$$$$$

Hello my neglected friends.  I'm back to get caught up - lots has been happening, mostly good I'd say. First off - we are holding our own health-wise. Kazi has the first of her quarterly pap tests booked for July. We hope that her next four tests remain clear. She is changing jobs in a few weeks and hopes that it won't be as stressful as her current position. Anxiety is a b--ch!! As for me I have no complaints. Feeling strong, hiking a LOT!  I would like to do an 8-10 day long distance walking trip to the UK but not sure if I can make it happen this year. A lot depends on Kazi's health and of course I want to be close by her just in case.

That's not to say I'm not spending any money - quite the opposite. I finally got my deck/patio project approved by my condo board - yippeeee! But cha-ching!! Wish I was a handy woman some days. But also know this is not a job for an amateur. At least not this one :)  Actually it's not too complicated - there's an A/C unit to work around as well as a window well and the concrete steps. I've let "my guy" know that the project can go ahead - he's thinking around the first of July and it'll take two days to complete. Can't wait to put my patio furniture out on a level platform instead of wobbly flagstones.
Hopeful the chipmunks move on to the neighbour's yard while they're working in mine!

I've been doing a lot inside the house with lots more to do. Yes the spring cleaning will soon become "summer cleaning"! Things are not getting done in a BIG hurry because we've had SOOOOOOOOO much rain that whenever we get a decent day I am out on the trail hiking or biking. We have a lake on the outskirts of London called Fanshawe Lake and there is a trail all the way around it totalling 20kms. It takes me between 4 and 4.5 hours to hike all the way around. It's one of the nicest areas I've ever hiked and I'm so happy it's near me. I bought a yearly pass for only $25 which allows me to drive in, park and then hike the multiple trails as often as I want. A very good deal.

I don't know if you've ever seen something called "Privacy Pop-up" tents for sale in your facebook feed but as soon as I saw them I thought that's for me! I love love love sleeping in a tent and this design is great - your mattress goes inside and there are zippered openings on all sides. Luna and Lily love it too and nap in there. The only problem is I sleep more...is that a real problem? When I posted about it on facebook Carla said they'd got one for their youngest and she loves it and that it was good quality so that was the push I needed to go for it. I really look forward to going to bed now :)

That's not me LOL!

In addition I bought a new mattress and a new bed frame and new bedding - $$$$. (I decided in a conversation with one of my brothers that the retirement money I've been saving since I was in my 20's is for me to use now that I am retired - makes sense right? ) Not all of it at once obviously :)

I'll close with a few photos as usual:

There are hundreds of these bad boys!

Trillims are Ontario's provincial flower - the white ones
are more common than these beauties. Also come
in pale pink!

Sent this photo to my brother who has been in Ireland the last
three weeks - they've got nothing on us!
Green as green can be!

Gorgeous trails, a wee bit of mud here and there but not bad considering all the rain and flooding we've had.

Phlox is in bloom now.

Sunshine!!

and beautiful blue skies!

That path is calling to me!

Fanshawe Lake

More of Fanshawe Lake

Fisherman on the right side of the Thames during flood season.

Today I am thankful for a rainy day as I promised myself to get caught up on the blogs on the next rainy day. As long as it doesn't last for the next few days!

By the Numbers

I have been bogged down lately due to my habit of taking literally thousands of photos when I travel. My recent trip to Scotland was no exception! I snapped crazily away at every waterfall, every mountain, every castle, every sheep, every island...well, you get the picture heeheehee. So far I have "sent to trash" around 1,000 photos due to being blurry, uninteresting, bad light etc. I hope to delete at least another 1,000 over the next few weeks, hopefully more.

So I thought I would do a "by the numbers" post as October has provided a number of numbers...groan...significant ones from my point of view. As the month is rapidly coming to a close this post could also serve as a budget update. Killing a few birds with a couple of big numbers, sort of....here goes.

• 290 + 145 = 435 pounds Sterling still in my money belt after the trip! That's never happened before, usually I spend all of my cash and then turn to credit cards. The 290 is what I had leftover, the 145 was what my brother had leftover and which he gifted to me towards my next trip. He's planning a trip for next year to Ireland where he'll be spending Euros instead. The 290 that I brought back is almost 1/3 of what I took with me (900 pounds) - my brother taught me a thing or two about how to be frugal while travelling :) 
• $411 Canadian dollars each - the total for 3 weeks of renting a car plus gas came to $411 each. I tried to put the 145 pounds he gave me towards the rental car but my brother wouldn't let me - he was quite adamant that it go towards my next trip. What a guy...but really, that was quite economical I thought thanks to my daughter who was working at Enterprise at the time and gave us a hefty discount. Thanks Kazi!!
• $1,000 - sent to savings this month.
• $55.97 - electricity which is quite high for this time of year but I was informed that the hot and humid weather lasted all through September requiring the continued use of A/C. Next bill should be lower. I've allotted $45 for November's budget.
• $45 - I've also allotted $45 for natural gas for November which is higher than October's bill as the furnace has started to kick in. My last bill was $33.08.
• $82.98 - my cell phone bill was a whopping $4.00 higher - I turned my phone on a couple times to use the GPS; my fingers are crossed that my next cell bill is back to its usual amount of $79.00. Yes, cell phones are expensive to operate in Canada.
• $280 - my food budget. I know I overspent on food as I stocked up my pantry for soup making, Scottish oat scone baking, crockpot recipes etc. I could find out how much I overspent but I don't really want to know...it was BAD!
• ZERO!! Gas for the car budget line. Yup. I had about a quarter tank when I returned and I had a $25.00 Esso card. Now at the end of October I have about half a tank still. I've been driving a little but still walking and biking a fair bit.
• $86.27 misc spending budget line was quite low this month though I did make a few small purchases: about $20 for a hockey stick, yes for me, I'm now playing ball hockey! Also bought new knee pads for volleyball for $25. I purchased 3 books from Amazon. While away we went to a number of bookstores, used and new, and I took photos of the covers of books I would like to buy as I can get them cheaper from Amazon. That amounted to $33.27. The other thing was $8.00 for a good pair of goggles hoping to stretch out the biking season a little. Cold air makes my eyes water, especially when biking so I'll see if the goggles cut the breeze a bit. Worth a shot. I had allotted $500 to my misc budget so the leftover amount went to paying down my mastercard. 
• $100 - The outstanding amount still on my credit card. $111.00 is what I have left in my chequing account. I am going to pay off my credit card and will have $11 left to spend until Oct. 31 when I get "paid".  That's a bit of a stretch but I've starting putting money in my snowflake tin once again. I was able to stash $200 this month. So if I have any sort of emergency like running out of Miss Vickie's salt and vinegar chips then I'll have to use a snowflake or two!
• 73,000-68,698 = 4,302!!!!!!!!! This is my most significant number as of yesterday. I saw my odometer turn over to 73,000kms. When I purchased my used Honda Civic it had 68,698kms on it. I purchased it in September 2017. So in 13 months I have driven only 4,302kms (which equals 2673.14 miles) The average is 20,000kms per year. I am thrilled with that number! You will remember I wanted to go car free but then decided it would be too difficult. I have achieved a compromise that I can live with....for now.
• 15 - doing all that walking and biking over the past year has helped me achieve one other goal - to lose 15 lbs! Yay me! Those extra lbs have been really hard to shift thanks to menopause, my age and my metabolism slowing way down. 

So that's it for now. I will share more photos after another round of editing..but will leave you this one til then...

Traffic jam on the Isle of Skye!

May Weather Not Good for Blogging!

I am sooooooo grateful these days for the wonderful weather we're having after our long hard slog through winter and early spring. "Mid-SPRING" has been worth waiting for! Only a couple of weeks ago we had a major ice storm and now the fruit trees are flowering and yesterday I was attacked by mosquitoes and flies while hiking in Kilally Meadows!! The temperature yesterday was a HOT 27c (81F) so I took full advantage of it enjoying a good long ramble.

Mr. Heron is about the only bird that sits in one spot long enough for me to get a photo!

So I guess you know what kind of photos I'll be taking for the next few months :)

Fauna and flora :) in the photo below those 3 blurs are white-tailed deer running along a path.

 I zoomed in a little more and you can see a lovely little white tail just right of centre. They were loving the weather as much as I was. If you look at the header photo above that is the trail the deer were running on. Of course by the time I hiked across the field to get to the path the deer were long gone.

It's so amazing the difference a coat of green foliage makes!

I was getting VERY tired of grey/brown:

Now there is so much colour everywhere!  

So, if I don't post often just imagine me on my bike with a big smile on my face:

Major Explosion!!

The earth has erupted in many shades of green...at long last! 

Needless to say I've been hiking and biking along the trails so that

I can capture some of spring's glory. This

is my favourite time of year when the earth 

comes back to life.

Leaves are appearing...

...delicate flowers are blooming everywhere!

...green carpets are so inviting...

...the trails are easier to see!

...the geese are framed by bridge pylons, softening the view...

...the goslings waiting patiently for the "all clear" from mom and dad...

JACK is back! I thought spring wildflowers were much later this year after the long, harsh

winter but when I checked my wildflower journal it was May 3rd last year when

I first saw the jack-in-the-pulpits, so only a difference of 4 days. 

Mother Nature has her ways of catching up!!

After several floods this year I didn't see as many jack-in-the-pulpits but when I had

a good look around I saw a few more here and there, like in the photo below.

No...that's not my beer bottle. I've cleaned up and filled two garbage bags with garbage while

hiking but it looks like I'm not done yet!

Ahhhhh, green glorious green - my favourite colour!!

As you can see I am spending most of my time outside. We've been having

perfect weather - sunny and 22c today. So it's time for lunch and

then I'll be getting back on my bike so I can explore the trails some more.

PURE BLISS!

Back in the Saddle....

You folks know how much I like to ride my bike! The feeling of freedom and the cool breeze on my face while racing along the city's trails...well, it doesn't get much better than that in my book :)

This weekend has seen the best weather we've had so far this year so I've been putting a lot of miles on my bike...and needless to say I have the sore butt to prove it! Nothing but getting back into the saddle again can help with the pain so I'll be heading out again this afternoon for another ride. Here are a few photos from my first ride on Saturday:

I quickly found out that there is still some flooding along the multi-purpose trails...I turned around but not sure what the person on the other side did...can you see him?

The bench was a bit out of my depth but the view is nice :)

There were a number of interesting "sky" features like the "sun dog" below...

What is a Sundog, and How Did “Sundogs” Get Their Name?

By: Richard Tresch Fienberg | July 25, 2006

Some interesting cloud formations...

 A facebook friend thought the sky was unzipping in the photo below...

...and Kylie....the vulnerable looking leaves of whatever plant this is below have survived the ice, snow and flooding!

So did this lovely mallard duck...!

Today it is going up to 19c - the warmest day so far! My doors and windows are open, I've done some raking and it feels quite warm on my fenced in patio. Warm enough to sit outside and read!! Oh, heavenly days are here again!!

Foto Friday

One year ago today....

...Luna and Lily were soaking up the sunshine - last year we had such a frigid winter so any way to warm up was appreciated.

Oh, here's another way to warm up :)  I was laying on the couch reading and Luna was laying on a pillow behind my head. Gradually she got closer and closer til she was hanging over my shoulder with her head on my chest.  I was able to reach my phone and snapped her with a big smile!

Last year I did a lot of winter hiking and ended up with an injury that almost put my UK trip in jeopardy. And was one of the reasons I slipped into depression. This year I'm not taking the chance and will only hike if the trail is clear. My hip muscles (piriformis - the muscles that maintain balance as you walk) have healed but I still have some pain in my glutes.

I remember this day -  we walked along the river in the city - it was very sunny and very cold!

We got to see some of the lovelier parts of London like this graffiti laden underpass.

Instead of seeing the fronts of houses we get to peer into their back yards! Much more interesting.

 Ooooh, an untagged underpass - it might not be now though one year later!

Urban decay vs. nature.  Who's winning?

Guess what this is? You're right...it's part of Labatt's Brewery - yes, we got to walk behind the beer factory!

In place of hiking I've been riding my bike, going to yoga AND tonight I'm going to play volleyball!! I'm so excited! I went once before last Sunday with another group but it's only once a month. But I found out about another group that plays every Friday night - yahoo! Oh, and I'm down 4 pounds from juicing twice a day and then eating a regular dinner. Double YAHOO! 9 more pounds to  go!

Any plans for the weekend?