What Did Poppa Do......

.......... while he was at Munchie's house?  Well..........

.... Daddy and Poppa worked on the garden - I think they added a few more things after this picture was taken - but I liked this picture because you can see how lovely the lilac tree is at this time of year - and Mommy says it smells beautiful when you stand near it to take pictures!  Poppa & Daddy also.....

.... had a small feathered helper in that garden!  When they got the garden finished, they moved on....

.... to the front flowerbed.  There were some plants there, but Daddy wanted to replant to compliment the fine job he did on the verandah last spring.  As you can imagine, it took them a lot longer to do all that work, than it did for me to type the words!  I'm quite sure that Daddy and Poppa were ready for bed that night.  Of course.............

..... Mommy and the little boys (Curtis, Mommy, Chris) were quite happy to see Poppa, and of course.....

.... Poppa took out some time to play with them!  I'm not sure it is good for his bad back, but....

.......... I don't think he was thinking about that when he lifted Curtis way up high, or when......

 ..........he........... huh?  What is he doing?  All I see is his back and little red blurry thing...........

...... Oh!  ............    when he spun Munchie off his feet!  But, for Mommy the crowning glory of Poppa's visit was.........

.................. this picture is a little dark, but Poppa and Daddy managed to get the commode in the basement bathroom installed and working before he left to come home!  I had to laugh, when Mommy called me to say Poppa was on his way home - she apologized for not having called me twenty minutes earlier when he actually left - but they were all taking turns using the new facility!  The only television they have (like us!) is in the basement, so they spend a lot of time there and it is very nice to be able to avoid running upstairs at commercial breaks!  Now, I promised Auntie Colleen to post a photo of my new bedspread...........

........ what a change!  And....

.......... Poppa's bed matches!  The room looks so nice!  But - now I need new curtains for the windows!  And for Liz - I just have to sew on the buttons - picture next blog!

It's About Time!

It seems like a long time since I last posted.  I'm not sure why - but it seems we have been very busy the last while.  Poppa had a few appointments to get to - since they were delayed by our sojourn in Florida.  And, of course, there were other things too....

.... Aunt Peggy decided to return home - so we had to spend some time sorting things out there, and getting her back into the routines of having to cope with daily tasks, that had been done for her when she was at the retirement home.  This was a bit problematical, since she seemed to have forgotten a lot of the basic things - how to use the stove, steamer and microwave, how to use her disc reader (provided by CNIB to read books on CD) and several other things too (especially taking her medications at the proper times!).  I am working three full days each week this year, so I cannot get over there every day as I have done for the past 16 years - so it is a worrisome situation.  She is 98 years old and really should be in an environment where she receives more attention and care - but she is 98 years old and I cannot convince her to accept a relocation to the retirement home on a permanent basis.  Sigh!  I am doing my best.  On another note....

.... I know Poppa is putting the bears into his truck for some reason.....

... Oh dear!  What has he got in his trap this time?  We took a drive out to the country and....

.......... then he carefully opened the trap door, and after some persuasion.....

.... like a bolt of lightening (so fast this is the best picture I could get), a very, very large raccoon shot out of the trap and bolted into the forest!  One less little beast to make a mess around Poppa's property.  Having said that....

.... Poppa has also been very busy getting his yard looking perfect - the way he likes it!  Last year we had beautiful wave petunias on the front patio - this year....

... he had some trouble finding any that suited him, so he got some of these gorgeous arrangements instead!  Then of course, on top of the yard work....

..... he has also been scraping the grout out from around the bath tub in the second-storey bathroom - you will remember - the one with the leaks.  The grout was in very bad condition and water was seeping through weak spots - which he discovered when he opened up the space behind the taps.

When he was finished - it looked like this!  Another day, under .....

... Squeegie's strict supervision.....

........... he carefully and painstakingly put new grout into all the spaces.  He did a marvelous job and it looks terrific.  He had to leave it to cure for 72 hours before putting the sealer on it.......... so it is still sitting like this - tapless!  He is leaving today to go to Munchie's house to help with some projects there - so it won't get done for a while!  Now....

.... this is a quick glance at my latest knitting project.  It is a vest for Liz to replace an older one.  It is very difficult to get a good photo of anything red...............the yarn is actually a nice Christmas shade of red............and as you can see, it currently consists of pieces - not yet joined into a vest.  Pictures of the completed garment should be available soon!  And finally..........

........ we've had a cool spell here in Canada and Taffy had to get out some warmer clothes, and even some socks!

Later.....

........... as time went on......

....Squeegie was allowed to move a little closer to the bathroom where Poppa was working....

...... and things were starting to look quite different in there.  All those wainscotting panels used to be the same colour as those little mats you see on the floor.  Now, they are all a deep dove gray - along with the doors and trim!  And.... there is no toilet at all, just a little garbage can inverted over the hole! It appears that Poppa has decided a whole new look is needed in there!

Poppa was now busily applying masking tape around the trim, windows and the hand-painted border at the top of the room.  The next time I popped my head into the bathroom for a peek....

.... he had the pale pink walls all prepped and ready for the next step.....

.... which was to start covering up more of the pink......

.... we left the border at the top to accent the pinky-beige colour of the countertop.  So, when all of the walls were gray, Poppa removed the masking tape to see how it all looked.  He was satisfied, so.....

.... the installation of the new toilet began.  Of course, Squeegie had to check it out before Poppa could carry on with the installation, but he did give it his seal of approval.

.... and the tank was installed on top!  Poppa is currently working on the tiles around the tub - which he feels need to be re-grouted.

What is....

..... Squeegie doing?

Well - it's  a long story!  When we arrived back home after our winter in Florida, Kev-Inn was already at our house awaiting our arrival.  The house looked perfect and we were happy to be there after our long road-trip.  But........ Kev-Inn told us he had turned the water off as there appeared to be a leak from the second floor bathroom.  On no!  Since we have another couple of bathrooms in the house, there was no great urgency, but Poppa knew it had to be investigated.  First, the water was coming through the little pantry in the kitchen on the main floor - so he took out all the stuff from my pantry and piled it on the dining room table.  He did this while I was at work, and I couldn't believe I had that much stuff in that little pantry!  Anyway, he determined that there was water leaking around the base of the toilet, which meant.......

.... taking some clothes from the closet in the master bedroom and piling them on the bed in the spare room..........

.... then cutting a hole in the closet wall to expose the plumbing in the bathroom.  Poppa found a small leak around the tub taps, but just a dribble - not enough to explain the water problem.  He fixed it and moved on.......

.... under Squeegie's watchful eye...........

....... and began to dis-assemble the toilet.  In the picture, he is removing the water from the bowl.

.... and once he had the base off, it became clear that the wax seal had deteriorated to the point of leaking.  Which meant......

.... Squeegie had more supervising to do!