BOYS BOYS BOYS

How the hell is it I ended up with three boys in the house and not one girl?  If these guys were girls, like either of my two daughters or any of Kathy's girls, or Cookie's Tj, it would be soooo different.  For example:  Last night I had some stuff to do in my room and so I went in there right after a pretty late dinner.  I had made a huge salad.  Cut up veggies and fished out anchovies and emptied a couple of jars of odds and ends and served it up.  Plus there was left over Chinese food I had bought the night before.

Anyway, this morning I get up and wander out to the kitchen to get coffee and the whole kitchen is a big mess.  Not one of those three boys lifted a finger to clean that kitchen.  I had fallen asleep by 11 and hadn't gone back out there.  Monte came into my room and shut my lights off etc...then I heard him in the kitchen talking to one of them.  If they had been girls there would be no way would they have left that mess for morning.

  I haven't cleaned it yet but I moved the dirty dishes over to the counter on the proper side of the sink.  It is surrounding and crowding the coffee pot.  Let's see how that gets handled.  Grrrrr....Don't get me wrong...they often do pitch in and do stuff, especially and always if I ask.  But sometimes.....
This morning it just irked me to see the kitchen a mess.

  But...I must emphasize that they are so willing to do anything I ask, and some of the asks are big ones.  And they do the garbage...thankyou Lord!!!!  And between the three of them they always always always unload the groceries from the truck.  Thats a real biggie to me.  I hate unloading the truck.  Hopefully they don't read this post!  I am just comparing having boys rather than girls.  It's different.

Well today there are a few deadlines to meet.  One of them needs to go to the post office...which Monte volunteered to do.  I am doing an amazon return...first one ever.

 I discovered that you HAVE to pick one of their reasons from a list they put up.  If you pick the wrong one they won't pay for the return.  (one of the boys just came out and made themselves coffee....wiggled out the little pot we drip the coffee into.  LOL!!  Didn't do a dish though.) Anyway, I am getting a wee bit annoyed with Amazon.  They can be tricky and you have to watch out.  They renew your prime stuff without notice.  Their prime video isn't all included..you have to join Hayu..no thanks.  They signed me up for some reading program and I had to get hold of them to cancel it.  And like April says, she checked, if you aren't prime, stuff is cheaper, you do have to pay shipping but that turns out to be about the same cost as prime in the end. And if the product isn't specifically in Canada (and face it...what the hell does Canada have) all bets are off for when the item arrives. Prime doesn't apply.  Sure isn't in two days.   For 90 bucks I am rethinking the whole program.

Well it seems this post has turned into a big complaint so I shall stop here. And don't get me wrong.  I am so much better off with the boys here than not.  They make me happy and they do all the heavy lifting.  What more could an old broad want...well maybe an unexpected unasked for clean kitchen when necessary!!!  And if any of you boys are reading this...I love each and every one of you!!!! Keep safe and healthy peeps...TTYL

BROWNIES AND PICNICS AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS

Hey Cookie, I have a picture of you, me and Kevin out in the bush having a picnic.  We took left over roti and stuffed it with left over subjit.  The best picnic ever!!!  And for sure we will make brownies and take them with us.  I am still perfecting the timing and temp in that oven.  I love it!

The trip I signed Peter, Monte and I up for, a cruise to South America, was approximately fifteen thousand dollars.  I paid in full.  17 hundred of that was actually the mandatory deposit.  So if you cancel before August first you lose your 1700 but get your balance back.

My dilemma was should I hold out and wait to see if Holland America cancels the cruise and I get the whole amount back, or do I cancel by Aug 1st and at least get most of my money back minus the 1700 bucks. If I don't cancel, and Holland doesn't cancel, I lose the whole fifteen.  Ain't no way am I going on a Petri dish cruise anytime soon!

And then yesterday I heard our esteemed Prime Minister make that magic announcement....no cruising in Canada until the end of October.  We were to leave Oct, 3rd.  Yay!!!!!!  That trip will be cancelled as we were to leave from Vancouver.  Such a load off my mind.

About four  this morning there was a very loud bang.  I thought something had fallen off Graeme's bed, I mean it could have been Graeme but it didn't have that human slap sound of a person hitting the floor.  But then a few minutes later there was another one...a very very loud one.  I got up right away to make sure no one was monkeying around with any of our vehicles or stuff.  So I went out to the deck and had a look.  I couldn't really see anything.  Then Graeme showed up and we went out on the deck and the people in the crack house across the back alley were yet again having a fire...burning something.  They do this fairly regularly.

  When I was talking to Harry next door the other day, he said he feels they are burning off the plastic on copper wire they steal from somewhere.  Apparently the smoke smells horrendous...it blows right into his house.  We are just far enough way to not get it.  I think that house is going to blow up one day....meth lab.

Well not much to report.  I think I shall attack clothes again today, either laundry or putting summer crap away.  I really am getting tired of being in my chair and watching stupid tv.  Its funny how when you have all the time in the world, you lose your ambition to do anything.  When I am super busy I really want to play the piano, bake stuff, clean, garden, put up wallpaper, etc...But sitting around begats more sitting around which begats more sitting around.  Shovel list.

So I dumped my pics and I will put a couple below of the lake we found.  So pretty.   Sorry for the very lame post.  Not much happening in this corner of the woods!  Be safe, stay healthy and TTYL

THIS IS GETTING TEDIOUS

It's tedious for everybody I know.  I am usually completely happy being home, in my chair, cooking, cleaning, reading, watching endless Murdock, talking to over the deck buddies, bugging poor Graeme, having great convo with Peter....but I am getting antsy finally.  It's only  taken three months!

Yesterday Monte was feeling the same so we hopped into the jeep, took the top off (then promptly froze and had to put the heat on, blowing full blast on us), wandered around the forest and found a wee beautiful lake!  It was totally new to me, he has seen it before.  And discovered a beautiful railroad track that ran right past it.  I walked along the tracks for a while and took pics.  They are still in my camera but as soon as I dump them I shall post some here.

Oh jeez!  I have the news on and I just heard them say, "Don't leave you pet in a hot car."  Honestly, here we go again.  Over and over and over.  I get so tired of hearing this on the news and seeing it on social media.  EVERYBODY already knows people.  If someone is leaving their pet in a hot car its not because they haven't heard the message a thousand times, its because they are stupid and repeating the message a thousand times more isn't going to get them to stop.  Over and over and over.

I made eggplant parmesan two nights ago.  It was beyond delicious!  And Lydia, the Italian chef I PVR, promised me and showed me how easy it is to make.  Well, it's simple if that's what she meant.  But very soon into the process I had to call Monte to help.  It really is a two man job if you are making enough for four people.  I think Lydia's would barely feed one.  It really was worth the work though.  I love eggplant and the recipe I used was stellar.

But there was one casualty in all of it.  My poor kitchen.  Normally when I cook I clean as much as possible as I go.  But when things get intense and kind of hectic, my poor kitchen suffers for it.  This time was really bad.

  I don't have much space.  Now I know I have two daughters that may take exception to that statement.  They really have, by appearance, tiny tiny kitchens it's true.  But I am pretty sure if I took a tape measure to the actual usable counter space I wouldn't be much more than them.  Anyway it was so horrific after the whole affair, I took a picture.  Actually I took pics before and after I cleaned up!  The upside of a small kitchen is the time it takes to clean...not much!

Well its time to face this lovely day.  I wish my fire pit would come so we could go and have a weenie roast somewhere.  Our town is a logging town.  And the logging companies own all the forested land surrounding us.  One by one all the roads we love to wander down are being gated off.  It's beginning to feel like Maui...where they shut off every single possible road off the main road.  Oh well.  Stay safe peeps and TTYL

THE FINAL PRODUCT ON THE RIGHT

COOKING PARTNER IN MAUI..THE APRON WAS ENORMOUS!

THE RECIPE

WHILST THEY COOK

THE FRYING PAN IN THE SINK, A CAST IRON, WAS SO HOT IT MELTED MY SCRUBBIE!!  SEE MY TOASTER OVEN BACK THERE?  BEST THING I EVER BOUGHT FOR A KITCHEN GADGET!  BAKES THE BEST BROWNIES.  

HEALING TRIP

Yesterday afternoon I suggested to Monte that we go for a ride.  I needed geraniums and impatiens and he needed a coffee from Starbucks.  Right near Starbucks is the dollar store...which was open!

So I hopped into the store and bought nine tin foil pans, the right size for my toaster oven, three boxes of brownie mix and a giant bottle of scrub free...antibiotic cleaner, all for 13 bucks.   13!!!!  Can't beat that!!!

We then headed out to Nesgaards and I bought my plants.  They didn't have lobelia so I am still going to have to make a trip out.  The garden is basically complete and Graeme has planted a fence row of sunflowers.  I am planting sweet peas in my garden boxes.  I had to laugh...we went into a garden store to get sweet pea seeds.  I was looking at the spin around thingy side with all the flowers. Monte says "Mom...those are all the flowers."  Yes I know I replied.  Then it dawned on me...he thought it was sweet eating peas!!!!  He was disappointed.   So cute!

In this particular store they have the most extensive dog stuff aisles.  So we went about and bought Wrangler a stuffy with a squeaker..his fave and some salmon skin snacks and a really really long, about three feet, skinny very hard stick looking thing.  It's similar to the one Myles's mom gave him at xmas and he LOVED it.  As we were leaving I asked the sales person what it was.  It's a bull penis tendon.  Holy Hannah!!!!!  A penis that long?  Poor cows I say!

Then we took off, into the wild.  We drove a ways towards Bamfield.  Monte was going to show me the place he and Pete found for weenie roasts and boy! was it a doozy!!!  We drove up a pretty rough logging road to the top of the world and it was absolutely beautiful!  One forgets just how amazing Mother Earth actually is.  The rolling hills, the mossy forest, the tumbling creeks, the irresistible wood and rocks to pick to bring back, the acres and acres of yellow broome, the eagles swooping and crying, a bright red 4x4 truck and a favoured son....you cannot get better than that I tell ya!

I felt like I had climbed to heaven.  With no jets overhead you seriously could not hear one human sound, not one.  You have to seriously hunt for a place that can boast that.  Not one sound of human.  I could have stayed there all day gazing out at the immense vista in front of us, all the way to the Alberni Inlet way off in the distance.  Just to the side of that was a whole hill of solid yellow.  Sigh.  I really need to think of an antonym to shovel list.

Well both my phone and lappy are dying.  Gotta bounce.  Keep safe.  TTYL

MY GLASSES OVER GLASSES GLASSES
They are great except I can't see when they are on.

MMMMM.....CORN....GET IN MY BELLY.....EVENTUALLY

MY FLOWERS

MR. GETTING SKINNY  ONE CARB LESS AT A TIME

A WEE TUMBLING CREEK

OUR WEENIE ROAST VIEW

MY STEAMPUNK PHASE

THE FAR OFF INLET AND YELLOW HILL

OUR WEENIE ROAST FLOWERS

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS

DOES THIS MAKE YOU WANT TO SNEEZE?

A RANT

I think its great that we have great minds at the helm leading the way with this covid thing but I also think there is a danger in letting them do all your thinking and slipping into hero worship.

Both Tam and Henry are suggesting and recommending we wear masks now.  And if you have any questions about your symptoms etc....to call 811 and let them tell you what to do.

Sure. My neighbour whom I talk with over our balconies thought she may have it.  She called 811, like Graeme did a couple of months ago.  The advice was the same...take your temperature and if you have to go out wear a mask.  And forget about being tested.  Here in BC our esteemed Bonnie doesn't seem interested in making testing available unless you are dying.

First of all, where?  Where do you get masks?  The one drugstore here doesn't sell them.  I don't have a sewing machine so I can't make one.  I don't know any back alley dealers to illegally buy a bunch off of at exorbitant prices.  So that particular piece of advice is useless.

And where does one get a thermometer?  Every time any of us has been into the drugstore we ask. They say they don't have them.  They trickle in and sell out immediately.  So that particular piece of advice is also useless.  We use the meat thermometer and I now know the temp of the inside of the back of my tongue, real helpful.

And testing?  Well in BC thats a joke.  Its pretty clear that the provinces (like New Brunswick and Saskatchewan) that test and test and test are doing way better.  BC?  Its like Bonnie is hoarding the crap and doesn't want it used.  I have a feeling that if there is a whole lot of testing now the actual number of people with covid would go up, clearly.  And possibly she doesn't want her precious reputation to be besmirched.  Can you tell I am not on the Bonnie band wagon?  Great lady, but she is human, not a god.

From what I can tell the countries, provinces, states etc..that did the best are the ones that have the citizens that followed the requirements the best, stuck with it and the powers that be actually cared more about the vulnerable dying than about the frigging economy.  Look at Sweden.  They put their economy ahead of deaths and their death rate per capita is about double or more than their surrounding neighbours (except Belgium).  But the head health guy was very quick to point out that the deaths were in senior care homes...like they don't really count?  Even here Bonnie is quick to point out that predominantly the deaths are in care homes or chicken plants (where a lot of the workers are foreign), not the general community.  I don't know.  Not sure what to think.  So like Scarlett...I will think about it tomorrow.

Sorry for the rant.  I think I am getting tired of all this as is everybody.  What worries me is that eventually you get worn down and you end up letting your guard down and you can get careless.  I hope Sylvia Browne was right and this frigging thing disappears as quickly as it hit us.

I made delicious spicy potato salad yesterday.  I am going to cheer myself up and go have some for breakfast.  Stay safe people...don't let your guard down!  And don't become a Bonnie hater like me...she is pretty amazing.  TTYL

BEST NEWS.....AT LEAST FOR ME....MAYBE NOT THE BEST BEST BUT SUPER GOOD

I am not sure if I have mentioned this in earlier posts but the house is getting a little run down and dirty.  I am just no good as a housekeeper and Monte is even worse and its not the boys' responsibility.  And guess what?  I HEARD FROM MILLIE!!!!  SHE IS COMING BACK ON JUNE 4!!!!!  I am so happy!!!  I am good at and quite happy to do the messy clean up part but I hate hate hate (sorry mom...only word that says it) cleaning stoves and sinks and floors and cupboards and bathrooms etc....(shovel list).

 The boys expressed a little concern about having someone in the house.  I can appreciate that but I think with a few things in place it should be okay. We will all keep to our rooms when she comes and all the windows and doors will be wide open. Plus we will wait an hour before coming out after she leaves.  That should do it I think.

I just cancelled her.  I got thinking about it and really I have taken such care to stay safe, it seems foolish to take this risk right now...just to have a clean house.  And Graeme, bless his heart, washed all the floors the other day!

Well I am going to work on my bedroom today.  Achhh jeez!  I am still in the middle of switching winter to summer clothes (don't know why..its effing cold out) and I don't have anywhere to put stuff.  I need to do this so I can get the wallpaper up.  The wallpaper that's there now is awful and needs to go.  Take a look at the pic below...you will see what I mean.

Damn!  I was going to have a shower right now but I hear the water going downstairs.  I will have to wait now for a while.  With three people in the house that shower constantly, it's hard to get one in where you have hot water til the end.  Oh well...keep safe people.  TTYL

SCRUBBING THE FLOOR!!!!

PROJECT FOR TODAY...SEE THE AWFUL WALLPAPER?

VEGETARIAN ANGST

The other night Peter, bless him, said he would make dinner for us.  He was going to make salad rolls...using rice paper.  He said he didn't need help, he was going to do this for us.  I thought he had made them before but as it turns out he hadn't.  And the poor fella had no idea how much work they are if you aren't practiced in salad rolling!

First you have to julienne a load of veggies.  Cook rice noodle.  Fry up delicious tofu.  Then set up a rolling station.  Well, two hours after he started, I was in my purple room reading, it dawned on me that it had been a pretty lengthy time since he had started.  So I went to investigate.  The poor guy was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by it all and actually said he had no idea how much was involved.  Poor Peter.  He was almost finished though. And he had several plates of beautiful rolls full of cucumber, carrots, lettuce, cilantro (on half of them), rice noodles, mango, tofu.  So I gave him a quick hand.  I had already made a delicious peanut sauce, at least to me it was, so we sat down to eat.  I so wish I had taken pics of it.  They were divine!!!!!!And amazingly filling!

Arnie sent me a very interesting recipe for peanut sauce.  Unfortunately I was missing several of the key ingredients.  So I made my own recipe.  Equal parts peanut butter and water, tablespoons of rice vinegar and tempura sauce, sombalac.  Yum yum!  It was so good and simple.  

I have failed royally in the dinner department lately.  I am having real trouble switching from planning a dinner around meat to not planning around meat.  My brain is so very hardwired, right from the time I was ten then later the major cooking classes I took in school, to have a meat, a starch and two veg or one veg and one salad.  And the two veg can't be the same colour.

  Arnie, bless her, sent me two seriously beautiful vegetarian cookbooks for my birthday, so I will start there.  I suspect there will be lots of cooked greens in our future!  At first I think I will make the starch the main dish.  Couscous or quinoa, potato or rice, pasta or cheesy something, then go from there.  Wish me luck...new brain patterns being developed!!!

So that being said, my first dinner as a vegetarian was this: mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, chard, Yorkshire pudding and a four bone massive prime rib roast from the butcher....WAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!  I need help!!!!  I'm addicted.  And the thing is I didn't eat even one bit of that meat.  I just don't like it enough.  I ate the gravy.  And that meat caused Pete to fall off the veg wagon:(. Grrrrrrr......  And now there is a tiny bit of meat left that I am beating boys off of so we can have a second dinner of leftovers tonight. Sigh.

Now it's a beautiful beautiful day outside.  Just talked to the neighbour and she told me where to go to get good cheap soil for the planter we have coming.  Must go and investigate!  Keep safe peeps!  TTYL

FREEZING COLD

I read somewhere that you should keep your windows and doors wide open all day, especially if there's a hoard of people living in your house.  It kind of makes sense.  But.... I got up yesterday morning and it seemed particularly cold. I had shut the doors but left windows open.  I took a look at the thermometer on the wall and it was 62/16 degrees!!!  Jeez!!!  I cranked it up to 74 and warmed it up in there.  I wish the weather would just warm up and stay there!

Do any of you ever watch hoarders?  I don't really relate to it as I have no trouble getting rid of stuff. I was thinking that my biggest unload session was in Langford before moving to Kamloops.  I seriously got rid of thousands of dollars worth of stuff.  Bill's sister-in-law turned me on to a hoarder couple who lived in Victoria and voila!  so easy.  I hate trying to sell stuff.  So aggravating.

I did decide to sell my beautiful floral Canadian made sofa bed.  I loved that thing but it weighed a ton so moving it would cost.  I advertised in Victoria Used.  And right away the calls started coming in.

Well let me tell ya, I spent the next weeks taking calls, making appointments, hanging on to it and not selling it cuz someone "was definitely taking it", then they never showed up, people coming in and laying on it, sitting on it, taking it apart, then say no and leaving...leaving the couch in pieces.  I wasn't asking very much for it.  Like 100 dollars.  I paid a huge amount more than that two years before.  And always the first words out of their mouths was, "would you take 25?"  NO I FREAKING WOULD NOT!!!!  GET OUT!!! JUST GET OUT!!!!"  Finally a couple took the   couch the day before the movers were coming. For 50 bucks.  I hate them.  Can you imagine going through that process with everything else I got rid of?  I would kill someone before it was over.

So, that brings me to now....and thinking of everything I left behind in Bamfield.  When we sold the house, with everything in it, it was at a time when there were such overwhelming limitations.  We could only take one pickup truck worth of stuff.  We had zero room for anything back in Vancouver.  It was such a painful leaving that I just shut my brain off, picked out the most sentimental stuff, filled big red's truck box, and left.  And I haven't allowed myself to even think about what was left behind...until now.  And now, for whatever ridiculous unexplained reason, it is really really hurting..for the very first time.  I am tearing up just writing about this.  It hurts.

I could list three pages of stuff here I would give my right you know what to have back.  And I am having to replace, at quite a cost, some of it now...now that we are gardening and landscaping. And what really hurts is when we went to the log house last summer, there was stuff they were clearly getting rid of just sitting outside.  Stuff that Bill and I picked up on our trips to the south, stuff that didn't matter to them anymore.

  I could see the two big sun and moon platters leaning in the kitchen window, I could see the shelves sitting on a barrel full of beautiful red and green Xmas dishes,  and all the beautiful Amish furniture we paid a fortune for, and what I wouldn't give to have the huge galvanized bathtub back.  I would use it in the garden.  And Bob's bright red little kid's Adirondack chairs....still sitting on the deck.  Okay I will stop now.

This covid shit is getting to me.  I am finding it harder and harder to look forward to waking up in the morning.  No matter what projects are on the go, like the garden, they don't seem to make a difference anymore.  I don't even want to cook dinners.  And thats crazy.  I have never not wanted to plan and execute dinner.  Sigh.  And I am sure everyone is feeling somewhat the same.  Except my sister has her grand children with her all the time and Cookie gets to see some of hers frequently.  I can't see mine, they are in Penticton. I can't wait until I can hop into the car and go visit them.  Whimper whimper.....(shovel list)

But then I think of our dear dear friend Clare.  Clare is in his 90's.  He is one of Bill's best buddies he used to meet with every Thursday for lunch at the pub.  He and his beautiful wife Tish have been married for over 70 years.  I am not sure of the exact number but over 70.  And she fell last year and ended up having to live in extended care.  Which was so difficult for them.  They had never been apart.  Clare would walk up to her home and visit every day and sometimes take her out in her wheelchair.

And now, you guessed it, he isn't allowed to see her.  Unbelievably painful.  I can't even imagine not being able to see the love of my life, knowing she was only one block away.  And she has a touch of dementia and doesn't understand why she can't see him.  This is untenable.  I hear that they are beginning to lighten up the visiting rules.  I so so hope that he will be able to suit up and go and see her...soon.  So clearly I have zero excuse to feel the way I do.  I am going through nothing compared to them.  There are so many sad sad stories out there.

Well I had better sign off before this turns into an even more maudlin whine.  Take care people, stay home, be safe.  TTYL

STARING

I have been sitting here on my bed in the sink hole I have created in the mattress over the last three months, staring at this screen.  Normally I am all gung ho and excited to get the post written.  But today I am finding it harder to get wound up.  I am not sure but I think this staying home, being a little scared 24/7, not seeing my kids and grand kids is beginning to get to me.  And worst of all  my attitude toward a certain race is turning ugly.

I don't know if you read what Bryan Adams tweeted but I totally agree with him, maybe not the way he worded it, kind of harsh, but I agree with the message.  I know some people choose to call him racist, but how do you object to what a culture allows without being called a racist? Objecting is the only way to effect change.

 These people are also the ones that have a festival once a year where they torture dogs then kill them then men eat them for their own virility.  That is NOT okay.  And the only way it will be stopped, because clearly the people in that country are not stopping the practice, is for the rest of the world to object and make noise about it.  If thats racism then so be it.  I think this also applies to our own practices in slaughter houses.  And this applies to coal burning in factories.  And mass dolphin killing.  So I am with Bryan Adams....stop eating bats and get rid of wet markets.  Call me a racist, I will still take this stand.

Thanks Sheduntno for your comment.  I read more about Sylvia Browne's predictions and apparently she was wrong a lot.  LOL!!!  But she was also quite right a lot too.  And thanks for the comment on the back yard.  It actually is a pretty plain Jane yard with no landscaping.  I wish there were more flowering bushes and weeping willows!

Well I spent all day yesterday in bed hiding out.  I must admit that I am used to being alone so now and then I need to take a by myself day.  Hopefully no one feels like I am shunning them.  I am not...just taking some time. I put endless episodes of Murdock on and did a whole bunch of writing.  My step counter said I took 32 steps yesterday.  Yikes!!!  Better go for a walk today!

Well it looks like things are lightening up out there Covid wise.  I read that some of the cruise lines are starting up again soon.  I am not too happy about that.  I want my 15,000 bucks back and the only way I will get that is if Holland cancels the cruise.  It is in October so we shall see.  I have made the decision not to leave this house and Port til there is a vaccine.  The cruise line that is considering starting up soon is Norwegian.  But they also said that they would only take on half the customers so there can be distancing and everyone has to wear masks and no buffet.  Are you kidding?  That is NOT cruising.

Plus an interview with the entertainment director stuck on one of their ships has said that there are hundreds of crew stuck there too.  And Norwegian will not allow them above their lower deck.  No windows.  Not allowed out of their room.  Not being put up on the decks where there are windows and balconies.  And they have been there for weeks.  Inhumane!!!  No Norwegian for me in the future thanks!

So I am coming to terms with the fact that I won't leave this house for the next however long it is til a vaccine, no grand kids, no kids, no family, no camping, no shopping.  Maybe a miracle will happen and a vaccine will happen sooner than expected.  Fingers crossed.  Sorry for the kind of down post today.  I need to get my rear in gear and do something to get my mojo going.  Maybe I will cook something.  Yes, I think that is what I will do.  That always cheers me up!  Stay safe Peeps.  Love you all.  TTYL

LAPTOP TROUBLES

I am having serious problems with my laptop here.  I think it's time for a new one.  I had my post well started and then it totally disappeared, mid type.  So I don't know how far I will get with this.

Yesterday I opened it up and there was only half a desktop pic on it and it was totally frozen.  Thank goodness Graeme fixed it but now the screen is all the wrong size and things aren't quite right.  And when you spend the hours I do on this thing, things not being quite right on the screen is discombobulating.

Yesterday was quite the day.  The four of us hopped into the truck and went to Nesgaards, our fave garden centre.  We bought 12 bags of dirt to fill the cloth raised garden beds I bought off amazon.  We also picked up seeds, baby starter plants (eggplants and squash) and a beautiful big beefsteak tomato plant.  Then we went for a drive.  It was such a beautiful hot day...so needed here.  It rains a lot in Port.

We took the two removable roof parts off the truck and it totally reminded Monte and I of driving around Maui in a convertible.  This stupid laptop is now underlining in red, words that are NOT spelt wrong.  Like it underlined off.  Why?  And quite.  Are quite and off no longer in the English language?  And it keeps capitalizing tomato.  Grrrrrr.

Anyway we drove out to the MacLean Mill...an old mill grounds and buildings that have been restored enough for tourists to see, except right now there are no tourists!!!!  Perfect time to go.  At one time there was a train that would take people from the quay down below us here all the way out to the mill and back again.  It isn't running right now due to lack of money and we aren't sad about it.  That train horn going all day almost drove people that live here nuts.  It was such a beautiful hot sunny day and we enjoyed ourselves there...all by ourselves!

Last night Graeme and I were peacefully watching tv when there was a great huge shouting match outside.  Two guys from the drug house across the alley from us were just screaming at each other.  It was awful.  I thought they were going to kill each other.  Finally I called the cops.  And by the time the lady finished asking me, over and over and over, if I could see them, and me over and over and over saying no, I could only hear them, they quieted down and we think they walked off down the street away from that house.  Jeez!  I don't know how many times I had to tell her that we couldn't see them.  It's dark.  There are trees.  They were on the other side of their house.  NO I couldn't see them.

Anywhoo I am going to put a couple of pics here. Today I think Monte is going to plant.  He is the garden keeper.  He loves it.  Oh and I have ordered from Amazon a propane fire pit.!!  I am so excited!  Often when there are no fires allowed, the fire pits are.  Jen brought one with her last year on our Bamfield camping trip and it was so handy.  And she didn't mind us roasting weenies on it.  Some people I know like to keep their's pristine.  Not me.  We are going to USE it on our deck and anywhere else we feel like and have weenie roasts.  I can't wait.  Keep safe everyone.  TTYL


PS.   You will read in the pics an excerpt that April sent me.  It was written about Sylvia Brown,  a famous psychic.  I have read a lot of her stuff.  One of the things she does is make predictions...and she is ALWAYS right.  Read what she wrote in 2008.  I remember her on tv making this prediction.  It is in her book.  So even if you are a total skeptic...I don't think you can explain away this one.  It certainly isn't just a 'lucky guess'.

GRAEME AND I...SELFIE TIME. Monte took my pony so he could drive the jeep without the roof.  So my hair is a mess.

OUT AT THE MILL

STUPID BLOGSPOT...MIXES UP THE PICS
MONTE AND PETE FILLING UP THE BEDS

NOT A RANT BUT....

I remember with both my gramma and Bill's mom being somewhat, hmmmm...what's the word?, not sure, but basically not giving them credit for remembering things correctly or having valid points of view because of their age.  Both of them at this point were in their 80's and I feel bad about that.  Even though Gramma had dementia, until she really lost it, she knew what she was talking about.  I wish I had listened more genuinely.

Now, here, a couple of times the boys in this house have referred to my 'dementia' when we disagree on something. It's really my own fault because I joke lots about having dementia when I forget to shut a door or find something or can't remember an obscure actor in some movie that came out a million years ago. And it's true that as we age our memories get a little slower, I believe because we have an overload of info in there!

But to be told you are wrong because you are old and getting dementia?  No.  Not even in fun is that okay.  I know they are joking but because it's so prevalent amongst our older generation, it's not funny.

  I remember at our house many years ago, Bill's family would come for a xmas gathering.  There would be lots of us.  Gramma, Bill's mom, would sit in the corner and get either totally ignored by everybody or temporarily talked to in a patronizing voice.  She was not included.  And that was not okay. Especially her.  She knew more about babies than anyone I knew.  And that woman had more household hacks than the internet and she loved to talk about the family history, so so interesting.  This history I can pass on to my kids now.  Don't underestimate the older generation people!!!

Graeme is crazy....he is very hard to describe.  He constantly makes noises, tells you he loves you, makes terrible jokes (but some are super funny and very clever), he pretend cries..all the time, repeats senseless phrases over and over....I think I would have imploded by now with him underfoot 24/7 except for one thing.  Monte.  Graeme is very similar to Monte when Monte was younger.  Monte has changed a lot and isn't like that anymore and I have to admit...I have missed it, until now.  Graeme has brought all that delight back into our house!  In fact at least three times in the night the other night, as I lay there awake, I remembered something he said in the evening before and I got laughing..out loud!    It will be a very sad and quiet house when he is finally able to escape!

Peter on the other hand is the quiet, far more serious one.  We don't see much of him during the day.  He goes for long walks and runs, he reads voraciously and listens to music.  But the conversations he and I have had are not even remotely duplicated with anybody else.  I value those convos more than anything.  He is so wise and has the most amazing views on life, relationships, philosophy.....It's only once in a blue moon you are lucky enough to meet someone you can really communicate with on that level.  We are lucky to have him here.

And Monte....my darling absent minded, loving, funny in a very different way to Graeme, messy, sweet boy.  In many ways he reminds me of Bill...which is awesome.  But this kid!  He is truly one of the most willing to help people in the world.  He will do anything you ask him to...but you have to ask.  He just doesn't see it.  I have been trying his whole life to teach him to leave things the way he finds them.  Dirty toilet? clean it before you leave the bathroom.  Made coffee? put away the beans, the grinder, the milk, the sugar twin used papers, shut the cupboard doors....had a snack that involved packaging? throw the packaging away and wipe the crumbs when you are done.  It will never happen.  But ask him to move crap from the house to the she shed?  Hercules will pick up an extreme amount of stuff and move it, happily.  I am just happy to have him 'back' and I will take him anyway I can get him:)

I have avoided mentioning books I am reading.  The only thing more boring than people talking about books they are reading are people talking about the dream they had.  Jeez!  But I am going to mention a book both April and I are reading.  Its a true brain changing, in a good way, book.  Within the first fifty pages you will already be changed...and its written in an engaging, unboring, easy to read way.  All I am going to do is give you the name and author and I ask that you amazon it and read the info on it.  And if you read it, I will be dying to hear what you think!  There!  Thats all I am going to say about the book I am reading right now!  I hope the link works.  If not the name of the book is Factfulness.  Amazing.  TTYL




https://www.amazon.ca/Hans-Rosling-ebook/dp/B0756J1LLV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=OF74AESAUXXV&keywords=factfulness&qid=1588521342&sprefix=factual%2Caps%2C196&sr=8-1