Come and tell us your dull and unexciting news 34: Calmly through the day

[Mumtobabyhavoc]

New one!

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Hello - MissC kindly got in touch to remind me to say hi. I’ve been struggling with the ads on here but it’s nice to catch up.

Happy 4th of July to the Americans on here.

I’ve had the week off work, and went up to a cabin in the woods and had a lovely time. We kayaked and paddle boarded a lot. I have the most amazing selection of bug bites now. They do say the mosquito is Maine’s state bird.

Today we went for a 2 mile walk with the dog, and are now thinking about driving 20 mins to a place that does amazing ice cream.

Two of my kids are working today so it’s been quiet at home. We’re going to make leftover BBQ takeout into quesadillas later.

In exciting news I saw a coyote cross the carpark right in front of me the other day. I was only a few hundred yards from my house. Very unusual to see one in the daytime, but we hear them at night a lot.

While we were up north we saw a family of foxes playing on the driveway regularly.

We’ve had lots of hummingbirds in the garden this year too - no idea why. Usually we see one or two for a day, but this year they’ve been around loads.

Hi ZZ, thanks for stopping by. It great to hear from you, and it sounds like you are having a lovely summer. The ads here can be a bother. I use a browser plug in called Privacy Badger that blocks them and prevents you from being tracked online.

You picked a good week to take off, and the kayaking and hiking sound lovely. I did some work in the garden today. DS was mowing the lawn when he got stung in the calf by a bee. DH finished up the lawn for him. I've also seen a lot of hummingbirds, and dragon files have been abundant too.

We're going to do burgers and hot dogs on the grill. DS and I are making mac & cheese, a 4th of July tradition.

Nice to hear from you @ZZTopGuitarSolo 😊
Happy 4th to all the US friends here. 🩷

Just got back from taking baby for vaccinations, stopped for gas and then pulled over to take GP call for med appt. So, a lot was done in an hour or so. Home now. It feels very warm, although my phone app says it's just 23c. 🤷‍♀️

Lovely to hear from you again @ZZTopGuitarSolo
@Deathraystarehope all ok
@mathanxietythat sounds like a lovely hymn. I often wish I could be in charge of choosing the hymns - I would have a field day!
I have just booked a little break to celebrate a friend’s special birthday, there will be 3 of us. Very excited……

@sproutsandparsnips
(Waves Hi!). Not really. Even more shit. The housing place have closed my application. Apparently they can do this after 55/56 days. So I will have to go to the council. Even though I already know the answer to that! I have to get together oodles of paperwork into PDF files which will take a while. I have had no payment from Universal Credit so cannot do anymore food shopping or use the launderette. It goes around in circles. Totally fed up.

I have been looking at over 55 housing but I would have to check my rent would be paid by UC. Also although I have given details to UC about the sick note from the GP (hence not working). I have to fill in a thick form about my health but am waiting to be able to afford to do a copy of it,at the library.plus when my GP sent the sick note by email I did not realise it is only live for a time. I went to go back into it (and was going to copy it at the library) it is no longer live.

I was lucky to sofa surf at my friend's but have already stayed too long so am getting really desperate.

Landlords weren't happy about [ension credit though I am not pensionable unti next year and there is absolutely no guarantee I woud get it anyway! With my luck.....

@sproutsandparsnips Of course if UC reject my sick form I will have top go back to work and then can olook into private renting!

Oh gosh @Deathraystare- I’m so sorry to hear this sending lots of .

Math, it sounds like your town has a fabulous fourth of July parade. The small town I grew up in does a similar one, but I haven't been to it in a few years as we always went to visit my mum for the occasion.

Havoc, which vaccinations did the baby get?

Deathray, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time of it. Can your local council offer any housing help?

We had a quiet 4th, but the cookout was great and DS made a fab mac&cheese with cheddar, Gruyère and Mozzarella.

While on the deck last night I heard so many birds singing that I used an app called Merlin to identify them. It found eight! Two I had to scroll down to see. I think one was a woodpecker.

My zinnias are doing very well in the heat. They're in a self watering container and I potted them with fertilized potting soil, which has helped I'm sure. Finally, we have loads of wild raspberries growing around the house and the bushes are just starting to bear fruit. The only problem with picking them is the thorns. We're booked to pick blueberries tomorrow at the farm.

I use that Merlin app too - it’s so interesting learning what birds are around. The ones I recognize are chickadees and phoebes but there are so many more around. Right now I can hear goldfinches, which is apt as my husband is currently reading The Goldfinch. We also get woodpeckers which occasionally peck the deck railing, which drives me crazy.

Flowers look great, Miss. 😍

Took the kids to N Van for fleet week to tour one of our navy ships this afyernoon. Went to spray park there after. Stopped for donuts on the way home. Shop is in an alley a couple blocks up from the bottom of Lonsdale.

https://theshipyardsdistrict.ca/event/fleet-week

https://www.creampony.ca

@ZZTopGuitarSolo and I thought Phoebe was just a character on Friends! 🤯

Just managed Wordle on last try. Phew, indeed! But, geeez, that was a toughie. You'd almost need to be a health professional to get that one.

I use the Merlin app too MissC and ZZTop - it’s a great resource.

Havoc, I assume those warships were there for fleet week. In NYC, they've turned an old aircraft carrier and submarine into floating museums.. We went a couple of times with the kids and had a great time, and took a lot of pictures. Highly recommended to anyone visiting NYC.

ZZTop, we have cedar shakes on the side of our house and the woodpeckers drive me crazy pecking on them. The only thing that saves us is that we have so many trees around, which offer more bugs for them to eat.

Hilda, I was wondering if Merlin worked outside of the US. It was developed at Cornell University in New York and bird populations would be a bit different outside of the US. I'm pleased to know that it does.

Condolences to everyone in the UK on the 20th anniversary of the 7/7/2005 terrorist attacks in London. Netflix recently released a four part documentary about the attacks and the investigation that followed that was really well done. They interviewed Tony Blair and many of the government officials involved from MI5 and the Metropolitan Police. I thought it was really well done. It's called Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers

Yesterday was blueberry picking day. The farm store at the pick your own farm had some of their strawberries for sale, so we got a quart and had blueberries, sliced strawberries and whipped cream for dessert last night. It was red, white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July. I used one pint of the blueberries to make blueberry pecan bread. The farm store gave us a very useful chart showing when various things come into season for picking that is now on our fridge for easy reference.

It's been a weird anniversary. I remember watching us win the Olympics the day before then catching a train to London. I nearly joined the celebrations in Trafalgar Square, but thought I would go home instead.

My DH (before we met) was in London to pick up his daughter from the airport (she loved overseas with her mum and used to stay with him for the summer). Everything was shut and he watched it all unfold in a pub. Fortunately his daughter hadn't got on the plane which was eventually cancelled.

I knew one of the deceased through my work and another colleague's mum was on the bus and was killed. Totally shocking. I can't believe it's been 20 years.

Just googled 7/7/05. How awful!

Miss, lovely looking dessert. Maybe add a bit of whipped cream next time? 🤣
(Seriously, very delicious looking!)

Doing a bit of recon for a small non-standard sized kitchen sink. It's painful.

Myrtle, I feel the same way every year on 9/11. I was a mile north of the World Trade Center that morning and watched the second plane hit.

Havoc, whipped cream on the blueberry bread? That's a fine idea. I like it with coffee too. What size sink are you looking for?

A stupid non-standrd small-ish one. Depth about 19", width about 24". I returned one today that should've fit, but was about a half inch too deep.

I've just downloaded Merlin. Now I can sit out on my deck and learn something. The hummingbirds make a tiny squeaking sound, and I can recognise cardinals amd sparrows, but there are a lot of other finches who are mysteries to me. The woodpeckers peck the stairs and deck railings, but they're a harbinger of spring when I first hear them, so they're very welcome.

Deathray sending good vibes your way. I really hope you can find a way to get a place to live.

Sympathies to all on the sad anniversary.

Had a lovely late-night drive with wide awake dc last night to the lookout at Cypress Mtn. We weren't the only ones taking in a beautiful view of the city and nearly full moon. There were a few couples, young and old, family groups with/out kids, teens and a small rougher looking group (middle age). It got me thinking about what we all have in common and it was lovely. 💛

Spent the weekend putting duvets and winter clothes into vacuum bags.

Welcome, @SingleAHF, and thanks for sharing your calming domestic news. I have those vacuum bags too and they're brilliant.

I woke up early this morning to use the loo and the power was off. A tree had come down overnight and taken down the power lines. Those are fixed now, but my fiber optic line was also taken down, so no internet or TV. They are supposed to be fixed later today. And the cherry on the sundae is that when the power came back on, the air con condenser wouldn't start up, so we're paying for an out of hours service call tonight to get that looked at.

Crikey, what a day. I'm wfh using my phone to connect my laptop to the internet.

😱😱😱😱

Deathray that sounds incredibly stressful 🫂

had a busy few days. Shabbat was with my family, as it was my mum’s birthday, so I made a mocha cake and more lemon blueberry bars. Still not quite got the blueberry bars right, and the icing on the cake ran a bit off but they both tasted great!
DD had her end of year ballet performance in the community centre today. Very cute and completely chaotic 😄 she was most pleased with herself. Oldest DS had his final maths exam in an extracurricular program he does and started on the summer homework. We had a family bat mitzva party last night , and I had a friends 40th on Sunday night which was pushed off because of the war.
trying to find something to do with the kids tomorrow as my in-laws are here and want to see the kids but it’s too hot to go outdoors during the day, and just found out my daughter has a pre-school introductory event tomorrow afternoon at the same time. Have a cousins engagement on Thursday night, so need to make a salad for that.
Busy week!

Math, the Merlin app is really fun. I've learned so much about the birds in our area from it.

Havoc, lovely pictures. I used to put the kids in the car and drive around when they wouldn't fall asleep.

Ella that mocha cake looks fab, as do the blueberry bars. I'll trade you my blueberry pecan bread recipe for the blueberry bar recipe. I'm pretty sure it's kosher.

The repair bloke from my internet service provider is up on a ladder at our telephone pole, attaching a new fiber optic line to bring to the house. I'm so glad they were able to come today.

All that's left to fix is the air con. It's going to be an expensive service call as I've booked it out of hours, so the technician is earning overtime pay. I just hope it's something simple to fix. A thunderstorm moved through about an hour ago and that cooled things off.