Still Spending...

I certainly made the right decision to travel less this year - the money saved is going to lots of other things like two pairs of glasses (received today!), vet bill, federal/provincial gov'ts in the form of more taxes because I just haven't paid ENOUGH!, Petsmart, ancestry.ca renewal, Amazon Prime renewal, Red Cross monthly donation etc etc BUT on the bright side my brother and I booked our flights yesterday to Glasgow hip hip hoorah!! It's official now - we leave on Sept. 12 and return Oct. 4th.
We were able to get non-stop over night flights and will take a train to Stirling where we will have a rental car waiting for us. Having a car will give us access to a wider range of accommodations as we can stay out in the country instead of just in city centres. I've been looking at air bnbs, bnbs, guest houses and the like and they are expensive and getting all booked up already! Out in more rural areas the going rates are somewhat lower.

That's the good news...

The other good news is that Lily is all better and back to racing around the house like a demon cat.

Well, not in this photo obviously - you can't let the sunshine go to waste!!

Then Kazi came down with the flu and I spent a week nursing her back to health and I didn't catch it from her thank goodness. The flu around here has been sooooo bad this year so we took it pretty seriously. Since she already had the flu she couldn't get the flu shot but we had to get this other Tamiflu medication (pill form) which was supposed to help with symptoms and reduce the length of time she would be sick. Since the flu shot was based on last year's virus it really wouldn't have helped her anyway but with the other meds she was only sick from Sunday to Thursday, went back to work half days on Friday and Saturday. Then Monday was Family Day so she had Sunday and Monday for further resting.

Between the -25c to -30c temperatures and major snow storms in January and illnesses in February I'd say 2018 hasn't got off to the greatest start. The really BIG NEWS right now is that the Thames River has flooded its banks here in London as we had steady rain for 60 hours straight and the mild temperatures caused all the snow to melt. Kilally Meadows where I go to walk is completely submerged.

This is a photo taken from a police drone video. You can see police cars blocking access to the Kilally Meadows parking lot which is way down to the right. The large building to the left of the police cars is The Waltzing Weasel pub where I stop for a cold one after a long summer hike. Beyond the other grey building, dead centre, is where the mini-golf course is and the driving range just beyond the trees. On the far right of the photo is where the baseball diamonds are and where I watch the ospreys. Beyond the top edge of the photo is where the forests, meadows and trails are. I won't be walking in there any time soon!

The photo below shows Gibbons Park where I ride my bike in the summer. 

We usually have a little bit of flooding in the spring but I've never seen it like this before and I've lived here since 1981. Scary stuff. Yesterday we had a bright sunny day but we've had more rain today and more is in the forecast. I can't wait for a stretch of nice weather! I could be waiting for awhile yet!

What's the BIG NEWS in your area??

Thursday - the Non-Existent Day

Well, not totally non-existent...but close! Thursday (yes, I'm still catching up!) began with a nice hike from Gibbons Park in London up to the University and back making various expeditions on side trails along the way. The flooding of the Thames hasn't been too severe this year so while we encountered some muddy spots none of the trails were flooded. I'm still having some pain in the backs of my legs so am trying to remember to do lots of hamstring stretches. Is there a muscle that hasn't hurt in my body the last couple of months??? (said in my best Chandler Bing voice - we've been binge-watching Friends lately!)

 It was a really mild day and I was in my shirt sleeves before too long. After the hike we went for coffee but my head was aching and I was feeling tired so I trekked on home. I caught up on (see, it's a theme, a boring theme but a theme nonetheless!) two days of newspapers and had some homemade ratatouille for lunch. I must have added too much hot sauce though as I ended up with heartburn AND a headache - not a good combination. So I stretched out on the sofa, kitten tucked cozily behind my legs, and listened to a book on my iPad while dozing off and on until 9:30pm!!

Good grief! At that point I got up and went to bed!

And that was Thursday...

On Friday there was no hike so a friend and I walked at the BMO centre which has an indoor track. I made up for my couch potato status the previous day by also going for a 2 hour bike ride (yes, another nice mild and sunny day) and then I finished raking and cleaning up the back patio.

Then I walked over to the Wine Rack and bought a bottle of chilled Reisling, bought some socks, a tank top and some undies at Giant Tiger plus took advantage of their "special" - buy a bottle of Windex and get a free package of paper towels - and walked home where I made myself a lovely white wine spritzer and enjoyed the fruits of my labour out on the patio with the kittens.

I wrapped up the day by watching the last episode of "The Slap" on Netflix which I highly recommend. I'd read the book last year and thought it was good. Don't slap a kid, please, especially someone else's!! All hell will break lose, trust me! In fact, just don't slap anyone, including animals! Have a wine spritzer instead!

**Oh yes, speaking of kids...Kazi is in Austin,Texas this weekend! A company that she sells concert tickets for sent her to Texas to a music festival - all expenses paid. All she has to do is write a review of the festival. Cool eh? That would be her dream job if she could live on nothing. In other Kazi news she now has some furniture!! Woo hoo...we're getting close to independence - I can feel it! A friend of hers who worked for Target's head office before they closed it and all the Target stores here in Canada is moving back home to go back to school and gave Kazi some of her furniture.

I'm sure it's an omen of things to come!

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Gibbons Park, London Ontario