Montreal:

Charmion! Thank you for a good laugh - but so true!!

"A house is a hole in the ground into which you throw money, shovelful by shovelful."

Beaver is getting further tightened with rigid insulation on the floor upstairs and plywood on that. Dan says it looks like a real room now! It is high enough in the centre for a not-too-tall person to stand so we will be using it as a sleeping loft. He found lots of holes where cold was getting in. He is also going to do some structural strengthening before I get back. He also made styrofoam insert for me to put in the hole for the trapdoor-to-be. Currently, there was only a piece of plexiglass - which is great for letting light come down from upstairs windows but not very good for keeping heat downstairs. At night I can put insert in place; daytime have light!

I finally arrived at the house in Montreal to find R had actually decluttered enough of the LR that there is room for 5 chairs! and we can see the floor! Far from nice middle class gentility but a tremendous improvement. He did not have time to vacuum, alas!!! I am too fearful of dust to do that so it remains filthy around the edges. He did wash the wood floor. And cleared enough surface in the K that food prep was possible - with care.

Thank heavens for airbnb!

My beautiful granddaughter along with my 3rd ggd in utero and the father of such, arrived on 16th. We had a terrific weekend - at least from R and my point of view. A marvellous accordionist at the cafe in St. Isidore on Thurs, and a good meal. Fri, Ali and I went to a special Quaker meeting at Friend Molly's long term care facility; Molly was in far better shape than I expected - So terrific!

Then we picked up Jeremy and I took them to Old Montreal where we wandered around and had lunch in a small cafe. The big event was an evening at the Yellow Door Coffee House - where I worked for years and my young sons hung out, perforce! This was top priority for son Troy as he has such positive memories and it started him on the music track that has so enriched his life.

A quick side trip to the All Night Bagel Factory was also on the list and elicited a surprised response from the young ones. J posted an excellent pic on FB! Saturday, A & J walked up to the Fine Art Museum, spent the day and then walked back down to our place where we had chili, family photo albums and visiting until they walked the 5 blocks to their airbnb.

On Sunday, A, R and I went to meeting and pot luck then picked up J to go to a museum/house dating to late 1600s. Wow! Then to a big buffet restaurant - crowded bit not overly.

We got them to the plane on Monday and I collapsed. R went to work. Tues took car for a new oxygen sensor, thinking this was it - but NO, something wrong in the front wheel; have to order part from US, come back next week. Thursday, it started making a nasty noise. Fri, I arranged to leave it at the dealer en route to cafe; R followed me in his truck and we left my car and continued in truck. Good music, went to mill to pick up distiller as we were running out of distilled water. Stayed the night and left early (for us!) and had big BF at a restaurant.

My 10 days in Montreal is turning into almost 3 weeks. A friend is arriving next week to stay for 18 days. We will give him upstairs BR which is --oops, we cannot move our clothes up there until after this visit. R did live trap the rat!! We will use the new-to-us futon downstairs. Hope it is reasonably comfortable.

I have triaged a bunch of stuff to take to thrift shops and some to Beaver. It is a relief to be able to "swing a cat" in the LR. R is happy to have me cooking him good food. I am feeling appreciated. It was so wonderful to have Ali visit, and to meet J; they are fine young people. It does help de-clutter the mind to have assurance that the younger gen is fine.

Today R & I are having lunch with a very dear special friend from the 60s, and his wonderful wife. They have moved back to Montreal after many years in the USA.

I have given up thinking about dieting for now. Just eating good food.

My health consultant Connie, rose to the occasion after we talked a couple days ago about my discomfort/pain that resulted from the removal of lymph nodes 12 years ago. She found a post on line with good explanation and suggestions for self healing! R and I are so happy as it was becoming a serious issue. I posted it on FB.