Friday, August 18, 2023

We spent the night in Plattsburgh NY just an hour from Montreal. We woke up to rain and the forecast for today seems to be very showery and steady rain tomorrow.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for the most part though and we went out on Lake George on our friends boat. We motored up to a nice restaurant on the water and ate lunch there. Overall a very pleasant day!

Our plan was to drive to Montreal today and spend the day exploring. We will decide tonight whether to spend another night there, spend Saturday in Burlington, or drive back home Saturday. If it is going to rain all day tomorrow I think we will be inclined to just drive home. I'm afraid our first impressions are going to be like New Zealand, colored by the discomfort of the rain. :(

Have a fun Friday!

It's going to be hot here for the next few days, with little chance of rain. I'm hoping that since I'm here more to water everyday the heat and moisture will cause my impatients to flourish. Definitely still alive, but stressed from not having the same attention I would give them when we were gone.

I was so tired when we got back from Mexico, I let myself slide into my preferred circadian rhythm, stay up to 2am, sleep until 10am. It's my natural sleeping pattern, but it doesn't blend well with real life, so I'm back to setting my alarm for 8am.

Nothing exciting planned, just home life. We leave (driving) for Southern Missouri on Wednesday next week.

Still trips to squeeze in before school starts!

It is my last non student day today. I'm glad. I'm ready to be back with the kids. We did so much prep of the remaining music classrooms last year in May that there has been very little to do to set up the rooms. Of the 3 schools we had to pack up, 2 moved equipment and instruments with plan and precision, so we just had a bit of organizing to do. The third is a hot mess. The principal just had the custodian throw everything in a storage closet along with old classroom furniture, old curricula, and there is no rhyme or reason to anything. It looks like a junk room. We can't access any of our things. The principal is one with whom I do not feel safe, so I have as little contact with her as possible. She also doesn't have a solidified schedule for us either. So, that site will be what it is. I'm glad I will be en route to Minnesota next week and won't have to teach there. LOL

That 5 pounds of water seems to want to stay. I know it can't be "fat" because it came on too quickly and I can see mild swelling in my calves and ankles. Dog show weekend should help. They always seem to be good for a drop in water! Probably because I down so much water on show days.

Off to Reno tonight. Rather than taking the RV I will stay with friends. That will be a lot of fun. Way back in 1989 I bought an Airedale from them and now they have Airedales I bred! They very much would like to adopt Dinah after her next litter so I am going to take Dinah along for the weekend. I have mixed feelings about letting Dinah go to a new home because I enjoy her so. Yet, I know these people so well and Dinah would be so well taken care of and would have a dedicated person who wants to work obedience with her. Sometimes the best thing for the dog is the hardest thing for me.

It cooled down enough last night to open windows and let the cool air in. I was so happy to turn off the AC and have fresh air!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Friday and nice weekend. I will check in when I can. Wish us luck at the show!

Best of luck at the show! You are such a good dog Poppa :)

Greetings all

Today it's foggy - not foggy here. Cant decide. But its cool and comfy so works for me.

DH brought home a tuna sandwich from lunch so thats dinner. I spent most of the day at the studio gabbing and glazing. It's firing day there so the technicians are lurking all day watching the gas kilns. So glad they do that. Too much for me.

Liz sorry for rain. Maybe another time for Montreal. If walking around exploring is the plan best to have no rain. How is your shoulder?

Peps have fun in Reno. Always good to have a dog show B and B. Good luck. And good luck when the kids come. The storage at the one schools sounds horrid. What a mess. Not fair that you are stuck with it.

DD impatiens! Thats a midwestern plant that we don't see much out here. Love those and geraniums and zinnias. I bet they all perk up with your TLC. Don't impatiens need shade? They make such nice little clumps.

There are some wild fires north and inland. Lightning a few days ago. Some areas to the north have an evacuation advisory under way. Not cool. These areas are so rugged and remote that fighting a fire there is unimaginable.

Nothing done today on the clutter. Additional boxes of junk keep showing up. That back bedroom is like a clown car - stuff keeps emerging...

Diane S

Yes, Impatiens are great in shade, which I have in abundance! The only sunny spot in my yard is on the side by annoying neighbor. I like to grow a small cutting flower garden there: zinnias, cosmos, snap dragons... Im only in that part of the yard for gardening, no other reason to be there. It is now legal to grow cannabis in Minnesota, toying with the idea of growing some along the fence next summer (although I don't smoke, not my thing) because I think she would hate it. Probably won't, because I'm not that petty (although if she keeps messing with my vines...) but it's fun to think about...

It only rained for 1/2 hour yesterday so we were able to do a lot of walking around in Old Montreal. I hope the tuna sandwich made a good dinner. DH and I split a sandwich leftover from the racetrack for dinner in Plattsburgh. We decided it was better than going to a 99 restaurant nearby.