Friday, February 27th - we're all glad to see the end of this month

Conditions at 5:30 am: Overcast and -4' that feels slightly more like -23'
Expected later: sunny and -12' 
It's suppose to be a sunny and not so cold weekend, great the the Jack Frost Children's Festival as well as those of us who haven't yet been out on our skis

The final tally is in for my contribution to National Cupcake Day and I'm pleased to report that I raised a total of $321.70.  I've sent the monies off with the names and addresses of those who were more than generous so they will get their tax receipts. But that doesn't mean that the small donors don't count. It's amazing how quickly even small change will add up. I remember years ago the first time  three of us went out on the town on a Saturday night to raise money for our Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk.  We strolled up and down the main street and hit every bar along the way, simply asking for donations of loose change. Within an hour we had collected over $300.00.  Of course the fact that we were using an oversized bra to collect the money in certainly helped.  But it just goes to show how quickly it can add up. So I'm very pleased and I know the local shelter will be as well. Thank you very much to all of you who were so supportive and generous.

We had more snow on Wednesday. As predicted we received around 10 cms and it was enough to just really make a mess of everything - again.  Just when we were starting to be able to get around, we were covered in new snow.  The trip home wasn't too bad except for our road, which hadn't yet been plowed. I got home and partway up the lane, before I got stuck. In previous years, I would just leave it there till morning and simply back out again, but now that Lloyd has to get out later to go to work, he had to go out and get it 'unstuck'.  No problem, when you know what you're doing, and I obviously don't. I keep telling him he's here for more than just his good looks and charm and now he's beginning to believe me.

But with all the snow, we are adapting. The snowbank on the opposite side of the road, is much taller than our mailbox and it's completely buried.. We tried getting the post office to hold our mail for us, but that didn't seem to work well either, as none could be found when we went to pick it up. Then it turned up in our neighbour's mailbox.  Time to get creative. If there's a problem there's got to be a solution. If nothing else, out here we are adaptable. No mailbox, no problem.




I'd like to say this was an original idea but it's not. I pass a number of these makeshift "mailboxes " on my way into town every day. Now we have our own. It's not pretty but it does the job. Good thing the mailman knows who's mail goes in which bucket!
And it works! The mail was in there yesterday.  Who knew??

So the big news on the island yesterday was the announcement that Rod Stewart will be playing in Cavendish in July.  That's a pretty big deal for our little province. I thought about whether or not I would go but I think I'll pass. Lloyd and I  saw him a number of years ago in Sydney, Australia and it was a pretty special time. So I'd like to keep that as my memory of seeing him. 

Wednesday, February 25th - National Cupcake Day was a success - I surpassed my fundraising goal

Conditions at 5:30 am: Still quite cold with -15' and a wind chill of -22', but that's a slight improvement over the past two days when it was -24' with a windchill of -35'.
Expected later: a high of 0' but 5 to 10 cms of snow falling and blowing around before the day is through. A few weeks ago that would have seemed like a bit of a snowfall, but after 85 cms, it's just a light dusting!

Well, Monday was a successful day indeed, partly due to the generosity of my employers. They made a donation that was a great help in achieving my fundraising goal.

It was the first time I've participated in this activity and I've learned a lot from it.  There are some things I will do a little differently if I do it again next year.  We'll see when the time comes.

I left home early so I was at work about 40 minutes before my usual start time. This gave me just enough time to unload the car and set everything up for our cupcake sale before my work day started. Our display wasn't huge but I had trays of extras in the copier room, so as they were purchased, I was able to replenish the table.  The morning was busiest with lunch also seeing quite a few sales. The afternoon was a bit quieter but still resulted in some last minutes sugar cravings for a few people. Some promotion from the radio station was also a big help, as a couple of ladies dropped in after hearing it on the air. People were  very generous, both with their donations as well as their kind comments.

It was a fair bit of work but was fun and I had the chance to play around with some decorating ideas.  I emailed a  photo of our display to the National Cupcake Day people and it's posted along with all the others on their facebook page. I'm pretty pleased that my cupcakes were just as nice as the others and I felt pretty proud of my efforts. It was also a great way to break up a dreary month.

I still have a couple of donations to factor in but so far I've raised $301.70 - my goal was $200.00 so I'm very happy with my efforts and the support of friends, colleagues and customers.

Tuesday was a much quieter day. A couple of people came by me desk in hopes there were leftovers floating around but, alas, that was not the case.

Sunday, February 22nd - a day earlier than usual

Conditions at 6:20 pm: -3' and overcast. It's been a strange day. New snow on the ground when we woke up, then changing to rain part way through the day, and then back below freezing once more. The temperature is going to remain around the -3 mark tomorrow with just a chance of a few flurries.

It was a great weekend. Brenda came over on Friday evening and we sat and drank tea (yes, tea, on a Friday night) and chatted about our week. It had been quite a ride but it's over. We're hopeful that maybe the weather will start improving, but we're not holding our breath on that one. She assisted with the preparation of the dessert for Saturday and we pondered whether or not it would actually set as the recipe stated. (it did)

I was off on Saturday so had all day to prepare for our dinner guests. I did some prep first then spent the middle part of the day cleaning up and setting the table. Our guests arrived, bringing with them a little taste of Spring, thanks to Will, in the form of some lovely tulips. After a tour of the garage, as Ray and Marlene hadn't been inside for quite some time, we settled in to a pleasant evening.

We began with some artichoke crostini and bruscetta, before the main meal. Both couples very thoughtfully brought wine and we had some here as well. I was anxious to try

the wine that Patti had brought from Paris. They were both very good but one was absolutely fabulous ( Cotes du Rhone Villages). We all tried it and loved it. I'll have to see if we can get that one here.

Our meal turned out rather well.  The first course was a Chick Pea and Tomato Soup. We served it in little cups and saucers so the joke was we had cup-a-soup for our starter. The main meal was a crown roast of pork, with mini parisienne potatoes, green beans with pancetta and panko, and bourbon glazed carrots.  The pork was a little underdone but was juicy and delicious.  Our dessert was something I'd come across online and it was a hit. It was very easy, layers of chocolate chip cookies with a cream
mixture. The in between layer was whipping cream, mascarpone cheese, tia maria, espresso powder, and vanilla all whipped together until stiff peaks formed. The cookies were placed in the bottom of the pan, then a  layer of cream, then a layer of cookies, etc until the pan was full.  After sitting in the fridge for 24 hours, the spring form pan was removed to reveal a delectable treat that everyone enjoyed.

All in all, a really great evening with good friends.

Sunday was full on cupcake production. I brought the un-iced cupcakes in from the freezer and set about icing them. They turned out not too bad and hopefully we'll sell some tomorrow.  Brenda came over just in time to help wash dishes.  A lucky break for me, not so much for her. When that was done, we poured ourselves a glass of wine and headed out to the craft room to make some decorative items for the sale tomorrow.  Then back into the house for final assembly. We had earned a cup of tea and a small piece of the left over dessert from last night.

So now, I have everything all packed up and ready
to go in the morning. The tricky part is always the transporting but hopefully all will go well.

Wish me luck!   Or better yet visit my personal bakery page for more info. Although it lists Ontario, all proceeds will go to the PEI Humane Society.

http://ospca.convio.net/site/TR/CupcakeDay/Cupcake15?px=1359780&pg=personal&fr_id=1468

Friday, February 20th - things are slowly returning to normal

Conditions at 5:10 am: clear skies, a bit windy and -6 but feeling more like -15' and new snow on the ground - just what we needed
Expected later: a mix of sun and cloud and temperatures pretty much remaining where they are for the day

Just what we needed - more snow

The snow had stopped for a while as crews struggle with removing the 85 cms of snow that apparently fell
last weekend. Streets are only one lane each way, for the most part, causing  traffic delays of epic proportions (okay, only if you're sitting in it) but things are slowly getting better. Out in the country we have the luxury of simply blowing the snow off to the side or pushing it into a pile at the back of the yard or in the ditch. In town is a totally different story. There's just no where to put all this stuff.

There's no school again, today, as there hasn't been all week. There's just no way for buses to get around safely as I saw  yesterday morning when I was driving up University Avenue. The banks are very high on either side of the street and the sidewalks have 3 feet of snow on them. Anyone unfortunate enough to have to walk from point A to point B has to walk on the very narrow road - a very dangerous situation indeed.

I've spent the last couple of nights working on things for my cupcake sale coming up on Monday. I've made little round stickers with various cats and dogs on them that are attached to slightly larger scalloped circles. Last night I worked on gluing tooth picks to the back of each one so that I can insert these colourful little picks into the top of some of the iced cupcakes on Sunday.Those scrapbooking supplies can really come in handy for other tasks at times. Some will have fondant faces that I made last weekend. Check back for photos of the finished products on Monday! All I have to do now is figure out how to transport 156 iced cupcakes safely.

We have a dinner on Saturday so I've been working very hard on the menu and shopping list for that one and then the essentials for icing and decorating on Sunday. I have Saturday off work and don't wish to make the trek into town if I don't need to. So, I have to be really organized before I leave town tonight to make sure I have everything I need.

I made a couple of stops last night on my way home and just one more today and I think I've got it covered! 

Wednesday, February 18th - it's been quite a few days

Conditions at 5:20 am: -21 but feeling more like -28'
Expected later: a lovely -8' with a mix of sun and cloud



Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day, except for the 80 cms of snow they tell us fell over the past few days.
Out here it's always a little bit hard to tell because the wind whips it all over the place. You end up with big piles in some areas and very little in others. It would have been an ideal day for skiing, that is if we could have gotten out. It was late afternoon by the time the plow went down the road and cleared one lane wide. At least in an emergency you could have gotten out, but prayed you didn't meet another car coming the other way!

We went out in the morning to survey the situation.  There were large drifts in the upper part of the yard, near the house, and also at the end of the lane. A neighbour had gone down the road and blown out the snow the night before but it had filled in again in the morning. Lloyd went up over the snow bank at the end of the lane and onto the road, The snow in the lane was up to his chest.  No way that was getting shoveled by hand.

Part way through the morning our next door neighbour came by and blew the snow out of the lane and then came back again after the plow had been through. Needless to say, I didn't get to work yesterday, but Lloyd was able to go in last night, after missing Monday night.

They tell us that the airport has recorded 220 cms of snow has fallen since the 27th of January! And it's

Standing on the road at the end of the lane

still all here. Speaking of the airport, it was closed for part of the day on Monday because of the large amount of snow on the roof, they didn't feel it was safe so the terminal was shut down. Didn't much matter because on Monday no one was going anywhere. But they got people in to help clear it off and it was opened again later in the afternoon.

The bridge was closed to all traffic for over 24 hours, the longest I've ever seen since I've been here. It was quite the weekend but we all survived yet another Atlantic Canada Winter Storm. 

Rumour has it we might get more snow on Thursday.  

The lane had just been plowed. Now, we know there's a road under there somewhere!

Monday, February 16th - okay, enough already!

Conditions at 8:00 am: the same as the past 24 hours - blizzard conditions with very strong winds blowing snow around. The temperatures -14' and that's where it will stay all day.

When we got up this morning, after listening to the wind howl all night long, we couldn't see as far as the garage or the road due to the blowing snow. It's supposed to keep up till at least tonight. The bridge has been closed to ALL traffic since 4:30 yesterday, and remains that way until further notice. Plows are not out on the road at this time.

I doubt that Lloyd will be making it into work tonight. It's going to take quite a while to dig out from this one.

Obviously, other than the weather, not a lot is going on. We went to Peakes for wings and beer on Friday evening with Brenda and Bernie.  Saturday morning I worked but we decided to cancel our dinner on Sunday with the VanGaals and the Hugh's. That was a good call. No way anyone could get anywhere yesterday. I had thought about putting it over to today but obviously that wouldn't have worked.

I have permission from my boss to host the cupcake sale at work next Monday, the 23rd. I was snowed in yesterday but it gave me lots of time to bake. I now have 13 dozen cupcakes packaged up and in the freezer.  The plan is to take them all out next Sunday and spend the day icing and decorating them. I have various ideas of what I'd like to do with them but some of those ideas involve using materials and equipment that's out in the craft room. I may bundle myself up today and go out there and try to dig my way in. 

We have about a foot of snow built up against the back door. Cooper took one look outside then turned around and went back into the house. No way he was going out there. But it's not as bad as this photo on the weather network of a house in Stratford!




We may not have so much against the door but I just took this photo out the front window, looking towards the road... we know it's out there somewhere!

Friday, February 13th - Happy Friday the 13th!

Conditions at5:15 am: -11' that feels more like -16'
Expected later: flurries but the temperature is going to stay pretty much where it is, and get colder as the day goes on. Tonight will be -20' with a wind chill of -30'    BRRRRRRRR!

I will always think of Peter Marrucci on Friday the 13th. It's an old joke about our band of geniuses wannabes who were involved in weekly trivia at the local pub. One night the question was "What is Triskaidekaphobia?"   My immediate response was "the fear of crackers" and he never forgot that. I was reminded of it every time we had a Friday the 13th, although it really means a fear of the number 13, not the date) When I'm a hundred years old, I'll still think of Peter on Friday the 13th (although I've since found out that fear of the actual day is called another name that's even longer and really, who cares?)

Well, all week long they were giving us dire warnings about a big storm scheduled for Friday that might bring from 10 to 15 cms of snow. Now yesterday they're telling us it will just be a couple of cms and nothing to worry about. The funny thing is so far no one's mentioned the prediction on the weather network for Sunday that claims we could get 35 to 45 cms of snow. You might think that would be worthy of mention??? That's one heck of a lot of snow! Maybe it's a typo or they just figure we won't care because Monday's a holiday!  

I sincerely hope that doesn't happen. Brenda, Bernie, Raymond and Marlene are coming over for supper. I suppose if worse comes to worse, Bernie could lead the way in his big tractor and snow blower and the others could follow along right behind in his path...could work!

I'm hoping it's not going to be much at this point, but we'll have to wait and see. We may have to come up with an alternate date for our dinner.

I heard an ad on the radio this morning about a fund raiser for the local humane society. Apparently it's

country wide and called "National Cupcake Day" on February 23rd. I've tentatively signed up in hopes that I can bring cupcakes into work and sell them to staff and customers and try to raise a bit of money for the local shelter.  I've emailed the boss and asked for permission but am still waiting to hear back. In all honesty it's just an opportunity for me to play around with some fun decorating ideas. I'll keep you posted and IF I get permission and IF you're in town a week from Monday, drop by. This is a photo of some I did for a benefit a while back. I need to come up with some new ideas as well..

Wednesday, February 11th - still very cold and more snow on the way

Conditions at 5:10 am: clear and a chilly -16' feeling more like -25'
Expected later: some sun but still only moving up the scale to -14'

It's mighty cold but at least it's too cold to snow. That could change on Friday when we may get dumped on again but we'll have to wait and see.

Not a lot going on. Muscles are a little stiff this morning after working out on the treadmill at the gym on Monday evening and then class last night. There was a first step aerobics class last night that they are going to try out for the next few weeks. It was a pretty intense work out and we were both pretty tired when we left. But it felt good as well. This morning a few muscles are complaining ever so slightly but I'm sure once I get moving around a bit more they'll be fine. They just want to let me know they're there and don't I know it! No pain, no gain, right?

One of our friends is retiring in a little under two weeks now, and her and her husband and Brenda and Bernie are coming over for dinner on Sunday. That will work as it's a holiday on Monday (Islander Day here, family day in other parts of the country).  Because I'll be spending Sunday preparing the meal and tidying up,  I'm hopeful that Monday will be a nice day and perhaps we can get out on our skis. It is a holiday after all.  I purchased a crown roast of pork at Christmas and put it in the freezer. It's too much for just the two of us so I've been waiting for an opportunity to try it as I've never cooked one before. I have really good instructions to follow so today I will work on determining  the sides to serve with it, and I also need to design a special cake for the occasion. I even have a lovely bottle of champagne that Patti picked up for us on one of her trips to Paris. This seems like it might just be the perfect opportunity to break into that.

Monday, February 9th - another very cold morning - but at least it's not snowing!

Conditions at 5:15: clear and cold and -20' but feeling more like -29
Expected later: sunny and -15' that will still feel like -25'

What a few days! By the time we got dug out on Friday it wasn't worth while going in to work, even though it had turned into a bright sunny day by the afternoon. Poor Lloyd was stuck in town until I called him and told him the plow had gone by so he could get down our road.

He slept in the afternoon and got up just in time to watch James on Facetime playing his bagpipes. I can't believe he's doing so well. The pipe band is searching for a kilt that might fit him but they don't have many kids in the band so most kilts are adult sizes but hopefully someone will find one for him. He'll have to be all decked out for the competition in April.  I think he's looking forward to playing with the other band members. I imagine they march in parades and that sort of thing - he'll enjoy that I'm sure. Because he skates on Tuesdays he's not able to practice with the cadet band so for now is part of the Guelph Pipe Band.

Because I didn't work on Friday, I went in on Saturday morning to catch up a bit with some of Friday's work. It was very quiet at the dealership so I had lots of time to get caught up.  On my way home I stopped and picked up groceries. My friend Christine and her son Colin were coming over for supper on Sunday. We had planned this a couple of weeks ago but postponed because we were expecting a storm that never actually materialized. But yesterdays weather was clear and cold but no new snow so it turned out.

We had a lovely time even though I screwed up the dessert. I planned "Worms and Dirt" as Colin is only six years old. For those uninitiated to this culinary delight, it's simply chocolate pudding with gummy worms pushed into it, sprinkled with oreo cookie crumbs. I thought I'd be smart and make it in the morning. I've never done that before and who knew that gummy worms absorb moisture. By the time we were ready to eat they had swollen to double their size and were quite unpleasant to eat. They now looked like big fat dew worms and the resulting texture was quite off-putting. But we'd all had lots of chicken and mashed potatoes so I don't think we needed it anyway.   I'll stick to basics next time and not try to be too fancy!

In spite of the cold, Brenda planned to get out in the woods either on her skis or snowshoes yesterday. I look forward to a report later at the gym.

The kids were at a speedskating meet in Newmarket this weekend. We tried to Facetime on Saturday but I think the connection in the arena wasn't the greatest so I wasn't able to watch. No reports yet on how they did but I expect I'll get the details later today. There's no emails with pictures of medals this morning so I suspect maybe it wasn't such a successful day.Oh well, as long as they enjoyed themselves.

All in all, not a bad weekend. We'll endure the cold for another few days but it looks like there's no more
snow until Friday. Apparently we've received a total of 150 cms in the past two weeks! We have some snow banks in the back that the kids would love to be all over building snow forts!

Thursday, February 5th to Friday the 6th - it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride...

Conditions at 4:06 pm: snowing and -2 with 15 to 20 cms of snow expected before morning

What a ride it's been. Snow and high winds pretty much shut down the island on Tuesday. Wednesday we arrived in town to massive snowbanks everywhere as crews scurried to cart the stuff away (including the parking lot at work).

The sun came out Wednesday and the afternoon was beautiful. After a few cms of snow overnight on Wednesday, leaving the roads slippery, the schools were all  cancelled again today. My drive into work was a little slow but fortunately, uneventful. I'm not looking forward to the drive home tonight.  We are meant to get more snow overnight and the winds are going to increase and the temperature is going to get VERY COLD, again.

Brenda had a late bus run on Wednesday so wasn't able to make it to fitness class and I've decided to

change my strategy. I don't think I'm getting a whole lot out of the structured classes so I'm going to instead spend my time on the treadmill and the exercise bike. If I build up those muscles, it will be easier (I hope) to transition into walking and bicycling once the early spring gets here and the weather in nice and the days are longer. At least that's my theory.  So I did my first spell on the treadmill last night. It's good because along with all the settings you can choose, it also measures your heart rate through the sensors in the handles so you can see if you are actually working or not. I'll give it my best shot to try to get into some semblance of fitness before spring gets here. Every little bit helps I suppose.

Snowy New Brunswick

While we might be complaining about the amount of snow, we're lucky we're not in New Brunswick. They have huge piles of snow and I saw some pictures online of the sidewalks cut through the snowbanks that were easily 7 or 8 feet high. But it is Canada and it is February. We got off easy the early part of the winter so I guess it's to be expected.

Update: Friday morning- this snowy morning it's -12' but feeling more like -23', quite a drop from yesterday afternoon

The drive home last night wasn't too bad in spite of the fact it snowed most of the afternoon. The wind was just starting to pick up when I was on my way home. It snowed quite a bit more last night and it looks like I might not be going anywhere real soon this morning. Driving conditions and roads are not the best at the moment due to blowing snow not to mention our road and lane are quite filled in. No worries, I'll just text my boss and let her know I'll be there when I can.

The kids have been very busy. Meghan and I were texting on Monday as they had a snow day, (before they sent the storm down here on Tuesday!) She's on the competitive dance team with her dance academy and has decided she needs a better place for practicing. She feels her bedroom doesn't work well as apparently she gets rug burns on her knees and keeps whacking her knees into the furniture. So she decided to look around and scoped out the bar area in the rec room in the basement and determined it could work as a dance studio - with some modifications. On Monday her mom was on her way back from England and her dad was at work, so she was working on a video to present to her family that evening. Not sure yet what the final decision was but apparently "my mom wants me to do it and my dad didn't say no. My dad said I had really good points and he just has to think about it"  Looks like she may have a possible future as a negotiator! 
And this just in this morning - James' teacher wants him to enter his first solo piping competition in Toronto in April. Who knew the young man had progressed so well?  I suggested Patti video tape him practicing for me sometime.

Good to see they are happily pursuing their interests.

Tuesday, February 3rd - the aftermath of another snow day

Conditions at 1:30 pm: bright and sunny but very cold -16' with a -25' wind chill
Expected later: at least the snow has stopped for now but the temperatures are going to stay cold for a bit longer

I'm sitting at the kitchen table writing this and looking out at a winter wonderland. Bright blue skies, sunshine and lots of snow. Such was not the case a few short hours ago. When I got up at 6:00 the wind was howling and the snow was still coming down. Once daylight came you couldn't see the road from the front window and out the back you couldn't see the garage for blowing snow. It was pretty wicked for a while. Apparently winds were up to 110 km per hour and I believe it.

Needless to say the whole island is pretty much shut down. In fact when I got up this morning there was a notification on the radio station website that the plows had all been taken off the road until the winds died down. Everyone was urged to stay off the roads. So that's what we did - as if we could have gotten anywhere anyway.
 

There's a road under here somewhere!

The wind is still blowing but not so fiercely so visibility isn't a problem. Apparently they recorded 60 cms of snow has fallen in Charlottetown. The plows are finally out but only on the main roads and only to plow one lane wide.  I also heard there's a watermain break over on Queen Street near the Co-op grocery store and there's two feet of water/slush on the road. We have friends who live in that area so hopefully it's not impacting them. 

There was no way for Lloyd to get out last night and unless something happens soon, it's doubtful he'll be able to get out this afternoon. He was meant to work a double shift  today to make up for missing last night but that may or may not happen.  Our road isn't
usually high on the list and because there's so much snow to be moved, it's going to be a long time. Apparently the plows didn't get out till around 10:30 this morning so it's going to be a while. But we are among the lucky ones. Several areas have no power but we still have ours. But with a gas stove for cooking and the wood stove for heat, it's not a huge deal if we do lose it.

Looking at this beautiful blue sky it's hard to imagine just how stormy it was a short time ago.

This view of downtown Charlottetown speak volumes!

Monday, February 2nd - Happy Ground Hog Day

Conditions at 5:15 am: clear and COLD: -22' that feels more like -32'
Expected later: warming up slightly but not much. Sunshine this morning will change to snow this afternoon and continue on into the night. You know it's not going to be good when you wake up to, not just cold, but an Extreme Cold Warning and a Winter Storm Warning! Happy Monday. Winter took it's time getting here but now it's making up for lost time.

Friday we were told to expect snow overnight but since it wasn't going to start till the wee hours of the morning, Brenda and I took the opportunity to enjoy a bite to eat, followed by a movie after work.  We enjoyed our meal at Daniel Brennan's and then headed over to City Cinema. We were quite early but that was a good thing because by the time the film started, it was a packed house. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie, Elsa and Fred, starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer.Fortunately for us the snow held off until after we got home.

Saturday morning was snowy and blowy and Lloyd reported that the roads and driving conditions were very poor when he was coming home from work.  It was going to be a snow day on PEI - and it was. He went off to bed after coffee and I headed out to the craft room. There are a couple of things I want to do but once I got out there, and took a good look around, I made up my mind to get at those things that are only half done and finish those before I start something else. I had taken apart my braided rug, for the second time, and it needed to be stitched back together. I think I got it right this time and since it was meant for Patti's Christmas gift, I'll get it up to her the next time one of us travels that way.  Then I hauled out the squares I'm working on for my t-shirt quilt. Still lots of work to be done there, but first I got out all my spools of thread and sorted those out. But I needed somewhere to keep them organized. So I headed down to the workshop and found a couple of small pieces of wood and some small nails and made a board to put them on, with a separate nail to hold each spoon. It's a temporary fix until Lloyd can build me a proper one with dowels to hang on the wall. But like me, he has other things to finish before he starts anything new. He has a project to work on for work so that has to take priority and he also has a couple of things in the works for me as well.

When I came back in I was a bit hungry and decided I wanted Breakfast Burritos, something we used to get at a little restaurant north of Guelph. They consisted of scrambled eggs inside a flour tortilla with salsa, sour cream and shredded cheddar. Trouble was I had no tortillas. No worries, we made them in community school class a few years ago. So I hauled out the recipe and set to work. Before long I had a dozen  lovely tortillas just waiting to be used. So when Lloyd got up we had brunch while we watched a bit of TV.  After breakfast, I cleaned up the dishes and then headed back out to the
garage. Now that  it's getting so organized downstairs, the whole building is a pleasure to work in.

It was snowing and blowing most of the day so it was a good day to be inside. Supper was an easy meal of homemade noodles with a sauce made with some tomatoes, onions and garlic, some leftover frozen pulled pork and some of our own oven dried tomatoes, with just a dash of smokey BBQ sauce. It was an experiment that worked very well.

Sunday was cold with an even colder wind chill.
Brenda and I had talked perhaps getting out on our skis but I have to admit I wimped out and declined. I spent the morning vacuuming and doing laundry while waiting for raisins to soak. I had received a recipe via email for a pie that Lloyd was keen for me to try. It's a variation on a raisin pie, which is not one of my favorites but definitely one of his. Not really diet food but he'd been good all week (except for Friday night out with the boys!) It's a Raisin and Cranberry pie and it was very good. The tartness of the cranberries is offset very nicely with the sweetness of the raisins. We will certainly be making it again in the future. Lloyd went into town in the afternoon to pick up wood while I continued with my chores in the house. Because we'd had a late breakfast and pie in the afternoon, neither of us was particularly hungry at supper time so we had a snack later in the evening. Lloyd's

finishing up the last Louise Penny book and I continued catching up with a couple of old seasons of a program on Netflix. And that was pretty much it, a nice, quiet and relaxing weekend.