Did the Easter Bunny come to your home?

I was out early with the dog and to check the greenhouses, but I couldn't find any chocolate eggs hidden for me.But I did listen to the weather report on the radio and somehow missed the call for rain today. That should present with a very interesting day of shovelling and worry so I am going to prepare myself a nice special Easter breakfast to get me in the mood haha Rain will certainly help rid ourselves of some snow, but will also bring with it runoff and pools of water lying around the house and yard. So far the melt has been gradual and managable - lets hope it remains thus! Well, yesterday was our last trip to Zellers in Huntsville - the store closed offically as of March 30 but we were there at 0730 lined up at the door for the final mad rush with most items at 90% off.I thought we had bought most of everything over the last wek attending every day except Good Friday when the store was closed. But somehow came home again with bags and bags. There is something I haven't mentioned yet is that Harry signed up with Nielsen HomeScan to do homescanning of all purchases We received a home scanning barcode device with instructions and have to log in every item with barcode, price and store etc. Each week I log onto the web site and download my recorded purchases. A person can accummulate reward points and get prizes once you reach certain amounts.  So.I am also doing this everytime we shop. Lots of fun! But with every day we visited Zellers this past week, it became a ritual to have to come home, line it all up and start barcode scanning. Each grocery trip also requires this same procedure.
Well, to you all I wish a very Happy Easter and hope you enjoy this special day. Patty will have Diane over to visit so should a great day, and Cathy has Rrain for dinner and TV hookups |I think? so great fun there as well. By the way Cathy I see on the news that the Men's Worlds has started in Victoria BC - hope you are cheering for Northern Ontario rink as this years Team Canada. I wish them good curling. Take care

Spring

I forgot to mention.  Yes, spring is coming, even if the temp remains below zero. The geese are back at the Taxation Centre, and we are experiencing fog again in the early mornings.

Musing yet again

I read in today's paper that a man has successfully sued Disney World, for pain and suffering, after he had been left stranded on the ride "It's a Small World" for over 30 minutes, while they had been unable to turn the music off.  I went on that ride.  I was never so glad to get off a ride before, nor since.  That  same four line song over and over and over and over.  I think he earned every penny of the $8000--the hard way.  And I mean it.

David bought his new LED, 39" flat screen tv today. It fits the living room beautifully ( we measured)  It has been years since we had a new tv, having got the last couple at garage sales, usually from Amber and Darren.  This means that we have to get a High Definition box from Shaw, but they don't have any right now, ( We're on the waiting list).  It still looks a lot better than the old one, and fits the space much, much better.

I've been having more problems with my hands, and think I'm probably seeing the end of my ability to stitch by hand, and to sew on beads.  This makes me very sad.  But in the past, recognizing that I'm down has usually given me the ability to deal with the "blues". However the future may work out, my friend Dianne is coming over tomorrow to spend the day in the studio with me, and she can always make me laugh.  And I am still able keyboard and play poker.

For today, I'm grateful that we have anew tv.  It was time.  And I am, again, grateful for prune juice.

Productive days

are really great, but somehow it should be later than it is.  Breakfast was made and eaten. The dishes are done, the last load of laundry is in the dryer, the kitchen is tidied, the floors are cleaned.   I shoveled out Rrain's shed (there wasn't much snow) and hauled all her empty boxes out.  I've played a couple of games on the computer and decided it was happy hour and I would have a glass of wine.  It's only 12:30!  This is just not right!  The best part is, I have 3 more days to go!  I really needed the break.  I have been so busy at work trying to catch up from being off sick and doing 2 jobs.  Shirley & Patty were puttering around, organizing papers, talking,,,,,, and there was Cathy... too busy to stop and breathe.  The bad part is I am making mistakes because I am trying to get all my work done in too  much of a hurry.  I did get an email saying my acting status was approved and would be retroactive to Jan 1.  That should get me a bit of back pay.  It will go on bills, but at least I will have some money to pay the bills.  The weather is warming up a bit finally.  Not as warm as they originally forecast, but we will have a couple of days above zero.  I want spring to come, but we really don't need a quick melt because of the flood risk.  Maybe it could get warm just around here.  All we have is the Whitemud and its idea of flooding is to reach the highway.   We are having turkey on Sunday.  Rrain is coming over.  Kris & Sandi are in Souris.  Her whole family will be there (even the ones from Alberta)  Kris's new store opens in a couple of weeks.  He says it will be really nice and new.  He will be busy but I think he is looking forward to being there.  Not to the move though.  I am going to get  Rrain to help me hook up NetFlix on Sunday.  We have a tv downstairs that is capable, but I usually watch upstairs so I am going to see if we can hook something up.  If not, Jim will just have to give up his TV occasionally.  I think he will like netflix since it has so many old shows and classic movies (as well as the "girlie" movies that he likes though he hates it when I call them that)  The dryer is calling me.  Today I am really grateful that I will have some time off with no housework yelling at me to get done.  It has been a while.  (of course I am ignoring my office.  It doesn't count)  Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter.

The Sun, the Sun...

...is shining brightly and I can hardly wait to get outside. I just put a wash into the machine and have a coffee ready to go. Yesterday I dug out a lawn chair and placed it into a snowbank in the back yard, and sat there with the dog and a glass of wine. Do you know how pleasant that was? I am about to open up the greenhouses for the day - take off the covers and turn down the electric heaters.The sun shines into the greenhouses and heats them up a bit during the day. These wonderful days are being very productive for the Maple Syrup industry - last year it was a disaster but with cool night time temps and warm sunny day time temps, the sap is apparently flowing nicely. So is the snow off our roof haha but is controlled right now - I account the difference to my vigilence over the winter in keeping them clear but that maybe just to make me feel good! I spoke with the old Hospital yesterday and confirmed I am no longer receiving benefits as of end of March - sad. I also made a Dr appt in order to have a form signed for one of my meds to be covered by Ontario Drug Benefits. I received my full HOOPP Pension for April anticipating a reduction as result of lost bridging but that will likely happen May 1 or they may ask for a refund? Who knows - I will have to go with the flow haha Well Happy Easter to all, and enjoy your days off. Take care

Another day, another adventure

This morning the phone woke us to let us know that my compression stockings were in.  David says "Let's just go, and we can buy breakfast".  Off we go, spent over an hour getting all of my instructions about the stockings, then to the bakery, and finally to our side of town for breakfast. But by now it was 11:30, and Tim's stops serving at 12:00.  I had mentioned that we had never had breakfast at a fairly new Tim's, half way to Transcona on Regent, a little further from where we were than the ones in East Kildonan, where we usually go.  Now, if we are going toward home, we take the Disraeli Freeway, but if we are heading toward Kildonan Place, where we planned to go this morning to shop, we have to take the Louise Bridge and then East, along Nairn.  So along Higgins toward the Louise Bridge, but traffic is quite backed up, and cars ahead of us are turning around and heading back.  This is very unusual for a Tuesday morning.  We finally go close enough and realized that a large semi had tried to drive under the railway overpass just south of the bridge and didn't have enough clearance, and was now wedged under the overpass, in an area of the street with only one traffic lane.What to do, what to do?  While I mentally revised my planned breakfast menu to a lunch menu, we talked about which route would be fastest, back to Disraeli, and try to get through, or South on Waterfront to the Provencher Bridge and through St. Boniface.  We chose Provencher, not realizing how far North of that area we were.  Through St. Boniface with one eye on the clock, down Mission ( a tried and true short cut) to Panet, and then disaster,  There is a freight train stalled across the level crossing just north of Mission on Panet, and traffic is well backed up. Quickly, we turned South on Panet, aiming to get through to Lagimodiere through Warman Road, a 1/4 mile south.  So did everyone else that had been caught, including half of the lined up cars--who were all turning around and heading for the same intersection as we were.  Warman and Lagimodiere does not have traffic lights, and there is only a stop sign in front of us, not on Lagimodiere.  Finally, roaring up Lagimodiere, onto Regent, we make our way to the Tim's, which requires a left hand turn across traffic, and there are three vehicles ahead of us.  It's 11:55.  We get into the parking lot, I rush to the washroom, while David goes to the counter.  Yes, we made it with 2 minutes to spare, sat for a couple of minutes catching up to ourselves, and then thoroughly enjoyed our biscuits.

I have been wearing the stockings all day, even while having my nap.  They are quite fine.  My legs feel better, and for some reason, I seem to have more energy today.  Most of all, I was told that, if  I wear them everyday, there is no reason for me to sleep with my feet elevated on a pillow ( or on the 3 pillows the doctor recommended). For that I am grateful.

More trips to Zellers

The Zellers store will close on March 30 and the percentage off on some items is already 80 to 90%. I bought myself a new watch today for $4.29, and some greeting cards for 10 cents each. That even beats the Dollar Store! Of course, the stock is also diminishing so selection is limited. I bought a nice sheet set for double bed for $7.99 - could make a nice gift? While we were in Huntsville we also went to Harry's sisters place to take a bread making machine - her husband was home (she was a work) and  Harry showed him how to get it started ( I had measured and packaged to take with us the ingredients for a loaf of white bread) We had four of these machines so I didn't mind giving them one. He sent an email to say the loaf turned out so good, he was making another loaf already. I actually like making fresh bread in our machine but you can only eat so much.The weather is starting to cooperate and I can actually see the snow starting to melt away. It feels so glorious to walk down to the lake and enjoy the sun shining down as you sit on a bench and view the peacefulness of the snow covered lake. There are still some huts on the lake - need to be off by end of March. There is also some open water along the shore, too! Otherwise the greenhouses and planting and watering etc monopolize a good portion of my day - there are already red flowers on the geraniums that we wintered over inside, and then planted in pots out there. Things are growing very quickly now that the temp is increasing. The cold days of Feb and March were not good for them, but they all survived those miserably frigid spells (thanks to keeping the heaters going haha) Take care