The Big Picture

 

It's. not this big, but it feels this big!

Monday was a sunny and bright but comfortable day. I spent the early morning enjoying a long soak in the spa and then doing chores around the house before going to the Windecker trail to walk with our friends. There’s still no need for me to water, thanks to the soaking of heavy rain on Saturday night, so I had the day to enjoy without two hours of watering.

All my plums are eaten and now, the apples on my trees are slowly disappearing. It’s such a wonderful thing to be able to go outside into my own yard to pick fresh fruit to eat, and the fruit I grow is so wonderfully delicious.

When we got home from the walk, my new TV was on the front porch, so in I came, all excited, to get it hooked up. Of course, it was techno Hell at Pinecone Park for two hours. Everything went easily and well, except I could not figure out how to access my cable channels, plus I could not install the Kanopy app on this new smart TV. After three hours of fiddling, and three calls to the help like of the manufacturer, everything is working.

Sadly, I still have a plethora of remotes, but I can live with that because it is so much quicker to access things, and I love the huge new screen (55”). I could hardly wait to watch a movie later in the evening, once I was done. But man-oh-man did the whole experience drain me. I felt like a truck had run over me by the time I sat down to get ready for my Zoom with Presentation House.

Once everything was put away, I put an ad on our community Facebook page to give the old TV away, and then I got ready to talk to Aidan and Keltie from Presentation House. It’s the 50^th anniversary of the theatre I built there, and they are making plans for some sort of celebration.

Talking with the Presentation House people was not what I expected. They really wanted ideas about how to earn income and increase donations. We had a good talk, but I am too long, too far removed from the career I once had to be of any relevant help. So, after an hour of talking, I signed off and took Her Highness for our afternoon forest walk.

And then we came home and I prepped and served everyone their meals. And then I turned on the tv! What a total blast it was to watch a movie in such a grand size. I had a great night with my new toy, and then I fell into bed exhausted from a day in which I did little but had a lot of stress over getting the television working.

Today is sunny and bright. Sheba goes to the groomer nice and early, and I will have the rest of the day to read and putter. There is no need to water the beds yet, they are still wet from Saturday night’s downpour.

Slow Daze

Sunday was the best My Day that I’ve had in a long time. I had no responsibilities, no commitments, and the weather was such that I was not seduced into doing yard work. Her Highness and I had two forest walks together, and during both walks I couldn’t imagine feeling any better than I did with the gentle cool breeze on my face and the fragrances of the forest infusing my brain with memories of times past. I am so glad that I moved here!

I have a quiet, slow week ahead of me. I have few demands on my time this week, and on Thursday, my new television might arrive. I’m excited about having a new smart TV. I’ll be retiring several remotes and my Apple TV device that enables my current TV to access streaming services.

The quiet will last until Sept. 2^nd, when I must go to Nanaimo to an appointment at the hospital Pacemaker Clinic. I expect to find out what will be happening with my device. The kind of pacemaker I have has been recalled. But until then, I’ll be primarily reading, walking Her Highness, and watering my garden beds.

And so here I go: another week begins, and it is predicted to be sunny every day for the foreseeable future, and afternoon temperatures are likely to be in the low twenties.

STORM!

I loved entertaining my new friends, Bonnie and Sue, but boy am I glad that all that work is over and I have the weekend to myself. I plan to enjoy two lovely slow days this weekend. Watering will be a pleasure given that it is all I must do. There’s no more cooking or baking to do. Hurrah!

Saturday dawned bright and warm. I was out and in the spa after I did all the dishes from Friday night and put them away. I shall eat the last two plums on my tree and perhaps I shall try one of the other varieties of apples today. The Macintosh apples are to die for delicious, but I’m curious about the three other varieties of apples I have.

I watered until I got a call from David (U.K.) and we had a lovely talk, including our first chat about him possibly coming to visit next Summer. When we were done, I finished all the watering and then fed the brood their lunch and I had delicious leftovers. Then I went over to Pete and Ali’s place to water their beds.

And I was done! I had the rest of the day to idle away as I chose. I was tired but when I tried to nap, I found that I didn’t want to sleep. I just wanted to not move. After my rest, off we went to walk the Elder Cedar trail. Her Highness never balks at walking that trail. We both thoroughly enjoyed the quiet. We were the only guests in the grove.

Back home, I read, she rested, and soon it was dinner time. Just another night like every other one; only the menu and the movie changes. Then, to bed early, as thunder and lightning returned for the second time this Summer.

I was awakened in the night by loud thunder and my bedroom flashed bright white from to the lightning. Some of the thunder was incredibly loud, but Sheba was unconcerned. And then I heard it: pounding rain meant I would not have to water today. What a thrill!

This morning, I went out and found that one rain barrel that was half full yesterday, was overflowing. We got a lot of rain last night, and I left my laundry outside. But what a great break for our forest and all my garden beds! I shall be reading and doing SPACE work today!

A Very Successful Evening!

I’d done the majority of my salad prep by 6:00 yesterday, and with that done, I enjoy my day knowing that I was going to be able to serve a dinner that I was proud of and that I would not be under any pressure. All the heavy lifting was done on Thursday.

At 7:30 I enjoyed a nice warm soak under bright clear sky. Then I did some tidying up of the kitchen before going to meet my friends to walk out dogs on a very beautiful morning. I think appreciation of this weather is high because I know it soon will be coming to an end. I shall miss the endless sunshine, but not all the watering that I must do every day.

Back from the walk, we all had lunch, and then I made salad dressing and toasted baguette slices (the pea pesto is served on it). And then I prepped everything for the prawn/dill dish that I’ll make when the gals are here. Then I went outside to do an hour and a half of toting the forest fall that I raked up earlier in the week. 

I quit the tiring yard work at 14:00. My back was sore from the raking and toting, and I was overheating. It was 26° and I wanted to have lots of time for vacuuming and dressing the table. Plus, I wanted a cool shower, and then, feeling mighty great, Her Highness and I had a lovely afternoon walk as big, beautiful, billowing cumulus clouds rolled in. 

I’d cleaned up the deck so that we could have drinks outside before dinner, but it’s just too hot (28° at 16:00) to want to do that. I’m going to ask the gals to spend our evening together in the coolness of the house. The more comfortable I am, the better I cans speak. I finally stopped moving at 16:30, half an hour prior to the expected arrival of the gals. I felt everything was in order and that I could relax for a while. 

They arrived on time and we had a great evening together. It felt like we were old friends; our compatibility is palpable to each of us. We had a great evening and now I wait to see if first, their home in Kelowna sells, and second if they can find a home here that they like.

This morning: dishes. I was busy cleaning up and putting things away bright and early. All I have on my plate for today is watering here and at Pete and Ali’s place. I’ll have a hose in my hand for about 2.5 hours today, but that is my only duty. The rest of the day will be spent walking with Her Highness and reading. I am seriously looking forward to relaxing a lot today after two days of being very, very busy.