Gardens, and Paper and Ticks Oh My!

It's been a busy few weeks in my little world. I finally got my butt in gear and did some gardening. I pulled mass amounts of weeds and then planted some flowers to try to distract from the remaining weeds. I think it worked pretty well! My favourite flower is a daisy, I love every kind and this year I found a new favourite. It's called the Livingstone daisy and it's from England. It is bright, like almost flourescent ... so cool! Here's a few shots ...


I'm particularly liking the peeled paint on the pole in this shot!



Last week my Mom, my friend Sheree and I had the pleasure of taking a tour of a really cool paper mill. http://www.frenchpaper.com/Index.asp check them out! They are a family run mill and have been around for 140 years. They 6th generation of French's - Brian was kind enough to take the time to show us around. It was very cool to see how they make the paper and all the history of the company. They still are in the original buildings and they have been recycling a lot longer than a lot of mills, plus they power themselves with hydro power from the damn that is right beside them. They have their own water treatment facility on site and they pump water back in to the river. They're definitely a green way of thinking company and have been for a very long time. Very cool is all I can say. Thanks Brian!

This past weekend Macy and I went to a dog park in St Catharines, my Aunt was having a fundraiser for her Weimeraner Rescue group. It was a lot of fun, it was our first time at a dog park and Macy loved running around with all the other dogs. Then we were off to visit my Grandparents for a short visit. On our way home we stopped at my friends Karen & Alf's to drop off their wedding invitations I had made for them. They loved them so I was very happy about that. They also spoiled me by buying me a new travel tote & matching smaller tote for my scrapbooking stuff ... lord knows I've got enough of it! Thanks Guys! Can't wait to fill it up with stuff! lol

So before all the good stuff on Saturday I had discovery on Friday that creeped me out! Macy and I went to Steph & Sean's for dinner. They were bbq'ing and we were without power so it was a good excuse! While I was there I thought I would ask them about the bump I had found on the back of Macy's neck on Thursday night. Sean thought maybe a bee sting since I couldn't find it again. Then when Steph came downstairs I thought I'd ask her and I managed to find it .... she told me it was a tick!!! EWWWWW!! We then got the low down from her Dad on how to remove it ... and I told Walker he had to do it. Luckily he is a good guy and he did it for me while I held Macy's head. CREEPY! It was a successful operation though and it's gone. I realized then that I screwed up the timing for her Revolution medicine so I came home and gave it to her! Hopefully that will keep the ticks away. I have been itchy ever since! I'm taking her for grooming & daycare tomorrow. I'll feel better after that! lol

This weekend coming up I get to have a slumber party with my 2 nieces Kaitlyn & Kylie. Should be fun, I'm thinking of taking them to the drive in to see Shrek Forever After.

Superhero freaks ...

since it has been so hot this week I thought I would do a flashback to a baaaad sunburn! It was maybe 8 or 9 years ago on a May weekend. My Grandma & Aunt were in a show in Aberfoyle (antique show) so I went to spend the day helping them out. It was not super hot out so the idea of sun screen never dawned on me ... until the next day. I went in to work and my forehead was incredibly hot and burned. The more I sat at my computer the more my head started to feel weird and my eyes felt puffy ... my forehead was swelling and it was getting worse by the minute. I ended up leaving and going to a walk in clinic it was getting so bad. The doctor told me I had sun poisoning and could either go back to work and then every 1/2 hour find somewhere to lie down with a cold compress on my head ... or take the afternoon off and go home and lie down with the cold compress. He suggested taking the afternoon off was the better plan as if I remained veritcal and didn't do as he suggested ... my eyes would swell shut!! Crazy business! I went home and lied down for a while but soon was bored. I thought I'll outsmart this doctor, if I out on a frozen/cold gel mask which straps right around my head then I can still sit upright! I did this and had anyone seen me they would have seen what looked to be some freakish super hero ... basically like this ...

Luckily the afternoon with cold took care of it, the swelling went away and I was just left with a sunburn. So the lesson here is always put sunscreen on!

It's Like a Heat Wave ...

burning in my heart ... and nostrils! It's been hotter than stink for the last few days. I'm not going to complain though, it's nice and sunny and better than being cold. What I will complain about though is the stench that lingered in my nose today. I came home at lunch to find the sanitation guys in the ground not only in the driveway beside my house but in my backyard. The smell that was coming out of there ... the worst smell, it almost made me vomit. I was astonished that none of the men working were wearing any type of mask. I don't know how they work in not only the heat but the smell. I still cannot get the smell of hot stinky rotten poo out of my nose. blech! As a bonus tomorrow is garbage day so I'm sure there will be more fun smells in the hot air! But it's Friday so woo hoo! My friend Sean is having his birthday this weekend. I'm sure he will appear on here some day, he wants to be a guest blogger ... that could be rather entertaining ... and frightening all at the same time! Happy Birthday Walker!

A New Home for Not So Famous Amos

here I am at my new page ... just trying it out to get all the settings right ...