Escape artist preventative

This one's for Jill. Tutu seems to be the one with the wanderlust ... maybe she thinks she'll get a better deal elsewhere! Once I'd covered the escape avenues with the plastic netting ... I still caught her over there trying to muzzle her way under!

Hans Brinker

Went to retire late on Saturday and noticed a 'puddle' on the floor near the bed. Suspected Fin or Tutu but thought it was a strange location ... yes ... they have been known to wee inside. Further investigation revealed a sodden mattress where the window air conditioner had been steadily dripping due to being in overdrive all day to combat the oppressive heat.

Further investigation the next morning revealed that the drainage hole was secured with a plug!!! Now ... what purpose could this possibly serve? Preventing miniature mice from entering the a/c? Removed it and voila ... problem solved. I'll keep you posted about the miniature mice.

Don't sit under the apple tree

Fin takes great delight in jumping for apples. The tree is full of them at the moment. I haven't had a chance to do much with them myself. They're OK for eating - no bugs etc, but at the moment, apart from Fin, they're being enjoyed by the local squirrel population.

Visit from home

Jill Williams 'dropped' in for the weekend after holidaying with her sister's family in Canada. We had a lovely weekend, though her flight was delayed 12 hours and by the time I met her at 2.00 am last Saturday morning, we were both ready for a sleep-in!

We had a fairly low-key weekend. It was raining off and on Saturday. We walked to Birchwood and had breakfast, then went for a drive and stocked up on some groceries. We then walked to the Longfellow Grill for an early dinner and walked back along the river.

After church on Sunday we drove down to Stillwater which was fun as I hadn't been there before. Very much like Berry with the same mixture of antique and bric-a-brac shops, some tacky, some nice. We made it home in time to squeeze in an early session of the Bourne Ultimatum. I had Monday afternoon off and arrived home to find Jill recovering on the cane lounge after having cornered Fin and Tutu in the back lane, following Tutu's escape (Fin also got out after Jill took off after Tutu). Of course Fin and Tutu were none the worse for wear, though Jill had some unexpected weightlifting practice trying to get them back home! It was a busy couple of days but really nice to catch up on all that's been happening over the past couple of years for both of us.

Moving Day at 132 Orlin Ave

Closing a week early had some advantages. I spent the next week moving what seemed like endless loads of boxes in the Subaru on my way home from work each day, in preparation for Garrett and Martin to come and help with the big / heavy stuff the following Saturday.

Fortunately, my back held out - I should have worn a pedometer, my feet were aching by the end of moving day; it would have been interesting to know how many miles they had trod!

I downsized the truck that I'd hired to a cargo van as I was a little nervous about driving it. It meant two trips using both the van and Garrett's ute. After they'd moved all of the furniture, they also helped move the washing machine and dryer from the garage down to the basement - a painful operation to watch, involving removing two doors and then easing the beasts a step at a time to their new home.

Closing Day - Friday 20 July

Today was closing day. It was brought forward a week so that the lender could have everything organized in this financial year. Fortunately, Samantha was happy to do this, though it meant that she was still in the middle of packing and moving. The actual closing ended up a bit of an anti-climax as I signed all of the necessary paperwork last night, so spent the morning working from home and then went over to 2905 after lunch. Samantha, Karl and Samantha's dad Merle had a lot left to do. So I went and bought a round of iced-tea (people drink that here ... a lot!) and then helped out a bit until my friends Katie and Marie arrived with a bottle of wine to help me celebrate!

Pics are Karl and Merle packing the truck; Karl, Samantha (and Lucy) and Merle; and Katie, me, Samantha and Marie.