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??