Tag Archives: grandma

I just ordered a pizza delivery from 3 provinces away

What I've Been Up To, , ,

It is my Mom’s birthday and I was racking my brain what I could send her for her birthday. Something special. Something quirky. Something to make her smile. This year my Grandma is living with Mom and she has been sick so I wanted to do something for Mom that Grandma could enjoy too.

So I thought of a million different things, and settled on one.

I was going to make them dinner.

Only I’m in Nova Scotia and they are in Listowel, Ontario.

So I started my research last week. Who could I rope into bringing them food? Or maybe I could get a cake delivered? What about an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen? Who would deliver it? Bribe the kids who work there to swing it by Mom’s after their shift?

Nah….

I decided to go way simpler.

I remember once Mom and Grandma Stock came to visit me in the Sault and I went to their hotel room over looking the St. Marys River to play cards with way too much pizza and chicken wings and we had a riot.

So I decided I was going to surprise them with pizza and wings.

A couple days I started to narrow down the plan, and I found the menu to one of the local pizza places in Listowel that I knew wouldn’t lead me astray. I browsed all the specials and the menu and started the plot. How was I going to find out if Mom would be home and then how was I going to convince her not to cook?

So I started poking Mom with text messages, trying to find out what she was doing for her birthday. She had no plans, and no visitors.

So I told her I would be making her dinner.

That was a day or so ago.

Today all day Grandma has been telling Mom she is so silly and would she just take a pizza or something out of the freezer for dinner?

Mom said No. Lisa and Jeff are making dinner.

Oh you are so foolish, Grandma Stock said. They are in Nova Scotia. They can’t make you dinner.

All day long I was anxious. When would I call in the order? Will they answer a call from a different area code? Would they take payment over the phone? Could I put a tip on for the driver on the phone?

When it was close to the time, I put the menu on my computer screen, and the number from the pizza place’s website, and the address for Mom’s house.

Then I placed the call.

I was so nervous. What if I didn’t pull this off? Then it would be Mom’s birthday and she wouldn’t get anything from me!

Ring. Ring. Then it went to an auto answer and said it would redirect my call to their closest restaurant to me.

No!!! That won’t work! Click.

I remembered seeing another number for them on one of their website, so I dug around and found a new number.

A young foreign fellow answered the call. He was kind, but slow, and stumbled around. He took my order, and then asked for Mom’s address. I gave the house and street number, but then he wanted to know if it was North, South, East or West on that street. He said he wasn’t from there. I said I wasn’t either, and I calling from Nova Scotia, but I thought the street was short so the driver should be able to find it.

I slowly gave him my credit card number, and he slowly read it back out as I delivered it, with the expiration date, for everyone in the restaurant to jot down (garlic fingers on us I guess. haha)

7 minutes and 33 seconds after he answered the call, the order was complete and the pizza was on the way into the oven!

25 minutes later, like clock work, a jubilant Mom was on the phone. She said Grandma was in tears. Stuck between laughter and crying, Grandma couldn’t believe I just made them dinner, and she was off to fetch dinner plates. Mom sounded so tickled. Funny thing is – they were playing cards when their dinner arrived, just like that night in the Sault.

I got them 2 medium pizzas, BBQ wings, Caesar salad, 4 pops, and some Brownies.

Mom said they are full and have enough food for a couple more days (so if you are in the area, swing by :D ).

Photos from my weekend in PEI

PhotoBlog,

Here are a few photos from my trip over to PEI for the weekend.

I’m pretty sure I take a photo of these lobster boats every time I’m sitting on the ferry waiting for it to depart (and blow it’s horn making me jump out of my skin).

Spring trip to PEI

Thursday afternoon was nice and sunny. I was getting a nice sunburn going, but it completely clouded over about half way across the Northumberland Stait.

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Don’t tell anyone, but shortly after this photo was taken, these people snuck back down to their vehicles for beer.

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

On Saturday, Grandma and I toured and shopped while Uncle Joe was busy woodworking in his garage. We went to Vesey’s in York, then over to Stratford, PEI to the Home Hardware, had lunch at the Tim Horton’s inside Home Hardware (Joe said it is the biggest Home Hardware in Canada!), then went into Charlottetown and hit the Walmart for an electric broom Grandma was shopping for, then over to the grocery store for some fixin’s for our dinner.

Then back to Joe’s place to empty the groceries, then we went to the wharf in Rustico. I drove right out into the water, only the water wasn’t there, the tide was out.

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Grandma hates having her photo taken, even when I’m in stealth mode.

Spring trip to PEI

Then we went through the national park drive along the shore to Cavendish. Joe said before we went that we will see a fox, because everyone who drives that way sees a fox.

Guess what!?!

We saw a fox.

From a distance it looked like it had something in its mouth so I slowed right down as we passed it. Tails and feet were tangling all out of the side of the fox’s mouth! Her mouth was full of mice, laid horizontally across her tongue!! I wonder if they were for her babies somewhere. (What do you call fox babies anyway?)

Then in Cavendish, we went to a souvenir type of store just past the Anne of Green Gables house. Then we drove through the parking lot of Anne of Green Gables and peeked at the house (didn’t feel like touring and paying this time).

Then we went over to New Glasgow to the Preserves place. Unfortunately this lovely tourist stop has jacked the prices of all their jams and salsas and preserves so high that not only did I not buy a souvenir for you, I didn’t even buy any for myself.

By late in the afternoon we were back and ready for our feast!

BBQ’d chicken, stove top dressing, quinoa, ceasar salad, wine, so stuffed!! Then Grandma cut up the key lime pie Joe made and decided we should eat the entire pie! She gave us each 2 pieces, but I couldn’t finish!

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Sunday morning I headed back home in the dreary fog. Here is Joe’s neighbour’s mailbox:

Spring trip to PEI

And here is his latest creation – Chainsaw Charlie!

Spring trip to PEI

Spring trip to PEI

Waiting in my car for the ferry boarding…

Spring trip to PEI

Wait.. what is that?? That’s right, a load of sheep in a pickup truck, and behind it another load of livestock.

Spring trip to PEI

Can’t wait to go back!

Grandma Verkley’s organ

What I've Been Up To, ,

Grandma Verkley loved her organ.

And now others will too.

When I heard Uncle Phil and Aunt Doreen were looking for a new home for Grandma’s organ, I had grand visions of learning to play it myself, so three years ago, Jeff and I hauled it way out here to Nova Scotia.

But as ambitious as I first was to learn how to play the organ, I haven’t learned. The piano lessons I took when I was younger have not translated well to the organ. So mostly, the organ has just sat here, unplayed.

I could have kept it here. We have lots of room.

But Grandma would want it played.

So today we took it to its new home – the Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital’s Northumberland Veterans Unit (website) in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

Grandma’s organ will be in their large sun room, with full large windows on 3 walls, overlooking the Pictou harbour, were the Veteran residents, Veterans from the community, and their friends and families socialize. Today they are having a Christmas party and Santa is coming to visit.

Their Recreation Director told me he had a lady asking for an organ so she could play. He had no idea where he would find one, but he promised her he’d try. I donated it in Grandma’s name, and they are so delighted to have it. As it turns out, several of their Veterans fought in WWII and help liberate Holland.

Here is a photo I found of Grandma playing her organ, years ago:

Gezina Verkley

I love…

What I've Been Up To, , , ,

I love….

  • sunshine
  • east coast air – so moist and fresh
  • weekends in PEI
  • weekends away from computers
  • family
  • that my Mom came to visit us for a few days
  • that she saw a BEAR, deer, fox, groundhog, hummingbirds
  • weekends in PEI with family
  • PEI red sand – even when it has coloured my shoes
  • that my Grandma is so healthy and of sound mind at her age
  • that my dog had a fun weekend with us and is so well behaved.
  • ferry rides and holding the rail tight in the wind of the Northumberland Strait while I scan the water for marine life
  • that my husband gets along so well with my family (and vice versa)
  • that I get to spend part of Father’s Day with my DAD

Herbes de provence in the kitchen

What I've Been Up To, , , ,

I’m having a great week. Highlights:

  • I went over to PEI for the weekend to hang with Grandma Stock and Uncle Joe. Had a great time. Grandma and I hit the shops in downtown Charlottetown.
  • Jeff painted the kitchen ceiling a couple of times while I was gone. Yahoo! Because I have been totally stressed out about painting the kitchen – all those awful edges
  • the last 2 nights we’ve done 2 coats of wall paint. At first we were seriously in doubt about the colour, and Jeff might still be but he’s staying quiet, but I LOOOVE the colour we picked (herbes de provence)
  • our edges aren’t perfect, but I didn’t stress
  • This Benjamin Moore paint is really nice. It doesn’t splatter and it doesn’t stink. The ceiling paint stunk up the house for days. Well it wasn’t really ceiling paint, because my father, once farmer – now painter, said to use a flat white wall paint instead. I told that to the lady at the paint store and she said, “You know what? All the painters who come in here say the same thing.”
  • I’ve been working my tail off – both at my day job, and after hours for my business. I picked up another web design contract from my favourite client

88| How did it get to be 10:45pm already. Gotta go fall asleep now. More updates later.

Mom & Grandma’s Visit

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I’m seriously behind in my photo blogging!

Mom and Grandma Stock visited over a week ago. Jeff and I picked them up in Pictou from the ferry on Friday (after their visit with Joe and Patricia) and took them to the Halifax airport on Monday so they could fly home.

Here are some photos I took while we were waiting for their ferry to arrive:

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

I told you early about our rummy card playing. And I told you about the whales and seals we saw. But that wasn’t enough for Mom. She demanded that she been shown an east coast deer. So we did one better. We were on a gravel road out near Wine Harbour and there was a doe and TWO fawns on the road in front of us! Take that! :D

On Monday we got early so we could drive to Halifax, and then go a wee bit past Halifax to Peggy’s Cove. Mom and I hadn’t been there since our family vacation in 1990. Grandma Stock was there in the 90′s with her brother and sister-in-law. Jeff was there in 2001. It was a dark rainy day, but the rocks weren’t too wet and just a little bit slippery so we still walked on them to get some photos. What a crazy tourist attraction. I guess a rocky shoreline with a lighthouse is some fascinating thing if you aren’t used to it – but it isn’t much different from the shoreline in many places in Ontario – Killbear Provincial Park north of Parry Sound for example, minus the trees. I like the old fishing buildings in Peggy’s Cove more than the shoreline. Here are some photos:

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Mom and Grandma's visit - July 2008

Quick Update while Mom & Grandma are reading

What I've Been Up To, , , , ,

Mom and Grandma are visiting us this weekend. They just went up to get ready for bed and to read their books, so I have a moment to check my email and blog a bit.

We saw WHALES today! My first whales ever. AND SEALS!! We went up to Cape George in the misty morning weather. The mist stopped when we got up there. From up high where the light house is we could see WHALES! Luckily we had our incredible new binoculars with us so we could zoom in for a better look. There were lots of them! We could see their backs arch as they broke through the surface of the water, then their top fin would stick up, and then they’d elegantly glide back under the surface.

Julie you must be so jealous right now! Poor Julie was here visiting in April and stood on a cold wet wharf in the rain trying to spot a whale.

The seals were hard to spot from up there on the cape without the binoculars. Their heads would pop up and sometimes you could see them look around and then dive back down.

SO COOL!

We were up until the wee hours playing cards last night until Grandma won the game. We played again this afternoon and Mom won. Jeff said we have to keep playing until he wins. I don’t know what the name of the game is, but you play round after round working your way through the sequences of cards you have to get. You start with 2 sets of 3, and then you work your way through straights and set combos until you finish at the grand finale level of a straight of 8 out of your 11 cards in your hand. We had planned to get up early to head to the Farmer’s Market and then to the Highland Games parade, but everyone was sleepy. I sacrificed my sleep and woke up at 6am to keep the pets all calm and quiet and down here on the main floor while everyone slept.

We did take a drive by the Highland Games and saw many men and a few women in their kilts and tartans. It was raining so we didn’t pay the entrance fee to spectate on the activities.

Did you hear who is stopping by Nova Scotia on Tuesday? Tropical Storm Cristobal! The latest advisory has gusty winds and rains hitting north eastern Nova Scotia on Tuesday. We really need rain so I’m game. Plus we have that stockpile of canned food in the basement from Costco in case it speeds up into a bigger storm :D

The Organ Made it!

PhotoBlog, ,

It snowed all day yesterday, and then turned mild last night. As a result… the driveway is passable!! And now we have a heavy snow fall warning for 20cm tomorrow.

Jeff decided to clean off my car, that hasn’t been touched in over 2 weeks, and take it down to the road level in case this is our only chance of driving up!

Organ Delivery

Organ Delivery

Organ Delivery

Organ Delivery

After he got the car down, he tried the truck, and it came right up with no problems – he didn’t even have to back-up to take a run at it!

Organ Delivery

Organ Delivery

Now that the truck is up here, we could finally unload Grandma’s organ. It seems fine even after being in the truck for far longer than intended!

Organ Delivery

Organ Delivery

Now I just want to learn how to play this thing! I’ve been surfing for some learn how to play the organ books, but they seem very difficult to track down! Chapters and Amazon have a few – but they are mostly unavailable.

Yeah, I’m still alive

What I've Been Up To, , , , , ,

Okay for all of you asking if I’m still alive…. I am!

We’ve been busy!

We were home for a week. My family threw a wedding shower for us at our annual family picnic! It was very nice of them and we got some incredible gifts! I will photograph them in a week or two! There are photos from that day going up on Verkley.com – http://verkley.com/wp-content/plugins/fgallery/fim_photos.php?album=verkley-family-picnic-2007

Our Verkley family always has our family get together in August for Grandma’s birthday. This was the first picnic without her :’( and without Grandpa. Grandma passed away last fall, and Grandpa has Alzheimer’s and lives in a care facility. I was sad not to give them a big hug, but imagine my surprise when I open a card for us at the shower from my Grandma and Grandpa! It was their treasured cuckoo clock! My aunt and uncle who had inherited it decided to pass it along to Jeff and I! It is a family treasure and I am excited to hear and see it in our new home way out east in Nova Scotia. (I only cried two or three times)

While we were home, we also helped Mom redecorate her bedroom – turn garden room – back into a spare bedroom. We also met with the officiant for our wedding, selected Jeff’s tux, visited with my Grandma Stock, booked some decorations for our wedding, and visited with Jeff’s parents who also come to the Verkley picnic to meet my family.

Now we’re in our final week before we move. Here is the schedule:

Tuesday August 21 : Jeff’s last day at work
Wednesday August 22 : Finish taking the rest of our stuff to the storage facility
Thursday August 23 : The movers will pull their truck up to the storage facility and up all our earthly possessions.
Friday August 24 : Last day to clean up the house we’re renting.
Saturday August 25th : Pack up the truck with 2 dogs, cat, fish, house plants, chemicals that the movers won’t take, a blanket or two, a few days of clothes, and us and start our drive east.
Sunday August 26th : Continue to drive east.
Monday August 27th : Meet with the lawyer and get possession of our new house, time unknown.
Tuesday August 28th : Movers arrive to unload the truck. The Bell Expressview installer should also arrive in the afternoon to hook up the satellite for TV.
Wednesday August 29th : The movers return to empty and unpack the boxes (we aren’t allowed to do it for insurance reasons)
Thursday August 30th : Relax.