September 2025

[porqoui]

Evening all...it was a brutal day today. Looming teacher's strike, Canada post on strike, cc director wanting to do the claim submission but doesn't know how to add two cells together in excel, boss sent out an all candidates forum for our municipal Ward 1 councilors but forgot to put the date, which is Monday. My inbox was flooded with "What's the date?" emails, 2 new laptops for childcare arrived, they're still downloading updates, then of course there's my work, I have 4 rental contracts to get out the door. Mick may be busy physically, I'm busy mentally. LOL While looking at the schedule I noticed I booked Friday off. How fortuitous was that!

Mick...hope you can shift the cough soon and that the weather cooperates for your trip to Blacktoft Sands. Had a quick look and it appears it's the place for you, hope you get some good pics.

Lav...found Bill's pic on FB, wow you had a lot of pillows/book bags/etc. That must have taken awhile to pack them all up to get them there. As soon as I can breath again, Friday off will help, I'll have a look at WA, who knows you may get a message then. Will be watching the weather news to see where those hurricanes are headed.

Wishing everyone a good night....PPQP

[Lavande]

Wow PQ, I do not envy you a bit. Sorry your day was so rough. I hope things lighten up a bit for you tomorrow & enjoy your Friday off!!!

I think this was the picture of Monday’s sunset at the produce auction Mick mentioned. Very pretty.

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Goodnite!

[Mick]

mae all...how are we doing? hope everyone is doing good..never went to Blacktoft today ...did a few wee jobs ..dont know why but Ive hit a low.no reason its just whacked me so I need to kick my a.se and get out of it.Cut the grass on the banking today ,took me a wee while .still feeling a bit rough ,cough weary etc ..I thought it was a cold ,but Julie reckons its been covid .all the symptoms are the same as the new variant .oh well .got a couple of new birds in the garden today ,greenfinch and a siskin..so they know theres a new cafe in town.going to go to Blacktoft tomorrow ,even if I have to force myself .We are due a storm …Storm Amy and then the 2 hurricanes...My friend is busy atm ...laying a patio but next week we are going to start knocking down the front walls .
dont know if you saw the news from Manchester this morning ..that synagogue is just along the road from where Julies sil works ..

hiya Lav ,how are you doing today then?did you go for lunch?I just got Julie a soup making machine ...already made some and it was pretty good ....all heart me ...So far an ice cream maker and a soup maker ..all heart me...beats flowers ....The Merlin app is pretty good .hope you have a good day .

hiya ppqp...how are you today?hope all is well with you ...sounds like you have got the possible strike boxed off.hope all your plans work .

hiya teegee and pie hope all is well

[Lavande]

Good late afternoon all!

Pretty busy today & yes I did meet my friend for lunch & pillow delivery.
Mick, I was going to suggest Covid when you mentioned the rough cough but didn’t want to scare you. I suppose we should all have a fresh supply of tests ready for the season. It truly can be mentally tiring to be physically sick for a few days so do treat yourself with some kindness. You don’t have to get all the jobs done all at once - they will wait for you, right?
I don’t have a soup making machine but I do have a crockpot & an Instant pot, both make wonderful soup, good for respiratory symptoms. And then have ice cream for dessert .
Hope you feel better real soon!

PQ, will check back to see how your day went.

Hello to Pie & Cyn, hope you girls are OK.

Have a wonderful night all!

[porqoui]

Evening guys...it was a steady busy day and I only did MY WORK! The director of Civic Affairs has been inundating me with email booking requests. She's been busy organizing what they call restrictive covenant signings. Since the city changed the blanket rezoning developers have been buying up real estate and converting single dwelling homes into row housing, 4-10 unit buildings, etc. Homeowners can put a restrictive covenant on their property and dictate what can and cannot be built. If enough neighbours sign they can basically dictate what their neighbourhood will look like. I asked the boss what his workload was like and he said it's good a few things he's working on, so asked him to take over the civic affairs directors requests and he said sure. That took a load off. Then the cc director called a meeting to figure out how to deal with opening registration for strike care coverage. Remember I've developed all the programs for her then had to update them when the strike date changed. She suggested something (too complicated to explain) and the boss and I shut her down. No way. So the plan is to send an email to our parents stating what we're going to do then open registration tomorrow. She said so Ann and I will create the email and template and I said nope, I'm too busy. Oh, so she said she would do it and run it by the boss. When she left the boss said "way to throw it back to her, that's what I'm talking about".

Sorry for rambling on but I feel I've made a huge change to my work life. And the best part is I have no quilt feelings for taking tomorrow off. They can all figure it out for themselves. LOL

Mick...don't you hate it when those lows hit! Being physical helps but not when you're also dealing with cold/covid. I love the term "New Cafe in Town". What are your woodworking skills like. Perhaps you should make a plague/sign for your wildlife garden. I did see the news about Manchester and thought of you. Hope you make the trip tomorrow and once you start in on knocking down the walls next week I'm sure that low will be long gone.

Lav...yup, that's the pic I saw, beautiful. Glad you got the pillows done and met up for lunch with your friend. I don't even know what a soup making machine is! Maybe I should investigate. LOL Fall weather is official upon us and I love it. I'm going to investigate the app tomorrow so stay tuned.

Have a good night...PQ

[Mick]

Good morning all and how are we today then? It is still morning by one minute! I'm feeling a bit better today still got the cough and the cold symptoms but nowhere near as bad as it was. Early nights are helping suffingers crossed it will disappear pretty rapidly we have the start of storm Amy here at the moment it is hammering down with rain and pretty windy although the warnings are for it to get even worse full stop on a personal level we have got storm Eloise coming over this afternoon so everything has got to be child proofed. Never managed to get to get out with my camera this morning I would suggest it's too windy for Birds to fly and indeed there is hardly anything in the garden as well. Done a couple of little jobs and also yesterday I not to little bit of the wall down without her majesty's knowledge obviously! We were going to go metal detecting this weekend but on top of the storm there are The Hurricanes that are coming over from America apparently we are getting the tail ends of those as well so this should be interesting. I've just put Bonnie back in her hutch she was outside under the plastic box that she has merrily digging away. For some strange reason I've also managed to get plantar fascitis in my left heel so I'm busy doing exercises for that as well it's all just little niggles x and pins the product of age and being a bit of a lunatic when I was younger I guess the big thing is I don't feel as down as I did yesterday and for me that's what counts. Hope everyone has a good day and also a great weekend I don't know what you're up to but whatever it is enjoy it take care everyone

[Lavande]

Good almost 2 pm here on a warmish & sunny day!
I’m trying to do a thing or two outside then come back inside to do a thing or two. Obviously not really interested in doing much at the moment haha! I mixed up a batch of sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies last night after dinner, let it sit in the fridge overnight & just baked them now - delicious!
I love using sourdough starter to flavor things (cookies, waffles, etc), rarely bother making Sourdough bread anymore. I prefer quicker rising yeast breads, getting lazy in my old age.

Mick, speaking of age, I firmly believe we get more accident prone every day. We may think we’re still 30 but our bodies say - hold on, wait a minute!!!! LOL
It takes much longer to heal when we injure ourselves too, ugh. I’m glad your spirit is brighter today, it’s a blessing! We can’t do much about the weather but we can prepare then stay inside & wait it out. Stay off of ladders, right???

Hello to all, will check in later. My neighbor is at my door.

[Mick]

good morning all...in ther middle of the storm here ...we had the wind and rain last night ...today at the moment its just the wind.Storm Eloise came over yesterday ....she is a star .definitely brightened the afternoon up .We were going to go metal detecting tomorrow but thats a no no .We still have the hurricanes to hit over here yet .hope everyone is doing ok ...I guess not everyone wants or is able to get on here.
hiya Lav ...yep you are right the bodies get older and take longer to heal,,unfortunately the brain doesn't work on the same wave length .
hiya Lav ,how are you doing? hope all is good .Yes I feel better today …seeing El helped ...cough isnt as bad ,and doing exercises for pf in foot.Yes def no ladders for me.what are you up to tpday?

hiya ppqp how are you doing ? hope you are having a decent weekend.Made me smile when you were talking about covenants ...we have a covenant on this house ...not do much the house but the land .it goes back to the 1700s ..the landowner has the right to bear arms and shoot /hunt on the land ...long gone but it still stands .g;lad you bounced the work back...youve done it once ...so now she knows....hope you have a great weekend .

hello pie and teegee ...hope all is well with you .

take care all.

[porqoui]

Afternoon all...popped out for a few groceries before the rain started, which it did on my way home. It is turning to snow overnight!! It won't last as it's going up to 22C on Tuesday. Got a text from the cc director at 7am yesterday morning, you know, my day off. She couldn't get the registration link to work for the strike care coverage. Went back and forth for an hour and a half till she got it. I then emailed the boss to let him know that he might want to test her work or not and let her deal with the fall out. He texted me back and said "I specifically asked her if she was good to go as you weren't going to be here. Funny how she professed she was good to go...not as easy as she thinks without the Ann safety blanket." Just want him to be aware of how much she doesn't understand but professes to.

Mick..when you said storm Amy was just starting yesterday and storm Eloise was coming in the afternoon, I thought wow, uncanny they were named that way. But then I got it. Glad you're feeling better, now you know a little bit of storm El washes the blues away. LOL I hope the winds don't amount to hurricanes. I had never heard about covenants until the blanket rezoning of the city and now you tell me about yours. It's the same thing, not the house but the property and it stays in effect even if sold, like yours, not the bearing arms/shoot/hunt but building restrictions. I have a busy week coming up, so I will be bouncing the work back with no guilty feelings. I will figure out WhatsApp and we can get Lav to set up a group chat. I think Pie & TG would prefer that as well.

Lav...I was given a sourdough starter once and had no idea what to do with it. Haha With the weather starting to turn I was thinking it's going to take me twice a long to get to and home from work as I go into Penguin walking mode with the snow and ice. With the onset of Osteo and center of balance being off, I'm going to be going even slower, but that's ok. I will invest in those spikes you can strap to your boots, it'll be worth it. I am looking forward to the cooler weather and starting off with a pot of Borscht for supper tonight. No I did not make it but it is homemade from our previous Ukrainian Caterers, hmm. I will get going on the app and send you a message as soon as I figure it out. If you could set up a group chat maybe Pie and TG (and whoever else) will join us.

Have a good day....PPQP

[Lavande]

Still afternoon (4:19 pm), haha!

Today is his birthday & he requested my dairy free lasagne for dinner so that’s what kept me busy for a few hours. It’s in the oven now.
We have sun & 77 degrees at the moment.

Mick, we need some of that rain back, everything including all the fall mum pots is dry again.
Glad El was there to cheer you up! I’ve been missing having the little ones around, believe it or not. They grow way too fast. If you feel like you want to shoot something you could do that here, everyone does esp. the groundhogs that tear up our gardens, Lol

PQ, I keep my. Sourdough starter in the fridge. Once a week I remove 1/2 cup to use in a cookie, cake or waffle recipe. Then I feed the remaining starter with 1/2 cup of flour & 1/2 cup of water & put it back in the fridge, easy.That way I always have some ready to use.
I am super paranoid about falling on ice/snow. I only have to get across the driveway to feed & water the chickens them go right back in the house. Yes, I am a chicken too haha!
sounds like the CC Director is tip toeing on this ice herself. Do you think she even realizes that?? Duh.
Yes, I’ll be happy to set up up with another group chat. When you open your account they make it easy to send people a message saying you’re on the app - you’ll see.

Hello to Pie & Cyn, hope all is well.

Have a good evening all!

[Mick]

And good afternoon all. From a windy Lincolnshire. At least it's dry foot is aching so haven't done too much. Went out to my bird hide...it used to be called a shed!!!there were lots of little birds that merlin picked up this morning .went to scunthorpe..got stuck in a massive traffic queue. Accident..there was an ambulance, helicopter 2 cop vans and 9 cop cars.
also a motorbike and car in a head on.they closed 3 roads off.then I came home and knocked the side of the wall down on the driveway. So now it is rest time.
hiya ppqp how are you doing yes storm Amy was a real storm but storm Eloise was just over for the afternoon. She is really growing up fast. I hope next week is a bit easier for you as it seems like last week was just Complete Madness the best borsch I ever had was in Moscow it was absolutely fantastic and has never been beaten. Those spikes are worth it. When I lived in Shaw I used them on the hill in winter. Have a nice day

Hiya lav how are you doing today?hope you are doing ok .here's a list of the birds merlin found around my wee hut this morning. what have you been up to today then?whatever it is have a good day

[Mick]

[Mick]

[Mick]

[Lavande]

Good morning all!

I was just thinking it’s a new month, should have started a new thread but what the heck? Haha!!
Sunny & dry here, heading up to near 80 again, where’s Fall????

Mick, from now on we shall refer to you as ‘Birdman’, wow such a variety of birds you have there. Glad you’re making them all feel safe & comfortable.
It sounds like you’ve done enough work already for the day so take the rest of the day off, OK? I don’t have any solid plans for the day, will see what happens.

PQ, waiting for your WhatsApp message, Lol. Hope you have a great day!

Hello to Cyn & Pie.

Have a great day all!