Tag Archives: visitors

Yep. Still a klutz.

What I've Been Up To, , , ,

If there was any doubt… no I haven’t outgrown my klutziness.

We were driving around today with my Uncle Joe and my Aunt Patricia.  I went to get in the back seat of Jeff’s truck and I smashed my head so hard on the metal upper door clamp of the backwards facing back door that it left a deep indent on the top of my head.

Jeff was shaking his head too hard to feel my head. I really wanted him to feel my new divot.  Now it’s just a big goose egg.

The next time I got in the truck, I somehow caught my sweater’s hood on the same hook and half strangled myself.

That’s it, I’m sitting in the front seat from now on. It’s safer.

Anyway, it was nice to have a quick visit with my aunt & uncle.  They were passing through heading back to their summer place in PEI after a Cape Breton vacation.  We took them up to our favourite fish and chips place north of town. It was drizzling, but we still ate outside under the covered porch.  I had the fish and chips, Jeff had the clams, and our guests split a seafood platter.  Yum!

We zipped up to Cape George after lunch to show them the view. The water was so calm and the breeze was light, but it was too foggy to see PEI today.

The drizzly weather was probably a good thing, or Jeff would have been grumpy he wasn’t home working on his deck!

I helped him last night in my winter boots. No, it wasn’t cold, but Jeff pointed out a little red snake on the front lawn and I had no desire to find him again while I was holding the wood for Jeff to saw in my sandals.

(Winter boots attract blackflies by the dozen though – just so you know).

(One brave black fly even had the audacity to bite the palm of my hand. Who does that?)

Latest deck update, almost ready for the decking boards!

Here’s my friend, the lighthouse, on this drizzly day:

Updates: Zeus, raccoon, and company’s coming!

General, ,

Zeus had a bad day yesterday.

The vet warned that he would likely have a bad day here and there, and then when they fall about 3 in a row, then that is when it is time.

Yesterday I started the count.

It started on Saturday night when he puked up some cat treats Jeff had just given him, followed a bit later by just froth bubbles. He went upstairs to curl up. All day Sunday he was curled up upstairs and didn’t seem to eat, drink, or use the litter box all day.

Mid afternoon I decided enough was enough and I took him outside on a leash again to cheer him (me) up.

He didn’t want to walk around, but I sat him on the porch swing with me and spent at least 30 minutes there in the fresh air. He rested and I watched.

This morning he took 4 treats from me before work. I was cautiously optimistic and thought about him all day. When I got home from work, he was totally fine again! You’d never know he had a big cancerous tumour inside him tonight!

What else is new here…

Well I’ve been taking the bird feeders inside, well putting them inside my car, every night. That surely disappoints the birds that wake up hours before I do, but we can sleep again!

Although I was too slow to do it on Saturday night and the raccoon was ON TOP of the bird feeder pole, hanging down to help himself. He’s not a very big raccoon. Really cute actually, but I’d prefer if he moved along and kept someone else awake.

What else… Oh yeah, hey, guess what?!

It’s that time of the year again. Time to wash the sheets on the guest beds, clean up the house, and get ready for COMPANY season!!

Looks like Dad will be arriving first this season, followed by my sister Julie and her friend, then Dad again with Patti-Jo. Hopefully after that I can take a trip over to visit my cousin Christine and her family in PEI, although I have no idea how will swing that with Zeus needing daily medication, and then Mom will be in PEI and maybe visiting here in August. Somewhere in the middle of all of that is a trip home for my cousin Tina’s wedding.

Full summer ahead!

The Schuyler’s Visit

PhotoBlog, ,

Jeff’s parents were visiting this past week. Unfortunately they got a rain soaked trip for the second year in a row!

Last summer we had a couple nights of Euchre. This visit we had two evenings of Trivial Pursuit marathons. I fared a little better in Trivial Pursuit. Jeff’s Dad won the first night’s game, and Jeff was declared the winner for our second night.

Yesterday we headed to Halifax for some sightseeing. And the sun came out! We left home in the morning in the rain and weren’t expecting it to turn out so nice.

Here are a few candid photos from the Halifax waterfront:

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Halifax Waterfront

Mom & Grandma’s Visit

PhotoBlog, , , , ,

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

Still Hope

House/Moving/Repairs, ,

Well I haven’t given up hope on this couple buying my house just yet. I talked to my real estate agent who said they were very interested and were going to the bank for financing. She said they were both pensioners living in an apartment so she didn’t know if they would be approved for a mortgage, except that their apartment costs $600 a month, and my mortgage and taxes is only $166 every two weeks. I hope that they’ll get approved!!!

Jeff found a new listing today that is DRASTICALLY less money than the other properties we’ve followed in Parry Sound. It’s a split level, three bedroom, two bathroom house. Roughly two acres. Looks like it needs all new windows so we’d probably have to update most of the inside as well. Not to mention building a garage and fencing in all 2 acres (I can dream). It is 20-30 minutes out of town so I’d have to get satellite internet. The monthly mortgage payment would be so much less than the other houses that we’re strongly considering this one – provided it isn’t too junky. We’ll have to see if my house sells first. And Jeff leaves this week for 10+ days of moose hunting.

My friend Jen from Thunder Bay stopped in last night on her way home for Thanksgiving. She had her 6 month old chocolate lab Samson with her. He and Monty played for HOURS. Unfortunately none of my photos turned out. It’s hard to focus a camera that is an automatic in the dark while drinking beers on a porch chatting with an old friend apparently. It was really great to chat it up. I hope I can make some good friends in our new town.