Something special........to me that is.

Figured I'd give you a reprieve from me being sick!!!!

My mam gave me my Nana and Pop's clock quite some time ago. Its not worth a lot monetary wise, but sentimental value is priceless. They were given it on their wedding day by my Pop's brother Jimmy.





What's even more special my mam gave me their wedding photo.




Along with their Marriage Certificate. They were married on May 23rd, 1934. I hope you don't mind, but I am only going to show you a couple of pieces of the certificate. This shows how old they were and what their profession's were. For some reason it doesn't say what my Nana did.............probably because she worked on the family farm. She was a really hard worker my Nana, as was my Pop.



Here it shows the date they were married. My Pop's name was Thomas, and my Nana's name was Maggie Josephine, though she said it was really Margaret, not Maggie!!!



I should mention that clock is temperamental. It thrives in a happy household, does not like a woman winding it up, therefore dh winds it up once a week. I dust it and talk nicely to it. Infact if it stops unexpectedly, I am right on the phone to my mam to make sure everyone is alright. It chimes on the hour, and I think it chimes on the half hour, but we only have it chiming on the hour. My mam has one as well, as they got two given and the funny thing is, is when we are talking to one another on the phone and the clocks chime. We never hear it chime, but visitors do.

It belonged to two very special people that clock.

I feel like a dead fish, crossed with Rudolph.............

I can't breathe through my nose so I have to sit here with my mouth wide open like a dead fish.

Also my nose starts to run without warning. I hate a runny nose. I have the cutest little neighbour "R" and the last couple of times I have seen him, his nose is runny. Now what is it about young children and runny noses, and their tongues!!! Please try not to visulize what I have just told you.

So back to my runny nose, as I said it keeps running without warning, so of course now I am wandering around with a box of Kleenex, just in case. So due to that I am beginning to look a bit like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

Can it get any better..........well I have to turn the tv up real loud so I can hear it, as my ears are blocked. The trouble is do my neighbours want to listen to Coronation Street and Casualty as well?

Otherwise I am in great shape...LOL

This is what Denise sent me, isn't she a love? I have to say that dog looks a whole lot better than me today!!!

I'm sick.....................

I woke up on Sunday with sore throat. Figured I had slept with my mouth open, we have a ceiling fan over the bed. Anyhow, didn't feel the best, but figured it was one of those things, and had a quiet day on Sunday.

Got up Monday morning and still not feeling good, throat still sore, and someone took all my energy overnight? My ears feel full, and I have a horrible headache.

Anyhow I was determined to get the garage doors and frame undercoated today, and the lawn looked like a hay field. So I do those jobs, took me three hours. I was pooped, I did too much, and ended up having a shower and going to bed for a couple of hours.

So the good and the bad news.

Good news, when I cough it's not green and chunky that's coming up, sorry if that's too much info!!

Bad news, when I cough it drains me, and it hurts.

Good news, as long as I keep sitting down I can do the odd job around the house.

Bad news, as I was working last week, I didn't clean the house, and so it looks like a bomb has dropped............a bit of an exaggeration, but its dusty and not as tidy as it should be.

Good news, got the grass cut.

Bad news, I didn't get it weeded, so it's knee high in weeds.

Good news, I have actually been feeling cold, instead of sweating constantly.

Bad news, I am just drained of energy, and my ears are full of liquid.

So I guess its a case of wait and see. I'm not sure what is worse, a summer cold or a winter cold?

5.30am Tuesday morning...........can't breathe as I am full of cold, and all my glands are now swollen...............I think I'll call my mam and see if I can get any sympathy from her!!!!

Favourite Movies, and something else

I have never been to a movie theatre in years, infact I have never watched a movie in a movie theatre in Canada. The thought of paying goodness knows what to sit with a crowd of people in a dark room doesn't excite me. So I generally wait until the movie comes out on video........no that's not right....dvd.

Here are a list of some of my all time favourite movies. They generally have a British background too them!!!

Grease Now this is one movie I have seen numerous times at the movie theatre. I was 14 years of age when this first came out. Oh how we all wanted to be Sandy. 30 years later I still love this movie.

Dirty Dancing What isn't there to love about this movie? The music is fantastic, Patrick Swayze, what's not to love about him? Its a classic movie.

The Full Monty I will admit that I laugh so hard, that I nearly pee my pants with this movie. I really can't explain why I find it so funny but I do.

Moonstruck Nicholas Cage, he's just gorgeous.........nothing else to say!!!

March of the Penguins This is such a wonderful movie, the things those animals go through for their young offspring.

Shirley Valentine An oldie but a goodie. Typical British humour and they serve up dh's favourite meal, fried eggs and chips on the movie.

Bend It Like Beckham This was such a good movie, and not what we expected when we first saw it. We have seen it numerous times since. What would have even been better would have been a few scenes of David Beckham running around the soccer pitch with no top on............a girl can dream can't she...LOL

That's just a couple of my favourites, what are yours?


Oh and if you have a moment try this:

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

DEAL ALERT!!!!!!

Canadian's only though, sorry.......

I was just at Shopper's Drug Mart and they have Life Brand tuna flaked or chunk, for 39 cents a can, until December 31st. I have never seen it that low.

I buy my milk there, when I have to buy milk, its $3.99 per 4 litre bag. Also eggs are only $1.69 per dozen at Shopper's Drug Mart.

So now I need suggestions for tuna recipes, as I think we will be including this more in our menu plan from now on.

The only one I have is this one

I will add any other recipes to this post, if you provide me with a link........

Niki has this recipe on her blog, and evaporated milk is on sale at Price Chopper this week @ 4/$5, so that's handy.

FOF for July 27th, and groceries

As I had ran out of pectin and glass jars I nipped over to A & P to pick those up and a couple of other things I had forgotten yesterday, and of course had a look around for some FOF. This is what I got, and if I had bought it, it would have cost me $19.57.

This is what I bought, which cost $23.60, no coupons used today though. :0(



I was hoping to be under $275 this month for my grocery shopping...we'll see.

Things happen for a reason.........Raspberry Jam.

I have been thinking about making raspberry jam as one, we love raspberry jam, and two, I have seen other people making it on their blogs and thought the photo's looked really good. A couple of things have been putting me off. I have an invisible sign on my fore head which says "EAT ME", only mosquito's can see it, and it makes raspberry picking totally miserable for me. The second thing is the price. To be fair I have no idea how much it costs per pound to pick your own raspberries, but figured it could be as cheap to just buy the jam, and we only go through one pot of jam a month.

So on Saturday while I was in A & P, I stumbled upon a lot of raspberries that were all reduced to 99 cents per container. I decided that this was a sign from above, and ended up buying 11 containers of them.



I bought a box of Bernardin Liquid Pectin which had two pouches in it and the recipe was this:

4 cups prepared raspberries
6 1/2 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid Pectin
1/2 tsp butter



Now I seem to have more jam than specified in the recipe? Also my jam seems to be separating? Anyone have any ideas why my jam is separating? I did the recipe twice so in theory I should only have 6 500ml jars, I have 8, plus a bowl??? I followed the recipe to the letter. I pray and hope this sets, otherwise I will have a lot of raspberry syrup!!!



Oh and half of the jars, have wax seals and plastic cellophane tops from England, that I had in my drawer, as my metal lids had rusted?

They do look good though.

Update: The jam seems to have set.

FOF for July 26th, and grocery tales..........

Went and did some grocery shopping this morning, and ended up only going to one store, A & P.

This is what I got FOF. That little lot would have cost me $30.10 if I had, had to pay for it. I am stocked up on milk now for a week or two.



As I was in the produce department I stumbled upon these raspberries that were reduced. I picked up the best and got 11 containers all at 99 cents each, so I guess I am making jam!!!



This is what I ended up buying from A & P, along with the raspberries.



If you look at the grocery deal section on the left hand side, you will see a link for a coupon for the burgers. These sre a good brand of burgers. I had coupons for the Skillet Sensations that made them only $1.83 each. I also had a FPC for the Pledge Furniture Polish, so I don't need anymore of that for the rest of the year.

My grocery bill came to $31.99. It initially came to $36.98, but I went back and got another $4.99 back, as she forgot to subtract my FPC for the Pledge. I always check my bill!!

Hello My Name is Gill....................and I am a Magazine addict.

I know now you are shocked.........I don't drink, I don't smoke, I'm just a magazine junkie. I love magazine's, all sorts of magazines. I have a "couple" I subscribe too, I suppose I should list them, right?

Canadian Living, that's full of all sorts of things, from how to's, recipes, health, house decor and gardening. I have been getting this for years.

Chatelaine, which is another Canadian oldie but goodie, again I have been receiving that for years.

Homemakers, its only around $10 a year, but the coupons I get from that magazine, pays for itself in no time flat, plus there are usually some pretty interesting articles in there.

MoneySense, is a great financial magazine, that's also Canadian.

Then there is Harrowsmith Country Life magazine, as one day I would love to have that log house in the country on a couple of acres, you know that dream, of living a simple life, getting away from it all type of dream?

I also get Country Woman, which is one of the Riemann Publications. I have had other subscriptions to some of their other magazines over the years.

I am also getting Hello Canada at the moment, but that is a temporary thing. I was just taking part of a promotion. I won't continue with it when the promotion is over with.I think that's it.

I donate my magazines to the doctors office or the garage where I get the oil changed, so they don't go to waste.

Now I also buy on a regular basis, Prima magazine, any quilting magazine's, Ok from Britain, also Hello from Britain. I like the US weeklies like People Magazine and US weekly, those ones about the celebrities. Love gardening magazines and home decor magazines. Basically I read most magazines!!!

I am always looking out for new magazines, or new suggestions, so let me know what you like, so I may try them as well.

Night with the girls.............

Wednesday night we had a get together over at one of my friends houses. There was four of us me, Paula, Paola, and Rose. It was the first time me and Rose had ever met, and what a lady, we have so much in common. It's always lovely to meet a new friend, and one I will have I hope for many years to come.

I've known Paula for ever, our boys have been friends I think since Grade 1. Paola works with Paula, and I have know her for a while and she is such a great person, despite the fact she had it in for me while we were eating, as she kept throwing things in my direction (quite accidentally.....I hope it was!!) Got a bit worried though when she went to re-light the fondue candle, as I was wondering if I might lose an eyebrow or two........okay I am exaggerating here.........

Anyhow, it was a night of firsts for me. Paola made her homemade Guacamole and Salsa for us, I have never had either. She gave me permission to share her recipes...........wait a minute........think I actually said I am going to put this on my blog.............that's sort of like asking permission, isn't it?

Paola's Homemade Guacamole

1 small onion chopped finely
2 avocados
Juice of 1/2 lime
salt
jalapeno finely chopped

(the photo also includes the ingredients for the salsa as well, also Paola only used the small jalapeno in both recipes as I was whining about how I don't like anything hot)



Basically you pop the chopped onion in the dish. Scoop out the avocado pulp, and mash the onion and avocado together. Mix in the juice, the jalapeno and the salt and its done.



Now as you can see from the photo above, we popped one of the stones in the mixture. Paola says that its may be an old wives tale, but apparently it stops the avocados from going brown if you pop the stone in the mixture. We all ate it too fast to see if this was true or not!!!!!



Now do I like guacamole..............I don't dislike it, if I made it I wouldn't put the jalapeno in it, as I don't like anything hot. I won't be rushing out to make it, but its something I might make if we have a party.

Paola's Homemade Salsa

1 large tomato chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
jalapeno chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
plenty of salt

This was so simple to make, why anyone would ever buy it I do not know. I would not add the jalapeno otherwise this recipe is perfect.

Here is a photo of the finished product along with the guacamole:



Another thing I haven't done is fondue. Rose brought along her fondue set and chocolate. Paula made a fruit tray, and the combination was YUMMY!!!!



As I have a sweet tooth I was quite happy to keep sampling this. Though I surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying the pears dipped into the chocolate. The pears were quite hard, and with the chocolate, it was just the best. So thank you to Paula and Rose for that experience.

Now you're going to say, what did you bring Gill.........the chips........which in itself was an experience walking up and down the chip aisle looking for the Lime flavoured Tostito's. Luckily Paula had told me exactly what to get, I never buy that sort of thing.

However, I wasn't altogether happy in bringing just chips, so I made the ladies a little something to take home:


A little table mat each.

I sewed a little label on the back of each one for them. This one was for Paula:



This one was for Paola.


And this one was for Rose.



Now the next get together is at our house on August 20th, and I am already planning on what to make.......

It was a great night, and being the party animals we are (I was in bed by 9.15pm!!) we are all pooped today (Thursday). I must say something though.......those ladies FORCED me and I mean FORCED me to eat all that chocolate, and I have had the headache from hell today................LOL

Can't wait until next month...........wonder what we'll get up to then, being the party animals we are!!!

TV programmes I watch.....

Something different I thought I'd share with you.

Well of course the number one show I won't miss for anything is Coronation Street. I have been watching this since I was a young girl. Its a part of British life, just like going to the pub or fish and chips.

Another show from Britain I love is Eastenders I have been watching this show since it first aired in 1985.

We have the channel BBC Canada and watch a lot of British shows on there.

I love American Idol, can't stand Canadian Idol, which isn't very patriotic now is it...LOL I just love Simon Cowell, he says it how it is, and is generally right. Poor Paula, she seems to be on another universe most of the time. Then there is Randy, I have to say half the time I have no idea what he is saying????

Then of course Survivor, it hasn't been as good recently though.

Then of course the CSI series. I think the Las Vegas show is the best with all its technical expertise. The Miami show with David Caruso. When I first started watching it, I couldn't stand the way Horatio spoke, I still find it amusing the way he never looks directly into the camera, but to the side!!!!!!

I love all the British comedy shows, especially The Vicar of Dibley, Keeping Up Appearances, (both the kids call me Hyacinth on occasion, I am so not like her...LOL) and Only Fools and Horses.

So what shows do you enjoy watching?

The newest member of our family.....sort of

Dd and her boyfriend have just added another member to their home........unfortunately I am not going to be a grandmother (hint, hint dd!!)

So here she is welcome to the family Olive! She is 3 months old.



Now dd was saying they named her Olive before going to the pet store to pick up supplies. The bowls and mat were on sale and had the olive motif on them. She said she paid $1.50 each for the ceramic bowls and $1.05 for the mat. She takes after her mother, getting a great bargain.....I taught her well.



Just a little thing...............both dd and dh are allergic to cats........not sure how dd will handle the cat dander thing?

Guess I am going to be busy.

I placed an order at Book Close Outs and it arrived today (Monday 21st, I ordered them Thursday 17th).

I got:

ISBN: 9781416525905

and this:



ISBN: 9780007127313

and this:



ISBN: 9780060538002

and this:



ISBN: 9780060723866

and this one:



ISBN: 9780060817251

another one:



ISBN: 9780140123395

another one:



ISBN: 9780142000366


and yet another one:



ISBN: 9780312283780

this one:



ISBN: 9780345443120

also this one:



ISBN: 9780345465177

this one:




ISBN: 9780385722131

another one:



ISBN: 97800446530088

this one:



ISBN: 9780451202253

this one:



ISBN: 9780451215055

this one:



ISBN: 9780670858095

also this one:



ISBN: 9780743203630

this one:



ISBN: 9780743464468

another one:



ISBN: 9781565122222

and finally:



ISBN: 9781595540263

I also got four Sudoku books and the total for all these books is $77.87 USD. I found a $10 off coupon online by doing a Google search. The most expensive book was Gap Creek @ $5.49, the cheapest was Where the River Runs @ $1.49 If I had, had to buy these books I would have paid around $300 CDN for them. The service is great and I would totally recommend Book Close Outs

Please let me know if any of the hyperlinks are broken, as I don't have time to check each one. Thanks, Gill

P.S. I should add that these books will be read over the summer and fall, and I will keep some to take on vacation with us in September. After I have read them, I will probably be taking them to the retirement home for the residents to read.

Saying a quick hello.........

Just thought I'd let you know I'm not going to be around much for the next few days as I am working Monday through Friday this week. Linda is going to Las Vegas for a few days the lucky duck. I think I am the only one who has never been to Las Vegas in the office. Mind you my one and only experience in the casino, see this post was not an overly great success, so if we were to go to Vegas, it would be to see the sights and possibly catch a show. Have any of you been to Vegas? I'd love to hear your thoughts?

So if I don't respond to your comments its not that I am ignoring you, I will just be busy. I have however done a post for each day ahead of time, on a couple of things you may find interesting.

Also I have decided to pop this photo in here, just to remind myself to stop whining about the heat and humidity as before you know it, it'll be this time again!!!

That photo was taken on February 6th of this year!!!

Sharing the Love Award..........Please read

Samantha over at The Full Handed Housewife gave me this award. (Thanks Samantha!!!) This is how this award originated: Crystal at Memoirs Of A Mommy created this award in honor of the donor that saved Noah's Life. Noah is her son and he had a heart transplant when he was under one month old. He just turned one earlier this month!! Her hopes are that in passing this award around, we are creating more awareness of the importance of organ donation.

Again, I don't want to nominate just a couple of people, but would like to nominate anyone who reads this post. Please copy and paste this thread and pass it on, thanks, Gill

Special Award

I was given this award from Lib, please visit her here.

Here are the rules:
1.Put Logo on your blog
2.Add a link to the person who awarded you
3.Nominate 7 fellow bloggers for this award
4.Add Links to the recipients
5.Leave a comment to recipients let them know they have won the award.

I really don't feel as though there are only 7 people who deserve this award, I think everyone deserves it.

So I am awarding this to each and everyone of you who blogs out there, I know this isn't following the rules........but I don't think its fair to not include everyone. So if you have posted on my blog, I am giving you this award............

Gill

Mystery Plant and other photos............

Now I have to say I have been a lazy bum, where my garden is concerned. Its not looking as good as it should, but this humidity is killing me, and I tend to hibernate in the house with the a/c going.

Anyhow I decided to take a few photos of some flowers. However, I do have a question for you. What do you think this plant is? I didn't plant it. I think it may be a cucumber plant? It does have some yellow flowers growing under the top leaves. It's growing amongst my butternut squash plants. I am curious to know what it may be:

Here is a yellow lily that has a gorgeous smell, but honestly I can't really describe it?



The always popular Bee Balm:



My perennial Sweet Peas, which are pretty, but have no smell, not like the annual ones, plus they are all this pink/purple colour:



The last clematis plant to flower. I must say I was surprised this plant grew, as it was attacked by the voles over winter:



I think this is called False Mallow:



I don't remember what this flower is called, but its pretty:



Now as you are reading this blog on Sunday, I hope to be in the garden giving it a good weeding and tidying it up.

I am truly hoping someone can tell me what that mystery plant is though.

Update, it's just after 7am...........and its pouring down, so I guess I won't be gardening today after all. :0(