Which Kitchen would you pick and why?

 

I really had to think about this, as I was torn between 4 & 3.  I ended up choosing 4 as I love all that counter space and the light that is coming into the kitchen.  I would have chosen #3, but those plants above the cupboards would get on my nerves, as they would be a dust trap.  Mind you the open shelves in #4 will be dust traps as well. 

I would then have #1 in 3rd place, it's just a bit "kitschy" for me, and I think that that all blue and pick would get to me after a bit.  Then finally #2 as it's too dark for me.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts?

Subtitles/Close Caption

Do you use them, Yes or No?

This was the question Margaret asked on her blog, which you can read about here.

We rarely, if ever use subtitles, but had to turn them on the other week, when we decided to watch Shetland.

Now we have tried watching Shetland before but gave up on it, as we only understood half of what they were saying.  We watched another episode the other week, but even after putting on the subtitles, I gave up.  What's funny though is we are from the border area of England and Scotland, so you would think we would understand the Scottish accent.  However, I have a lot of trouble understanding it.

When we came to Canada our next door neighbour was from Scotland and when he was talking I had to look directly at him and really concentrate on what he is saying.  35 years later when I do see him, I still have to really pay attention.

I  always remember watching Snatch, starring Brad Pitt and not having a clue what they were saying.  I think the copy of the dvd was given to us!!  Therefore we couldn't put on the subtitles!!

So in our case subtitles are used for when we can't understand the language, we can hear okay.

Cross stitch update and painting craft.

I had dd and the girls up for a visit, so I bought these bee houses from Dollar Tree.  I had leftover craft paint from a couple of paint by number projects.  So we painted one each.

From left to right, daughter, me, then the girls.  I have said this before, I have a small amount of talent in some things, but when it comes to painting I have NONE!! 😂  

Here is the latest update with the temperature cross stitch.  We have had a mild week.  January should be all blue colours, not green and blue.  This coming week's forecast is a mixed bag, with no deep freeze in sight.  Which is good and was reflected in our gas bill.  It was $20 cheaper than last year.  I have a spreadsheet set up to track all the bills, so I can make a budget for us; for when hubby retires.

I also finally finished another little cross stitch project.  Well part one of it.  You won't see the finished project until the end of the year.  The photo below was taken before I did the back stitch.

This is the after.  I haven't pressed it or anything yet.  I am looking forward to sharing the finished project at the end of the year.  If you get the World of Cross Stitching magazine, this will be familiar to you.

What has the weather been like in your neck of the woods?  What have you been working on this past week?

I also must thank you all for your lovely comments.  I do try to visit everyone's blogs and answer your questions.  Feel free to remind me though if I forget!!

Lint roller tip

You know those lint rollers that you use on your clothes?  I bought mine from Canadian Tire for $1.99 the other day.  I would assume the dollar store sells them as well?

Well use it on your lamp shades to get rid of the dust on them.  It's a lot more gentle than brushing them down with the vacuum cleaner.  It works as you can see by the dust I picked up off my lamp in the living room.

Do you have any other good ideas on what to use a lint roller on?

Pension question......

For the people who receive a pension or know people who receive pensions.

Do you get tax taken off your pension before receiving it?  Or do you pay at the end of the year?

I honestly had no idea you had a choice in this.  I am inclined to get 25% taken off before receiving it.

Our local library had Service Canada employee's available for questions last week, so hubby finished work early as he had some questions about the forms you have to fill out to apply for your Canada Pension (CPP) and OAS.  

If you were born in Canada and had worked your 40 years the forms are pretty straight forward.  However, as we were born outside of Canada and hubby worked in the UK and is getting UK pensions they are a bit more complicated.

I will say, I am amazed when people say they are just going to retire without pre-planning anything.  

Do you have any pension stories to share?

Weekly Savings Challenge....Update

 

Now as you can see I have completed two more squares, the $51 square is also crossed off.  I find it rewarding to see those squares crossed off.  I leave the money in the jar, as I feel it will get "lost" in the bank amongst our other money.

There is a reason why I am saving this particular amount, which I will explain at the end of the year.  

I have read a number of books over this month and managed to review them over at my book review blog, here.

Washing Machine Cleaning...........

I can blame my son and daughter-in-law for all this work 😏  We were talking the other week about our front loader washing machines and they were complaining about the mould on the seal and how they are having to clean out the filter because Liam insists on rolling around in the dirt in his snowsuit.....don't ask???

Anyhow, I decided to order some product from Amazon for both of us to clean the mould off the seal.  I got it and decided to try it before giving the product to my daughter-in-law just to make sure it works.  You can see it here on Amazon, and I give it a 10 out of 10.  It works so well.

Make sure you read all the instructions first.  Also if you are not keen on using chemicals, this product is not for you, it has acid in it.

I left it on for 6 hours, and there is enough product left in the tube to do it again.

This is what it looked like before:

This is what it looked like after.  You do have to do a machine cleaning cycle after you have done this to remove any remaining product after you have wiped it off.

Now at the bottom of my washer and probably yours, is a door.  Inside is a filter.  Mine even has instructions on how to clean it all out.  Make sure you put a pan or towel on the floor to catch any water.

As I have had this set for five years and never cleaned it out, it was not only filthy it stunk.  Gosh was it stinky.  

The water in my bucket was black.

However after all said and done, and a little bit of work, my washer is sparkling clean.

I won't be leaving it so long next time.

My dryer has had a thorough clean out as it was playing up, so hubby had it all apart.

One job on our list is to renovate the laundry room at the end of the year.  Looking forward to sorting it all out.

Shower Organization

We have a large walk in shower, with two shower heads, one at either end.  We only use the one, which you can't see in this photo.

I noticed the other day that the shower organizer was starting to rust, so thought it was time to replace it.

I decided to try this cleaner to get the soap scum off the tiles, as it was too thoroughly clean before putting up the new organizer.

Again, great marketing blurb.  This was $7 from Walmart.  This time I liked the scent of the cleaner.

I also bought a shower scrubber and a grout brush from Canadian Tire.  I think the Scotch Brite shower brush was $12 and you can buy replaceable heads for it.  The grout brush was maybe $4.

I sprayed everything down with the cleaner and let it sit a couple of minutes and scrubbed everything down with the scrubber........and yes it was grimy with soap scum.  So although the length of the handle could maybe be a bit longer, I found it saved my back and did a super job.

I picked up this five pack of shower organizers from Amazon, you can view them here.  It had good reviews and I liked how you could affix them to your wall.

It comes with clear instructions of what you have to do and they are removable as well.

I only ended up using the two baskets as we don't have a lot of things in our shower.

Now our walk in shower is huge, and has two shower heads.  We use just the one with no toiletries on it.

I will say I am very pleased with the shower baskets, and you can lift them off the hooks to clean them.  The shower cleaner was a good buy, as was the shower scrubber.

Also for those who use the Method cleaning products, did you know about the message on the bottom of the bottle?  I didn't but thanks to Robin now I do.  Thanks Robin!

Another update, used the shower scrubber again since the first time and really happy with how it's tackling the soap scum.

Craft Class

 Our local library holds a free monthly craft class.  There was spaces available for the January class so I signed up.  As I am writing this, there are no spaces available for the rest of the months 😞

This month they were making a mobile.

Now what you need to make the mobile are the following:

• 2 paint stirring sticks, you can get these at your local DIY store
• paint
• small hook
• glue stick
• glue gun
• paper
• thread or clear fishing line
• scissors
• pencil
• four small beads or wooden discs for the bottom of each string to weigh it down

We used leftover scrapbook paper and pages from old books that were going to be thrown out.  Cut out your paper shapes.  Make sure you have an equal number of shapes per line, so that it will balance out. 

Paint your paint sticks whatever colour you want and if you are using the wooden discs do the same.  

Put your weighed disc/bead on the end of your thread, then glue your paper on the line.  I then went back and put another circle on the opposite side to cover up the thread.  I also made sure mine were the same space apart on each of the four lines.

Using a glue gun, glue the paint sticks together in a cross, making sure it's in the true middle otherwise it won't hang straight.

With a glue gun, stick on each of the lines of shapes on the paint sticks.  Again making sure each one is in the correct/identical space; so it hangs straight.

You will need to put a small round hook in the centre on top of the paint sticks so you can hang it up.  I also put paper circles where I had glued the lines to the glue sticks.

As I didn't want to put a hook directly in my ceiling, I found these command hooks which work the same and won't damage my ceiling.

If you google how to make a mobile, there are lots on the internet with a lot better instructions than I gave.

It was a fun afternoon which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I was told to check in at the beginning of each month to see if spaces had opened up for the next session.  Hopefully I will be able to join another class.

Another week down with the temperature chart

 

It was a colder week this past week.  There is even a purple in there as last Friday our high was -13oC.  Honestly though it was in the minus 20's with the windchill, it was nippy cold.  This week will be hot for this time of the year with temperatures on the plus side a couple of days.

We can't complain here in Southern Ontario as this year has been so mild, which in turn makes the winter feel shorter.  January has been a fast month for me.  It's February I detest as that's when we get some nasty weather.

On the flip side I love September and October as those are perfect temperatures to my mind and the air feels so much fresher.

What's your favourite month of the year?

Bathroom cleaning tips..

I clean our bathroom on a Monday and a Friday.  Monday is a deeper clean than a Friday and if needed I will wipe round the other days.

Now rather than do a deep clean once a month or whatever, I try and do one big thing per week.  For instance this week I cleaned the drains/plug holes, in the bath, shower and sink.  I use a mixture of baking soda/bicarb soda, white vinegar and boiling water:

Pour on some baking soda........

Top it with white vinegar.

Pour boiling water on top of that.  It all bubbles up and cleans out the drains.

A neat tip I stumbled upon, is after you clean your toilet.  Place the brush between the the toilet and seat, like in the photo to dry off before putting it back in the holder.  That way your holder is not full of toilet water.

Do you have any neat tips for cleaning your bathroom?

Fool Me Once , Netflix WARNING SPOILER ALERT

If you haven't watched the series, but plan too do not read this post.

We finally got all 8 episodes watched over the weekend and I have to admit this one is the best one so far of Netflix's adaptations of Harlan Coben's books.

I have been following Michelle Keegan since she started out in Coronation Street many years ago.  Loved her in Our Girl and she was just as good in Fool Me Once.  I will say she seems to fit the take no nonsense military character that she's been cast as, a couple of times.  Then Joanna Lumley is an icon in herself and is such an adaptable actress.  I remember her back in the 70's in The New Avengers as Purdy.  We all had to have her hairstyle back in the day.  Then who can forget Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous?

Anyway back to Fool Me Once.  As with the other series you have no clue who the killer is.  Each episode you think it is one person, then the next, then another, until you are so confused and just give up.  Or is that just me?

 

With this one, even when Maya admitted in episode 7 to killing her husband to Shane, I didn't believe it.  I turned to hubby and said, "no it can't be her."  However when all the pieces are put together in the last episode, it all makes sense.

I did think it was a sad ending when all said and done.  At least Lily did have people in her life that looked out for her and loved her.  

I haven't read any of Harlan Coben's books.  If you have and have watched the Netflix shows, as they a good adaptation of the books?

Do you want to join me?

In saving $1000 this year?  I know I am late to the game, but the one thing I liked about this chart which you can print off here, is that if you don't have much money to spare one week, you can put $3 in your jar.  If you have more to spare, you can put the $60 in.  If you can't afford to put any in there is a $0 week.

You put money in your pot every Friday, and cross out a square that corresponds with the amount you put in.  Now as there has already been two Fridays in January and today will be a third Friday you need to put three amounts in and cross off three squares.  

As I prepared this post earlier in the week there had only been 2 Fridays past in January.  So I decided to put the $60 and $15 in.  Wanted to get rid of the $60 square.  I think I will get rid of the $51 square this week, so that is out of the way as well.

Let me know if you are going too join in with this?

In the grocery bag is a pineapple, would you believe they were on sale for only $1.84 at Walmart this week.  That was a super price.  Hubby loves fresh pineapple; I do too, but it doesn't agree with me for some reason?

Should also mention the grocery bag, was from when we were on vacation in the States last year.  You can't get plastic bags here in Canada anymore.

New cleaning solution

I decided to try a new to me all-purpose cleaner.  I have tried the dishwashing liquid from the same brand and was very happy with it, especially the scent, so thought I'd give this one a try.

I really enjoyed the blurb on the side of it, very good marketing.

So I cleaned down all the kitchen cabinet doors, counter tops, top of the cupboards etc.

I would give it a 9/10.  It worked as advertised and didn't leave a residue.  I wiped everything down with a microfibre cloth, but found I had to go over it with paper towel, which has nothing to do with the product, but my cloth's.

The product lost a point because I found the smell of the product odd.  It's supposed to smell like grapefruit, and if I remember correctly the dishwashing soap, smelled lovely and it was grapefruit.  To my mind this did not smell like grapefruit, in fact it did not smell like citrus at all.

Other than that I have nothing negative to say about the product.  If I remember rightly it was around $6 for the bottle from Wal-Mart, and it has no chemicals in it, which was a win. Not sure I would buy it again though.

You're a right narna."

narna/nana is slang for fool/crazy

Mainly used in the UK.

For example: I felt like a right nana, when I was the only one who turned up in fancy dress for the party.

So what is this all about?  Hubby loves to watch British football/soccer on the tv.  I am generally around, and although not actually paying attention, I must be half paying attention.

The other day it was on tv and I was on my laptop, when all of a sudden I thought the commentator of the game says: "He's a right narna."

My head pops up and I say to hubby; "Did he call him a right narna?"

Hubby says; "No his name is Onana."

There is a football player called Andre Onana, who plays for Manchester United, you can read about him here.

The only problem now though, is I can't unhear the word narna/banana.  He will always be a "right narna!!"  Poor guy, I'm sorry!!

Another week down........

It's going to be getting bluer and bluer this week, as the temperature is just dropping and dropping this week.

What is the weather like where you live?

You're having a party?

 Then why wasn't I invited 😏 it's on our property?  Bit cheeky if you ask me!

They are super hard to see in this photo, but there were a total of 16 mourning doves hanging around the pergola and fence on Saturday morning.

It wasn't too cold, but they were all fluffed up.

They also like sitting on top of the pergola.

Wonder what the occasion was?

10 minutes

The other day I went downstairs to get the laundry out of the dryer and discovered it still had 10 minutes to go, so I thought, lets see what I can achieve in ten minutes!!

1. Have a pee.......then while in the downstairs bathroom, gave it a quick wipe round.  It's never dirty per se, but it gets dusty for some reason.
2. As I was going shopping after the laundry, I thought I'd check to see what coupons I had and what had expired.  I don't have many, so it didn't take long to sort out, all expired ones went into the recycling.  I did however find a $3 off coupon on cheese and used that while shopping....so a win there.
3. Checked a drawer where I put spare coupons and gave that a good clean out and threw out an old pair of sunglasses; don't know why I had hung onto them.  Also found some medication that has expired and needs to be taken back to the pharmacy for safe disposal; which reminds me, must check out another cupboard to see if we have anymore expired meds to take back.

By the time I had done that, the dryer buzzer had gone off, and the laundry was to fold.

It may not seem like a lot, but those jobs were good jobs jobbed.  I need to make myself do more of these short ten minute clean ups!!

Do you do that sort of thing?

Gill's Special.......

When my mother is using up odds and ends in the pantry and fridge, she always calls it a "Chris's Special."  On Thursday I wanted to use up some odds and ends, so put together a Gill's Special.

This is what I used:

I had bought the hot dogs for 99 cents before Christmas.  Hot dogs are a treat for us as we rarely eat them.  I couldn't live off hot dogs, but one every now and then makes a nice change.  The potatoes were from before Christmas and were sprouting and going soft.  Hubby got some British baked beans as a gift at Christmas.  He thoroughly enjoys beans on toast.  I chopped up the veggies.  Chopped up the hot dogs and popped everything into the slow cooker for the day.

Doesn't it look good?  I did add a cup or so of frozen corn later in the afternoon.

The steam was rising from the slow cooker when taking this photo.

We will get multiple meals and I may even pop some in the freezer for a later date.

Do you do (insert your name here) specials?

Cheques.......

(Image credit)

When was the last time you wrote a cheque?  I had to send a void cheque for hubby to get paid one of his pensions from the UK.  Otherwise I have no idea when I last wrote a cheque.  In fact our book of cheques has our old address on it, and I refuse point blank to order more, especially when the bank tells me it's fine as is, as it has all our correct info on it for our account details.

I think cheques are going the same way as cash, by the wayside.  I personally use cash.  I take out a certain amount of cash every week to pay for everything.  I still put cash in my pots every week. $20 in the birthday pot, $20 in the Christmas pot and $50 in the other pot.  It's automatic, been doing it for years.  I never have to worry about affording a Christmas or birthday present that way.

The $50 other pot is for spending money on our vacation, or things that come up.  For example it's our son's 40th coming up, so I will use some of that to give him something extra for his birthday.  That $50 pot has come in handy time and time again.

Do you use cheques?  Do you use cash?  Do you put money away every week for various things?