Whadda Week

I'm kind of glad this week is over.  I've debated writing about my little hike in Kilally Meadows earlier this week as my older sister reads my blog and she'll be telling me not to hike there any more or at least stay on the main paths!

I followed my usual route, parts of which are on secondary trails, because I love to explore and this particular section is a spot where goldfinches hang out. As I moved along the very overgrown paths I whacked at the bushes with my big walking stick. I do this because of spider webs that hang from one side of the path to the other - I hate getting them in my face and hair so it's become a habit to move my stick up and down to clear the path. As I got near the end of this path to where there is a little clearing I saw a man with his pants around his ankles sitting on a log or low-lying branch. Caught by surprise (to say the least) I heard my mother's words come out of my mouth as I said "goodness" in a withering voice and moved quickly on.

Now...I'm about 95% sure he was taking a "bathroom break" but I think if that were me I'd say something like "oops, sorry" or "caught short, pardon me" but he was silent. I quickened my pace and moved on. I moved across an open field looking back from time to time but I never saw him again. I'm sure he went in the opposite direction, hopefully mortified!

Then I caught sight of this beauty! It was a lovely few moments as we watched each other.  Until I realized something was biting my legs - I looked down and found about 10,000 mosquitoes sucking my very delicious blood. As I've mentioned before I am a "bug buffet"! I stood still long enough to get 3 photos then slapped myself silly watching the doe run off into the trees. Needless to say I've had a tough week recovering from all of those itchy bites. I try not to scratch at all as they seem to disappear more quickly that way. Anyhoo, I have survived and healed.

Once piece of good news - my daughter finally brought a pickup truck today from work to get her Jeep's hard top which has been sitting on my patio for weeks! Now it's going to sit on her boyfriend's parents' patio! (I'm told their yard is much bigger than mine - I'll take their word for it!) I'm so glad to have that monstrosity gone! So now I have to try and grow more grass in that area- I have successfully grown grass between the flagstones but now have a large area of just dirt.  (Now seeded) I have more room for my patio furniture and plants - but everything needs to dry out as we've had a TON of rain the past few days.

This was the sky on Thursday when I was playing slo-pitch. Shortly after I took this photo thunder started to rumble so the game was called. It rained the rest of Thursday and all day Friday. Today it's sunny and I look forward to everything drying out and having a nice bike ride.

Have a great weekend everyone. Any special plans?

The Jeep has Arrived!

Ain't she a beaut!

Kazi may not leave it white - she might have it "wrapped" as 

she has a friend who does that for a living.

Example:

But, in the meantime...white/charcoal it is!

(My Dougie is in the background!)

I took Kaz out to breakfast yesterday to celebrate. She's so happy!

Though she cried giving up the old Cobalt I gave her years ago. 

Due to the amount of rust on the Cobalt it couldn't be

safetied without major work. So she used it as a trade-in.

And...she broke off a chunk of rust to keep forever!

Yes, she's very sentimental.

Maybe I'll mount it in a shadow-box for Christmas 😊

She's trying to come up with a name for the jeep. 

She called the Cobalt "Stella". Yes, we tend to name everything!

I suggested "Jerry".

I'm pretty proud of my girl. She did all the research, got the best deal she could. Her job with Enterprise helped out too as she was able to drive a ton of different vehicles which helped in her decision. Also, Enterprise is partnered with London Chrysler/Jeep which gave her 10% off the top!

In other news...I briefly looked at ads for a used Jeep then came to my senses! I'm trying to decrease my transportation expenses not increase them. To me, a vehicle has always been a way to get from point A to point B.  I've never cared about "heated seats" or the myriad other perks/options.

An older woman once said to me "you're no plain Jane" but really, I am. The less things that can go wrong with a car is what I'm interested in. We had 3 Cobalts over the years and that was because they were rated as being one of the most inexpensive cars to maintain. And they were.

Buying Dougie was an anomaly for me - he was perfect for PEI. People often ask me why I still drive a truck and I say: I paid cash - a small amount of cash so I owe nothing, he had less than 100,000km on him and currently sits at a low 134,000km, insurance is cheap due to less chance of personal injury in case of a crash, having a truck in the family is very handy, and he makes me walk more....oh, and I LOVE HIM!

I've been lucky (we've ALL been lucky) with the low price of gas over the last couple of years or I would likely have traded Dougie in by now. But I still think - "should I walk or should I drive" every time I go somewhere. And more often than not I walk. Or cycle.

I've been thinking about one last big road trip with Dougie, so considering all of my options of course. I still have a couple of months before my insurance renews so will take that time to make a decision about Dougie. Sell him, give him away, continue as is, insure for just 6 months a year...I don't need to decide today.

Do you have any decisions you're putting off?