I have been fairly absent from blogging lately due to many busy times. My husband's mother finally got moved to a much nicer retirement home after a year's wait, which meant us packing up her belongings, ahead of time, storing them at our house (or in my case, driving around with my vehicle packed to the hilts until the precise time came when she was to move in), and then moving everything into her new room. Precise is really the word, as we were told she had to come between 4:00 and 4:30 in the afternoon (on a work day!). She is now moved in and much happier, although not really unpacked and I suspect I will be taking some time this week to get her more unpacked (dementia - organization is not really her forte anymore).
As well, our son started at a new highschool this past week due to his previous one closing (thank you Ontario government) and the changes and adjustments that came with that are being dealt with. Daughter went back to her fourth year at university, taking on the roll of Don again in a residence. She has Don duty from 8:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. for a few nights. I asked her when she sleeps!! Hopefully not at class time.
We feel like we went from summer ( a very wet summer) directly into late fall. It went down to 6 degrees Celsius! (That is six degrees above freezing). I feel like I might as well just rip out my vegetable garden now.
Here are some pictures I took in the past couple of weeks of what is blooming right now. There is still lots of beautiful colour in the yard.
This is a flower that was gifted to me by a work colleague. This was its best year (all that rain!) It is informally known as turtle head, but I am not sure of the specific name.
Here are the blooms up close. It is a really lovely plant for this time of year.
Of course, Rudbekia (Black Eyed Susan) is in its glory.
I believe this is called Pink Diamond hydrangea. It has turned an even darker pink since I took this picture.
I don't know what this little guy will turn into.
Last weekend, husband and I went out for brunch and then drove around the general area, about an hour and a half away from our home. It was a pretty nice day (i.e. it wasn't pouring rain) and we drove quite a bit along a lake and marvelled at the beautiful homes, imagining what these people must do for a living in order to be able to afford them! At one point during our drive, we saw this.
What is going on with that dead tree?
Oh look! A face!
And another face!
In this portion of our province, you can see many rock faces which are part of the escarpment. Many moons ago, my husband did quite a bit of rock climbing. He looks at these rock faces and imagines how he would tackle them.
This is also the time of year for flocking. A couple of days ago, I walked out into the kitchen and it was a scene from "The Birds". The pictures don't really capture how MANY birds there were. I think they are starlings.
We are currently watching news and weather reports regarding Hurricane Irma. A friend of ours is waiting to see what happens for her mother who lives in Florida and will be going to a shelter today. I'm hoping that with all the pre-warning, as many people as possible have been able to be prepared and get some place safe. But it's not just the actual hurricane, it's the aftermath and how long it will take to clean up, wait for the water to recede, and rebuild if necessary. I can't imagine. We've been to Cuba a couple of times and know what type of housing the average person lives in. I also can't imagine what a category 5 hurricane will do to those! Take care, everyone!
