The End

 We are going to take a settlement from the insurance company and deal with the issue ourselves. For now we are just going to seal the chimney, fix the roof and replace the insulation. We may rebuild down the line when conditions improve.

April 21

 The weekend is drawing to a close. It is windy and cold. We've had ice pellets, snow and rain today. When I got up to the bathroom at 2AM the ground was white. When I woke up this morning it was raining and there was no sign of the white stuff.

We had a nice bbq dinner for M. stepsister;s birthday yesterday. She was estranged from her family due to a controlling abusive spouse for some years. We are all working hard to make up for lost time. Her late mother was my closest friend from more than 20 yrs ago.  Sister is within the same age range as my girls and knew them from school. She and my local daughter are friendly. I love this kid and happy she is back in the fold. When we are together she always wants to talk about her dear mother and I'm happy to have that time with her.

The dull weather and lack of movement on our household dilemma is playing on my nerves. All I want to do is lay in bed and read. M. took me shopping to replenish my art supplies a few days ago. I have sketches at hand and ideas in my minds eye, but just can't get up the whatever to pull out some canvas and start slapping on the paint. 

Scammers

 We've had friends who've had one their social media accounts "cloned". We wonder what the heck these people are trying to gain.

A friend of ours thinks he found out. His Facebook was cloned about a year ago. He warned his associates and moved on. That cloned account might have come back to haunt him. The past couple of weeks people have been showing up at his door for crazy demands. Some are there to collect items they purchased from "him" via etransfer. Some come to collect money from thing he "bought". A sanitation company came to collect for porta potty rentals. Police claim there is nothing they can do about it.

scary situation

I talked to my insurance guy today. We can't get workers. One guy who gave us a wishy washy quote is now ghosting us, so it looks like he doesn't want the job. The other guy who came out made a lot of demands and odd promises that raised red flags. The insurance company rejected him. Back to square one.

Cabin Fever

 The day dawned cold and wet and downright miserable.

We spent the morning reading but started to get itchy. The Princess got loaded into the back seat and off we went. We stopped at McD for some lunch and coffee. The last time I was in this particular McD they screwed up my coffee, then got mad at me, and downright rude, when I requested the right thing. This time that owner got snippy when I requested more salt and ketchup. We used to know the long term manager of this outlet. I bumped into him around Christmas time and he gave me quite an earful. 

With lunch in the bag we drove to the beach at the nearby military establishment. During the warm months this beach and campground is packed. No such thing today. We sat in the warm car and watched the angry waves roll in. 

The sky cleared later in the day. We finally had visitors wander by the trail camera. They were nibbling fresh buds as they meandered up the trail. I heard snorting when the pup and I went up, so Momma was letting us know she had her eye on us. Don't mind the date and time stamp on the photo. The camera just won't hold my correction. The temperature is accurate though. Brrrr!

 

The weekend has arrived

 It is cold, wet and windy. We did grocery shop yesterday. My goodness, the creeks and rivers are sure roaring now!

My insurance people aren't even returning my calls now. I'm getting pretty upset.

Just beautiful

 I could happily spend this whole day just walking in the woods. There are so many birds! I hear and/or see blue jays, crows, phoebe, robins, gold finches galore, three types of wood pecker and the sweet pair of doves that hang around my yard. Surprisingly, we didn't see them last year. I wonder why?

This is me doing what I love to do most in this world.

The buds are swelling on the trees. It won't be long now. I thought there would be a lot more storm damage along my trail, but it's minimal. Lots of small branches and one long dead cherry tree down was all I could see. That low piece of land at my back used to be a bog. About 15 years ago our big tractor get seriously stuck down there. It's so dry now you could drive a car through it after a bit of trimming.  The slope on the left side of the path will soon be covered with trilliums.

Eclipse

 Don't get too excited. I don't have any photos.

We went for a walk while it was supposedly at it's peak for our area. It was quite cloudy to start with, but it got quite a bit dimmer. The temperature dropped a few degrees too. If one didn't know better, you would think a good old fashioned thunder boomer was moving in. My sister lives much closer to the area of totality, but she reported the same conditions we have.

It was dark for the time of day for about an hour. Now the sky is clear and the sun is warm and bright. 

We found another guy to come look at our chimney job. It was not encouraging. He's estimate came in a LOT more expensive and a lot longer. He wants us to leave the house for three weeks. This company wants $500 to do a written estimate for the insurance company.

I'm making omlettes for dinner. Whoop whoop. Exciting day, hahaha

snow

 It has FINALLY stopped snowing here. We got a good foot of very heavy snow. The neighbour across the road came by with his huge ancient tractor and did the head of the lane. (The plow didn't come by until about noon hour!). He was ready to do the lane, but the ground is very soft under the snow so I thanked him profusely for breaking the bank and said we would wait for the rest to melt.

The furnace guys were here until dinner time yesterday. They did a good job. We are finding the gas heat a bit warmer than we are used to.  (different folks told us we might get used to a cooler house, hahhahaha).  When they were backing their big trailer into the yard they got it STUCK at the head of the lane. 

They finally had to unhook the trailer and fiddle with it.

The lane was well packed snow by the time these other vehicles and the propane company were in and out a few times. 

So winter has dumped on us with a giggle. Thankfully the temperatures are going to be good and warm into next week and it will all be gone again. 

Lets get this show on the road

 I am so fed up with this restoration company! They are telling me they can't get a masonry contractor to price the job. M.  has been doing some research. He's talked to a couple of contractors. One fellow came out today. We were pretty happy with our talk with him. I've contacted the insurance company about signing off and contracting ourselves.

Our new furnace goes in tomorrow. Did I mention we are in the middle of a raging snowstorm??

Say it ain't so

 The weather guessers are telling us we should expect 20 to 30 cm of snow over the next 24 to 32 hours! Winters last dash?

On thursday the heating contractors are coming to tear out our two old furnaces and installing a new gas model. M. phoned the heating contractor to see what they though, but they aren't worried. They said they would give us electric heaters between works.

We had a really nice Easter dinner. We had lots of family and strays. I was so happy that my dear daughter and M. sister (who was estranged to her family for several years due to an abusive marriage) were able to be here. The girls have known each other since their school days. 

I'm really getting ticked off with our postal service stamps. At Christmas time I had two cards, with enclosed gifts, returned due to the stamps coming off. I was so mad to find two Easter cards back in my box today with no postage. These peel and stick stamps aren't all their are not too reliable.

Happy Easter

 

Cats

 My friend adopted a rescue kitty just before Christmas. He was not a friendly outgoing fellow. He spent most of his time sleeping under the bathtub or behind the couch. He did, however, enjoy watching nature shows about birds.

About two weeks ago a bird came down the chimney into the wood burner. Her boyfriend opened the door to shoo the bird out and the cat bolted after it. It took off "never" to be seen again.

Her nephew, (who is her next door neighbour), was by a neighbouring farm today and guess who is living a happy life with their barn colony? Yes, the runaway! He has a good life there and seems to be content so apparently he's allowed to stay. We are much relieved that the saga of the white cat did not have a sad ending.

Waiting on spring

 Thankfully we didn't get a dump of snow from this last blow that went through the province. We chuckle when we hear Toronto is in a tizzy over a "snowstorm".  They just aren't prepared for a bit of the stuff. 

It's a chilly day, but the sun is shining. The sun is so warm now. The pets are enjoying themselves napping in a sunbeam. 

The garden boxes are still well frozen here. The things that need mulching didn't succumb to the warmer temperatures of a week or so back. A warmer winter is not a good thing for a garden

Our car is still on the sick list. Hopefully they will have it fixed today. The old part (Control arm, a major fix) does NOT want to come out. Some bolts are really rusted in.

There is still no movement on our chimney rebuild. The restoration company isn't having any luck finding a contractor available to take on the job. There are so few companies still in business and they seem to be fully occupied building new subdivisions. I'd like to know where all these people are coming from and how they can afford these houses. It's not like there are a lot of good jobs to attract folks in this immediate area.