Mothballs and more

Yesterday and today have been very full days. An ad in the Lobster Bay Shopper for a rattan furniture set resulted in a late in the day run of a 2 hr drive each way to pick up an antique wicker set of sofa, chair and ottoman which was pungent with moth balls. This is what you get when buying something from seniors. They really gave us courage for aging gracefully though as they were retired in a lovely setting with beautiful gardens overlooking the Bay of Fundy, had been golfing that morning and go south to Sarasota every winter. They had definitely retired in style and were both sharp as tacks. Helps when you look into the future.

The late start meant a run home in the dark after a quick stop for A&W onion rings and root beer. Made us nostalgic for the time over 30 years ago when I was in nursing school and the then boyfriend had borrowed his brother’s brown Gran Torino and come up for the evening. We went out to the A&W drive in, this was in the days when you ordered from your car with the little radio and the waitress came out and hooked the tray with your order on it to your partially rolled up window. There was an incident with operating the window after we‘d eaten, the tray falling and smashing the dishes and when mister jumped out to assist the waitress she backed away like she was being mugged. In the confusion he was left holding the one intact A&W mug which he later presented me with as a memento of our evening. Tough mug, it’s made it through this many years in this household, moves etc.

I spent the early morning trying to rid the cushions of the mothball smell by washing the covers, airing the cushions/furniture in the sunshine and Febreezing the daylights out of everything. By the time I walked the dog and spent a few moments trying to convince some folks from Ontario to buy our old house (they were waiting for the real estate agent so I’m still holding my breath) it was time to get ready to head into town.

I met up with daughter # 1 and we took a trip in to have a special lunch, shop at the second hand book shop (found a sailing book for the shore captain) and a Frenchy’s run. Found a great book in the bin called White Trash Cookin’ which was worth the $1 for the photos alone! Scored two new t-shirts for the man of the house, and two fitted sheets for the soon to be university student so a very productive stop. Nice wrap up to a wonderful week off.

It’s a bit of work to get ready for the pig roast (although I have to admit that both mister and I enjoy it as we’re social animals and really do like entertaining) but it’s more fun if I’ve had the week before off to putter and enjoy life in general. This way I don’t feel as if I’m working all week, rushing around for the weekend and then back to work for another week. A good thing is that I don’t have time to ruminate about having to go back t to work as it’ll just be upon me Monday morning. Another bonus this time is that we don’t have the run to the city as daughter # 2 is doing the shopping at Pete’s Frootique for us and delivering. She’s arriving later tonight so we can get started on some of the preparation tomorrow. I will take the run to the butcher’s for the pig and Canadian Tire for the charcoal in the afternoon, the shore captain will bring some ice and then we’ll start getting ready. The weather forecast is a wee bit more promising as the big day gets closer so we’re still thinking positively and the guest list is at about 35 confirmed (which usually means 50 as whoever’s at your house is invited along when you head out for the event).