Tuesday, February 27th - welcome back!

It's been a couple of weeks since I was here. Busy, busy times.
Tristen arrived for his visit a week ago Thursday. His first solo  flight, arriving in the wee hours of the morning on Friday. After a quick stop at the all night grocery store for milk, and a quick visit to Lloyd at work, we were on our way home.

Friday morning was quiet. I had to work for a bit so he could sleep in. Then in the afternoon the three of us were off to the Race Track for supper to celebrate a delayed happy birthday for Lloyd. I didn't realize there were no races on at this time so it was just dinner. But still a nice time had by all.

Saturday was our movie day. We headed into town and had lunch at Dairy Queen before seeing two movies - Peter Rabbit and Early Man. We enjoyed them both but agreed we liked Peter Rabbit best.

Sunday was our day to visit Island Hill Farm. They weren't open but we were allowed to visit anyway. I don't have any photos from there but I know Tristen has some.

Monday, Islander Day, was a lovely mild day with lots of sunshine but we were pleased to find out that there was enough snow on the cross country trails at the local ski park to facilitate a trip out. We picked Brenda up on our way and were on our way.  We had a lovely time in spite of all of us falling at least once. Most of the trail was good but some areas were a bit icy. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our outing.

Tristen's departure was delayed a bit with him leaving on Wednesday. As a result we had to find something to do on Tuesday. We went into town hoping to go bowling, but the Alley was filled with many seniors. Just our luck. Instead we went and did a bit of shopping and in the end Tristen found a new toy he didn't have but did have the money to purchase. Lucky us!

He was scheduled to leave on the early flight on Wednesday but weather seems to have caused some delays so it was lunch time before he got on his way.  I think his first flight was a success.

The rest of the week was fairly quiet, once he was gone. On Saturday Lloyd and I went over to Mount Stewart to participate in a snowshoe event. Unfortunately there wasn't enough snow so it was a hike instead but a lovely time just the same. Then on Sunday we joined some neighbours for brunch at Red Shores to celebrate a 60th birthday of one of them. All in all it was a busy but great week.

Lloyd is busy finalizing his plans for his trip which will be coming up before we know it. Yesterday we were talking about travel and we realized we have a week of our time share we need to use before the end of April. Unfortunately  on such short notice not a lot of options exist. But all is not lost. One destination on my bucket list is Martha's Vineyard.  I was thrilled to find a resort that had space. So, I'm going on vacation! I leave the day that Lloyd gets back.  It's not exactly tourist season down there but it should be great anyway.

February 13th - An Early Happy Valentines Day!

...and our roller coaster weather continues. Crazy weather indeed.
In fact, we've not seen this much ice around since we've been here, which will be 9 years at the end of April. Hard to believe.

Saturday I had a catering job in town (more on that later) and when it was time to go home, around midnight, it was raining. Not so bad as we didn't have to contend with icy roads. Sunday was below freezing with a dusting of snow on top of the water, that was now frozen. Monday brought temperatures well above freezing leaving a slick layer of water on top of all the ice. Getting to the garage was quite a challenge. Should have gotten my skates out of the closet!

 After Lloyd got up from his morning nap, he and our neighbour Frank, went out and got some sand to spread around in both yards. Makes a huge difference.

                                                                          
Now Tuesday is expected to be -14' with the wind chill making it that much colder. Then on Wednesday we're back into the plus side again.  I'm hoping for decent weather on Wednesday as I'm hosting my second annual Valentine's lunch. It was a great day last year so I'm hoping this year's will be just as enjoyable for my guests.

It was a fairly busy week. Our Friday craft class was cancelled as our instructor couldn't make it. Not sure why but we should be back to normal this week. It was just as well as I had lots to do to prepare for our catering job on Saturday afternoon.
 

Soup, sandwiches, sweets for 25 volunteers helping out at the Heart and Stroke Gala.

 The ballroom all set for the gala...

Meanwhile backstage...

 At first glance it appeared I might have too much food but in the end, there was lots. Although there really wasn't much left, just a couple of sandwiches and that was about it.  By all accounts they were happy clients.  Rave reviews for our Tomato, Corn and Black Bean Soup. Either that or they were all really polite people! I now Meghan went out on a limb hiring me so I'm really pleased that it worked out so well.

Once everyone had eaten, it was time to head to our work stations. Brenda and I were in charge of the wrapping room - packaging all the silent auction items when it was over. There were bits of confusion part way through but in the end it all worked out.

While we worked away, James was in Sault Ste. Marie at a Biathlon.  He tells me he had a great time in spite of not advancing to the next competition, which is the National one. I was a little disapointed to hear that as it's actually being held here on PEI. But if we don't get some serious snow soon, it might be a challenge for the hosts.

He really didn't mind as he has an opportunity at the same time to visit the universities in Ottawa - something he needs to do before making his final decision. So it all works out in the end.

This week there was a video on Instagram of the girls at the dance school getting ready for their first competition of the season coming up very soon. They've all been working really hard and I know they'll do well.

February 6th - the roller coaster continues

Okay Mother Nature - please bring on some winter! Our weather has been an insane up and down swing. One day it's +10' and then the next it's -16'. Up and down - we have to keep two sets of outdoor clothes on hand at all times.

Once again a pretty quiet week. The highlights of our week was needle felting on Friday and Craft night at Sharyn's on Sunday. But that's winter for us retired people!
Here's the first two needle felting projects. Quite an interesting old fashioned craft. 

My needle felting projects so far...

 I'm also happy to have time to spend out in my craft room. I'm just playing around with some scraps of fabric I had in  my stash and made some place mats. I also made a table topper for Valentines.

After much back and forth consideration, I decided to go ahead with our Valentines lunch.The invitations are done and some delivered so now I'm at the point of no return!  We have a small catering job a few days before, hence my ambivalence, but really  I have no excuse. However we won't have goats giving birth at the same like we did last year. It did provide the entertainment factor though.

Lloyd is still busy planning his trip at the end of March. He's really looking forward to it. He's got his flights all booked as well as his accommodations.  One of the plans is a home stay, where you actually go and stay with a family. He's really looking forward to that one. Everyone is so surprised when he tells them that he's going by himself and are astounded at that fact. They obviously don't know us very well. Traveling solo is something we're both really good at. Maybe next year we'll go somewhere together. That would be different.

He's been ordering super light weight items to take with him, as he's hoping to travel with just a back pack. It's going to be quite the adventure.