Catching Up

It's been a busy time here at Crabapple Landing and beyond. The last time I posted was on Tuesday - since then I've been too occupied elsewhere or recuperating from a head/stomach ache. So I'll be posting about the (recent) past playing catch up!

Wednesday was trailer day. Wow, the weather was so nice! However...the difference in temperature between London and Bayfield, where the trailer is located, is about 6 degrees. Here's why...

The ice on Lake Huron, which was especially thick this year due to our month or more of -30c temperatures, is still breaking up!

Despite that the temperature was a balmy 12c while it reached 18c in London. It was warm enough for me to be in short sleeves after raking for several hours. About 6 hours to be exact!

My yard was full of leaves...and I mean FULL! In the midst of my travail the original owners of the trailer stopped by, Ross and Linda, very nice people. They've offered to help me in any way they can as they've always been fond of their first trailer but have since purchased a year round trailer instead just down the road from me. How fortunate for me! However when they told me they regularly raked 30 bags of leaves.....!!!

This is the area at the back of the trailer - there is a nice cozy area where there is a swing - a quiet spot for a book and a glass of wine:) To the left of this picture is the shed which you can see in the next photo...

That's my fire pit and unfortunately there's a massive amount of my leaves...

Ross told me all about the shed...it was originally built as a bunkie with a large storage box on the left side which accommodated a single mattress. The shed has a couple of windows and a small porch on the front. There is also overhead storage which he showed me how to access. There's all kind of stuff up there so I'll have to explore next time I'm there.

I didn't get all the leaves bagged as I ran out of bags! But all of these in this picture are gone. I filled about 20 bags so far. Then I filled a few with the refuse left behind in the trailer. The previous owners, not to be confused with the original owners, didn't do a very good job cleaning it out. So quite a few more bags went to the dumpster with children's toys (they had 6 kids!) and crap from the cupboards and closets. Nothing I wanted to keep and use.

I took a lot of bins of stuff up to the trailer - towels, sheets, dishes etc but didn't unpack anything as I haven't cleaned inside yet. It could be another week before I get back as the mild temperatures we have been enjoying are not sticking around past tomorrow and the water isn't turned on yet at the trailer park. Tomorrow I have a 16km hike and then it's rainy and much cooler next week.  It was nice while it lasted - I went on several hikes and rode my bike twice - 2 hours at a time. My patio is all cleaned up and the kitties and I have really enjoyed being outside. The kittens spend most of their time trying to swat bugs out of the air - pretty comical!

CUTENESS ALERT!!

Gee, who does this remind of you of SonyaAnn? Lily looks a little concerned about the fact that she's making a cozy nest for herself in the messy linen closet. Or perhaps she's telling me to clean it up!

Luna almost disappears into the furry blanket she's napping on...

Lily's having a snooze on my lap - I love it when she lays on her back with her paws in the air:)  She looks pretty pleased with herself.

And that's a wrap for today. I'm off to volunteer at a fundraiser - there's an Elvis impersonator and everything!! More later!

A Day at the Beach!

So what does a retired teacher do now that school is back in session?? Why...go to the beach of course!! Bayfield beach to be precise - one of my favourite places to relax. There's a nice pier to walk out on, a beautiful marina with several quaint old building and boat houses. Thursday was sunny and hot - so a trip to the beach seemed like the natural thing to do!

 A LUCKY photo of a sandpiper walking in between me and the lake just as a wave was crashing on the shore.

It's not the ocean, but it sure is pretty.

The fishermen were out as usual on the pier.

 Andy many sailboats were out on the somewhat choppy water.

 I count 4 in this picture alone!

 The seagulls were busy basking in the sun and eating the popcorn Julie kept throwing in their direction.

 Walking on the pier - I did go and see a trailer I was interested in but I seem to be dragging my feet.  I'm going to wait til after my trip before I make a decision...or put in an offer...

I'm way out on the pier but zoomed in on Julie and our spot without her realizing it!

 I find there are LOTS of photo opportunities at the marina.

 These lights along the pier always make me think of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I expect Tumnus to wander into sight any minute!

 The colours are so bright and crisp in the warm sunshine.

 However fall is definitely on the way - the purple martin houses are deserted now.

 I love this boat - I'm not sure if it's operational - I've never seen it move from this spot.

 A POSTCARD shot :)

 I've often thought I could live in a houseboat.

There's Jules...I'm going to sneak up on her! Shhhhhhh!

Trailer Talk

** Late Breaking News!!

I've been hemming and hawing, wondering what to do about my trip to England in light of the ongoing volcanic eruptions in Iceland which as you might remember shut down all European flights in 2010, over 100,000 flights in total!! Another eruption occured last night and continues to spew magma but there is no ash, just steam and the latest updates seem somewhat reassuring:

"Fissure eruption small and contained

Although Sunday's fissure eruption was more powerful than the one on Friday, experts said the situation is contained and is unlikely to result in the same level of aviation chaos as in 2010."

So, I'm NOT going to cancel my trip - I'm going to go on the assumption that all will work out.

On Friday I visited the trailer park where I used to own a trailer. Since I sold it to friends I decided it would be ok to park in front of the old place while I looked over a few trailers for sale. I couldn't resist taking some photos of all the perennials/bushes/trees I had planted over the years and still feel attached to - the zebra grass is suffocating the Japanese willow to its left but the black-eyed susans are holding their own! The current owners don't seem to believe in pruning so the place is looking a bit wild.

That's a shot of the lilac tree I planted - for 2 or 3 years it didn't bloom but I could see that it had bloomed this past spring :)

The spiraea bushes continue to prosper and it looks like some of the "susans" have jumped over to join them.

 The other flowering bushes I planted to add privacy are doing that job very well!! There's little lamb hydrangea and abelia and they really need some pruning - anyone sitting at the picnic table could get devoured!!

 The outside light is going to soon disappear! We transplanted a couple of these tall purple flowering plants (they were the only plant here when I bought the place and I still don't know what they're called!) and they are doing very well!

I did a lot of planting to create privacy from the road for the firepit area and it worked!! It's like The Secret Garden! Tall grasses, Virginia Creeper, more abelia and little lamb hydrangea...

My outdoor decorations are still hanging around :)

 The virginia creeper almost blocks the view from the nosy neighbour's window!

My creation using a pair of shutters etc blocks out the neighbours quite well but once again some pruning would be helpful or soon there will no space left to sit around the fire! But I still love the spot and am glad everything is healthy and growing well.

I walked by (several times) each of the trailers I'm interested in. Surprisingly the lot for the $15,000 trailer is WAY nicer and more private than the $50,000 one so I emailed the manager to make a date to see inside. The less expensive lot is larger and has fewer trailers around it and the current owners haven't planted very much so there is potential for me to do lots of gardening. I was also pleased to see lots of people had planted vegetables which is something I'd like to do also. I'll keep you posted!

This Tuesday I take all the real estate papers to my lawyer so he can notarize my signature and then I return them to the other lawyer in PEI. Almost a done deal. AND perhaps I'll have myself a trailer by the end of the week! Keep your fingers crossed! No photos though til it's all worked out.

I'm Here

The last few days have been hellish. Thank goodness for family and friends - my 4 siblings, my daughter Kazi, you, my blog friends, my friends here in London and my friends from the east coast. All of you have helped me out over the past few days.

Moving on is not an easy thing to do but it is the only thing I can do. If you were disturbed, as one reader was, by my not telling both sides of the story, I'm sorry. That post came from a very raw and hurting place - and I can only speak for myself. I don't know the other side of the story or what my part in it was - I was gobsmacked, so to speak, by what occurred.  Previous to that terrible disclosure I was told "it's not you, it's me, you've done nothing wrong."

I was asked to remove the post. So I did. And I apologize if my bitterness put you off. That wasn't my intent. For me my blog is my on-line journal and I feel close enough to you all to share my joys and my despair. It's therapeutic to write about what happens - to "spout off"! Because I know you'll be there for me as I will be for you.

So, moving on...

Once again I found a message on Cora the Colbalt today:

I know, this is getting weirder and weirder! I've decided to just enjoy them - I can pretend I have a secret admirer (even though that is quite a stretch right now).  Or I can apply it to my life somehow - like I need to keep LOVE in my heart - for myself and for others.

It's hard for me to make contact with others when I feel so low - I tend to stay home and feel sorry for myself. So I'll try to keep my heart open and think about what others need, as well as myself.

My accomplishments for this weekend include cooking up some stuffed peppers, making veggie fried rice, quinoa etc. As well yesterday I scraped the caulking from around the bathtub. I tried to reapply new caulking only to find that the caulking I had on hand expired back in '08! So this morning I was off to Home Depot (after scraping a thick layer of snow topped off with ice from the freezing rain yesterday) and bought some new caulking. I haven't taken a picture yet but I will.

However, my main goal this weekend is preparing for Semester 2! Woohoo! Five months left of school :) I don't know yet what I'll do when I retire but I have lots of options. Finishing the condo and selling it is a priority as I can't maintain two houses. I could afford my PEI home and a trailer here somewhere - I did so enjoy the trailer I had in Bayfield. We'll see how it all goes.

And now back to the school books!

Patio Stones - GONE!

Going, going GONE!! That is the theme around here these days. I am quite enjoying the dismantling of the home I've lived in for almost 20 years and watching things disappear! Rereading the last sentence makes me wonder if I've lost it! Well, har har har, if I haven't lost it then I'm getting rid of it!! Good riddance!

The last in the long list of things to BEGONE are our old patio stones.

Remember these ugly things?

No, not my hand-me-down moccasins (I call my style "Early Kazi") but the patio stones behind them. Stained, not level anymore, ugly as sin patio stones?

 All 27 of them carried to Dougie the Dodge by Michael! #28 will continue to reside under the central air conditioner.

Only Michael could still muster up a smile when about to carry #27 to the truck! Honestly, we did try to borrow a wheel barrow with no luck. Michael also asked his son to come and help out but gave up waiting for him to arrive. Kids these days...

Once loaded Michael drove Dougie the Dodge to Bayfield and unloaded all of the patio stones at our old trailer, which friends of ours now own.  We thought they could extend the dance floor....

....which isn't nearly large enough once I get going!  And they could put them behind the trailer where the weeds are rampant...or both!!

I'm just glad they're Gone Baby Gone! (We watched that movie last night on Netflix! How apropos!)

Here's what we plan to do next....

...IF this were our yard...but since it isn't it'll look more like this...

...except we need to get more flagstones and fill in the spaces with something and of course it'll be a bright sunny warm day when we are ready to sell not cold and raining like today!! Hah!

So far we've purchased 1/2 ton of flagstones but they don't go very far. Each time we have to carry a load like that we are soooooo grateful for Dougie the Dodge. He's so big and strong!

And you too Michael, you too!!

A Day at the Trailer - Yes, THAT Trailer!

Long time readers will remember the heart break I went through last summer when I sold THE trailer. Although I couldn't afford to maintain my condo, my retirement home in PEI AND the trailer it was still one of the most painful decisions I'd ever had to make. After the breakdown of my former relationship I was able to heal, recover and find meaning in life again at the trailer. When Kazi's highland dancing career came to an end and we didn't know what to do with ourselves after eleven summers spent dancing our way across Canada the trailer gave a structure to our summers that gave an entirely new meaning to the words SUMMER VACATION!

Well, the good news here is that I sold the trailer at a reduced price to friends of ours. The idea was that we'd still be able to use the trailer in the spring and fall when we weren't out east. BUT once the trailer no longer belonged to me I found that I couldn't go near it! It was too painful to think that it wasn't MY refuge any longer.  I couldn't face going there and when we stopped there once last fall because we were in the neighbourhood I couldn't even get out of the car. Instead I sat in the car and cried while Michael took a look around.

Let me just say this: time is a great healer. Or maybe after several months of winter I'm more willing to give visiting the trailer another shot. I decided a few weeks ago that perhaps we could try spending a little time there and see what it was like. Yesterday with the sun shining and a high of 14c I threw caution to the wind and off we went. We also had plans to visit friends in Goderich and see how the recovery from last summer's F4 tornado was going.

We had an amazing day as these photos will show. It didn't feel weird or awkward or painful. I walked around fondly remembering the day I'd planted the lilac tree, checking for buds on all the perennials I'd planted and being astounded by how high the ornamental grasses had grown. Michael raked the leaves while I relaxed, we reminisced, went to Goderich, then purchased some meat to BBQ, returned to the trailer and had a fire and a great meal. On Wednesday it's supposed to be a gorgeous sunny, mild day so we're planning another "Day at the Trailer"! I'm so excited!

 Cleanup time!

The grasses help block out the neighbours not that anyone else was around yesterday!

 Mr. Sun is weathering nicely.

Me and my friend Stella :)

Reading the Sunday Papers in the warm sunshine - what could be better?

 We left behind pieces our ourselves that greeted us happily once again. It was "inspiring"!

 There was that huge piece of driftwood Michael carried up from the beach a couple of years ago!

 Buds are getting ready to burst open!

 Where's Waldo Michael?

 Me and my shadow.....

 Yup, the high heeled sandal is still in the maple tree!

Last year's fragile blossoms have weathered the winter!

At the trailer we always had the sun, the moon and the stars :)

 The numbers that I installed when I first purchased the trailer to replace the old broken wooden ones.

My lilac tree is bloomin' healthy!

 Here comes Myrtle!

 We like to decorate with driftwood "sculptures"!

 Relaxing on the Rumi bench - Michael and I had many a philosophical discussion here!

Gathering the fallen twigs to use as kindling later.

 Goderich - walking out on the pier. No ice or snow this year.

Spring renewal is one of life's greatest pleasures!

The sun is coming north once again!

The geese were having great fun chasing each other :)

The Ancient Mariner!

 The robins are HERE!

The first campfire of the season!

 Chef Michael at the grill!

 Of course we had to stay and see the sunset - it didn't disappoint!

 Lake Huron, Bayfield, ON

 Soul food!

The scene of many a dance partay!

A great ending to a "refilling the soul" kind of day!