Hot and bothered. Not in a good way.

We've been puttering about for the last two weekends, Iain on his paths and I on the little cupboard (one coat of paint before I got lazy); and I got the shelves rearranged in the kitchen (much happier with that).

Iain tamping the driveway.

My mom has been enjoying the beautiful weather.  We'd hoped to have Iain's mom up this last weekend, with the whole family, but things didn't work out that way.  Sheila has been ill for over a week, and finally she was admitted to hospital on Thursday.  She is fighting pneumonia, which the antibiotics seems to be beating, but the doctors can't find the cause of it.  She has also had trouble sleeping and has some mental disturbances which probably all have the same cause.  We're praying they get to the bottom of things, soon, and that she'll be on the mend quickly.  Craig and Karen popped up for the weekend to see her, and Iain got to visit with them and Kyle at her bedside.  I wish I could have been there, too.

My mom, relaxing on the deck.

This hot, dry weather is causing problems throughout the Ottawa Valley.  This was our view on the way to the cottage on Friday night, taken from the top of Foymount:  smoke from the fire at Base Petawawa, close to Algonquin Park.

No one knows yet what sparked this fire, but conditions are tinder-box dry throughout most of the area.  They got a little rain in Pembroke yesterday, but without a good drenching it will be very difficult to quench this fire.

POST-SCRIPT:  Sheila is out of hospital and doing fine!  That nasty infection was totally defeated by really powerful anti-biotics.  Don't let anyone tell you our "socialized" medicine is no good!

Work, work, work

Life at the cottage seems to constantly revolve around various projects.  Iain keeps working on his paths, which are looking wonderful and are great to walk on.  My Mom's walker rolls smoothly on them, too.

I've been prepping the small cabinet for painting, but haven't accomplished much due to an annoying shoulder injury that confined me to a chair in the sun after taking a robaxacet, on Sunday morning.

The other thing that's been occupying me has been how to stop birds from hitting our nice shiny windows.  I've put up decals, cardboard cutouts of bird silhouettes and a bunch of "window junk" like a dreamcatcher and a windsock.  I've reduced the number of bird hits - only one this last weekend - but it still makes me sick when it happens.  I have UV decals on the way, and Iain and I have been discussing how to install a motion-sensor flash (maybe?) to scare birds off if they fly that way.  There must be a solution.

Happy Canada Day weekend!

What a gorgeous weekend! We could use some rain, though, as the grass isn't growing as quickly as Iain and I hoped.

The gravel we ordered was delivered this week, and Iain started working on the paths.  By the end of the weekend they were really taking shape, and his arms were ready to fall off.  You see, the method involved is: a) shovel fill into trailer or wheelbarrow; b) distribute onto pathway; c) tamp down with 10x10 stamper; d) spray with water to settle gravel; e) lay garden fabric; f) repeat above with crushed stone.  Hard work, but the paths are so smooth - a big improvement!

This picture doesn't do the path justice.  I'll get more next weekend.

The big cabinet was moved in on Saturday morning, and Mom and I spent the day filling it up.  I carted over dishes from the old place and she washed and dried them so I could put them away. 

If you look closely, you'll see the cabinet has a rustic look that wasn't expected:  the doors wouldn't close after I painted them, so I had to sand them down quite a bit.  I should have expected that!

Saturday was the fishing derby, and we had a great pot luck supper; then Iain cooked a huge batch of ribs for Sunday night. They were wonderful!