No words needed....LOL

 It was my birthday last week and we went out for lunch with the kids.  I got a birthday treat supplied by the restaurant..........my face says it all!!  I was frightened I wasn't going to have any eyebrows left.....LOL

The chocolate cake I took home and shared it with hubby later and it was actually good.  

Birthdays............

It was my mother's birthday at the beginning of this week and she was saying she always associates her birthday with spotting the first of the early Spring Lambs, and the first of the early daffodils.  Obviously she's in the UK, as at this point, I would just love to know where the garden is.........can't see it for a pile of snow!!

It got me thinking as to what I associate other people's birthday's with.

For mine, it's the middle of March, so it's always March break here in Canada when it's my birthday, so the kids are on holiday.

Hubby's is September, so I always think of it's vacation time for us, on or around his birthday.

Our son's birthday is the beginning of April, so his birthday is always around Easter time.

Our daughter's is in November and I always think of pomegranate's being in season when it's her birthday.  

What do you associate with your birthday and/or other people's birthday's in your life?

What happened on Wednesday..............

I have come to the conclusion it's one of "those" weeks, this week.  I got a call on Tuesday from the dentist, asking me if I wanted to change my cleaning appointment to 8am on Wednesday morning.  Said that was fine and off I went there on Wednesday morning.

The hygienist was someone I hadn't dealt with before.  Although quite nice; she was also very pushy.  As I think back to what she said about my mouth and teeth, I personally should walk into a lake and never come back out....LOL  I mean if she did "praise" anything it was followed by a negative comment about my mouth.

She did however suggest I should use a water flosser, as I refuse point blank to floss my teeth with regular floss as it feels like nails on a chalk board to me.  I will take her up on that idea, to try it out.  All in all that visit cost $140, and all she did was clean my teeth.  I do not have them polished, don't like that.  She did floss my teeth, she scraped them and poked about in my mouth.  I did not see the dentist, as it meant hanging around for another 15 minutes, as he didn't start until 9am.  So all in all a waste of time and money!!

I am back to ordering my fruit and veg bags, for $20 a month.  Here is what I got for $20.  There is only one thing we won't use and that is the celery, but I have my good friend coming up today and will give it to her.

I know I have mentioned this before but I do love my Tupperware FridgeSmart containers.  They work so good.  Here is everything put away ready to go into the fridge.

Where I pick the veggie bag up is at the north end of the city close to the mall, so had a look around there.  Plus I got a coupon in the mail for 6 free bagels from Great Canadian Bagel, as it's my birthday in March.  I have never got this before, and don't remember signing up for it?  If you click on the link and look for the birthday icon, you can sign up there.  So I picked up two sesame seed, two cheddar cheese and two everything bagels.  I also treated myself to a sesame seed bagel with veggie cream cheese and a coffee for my lunch, which cost $7.

I was also bad and picked up three books for $10 at Indigo in the mall.

I rarely go to the mall, so enjoyed my walk around it.

and the birthday keeps on giving..........

I don't know about you but I have signed up for things over the year's and some sites ask for your birth date so they can send you a treat/code/discount on your birthday.

I have taken advantage of a couple of them.  I was driving past Panera bread, boy is that place expensive.  Anyhow I had a code for a free birthday treat up to $5.  So I picked up this cookie.  It's a Kitchen Sink Cookie and costs $4.19 CDN.  It is huge and really good, but I would not buy one for that price.

The Body Shop gave me $10 in points to spend in store.  So I went in to buy some soap at the outlet.  However it is now $7 a bar; granted there is a buy one, get the second item for 50% off.  I still think it's a bit steep for a bar of soap.  They had this three pack of body butter's on clearance for $11.

I use the body butter all the time and really like the Shea one, so this will come in very handy.

I ended up paying $1.13 for this and had had to go to the outlet mall to pick up something for dd, so killed two birds in one.

I do have some  more discount codes I could use and a $10 of my purchase coupon for a store I could use.  If I am passing any of these before they expire I may use them, however I will not go out of my way to use them.

Do you get freebies on your birthday?

Spoiled rotten.....

Yesterday was my birthday.  I had Liam overnight and so we had a quiet day.  I was thoroughly spoiled though by all my family.  Hubby got me a new Fitbit watch.  Dd and family made up a six month "subscription" for cross stitch stuff.  So I have a present to open on the 15th of the month for the next six months. Son and family got me these:

Have you seen these Lego sets?  I fell in love with them the first time I saw them.

I figured I couldn't "kill" these flowers😁

Lego has brought out some really neat adult sets.  Are you a fan of Lego?  Can't wait to start making these.

Happy Birthday

It's my mother's birthday today; so Happy Birthday Mam!  We're from the north of England where we call our mother's Mam.

I made her this card:

I got it as a freebie in this magazine.

It said it should only take 5 hours to sew.  It took me a lot longer😕

I got my mam a subscription to Prima Magazine

I wanted to get myself a subscription as well, but they are not shipping international at the moment?  Honestly I nearly gave up the will to live trying to order my mam her subscription, as my Canadian address proved to be a problem; again????  Finally got it ordered.  I will get her something else when I see her later in the year, as she is coming for a visit.

Fun one that you can join in with...

Saw this on Facebook.   What was the Number 1 song in your country on your 23rd birthday?

This was mine; it was number 1 for two weeks.

What is yours?

My suede bag

First a short story.  When I was 18 I had an 18th birthday party and my aunt flew over from Canada to surprise me at the party.  It was also our engagement party as well.  Anyway she brought a friend with her, and it was either her, or her friend who bought me a burgundy suede shoulder bag.  I LOVED that bag.  Can't remember what happened to it, but I used it all the time.

Fast forward to September of 2022 and we went to the UK.  We stayed with my brother, and his house is a ten minute walk from Gretna Outlet Mall.  Mark's and Spencer was there, I was in there nearly every day!!  They also had a Kate Spade location.  Now I will say I complained miserably about the prices of things over there.  3 pounds for a coffee was just flipping crazy!!

Anyhow, I called into the Kate Spade store, just to see what's what, not planning on buying anything.  However, as soon as I spied this bag I fell in love with it.  I have the exact same bag in burgundy leather. I visited that store nearly every day we were there.  I swear they knew me by sight.

I went back and forward with wanting it and then not wanting it.  It helped when ds arrived and he decided to buy his wife a bag as a gift, so I got an extra discount.  Then I could justify buying it....LOL😁

Now you are going to laugh at this, but this bag has pride of place in my closet!!  I haven't used it yet.  I figured I would wait until the nicer weather, as I don't want to ruin the suede. 

I love this bag and will treasure it!

Do you have something that you love but have never used?

Downtown Brampton, Ontario

It was our grand daughter Jeina's 3rd birthday party. It was held at the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives.  I haven't been there before despite living in Brampton for a number of years.

 Sorry about the thumb!!!  It had a big extension put on it.

  Opposite the museum is Gage Park, which is a gorgeous place with a lovely skating rink in the winter.

Beside the museum is St. Paul's United Church, which was dedicated in 1885.  I "think" we have been to a couple of weddings there.  That's sad I know, when I can't remember. 

 On the kitty corner from the museum is Brampton City Hall.  Since the last time I had seen it, they have added the glass building behind it as an addition to the main building.  You can see more photos of it here.

 A closer look at the extension.  We parked in the underground car park of city hall.

Things have changed so much since we lived in Brampton.  It's a fast growing city that changes every time I go there.  A  good time was had by all at the party.

1st Birthday Party......

Our little man turns one on Monday.  They had his birthday party on Saturday.  It was baseball themed.  He has 7 teeth and can take the odd step.  Can't believe how fast this year has gone by.

Here is one of the three cousins together:

A good time was had by all.

4 already............

Can you believe it Nora is 4 today?

This photo was taken earlier in the month.  Both girls are tall for their age, we're expecting a 5' 7" + girl out of Nora, and the same for Paige.

The past four years have flown by.  She started school in September and loves to write her name and everyone else's.  Has a new best friend called Olivia.  Is the only child I know who LOVES going to the doctors.  She is the doctors best child patient and will do anything she asks of Nora.

She is also a hypochondriac as well😏 and her parents should take shares out in the band aid/plaster industry as they go through that many.  At any given time Nora has a band aid on her body somewhere.  She's full of questions and loves her sister, except when Paige pulls off Nora's band aids in the bath tub!!

We love all our grandchildren equally and all of them are a delight, but on this day, it's all about Nora.  On Saturday all the grandchildren are getting together at The Build A Bear for a birthday party and it will be crazy but fun.

Happy Birthday Miss Nora, we love you ever so much!

It's zucchini/courgette time of year again.

One of my favourite meals that involve zucchini is Sausage Risotto:

Here is the recipe.  What you see in the dish above is what was leftover after our supper.  I will put this in a freezer bag and freeze it for another meal and bulk it up with more veggies if need be.

I did a post back in 2008 for 50 + 1 recipes for zucchini here.  I can't guarantee all the links will work now, but I know some of them do.

I finished off another person for Christmas yesterday by ordering a couple of things online.  That will make four people totally done.  Very happy about that. 

I gave away a couple more of my gnomes yesterday also, they will be heading to Grand Cayman next week.  Three went to California this week.  I wasn't planning on giving the gnomes away yesterday; took them out of the pile I am knitting for Our Little Man's birthday.  So back to the knitting needles to get more knit.

Have you started Christmas shopping yet?

Homemade Baked Beans........sort of

 Baked Bean's

 2 cans Heinz baked beans
 1 can kidney beans
 1 green pepper - chopped
 1 onion - chopped
 3 tbsp brown sugar
 8 bacon slices - slightly cooked and chopped into bite size pieces
 Ketchup

 Mix ingredients except ketchup. One layer of beans topped with ketchup. Second layer of beans topped with ketchup. Cook covered at 350 for 1 hour then uncover and cook for another 1 hour. 

This recipe is from dd in law's.  I have always found them a little too sweet when dd makes them.  So I made a couple of changes to the original recipe.

• I did not layer the beans as the recipe suggests with the ketchup.  I only added the one layer or ketchup on the top.
• I cut down the sugar to two tablespoons.
• I did not add the bacon.

Dd says these taste better the second or third day.  I made them on Friday to eat on Saturday.  I had a taste on Friday and found them sweet enough for me.  This is a vegetarian dish if you omit the bacon.  Maybe Jane can tell me if it's a vegan dish as well?

Why I said sort of in the title is that you start with two cans of baked beans in tomato sauce, so it's sort of cheating in a way I think to say they are totally homemade.

It's our son's birthday today so we are having a joint Easter Saturday/Birthday lunch for him.

Happy 31st birthday Son!

Thank you

for all your birthday wishes yesterday.  I had a lovely day and was thoroughly spoiled.

One of the things dh bought me was a lovely bouquet of flowers.

We went down to dd and, ds and partner joined us.  We had a lasagna, Cesar salad and garlic bread for lunch.  They bought me a lovely birthday cake, white sponge cake with mini brownies on top.

Our little Munchkin had a peanut and jelly sandwich, cheese and blueberries for her lunch!!

A good day made even better by being with the family.

We're obsessed with this...

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.

(photo credit)

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. 

Happy Birthday Mam!

Anyone have a pin?

I am suffering from a bad case of bloating.  

(photo credit)

If I just stuck a pin in my stomach all will be well.  Don't have gas, not even "blocked up," as they say, just very, very uncomfortable.  Guess it must be something I ate.  The older I get the more stomach issues I have.  I really do need to take better care of my diet, but everything I love is everything that is bad for me. What is a person to do?  I guess it will be a plain tasteless food type of day to let my stomach settle.

Meanwhile I had better stay in the house covered up, as people will be asking me when my due date is!!

On a side note, it's my baby brother's birthday today.  Not really a baby anymore at 45 though.  

Happy Birthday Our Pete!!

Let's catch up.........

It's been a busy few days around here.  It was my birthday on Saturday, so the day was a whirlwind of activity.  Dh took me out in the morning to buy me some clothes for my birthday as I wouldn't tell him what I wanted for my birthday........probably because I don't need anything.  I did okay as I got three tops and two pair of pants for just under $100.  Dh got himself a golf shirt and a pair of pants also.  We rarely ever go clothes shopping, so we achieved a lot in a little time.  I do need a new pairs of trainers/running shoes, but we didn't have time to get them.  We'll get them this next week.

At night we went to The Mandarin Restaurant for supper and it was good.  We were seated in the bird room; there is an aviary filled with birds and that kept The Little Princess amused watching them.  Miss Nora wasn't as bothered as there was plenty of other things keeping her amused.  The kids all clubbed together to get me a Kobo e-reader and a 9 month premium subscription to Next Issue.  I got a five minute crash course at the restaurant on how to use it and promptly forgot.....would that be another sign of getting old do you think?  I had a go with it on Sunday but could do with some pointers.  I am really looking forward to learning how to use it and it will be easier than having a pile of books in the house.

I have to brag about our Little Princess.  She just turned 14 months and knows how to use the potty.  She can't ask to go but if you sit her on it she knows what to do and does it.  Also if you ask where is Miss Nora, she'll point at her.  She is such a smart cookie.  I am so sure she takes after me, just like Miss Nora does....LOL

Talked to a few folk over the weekend especially family and as I turned 50 a few everyone made fun of me.  However when I told them our son turns 30 in April and didn't that make them feel old too, that shut them up!!!  My mother was saying that the grass had been cut where she lives.  I said "that's nice," and asked what colour is grass as it's been that long since I have seen any!!

Our desktop computer hard drive went kaput.  So poor dh has been trying to figure out what to do.  All our photos are on there which sucks.  So I am picking up my emails up on my laptop and I don't like the setup I have on my laptop.  

Finally sold the dining room table and chairs on Sunday via Kijiji, which is good.  After being mucked around by some other folk, these guys were a joy to deal with.  Plus I think they may take some of the garden/garage stuff when we have a yard sale.

Will make a fresh attempt at listing things on Kijiji at the beginning of next month.  If the weather would just warm up I could make a start on sorting things out in the garage.  I am going to pack up the china cabinet this week.

Remember we got the new mattress a week or two ago?  Just discovered none of my flannel sheets fit due to the mattress being so deep.  Luckily they had seen better days, but dh is not happy not having his flannel sheets to go with his two doubled over blankets on his side!!  Meanwhile on my side of the bed I have the sheet and the bed cover and am wearing a summer nightie..........why is it one is always hot while the other is always cold?

What a difference ten weeks make.....

Miss Nora at two weeks old and nearly twelve weeks old.  Hard to believe those photos are of the same baby.

The photo below was taken around 5 pm on Sunday of a very weak and watery sun......

Finally it's my brother Pete's birthday today, he's my baby brother at a young age of 44 years today.

Shredding, shredding and more shredding.....

I have two big garbage bags (we have to use clear bags in Dufferin County) so far of shredded paper.  I have gone through the personal tax files, that more or less accounts for the bag in the front.  

We have bought two new homes in the past directly from builders.  I had forgotten how much paperwork that accumulates.  Found it interesting the faxes that were sent back and forth concerning problems.  Then of course the paid bill drawer, got six months worth of paid bills shredded. 

The four big files on the coffee table have to do with insurance and mutual funds.  I am going to get dh to sort those out, as I am lost with them.  Plus if it were up to me I would shred most of them!!!  We had a plastic filing box similar to this one:

We used it for receipts and warranties.  It wasn't very full and when I cleaned it out, it had only a few things in it, so gave it to ds and I will put the receipts and warranties from there into our filing cabinet.  I can safely say I have gotten rid of 25 things from the house this week!!

It is also my brother Nicks birthday today.  He has a blog here if you want to pop by and wish him Happy Birthday.  While you're there tell him to pull his finger out and start posting a bit more on his blog!!!  I'll let him tell you how old he is; but here's a hint it's closer to 50 than 40!!! 

Happy Birthday Nick and sorry about not mailing you a card!!!!  I am putting it down to my age and getting more senile!!!

Another year old, but not wiser!!

It's that time of year again, another birthday, another year added.  Not sure if it's just me, but birthday's don't really excite me like they used to?  It's just another day in my books.  Granted today should be good as I have Our little Princess  and her family coming over for lunch.  Then on Saturday we are down at dd with son-in-law, ds and his girlfriend for lunch, so that should be good.  The presents I have received so far is a magazine subscription to Easy Cook from my mam which is a perfect gift as far as I am concerned.  Though granted the April issue wasn't made with me in mind, as if the recipes don't include dried fruit they are spicy and I don't like either.

From dh, I got new underwear and a pair of yoga pants.  Don't panic I haven't taken up exercising, I just like wearing the yoga pants!!  I of course had to go and pick those out as underwear is a personal thing and every brand fits differently I find.

This week's "Home of the Week," is on the market for $3.5 million.  For that you get a TWO bedroom house in someones back yard!  Yes it's advertised as a "Coach House," but it is still stuck in someones back yard and you have to pay over $700 a month in maintenance fees on top of that.........I'll pass!!

The "Condo of the Week," isn't bad at $795,000 compared to the home of the week.  I don't mind the way it's decorated and I love the kitchen.  I can see why you need a chair to sit down in, in the closet in the master bedroom, I too would be tired if I had to go through all those clothes!!!  Don't see the point of those busts sitting on those plinth's especially in the second bedroom, that's an accident waiting to happen when you get up in the middle of the night to go pee...........yes I'm old I need to go pee in the middle of the night!!!  I don't think the photos do this place justice,  I would also like to see outside of the building as well.