I am ever so grateful for the turn in the weather. We more or less get the same weather in Hamilton and in Buffalo, with a few exceptions (Hamilton gets more snow, despite the "reputation for snow" Buffalo has).

Despite the cooler weather with the windows open and the wonderful cool breeze, i am still sweating with the old folks here.

Yesterday, i removed all the old yellowed smoke stained caulking from the entire bathroom. Around the tub and separate shower, all the seams in the corners, along the floors. Sure was a lot of it.

Then, i took off my mom's fancy shmancy towel bars, an old shaving mirror no one uses and some hooks. I patched holes.

Today, i sanded. The holes. Then, the entirety of the walls and ceiling. Then i cleaned the sand dust up.

Now, i am taking an early lunch, while waiting for the cleaning to dry. THen, on to primer.

Yay for cooler weather!!!

My parents needed their bathroom painted. When my mom asked me about it, i wasn't working, so we made tentative arrangements.

Once the estate sale at the tavern was over, i took a bit of time while (e:Uncutsaniflush) had some free days to hang with him.

Then, my mom came this weekend and took me back here, to Hamilton so i can spend the next week removing old caulking, patching holes and making repairs, painting and recaulking their main bathroom. Should be a fun week.

I will miss my husband. First time we have ever spent this much time apart. He has a pretty full week of work ahead of him, too, so we shouldn't have too much time to pine.

How do people do it? How is it possible to function while sleep deprived?

I feel like my head is going to pop off it's wee little neck. My ass is dragging -- and for those of you that have seen it, that's a considerable heft to drag.

I have things to do. Ok, mostly self imposed things. I really wanted to make my mom some cinnamon pecan ice cream. I really wanted to make her some homemade carmel sauce to use up the remainder of the cream and just 'cause i know she loves it. And pack up some stuff for going away for a week (without (e:Uncutsaniflush), but i am not sure he will be all that interested in watching me prep, paint and caulk my parent's loo). All while doing laundry and doing my usual puttering around the house. I can't remember what i am in the middle of doing. Not wise with a big pot of hot sugar on the stove.

It's not like i only got an hour or two of sleep! I am ashamed to admit how much sleep i got, and be able to complain about lack of sleep.

Is it age? Am i at that age when i need to start having dinner at 4pm so i can get to sleep by 8pm?

Sunday

After some other fun outings, we decided to go to Bird Island to hang out, watch the water and wave to Canada (yeah, i actually do that).

When we arrived, someone in a car next to us asked (e:Uncutsaniflush) if he had a bottle opener. Poor guy got himself some beer, a girl and a decent view and couldn't have a beer 'cause he didn't get twist offs. I knew i had one somewhere. But damn, if the wind didn't get in the way of me rumaging through my purse! The man thanked me for looking and we went to go sit on a bench. Then, it hit me... the glove box!! Where else should one keep a key chain bottle opener?! In case you're driving down the road and have a bottle opening emergency, there it will be!

We walked along the water for a bit, and settled along a wall just North of the bridge. Lots of seagulls there. We wanted to see what they were doing.

Seems they have this conveyor belt thing happening for catching wee fishies. They fly south into the wind, fighting for space, looking for small fish, swoop down, grab one, eat it, land in the water, bob north for a little bit with the current, then up and fly again, looking for more fish. A few doing this might seem mildly amusing, but dozens is quite a sight.




I know mostly everyone thinks they are a pest, but i think they're still beautiful birds...



Monday

The crowds at Home Depot were insane. I had to beg people putting stuff in their cars for the shopping carts just to get one. And the staff was overwhelmed. But we got our tomato plants home and into the ground. Remind me to water them, will ya?

Afterwards, we decided on a small adventure. We found this place called Zooz that we had seen signs for along the QEW between here and St Kits. Turns out it's in Fort Erie, Stevensville, to be more precise. Looked like it might be an interesting little privately owned zoo and decided to go.

Nice place. Loved the park like feel, some of it very much like a light nature walk. Liked the fact that the canned information on the trolly ride gave us the names of the animals.

We were impressed. Particularly for a new (opened 2002) private zoo. The animals all look well cared for. Some even have new babies. Mama moose was rather protective of her 3 day old baby.

We were also impressed by the sculpture by Rod Dowling. Very interesting.







And i, of course, found a bird to bond with. Beautiful Miliary Macaw.

This is one of those recipes i invented, and super easy. But, it took 3 tries to get the right combination of sweet and tart for our tastes.

Raspberry Sorbet III

1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 12oz pacakge of frozen raspberries
3 tablespoons lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, put in sugar and water. On high heat, disolve sugar in water. Let boil for a minute and remove from heat. Add frozen raspberries and lemon juice. Stir. Cool for a few minutes.

Scoop cooled mixture into a blender. Blend until there are no chunks left.

Strain mixture into a bowl and put in refridgerator to cool for about 5 minutes.

Scoop into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's directions.