Last day of February........YEAH!!

Well I have survived the longest horrible-ist (no such word I know) month of the year.  If you read this blog on a regular basis you already know I detest February, because of the rotten weather we always get.  March generally brings forth brighter warmer weather.........I am touching wood (my head) as I write this.

I bought some Bee Pollen on Sunday.  Bee Pollen is the only known food which contains every essential nutrient needed by mankind for perfect health.

The overall benefits to taking Bee Pollen are:

• Increases the bodies resistance to stress and diseases and speeds up the healing process in most conditions of ill health.
• Possesses age-retarding and rejuvenate properties.
• Great energy booster.
• Appetite suppressant.
• Weight management (weight loss & control)
• Help relieves "seasonal allergies."
• Lower blood pressure.
• Asthma.
• Fatigue.
• Pre-menstrual & Menopause.
• Skin Conditions.
• Feeling of Well Being.
• Alertness.
• Sexual Desire and performance.
• Athletic Endurance.

Now if all that happens I am going to be a new woman!!!

I give Molly 1/4 tsp of bee pollen every day, so if its good enough for her it's good enough for me!!

While I was looking at the Royal Doulton site yesterday I noticed that Wedgwood is bringing out a line of Royal Wedding commemorative pieces, here is a link to them.  Funny thing though it's only showing on the UK site; not that I have any desire to buy one.  Not really into that sort of thing.


One thing I have done though is made dd a fan of Wedgwood, she has dibs on my Wedgwood Christmas ornaments when I die she says!!!!   Like me she loves Jasperware; I only have around nine pieces plus my Christmas ornaments, and infact my Jasperware plates are still wrapped up in boxes from when we moved as I haven't found a suitable place to put them up yet.

***HAVING ISSUES WITH MY EMAIL FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE MY EMAIL ADDRESS, CAN'T ACCESS IT***

*****WILL POST TOMORROW THE SAGA OF MY GMAIL ACCOUNT****

With this ring.......

Dd and I went shopping yesterday and we had a lovely few hours together.  We are both on the same page when it comes to shopping and we can trail around the stores chatting away about nothing for hours.  Amongst the things we picked up were the Champagne Glasses for dd and husband to be for their toast, and they are just gorgeous.

If you want a better look here is a link to them.  When we walked into the store we were looking at the Vera Wang ones for Wedgwood however they were so expensive and honestly not as nice as these ones.  Dd saw a couple of china patterns she really liked, so when she goes to register I think she was going to add one to the list.  I must say I rather liked this designer and her things.  I have never heard of her, have you?

It was quite funny when we got home and showed dh what we had bought, and for dd to say to her dad, and this is what you bought me today, thanks dad!!!  I think dh just rolled his eyes, and thought now how many more hours am I going to have to work!!!

By the way his eyes are more or less okay.  Although he says his right eye is still not right.  He has done the full seven days of drops, so we'll see what happens next.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Having a week of not sleeping well.....

No idea why but must admit it is both tiring and annoying.  Last night was a bit different, as I went to sleep at my regular time, but was awake by 4am.  The three nights previous I went to bed later, only for me not to sleep.  I am one of these people who if I don't fall to sleep within a few minutes of getting into bed, I toss and turn like crazy.

Dh's eyes are on the mend, but are still not right yet.  Today will be his last day for drops in his eyes so we'll see what happens tomorrow.  At least he doesn't look like something out of a horror movie.

Bathroom is all decorated I just have to put it back together.  I was too tired yesterday to do other than the most basic in there so we could use it.  I want to give it a good spring clean so will tackle that on Monday morning.

We got a call from the carpenter and he is coming on Tuesday of next week to put the new banister and spindles up.  It will be strange to have banisters going up the staircase and landing again.  We haven't had any for the last year or more now!!  Luckily we don't have young kids in the house, as its an accident waiting to happen!

I am going shopping with dd today, not wedding shopping, although we do have one errand to run at a printers to see about printing the wedding invitations.  Just general shopping and a girls day out.  We are going to an outlet mall close to us for a look around.  Poor dh will spend part of the day in the attic getting the rest of the floor down and watching English football on Setanta Sports.

Swagbucks is having it's third birthday party on Monday and is offering an extra 30 swagbucks if you join up at the moment.  You need to use this code: 3rdBirthday138 So all in all when you first sign up you get 80 swagbucks.  All you need is 450 swagbucks to get a $5 Amazon dot com, or dot ca e-card.  In Britain you need 849 (I think) swagbucks to get a 5 Pound Amazon dot UK e-card. 

It's a good time to join up.  If you would like more info just ask, and if you would like to join up, please could you use my referral link, which is:

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Appleby

 

Enjoy your Saturday!

It may only be a small room,

but this bloody bathroom is fiddly.  There are so many nooks and crannies and with us having wood baseboard/skirting boards and wood crown molding everything is to tape.  It took me longer to tape than it did to paint.

The ceiling is done after three coats and no longer looks streaky.  I have done the one coat on the walls, only to discover I am not in love with the colour :0(  I bought it last Summer and had hoped to have it on by the time my brother came at the end of August, but didn't have time. So the paint has sat upstairs beside the bathroom on the landing since then.  It's a pinky beige colour called "Sheer Scarf", and has a bit too much pink undertones for me.  Mind you it's cleaner and brighter than it was so that is good.

Just wish we had the money for a new vanity, but the one I want with matching mirror is a couple of thousand dollars, and we don't have that kind of money at the moment.  Oh should say the paint I used was Behr Premium Plus Ultra Interior Satin Enamel It is a paint and primer all in one and is a bit more expensive.  Personally don't bother buying it, just buy the regular paint.  To my mind it is no better than the regular paint and is not worth paying the extra for.

I plan on putting the second coat of paint on the walls this morning and then putting the bathroom back together today.  I will then hang up my paint brush for a short while.  The next painting project is to paint the attic.  I have primed everything, I just have to do the main coat.  Dh still has a little bit of drywalling to finish off up there, so want to wait until that is done.

Do you enjoy painting rooms in your house?  Do you favour a particular colour?  Does anyone wallpaper anymore?  It's donkeys years since I put up wallpaper.

Skywatch Friday

This was the sky the other morning. I thought with those colours we would be in for a heck of a day, but no, it was no worse than it has been, just cold and clear skies.

For more Skywatch Friday posts please click on this link

Touch of Spring in the air........

Wednesday was actually a lovely day, cold but very sunny.......it was even warm enough for me to clean windows inside and out.  Not all of them, but just a couple, however that is a sign for me that things are getting warmer.  Now knowing my luck we will be dumped on with snow by this time next week!!

The squirrels were busy raiding the bird seed and enjoying themselves in the sun.  It kept Molly out of mischief for ages, watching "Squirrel TV."

Just before Christmas I bought this Cyclamen on the "rejects" rack in a big box store.  It was half dead but I have managed to bring it back to life and now look at the wonderful flowers it has.

Also, my "Christmas Cactus" is flowering again, one day it will get it's timing right!!!

Busy on Wednesday painting the ceiling in the bathroom.   Did two coats, but will have to do a third coat as it's looking streaky/patchy which sucks.  Luckily though it doesn't take very long to paint it.  I hope to have the third coat painted, some patching completed and the first coat on the walls on today.

Dh is busy putting down the plywood floor in the attic.  The original floor is in rough shape, so we decided to lay the plywood on top of the original floor and then we will put carpet in there.  The goal is to have all the attic finished by the end of April.  I will take photos when it is all completed, when you see the before and after photos, you won't believe the changes we have made.

Looks like a rabbit, but sounds like a duck?

First let me apologise about the quality of the photos, they are blurry.

Anyhow, Santa brought Molly a rabbit for Christmas, and it has a squeaky thing in it, that actually sounds like a duck quacking, all very unusual.

Do rabbits actually make any noise?  I am not overly familiar with rabbits, but I am quite sure they don't sound like ducks!!

We had a little bit of excitement on Tuesday morning.  I was working away on my computer around 7am when Molly started barking like a crazy dog.  There were two coyotes in the field behind us looking for mice.

How I knew this was they were using the same actions as Molly does when looking for mice.  Mind you these guys were also hopping around like Pepe Le Pew, remember him from the cartoons?  Very funny.

On Monday night a dear friend's Mother-In-Law passed away from cancer, she fought a hard battle with it and out lived her original prognosis as she was a fighter.  At least now she will be out of pain and at peace.  Please say a prayer for her family.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me..." ~ Psalm 23

Antiques.......

and no I am not referring to me and dh!!  We went for a drive on Sunday afternoon to relax from a stressful morning sitting in a walk-in clinic full of sick people!!!


We called into an antique store that I had been wanting to visit since we moved up here and saw a beautiful Oak China Cabinet.  However the price on it said $1,200 firm.  There was a chair beside it I quite liked so I asked what the price of that was and the lady told me.  I said however I really love the china cabinet but can't afford it.


She went on to tell me it's a 1905 McLagan quarter cut oak China Cabinet and she would give it to me for $700.  Now for someone to drop the price by $500 just like that without me even asking for a price reduction makes me wonder.  However they are selling the store, that I do know for a fact and she has to clear everything out.


I said I wanted to do some more research on the piece as I had never ever heard of the McLagan company from Stratford, Ontario.  I didn't see any markings on the piece to indicate it was a McLagan, but you could tell it was an old piece. 


We did go to another Antiques place and there were a couple of pieces there that were similar priced and as nice.  I picked up the card of one guy so gave him a call and he was very helpful.  Now I didn't tell him this piece was in a store, but what information he did tell me from my description of the piece was at auction he would pay somewhere between $295 to $400 and a fair price to pay would be $500.  So now I am thinking about the situation.

I may call the woman and tell her I will offer her $500 cash; which I know she won't accept right off.  Though if I give her my name and number and tell her to call me if she has had no other takers before the store closes for good.  I have nothing to lose and I won't feel as though I have overpaid for the item.


Once thing I would love to learn more about is Depression Glass  I have three pieces of green that were my Nana's, so treasure them because they were hers. 

I love that sort of thing and I really enjoy the vibrancy of Carnival Glass

I need to read up on both these types of items before I go out and collect them.  The one good thing about both those types of glassware they don't cost an arm and a leg to buy.....yet!!


Do you collect anything?  If so what?  I'd love to hear all about it.

Dh's eyes look a heck of a lot better, so I guess the drops are working.

Observations from a walk-in clinc......

Now the clinic technically didn't open until 9am. but when I rang on Saturday the guy told me to be there for 8:30am.  So when we got there, there were already four people in front of dh.

The receptionist was a man, who I actually thought was maybe the doctor, but no it turned out he was just the receptionist; he was a bit of a funny bunny but very efficient.  The doctor showed up around 9:15am and started the see patients shortly after.  So in the 45 minutes or so I was sat there I people watched.

Number 1 patient was a woman who had, had to have a filling done at the dentist; then her life went downhill fast after that.  Despite being to see numerous specialists she was still in a lot of pain?  Doctor spent very little time with her.

Number 2 patient was in sheer agony with her back and you could see she was in pain just by the way she was sitting and the expression on her face.  Mind you patient number 1 had pulled out her back also a couple of weeks ago.  The doctor was in with her quite a long time.

Number 3 patient.......she was quite the character, a movie star in the making I think, as she kept her sunglasses on all the time.  It might have helped if she took them off when handing in her health card as she gave the guy her sons health card, so he thought she had brought in her son to be looked at, so when she finally figured out she had handed in the wrong card, the guy had done all the paperwork only to have to do it all again {SIGH} 

So then Miss Movie Star plops herself down next to me and starts texting like a crazy woman, still with her sunglasses on; and then the "PINGING" started when she got answers back.  Now it wasn't a quiet "PING" it was a very, very loud "PING."  So I made the comment that I didn't know they could make such a loud noise.  Her reply was, her ears were blocked so she turned the volume up.

Then she got a phone call, so at this point we all discovered she was on deaths door with the worst fever and cold ever.  However she must have looked at me at some point and decided to carry on with the call out in the hallway.  Still she came back and again the phone rang and again we got a blow by blow account of how sick she was.  I was ready to ram that phone in a place where the sun don't shine!!!

When it was her turn to see the doctor he was in and out in a minute with her.....obviously she wasn't on deaths door, and if she had stayed at home and taken some cold medication she would be fine.

Patient number 4 was a dear lady with a sinus infection, you could tell that a mile off.  Again the doctor was in and out with her in minutes.  I was dying to tell her just to take Sinutab it would have been easier than sitting in that bloody clinic with a pile of sick folk..........oh and me!!

Patient number 5 was dh, again the doctor was in and out in minutes as we all knew he had Pink Eye.  However we needed to get medication as the poor man could hardly see, as his eyes are all red and puffed up.  The doctor did mention it was a shame it wasn't Halloween as at least he wouldn't have had to put any makeup on!!

Patient number 6 was another woman who was sniffing, so I guess another one with a cold.  Saw her out in the corridor a bit later on talking to another woman and she wasn't happy.  Doctor probably told her to go home take a couple of Tylenol and drink plenty of fluids...........

Patient number 7 & 8 was a mother with a little baby who was probably around 3 months old.  The mother was absolutely full of cold and so was the little fella.  Plus he had a rotten cough.  He was having such a time breathing and when she tried to breast feed him, you could really hear him gasping for air as he was trying to suck.

The other patients after that were not as interesting and by this point all I could think of was I hope I don't get sick.  So that is how me and dh spent a couple of hours on Sunday morning.  Could be worse I guess, but hope I don't have to go to a walk in clinic again any time soon!!

Got an email from the 20 Minute Supper Club...

and the title of the email said: "8 Amazing Slow-Cooker Meals (so far so good) and A Brussels Sprouts Recipe the WILL Convert Non-Believers."

Now between me and you I don't think I will ever be converted to believe Brussels Sprouts are yummy.  I must say looking at that photo though, they do look like bits of shredded cabbage and I love cabbage.  Mind you cabbage doesn't love me, makes me fart up a storm, if you can excuse my language.

Lamb with Pear Mint and Parmesan Brussels Sprouts

I have to say that lamb looks a bit undercooked for me.  I am one of these people who like my meat well cooked, I don't want it coming to my plate still moo-ing or baa-ing, if you know what I mean?

Now I don't remember when I signed up for the 20 Minute Supper Club but it does have some good recipes on there.  Here is a link to sign up for the newsletter.  Here is a link to the Slow Cooker recipes, they look good also.

It's a "Bank Holiday/Long Weekend" here this weekend.  Monday is "Family Day."  HOWEVER, half the employers don't recognize it, so it's a bit of a strange holiday.  Dh has taken it off though, which is just as well, as now he has PINK EYE!!!  So I am making him go to a walk-in clinic on Sunday morning to get it taken care of.  Goodness knows how he picked that up, but it looks yucky. 

Everybody needs to cross their fingers, toes and everything else they can cross that I don't get it.  As you know how painful I am at the best of times when I am ill, but one thing I DO NOT like dealing with is anything to do with my eyes.  Believe me, you ain't heard nothing yet, I can guarantee you will if I ever have a problem with my eyes.  My eyes are watering now just thinking about it.

What a difference a day makes...........

For the last couple of days we have had some lovely warm weather.  Now when I say warm, it was above freezing and it maybe even went as high as 10 oC....I doubt it, but hey it was warm.  I was wandering around the house in a t-shirt and when I went to Crazy Daisy's house I only had to put my fleece jacket on.  Same yesterday when I was out and about just my fleece jacket.

A huge amount of snow managed to melt, which meant the driveway was no longer an ice rink but now a mud bath.  Unfortunately due to the way the garage floor was poured (Idiots!!) it also flooded the garage, as the drain was blocked with ice.  All in all it did feel as though Spring was on the way........

Or was it?  As soon as the sun went to sleep the winds picked up and it howled all night.  I think they were the strongest winds I have heard since we moved here.  At times it sounded like a train rushing past.  With the winds picking up the temperatures just plummeted and now we are back to square one with a nasty windchill again.  Also it snowed a little overnight, just a sprinkling but enough to remind us winter is far from over!!! {{SIGH}}  Oh well I guess we shouldn't complain as those two nice days we did have were a well needed and appreciated break from the cold temperatures and horrible weather we have had.  Roll on spring though.

We are going to be super busy today as dh finished sanding the drywall going up the stairs to the attic, so I need to prime it and paint it, as doing it now will be a heck of a lot easier than when the guy puts the bannister's in.  Dh meanwhile is going to start and put the plywood floor down on top of the old floor.  It still has the original floor in it, but it's in rough shape, so we are going to carpet it as it will be more cosier.  We are staring to see light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the attic..........mind you we do have a long way to go yet, but at least we are over half way there.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Gill

Lemons and a welcome to a new blogger......

I bought a bag of lemons to make Lemon Curd with, but haven't gotten around to it, so I made a couple of Classic Lemon Loaves instead.  Just click on the links for the recipes.   I love the taste of lemon and for us it is prime season for buying lemons over here.


I also wrote a column for the Orangeville Banner about lemons, you can see that here. I must go back and edit that column, as I set it up with points bullets and they never materialized in the actual column?


Took a photo of lemons......why, just because......

You would maybe think as I am talking about lemons I maybe had a "lemon of a day" as well, but no it was busy and productive, I am pleased to say.

One of the things I did was help a dear friend set up her blog, now "Crazy Daisy" as she will be known is neither crazy or called Daisy, but that is what she wanted to be called in blogland.  I was wondering if you would all pop over and leave a comment wishing her luck and love and whatever else with her blogging.  Here is a link to her blog and it's called: Call Me Crazy Daisy  I am sure she will have a lot of interesting things to talk about and she is a love, we get on like a house on fire.

****JUST A NOTE, THE LEMON CURD IS QUITE TART, SO IF YOU LIKE SOMETHING SWEETER, ADD AN EXTRA 1/4 CUP OF SUGAR TO THE RECIPE TO SWEETEN IT UP A BIT***

Skywatch Friday

The sun may be shining brightly, but yes that is solid ice on our driveway!!!  Where is Spring?

For more Skywatch Friday posts please click on this link

Doing two things at once....

I can't remember where I read this, so I can't credit anyone for it.  Anyhow, someone was saying how they are learning to knit or crochet (again can't remember what) and so they are having to follow a pattern and can't watch tv and follow the pattern at the same time.  However she is managing to keep up with her soap opera by just listening to it.  Well I can confirm, it is possible to follow a soap opera by just listening to it. 

I tend to do my swagbucks games while I am watching Coronation Street, and as I can't watch the tv and play the games at the same time, however I can listen to the episode and know exactly what is going on.  I guess it's a bit like listening to the radio?

I seem to be on a roll with Swagbucks at the moment, and am maxing out on the maximum of 5 x $5 Amazon e-cards per month.  I am saving up for dd bridal shower gift.  She knows about it so it isn't a surprise.  I'd rather get her something that she wants and will use.  Dd and other half are in Costa Rica at the moment lucky ducks.  The vacation was booked back in November of last year before the wedding plans were announced.

Carol is raising funds for this little guy.  It's basically the same situation as Olga, remember her from here.  It costs around $25,000 to adopt one of these children, so every little bit of money raised is a help for their future family.  Even $10 makes a difference.

Computer problems, Best In Show and another Happy Birthday.....

Our desktop computer is playing up, and when I say playing up, it is having a real temper tantrum.  I am using it at the moment, but it is very unstable..........like most of us I guess!!  So I need to back everything up and then take everything off of it and start afresh.  One little problem with that, I have no clue how to do it.  So will have to wait until dh has some time so he can do it.


Meanwhile it's fingers crossed that nothing else happens.  Luckily I do have my laptop and that seems to be working fine at the moment.

I watched the Westminster Kennel Club 2011 Dog Show on tv last night.  There were some weird looking dogs, actually it was just the way they were groomed.  I was surprised at the dog that won, a Scottish Deerhound. Can't say I am familiar with the breed, are you?  Here is a photo of the winner:

Another birthday today, my mother's.  Poor thing is as sick as a dog with this rotten cold that is going around.  Pleased to say I can't be blamed for it, as I live on the other side of the pond; my brother gave it to her!!!  Here's hoping she has a lovely day!

Ended up finishing off this post on my laptop as the desktop keeps freezing!! 

***Edited to add the dog show was on TSN***

In the "doghouse"

***First let me say this is the second time I have posted this.  I had put a funny joke on the first and unbeknown to me, as I forgot to preview the post, an advertisement came up........so I have had to delete the post and write it again to get rid of the ad, sorry for any inconvenience."***

Molly is not happy with me at the moment.  I have "forbidden" her from going on the sofa, and if looks could kill I should be 6 feet under!  Then to add insult to injury, she went upstairs before I got into the shower on Monday, so as she was way overdue for having a bath I gave her a bath..........then went down like a lead balloon!!! 

I was over at Carol's blog and she had a link to this blog.  They are fundraising to cloth street kids in Uganda, however there is a little twist to it......so you need to read it!!!  I think I will pop out and buy some undies for the little guys and send them to them.

Book Review "A Perfect Day," and Church

,Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate

"Moses Lake was a constant place, on the surface. But you can't always tell by looking, what might be brewing underneath...

After surviving the worst year of her life, Andrea Henderson moves home to sleepy little Moses Lake, Texas, to recover her shattered faith and build a new life for herself and her son.

Game Warden Mart McClendon finds himself in Moses Lake for a different reason: to forget a tragedy for which he can't forgive himself.

But when a mysterious little girl is suddenly seen with the town recluse, these two unlikely allies are drawn together in a search for her identity. As wounded pasts collide, will their quest bring the redemption and hope they need--or consequences neither of them expected?"

This is another author I hadn't heard of before.  So it was interesting to read this book.  It was an okay book in the sense I wanted to finish reading it to see where the story ended up at.  However I must say I was disappointed in the ending as it seemed to end abruptly with a lot of things unsaid.  Another thing I wasn't keen of was that there were two main characters a man and a woman.  In one chapter it was from the woman's point of view, in the next the man's, in the next the woman's and so on.  I personally found that a little confusing, mainly because you start to bond with a character, then it switches over to the other one.

Part of the storyline was pretty easy to figure out you knew exactly what was going to happen, the other kept you guessing, which I liked.

Stars out of 5: I would give it a very solid 3, although I think it probably deserves a bit more.  I just had a couple of issues with the book as I mentioned above.  However I would recommend that you either buy the book or borrow it from the library as I would love to hear your take on it.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".


Now for "A Perfect Day."  It is actually a song I heard over at Valerie's.  You should take a look at her post as it's dedicated to her doggie.  This version is slightly different but it's still as good in my opinion.  I had never heard of this song before?

Went to Church on Sunday, figured as I have been having one to many un-Christian thoughts about the snow plow driver and what I would like to do to him and his vehicle, I had better pop in there and confess my sins and at least say a prayer or two about the whole situation!!!  Can't say I feel any better about it.........but at least I tried!

Busy morning on Saturday......

As I mentioned the other day I wanted to repay the farmer for plowing out our driveway.  So I did a batch cooking on Saturday morning and cooked meals for not just him but us as well.

It took me around 3 hours to do all the cooking as the phone kept ringing.  I made shepherd's pie, egg pie, undone stuffed pepper casserole and stuffed baked potatoes. There were five meals for us, with leftovers for lunches, and five meals (enough for two portions of the pepper casserole) for our new farmer friend.

I worked out it cost well under $30 for all the ingredients, so it works out at less than $2 per person per meal; which I didn't think was too bad.  The only thing we will have to add extra food too is the stuffed baked potatoes, which we will have with a can of baked beans, so that will cost an extra 50 cents for that.

I made labels for the top of the aluminum containers for our farmer friend, so he knows what it is, what is in the container and how to cook it.  I also gave him a loaf of zucchini pineapple bread.  I bought the containers from the dollar store and thought they were pretty handy.

He seemed pretty pleased with it all, and said we had to call him whenever we needed our driveway plowed out.

Now prior to me going to drop off the food I had to clean out the driveway.......dh has gout again, so he was "made" to sit on the sofa all day to rest his foot.  Now he must be in agony as he actually did as he was told....

Anyhow, I had an "encounter" with the snow plow driver........I saw him coming, so I stood far enough out at the end of the driveway, where he had to either run me over or raise his blades.  As I am writing this, you can guess he decided to raise his blades!!!  Enough of him filling in the bottom of my driveway.  Mind you he'll just come back at a later date no doubt and dump double the amount at the bottom of the driveway knowing my luck {{{SIGH}}}

HOW MANY DAYS UNTIL SPRING???

Grocery shopping can be hard work and complicated.....

Friday I decided to go grocery shopping as I needed a few things.   However it's not as simple as just jumping in the car and driving to the store.


1. Look through the flyers to see what's on sale.
2. See what coupons you have to match up to those items on sale.
3. Make sure there are no bonus points coupons for any of the stores that you are going too.
4. Plan route, so you go the quickest way possible.
5. Get ready to go out, which means starting the car and warming it up, as it's still freezing bloody cold.  Due to the cold weather go pee.
6. Get dressed and go to car, remembering to take coupon book, flyers, purse and grocery bags.  Get in the car and remember you've forgotten the bonus points coupons for Zellers.
7. Go back to the house and find the coupons, and gosh it's bloody cold again today, so better pee again.
8. Get back in the car and drive off.


My first port of call was Sobeys where they had Green Works laundry detergent on sale for $6.49, I had $3 off coupons so picked up five of those.  Bill came to $21.67 after the coupons were taken off.  Discovered I only had $20 in my purse, then the cashier announced I had $5 worth of points I could cash in, so all in all that cost me $16.67.


Next stop was the bank, too cold to get out so went through the drive through and deposited my $5 Pinecone Survey cheque as well.


Next stop gas station to put gas in my car.  $1.119 per litre, however had coupon for 10 x CDN Tire money so came out of there with $1.05 in CDN Tire money.  Saving that up not sure for what.


Popped into Zehrs as they had Sunlight Laundry Detergent on sale for $4.14, had $4 worth of coupons so picked up three and 8oz of mushrooms on sale for 99 cents and a dozen bread rolls with 50% off.  Spent $13.01 in there and saved $6.  Made sure to keep that receipt to one side as we save Zehrs cash register receipts for the church.  I think they get 1% back on the receipt.


I then went into Zellers and things went down hill fast from there.  They had Green Works cleaning products on sale and the Supervisor decided I could only use one coupon per purchase.  I had 9 coupons and so I had to do 9 transactions..........totally wrong, but I could only argue with her for so long.  Needless to say cashing out took forever.  I bought a few other things as well and my total came to $26.54 and I used $25 in coupons.  Now I should have had another $3 in coupons, but I see she didn't take that coupon of :o(  I did however receive a bonus of 35,000 HBC points when I put the stuff on my card.  I then in turn paid off the balance on my HBC card.


I then drove to the other town close to me as No Frills is there and a great dollar store.  Picked up some good deals in No Frills, including lean ground beef at $1.88 per pound and pasta sauce at just under 50 cents per can when you bought 12 cans, so stocked up on those things.  All in all I spent another $33.88 there; will say though I didn't feel as though I got a lot for my money there.


I am stocked up on laundry detergent now for the year.  Probably have enough cleaning wipes for the next 6 months or so.  Enough dish washing liquid for the rest of the year and enough toilet bowl cleaner for the next six months or more.  Below is what I picked up on Friday, I have another "stash" of dish washing liquid, toilet bowl cleaner, and cleaning wipes downstairs.

I left the house around 9:30 am and got back in the house at 12 noon.  I wouldn't have been so long but for the Zellers fiasco.

I had put my shopping away and of course peed again and was sat down eating my lunch by 12.20pm.  Thank goodness I don't have young children as I wouldn't have been able to do all that in one go.

Oh and the snow plow driver is lucky I am not a violent person, as otherwise I would have hit him.  He drove too close to the end of the driveway and dumped another pile of rock hard ice/snow on the end of the driveway.  Good news for the mail lady, she isn't the most annoying person now, the bloody snow plow driver is!!

Did I mention:

I HATE WINTER!!!!!

Royal Albert Festoon for afternoon tea and the bloody weather!

On Thursday I had a friend over for a tea.  She enjoys the finer things in life, so I decided to hunt out my Nana and Pop's tea set my mother gave me.  They got it as a wedding gift in 1934.  On further examination it turns out they are Royal Albert, the Festoon pattern which was introduced between 1905 - 1907.  Now I know this set is probably not as old as that, but I would love to know more about it, however I wasn't able to find anything on the Internet.  I have six cups, six saucers, six side plates and one larger round plate.

I never got you told about what happened on Wednesday.  It's been freezing cold and it has been blowing a gale force wind, which means it blows over the driveway and blocks us in.  Due to it being so cold it has turned the snow rock hard and made it feel like ice.

As my right arm had been giving me a lot of problems, dh told me to leave the snow blowing until he came home.  Well by the time he got home it was even worse, so bad he got the truck stuck halfway up the driveway.  So I went out with him, as there was at least a two foot high drift in front of the garage door, which we had to dig out first before we could get to the snow blower.  The wind was just howling and it was bitter, bitter cold.  We fought on for a bit and then I told dh this was crazy.  We were both exhausted and frozen, so I insisted on calling a friend and seeing if she knew of someone who could come and plow out the driveway.

She gave me the number of a local farmer and to cut a long story short he came over with his tractor and snow blower and had the whole driveway cleared out within half an hour.  He also cleared out by the mail box, as the mail lady had stopped delivering to us as she couldn't access the mail box easily.  Now all she had to do was open her truck door and lean out, but as per the Post Office she is not allowed to open her door to deliver mail as it would violate her insurance if she is injured...........I could go on a rant for another hour about the post office and our dear mail lady, but it isn't worth my energy or my time.

I must say I could have kissed the farmer for clearing everything out though, as I was close to tears with the cold and the wind trying to clean out the driveway.  The farmer wouldn't take any money for clearing out the driveway.  As he is a widower I thought I would make him a couple of meals that he can freeze and eat at a later date, and we'll have him over for supper when the weather gets better as well.

So just in case you haven't figured it out,

I AM FED UP TO THE BACK TEETH OF THIS BLOODY WEATHER!!!!!

Another yummy recipe and a Happy Birthday.......

I first saw this recipe over at Prairie Farmstead Pondering's and thought it looked good and believe me it is.

Zucchini Pineapple Bread

3 Eggs
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2 cups Granulated Sugar
2 tsps Vanilla
2 cups Zucchini/Courgette; coarsely shredded
1 (8.5 oz) can Crushed Pineapple; well drained
3 cups Flour
2 tsps Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2 tsps Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Nutmeg
1 cup Chopped Nuts or Currants


Cream together the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla.  Stir in the zucchini and pineapple.  In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.  Stir the dry ingredients gently into the zucchini mixture until just blended.  Divide the batter into 2 greased and sugared 5 x 9 loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn onto a rack.


This is as moist and flavourful as it looks in the photo, and is definitely a keeper, and a good way to use up all that shredded zucchini in the freezer.

Now one thing Miss J mentions on her blog is she will use her "canned pineapple" that in reality is actually canned zucchini that tastes like pineapple.  They were talking about how good it is on another forum I go on.  Here is the link for the recipe to make canned pineapple out of zucchini/courgette.


A big, big Happy Birthday to my baby brother who although is no longer a baby......well except when he is ill......he'll always be my baby brother.  Hope you have a lovely day, where ever you are?

Look who came to visit yesterday......

This one was a very curious squirrel as it came right up to the window to look at Molly and for once Molly didn't bark.  It sat there eating the bird food for ages, very comfortable knowing we couldn't get it.  We also have a poor rabbit wandering around, I put a carrot outside for it last night, but I see it's still there.  Mind you I will be cursing it come summer when it eats my veggies in the garden no doubt.

It is very, very windy today, and was all night, so I am going to be snow blowing today.  I have had a couple of days off so I shouldn't complain.  We have wind chills in the minus 20 oC today again....when will this winter end?

February is always the longest coldest and most depressing month of the year as far as I am concerned,mainly due to the weather.  Which month do you hate the most and why?

A feeling of Deja Vu...........

meaning I feel as though I am getting sick again........to be honest I haven't been 100% since I first started with this cold a couple of weeks ago.  Now my throat is bothering me again.  My energy level is a big fat ZERO.  On Monday it took me to lunch time to actually get dressed.  I even skipped my morning shower, which is so unlike me.

I was talking to my mother who is in Britain and who also has the same cold and the nurse at her doctors office was saying this cold is hitting everyone twice; in that just when you think it's over with back it comes again.  One thing is for sure I can't be blamed for giving it too her, she got it off my younger brother who is also as sick as a dog with it.  So on both sides of the "pond" people are suffering with it.

Yesterday I talked about my bedtime routine, today I will tell you about Molly's morning routine.  She gets up with dh at around 4:30am when he gets up to go to work, and he lets her out.  More often than not she goes and lays down on the sofa and back to sleep.

Now if I am not up by around 6:45am she comes upstairs to see where I am and generally makes a nuisance of herself.  So I generally give in and get up, as by this time I am awake, and once awake I stay awake.

I get up and go downstairs to find her sitting on the ottaman waiting for me to fill her food bowl and water bowl.  She then moves to the kitchen when she hears me getting her pill and the cheese slice.  Once she has had that I put her collar on, and she sometimes wants to go out, but more often than not she goes back on the sofa and back to sleep...................thank you Molly!!!!

That dog has got me wrapped around her finger.........but I wouldn't part with her!

By the way stew on the second day is better than the first day, isn't it?

Book Review and getting ready for bed....

"Another Dawn" by Kathryn Cushman

What Would You Give for a Second Chance to Make Things Right?

When life gets complicated, Grace Graham runs. She's left romantic relationships, friendships, and even her family after the death of her mother. But now her sister, Jana, is giving her once last chance: Come home and help care for their father--whom Grace still blames for her mother's death--or never show her face in Shoal Creek, Tennessee, again. 

With her son, Dylan, in tow, Grace returns home from California. But is she returning for the right reasons? And when costly decisions from the past suddenly put her son's life and the lives of other children in town at risk, will she have the strength to stand strong and await Another Dawn?

This is the first time I have read anything by this author and lets just say I am hooked on her work.  This is an exceptionally well written book on a subject that every parent has talked about and has made a decision about and anyone who will become a parent will have to think about.  I can't say much more about the main theme of this book as it will spoil the story for you.  It also a story that brings a family back together through terrible times.

It was one of those books where I just wanted to keep turning the next page to see what would happen next.  

Stars out of 5: I would say 5, it's well worth buying or borrowing from the library as it is such a great book, exploring a great subject.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

I was over at Lakeland Jo's blog and she mentioned a post at Busy Bee Suz about bedtime routines, so I popped over to take a look and was laughing so hard at it, until I realized how much of it is so true in my neck of the woods as well.......

So here is my bedtime routine:

Wake Molly and tell her she has to go for a pee.

Tell Molly another seven times to wake up and go for a pee.........

Wait for Molly by the patio doors while she slowly walks to the door still half a sleep.

Finally let her out.

While she is out:

I sort out the fire

Fill the water pot on top of the fire

Turn off the laptop

Lock the front door

Turn off the fan that pushes hot air to the second floor

Make sure I have the coffee on for dh and his pills are beside the machine so he remembers to take them.

Molly is now barking to be let in.

Let her in and take off her collar

Lock the patio doors

Check Molly's dish to make sure she has enough water

Tell Molly I am going to bed and I'm off upstairs

Generally dh is in bed.....

So I go to the bathroom to pee and have a wash and strip off.

Wander into the bedroom in the dark and close the blind by my side of the bed............dh never ever does that?

Find my pj's and put them on, get into bed.

Put on my elbow brace and my wrist brace on my right arm, having problems with that arm.

Turn over and gently fall asleep..........

Just as I am falling asleep one of two things happen.........

Molly gets a second life and decides to attack her bone or rabbit, squirrel, hedgehog and barks like a crazy dog downstairs while playing with them.  So up I get to round her up and tell her to go to sleep.

Walk back upstairs and decide I have to pee again, otherwise I will be up in another half hour wanting to pee.

Or Molly comes trotting upstairs to go to bed, but then she realizes she has forgotten to bring her bone, rabbit, squirrel or hedgehog, so off she trots back downstairs to reappear another five minutes later. 

We have wood floors and with her nails she clatters around like a cart horse.

So now that she has settled I turn over just in time for dh to start snoring and his legs to start leaping around (restless leg)

Luckily by this time I am worn out and I do finally get off to sleep............I am worn out just reading this!!

Is your bedtime routine as bad?

Ratty, baggy underwear............

you know the type the ones you are most comfortable in.  The pair's that you wear when you know you are not leaving the house, as you remember what your Mother or Nana used to say:

"Always make sure you wear clean underwear when you go out, as you may be run over by a bus and end up at the hospital, and you don't want to nurses or doctors to see you wearing your old underwear."

Well I had a clean out of my underwear drawer and out they have all gone.  Now I must admit I have about as a much chance of being hit by a bus as winning the lottery, as there is no public bus service where we live, and the only buses I see are the school buses or buses taking people to the ski hills.  All which I see from the safety of my house!!!  However I still make sure I don't wear my old underwear when I leave the house, just in case!!

So now I need to pick up some new underwear.  Luckily I am at a stage in my life where comfort takes precedence over looks.  Gone are the days when I followed fashion and thank goodness for that, as it always baffles my mind how people can wear the equivalent of a postage stamp strung together with material no thicker than dental floss, aka a thong.............

Then there is "VPL," which is visible pantie line......can't say I am worried about that either as who in their right mind will be looking at my butt.  Now granted the larger butt is in fashion; I'm thinking Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian here, but believe I am neither!!!  No, I will stick with my granny panties, that cover everything and are a heck of a lot more comfortable................

I have just realized I will no doubt have every pervert on the internet popping by with that blog title....LOL  Boy they are going to be very disappointed!!

Hard day, I smell nice and the price of milk!!!

Blew out the driveway twice on Friday but I think I have it more or less got it all cleared..........well until the next snowfall.  It was hard going with the wind.  I managed to get it cleared so I could go to town.  My brother's birthday is on the 10th and I hadn't got his card put in the mail.  Should get there in time though as the mail to Britain is pretty good.  I was only out an hour and by the time I got back the driveway was partially covered, so I blew it out again after lunch.

I went for a shower after doing the driveway a second time and after I got out my skin was dry so slathered some Mango and Mandarin Body Lotion by Bath and Bodyworks on my body.  It smells so nice; I love the smell of citrus, very invigorating.  Mind you in my case not invigorating enough, as I couldn't be bothered to put my clothes on and spent the rest of the afternoon in my dressing gown.

While in town this morning I nipped into the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, including milk.  We buy our milk in bags, I talked about it a while back on this post  Anyhow I see that they have put the price of milk up, it is now $4.47 at No Frills  for a 4 litre bag, it was $4.17.........now that is just under a gallon in the Sates and just over a gallon in Britain.  What is the price of milk where you live? 

Everything is going up in price though I am finding...........