Museum of Nature and flying across the country

A couple of weeks ago, I did an escape room at the Museum of Nature. It was a lot of fun - there were 10 people doing it (7 of which I didn't know), and we made it out in the end. It made good use of the exhibits, and it was a fun way to see a bit of the museum.

Last weekend, I flew back to Regina for a very short Christmas trip. My flight leaving Ottawa was late, which meant that I got into Toronto late, which meant I missed my flight to Calgary, which meant I missed my flight to Toronto.

WestJet bought me food in Calgary, and the put me in Plus seating on the way to Regina. the middle seat was empty (i.e. just a console with water bottles), and they had a variety of snacks and beverages. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so exhausted.

What I've been doing when I'm not here

I spent Remembrance day (and the day after) doing a First Aid course, so on Saturday night I went downtown for supper and went to the war memorial and then over to the Parliament Buildings to see the poppies they were projecting on the Centre Block. It was nice - there were more people paying their respects than I expected, but it wasn't crowded, and it was impressive to see all of the poppies left on the tomb of the unknown soldier.

That's also the weekend I started my Christmas project. You see, there is a family in my community that is having a hard year. My friend decided to organize a Christmas basket for them. I said I'd make blankets, so I spent a month making a quilt for each of the 5 kids, and one for the adults. (6 quilts in 4 weeks. It was ridiculous.)
    

  
(Each child's quilt is a different colour; the adult one is a combination of the children's colours).

Then it was Wanda's birthday, so we took the dinosaurs out for Vietnamese food on a Tuesday night.


 


And then we went back down to the Parliament Buildings to see the rink and the Christmas lights.

Update

Well, I have been doing a dismal job of updating. Let's see if I can remember what you've missed.

1) Girl Guides had an event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada on the last weekend in September. We were the only group that camped.

It was cold, and it rained on Friday night as we were setting up, but we had a pretty good time anyway.

2) I went for a walk, just because. I really need to do that more often.

3) We went to Miwate at the Chaudiere Falls. It was definitely worth the trip.

4) We also went to Fort Fright in Kingston. I'm a terrible person to go to a haunted house with. I either know what they're doing or I'm trying to figure it out. But it was a fun trip anyway.

5) I ran the haunted house for my community association. It was fun as always. The theme was Fairy Tales of Horror. We had Red Riding Hood turning into a werewolf, and the witch from Snow White offering poison apples. Sleeping Beauty was a vampire, and the witch at the gingerbread house asked people if they wanted to come for dinner. It was a big success.

Mystery and hayrides

Two weeks ago I was walking home from physio when I spotted a mysterious path. Where it went wasn't a mystery - the mystery was why it existed at all.

I decided to follow it. (I still don't know why it's there.)

Last weekend, I went apple picking. It was the usual - jump o. The wagon out to the orchard, pick some apples, and then buy some donuts. A good time, as usual.

And then Wanda and I used excess cork from the basement to replace the carpet on the stairs.

And this weekend, I went to an open house on the farm I buy my beef from. We had lunch and then did a wagon ride through the farm. It was really interesting to hear about their farming practices.

Basement renos

The basement is (mostly) done. The contractor finished over a month ago, but I was building the furniture, so it took a while.

I started with the nesting beds, which were done by the beginning of August. I wanted bookshelves on either side and was planning to build them until I realized the desk I built in high school would work.

Here is the desk. I took the sides and fold-down desk off. I cut the desk in two and drilled holes for the new shelves, then I pained the main desk compartment and one of the sides brown. Here it is beside the nesting beds.

I also built the new computer table, and finally got the computer reassembled.

All that's left now is organizing the laundry and furnace rooms. But that's work for another day.

Home sweet cabin

Well, let's start with the stuff I've failed to share. A couple of weeks ago I made the trek to Maverick donuts. The donuts were good, but I prefer Suzy Q.

Last week I did another    Nite, and then went out for ice cream.

And this weekend I rented a cabin at Riverside-Cedar campground. It was cold and it rained all day yesterday, but we had a good time anyway. The cabin consisted of a bedroom with a bunk bed and queen bed, and another room with a fridge, stove, table, benches, and a futon. There was a water tap just off the deck as well as 2 adirondack chairs, a BBQ, and a fire pit. The bathroom was a bit of a hike, but otherwise it was nice.

Nothing routine about this

So a little over a week ago, my mom, cousin, cousin's 3 year old daughter, 13 year old niece, and other cousin's 15 year old daughter were supposed to arrive around 7:15 p.m. They were almost 8 hours late, so we started the trip very tired.

After everyone got some sleep, we went downtown and went to Kontiniuum. (The website says you need tickets, but you do not.)

We also went to mass at St. Pat's, the Busker Festival, then to city hall for Rib Fest. Amazingly, we didn't get rained on.

The next day, we went to my aunt's sister's cottage, which was much more relaxing.

Monday we went to the new playground at Mooney's Bay, and Tuesday was Calypso.

Wednesday my cousin and her 3 year old took the train to Toronto. The rest of us did a little shopping and then took naps before we collapsed from exhaustion.

Thursday we went to Brockville to the Aquatarium, and the girls did the ropes course ... twice. They really liked it.

Friday we went to the MosaiCanada gardens in Gatineau, then went out for lunch and then to Spider-Man Homecoming.

Saturday we failed to escape from an Escape Room.

And Sunday we went to Fun Haven, before driving mom and the girls to the airport.