it's a dogs life

2011-07-11T12:39:00.001-04:00

I am taking an indefinite break. We are moving house August 19th and I may be back after that.

2011-06-06T13:56:00.005-04:00

Big fun at our house this morning. Hubby yelling at me at 6.00am to GET UP, GET UP!! I flew out of bed and three of our five dogs had been targeted by a porcupine!! They had them in their toes, legs, chins, cheeks and noses!! All their tongues were bleeding and they were all frantic! After a quick call to the emergency vet, we were on our way and they were all sedated and de-quilled!!
They are now sleeping it off and our wallet is considerably lighter!

This is Jack

Jack again

Teddy in the car on the way to the vet.

and Luke.

2011-04-21T12:20:00.000-04:00

I won’t write after every one of these pictures. Enough to say that we had another snowstorm yesterday worthy of January of February!!! The bear, if any one wonders, is a plywood bear my triplet granddaughters made a few years ago and it really does look real. People are always thinking it’s real but it’s not

Also if any one wonders about the ringed curtains hanging outside out windows, they are there to stop the birds from killing themselves by flying into the windows. We have them on every window and glass door in the house.

I guess this is what happens when you put the snowblower and shovels away!!

2011-03-16T10:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for the support. I have stuck to my guns and have remained with no contact and it's getting a little easier!

On a much happier note, I have had my kids here for a few days, they are gone now but the happiness in my soul remains..

Here are a few pics from their visit
Everyone eating snowcream that Holly made. They all wanted food colouring! Me at the end in my pink nightie!!! Not a sight anyone needs to be subjected to.!! My hubby standing next to me and our son on the other side of the table!

Jesse making a snowball in the middle of the lake..
Ethan had a friend up with him and they were trying to take daddy down! I don't think they made it.
Olivia waiting to be driven home! She's not too keen on the cold and it was very cold that day.
Still building his snowball.
Abigail in my bed. She came in every morning for a snuggle and to get warm and I could stay there all day cuddling her.
Bathtime.
Abigail and Charlie, vying for space in the chair.
Last two pics are taken at the Big Nickel mine or Dynamic Earth as they call it now. It will always be the Big Nickel to us and I suspect to Pea as well!!

2011-03-07T16:01:00.000-05:00

My mother is a narcissist. I don't know if anyone is familiar with the term in the true sense of the word, it's not just someone who is vain! We tend to think that it's just vanity but it's so much more..

I have made the decision today to end all contact with my narcissistic mother or go completely crazy. I left England thirty seven years ago to get away from her but my dad, in his wisdom, decided a few years ago that financially they'd be better off here than there. He sold everything they had and came here with over half a million dollars and considering their ages that was plenty of money to keep them for the rest of their lives. They were not and have not had any benefits from the Canadian government as we sponsored them and are responsible for them for ten years. They do get health care although they had to pay for their own for the first couple of years.

Anyway, from the time I was born, I am an only child, my mother has resented me. She had no maternal instinct and my dad did all the night feeding's and everything else that goes with being a mother at night, he worked all day too. I thought everyone's dad did the same thing and found out in later life that they didn't! All through my childhood she has put me down and told everyone who would listen that I couldn't do things (sports, academics anything really) but she could. This was a regular part of my young life. Her putting me down to build herself up. She put my dad down in the same way. When I was a child she changed her accent to speak like the Queen. We are from farming people and speak the way English farmers from the south speak but not her. People on the street and my school friends and their parents used to call her the Duchess to my face but behind her back. Being a child, it was all horrible and I was very humiliated by this.

I thought I'd left that all behind when I left England. Since they came here and my dad died, life has been unbearable. My dad used to keep her fairly well in check and they didn't have too many outside visits because of her constant lying. She has lied all my life and probably all of hers and they are lies for the sake of lying. They are not big lies but they are constant and some were fairly big as well. Dad was always horribly embarrassed about it but couldn't stop her. She would exaggerate her accomplishments regularly and during a recent dinner here at our house, she told us how she drove an ambulance during the war when she didn't learn to drive till she was forty!!! She would have been sixteen during the war. This is just one thing that comes to mind now and when I confronted her saying about the age discrepancy, she just sloughs it off as if it doesn't matter.

Dad was an enabler because to do anything but agree with her was to incur her wrath and have her not speak for days and weeks. My dad could have probably lived with it as an adult but as a child it was awful having a mother who wouldn't speak to me. She has done the same thing to me to this day. If I dare to voice an opinion different to hers, she won't speak to me. She still accuses me of things I haven't done, like stealing from her and always finished the accusation with innuendo. Just Saturday she accused me of stealing her hat and when I denied as of course I hadn't taken her hat she told me it was between me and my conscience. She also said she had seen me take it. I hate to think what she tells people who don't know me.

She is very superior in her attitude toward anyone who is 'beneath' her in her life. Such as the kitchen or cleaning staff where she lives. To the other residents of the retirement home she is 'above' them. she is very demeaning toward residents who are not as fit as her and enjoys telling them what they should do to be like her.

I have become somewhat of a recluse who finds it easier to deal with people at arms length that to let anyone get close. For example by email rather than telephone. I always feel I'm being judged but no one can judge me if they don't really know me. I signed up for the Therapy Dog program to try to get over it but I still find the interaction with people hard. With animals it's easy.

Anyway, I didn't put all this down to have people feel sorry for me, I don't want that. I just wanted to tell my story. I would be interested to hear if anyone has had any similar experiences with their mothers or other family members. I actually could write a book but I'm sure this is enough for anyone to read!!!

2011-01-31T08:21:00.000-05:00

Cold here this morning!!!

2011-01-20T12:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I posted but here we go again! My son and family came to us just before Christmas and we celebrated Olivia's birthday as well on the 19th December. Here they are below, making Christmas cookies at our house. My daughter in law has far more patience than I ever had!!! You can see the snow out the window!

Below, they are going out on the snow machines, my son has a child in front of him, not sure which one and the dogs are finding the whole thing very interesting!

Abigail has a little friend the same age as her who has leukaemia and spends a lot of time in hospital and she like to write him lots of letters. She wanted to write one from Gramma's house and here she is mailing it with a doggy escort!

Olivia below, opening her birthday card and below that, in her birthday dress which she later puked all over and I spent the rest of the time trying to get the stains out!!

We only have two bedrooms so we have to get the most from the second one. We have two double beds and on the top of one is a single bed and in the family room we have a double futon so we have seven extra sleeping spots quite easily managed.The girls are playing on the top bunk in this pic. Ethan has the stand alone bed and Olivia sleeps in the bottom double. It all works quite well!!

Just a pic of two of our dogs leading a dogs life!

Olivia above and Abigail below modelling the watermelon hats and coloured jackets I made them.I knit a lot for all the kids but they wanted their picture taken so here they are!

Just a little something of interest! I don't know to whom but we found it interesting and sad. A little mouse who had been trapped in this electrical box in our kitchen and we didn't know it so the poor thing starved to death. I don't mind people killing mice as long as done humanely and quickly but the thought of this poor little thing starving under my nose is not nice.

2010-12-13T10:48:00.000-05:00

I am posting pictures because I can't get out to shop which is what I should be doing today!!
Waiting on the plough!

Outside our bedroom window.

Outside kitchen windows.
Front door.
Recycling bin.

Kitchen windows inside
Dining room windows

And lastly, the deck door from the inside when we opened it this morning.
The dogs have to be shoved out to pee! It's so windy, the windchill was -30 last night.

2010-11-04T10:02:00.000-04:00

These pics are here because one time when I showed the outside of the house Betsy from Tennessee asked to see the inside of our house. I hope they are not too many!!!!!

Above is our dining area.

Dining area from the living room. Our house is completely open except for the bathroom and bedrooms

Just a couple of shots of my Christmas cactus because it's so pretty right now!

Above is the landing going to our basement. The blue bins hold my knitting stuff and are behind my comfy chair!

Above are two shots of my kitchen. I say 'mine' because I'm the only one ever in it!

Above is the fireplace my hubby built when he built the house. To the right is my chair with my blue bins behind it. Nice on those cold winter nights.

2010-09-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

This is my youngest grandchild Olivia showing off her stitches!! he tripped and fell as little ones do and the doctors decided to stitch her pretty little lips! My daughter in law said it was very traumatic and I'm sure it was. Apparently she put up a good fight and they ended up having to swaddle her. Poor baby!!!

It seems everyone is putting fall colours on their blogs so I thought I'd put a few too. These were all taken off our deck, you can see my clothes line in some of them and the window pic is the view out of our bathroom.

It's such a beautiful time of year and if I didn't have my mother to deal with, life would be perfect!!
My son and family including Olivia and her poor lip, are coming up for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see them!!
For those on who's blogs I'm always commenting how jealous I am of their gardens, you can see why we can't grow anything. We are totally covered in and surrounded by, trees!!!!
My hubby says we can cut some down so we get more sun but I can't bear that thought!!

2010-09-13T09:15:00.000-04:00

I don't know if any of you are aware but one of our dogs is a St John's Ambulance therapy dog. He is very good, it seems to come naturally to him. When I had him in a local nursing home recently, we visited a lady who was bedridden and with no prompting from me, he gently walked up onto her bed and lay down beside her. She was smiling and happy. He has exhibited this behaviour many times, either sitting with people on a couch or chair or getting up on the bed. He offers his paw to be taken also with no training. He's a Bouvier and I understand they all have this nature. We got him from a rescue, like all our dogs, about four years ago and he came complete with personality!!! Very gentle indeed except when he sees a rabbit or fox then he's a lunatic. When we let him out we put bears bells on his collar to give any little creatures a head start and so far it's working!

The above and below pics are of him at Bell Park, Sudbury going through his paces. This is not necessary to be a therapy dog, it's just something most dogs enjoy.

The above pic is Luke with a gentleman from the local nursing home. He doesn't look to impressed but was actually very happy to have his picture taken and he enjoyed Luke's visit a lot!!!

Luke meeting another therapy dog.

2010-07-27T11:38:00.000-04:00

Just a few pics of our house and garden. Unlike most of you, our house is in the bush and as such, we have a lot of shade and our plants don't do too well!! My hubby has done his best to make it look pretty and for the most part he has succeeded but it will never look like a manicured pretty garden!!

Below our house from the front.

Grandkids swing.
Side
Back view

Above you can just make out Ethans tree house.

Other side.

Outhouse above. Very necessary when there are numerous power failures!
This is the living room from the outside!! Woodshed in the foreground. The expanse of grass is our field bed.

2010-07-08T09:14:00.000-04:00

Still going through mothers things, there are receipts and stuff going back to the sixties!!! The bright spot in my life was seeing my son and family last weekend!! Oh how I adore those kids, my grandchildren.

Bald eagle at the lake
Olivia in the lake, she was not impressed!!!

Abigail, on the other hand was squealing with delight!!
Ethan driving the boat.

Olivia driving with Grampa

Abigail enjoying the cold, deep water!!

Daddy taking care of his girls on the boat.

Olivia was happier puddling around on the rock

Abigail wishing she was a big girl and below, Olivia wishing the same.
Both girls had lots of rides but with daddy and grampa. All together a lot of work but worth every moment!!

2010-06-26T07:39:00.000-04:00

Hopefully the last post about mother for some time. She has settled very well for her. Considering she's the most difficult woman to deal with it's not been too horrible. When I left her on Wednesday I was in the car driving home alone and I started to cry and couldn't stop which is not like me at all! It's really hard driving and crying hard at the same time. Plus I ran out of tissues!!! :) I think I was grieving for my dad, I hardy even cried when he died and I loved him so much, and for the mother I never had and for their sixty six years of marriage, although unhappy was still a long time. Everything seems so futile and a waste. We are going to almost finish her move today with just a few things left to do. She has a nice room and we have put all her own stuff in it so it almost looks like her old living room.

We went to her house after we took her to the home and we were totally shocked. It was worse that I could ever have imagined. She would never let me open her fridge or anything else for that matter and she had eggs in there from last Christmas and just kept buying more stuff because she'd forgotten she had things. My hubby cleaned that while I packed up her stuff and we were amazed at the stuff she had. I don't think she'd thrown away a card or photo in her entire life. Every drawer was packed to the brim so nothing else would go in them. I brought home six HUGE suitcases full and just finished going through them last night and there's still a lot more left there to do. She has shoe boxes full and other boxes full. Every place she could put things she has put them! In her pantry on the open shelf there were rotten potatoes, onions, turnip, a cucumber that had turned to mush and rotten fruit etc. You get the general idea!!

The rest of the house was filthy, still is as we haven't yet had time to go and clean it. It will take two of us at least a day to clean it all and get rid of the rest of the junk. I'll have to bring home some more boxes to go through too. There are so many old pictures of people I've never known but who were alive and had a story too. I don't know what to do with all this stuff. I don't want to keep it because I don't want my kids to have to deal with it all when I die.

To top it all off my son and family are coming up this Wednesday evening and staying till Sunday. I can't wait to see them all but right now I don't know how I'm going to cope and get everything ready for them. I like to cook and bake in advance but I guess this time I'll take it as it comes. None of my kids will go and see my mother because she's been so horrible to everyone over the years. She doesn't even know she has a great, great grandson because I'm not allowed to tell her by order of my eldest granddaughter to whom my mother has been most horrible. I don't blame any of them for the way they feel and they are very supportive of me but it makes it hard not having any help at this time. It's funny because she thinks she been the perfect person for all her life!!

That's all for now, there will be a little more I'm sure but the worst is over. Thank God...

2010-06-21T19:37:00.000-04:00

She's in and she likes it so far!! Fingers crossed!!

I won't have much computer time so forgive me if I don't visit. I'll try too anyway!!

I'm going again tomorrow and it's an hours drive each way as well so it takes up a good bit of the day. I'm taking one of our dogs tomorrow, he's a therapy dog so he'll be well behaved.

2010-06-19T19:44:00.000-04:00

Just an update.
We are moving mother into a residential home on Monday!! They called and said someone had moved out. I can't believe she's agreed to go but she has.
It's for a months trial and then we'll see if she wants to go back to her house or stay in the residential home.
It's expensive but will be worth every penny if she's happy there!!

2010-06-14T10:17:00.000-04:00

An update on the mother situation for anyone who is interested.

It has been a very unsettling time for me as the only child and the only person who has ever incurred my mothers wrath constantly. To this day I am terrified of upsetting her and making her angry with me because it goes on for days and days and I can barely function while she's in a 'mood'.
I went to take her shopping not too long ago and as we were leaving. I heard a noise and went to investigate and she had left the hot tap running full on in the kitchen. We also heard from a friend, that they went shopping and when they got to the check out, mother had forgotten her bank card (again) and they had to go home to get it and when they got there the house was full of smoke where she had left something on the stove. Every time something like this happens, she always says she's never done this before!!

She was telling me about a woman she went to school with who came to Canada as a war bride, mother was still in England then. She now is saying that this woman, who would be ninety if she were alive, is driving up to her door, looking in and driving off and her children are walking up and down her street staring in her window. Now we know that this is nuts and it's dementia talking but my mother does such a good job of convincing everyone that she's fine that, apart from my family, no one will believe that she is suffering from dementia. I can't push it because mother then has a fit and won't speak to me and accuses me of all sorts of nasty things. There are no doctors here so I cannot get her assessed and it's making me crazy!!

She finally admitted to being scared at night and said that I could apply to the local nursing home which I did and they assessed her as being too physically fit and not needing a place there. We finally were able to take her to see a private home, just residential, and she has agreed to go into it. Of course there is a waiting list so wait we must.

As I type her phone is off the hook but when she finally realizes this and calls me she will deny it ever being off the hook and will berate me for not calling!! I feel as if I'm bashing my head against a brick wall and really don't know what to do with her on a day to day basis!! She is still accusing various people of stealing so I never go into her home alone any more as she always accuses me of taking things too.

It's all very depressing and sometimes I'd like to just leave her and go somewhere else. I promised my dad I'd do my best, even though he said nothing would ever be good enough for her, so I will keep trying. I'd really like to forget that she even exists but with the way she is, that's impossible...

2010-06-07T13:53:00.000-04:00

I wasn't going to blog any more but here I am like a bad penny!

I had to tell about a givaway I was lucky enough to win!! Compliments of Mandycharlie from http://myknittingandallotmentblog.blogspot.com/

I knit a bit but I've never knit socks but would love to try so I entered the givaway for some sock yarn and when I opened the package I was amazed at the things that were in the package!! I didn't think to take pictures before I opened them but have taken them now
and will show them to you.

This is the sock yarn and I've never had any yarn as lovely as this!! I wouldn't have a clue what to buy if I'd tried so having this is a real treat!!
Next is some lovely hand cream which I shall cherish! I use hand cream all the time as I'm sure most people do. Even my hubby uses it on his construction callused hands.
This is a very interesting booklet about Kenilworth with some lovely old pictures from the past. Just the thing we like to read. Very interesting!!

This book is fascinating as well, I've not seen any thing like it at all!! It is a little historic and a lot about food. All different types of food and where they come from. Also some great recipes!!

Some pretty notepaper and the most WONDERFUL bar of chocolate which will never see the light of day again!! I'm sorry I ate it before I could take pictures! It was dark, with orange and spices and I've never seen anything like it before but I will be looking for it!

Thank you again Mandy, for everything!!!

Edited to add I had completely forgotten about the vanilla scented candles also included in the package!! They were so sweetly scented and I shall enjoy them once winter comes again and I light candles when the sun goes down.

2010-04-19T16:44:00.000-04:00

Taking a break till I find something worth blogging about!

I'll be back, it could be tomorrow or next week.

2010-02-25T09:32:00.000-05:00

Do not read if you are squeamish!!!

Just a few words today about a procedure that my daughters father in law is having done very shortly. It's called a stool transplant and I've never heard of it till now!! In fact I thought my daughter was just trying to shock me and was making this up. I've since Googled it and find that it's real!!

He is eighty and very feisty, his wife is in a nursing home and he lives alone and visits her daily. His hygiene leaves a lot to be desired and he admits to never washing his hands! Not surprisingly he started having problems with diarrhoea and finally got so weak they put him in hospital where they diagnosed the C-Difficile bacteria. The doctors have treated him with as many antibiotics as they can and nothing has touched this bacteria. Apparently, antibiotics have made it worse but there are not many alternatives.

What they are doing now is the aforementioned transplant. His eldest son, who neither smokes or drinks (you have to have a very healthy lifestyle to be a donor) donates his stool in a jar and the hospital somehow liquidises it and pours it down the throat, via tubing, of the father where it goes into the stomach then bowel and the good bacteria then overcomes the bad bacteria and he's cured!!!

I know that baby elephants eat the mothers stool as it gives them healthy bacteria for life and I'm sure other creatures do this too but it would be hard as a human, to get ones head around doing this. I guess if you are sick enough you'll do anything but I pray I'm never this sick!

I did say to my daughter that I hope he doesn't burp until it's passed his stomach!!

2010-02-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

Does any one have a clue as to what bird this nest was used by? We thought it might have been a humming bird but it seems to be a little big. I took these pictures off our deck looking down and I don't know if a hummingbird would nest that close to people. We do have a lot in the summer but I have yet to find a nest!! Of course, it's just full of snow now!

Edited to add that I think KathyB was right. I found this video on the 'net and it looks just like our nest. Unfortunately various sites say that the vireo nests are parasitized by cowbirds and we do have those here too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/finetra/3721484419/ Here's the video, I hope, if anyone is interested. I think you'll have to copy and paste because I'm not very good at this!!!

2010-01-10T10:26:00.000-05:00

We are in the middle of a beautiful northern Ontario winters day! Cold, sunny and perfect! I am going to bake today but first I thought I'd make a blog post!

New Years Eve at my eldest daughters house.

I made nine hats like this for all the kids then my eldest daughter said she wanted a tea cosy of the same colours so I adapted the pattern for this!!

This is my son trying to stay awake but he didn't do a very good job! My little Abigail is sitting with him. His eldest daughter.
I can't help but notice all the chocolate and goodies next to him. Christmas is such a time of excess and it's really too bad.

This is my daughter in law, Holly, with Olivia standing up and my eldest daughter, Josie, trying to hide from the camera!

From the left an the floor is Amanda, one of the triplets, their mother, my middle child Jane, my husband Scott and me with Abigail. My grandson Dale on the floor next, son in law showing the back of his head and daughter Josie. Grandson Ethan standing up!!

Pretty Molly trying to stay out of the way!!

Poor Olivia was so tired the next day that she fell asleep almost under the tree!!

She's such a sweet little girl and she's just learned to walk so I'll post a video of her walking then go and do some work. I have to bake cookies and cheddar Bay Biscuits. The video is dark because it was dark. I hope you can make it out!!

2009-12-24T07:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I have had a couple of visits since I last blogged and loved every visit!! My youngest granddaughter turned one last week and I drove down to Toronto and back in one day. I left home at 6.45 am and pulled back in at 11.30 pm. Then I couldn't sleep because my brain wouldn't shut off. My head felt as if I had drank a lot of coffee but I don't like coffee and hadn't had any!!
I have a couple of pics of my son and family but my other two kids, my girls, never send me any pictures so I don't have any of my older grandkids. We will all be together New Years Eve so I'm hoping to get some then.
We will be just the two of us and mother this year. Last year I was attending the birth of Olivia and my hubby was here alone but this year we'll be together at least!

This is my son Jesse, his wife Holly
and Abigail, Olivia and Ethan. I just was there last Saturday and can't wait to see them again next week. Just a few pics of my Christmas decorations then I'm off to start work for the day!

This is all we put outside. I don't like too many lights!

These are the lights over the fireplace and below is our little tree. I've had this tree for a good many years and it will outlive me for sure!! It sits on a small table and doesn't get in anyone's way, especially not the dogs!!

I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year!!

2009-11-18T17:46:00.000-05:00

Teddy on the left and Charlie. Snoozing!
Luke on the left and Jack.
Teddy, Luke and Charlie on their day bed in our bedroom. Of course after I took the pic I noticed the garbage can on the dresser where I had put it to empty.They love to sit here and bark at the squirrels and foxes!!
Jack in his bed. In case anyone wonders what are those curtain things hanging outside our windows, they are bamboo hoops which stop the birds from flying into the windows. We don't even notice they are there and they work beautifully.

I am going away for a couple of weeks to visit my kids. My sweet hubby is insisting I go because I'm so stressed with my mother. She is driving me nuts. Accusing my kids of stealing stuff from her and anything she can't find, her cleaning girl has stolen, she says. She couldn't possibly admit to mislaying stuff and then finding it again as everything she accuses people of stealing has been found. We find stuff that has fallen down the side of her chairs and items that she's deliberately hidden we have found and when presented with these items she just takes them, puts them down and makes like it never happened. All in all, I can't stand to be around her any more.
I'm scared to answer my phone because she calls so constantly for nothing. One day she called eighteen times and another day, twenty four. On a good day she'll call six to eight times. She has nothing to say and she always is blowing her own horn and telling me all the good things she's done in her life and how good she is compared to me and my dad who is dead now.

I am so thankful for my dogs. They keep me sane and always see the bright side of life!! They are just happy being alive and laying outside chewing on bones. Doesn't take much to keep them happy.

I hope everyone has a good couple of weeks and I'll be back.

2009-10-27T07:41:00.000-04:00

It seems to me that one common thread running through the blogs I read is gratitude for our kids. There is no love like the love you feel for them and there's nothing that can change that either. I can't imagine anything my kids could do that could make me love them less. They could break my heart in many ways but the love would never change.

That's it! That's all I have to say today!!

2009-10-15T15:13:00.000-04:00

This is the bear the triplets made for us a couple of years ago. People driving by will stop and stare because it looks so real.

You can see our remaining four dogs in this pic, two down below and two at the top of the steps! Jack and Luke below and Teddy and Charlie up top.

Luke is chewing on a bone. Charlie has buried all the others.

Our house

Our heated bird bath, everything is frozen in the mornings now, so this is back to replace the others.

If you look closely you can see our trusty outhouse in the bushes. We always keep it as it comes in handy when we have one of our frequent power failures. Also it's good for when we have a lot of people here!!

Most of our fall colours have gone but they were spectacular while they lasted!!

2009-09-23T17:54:00.000-04:00

It's wonderful to be home. There is nothing quite like it wherever you live. I'm sticking close for a while now. No more trips for us for quite some time.T he images have all loaded backwards, I will never get used to doing this!!I have over 400 pictures and it's very hard to pick a few when there are so many but here goes!!
Every night there would be a new towel buddy on the bed.
Shopping area
One of the many staircases and with ten decks there were a lot!
Another towel buddy
The picture below is of Married Man's Lane in Ketchican and the above pic is in one of the bordello houses on the lane!

There were literally millions of salmon and they go there to spawn and die. Also Ketchican.

One of the many float planes we saw as none of the places we visited can be reached by land. Only sea and air.
This is Skaguay and it's name means "Home of the North Wind" and it was! We were the coldest there that anywhere else on the trip and the wind was vicious.

This is Glacier Bay and by far the highlight of the trip. Everywhere there were seals sitting on ice floes. It was a wonderful sight. There was nowhere to get off the ship but the captain did stop the ship in the bay so everyone could take it in.
If you can enlarge this pic you will see the seal.
Another cruise ship, not ours.
Our ship at night in Juneau.
Above and below, Glacier bay.

The view from our balcony.
This was our table at dinner and it was wonderful food. There was so much food everywhere on the ship and all included and also room service was included too and it was 24 hour service. The only thing that was charged, was alcohol and we didn't drink much at all so it was a very cheap holiday for us and certainly the trip of a lifetime!!

2009-09-07T07:41:00.000-04:00

We are leaving tomorrow for an Alaskan cruise paid for entirely by my son's air miles, this includes our airfare from Toronto to Vancouver where we get on the ship!!!
As you may know he travels A LOT on business and last year he surprised us with these tickets.
We could never afford to go and he knows that. He also knows I have always wanted to do this but never thought I'd be able to so this is what he did. He had also arranged to take his vacation and be at our house to take care of our pets!!
So as much as I don't post very much and I'll be surprised if anyone reads this, I'm just letting you know that we'll be back around the 19th Sept.
I hope everyone has a good couple of weeks and I'll see you all then.

2009-08-08T09:27:00.000-04:00

It seems to get longer and longer between posts and I'm sure that one day I'll stop posting altogether!
My triplet grandchildren cam to visit last week and although they don't like having their picture taken, I did manage to get a couple of them. They came alone for the weekend and my daughter came for a couple of days as well on the Monday.Eating pizza, one of their favourite foods!Amanda, Alicia and Alex.

The girls with my daughter, their mother, Jane.

We have had lovely fall like weather but, from what I see, it's going to turn hot and humid! Time to use the A/C if it's really bad. I have been very conscious of the climate change stuff and don't use it much at all any more but I can barely function when it's really humid so then I'll put it on for a little bit, just to take the moisture out of the air.

2009-07-20T14:23:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful visit with my daughter in law, her girlfriend and the three kids this weekend. My husband had gone to Toronto to help our son with a project and the girls came to visit me! It was great but as usual but I miss them so much now that it's almost not worth going through the heartache of coming to have to leave again! Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me? Here are Abby and Ethan playing on the swing in our yard.

Abby having a snuggle with Gramma on Sunday morning. I never wanted to let her go!! I'm behind the arm as I was definitely not looking my best!

Ethan and Abby playing on Grampa's guitars. Not very well I might add!

They took a trip to the lake and the kids went in and got wet but didn't stay long. It was a cold weekend and rained almost the whole time.

She loved looking through these binoculars, I'm surprised she could hold them, they are heavy.

Ethan with Luke.
Me holding Olivia just out of her sink bath.

Abby in the tub with some curious onlookers!

We forgot to allow for displacement when her mum put her in and we immediately had a minor flood!!

This is Abigail taking care of potty business while on the road to our house!!

I'm still going through the same stuff with mother. She's on her third cleaning lady and she called me last week to say that the lady had stolen all her pots and pans! For one thing her pots are so old and dented no one would want them and it's just all too ridiculous. She called a few days later and said she had found them but they were not where she had left them. Someone had moved them.

Our weather has been cold and wet for weeks now and I don't know if our tomatoes on our deck will ever ripen. There are some green one so we'll just have to wait and see.

These pictures are all out of order but I'm hoping you can make the order out, I actually think they are backwards!!

2009-07-01T08:24:00.000-04:00

My hip is coming along nicely although not as easy as the first one. Friday will be the first visit back to the hospital and they'll take the sutures out. The wound itself is itching like crazy and when I mindlessly scratch it I really hurt myself!

We went to a wedding last weekend, it was my daughter in law's dads wedding!! Confusing. We all had a great time and Abigail was a flower girl and she behaved according to Abigail fashion, totally horribly!!She looked like a little angel but behaved like a bad, bad girl!! I think I was the only one who still adored her at the end of the evening. On the other hand I think it's too much to expect of a two year old! Her dad, my son, took her outside for a while so she could run and let off some steam but of course she fell, really hurt her knee and took the skin from the palm of her hand and was inconsolable. Things just went downhill from there!! Here she is sitting with Grampa, my hubby Scott, and getting lots of sympathy!!

Scott had a wall unit air conditioner installed in mothers house and it's operated with a remote so he gave the installation guys strict instructions to set it at 26 degrees and tell her how to use the on off button only! She called us that evening saying it wouldn't work her television and what was she supposed to do now. She really didn't and still doesn't, have a clue how to use it at all so I guess, when we get another heatwave, we'll have to go in and operate it for her!! We had to get a service call to get her TV working properly again she had messed it up so badly! She had also set the AC at 16 which would have frozen her if she could have turned it on. I really don't know what to do with her.
Every time I take her out now, I have to get her to change her clothes because they are so dirty. I do all her laundry so that's not a problem for her but although she showers daily she doesn't change her clothes ad gets very nasty when I tell her they are grubby. I try to do it gently but however I say it, I'm still saying your clothes are dirty.

We had a wicked heatwave last week and thank goodness it's broken at last. Give me winter any day. The mosquito's are just awful and they come in on the dogs and float around the house then they seem to disappear when I try to swat them!!It wasn't quite this hot but you get the general idea. Our thermometer showed almost forty as you can see, but it's close to the house and had some reflected heat.

It's Canada Day today but my hubby and his crew are working today and having Friday off so it's a nice peaceful day.

2009-06-14T06:26:00.000-04:00

I am having my other hip done on Friday 19th Jane so I thought I'd get a post in today because there never seems time in the week.

The weather looks as if it will thunderstorm and storms are forecast so it probably will! The mosquito's are everywhere and worse when it's humid as it is today. I really think if I had to choose I'd rather have the black flies, at least they just go to the windows when they get inside and die there but the mosquito's go after your flesh no matter where they are!! I have some wicked bites and they come in the house on the dogs too. We do rub them down outside but the bugs seem to get in anyway!

Just a few words about mother, nothing too bad because I've promised myself not to anymore.
I went to her house last Tuesday to take her out and she was ready at the door so I said I had to use her bathroom first and in doing so, heard what I thought was the dishwasher running. I didn't think anymore about it until I went to put her telephone ringer higher because she doesn't hear it and saw that it wasn't the dishwasher but the hot tap in the kitchen running full blast!! She was quick to say she had never done that before but she isn't going to admit it anyway. She'd forgotten it.
Also, I went to take her milk Friday and saw the phone was off the hook and there was a completely burnt pot in the sink.
I don't say anything because she gets so nasty and it's not worth the hassle and the caseworker says I can't do anything until she harms herself. Trouble is she denies all these things happened if anyone talks to her about it. Right now it's her word against mine and I'm learning fast not to say anything or she'll make me suffer. Also the phone call situation has changed somewhat. She phoned eighteen times one day and twenty four another then it stopped. Now, if I don't call her she only calls me if she needs something and is very short as if she's trying to punish me for something! I don't know if someone spoke to her or not. I can't imagine they would because no one really knows except the caseworker and she hasn't seen her. My mother is very clever at giving a good impression and telling people what they want to hear.

My granddaughter has a wonderful baby boy who is the image of his daddy. It's not usually that obvious who they look like when they're new but with this kid is so obvious already, he looks like dads mini me!! His name is Owen Christopher.He also has an incredible head of hair!!

I've been trying to add another pic but Blogger just won't let me so this will have to do. At least you can see his hair! He's three weeks in this picture.

My son is home from Singapore, thank goodness, he was two days from coming home when the Air France disaster happened. What a horrific thing to happen. Needless to say I was very happy when he was back on land again.

Till next time, 'bye for now...

2009-05-18T10:29:00.000-04:00

My son and his youngest daughter Olivia. Me below with the two little girls.

I am back and missing my kids and their kids already! Had a wonderful visit but I could have stayed a lot longer if I didn't have responsibilities at home! While I was away my first grandchild Samantha gave birth to her first child which gives me the dubious title of great grandma! I don't feel any different of course and he is the most adorable little boy. He weighed in at 9lbs 9ozs so he was a good size. She is a good eight hour drive from me so I think it will be a while till I see him. They have named him Owen which is better than some of the names they were thinking of!!! 'Stone' being one of them!!

This is my precious little Abby eating her breakfast the last morning I was there and I was videotaping through tears knowing I was leaving. Not the most exciting thing to watch but I must watch it at least ten times every day!!! Her little sister, my newest little granddaughter Olivia was still sleeping so I didn't get any video of her but I did get some still pictures. Abby calls her Liddy because she can't say Olivia so that has stuck and she'll probably be Liddy for life!

It's been very cold here and our bird baths have been frozen through for the last few mornings. It's been hovering around the freezing point as well in the morning and yesterday and so far today, we have had a fire going in our living room. I came back with a cold again and can't seem to get my energy back but I'm trying! I also have an appointment to get my other hip done which is thrilling news for me as I hardly sleep because of the pain.That will be June 19th.

That's it for news for now, I hope anyone who reads my drivel is well and happy!!!

2009-04-27T14:14:00.000-04:00

I am leaving for Toronto on Thursday for a couple of weeks to visit my kids and grandchildren. Hubby is working close to home so he can take care of the dogs while I'm gone.

I'm more and more depressed about the mother situation and I see no end. I'm telling her I'm going the night before I leave so she cannot do anything to try to stop me.

We are looking to buy some riverfront property as it's getting too busy around here. When we bought this land many years ago there were only a few homes around the lake now there have been four lots sold right opposite our house and there are heavy machines clearing for roads and then for building so I'm not happy. I like my solitude with no neighbours at all. I guess I'm antisocial except where my kids are concerned, I like dead silence too and that's not what's happening around here right now!!

Anyway, I won't be around to comment after Wednesday as I'm leaving early Thursday morning so I hope you all stay well and I'll be back in a couple of weeks.

2009-04-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

Last summer, male and female evening grosbeak
Not a very good shot of a turkey vulture but if you click to enlarge it, you can see more detail

Rose breasted grosbeak. Very pretty bird but they mostly stay out of my way. My granddaughter took this in our yard.

These two pics are dark eyed junco's. We are seeing them in abundance this year, I have no idea why but they are very lovely to look at.

This feeding tray has purple finch, redpolls, pine siskins and goldfinch on it. All my bird pics taken from inside are taken through our 'outdoor curtains' . We have them hanging on all of our windows so birds don't hit them.

On another note, I finally got mother to see the assisted living centre and she hated it!! It's beautiful and if I could afford it I'd live there!!
We have to accept that she'll be staying in her house as long as she can. I really don't think it will be too long as she really is not mentally competent and it's just getting worse!!

2009-04-15T17:49:00.000-04:00

I don't know what's going on but I can't comment on

Pea's Corner
Tossing pebbles in the stream
Caregiving is not for wimps
Jessica's world
Hidden Haven
Joyful reflections.

I can't load pics on here and every time I try to open Firefox I have to go into my task manager and end the previous session first!!!

All very frustrating!!

2009-04-08T18:18:00.001-04:00

Edited today to add that she's changed her mind and no longer will go to see the asissted living cetre. I am at my wits end...

2009-04-07T18:27:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I'm taking my mother to see an assisted living home!!! Big news that we've got her at least willing to see it. I suggested it to her but no way was she interested until her nurse suggested it and suddenly she thought it might be a good idea! It's expensive, about thirty five hundred a month but she can afford it once her house sells. All I'm hoping now is that she likes it!

She called me eleven times yesterday and so far six today so you might understand why it would make me very happy to get her into this place. If they were happy phone calls it wouldn't be so bad but they are always complaining and miserable calls. There's no wait list either, she can go straight in so if she likes it, off she goes!

Our dog Teddy, who we found on the road last May has very bad allergies and I've been giving him injections of some stuff the vet had made up for him. I've never given needles before and don't like doing it but we'll see if it works. He's been having them now for just over a month but the vet says it will be from four to nine months before we see results. Poor guy, I hope for his sake that he gets some relief.

My son sent me his itinerary for the next while for his travelling and one of his trips takes him to Vegas!! He's never gambled so it should be interesting to see how he does. Let's just hope he's too busy with work to play too much! His other trips so far are to Montreal, Singapore and Connecticut! He's been to Singapore before but never to the other places so he should have fun when he's not busy!!!

We still have too much snow, it's been snowing since last week and seems to have stopped this afternoon so lets hope that's it for this year. The plow even did our dirt road today and they don't like plowing at this time of year as they are already over budget.

I think we're all ready for spring, black flies and all!!

2009-03-23T12:26:00.000-04:00

We still have way to much snow and although the sun is shining it's still very cold! I think it feels colder because it's so damp. When it's cold and dry it's much better!!! Our driveway is sheer ice and as soon as hubby sands and salts, it washes away and it's frozen again. We are almost all shade and so we have to rely on temperatures and not direct sun for our melt.

I can't wait till the summer birds come back. Almost all the winter birds have gone now, back to their Arctic nesting sites and our feeders are devoid of almost all birds. It's a little easier on the seed budget though, it gets very expensive though the winter!!

We have decided that my mother needs to be in assisted living somewhere. She is calling me constantly with little things that she can't do but when that is suggested to her she becomes very indignant and says she 's perfectly fine!

I will take her shopping and she refuses to take a list because she "doesn't forget anything" but once we are home she's calling that she doesn't have milk or bread or something else. If I try to go into her fridge or cupboard to see what she has or needs she won't let me because she can "do these things herself" I'm at my wits end to know what to do with her.

I have the Community Care people going in to clean her house and a nurse goes to check that she takes her pills, but when she talks to them she puts on such a show of being able, when in fact she can't work her oven, or washer and dryer or open and close her windows or adjust thermostats or a million other little things!!! I send her dinner in every day with hubby who works close by and I do all her laundry so she doesn't have to do even the basics any more but there are still so many things that give her reasons to call at least five, usually ten or so times a day. If I get the tiniest bit short with her she pouts and I'm afraid I am getting a little 'short' these days.

It is an hours drive for me to get there and back but she still thinks I should go every day and when I tell her it's too expensive she says she'll pay the gas and if I say it's too much time she tell's me that She's my mother and I should be doing it.

I should just beat my head against the wall.

Oh well, this is my 'bitch' for the day. Thanks for listening, if anyone does!!

2009-03-09T11:34:00.000-04:00

I've been a long time posting and I still have nothing particular to say.

I'm so sick and tired of dealing with my drama queen, lying mother and I just don't know what to do about it. If I don't answer the phone to her even once in a day out of anywhere from 5 to 10 calls, then I'm berated for not wanting to speak to her!! I just can't win. The trouble is I know when she's called (call display) and then my stomach is turning whether or not I answer the phone. She's on my mind when I wake up and the last thing before I sleep and my stomach is churning the whole time. People have suggested giving her a phone schedule but my mother will do as she pleases all the time. She always has and I'm sure, always will.

The dog we have who was dumped off on our road (Teddy) has such bad allergies and now I'm having to give him needles every second day and I don't like hurting him. He's had the course of steroids and now he's on Benadryl as well as the needle. We have to gradually get his dose higher until he's on the maximum dose and then a maintenance schedule. I'm hoping this works because the poor guy needs some relief.

We had more snow last night but thankfully onle a couple of inches. I keep hoping that every snowfall will be the last one! Wishful thinking just yet, we usually have some snow into April.

We have a lot of birds this year, many more redpolls and siskins than usual. Here are some pics. It's hard to see them but there are so many and that's only one feeding tray, we have eight all together!! They are eating us out of house and home!!Here are some evening grosbeaks and pine grosbeaks and some chickadee's! This is out of my kitchen window. I have no idea why this is underlining but I don't know how to fix it!!

2009-02-20T08:20:00.000-05:00

Sharing a bed with Luke. Sometimes if she was scared, he'd get in bed with her although they each had their own beds all in our bedroom!!

I would like to tell you a little bit about Rachael.

My son rescued (stole) her from a tree which she had been tied to for her entire life, we're estimating she was about five yrs. Jesse had been visiting his sister in Burks Falls which was about three hours north of us, we were living in Toronto at the time, and every time he would go there he'd see her tied up. Sometimes with pups and sometimes without. An old native man was her keeper but did nothing for her. She was totally emaciated and in very poor condition. I had never seen her because when I visited I didn't go out and about like Jesse did. The last time he saw her she was still tied, laying in the mud, with more puppy's.

One day he said to me, " Mum, I can't stand it any more, I have to get her" . At the time we had three dogs and I really didn't want another but what could I say? I told him to bring her and her puppies because she had more but when her brought her home this batch of puppies were nowhere to be found. Who knows what happened to them. We took her straight to the vet who spayed her and told us she wouldn't have lived another winter in her starved condition. The above pic is how she looked when we had her back to relative good health.Then as the years went on we had been aware that we'd had to have her teeth cleaned at least once a year because her gums were so bad. We also noticed she was losing her black face!! The vet said she has uveodermatologic syndrome, which is rare but not unheard of. As time passed, she became whiter and whiter till her face was totally white and the rest of her body was turning too.
In the last post you can see her face had turned completely white.

Not too long after that her back legs started to give out. Not in the sense as they do with arthritis but they'd wobble, going from one side to the other and her back feet would stay turned under, she couldn't put her feet flat without a lot of effort.
After much investigation they said t was her brain no recognising her back legs which was bad but she was in no pain. They just got worse and worse over a period of months till last Thursday night she sat and couldn't get up again!

Her teeth had worn down to the gums on the bottom and the rest were breaking so the poor girl had such a lot wrong with her and we had done all we could but the vets could do no more to help her so when her legs finally gave out, we had to let her go.

She never got over her fear of being outside and was happiest indoors. She was always terrified of sharp noises and we tried hard to not make any. Where she came from there were a lot of hunters and we figured that the guns had scared her being tied all the time. We have hunters here too and she was always terrified if she heard a gunshot but at least she wasn't alone...

2009-02-16T16:29:00.000-05:00

Finally I am able to blog! I have had no Internet for the longest time. It's a wireless connection and very temperamental. It went down last week the day I went to the surgeon and didn't come back till Thursday when my son and family came to visit and I haven't been near the computer till today when they left!!

Good news is that I am fine now. The hip finally stopped draining and while I'm still coughing, it's getting less each day.

The bad news is that our old dog has gone. My son so badly wanted to see her before she died so I've been trying to hang her on ( bad wording) till he could get here and he arrived around midnight Thursday and at nine pm she suddenly could no longer walk. I phoned the vet and arranged for her to come to our house the next morning to euthanize Rachael, meanwhile Jesse arrived and he slept with her for the night, it's what he wanted to do so we pulled the two couches together and there they slept. When the vet came in the morning at seven thirty, we didn't even try to move Rachael, the vet just slid the needle in and that was it. very quiet, very peaceful. Jesse sobbed like a baby because she had been his dog but he's OK now I hope. It's horrible to see your son, who is now a family man, so upset. I think that broke my heart more than losing Rachael.

Our other four dogs are out of sorts but I guess that's to be expected. One of them is missing.

2009-02-05T18:15:00.000-05:00

Things aren't much better.

I'm still coughing, the hip is still draining and I'm just feeling really old. My ribs, stomach and back hurt from coughing and I still am not sleeping too well. This is not like me at all!! I'm usually so healthy.

The surgeon said last Monday that he wanted to see me again this coming Monday and if it hadn't stopped draining he was going to open it up and clean it out!

I DON'T WANT THAT!!

I'm praying it will stop but it's not working yet.

I'm supposed to go and watch two of my grandsons racing their snowmobiles this weekend but I really don't feel like standing outside for two days straight! They raced last year as well and they love it and they want me to go but..

Maybe we'll go for Saturday and see how we feel for the next day.

That's all for now folks. Feet up time for me.

2009-01-29T20:08:00.000-05:00

Ok I've discovered how to get my colours back!! I knew if I fiddled long enough I'd get it!!

I ended up back in the hospital because my incision just wouldn't stop draining and Wednesday morning it actually squirted so my hubby called the surgeons office and he met us in emerg and upon examination, told us that it's infected!

I actually have a nurse come in twice a day which drives me totally nuts because I don't think it's that bad and I have to go back to the ortho clinic on Monday which is an hours drive each way and at least a two hour wait when I get there.

I also have a really bad cold so I'm just one miserable b***h right now! I can't lay on my side, I can't sleep I have no taste and can't stop coughing!! Poor me. lol

I keep telling myself how many millions there are who are much worse off than me but it just doesn't make me feel better!!

2009-01-23T16:56:00.000-05:00

It seems I no longer have the option to use colours or bold print on this blog. All my options have disappeared!! If I was more clever I could probably find a way to get them back but I'm not and I don't care that much! Having said that I see the blog published in green! I wish I knew what I'd done!!!

My hip is doing well but still draining from Monday when the staples came out. It's a nuisance because me leg is always wet even with a dressing on. It looks and feels great but the nurse who took the staples out said it would drain though the holes the staples left. She just didn't say it would go on for this long!! I'm soaking everything!

My son is coming to visit with his family February 13th for the weekend and I'm so excited! I haven't seen the new baby since she was born and that was Dec 19th and she's grown quite a bit since then. Of course I want to see my Abigail too, can't wait to see her. My son, Jesse, is going to Australia in March so I won't see him again before he goes. I wish we were all close together but if you move to get close, someone moves!

I was at the vet today with Teddy, our poor dog who was dumped on the dirt road we live on. He has really bad allergies it seems and we have so much medicine for him it will take me quite a bit of time to keep track of them all. Usually if they itch, they just get a course of prednisone but the vet seemed to think that more was going on including the need for a blood test to be sent to California!!! $442.00 later... It's always difficult to answer questions about our dogs when we haven't had them all their lives. I'd give anything to know what happened to Teddy before someone decided they didn't want him anymore..

2009-01-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is the hip now. It looks a lot worse than it is, I'm amazed at how little pain there is. I have the staples out next week and then I have to wait for a date for the next one!!

I think this is cold enough.I like cold weather but this is a little extreme!! We no internet all day yesterday because of the cold but we have it back today thank goodness. It's my lifeline and I'm so lost without it!!

2009-01-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

How about that lovely leg!! Veins and cellulite!!

Thank you for all the good wishes!! It's Monday 12th today and I'm almost pain free with no meds!! I've taken the meds for two days but they make me itch so much that I stopped. It seems I don't need them anyway so that's a good thing. It's a little painful when the dogs jump up but as long as that doesn't happen then everything is fine!! I'll know how it is more when I can take the dressing off which will be on Wednesday evening. Stitches or staples come out next Monday. All I have to do then is get the other one done and hope it was as easy as this one.

I'm going to have (another) nap now!!

2009-01-08T17:06:00.000-05:00

I'm getting ready for my first hip tomorrow! It sounds weird but I can't wait!! Who could guess that 40 odd years of hairdressing could ruin a body so. It's such a hard on the body job, I don't know how else to put it but this is the beginning of better days, pain free days I hope!!! I couldn't recommend just standing in one place for ten hours a day to anyone.

2009-01-04T17:34:00.001-05:00

No pictures this time, I don't have much luck posting them.

This is a rant about my nasty mother so if it will offend anyone, please don't read!!

My mother has for a while, been accusing her cleaning person of stealing things. Now I don't think for a minute that she's stealing because the things mother says she's taken are things no one would want! For example, her wartime toenail clippers, her address book and numerous other things that no one would want!!! Mother went as far as to phone the agency who then phoned me to ask if she was forgetful at all to which I said VERY!! All this had led to them arranging an assessment of my mother to see if she's mentally competent or whether the girl might have been stealing! They don't, and I don't, think she's been stealing because a couple of things that were supposedly gone have shown up but my mother will do her darndest to not let me find out. I suggested to her a couple of weeks ago that she might be forgetful and you'd have thought I was accusing her of murder!! She just lost it so I haven't brought it up again so I'm happy that events have transpired to make this assessment happen. Mother unwittingly started the ball rollong herself. It will be interesting and will happen in a couple of weeeks. Mother is unaware of this and, as it's nothing to do with me, I can rest easy without my stomach turning in knots wondering what she'll say to me. She will probab;y find a way to make it my fault anyway!! She's just so nasty all the time that I've been sorely tempted to wash my hands of her completely but haven't as yet!
We took her out for dinner tonight but as usual, nothing is right and nothing is as good as it is in England and she hates Canada and hates the weather etc, etc!! I've offered to take her back and get her settled over there but she won't do that because it would be too easy on me!!
Anyway, that's my rant for the moment! I've tried not to say too much about her but after today I just had to get it down!!

2008-12-29T21:01:00.000-05:00

I don't think I'll ever be able to get the writing above the pictures!! The baby is Olivia, little girl is Abigail and big brother is Ethan!!!

2008-12-29T20:31:00.000-05:00

I got the call at 11.30pm on the 18th December to go and I left immediately. I arrived at 4.30am and Holly, my daughter in law was sitting on the couch in labour. My son was sleeping!!!
The poor girl went into really active labour at 7.30am and gave birth at 10.15am. She always has home births and I was at the last one and at this one too. It's so nice to be at home, I had all my kids at home and it's good to be in your own bed with the people you know around you instead of the sterile atmosphere of a hospital. It's not for everyone but I'm glad Holly did it as it meant their kids were runing around and everyone was there.
The baby is a little girl, Olivia Heather and she was 8lbs 14ozs. A good weight!! Abby doesn't quite know what to make of her and hasn't paid too much attention but Ethan, the eight year old was quite taken with her and held her right away.
I'm home now, came home yesterday and I'm happy to be here but I miss waking up with Abby and her fuzzy little blond head and her warm little body. There's nothing quite like it!!!! We shared a bed so I didn't sleep much because she's 22 months and all over the bed!!
In the above pic, she's wearing the green dress I made her the same as the pink one in the previous post.

2008-12-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

Baby born Dec 19th. I'm in Toronto and will be back after Christmas. Have a happy one everyone!!!

2008-12-18T09:24:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to get some pics of our decorations, inside and out! I'm not very good and they are a bit fuzzy but you can get the general idea.

Some snoozing dog pics too!

To everyone who is sending good wishes for my surgery, thank you!!! It's not till January 9th but I wanted to get the pre op out the way because of this baby coming.

The pic of the fire is on the TV!! It's so pretty, they have it on all the time till January sometime!

2008-12-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

We have just been through one of the worst storms yet. No power yesterday and it went out again this morning at 8.00am and didn't come on till late afternoon. It just puts everything out, especially me!!! I hate it when I can't cook or clean the kitchen. not that it bothers me not cleaning but I know I have to do it eventually so I'd rather just keep it up together!! We have had sooooo much snow and followed by very strong winds today, I'll be glad when it's all settled down again. Our road has just now been plowed, first time in forty eight hours.

I was just looking back in my posts and see where Kansasrose asked me a long time ago to post pics of my knitting!! I don't usually take pics of it but I just finished a dress for Abigail and a scarf for my eldest daughter so I'll take pics of those and post them. Also a cardigan for my hubby. I'm not very good at arranging and stuff, not very artistic at all so you'll have to excuse my efforts!! I still have to do some embroidery to the dress. I expect some knitters may recognize the dress pattern from the Mary Maxim book. I already made her a mint green one.I get a lot of stuff from the catalogue and made the most beautiful baby blanket for Abby when she was born, and I just found the pic of it.The colours were so well put together. I could never do that, I don't have the eye but the stuff comes in a kit so I just have to knit what they send me!!

I am going for my pre op tomorrow, preparing for surgery, I can't wait!!

2008-12-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

I can't believe the amount of snow we have!! As I type, it's snowing and I don't think a day has passed without us having to shovel or snowblow! I struggle every day to keep the bird feeders clear and the seed dry.

I have to drive to North Bay again today, probably one of the worst days but I have good tires now and hopefully the highways are ploughed

My son and daughter in law are expecting a baby Dec 23rd In Toronto and I'm expected to drop everything when she goes into labour and head down there in time for the birth. She has home births. I will of course but I'm just hoping that the weather won't be too bad or that it won't be at one in the morning!! Last time it was three in the afternoon they called me so I had an easy drive down so I'll be crossing my fingers for this time!

I'm taking mother for her flu shot this afternoon as well so I'll be glad when this day is over! I'll take my knitting to keep me busy while she's getting done. Can't go anywhere without that!

Actually that post was for two days ago but I left it and forgot to post!! It's bright cold sun now and there are a couple of pics to prove it!! Everyone will get sick of snow pics but it just shows what a boring life I lead!!

2008-12-04T18:31:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd post some snow pics. We've had so much already this year and if it keeps up I don't know where we'll put it all!!!

My mothers doctor has disappeared, he hasn't been in his office for a couple of months now and knowing this place, he may never be back so I have to take her to North Bay tomorrow to the walk in clinic to get her prescriptions refilled. I hope the weather is OK, it should be as I haven't heard news to the contrary.

2008-11-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

Not much has been happening lately so not too much to write about.

More of the same with mother so nothing new there. I am taking her to a specialist in Sudbury on Friday so we'll see what can be done anout her macular degeneration. Probably not much but we'll find out.

I had my MRI's on both knees last week. Had to drive late at night in a snowstorm but at least it's done. Now I just have to wait for surgery dates.

I'm going to post a few pics of my dogs so you can see what keeps me busy for most of the day!

Above is Charlie. He was found wandering the streets of Toronto. He has a weak immune system but is otherwise healthy. We have had him six years.
Above is Teddy. He was dumped on our road this summer by someone who shouldn't ever be allowed to have another animal!!
This is Jack who was rescued by a lady when a man was trying to drown him. he was four months then. Last year he had two new knees. He's our bionic dog! We have had him six years.

Above is Rachael who has so much wrong with her she shouldn't still be here but she is and still quite happy. She old too but we don't know how old she was when we got her but she was not a young dog and we've had her seven years.

Below is Luke. We've had him three years and he was just sadly neglected which is just another form of abuse even though he wasn't beaten or anything.

This is Chippy our cockatiel. We have had him eleven years because he was unwanted as so often happens with birds! He will be twenty eight in February and just keeps on going. He lives on my kitchen counter in his cage but his door is always open and he comes and goes as he pleases. He's always running around somewhere.

This is where we all keep warm!!!

And now I have to go and shovel our deck!! There's only a few inches but it will get away on me if I don't keep it done!!

2008-11-11T03:32:00.000-05:00

It's 3.30 am and I've just let the dogs out for the second time this night so I'm staying up now. I just lit the furnace which kept going out on me and the house should soon be warm. We have a combination wood oil furnace and needless to say we don't use the oil!! Emergencies only!

I had an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon yesterday and he's going to operate on both of my hips and knees!!! I'm so happy as just living has been a nightmare. I can't sleep at night because I can't lay on either hip and if I do get comfy with my hips, my knees start to ache!! He's going to do one hip and one knee each time so I'm not laid up for too long. It's all due to my forty five years of hairdressing!! Just standing is so bad for a body! I guess most trades have their downfalls regarding body aches and this is mine.

Our oldest dog, Rachael, is having such a hard time walking now and we know it won't be long before we have to do the inevitable. It's just awful thinking about it and I try not to till I see her struggle to stand. We love her too much to let her suffer and the vet has assured us that she's not in pain. It's not arthritis its a different thing where her brain is not recognizing her back legs and she's not able to control them so they just buckle under her.

I have avoided having mother for a couple of weeks now but I think I'm going to have to have her this week. Probably Wednesday night and through Thursday. I read an old saying last week. 'You can't change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sails' I'm going to try as hard as I can do 'adjust my sails!!! For my sake, because it's very wearing carrying this load.

I will start my day now and wish for snow!!!

2008-11-04T13:39:00.001-05:00

Not a lot going on really. The US election is today and it will be good not to hear the slanging ads on TV any more. I really don't know why politicians can't just focus on the issues without having to put other people down all the time. I know for sure that I would have a lot more respect for someone who didn't badmouth others.

My mother has wet macular degeneration in her right eye, which is with red blood cells in the eye. The doc spoke very softly so she couldn't hear everything he was saying which is a good thing but she has to have a series of injections into the back of her eye which will at least halt the progression of the disease. Her sister has it as well so I'm probably next!!

It's a warm day today compared to last week. My outdoor thermometer is reading 20 degrees at the moment! Amazing for this time of year.

I have to go and pick up my new glassess now which will be a treat because things were getting out of focus with the old ones!! This getting old is for the birds...

2008-11-01T12:54:00.000-04:00

Another wonderful day today. Mellow and sunny, cool though but lovely!

I found my buttons on my trip down south and sat and sewed them on in the parking lot outside Wal-Mart! At least I could hand it over finished by doing that!

My sister in law is on her way to visit and should be here shortly, she's making a few stops along the way, clothes shopping I think. I don't like buying clothes and spend my days in jeans and tee shirts. I don't like getting dressed up for anything and try to avoid occasions where we are expected to 'dress'!! She's gluten intolerant so I've been wracking my brains to cook without flour or wheat products. One trick I've used for her is to thicken soups, gravies and stews with dehydrated potato flakes, it works really well.

My mother stayed here last night because she's 'scared' of Halloween!! Whatever next! We used the excuse that Scott had to go into town early this morning to get rid of her as fast as we could.

2008-10-26T20:55:00.000-04:00

I am leaving tomorrow morning for a few days.

I spoke to my daughter yesterday and she said she'll never have my mother again!!! I don't blame her because I feel the same way only a sense of duty makes me keep on doing it.

Went in to North Bay today because Canadian Tire were having a sale on compressors! How exciting! NOT!!! Scott enjoyed it anyway and I got to buy a few things that I didn't need! The one thing I have a real hard time finding are buttons! I have just finished knitting a little jacket for Abby and I can't find the right buttons! Almost everything I've made for her, even little dresses need buttons so while I'm in Toronto I'll have to go on a button hunt!

2008-10-24T12:40:00.000-04:00

My week off is over. I'm meeting my daughter this afternoon to do the transfer! I asked Josie to keep her for another day or two but suffice it to say she said no! In no uncertain terms. I can't blame her as my mother is a handful for anyone.

Our snow is melting today, I guess that's OK but I was enjoying it. It's a little early for it to stay yet but it won't be too long now.

I'm heading for Toronto on Monday for my yearly physical, dentist and mammogram. How I loathe doing all these things but better to be safe. I'd do it all where I live but there are no doctors available so I have to travel. Of course I get to see my baby again so it will be worth it! Trouble is I always seem to spend too much money when I go to the city. Gas alone is a small fortune and I always find other things to spend on..

2008-10-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

Glorious snow today and cold! I think it's the coldest morning yet, not the temp but the winchill. Around -10c I think! The dogs are like kids playing tag, running and running then wanting to come in then back out to play!!

2008-10-19T07:56:00.000-04:00

My son arrived home safely from Greece and he won't travel again till April because the new baby is due at Christmas and he's requested a few months after that.

I'm having a wonderfully peaceful time knowing mother is not here and that she won't be calling me. I'm not scared to answer the phone for these few days!

Cold frosty mornings now and all the leaves have gone from the trees. I still haven't got the heated bird bath out of storage but I will soon. The forecast is warming up a few degrees for a day or so which means the baths won't freeze!

2008-10-15T14:31:00.000-04:00

I have just finished making mac and cheese for mother and my hubby tonight. Very fattening but very good!! Who's keeping track anyway!!

Teddy, our dog who was dumped off on our road has another bad ear infection, this time yeast. I have a long list of instructions and it carries on for a month. The poor thing has badly frostbitten ears and consequently the ear canal is very small and very hard so nothing much can get in and out. That happened before I picked him up off the road but now we are dealing with someone else's neglect. I hate the way people neglect their animals. I should say some people, not all for sure.

My mother is going to spend a week with my eldest daughter and I'm just so happy. It will be like a weeks holiday for me. Stress free!! It's been a while since I've felt like that.

Tomorrow is grooming day for the dogs. Three in the morning and two in the afternoon. They will all smell sweet till they find something good to roll in again and we'll have to bath them again! It really never ends!

2008-10-11T11:12:00.000-04:00

My son is off again today, this time to Greece. I'm not happy! I know he doesn't like the travelling but it's a good job that he has and it enables him to support his family well. I guess, in these days, that means a lot.

The building lot has been purchased for mothers new house and construction will start next week. I can't wait for her to live in it then she might stop bugging me so much! The house will be half the size of her present one and with no basement. She hates basements but she never had one till she came here so she's not used to them.

I'm thinking about everyone in the US and wish there was someting that could be done to ease all the financial stress. Not for the fat cats but for the ordinary people who work hard for a honest living every day. I really hope the present situation eases soon or at the very least, doesn't get any worse.

We have enjoyed a spectacular fall this year and I've noticed that we still have some back flies and mosquito's around. Yesterday we noticed the air was full of tiny white almost blue, little flying things and they're still around today. Phillip, any thoughts???? I know you've lived in these parts for a long time!!!

2008-10-07T09:29:00.000-04:00

OK, so you should read from bottom to top because it's all backward!! I didn't know it would publish like this!

2008-10-07T08:53:00.000-04:00

This is another grandson pictured with the triplets, my sons first child. He's also seven. They are expecting another in December!!! These pics were all taken at my granddaughters wedding in August.
My son, who is my youngest, with his youngest child. She's eighteen months. They are expecting another in December!!
The bride, my eldest granddaughter and my second granddaughter who is her maid of honour, with the tartan sash on her shoulder.
My middle child, daughter, with her triplets, my granddaughters. They are seventeen.
This is my eldest daughter, the mother of the two boys below and also mother of the bride and the maid of honour.
These are two grandsons, ages four and seven. The brothers of the bride. The eldest had his hair dyed to match the colours in the wedding party!!

2008-10-05T15:09:00.000-04:00

We are back. We stayed a little longer so I could spend more time with Abby! Our dogsitter was able to stay so we were in luck there.

The funeral was sad. Very sad, the family were devastated. It had one humerous moment though. The deceased, Alex, had always hated the 'Amazing Grace' at funerals and said whatever you do don't have it played at mine. Well, the church (catholic) or whomever decides these things played it as background music apparently without informing the family!! His wife, Sharon, said afterward thet he would have got up and turned the music off if he could have!! She had a chuckle so that was a good thing.

We have a fire going today. It's very cool outside but I love it, as always!!

2008-09-30T16:40:00.000-04:00

Off to a funeral on Thursday, the good thing is I get to see my grandbaby again but the bad is our friend is dead. We have to drive the five hours to Toronto so I hope the weather is good. It will be a sad time...

2008-09-29T20:12:00.000-04:00

This is our house! The place I'm happiest! I love the winter so I only seem to have winter pics. I'll try to take some summer ones. In the above pic you can see our outhouse to be used in emergencies such as power failures which we get a lot or if both bathrooms are in use!
Our old dog Rachael is sitting in this pic.

In the above pic you can just see our deck which wraps around the front of the house. Also there is a complete level under the deck.
Our bedroom is the room to the right as you are looking at the page. Kitchen to the left and front entrance in the middle!

2008-09-28T16:42:00.000-04:00

This is Abby with Grampa riding on the big ATV. This is my first attempt at posting pics so please bear with me while I get to making it better!!!

This is my granddaughter Abigail. I love her so much! We were trying to see if she'd pose! Below is Jesse (my son, her dad) with her and Ethan on the bike.

My son and family have gone and I'm sad! We all had a great weekend and Ethan just loved the ATV. Towards the end of yesterday he was complaining that his hands and arms hurt, I guess the unusual activity was hurting his muscles!

The weather has been nothing less than spectacular but we are supposed to get some rain in a couple of days.

A good friend died this weekend age 59 of heart and kidney failure and various cancers. He led a 'full' life with lots of partying in the past but why does it affect some people and not others?? I'd really like to know that because if my past partying has anything to do with it, I should be dead too...

2008-09-25T13:49:00.000-04:00

I have had mother here for two days and nights and now I'M FREE!!! Took her home today and I feel a weight lifted from me!

My son, Jesse, his wife Holly and their two kids, Ethan and Abigail are coming up tomorrow for the weekend!! I'm so excited, that little girl is the love of my life! We have also bought Ethan an small ATV which he doesn't know about yet and I can't wait to see his face when he sees it. It depends what time they arrive as to whether he'll know about it tomorrow night or Saturday morning! If they're too late tomorrow then he won't sleep if we show it to him but if they arrive before five then he can see it. Big things for a seven year old!!

Another beautiful day today but a little on the warm side for me, it has been all week! I want the cold!

Rachael only had one accident indoors and I'd left her for less that two hours. I don't see any difference in her condition so she won't stay on them. I'm weaning her off now. Old age really sucks, for animals and people!

2008-09-21T11:13:00.000-04:00

0 degrees this morning!! Just a gorgeous sunny day! We went out for breakfast this morning because I didn't want to cook! That was nice!

Went to the dinner party last night and I asked myself why I was actually there! I feel that at my age, I shouldn't have to hang out with people I don't want to be with and go places I don't want to go! I used to be a party animal but not any more. Just wedding and things, not house parties, not for me anymore.

Our oldest dog is on steroids for ten days to try to reduce the inflammation in her spine and she's eating, drinking and peeing like mad! The vet said she would so I guess we are going to have to be getting up with her at night too! She just started yesterday and today I can already see a difference.

Haven't spoken to mother since yesterday which is very nice except it's spoilt because I know I'll pay the price when I do!!! I just can't win!

2008-09-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

My son is back on Canadian soil. He arrived at 9.30 this morning. Long, long flight!

We are going to a dinner party this afternoon and into the evening. I don't want to go, I just want to stay home. That's all I ever want to do. It's a client of my hubby so it's an obligation but if I could get out of it I would.

I cleaned out the coffee maker this morning, I do it once a week at least so it's not all dirty and grungy and, in the water reservoir I found a big black beetle, quite dead of course but it gave me the willies thinking We'd been drinking from that and boiling him over and over!!! YUK!! My eldest daughter phoned just after I'd cleaned it so I told her what happened and she said, ' you've been drinking beetlejuice'. She's referring to the old movie of course but I thought it was funny anyway!!

It's dark like night and I have to go and put all the lights on.

2008-09-19T09:52:00.000-04:00

Had some help from fellow blogger, Philip and got a flag counter on here!! Quite amazing that, even with help, I was able to do it!!

My son starts his homeward journey today. He leaves Johanneburg for Dakar, then Dakar to Washington, then Toronto. I'll be very happy when he's here again. I'm never happy when he's away.

Beautiful day here, cool and clear but I think we have showers and thunder coming. I hope the forecasters are wrong but they rarely are when it comes to bad weather, just good!

Mu hubby is taking my mother to see another buiding lot today in hopes that she'll like it. She hasn't liked any yet but we're hoping this is it. That way he can get her house started before the snow and ice set in. Her house is too big and she hates the basement. They don't have basements in England and her new house won't have one.

2008-09-16T11:15:00.000-04:00

I just found out this morning that my granddaughter who was married August 16th is pregnant!!! They had said they would start trying as soon as they were married but this is really quick!! I'm thrilled for them but having so many grandchildren already, it's hard to get really excited about another, albeit a great grandchild! They live so far from us that I probably won't see the baby very much anyway.

I have to go to town this afternoon to take Rachael to the vet and drop in on mother. That really makes my day but my conscience makes me! I wonder why some people seem to have no conscience and others have too much?

Went to the walk in clinic in North Bay yesterday and discovered I have bursitis in my shoulder and both hips. I just thought it was years of wear and tear that was causing the pain.

It's really feeling like fall now and sometimes like winter although no snow yet! It felt cold enough this morning for snow. We gave in and put the furnace on for half an hour just to take the chill off!

2008-09-13T08:31:00.001-04:00

Chilly again this morning!

My middle child, Jane, arrived last night for the weekend! It's so nice to have her even just for a day or two. She will pick my mother up after lunch and bring her here for dinner then take her home. A mercifully short visit!

My son is off to South Africa this afternoon for a week on business. I hate it when he goes away like that but it's his job and it has taken him all over the world, a chance he wouldn't have had if he'd had any other position. I lie awake at night and think of him in that little (comparatively) metal plane up in the air and I can't rest till I know he's on the ground again. I know it's a silly fear but I don't seem to be able to stop it. I'm not scared of flying either so I really don't know where it comes from!

My eldest granddaughters birthday was July 4th and I sent her a card with a grocery gift certificate in it. She never did get it which ticked me off but it finally came back to me this Thursday, over two months lost in the mail! I mailed it again and hope she gets it this time. I'd love to know where it's been all this time!

2008-09-11T12:14:00.000-04:00

I just can't get going today. Mother is heavy on my mind and it's really getting me down. I would like to break off all contact but I promised my dad I would take care of her and try to do my best to make her happy, to which he replied, ' good luck, I've never been able to make her happy'. We will never be able to make her happy either but my conscience keeps bothering me when I have thoughts of cutting off contact. She is the most self righteous woman and would never be able to see that she's impossible to live with, it would always be someone else who was difficult, not her!

Apart from that, it's the most beautiful day, the kind that feeds the soul. I'd love to be outside but there's too much to do inside so I'll just have to live without being outside today. I spent a few minutes just now and watched the bees on the sunflowers. Just lovely but now to work! There are bathrooms to be cleaned and kitchen counters to scrub! All the good stuff!!

2008-09-10T13:48:00.000-04:00

It's a cold one today. The thermometer read 5 degree's this morning. Quite chilly! None of our tomatoes have ripened and I don't think they will now. We'll have to bring them in to ripen.

All of our dogs have been, are still at, the groomer this morning! Three, Jack, Rachael and Charlie are home and two are still there! Four have baths and cuts and one has just a bath and blow dry! It has to be done regularly because they are all indoor dogs and I have to keep the hair and smells under control so we try to do them every five weeks. Any more than that and I get hair bunnies all over the floor.

I had mother here yesterday and the night before. Still as bad as ever but it's not going to change now so I should just get used to it and quit my bitchin' about her but I can't!!!! Sometimes I think I can then something she says will start it all up again.

Now I have to go and fetch Luke and Teddy.

2008-09-04T08:03:00.000-04:00

I'm going into North Bay today to meet my eldest daughter, who lives in Burks Falls, for lunch. She will have my four year old grandson with her so we can hang out a while. The main purpose of the trip is to get my oil changed in my car and get the cruise control fixed. I don't really need it around here but I drive to Toronto quite a lot and it's so much easier on the knee with cruise!!! I'm really dating myself here but who really cares? My poor hubby is working in Field today so he will have to come home and let the dogs out because I know I'll be a long time.

Much nicer weather today, much cooler and more pleasant and I see that next week, although that could change, we are expecting a night low of 4 degrees which is great for me but not so good for some. I happen to love the cold and snow but I know not everyone feels the same way.

Jenny at http://meadowrosewines.blogspot.com/ has given me an award but I don't know how to get it here! I've only just learned how to blog!!! I'll try to figure it out at a later date and pass it on then!!!! One of these day's I'll have to try to get pictures on here too!

2008-09-02T12:48:00.000-04:00

We're back and tired! What a lot of effort it is going away for a couple of days! I've just finished vacuuming the wads of dogs hair off the floor and done the laundry then to start cooking!

The Exhibition is lots of fun but really exhausting at my age! We all went together and arrived at 10.00 am but we were so done by 4.00 pm and we left! My kids and their kids arrived at the same time and stayed till 10.00 pm!! Where do they get the energy? It was probably the hottest weekend of the year as well which didn't help!

I have tried to be a good person and not have the A/C on much at all this year but I'm afraid the heat has gotten to me and I'm weak! I had to give in and put it on today, it's so hot and going to be hotter tomorrow.

2008-08-29T13:11:00.000-04:00

It's been a very trying two days having mother here. She's just left and I feel like I've been let out of jail! I knew she was a nasty woman but I really didn't know how nasty till my dad died and there was no one buffering her. She is truly vile and it really seems that she is out to make everyone's life as miserable as possible. To what end I don't know but she does it well.

To those that say I'll be sorry when she's gone, oh no I won't!!! I have detested her since I was a small child and that have never changed. She lived to make my life unhappy then and nothings changed since. What I do for her now, I do out of duty to my dad and nothing else. He told me before he died that he had never been able to make her happy and good luck to me trying because I wouldn't be able to make her happy either.

If I offend anyone reading then I'm sorry but this is my journal and I want to make it true with no falsehoods and to say all this any other way would be lying.

We are off tomorrow till Monday so I'll try to put her out of my mind for a couple of days although that won't be easy. I'm afraid this is a life sentence for me because she's going to live to a ripe old age! She'll be eighty seven soon and is fitter than I am.

2008-08-26T13:07:00.000-04:00

Here I am again! I didn't think I'd make it past the first 'post' but I did. We'll see how long it lasts!

Hubby and I are going to the CNE this weekend, this will be our last trip to Toronto together for some time, barring unforseen emergencies. I hope we have none of those!! We will meet my second daughter Jane and my son Jesse, his wife Holly and their two kids and hopefully have a good day. We'll travel Saturday and go the Ex on Sunday and home on Monday. We have a regular house, dog, sitter for when we go but it's expensive so we try to keep the trips together, down. Five dogs and an old bird are a lot of responsibility so she's worth the money, it's just hard to come by!! I'm sure we're not the only ones with that problem!

I will go again soon on my own for my yearly physical and my twice yearly trip to the dentist. I have no doctor up here and it doesn't look as if there will be any in the near future if at all.

Just gorgeous weather today with more than a hint of fall in the air. It's warm outside but quite chilly inside.

Mother is a royal pain in the arse but I'm getting used to it but not to dealing with her. Lies flow from her mouth like water and is very unsettling. We are not sure if she knows she's lying or if it's really dementia. She certainly appears to know what she's saying!!

Other news! Our holding tank overflowed and backed up our toilets into the house!! There are times I'm very happy to have a man around and he came when I called him from work, and the septic guy was here shortly after! Disaster averted!!

2008-08-22T09:06:00.000-04:00

More storms forecast for tomorrow but it looks as if they might come today. In fact they are sure to because I've washed all the curtains in hte bedroom and living room, eight sets in all, and need to hang them on the line! That's a sure recipe for bad weather!

My cold is still hanging on in the from of congestion. It's so annoying to have this nose that never stops running and a throat that always needs clearing.

I feel as if I should have more to write but whatever it is won't surface so I can't write it! When it comes I'll write...

2008-08-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

We are back and a great time was had by all. Samantha was a stunning bride (aren't they all!) and Adam, a very handsome groom! The journey was bad, way too long but there's not much to be done about that. Driving is still the cheapest way to go even with gas prices the way they are.

I'm still sick but getting better all the time. I have almost no voice today but feel much better. Strange how that works!

We have thunderstorms today, it seems that's all we've had lately. Never just rain but always thunder and lightning too. On our journey to Kingston we were in and out of thunderstorms all the way.

Better get showered and start the day...

2008-08-14T18:27:00.000-04:00

We're off tomorrow and I'm really sick with a cold. Of all the rotten things to happen this weekend!! Maybe if I party hard enough I'll either die or get better!!

We are taking the Ottawa route so that will be a little more interesting than heading south then east. We've only been this way once before.

Nasty hail and rain again today or should I say tonight. I don't think we've used the hose to water at all this summer, just to fill the birdbaths!! Good for the groundwater and in turn the well at least. The forest creatures haven't had to be thirsy this year either although there are enough lakes around here anyway.

2008-08-12T14:50:00.000-04:00

Lazy day today. I feel a cold coming on and find it hard to just do what I have to!

My eldest granddaughter is getting married on Saturday in Kingston and we will leave Friday night and come back Sunday. Our dogsitter will stay all the time we are away. I always look forward to a good party but find that the older I get the less I enjoy it!!! I'll just force myself! Ha ha..

Kind of thundery but not raining yet. I have washing on the line and must watch the weather!

2008-08-11T09:47:00.000-04:00

Back from the weekend and we had a good time even though it was very fast!

I think it's rained enough for the whole year up to now and things have never been so green! Usually by this time in the year everything is turning brown and dry but it's greener now than in the spring. Quite amazing! If the rainfall is a precursor to the snowfall, we are in for a lot!

Miss Marie Nanci, I like to use colours but I do see how much more difficult to read they are so I will stick to the slightly darker ones and hope you can read!

2008-08-08T17:48:00.000-04:00

We are going to Cambridge for the weekend to my dearest friends wedding anniversary. It will be nice to get away for a bit. My eldest daughter will drive up from Burks Falls to take care of our dogs.

It's my mothers 66th wedding anniversary today and it's a hard one for her with my dad so recently deceased. I took her a bottle of wine and the kids have called but whichever way you slice it, after spending all those years together and then to be alone, is very hard. I'm sure she'll never get over it till she dies. She was so totally dependant on him which is not a good thing because now she can do nothing at all for herself. He did all the laundry, ironing, dishwashing, bedmaking, vacuuming, you name it, he did it. She has never paid a bill or looked after any finances and can't start now.

This just shouldn't happen and as much as my dad was seemingly happy to do all those things, he really didn't do her any favours.

2008-08-07T07:13:00.000-04:00

Now, I've stolen the will!!! OMG can it get any worse??? She says it was in dads briefcase and now it's not when I know for a fact that one copy is in their safety deposit box and the other one is with the lawyer. Besides if I had a copy it would do me no good at all as everything passes to mother upon dad's death.
I know she's not in her right mind but it would be very hard to convince anyone else of this as she does a good job of fooling people.

2008-08-06T20:08:00.000-04:00

Had friends up from Toronto today. Took them out on the boat for a while and tried to forget the problems we have right now with mother.
She's now accusing us of trying to rush her out of her home when all along she keeps saying she wants to leave because it's too big!!!. Hubby will build her a a smaller house very close to where she now lives and we just hope she'll be able to cope. Personally I think she's ready for assisted living but she says she's fine so we'll go along with that.
She loses things all the time when they're right under her nose and almost has no memory at all. Some of it is selective memory loss but not all of it.
We are heading to Cambridge on the weekend to an anniversary party and I'll be so happy to be out of phone reach for a while!!

2008-08-04T15:41:00.000-04:00

Well, the memorial is all over and life will never be the same but will get back to a semblance of normalcy. Eighty three people came which shows how well loved my dad really was. We are still trying to figure out what to do with mother and that won't be an easy task.
My kids all left today and the house feels empty but I can get some laundry done and change the beds and all that stuff. It feels sad not to have Abby running around the house but she has to go with her parents and I probably don't have energy for her fulltime anyway! She's seventeen months and a handful!!
It's stinking hot today and my hubby is asleep on the couch and mother in the chair so all is quiet. All the dogs are snoozing too. Having little kids around stresses them because they are not used to it.

2008-08-01T11:27:00.001-04:00

I'm really looking forward to seeing my family, they'll all be on their way tonight to drive here. It's just too bad that it's for dad's memorial and not for happy times.

2008-07-31T14:50:00.000-04:00

Just been wandering from room to room looking at all the things that need to be done and not doing them! I just can't seem to settle my mind to anything but I'm sure that will pass. My mother is very needy and calls me up to twenty times a day, it seems like every few minutes, finding that hard to deal with. I've never been a telephone talker and really don't want to start now.

My son has just picked up dad's ashes from the crematorium ready for the memorial service on Saturday. He'll bring them up when he comes.
One good thing about all this is that I'll have all my kids together. Doesn't happen too often!!!

On another note, the guys have been in this morning laying new (cheap) carpet in the basement resulting from the flooding we had in the spring so I'll have to get down there and get things back in order now that they are finished. Not looking forward to that!

2008-07-26T16:19:00.000-04:00

Dad died peacefully about five hours after taking him off life support. It was so hard, but he was so active that we all knew he wouldn't want to be kept alive that way. The hard part was that he was so positive going into the surgery and was so sure that all would be well. He was smiling as he went in and I can't bear the thoughts now that he shouldn't have had it. He should have just lived his life as it was, but he wanted to be better.

2008-07-23T21:24:00.000-04:00

Just had a call from the hospital and we are driving back tomorrow to take my precious dad off life support.

2008-07-23T10:21:00.000-04:00

Got back late last night but I think I'll have to go back in a few days if not sooner. Dad is dying. He came through the operation OK but things have gone downhill from there and now he's on life support. My mother won't pull the plug and as much as I wish she would, I can understand her not wanting to. If he were a younger man I wouldn't want to either but he'll be ninety in October and he's very frail physically. She say's she'll feel as if she's murdered him.

Not much else to say, my hubby did his best but I was away for eight days and what a disaster to come home to. He's not at all domesticated, even after all thse years so I have to get on and work now!

2008-07-14T07:31:00.000-04:00

I'm leaving in a couple of hours and as usual, I don't want to go but this is different. Usually when I go south it's because I want to see the kids but this time I have no choice so I'd better just get my a**e is gear and get going!!

There's always so much to do and so many things not to forget....

2008-07-12T11:11:00.000-04:00

Feeling tired today and dreading the week ahead but I'll get through it, I always do! It's muggy and hot outside which doesn't help and I am sick to death of mosquitos!! They are so bad this year and i'm sure it's because of all the rain we've had.

Our dogs got to digging under a tree yesterday and the mosquitos just swarmed around them. I always thought they just bred in water but maybe they breed in soil as well!

My son is leaving for princeton tomorrow so I probably won't see him when I'm in TO because he won't be back till next Saturday. Of course I won't know how long I'll be there till I know how my dad 's surgery goes. I'f the surgeon decides not to do it, I'll be back on Wednesday with him.