Not quite Thanksgiving, but thankful none the less

In my last post, I hoped the gazebo/shed would be done by Thanksgiving. That did not happen.

We got the excavation dirt picked up the last Friday in October - which was also the absolute last day for it to be picked up. 10 1-metre-cubed bags on the driveway was not something I wanted to have around all winter! That weekend, the patio went in. 

The following weekend, we got the cupboard doors on. On November 9, we got the siding, and it went on the following weekend. The final inspection was last Tuesday.

The left side of the shed is a typical shed. There's one shelf, and storage for a few other things. The double doors on the right cover three shelves, also for storage. Below that compartment is a section you can reach from the right side of the shed; it's made to fit the lawnmower. 

I'm very glad it's done.

And this past Saturday, my Girl Guide travel group ran a day camp for other units. It was a really good experience, and I was really tired when it was done.

End of summer

 The new walkway is done. They sloped the walk so that we were able to get rid of the stairs near the driveway, and covered the steps in the same stone. There is also a small patio beside the stairs now. 

Mom and Miss B. came to visit. We went to Baxter conservation area, and enjoyed the trains and the ice cream boat. We mostly stayed outside for obvious reasons. Ms. A moved in and starts university today. 

The work in the back yard continues. It will hopefully be done by Thanksgiving.

And Pathfinders starts tomorrow. I guess summer is really over.

Two-dose summer

 I went to the movies on Friday. (Black Widow, which was good, BTW.)

In a few weeks, I'm going to a cottage with friends.

Life is getting back to normal, but day-to-day life hasn't changed much. I'm still working from home, and I'm still at home most of the time.

I've discovered a buy-nothing group in the neighbourhood, and I love it. I am getting rid of so much perfectly-good stuff that I don't need anymore. It's great!

Soon my front walk will be re-done. There is a gazebo being built in the back yard. Things are a little chaotic, but good. 

Fully vaccinated!

 Just over 2 weeks ago, I got my second shot. (Pfizer, which was much, much better than AstraZeneca. With the first shot, I was sick for 3 days, then had a big lump on my arm that didn't go away for 28 full days. With Pfizer, I had a bit of a headache for one day.)

I'm glad, but it's also weird. I've made plans to go to a cottage with friends in August. People are coming to visit. It's great, but a part of me isn't ready! I'm in my little rut, and I don't want to leave.

(Particularly since the more annoying parts of the pandemic like mask wearing aren't going away. That's the right call, but I still struggle with wearing masks, so some parts of life are still more difficult than I'd like.)

Vaccine

 I got the first dose of the vaccine (Astra Zeneca) on Tuesday. 

I've had many vaccines before - the standard ones, of course, but also things like Yellow Fever - and never had any problems.

This one was not like that. By 11:30 on Tuesday, I couldn't get warm. I spent yesterday asleep. (I'm feeling better today).

Still better than COVID, though.

Happy Birthday, Miss B!

I haven't seen my niece in person in over a year, but it is her birthday today! (I do get SnapChat pictures from her,usually looking mildly annoyed, even though I send her awesome pictures like this one:

I've known her since before she realized she could straighten out her legs. 

And somehow, she grew up. (I did not agree to this.) Happy birthday, B! 

Ukulele

For Christmas, I got a kit to build a ukulele. I was super excited about it.

The bare ukulele kit

First, I painted it. I drew criss-crossing lines on the ukulele, then painted each section a different colour. After that dried, I pained black lines of various widths between the colours. I added one coat of varnish - I didn't want to varnish too much since it might affect the sound.

Then I assembled it. It wasn't difficult, but some instructions would have been nice!