A beautiful morning

Conditions at 5:15 am:  clear, starry skies and -18'
Expected later: -12' and mix of sun and cloud with maybe a few flurries

This morning I  let the dog out at 5:00 and the sky is clear and the stars are brilliant. The wind has died down so in spite of the fact it's cold, it's a lovely morning.  The good news is it's meant to warm up to -3' later in the week with 20 cm of snow. We need that to cover the ice so we can get out and ski.

My trip to Toronto is starting to shape up. I heard from Jana this morning and they are available to do sushi on the Friday night that I arrive. They are just back from Whistler, where they spent Jana's birthday, but will be home on the 4th.  I received an email yesterday from Cathy and she is going to Calgary on the 5th but will be back the following Thursday so we are scheduled to do lunch on the Friday. I have the IAAP meeting on the Tuesday night so things are falling in to place. I'll send out some emails today and try to schedule a couple of other lunches while I'm there and my itinerary will be partially complete. All I have to do now is get a schedule from Patti of what the kids are doing in the evenings and we'll be all set. 

I'll only be home for four days before the curling ladies arrive, so I'm trying to get a few things done before I go in preparation for that event.  Then Lloyd will be here in April, the IAAP girls in May and by then summer will be here again!  It's going to be a busy few months but the time will go fast and before we know it, winter will be over.  Hard to believe we're already almost at the end of January!

I received a call from Bernie yesterday giving me the product number for Brenda's boots. I searched everywhere on the L.L. Bean site and I could not find those boots but with the right information it was easy. Here's a picture of them. They are great boots but my only concern is the calf size. I've always had trouble getting boots to fit that way but there are other styles on the site that may work better for me.  I'll have to check it out more carefully when I have more time.Unfortunately the photo didn't copy well and it' really small. But trust me, they are really great boots!

Well, it's Tuesday, so hopefully the ladies will be over tonight to do some scrapbooking. Well work on learning how to use the cutters tonight and we'll also go through paper to see what I have that might be of use to them. It will give us a place to start and then we'll go from there. We saw a great pad of paper at Michaels on Sunday that was Far East themed, which will be great for Caitlin's book but in our hurry to get to the movies, we didn't have time to go through the cash. But that's okay, it will be there next time one of us is in the store. I have to say I'm going to enjoy these evenings. It's just what I needed to get myself jump started to start working on my unfinished pages. I still have some from the ice hotel to do, not to mention not having started Tucson. But at least I have the photo's printed for the Arizona trip so that's a start.

Okay, I wimped out

Conditions at 5:15:  -19' with a wind chill of -32'
Expected later: warming up to -16' but still windy

It's a chilly one this morning. It was cold all weekend and is expected to stay that way until Thursday when the high will be +1'. So we just have to bear with it for a few days. If I recall we had one week like this last year and the rest of the winter was quite bearable.

Friday nights drive home was interesting. Snow started falling after lunch and by the time I left to go home, there was quite a bit on the roads, and it was quite windy, causing whiteout conditions every so often. It took almost an hour to get home (although I did stop for gas, and just took my time). Then over night it turned to rain, and then back to freezing again. By morning the sun was shining brightly, and the glare off the ice on the road was almost blinding!  I walked (or rather slid) down to the end of the driveway, where the car was parked, and there had not yet been any sand put onto our road yet. I could have put my skates on and gotten out to the main road easier than driving. So I made the executive decision to stay home. I called Jamie at work and told him. He said they could manage quite nicely without me. Of course, later in the morning Brenda called Honda to ask me to pick something up on my way home. Imagine her surprise to find out I wasn't there. Needless to say, I took a bit of a ribbing about being a wimp, and rightly so. But I'm a wimp who's in one piece!  They did eventually come around with the sander at 10:00 but at that point it was too late to consider going to work.

I did, however, make it out on Saturday night to go to the Van Gaal's for supper. Roast pork dinner was a much tastier option than I would have had a home. It was quite delicious. The roads were still quite icy but the most challenging part was their driveway. But as Bernie says, it's all good.

Sunday morning was still cold but not windy, so it was actually quite nice out, except that everything was so icy. We knew that skiing was likely going to be a challenge so we passed on that. Instead we headed into town after lunch, once the stores were open. We traveled all around the city checking out all kinds of dollar stores, discount stores, Walmart and Michael's until Brenda had looked at far too much paper and stickers. We were planning on going to a movie at 2:50 and we happened to look at my phone to see what time it was at Michael's and it was exactly 2:50. So we raced out of there and across the street to the theatre. We got there just in time to see The King's Speech. It was really enjoyable. After it was over, we went to Papa Joe's for supper as we still had a gift certificate left from Community School.  We had a lovely dinner before heading back out to the county.

At one point I commented to Brenda that she wasn't wearing her Bean Boots. She has these amazing boots that she got for Christmas a year ago. They are very cool and every time we're out, someone always comes up to her and comments to her how much they like her boots. They are very warm as well as very functional and stylish. She has gotten so many compliments on them from complete strangers. Well, last night when I got home I went to the LL Bean web site and they have all kinds of winter boots but I could not find any like hers. I don't know if they don't make them anymore but I was certainly a little disappointed to not find them. I would have considered ordering a pair. I suppose they might have them in their store but usually you can get more choices online than you can in store. Needless to say I was sad to see they were not available.

Before I go, a quick belated Happy Birthday to my friend Jana. I intended to call her yesterday but I got into town and forgot all about it. Better late than never I suppose. I will email her my best wishes this morning.

Winter's back!

Conditions at 5:15 am - a little cloudy, a full moon and -10'
Expected later:  -1' and up to 10 cm of snow

 The weather network has all kinds of warnings and alerts for us this morning - high winds, heavy snow, weather bombs - in other words, just another winter day here in the Maritimes. But I don't think we're going to be as bad off as other places. At least that's what we're hoping. The drive in this morning should be fine and tonight might not be too bad, but tomorrow morning could be a bit of a challenge. But we'll just have to wait and see.

I always feel bad for the two guys who work in our wash bay. On really snowy days they have to clean off all the cars, and once the plow has cleaned the lot in between the rows they then have to move every single car onto the cleaned area, so the plow can clear where the cars were, and then they have to all be moved back. What a pain in the butt job that must be. But I suppose it's a job, just like any other. They both take very good care of me. When I need gas for the shuttle, I just bring in the keys and they take it to the gas station and fill it up. When it needs washing, they take it inside and wash it for me. Andy was so cute on Monday morning. He brought the car out of the shop, where it gets parked overnight, and brought me the keys. He was very proud of the fact that he had washed it before bringing it out, and then had left it running outside so it would be warm. It was very thoughtful of him and I truly appreciated it. Then when I got into it to drive the first customer, I noticed it was almost out of gas. So when I got back I went to him and said, it's warm and it's clean but I can't get far without gas. He just rolled his eyes and said he didn't think to look at the gas gauge.  So a few minutes later he stopped by my desk to pick up the keys to go gas up and as he walked away, he said "This is going to cost you --- a dozen chocolate chip cookies". So a couple of nights later I baked cookies for him. I'd done that a Christmas as he and Jon had carted all the Christmas stuff upstairs for me after taking it all down. Apparently they were a hit.  But it's a small price to pay for good help!

Everyday this island gets smaller and smaller. Yesterday a man called to speak to Dave but he was out. I asked if I could take a message and it turned out to be someone I knew at the University. Apparently he is also Dave's brother in law. Then yesterday the fellow I was selling some tickets to came in to pick them up and we got talking. He's a lobster fisherman over in Grand Tracadie. I was telling him about the time we stayed at a cottage near by and it turns out his father and grandfather built those cottages back in the sixties.  We had bought some lobsters from boats when we were there and there's a very good chance it was him who sold them to us. Six degrees of separation is only about a degree and a half here on the island!

How this for a cool birthday cake!

 Since I don't usually do a post on the weekend, I must wish Lloyd a very Happy Birthday tomorrow. It is also our good friend Doug's birthday, so Happy Birthday to the two of you. 




 

On to the next project

Conditions at 5:15 am:  light covering of new snow and -4'
Expected later: flurries and it appears we've reached our forecast high for the day

It's more like an elongated lap quilt but it's finished. I'm not sure it's going to be wide enough for what Lloyd wants but his quilt is finished. I finally got my act together last night and finished the binding around the outside.  I just have to remember to take it with me when I go to Toronto. As you can see by the photo, it passes the Cooper test. As soon as I spread it on the floor to take a picture, he came along and plunked himself down on it.
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Yesterday it poured rain most of the day. It felt like a day in March rather than one in the middle of January. But  I remember getting rain in February last year. They were getting ready for the Jack Frost Festival and they had to cover everything with tarps so it wouldn't get washed away. Fortunately they haven't gotten that far yet. This year's event has been moved to the big field behind the mall and I go past there several times a day. It will be interesting to see it taking shape. Now I understand why the city has been piling the now there from clearing the streets. Yesterday there were several types of diggers and plow like devices there working away at pushing the mountain of snow that's accumulated around to different areas. I should really take my camera with me to record the progress and see how it turns out, compared to what it once was.
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I had emailed the weaving supply place in Orangeville and got a reply yesterday telling me that they would be closed the first week of February for holidays. Fortunately they were able to confirm that they are indeed open the week I'm there. That would have been very disappointing.  I received the book I ordered in the mail a couple of days ago and I've been looking through it but I'll take it with me when I'm traveling. It will be great reading while I'm waiting in airports.
I think I've figured out how it all goes together so the next time Brenda is over we'll take the end off and put in the one piece we missed the last time. Considering we had absolutely no idea what we were doing, I think we did an amazing job of putting it together thus far. And now we know what all the left over pieces are for so it should go well from here.
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For those of you who know me, I've been a music fan forever. One of my favorite musicians was Gerry Rafferty. Not a well known name  but I did love the music he did. I just learned that he passed away last week in England. I found this old video of him singing his most well known song, Baker Street. I especially loved the saxophone in this one. What I didn't know, but should have, was that he was in the group Stealers Wheel, who did the song "Stuck in the middle with you". Now that I know that, when I hear the song, and it has been played often on the radio station we get at work, I don't know how I couldn't have known that. He has a pretty distinctive voice and it's unmistakable that it's him singing. A real talent lost at the age of  63.

Let the cropping begin!

Conditions at 5:10 am - raining and +1'
Expected later: +3' and more rain and snow mixed      

I talked to Brenda yesterday during the day and she wasn't feeling really great but last night she was feeling a little better. So she and Caitlin came over and brought some rice and a delicious stir fry they had for supper. What a lovely treat! All we did last night was look at a few pages I had done and then at some of the tools and a little bit about how to use them. She has to get Bernie to go through the photos and pick out the best ones and have them printed. Next week we're going to spend some time learning how to use the cutters and such and then we will be on our way. Caitlin is also keen to do her pictures from her time in Korea, then she has her Asian adventures, and also Europe. She has lots of work to do! But it will be fun to share the techniques I've learned along the way. I'm really looking forward to our Tuesday nights.  Of course, if we get Sundays that are not suitable for skiing, we can also turn those into scrapping days as well.
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The mailbox dilemma continues. Just before Christmas, because we'd had SO much rain, the plow knocked the mailbox out of the ground. But realistically the length of post that was actually in the ground was quite minimal. Lloyd tried to put it back into the ground and it stayed for a few days but then two more swipes with the plow finished it off again. Only this time there was lots more snow and it was actually buried under the snowbank and I had to dig it out. I brought it up to the house and tried to figure out what to do with it. It stayed there for about a week until I came up with, what I think, is a brilliant idea. In the meantime the mailman dropped my mail in the box next door.  So, on Saturday I went down to the road with a shovel, and dug a big square hole in the snow right down to the dirt. Then I got out the Christmas tree stand I bought last year (2009) and tightly secured the mail box post into it. Then I carted the whole thing down to the road and placed it in the hole, and proceeded to fill in all around it with snow. So far it's working.  It was very cold the past two days so the snow around it froze and it was in there quite tightly. Not sure what the rain will do but if it freezes again (which we all know it will) it should be fine. My only concern is the plow might just break it off from the stand but we'll see. It was an idea that just might work until Spring.
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I received an email from on of the IAAP girls in Grand River and they are very excited about coming out here in May. I have no idea how many are coming but I'm really looking forward to it! I won't be going to the conference in Moncton this year so it will be great to have them here. Of course it will be extra special as Lobster season is open at that time so they are looking forward to a feast a la Chez Denny and we'll try to make sure it's a memorable one!

Well, better go as the power has just gone off and it's too dark to see the keyboard

It's a chilly one this morning but will get better

Conditions at 5:30 am - a few stars and -14'
Expected later - -5 during the day and then warming up to  -1 over night

What strange weather we're having. Tomorrow is supposed to rain and be plus 5'. I hope it doesn't mess up the ski trails too badly. A lot of rain on top of the snow followed by freezing temperatures will make for some pretty slippery slopes! But then there is a rumour we might get more snow later in the week so who knows. Yesterday the sun came out and while it was a bit cool, the sun was a welcome treat.

I talked to Lloyd in the morning and he was going to be watching the kids for a little while last night. When I called him at supper time, the kids had been fed and were outside at his place playing in the snow. They came in and I had a lovely chat with each of them. James was especially chatty, which is unusual for him on the phone. Patti called from Halifax but unfortunately I missed her call. But at least I was able to report to the kids that she was on her way home.

My weaving books arrived in the mail yesterday. I haven't had a chance to look at them but the one appears like it will be a great resource.  I have to admit I just vegged last night. I had planned to do some sewing but ended up doing absolutely nothing.  I was having a bad day yesterday for absolutely no apparent reason. I was cranky all day and had a bit of a headache and just didn't want to be at work. Today will be better I hope. I talked to Brenda last night and she has come down with a cold so I shouldn't complain. She thought she felt it coming on when we were at curling on Sunday night. Hopefully she'll feel better in a few days and we can go and see "The King's Speech". I did watch the Golden Globes last night (that I had taped on Sunday) and it did very well.

Yesterday was an odd day in town. I was just coming out of a body shop on Eden street, which runs behind the city police department, when a cruiser came flying out and I had to quickly move out of the way. He was closely followed by two unmarked cars with flashing lights activated so I thought, well, somethings up. Then a couple of minutes later I was traveling north on North River Road when an ambulance came racing in the other direction. I thought maybe an accident of some sort had occurred.  A short time later the radio station had someone on the scene (literally 10 minutes) of a shooting. Here in Charlottetown! Can you believe it?  Needless to say, that was the talk of the town for the rest of the day, and of course, everyone knew about it.

Well, it's a slow news day and it's now 6:00 so I'd better get going.
I received this via email from a couple of sources:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI&feature=player_embedded

It's a cold and blustery day after a beautiful weekend

Conditions at 5:15 am - very windy and -10' with a wind chill of -21' and drifting snow
Expected later - more of the same but warming up to -8'

It's a cold and blustery day, not at all like what we experienced on the weekend.
Let's see, Friday was not too bad. After supper I went over to Brenda's to help plan what we were going to eat on Saturday. We decided on Greek Souvlaki, with a Village Salad on the side.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was way too

nice to have to work. Brenda met me at Timothy's at 7:45 for coffee, but alas, they weren't open yet, so we had to go to Starbucks. Next week we'll meet in Stratford at Robins, as Brenda's Saturday Ufit class is in Stratford so that only makes sense. All day the sun shone and it was lovely to sit in the sunshine at my desk. At the end of the day I headed straight home so I could take the dog outside, and also replenish my wood supply inside. I had a little time to just chill out before going back out. Bernie and Brenda's friend Bob came over and joined us. I didn't go over until around 6:30 and Brenda had everything well under control. The salad was made, the lamb was marinated, the filling was made for the appetizers and a lovely cake was baked for dessert. My contribution to the event was really quite minimal and Brenda did a great job. When I arrived we filled and rolled the phyllo triangles and threaded the lamb onto the skewers. When Bob arrived, we baked off the triangles and they were a huge hit. They had a filling of chopped red pepper, feta cheese, oregano and an egg. They were very delicious, I would definitely make those again. Then we cooked the lamb and filled the warm pitas with the meat after smearing them first with some tzatziki. They were then wrapped in waxed paper to help with the eating and the salad was tossed. By all accounts it was a great succcess. The cake was a recipe Brenda found in a Saltscapes magazine and it was delicious. Yet another fabulous Friday Feast (okay so it was on Saturday) but a lovely time was had by all.

Sunday morning I got up early and accomplished a few things around the house. I got laundry done and did some work on Lloyd's quilt. Then at 11:00 Brenda picked me up to go and visit with Sheila, who is actually a neighbour who has three weaving looms in her house. She will be a wonderful resource. I was able to see her looms set up and get an idea of how mine should be put together. Sheila plans to put some threads on hers in the next couple of weeks and she will let me know so I can come and watch and see how it's done. She has a blanket that she made years ago when she was taking a class and it's absolutely gorgeous!

Trails at Stanhope

By the time we left her house, the sun was shining again and Brenda and I headed over to Stanhope to check out the trails there. They were okay in some spots but others that have a canopy of trees over them had very little snow, less than an inch in spots. We could now understand why they said there wasn't enough snow to groom the trails yet. But it was still great to get out there. They facilities

The facilities at Dalvay

there are not as good as over at Dalvay so we got into the truck and drove over there to have our well deserved snack of hot chocolate and left over cake. By the time I got home I had time for a nice hot bath and a nap before Brenda called to tell me that we were curling at 8:00 and NOT 9:30 as we thought. So it was rush around to get ready and grab a bite to eat before leaving.

Unfortunately we got out butts kicked last night. We managed to score one point all night. There is such a fine line between throwing the rock too hard and not hard enough and we just couldn't find it last night. But we still managed to have some fun and the driving was good in spite of some drifting in spots. I've decided I'm not going to go for the second half of the season because I will miss more than I'll be there for. It seems like a waste of money and we found someone who will fill in for me on our team. Brenda will still continue to go and try to keep the other team mates under control!

I saw this quote  the other day so went on line in search of it. I absolutely love it:

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says "Oh shit, she's awake."