I'm taking this period of several weeks to enjoy some "long term" planning. Putting this into the perspective of my world, for the last year I have only been able to plan at most, 2 weeks in advance of anything. I have not really been able to plan months in advance. The exception to this was my son's graduation at the beginning of June and my Christmas present of Eagles tickets to the concert on July 15. For the last 3 weeks, Hubby and I have been planning our holidays. We made plans to go to the Howe Island Rockin the Rock. And I've been enjoying going for lunches and visiting friends.
This past week, I continue to grieve for a friend who passed away on July 14. She was and has been one of my best friends for about 44 years. Despite my grief, I am continuing to live life fully and enjoy my good health at the moment. So this past week, on Wednesday, I visited a friend on her deck and it became an impromptu get together with 4 other ladies as well. What a wonderful afternoon! It was warm but we managed to find shade to sit in and enjoy some discussion, chatter, cold water with lemon and lime in it and with all this the beautiful song of the house wren who has a nest nearby. I made it home in time to put together a dinner of naan bread personal pizzas. Wednesday was a great day!
Thursday, I had another vaccination to follow the protocol after my stem cell transplant. Because my vaccination last week was in my left shoulder muscle, I chose to have this one in my right shoulder muscle. Sometimes these vaccinations leave the injection site very achy and sore to touch for up to 5-7 days. I then had a long lunch and visit with a very close friend who I don't get to see often enough. We met at our favourite secluded biergarten. We enjoyed a lovely lunch, a couple of beers and wonderful conversation. For me, this is the perfect way to spend an afternoon. This secluded area is in the heart of the city. There is a parking lot directly beside the sunken patio. However, with all the green vines that cover the concrete walls, the area is cool, green and very calming. You have no idea that you are in the city. The biergarten really gives you the feel of a European oasis. Every summer, I look forward to spending time visiting with friends over either a meal or snack along with a couple of beer. Thursday was another great day except for the vaccination. I do feel like pin cushion sometimes even though my family doctor is very gentle with his injections.
Friday was spent planning out some of the vacation details and loading geocache information into my handheld GPS. I'm looking forward to getting out on the Honda Goldwing for a vacation. We often combine our travels with searching for geocaches along the way. I also took the day to do laundry to make sure there were enough clean clothes to travel with. In this past week, I've also been cleaning and tidying so that my home will be in good shape for me to leave when the time comes. Friday was also spent buying bug spray, sunscreen and some other small items that will be needed for our vacation.
Yesterday, Hubby and I took the motorcycle and joined our friends with their motorcycle on a ride to Howe Island for the afternoon. The Howe Island Rockin the Rock had their inaugural music festival yesterday from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. We caught the first 3 acts. We had to leave early as some nasty weather looked be blowing in. Being on bikes, we did not want to be caught in any heavy wind or hail. However, we really enjoyed our time there. Our friends knew the lead singer of the first band, Sweet Pete and The Heat, which was the whole reason we went. I was surprised to arrive and know the piano player. Hubby knew the drummer. We thoroughly enjoyed their blues style music! I would go hear them play again whenever they play in the area. The second act was a gentleman who played a slower style of rock. His son came on stage for the last couple of songs. The third band to play was called Oakridge Avenue. My friend and I wondered if we would enjoy them or not. We wondered if they were an Oakridge Boys cover band although this is a "rock festival". No worries there. They definitely were NOT an Oakridge Boys cover band. It was a group of 3 guys. A lead guitar (Sean Patterson), bass guitar (Alex Amey) and drummer (Harrison Stewart-Juby). They play an alternative rock style. We really enjoyed them. It was a surprise (and I didn't recognize him) to see the bass player and realize that he used to play rep baseball with our son. I felt old but I did really enjoy the music. It was a little disappointing to have to leave early but the weather was looking threatening. We hopped on the bikes, caught the ferry back to the mainland and rode home. Unfortunately, our friends' bike had some mechanical issues along the way and had to be pushed off the ferry, get a boost and ride home asap. We followed them just in case they had more mechanical problems. We continued our great day by going to their place and enjoying burgers, caesar salad, friendship and spiked iced tea. It was a super great day!!
Today, I will be continuing to get ready for our vacation. We're watching the weather forecast closely. We'll be getting the bike ready for a nice long ride. Stay tuned!
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