News Flash, we went out on Thursday night!!!

I know shocker, as we never go anywhere.  However, dh got me tickets to this event for my birthday.

Now as I am writing this on Thursday afternoon, I neither have photos, or can tell you which piece of art I came home with.

I can tell you which are my top 10 favourties:
TODD TREMEER



ANGELA LABRIOLA


MAUREEN LOWRY- Spring Fling


THERESA AUSTIN


GLORIA JEAN


KAREN RICHARDSON


MARION STEVENSON


DAN STEEVES


HENRY RAETSEN - Flight of the Phoenix


MAUREEN LOWRY - Lakeside Colour

So it should be interesting to see if I come home with any of my choices.

Dd is also going and here are her top two choices:
http://whitbystationgallery.com/eventsarticle.php?id=AX5-DD

and this one:

http://whitbystationgallery.com/eventsarticle.php?id=AX5-AN

However, me and dd said that knowing our luck we could end up with either this or this.....I hope not though!!

Also this one is worth close to $2,500!!  However I don't like it, and neither does dd.

I will take my camera and tell you all about it on Friday or Saturday. 

Oh and on squirrel tv we had a guest appearance by Mr. Blue Jay:

Please forgive the dirty window, I didn't get it cleaned until after I took the photo........I know what is my problem!!!!!  I had only cleaned it the day before, but Molly is like a toddler, finger/nose prints everywhere!!

Skywatch Friday...........

I took these photos this morning around 6:15am.  It was a surprise to see a full moon in the sky.  Click on the photos for more detail.

For more Skywatch Friday photos, please click on this link

A little more of a relaxed day on Wednesday....

as I had company over on Wednesday, my dad and step-mum, along with two of their good friends a smashing couple, who brought me gifts!!!  They bought me a lovely oven mitt and a matching apron.

The builders were here all the day on Wednesday.  I just wanted to show you one of the old windows in the old basement.  This one is going to be blocked in, as it's under the deck.

This is what one of the new windows look like.  The piping in the window is from our water softener.

There was nothing much on squirrel tv on Wednesday, as it was so cold.  Though they did come out to play after supper.

I didn't get out in the garden on Wednesday, just too cold for me.

Happy Anniversary to us and another busy day at The Acreage...

On April 28th, 2009 we closed on The Acreage......what a year it has been, and how time flies by when you are having fun!!!  Funny thing is I don't feel like writing about the past year at this moment?  Maybe leave that for another day!!

Meanwhile it was a cool day on Tuesday, with a windchill of minus 3oC in the morning.  However the sun shone all day and if you could get out of the wind, it was lovely.

Molly watching squirrel tv again!!  Look at her paw.

The guys arrived to do the work, and ended up putting in the four windows on Tuesday.  What a difference having natural light again in the old basement.  They have been blocked up for many years.  The ones in the new basement are also really nice, and we took the iron bars off the outside as well, as honestly there were only four screws holding them on, and if someone wants to break in I'm sure there are easier ways of breaking in.

I wrapped up well in the afternoon and cut Kamikaze Hill for the first time this year.  It really makes a difference when the grass isn't knee high!!  I also made a start on my quilt block for the block of the month club, this month it is a "T Quilt Block."

I have company visiting today, so it's going to be another busy day, I hope to get caught up with your blogs later on in the week.

Just when you think things can't get any busier/chaotic......

Something else happens.

We are having some work done down the old basement, and some new windows put in both basements.  As far as we were aware the guys were booked in to start the job on May 18th; which by the way took me two weeks just to get a date out of them.

So on Monday the secretary called just before lunch time and asked if they could start on possibly Wednesday afternoon, definitely Thursday at the latest.  So I said no problem, but they were going to have to take up the deck, as dh wouldn't have time to do that......

Around 2:30pm on Monday she calls again and asks if they could move it forward as the Tuesday and Wednesday job they had planned had fallen through.  So I said fine, meanwhile me and dh had to clear out the old basement so they had room to work.  This was a job I hadn't planned on doing until Tuesday morning.  Infact this wasn't a job I had planned on doing until May!

I spent the morning cleaning the house, or attempting to.  Did a couple loads of laundry, that needed ironing when it had dried.  I planted some onions and lettuce in my cold frame.  Planted the two shrubs I had bought on the weekend.   Saw the first snake of the season, quite surprised as I didn't think it was warm enough for them.

I had bought some pork chops on clearance on Saturday, so had to cook them.  Made enough for a meal for Monday night and a meal for the freezer.  I had pulled out some ground beef/mince out of the freezer, and hadn't got around to using it.  So made a couple of shepherd's pies for the freezer.  Plus as we have workmen in all week, that will be handy as a quick meal for us.  Then while the oven was on for the chops, I made an apple crisp with some apples that needed to be used up.

After supper I tackled the grass again and got the field finally finished.  Also took a stick and got rid of the caterpillar nests in some of the trees.  Figured if I keep on top of them, I will hopefully stop them eating the trees this year.

Being the church greeter on Sunday was good.  I made sure I was pleasant to everyone, and reminded a few people I needed the recipes, and everyone was very friendly.  This coming week when I am the greeter again, I will also be helping out setting up for the after service coffee and cake meeting, that they have once a month.  So that should be good.

Here is my column for the Eden Valley Messenger. I think I will do the same one for the Orangeville Banner, this week as well, as it's relevant for those readers as well.

Mellow Yellow - Daffodils

It is daffodil time, so the robins all cry, For the sun's a big daffodil up in the sky, And when down the midnight the owl call "to-whoo"! Why, then the round moon is a daffodil too; Now sheer to the bough-tops the sap starts to climb, So, merry my masters, it's daffodil time. - Clinton Scollard

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

 

Finally the first of the spring bulbs are flowering.

Today's Flower......

I picked up a couple of primula's on sale yesterday for the garden, such a pretty flower; although they are past there best.  Looking forward to seeing them in their prime next year.

For more Today's Flower shots, please click on this link

First a confession....

I went and spent all my money in my Daily Savings Pot on Saturday. All $151 of it, plus an extra 92 cents.

What did I spend it on, all those plants below, plus two bags of cow manure and a 50 lb sack of Yukon Gold Seed potatoes.

The Colarado and Norway Spruce were on sale for $4.99 each, normally they are $9.99 each; I picked up a dozen of them.  I got a couple of primula's on sale for $1.99 each, plus a lavender plant called Boysenberry Ruffles

I also got a Hydrangea called Pinky Winky what a cute name it has.  I have never grown a hydrangea before.

I also got a Vibernum Trilobada Bailey, not sure if it's the compact variety though?  Will have to check into that, going to put it on our back fence.  It will add some colour in the fall when it turns bright red.

I also bought a Pillar Clematis, Clematis × jouiniana ‘Mrs Robert Brydon," I have put it in the garden where I have this statue thing, that it can grow up and through it.

Then I got the 50 lb bag of Yukon Gold seed potatoes, so I guess I will be busy planting them in the next week or so!

I spent the morning in the garden planting some veggie seeds.  I got a row of peas planted; half a row of radishes, half a row of beetroot, and a row of carrots.

I also made a cold frame out of breeze blocks and clear plastic.  I forgot to take a photo, but will show you it when I get a chance.

I managed to get some more of the field cut on Saturday night, so that's about two thirds of it done, so one more night and it should be done.

Also I am going to be the official greeter at church for the next couple of weeks.  That should be interesting; so fingers crossed I get plenty of sleep and am in a good mood!!!

Enjoy your Sunday.

(ALSO I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, SAYING THE SAME OLD THING, BUT ONCE AGAIN I APOLOGISE FOR NOT COMMENTING ON EVERYONE'S BLOGS, TIME IS NOT ON MY SIDE AT THE MOMENT, THERE JUST ISN'T ENOUGH TIME IN THE DAY TO GET EVERYTHING DONE, SORRY.)

Another mystery solved and flaps up, flaps down.....

Between 1am and 2am nearly every night if Molly is sleeping in the family room, she'll start barking.  Sometimes she'll just bark the once, other times a couple of times.  However on Thursday night/Friday morning, she wouldn't shut up.  So I trot downstairs to discover a raccoon eating bird seed on the table, and Molly was not happy about it!  After watching it for a couple of minutes, I ended up having to carry Molly upstairs, otherwise we would never have got any peace and quiet.


So not only do I feed all the rodents in the neighbourhood, but all the birdies, the squirrels, and now even the raccoon's, I deserve a medal!!

On Friday I had to go into town to pick up our new brushcutter, this one.  Now I have to say it has been quite the saga getting this trimmer; what should have been a simple thing, turned into quite the production.

Anyhow, after the guy had shown me how to use the trimmer and I had paid for it, he said I could pick out a John Deere hat, as a sorry we mucked you about present.

I wasn't going to take one, as I don't wear baseball hats, until I saw this one...........which is just PERFECT!!  Now I know you will all be pea green with jealousy, and NO I will not be parting with it, so don't ask!!

So here I am, with the flaps up:

And with the flaps down!

Why is this hat perfect for me..........well I am forever getting ear infections, so need to have my ears covered more often than not.  So when it's windy outside, down will come the flaps!!

I tested it out on Friday night while cutting the grass, and it does keep my ears nice and toasty warm.

I was so busy on Friday that I never had an opportunity to visit anyone's blogs, I am so sorry, there just isn't enough time in the day at the moment.........

My column and Molly..

Here is my column for the Orangeville Banner, this week I talk about pruning my raspberries with the Lawn Tractor.


Thursday was a chilly day here.  So chilly that there was nothing much playing on squirrel tv, seemingly it was too cold even for the squirrels to come out and play.


Luckily I had booked an appointment for the vets on Thursday morning and there is one thing Molly just loves to do is go for a ride in the car.  I wanted to get the bloodwork done to make sure she doesn't have any heartworms and pick up some more steroids.


I have got her down to 1/2 a pill per day, and that is what we are going to keep her on for the foreseeable future.    She has also lost 4lbs since she was last at the vets, and is down to 40lbs now, so that was another positive.  Molly does have an ear infection at the moment, but I have that under control.  Ear infections and Beagles go hand in hand.


However, the vet is pushing me to give her Advantage for flea control.  I am undecided about it, although it is an external application and not something she has to ingest, so that is a positive.  I have had her on a sprinkling of organic garlic powder for flea control which I thought would be better?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


When Molly got back from our outing she was pooped and laid down on the ottoman in the sun relaxing:

Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.

 ~Roger Caras

Skywatch Friday

Lots of clouds in the sky today, not the warmest of days up here in Southern Ontario.

For more Skywatch Friday photos, please click on this link

Busy day in the garden..........

THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN POSTED ON THURSDAY, BUT I FORGOT TO PUT TOMORROW'S DATE ON IT!

My dad and step-mum came up for the day on Wednesday and helped me in the garden.  Dad spent most of the day roto-tilling and digging over my veggie patch.  It's a heck of a lot bigger then it was last year, so I am hoping for bumper crops of everything!!

I still have to edge all down the left hand side and straighten it all up.  Then its just to rake and then I can plant.

My step-mum was busy in the raspberry patch doing a bit of raking.  I had thought I had managed to kill all the raspberries, but we did see signs of life in the odd place, so there is hope I may be picking raspberries this year!

In amongst all the good things, pests have arrived back, including these rotten catterpillers, that eat all the foliage on the tree.  So I need to get the blow torch out and burn them out of the tree's, unless any of you have any bright ideas?

It's Earth Day today.  I'll be honest I don't have anything planned to celebrate Earth Day, do you?

Every day is Earth Day. ~Author Unknown

As I am writing this on Wednesday night, I am pooped all that fresh air and exercise isn't good for me I have decided, as I am shattered!!  Remember I am allergic to exercise!

Enjoy your Thursday.....

A peaceful way to start the day:

and to make us all thankful we woke up today and we were breathing, as that is always a good sign, isn't it?

I couldn't  get the embeded code to work, so here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5IIXeR5OUI&feature=related

I took the tub off the rhubarb and discovered this underneath - I can see a rhubarb pie in the near future!!

Busy day again on Tuesday as I had the dentist in the morning and quilting club in the afternoon.

Hoping to have a day in the garden on Wednesday as the weather is supposed to be fine.

Hope you have good Wednesday and it's a lovely day where you live.

Finally the following was sent to me:

Observations

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Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.'

- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

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I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'Not good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest one I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.

- Mark Twain

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The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible

- George Burns

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Santa Claus has the right idea. He visits people only once a year.

- Victor Borge

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Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

- Mark Twain

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By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy;

if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

- Socrates

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I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.

- Groucho Marx

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My wife has a slight impediment in her speech.

Every now and then she stops to breathe.

- Jimmy Durante

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I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.

- Zsa Zsa Gabor

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Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.

- Alex Levine

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My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.

- Rodney Dangerfield

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Money can't buy you happiness ... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.

- Spike Milligan

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Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP .

- Joe Namath

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I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon.

Then it's time for my nap.

- Bob Hope

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I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it..

- W. C. Fields

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We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.

- Will Rogers

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Don't worry about avoiding temptation.

As you grow older, it will avoid you.

- Winston Churchill

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Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out..

- Phyllis Diller

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By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.

- Billy Crystal

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Last but not least, a cardiologist's diet:

If it tastes good, spit it out.

Column and other odds and ends.........

Here is this week's column for the Eden Valley Messenger.  I talk about the changeable weather this week.  Also Karen the editor of the Eden Valley Messenger has started her own blog, check it out here.  Say hello to her and wish her luck, she is a busy girl!!

I took some photos on Monday.  Nothing special just odds and ends.  This is a view north west of our house.

No one is home in these bird houses yet?

My lilac bush, it must be nearly a month ahead of last year.

I sorted out the "issue" with the church ladies, and have got them doing a section, in which they will do menu plans for specific church events/dates.  I spoke to the "ring leader" and asked if she could organize it, as I am not familiar with church holidays and what people in Canada would eat on those days.  Also I have enough on my plate with the rest of the cookbook.  I also advised her to make sure she got helpers to help her out with this, otherwise she would end up having to do it all herself.

So she is all happy with all this!  I also explained why I had deadlines to meet, so that too went down well, and hopefully she'll now get why I want things done for certain times.  So we'll see how things go from here.  Meanwhile I will carry on inputting the recipes and getting on with my side of things.........

Catholic Health Insurance...

A man suffered a serious heart attack and had open heart bypass surgery...


He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at a Catholic Hospital.


As he was recovering, a nun asked him questions regarding how he was going to pay for his treatment.


She asked if he had health insurance.


He replied, in a raspy voice, 'No health insurance.'


The nun asked if he had any money in the bank.


He replied. 'No money in the bank.'


The nun asked, 'Do you have a relative who could help you?'


He said, 'I only have a spinster sister, who is a nun..'


The nun became agitated and announced loudly, 'Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God.'


The patient replied, 'Send the bill to my Brother-in-Law.'

Earth Day/Money Saving Tips:

Unplug when you can.

It's one of the easiest things to do: unplug.

Standby (or phantom) power, may be haunting your house -- and costing you more money on energy bills than you bargained for. Standby power eats up electricity on common appliances throughout your home while they're not even on. Seem unfair? Phantom power in the United States is responsible for 5 percent of the total energy used and $3 billion in actual dollars wasted, according to the Department of Energy.

Unplugging even the appliances you rarely use, like refrigerators in the basement, could save you about $10 every month on your utility bill.
Using power strips to switch off televisions, home theaters and stereos when they're not in use could save the equivalent to that of a 75 or 100 watt light bulb running non-stop, according to the NRDC.

Did you remember to put your money in your Daily Savings Pot today?