Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Adventure That Wasn't
Here is a boring story of the adventure that wasn't for today for all you faithful blog-readers to fall asleep to:
It was such a lovely day today that I decided to walk to the bank with Peter after he had his lunch. It doesn't take that long, and its nice to take a look around downtown. When I arrived, I was surprised with Customer Appreciation Day - hotdogs, drinks, and cupcakes. Oh, and can't forget the chance to win a portable DVD player. Anyways, my path home took me across the Burgoyne Bridge. This is quite a remarkable bridge, spanning the 12 Mile Creek and the 406, form which the bridge looks extremely tall. Well, actually the bridge seems pretty tall when you're on it as well, but let's move on.
What a tall bridge!
Along the banks of the 12 Mile Creek, there is a fire training tower where we have never seen any activity. I always thought it would be quite interesting to watch a training session, and I was a little excited to see a fire truck and several other fire vehicles along the shore, hooking up hoses to the hydrant and leading into the creek.
See? This is the real one. You can kind of see the tower in the background.
I was hoping to see some of this.
It was such a lovely day today that I decided to walk to the bank with Peter after he had his lunch. It doesn't take that long, and its nice to take a look around downtown. When I arrived, I was surprised with Customer Appreciation Day - hotdogs, drinks, and cupcakes. Oh, and can't forget the chance to win a portable DVD player. Anyways, my path home took me across the Burgoyne Bridge. This is quite a remarkable bridge, spanning the 12 Mile Creek and the 406, form which the bridge looks extremely tall. Well, actually the bridge seems pretty tall when you're on it as well, but let's move on.
Imagine I am walking down this bridge with Peter in the stroller
What a tall bridge!
Along the banks of the 12 Mile Creek, there is a fire training tower where we have never seen any activity. I always thought it would be quite interesting to watch a training session, and I was a little excited to see a fire truck and several other fire vehicles along the shore, hooking up hoses to the hydrant and leading into the creek.Here is an overhead map of where we were
This is a fire training tower. Not the one we live by but I don't have a great picture of the real one.
This is a fire training tower. Not the one we live by but I don't have a great picture of the real one.
See? This is the real one. You can kind of see the tower in the background.
I was hoping to see some of this.
Instead of stopping in at the park to play on the swings with Peter, I went home and called the fire department to see if there was indeed something going on worthwhile watching.
Sadly, I was told they are just testing some equipment and not doing any fire drills. Boo, so much for my afternoon entertainment. The camera isn't at home, so it was probably not meant to be. Perhaps another day... it'll just have to be fun at the park for today!
The End.
Sadly, I was told they are just testing some equipment and not doing any fire drills. Boo, so much for my afternoon entertainment. The camera isn't at home, so it was probably not meant to be. Perhaps another day... it'll just have to be fun at the park for today!
The End.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sesquicentennial Postage
I may have missed post #111, but I wasn't planning on missing #150. Well, unfortunately, I did, through some technical glitch, but I'll just pretend this is the real deal.
I rearranged the living room yesterday morning to try something different. I don't know if it's working. The coffee table doesn't have a spot anymore, and although I really hate the table, we do need a place to put our coffee. There aren't really many options when it comes to rearranging in our home, which is why I haven't moved the couch since we painted in there last winter. And what did I find when I moved it? No less than a dozen nuts hiding underneath... we have had on occasion a bowl of nuts on the table, and I think Kitty was the one who enjoyed them the most. I've found nuts in the registers, under the stove, under the bookcase, under Gorm, and now I've unearthed what seems like half a bowl-worth from under the couch, along with several twist ties, pieces of wire, one penny and a red pen.
It's just about the end of our season of finding bits of wire, clothes pins, and random toys tucked away in some hard-to-reach crevice. After much consideration and previous close calls, I Kijiji'd Kitty this week, finally sick of all the fur and mess and frustration that she's made for us. She's being picked up this afternoon to go to her new home in Fonthill with a couple whose cat recently died of old age. Of course, since this arrangement was made, she's been especially affectionate and cute, so it's been making me a little sad. She keep coming up to me, purring, and jumping up on my lap to cuddle. It seems that she's trying to fuzz out my memories of her incessant morning whining, her wandering tufts of hair, the "fun" we had getting rid of her fleas, peeing in my flowerpots, cleaning up after her varying grossnesses, peeing on a tucked-away phone jack which short-circuited our phone line and left us without a telephone for a week before we found the problem, breaking into our grocery-bag collection and spreading it throughout the house, breaking out of the sun-room for a night on the town, scratching one of our couches to its death, destroying one of our frying pans, ripping a hole in our boxspring, crawling inside to an unreachable corner and whining, and on and on and on. She's provided us with some quality entertainment as well, and it definitely has been a worthwhile two years since she wasn't always a terror, but it's time for her to leave our small abode and retire with dignity at the home of someone who will provide her with vet-approved gourmet food and abundant attention. Good bye Kitty!
I rearranged the living room yesterday morning to try something different. I don't know if it's working. The coffee table doesn't have a spot anymore, and although I really hate the table, we do need a place to put our coffee. There aren't really many options when it comes to rearranging in our home, which is why I haven't moved the couch since we painted in there last winter. And what did I find when I moved it? No less than a dozen nuts hiding underneath... we have had on occasion a bowl of nuts on the table, and I think Kitty was the one who enjoyed them the most. I've found nuts in the registers, under the stove, under the bookcase, under Gorm, and now I've unearthed what seems like half a bowl-worth from under the couch, along with several twist ties, pieces of wire, one penny and a red pen.
It's just about the end of our season of finding bits of wire, clothes pins, and random toys tucked away in some hard-to-reach crevice. After much consideration and previous close calls, I Kijiji'd Kitty this week, finally sick of all the fur and mess and frustration that she's made for us. She's being picked up this afternoon to go to her new home in Fonthill with a couple whose cat recently died of old age. Of course, since this arrangement was made, she's been especially affectionate and cute, so it's been making me a little sad. She keep coming up to me, purring, and jumping up on my lap to cuddle. It seems that she's trying to fuzz out my memories of her incessant morning whining, her wandering tufts of hair, the "fun" we had getting rid of her fleas, peeing in my flowerpots, cleaning up after her varying grossnesses, peeing on a tucked-away phone jack which short-circuited our phone line and left us without a telephone for a week before we found the problem, breaking into our grocery-bag collection and spreading it throughout the house, breaking out of the sun-room for a night on the town, scratching one of our couches to its death, destroying one of our frying pans, ripping a hole in our boxspring, crawling inside to an unreachable corner and whining, and on and on and on. She's provided us with some quality entertainment as well, and it definitely has been a worthwhile two years since she wasn't always a terror, but it's time for her to leave our small abode and retire with dignity at the home of someone who will provide her with vet-approved gourmet food and abundant attention. Good bye Kitty!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Again, I say, Leave!!
To the Resident Groundhogs,
A quick lesson in etymology:
Pest [origin: 1545-1555, L pestis plague]
n.
1. An annoying person or thing; a nuisance.
2. An injurious plant or animal, especially one harmful to humans.
3. A deadly epidemic disease; a pestilence.
4. The groundhogs living in my garage
Synonyms 1. annoyance. 2. pandemic, scourge, epidemic. 3. groundhog
I am running out of patience with you! I am not sure what is worse now - you and your growing family, or the disgusting carpenter bees. You all seem to think that my garage is a great place to live, but it is NOT, for a number of reasons. We'll start off with the damages you are inflicting on my garden. If you keep chewing the tops off my cannis, how is it supposed to grow? Thankfully this year you left my tulips alone, but you decided to attack something new - my parsley. NO!! I want to be the one enjoying my botanical endeavours, not you! And leave my lettuce alone!! And if you even THINK of eating any of my other vegetables, oh boy. You'll wish you never found my property! Another problem I have with you is the holes you keep digging under the garage walls. Can't you see it's already suffering more than enough structural impairment? I hope you have a good insurance policy, because if YOU make it collapse, I'm coming after you with the biggest lawsuit you can imagine!
A quick lesson in etymology:
Pest [origin: 1545-1555, L pestis plague]
n.
1. An annoying person or thing; a nuisance.
2. An injurious plant or animal, especially one harmful to humans.
3. A deadly epidemic disease; a pestilence.
4. The groundhogs living in my garage
Synonyms 1. annoyance. 2. pandemic, scourge, epidemic. 3. groundhog
I am running out of patience with you! I am not sure what is worse now - you and your growing family, or the disgusting carpenter bees. You all seem to think that my garage is a great place to live, but it is NOT, for a number of reasons. We'll start off with the damages you are inflicting on my garden. If you keep chewing the tops off my cannis, how is it supposed to grow? Thankfully this year you left my tulips alone, but you decided to attack something new - my parsley. NO!! I want to be the one enjoying my botanical endeavours, not you! And leave my lettuce alone!! And if you even THINK of eating any of my other vegetables, oh boy. You'll wish you never found my property! Another problem I have with you is the holes you keep digging under the garage walls. Can't you see it's already suffering more than enough structural impairment? I hope you have a good insurance policy, because if YOU make it collapse, I'm coming after you with the biggest lawsuit you can imagine!
Pitcher Perfect
Who knew that a park requires THAT much work? It seems that every single day of the week, various City of St. Catharines workers are parked across the street, working on some various aspect of the park and baseball diamond we enjoy. Whether it be cutting the grass, raking the diamond, weeding the field, leveling the gravel, painting lines, trimming trees, cleaning playground equipment, emptying garbage cans, or whatever else, it seems they rarely miss a day. However, I have to wonder if they are perhaps just a LITTLE bit inefficient? Does it REALLY take that long to rake a section of gravel the size of my kitchen? Does it REALLY take that long to make sure that your line is straight? Does it REALLY take that long to ponder the layout of the baseball diamond? Why don't you polish the chain link backstop while you're there? I think that's the one thing you haven't done yet. Then we could be the spanking-est baseball diamond in town! Imagine what that would do for property values.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Weekend at Opa and Oma's
Looks kind of like a deer caught in the headlights?
Opa and Oma offered to come and babysit the Friday evening just before Mike's birthday. We laughed in the morning when he woke up with this lovely hairdo - apparently, they do not know where Peter's hairbrush is for after his evening bath.... haha. 
Simon, Jodi, and Joash came for dinner last week and we had a lovely time together.
He got a hold of a spoon of carrots en route to his mouth, and it was all downhill from there...
Going for a Rubbermaid swim
Yup, Opa's over there with the lawn mower
Sweet sweet potato mess
Opa and Oma having fun with his hair again
Opa and Oma offered to come and babysit the Friday evening just before Mike's birthday. We laughed in the morning when he woke up with this lovely hairdo - apparently, they do not know where Peter's hairbrush is for after his evening bath.... haha. 
Simon, Jodi, and Joash came for dinner last week and we had a lovely time together.
He got a hold of a spoon of carrots en route to his mouth, and it was all downhill from there...
Going for a Rubbermaid swim
Yup, Opa's over there with the lawn mower
Sweet sweet potato mess
Opa and Oma having fun with his hair again
Friday, June 06, 2008
Absconsion...if that is even a word...
Plotting, plotting.... all day yesterday, Kitty was very quiet. She didn't want to be sociable and kept running away to hide under the table, behind the couch, or downstairs. Little did I know, she was hatching her escape plan and needed the solitude to correctly plan out her route. Back and forth to check out measurements and time out her moves, she quietly formulated her plans. Finally, when we left for a BBQ in the evening, she knew the time had come...
There are definite indications that Kitty regretted her move halfway through her escape, since it seems to have cost her quite a bit of fur. I hope her evening out on the town was worth the uncomfortable and most likely somewhat distressful getaway.
My Dad came this morning to pick me up, and I was just about to show him "something sad".... the evidence of where she had absconded. What formerly was a hand-size hole in the screen from a previous break-in attempt, had now become a Kitty-size hole in the screen from a very recent break-out success. As we were inspecting the door, though, all of a sudden we heard a "meow" and Kitty came running up to the door out of the bushes, perhaps a little bit sheepish . Apparently, she had seen what she needed to see in the wild outdoors, and it had lost its allure, at least for now. After all, it is much nicer to have breakfast served to you in a silver bowl every morning. Welcome home, Kitty.
There are definite indications that Kitty regretted her move halfway through her escape, since it seems to have cost her quite a bit of fur. I hope her evening out on the town was worth the uncomfortable and most likely somewhat distressful getaway.
My Dad came this morning to pick me up, and I was just about to show him "something sad".... the evidence of where she had absconded. What formerly was a hand-size hole in the screen from a previous break-in attempt, had now become a Kitty-size hole in the screen from a very recent break-out success. As we were inspecting the door, though, all of a sudden we heard a "meow" and Kitty came running up to the door out of the bushes, perhaps a little bit sheepish . Apparently, she had seen what she needed to see in the wild outdoors, and it had lost its allure, at least for now. After all, it is much nicer to have breakfast served to you in a silver bowl every morning. Welcome home, Kitty.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Happy Anniversary to Us
Three years ago today, I married the love of my life. Happy anniversary honey! May we be blessed with many more years of joy and laughter together.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Happy Quarter Century Michael!
Happy (belated by one day) 25th birthday to my dear husband! May God continue to bless you in the coming year, and may He grant you many more!
We're back home again after a trip to Strathroy to visit with Mike's family... and of course we have some pictures to share. Things are going well with us - Mike is down to his last three weeks of school and we are wondering where the year went! Didn't school just start?? It's a busy time, with lots of marking to do to prepare for that last report card, as well as extra activities and school trips to plan. Also a few extras to enjoy in the next few weeks - golfing for Mike, the Caledonia garage sale for me, a wedding, and all the other little outings that I can't think of right now. Oh, and of course I get to go visit Shirley and her new little one - congratulations to her and Jeff! They had a little boy this morning, Alexander Jeffrey Martin. I can't wait to meet him! And hopefully at the same time I can visit Heather and Alan and their new little girl Emma Grace.
Here at home things are just fine...I'm trying my hand at gardening and hoping at the end of the summer we'll have some home-grown vegetables to enjoy. If they survive the groundhogs, my amateur gardening techniques, and the perils of being over- or under-watered as they are apt to be subjected to, they will probably end up ripening when we are on vacation...
Peter is growing like a weed. He just had his 6 month check-up and shots. He's a hefty 18 lbs 12 oz, and 27 3/4 inches long....soon he'll be out of his current car seat and we'll have to find him one until he's a year, when he can go front-facing in the car seat we received from the church ladies at a shower. I'm having fun introducing him to new foods - still avoiding rice because of his earlier reaction, but everything else has gone fantastic so far. I've been really careful about controlling what he gets, and he hasn't had any other reactions thankfully. While he is definitely not a fan of everything I've given him, for the most part, he gobbles everything up! Carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, prunes, applesauce, bananas, cantaloupe, oatmeal cereal and barley cereal are all good with him (he just loves to eat!). However he HATES peas (just from a jar so far), and he really doesn't like the carrots that I cooked and pureed for him... which makes me think he probably won't like the peas I made myself either. Peter, you're going to have to LEARN to like them, because they're good for you. Mom will win this war!
And now for the pictures:
Robert is sort-of-okay with sharing his car with his cousinWe're back home again after a trip to Strathroy to visit with Mike's family... and of course we have some pictures to share. Things are going well with us - Mike is down to his last three weeks of school and we are wondering where the year went! Didn't school just start?? It's a busy time, with lots of marking to do to prepare for that last report card, as well as extra activities and school trips to plan. Also a few extras to enjoy in the next few weeks - golfing for Mike, the Caledonia garage sale for me, a wedding, and all the other little outings that I can't think of right now. Oh, and of course I get to go visit Shirley and her new little one - congratulations to her and Jeff! They had a little boy this morning, Alexander Jeffrey Martin. I can't wait to meet him! And hopefully at the same time I can visit Heather and Alan and their new little girl Emma Grace.
Here at home things are just fine...I'm trying my hand at gardening and hoping at the end of the summer we'll have some home-grown vegetables to enjoy. If they survive the groundhogs, my amateur gardening techniques, and the perils of being over- or under-watered as they are apt to be subjected to, they will probably end up ripening when we are on vacation...
Peter is growing like a weed. He just had his 6 month check-up and shots. He's a hefty 18 lbs 12 oz, and 27 3/4 inches long....soon he'll be out of his current car seat and we'll have to find him one until he's a year, when he can go front-facing in the car seat we received from the church ladies at a shower. I'm having fun introducing him to new foods - still avoiding rice because of his earlier reaction, but everything else has gone fantastic so far. I've been really careful about controlling what he gets, and he hasn't had any other reactions thankfully. While he is definitely not a fan of everything I've given him, for the most part, he gobbles everything up! Carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, prunes, applesauce, bananas, cantaloupe, oatmeal cereal and barley cereal are all good with him (he just loves to eat!). However he HATES peas (just from a jar so far), and he really doesn't like the carrots that I cooked and pureed for him... which makes me think he probably won't like the peas I made myself either. Peter, you're going to have to LEARN to like them, because they're good for you. Mom will win this war!
And now for the pictures:
Tickle-Me-Elmo is a big hit with the boys!
Peter seemed to catch on pretty quickly to the driving thing -sorry, but you're going to have to wait another 15 1/2 years to get a real license!!
Hey! Two hands on the wheel!
Well, at least ONE hand on the wheel was better than THIS style of driving!
Peter wants to project the image of being "cool" but I'm going to have to break it to him -Soothie just doesn't match the sunglasses
Come back here with that Elmo!! The two boys with their Great Grandpa
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