So Long April

April was more like winter than spring this year; I can't say I'm sad to see it go!

May is my favourite month and not just because my birthday is in May. No.....I love May because the weather is usually crisp and clear, not too hot and not too cold.  The bugs (mosquitos) aren't out in full force yet and the wild flowers are coming into bloom. There is usually more sunshine than rain. I can get out on my bicycle everyday to see what's new...trout lilies, bloodroot, coltsfoot, marsh marigolds, lily of the valley, lilacs etc....

This year we had more rain than usual sometimes getting 2 weeks worth in 2 days. And the river showed it by overflowing its banks not once but twice so far this spring. It made cycling a bit tricky and I often had to turn around and paddle peddle back to shore!

Remember these photos?

The river is now back where it belongs..... (two days later).

 The photo below I took while I was cycling - I'm a bit of a risk taker........CRASH!

One more photo for today - This was on the wall of a vegan restaurant I went to last Sunday for a fundraiser dinner (very yum!!) and the picture gave me a little giggle as it's based on a hip-hop song with the line "everyday I'm hustlin'". Kinda cute.

We had - roasted tomato soup with quinoa croutins and vegan parmesan cheese - excellent!! Then the entree was eggplant with roasted veggies and fresh sprouts and some sort of sauce reduction followed by New York Cheesecake (the crust made of crushed nuts....(not sure what the cheesecake is made out of for it to be vegan).

All washed down with a new local craft beer - Andersons.

There was a raffle and I bought several tickets but didn't win anything but my friend Julie won a bag of coffee beans! Hopefully she'll share :)

Still to come - April's finances.....

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!

Bye Julie, I miss you already!!

Yesterday my friend Julie, who has spent the last 3 weeks with me, had to return to London, Ontario. She is such a good friend to put up with my rolicking emotions - up one day, down the next. She was here when I woke up one morning knowing I had to sell Crofters Lane and go back to London. She has been fully supportive of my decision and has helped me get the place ready to sell by painting and keeping me fed while I sort through my belongings.

For example, she'd make me a bacon and tomato sandwich for brunch then cook up chicken breasts on the BBQ and make a fabulous salad for dinner. Do you know what I had for dinner tonight? A jar of beets and a concoction from my juicer: carrots, pineapple, sweet potato and 2 apples. Well, the juice was for breakfast and lunch and there was about half a glass left that I enjoyed as a side dish to my big bowl of beets :) I'm so silly. Oh, and a beer!

So we were off to the big city of Charlottetown and had lunch at my favorite place - The Gahan House. I had a pint of their famous in-house craft red amber beer :p and their island famous Brown Bag Fish & Chips while Julie splurged on lobster fettuccine and white wine. Then a little shopping and off to the airport...

                                    The inimitable Jules!

                          View from our table at the Gahan House.  (well, I zoomed in a bit!)

                        Yes, indeed it is!!

                      My favorite place in the world for fish and chips...for now...

                                       Oh, just because :)

                                Me and my reflection - I like how I can take a selfie while still keeping
                                            one hand in my pocket lol!

So today it was back to life on my own.  I didn't mope - nope. I got busy - I cleaned out the fridge and wiped down all the shelves. I painted trim and touched up cupboards etc., I made juice, I called the plumber yet again, I arranged for my lawn guy to come and mow, I cleaned some windows (need to do the outsides), and made a wonderful dinner :) !! I read for awhile and caught up on blogs. The book I'm reading is called "Wild (Oprah's Book Club Edition) A Journey from Lost to Found" - which is about a woman who walked the Pacific Coast Trail after losing her mother to cancer, divorcing her husband, getting involved with heroin and otherwise getting totally lost in her grief. I'm hoping it provides me with some inspiration and ideas on moving forward in life after loss.

And now good night - it's been a long day and tomorrow is an exercise morning!

I'm a little behind...

which is very different from "having a little behind"...

I have been lax of late in reporting the # and kind of items I am bringing home from school.  Let me clarify...I continue to bring 3 or more items home daily but have been a bit slow in taking photos and uploading those photos to my new laptop. And of course I excuse my neglect by pointing out, once again, that I am still learning how to use my Macbook Pro.

So, for the first time I have uploaded my photos and will post them in today's post! Yay!

If I were bi-polar, which I don't think I am, I could say that that explains the rather huge swings in my emotions of late, but since I don't have that claim I blame my mood swings on life in general - in one moment I feel higher than the loftiest of kites only to come crashing down into a tree like Charlie Brown's ill-fated kite.  One moment I feel on top of the world when the reality of my impending retirement hits home, only then to sink into the abyss when I realize the many challenges of my retirement journey.  That, in itself, is a complete series of posts!

For today I will stick with the decluttering of my work environment, the great things I nabbed at the recent silent auction held at my school and the results of my recent and continuing work around the house.

So...here goes...

A box my brother gave to me years ago... and some videotapes I just can't get rid of yet...

 videotapes of Kazi's favourite shows when she was about 4 or 5 years old... call me sentimental!

Inside that box...labels and sticky notes galore...will I still use sticky notes when I'm not a teacher any longer? My gut says yes!!

From the silent auction - a gorgeous book bag along with three books I haven't read yet...I am preparing my summer reading program...I think I paid about $13.00 in total - each of the books is labelled for a much higher price :)

Some CDs that I brought home this past week and there are still lots more at school. No wonder poor Kazi would get upset with me eh?  So many things around the house ended up in my classroom for some reason or other...though I promise you I never took anything that she was currently using...

 My Christmas CDs - won't be needing them at school any longer...

My thermometer...I think this will be very handy to have at Crofters Lane in PEI...

 We have more spices than the average household since I took this set to school...then I would have to buy duplicates to use at home!!

I won this gorgeous plate at the silent auction - I paid $12.00. Perhaps a bit pricey but it was instant attraction so I had to have it...

This lovely flower has a tea light in it - I am changing the powder room counter to a black/grey granite look (more about that later) so this candle holder will look fabulous! ($6.00)

Last but not least I purchased this tea mug for Kazi as I thought it suited her personality and she loves her tea! ($8.00)

I think I am still way ahead of my April challenge of bringing at least 3 items home per day.  I will be continuing this challenge for May and June as well as getting rid of obsolete materials so the classroom and my office will be ready for the incoming teacher. All teachers tend to hoard materials as we "never know when we might need something"!

OK, on to the renos & redecorating...

Last weekend my friend Julie spent a couple of days with me...she painted this shelf in the kitchen to match the wall colour so it looks like it's part of the wall...I love how bright the fruit looks now...

I tackled wallpapering the foyer and then putting up the mirror and the shelf underneath. I used to always have a table under the mirror piled with crap and making the foyer appear narrower than it is.

 The smaller wall shelf opens up the space while still leaving a spot for mail or keys. The wallpaper is just a textured beige colour and helps to cover up the hallways many bumps and bruises. This area is finished except for a piece of trim where the walls meet the ceiling.  I can handle that myself.

 The dining room is finished. I love the soft colour. The plate on the table I got at Winner's on sale for $7.00 and it matches the picture on the wall perfectly - a pop of colour from a spray of poppies.

 This little shelf was painted a burgundy colour so I repainted it white - it's near the front door and holds our keys.

This you may have already seen - I'm very proud of this room. The new curtains are a great match to the gorgeous area rug. The walls were a mess and it took me two days to repaint them. I had to add a coat of primer because the upper half of the walls were painted green while the lower half had wallpaper which I removed a few months ago. There had been many pictures on the walls along with a large mirror. Once all removed there were a couple of dozen holes to spackle, sand and then paint. Now you can't tell where any of the holes were - it looks amazing. The colour is called Swan White and is a nice soft and creamy colour.

 The kitchen is finished...for now.  When I come back in the fall I am replacing the double sink, faucet and probably the countertop. What has been done? New ceramic tile floor and white subway tiles for the backsplash, new handles on all the cupboards and drawers, two coats of Extreme White on walls and ceiling, new light cover, a good cleaning and new shelf paper and the shelf painted to match the walls. Oh, and you can see I'm still making green drinks! Marjorie - I did explore the Omega juicers but went with a new Breville for now. However when the condo is sold I'm giving the Breville to Kazi and buying myself the Omega as it can also be used to make nut butters & milk, hummus and sorbet!!

 I am very happy with my dining room too. The table had been holding all of my reno and paint supplies the last couple of months but now I've moved all that to the basement where I will continue my redecorating efforts. Kazi, her boyfriend Steve, and myself had Easter dinner in our new dining room and it was FAB to have a nice place to eat once again. Kazi has influenced Steve's eating habits (formerly a strictly meat and potatoes kind of guy) and now he is enjoying her juicing efforts as well as eating tons of salad and other vegetables. A convert!!

It's a calm and beautiful room. Walls spackled and painted a soft colour called "Meeting Room" which sounded appropriate. New hardwood floors and baseboard, new area rug, new curtain & rod.

Here's a final shot of the foyer (look, there's Dougie the Dodge!!) and I'm happy how it's come together. New vinyl floor, new wallpaper, more spacious with the exchange of a shelf instead of a table which stuck out into the space.

I'll be doing whatever else I can fit into the last two months before I head to PEI for the summer and fall. When I return I can devote my whole days to finishing the basement and upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.  It will be wonderful to have nothing but FREE TIME to get things done. Then it'll be up for sale in early 2015.

My FIVE YEAR PLAN is coming together. Sometimes (most of the time) it doesn't feel real. Occasionally I feel a jolt of PURE JOY but mostly it still feels like a dream.

If you made it to the bottom of this lengthy photo-filled post you are a true friend :) I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. The sun is shining here in London, Ontario although still cold. I have the recycling to get ready, two narrow strips of wallpaper to add to the foyer near the front door (then that's done!), leek soup to make, green drinks to make and I'm due to give myself a haircut later (I trim it myself every two weeks!)

Toodles!