In Loving Memory

Nine years ago to the date my mother was killed in a horrific car accident, she was only 60 years old. This was by far the saddest day of my life. 

I still feel my Mom's presence at times, her loving spirit and positive energies keep me going at times and I know without a doubt that I have my Mothers spirit and determination. My blog tonight is dedicated to a very special lady, my Mother. 

  This photo was my Mom and her four little girls, my father passed away when I was 4 1/2 years old and my Mom raised us by herself.  I believe it was Easter Sunday and we were all in our Sunday best, I'm in the red jacket.

I was 20 when Mom remarried, this is her and her husband Ross.

Mom, you are loved and will never be forgotten. Thank you for the unconditional love, the life lessons and for always being there for me... you are still in my heart and always will be. 

Throughout my travels I've come across some amazing words, these are the words of Chief Tucumseh (1768 - 1813) and they remind me of my Mom and speak of her character.

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion: respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours, love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. 

Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign or salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.

Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.  If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of vision. 

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. 

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home..."

 I've heard these words from my mother in some way, shape or form as I was growing up, she taught me well even though it's taken me a long time to clue into them. I now see that I want to live my life in such a manner that I will be able to sing my death song and die like a hero going home when it's my turn to go.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

One small car...

One load of materials...

and no worries, we got it all in with only one wee problem. I thought I got an 8' fence post, it turns out is was a 9 footer. I knew that the trunk wouldn't close, I only have clearance for 8' so my helper took the post back in and had them cut a foot off.

I had to laugh, while my helper was in getting the post cut I loaded up the car with my materials then stood outside of the car with the trunk open so my helper could put the post in. An elderly gentleman was walking by and happened to glance at my trunk, he backed up bent over and took a good look  at my load, he said "Holy thunderin', you have the whole lumber store in there!"  I laughed and told him that looks can be deceiving. My G5 has been an excellent car, it's hauled some pretty amazing loads, the gas mileage is fantastic and after almost 5 years I can still beat the kids off the red lights!

One more day and this reno should be done, this is the goal and I'm not going to say a word about the weather, nope not one single word!

Hail in July

I really shouldn't have mentioned anything about the rain last night, today it was hail! This just isn't right, hail and July do not belong in the same sentence!

I'm not going to say a word about what I'd like to see happen tomorrow, nope not one single word.

Unpredictable

It was a nice day today, the sun was shining and it was warm, not to hot, just warm,  and there was a bit of a breeze blowing.

If there's one thing I've learned living in Alberta it's that if you don't like the weather, or even if you do, wait for five minutes, the weather here is so unpredictable. 

Early this evening it rained and the skies were dark.  

 

The fun of waking up in the morning is seeing what the weather is like, ya just never know what's going to transpire throughout the night!

Progress

It's finally looking like we're winning with these renovations, between the demolition and the rain it seems like these projects weren't going anywhere... but they are. Today half of the fence panels went up.

I went out armed with a "real" screwgun, an 18v DeWalt, and I screwed off most of the patio boards... tonight I sure can feel it.

I don't think that I've posted a photo of my new flowerbed I've put together. I used 57 bags of dirt and a bunch of heavy cement bricks then I added a bunch of perennials, if they all take I know that I'll be thinning this bed next year.

And there you have it, this project is finally coming together... we have progress that I can see!  I'm hoping we don't get any more rain, I would love to have the rest of the fence up, the gates swinging, steps to my side door built and the clean up done by Sunday. That's what I'm aiming for.

... now where was I? Oh right, it's time to get off my computer and do some reading, these courses will get done one way or another!

So Close Yet So Far Away

I was at the mall today and happened to be walking by a Bell kiosk. Fairly recently Bell purchased Solo, I thought I'd see if I can get out of the current contract I have with Solo and upgrade to one of those fancy phones with the internet and all that fun stuff (and here I thought I'd NEVER carry around the internet with me).  Everything was fine and dandy, I picked out my phone and I want to keep my same phone number so the fella helping me had to call Bell to do the switch. It was taking forever because he couldn't get a rep on the phone so I came home with no new phone and a promise to call me once he can get this sorted. 

This is the phone I am hoping to get, I wouldn't have a clue how to operate it but I'm sure in good time I'd at least figure out how to answer it! 

Maybe like their add says... it'll be coming soon. The problem with these phones is that the minute I buy this one, as my son says, there's a newer better model waiting to take it's place, the good thing is that I won't know the difference!

Changes

"One man's junk is another man's treasure."

~unknown 

My son gave me his park bench, it was in need of some TLC so I gave it just that and what a difference it's made. Now to get the deck rebuilt and put my bench back where it belongs, not on my neighbors cement pad, and all will be well in my world! If only life were that easy eh?

I also found a guest setting up it's home in my backyard, it grossed me out but I had to see if I could capture it anyways so out came the camera...

I think that my new found friend will have to change it's residence, I detest spiders! If you want a closer look just click on this to enlarge it but don't say I didn't warn you!

Gardening and Renovations

I love lilies, I always have and I'm hoping that the ones I planted in my new flower bed show up year after year.

If you enlarge the photo you'll see the quote... I am thinking that the exact same thing can be said about renovations! 

 Hopefully the rebuild won't take too long, it shouldn't as long as we don't get anymore rain. The cement has to be poured for the fence posts, the panels hopefully will slide right into place, the new step might go up tomorrow, then it's the deck which for now is replacing boards over an existing frame. Then I should have my yard back! 

The shingles are done, now to find someone to do the eaves and downspouts and that's another job completed... we're getting there. I might even be able to have a family BBQ before the snow flies! :-)

An Afternoon With Elyssa

I had Elyssa over for a visit today, we had tons of fun. We pulled all the cushions off of both the couch and loveseat and played with them for a while, we read books, went for a walk and blew bubbles, ate lunch and had strawberries... I'm not sure who had more fun, me or her. I remember now why I was ten pounds less when my children were small, they sure keep you busy!

I'm also pleased with my new flowerbed so far, this one plant is blooming and the flower is so pretty. I planted so many perennials I forget which is which, all I know is that I love my new flowerbed!

Life is amazing, I'm surrounded by love and beauty, what more could a person ask for in life?

More on Renovations

The rain didn't stop all day today so it was a day off, for outside work that is. I still had one helper with me so I put him to work installing my new vanity in the half bath. The vanity is in BUT my granddaughter is coming to spend a few hours with me tomorrow so it was a super quick clean up tonight. I used the half bath as a storage room and put all the tools, parts, and anything to do with these renovations inside this room, I had to child proof my house tonight. 

There's still the backsplash to put in and a this will be my last pink room left to paint... I'm so close to no more pink walls I can almost forget this house was entirely pink when I moved in. 

For the backsplash I'm thinking of doing tiles, here's what I have in mind...

I have to sleep on this one, I'm not too sure this is what I want but there's no huge rush. Now for the rain to stop and the ground to dry then it's back outside to finish up the work out there. 

Time Waits For Nobody

Today the oddest thing happened. I was out front working away and this gentleman driving by pulls up and we started talking about new shingles. He gave me one heck of a good price, he's insured, WCB covered and added in buying the rest of the shingles, the vents, and some type of extra protection, plus they haul away the old shingles.

I made one call and hired him to do the job, he mentioned that his crew of 7 were almost done on another site and would be over shortly. They showed up about an hour later. If it didn't start to rain they would have been done this job within about 4, hours from start to finish. They're well over half done already and they were only here for a few hours! I'm very impressed. One of my workers was asked if he's like to check out the job and he said they're doing amazing work which puts my mind at ease.With the manpower and the proper tools it's phenomenal what can happen in a matter of a few hours. 

I I'm so happy that this will be out of the way tomorrow if it stops raining, it's one less thing to have to deal with. Here I was waiting for an estimate, the guy who was here on Monday taking a look at my place said I am supposed to be getting an email with an amount.. by the time I get the estimate via email the job will be done!

I've also been having granddaughter withdrawals, tonight I put everything on hold and went to visit for an hour. My precious granddaughter is sprouting up, tonight she was showing me she knows where her tongue is! Unfortunately I only had my P&S with me, but this is way to cute not to post! 

  Silly baby girl who I absolutely adore! Children are definitely a gift from God. 

Yup, time waits for nobody... not for estimates and not for growth. I have to make the most of my time from here on in and really start to focus on other things besides these renovations... it's all coming together one plank and one day at a time! 

... digging

Today it was time to start digging post holes for the new fencing. All I have to say about this is thank goodness it wasn't me that had to do this digging! Even with a two person auger, it's still a ton of hard, heavy work. I'm starting to clue in why God made strong young men, and these two did a fantastic job today!

And the Beat Goes On and On and On

This morning it was up with the birds and off to work, it was a long hot day with temperatures reaching about 30c and I cooked over a hot stove for 8 hours. I was exhausted by the end of my shift! When I arrived home this is what  was transpiring...

 Herb was in town yesterday and we both agreed that this huge cement step had to go. I was wondering how to do it he formulated a plan, bring the picker to the city and just like that I no longer have a cement step on the side of my house. It had shifted away from the house and was pushing on the old fence, we could have shimmed and bracketed the cement slab but in time I'm sure it would have pulled away again. I'm going to get a wood step built. 

The deck is almost totally gone, the two young people who worked for us today really worked hard.

The foundation is still in good shape so we're going to keep that and just replace the top boards and have new steps built. 

The demolition is a huge process, one I'm glad I missed out on today. Even though it was hot in the kitchen at work, it would have been just as hot being outside helping all day long and I'm still sore from lifting and moving stuff around! 

Tonight there was a very welcomed rain, it's cooled things off considerably and hopefully it's going to be a cool day tomorrow as well... no rain though please, just cool!  ;-) 

After the rain the skies were an amazing color, I've never seen skies quite like this before. 

This is straight out of the camera, I never edited the color at all. 

... and the beat goes on and on and on!

Natural Beauty

"Nature is painting for us...day after day...

pictures of infinite beauty."  

John Ruskiin

Work and More Work

What a day! It started out at 6:30am, I was up after only 3 1/2 hours of sleep and sometimes I wonder how I just keep going and going like I did today. My first stop was Home Depot to pick up my materials for the renovations. I was there by 7:30 because I was told they opened at 7, they didn't open til 8!

To make a long story short they didn't even have my doors on the invoice, they didn't pull them with the rest of the materials and the young fella who was helping me must have went out last night, or today was his first day, he didn't have a clue! I asked to talk to the manager who figured things out, he also compensated me with an additional 30% off my doors... good thing or today would have been the last day I walked into this store!

We now have most of the backyard covered in materials, some old and some new. After everything was sorted and I thought I was done shopping for a while the carpenter needed a few more things so back to Home Depot I went. I got to talking to one of the ladies there and I asked if I were to buy at least 20 perennials if I could get 50% off... I think you can see where this is going! 

The crew were off picking up my brick which I purchased from a lady I know, she gave me one heck of a good price. Here's what I'm up to now...

I was having fun with this project, the workers were tuckered out and I don't blame them, they did a lot of heavy lifting today. It was starting to get late and someone started to dim the lights outside so it was time to call it a night, tomorrow I can do my planting after I go and get more dirt.

Here's the new doors installed...

For my side door I wanted a bit of light, now not only do I have natural light coming in, I can open the window and get some fresh air! The old door was solid with no window. 

This is a shot of what my patio doors looked like yesterday,

And here are my new garden doors which I LOVE! 

It's been a very long day, wow it's almost midnight already and I'm back up with the birds to continue on my merry little way. I won't have a lot of free time in the next while to be visiting all of your blogs, but I'm going to attempt to keep up to my posting. I'll be back and I'll visit with you all soon. I'll try not to be anti social, please bear with me. 'Til then, do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do!

Needs Rescuing

There's some pretty sad looking perennials in the stores right now that need to be saved, unfortunately I won't be the one doing that just yet, they're only 25% off. Next week they'll go down more and then I'll have tons of fun playing with plants. I'm going to be doing my front flower bed hopefully sometime next week. If time permits then I'll do the side of the house as well as the back.

Here's an example of some of the flowers I was looking at today:

Coreopsis - Moonbeams 

Verbascum - Southern Charm

I didn't get the name of these ones but I love them! I hope there's some left next week! 

And why not throw some Daisey's in the mix? 

I want my front flower bed to have some of the old country charm, that's going to mean clusters of various flowers and a full flower bed. I should have about 3 1/2' x 7' to work with so this is going to be tons of fun! I'll post a photo once I'm done or while I'm working on the flower bed so you can take a look at it and give me your feedback and suggestions. 

Balance, What Balance?

I know it's time for bed when... 

 I start to scour the internet and find silly things which amuse me.

I think this unit in poetry is driving me over the edge just a wee bit!

Amazing

I was out today placing my final order for materials, checking it twice, and decided to see if plants are on sale yet. I couldn't believe my fantastic find! How much would you pay for this plant?

$50.00?  How about $40.00? Okay lets say $30.00 and that's a deal in my opinion. Would you believe I paid $5.00 for this beautiful plant? I was in the right place at exactly the right time! 

This plant can sit outdoors until it starts to get a bit too cool, then I can bring it indoors and replant the Banana Tree, the fern and there's one other plant which I can transplant and have them as house plants, it's on the backside and can't be seen it in this photo. 

Speaking of Banana Trees... this one young cashier today was ringing in some wood screws for me, she inspected the package closely and said to me "It's hard to believe they actually make screws out of wood, they don't even look like they're made from wood."  I explained to her what wood screws are so she doesn't make that mistake again! lol   Then when we (another Home Depot employee and myself) were talking about Banana Trees, she pipes up and asked "Do these plants really get bananas on them?" To be so young and naive again, no thanks! lol

Here I Go Again

Well it's that time to get things done around here once again. Tonight I was picking out new materials to get some work done around the house and did I ever have fun! I'm hoping to have a new garden door installed on Sunday as well as a new side door.

My existing patio doors are original, this house is 30 years old, so these new doors will be a welcomed sight. There's new fencing going up, new shingles getting done, and I picked out a new vanity for the half bath by accident; It was on sale... need I say more?  

 I am extremely blessed, without my guy helping out I sure wouldn't be where I'm at right now, thank you Herb!

I also spotted some vines growing up the side of an apartment building today, I'm wondering if anybody can help me out and tell me what these are? I'd love to do something like this on one side of my house, for some reason I love vines growing up the wall.

Old and New

Today I was driving downtown and spotted this old Coronet, I'm guessing it's between a '65 - '67, please correct me if I'm wrong.  It's an amazing car... but truth be told I'd much rather be driving the new Crossfire in front of the old classic.

More on Balance

Yesterday's post I mentioned balance but I didn't mention how I find and maintain balance within my life. I find balance in many different ways, spirituality being at the top of my list. I utilize this prayer to help me out and I use it often. 

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change, 

courage to change the things I can, 

and the wisdom to know the difference.

I also love to bake, today I whipped up some Banana Crumb Muffins, they are delicious. If you use apple sauce instead of the butter they turn into low fat muffins, I also added a few walnut pieces.

These are just a few things I do to remain in balance, oh and naturally I love to take photos and blog. Without those of you whom I've connected with, well blogging just wouldn't be the same. Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog, it's appreciated on this end!

Balance

I was driving by a bus stop today

 it was the advertisement which caught my attention...

 Need more balance in your life?

Some days I feel 100% in balance, then there's days where I feel nothing is in balance and my world is closing in around me. I suppose it's all a part of being human or maybe it's a part of being a student. However I can say for certain that what this ad is saying I don't need more of right now... courses! I need to get through the two I'm doing right now and get through one more year, hopefully one short, fast year and then I'm going to put the books down and finally get to work.

"Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance."  

Brian Tracy

What do you do, or how do you find balance in your life? 

A Rosy Day

The rain let up a bit today, long enough to get outdoors and shoot some photos. It was a rosy day; my rose bushes are in bloom with plenty of buds soon to blossom. I adore roses, they're my favorite flower.

"You can complain because roses have thorns,
or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."

- Ziggy

"God gave us our memories so that

we might have roses in December."

- J.M. Barrie

And as the saying goes... make time to stop and smell the roses, you'd be amazed what it can do for you.