Monday, November 28, 2016

Monday, November 28th - Dear Mother Nature.... thanks!

Enjoying the sunshine




After a lovely few weeks of balmy fall weather, Mother Nature made up for it. We usually get at least one snow storm in November and it was looking like we might escape this year, but alas, such was not the case.




A nor' easter moved in on Sunday afternoon bringing with it high winds and 15 to 20 cms of snow. This also brought about some major power outages. We were lucky to only be in the dark for approximately 5 hours but as of last night, some islanders won't have electricity until perhaps Wednesday morning.

Monday morning

Lloyd had a nap during the afternoon then hooked up an inverter to a battery and we were able to plug in a lamp. So with light on the kitchen table we were able to read and then eat supper. Supper was just ready when the lights came back on. We were very lucky.

The heavy wet snow we woke up to in the morning was causing all kinds of chaos for utility crews, especially in our end of the island.  Looks like we may be receiving more snow tomorrow night, maybe another 10 cms, but that remains to be seen.

We had our big finale at Community School in Stratford last Tuesday. We all got up on stage and played some little bits of 4 songs that we learned and by all accounts we didn't sound too bad but we were all glad when it was over.  Once all classes had a chance to show off their new talents, we were treated to a delicious lunch of assorted sandwiches, squares, fruit and veggies along with coffee and tea. This week will be our end of session night in Donagh. Fortunately this one doesn't involve getting up on the stage!

Patti made my day on Friday by sending me  a copy of the last few items on Tristen's Christmas list. I loved that I made the list - # 10 = "Trip to PEI to see grandma".








And finally "Where in the world is Patti?"

This week she was back in Japan and visited the Pokeman Centre, at the request of Tristen - a whole store dedicated to all things Pokeman.




Obviously a much bigger thing that here in North America.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Tuesday, November 22nd - it was a cooking kind of week



Well, I'm slowly getting myself organized.  I've got a fairly good handle on what's in the freezer(s) and what needs to be used up first. I did have 5 loaves of grocery store bread in the bottom so I told Lloyd not to expect any homemade bread until it was all gone. Well, guess what, it's all gone, so now I have to make bread on a regular basis. Fortunately I learned how a few years back from Brenda. So one morning was spent baking bread.  I've been trying some new recipes as well and some have turned out quite interesting. More about that in the coming weeks.







Couldn't have done a better job myself!
While we're on the subject of cooking, Tristen, our budding little chef, decided he wanted to make a special supper for his mom's birthday - steamed mussels and crab cakes. He found a recipe, gave his mom a shopping list and the rest was on him. By all accounts it was a great success.  Can't wait to spend some quality time with him in the kitchen over the holidays.





Prepping the crab cake ingredients










Sizzling in the pan










Good to the last crumb!






















Well done, T!

Linda with her tea light
Friday was the annual tree lighting downtown. I'd never been and thought it might be a good idea. So my friend Linda and I headed into town to join in the festivities. They had done this event when they first moved to the island and she quite enjoyed it. At that time you were given a real candle and walked from the waterfront up to the confed centre for the tree lighting. She said it was pretty amazing to look back when you were walking up the hill and see hundreds of candles flickering. Sounded really great to me. Unfortunately it's no longer the same event. The walk starts in front of Province House and goes to the Confed Centre, which is about a 30 second walk (if you walk very slowly.) The real candles are replaced with battery operated tea lights. I appreciate that they may be safer but it just wasn't the same. Needless to say we were both a little disappointed but at least it got us out of the house and into some fresh air and a bit of a walk. 




Eddie had his surgery last week and has recovered quite nicely.  He no longer pesters the girls when they all go outside together. That part of his life is officially over but he enjoyed it to the max while he could!







Our unseasonably mild weather continued most of the week and we had some pretty lovely days. Because of the warm temperatures there are still a lot of big, stupid flies hanging around and it drives the cat crazy. She will go to any length to catch a fly when she sees it. (it's never boring at our house!)







And finally, "Where in the world is Patti?"



This week she was back in Japan. She didn't get much sight seeing done as she was scoping out a
couple of possible Christmas presents. She's back there next weekend to finish the purchases.  She says the best part of Japan is the food - so much and so many varieties - she's having a great time trying as many as she can.




Monday, November 14, 2016

Tuesday, November 15th - a week of celebrations

It was a pretty busy week for a lot of folks.
First, a belated Happy Anniversary to our friends Brenda and Bernie who celebrated on Sunday, and second, an early Happy Birthday to our daughter Patti, who is celebrating another year older on Wednesday. More from her later.

It was a short week for some as there was no school on Tuesday and Friday was the Remembrance Day holiday. I know not everyone gets the day off but out here in the maritime s, it's a big day. There are celebrations all across the province. 

It happened to be on Friday this year so Brenda and I took advantage of the fact there was no work on
Friday to watch some TV  and share a glass of wine on Thursday evening. The rest of the weekend promised to be fairly busy for me as I had volunteered to help out at the 25th Atlantic Cup Speed skating meet here in town.  I was at the arena from 10 till 2 both Saturday and Sunday to assist with the hospitality suite.  As usual, a nice time with some new friends. 



 We had the pleasure of the VanGaal's company for supper on Sunday and we were able to BBQ as our weather remains quite mild for this time of year. I saw several motorcycles out on the roads both Saturday and Sunday, and again on Monday. It should continue mild for the rest of the week but we may see some showers on Wednesday along with 14' temperatures.  Lovely for this time of year.

Lloyd and I are busy working on various projects around the house, sometimes together but usually separately. I've been spending some quality time in my craft room and am really enjoying having that space.


Meghan had a memorable week.  She had been asking for quite some time to have her nose pierced but her dad was against the idea. She must have put up quite a good argument because in the end he agreed. Here's a photo of her with her new "jewellry". It's just a small piercing that doesn't detract from her pretty little face. You have to click on the photo to enlarge it to see the stud. It's fairly discreet.






As it was Remembrance Day on Friday, young James was very busy as well. He takes part in the overnight vigil at the cenotaph in Guelph with the Air Cadets. He was also the piper for several guard changes throughout the night.

Here's a short youtube video of him piping at the cenotaph, although the wind does tend to distort things a little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZyqzNBG798&feature=youtu.be

 Click on this link to see a photo of him waiting with his pipes.

 https://flic.kr/p/NDN6Yb


And finally, Where in the world is Patti?

She was actually in London, England on the weekend and sent me some great photos from their remembrance service. It took place on Sunday and looks to be quite a well attended event.Impressive pictures but "just another day at the office" for Patti...

The parliament buildings

At the cenotaph - Patti missed the Queen, who had earlier laid a wreath from the Royal Family

Westminster Abbey

The Canadian Section of the Commonwealth Countries

Selfie with Big Ben!

The Cenotaph

Outside the parliament buildings


The Legion's poppy field

The Legion's poppy field
She's hoping to take James next year - he would surely enjoy this ceremony.

 

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Tuesday, November 8th - a week full of accomplishments!

The final piece of wood about to be split!
I now  understand when people say they don't know how they had time to work, once they become retired.  But then again, I have things on my to-do list that I just wouldn't have had before. It's been a busy week but one with some accomplishments. 
The best news of all, I finally finished the wood splitting - a major thing to cross off my list. Lloyd also finished off the gable ends on the barn. It was a fiddly, not really pleasant job that he kept putting off but it finally got done on Monday and Tuesday. We were both really happy to cross those items off our lists!

The rest of the week was filled with more mundane but just as important accomplishments. We aren't getting as much milk these days so we've started to freeze it in small containers. When I had enough I thawed it in the fridge and used it to make some ricotta cheese - it's the only one I know how to make and it's the easiest and fastest!  Turns out freezing had no affect on the quality of either the milk or the cheese so that's good to know for next year when we may have a glut of milk. On nice days I'm enjoying spending the day outside helping Lloyd with some yard clean up and putting things away for winter.  Every day I go out to the barn several times in the morning to collect the eggs. I'll be happy to show Tristen how to do that when he visit, I think he'll enjoy that job. My egg customers base has grown so now it's manageable, we don't have to eat eggs three meals a day anymore! (just kidding?) 

Brenda came over on Thursday evening to watch our TV show and then we had time to watch a movie as well. It's been a while since we did that. Some snacks and wine also added to the enjoyment.   

We met up again on Friday evening when Brenda, Meghan and I attended a fund raiser for Farmers helping farmers. It was held at the new performance hall at Holland College and a great time was had by all.

We met up again on Saturday morning, when I went over for coffee and again on Saturday night when we met up again at the Bairds for supper. Some weeks go by and we hardly see or talk to each other but this week was the exception.  

Of course, with Lloyd working afternoons, there's more cooking involved. We have our coffee in the morning, then go to working outside, doing chores, etc before we have breakfast around 10:00 or so. Then I usually have a more substantial lunch around 2:30 but there have been days when he's had to go into town early so we have a late breakfast. 

I was telling Brenda that I had taken a decent sized chicken out of the freezer (only about 7 pounds) and made several meals with it. I split it in half and used the first half to make a chicken fricassee.  The second half was put into the clay baker the next day and roasted with some vegetables. The left over roast chicken was used to make chicken pot pie, so we got pretty good mileage out of one bird. Brenda suggested that If I shared the recipe for Chicken Fricassee someone else could try it as well. I'll have to give her that recipe. 

One of the things I had planned to do when I retired was cook my way through my cook book collection. I don't think I'll live long enough to cook every recipe but I'm trying to utilize some of these long neglected books.  I've made a couple of recipes this week. The first one was Bologna cups from "The Bologna Cookbook", which could only have been written by a newfie.  Our friend Linda gave it to Lloyd this summer when she visited. The Bologna cups was the first recipe I've tried and it really was an interesting way to utilize this most exotic of ingredients.







The second recipe I tried was an Onion Pie, something I'd never heard of. This one was from the "Granville Island Market Cookbook ", also a gift, this one from Brenda  on one of her travels with the girls.  The pie was kind of like a quiche with a large amount of onions. It used a cracker crumb crust but I'd also like to try it with a pastry crust. It was very tasty as a side dish and also could be used as a lunch dish with a salad as well. We both quite enjoyed it for something a little different.

Young master James had quite a busy week. He was promoted at the Air Cadets Wing Night (not the same as what we refer to as "Wing Night" which involves food and beer). He now holds the the title of Flight Sergeant. Here's a couple of photos from the ceremony.
Proud mom watching from the side


 


He had also been notified that he was nominated by the local baseball association for Junior Umpire of the Year. Needless to say, he won that as well.  Too bad he's such an underachiever!   Well done, James.









I'm also getting more frequent calls from Tristen now that I'm at home.He always makes me smile when he calls. His latest call was last night when he informed me that he only needs one more McDonald's Monopoly piece to win a snowmobile. He was delighted to tell me that if he wins it, he will bring it here so he can ride it out in the back fields. He thought that made more sense that riding it in his tiny back yard. He wasn't sure though, how he was going to get it here. I suggested that he could just ride it here, and that sent him off into fits of laughter. I'm sure if he did win, there would be a way to get it here. Something tells me, though, that it's not likely going to be an issue!

And "Where in the world is Patti?"
This week she was on vacation.  Their speed skating club was hosting a meet and that's always a very busy time, so I suspect the majority of her time was spent in beautiful downtown Cambridge (or at least the arena part).

And finally, my friend Katy in Ontario sent this little piece, I thought was worth sharing:

{1}

Once all villagers decided to pray for rain.

On the day of prayer all the people gathered,

but only one boy came with an umbrella.

That's FAITH.


{2}

When you throw babies in the air,

they laugh because they know you will catch them.

That's TRUST.


{3}

Every night we go to bed

without any assurance of being alive the next morning,

but still we set the alarms to wake up.

That's HOPE.


{4}

We plan big things for tomorrow

in spite of zero knowledge of the future.

That's CONFIDENCE.


{5}

We see the world suffering,

but still we get married and have children.

That's LOVE.


{6}

On an old man's shirt was written a sentence

'I am not 80 years old

I am sweet 16 with 64 years of experience.'

That's ATTITUDE.


Have a happy day and live your life like the six stories

When I was a child I thought nap time was punishment. Now it's like a mini vacation.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Tuesday, November 1st - Rain, rain, go away!

Hopefully the weather man is right and we might just see a bit of sun this week. I need a couple of days to finish  off the rest of the wood. The weather hasn't cooperated the past few days. But they have been productive just the same. But this is all that's left to do so not too shabby!






We spent last Tuesday slicing and packaging bacon, bacon and more bacon. It's fairly smokey but really good, as is the ham that we packaged on Wednesday.  In the midst of all that I managed to make some black current jelly with the berries that were in the freezer. Now they are in the cupboard along with the apple sauce and honey. I don't seem to be having any problem finding things to keep me busy! I've made myself a to-do list and it will take a while for me to work my way through it.








The rest of the week was spent on various tasks around the house, but mostly cooking, washing dishes and then washing more dishes!  But I'm enjoying it.  There are so many things that I've been wanting to try but some of them need time.   I also did enjoy one day last week when the sun was out and the goats were outside. They all posed for a photo of our little herd out enjoying a sunny fall day.  Here's hoping they can spend a few more days out in the sun. 



Lloyd and our neighbour Frank went fishing on Sunday afternoon. I think it's an avoidance tactic as there are a couple of jobs around the barn that he's not looking forward to doing! Just kidding - he does need a day off once in a while.  He's been making progress and has sorted out a system for us to have water in the barn for the winter - if it works as he hopes it will. Time will tell when it gets really cold. Because it was cold and rainy I spent the afternoon up in the craftroom. Some time was spent organizing and cleaning and then I got started on a couple of projects I'm working on.



Our hens are showing themselves to be overachievers!  We're getting at least 16 eggs a day and they are quickly accumulating in our fridge, so I've put a notice on Facebook for anyone who might be interested in purchasing our farm fresh eggs.  So far the first day I've gotten two responses, so that's a good thing. Actually there were five responses but unfortunately three of those were from people who live in Guelph! 



And finally "Where in the world is Patti?"
Turns out this weekend she was home getting ready for Halloween. Now that the two older kids are in high school, they don't go out trick or treating anymore but Tristen went with his friends. 







Tristen and his "barfing" pumpkin






  Same pumpkin lit up




 Joseph's costume - a stick man - VERY COOL!
(Joseph's mom went to the same arts high school that Patti did - the two of them together are a very creative duo!)















The kids at their teachers home - what fun!

Were you all tempted to make pumpkin pie with those pumpkins? I've found out where pumpkin pie REALLY comes from...TOO FUNNY!