Friendly Manitoba

We got home on Sunday and the snow had receded.  YIPPEE!  Today we have a snowfall warning.  We only have about 6 inches.  North of us the highway is closed and they have over 15 inches.  Ain't life grand!  We are at home and the snow continues.  At least we have 4 wheel drive and should be able to get out tomorrow.  Meanwhile we have hamburgers cooking and a night of season finales to look forward to.  I plan on winning the lottery on Wednesday to off set this weather.   I might be persuaded to share

A couple or three things today...

The car is back in my driveway but still not sure what is wrong with it. The key will now go in, and also come out so it no longer locks - as of right now. I am to try it for awhile and give them feedback. So tomorrow I go to Huntsville to meet my friend Sue for our regular Spring luncheon together at Swiss Chalet. I shall remain positive and assume I shall have no troubles with the car! Another thing is that the water pump is not acting normal so I am worried. I spent the entire morning clearing a path and cleaning up a bit or best I could, and then placed a call to the plumber. I haven't heard back from him yet but tomorrow would not be a good day regardless so hoping for a Thursday appointment if possible? Also, we have another wild bird in a cage in our living room. Harry found it yesterday in the yard - it cannot fly apparently, so we have it in a cage to nurse it back? I have its cage close to the two budgies and their bird song is so wonderful and constant that maybe this black bird will feel at home! I met our new neighbour this afternoon. He was out raking his yard. The older couple left Monday and this fellow came from Holland to stay about a week, and then leave until July when he says he'll be back. His wife who I have not seen so don't know if she is also here, is the sister of the neighbours living across the street. That is where he is staying during this week while here. The older couple left some furniture in the house  and their gorgeous bedroom suite, and lawn tractor and snowblower all part of the private sale of the house.  Harry peaked out our back window yesterday and found the new man, and the across the street neighbours looking into our yard from next door. I've also have had that look and frankly it appears to be similar to a dump! We have so much scattered around. Maybe it is a good thing that they are not going to be full time live in owners for awhile haha Anyway, thats it for now. hope your Ravenesque meeting went well Patty. And hope your work is better Cathy with more staff now to help out! How did you enjoy your ACT weekend? Take  care

Little things

Your blog is such a good example of the theory that some small pleasant thought, memory, or deed, can set the tone of your whole day.  We don't have to actively look for or create these opportunities, but we have to be prepared to seize them when they appear.

Vivid description...

Hi, and quite a picture you painted Cathy - I could see you "vegging" out but then who says a nice glass of wine in a comfortable space is not all we really want - no party animal in me either haha!
The daily calendar I have this year is not quite as consistently inspirational as last years but from time to time jolts me with a good one - "Better to light one candle than to curse the dark - Chinese Proverb" I thought it was great and one that I can repeat to myself when the need presents itself. I took advantage of it yesterday when we went to North Bay. Harry wanted to go to the Bin Store for doggie treats and while there I spotted the Tim Horton kiosk across the corridor. I thought of you Patty and said to myself "why not" So I crossed over and got in queue behind approximately 15 others - the line was outside the kiosk area and down the mall corridor a bit but noone seemed concerned least of all me. I got a nice coffee for myself, and Harry wanted a ice cappucino and so with a Tims in hand, off to the car we went. It is amazing how good it felt for me. One must take advantage of such opportunities right? Anyway, I had to go back to North Bay today on my own, but had some car problems. At the gas station I couldn't get the key out of the ignition. Struggling for about 10 minutes and finally it could be removed. from the gas station I went to Walmart because Harry wanted some spray clear acrylic paint for lawn ornaments he is painting. As I stopped the car the same thing happened and no way would the key turn or come out. Fortunately I was still able to start the car so decided to head home. I backed the car into the driveway and left it run for Harry to try but it will still not work for him and a squirt of WD 40. The key is stuck/locked in the auxiliary slot of the three positions (Off and Auxiliary and Start) so I guess it is off to the garage again - My car was at the garage for three days last week getting multi work done - far more required than I ever expected. I was wondering if Patty, you and Dave went out for a Birthday meal to celebrate Gillians B'day? I pictured you having another apple pancake and my mouth was watering just thinking about it. well, I'm bushed from my exciting days plus all the outside work, so off to bed for me. No wine to sip! Oh well - apparently the LCBO employees will be going onstrike just before the May 24 weekend. Should I stock up? I read the article in the Free Press about Point du Bois. I was there twice when Daddy was working there - once with Gary an old boyfriend and then with Harry when we visited once. I loved the area and even spent time camping around there and Wallace Lake in my wilder single days - say what, and when was that you ask?  haha Take care

Party animal

I am not.  It is not quite 10 pm and I am sitting in my Hotel room ready for bed.  ACTFest time.  Watched plays all day today and there are a couple more tomorrow.  I don't think of myself as anti-social but I just want to veg.  Patty is back at work on Monday, so my workload will be much lighter. I am not sure what I will do with all my freetime!  We are hoping that most of our snow will be gone when we get home.  It was beautiful here today.  We went outside at every break.  I really want the snow to be gone.... it has been here far too long.  Rrain is here too, lying on the couch.  We left Jim at the dance. Rrain might go back, but I have had a shower and have my nightie on.  A glass of wine and into bed.  Sounds good.  Short and sweet message tonight, but at least I can get onto the blog whenever I want.

How to get a "free" gift card

Your blog post, Beth, brings to mind some advice my friend Rose Anne got when she went onto a site for hoarders.  Evidently the biggest hurdle is getting started, so the first task she was given was very simple  "Polish your kitchen sink".  She told us that she couldn't believe how that simple task was a catalyst for so many.  In order to polish the sink she had to wash dishes, but to do that she had to figure out which were clean and which were dirty, and then she had to decided whether she really wanted to wash all of that crap.  then she had to find space to put away all of the clean dishes, and so it goes.  Polishing her sink took a full day and resulted in several large green garbage bags going out the door.  Since then, it has taken her well over a year, and the offer of a larger apartment, but she did sort and move all of her stuff last fall.  I don't know if she has emptied all of the cardboard boxes yet, but she knows what's in them and they are neatly piled.

But, on the other hand, if you get rid of stuff, and there is an empty space, there is always the temptation to fill it.

So, what about the gift card.  The local Superstore sometimes will give you a $25 gift card if you spend more than $250 before tax.  Well I spent over $240, on Friday.  So, rush  back into the store to spend another $8.00.  Spent almost $18.00 to buy some steak I didn't need,  and taco seasoning.  What to do with the steak?  Put a Beef stew in the slow cooker this morning, and decided to make some Swiss Steak.  Not a favourite meal around here, but okay once in awhile.  David was in charge of portion control, and all of a sudden I had 4 meals of steak laid out.  Got it down to three, but it will take us months to eat it all, and it took a couple of hours labour.  Made me wonder if it was worth it, but then I remembered last month when money got a little tight toward the end of the month, and $25 worth of fresh fruit and veggies was quite welcome.

Yesterday, I received an invitation to teach my Free Motion and Machine Quilting workshop at Gwen Fox Gallery, in Selkirk.  I had left some preliminary information with them on Wednesday, knowing they had a Board meeting on Thursday.  Looks like it paid off.  This is for the expanded two day workshop and I will be teaching on two consecutive Saturdays, later this month.

Today's paper had a big spread on the town of Pointe du Bois, and the story that Manitoba Hydro is closing the town ( it's a "company" town, and they can do that)  All of the people have to be out within a few months, and the only store in town must close by the end of June.  Made me think about all of the summers when Dad had to work out there.  Wasn't it usually about 6 weeks at a stretch?  I remember that he used to spend his spare time picking fruit in the bush.  He would then bring it home, and Mom would just ignore it until it went bad.  So he then started to make his own wild plum jam, and, if I remember, kept making jam for many years, even after he and Phyllis moved to BC. That wasn't the only time she did that.  One summer I spent a week or more with Auntie Margaret out near Toulon, while she made some school clothes for me.  I spent time picking wild Cranberries and proudly brought them home to Mom.  She left them sitting by the door, until Dad threw them out.  I wonder if she was just annoyed about it, or, more likely, didn't know what to do with them.

Enough drivel.  David is doing well, I have some thing to look forward to over the next month, and so I am grateful

Doing something.....

I heard an interview on the radio last week about people who need to "declutter" and the person said you have to do something  - so start by each day for a year getting rid of ten things and by the end of the year you will see a difference. I have been thinking a lot about this and started to do this very thing - with my things. It has been simple like shredding paperwork or sorting through a box of assorted sewing notions that I will never use. and today organizing shelves. when I went through a bag of scrap fabric yesterday, I found a project that I stated several years ago - an appliqued coffee cup onto a block - very rough start of a project but as I looked at it, and ironed it flat, I realized that I was on the right track - so maybe here is another item for me to reattempt. I started a list of unfinished projects - may never get to them but it is fun to see how creative I have been, or could be haha! The ice is almost off the lake - one morning this week I went down and only saw the rotting ice on the lake, but when I went back at night, the wind had caused an enormous pile of ice across the town dock where I walk each day - it was huge and covered most of the dock and very high and broad. I took a picture with my phone and came home to send but realized I have no connection from my phone to the computer - so even if I now know what to do with pictures, I don't have what I need to do it! So here is a greeting to you both to have a good weekend - I shall call when I win the millions $$$$$. Have you heard that Lotto 649 is changing and although the price will increas to $3.00 a ticket, there will be a guaranteed $1 million prize each draw. This is nice to hear however will probably not impact me in any way - I can't seem to get the right numbers no matter what draw I enter. But at least I am trying and when I walked up this afternoon to the lottery store with the dog, not only did I buy a ticket, but I also bought a bag of Old Dutch potato chips and ate them on the way home! So there! Take care