to the beams and ceiling. This will make it more secure and get rid of the wet stuff.
They have NOT contacted us to pay for the work. They'd said, beforehand, that if it were the City's issue they'd pay. If it were our issue, they'd let us know and we'd have to make arrangements with the company to have it fixed and pay for it. We never signed off to have the work done, and the City hasn't contacted us, so I guess it was on "their dime"! All I can say is "Yaaaaaaaaaaay!" and "it's about time our place is levelled!!"
I'm so pleased that I'm going to get in touch with our alderman and thank him, and the City. After all, when Thanks are due, they should be given, right? I'm just sorry for those others who aren't "squeaky wheels" like I am LOL

Susan .. great news on the levelling issue .. and, YES, the 'squeaky wheel, does get the grease .. been there done that!! Right now MY 'squeaky wheel is this BEAR IN THE WOODS issue .. it's plain and simply a SAFETY issue .. were it to pop out in front of (or behind me) I do believe I might perhpas have the gumption to scare it off, or, at least attemp an escape .. however, if it came out in an area where children were playing .. well .. best NOT to think about that .. but .. I can't help BUT think about it !! So .. I will continue to push the envelope.

Sounds as though your new position is a challenging one in an interesting way Susan .. enjoy !!

Cloudy here at the moment, and, rain is anticipated ... YAY .. we hit I believe almost 40C with the humidex yesterday .. I see Toronto had a blackout :-(

Nothing much on the agenda for today .. finally !!

TGIF

~M~