Wedding in NS

We went to the most magical wedding (after mine of course!) at the weekend where my Chloe was a flower girl and Lily was a guest as she couldn't handle being in the spotlight AT ALL

It was up in Windsor and meant staying away for the night in a hotel, big hurrah for the girls and we booked the Super 8 - not my thing, I have to say! The carpet and comforters were dark green and screamed 1983, I have realized that I am officially allergic to that style of hotel room décor.

The wedding was amazing, our two friends Sam and Kensa tied the knot outside a magically whimsical barn and I have been banned from posting any of their wedding photos online as they await the official pics.. so here are some of us attending that wonderful day:

It was a really nice venue with a great pool, where we hung out and drank too much sangria. And I mean LOTS of it...
Later on.........

I wish I had gotten more shots of the pool as it was very tropical and being right here in NS means I can have the same ambience in our pool at home, which of course, is also right here in NS!!!

There were tropical looking greenery in very nice planters, and a tiki bar., It was surrounded by some palm tree like trees.... so now I am on the hunt for similar green stuff and plan a massive overhaul of our pool deck next year. I mean, we spent out on the pump and the filter and the liner and new water this year,... lets add some ambience!
I think I may have to draw the line at the tiki bar though sadly, not quite enough space.

Sunday morning

So yesterday morning at a little after 8am I pulled on my sneakers and took the dog and started my run. I planned a 3km run with very little belief that I would achieve it, its been weeks (feels like months) since I ran and that was only 5km.

So off I went and I damn well did it,easily. I feel SO pleased that I can still do this. I certainly felt it more afterwards than I did before, but its still achievable and that means I can get back to 5km and build it to 10

I was stopped in my tracks on one road by a rather large spider. It was just sat there and I spotted it because
a) it was big, and
b) it had wasp like markings colour wise so it stood out on the asphalt

So I went and stared, its wasnt striped like a wasp but rather had almost like a skull on its back that was bright yellow. I was pleased it didnt jump or anything, or actually even move. That would have creeped me out.
I have just googled it to see if I can figure out what it was and now I feel all shuddery from all the images and a little disturbed because I can't find it, there are a number of spiders with yellow markings but nothing the same....

It was hot too, I had started to think that hot mornings were in fact, a thing of the past but not yesterday. The heat was on. Its cooler this morning, of course, so I am going to walk the dog in a moment in complete comfort for him in his husky like fur coat. he did good yesterday though, hes a fit running companion. And he doesnt pull, he runs alongside, long tongue hanging out to one side.

Having almost gone through our 3rd summer and only being in the pool three times this year, unlike last year when it was consistently extremely hot, I have come to the conclusion that we need a pool heater. The pool has to be over 80F for me to want to be in it, its only hit that twice when I wanted to go in and sits at about 76F, tooooo cold for me.
So, I am going to check out solar heaters as our neighbour has one and it makes at least a 5 degree difference. Ideally I really want to extend our pool season anyway, so this may be the answer.
I mean its been hot and humid, but its been *blessed* (according to my friend, but not me) by some slightly cooler days and some rain..... I like Florida hot and steamy like last year.... all summer.

So... thats my next project along with some renos for Lilys room, her closet is too big and in the wrong place, some repositioning and downsizing of that will make a real difference.

Oh and the rain has meant the mozzies have been happily out and biting, I was bitten on Friday night near my eyebrow so now that whole area is swollen and makes my eye look slightly wonky in a most fetching way.
Pfffffffffftttt!

where has my running mojo gone?

Its Saturday morning at 8am and I am sitting here on the old FB (again!) trying to drum up some enthusiasm to go for a run. This running lark that I used to do for fun is now feeling like a potential chore. I am not even sure I *can* run anymore anyway. Maybe I couldnt in the first place, I was hardly fast. I could go for 5km but it was slower than most people run for most of it, I got some speed up after the first 2km. I am a slow starter!

Since I had my surgery my enthusiasm for it has waned, it didnt help that for two weeks I could barely move around the house without feeling wiped out, but now its been 2 months and I am back to working out anyway so there is no reason not to get back out there. The weather is cooler already (whats with that?!!!) the air is warm but the humidity has eased back so its possible to do things again without feeling like you are in a sauna.

So frankly I am nervous of the results, of finding out that actually I am a pussy and cant do this anyway. So whats holding me back? It clears my head, its a great start to the day, the dog is waiting expectantly - hes a great running partner - my sneakers are looking at me. I should go and see how far I can get.....

August 2013

Its been a busy few weeks.
We had some friends stay from the UK, we hung out lots and went out for dinner at the fabulous Stayners Wharf and then wandered along the boardwalk.

When they sadly returned to the UK we had 2 days and then we went to PEI for the Natal Day long weekend with another family. It was great to be back there and I had a flashback to my youth when Ruby and I jumped into the pool in intense rain in our clothes. It was great to be so spontaneous and irresponsible - I had on my new glittery t-shirt (its survived), and the kids loved it! Its not often they witness me being a nut.

We ate out, we had fun, we ate BADLY and I mean really BADLY.
The mosquitos were BRUTAL. they were everywhere and they were feisty.

We drove back on the Monday into a thunder storm, always good fun to drive into the rain you can see in the distance.

Its taken me a long time to get back to any kind of form since my surgery and running has even been on the backburner. Thankfully, I have only gained 5 lbs but thats 5lbs in the wrong direction.

This week has been a return to health and exersize, Paul and I have joined the beachbody plan and our working our way through the Les Mills combat programme.
I will go back to running, just not right now, I am not feeling it.

saturday morning musing

Its early and the house is quiet and I am wondering what to write about, I have noticed that I have readers from all over the world now and that amazes me. At first I thought that hopefully family will read this and really its like an online diary for me and then I found that other people are reading it too... and now I think, Is it even interesting?

We were driving home last night from a friends and I was thinking that now, 2 and a bit years in, we don't drive about in wonder, we don't gaze at the trucks in awe anymore, we don't have to think about where to buy paint. We are now comfortable and at home. And this home rocks!

I was watching a House Hunters International yesterday and an American couple were moving to London and they were politely shocked at how little they could get for their money renting near Clapham Junction.  For me, I couldn't imagine wanting to live there anyway, its busy, its full of people, theres too much concrete. The flats were small and sometimes dingy, there was carpet (shocker!) and the washing machines were in the teeny little kitchens (big shocker) especially to North Americans who are so used to (for the most part) laundry rooms, hardwood floors and space.

And I realised that I too have become used to those features of living here, I no longer am comfortable with my washing machine residing in my kitchen or of having to live in less than the square footage I am enjoying now. We are indeed fortunate.

Our children will grow up being able to play outside with friends and come in when it gets dark or they get hungry, whichever comes first. They think having a pool is a normal part of life. They have a dog. In a way (sans pool) their childhood is more like mine was. Its more than I had hoped for, for them.

They are also growing up with cellphones that play games, tour the internet and take photographs. They keep in touch with old school friends so successfully because of Skype. They expect to be able to see people the other side of the world when it suits them. Back in my day a letter sufficed and I have to say the pleasure from the pink or pastel blue or other colour envelope arriving with my name and address from my bestie that I have moved away from, was not to be under-estimated.

I could read and re-read the words as we kept in touch.

I had 35 years of living in England and I had a good life and now I am here and this is a good life too, I know I am lucky to be able to have both experiences.

holiday plans

I am SO excited.
We have decided not to drive to the US this year, thats for another year.
So now flights and accommodation in Orlando are booked and paid for - we are back at the Bahama Bay for  5 nights and our Key West house is also booked.

We had a family dinner meeting and picked Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure and Seaworld as our parks of choice.
Universal is a must for the ET ride and because I havent been there for 8 years. Islands of Adventure has Harry Potter so thats enormously important.
Seaworld is a family favourite and the last time we were there was when we decided to move to Canada so it has sentimental value to me.
Same for Bahama Bay. Its a very nice resort anyway but I simply have to be there again and KNOW that now we live in Canada, we dont have to board a plane at the end of our stay and head on back to the UK.

We drew the line at the number of parks, simply due to cost - $892 is the current number being flashed around for these parks alone and frankly thats a big hit to the pocket for a few days of fun.

RBC points are paying for our car rental and our last nights hotel stay on International Drive before we head on home.

It will be interesting to see how we feel about leaving Florida to come home this time, when home is here now and not in England.,

hot weekend plans

We have a pool weekend planned and THAT IS ALL.,
Its going to be a feels like 41C today, I am already closing windows everywhere in an attempt (vain may I add) to shut the heat out of this house. Now I love this heat, love it but frankly I dont want a hot house.

We have friends coming round to hang out in the water, we will barbecue and we will hang out. I will lose my new found obsession with watching "Keeping up with the Kardashians" if I can, that show is a pile of crud but its like my guilty pleasure. But it has to go, oh yes.

It was Dukes second birthday on July 4th, so we need to get him a birthday present and I am currently in planning holiday mode.

My idea of planning holidays involves checking out all the menus of all the restaurants I plan to hit. This is a great phase of this whole trip and frankly, as we know where we are going this year and have been before, its even more pleasurable as I know whats ahead and its so much fun looking forward to being there again - Universal Studios,Seaworld, Bahama Bay resorts, Key West restaurants and Duval Street, snorkelling in the warm Keys waters, cant wait.

I love Orlando theme parks, especially as the girls are at this age. I hope though that I never become old and stuffy and unappreciative of them.

Its been YEARS since I was in the Keys, Chloe was 18 months old. This trip has been discussed for a long time now, and its coming up soon. The excitement in the house is starting to build.