Took these photos on Friday morning all in my car.......if you think I was getting out you had another thing coming, it was freezing cold, temperatures in the minus 20's. It may not look it but it was cold. This is the snow banks on the side of the road coming into our subdivision taken out of the passenger side window:
Another shot taken from the front window of the car of those same snow banks.
The golf shop/booking place/where you start off from when playing golf???
The 9th hole......I know how on earth do I know these things???
The 8th hole.....
The 8th hole is to the left of the photo and where you tee off is the the right.........okay this is freaky how do I know the words tee off???
Slightly different angle but the same as the one above.
Suffice to say no one will be playing golf any time soon, if these photos are anything to go by. I have a feeling the course opens in May? But I could and probably am wrong. Do you think secretly way deep down in the recesses of my brain I actually want to play golf???? I hope not as I have better things to do than hit a small ball, and no doubt lose it half a dozen times in a day around a pile of grass. Last day of February today, good!
I can't knit for toffee......honest I can't. Numerous people have tried to teach me over the years with no success. I would love to knit a soft toy or a cardigan for the kids. I have no desire to knit a scarf; I never wear them. So on Wednesday I popped into the local knitting store to ask about lessons. Very nice lady, explained how I had no talent for knitting and she asked what I would like to knit. Told her about the toys and the cardigan's I'd like to knit for the babies, and she suggested a baby blanket. Okay, not really what I had in mind, but better than a bloody useless scarf. She told me when the lesson was and I paid my money. I said, "well when is the next lesson after that?" She said, "there isn't one." I said "you can actually teach me to knit in just two hours?" She said," no I send you home with homework, you keep popping in to show me how you're doing. If there are any mistakes we will pull it out and you will do it again and again until you get it right." (Or words to that effect) At this point, I just looked at her and thought, "well that doesn't sound like much fun." Made her write down what I needed. One of the things was "worsted yarn???" Got her to show me what on earth that was. She then said,"It has to be a light colour." I said, "Why?" She said, "it's easier to see all your mistakes." okay......... At this point I saw a lovely knitted doll. So I walked over to it and said: "Do you think I will be able to knit something like this?" She said, "No." I then saw some knitted sheep toys, "This?" I said. She said, "No." She didn't even say, "Well maybe some day." It was just NO. She did say, "She thought it may be a challenge teaching me to knit." Dear, there is no MAY about it, IT WILL BE A CHALLENGE!!! Between me and you, I think I should have someone film the lesson and put it on Youtube, I bet I could make millions.......as I have a feeling it may not go quite as smoothly as she anticipates! Should mention the lesson is on March 12th from 12 noon until 2pm. Thought that was a bit of a daft time personally, as that is right when I have my lunch??
It turns out you have to renew your library card every year with our library. All to do with funding and how big the membership is? When I got in there, it also turns out you can do this over the phone??? The woman I spoke to last week forgot to mention this? Next to the library is the Circle Theatre:
This is our local movie theatre. It has quite an interesting history to it; you can read about it here.
It is one of those old fashioned movie theatre's with only the one screening room. I have been told it has really comfy old fashioned seats and the whole ambiance takes you back to the 1940's, but with modern comforts. They hold special screening's, along with birthday party's and the odd play. Not your typical movie theatre. Why I am even bringing any of this up, is I have NEVER watched a movie in a movie theatre in Canada. We will have been in this country 26 years at the end of May. It's just not a place I would ever think of going. I'll watch movie's on dvd's or on tv, but have no desire to spend a bundle on a movie in a theatre. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to see they only charge $7.50 admission in this movie theatre. I was expecting it to be a whole lot more? What is the normal admission price? Do you go to the movie theatre often and what does it generally cost for a trip there? (sorry about the quality of the photos, the sun was shining directly into the camera and it was freezing bloody cold, so didn't want to be out any longer than I had to be.) Also I have booked a knitting lesson for March 12th......more to follow on that tomorrow!!!
I think we all have our own special place where we go to think and solve all the worlds problems. Some people have a comfy chair, other people walk a special route; laying in bed are some people's preferred choice, Me, well this is my special place:
The shower, I can put the world to right and solve any issue in the shower. Been doing this for years. When I was working I came up with more ideas and solutions than ever when I was in the shower. Not sure what it is about the shower, but it relaxes me, and when it does my brain must start working...LOL What made me think of this post, was I was thinking about the other day when we had our little Munchkin over. Dh went to the toilet and Munchkin went to find him. She can reach the door handle but cannot open the door yet, so was banging on the door for him. I do not miss those days when you could never use the bathroom without having company joining you. So today's question is: Where is your special place that you go to solve the world's problems? Finally a pop of colour for Wednesday:
For the non-quilters out there, the photo shows me stitching the binding on the quilt. For the quilters out there, no I did not lose the plot putting bright green binding on it....LOL It all makes sense, trust me!
You read a magazine and watch some tv. On a side note no idea why I bought the O Magazine, as it's not my cup of tea?
Get a bit more of the baby quilt done.
Have a cup of tea and a snack and spend a little hours on the internet.
I did infact leave the house as I needed to get some material to bind the quilt. So that means I must have got the quilt sewn together !! My goal is to get it all done this week, so it's another job crossed off my list. I also got gas (petrol) while out, paid 92.9 cents per litre Canadian. How does that compare to where you live? Finally feeling a lot better, BUT, nose feels as though it is stuffed up with glue....yes it's thick and yellow/green up there...TMI??? Voice still hoarse, and still not eating an awful lot, but that's no biggie as I need to lose weight.
Our little Munchkin is in the baby room in daycare. The age's of the babies in that room, are from birth to eighteen months. As most people get a full years maternity leave here in Ontario, they generally start at 12 months old. There are six babies and two helpers in that room and it's run like a tight ship, very organized and they do a lot of things to help the babies develop. It seems one of the supervisors has been watching our Munchkin and feels she is ready to move up to the toddler room. They take children from around 18 months old up to around 2 1/2 years in that room. Our Munchkin is 15 months old, and will be 16 months old when they move her. They do it gradually by introducing her to the other children in the room over a three week period. In the toddler room there are 15 toddlers to three helpers; and of course the fees go down which is good. I was a bit taken aback when dd mentioned all this as to us our Munchkin is a baby, but the more you think about it, she isn't. When they were here last week, the little toys we had in our basket didn't hold her interest at all; she has outgrown them. I was in the kitchen, so got her to do a couple of little things for me. She enjoys helping. The things they do in the toddler room will keep her engaged and developing and stop her from getting bored. It is a good thing, but a scary thing for her Nana, to think she is no longer a baby. We were in Wal-Mart on Saturday so went to the toy department to see if there was something to add to our toy box, and we picked up this. This should keep both our Munchkin and our Little Princess out of mischief. Should also keep Granddad out of mischief putting it together!
Talking about our Little Princess; they are still in India and will be for another month or more. Our little Fella turned 5 months old earlier in the month. We got this photo of him. It's just the angle of the photo, his legs do not go on for miles!!
We also got this one of both of them:
Out little Princess is as brown as a berry with being out in the sun. I am missing them both a lot. Finally another bit of proof that our little Munchkin is getting bigger:
Yep, she was caught trying to escape. The crib mattress has now been lowered, again!!! She is her mother's double, as dd was an escape artist at that age also!
On Frugal Queen's blog on Thursday she was talking about the KonMari method of folding. Personally I had no idea what so ever what she was talking about. So I watched the You Tube video that she posted with interest: As I am still sick and most things tire me out, I thought an hour of t-shirt folding wouldn't kill me. Here is the before and after photos. Before:
After:
Took me all of 20 minutes to sort them out and fold them and I have a lot of extra space; plus I can see things better.
Have you heard of an island called Tristan Da Cunha? I hadn't either. It's part of the UK’s Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha. I have heard of St Helena and the Ascension Islands. This is the most remote inhabited island in the world, with St Helena being the closest place to it at 2,000 km away. Wikipedia has a lot of interesting facts about the place including photos here. Why I even stumbled across this was I was reading an article on Daily Mail Uk about St Helena getting an airport in 2016; you can read more about it here. Do you know what my most popular posts have been on my blog? You'll have had to have been around a few years to know. There are two that come up time and time again. Back in 2008 and 2009 I did a series of posts about 50 + 1 Recipes for various fruits and vegetables. The most popular of them are Blackcurrants and Carrots. They are looked at on a daily basis. 50 + 1 Recipes for Blackcurrants
Now to be fair I know all the links don't work on these posts as it's been a while. I was thinking of maybe doing a more updated list of each one? I still look at the Home of the Week every week, here is the link to this week's. I'll pass as it's overpriced at $2.35 million, and the concrete wall at the end of the street, will NOT muffle the noise, I don't care what they say!! The Condo of the Week isn't much better to be honest; here's the link to that. At $460,000 the price isn't too bad, but again the noise from the Don Valley Parkway will be a major nuisance and make using outside impossible, as that road is busy 24/7. Now for those of us who want to live a bit of a fantasy life and own one of the top ten most expensive houses for sale in Toronto, this link is for you. The prices range from a measly $14.6 million to $28.8 million; I know pocket change for some!!! And finally here is a photo of Our Little Munchkin taken at daycare on Thursday. She is back to being a happy camper, as she is feeling fine again. She finishes her antibiotics on Monday, so we have bets on as to when she is sick again....I would give it a week, so the beginning of March!! This is what the day care said:
The Nora on the Bus Goes Up and Down!
Nora rode the tiny bus around the classroom this morning.
I finally hunted out my sewing machine and did a bit of sewing on Wednesday.
Dd good friend is expecting a baby girl in April, and as I made her a baby quilt for her baby boy when he was born, I knew I had better get going with one for the new baby to be. I bought this Riley Blake Little Red Riding Hood quilt kit a while back and had never used it.
It is such a cute selection of fabrics and perfect for a little girl.
The only snag though is the kit didn't come with a pattern, so I had to make my own up. I will share more photos in the next couple of days. Health wise, onwards and upwards as they say. I did pop my head out of the door to go to the mail box, but honestly it was so flipping cold, I did not want to stay outside for anymore time than I had too.
Chalkboards are all the decorating rage at the moment. Dd has had one for a while now, she made it herself and it looks great. You can see more of hers in this post. I wanted one, more for the fact I could write things down on it, in the hopes it would help me remember things. Dd made hers by buying a picture frame from Ikea and painting it with chalkboard paint. I bought mine ready made at Michael's on sale for under $30.
Underneath it you can see I have hung a bar with a couple of pots on it. All that is from Ikea The bar is here, the hooks come separate here. The two tubs and the plant is also from Ikea. A close up of the faux plant. It is quite realistic.
I got the chalkboard markers from Michael's. They are around $20 but I got mine on sale.
Here is a close up of the detail on the frame, it is a weathered look. Dd was up and wrote on it.
All in all very pleased with it all. I have one spare hook on the rail, I want to get a small heart sign for there. I have seen something I like on someone else blog, so just need to source one over here. Now why was I lost for words. I am not well; it's all in the head, ears, nose and throat. I was up for nearly three hours through the night on Monday night. My right ear is killing me, and I have a silly cough and moisture in my nose. So I decided to go to the walk in clinic in town. Believe this was not undertaken lightly, as I personally have better things to do than sit in a room for hours with sick people!! It is a three hour round trip to go to our doctors office and see him; and as I don't have the energy to do that trip off I went to the walk in. Will say it's a lovely office, super staff and very clean. It is in our local Wal-Mart store. Didn't have to wait too long probably around 1 1/2 hours. The doctor came in told her what was wrong. She looked in my ears and said they are nice and clear. Looked in my throat and said that was fine and told me there was nothing wrong with me. I said are you sure there is nothing wrong with my ear as it's really sore. Nope, it was fine and take Sudafed to clear any congestion. I said I am on blood pressure pills and was told not to take them. Again, she said they would be fine for a couple of days. And that was it...... Believe me when I say, my ears feel awful, my throat is on fire and this tickly cough is bloody annoying. Something is going on. So Sudafed it is, not sure for how long. I'll give it three days and if I am no better, I will try and get into see my own doctor.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the vegetables and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add onion soup mix and water. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove half the vegetables. Blend what is left in the pan until smooth. Add the reserved vegetables back into the pan, along with the parsley, if using. Season to taste, reheat, serve and enjoy!!
* People call rutabaga, turnip and swede by different name's. This is the type of vegetable I used we call it a rutabaga in Canada:
I used the onion soup mix, to give the soup more flavour. You can just use vegetable stock if you want. And finally in the hopes of it one day being above freezing I am again posting a Summer type video just in case Mother Nature decides to read my blog and decides to take pity on me!!!
the weather!!!! I guess when we woke up to the temperatures below on Sunday it is something to talk about:
In the scheme of things we have nothing to complain about as the east coast is being hammered with one winter storm after another. I did go out yesterday, but basically ran (brisk walk!!) from the car to the store, so was actually out in the cold for a minute if that. Hopefully though it was enough to kill off some germs, as I am a walking germ factory.
I now have a burning fire going on in the back of my throat and something going on in my ears (no surprise there). So I am cancelling everything I had planned this week in the hopes of not spreading it to anyone else; especially dh........no reason to explain why there...LOL I wonder if I include another summer you tube video it might get warmer, doesn't hurt either it's from one of my all time favourite movies!!
Today is also a very special as it's my mam's birthday.
This is the neatest thing I have seen for a while. I need to pot my bare root geraniums soon, so must remember to get a couple of CLEAN unused diapers from our little Munchkin:
For those of you who like perfection or just maybe have a case of OCD; and you know who you are, please click on this link to look at some picture perfect photos. To start you off here is the first photo:
Finally I have decided that if I include a You tube video of a summer song, just maybe it may warm up outside? Just saying/thinking?
Then just for the heck of it, as I stumbled upon it and I am a sucker for the mandolin and the song Tenneesse Waltz:
Oh and by the way.........every time I laugh, sneeze or cough I am in agony. I have done something with my ribs.........I am rolling my eyes at this point!!
I am sick, I spent most of Thursday night vomiting and sitting on the loo with diarrhea. I can deal with the bubbly tummy, I can deal with the diarrhea, but I DO NOT like vomiting. It drains you.
Suffice to say me and the bathroom are very friendly at the moment!! I did not dare leave the house on Friday as I knew I HAD to have a bathroom near at every moment!! Spent a bit of time wiping down all the door handles etc, to try and make sure dh doesn't come down with it. Drinking plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Our little Munchkin went to the doctors and she has a double ear infection (again!) and a bronchial "situation," so is on another dose of antibiotics, this time for 10 days. They just can't catch a break. So sorry if I haven't been by to visit your blog, just have no energy to do it.
It's February, it's Winter and we live in Canada. BUT ENOUGH OF THE BLOODY SNOW AND COLD TEMPERATURES!! Photos of the 13th hole of the golf course.........yes there is a golf course under all that snow!
I lied the one below is the 12th hole. It's funny how I know the difference when I don't even play golf.
13th hole again. You can see the decks of the houses on the right hand side of the photo. The front of the houses face the front of our house.
she is as sick as a dog AGAIN. Poor thing can't catch a break; but neither can her mam or dad. It's doing the round's in their house. Since our Little Munchkin started daycare she has been sick nearly every single week. I went down to their house to babysit on Wednesday as she is too sick to go to daycare and both parents had to go to work. She is normally a bundle of energy who can't sit still. She even laid down on the sofa with her best friend Globo. Very unlike her.
She's struggling to sleep as she keeps coughing.
Been to the doctor and they said it was viral??? Dad looking after her today and Mam looking after her on Friday. Poor thing also has gas and a bubbly tummy. Those diapers were an experience that's for sure!!
I am a lazy cook. I spend as little time as possible in the kitchen, but I do like to cook. I tend to go into the kitchen at 4 pm and have dinner on the table by 5 pm. More often than not, it'll only take me half an hour to cook dinner, which I think is about as long as it should take in my humble opinion. So due to this "laziness" of mine, I try and do things to cut down on the prep. If you remember I picked up a club pack of ground beef (mince). A "club pack" means its a bigger than normal pack, which in this case was just under four pounds of ground beef. Paid $15.25 for it, as it was "on sale" at $3.99 per pound. Gone are the days when you could get lean ground beef for under $2 a pound {{SIGH}} So on Tuesday I decided I had better sort out this pack of ground beef. I cut up three large onions and browned them along with the ground beef in batches.
I also cooked a large pan of potatoes at the same time. I ended up with this:
A shepherd's pie, which also used up some mashed carrots and turnip. Six 8 oz bags of ground beef and onions and one 4 oz bag of ground beef and onions, all ready to pull out of the freezer when needed. I also have a large tupperware container of mashed potatoes and a bag of mashed potatoes that I am going to put in the freezer. When we were in Britain I picked up the following:
I used the shepherd's pie mix for the shepherd's pie. We can probably get all these mixes over here, just wanted to try them and at 1 British Pound for all three they were a good buy I thought. The 4 oz bag of beef and onion, will be used when I make the Bolognese, as I will "beef" it up with other veggies. Just having the packages of beef and onion and the mashed potatoes all ready to go will save me time in the kitchen and time wise it probably took less than two hours. Would have been less but the mail lady called by with my new Passport............no excuse why I can't fly now!!! {{{SIGH}}} By the way feeling much better.
