It's a nice sunny day today. I spent a bit of time relaxing in the arbour shaded by our grapevines with a new book and glass of iced tea. But came inside to blog.  So here it is...

Hope you all are having a good weekend. Mine starts on Saturday night now that I work on Saturday's. I have been wiped out all week. I worked Monday morning then we went to town. I was ready to call it quits after trying on three shopping baskets of clothes at ValueVillage. All I found to fit was one pair of Capri, three short and two tops. All the pants were different sizes rangeing from size 10 to size 14. But I perseverd and we went to Walmart. I wanted dress Capri and the clerk was no help so with Paul helping the search I finally found two pair of Capri that fit. Got a couple of T-shirts, not one nice cool blouse left which was what I was looking for. I did manage to find three pairs of comfortable sandels. Then we went grocery shopping and picked up a couple things at Dollarama. I was bushed when we arrived home just before 10 pm. So I got my shopping out of the way 'til the fall or hopefully winter!

We had a Canada Day wrap-up/dinner meeting on Wednesday evening. Not much cleaning up cause we had Kentucky Chicken, pasta/potatoe salads and fruit and veggie plates. All this was served on disposables.

Thursday at the winery was the most busy day this year. I was alone for most of the day...at three pm Megan (my daughter) and Adam came in for "break". Megan thought she'd slip into the shop to fill shelves for me. When she saw all the people in the shop she called for Adam and all three of us were going steady for 'til 4:30! I'm so glad they came by (they were working in the vineyard and couldn't see the cars where they were.)

As I was arriveing home completely wiped out Paul saw me pass our New Hamshire friends house where he was on the deck. Larry and Wendy had just arrived that afternoon for a few weeks stay. We went to the restaurant for supper. 

(I worked my other jobs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.)

Friday night I went to bed at 9:30 but was still tired all day Saturday.

Saturday was very slow at the winery. It was pouring rain all day. It was so slow in the morning I really didn't need the extra help of Adam who was around that day, no way to mow or work in the vineyard in the rain. It was raining so hard we were kept busy mopping up the water that was coming in through the big double doors.  

I thought I'd have a nice quiet evening blogging and reading last night, but by 8 I could hardly kept my eyes open! I had my lights out and head on the pillow by 9pm. This morning (I didn't set any alarm) I woke up a little after 7 am. It had stopped raining by morning but the ground was quite muddy as was proven the look of me after about an hour of early garden. I hopped in the shower to wash off the mud before getting ready for church. Larry, Wendy, Paul and I went to a restaurant in Murray River which is under new management. Dad went also so the five of us sat together, then checked out the new Ice Cream Parlour down the street.

Well back to my book to do a bit of reading before heading over to Larry and Wendy's for a BBQ later.  (we just got an invite as I was writing). Hope you all have a great week and I'll try to get by to visit "y'all".  

Well finally we are into summer weather! I sure wish I didn't work so many hours in the summer. In the winter I don't have much work...as much as I like to be home painting, blogging, decluttering this house I'd much rather work the extra hours in the winter and have more time at home in the spring and summer. There is so much I want to do. Yesterday we played hooky from church and I gardened all day. But there is so much more I want to do at the end of the day! Now I've begun to deadhead and since the poppies are done blooming I have to remove all the old foliage and will have bare spots.

Now with the nicer weather finally here it is hard to settle into blogging when the garden beckons me. My house is also showing wear..akk...I just try to keep the dishes, laundry and floors swept with an occasion pick-up and dusting the worst spots.

This afternoon I am taking off to go to town...Paul has a Dr. appointment so I might as make the trip today rather than use gas a second day. I want some dressing Capri and some comfortable shoes that look kinda dressy for standing on cement and tiles all day at the winery. Then I think I may check out Value Village for some shorts and summer tops to wear around. I used to be skinny then put on a lot of weight so I had to buy new clothes cause I really had nothing to wear. Now that I've lost some of that weight (but not near down to what I use to be at the beginning) I find my clothes are much too loose and baggy. I am not like Bobbie, Ellen and most women...I hate shopping. If I can I get Paul to pick up stuff for me when he is in town but things like shoes, pants etc. I have to try on. So I have to go if I'm to have some clothes that fit!

My husbands brother's wife is still in the hospital though Freddy has had her home a couple half days. When Joyce has to be moved from the wheel chair he has to get help for she has no use of her legs to help herself. The hospital will only keep long term patients for so long so he'll have to make some decisions soon. 

Hope everyone is starting out their week on a positive note. I think of all of you often even when I don't get around to visit. I'll be pulling weeds in the garden and have a little "conversation" with one of you. Then I feel guilty for not actually visiting. I am also on face-book and though some of you are also "my friends" there I have family that aren't bloggers and am trying to keep up with them there too. The joys and sorrows of technology...just aren't enough hours is there?

Well it was funny yesterday, it was overcast and looked like (more) rain. So since it was the only day I was home 'til Sunday I figured I'd garden 'til it started to rain then come in an get some inside work done, paint and read. Well...it didn't rain! So I gardened and gardened until it was time to get supper on! I guess the dust will wait for another day...he-he! I even got my rock garden all done! Now when I weed a few beds that were done but need some tweaking and deadheading I'll be on the look out for some plants to thin out to fill in the spots the violets smothered and killed my plants in the rock garden. I thought the cooler weather and snow-less winter may have killed off the earwigs but as I ventured into weeding the lower beds I found where they have taken up residence. They have been gorging on my hollyhocks...I hate them (not the hollyhocks...the earwigs).

My blogging friend and former neighbour and childhood friend of my sons. Shanna, is home from Ontario. She is at here dad's for a few days here at the Harbour. I work the rest of the week but hope we can connect before she heads back to her boyfriends home in Summerside. If she had found me yesterday she might not have recognized me I was in my old gardening clothes and covered with red clay from gardening all day. I was not fit for company but I know Shanna wouldn't have cared, she's like family.

I think we are getting some of the heat I've requested from many of you. Today is supposed to be 10' higher than yesterday. May finally  need to dig out my shorts and set up the air conditioner.

I often read about people having an "aha" moment. Well this week I experienced it myself. Though this moment came a bit late about 32 years! I must give a bit of history about myself....after high school I took a year of Commercial Art...at that time jobs especially for women were scarce and I wasn't sure this is what I wanted so the next year I went to Bible College. I took the one year course in Biblical Studies. The college I went to didn't encourage women to be more than choir directors, secretaries or ministers wives. They didn't ordain women either. So I decided to "take a year off" to decide what I wanted to be...whether to pursue a career in art or become a minister and further my education elsewhere. This was the spring of 1975.

Well in the fall I met my husband and by October of the following year we were married. Along came the children and an assortment of jobs over the years. The years just kind of added up.  My two years of college gave me great training as a non-paid Sunday School teacher in the mean time with the art training a biblical knowledge.

 Well with busy with extra jobs this summer...making signs and posters for Canada Day....writing the sermon and preparing the service...I have been very stressed the last couple weeks. After spending all of my only day off this week preparing the service I happened to wander into "my studio".  There was my almost but not quite finished painting...my heart was longing to finish.  This is when the  "aha" moment hit me. I was most content making the posters/signs but more stressed preparing the service.  After all these years I have finally found out what "I want to be when I grow up". It is not a minister but an artist! I know I could go back to school but I'd rather not, that is something I would have been more content doing but then again I loved having and raising my children. But the oil painting is where I am happiest right now in my life. When any young person says they are going to "take a year off" to decide what to do I warn them that life sometimes happens during that year so to be careful.