Goodbye

It's that time...

A final post before we pull the plugs on our electronics to prepare for the packers tomorrow morning.

We're not ready for them yet though!

Still have to pack our suitcases that we'll be living out of for the next little bit. Stuff like that.

It's been a busy weekend. Yesterday we were running around trying to get as much accomplished as possible. Last night we invited Larry & Sabrina over for dinner and a visit. Larry originally hails from Ontario and is a first cousin to Keith's mom. We had a really nice visit with them. I had to include that photo of the squirrel. See, he looks pretty harmless in those branches, doesn't he? But he's not. He's a royal pain in the butt! We have this butternut tree behind our house. It provides lots of cool shade on hot sunny days. Right now it's full of butternuts. And the squirrels are having a hayday. Gathering and eating. The problem is, they eat them in the tree and all these little bits of nuts come crashing onto our back deck and make a terrible mess because they stain. So a few times every day I'm out there sweeping everything up. And then every few days I get out my Mr. Clean magic erasers and scrub down the deck because that's the only thing that will get rid of all the stains. Last night while we were eating dinner outside, that little squirrel was busy munching away on butternuts just a few feet from us and the pieces were crashing down like crazy. He was bold. He wasn't scared of us at all. Go away Mr. Squirrel....GO AWAY!

Yesterday morning we noticed that our next door neighbour Mrs. Brown was having a yard sale. For those of you who have been out here to visit us, she's the elderly lady with the BEAUTIFUL rose gardens that we get to enjoy from our back deck. Her place is always in tip top shape. We were very surprised to see that she (and her daughters) were having a yard sale and were a bit worried that something had happened to her. So we wandered on over. It turns out she will be moving to a retirement home at the end of the month. Her house and gardens have just gotten to be too much for her to handle. I felt so sad for her as we chatted. It cannot be easy to see all your treasures and possessions being pawed over by strangers all wanting to get a deal. She's lived in that house for 47 years. WOW! I thought she was in her late 70's/very early 80's. But it turns out she's actually 88 years old. DOUBLE WOW! She has done really well to be so independent and take care of her place. She has the gardeners there twice a week. And it seems every time I'm walking out the door she has someone there - painting the garage or power washing the siding, or mowing the lawn, etc. I can see how it's getting to be too much for her. Anyway I'm feeling a bit sad for her as this chapter of her life closes. I hope she enjoys her new home and is able to enjoy beautiful gardens there as well - you can tell that is her passion. And I did end up buying some beautiful old fashioned etched crystal goblets at her sale. I have some dessert plates I picked up years ago that match them perfectly. :-) (It's like Keith said - "We better go buy something to replace what we've gotten rid of and donated for our own move." LOL!)

Right now my boys are watching the Nascar Race. I took a break to answer some emails and post my last blog update. It's going to be quiet here for the next couple of weeks until we get unpacked and our internet hooked up again at the new place. Enjoy the rest of the summer and I'll be back in September just in time for school to begin! (Mr. Max is going to kindergarten. OH. MY. WORD. !!!!)