What's Happening in YOUR neighborhood today pt 7

Hi Ann and CONGRATS on your 40th !!! I know 25 is Silver and 50 is Gold .. Traditional and modern 40th wedding anniversary gifts have a theme of Ruby. The flowers associated with the 40th anniversary are Nasturtium .. I LOVE NASTURTIUMS :-) Enjoy your day and give Leila lots of hugs !!
My Auntie Gladys turned 93 on Aug.6 !! Took her out for a Swiss Chalet luncheon .. she love Swiss Chalet :-)

OMG!!!!!! It is SO HOT here again (96F) .. we are fer sure NOT used to this heat .. and .. by the looks of it it's going to last a week or more.. NO RAIN in sight !!

Jeez Betty, 47 is a young age to pass away .. I have seen it occur time and again and have had a hard time coming to grips with it. Aubrey was 37 !! Sometimes life isn't fair.

HAve to venture out to the garage .. this is a definite SAFETY first area for me .. the ONLY things I do in the garage are take out or put away the car, or .. get stuff out of the chest freezer or fridge .. all other areas of the garage are VERBOTEN !!! In other words .. DH has 7/8 of a double garage devoted to HIS (junk) stuff :-) Good thing I'm easy to get along with ..

Enjoy your day

~M~

I often just sit back and get caught up with what's going on.

~M~ you do such an amazing job in hospice, my niche was life support/open heart ICU/air ambulance for 20+ years until I was forced to retire due to my own medical issues.

Betty, ditto to what ~M~ said.

ViolaAnn, please, take this heat back with you, 30+ the last 3 days is more than enough for me. And have a great time with family and at VanDusens's.

Thanks MG .. I did the ER/PARU route at one time .. it was like a revolving door .. see the patient .. fix the patient .. say goodbye to the patient. I finally decided I wanted to actually 'connect' with a patient .. ergo .. Hospice .. and I guess I must have something in my makeup that allows me to tolerate the situations I see. Everyone has something about'em that's a definite positive.

Still sitting at 88F here .. whodda thunk summer would have actually taken its OWN vacation and just now come back :-)

BDay party went well .. had ordered a Black Forest Cake .. awesome :-) Am taking the 'ZUNE MP3 player' back to Future Shop :-( incredibly difficult to figure out. I am not a novice around a computer and am fairly comfortable with the lingo etc .. the software download was absolutely useless .. no actual instructions .. just kinda 'find your OWN way around' ... for what it cost I had expected a lot more ease of use.

Hope everyone has a splendiferous upcoming week :-)

~M~

Computor is back so I can catch up. Got away with only buying 5 plants at Hort Nite on Saturday A Hollyhock ( Peachs and Cream which I have had before, it is gorgeous), an Astilbe, Ligularia ( on my list) a Mukdenia ( relative of Heuchera, lst time Ive seen it so bought out of curiousoty) and an ITOH hybrid peony which I snagged for $45. What I will do with another peony Im not sure - I already have 5 on order from Quebec. Ah well at the price it is hard to turn down.

Very hot here the past few days but a bit of a breeze has helped and this evening a thunder storm , more noise than rain passed thru and cooled thinks off. Lost power for a few minutes but no problems.

Hey Fancy - thank goodness for humidity drop, for a bit, but tomorrow it's gonna be a base of 33 and the humidex will be 40c !!! Phew!
Checked temp in my greenhouse today, & it was 'bout 37c.... no humidex, but it was way too humid for me lol
had to take one of my houseplants inside the house, cuz it couldn't take the heat in the greenhouse........

Heat respite here, at least for today.

Good to see you back Fancy .. and I do so hope you have every success with your new acquisitions :-)

Watched some of the Olympics last night .. was so PROUD to see Canada coming through with some medals !!!

Heading in to the University to have a look at a few courses being offered .. it's 'THAT' time of year again .. I seem to go in .. talk with the folks .. then never sign up for anything. Since I WILL be retiring this year (sometime) maybe I will take something 'non medical' .. kinda stuck in a rut.

Off to do some watering and dead heading ..

Enjoy your day

~M~

Can everyone say .. 'BRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' !!! It was 48F at 5:30am .. and .. 45F at 7:30am !!!!! Took Lilly out at 6am and wore (are you ready for this) GLOVES !!! Expected high of 22C today.

Did go to the University .. and ALMOST signed up for some Political Science classes .. but .. decided to PROCRASTINATE :-)

Off to do some grocery shopping .. then to a local vegetable farm to get some cucumbers to make dills .. and maybe some green beans to do down as the deer seem to have feasted on ours :-(

Have a good one everybody ..

~M~

Hot,Hot., Hot here! Stayed in the house most of the day yesterday and even the house, which usually stays pleasantly cool due to second floor and huge tree on east was muggy! Supposed to cool off today and undoubtedly will have noisy storm!
Dont know what triggered it but awake in the night thought I must get my furnace cleaned! Usually get it done in spring when they are not busy!

I'm watering containers for a friend and for a neighbor. Neighbor has a hanging basket with coir liner - it was really dry so I brought it over here, put it in a container that just fit and let it sit in water. for a while . Found Fancy pulling the coir out - no idea what she was after but something must have smelt or tasted good!

Fancyvan
I agree it's too hot! Even my Canna looks wilted and it doesn't need watering!
I be we will forget about this when the cold comes.
It looks like it will only be 27 here today which is much more enjoyable.
Ann

Afternoon everyone, I've been missing in action, not sure why thought I had posted, but often it gets lost in cyberspace, I decide I'll wait and come back to it, must have thought I did, so I'm back and it's a sunshine day here in Toronto, however up north last night it got quite cool, sure felt like fall when I put out recycling...


I'm sitting here painting santa faces at work for my 2nd Annual on-line DG 'Victorian Workshop', because I've many participants, some needing more faces than others...lol...I thought I'd best start now...so I'm in the mood, just think, only 2 more holidays before the big one, doesn't that bring things into perspective...

Read about your days, new puppy, anniversary, birthdays, travelling and enjoyed each and everyone of them, someone is waiting for me to go to lunch so better run...

p.s. I did manage to get those flower boxes cut down, painted, installed and the shed is taking on a new look...

Having wonderful rain today!

How about some photos of the new black Lab.?

Would love to see some as well...

It feels like start of fall, need to put a sweater on this morning, chilly/chilly - guess it's time to close the windows at night, why are we shocked, another week and it's September...

In order to save a client driving all the way to Toronto, bad enough we have to do it, lol, we said we'd meet them in Barrie at 7:15 so it means out of here shortly..got everything organized, ok so I have the coffee cup to wash but that should take much time and then the chairs in the craft room have to be taken outside as the girls who use my painting studio Mondays and Thursdays all decided to purchase themselves new computer chairs with arms/rollers so they can set them at a more comfortable height to paint...apparently they arrive this morning, so I'll help out a little then off I go..do enjoy your day, will check in when I get to the city...

Oh, other than chilly, it will be a sunshine day!

I'm hearin ya on 'CHILLY' Betty.. it's just 46F here at present .. with an EXPECTED high of 28C (humidex of 34) today .. what crazy crazy weather I must say !! Lotsa folks are sportin summer colds in this area ..

One thing is for SURE, and that's that my gardens are in FULL bloom right now and I cherish everyday that they are as I see on my calendar we had a 'killing frost' in early September last year :-(

On with VCARS today .. heading into town to help a friend set up her grade 2 classroom .. I find I am still intimidated by blackboards and chalk and brushes .. funny how stuff sticks with ya.

Everyone stay safe, and, enjoy your day !!!

~M~

We're back home in Ontario. Have pics, but will have to resize them later. Hope to get to aquafit and then on Wednesdays, I volunteer at the Food cupboard; so it will be a bit later.
Have a great day.

Ann

Shucks I could just screem...went back up to check a post and GONE!!!

Did say though Ann that I'm told I've enough energy for 2, you either win or come close 2nd. you are always on the go..makes life interesting doesn't it...

"M" so laughing about the blackboard...doubt with all the new technology that they use them much these days do they? oooohhh it was a cold one this morning..brought in a heavy sweater..can you believe everyone in this office loves 'cold' except me, told them my fingers were numb so cold with A/C on, told me to bring in gloves tomorrow..I'm out numbered...looked at the map the other day 'm' thought it might be a nice drive up there, NOT, OMG it's more miles then went I drove to Chicago...so in the meantime, I'm doing name and mileage markers for the post I cemented in for my friendship garden here at daves and will have to settle for visiting with you all that way..lol..you'd almost think with all these projects I take on I have nothing better to do?

Annabell, this June when the Church had their plant sale I purchased about 20 bulbs for Canna's..1st time planting them, omg they are lovely..will purchase more next spring and do planters/grasses and a few flowers so I can place in garden mid summer/fall where I need color..now tell me when I dig them up, do I put them in a cold place, do I need to keep them in soil???? questions/questions..

Fancyvan, that truly is a bargain, I'm trying to stay away from the nurseries because with all the sales I keep saying I must have/I must have...can get quite costly...

WHEW!! Someone turn OFF the heat !! I'll be hating that statement come November :-)

Oh my yes Betty, Thunder Bay is a 2 day trip west from Toronto .. approx 1300 miles !! Some folks will do it in 16 hours .. not me !! Feel honoured to be a milage marker in your garden though :-)

Well .. my teacher friend does have a blackboard (only it's green) and several white boards .. still though .. I guess it's like hospitals .. you walk through the doors and the aroma that permeates the building gives you an 'instant flashback' .. I kept waiting for my Grade 6 teacher to pop out .. the ONE and ONLY time I got the 'strap' was from Mr. Z. it was a humiliating experience .. (I had passed a note to my best friend asking for a kleenex) .. I remember I didn't cry .. but I was afraid to go home in case Mr. Z had phoned and told my Mom or Dad .. but .. I thought it would have been impossible as no one was home, my Mom was curling and my Dad was at work. As it was, I spilled the beans at the dinner table .. THEN I cried .... LOL .. what a memory huh .. half the time I can't remember my phone # !!!

Betty .. the Canna bulbs get dug up .. cleaned off .. and store in a cool dry place .. mine are blooming away .. the shade of red/orange is awesome :-)

Had a VCARS call .. that's always enough to make me a bit blue .. so .. I had best go work a culinary miracle .. or not !!

~M~

"M" funny how some memories stay to the surface..I was taught by nuns in a french school all but a few years, kindergarden to grade 10..can remember so vividly one of them, always they would call me Betty but in a french toned voice when I misbehaved or wasn't listening it was heavy pronounciation on A l i z a b e t...makes one shudder..lol...only time I got in real trouble in there was a hotel on the main street, believe it was called the Commodore, probably I was in grade 5 and in those days one had to walk home for lunch if your mom didn't work, anyway on my way to school after lunch the hotel was on fire..trucks and so much ado that I just stayed and watched, never did go back in the afternoon...didn't get the strap but sure got a tongue lashing..only other thing was in about grade 9, first time we went co-ed, now what teen wouldn't want to put lipstick on??? the nun would take us to the washroom and wash our mouth with soap..wonder how far you'd get in this day and age, but think a lot of what we had is missing in schools today wouldn't you agree...it was the fear factor I think, the not knowing and not knowing if they contacted your parents..remember the truant officers, do they even have such a thing today???

Here is a new pic of me and Leila.

Gorgeous ladies...wow....isn't Leila the cutest...bet you wanted to bring her home...sounds as though you get to B.C. quite often, that's where she lives correct..so you would get to visit more than most...how wonderful..I've 2 grandson nearing teens here in town, love them dropping in from time to time, not so sure it's me they visit, lol, or the fact that there is a restaurant few doors down and grandma makes sure they are never hungry!

Will be a gorgeous day out there today, not one though that you can venture out early morning without a sweater...coooollll....

Better get ready for the city..I understand this morning we're leaving a little earlier in order to stop in and have peameal bacon breakfast at the diner just down from the office..

Will drop in later...
enjoy the day!

My oh My .. how Leila (love that name) has grown !! Wonderful pic Ann .. a treasure :-)

We're still doing the 'MUGGIES' here .. it's 68F at 7am yesterday it was 47F .. at any rate .. I forgot to put the patio umbrella down .. and it is dripping it's lil heart out now all over the chairs and table !!
Notice I am NOT a dyed in the wool CELSIUS person .. sometimes I have absolutely NO use for it .. mind you .. in my career .. medications were always metric .. but I still order cold cuts in SLICES .. I'm just never sure whether 200g is gonna be enough .. but I KNOW 10 slices will be fine :-)
Anywho .. I digress (good at that am I ) :-) it's going to be another "JEEZ am I gald I had AIR installed' day here in Thunder Bay.
DH and I are off to pick dill sized cukes .. then home to batch'em up .. course .. as they soak in the ice water I will likely do some green beans if we're lucky enough to get'em.

Betty .. those school stories are so UNforgettable .. not often i do reminisce .. when we do the grade 12 gurls night out we usually speak of some of the nuns who taught us in high school .. some make us smile, whereas some others do NOT .. however .. we can all speak French and get by .. and if anyone needs something translated from Latin .. well .. I'm yer gal !!!! LoL
Hope your breakfast was yummy ..

Off to close up the house ..

Enjoy your day

~M~

Good morning,

Betty - we don't get to BC all that often, but probably will make a point of doing it more often now. We had already planned to attend a conference in July and extended that visit once we knew there would be a new grandchild. The most recent trip came up when we decided to go out there for Aunt Alma's 92nd birthday. She actually lives in Portland, OR but decided to come to Vancouver to visit her 90 yr-old sister and to see the baby.

And while it's a pleasure to hold Leila, I'm just as happy to leave her with her parents until she starts sleeping regular hours. LOL

We will see them again in mid-late September when they come east for our SIL's mother's 60th in the Waterloo area. We'll all go to their cottage for awhile and then they will come to Ottawa. DD will stay a week longer than DSIL.

Marilynne - I also need to put down come pickles this year, but will get my cukes at a local market. Nice that you have a good place to pick.

Need to get crackin. A friend and I decided to play tourist today and we will start with the changing of the guard and go on from there.

Here's another Leila pic.

Hope you all have a great day.

Ann

Awe she's so gorgeous! Suzanne (SIL) I work with daughter is having a baby any day, I so want a girl so I can spoil..everyone in my family has boys/boys/boys..love them to death but sure would love a girl..have table and chair set I had made to paint as a birthing gift IF it's a girl..lol..nothing like being anxious...

"M" do you make 'icicle' pickles, my favorite..should really make a batch..happy memories come back when I do of grandmother than raised me..my problem is when they are soaking I always think there is mold on them and throw them away when infact they are doing what's needed...have to find that recipe in husbands 'cookbook' tonight..

Ohhh, before leaving for work, took camera outside, know that nobody mentioned the word 'frost' but something has hit many of my plants/shrubs..so sad...

OMG!!! Leila is so sweet !!! BABIES .. I love'em .. I could kiss their little toes and fingers for hours .. so perfect :-)
But, Ann, I hear ya on the 'fragmented sleeping' part .. not a pleasant hill to climb ..

Hope your neice gives birth to a little girl .. spoiling them is wonderful .. I didn't know what my DIL was having .. so she got quite a bit of yellow and green prior to Brooklyn's birth .. but after her birth .. PINK was the order of the day :-)

Made Icicle pickles long ago with my Mom .. but we made 12 jars of dills today .. the farm we picked at is resplendant with a great harvest .. good thing we went early .. that nasty HUMIDEX is ruining what would have been a rather nice day .. I do believe I heard it's 35 with the humidex .. UGggggggg
Wa also able to blanche and freeze a couple of bags of green beans and have fresh carrots and potatoes from DH garden for supper .. a wonderful time of year ..

FROST was on everyones mind up here a few days ago .. came VERY close !!!

Should go bring my clothes in off the line ..

Enjoy :-)

~M~

Danielle got mega yellow and soft green as well..I don't enjoy knowing what pregnant women are having, they have the baby and it's almost like 'oh well - know it's a boy, know his name is Charlie..so what did he weight) no excitement...but at times when you want to make something special, knowing would be good...

Quite a day, Roger's Uncle Fred died on Sun. or was it Monday, and his Aunt Angeline died this aft. - tummy is topsy turvey, almost like waiting for the 3rd thing to happen...

Maybe it did, did some research about taking the boys to the exhibition in Toronto next Thursday..almost chocked..entrance $14.00 then ride pkgs. $31.00 then eats/parking/games and wanting to take them to Knight of the Round Table for supper...lordy I could fly 1/2 way around the world for what a day at the Ex will cost me for 4 kids and myself..

Good morning,

I mentioned that a friend and I were playing "tourist" in Ottawa yesterday. We had a good time, but agree that there will have to be a 'day 2'. Got downtown about 9:20. Courtesy of the Ottawa symphony, I have a staff access pass to the National Arts Centre parking garage which allows me to park there for the whole day for $5.50. Can even come and go if I wish. So that's where we parked.

Hiked over to Parliament Hill, checking out the tour bus schedule as we did so. Got to the tour tent on the Hill and booked ourselves on the 10:50 English tour. Changing of the guard runs from 10 - 10:30 and there weren't too many people so we were able to look around the Hill a bit and still position ourselves in a good spot to see. After the ceremony, we had time to look at a couple of monuments and the feral cat sanctuary.

We joined the tour and the lovely young woman who was the guide had her PARENTS on the tour. I expect it was a summer job for her which is quickly coming to an end - maybe this weekend as Saturday is the last changing of the guard for this year. Anyway, I guess maybe we got an especially good tour of the centre block because they were on it.

First time I'd been on a Parliament tour since before the 2002-2006 major renovation of the library which is the only part of the original parliament buildings which survived a 1916 fire.

Following the tour, we went back and bought tour bus tickets but arranged to pick up the bus at a location closer to the National Gallery (although the person who drew us a map was obviously challenged beyond his skill level and there was no stop where he said there was). We hiked over to the Gallery which has a lovely cafe overlooking the Parliament buildings for lunch, taking a route that goes by a major set of locks from the Rideau Canal to the Ottawa River.

After lunch, we flagged down the bus when it came by 10 minutes later than scheduled and continued the rest of that tour. When it returned to the start, we changed to a different bus and guide for the first part of the tour which we had missed and took it to a spot just a bit farther than where we picked up the first one. But a spot close to good wash rooms and an easy walk from where the car was parked.

Rush hour getting home, but got back about 5, and stayed off the Queensway - cross-town expressway. I've put up pics from the day at http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/894054/

Must get going. Last aquafit before the pool closes down for maintenance is in less than an hour. Need to get an allergy shot and then will spend the rest of the day with 6 yr-old grand twins.

BBL
Ann

Sounds as though you had a busy and full day Ann .. had a look at the pics .. very nice ..
I have never been to Ottawa, should really try and make a visit. I Hear Spring is the best time (Tulips) :-)

Damp and dreary here today .. the weather is trying to decide what to do .. as long as it rains I think everyone in Thunder Bay will be happy ..

Out for lunch with some friends a bit later .. am posting a couple of pics from yesterday .. 2 of one of my REAL Sunflowers ( I have some 'fakies' on the fence) there is a Butterfly/Moth in the middle that we can;t seem to identify .. so will be posting to the Bug ID Forum as well.
The other pic is of my Perennial Bed which has EXPLODED .. most especially the Cannas/Rudbeckia and Mums ..

~M~

This message was edited Aug 22, 2008 9:47 AM

The Sunflower and it's winged visitor ..

~M~

Last one :-)

~M~

Nice shot M.

Finally cooled off here on Tuesday, cloudy and cool since and late yesterday afternoon started to rain - stopped this morning but I think we got a good soaking.

I still havent got my new plants in the ground. Have decided to take out a small Mugo pine at the end of a bed in the back yard so I can put some peonies in there - one of the few good sunny spots in the back yard , Waiting for the arborist to come check out the torsion crack in a big branch of the Laural leaf willow and arrange to fix that and take out the mugo

Hope the weekend is better as it is open gardens for Hort members and I am gate sitting at a heritage garden in Mount Royal. Apparently they are also serving tea so we need a pleasant day - so far the forecast looks OK.

Better get out and walk the dogs and then go get cat food and then do a bit of baking - lots of zuchini so I have been baking quick breads every day and freezing.
Also freezing raspberries. I planted Patty Pan Squash this year and am quite enjoying it - even with a lt of it on the vines it is more manageable than regular zuchin which gets so big so quickly. I am thinking of having a zuchini party - everybody will have to being something made with zuchini!

Oh and I have had purple potatoes ( no big deal taste wise) and banana potatoes which I quite liked.

Heres the purple potatoes - certainly brightens up the plate!

Beautiful gardens, sad to say we did get some frost, will deadhead today IF weather co-operates...can feel rain in the air though...but that's ok, I'm working of the faux windows for DG friendship garden, plan certainly is comming together, of course it's due to unexpected burst of energy..lol..

Many of you need the sunshine for your day, hope you get it...

fancyvan - do the potatoes retain that colour when cooked? Wow!

Looks good out there, but I've got a rehearsal all afternoon; so I won't get into the garden much. Need to do a lot of dead-heading and I could do some dead leaf (from trees) pick-up. The Linden tree always drops lots of leaves early.

Sorry about frost, Betty. Sure hope ours holds off because none of my tomatoes are ripe yet except some of the cherries.

Ann

Yes Ann those are cooked!

Carol .. those potatoes are just so weird LoL .. have had them once .. and I guess it's kind of a 'conditioning factor' that makes one hesitant to even try'em .. but .. as you mentioned .. they taste just like an ordinary potato.
DH has grown something called a 'finger potato' this year .. the seed originated in Holland .. his best bud brought them home from the Netherlands a few years back .. apparently they'll be quite good .. haven't dug into a hill as of yet though.
Those small squash look so nice!! Neat name as well :-) Much nicer than the regular Zuchinni.

A 'pre fall' day here .. lovely .. no rain though :-( Am planning on totally removing ALL of the 'Purple Poppy plants' today .. if anyone wants seed let me know .. I much preface the offer with .. BOY OH BOY do they GROW GROW GROW and not just where ya want'em !!! They are so pretty however.

Took Lilly shopping to her fave POOCH Store today (Pet Smart) she has 2 new acquisitions .. both bones that should take her a good long time to pulverize !! She has hidden both of them LoL

Hope everyone enjoys their day whatever it is you're doing !!

~M~

ah yes, enjoying my day:
Went to our church where my DH & I have been working on the outside. He's been painting (and weeding/digging up the hard-pack ground for me), and I've been coming by after work, and w/ends to weed/deadhead, etc.

We put some bags of soil in their berm, then I put horse manure in and mixed it around. Then we added more new soil. Their old stuff was waaaaaaaaaay old, and depleted. And no one waters. Apparently the person who used to look after the garden had a heart attack and can't do it anymore........
The congregation is quite old - average age is 80.......

Today after adding manure & more soil, I put some marigolds in, along with Johnny Jump Up, sage, and datura seeds. I also planted some large datura seedlings. Don't think they'll "take" so late in the season, but I had so many and thought I'd experiment.

Well, I promised my DH that I'd "pop" home and do an errand then come back to do some more weeding/deadheading in the other gardens, so guess I'd better go to it :-)

btw - if anyone knows of good plants to set out now, for next spring, etc, please let me know. They already have some hollyhocks & a bleeding heart, and some irises and day lillies. I'd just like some good sturdy perennials, with colour, that can take the south, hot sun, with little watering.......

Susan go to the plant share of the HOrt Society September7. If you are not a member you have to pay a bit for the plants.

Painted Daisy would do well - nice color mix. I have 3 pots if you want them.

what a lovely thought!
yes Carol, I'd love to put these in the Church berm!

I'm just going to head out there to do some more deadheading/weeding, but hopefully I can get them from you before church tomorrow and plant them before anyone arrives :-)
I'll call you when I get back in.......

-Susan-

Hi folks,

In from rehearsal. Playing a concert on Tuesday - Sinfonia Ottawa, a small group that gets together every August for a concert. Details of the program are at: http://www.siegelproductions.ca/sinfoniaottawa/index.html but I'm not in the pic on that page. It was taken TWO years ago and I was in Japan at the time of the concert.

Got out to Fabricland and got cord and rings for two Roman Shades and renewed my membership for another three years. Will work on the shades tonight. Rehearsal all afternoon. Found a bunch of ripe cherry tomatoes in the garden and ate every one before I got inside. Also washed my car which was filthy. That's about what I've done.

Ann

Ok , you all tired me out today..very humid and high temps, really should be outside working in gardens, perhaps later this evening when it cools down...so managed to paint the 2 window frames I had made for the back metal shed, inserts have 4 coats of finish, should last..made stew, why did I make stew, had to turn a/c because with cooking it added to the temps, starting to cool down now...

Love reading about your days...

Will show you my project...large side panel still has to be painted, one step at a time right??lol

Betty - those panels are so cool!

Joanne