Model Railways and Liam's haircut

Last weekend our local library hosted the local model railway club and they set up a display.  As I had the girls and we always go to the library this was an extra bonus seeing this display.

Unfortunately none of the photos are very good but it will give you an idea of what there was.  I personally know nothing about trains and model railways but do like to watch them.

This display was not child friendly and making sure two sets of hands didn't touch anything; plus making sure they didn't fall off the chairs they were standing on so they could see was not an ideal situation!!

The guys (they were all men) although pleasant were not used to dealing with women and children I think.  I mentioned something and then got a very detailed explanation lasting at least five minutes or more; most of which flew over my head I'm sorry to say.  However it was very kind of them to set up this display for the general public.

I went and got my hair cut on Christmas Eve morning and when I had finished who should be there in the waiting area but Liam and his dad.  As they were next in line I waited with them and helped keep Liam occupied while he was getting his hair cut.  He has had his haircut numerous times, so doesn't scream the place down!!  He has just turned 19 months old.

He's still a red head..............

When is first thing in the morning to you?

To me first thing is 8 am when scheduling people to come and do work at the house.  So when I made arrangements for the HVAC people to install the air conditioning unit, I asked the lady when do they start work?  She said 7:30 am, but they'll have to load up the truck etc., so probably won't arrive until after 8 am, more likely 8:30 am.

8:45 am and still no sign of anyone, so call the office and ask if they are arriving today and she said yes they're on their way.  The office is less than five minutes away.  One guy arrives, takes a look and then disappears.  It is 10 am when him and another guy comes back and starts work.  That is not first thing!!!

I was not impressed .  What a disorganized bunch they were.  Plus we were forecast for rain after lunch, so if they had started when they should have the job would have been finished before the rain started.............but no, due to the late start they got wet!!!

One guy was an apprentice and the other guy was training him.........fair enough.  Then the apprentice gets a call, he has to leave for another job at 2 pm.  To cut a very long and exasperating story, the guy finally left at 8 pm. 

Thank goodness my dh had done all the electrical for them as it would have been midnight before he left.  We have had air conditioning units installed before but it has NEVER EVER been a 10 hour job, NEVER.

Anyway, it's installed now, and we are ready for the heat, so that's a good thing!!

I now need to sort out that side of the house garden as it is messy, but more about that another time!!

{{{SIGH}}}

In the scheme of things it wasn't a huge thing but it was something we could not do without.

Our a/c has been playing up.  It wasn't right and we had to keep turning it off.  Dh (he's an electrician, not a heating and a/c guy) reckoned it was leaking freon.  Now what is unusual about all of this is that our a/c unit is only two years old.

Of course at the moment we are in the middle of a heatwave with temperatures hitting 100 oF with the humidity, so not a good time to be without the a/c.  Called a service guy out and he came on Tuesday am and basically said yes it could leaking the freon and he filled it with some sort of gas and said he had to leave it for at least 12 hours and would come back at 2:30 pm on Wednesday.  Meanwhile no a/c for us.

We have a couple of portable fans so hunted them out and got on with it.  By 2 am Wednesday morning both dh and I are moaning about how hot it is.  I open the windows in the bedroom and bathroom to let in some "cooler" air and what do I hear but our next door neighbours a/c unit working.  She is away; how I was tempted to break into her house and sleep in a cool house...LOL

Dh was at work on Wednesday and luckily I had made plans to go to see daughter and grand daughters; and they have a/c.  Came back for 2:30 pm, called office at 3:30 pm to make sure he hadn't forgotten about us, and he finally arrived at 4:45 pm.

We did indeed have a leak and by 6:45 pm we were back up and running at a cost of just under $500 ($119 per hour labour).  We all agreed, this shouldn't have happened to a 2 year old unit.  After discussing with him if we should take out a service plan, which costs $30 per month, he said it wasn't worth it, as dh could do it.  Dh has indeed serviced our furnace, and what he told dh to do on the a/c unit he could manage no problem.

It is necessary in this country I feel to have a/c with our high humidity.  However it is surprising how many people do not have it, or if they do they do not turn it on?  Dh works in a steel factory where it is super hot, so he is exhausted by the time he gets home after 8 hours in the factory.  I am a woman of a certain age who spends her life having those "tropical moments," so having a heatwave on top of those is not a positive thing.

Do you have a/c and could you live without it?

I mentioned that we were leaking FREON, infact it was probably PURON, as freon is partly responsible for ozone depletion.  Pruon is a safer alternative.  You can read more about this here and here.

What wonderful weather we are having and a question.

Cooking sausages on the barbecue; had to put my sunglasses on because of the sun.  This good weather is supposed to hold for another few days at least.  Haven't got our heating on.  Don't even have the a/c on either.  I wish it would stay like this year round; cool in the mornings, warming up through the day and then cool overnight.

Had a question for you all, has anyone read the book AND seen the movie called "The Book Thief?"  I am usually of the opinion that the book is better than the movie.  I am reading the book, and I am thinking I bet the movie would be better, even though I haven't seen the movie.

The spare bedroom and bathroom

Our second/spare bedroom is in the basement.  To have a completely finished basement was an extra $54,000.  We chose to only have the bedroom, bathroom, and a linen closet completed.  They also drywalled and taped/sanded the main room, which they weren't supposed to do.  So all we have to do to section off a couple of rooms, do the remainder of the electrics; think I know an electrician ;0) and do the finishing off, which believe me will cost less than the $40,000 the builder wanted from us to do it.  Already one of the drywall trades on site have handed me a card!!

This is what you see when you walk into the bedroom.  As you can see we have over sized basement windows.  I have no idea as yet what sort of window coverings I am planning on putting in there yet?

We have a queen sized bed in here and there is a full walk-in closet.

This is looking from the closet end of the bedroom. 

A view from the door. 

 Next door to the spare bedroom is the second bathroom in the house.  It's not huge but well appointed.   

 It has one of those all in one showers with a seat in it.  So ideal if we have older people to stay.  If we need to bath the kids they can have a bath in our bedroom.

The only upgrade we got was an upgrade in the linoleum flooring, as it was a heck of a price to put in ceramic tiles and we would like to put underfloor heating in this bathroom when we do put in tiles. 

Like all new houses we have had teething problems.  I am so grateful to have such a handy husband.  He spent part of Sunday morning, sorting out all the heating vents.  It was freezing cold in the basement and hot on the main floor.  Now the central air doesn't seem to be running 24/7 like it has been doing.  Thank you to my handy hubby!

Dd ordered a couple of top down/bottom up cellular shades from Blinds Galore a couple of weeks ago.  We were a bit wary about ordering blinds online, but we were there when they arrived and I even helped (sort off) dd put them up.  They were really good quality and a perfect fit.  So I ordered one for our bathroom on Sunday.  I will let you know more about them when I get the blind I ordered.

Where did July go too, plus kitchen photos.

I know I am not the only one asking that.  One minute it was the beginning of July, next minute it's August.  This month is an exciting month in that we will be finished our mortgage by the end of the month.  Actually we only have four Friday's to pay, so in theory should be all done on August 23rd.  However there are discharge fees etc in the amount of $325 to be paid, no idea when that is due, but by the end of the month we will be done.  Bought our first house back in 1982, so have been stuck with a mortgage since then.  Six and a bit years in Britain and twenty four and a bit years in Canada.  

We have had some nice cool weather these past few days which has meant no a/c on.  Just paid June 14th to July 16th hydro/electricity bill and that was $174.72.  This next month's bill will be similar no doubt and totally expected for this time of the year.  However if this cooler weather continues we may get a cheaper bill.

In the middle of winter I always get a craving for salad.  So of course I have been craving soup this week.  Had a ham bone in the freezer, so made ham, bean and veggie soup the other day.  It's so good.

The centre island came back from the shop and it's all lovely and painted now.  What a huge difference. 

They even changed up the castors for me and they are safer and a lot nicer. The island has also been lowered and is now a similar height to the rest of the cabinets.

If you click on this link you will see a before photo of the island.

Good news, bad news......

Good news, we have central air now....YEAH!!! And it's not one million degrees in the house anymore.....which in turn means I am not as miserable and neither should dh be..........oh and then there is the bad news.............I have knackered broken the lawn tractor AGAIN.  This time it's not the blades, I have broken the cutting deck, so dh has had to dismantle it and take it too work to have it welded..........so dh is miserable..........and I am in the dog house AGAIN!  By the way I have no idea how I did it!

This was the sun rising on Thursday morning, gorgeous isn't it?

On Wednesday morning, we had a couple of deer in the yard, and they were big and pretty close to the house.  Well that was until Molly saw them and all hell broke loose, as she went mad barking like a crazy dog.

I am quite sure, if those deer had come close to Molly she would have been terrified!!

Oh and the rabbit I posted about in this post; well it must have told all his friends that we have a veggie patch, as guess what I saw in my veggie patch.....yep more rabbits!!  So I guess next year we will have to make the veggie patch rabbit proof {SIGH}

Anyone fancy popping by?

I got 3 bush cords of wood delivered for the winter on Wednesday and it needs to be stacked.  Now granted it's still "one million degrees" out there but it's cheaper to buy in the summer than it is in the Fall.  I paid $280 a bush cord, which is a good price, as everywhere else it's advertised at between $300 to $350 a bush cord.

On Tuesday morning Molly went mad barking like crazy as she saw this:

That's the first time I have seen a rabbit around here.  Click on this photo, to get a better look at the birdie.

I am truly fed up of this hot and humid weather, and on Tuesday had yet another nasty headache, so thought I would show a photo of a snowy day to cool me down.

Good news though, the air conditioning guys are coming Thursday, so we should have an air conditioned cooled house by Thursday night..........fingers, toes and everything else crossed!!

Attention all cat lovers, have a question for you

Dd has a two year old cat, Olive.

On Saturday they got a four month old kitten called Rhubarb, cute isn't she?

She was told not to introduce the two cats to one another straight away.  So she has Rhubarb in the bathroom, with her toys, litter, food and bed.  Olive meanwhile has the run of the condo like normal other than going into the bathroom.  Dd gave Olive, Rhubarb's blanket to sniff, to get used to Rhubarb's scent. 

She was also told to introduce Rhubarb to Olive slowly around 4 days by opening the bathroom door slightly, so they can see one another, but Olive can't get into the bathroom, and Rhubarb can't get out.   Is there anything else she should be doing?

I did my first reading at church on Sunday I read this passage from Amos 7:7-17  I hope I haven't to do it again for quite some time!!!  I have orders for 114 recpe books and there is still a couple of weeks to go.  I picked up the illustrations for inside of the book on Sunday and am pleased with how they look.  Just have to get them scanned and then can give them back to the artist.    I am on schedule to get the book emailed to the publisher by the last week of July..YEAH!!!

Have a super week, it's going to be a hot one for us again, fingers crossed the central air guys come by and finish the installation.  Otherwise I am going to be in for another miserable week.

The heat is too much for me........

on Wednesday, it got to much for me, and I ended up with a horrible headache and felt very lightheaded.  The house is hot now, luckily the bedroom isn't too bad, at least we can sleep at night.

Where dh is contracted out too they make steel pipe, so when the steel goes through the big machines, they have to cool the hot steel with water, so its humidity on top of humidity.  On Tuesday it hit 53 oC (127 oF) in the factory and they did send the workers home.  On Wednesday it only hit 49 oC (120 oF) so they weren't sent home!!

I will be praying for rain, as I am so over this heat, and of course the a/c guys are crazy busy, and we are not a priority!!  By the way I have got Bell Canada coming on Friday afternoon to move our satellite dish as our signal strength is 50% at the most, therefore we are always getting cut off channels.  Dh called the other week to try and sort this out and basically got no where.  Due to the heat I was in no mood to hear their excuses and try and put the blame back on us.  Obviously by my tone of voice the guy knew not to mess around with me and decided to send someone out at no charge to move the dish!!

I am also having issues with Blogger and having problems accessing other blogs and posting comments.  It's too hot for me to deal with at the moment.  So sorry for not popping by..........

Wibbly Wobbly Pudding

This is a super simple recipe:

Wibbly Wobbly Pudding.

1 pkg Jello/jelly any flavour
2 cups (1 pint) Vanilla Icecream


Disolve the jello/jelly in 1 cup (1/2 pint) boiling water.  Add 2 cups (1 pint) icecream, and stir until all melted together.  Pour into dessert dishes and put in the fridge for a couple of hours to set. 

I made a peach jello this time and sliced a can of pears into it, that's why it looks lumpy.

It was another busy day on Thursday.  I got the rest of the grass cut, and managed to get sunburnt on my face despite the fact that I had to wear a fleece jacket at times as it was cool when the clouds covered the sun.

After supper I dug up and potted some plants.  Purple Iris, Chives, Lily of the Valley and some kind of ground cover.  I am having a yard sale on Saturday, so decided to try and sell some plants as well.  If I charge $1 or $2 a pot it's better than nothing.  My dad also sent up some bird houses for me to sell, plus I have a couple pieces of English Paper Piece quilting to sell also.  I also thought of picking some rhubarb and picking some black currants to sell.  I won't make millions, but I may make a couple of dollars.

We had a guy come around to see about getting the a/c installed.  Hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks.  Dh is doing the electrical of course, but the rest the installer has to do.  It is going to be hot and humid next week, so we will have to suffer again no doubt, but at least there is an end in sight.

Oops, forgot to do a post.......

mind you can't say I have anything interesting to say.  I am bone weary at the moment, I get like this once a month before a certain visitor appears...........enough said.

The humidity has arrived back again, which doesn't help.  We have an air conditioner (a/c) unit sitting on our front deck waiting to be installed, so at least we will have a cooler house this year when it's finally installed.  Dh is doing part of the installation his self.  However as he worked his regular 40 hour week, plus 46 1/2 hours overtime last week, I am not sure when he is going to have the time to do it.  He does start a weeks vacation on Saturday so hopefully next week he will get his part done.

One of the reasons he is taking next week off as he wants to watch the England vs Slovenia game on Wednesday morning.  Mind you if it's anything like the England vs USA game it will be a waste of time watching it.  As dh says England is a bunch of under achievers when it comes to the big games.

Well I guess I had better get on, I have a couple of big loads of laundry to get hung out and then ironed.  The house looks as though a bomb has dropped in it.  I can't see the veggie plot for weeds, and the ten emerald cedars still need to be planted.  Guess I'm going to be busy again.

Enjoy your Monday.  Oh and by the way I can't get this stupid song out of my head.