Wednesday, August 19th - OMG look what I found!

 Earlier in the week I neglected to mention that Nancy and Marla had come into town to have lunch at a little cafe just up the street a week ago. I met Liz there on Monday as well. It has a little outdoor patio that is sheltered by trees and tables spaced apart. On Monday it started to sprinkle rain just as we finished our lunches so we drove back to my place for tea. Liz walked in, took one look around and declared "Oh my gosh, this place is SO you!". And she's right. That's the reaction I'm getting from everyone who has known me for a number of years.

When I was on PEI I took a couple of basic quilting classes. They taught you how to construct the top of the quilt. The majority of people I met in the quilting world there had someone else do the actual quilting for them, although I know some still do it by themselves. But it's a very time consuming and space taking venture.

One of the ladies who works at the store I'm volunteering at, is my age. We got together one afternoon last week for a glass of wine and a chance to get to know each other better. On Monday she called and invited me to visit her on Tuesday when I was done work, as she was putting together her latest quilt. I had no idea what I was going to be seeing. I arrived with a basket of fresh baked biscuits and some home made jam cause I learned over the last 11 years that this is an appropriate thing to do! When I arrived at Carlee's house, I was introduced to her sister and two of her aunts. The quilt in question had just been attached to a large wooden frame that took up the entire dining area. The quilt top, batting and backing were all thumbtacked to the frame. Now it's ready to be worked on. I've never actually seen this done in person, much less taken part. But I watched for a little while and was asked if I wanted to join in. I politely declined but said I would come back. So Monday when both of us are off, I'm heading back out to her place to give it a go. I felt like I was stepping back in time when I entered that kitchen, which just happens to be in a old farm house. So I think I may have found my new place to hang out. 

Monday, August 17th - Well, it's certainly not been boring...

 I've been managing to keep myself busy during this very warm and humid summer.

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Judi at her cottage in the Kawarthas. We spent lots of time just sitting around the cottage and catching up. We had a nice time but it was cut shorter than planned due to a meeting on Monday. This brought be back a day earlier than expected.

I'm learning that living in the city can have some unexpected events take place. Early last week I went over to Walmart to pick up the vitamins I take for my eyes. I had just found what I needed but as I headed to the cash the fire alarms went off and we were instructed to leave the store immediately. I decided to wait it out and after about 20 minutes it was determined to be a false alarm so we were let back into the store. Fortunately there's a liquor store on the same parking lot so it gave an unexpected opportunity to do some shopping of another kind!

Last Friday I was talking to Sarah at the house when I returned after work. She asked if I'd heard what was going on. Unknown to us in the store there were 3 incidents in the city in less than 3 hours that morning. The biggest was the explosion of a car outside the courthouse in the downtown (which is actually not very far from my house). The driver of the car was killed and it was determined that there

was an explosive device inside the vehicle. It's also been determined that he acted alone. Very sad. Then there was a report of an elderly woman who had hit a pole with her car in Waterloo and she also died. Even more sad. Then at the same time a cab drive was allegedly threatened by a passenger with a gun, who left the area and was the subject of a police search. Friday morning was quite busy.

Saturday morning I went to the market and then walked on to the library. I had to pass the courthouse to get there but by Saturday morning all traces had been removed. I love that the library is so close so I can pick up a couple of books a week.

I missed our Thursday evening supper as one of the ladies at work came over to my place for a glass of wine and some snacks. Also a great opportunity to get to know each other better.

It was a rainy day on Sunday so I used the day to visit with Fran in Rockwood. I hadn't seen her since Boxing Day. On my way out of town I dropped in to see what Nancy was up to. She was busy with a sewing project so I only stayed for a few minutes. She suggested I stop in to see Marla. She was busy watching the Jays play so I had a short visit there as well. But it was so nice to have people I could actually just drop in on. Then today, Monday, I had lunch with an old friend I haven't seen in a very long time - Liz. They now live in New Hamburg and have 4 grandchildren. Needless to say we had lots to catch up on.

Tomorrow I'm going to my co-workers house to see a quilt that she's putting together. She has some other ladies coming over and she thought I might enjoy meeting them. So lots to keep me busy.

Friday, August 7th - summer is flying by!

 It's been a busy few weeks. Most days are pretty humdrum but a few things took place in the past while to break things up.

I turned another year older on the 30th and had the pleasure of supper out with my friend Kay on the 29th and then a wonderful BBQ at Robin's with another group of friends. It wasn't in my honour, it was because his daughter and grandchildren were visiting from out west so it was just a happy coincidence. But it was very special to be surrounded by good friends on my special day, even though I wasn't there to share it with Ethan! I'm sure he's happy to get his birthday back all to himself. But I will always think of him on the 30th of July.

The same week I got older, I also traded in my car. I found a 2015 Toyota Prius.(same year as my old car) 

 It has less miles on it than mine did, it's automatic and a hybrid with a few more bells and whistles. It has air (not that I care about that), cruise control (essential when driving out to PEI) and a back up camera. I had to spend a little bit of money on it but I absolutely love it. I find I'm sitting much higher than the old car and the insurance is actually cheaper, as it seems to be rated as a safer vehicle, and the gas mileage so far has been amazing. So it's a win/win all around.

Last weekend we loaded it up (it's also a hatchback, which I love) and headed out to Sauble Falls Provincial Park to camp for the weekend. There were six of us - Patti, Greg, Tristen, Meg and her friend, and me. We had a great night on Friday with warm weather and a bonfire. Saturday was

very warm and another bonfire at night. The sky in the evening was brilliant red so we assumed we were in for a great day on Sunday. You know what they say about assume.... sometime in  the  middle of the night it started raining and just never stopped.All tents leaked, some more than others, and we were soaked. Fortunately for us Greg's mom and  dad live about 20 minutes away. So a group of rather soggy campers showed up on their doorstep at 8:00 Sunday morning. We were kindly taken in and given hot coffee and breakfast. Mid morning Patti. Greg and I went back and  dismantled everything.Meg and her friend had gone back to Guelph on Sunday as she had to work on Monday. Even if it had stopped raining (which it didn't) there was no way to dry everything out. We packed all the wet stuff into the back of Greg's truck and finished off the weekend at Lynn and Paul's. After lunch on Monday with Greg's parents and his brother's family, we all headed back home. 

Once back in Guelph we unpacked everything and sorted out who owned what. Because my landlords were painting the stairs up to my apartment, I stayed overnight at the Dennison's. John and Sarah had figured there would be enough time to finish the painting but the damp weather made it difficult. But the wait was worth it. They look absolutely beautiful. 

Back to town on Tuesday morning and back to my usual routine. I worked Tuesday till today. Last night I joined our group in Elora for supper on an outdoor patio and I'm meeting another friend this afternoon in Guelph for a late lunch.  Then tomorrow I'm off the spend the weekend at my friend Judi's cottage in the Kawartha's. Of course the weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend. But I should have known. Brenda had texted that if I was going camping, guaranteed it would rain. I sent her a message on Sunday saying "Okay, you win|"

July 19 - moving on

When you move from one province to another it's a bit of a logistical nightmare, especially during a pandemic.  License plates are obtained at one location, after standing outside in a line for 45 minutes. Then it's on to the license itself, which is another really long line up as they only do January to June birthdays one week, then July to December birthdays the next. So once you've determined which week you can actually go, you end up in a line that takes 1 1/2 hours to get to the front of. With any luck at all, you have all the documentation you need to proceed. Luckily I did. Then there is a health card. Two trips there to have all I needed to become a citizen once again in the province of my birth.

Great, so now that I have everything sorted, I can get on with life. First stop is the eye doctor. I was meant to be having cataract surgery sometime early this summer on PEI but that's not happening. So I have to start all over again. With a new health card number I was able to get an appointment with the eye dr that  Patti and her family use.  After a very thorough examination, yes, I still need cataract surgery. She said it would be September or October. But I'm not sure if that's for the appointment with the surgeon or actual surgery. It's the same as PEI - you don't call them to make an appointment, they call you so no idea how long it's going to take but the good news my eyes had changed very little since a year ago, so that was encouraging news.




The house I'm living in had been empty for several years. The front porch is in bad need of being replaced. That is in the plans but his whole pandemic thing has changed lots of peoples plans. So it's not likely to happen this year. The panels on the porch were quite distressed looking. I know in some areas of decorating the distressed look is trendy but not so in this case.







Patti had re-painted her deck a few weeks ago and had some paint left over so I took it upon myself to paint the front porch. I couldn't comfortably reach the top parts without standing on a ladder and thought better of that being home by myself. The roof is still in quite a state of disrepair but the overall affect from the street is a huge improvement. I'm really happy with the final results.

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I spend a lot of time sitting out on my front porch. I usually take my coffee down stairs in the morning and drink it outside. Then when I get home from work in the afternoon I sometimes sit out there but more often than not I sit under the trees in the back yard when it's really hot. Then when it's cooler in the evening it's back to the front. I'm loving that aspect of things here.





Saturday my long time friend Nancy came in to Kitchener to visit. She loved my new place, but then like me, she likes all that old stuff.   After catching up a bit, we walked up the street to a local bakery that has a lovely patio with trees sheltering it. Besides awesome dessert items they also do sandwiches and salads, made to order. We placed our order then found a table outside. I'd been there for coffee and a muffin before but not lunch. We were not disappointed. Everything was very fresh and really tasty. And being within walking distance is just a bonus. We will definitely go back there again.








After she left, I made a gluten free dessert to take to Patti's. Seems the first corn of the season is

available at some little farm stands in the area. Greg had brought home a dozen ears and I was invited out for supper. Besides delicious corn we enjoyed beef and veggie kabobs on the BBQ. Delicious!






Today we are under a possible tornado threat. A huge thunderstorm rattled through here about an hour ago but it didn't last long. It's moved to the Guelph area where it's still raining. Hopefully not too much damage has been done.

Thought for the day:

Monday, July13th - time to get to work...

After things started to open up here in Ontario, I was looking for something to do, besides sit around and watch TV all day. This pandemic has forced us to ask one vital question: when this is over, which meeting do I attend first? AA or Weight Watchers?   I found myself at the newly opened again Thrift Store near my house. Their website indicated they were looking for volunteers.  After filling out the application and having a bit of an interview they determined that yes, I was suited to the job. My first two days I was processing clothes - inspecting them for any damage or marks, then putting them on hangers to be sent to be priced. My third day I was trained on cash and that's where I remained till I took three weeks off to go back to PEI. After I got returned I went in to tell them I was ready to be put back onto the schedule. I was asked "Can you work right now?" Sure, I really had nothing pressing going on. I'd spent a week mostly unpacking.  Then when I came in the next week, I was asked if I know Word. I said yes, I did. Since then I've been working in the office. It's been a series of volunteers coming in and doing work so it's a little disjointed. I set to work organizing things and by the end of the day things were in pretty good shape. In fact the boss asked if I was trying to give him a heart attack?  He said they have never been this organized. So now I'm working Tuesday to Friday from 10 till 2. It gives my day some structure and keeps my brain from turning to mush. At the same time it's volunteer so if I need time off to travel or whatever, I can do that too.

The little old lady heading to the market

Now my week has some form to it. So I'm finding my weekends much more productive. When you're
sitting around all day every day, you can find so many reasons to put things off. Now I have to manage my time more carefully.



Saturday morning I was off to the market, which has just recently partially opened. I headed out for the second Saturday in a row for the two minute walk down the street. It's wonderful.  I had my basket that I made and it was absolutely perfect for carrying my purchases.



At noon I picked up Patti in Guelph and we headed to Fergus to visit our friend Helen, who is turning 80 this week, but you would never know it. We practiced social distancing and she provided us each with a lovely tray of food to take to our chairs, that were placed 6 feet apart. It was ever so nice to catch up with an old long time friend.

That's a lot of food, fortunately there were doggy bags to take home

We spent the better part of the afternoon chatting before I dropped Patti back at her place. We'd received some much needed rain during the day so what better way to spend it.

Sunday I was up early and got to work unpacking more boxes. I had put a lot of them upstairs and when I found myself needing something I'd go up and find the box. Several boxes had made their way to the living room so some rearranging and moving things around was necessary to find space for stuff. My walls in smy living room are filled with pictures but I smile when I enter the room. All the things on the wall have special meaning and I feel like I'm surrounded with things that I love and it brings such joy to my life.

After some lunch, I headed outside. The front porch on the house really needs to be completely taken off and replaced. but that's not likely to happen this year. So Patti had given me some solid stain that she had left from repainting her deck and I set about sanding and painting the railings and sides of the porch. I got the panels all done but now I just have to scrape and sand down the posts. It's not a permanent fix but at least it spruces it up a bit. Fortunately our weather had cooled off very nicely so it was the perfect day to work outside. My landlords have a lot on their plates right now so I'm hoping to be a bit helpful.

Today is Monday so I'd best get showered and dressed. I've gotten my health card and now I am off to obtain a drivers licence and plates for my car. No more trips to PEI for me this summer! This requires standing in line at two different locations so that should take most of my day.








Patti sent me this photo of Meghan in her prom dress. She and her friend went over to the University Arboretum to take some pictures. With any luck they may be able to do something in the fall.









Looks like it's going to be another hot and sticky week.

A new beginning

Kitchener Kronicles

Thursday, July 9, 2020

A new beginning

Once again I find myself on a new path - one I never expected to be on at the age of (almost) 68 years old.

After 31 years of marriage I am once again a single woman. But I am a strong single woman who is ready to move on to the next phase of what has always been a bit of a roller coaster of a life.

I am extremely fortunate to have some very strong support behind me, both family and friends. Patti and Greg and the kids, John and Sarah (John is a nephew from a previous marriage) and multiple long time friends both here in Ontario and also some very special people on PEI. I'm going to be JUST FINE!

After coming here in March, for what was supposed to be two week, before the whole world blew up with Covid 19, I ended up staying until our house on PEI was sold in June. During my initial time here, I was able to find a place to live and furniture to live with. As I said, I was only planning to be here for two weeks so lots of unexpected things had to happen. During the early stages of the pandemic I was able to find great furniture pieces online. It was a pretty easy process - e transfer the money to the seller, and then swing by and pick up the item from their front porch or driveway. No muss, no fuss. (although I was chastised a bit about not being very good at staying home!) But that was rightly so.

In the end I have managed to furnish my little space to my liking and I'm very happy with it. It's a one bedroom apartment on the second floor of an old house very close to downtown Kitchener. As I've always had a fondness for all things old and antique, it suits me perfectly. The bonus is the attic space, which right now is packed with boxes but it is the perfect space for crafting. Not getting used so much at the moment but will be a perfect retreat on cold winter days. I can also use it as an extra sleeping space. I have a day bed up there and when guests visit from out of town (and I sincerely hope they will) then they can have the bedroom while I use the upstairs quarters. A win/win all around!

I don't know the city of Kitchener at all so I've been slowing learning my way around. This was made easier during the pandemic due to the lack of traffic. But now that things are slowly starting to open up a bit more there are new challenges to finding my way around but my GPS had been invaluable. 

I've still not put everything away that I brought with me from PEI. Most things are in the correct rooms but there's still a lot of fine tuning to do. But that can wait for cooler weather. Did I mention how hot it is here? Since my return the temperatures have been in the low 30's with the humidex readings into the high 30's and sometimes into the low 40's. I'm having to quickly adjust. I did grow up with this weather so it's not totally foreign to me but it is pretty warm. I'm fortunate that my apartment has a ceiling fan in the living room and kitchen that work wonders to keep the air moving. I brought a couple of portable fans with me and one of those in the bedroom goes a long way to keeping things relatively comfortable. I do admit, I'm missing those trips to the beach on the hot days.

Since school ended, Meghan has been working at a long term care facility. They are lucky to have not had any cases of covid. She seems to be really enjoying it and was actually offered a full time position recently in the kitchen. That's my girl! She's still trying to figure out what she wants to do in the future so I'm sure this real life experience will help keep her motivated to explore her options. It's been a tough time for her and her friends having to miss out on their high school graduation, prom and for her, the final dance recital of her dance career. But they are making do. They had a drive by graduation ceremony, and Meg and one of her friends got all dressed up in their prom dresses and took pictures at the Arboretum at the University. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It will surely be a memorable time for them in the future.

One of the things I don't have here is any type of outdoor storage space. So upon my return from PEI

I decided to purchase a kit to put together a shed to store things like my bicycle, camping gear, etc. After choosing my shed Patti went with me with Greg's truck to pick it up at Home Depot. We dropped the giant box in my driveway planning to put it together at a later date. That evening (Saturday) I was at the grocery store when Patti texted that apparently we were having a shed building party on Sunday. I just smiled as it made me so happy to know that I have people around me who are ready and willing to lend a hand. So on Sunday there was Patti, Greg and Tristen as well as John and Sarah. As expected John and Greg did a lot of the heavy work and I was very grateful for their assistance. The box said 2 people could put it together in 3 hours and Patti and I thought we might be able to do it, but there's no way. But it's done and it looks great. Patti brought food for our supper - lobster rolls. I made a
caesar salad to go with it as I didn't have any cabbage to make coleslaw. But it was like a little taste of heavy for me - filled with special memories of so many lobster rolls enjoyed with the VanGaals over the years.

All in all it's been a whirlwind of activity since I returned and now I feel like I'm getting on with my life!

Everyday I get inspirational messages on facebook that help me accept what has happened and motivate me to move forward. I'll share some of them from time to time.

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A new beginning