I'm a Beach Comber, a Scrounger, a Bargain Shopper

My sister-in-law Caron and I are looking at something she found on a beach in P.E.I. in 2008. Everytime I visit with Caron and her husband on the island we try and squeeze in some time for beach combing..one of our favorite activities. I bought a lovely white enamelware canister set years ago just to store my beach glass..Caron and I hope to make jewelry with it someday.

My husband likes to refer to me as "cheap" but I prefer to think of myself as trying to be very economical. If I can buy something we need or in previous years "want" at a yard sale, or see it sitting free in the recycle building at the town dump or buy it cheaply at the downtown Salvation Army then I'm more than pleased.

We also have in our town a ReStore, a very large building full of great stuff and all the money raised goes to Habitat for Humanity which build homes for people who might otherwise never have the privilege of owning their own home. Also I feel good knowing all the money I spend at the Salvation Army is helping so many people in a multitude of ways.

I used to buy a lot of "stuff' because I liked it or wanted it, not necessarily needing it..Now I'm become a much more discerning shopper. Or at least I like to think so..I remember my father being a big yard sale shopper and when we cleaned out our parents home, finding boxes full of things in the basement purchased at yard sales. But he commented to me at one time he was becoming much more discerning over the years..so maybe I'm taking after him.

Now when I enter the Salvation Army I head right to the children's toys in case I can find some great toy or book for my granddaughter. As she grows older, she is now 18 months old, she is losing interest in some of her earlier toys..She is very absorbed now in playing with a toy high chair I purchased for 99 cents at the Salvation Army and carried home..she puts a teddy bear in it and feeds it numerous cups of tea out on the deck with warm water until teddy has to have the water wrung out of it. I've purchased many little outfits for her there so when she arrives I put her into "my" clothes so she can get wet or dirty and go home in her original clean clothes.

She is interested in rabbits or bunnies right now so yesterday I found a stuffed one and a cute little pink purse to carry it around it. Found a great pair of shorts for myself and a gorgeous scarf. Several weeks ago I found a lovely skirt which I will take to a wedding I have to attend in the fall in Victoria, B.C. I get quite excited when I find clothes there with the tag on from the store who donated it, still intact..found many brand new items, never worn for under five dollars. Who wouldn't get a thrill over that!

After all as one lady told me one day when we shop at the Salvation Army we are really "only borrowing" the items as a few years down the road we usually tire of them and return them to be recycled again. This year alone I've probably taken over a dozen bags of items back to the store and I often see them hanging on the racks or on a shelf..

Since we will be moving in a few years I have been trying and not too successfully yet to get rid of more things from the house. Which means I must put a bit of a curb on my shopping..and I don't know why but I seem to have been born with a "shopping bug" in my system which has been very hard to eradicate..I have done really well this year tho, only spent one day touring yard sales while in P.E.I. in May with Caron and since returning back home although I read where they are each week in our town paper have kept away..now that's a big thing for me..look at all the bargains I'm missing!

Sometimes when I put things in a bag for the Salvation Army or send it to the dump I feel bad that I don't have the money I spent on that item..but I have to think: "did it give me a lot of pleasure?" and if the answer is yes, then it was money well spent.

When I enter stores and look through the weekly flyers that come each week and see "Sale" signs, I make a beeline to look over the merchandise..but now I must ask myself, do I need it or have room for it? There was a huge sale on different varities of wool this week in a nearby town which I had to go to for an eye exam. So I purchased several new crochet/knitting books on sale for a dollar plus wool to keep me going hopefully through the coming winter. My girlfriend who was with me at the time happened to mention that the four large balls of cotton yard that I'd purchased to knit a blanket is the "perfect' color to go on her couch upstairs in her home..so one Christmas present is looked after. Perhaps more than one as I'm going to make my granddaughter a hat. Just finished making myself a cotton hat and I'm quite pleased with it.

I find it very difficult to watch tv without having busy hands either crocheting or knitting. Being a huge reader I also purchase most of my books second-hand, then recycle them again. Nearly all my library of gardening books have come by way of second-hand stores. I do get a thrill from buying something brand new but my clothes closets are rather bulging now so off I go to see if I can recycle some clothes and remember NOT to repurchase them when I next go to the Salvation Army!

My Brother Came For a Visit

It is still sweltering in Muskoka. We are entering our 3rd week of a continuing heat wave. I never thought I'd wake up in the morning thinking: "sure hope it's cooler today". I'm beginning to think heat of this kind for too long could drive me crazy..there is just no relief  from it except sitting in front of a fan or going into our little 15 foot, blue rubber pool..

Some areas around us have received some rain..we have had not a drop as yet. Our lawn is burnt brown so rather rough and scrunchy to walk on. Our granddaughter did well to go in her barefeet this past Sunday. The deck is so hot we must wear sandals up until the point we enter the pool.

We had a busy weekend, but a fun-filled time. My brother Gord and his wonderful wife Pat drove into our laneway this past Thursday a little after 5 p.m. In case we all voted to go downtown later to hear the live music performed at the small wooden gazebo in the park, I asked my husband to bring home pizza for supper. As it turned out, we opted to stay home and go into the pool instead.

I have two brothers and one might say they are opposites..my brother Gord who is a few years older than my brother Kim is very gregarious, loves to talk and has a way of making my husband laugh out loud a lot! One tends to either laugh with my brother or at him. He is a former school teacher so he has an easy way about him with adults and children. We don't see each other often enough.

The men took in the Pioneer Power Show Saturday afternoon while Pat and I had great talks while cooling off in the pool. We all to met up later in the afternoon at a popular Pub downtown that only serves craft beers, which my brother really enjoys. We got into a conversation about styles and types of beer glasses and jokingly I said: "my beer glass is too big and heavy to carry out"...the young man working there heard our comments and before we left handed me my glass, washed and dried to take home..I think we rather entertained him for an hour with our somewhat loud laughter and comments..

We had a great b.b.q. in the evening and then returned to where the Pioneer Show was held as there was an old fashioned barn dance..little did we know we should have taken our own chairs and a cooler of water and pop..it was a very hot evening and nothing was served there. It was an old barn that had been moved and rebuilt on that site so there were a few benches built around the inside, but it was cooler outside. We enjoyed many dances but decided to leave when the square dancing started  as we aren't talented in that department..

Sunday morning got wild when our granddaughter and her mother showed up just at breakfast time, I of course no longer wanted to be part of making breakfast, just wanted to play with Claire..but I kept my focus (and that isn't easy for me) and we all enjoyed a great family time around the breakfast table. Gord and Pat are very fortunate to have twin granddaughters so they enjoyed little Claire very much. Claire doesn't make strange with people she doesn't know and gave us all one of her special hugs and kisses.

Everyone left for home around 1 p.m. so hubby and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, relaxing and reading. Already I miss everyone. I hadn't seen my brother and his wife for two years and we hope to arrange a get-together again in the fall. Perhaps take a boat ride over in Gravenhurst on the famous steamship R.M.S. Segwun. One of my girlfriends and I make it a tradition to go out once a year on the Segwun which is celebrating 125 years this year.

We were much relieved when Pat called to say they arrived home safely, driving through some heavy rain in spots. It usually takes four hours to drive home from here but weekend traffic is double with Cottage traffic heading south to Toronto. I'm already anticipating the fun times we will have if they return early October, more good food, laughter and adventures. I have four siblings and every one has such a different personality. We are each a piece of a puzzle and with a bit of work, it all fits together.

Heat Wave in Muskoka

I realize there is a heat wave in more than our area, but as I live here, this is what I know..We are in the midst of a heat wave that just keeps coming day after day..I have written off the garden, it's too hot, too dry..My husband keeps trying to water it, but it needs far more than he is giving it.

The soil in the garden, flower beds and lawn is like powder, a big wind would blow it away..my question is: "how can the weeds keep growing and be so healthy?"..We seldom use the hose on the flower beds, we have two large rain barrels and two tin wash tubs at the end of two down spouts so we use all the water they contain. But last night I took pity on the front yard perennials and actually used the hose. Everything is sad and drooping.

As I sit writing this I think back to our looooong winters here, we can get frost as early as mid-September making the gardening season very short. We often have snow on Halloween night. I remember one year it snowed on Mother's Day in May. Even though all the snow can be melted in yards in April, a walk in the woods will reveal clumps of snow hidden from the sun.

Around February I start longing for spring, for the sight of tulips and daffodils, something, anything GREEN! I have been known to shovel across my front yard to my three burning bushes so I can clear the branches that are either being held hostage by deep snow or ice. I'm sure the neighbours are talking about that crazy women shoveling her front yard!

What seems to have happened the past couple of years is that April is warmer than May..I get most of my gardening clean-up done in April raising my hopes, then a cold wet May. But for the past two years we have been in P.E.I. in May and this year is was a glorious May, not so the year before.

What do we long for all winter? To throw open the doors and windows to smell fresh spring breezes, air out the house, hear the first robins. But in reality I sit here with drapes closed, the doors shut and fans blowing the warm around and around. It's like living in a box! A box with curtains no less..thankfully we have a screened in gazebo out on our large back deck and as can be seen in the picture I posted a large, blue pool which we put up each June. As we pay for our water useage, it costs more and more to fill it each year. But it is well worth the money, or so we tell ourselves to be able to cool off many times a day. Yesterday I enjoyed it's cooling waters at least 3 times although the temperature was up to 82 degrees so we left the top off last night..

The neighbours who have an inground pool and cover it at night had a temperature of 92 degrees. Off came the cover overnight...it only cooled down 3 degrees. I will soon be checking our pool to see if it dropped down a bit. On these hot days of 35, 37 and 40 degrees, the pool around 78 is more refreshing.

I introduced my granddaughter Claire to our pool several weeks ago, at first she wanted back out again, "no, no," she uttered..then I put in her one leg and told her to splash it..this was fun until she splashed herself in the face. So I handed her over to mommy but later took her into the pool again and she immediately twisted herself so that both her legs where in the water splashing....We also have a small plastic pool for her but it won't be long and she'll want to be in the big one all the time..she loves to play on our deck with a pail full of water, her measuring cups, tea set and teddy bear in his high chair..she will spend an hour feeding teddy bear cups of water, so much water in fact we end up squeezing teddy bear out..

If we had a button we could push to order the weather we wanted in our own yards, mine wouldn't be so hot, there would be fresh breezes and no humidity. Some days I find it hard to breathe. Yes, I wanted warm weather all winter but as I get older I find these high temperatures harder to endure. The weeds don't get banished and the flower beds get ignored but I get a lot of books read! My husband doesn't even want hot meals, he comes home from work hoping for a sandwich. My kind of guy....

When I wake up I think how will I bear yet another sweltering day, it almost makes your mind go crazy until I remember I have the pool and can submerse myself in it as many times as I want. I look longingly at the weather report on the computer every morning hoping it see it might rain and keep our burnt grass from getting worse, help the flowers to lift their heads again and allow me to once again open all the doors and windows. We are never satisfied are we?

Gardening, Who Will Win?

I've just come inside for a cool drink after a couple of hours of weeding, transplanting and trimming in the morning heat. It is going to be 23 degrees this afternoon so I will need to find some shade to work in.

I am encouraged by all the beautiful flowers in my flowerbeds and discouraged that I seem to have some visitors that are eating away at my plants. One of my favorite plants is the hollyhock and this seems to be a favorite salad for our resident groundhog. Other plants have all the tender leaves chewed off them or all the flower buds. My husband has another suggestion as to what be eating my taller plants out in the front yard.

One morning last week as he turned right at the corner of our street he spied two deer meandering down the sidewalk past some town offices. He is thinking perhaps they are nibbling on the taller plants out front and if so, then I may as well say good-bye to them..

I had already mixed up a spray of water and some old dried chili peppers I had around after I replaced them with fresh ones..I sprayed my green peppers in the garden and my pea vines as they were getting gobbled up..this did not seem to work..in desperation I thought if my plants are going to be eaten and killed off, then I will do it myself and mixed up some water with pink Mr. Clean..As I looked at my plants this morning I did not see further damage. Even my beautiful burgundy blanket flowers seem to have escaped as I also sprayed them..much later I remembered to prevent deer eating plants spray water, mixed with an egg, as they don't eat protein...

I tie stakes around my plants when I see they are being nibbled on, I fenced in the vegetable garden and one year had to enclose all the lettuce in order that I didn't have to share it with the rabbits. Now usually I'm quite fond of wildlife, hearing the birds singing all day, seeing the chipmunks run along the deck, watching the hummingbird drink from our feeder then sit on our clothsline. But once they intrude on my territory with the idea of having breakfast, lunch and dinner, even snacking in between meals, that gets my dander up! We have tried for three years to live-trap the ground-hog and set it free miles out in the country to no avail..instead we caught squirrels and racoons.

I told my husband as we finished planting our vegetable garden this week, if the animals keep eating the garden, then next year I'm grassing it in..the neighbour twins were outside weeding just the other side of our garden and commented: "that would not be like you at all, what would you do without your garden?" They have shared much our our produce over the years as I tend to grow more than we can eat. I also share our produce with Jim's daughter, she loves going  into the garden and picking snowpeas to eat. Next year I hope to introduce our granddaughter Claire to planting a few seeds.

I am even thinking perhaps I will dig up the coneflowers and many other flowers the animals are eating and plant something else that they aren't interested in. But I can't seem to give up trying to have a few hollyhocks even though the one out front has buds but not ONE green leaf on it. My double one out back has two or three leaves left and bloomed last year in spite of the ruthless trimming:

     It's always fun to invite some guests to join us around the table..

     We talk and laugh, tell tall tales, drink wine without reading the label...

     But unwanted guests, the four-legged kind who lack an invitation..

     Just give us a splitting headache and add to our aggravation..

     How to be rid of them, what do I do, makes my head go for a spin...

     As a friend of mine used to say: "There's going to be a war..and I'm going to win!"

    

P.E.I. Renovation, Part Two

We are now back home from renovation number two. When my brother-in-law mentioned we had accomplished a lot in six weeks I realized, we have accomplished an amazing amount of work with the help of family and new friends on the island..Three weeks of intense labour in 2011 and three weeks of the same this spring.

We met our goals for this year with time to do some extra work. Last year the entire house was gutted and filled with insulation, plus much wiring was started. This year our goal was to put a cement block wall in the basement and a cement floor. Also the house needed new eave troughs and down spouts. The original eave troughs were made of wood. We kept them partly as a memory of the past plus part of it will go on what I hope one day will be my garden shed.

The first part of an almost ten day job in the basement was to rent a conveyor belt to take out much of the dirt from the basement..what a lifesaver that was not pailing out the dirt..hubby built a homemade tin trough which helped us to slide down 4 pallets of cement blocks to the basement...he then proceeded to make a cement block wall 5 blocks high. A cement truck came two days in a row. 
After such a hard, strenuous job on the wall, we decided to hire a couple of men to pour the cement floor and smooth it out..looks marvelous down there now..a neighbour was asked if he'd be willing to help hubby and his brother make our new steps..they turned out well and we've made much use out of them already..

We will have a terrific amount of storage in the basement now with the newly poured cement shelf which was all dirt before. The funny part but also a very hard part was putting a lot of the dirt we took out, back in for backfilling behind the wall..I also gathered up every stone or rock I could find for backfilling..the men were so exhausted after this job, thankful it was finished. They went on to do more wiring upstairs afterwards, a much lighter job.

We emptied out my shed, no light task either, it was full of many items from the previous owner. Some we will keep, some went to the dump. We also cut the top off a large steel drum and it burned wood or old straw steady for about 5 days..I don't know how any farm survives without one..I also made a huge fire pit after we had a huge burn on site..lining it with bricks from a chimney we tore down and rocks painted white from hubby's barn. My shed got a new door and a new smaller door at one end of the second floor. My hubby is eyeing the shed for his workshop!. I said if that happens, he will need to build me a brand new garden shed..I wonder who will win!

My step-son joined us for two weeks and his fiance joined us for the second week..They both worked hard. My step-son being an arborist trimmed all our apple trees,  plus various other trees..he then planted many sugar maples, two red oaks and pines on our property. I planted a smoke bush, a varigated dogwood, a lilac tree and two witch hazel bushes. My hubby and his son dug up many plants from back home which are all in the above picture. Jim also made the bench. One of many which will be placed around the property so we can one day sit and enjoy the fruit of our labours.

 Trails were made through the woods, more trees were planted in there, mostly hardwoods. Lots of flowers blooming, many I don't know the names of yet, so must find a book of island woodland flowers..also want to be able to identify all the trees.

The three weeks went by very quickly, I managed a couple of afternoons off to go beachcombing or shopping in Charlottetown, but my husband Jim never took a day off..Hard as the work was, it is a labour of love. We feel the hardest jobs are behind us until we start working on his barn and the garage. But for now the house is our priority. We found the huge willow tree out back was a great blessing. A cool place to sit when having our tea breaks and snacks. 

We are finding it harder each year to return back home from the island as the house inside and out has more personality now and we are putting our stamp on it..next year we are thinking of taking our holidays in September..There is still much to do but we can see the end of it all in our mind's eye  better now..As we enjoy our summer back home delighting in our granddaughter Claire we will continue to plan and save for next year's renovation, bringing us closer to sitting on our newly built deck on the island and not doing one lick of work for a couple of hours or even all day!

Spring Has Arrived On Prince Edward Island

It's 6:22 a.m. on a Friday morning and I've been up for nearly an hour. Usually I sleep a good eight hours but last night was one of those nights when a deep sleep wasn't meant to be..I thought I'd sleep extra long too after being up to the farmhouse my husband and I are restoring for our retirement home.

It's hard to tell by the picture but we have 35 acres to play around with, excuse me I meant work forever on, but one needs a hobby when a person retires, right? Thankfully a farmer a few miles down the road from us is using our land for soy beans this year and last year planted potatoes..We will never have to buy potatoes which is an added bonus. By his using our fields we are keeping the weeds down and more trees from growing where not wanted at least at present.

Not knowing fully what one acre looks like, it's hard for me to estimate how many acres of woods we have but at the back of the last field, our wonderful woods start..I am guessing 15 acres at least are trees of all kinds. In my front yard I have what I hope turns out to be a crab apple tree, the leaves right now are a gorgeous red. We have two willow trees, it took me quite a few hours to pick up all the branches that came down over the winter. It's a lot of fun to watch the huge buds of the chestnut tree unfurl and I'm anticipating the half dozen apple trees will blossom before we leave in early June.

There are many other apple trees around the perimeter of the property but what kind is not known yet. But the MacIntosh tree by the garage produces delicious apples which I tried one fall when here. I have set myself the task of doing some weeding while waiting for my husband and his son to arrive, I arrived a week ahead of them..The burning bush out front reminds me of our home in Muskoka as we have 3 out front..I happily discovered some peonies, struggling to be seen in the lawn, hidden by the long grass, so shovel in hand I started digging around them..years ago someone planted chives among them, a strange combination to me but I left it there. I also weeded around my two rhubarb plants out behind my little barn, then started on pulling the long grass around the raspberry canes. Another delightful surprise is the wild cranberries growing in the front lawn.

As P.E.I. is known for it's blueberries, I anticipate planting some bushes as I try and eat a small bowl everyday, they are so tasty and good for you. Inside the house I have been vacuuming and sweeping, seems lots of flies took up residence over the winter. I have so enjoyed cranking out our new windows which replaced 6 old ones last year. That just leaves 6 more to replace perhaps this year.

We took the house back to it's studs inside to insulate so you might say we are starting from scratch. It's a huge job and sometimes it's hard to see the end result in my mind's eye. But it's a labour of love and the closest I'll ever get to a "new" home. I get to chose all the new light fixtures, sinks, flooring, paint colors and on and on..Some furniture we will bring from home, two antique pieces have just been given to us and some my husband will make. Did someone say "Hodge Podge?"..It will all come together and look great in the end.

Can't wait for Monday night when hubby will arrive, he will be tired sharing 18 hrs. of driving with his son but if I know hubby he will be up bright and early Tuesday morning raring to start the next project on our wee house..In a project as big as this, sometimes I get impatient and want it all done now! But patience must win out as holidays only last for 3 weeks and money doesn't grow on trees. As soon as we get back home, the saving starts all over again for next year's holidays and renovation. Thankfully there is still lots of time for me to change my mind about where the closets will go and which room will be the spare room as I find myself second guessing myself from day to day. Everything will fall into place all in good time and as I watch the eagle outside my bedroom window enjoy his morning flight I'm at peace and all is well.

Farm House Renovations in P.E.I. (Again!)

I am heading off to Prince Edward Island the first of May, about a week and a half before my husband and his son. So the above picture could represent my saying "hooray". Actually the picture is a victory of sorts as I'm standing on my sister Jane's front porch. She purchased this sweet house on the West end of the island. After much driving around the area last summer and phoning her back home from a fabric shop in O'Leary, we found it! It was a cold, rainy day also, so double victory for persevering..

This will be my last blog until I return from the island but as I don't blog daily or even weekly, who will notice? My husband with step-son Ryan who is joining us for two weeks of  hard work, will drive out to the island, leaving May 13th. Ryan is an arborist so thrilled he will trim the apple trees on our property, plus plant some trees he has purchased for us. I don't know when he thinks he will get time off to do that!

I'm busy doing laundry, packing clothes, hubby's and mine plus a box of books I've finished for my sister and brother-n-law who I'll be driving to the island with..they are presently in Noranda, Quebec and we will leave the first of May. I'm also packing some extra gardening tools, hoping I might have time to start some gardening this year. Probably all I'll manage is digging out the weeds around the rhubarb!

My sweet sister who nominated me for the "Sunshine" Award because my nickname for her is "Sunshine" has a list of questions that need to be answered and I need to nominate others for this reward..I call her "sunshine" as she was born when I was twelve and she was like a real live doll for me. I carried her everywhere, she brought such joy into my life. We don't live very close to each other, so I haven't seen her for over a year but a few years down the road we will both be living on the island..funny thing is, about the same distance apart that we live now..I'm in the East end.

Here are the questions:

1) What is my favorite color: If I had to live with only one color it would be red..it's cheerful, perks me up and looks good with my grey hair..

2) My favorite animal: It would definitely be a dog. Years ago when my children were small we purchased our first poodle. After it passed on, we purchased an apricot one. My hubby likes larger dogs of course, so hope we find one to suit us both once we live permanently in P.E.I.

3) My favorite number: That would be a 4..I never had a fav. number for years, then I did this quiz and after I added this, subracted that, on and on, up came a four..let's hope it's lucky.

4) Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Wow, have to choose between coffee, Pepsi, Cream Soda, Welch's Grape Juice..that's hard, choose what I like or what's good for me..Beer! oh wrong answer, Pepsi..

5) Prefer Facebook or Twitter: neither, don't use either one..(and to my friends who want me to, don't hold your breath!)

6) What is my passion? That's so hard, in summer it's gardening and winter it's reading or watching movies. Okay, only one again. Reading, as I can't imagine life without doing it.

7) Prefer giving or receiving gifts. Both..love giving pleasure to others but also like receiving.

8)Favorite pattern: I like plaid but it makes me look too heavy, have a favorite paisley blouse I wear a lot but also love polka dots. Stripes going up and down are slimming. Only one..well, how about tweed.

9) Favorite day of the week: Fridays..Hubby and I have dated on Friday nights going on fifteen years. We usually eat out and often go dancing.

10) Favorite flower: Now that's very difficult. But I'm going to say pansies. I just purchased eight containers of them. Their colors are amazing. Purple looks like velvet and they always smile at me with their cute faces.

Now I must pass this "Sunshine" award on so I pass it on to: "That British Woman" , to my brother at "It Strikes Me Funny" and "The Witch's Island",  enjoy reading them all..

Hubby and I are so excited to start our 2nd huge renovation at our farm house, it's a lot of hard work, it's tiring and thrilling all at the same time. Bedtime comes really early, then up again full of energy to start the process all over again. Better get back to my packing, can't forget my work gloves, hammer and lots and lots of vitamins!