Photo of Molly and the kitchen.........

I was taking photos of the kitchen (more about that later) and Molly wandered into the kitchen to see if I was cooking and I snapped her in one of the photos.

I would dearly love a new kitchen as ours has seen better days, but we just don't have the money to pull it all out and re-do it how I would really like, so we are planning on doing a "mini" renovation after we finish the basement.

We are going to replace the sink, taps and counter tops and the hardware.  Also fully replace the under sink cupboard and put the old doors back on.  In the scheme of things not a big deal, but I do hope it freshens it up and makes it look a lot tidier.

It poured down on Tuesday, so it was a good day to run some errands to get those silly jobs that have been wanting done for a long time done.  We also headed to Cookstown Outlet Mall but once again didn't buy anything.  As outlet malls go, its not the greatest; although I could have spent a small fortune in the Villeroy and Boch store and would love to have this pattern for my dinnerware.

I have also discovered a new to me drink at Tim Hortons which I adore, Blueberry White Tea, which I have with two milks.  It is like having a sweet treat without all the extra calories.

Busy, busy day....

On Monday we managed to clean out the garage.  This is the before:

This is the after:

Dh took a truck load of garbage to the dump, luckily it was light in weight so only cost $8.99 to dispose off. The blue tarps are to go on the log pile to keep it dry and a big one has to go on the garage roof, as we need a new roof, but it will have to wait for another year.  It was too windy on Monday to go on the roof though.

There is now plenty of room in the garage, even with the tractor to park my car inside.  Mind you it helps that I only have half a car!!!!  I am up to 5,750 kilometres on my mileage with my car.  So I am averaging just over 1,000 kilometres a month; no idea where I go?

Monday was a perfect drying day and I took advantage of it with a pile of laundry, which in turn makes plenty of ironing  to do!!  Then I started cutting the grass, which really needed cutting.  Have you noticed how early it starts to get dark now?  I see the leaves are starting to fall as well.  I hope not to have the heating on for another month yet, but we'll see.

Have you entered my giveaway yet?  Click here to enter.

A Giveaway!!!!!

I am all excited as I was contacted last week and asked if I would like to review "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," movie staring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson as well as many other actors. 

"British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways."

Then to add to all of that, I was sent a gift basket as a thank you.  The gift basket has a package of Marigold seeds, which I'll plant next year.  A box of PG Tips tea, a package of Hobnobs (I LOVE THESE), a jar of Marmite, a jar of Branston Pickle and a container of Curry Powder.

They also sent me not only the DVD of the movie, but the Blu-ray disc.  We do not have a Blu-ray player, so I was given permission to give the Blu-ray disc away.

Now there is nothing exciting to do other than leave a comment saying you would like to win this.  Of course you must have a Blu-ray player, as otherwise you can't watch it.  Also does anyone know if you can play a Blu-ray disc anywhere in the world?  If you can, then it's open to anyone in the world.  If you can't well it's only open to folk who live in Canada or the US.

I'll draw a name on Sunday 23rd of September.

Good luck!

P.S. I haven't watched the movie yet, hoping to watch it later in the week, really looking forward to watching it.

No idea what to post about?

So I'll start writing and no doubt my fingers will type something?

Picked up my sari on Saturday for the Indian baby shower, which should be happening over Thanksgiving weekend......though not confirmed.  Will say it is very nice and luckily it was too long for me, so I have had to hitch it up, which hides more of my extra bits around my middle!!!!

The child/idiot proof way of attaching Velcro and hooks, works a charm as I can sort of put it on without any help.  Mind you I do have to wear my glasses, so I can see where the slots are to put the hooks.  "R" was also very happy with the way Reeka made the tops, and "R" is pretty fussy.

Poor "R" had some "bad" news at the doctors when they told her the baby is very small for the gestation period, and she will deliver a small baby, probably no more than six pounds, and she has to go see a dietitian.  She is 22 weeks and has only put on 10 lbs, and is barely showing at all. 

Now as I pointed out, would you rather try and push out a 10 lb baby naturally or a 6 lb baby?  Me personally a 6 pounder would suit me fine.  Also the more weight you put on the more you have to try and get rid off after the baby is born.

Here I am, dd is coming up 27 years of age and I'm still trying to lose the baby weight from when I had her!!!!  Incidentally, ds was only 6lbs 10 oz and I was the size of a beached whale.........I must had been carrying a lot of water with him.......yep that's the reason.

Dh is on vacation again this week, so today we are going to clean out the garage....something everyone should do when on vacation, right?  It's getting to the point that I should start parking my car in the garage, and at this moment, I'm having trouble getting my tractor in there for the mess.  So I will try and remember to take before and after photos.

Not sure what else we are going to do, as the weather is a bit iffy this week.

Hope you all have a good week.........and is it just me, or do you think this month is flying by?

Photos from Blue Mountain resort....

in Collingwood where we visited last week.  The Blue Mountain resort is a big ski resort, but there is lots to do all through the year there.

The first photo shows part of the resort.  You can stay in the condos and there is plenty of shopping and entertainment and of course sports.  I was actually taking this photo for the sky.

They put a new mini golf section a year or two ago and it is very pretty.

There was a number of Christmas decorations up in the stores, despite it being only September.

Collingwood has a big Elvis festival every year and this was a topiary of him in the resort.

Lots to talk about.......

I have published another book review here if you are interested?

On Friday I went grocery shopping and I was amazed at how much this little lot would have cost without coupons.  Any ideas?  Go to the bottom of this post to find out.

On Thursday when we were in St. Jacobs, I purchased this dish because I liked it!! 

I am not sure if it is a Fenton piece I need to research it.  However as I only paid $25 for it, it wasn't overly expensive.

This week's "Home of the Week," isn't too bad and for once it's under a million dollars!!!!  Will say though I am a bit confused by the layout.  I love the fireplace and the original features though.  I wonder how big the back yard is, as it's hard to tell from the photos?

The "Cottage of the Week," is an island with numerous cottages on it, which if you have a lot of family and friends this would be ideal.  Mind you, you would also need to have $6.8 million dollars to buy it.  I love how the natural stone has made terraces.  It's not for me, but is lovely all the same.

The "Condo of the Week," is a young professional person's dream pad............but not mine!!!  They are throwing in the furniture with the $1.7 million price.  Can't say I am not a fan of the colour scheme!!! Pay attention to the view from the master bedroom.................no leaving the drapes open for the buyer!!!

Did you guess?  If you guessed $40.93 then you were right.  I paid $21.84 after coupons.  However why I am telling you this, is that I couldn't get over how little I would have got for over $40.  If you are on a tight budget, I honestly don't know how you can manage, because as you can see, this did not include all the food groups and I was only taking advantage of some coupons I had.

The two can's of fruit were on sale for 99 cents which wasn't bad.  The tubs of yogurt were on sale for $2.99 with $1 off coupons.  The 16 pack of yogurt was on sale for $4.99 and I had a $4 coupon from the newspaper.  The cookies were on sale for $1.99 per package.  The McCain cake I had a free product coupon from the Canadian Tire scratch and win.  The Resolve Spray and Wash was on sale for $1.99 and I had $2 coupons for those.  The sub meats were on clearance for $3.29 and had 50% off coupons, so I paid $3.29 for the two packages.

Then finally the large bar of Lindt Milk Chocolate.  Well I had a 50 cent coupon, so that made it $4.49, and I REALLY REALLY need it for a recipe on Sunday as I am making a Banoffee Pie for dessert. 

Please Lord, don't let me eat it before then!!!!!!

Day out at St. Jacobs........

Lots of photos from our day out.

The colours were just stunning of these flowers.

I wonder how they "made" these roses multi coloured?

I had never seen onions this big before have you?

Jumbo sized radishes as well.  Beginning to wonder how they grow the veggies so big?

I wonder if these are cheese flavoured cauliflowers? (notice the spelling!!)

Bought some of these pears along with a basket of nectarines, which when I got home were past their best.  Should have checked them myself, rather than letting them pick the baskets!!

Home of the week will be on tomorrow's post.