Long-winded update, lots of pics!

I see it's been almost a week since my last post. I haven't had to return to the dentist (knock on wood), though it's going to take quite a while (based on previous experience) for the pain to subside. At least it's not constant!

Since then I've gotten orthotics, am trying them for the plantar fasciitis that's now affecting both feet. I know that not everyone has success with them, but I figured that, since we're covered for one pair per year, it's worth a shot. I had them years ago, for other issues.

Pics below from a lunchtime walk last week.
As always, all pics are better enlarged!

Arthur, below, who is 10 weeks old (11 weeks now). What a cutie. He's already learned to sit on command, with the aid of treats of course.

I was the queen of thrift store shopping this past weekend, with a Value Village run on Saturday and a Talize run on Sunday. I spent a lot, but I also got a lot, including two really nice lined spring/fall jackets that looked new or almost-new, and a pretty queen-sized duvet cover. Oh, I got a super well-made tote bag too, for $6. 

Not my preferred colour scheme, but the tote was too well-made to pass up. You can check out her products at www.stephaniedawn.net. US-made and check the price: $43 USD new! Not bad for my $6; the Canadian dollar isn't that bad against US currency. LOL.

I got a few items for the office too, desk stuff, plus a heavy, swivel coffee pod holder for $3. (I didn't realize they hold so many pods!)

The heron and goose family snapshots were from Saturday AM. I couldn't get good shots of the goslings, and as the parents were right there by the sidewalk, I didn't want to get too close. I actually crossed over to the median (it's 4 lanes along that stretch) to avoid them.

 You can barely see the goslings on the embankment, lower right, below.

Saturday also brought garden cats, one of which is doing a vampire impersonation.

We've been having real spring weather, at last, and the sunshine has we humans gravitating to the garden centres in droves. I went to Home Depot's garden centre on Sunday morning, along with half the city. 

 

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the perennial shrub I had in that angled corner, but it didn't survive our stupid winter, except for a few stalks (see below, left--behind Derry--snapped on Saturday, the day before I dug it out).

So on Sunday I got rid of it and almost killed myself in the process. I had no idea the roots were so insane, and I was hacking at them with my spade, using garden clippers and eventually, a hand saw.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon working on that, and then getting rid of the long-time ivies that were mostly dead too. I was sorry to lose them, and it turned out that they, too, had crazy-thick, tangled roots that required the hand saw. No way could I remove the root systems of any of them. (I removed the ivy on the opposite side of the fence too, as it, too, was almost entirely dead.)

Now my space looks a bit bare, especially the fence.

I will look at it as an opportunity to plant new things!

I do have a couple of pots of annuals (you can see one behind Derry in the pic above), "drop and grow" to put into the ground somewhere, and I'll get a few more annuals for colour. I've already got two hanging baskets and a planter in the front. 

Oh, btw, you can see what a great help Nicki was with the dead perennial shrub, below! Sorry the pics are so bad, but half the yard was in sun, the other half in shade, so the point and shoot camera didn't do a good job on lighting.

 

He is such a busy boy, all the time!

Today I had a junk company stop by after work, to get rid of the bulky items that I've had in the garage, including all the garden stuff, metal trellis, etc. And the shredded box spring too (the one that Nicki got caught in a few weeks ago). It co$t a lot to have this done, because they go by volume, but as I seem to do this only once a year it's worth it. Besides, how else would I dispose of it all?

I still have a slew of stuff for donation the garage, and have scheduled that pick up for Wednesday. At least that's free! Once that's done, my garage will be mostly empty yet again, good for another year. I wanted to get it all done now, before I visit Mom, and before my dad and his wife visit at the end of June.

So that's pretty much the past week, not counting all the busyness at work. I know all our lives are busy; I just feel I could juggle more easily when I was younger. Ha.

Anyway, if you actually made it through this lengthy post, I applaud you. As your "reward," I'll leave you with a few more pics of the boys.

Peace.