A Perfect Weekend

Not everyone gets along with the ex-husbands/wives.

My first marriage was more than regrettable. I don’t hold a grudge, but I also don’t want to spend time with people who make me unhappy. My ex, and his ex, and his other ex, and his current wife all make me unhappy. I bit the bullet for Terra’s wedding, and attended, even though my ex also attended with his current wife. There was civility. He took videos of me from the other side of the dance floor, thinking he wasn’t noticed. Totally creepy.

So, when Terra said she was having a huge first birthday party for Sunny and Sky on Saturday, and asked if it was OK with me if she invited my ex and his wife, I said yes, if we weren’t at the party at the same time. I agreed to come early, and leave early, to accommodate his schedule. I did this for Terra, as she said it meant a lot to her to have him there. Terra let me know on Thursday that he had decided to come early to help them setup, and to stay late, attending all the hours of the party. I told her we would drop by sometime this week, and wished her well with her party, we did not attend. It seems that passive aggression won the day. Compared to the insanities of the past, this is a small bit of silliness, with no police and no lawyers involved. I think I am mentioning this situation to clarify that all is not rosy in my world, there are pockets of misery that I do not dwell on, but that are an ongoing source of pain and disappointment. What I will say is, be very, very, very careful who you have children with girls!!

On Thursday our plans for the weekend changed. We spent the evening packing Tank with all sorts of things to be kept in Grace the trailer at the Rideau Camp. Things like bandaids, and plastic bags etc. Friday I prepared clothing for a weekend at the Rideau Camp, spraying some pants, overalls, shirts, and socks to ward of mosquitoes, black flies, and ticks.

The clothing to be sprayed with a 10% permethrin solution were laid out on the back lawn in the back yard. After donning a long sleeved work shirt, long pants, rubber boots, a cap, latex gloves and a breathing mask, one side of the clothing was sprayed, mindful of the occasional breeze. Then the clothing was turned over to accommodate spraying the other side. The clothing was hung until completely dry, then folded, and packed for our Rideau Camp visits.

On Friday we were loaded and off to the Camp as soon as Attila got home from work. We arrived with plenty of daylight left to unload Tank, and store all the items we had brought with us in Grace. Because our plans changed so quickly, and I was feeling a little distracted by the way in which the change had come about, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the food situation. I had planned on only one meal on Saturday night, as we would have headed for the Camp when we left Terra’s party. So, our meals for the weekend were, shall we say, spartan. While I organized things inside Grace, Attila got a camp fire burning, and after a quick supper consisting of cheese and crackers and muffins, we enjoyed sitting around the campfire until the stars came out.

It was a beautiful night Friday night. The bright moon peeked out from behind varied layers of racing clouds, occasionally stepping right out onto an un-curtained stage. The fire warmed us as it threw dancing shadows into the forest. We could hear coyotes nearby. The air gradually became crisp and sharp with each intake of breath.

After putting out the camp fire we retired to our bed. Changing into cold night clothes was shocking, but we soon warmed under our comforters. I wore a beanie to bed, and we both wore socks. Still, I awoke several times in the night, cold, having uncovered an arm, or a bit of shoulder. The temperature fell below 8C, very cool for sleeping. I should have brought my hooded sweater with me, it is great for sleeping when it is really cold, as it retains the heat around my head, neck, and shoulders. But alas, I had not thought to bring it!

Saturday morning brought the sun, and milder temperatures. It was a beautiful day. I arose many hours before Attila, so I sat with a cup of hot coffee, and watched four blue jays foraging for food on the forest floor right outside the window. Then I headed outside. I started a camp fire, burning it bright and hot for the day’s work. When Attila arose we ate a quick breakfast of morning rounds (bread) and coffee, and began our day of projects. Attila gathered and brought to the wood pile all of the branches he had trimmed off the trees to accommodate getting Grace onto the property. The branches were green, with green leaves, and pine needles, so that they needed careful tending as they burned. Leaves and pine needles burn brightly, and lightly, so that hot bits of ash will rise up out of the fire pit. It is important to monitor them all, to make sure no flames exist outside the fire pit. Since it had rained recently, everything was wet, and there was almost no danger. But still, I kept a close eye. My day was spent tending the camp fire, with small forays to perform other short tasks.

There were a lot of tent caterpillars crawling in swarms on our trees. We killed them with long sticks, and continued to kill them as we found them for the entire visit. Attila used a weed killer to spray poison ivy that had invaded our property along the entrance driveway. I spent some time searching for, pulling out, and burning brambles and wild grape. The brambles make moving around on the property unpleasant, as they are quite barbed. The wild grape grows up trees and eventually kills them. I also had to empty the tote where we keep our humanure buckets, which were totally undisturbed. A colony of big black ants had decided the tote would be a wonderful place to establish a nest, I thought otherwise. I took the tote and emptied the ants into the forest where they belong.

In keeping with our continued vigilance against domestic intrusions, Attila spent a great part of the day working on the exterior underbelly of Grace, putting steel wool in larger entry points, and caulking smaller entry points.

Attila filled a pothole that had developed near the culvert in the driveway. He also whipper snipped to the end of the driveway and along the road in front of the property.

As we worked the sun shone, the birds sang, the wind blew, the sparse clouds raced across the sky, and the leaves whispered home. A pair of beautiful hawks flew over us, screeching, clearly disturbed about something. We do not recognize many of the bird calls, unless we see the birds. There were four very loud blue jays who travelled above us, stopping to inspect our activities. We heard pileated woodpeckers deep in the forest, and owls. As usual a pair of turkey vultures flew over head to see what we were up to, checking for any possibility of a meal. And of course, as evening drew near, the crows began to gather in one of the huge oak trees near the back of our property, they are always very loud.

Our dinner consisted of bean burritos that Attila prepared from the homemade refried beans, and homemade salsa, all sodium free, which we brought with us. We decided to let the camp fire die early in the evening, so that we could enjoy an early night. As dusk fell we retreated to Grace. I changed into my night clothes at that point, as it was still relatively warm, and so avoided a repeat performance of donning chilled garments at bed time. We slept well and soundly through the night, warm and comfortable at around 11C.

Sunday we awoke to cloudy skies. We spent our morning stacking firewood, Attila, and pulling brambles, me. We also came to a decision about where we will place Grace on our property. Before we move her, a half dozen trees will need to be felled, and several more loads of crushed stone will be needed to level the site. All in good time, she is fine where she is for now.

After lunch it was time to go home. A steady, all-day rain had set in. We arrived home in time to do laundry and cook a nice hot chicken dinner.

It was a perfect weekend.

All the while I continue to work on my crochet projects. Last week I began a kitchen hand towel, to hang from the oven door handle. We had one that I bought at a Church Bazaar years and years ago, and wore it out. I finished it this morning, and love it! Now to make one for Grace, and one for Iris, our two old trailers.

My latest crochet project completed. A kitchen towel, that will hang from the oven door. We use this towel to dry our hands, as we go about with various kitchen tasks. This began from a pattern, which I found beyond my skill set, so I altered the pattern, using the lemon peel stitch for the towel, and single crochet for the tab. I am finding that crochet offers an opportunity for constant learning!

Worldly Distractions

Weather

14°C
Date: 9:00 AM EDT Monday 5 June 2017
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 100.6 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 14.2°C
Dew point: 12.6°C
Humidity: 90%
Wind: NE 11 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.”
Jane Wagner