GRANDCHILDREN'S HUGS

What a beautiful day! Now that’s the kind of summer weather we think about when shovelling snow! Not too hot, breezy, blue sky with fluffy white clouds…perfect!!

I was up at 6 AM, then it wasn’t long until I got into the cleaning mode. With the satellite tuned to classic rock music, and the doggies outside looking in, the house (main floor, at least) was dusted, vacuumed, floors washed and kitchen waxed, washing done…and I took breaks drinking long glasses of cold water, admiring the scenery from my swing on the gallery. It was completed by 2:20 PM – nice!

My granddaughter and a friend dropped in for a few minutes, although she wouldn’t get out of the car. She’s wary of the doggies who, of course, were showing off, prancing around me as I stood outside and chatted.

A little later I ran up to say goodbye to Suzie, who is heading back to Detroit. While I was there, my son, Jo, drove by, saw my car, and he and his two oldest boys stopped to say hello to M’mère. I got my hugs and kisses in, but I’m greedy. When I was on my way back home I decided that I hadn’t seen his new baby either for a couple of weeks, so arrived at his home to get…more hugs & kisses!! There’s nothing quite as nice as a grandchild’s chubby arms hanging onto your neck. Bali had just finished his supper, and his hands were a little sticky – LOL – and like that bothers me?? Nope!

The baby, Tao, has put on weight. He was sleeping away in his little chair, in spite of Bali’s excited yelling beside him – a sign of a good baby – and looks more and more like his big bro, Nalou. I mentioned it, and Nalou smiled; I could tell he was pleased as punch that this is so.

After a short hop to see my brother, Bird, I came home to my clean house and my hungry doggies. They were fed, and I dined on old fashioned English ‘fish ‘n chips’ while listening to the highlights of the World Cup Soccer game; Germany won, as I had thought they would. My foot was too swollen to take the usual walk with the doggies. It’s getting better, but is still sore when I use it as much as I did today.

I was nodding off by 10 PM, but woke 4 hours later – and it seems Murphy sneaked out the back door. Instead of tossing & turning, I got up and here I am, posting on my blog at 2:30 AM. I’ll try some reading to entice Murphy to join me again. The meeting with my associates didn’t happen today, and I want to make sure I’m awake enough tomorrow to catch up to them.

All in all, an uneventful but fine Saturday for me! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, people. Just the weather alone has to make you SMILE!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

Well, most of my plans for yesterday worked out, except for the computer doc who came early this morning – like 7:30AM!! The problem? My modem was lying on its side, making it difficult for the fan to work well, and the extra heat was causing it to throw a safety switch. DUH! He checked the angle of the satellite too, but all was okay there. He left, warning me to make sure the modem stays upright. Huumm – an expensive lesson.

My own office has no windows, so I didn’t see the afternoon’s heavy rainfall. The other girls noticed, and my son, who drives on the south shore for Fed-Ex, called to tell me that it was terrible; “Armageddon” was the word he used. All the cars were pulled off to the side, they could see nothing, and there was hail coming down to complete the scene. I guess it was pretty bad in the bush. The doggies weren’t talking – just very happy to see me home again. But that’s a usual thing. For sure the rain is most welcome, if only to give us a break from the heavy heat we’ve been dragging for the past few days. I can feel the cooler breeze blowing in through all my open windows. That, together with the sound of the drops hitting the tin roof, predicts a good snooze tonight.

Suzie’s house in up in the hills too, and she was saying she saw a ball of fire with one of the lightning bolts. There was a thunderous CRACK and when it was over, she noticed that her sound system no longer worked. Too darned close for comfort! Nobody wants a fire.

Tomorrow is housework time. I let my helper go because I don’t want my Jo, who has his own business and three little kiddies, having to run over here every time there’s grass to cut, or things to pick up outside. I’ll use what money I save from the housekeeping to pay a young lad to help keep up the exterior. It makes more sense. The doggies’ feet are not so dirty in the summer weather; they make less of a mess. Then with me picking up as I go along, the house stays reasonably clean. So tomorrow morning on goes the music (wonder if my neighbours like AC/DC with breakfast??) and out come the mops & dust rags. I’m kind of looking forward to it!

I also have a meeting with my associates. The hour has not been determined yet, but this girl IS determined that we do meet. There are things to iron out – the sooner the better. It’s “bite the bullet” time! In fact, it seems to be “bite the bullet” month!!

Then it will be up to Suzie’s place to baptize the “Still sexy at 60” wine glass she gave me for my birthday. She won’t be here for the party next weekend; she’s returning to Detroit on Sunday, but it’s a given that I do the first toast from it with her! Just one, because after two or three, we tend to reach for the tequila, and she wants to leave early the next morning, LOL!

My Jacuzzi awaits, so off I go to luxuriate in bubbles of Tamanu. Happy dreams, folks; ones that make you SMILE!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

HEAT & INTERNET PROBLEMS

Arrrg! My satellite dish has slipped, and I have internet flashing off and on – more often off than on. Luckily (for my sanity) my puter-doc will swing by tomorrow afternoon and fix things up. I also have the Alarm people coming in to update the alarms (they were removed during renovations & never re-installed) and a dude to remove trees lying in the driveway. I’ll be in the office real early tomorrow morning, because I’ll have to leave at noon to meet these people. It isn’t the right time to be absent, but some things can’t be helped.

That PET scan was hard on the Bird this morning. After 3 hours he came out of there looking like a wet rag. We were both grateful that the air conditioning was functioning in my truck as we made out way back up north. Now we need to go back on July 19th for his results.

It is somewhat cooler outside tonight – not much, but enough to be comfortable sitting out on the gallery. BTW – isn’t this kind of heat supposed to kill mosquitoes? I have never been so pestered by those little varmints when up on the gallery; it seems the heat has tripled their numbers, and as soon as it’s dark, they zero in. Annoying little mites!

I watched the clouds roll in over my mountain – the muted colours were something to see. We are supposed to get a thunder storm, and the temperatures should be back to normal on Friday, so says the Weather Network. But tonight is going to be another toss & roll, I know. In spite of all the fans going around the house, it’s still way too warm for this menopausal lady! The water in the Jacuzzi will be just lukewarm, you can be sure of that!! I’ve heard the wives’ tale about taking a hot shower to cool off and I say poppycock! I’ve tried it and believe me, it’s not true!!!

That’s it for tonight, folks. I’m not sure I’ll be able to post it before the morning – the lights on my modem tell me I’ve lost the airwaves again. If that is the case, have a good day y’all. If okay tonight, then sweet dreams!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

A TUESDAY NIGHT "OOPS!"

It wasn’t too difficult to slip right back into the work routine – especially since the office has air conditioning…and the house doesn’t. This weather, fine if you’re living beside a swimming pool or lake, is a little much - for me anyway. The hot flashes just seem to last longer, most evident when you’re trying to find the already elusive slumber. A fan, even on high speed, just doesn’t do it. Bud is having a hard time of it too. His respiration isn’t easy to begin with, but the heat and humidity make it worse. Extremely audible. He insists on lying close to wherever I am, and I haven’t the heart to chase him away, so I hear the poor fellow all night. NOT music to sleep by.

I received the cutest phone call at the office yesterday. My son, Jo, was kind enough to stop after his canteen run and cut all my grass. When Bali, the 3 year old, woke from his afternoon nap and heard that Papa was at M’mère’s place, without taking him, he was not happy. Believe me, he knows how to show it! He finally quieted down after his mummy let him chat with me on the phone. Although I could hardly understand a word he was saying, knowing that M’mère was his main objective for a few minutes was so nice, and made my day!

I‘m off to the hospital with Bird tomorrow – his last scan found more tumours in his lymph nodes. Now he does something called the PET (?) scan, to see what’s what, and we are back at the clinic again on July 19th pour the results. Thankfully I have AC in the truck, so at least the ride in & out will be comfortable enough for him. Apparently the scan takes approximately 3 hours, prepping included. The Bird warned me to bring a good book.

And now – should I tell you about the huge dumbass thing I just did? And it’s going to cost me too!

I have a bad habit of getting distracted when doing household chores. maybe ‘cause it’s not my preferred pastime. Tonight, just before sitting down to write the first 2 ½ paragraphs of this post, AND before I went outside to make sure the noises I heard were not a fight between Lucas & Bud, I put dishes into the sink and turned on the hot water. I usually fill the sink with the hottest water possible, let the dishes soak a bit, then do the washing. I bet you can guess what happened.

Yep. I forgot all about turning off the water!! And so…in reference to my first paragraph, I nearly CREATED a swimming pool in the apartment downstairs. It was Grump who alerted me; he came running into the office giving every sign he wanted to go out. I walked into the kitchen to open the door and….get this…I actually wondered what the sound of water was from!! Then…OH SHIT!

I guess the positive sides (there always is one) are:
1) I was putting off cleaning down there – this gave me a huge nudge in the right direction – at least floors in that bedroom are shining now!
2) Because the apartment is cooler, I considered sleeping down there tonight if it’s too hot up here. I had washed all the bedclothes, but had not yet made the bed, so the huge, thick blanket was still folded up on the bottom part. The bed would have been soaked if it had been done up right. As it is, the top part of the blanket kept the water from sinking through. The mattress is dry.
3) I’ve also been procrastinating about bringing in an electrician to do some needed work. I can’t neglect it any longer, which is much safer, of course. The water went through the ceiling where the light fixtures and wiring are; that’s what I meant about costly.

I also expect I’ll know enough to stay by the sink from now on when preparing to do dishes, or any other action that requires turning off a tap at one point, LOL!

Time for me to hit my Jacuzzi (yes, I’ll remember!!) then get some shut-eye. In spite of the extra work and cost, my experience is rather amusing (I know my sons will find it funny) so I’m SMILING! Sending it out to you all – and wishing you sweet dreams!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

BOW'S HOUSE & SHOPPING WITH SUZIE

On Friday, my brother, Bird, and I went to visit Bow & Yoshiko. Their new house is situated on a residential street in old Longueil, surrounded with mature, beautiful trees. It’s a cozy little two-story place, with plenty of plants and flowers in the back yard, well fenced for privacy, and a swimming pool. A couple of Bow’s friends were there helping him to set things up. It was a nice afternoon with plenty of good natured teasing and laughing; reminiscent of days when my children were all still at home in our big, white house; where there always seemed to be a few friends around to keep things lively. I could tell my son was right in his element. He was grinning from ear to ear! Yoshiko was exhausted, with plenty of unpacking and installing to do yet. My daughter had already been there the day before and, whirlwind that she is, had the kitchen all set up before she left. Once that is done, the rest of the boxes can be emptied slowly, whenever Yo feels inclined, so she relaxed with us, enjoying the day and showing off her new home. We shared pizza and Mexican pie for supper, sitting outside, then Bird and I made our way back up north. After I let him off at his place, I came back to the bush and passed a quiet evening with the doggies. Saturday was already scheduled to spend time with Suzie, and I wanted an early night.

Suzie and I usually go shopping at least one day during our time together, whether we are here or in Detroit. It’s not one of my favourite pastimes, unless we’re in a furniture store, or a place like Stokes. There is, however, a Dollar Plus store in St-Jérôme where we make a regular stop. It’s huge, and things cost more than a dollar, but it has many interesting art objects, cards, household articles, etc. I picked up some wooden jigsaw puzzles to keep Bali amused when he comes to visit M’mère, and a drinking glass with a cover; those made especially for wobbling youngsters. Happily, the grandchildren are coming around to the house more often now, so I need to stock up on things like that again.

In less than two hours we had seen all we wanted to – there was NOTHING in the way of decent clothes anywhere we went – so we decided to have something to eat. We went to Nickels, sat out on the terrace, and I filled my face with giant shrimp Papillion…YUM! Mind you, I smelled like garlic for the rest of the day, but I had nobody to impress, so didn’t really give a damn!

We stopped back at the house to let the doggies go outside and run around some, and I showed Suzie the pictures my daughter had put on Facebook; she had caught our last tequila binge on camera, the little bugger, and we look terrible, but we’re able to laugh at ourselves, and did a lot of that, LOL! I drove her home and we sat and chatted for a good while, and I finally made it back to the bush around 3 AM. It was a lovely warm night, and I sat out on the gallery with the delighted doggies for a little while before going to bed. All in all, a great day, although I didn’t get around to any of the multitude of tasks waiting to be done. What the heck, it was one of my last days off, so I refuse to feel guilty! The work isn’t going anywhere, that’s for sure!

I’m planning to wash my truck this afternoon – it’s long overdue – and whatever else my foot will allow me to do. After all the walking yesterday, it’s swollen and a little painful. I don’t mind lazing. It’ll be back to the office tomorrow morning, and we need to apply all our efforts to keep things going after one of our bigger clients closed down last week, and another on the verge of going the same route shortly. Rock ‘N Roll!

Hope y’all are having a good weekend – loving this summer weather! Sending you a SMILE!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec

ABOUT DAY'S OFF

What a beautiful morning out here in the bush! The sun is there in all its glory, with just enough breeze to keep it from being too warm. The birds are singing their hearts out, my coffee is hot and delicious, the doggies are silent beside me keeping watch, and I stand on my gallery admiring nature’s view and thinking “What more could one want right at this moment? Thank You for this lovely day!”

The grass still needs to be cut, but my son will come early this morning and do the honours. He went down the hill on the lawn tractor yesterday, decided that he would sleep better knowing that his Mum wasn’t wrapping herself around a tree at the bottom, and said he would come back today and do it himself, LOL.

After he had left, on his way to do his errands for his mobile canteen, I made my way up to Suzie’s Canada Day party. There were many hugs and kisses from old friends who meet once a year for this celebration, retro tunes playing, the BBQ churning out hotdogs and hamburgers, tequila making the rounds…a perfect afternoon, in spite of the rain showing up now and then. Fran and my brother, Bird, arrived a little later to join us. I sat smiling as I watched my bro get up and dance – he was having such a good time. It made my day.

It wasn’t late when I returned home to the doggies – they were waiting patiently for their supper – and we went for a short walk just before it got too dark to see. It was cool enough, so I lit the wood already prepared in the fireplace, slipped into my Jacuzzi, and lay back to relax in the jasmine scented bubbles, gazing into the orange and red and yellow of the flames cracking away merrily. It was one of those special moments when you feel that it doesn’t get much better than this.

I actually slept through 7 hours! Feeling like a million bucks on this gorgeous morning! Later today I’ll pick up the Bird and we’ll go to visit my other son and Yoshiko; I’m looking forward to seeing their new home, as much as my son is anxious to show off his first house, I know. My daughter was there yesterday and tells me that nearly everything is unpacked and put in its place already, which means Mum can just enjoy her inspection, LOL!

There are a few business related things to take care of before leaving, but it shouldn’t take long. I’ll still have time to do the floors in the apartment downstairs, throw in some washing, and voilà! The rest of the day will be mine.

It has been years, literally, since I have enjoyed more than one consecutive day away from the office. Last week’s 3 days off (5 if you count the weekend) did much for my morale; doing the same this week is a bonus. I doubt if I’ll forget it soon, which means that I’m planning to make it a regular occurrence in the future. I had forgotten how important it is to play as well as work.

Have a good one, folks! My SMILE is all over my face this morning – hope yours will be there too!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.

THE DOG FIGHT

Well, my foot WAS doing better, but I spent most of the day swiping cobwebs (and their contents, ugh!) down from the ceiling of the garage, then doing a general cleaning and sweeping in there. The end result? Garage looks pretty good, but my foot has swollen right back up and I’m limping again. Going up and down the ladder is not recommended for healing.

Last night I was wandering around outside with my two doggies. Lucas, my neighbor's young female wolf-husky came to join us. I don’t know how it started, because I wasn’t looking that way, but suddenly she was fighting with Bud. I yelled and ran towards them – they totally ignored me, of course. Then Grump got into it too; now there were three! Conscious of my sore foot, I didn’t even think of kicking at them, but I knew I had to get her off poor Bud. He’s already sick, and his cancer has made him weaker, but he was still standing his ground. I reached and grabbed at Lucas’ neck kerchief (her owner uses that instead of a collar), screaming at the top of my lungs to “STOP!!”, and managed to pull her off and separate the three. It was only after I had finished scolding them all that I noticed my hand was bleeding. It had encountered a canine tooth during the fracas; who the tooth belonged to is debatable. It hadn’t been done on purpose; it was par for the course when stopping a dog fight. Thinking tetanus shots, etc., I hurried up to the house and cleaned it well, then soaked the area in iodine. It seemed fine, and wasn’t hurting too much. Until I woke up in the middle of the night and could hardly move it. Oh, no!! Once again pictures of tetanus shots ran through my mind – they HURT! I’ve had the experience, and didn’t relish going through it again. Fortunately, after moving the arm around some, I realized I had been sleeping on it. That was the cause of the pain. There was no swelling. Panic subsided. Saved for another day.

Tomorrow morning my youngest son is stopping by to cut the lawn, and to watch me use the tractor. He wants to make sure that I won’t end up head over tea kettle on the bottom of the hill, LOL! Later I’ll be stop to pick up my bro, the Bird, and we’ll go to Suzie’s annual Canada Day party. We never stay long, but it’s fun to meet old acquaintances once a year and find out how they’ve been doing.

My oldest son was moving into his new house today, and my daughter will be going into the city to give them a hand unpacking. I’ll head up that way on Friday (again with my bro, Bird) to admire his first home and to help anyway I can. There are many, many boxes to empty. Yoshiko, being Japanese, is a natural pack-rat and, although everything she collects is interesting, there is oodles of it!

It’s 3:45 AM, so time to think of going back to bed. I did snooze for a couple of hours earlier, but it seems sleeping more than 3 hours in a row is not in my cards at the moment. Eh bien, we take what we can get.

It’s going to be cool tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to coming back home at the end of the day and sitting by the fireplace, doggies at my feet and a good book in hand. Hope you all have a great CANADA DAY! It’s a beautiful country, and we’re certainly blessed to be living here.
Sending you SMILES!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec