Water Softener Salt and other things........

The kids came up on Saturday, so I popped into town to TSC to get some bags of salt for the water softener.  We like to get the 40kg bags, but cannot carry them down the basement.   So having the kids come up is a bonus.

I got six bags and it came to well over $70.  TSC is the cheapest place around to buy it, and I commented on how the price had risen.  The manager told me that we can expect a larger price increase on the salt, as back in August a tornado hit both salt plants in Goderich.  She didn't say there would be a shortage of salt, just an increase in price.  I am hoping we have enough salt now to last us until next February, then I'll have to make sure I invite the kids up so they'll move it down the basement.

Do you know of anything that has decreased in price?  As everything seems to be increasing in price.

Summer is over around here.  It was a nippy 2 oC when I got up on Saturday morning.  I did manage to warm up a bit by the afternoon and I did manage to get all my laundry dried on the line.  We haven't got our heating on yet, but did put dh's blanket on his side of the bed on Friday when I changed the bed.  I saw and smelled smelled smoke coming out of chimney's, so people are starting their fires.  Ours is laid ready to go, but so far we have held off from lighting it

Last year we didn't have the fire on until October 14th, as per this post and we didn't turn the heating on until October 21st, as per this post.  My goal this year is to keep the heating off until the beginning of October, and not have the fire on until around the same time.

Have you turned your heating on yet, or have had your first fire in your fireplace yet?

A few firsts this week..

Monday night was the first night since last Fall that we didn't have the fire on; and as I write this on Tuesday night, I haven't lit the fire.  Its been lovely through the day, though below freezing overnight, so of course the heating is still turned on, though not on as much.

Tuesday I got the laundry hung out on the line for the first time in 2010.  Granted it was only Molly's bedding but its a start.

For those of you who live in Canada, that smoke you saw in the sky on Tuesday night.............it was me barbquing......or in my case cremating the burgers for the first time in 2010.  So be prepared for smoke on a regular basis now!!!

Monday I started taking Molly out for a walk after supper.  Remember I am one of those fair weather dog walkers.  I only walk Molly when it's not too cold, not too hot, not wet, not humid, and on and on I go with excuses.  Luckily Molly has clicked this is not the most energetic of households when it comes to exercise!!

By the way I said a quick hello to the tread mill as I passed it the other day, poor thing is still hibernating, so I had best not disturb it for a few more months!

On Tuesday morning I saw a raccoon on the back deck, for the first time since we have moved here.  I knew there were raccoons about, I just haven't seen any up close and personal.

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

Today's Money Saving Tip:

Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs and replace your most commonly used incandescent bulbs with these more energy efficient bulbs. Each bulb can save about $30 over the life of the bulb.

Interesting day on Tuesday............

I had the doctors appointment on Tuesday morning and a dentist appointment. What was interesting is that the dental hygienist's sister is a visual effects person in LA. She was telling me that she was working on promotional material, i.e. promotional video's for Michael Jackson's upcoming tour when he died.

When he died all production shut down, and what was done has been made into the movie "This Is It." She met Michael Jackson and although he looked very sickly and thin, he was very friendly and very, very creative.

I met a friend for lunch and she works as a buyer for a large grocery chain, that sells the PC brand.......

Anyhow, we had lunch in their head office (where she is based) cafeteria. What a lovely place it is, and so bright and modern. You can only eat there if you are with an employee. They had a super selection of items to choose from and of course they are all PC items. They were all well priced and everything looked so good. We had a BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato) sandwiches, with veggies and chips (crisps), and I had a bottle of water and paid under $12. It was so good also to see "R" and catch up. I really miss her, and we don't see one another often enough. By the way there are 2,500 employees working in this location.

On the way home I called into Tim Hortons, and picked up half a dozen donuts. Anyone else loving the pumpkin spice donuts? They are so yummy I could eat them morning, noon and night.

I had some phone calls to make when I got home. I ordered oil for the heating. We have half a tank still, but I figured we may as well get it in now and then its done with hopefully until after Christmas.

The gasket has started to come off the wood burning stove door. I called in at the store last week, and they gave me some glue, but that didn't do the trick. So now I have to take the door into the store and they will replace the whole of the gasket. Fingers crossed it works then.

Finally, I got a referral to go and see an allergist. The date of my appointment, November 30th.....I think it's a long wait as he only works certain days every week.

Molly's allergies are still as bad. So I need to call the vet to see what she has to say, as I gave her an allergy pill on Tuesday night, to see if she would stop chewing.

So all in all a pretty interesting day. Oh and we had an envelope in the mail box from the local fire department, with their 2010 calendar and a letter and envelope looking for a donation. I am not sure how I feel about donating, or why I should donate.........any thoughts? By the way I donate on a monthly basis to the Canadian Cancer Society, so I am not against donating, I am just not sure WHY I should donate to the fire department?

Laundry........have questions.....

I try not to use the dryer if I can help it, I prefer to either hang my laundry out to dry or hang it on a clothes horse. I have dryer envy as I would just LOVE this ceiling mounted dryer it would be perfect in our kitchen. However it costs over $200 USD, not even Canadian dollars to buy one over here. I can't seem to find a Canadian manufacturer, does anyone know of one?

Here is a link to more indoor clothes drying racks: http://www.tiptheplanet.com/index.php?title=Air_dry_washing

I'm not sure about you but in this house we go through kettles and irons on piece. It doesn't matter how expensive or how cheap they are, we always seem to be buying them? Now it's my irons turn to be replaced. Do any of you have a favourite brand or model. I like a steam iron, and have a Shark one at the moment. I have just "ordered" this one from airmiles, and the cost to me.....FREE!!!! Have to wait 4 weeks for delivery.......but when it's free you don't mind.

I actually enjoy ironing, as I find it therapeutic, how about you?

Update on my knee, although the pain isn't as much, I just can't be on my feet for any length of time as my poor knee aches like mad. So I just pottered around the house and kept sitting down with my leg up. So we didn't go to the wedding, but I didn't think I would be up to it, and don't want to set myself back.

Dh managed to get a little bit of work done in the attic. We are feeling it now with having no insulation in the attic. Its pretty cold upstairs, but we have a fan running and pumping the hot air up the stairs. Our wood burning insert is great and is keeping downstairs toasty warm. We are even managing to keep it going overnight. We are hoping to be at the insulation stage by the middle of the month, fingers crossed.

I have only been catching 1 mouse a night over the last couple of days........I would love to think we only have the odd mouse in the house now, but I don't think so!! I think I caught 17 mice this last week.

Buddy Friday - a Before and After; and a recipe

Finally the fireplace is finished. I have a couple of little jobs to do on it, they are cosmetic things, otherwise its a job completed. Here it is before we started on it, mind you we had cleaned it up at this point, as the stone was all black.

Here is the after.

Now for the recipe. I saw something similar in a magazine and did my version of it. As usual though my quantities are very vague, sorry.

Lentil and Cheese Salad.

Ingredients:
1 can Lentils (19 oz) or prepare your own
A block of cheese cubed, I would use around 6oz, and I used cheddar
2 - 3 Spring/salad onions sliced
Tomato diced, I used half a large one, grape tomatoes would work well
1 cup of frozen sweetcorn, or 1 can of sweetcorn

Dressing:
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste

Mix first five ingredients together. Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over the first five ingredients and refrigerate for a couple of hours. We had ours with pita bread and it was good.

Here is what it looks like:

For more Buddy Friday posts, pop over to Margaret's Ramblings.

The Summer that wasn't.......

Well here we are on the last day of August and honestly Fall is here. Poor dh has had to have his blanket put back on his side of the bed. Me, I'm always too hot, so never need a blanket.

Now normally I take the blanket off at the beginning of May, this year it was on until mid-June. I normally put it back on the bed by mid to late September, but its been much too cold for dh, so we had to put it back on.

I am hoping to hold off putting the heating back on until the end of September, but don't hold out much hope. We had the heating on, on June 1st, which is a month later than we normally have it on. We are still in double digits in the morning, but I am guessing frost will be here soon. I have had to put my jogging pants on, gone are the shorts.

I prefer the cooler temperatures, so I am not complaining, but a lot of people are wondering where the summer went too? The Fall is my favourite season of the year. I got more work done on the fireplace on the weekend, and it should be completely finished by Thursday. We have the guy coming by on Tuesday night to give us a certificate for our insurance for the fireplace. Then in the next week or so, we have to have a fire in the fireplace, to burn off the "new smell." We need to do that on a day when we can have the doors and windows open as its supposed to be stinky. I remember doing the same thing with the gas fire in our last two homes.

An update from yesterday. I left a note at our neighbours house regarding plowing the snow on our driveway. This we think will be the best way to go. We'll have to see if he gets back to me, and see how much he charges.

Friday was a bit of a blah day........

Not sure what happened, but I ended up hurting my other shoulder on Thursday so when I got up on Friday I felt rotten. Not only that, but Wednesday and Thursday were pretty hot days, and on Thursday I remembered to put on my hat when I was gardening, but totally forgot to put sunscreen on and have burned my shoulders.

My dad popped over on Friday to do a couple of jobs for us. We have a deck on the side and the back of the house. The only way on and off the deck is through the patio doors in the family room? There were no steps on this deck, so my dad built some steps so when we get the new windows and doors in there, they don't have to keep walking through the family room.

Then my dad showed me how to plant potatoes.

I have to say I was disappointed as I only got four rows of potatoes planted in the area I had dug out. Still my dad reckons we should have enough potatoes there for around 3 months which is better than nothing.

I made a couple of quiches in the morning, as I had a few things that wanted using up in the fridge. I gave one to my dad to take home for his supper.

With the leftover pastry I made a rhubarb pie, as I still have a lot of rhubarb to pick.


We had a guy come over to give us a quote on putting in a wood burning insert into our fireplace. I should have the quote by Tuesday at the latest. We are looking at this model, the Kodiak 1700 with a brushed nickel trim. He was saying that we should order 3 bush cords of wood. How much do you pay for a bush cord of wood? I was told it is cheapest to buy it this time of year. Oh and for those of you who don't know what a bush cord of wood is (ME!!) click on this link.

Will say though, as the day progressed my shoulder got a little better. I think I need to rest it up for a couple of days, and lay off the heavy gardening. I guess I should just get back to mowing the lawn, as that doesn't use my shoulder!!