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.