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May 21, 2005

Going to Town

We're back - Allyson and I, that is. Richard picked us up from the Greyhound station just before noon Wednesday (the bus was late of course), and we went for lunch and a long visit to a very nice bathroom showroom. The next reno marathon is just around the corner! But not quite yet, because after we ordered the tubs and toilets and shower heads and faucets, we drove Richard to the airport. He is in Salt Lake City until Sunday, and then drives all the way home in a demo "Fire Body" Mog. (The kind of body and equipment used in off-road and municipal fire-fighting.)

In the meantime, Allyson and I are settling into a routine but also doing some things I hadn't taken the time to before. We've been going for long walks every morning, fed the llamas and photographed the baby and adult horned owls (magnificent!), and watched a lot of my favourite forensic detective shows. But yesterday we went into town again to find a music store (anybody need an as-new student flute?) and the local bakeries, so Allyson can get an idea of the market for her pastry chef skills in our area.

It was nice to take a walk down in the old city centre. She's got an excellent sense of direction so we were getting the lay of the land quite well. It's not a big town after all, just sprawling. I dragged Allyson into the gardening department at HD for potting soil, and then down almost every aisle in Costco since I don't know the store that well yet. It was a long day, and we had to stop one more time on the way home, to add Allyson's name to our post office box so the mail sorters don't send Allyson's boxes back to Ottawa. (They've done it before.) When we got home and had unpacked we sat down to read, and I dozed off 19 pages into the mystery novel she brought me. It was an early night.

Today it's time to tackle the business trip laundry, re-pot my house plants, clean house, and get out the white paint. I can't avoid it any longer, now that we're going to finish off the rest of the upstairs this summer. I'd rather be demolishing the awful "ensuite" bathroom and the 70's cedar panelling in the master bedroom, but I suppose we should wait for Richard for that. Lots of other things to do.

I still have four-wheeling trip photos to select, reduce, and post, and we have photos of the owls that I just have to show you. So I will attempt to do that this weekend, dismal internet connection or no. Allyson, like Richard's mom, has noticed how photogenic the long-lashed, long-necked llamas are, so I'm sure we'll get more pictures of them soon, too. And the garden - new, unfamiliar plants are coming up all the time, and now I have two gardening books, one specializing in BC gardens, that I hope will help me identify all these shrubs and flowers. The next book needs to be on birds - there are so many kinds, and in particular I'd like to know more about the owls since they seem to be here to stay. But, one thing at a time. Enjoy the long weekend, everyone.

Posted by anita at May 21, 2005 8:54 AM