Monday, February 17th - Happy Islander/Family/whatever your province is calling it - day!

It's currently a relatively clear, fairly calm morning at -10'. Such was not the case yesterday. It snowed overnight (more on that later) and the winds were starting to pick up but by morning it wasn't a bad day. It had stopped snowing and everyone was going about their business of clearing up from the night before. Neighbour Frank came over with his tractor and blew out the snow for us and the patio was shoveled off and it was all good. Then I happened to check email and there was one notification advising that if you lived anywhere west of Charlottetown to please stay off the roads. There was another notification that the bridge was closed - completely - to all traffic - not something that happens very often. But wait for it - sure enough a little while later, it arrived here. It wasn't so much the snow as the wind - pretty much hurricane strength I'm guessing, and it kept up pretty much all day. I heard this morning that the winds in the straights were up to 140 km per hour! Finally after supper, I had some fresh bread that needed to be taken out to the freezer in the garage, so Lloyd went out but it had settled down quite a bit. It was a 'stay indoors and watch TV' kind of day for sure.

On Saturday evening there was a benefit in town at the legion for our neighbour, Robert. It didn't start until 9:00 so we went down the road to the golf course to have some supper. Lloyd's back had been bothering him all day. He wasn't so bad if he kept moving around a bit, but once he sat down, it was a struggle to get back up again. Finally he made the decision to stay home, so it was just me and Brenda to go to the event.

 I had spent the better part of the day baking for the cake auction. I made a layer cake, some cupcakes and for the first time, I tried some cake pops. Now that was an interesting experience. I've seen several TV programs where they were making these things and located several recipes and they were all the same:

1) Bake a cake and let it cool

2) Thoroughly crumble the cake until it's just that - a bowl full of crumbs
3) Add some icing
4) Mix thoroughly until you get a  mixture that holds together when squeezed in your hand
5) Take small amounts and roll into a ball
6) Insert a stick and chill for at least 3 hours
7) Dip in melted chocolate

I baked a white cake, then added some orange icing and some freshly grated orange zest. After I dipped them in chocolate, I added some decor with melted orange 'chocolate' wafers.  They turned out okay for those who really relish the orange and chocolate combination - two people come to mind.

The second thing I baked were some chocolate cupcakes. I also wanted to try making some 'faces' to put on them. Again it was something I came across on line and since I just happened to have some chocolate fondant as well as some bits of other colours left from previous projects, I  set about making puppies. Once I figured one out, it was easy to just cut out and assemble 11 more. I had found a great display box at the bulk barn which prompted the  making of cupcakes in the first place.




The third thing I made was supposed to be a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I wasn't pleased with the layers as they didn't rise as much as I would have liked, so I made a white cake and when I assembled my layer cake I put a white layer in between the two red velvet layers. Then I had to change the
name to a "Red and White Velvet Cake". It's true what they say - necessity IS the mother of invention. It turned out not so bad either. 


When I was almost done, Brenda dropped by for a cup of tea. Bless her little heart and her fabulous timing. My kitchen was a huge mess, with dishes everywhere because my plan was to completely finish everything and then clean up. So, she set about washing dishes and we were done in no time. So a big thanks to Brenda for her help in the cake process. Dish washers are so highly underrated!

So after packing everything up and putting into the car I headed off to pick up Brenda and we made our way to the Legion. There was a silent auction in a room on the main floor and then a dance upstairs in the main hall. The place was packed with people - testament to  the number of people that Robert has had an impact on. It's amazing to see the way islanders pull together to help one of their own who needs it. I think I saw just about every person I've ever met on the island there. Not quite, but a large number of them. Because of the numbers of people, there was really no where to put the cakes on display so people had to bid on them pretty much sight unseen.

It does pay to have friends - Brenda bought both the layer cake and the cake pops and our friend Raymond bought the cupcakes, but he had no idea what he was buying. As Brenda said, if she didn't buy something the money was just going into the donation box anyway so she might as well get something for her money. Needless to say they are set for sweets for a little while. She sent me this photo of Bernie drooling over his choices:
I'm pleased to have been a part of it and I know the evening was a huge success.The most successful part of the evening was the drive home. It had started snowing and was getting quite windy by the time we left. We just took our time and made it home safely. Fortunately for me, when I was at Brenda's dropping her off, our next door neighbours passed by on their way home from the benefit. As I was driving down our road, I caught up with them so they broke the trail for me.

Friday, February 14th - Happy Valentines Day

Gosh, what a strange weather night we just had. It was quiet and nothing happening when I went to bed but overnight we received a bunch of snow and now, at 6:00 am it's raining quite heavily and the winds are howling outside the window. It's 3' and we will go higher before dropping back down to 2' this afternoon. Rumour has it there will be more snow on the weekend but who knows for sure.  We're not close to being done with winter yet - but then it is only February!

We've never been big on Valentines Day. My motto has always been I'd rather be treated a little bit special every day instead of really special just one day. And I think I have nothing to complain about there! But this year unexpected plans have come together that will see us going for dinner at an event the Salvation Army is hosting as a fundraiser. The dinner will be prepared by the Culinary Institute so should be very good. Because it finishes at 9:00 and Lloyd goes to work at midnight, there's not much point in going home so we plan to take in a movie instead. Gosh - Dinner AND a movie for Valentines - guess there's a first time for everything.

I've asked for tomorrow off so I can bake something to take to the benefit auction and it just happens to be a long weekend so I'm really looking forward to 3 full days off work!  I won't be able to spend the days sitting at my desk watching the olympics as I work. It's been great this year how that has worked out. I was doing some  reading yesterday on the kids speed skating club website and boy, do those kids have amazing Olympic influences to inspire them. Besides the fact that James' coach has had three of his kids make it to the Olympic, his son now coaches the Korean speed skating team. I also hear that the young man who unexpectedly won a silver medal earlier in the week is also related somehow to the family of Meghan's coach.  They had lots of fun on the weekend when they had their meet and one of the olympians showed up with a medal that the kids could get their pictures taken with. Really nice inspiration to keep these kids actively involved. I realize that pretty much none of them will ever reach that calibre but if it keeps them inspired enough to keep at it, we'll at least have a bunch of healthier, happier kids.

There was a story in the Guelph Mercury yesterday about a young man who spent his teen years with our kids club and was skating yesterday in Russia. I happened to see he race and unfortunately the outcome wasn't good for him but it was a great experience for him just the same.

Former Cambridge speedskater enjoys first taste of the Olympics

By  Josh Brown

SOCHI, RUSSIA — Richard Shoebridge got the start he wanted.

The speedskater shot to the front of the pack one lap into his 1,000-metre short track qualification run Thursday at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi.

Then the home crowd got behind Russian Vladimir Grigorev, one of four racing in his heat.

"Usually you can hear the skaters behind you and hear them building up speed and trying to make a pass," said Shoebridge, who was raised in Cambridge but it representing Great Britain at the Games.

"But out there it was so loud because the Russian guy was in the race that you couldn't hear people making a move."

By the second lap — of the nine tours in the race — Shoebridge had a foe on the inside and outside. Halfway through the race his skate got kicked and he never recovered. He stayed with the group until the final lap but couldn't push forward and finished last.

Only the top two from Thursday's eight heats advanced to the quarter-finals, which run Saturday. Grigorev and China's Tianyu Han came out of Shoebridge's heat while Canadians Charle Cournoyer, Olivier Jean and Charles Hamelin also made the cut from their respective groups.

"I tried to make an inside pass to sneak in and get up to the qualifying positions," said Shoebridge, of his strategy on the final lap. "But with short track these days, if you make a tight inside pass, you start rubbing against the guy on the outside and lose you speed like that."

It wasn't a good day all around for the Brits in the event. All three entries failed to make it out of the heats.

Shoebridge was born in South Africa but his family moved to Cambridge about 17 years ago. He attended Jacob Hespeler Secondary School and was a mainstay at the Cambridge Speed Skating Club during his teenage years. His family still lives in Hespeler.

The 28-year-old made it to the Canadian Olympic trials leading up to the Vancouver Games four years back but didn't crack the squad. Since then, the dual citizen has been skating for England.

"The crowd was phenomenal," he said. "It was nothing like I ever expected. But it was fun."

Before the Games, Shoebridge was planning on retiring from competitive skating. But now that he's had a taste of the Olympics, he's on the fence.

One of the things inspiring him concerns best friend Gilmore Junio. The Canadian long track speedskater's tale has turned into one of the most uplifting stories in Sochi.

Junio made the selfless decision to withdraw from the men's 1,000 m long track race Wednesday so teammate Denny Morrison could compete. Morrison made good on the generosity by taking silver for Canada in the event.

Before making the call, Junio ran it by his pal.

"To be honest when I first heard about it I was kind of gutted for Gilmour," said Shoebridge. "He earned the spot and had every right to skate. I kind of questioned why he was doing it.

"But he wants the best for his team and it actually proved to be the best move."

Junio and Shoebridge became close friends while training together at Calgary's Olympic Oval and have known each other for the past 12 years.

"The thing he did is just a true expression of his character. He's such a great guy off the ice. He's one of the best sportsmen I know."

Shoebridge plans to take in some other Olympics events — likely with Junio — before returning to England.

"It was a great learning experience for me just being able to race in the Olympics," he said.

Wednesday, February 12th - who knows what's in store?

It's a chilly -16' this morning with a wind chill of -24', although it doesn't seem particularly windy out there this morning. We should reach a high later of -11' with maybe a few flurries.  Other than that, we don't know what to expect. We typically have three sources for weather - The Weather Network and Environment Canada and Boomer, on CBC.. Often they vary in their forecasts but this time it's quite significant.  Yesterday the Weather Network was advising we should expect 20 to 30 cms of snow on Thursday night. Environment Canada didn't mention any snow at all. On the other hand, Boomer mentioned some snow was on the way. This morning The Weather Network has changed to 15 cms while Environment Canada is expecting 2 cms. SO - we have no idea what might be in store. At least they both agree we may see some rain on Friday so that should make things really interesting. 

Rain will really mess up the trail that we made on Sunday. Brenda was out the last couple of days on it as it was lovely and sunny both days. It was chilly but when you're in the woods, you're so sheltered that it's really nice. I'm a little jealous that she can do that in the middle of a week day! Oh well, my day will come, eventually.

We had our class last night, and once again, we worked pretty hard. But we're making progress. Of course the best part was the apres-dance!  This week we went to Daniel Brennan's. They have a new chef and a new menu. We opted for a hot, creamy, bacony, cheesy dip with grilled flatbread. It was really tasty. With a nice cold beer, it was a perfect end to a great evening.

We've all been watching the Olympics and are amazed at how well our athletes are doing. We stand in second place right now with 9 medals. I was watching some of the events yesterday and I'm absolutely amazed at what some people can do with their bodies! I have trouble just staying upright sometimes, especially on the ice and snow, so I can't even fathom how these people do what they do. Incredible. 

Monday, February 10th - another great weekend

It's a calm -15' this morning heading for a partly cloudy -8' later on. Not too bad for a mid winter's day. No snow in the forecast for the next few days, so that's a good thing.

It was a fairly quiet weekend. Nothing going on Friday, just supper and veg in front of some programs on TV. I was up early on Saturday morning as I had to remove everything out of our little front porch before I left for work. I had a project to undertake when I got home from work  A little while ago, I came up with the idea to put a bench in my kitchen, against the end wall under the window. Then I thought, hmm, wouldn't it be neat if I could find a church pew that would fit - something old in an old house. So the search began.  Then a couple of weeks ago, I found one. It was in a 100 year old church in town, that had made some changes in their configuration and some of the pews had to come out. I found the ad online. So I contacted them and went round to see it - it was exactly what I was looking for.

Lloyd picked it up earlier in the week and it just squeezed into the back porch - he had to put it somewhere to get it off the truck, but there was no way it was going through that door into the kitchen. The only option was the front door, so we decided to leave it till Saturday afternoon when it was daylight. When I got home on Saturday, we wrestled it around and finally got it into the kitchen. It's fairly heavy and is 9 1/2 feet long so not the easiest of things to maneuver around but we did it. The plan is somewhere down the road to make a new harvest table. It will be longer than the table we have now and will be perfect, but for now this one works. I'm quite pleased with it and actually, so is Lloyd. He came downstairs on Sunday morning and he said "I really like that bench there". It's quite a functional piece and nice to have that little bit of history in the house as well.

We had some friends over for supper on Sunday evening. We had postponed last weekend because of the weather and it was really nice to catch up with them. We served them Hunter Schnitzel, Spaetzle ( german noodles) braised red cabbage, steamed asparagus, fresh rolls and a orange chocolate layer cake for dessert.  We had a lovely evening.

I had gotten up early in the morning and started in cooking and cleaning, while Lloyd went out to continue work on his garage. Around 1:00 I was quite tired and ready to take a break so I met up with Brenda at 1:30 and we went for a little ski out in the woods at her place. There was no trail so we had to break through. It was a little tough going but coming back was much easier. It was a beautiful sunny day and in the woods we were sheltered from the wind. It was a glorious day to be out enjoying the season. We didn't realize how long we'd been out there and got back around 3:00.  Bernie is slowly making progress and is up and around and bless his little heart, had hot chocolate with Baileys in it ready for us when we got back. It was a nice treat for sure. So Brenda came back with me to help with the last minute preparations for dinner. There was absolutely no reason she needed to do that but I have to admit, I'm really grateful that she did.  Thanks to her help, I was ready for company when they arrived.  All in all, a pretty terrific weekend.

The kids had speedskating all weekend but I haven't heard yet how it went. Hopefully more on that on Wednesday. 

Friday, February 7th - it's been a crafty couple of days

It's  a seasonal -13 this morning and we should reach a sunny high of -6 this afternoon with no snow forecast for the weekend. Last night was an absolutely gorgeous evening. There was absolutely no wind and the sky was clear. The stars were so bright - it was a wonderful night.

I've spent the past two evenings out in my craft room. I've really gotten away from watching TV and spending my evenings out there is a great relaxing way to finish off the day. I've pretty much finished the scrapbook of our trip to Arizona in 2010.  Just some journaling and a bit of embellishing to do and I can move on to the next one. I might put something on my loom first, take a bit of a break from the books. Of course, there are also a couple of sewing projects I'd like to start as well - so many things to do and now, the time and place to do them. The problem is deciding what to do first!


We had a snow storm on Wednesday night but it wasn't really much of a storm. We did get some snow but nothing really serious.  We had so much before Christmas and we really haven't gotten that much back again. Ontario, on the other hand, is crazy! Patti sent me a photo yesterday of the snowbanks in front of their house - they haven't seen snow like that in a very long time.  I'm sure the kids are having a great time with it but I know Patti is pretty much fed up with this winter. Can't say I blame her.  I remember the year my friends Fran, Pat and Katy were here and we had snowstorm after snowstorm the entire month of January. We had huge snowbanks and it just kept coming down. I'll bet they're thinking they're back in PEI this winter!



A good weekend coming up. Our friends who cancelled last weekend are coming for supper on Sunday. On Saturday I have a project to finish that requires a bit of heavy lifting,  due to a furniture (of sorts) purchase that I made recently. Stay tuned on Monday for photos and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Wednesday, February 5th - another storm on the way?

It's a calm and clear -10' this morning but apparently we could be in for up to 10' cm of snow later today and a high of -6;. I don't mind if it's a cloudy day. In fact I really enjoy cloudy mornings. The sun streaming in the windows at work during the winter months is slightly problematic. It's always nice to see but it makes working a little bit of a challenge, as it's right in my face for a few hours. If I could just sit back on my chair, close my eyes and imagine I was in some tropical location, it would be great!

Another good dance class last night. We've started working on a new routine. The first one still needs work but I suppose we do need to break it up a bit. Now that we're learning more new steps it's becoming quite a work out. Not a bad thing. Of course whatever good we did is probably cancelled out by the potato nachos and beer at the Gahan after.

A couple of years ago, for those who read this drivel on a regular basis, will recall that Brenda's church hosted a fund raiser. We offered up a catered dinner for 4 people and a local couple, Tracey and Robert, purchased it. A while later they and another couple arrived at my house for dinner. It was an interesting evening and I think they all enjoyed themselves.

Recently Robert was seriously injured in an accident. He works for a local tire company and is often into the dealership talking to our parts department. He was changing a tire on a large piece of equipment on the side of the road when it exploded. He suffered two broken legs, a broken arm, a broken wrist (on the other arm, I'm told) as well as fractured ribs. He's very, very lucky to be alive. He's in hospital and has had some surgeries but from what I understand, they can't put on casts until the flesh wounds heal. I can't begin to imagine how much pain he must be in. It just goes to show how much your life can change in a fraction of a second.

I was pleased to see a large sign outside the tire shop last night on my way downtown, advertising a benefit dance for him on February 15th at the Legion in Charlottetown.  I've been to one of these before and it's really a lot of fun. Besides the donations that people make at the door, they will have a silent auction as well as a cake auction. I will definitely be making a couple of special cakes for that one. This one's in town, not just Fort Augustus! SO they better be pretty special.  The last time was pretty fun because Lloyd was here at the time, so with him and Bernie and our friend Richard, there turned out to be somewhat of a bidding war. All good for the recipients!  Let's see if we can make something worthy of another bidding war!

Monday, February 3rd - this weekend was all about the food!

It's a milder -4' this morning and we're pretty much going to stay there for the day, with a mix of sun and cloud later on.  The snow predicted for Sunday did arrive but not as much as anticipated. Our friends had previously asked to reschedule dinner on Sunday just in case, so they are coming next week.

So with no one coming over we decided to make dinner for the Van Gaals. Being as Bernie is home but not very mobile, we cooked dinner and took it over to them.

We had Beer Braised Lamb Shanks, a potato dish called One Potato Two Potato Mash - a layer of white garlic mashed potatoes, topped with a layer of mashed sweet potatoes, then a topping of bread crumbs and grated cheddar cheese. We also had honey glazed carrots, green bean casserole and coleslaw. Dessert was a simple rhubarb and apple cobbler. All easy things to prepare but more importantly, easy to transport.

Bernie is only able to sit up for short periods of time so we called him to the table when it was ready to eat, and then as soon as he was done he went back to lie down. But I thought he did very well to last as long as he did.

If they can't come to us for dinner, there's no reason dinner can't come to them. All in all, it was a great evening.

Friday night we went down the road to Peake's for wings and beer. They have these really great wings - huge meaty and nicely breaded, with the selection of sauces on the side.

I worked on Saturday and stopped for some groceries on my way home. I picked up some ground chicken and Lloyd made some burgers with it. They were really delicious along with a caesar salad. A perfect light meal for a Saturday night in front of the TV.

Other than that, it was a pretty quiet weekend. I did do a bit of tidying and rearranging as I've just purchased a new bench for my kitchen. Stay tuned - more on that later. I have a plan - but then I usually do!