Sunday, May 22, 2005
Long Weekend...
In Canada, we celebrate the Queen's birthday... Queen Victoria that is! So we get this Monday off. Many people take that weekend to open their cottage, go camping for the first time or get major planting done in their gardens. (There is an old belief that it is not safe to plant until the long weekend in May, to be safe from frost)
There is alot going on in Ottawa as always, due to it being the nations' capital. The Tulip Festival is ending this weekend, with several big concerts taking place. My brother went to see Sarah Harmer last night, and I hope they didn't get too wet.
Friday night we went out to dinner at my prospective new office sharing person, Robin's house. It was nice to meet his partner. Dinner was great, with asparagus pasta and chicken, with a Greek salad.
Saturday I dragged poor Eric out into the garden and we spent over an hour de-dandelioning. (Is that a word?) We had waited so long to cut the grass that we were able to fill almost 4 large garbabe cans with dandelions. We got hundreds of them. It was raining during most of that time, which at least gave the advantage of not getting as hot and sweaty. I was too tired after that to cut the lawn. But I finally met our new neighbour, Judith, who is putting in a brick patio and paths in the backyard. She moved in at the beginning of winter last year, but we never really met her yet.
Last night, Ruth came over and we watched Finding Neverland (which she and Eric hadn't seen yet). Great movie! Then we watched the Phantom of the Opera movie... very good, but a bit melodramatic for my tastes. (And I like musical theatre) I definitely like Les Miserables more.
Today I finally mowed the front lawn. It was hell, as it had grown to about 4-5 inches. I just haven't had time lately to do it and most weekends have been raining so I didn't get to do it then. The back yard is even longer - so I think I will have to attack with the weed whacker first - as the mower almost broke trying to do the front yard this am.
I think my neighbours will be happier with me - as they tend to keep their lawns very short and green. I tend to go with the happy green meadow look, "it's only a weed if I don't like it" approach. I don't use chemicals so we have tons of dandelions - - Eric was saying that we should look up recipes for dandelion meals - we could save a fortune!
This afternoon various family members are coming over ostensibly for a bbq. It is raining right now, so I think we will be indoors, except for the cooking. We are having burgers and corn on the cob. Tomorrow I have invited other people, for another bbq... we haven't had a chance to socialize for a while! We will be having pork chops and chicken with roasted veggies.
There is alot going on in Ottawa as always, due to it being the nations' capital. The Tulip Festival is ending this weekend, with several big concerts taking place. My brother went to see Sarah Harmer last night, and I hope they didn't get too wet.
Friday night we went out to dinner at my prospective new office sharing person, Robin's house. It was nice to meet his partner. Dinner was great, with asparagus pasta and chicken, with a Greek salad.
Saturday I dragged poor Eric out into the garden and we spent over an hour de-dandelioning. (Is that a word?) We had waited so long to cut the grass that we were able to fill almost 4 large garbabe cans with dandelions. We got hundreds of them. It was raining during most of that time, which at least gave the advantage of not getting as hot and sweaty. I was too tired after that to cut the lawn. But I finally met our new neighbour, Judith, who is putting in a brick patio and paths in the backyard. She moved in at the beginning of winter last year, but we never really met her yet.
Last night, Ruth came over and we watched Finding Neverland (which she and Eric hadn't seen yet). Great movie! Then we watched the Phantom of the Opera movie... very good, but a bit melodramatic for my tastes. (And I like musical theatre) I definitely like Les Miserables more.
Today I finally mowed the front lawn. It was hell, as it had grown to about 4-5 inches. I just haven't had time lately to do it and most weekends have been raining so I didn't get to do it then. The back yard is even longer - so I think I will have to attack with the weed whacker first - as the mower almost broke trying to do the front yard this am.
I think my neighbours will be happier with me - as they tend to keep their lawns very short and green. I tend to go with the happy green meadow look, "it's only a weed if I don't like it" approach. I don't use chemicals so we have tons of dandelions - - Eric was saying that we should look up recipes for dandelion meals - we could save a fortune!
This afternoon various family members are coming over ostensibly for a bbq. It is raining right now, so I think we will be indoors, except for the cooking. We are having burgers and corn on the cob. Tomorrow I have invited other people, for another bbq... we haven't had a chance to socialize for a while! We will be having pork chops and chicken with roasted veggies.
