Conditions at 7:00 am - 18* and sunny
Expected later - 26* and suny!

My kitchen island will soon be a reality. I went into Home Depot yesterday and changed my mind on what cupboards I wanted to get. I found out that the base cabinets I've ordered don't have drawers so instead I've changed one of the 30" bases to two 15 inch banks of drawers. That will give me much more functionality in that space. I'm really excited about them coming in next week. The best part is they come already assembled, so all Lloyd will have to do is put the counter top on when he gets here with it.

I talked to him yesterday and he and Jim are due to arrive Friday, September 3rd, after spending two nights on the road - the first with Stephan and Trish in Brockville and the second in Montreal. Then they will be leaving on Tuesday to go back home. I will be working at Honda on the Saturday but I'll be home the rest of the weekend and off on Monday. Right now I'm working on the list of food we'll have while they're here. I'm planning to make another batch of Brenda's bread this weekend but I'm going to bake it before I freeze it. My last batch was a bit of an experiment and it didn't work well, just freezing the dough. It doesn't seem to rise after it's been frozen, but I have no idea why, as I've bought frozen dough at the store and it works fine. Perhaps it's because it doesn't have all the chemicals that the store stuff does. Not to worry, the frozen dough works well for pizza dough, so it won't go to waste.
I was just looking at the Fall Flavours schedule and there's a Chef Michael signature event on the 3rd but I don't know if they'll get here in time. I'll have to find out - it's a lobster dinner that I'm sure they'd both enjoy. There's so much going on this year, it's hard to choose from them all.

I just checked my email this morning and there's a chance to work two shifts ( 12 to 4, and 4:30 to 8:30) at the liquor store in Stratford on Saturday. Chris apologied profusely for the short notice but the liquor store just contacted them with this opening. It's totally at the discretion of the PEI Liqour Commission. So I emailed him back and I'm waiting to hear if I get it or not.

Today, after work, I have an appointment at 5:00 to look inside the church. I called Moveall again yesterday, as I haven't heard back from them, and the lady I spoke with told me that yes, they have had a preliminary look and are still thinking about it. She says they'll get back to me with a price soon. It's the island way, just be patient! In the meantime, I can still fantasize.

Sea Heather

Conditions at 7:00 - overcast and 14*
Expected later - possible rain and a high of 23*


Last night I was introduced to the wonder that is Sea Heather. What a lovely little flower. It looks a lot like baby's breathe, and now that I think of it, I'm sure I've seen something like it in flower baskets before. It's very pretty and grows wild along the edge of the river. On the weekend Brenda had mentioned that it flowers around the middle of August and that we needed to check it out. So last night she called and suggested we start some walking and head down Hickey's Wharf road in search of Sea Heather. We both came back carrying great bouquets.

When I got home from work, I started in splitting wood. I've finally finished the first pile, the larger of the two. I can now honestly say that the pile to be done is smaller than the pile that still needs to be done. It's a slow process but it's going well. Only a couple of bruises from logs falling off the back of the truck and hitting me in the leg. Hazards of the job I suppose. I'll be glad when it's done but there is a certain satisfaction at seeing the rows grow in numbers. It's tangible proof of what I've been doing all summer. No, it hasn't ALL been fun and games!

I've decided that I want to put a more permanent island in my kitchen. So long story short, Lloyd is picking up a piece of butcher block counter top for me when he drives down in September and I've ordered a couple of kitchen cabinets to put in the centre of the floor. It will give me a little more cupboard space and it will be much easier to sweep around. It will also be very functional counter space. I do need room at the end for a stool to sit under, as that's Brenda's spot. I'm very excited about this little project. The back of the cupboards will be facing the door so I'm going to put a piece of the same beaded board on there that's on the rest of the kitchen walls. I think it will be a great addition to my kitchen. Then my next big project for the kitchen will be the second stove. I now know it will fit and I'll still actually be able to use the cupboards beside it, although eventually they may be moved. I'll wait till after I've caught up a little bit from getting the chimney fixed. Once the island is in, and the stove is in, it will pretty much be the kitchen that I really wanted. It doesn't have to be big and fancy, just have a big stove and an island.

I have a very sad tale to tell. On Saturday morning when I was splitting wood, I'd picked up a piece of wood off the ground, and hadn't noticed that there was a tiny newborn animal of some kind under it. It was a little later that I noticed it and it was lying in the dirt baking in the sun. I assumed it was dead until I touched it and it moved. So I picked it up and took it into the house and put it into a small container with nice soft kleenex underneath. I warmed some milk and was actually able to get a couple of drops into it's wee little mouth. I have no idea what it was, it was too big for a mouse, but as Brenda suggested, it may have been a rat. It was too small for a rabbit and it did have a tail. I suppose it could have been a mole as well. I took a picture of it with a quarter beside it for a point of reference.

I knew it would probably die, as it was pretty dehydrated from it's brief time in the sun. It's paper thin hairless skin would lose moisture pretty quickly. Now I know most of you think I'm totally crazy for bringing something like that into the house, but I just couldn't knowingly leave it out there to bake to death in the sun. I figured it would die soon and it did later on in the evening. But I have comfort in knowing that at least it was in a comfy place when it died.

Does it get any more perfect that this?

Conditions at 7:00 am - 15* and sunny
Expected later - sunny and 25*

What a wonderful weekend it was! The weather was absolutely perfect, the bugs were down in numbers, and we just had so much fun!
Actually we got the weekend off to a great start on Friday night. Brenda came over and we watched a movie and enjoyed an adult beverage while doing it. I made a cake for our dessert but unfortunately it didn't turn out as sponge like as it was meant to. Let's just say we gave pound cake a new meaning - I'm sure each small piece weighed at least a pound! It tasted okay, but it was horribly heavy. However, we still ate it. I do have to make that one again, but figure out what went wrong first. (oh well, I guess they can't all be brilliant)

Saturday morning I got up early and got right into splitting and stacking wood. I worked from 8:30 to 12:30. By then it was very hot and I was exhausted. So I went inside, had a snack and then headed back outside to cut the grass in the back yard. I'd done the front and side earlier in the week and just had the patch in the back with the trees (the most time consuming one to do).

By the time I'd finished that, I had time to go and soak in a nice hot bath, and get ready to help out at the rec centre. There was a wedding on Saturday and the bridal party had previously called Brenda to ask permission to take the pictures beside her sun flowers. It would be lovely to see how they turn out.

It was a small wedding, only 102 people, and we were all done and enjoying our final drink a little after 9:00. Brenda stayed to visit with people as it was a local wedding, and she knew a lot of people there, but I went home. I was totally beat. It occurred to me that I hadn't split any wood in two weeks and I was pitifully out of shape. But a good nights sleep works wonders!

Sunday morning dawned a little overcast with a light breeze. We had decided on Saturday night that if Sunday was the same weather as Saturday, we would probably do a beach day, just to say we've done that for this year. But it didn't seem that way early on in the morning. So we decided to load up the kayaks and also take our bathing suits, and then decide later what we wanted to do.

ut first, we went to Tracadie where the Lions Club hosts a Sunday morning breakfast every Sunday from 11:00 to 12:30. What a great meal! For $6.00 each, we had pancakes, sausages, (and LLOYD - two types of beans!), plus fruit, veggies and dip, biscuits and jam, pita breads and dip, as well as several loaf cakes. Add coffee or tea, and juice and it was a wonderful brunch. We sat at a table with some folks from Halifax and chatted with them before heading out.


By now it was sunny and getting warmer so we went up to Morrell and put in at the bridge, and headed out to St. Peter's Bay. It's quite a lengthy paddle from the bridge to the mouth of the bay but we made it. We pulled the boats up onto the shore and found a lovely sunny, dry spot on this HUGE beach, to park ourselves. I brought along our picnic backpack, much to Brenda's delight! Inside is dishes, wine glasses,etc and a bottle of VEX hard pink lemonade that I'd put in the freezer the night before. By the time we got to it, it was just slushy so it was lovely and cold and refreshing. We enjoyed that with some nacho chips and dip that I'd brought. After eating, we actually went into the water. It was chilly at first but once you got in, it was great. I'll have to show Patti how to get there as the kids would really enjoy that particular beach.

On our way back to where we had beached the boats, we walked out a long way on a sand bar that was just below the surface of the water. When we were walking back, we went a different direction and all of a sudden I was in weeds. I have a real phobia about walking in weeds in the water so I started swimming over them instead. That was almost as creepy but at least I was able to do it. What we didn't know is that it suddenly dropped off in one spot. I went to stand up when I got to the shore and I had to really pull myself out of the water on this steep part of the beach. At the same time, Brenda was walking and suddenly found herself in deep water as well. Good thing she was wearing her life jacket and she was able to swim with one hand as she was holding her camera up out of the water to keep it from getting wet . What a sight we would have made had anyone been watching! I clawed my way out of the water and then grabbed the camera from Brenda so she could get out, as you really needed two hands to pull yourself out. What an experience and we laughed about it all the way back to the boats.

Then it was time to paddle back. By the time we got to Morell, the bridge was a very welcome sight. We were both pretty tired. We packed up our stuff, loaded the boats and then headed home. We stopped at a farm gate to pick up some potatoes and yellow beans and headed home. Brenda dropped me off and went home to shower and put her boat away, then came back and we had a simple supper of BBQ turkey thighs, (that had been slightly smoked with apple wood chips I'd picked up at Sobey's) It was an experiment but it worked pretty well. There was a slight smokey taste but not overpowering. I used a melon baller to cut small balls out of the new potatoes and boiled them till just done, then tossed them in some butter and fresh herbs - chives and basil from my yard. The yellow beans were so lovely and fresh - you could tell they had just been picked that day. They were so good. I really need to have a garden next year.

But that depends on how busy I am next year. I'm still absolutely of stuck on this whole church idea. Brenda said to me at breakfast, "when you get an idea in your head, you stick with it" I told her it's more like it festers in my mind. It gets stuck in there and I can't seem to shake it. The idea has grown in many ways and I'm really going to have to start writing down all the thoughts that are rolling around in my mind. I suggested to Brenda that her job is to try to talk me out of it. She replied that she's learned through the years to just let the person ramble on and eventually the idea will just die a natural death. No idea where she would get that experience! We'll see how far this one goes.

Just a quick note to welcome Mike and Carol. They are old friends from Fergus, who owned the best pub in the world (or at least OUR world). It was a wonderful place where we always felt so welcome. We didn't get there as often after we moved to Guelph but when we did go we were always welcomed with hugs from both the bartender and the server! We both have such fond memories of our times there and the many great people we met over the years. Now Mike and Carol are retired and have taken on some new projects. I got a lovely email from Carol this morning and found out she's doing the very same thing I'm doing, so family can keep track of what they are up to. I can't wait to log onto her blog, with a glass of wine, and catch up with them, much as she will do with mine. I have this image of the two of us, in two different parts of the country, sipping a glass of wine and reading about each others everyday lives, and catching up (only difference is, hers will be white, mine will be red!). It's not as good a doing it in person, but it will do for now. They hope to visit the island next year and I'm really looking forward to sharing our new life with them and hearing all about theirs.

Finally, something full time.

Conditions at 7:00 - sunny and 12*
Expected later - sunny and 24* - and more of the same for the weekend!

Yesterday was a banner day for jobs! I was flipping through the paper yesterday when I came upon an ad for a downtown hotel that was looking for an Administrative Assistant, so just to cover all my bases, I emailed off a resume when I got to work.

I also went online and noticed that the Old Triangle is looking for 4 full time servers. I know the pay might not be so great but tips can really top that up, so I chatted with Sarah about that one, as she works there part time.

Later in the afternoon, I got the call from Capital Honda offering me the job there. I've still not heard yet from Invesco, but I think the Honda job is a better fit for me. It's longer hours than Invesco but the same money in the end. So I was ever so happy to say yes. Then a few minutes later I got an email from the hotel I applied to in the morning:

"Hi Sandy,

When is your term finished at UPEI? Are you interested in a full time year round line cook position?
Tanya"

Needless to say, I emailed back and told I'd already accepted an offer from somewhere else so please take me off the list, but thank you very much.

Finally things are starting to fall into place. It's been a little frustrating to apply for all kinds of jobs and not get an interview. Looks like things are okay now.

Rosie came in to congratulate me, after Tracey sent out an email to the department (she already knew about it, as they had called for a reference). Apparently Rosie has a new Honda so I told her I'd be the one greeting her when she comes in and the one driving her to work. She said oh, you've got the owners's daughters job. She knows the family quite well and and says they're really nice. The daughter is going back to university, so that's my good fortune.

Last night Brenda and I went up to St. Peter's to the Courthouse Theatre to see The Village Idiot. It was quite good, and what a cute little venue. I think it holds about 80 people and they were turning people away at the door as they were full. We thought we'd gotten there a bit too early, but in the end it turned out to be a good decision. We had supper at Rick's and Brenda's cousin and his family arrived for supper as well. Popular place, Rick's.

After the play, we came back to my house and sat outside wrapped in blankets and had tea and watched for meteors. It was quite chilly but the sky was wonderfully clear. We saw some, but I hear on the radio this morning that tonight will be better. so I may have to stay up late again tonight.

It's almost the weekend, again!

Conditions at 7:00 am - sunny and 13*
Expected later - mix of sun and cloud and 21*


It's amazing how short the week is when you have Monday off! I can't believe it's Thursday already. But part of that is because I've been busy and it just keeps on going. Yesterday Brenda called to tell me she had acquired tickets to see "Sexy Laundry" at the Confed Centre for last night, and was I interested in going. We are both VERY flexible, and able to drop everything (well, most things) and go, so off we went. It was quite fun and we topped the evening off with coffee/tea and dessert at the Pilot House.

Tonight we're going to St. Peter's for "The Village Idiot", after we have supper at Rick's Fish and Chips in St. Peter's. And the fun just continues!



When we were first designing the house we were going to build, I wanted a large stove with two ovens. The only trouble is they cost an arm and two legs. On the weekend I had a brainwave. Why can't I just buy another one identical to the one I already have and put the two side by side? It would be the same effect. I'd have all the features of the double size without the price. The back panel might not be as high tech looking but it would totally work, especially in the stainless steel. Yesterday I called the folks who did the gas work on my stove to install it, and they said it would be no problem to run both off the same connection. Then it would truly be the kitchen of my dreams! I'd only lose one tiny cabinet and half of another one. Eventually the counter top will need replacing and at that time, we can slightly reconfigure the corner so it all fits snugly. I think it's a brilliant idea. The number of times I'm cooking more than one thing at a time and you need two different oven temperatures, would totally make it worth it (okay, in MY mind it would).

Yesterday morning I was sitting at my desk and the phone rang and it was a lady calling from the Superstore. She said she had some flowers to deliver and wanted to know what building to bring them to. I asked her who they were for and she said they were for me! I thought that was a little odd, but I told her where to bring them. A little while later, a lady arrived with a lovely basket with a fresh flower arrangement in it. There were roses, gerber daisy's and various other red and white flowers. They are beautiful. Turns out they were from Nancy. That was so totally not necessary, but what a lovely surprise.

Speaking of flowers, I stopped on my way to Brenda's last night and took some photos of her sunflowers. They are absolutely gorgeous right now. She says that someone stopped in and wanted to know if they could come there and take their wedding pictures. What a lovely and unusual background that will make.

Someone just came in to the coffee shop and reminded us that tonight around midnight there is going to be a meteor shower. One of the regular customers is apparently taking some sort of tour out on a boat to watch it. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay awake long enough but if it's a clear night, it should be spectacular out in the country. If it's not cloudy, I'll try my best to wait up.

The original PEI Sound and Light Show !

Conditions at 7:00 am - pouring rain and 16*
Expected later - mix of sun and cloud and 20*

I was rudely awakened this morning by a HUGE clap of thunder at exactly 3:12 am. What a storm. It didn't last long but the thunder and lightening was mighty intense. I thought about getting up and watching outside as I'm sure it was quite the light show. But instead, I stayed snug in my bed. Cooper's not normally afraid of storms, but he was sleeping on the other bed and I heard him whine a little then he came and got up on the bed with me. I guess he just needed to be beside someone.

I think I'm finally caught up on my sleep. Monday afternoon, when I got home, I had a lengthy nap, then picked up the dog. Brenda called and invited me to join her and the boys for supper, as Bernie's on his way to Ontario for Friday the 13th. So needless to say, not much got done that night. But last night I got most of the grass cut, I just have the very back field to do, and of course, cut around the big trees with the push mower and then do the trimming. I hope to get that all done before the weekend so I can spend the majority of Saturday splitting wood. I'm making good progress on it and now I just want to motor through it and get it done.

I had a job interview yesterday morning for another position I saw advertised. I still haven't heard back from the first one I interviewed for, but I'm trying to make sure I have something. The second job doesn't pay as much per hour, but it's more hours and the end result is the same amount of money at the end of the day, and even though it's quite a bit less than I'm now making, I feel confident I can manage on it. There won't be a lot of extravagant purchases , but I think I'll still be able to enjoy myself from time to time!

Speaking of enjoying myself, Brenda and I have several plays to attend this summer. On Thursday we are going to St. Peter's to see "The Village Idiot", a play co-written by Margie Carmicheal. I was reading some information on line yesterday and it looks like it will be a lot of fun. Then there's "The Last Resort", which Linda highly recommended and "Hairspray". It's going to be a busy few weeks. Of course in all of that, we really need to start walking to prepare for the Terry Fox run as well.

When Nancy was here, she mentioned that they were having trouble getting connected to my blog so I sent another link to Stuart. I think she must have gotten it, as yesterday there was a visitor from Baltimore, Maryland. Coincidence? I think not!

WHAT A KNIGHT!

Conditions at 7:00 am - overcast and 18*

Expected later - mix of sun and cloud and a high of 26*

It's been two days since the concert and I'm still mulling it over in my mind. This morning when I got to Timothy's, Michelle asked me where I'd been. I told her I'd been to Toronto to see Paul McCartney. Just then another customer who I see everyday, happened to be reading the Globe and Mail and he was just reading about the concert. I'll have to get that review from the paper at work. I'm not much of a writer (as most of you already know, from reading this) but if I could adequately express what the experience was like it would look something like this:

Ageless Paul McCartney charms crowd with inspirational performance

August 09, 2010

Nick Krewen

Ageless Paul McCartney turns in an energetic performance at the Air Canada Centre. (Aug. 8, 2010)

VINCE TALOTTA/TORONTO STAR

Baby, we’re amazed!

He may have recently turned 68, but Paul McCartney performed like a man one-quarter of his age before an adoring crowd at a packed Air Canada Centre last night.

For the first of two concerts—he returns to the ACC tonight—the living legend’s stamina was absolutely stupefying. He seemed to turn back the hands of time during a nearly three-hour marathon that featured 36 songs and nary a sip of water between them.

Backed by a tremendous quartet that included monster drummer (and chief dancer) Abe Laboriel Jr., the agelessly thin, limber Macca focused his set liberally on his Wings catalogue—particularly 1973’s exceptional Band On The Run—and another band of his that you may have heard of called the Beatles.

It didn’t take him long to get started on either. Looking resplendent in a black suit, he launched the show on a slightly mellow note with the Wings’ “Venus And Mars” before heaving it into another gear with “Rock Show,” the song’s second half, and then segueing directly into “Jet.” Several thousand fans’ fists ripped through the air in unison every time the title was chanted.

After “All My Loving,” the third song in and the first to herald back to the Four Lads Who Shook The World days, McCartney took a moment to acknowledge his surroundings.

“This is such a cool atmosphere,” he said. “I just want to drink it in for myself.”

Then it was back to business and a steady string of hits and classics. The jacket came off to reveal a white shirt and suspenders. Then McCartney spent the rest of the night switching from his signature left-handed bass to left-handed guitar, mandolin and, for the first go on the piano, “1985” and “The Long And Winding Road.”

His voice was in fine fettle. Although the sound heard from the side stage remained largely distorted and cavernous most of the night, McCartney delivered some pristine moments, including a dynamic falsetto on “Here Today.” It’s a song he told the audience he wrote after the 1980 passing of John Lennon about “the conversation we never had.”

McCartney generously acknowledged his two former Beatle mates who have shaken this mortal coil, strumming a ukulele version of “Something” that he said he played for George Harrison and tacking a coda of “Give Peace A Chance” onto “A Day In The Life.”

Whether you loved “Let ‘Em In,” “Drive My Car” or “Let It Be,” McCartney and his sidemen—keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens and guitarist Rusty Anderson with occasional help from supporting guitarist and bass player Brian Ray—didn’t mess with your memory cells. They kept the solos in the arrangement intact, with Wickens in particular re-creating trombone or sax parts with his fingers.

It wasn’t only McCartney’s performance ethic that made his performance so magical and memorable. It was also the Liverpool lad’s charm.

For example, he performed “Blackbird” on acoustic guitar and inadvertently mixed up the verses. He explained he was too busy trying to focus on everything and had unsuccessfully warned himself not to read the numerous signs that audience members had brought.

At least one of those signs, the one that read “My Dad drove me 2,000 km to hug a Beatle,” paid off, as he brought the young girl on stage during his second encore for the hug she requested.

He also joked about the arsenal of instruments he brought along for the tour.

“If you’re wondering why we have all these guitars up here and why we keep switching – we’re showing off,” he deadpanned.

And he told some great stories, including being complimented by the fact that Jimi Hendrix performed the entire Sgt. Pepper’s album in concert in England two days after it was released back in 1967.

But there was one more ingredient that spiced up the immaculately written hits like “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Get Back,” “Lady Madonna,” “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude,” that were paraded in front of the 18,000 in attendance: Paul McCartney’s zeal.

It’s clear from his performance that the fire and passion still burn deep within his soul. Whether he’s rocking out to “Back In The U.S.S.R,” romancing the masses with the ballad “My Love” or regaling us with the stoic anthem “Mull Of Kintyre” (with full highland band), McCartney’s genuine enthusiasm knocks his game up a notch.

Last night, he embodied the true definition of the word “inspiration.”

Like I said, WHAT A KNIGHT!