Been A While

Since our return from Florida there has not been much of interest to blog about.  The weather was crappy when we returned and has remained so until very recently.  We are finally acclimatized and back in the swing of the daily issues of living in a house again.  There is grass to cut, flower beds to tend, three bathrooms to clean (rather than 1 in the 5th) and a whole bunch more house to clean over all.  Looking forward to next winter already.

Tom had surgery on his left eye on May 14th.  He has now had both cataracts removed.  He has worn glasses all his life.  Now he has 20/20 vision and can toss those old glasses in the trash.  He is one happy camper!!!

I lost another dear friend to cancer.  Merly worked for me for many years. She was one of those people that everyone loved.  She always had a big smile on her face.  Never had a bad word for anyone.  She was a very loyal employee and worked her tail off for me.  She had battled breast cancer about ten years ago and survived.  But about six years ago they found a couple small lumps in her neck.  A couple of years ago they started to grow.  She took treatments but the tumors continued to grow.  We kept in touch over the winter and I knew that things were not going well for her.  In March she entered palliative care.  I went to visit her when we got home and was shocked to see how the tumors had grown.  Shortly after my visit her daughter let me know that she was no longer able to see or speak.  She passed away on May 13th.  Tom and I attended her funeral on May 17th and I was pleased to see so many of our co-workers from Maple in attendance.  I counted about 20 people who worked at Maple during the years that Merly was there.  It was a great show of how much she touched everyone around her.

May 19th was the holiday here in Canada.  Our son and daughter-in-law came for dinner. Stu and Heajin cut the grass and Stu did a few repairs for his Dad.  Tom is not able to do much for a couple of weeks after his surgery.  So it was nice to have some help. Friends Dave and Helen also joined us. They are getting excited about their upcoming trip to Scotland and Portugal next month.

Stu had never heard of a beer-can chicken.  Can you imagine!!!  They were so yummy!!  Heajin baked a pecan pie and Helen brought banana cake.  We were well satisfied.

I went to visit my surgeon on May 21st and he told me all my new parts are still lined up perfectly.  Knee and hip should continue to improve.  The pain that I continue to experience he feels will go away with more time and activity.  Here's hoping!!

May 22nd John and Judy came for a visit.  This is the first time we have managed to get together since we left Florida.  We miss our walking buddies, kayak buddies, rodeo buddies, ....you get the picture.  They headed off the next morning to visit with John's Mom.  It was great to see them.

May 25th was a beautiful day and far too nice to be indoors.  Close to 20 years ago Tom and I built a wooden retaining wall across half the backyard and made a flower bed.  About 6 years ago we did the same on the other half of the backyard.  We had a ton of bricks from when we had our sidewalk replaced and from our neighbor Paul when he had his done.  I used those bricks and built a wall in front of the wooden retaining walls.  Well the years and the animals had managed to make the brick wall look pretty messy.  So  I decided it was time for a change.  I moved all the bricks from the newer side and rebuilt that wall.  On the older side the wooden retaining wall was all rotted out.  So I think I will just dismantle it and turn it back into lawn.

Here is where I got to on Sunday.  This is the new wall on the one side.

 I have removed the brick from this side.  Still have to remove the old wood, move the plants, etc.

On Monday I dug up all the plants on the new side.  Transplanted the lily of the valley, hostas and mums over into the new side.  Started to dig a trench at the end of the new side to put an end wall.  Today I got the rotten wood pulled, finished digging the trench and got the end wall mostly built.

It started to rain so I am taking a break.  I will be back at it tomorrow and will have updated pictures.  Until next time safe travels.