Sunday........

I am tired out after last night....so sleepy! We had a lazy start......coffee in bed....Lloyds best friend called to catch up...now that he is home from Baghdad...he asked to speak to me and then thanked me for all my Emails saying how nice it had been to get Emails full of normal news and chat.....

We still don't know if he is coming over in September or not......

After that we sorted out Sams bedroom......when the extension over the garage is done, Sams room will become the second floor laundry room.....its the perfect size....and in a very convenient location....I sorted out a big pile of clothes he has outgrown....so I will pass those on to Val for her little guy....there were a few sweaters that Lloyd just couldn't let go of though (picture me rolling my eyes lol)

After that I showered and dressed and we packed a quick picnic and headed down to Miquelon Lake.......

Oh What a Night......

We sat outside until late....by the fire....had s'mores.....Smirnoff Ice...(yep I failed dismally at detoxing lol!)

I sat there and read my current book (Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures).....good book....not the kind I would normally choose to read but I'm glad I'm reading it....

Charlie ate so much junk from the floor...marshmallows and cookies etc that she was sick......but she seemed happy enough! One chicken hung out with us too....

We saw storm clouds rolling in and some lightning so we packed up and tidied all the garden toys etc away.....I hosed down the fire.....and we headed in to bed....

The weather network said the storm had lost the intensity of earlier so we weren't too worried...but wow it was still a major storm! the lightning was amazing...just constant flashing.....it started around midnight here.......and went on until about 2am......but at one point we looked out of the window and were terrified because the wind of the storm had got the fire going again...despite me hosing it down!!!! and there were sparks and bits of the fire being blown up and across into the long grass by the side wood.......with all the heat of late and how dry the grass was we were really worried....the storm didn't bring much rain with it.....we always hose down the grass around the fire pit before lighting it but in the heat it evaporates very fast......

We watched for a while and then decided it needed to be put out properly....so Lloyd was very brave and rushed out mid-storm to hose down the fire.....

Its quite a way from the house - especially when lightning is all around.....and part of me wanted to watch Lloyd to make sure he was safe and part of me didn't want to watch because I didn't want to see him struck by lightning.......

He was fine though thankfully.....he put the fire out and then ran back inside....

I was still worried about smoldering grass though and grass fires.....so I didn't get to sleep until 4am........

They forecast more storms tonight.....last nights storm over the Devon area had toonie sized hail......that had gone before it got here thankfully.....

Tuesday will mark the 20th anniversary of the Edmonton Tornado....July 31st 1987...it killed 27 people and injured hundreds....One lady on LP said her parents still have the baseball sized hail in the freezer from that day......how amazing is that???!!

You can see pictures of the tornado at the following website:


www.iassistdata.org/tornado/

Hay bales - Mom!

Just a message to my Mom to say the giant hay bales are all done on Marys land now!!! Just a few days late for your pictures.....but I will go up there tomorrow and take some pictures!

Dinner tonight..........

Lloyd decided that me detoxing quite so strictly was not a good idea because of my migraines...and he told me I HAD to have some protein with dinner......so he made me this gorgeous salad......I ran out and picked some cherry tomatoes to go with it - fresh from the garden.....and the eggs are from our chickens of course :)

I must admit that there was a bit too much cheddar for my liking so while he wasn't looking I threw quite of bit of the cheese on his plate ;) but apart from that it was perfect!

Thank you Lloyd......it was delicious :)

Hot...

Its too hot outside.....so we are waiting inside until later and then will go outside and have a fire in the fire pit and relax out there.....

Interesting fact:

In Winnipeg 90% of homes have air conditioning. In Edmonton, less than 5% have air conditioning!

I have a feeling that percentage in Edmonton is going to shoot up over the next few years!

We sat out for a while on the porch until the Sun was fully on the porch and then we had to come inside for a while......at least it gives me a cvhance to catch up with pictures on the blog!

Our BIG BIG news!!!!

Sam hsa not had a do-do (soother/ dummy) since the time he woke up on Thursday morning!!! And he's barely asked for it - maybe a handful of times and when he does we just remind him that he broke them and put them in the garbage!

He had started biting them to the point that it was dangerous....so when he bit one in half I had him put it in the garbage himself and he did - so I just remind him that they are gone and he is fine :)

I am stunned because this is a boy who until Thursday would whine for his dodo frequently :)

Yay - that means all of mine have given them up at the age of 2.....Sam had his the longest by six months but no more do-do's :)

Watermelon Heaven...

Charlie enjoys some slices of Watermelon on the porch...but just like us she doesn't like the skin!

Charlie-Barley cools off......

31c is just too much for Charlie so she cooled off in another of the little 'pools' we have around the place for her and the dogs....

Abby-Banana......

On the porch this afternoon......

detox....

Home again from Costco...we stocked up HUGELY with fresh fruit and veg...we have eaten so much junk over the last few weeks.....eating out too often...eating on the run......that I really feel yucky! So I am going to do a detox....eating nothing today and tomorrow but raw fruit and veggies.....and drinking lots of water.....

I just had a zucchini salad for lunch......I have never thought to eat zucchini raw before but after watching Jamie make his salad the other day I thought I'd try it......YUM!!!

And I bought a huge bag of clementines too and they are just so sweet - almost too sweet...we bought mangoes....apples, grapes, plums, bananas, raspberries, as well as all the vegetables we bought....so I am all set to just eat fruit for a couple of days....of course I have to still take my meds so it isn't a complete detox but the best I can do lol!

I got all my pictures delivered...they came out well....sadly Susies didn't come out well - out of 15 pictures only 5 came out.....she used the whole film up inside with no flash......so they all came out too dark.....what a shame as I ahd planned to take her to the store to get scrapbooking supplies for her zoo pics.....so I think I will take pictures of her and her friend this week and print them off and they can scrapbook those instead....

After Costco Lloyd had to run to Home Depot, so I strolled around Michaels and got some great craft kits reduced to 75c each!!! So plenty of activities to keep the children busy if we ever get a rainy day!

Tomorrow I think we are going to Miquelon....to the lake for a while :) no doubt it will be busy as its the weekend and its hot but we are really only going just to see where it is and what its like - if we like it then I will take the kids for the day during the week......have a picnic and swim.....I've never been swimming in a lake before :)

Saturday.....

Lazy start to the day...coffee in bed...watched the breakfast news....Lloyd is burning some pics onto cd so I can take them to Costco for printing...Susie is having her camera printed too.....a disposable....I am hoping for some good pictures to scrapbook.......and some to send to relatives....Lloyd promised his Grandad some pictures......

Its another hot day here...31 I think they say...yesterday was 31 too......we spent the evening on the porch - I read a lot.....then we went out on the quad bike for a while...stayed outside until the sun was going down.....hot the ball for the dogs when we got back from their walk......oh and then we got the golf clubs out and hit some balls....Laurie and Sam joined in.......I am so crap at golf lol but Lloyd says next year we will get lessons at Northern Bear......geez we live right next to a golf course so we may as well make use of it :) Lloyd hit one ball so hard down towards the road he almost hit a car....bad timing as our road is so quiet but at that moment a car was coming lol! All was well :)

So we are finally off to do a big shop at Costco...we are so out of stuff...have to go!!!!!

So Sad :(

Last year a lady from Edmonton that I know through LP gave birth to a beautiful, but sadly stillborn, baby boy........

Recently she was thrilled to find out she was expecting again......a baby with a due date the same as her Son......

Sadly today I heard that this pregnancy has now ended at about the three month mark.....

Life can be very cruel sometimes.....and sometimes seems so very unfair.

Mel and her family are in my thoughts.

Seagulls resort to theft!

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/6907994.stm

Too funny! Clever Seagull!

Caught in the light..........

Summer at home.....

A few pictures from around our home this Summer.......