Oops......

Over here in Canada, and I would think it's also the same in the United States, putting your middle finger up to someone is classed as a rude gesture.  It's also called flipping the bird and basically means go away using bad language.

Now why  am I talking about this, you wonder?  So back in late April, early May I dropped a rock on my finger and it resulted in a blood blister under the nail.  One grandson is fascinated with my finger for some strange reason?

 Anyhow, when showing people my finger I usually show it like the photo below.

Can't say I thought much about it, until son mentioned that did I realize that when I do that I am giving people the finger..........can't say I did..........oops!!

So what's new?

Well our son and partner got engaged on the weekend in Boston.  He took her to see the Toronto Blue Jays play the Boston Red Soxs at Fenway Park as she is baseball mad.  She said yes and as they already live together it won't be a long engagement, and I think they will be getting married early 2017.  Her ring is gorgeous, a real "bobby dazzler."  If you haven't heard of that term before click on this link for an explanation.  Thankfully our daughter "helped" guide our son in the right direction regarding the right ring, as he likes the "bigger the better look," and our future daughter-in-law has very small hands.  The ring he got is perfect though.

Still waiting to see our new grand daughter; as she is still inside of her mother's tummy.  Dd doctor took ill and so her C-section was postponed until next week; as long as she doesn't go into labour in between hands.  She is now 39 weeks.  Pain in the butt for everyone as everything was planned out.  However as long as mum and baby are okay that's the main thing.  So we should have a baby this next week now.

Due to all that phaffing about didn't get much of anything done this week.......

Little shocked to see my foot this morning:

I curled my toes over for the photo so you weren't exposed to my nasty toe nails!!  It's still quite bruised and it's been a week and a half now.

Finally, you know how you win some, you lose some?  Well this week we got our next property tax bill in the mail.  Seems it has gone down; yes I said DOWN, by $2 a month!!! 

Then we got our year end report from the Condo board and our condo fees have gone up by $40 a month!  Personally that is a bit much and they have forecast that next year (July 2017) it will be up by another $55 a month.  By then it will have gone up $125 a month since we moved in in 2014.  We will have been in the house two years next week.  After that last increase it will then be only going up a couple of percent per year.  They need to get the reserve fund up to a certain point in a certain amount of time as per law.  I am not impressed!

Off now to try and get as many groceries as possible for as little money as possible.......getting to be a harder and harder challenge nowadays though.

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!

Short and sweet.........

At work again today.

Ds is doing a lot better, in that he is starting to eat a little bit.  Still coughing up a storm and still coughing up phlegm, but he is having longer periods in between coughing.  He is still exhausted but is a bit brighter in himself.  I have no idea how on earth he is going to manage going to work next week, but no doubt he'll try.

Thanks for all your kind words, they are greatly appreciated.

Poor ds and a Book Review

Poor ds is truly not well.  He is totally worn out just walking upstairs to his bedroom.  He had to sit down and catch his breath for at least 15 minutes after doing that.  After having a shower he was totally exhausted.  Whenever he coughs he is just drained.  I haven't seen him so sick for years.

I am writing this on Tuesday night, and am planning on going to work on Wednesday as I am scheduled to work all week.  However if ds isn't well I will be staying at home, as he comes first of course.  Its awful to see a grown man being totally worn out by climbing a flight of stairs, that's for sure.

"Amish Values for Your Family," by Suzanne Woods Fisher

When it comes to strong families that know how to truly enjoy life together, there is much we can learn from the Amish. Just how do they establish such strong family bonds, such deeply held values, and such wonderful family traditions? In Amish Values for Your Family, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher shares the secrets of Amish family life. In this inspiring and practical book, you will meet real Amish families that are a lot like yours. Through their stories you'll discover how to:


slow down


safeguard family time


raise children who stand strong in their faith


prioritize what's truly important


Amish values like community, forgiveness, simple living, obedience, and more can be your family legacy--without selling your car or changing your wardrobe.

I think the one thing I learned from this book is how even the simple things bring pleasure to the Amish.  How they don't hold grudges and offer forgiveness for everything, all because they have full faith and trust in God and he will look out for you.

This book would be an ideal book for anyone just starting out in their married life or with a young family.  As it shows how you don't have to spend mountains of money to make memories for your children that they will never forget.

The book talks about a television programme called "Amish in the City," that was broadcast on CBS in 2004.  I never saw that show did any of you see it?

Stars out of 5: probably 4, more of a reference book than anything else, still interesting though.


"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.


Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Update on our son.......

took him to the emergency department at our local hospital this morning as he was not at all well.

It turns out he has pneumonia on his left side.  They pumped him full of drugs to bring his temperature down from 39.5 oC and gave him a mask with Ventolin and another asthma drug to help him breath.

Brought him home with a prescription, as due to his age as long as he rests he should be fine so there was no need to admit him.  If he had been older than it would have been a different story.

He looks a thousand percent better than at 5am this morning, and I am so glad I made him go to the hospital.

His boss just texted him to say, "it must have been one heck of a vacation, that you need another week off to recover for it!!"  He will have to be off for the rest of the week.

One very sick son.................

Our son came to stay on Monday night to be looked after by his mummy.  The poor boy is so sick.  He has some sort of bronchial virus thingy going on.  He ended up in Emergency on Sunday night in Trenton of all places, as he was that sick.  He was in the Ottawa area on the weekend, and this was sort of on the way home.

As he is 27 it's been a while since I have had to nurse him while he is sick.  His expression on his face on Monday night was just like he looked when he was little.  He was such a little drama queen.  My mother used to tell the story about when he was little and he fell, my mother asked if he was okay, and in a sorrowful voice he said, "I'll be alright."

I think he is in cahoots with Molly as to who can look the most sorrowful

However on a more serious note he truly is not well.  The doctors told him he had to go back to emergency after a couple of days if he was no better.  So fingers crossed he feels better by Tuesday night.....

Great News...............

Ds passed his exam and he is now a CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT........

We are so proud of him, as he has worked so hard.

This is more for dd benefit, but I will be bragging about her in April when she gets her Masters.

Well done Son!!!!