Friday, August 29th - bring on the long weekend!

Conditions at: Over cast and 13' but the strong winds make it feel more like 11'
Expected later: After some more showers this morning, we should reach a sunny high of 17' this afternoon

Our hot humid weather has finally turned to slightly cooler temperatures. We had on and off again rain most of the day yesterday. It certainly makes for much better sleeping weather. With any luck we'll get some sun on the weekend.

I talked with Meghan(2) via facetime on Wednesday, her birthday. They had just returned from a trip to Niagara Falls, Ontario,  to shop for back to school clothes. How perfect for Patti that she can turn a necessary shopping trip into a birthday event!  Meg was ever so excited to show me all the new things she had for starting school next week. She called me back when they were having dessert. It was an ice cream cake complete with tea lights for candles! . I sang Happy Birthday along with everyone and thought I was doing a marvelous job until they all started laughing. Turns out they could hear me but with the delay I was slightly behind all of them. I imagine it sounded pretty funny from their end.

Patti had returned from Paris earlier and she emailed me with a funny story. After my meeting up with Bev last Thursday, having  gone to the same school, but not knowing each other, Patti had a very similar experience. She was still on the plane after  they landed in Toronto when some maintenance crew came onboard. One of them asked her if she went to Mayfield Secondary. Turns out they had gone at the same time as well, but they didn't know each other very well. The world just keeps getting smaller and smaller.

Last night we all went out for supper to Peakes Tee. Lloyd went home from there and Tiny and Bev and I headed out to Pooles Corner to the kaylee hall. I thought they might enjoy some local entertainment. Unfortunately the.venue was sold out when we got there so we had to come up with another plan. We took a drive into Montague where it was pretty quiet although we did stop at Christmas Discounters for a tour around. Then it was back home. A bit of a downer to our planned evening, but that's okay. We pulled out some old pictures of the bunky so our guests could see what it once looked like, then some of us called it a night.

I understand the traffic was pretty busy in town yesterday as the tall ships have come in as part of the 2014 celebrations. I hope we get the chance to go in to see them before they leave. I see that Ron James is performing on Sunday evening from 7:00 to 8:00 at the celebration zone. We may take that in but it will all depend on the weather. Not a big fan of standing out in the rain and the mud.

Wednesday, August 27th - Happy Birthday Meghan (2)

Conditions at 5:10 - quite windy but a mild 18'
Expected later: it's starting to become the same old, same old - hot and sunny with a high of 27' for the third day in a row. Quite remarkable, really for the last week of August!

Before I forget, a big Happy 12th birthday to granddaughter Meghan! She'll be heading off to Junior High next week so that will be both a little scary and a lot exciting. Have a great day Meg.

Well, what a great time we had last night. Brenda picked Bev up and the two of them met me in town at the Celebration Zone. I got there first and was very surprised to see everyone going in with their lawn chairs. Not something that has been allowed earlier. SO I called Brenda and luck would have it, they had just arrived and she had three folding chairs in her car. Now that was a stroke of good luck, and once again, good old Brenda saved the day!

The show started right on time and it provided a lot of laughs. She's a very funny lady. They showed some film clips on the big screen from past shows including Codco and one called Hatched, Matched and Dispatched. I don't remember that one but I do remember Codco. Of course there were lots of clips from This Hour Has 22 minutes as well. A very funny and talented lady.

When it was over we walked back to the cars and put the chairs away. It was a really lovely evening so we headed over to Victoria Row and found a table beside a heater - just in case it got cold later. We shared some nachos and fries with dip along with an adult beverage. A great way to end the evening. On the way back to the cars, we took a hike up the stairs to see the rooftop lounge at Fishbones. Wow, have they ever done a great job with that site. It would be a really great spot for a private party. The only problem would be getting some of us older people up all those stairs!

Then it was home, passing Lloyd on the way. He was just heading out as we rounded the corner on our road. Time for me to get to bed cause morning comes pretty early sometimes. Bev and Tiny have been touring around. On Monday they went up to Cavendish, and drove all around up that way. Then on Tuesday they ventured up O'Leary way. They have a neighbour who comes out here for the summer so thought they would just drop in and say Hi.  They haven't decided yet just where they're going to explore today but they'll have another gorgeous day for doing that.

Monday, August 25th - a pretty busy weekend

Conditions at 5:10 am: 13' and partly cloudy
Expected later: 24' mainly sunny but will feel more like 30' - we knew summer wasn't over yet!

It's been a busy few days. Friday after work, we enjoyed some oven baked chicken, smashed new potatoes from the garden along with some fresh picked yellow beans, carrots and zucchini with our company. After supper Brenda and Bernie came over and we all enjoyed a few drinks, some of us more than others. It was considerably quieter on Saturday morning.

I was fortunate to have the day off so Brenda, Bev and I ventured into town early in the morning. We toured the farmers market, the grocery store, the liquor store after picking up some live lobsters for supper. Bev wanted some island lobster before going home and she wasn't disappointed.  When we got back from town, Tiny and Lloyd were gone off somewhere so we had something to eat and headed over to Lakeside for a walk on the beach. It was a nice warm day but there was a fairly strong wind so there were lots of waves. It was a great afternoon. When we got home, the boys were back. They had gone out to Souris for breakfast then toured the north shore on the way home.

Supper Saturday night was the above mentioned lobster, melted butter, potato salad, coleslaw and home made bread. After cleaning up the mess from that, we finished with sticky date pudding and toffee sauce. After supper the boys went over to Bernie's for - surprise - more drinks! Not quite as many were consumed as the night before. Sunday morning I was up early to get ready for brunch as the Van Gaals were joining us. I baked some cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins (thank you Brenda for the fresh picked berries!), a ham and cheese strata and grilled lobster sandwiches to use up the left over lobster from the night before. Needless to say, a good time was had by all, and we learned something new in the process. Lloyd has a CO2 tank that he uses to make carbonated water. We tried it with a bottle of white wine and got sparkling wine! Mixed with a little orange juice, it was almost as good as the real thing. Good enough for us, anyway. Who knew???



After cleaning up the dishes, Brenda and Bernie went home and we all headed into town. We parked the car and toured around the water front. Bev and I did a little shopping while the boys found a park bench in a shady spot - a perfect place to enjoy some ice cream. The day actually turned out pretty warm and it was nice to be out enjoying it.

When we got back home, we put a chicken on the BBQ sitting on a beer can.. While it cooked, we all had a bit of a rest before we put the fresh corn on the cob in to cook. It was a bit of a 'use up the leftovers' kind of night - left over salads from the night before and the last of the sticky date pudding and sauce. It had been a busy weekend.

Today Bev and Tiny are heading out to Cavendish while I'm at work.  This evening we're heading out to the Celebration Zone again to see Mary Walsh. Now that should be interesting!

Friday, August 22nd - the world just got WAY smaller!

Conditions at 7:50 am - overcast and 17'
Expected later: 20' that will feel like 23' with a mix of sun and cloud - a perfect day!

Yet, I have to admit I slept late this morning. Our friends from Ontario arrived last night. I met them in Cornwall and they followed me home, arriving around 8:30.  Lloyd and I were talking on Sunday and I was a little apprehensive about their visit. I've met 'Tiny' several times at the Guelph airport but I really don't know him at all. I've met his wife Bev, exactly once, 5 years ago.

Well, you will not believe what happened! It turns out we went to the same high school just one year apart. She was in the grade below me so we know a LOT of the same people and teachers. It got really weird when she mentioned that they went on a school trip to Washington, D.C. I suggested this was the trip where the police came to our teachers shortly after our arrival and told our teachers that if they wished to have the same number of students going home, they'd better get us to heck out of the hotel we were in and moved to another part of the city! Turns out we were both on the same trip! And yet, neither of us knows the other's name. 

Needless to say, we spent the evening talking about the 'good old days' that we shared - but not really. How freaky is that?  Patti G. (not from Orangeville)  will love that story.

Tiny got the trailer all set up and leveled and I got the guided tour. Oh my gosh, what a piece of equipment! It puts most of the houses I've ever lived in to shame. It's absolutely gorgeous inside.  I didn't tell them when I go camping I sleep in a tent!

It was a great, but very late evening. We had some snacks and a couple of drinks and it was after 11:00.  Might as well wait up for Lloyd who was working the 4 to midnight shift. . I called him at 11:50 and he was on his way home. So we had a very short visit before we all headed off to bed.

Bev and Tiny were both just as apprehensive about this visit as I was. Needless to say, that is not the case anymore!

Wednesday, August 20th - can you believe we're almost through the month of August?

Conditions at 5:30 am: 16' with clear, starry skies although we may see a few more showers this morning
Expected later:  20' that might feel more like 24' with a mix of sun and cloud.  It was a rainy couple of days. Monday was on and off as was Tuesday, but we really did need some rain for the farmers' crops.

It's also been a fairly quiet couple of days. Lloyd is working the afternoon shift from 4:00 tilll midnight this week. Instead of seeing each other for an hour or so in the evening, it's an hour or so in the morning instead. But that's okay.  I have lots to do inside the house to keep me busy. Not that it's getting done, but I have lots to do!

Monday evening Brenda came over and we got caught up after the weekend. It was a busy time for everyone and we didn't have an opportunity to go out and play anywhere. No worries - there's still lots of nice weather ahead before winter comes. Then last night she called before I finished work to advise she was in town. We both had to eat supper somewhere so it might as well have been at a local restaurant. She met me next door to the dealership and we had a nice supper and were just finished when Ethan joined us. She was waiting in town as Will was arriving from California sometime later in the evening and would need a ride home so she had lots of time to kill. I left her and Ethan at 6:00 and headed home to get some work done.

We're expecting company this weekend from Ontario, but we're not exactly sure when they'll be arriving. They're driving a pick up hauling a 5th wheel camper trailer so they won't be able to get here as quickly as Lloyd gets up there on his bike!   We're hoping they arrive before the weekend so we can maybe take in some local entertainment.  Our work chores around the place such as garage floors, wood cutting and splitting, etc will have to take a back seat for a few days.

It's hard to believe it's almost time for the kids to go back to school as it will be really early this year. It will be a new year of challenges for the Dennison family - James off to high school, Meg off to junior high, and Tristen the only child at Montessori. That will be a bit of a change for him as well, not having his big brother or big sister at the same school.

Speaking of which, I must remember to ask Patti to get a recipe for me from one of the teachers at the Montessori School. A couple of years ago the kids made a simple spray cleaner using natural ingredients. I've gone through two bottles of it and I'd really like the recipe before the kids are done at that school.  I've tried other 'recipes' I've found online but none are as nice as this one, called "Lavender Magic".   If I do get the recipe, I'm willing to share if it's okay with the originator of said recipe!

Monday, August 18th - it was a fairly productive long weekend

Conditions at 5:30 am: 16' and overcast
Expected later: a humid 21' that may feel more like 27' but with showers off and on

Our long weekend started off with great music! On Thursday,  Lloyd harvested some fresh veggies from our garden for supper  and made a delicious meat loaf to go along with them. We were just having supper  when Brenda called to advise that she was heading out to Poole's Corner for the regular Thursday night Kaylee. If we cared to come along, we were welcome to! So that's exactly what we did. Brenda picked us up a little before 7:30 and we headed to Montague area. The place was packed, and rightly so. We were treated to a great evenings entertainment: Fiddler's Sons and Meghan Blanchard. Can't beat that!

Our Friday dawned cloudy and threatening rain, so it was up early and get to work. I'd been wanting to empty out and defrost the upright freezer and today seemed like as good a time as any.  While I waited for it to thaw, I baked a batch of homemade bread. Now we have some in the freezer for company next weekend.

Saturday morning started out much better - sunny and dry. We started out with hot coffee and fresh baked biscuits sandwiched around crispy bacon, fresh cooked eggs and cheese out on the craft room balcony. It was a lovely morning and it's so peaceful up there. But we finally had to make ourselves get on with the day. Lloyd blocked some wood and I set about splitting it. We're slowly making our way through the pile of logs in the back yard. Unfortunately Lloyd was having some trouble with the chainsaw so I had to find something else to do. I jumped on the lawnmower and before I knew it the entire yard was cut.While I did that, he emptied the garage, to get ready to prep for the concrete floor.  Not a bad day's work. I had time to get showered and ready to serve at a wedding at the Rec Centre. We did well and I was home by 9:15.

Sunday morning we had planned to cut more wood but we needed something for the chainsaw.  I spent a bit of time cleaning up my craftroom. It took quite a beating during the installation of my new heat pump.  There were muddy footprints everywhere and things were moved all around. So a bit of time was required to put it back in order again.  A little after lunch Lloyd suggested that he had to go into town to pick up insulation for around the base of the garage before the floor goes in and it might also be a good opportunity to have an ice cream. After Home Hardware we stopped at Phinley's for cones.

It was the end of Old Home Week but we didn't take in any of the festivities this year. Lloyd was trying to catch up after being away for over a week. As the summer winds down, we appreciate how much work needs to be done before the snow flies!

We pulled some vegetables out of the garden. I picked a lot of the beans and put them in jars, with brine,

garlic, hot peppers and some dill. We'll check out the results in a few days. I also picked some zucchini. A few of them have gotten extremely large. We stuffed two of them with hot sausage stuffing and they made a very tasty dinner.  We'll have to investigate other ways to use giant squash!

Lloyd suggested that he'd found a replacement for a bat that James broke last week, when he hit the ball a little too hard!

One last thing - a belated happy birthday to Will Van Gaal, who's out on the road somewhere between here and Bakersfield, California! Hope it was a great one.

Wednesday, August 12th - Looking forward to the long weekend

Conditions at 5:10 am: 13' with a very bright moon - you can sure tell summer is wrapping up
Expected later: 24' that will feel more like 29'

It's been a quiet couple of days but Lloyd is home. He managed to catch a fairly early flight and arrived in Charlottetown around 1:00. I'd already had my lunch break so I quickly picked him up and sent him off in my car. He ran a few errands, visited a few friends and was back at 5:00 to pick me up.

He had suggested that we get something to eat in town before going home and I was to choose. I thought it might be a nice surprise to visit Fathers Oyster Bar and Pub in the Celebration Zone. I assumed we could purchase food there for supper and there wasn't any entertainment going on so it wouldn't be too busy. Well, what a surprise. The Mi'kmaq Pow Wow and Drumming and Dancing were taking place all day. The festivities had stopped for a while and there was a line up of people to get into Fathers Pub. We almost turned around and left because we thought it was a private function. Turns out it was open to all, but the tribal elders and dancers were being let in first. The lady at the gate told us to go on ahead in. Once inside, we were treated to a meal of vegetarian chili, beef stew, corn chowder, corn on the cob, bannock and cake with blueberry sauce. The surprising part was it was all free. Do I know how to take a fellow out to eat, or what!  We had no idea.

After collecting our food, we went outside and chose an empty picnic table. A few minutes into our meal, a couple came over and asked if they could share our table. Well, what a lovely time we had. We spent a lot of time chatting and would have stayed much later but for Lloyd needing to get some sleep before his shift at midnight.  They were from Mississippi and had retired, sold their house and bought a large camper trailer and were traveling around the country. They'd been on the road since June 10 and will get back to Mississippi by the 10th of September. They have one daughter in Mississippi and another, who is in Brazil, but returning with her family to the States. They plan to just float from place to place until they decided just where they would like to eventually end up. They've lived in various places throughout the years so packing up and moving isn't a big deal for them. They've only been here for a couple of days and are leaving tomorrow so won't get to see much but they've really enjoyed the time they've spent in the Maritimes, and they especially loved PEI.  They're hoping they can convince some friends to come up with them in a couple of years,  as they plan to take a different route next summer. We had a lovely time with them and exchanged information. They suggested if we ever go to Mississippi to touch base and I suggested that now they have a reason to come back - so we can finish our conversation!

It wasn't planned, but turned into a great evening. On our way back to the car, we heard bagpipe music. A minute later the Belfast Pipe Band was marching down the street by Province House. James should have been here - he would have loved it.

 Then it was a quick trip home so Lloyd could get some sleep. His first night in a while was going to be tough.  But he only has to do two nights then he's off till Monday at midnight.