Media Call.

One of the charity's I work for has been invited to be part of an event that includes a movie premiere, a first showing in Canada. We are honored to be part of this amazing opportunity. Part of our commitment is to be available for things like a media call. I was asked to be on the radio and tv on Friday and brought along our little guy to the studio. I've done tons of media over the years, but he's never had a chance to come to a studio before. A big treat for our little guy.

The crew were amazing, even putting him right in the control room during the shoot. We discovered later in the day when we got to see the taping (it was shot and shown live but they keep a tape and sent us the link) that he was in a bunch of shots. They thought he was amazing and kept showing the control room where he'd peek out from his chair with a big grin and a thumbs up! He has great aspirations to be an actor and it's so much fun seeing his vibrant personality shine through. I have no doubts he'll be somebody one day. Too much character in this little body!! I can't wait to see it unfold.

Pergola Lights.

Our Pergola will be going up in the

next week or so on the new deck.

We chose this set, with 40 lights to

twinkle on the nights we want to sit

outside under the stars. The wood

for the structure has been ordered and

once it's hear, we can start the build.

I've always dreamed of a Pergola! I

can't wait wait to hang the lights and

maybe next year, some hanging baskets.

Wish us well as we sort the wood and

get our little Pergola up on the deck.

Life is Heavy.

Sometimes life gets heavy. Today, with the low clouds, the high heat and a troubled heart, I've tried hard to be good to myself, knowing tomorrow will be better. It's getting through a day like today that is so hard to navigate. I think the hardest thing for me is that I am the counsellor for everyone else. I help individuals and families figure out life and death and everything in between. I'm damn good at my profession and take pride in working with those who struggle. But when it comes to my own "stuff" truly I have no one who can help me. So I go it alone, suck it up and wait for tomorrow. My dh is so comforting and listens well but he can't fix whatever my worry is. My mom used to be my biggest confidant but with her memory fading away, I can't talk with her like we used to. It's hard when we visit and she asks me "how are you?" like she knows I need to talk but I can't. Half of our visit now consists of me helping her remember who each of us is and then the second half is joking around as she shares stories and quips. I love our visits but I miss our old chats. So much ....

For now, I'll muddle through this hard day, get my work done, try to find some special moments and choose between tackling my worries or burying them for another day. One day I hope I can find someone I can trust as much as my mom but for now, after too many incidents where my trust has been broken, I'll have to rely on my resiliency and my hope that as always, tough moments are short lived and the real things that are important are the moments to live and to cherish. 

What things make life hard for you?

When life is hard, how do you cope?

Tree Down.

A wicked wind storm last week brought

this tree down across from our hospice.

It's hard to tell but the large bough was

actually resting on the top of the roof.

It was bending down to the ground and

the family inside had to use their back door.

Finally a crew from the City came out

and cut it back. The tree is now half the

size, the branched are now mulched,

the family is safe, but the roof is a bit

damaged. Thankfully, the tree didn't

go right in to the house. A true miracle!

Sunny Sunday.

It's a long weekend here in our region ~ the Heritage Day celebration. Canada is a favorite location for those seeking a new home and our culture is diverse and rich. This weekend is an opportunity to experience the vastness of our "melting pot" community. In the river valley, a 3 day festival is on, rain or shine, and thousands will descend on the large park that hosts the event. We used to take our kids but haven't gone in a while. Big crowds aren't my thing and I'd rather use the weekend to reflect on our heritage and enjoy our home and our garden. Spending time with clients and families all week long makes our weekends very precious to our well being.

We planned out our long weekend to include yesterday as a working day (I work on Saturdays and it was busy but we got lots done), today is gardening day and tomorrow is fun and visiting day with family. I have to have a 3 day weekend like everyone else so technically I should have Tuesday off but I think I'm going to bank it as we have a big even this coming week. With extra hours, I plan to add this day and the hours and other days I've kept to have a week off in early September. We have so much happening this month, all good stuff, that having a bit of time off once it's all done makes the extra work and hours worth the time. Ah, time off!

Gardening today is going to start with weeding, then we're laying landscape fabric down on the areas that will be getting rock. If we're not careful, we can get too many weeds and I really don't want to spend each and every weekend pulling weeds for hours on end. So fabric, rock, cedar chips and limestone will help keep the majority of it at bay. We're also hoping today to start building up the front walkway. It has a couple of spots that fill with water when we get too much rain and in the Winter, there is times that those spots melt then freeze, making our front walk not always the safest route for visitors. We have a plan to rectify this. Hoping it works! If not, we may have to regrade the whole area, which is not our wish. We'll try this plan first. Fingers crossed.

Our veggie patch is growing well and we also plan to pick some items today for dinner. Peas, beets, maybe some onions and we'll try to pollinate the pumpkins and zucchini. The cucumbers aren't doing very well so I may pull those out and see if we can grow more peas. Strawberries are small still but they keep growing so we'll see how they fair. This is truly our "experimental garden" and for a first try, we're not doing too bad at all. I'm impressed! It's fun to walk down to our patch each night to see what has popped up since the day before. Now I want a greenhouse, so we've been doing some research to find out what would fit, what holds up with our Winter weather and what we'd get the most use out of. I've decided I don't want a plain aluminum look but a lovely black framed unit. And just found out yesterday I can order the decorative ridge cresting to add a Victorian look to whichever greenhouse we end up choosing. I'm also looking for a book to buy so we can read up on greenhouse gardening over the Winter as we prepare for next season. Can't wait already.

After our landscaping and gardening work, we'll shower, have a lovely dinner and hope to sit out on the patio for a fire. Or lounge on the deck. Either one will do to relax.

Wishing you a wonderful day?

What are your plans this sunny Sunday?

Fun Meetings.

Just for fun, we started a music

festival in our community. It's

a ton of work but so far, we're

enjoying the process and even

our meetings are events that we

look forward to attending. And

sometimes, the beer comes out!

Not mine, as I don't drink beer.

But one of my table mates did

enjoy a cold one at our last session.

Me? A cold bottle of water and

a clear mind was all I needed.

Stormy Skies.

We went in to the grocery store with light

skies and came out a short time later to this .... 

Very fast moving, dark and loud clouds

with intense lightening all the way home.

We were trying to beat the rain but it

began just before we got to our road.

The clouds kept peaking down to the horizon.

There were no tornado warnings were in place.

Just dark, stormy skies and loud thunder

that shook our car, with crazy lightening.

Tonight, the rain has tapered off but we

can see more storms will hit overnight.

Truly we need this rain after a solid week

without any moisture. I just wish we could

have lovely, soft rain instead of the storms

we keep getting. Makes for long nights.

Light Fare.

Organic orange cauliflower from our local Farmer's

Market (so fresh), chicken from Costco (so yummy)

and warm, fresh naan bread with butter (so filling).

Light dinner tonight after a busy and work filled day.

How was your day today?

Did you have a light dinner?