cleaning day

Today was a very productive day. I am impressed how many things I got checked off my list.  I was up at 5am. It was overcast at times but I got the laundry dried and the back lawn mowed. I cleaned up the front hall, washed the floor in the kitchen hall and both bathrooms. I completed the ironing and dishes. 

James had always only liked chicken from the slow cooker but he came back from New Brunswick liking a different kind of chicken. He brought Montreal chicken spice. So will need to change my habits.

I made the old kind of chicken and Pork spring roll bowls for dinner.

Some-bunny is watching me

 Yesterday evening I rolled out the mower to mow the lawn and saw there were 2 bunnies on the next door neighbours lawn. Since I didn't want to scare them with the mower noise I went around and picked up downed sticks from my lawn which was a quieter activity and helped with the mowing anyway. One of the bunnies ambled away while I was doing this but the other did not. I figured he would skedaddle when I turned the mower on. But no. He remained watching me carefully while I did all the mowing!

Construction in all directions

 When I went to head into work this morning, my street was blocked off for construction. When I biked home I found that they had paved the cross street near me. So I started out taking an alternate route. Then when I reached the regular construction on Johnson for which I normally take a right turn before it, I took the right turn and surprise University was also closed. So I hopped off my bike and walked around that construction. A bit of a minefield of contstruction!

Overcast

 It rained a lot last night and was overcast all day today. But the laundry still dried thanks to the wind.

I cleaned the freezer today, which was much less work than the fridge!

The Oriental Peonies look worse for wear thanks to the rain and wind buffeting.

I should be able to bike tomorrow and try out my new lock.

First baby robin sighting

 There have been many baby grackles out and about seeking food from parents but I haven't seen any baby robins. Today, there was a teenage robin on my driveway. It quietly slipped away to avoid me. It looked like the parent was on my front lawn.

Kim is fostering 2 baby turkeys after a predator attack on the parents.

I deep cleaned the fridge today- took me a lot longer than I thought. I took all the shelves out and washed everything. Except for the door. By the time I had finished the main body, the door had been open a long time so I packed it in.

Oriental peony update- blowing in the wind

Oriental peony day

 

I think normally the oriental peony opens in May but this year June 5 is the day! A couple of more buds to come still.

I had a vacation day today. I went to Food Basics to pick up some buns and some other things. The buns were the Food Basics brand and were really good and fresh. I also got some Kawartha tiger tail icecream, also super good.

Today I worked on cleaning and washing most windows. Nothing looks better but you can see outside clearly.

The bike lock that internally combusted

 Yesterday I rode my bike to work and locked it up as usual. Nothing seemed different than any other day. My day had a complication though- I had to ride the bike home in the middle of the day and then walk back as I had an evening meeting and I didn't want to ride home after that as it is too dark. So my plan was to ride home, take the laundry in, have a bite of dinner and then head back into work.

However, when I arrived at my bike to head home and turned the lock, it felt like nothing happened. So I thought maybe it got stuck so I pushed the lock in and pulled it but nothing changed with what the key was doing. It seemed fully stuck. So I went to find someone with bolt cutters in my building and he tried the key- the key turns but nothing happens. So he took the bolt cutters and within 5 seconds my bike was free. Clearly if a serious thief wanted to steal my bike it wouldn't have taken them long despite what looked like a hefty lock. However, my bike is very old so hopefully not a good target. The lock seemed to have internally combusted and the innards just were no good anymore. The lock was about 25 years old so not unexpected I guess. Just the bike outlasted the lock!

Happy Birthday to my mother!

 

I am heading to see my parents on Thursday so we'll celebrate on that visit!

This is the picture that James took of me for my staff card. I now have a staff card!

May flies

 Today I had a dentist appointment before work. As it wasn't outwardly raining I biked into work. Things are busy with wrapping up the term and getting my summer students all that they need.

When I biked home there were heaps of may flies. I had to make sure to keep my mouth closed. There were also may flies in my house. May flies everywhere!

Tomorrow is the big lunch so will be up early cooking!

James also realized that he needs to renew his drivers l. and health card. We tried online but he was not able to, so he made an appointment for tomorrow. (We have 2 service ontarios in kingston, one that had appointments for tomorrow and one that didn't have appointments until may 22)

Taxing

 

Last week I had a board meeting, an alpha session and I needed to complete the taxes. I always try to get it right but yet, it is always wrong. I just wish the government would tell me what to pay rather than me trying to guess and every year I get it wrong. At any rate, it is now done and sent off.

On Friday most of my summer students started but one more is starting tomorrow. Tuesday I have a dentist appointment before work. Wednesday I am hosting a special lunch for my course. Then on Friday the board and I are heading to Camp Iawah for a working retreat.

Snow in the city

 Yesterday I wore my spring coat for the first time. Today it is snowing.

James is part of a team running tryouts this week and he is in charge of jerseys. Meaning that I am in charge of washing said jerseys. Which in general would be fine but the dryer is on the fritz. However, I have discovered that once the dryer warms up, it does not squeal so much. So things have been functional, just occasionally loud.

Back to the winter coat for today!

Not spring

 Things are looking like a winter wonderland. I wonder if the birds and rabbits are confused as they did not get the weather warning on their phones.

Today I am working on showcase details and reviews of project receipts.

On the weekend I did manage to scrub the downstairs bathroom and pump up my bike tires. Now my bike is ready to go, just there is too much snow (that rhymes!)

Is it spring?

 When I try to leave my house, I never know what footwear to wear out, which means it may be spring.

It has been a busy few weeks as the water heater died and so have been dealing with plumbers and flooring. Not so much fun.

But yesterday Clara was in town and we went out to Kelsey's and hung out for a bit. She and her family were heading to pick up Erika today from Hamilton and they have a rental on Lake Erie and they were having a big family get together for Easter.

Today we had a short service for Good Friday. Sunday will be a big one as we are having baptisms.

James started sorting things in the basement this evening so the basement is a mess.

There was a lot of cleaning needed after all the workmen in the house so I have been working on that.

Maybe this can be considered spring cleaning.

Round 2

 John the plumber came back and tightened the gasket that was leaking. He also fixed the valves that I opened and a lever that wasn't working and showed me the correct levers to use if I need to shut things off in the future. I am still working on drying out the basement. 

Getting caught up on email at work and ran a training session. Tomorrow interviews start.

It was ok until it wasn't

 Replacing the water heater only took an hour (I had expected the whole day) and I was feeling much better after having a shower. But when I was doing the laundry I heard some dripping and found that there was a leak in one of the connections from the new water heater. So I went to switch off the water using the lever that the plumber showed me but that didn't work. I didn't want to touch the knobs that he said would need to be replaced but ended up having to. So currently the new hot water heater is switched off and we again have no water. I should have checked more carefully after they finished up, I was just so pleased to have it sorted out.