5C's Que Pasa

Fires are burning Arizona, the humidity is doing in NYC, and other parts of the US are flooding & in Toronto, residents are recovering from a horrid storm.  Here is Kelowna the newspaper headline on Thursday read..

We here on our lake are fine. In fact the water has gone down about 6 inches.

The new tree is doing great and my potted plants are coming into their own.

This yellow annual is called Mexican Gold...wonder why I chose that particular plant!

As to me, the lists are tolerable, and life is good, well mostly.  I seem to have run into a bit of self destruction in the last little while…………

I just woke up like this one morning, I have no idea what happened!

Then a few days later I started chopping my fingers...hmmmmmm

I have finally found time to start a new novel, ‘The Russian Concubine” by Kate Furnivall.  It was published in 2007 and the story takes place in Northern China in 1928.  I’ve only got to page 65 but I am throughly enjoying the book.  Colin is doing small jobs here and there, the bigger projects are waiting for vastly improved weather conditions.  Meanwhile the girls are doing great except for Caeli whom the vet had decreed that she needs to lose at least 1.5 LBS.

So we have put her on a romaine spine diet....

PS…Colin made a comment under my “Superwoman” post, seems he is not fond of my lists!

I worked really hard yesterday getting my list whittled down.  I didn’t finish it all but did get a great deal done which feels good.  Still the same 3 or 4 items carried forward to today which I know will not get done yet again.  As they say in Mexico, manana or even pasada manana which means the next day…maybe:))

One thing I won’t give up is writing my daily post for this blog.  I am not consistent as to the time it gets posted on a daily basis so you just have to keep checking back now and then.  Things always get in the way, like an unexpected trip to the vet, a neighbour dropping by, and sometimes just plain hard to get moving in the morning, literally!  I never know till mid afternoon if Colin is home for supper as all his work is weather dependent and that seems to change hourly around here right now.  So hard to plan things.  It’s taken the last few years for me to learn to go with the flow and not stress over anything.  In the whole big picture of life what happened or did not happen yesterday will not be important or even remembered in a few months or years.  What I will remember is Colin coming home just at dinner time yesterday with a gift and pizza.  Perfect!!

What beautiful calla lilies! I wonder if I can keep them over the winter and replant them in the spring? Anyone have any thoughts?

Some people wish for time, any amount of extra time in their day….well I think I am just happy with how things are right now.  Sometimes hectic, like when we are here and sometimes ideal, like when we are on the Isla.

This lady seems to have a lot of time on her hands. She was picking tiny bits of green vegetation our of her gravel! Oh to have so much extra time...I would read a book, go for a walk, watch the birds, hug my girls.........

..then this morning I caught her husband raking his gravel! We have also seen him remove spider webs on a daily basis from all of his shrubs. He is a busy man and can be seen hunting for spiders at night with a flashlight, blowing leaves out of his yard in the fall while the wind just blows them back in. They are wonderful neighbours who are always complaining about how busy they are and how much yard work they have to do.

We all have our own idea of a to do list.  What is important is to find a balance that you can live with and be happy!  Have a good day!

… maybe crazy woman!!??

Everyday I have lists of to do’s.  The lists never seem to end.  I remember once my Dad told me that I would have a to do list even the day I die!  Actually I wonder if l learnt to make these lists at my parents knees.  For as long as I can remember my Mom & Dad would have a coffee to start their day.  They would sit next to each other at a kitchen desk and make their lists.  I remember they each had lists, what to do today, grocery lists, budgets lists, home project lists,  Christmas gift lists ( I really never actually saw those ), what to pack for a camping trip list, etc. etc.  I hadn’t remembered this until I started this post.  So perhaps that is where I got into making these lists.  My current system is a scribbler, where I use one page per day with my to do’s, be it personal, business, in the home, errands, this site or the beach site and then I even color code certain entries.  I have driven Colin crazy with my lists as I tend to make him a wee list for today and then the weekend he gets a larger weekend list.  I confess I have a problem, seriously!  I expect the to do’s on each day to be completed that day and if they are not then it gets added to the next day and so on.  Endless lists of lists.

Today I made a breakthrough.  I expect to accomplish my to do’s each day and I push myself and push myself but some things just take much longer to accomplish then expected.  That does not matter, if its on the list, do it!   However today I realized that I really just can’t do it all.  I am great at counseling others but today realized that it is time to take my own advice.  I have tended to start checking off all the little things on the list or the easy stuff leaving the important things to the end of the day and then I am too tired to deal with the issue properly.  Like right now, I think I am writing this instead of doing what I really should be dealing with.  On the other hand I posted a question on an RV forum thinking I would simply get the answer I needed, like a quick to do on the list.  Instead I am get multiple comments via email and it is taking too much of my time.  Another example, I decided to send in a proxy for a special meeting taking place in Vancouver, something I normally don’ t do.  Because of the Postal strike I decided to fill in the form, scan it and send it, then I got a call saying could I please re do it in a different manner.  NO gracias, I was just trying to be sure they had enough votes.  Lesson learned, just do what you have to do for you first, no matter what.  You are #1!!  If you can’t do what is best for you, what good are you to anyone else.

Oh well, if you don’t learn something new everyday what is the point of living!

I leave you with tilting motorhome….looks like he has a balance problem, sort of like me!

Leaky airbag I suspect....

It had to happen!  Over the past eight years we had tried to resucitate them but to no avail.  They continued to deteriorate, to peel and to shed.  There was no hope.  Finally we had to give in and let them go!

The sun, the rain & the snow had killed the steps. We were tired of the pieces being dragged through the house.

So we hired a Fijian craftsman…the funny thing being is that he is now the employee of the fellow who had built the stairs almost eight years ago.

'Vi' delivered the very very bad news. The stairs and their foundation were rotting. They had been constructed on untreated wood!!!!!!!

This was a major concern for a number of reasons.  Our carefully secured quote was no longer valid!. Much more wood = much more money!!  Of course you say,  but it didn’t end there.

Day two ended up being another full eight hours!  However the project was looking spectacular.  Really more marvellous when you consider that the new steps are being constructed with a 95% recycled product!

• 95% RECYCLED MATERIALS – 38% from post consumer and 57% from pre-consumer recycled materials are used to make MoistureShield. MoistureShield is also a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified Green Product

MoistureShield® products are manufactured with a 50/50 blend of recycled wood fibers and plastics. As a company, A.E.R.T. is able to save 271,808,511 pounds of waste from entering the country’s landfills every year. That equals 36 football fields stacked 10 feet high!

….at this point I interject that perhaps I should have hired a computer guy to help me with my layout but none the less the project came to an end.

...we think they look great and were worth every extra penny of the extra $300.00. You don't want to know the overall cost, after all in was in benefit of the world, recycling and all!

Actually the entire project was done for Caeli! You see we extended the upper step into a small landing, so she would be more comfortable. Consider it as an alternative to a college fund for your child!

When we took the bikes out of the shed they were stood along the hedge and so they remained. It wasn't exactly biking weather and they never were moved. My persistent iris have decided to make a statement. They found a way to express their beauty despite our interference! The bikes will not be moved for a while yet, obviously!

This beautiful visitor flitted about all weekend much to my enjoyment.

We had a very busy weekend, a huge project was started and completed but more about that tomorrow.  Enjoy today!