The Old and the Restless

Under the deck was a lot of bricks. Formerly there was a kitchen window instead of the sliding doors but in 1991 we had the window enlarged to make an exit from the kitchen. This was preferable to going through the family room to use the barbeque. The people who took out the bricks for the door left them under the deck they built. Under the bricks and boards were the animal tunnels. Early in the morning digging out the soil for the foundation of the patio. They began work just after 7:00 AM. The grape vines had a lot of roots under the deck. I had them take out one grape vine. Paul was not sure if this was a good idea. This is the drainage that had been put in 35 years ago to drain the backyard. It drained towards the house and was connected to the eavestrough. This window well is right under the kitchen patio sliding door. It had been covered by the deck and had a trap door in case we needed to access the window well. A lot of soil had washed into it. This is where we found the deco...

The patio story is to be continued soon. Yesterday and today I was babysitting in Barrie. Both Joshua and Ella had pink eye, Ella was getting over a fever, and Joshua was developing one. Margot was doing a presentation at the business course that she is taking. Clowning around in the basement yesterday morning. By the afternoon Joshua had a fever. After the Advil took effect, we both had a sleep on the couches in the family room. Today, after a busy morning, Ella was so tired that she could not even eat her lunch... and she loves her food! As you can see, her left eye (right facing) is still infected. Joshua, on the other hand, enjoyed his lunch. Perhaps it was because I gave him his Advil earlier. They both slept well in the afternoon; but then, they were awake a lot last night. Margot's presentation went very well. She was the only one with a handout and "it's like performing."

Because of some rotting boards, our old deck, constructed in the Spring of 1992, was nearing the end of its life. In addition, after our dog Misha died in 2004, wildlife gradually started taking up residence under it despite our best efforts to keep them out. During our year and a half absence from the house after late 2007, it seemed as if a "wild life tenement" developed! When we moved back into our house in the early Spring, a giant groundhog, a skunk and raccoons all had taken up residence (a dead raccoon was "waiting" for our return rotting in the window well under the deck when we moved back into our house while a somewhat sleepy large one waited for the construction crew to begin taking apart the old deck this week before making its exit!) Watching the skunk emerge for a "stroll" just before dark, did not add to our dinner time enjoyment - or to our peace of mind when putting garbage out into the bins in the side alley in the dark. This is the sout...

I think Joshua might prefer the statue of the dragon. I added the sound. The dragon doesn't make a roar. This was from our trip to Bali and Komodo in March 2008.

For Paul's birthday we had a family dinner. As I was preparing to set the table, I realized that nearly all of my tablecloths and napkins were missing.  During the evening I neglected taking photos of Paul and the lovely cake Margot had made as well as photos of Megan, Michael, Jane and Daryl. Below are the other attendees at the celebration. Joshua and Ella examining the toys. Fisher-Price toys are different now so these old toys seemed new and different Joshua liked opening and shutting the door to the dining room. Mark enjoying a beer. In the meantime, I was enjoying some delicious wine and thickening the gravy with salt! Sleepy Ella. Time to go home. On the Monday I talked to the contractor who said he had no boxes remaining of ours. I then phoned the furniture refinisher. Later in the week I had a call that they had found a box with my name on it. The tablecloths and napkins had not been emptied from the buffet when it was sent to be refinished. A year and a half later, the re...

The flood occurred around December 19 2007. The backsplash between the refrigerator and oven was finished today. With persuasion from Paul and the decorator, I got a full size oven this time. I'm still not sure if I needed a larger one. It takes longer to heat up and the space between the oven and refrigerator is smaller.  The wall above the desk is awaiting some smoothing before we hang the bulletin board.  Here are some photos I took earlier of the kitchen.. The coffee maker is hiding the dangling receptacle. That was fixed yesterday. The blue teapot is a gift from Judith. The flowers were from Bryn, Hervé, Brandon and Alicia for Mother's Day. As Carole says, we've gone quite modern with the kitchen table, chairs and light. The painting is from Bali, the place mats from Wal-Mart. The plant on the table is from Margot, Mark, Joshua and Ella for Mother's Day.

For the David and Mary Thomson high school reunion on the weekend of May 2nd., our friend, Judith Cowan, came to stay with us. I first met her in Grade 8. We went to West Hill Collegiate for Grade 9, as did Paul.  The year Thomson opened, Judith and Paul went there for Grade 12.  Judith is an author and has had two books  of short stories published. She is now working on a novel. In addition she has won the Governor General's award for poetry translation. Judith brought her new Nikon SLR camera with her. While she talked to Paul in the living room, I practised taking photos with it so that we could find one she could use as an "official photograph" for Culture Mauricie in Trois-Rivières. I think this is the one she chose. Judith and Paul knew Anne Lazenby from high school. I knew her from Sunday School. I remember her saying then, that she wanted to be a doctor. I think I said that it would be too hard to do. Anne became a doctor, found that people liked to talk to her, a...