Summer has arrived

Can it be that summer has arrived? I guess we should get outside and enjoy it before fall arrives because it seems that the calendar is no longer an indication of the seasons!

I spent a good part of yesterday outside - some of it for me and some as a volunteer.

Yesterday was the Toronto Marathon and I got roped into driving a truck for them about 6 or 7 years ago. While I keep wanting to say NO, I actually enjoyed yesterday. Of course - just when I'm about to flatly refuse to volunteer again, I have a great day!

I get the easy drop-off route. It's the one that I've been doing ever since I started. It's easy, there's no crazy traffic to deal with, although we are on the road delivering stuff before 6 AM on a Sunday.

Once that is done, we head up to the start line where we get to wait for all the runners to leave the start line. That's about 2 hours to kill. A good book helps but it's also fun to watch the race start and to watch all the runners as they prep before the race. It's still cool at 7:30 AM these mornings.

Seconds before the marathon started

Fortunately, they had a great crew there to pick up the clothes that were shed once the race started. Bags and bags of clothing were picked up. Not by us thankfully.

Once they left, we zigzagged across the city to pick up the water stations. In the past, this has been a terrible job. Garbage everywhere and stations were not prepped ready for us to pick up. The job has been awful. I have to say that yesterday (maybe because of the weather), the day was a breeze. We only had to help clean up ONE station out of 20. That's a record.

Of course, that makes it hard to say NO for next year. My goal was to get out of there at 2 PM, and I managed to get away by 2:30 after I helped unload the garbage truck. Now that was fun! But not so bad when the race director helps because he's waiting for the last runners to arrive. I love when people pitch in and the other drivers and helpers were all good!

Nice to break the traffic rules and if anyone got stuck in the convoy of four Budget cube vans - well don't yell at me! Hey - car driver, if you let us do our job, we'll have the street open sooner! Thank god for cops everywhere.

Back home and outside to the backyard with my book and I was restless. I couldn't read because I was tired and I couldn't sleep because the dogs kept trying to entertain me! But I did manage a nap and I felt better.

It's taken me a while to get into this book which is almost 600 pages and I couldn't get to sleep last night so I read and read late into the night. I'm less than 200 pages now and well - I know I'll finish it tonight. It's a John Grisham and I'm really liking the story. The Rainmaker.  Yep - it's old, but still a good read.

Oh - I managed to snap this photo as we dropped water supplies off at one of our stations.

Toronto skyline at about 6 AM

We think our city is HUGE and it is. But think about this - the marathon starts near Mel Lastman square, down Yonge Street, then through the ritzy section of town (Forest Hill area), back over to go down the Bayview extension and then all the way out to the Humber Bay Arch bridge and then back to the Exhibition grounds. All in the name of finding 42 KM for the runners to run a marathon.


When we were at the Windsor Quilt Show on the weekend, they had a sale. I told you about the sale. $1 for a grocery bag and you could fill it with books. Here's my bag! I haven't had a chance to open it yet. Hopefully later today.

Bag of books for $1

They must have received so many book donations when they were calling for donations for the members boutique that they decided to do this to get rid of them. Not sure how much money they made, but loads of people flocked to the table. I'll share what's in the bag with you this week.

This was also something else that we saw that I thought was interesting. They had taped their flyer inside their car windows with all the important information about the show and how to contact their guild. I thought that as a brilliant idea.

A flyer taped inside the car window for advertising

The show was in a HUGE complex, and the signage for the show was the BEST I've ever seen. We just followed the signs and we arrived at the proper door with no mishaps. That was awesome and well done Windsor Quilt Guild. We loved your show!!  I wouldn't make a special trip there as it's a four-hour drive, but if you could marry it up with something else? Yep - I'd go again.

Today, it's back to reality. I have a couple of appointments today and of course, it's Monday sewing. It's going to be a busy day, but that's OK. I've already cleared one paperwork item off my plate today and I'll get a couple more done later today. And I want to finish that book!

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!

Ciao!