It's winter!

Conditions at 6:00 - -6* and overcast
Expected later - 1* and more flurries

Well, like it or not, the snow has arrived. Fortunately it held off till later Saturday afternoon. It started snowing just before I left work and by the time I left the Bulk Barn, it was a blizzard!  Well, not really but it was snowing pretty hard. The drive home was uneventful but the roads were slippery and snow covered. I was so grateful to the guys in the shop for putting my winter tires on last week.  It snowed off and on throughout the  evening and by Sunday morning we had a couple of  inches.  Sunday was the same - snow and windy most of the day. I have to admit I never set foot outside the door all day. Even the dog just went out to do what he had to do, then wanted back in right away. He spent most of the day lying in front of the wood stove. I think it just takes a few days to get acclimatized, then we'll be fine.
*****************************************************
Friday night was our first curling experience, and what an experience it was. It was much more fun when you were dressed for the cold. We curl for 90 minutes and absolutely no one on our team or the other team had ever curled before so it was pretty much a level playing field. Unfortunately our team lost but we did score some points near the end, once we figured out what we were doing (or we just got lucky!). Regardless, it was fun. The unfortunate part of the evening is one lady fell on the ice and broke something. We don't know if it was her hip or her leg, but one of the girls in our group thought it might be her leg. They had to call an ambulance and it took quite a while for them to get there. You don't often hear of major curling injuries.
Because we can't be there for 6:30, we have several times when we have to be there for 9:30. It's going to make for a very long evening. But that's okay, it's only once a week. Lloyd is arriving on the 17th so he'll be able to go with us. I suggested to him that he could curl with us but he declined. He'll just feel bad if he really enjoys it and wants to keep coming and knowing he can't. Oh well, he'll just have to sit upstairs in the warm, comfy seats (and they are VERY comfy) and drink beer while he watches. I'm sure he can handle that.
******************************************************
I got some sewing done on Sunday, but was unable to finish it off completely as I ran out of fabric, but then this morning I woke up and it dawned on me that I have some fabric left from another project that will be fine, I just never thought of it. So I should be able to get that finished this week, but I can't post a photo until after James' birthday.  So since I thought I was out of fabric, I spent the rest of the day doing some much needed cleaning. I dusted, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, fun stuff like that. I also baked a loaf of bread for my lunches this week, and made a fruitcake. There was a recipe in the Bulk Barn flyer that looked like a dark cake and only makes one small cake, so I picked up what I needed on Saturday. Once I got it mixed together, I realized that it was actually a light cake. But that's okay. I'll make another batch, using Brenda's recipe from last year, but using just cherries as that's Lloyd's favorite. It went over well last year and he did take some home with him (although he forgot it at Christmas and had to pick it up when he came back in February).  It will soon be time to start thinking about cookies.  Brenda and I had such a good time last year baking cookies together, I'm really looking forward to doing it again this year.
*****************************************************
Bernie leaves for New Zealand this coming weekend. It seemed so far away when he first made the reservation, but now it's here.  And by the time his three weeks is up, Christmas will be here. Speaking of Christmas, I was feeling very festive on Saturday, what with the snow and all, so I bought myself a small artificial tree. I always used to put the tree up the weekend of the Guelph Santa Claus parade. That was yesterday. Patti and the kids were on the school float but they haven't sent any photos yet. Hopefully I'll have something for tomorrow. So last night, I watched a movie on TV and decorated my tree at the same time. I think I also need that daily reminder that time is running out and I've got to get my act together and get stuff done. I also really love to just sit in the living room with all the lights off except for the tree - that's always been one of my most favorite things. It's a little tree - 6 feet tall but quite slim. The nice part is it doesn't take up half the room. I'd like to still go and cut one down over at Five Houses, with the kids but I'd like to put that one outside and I want to make things with the kids to hang on it that supply food for the birds so that will be one of our projects one day while they're here. I'll have to do some investigating to see what our options are. I know we can make suet ball, with seeds, etc, but I need more ideas.Any suggestions will be gratefully received.   I'd like to put the tree outside one of the front windows so we can look out and see what birds we attract. I think the kids will enjoy that.
*********************************************************