so what am I doing today, you ask

Since many chores have been neglected lately, I checked the calendar for the week and discovered nothing scheduled to use as avoidance.  So, today we make the apple pies for the freezer.  David had sorted the freezer all out to make room for them.  We had planned a minimum of two large ones and up to 8 small ones ( 2 serving size).  I made a big batch of pastry, and mixed a big batch of sugar, cinnamon and minute tapioca.  David started peeling and slicing apples.  Oh, Oh--apples aren't so good, had to throw a couple away.  Ended up with two large pies in the freezer and a big bowl of leftover pastry.  So--we make butter tarts, but couldn't find the recipe.  Finally found one that sounded about right in one of my cookbooks ( it was surprising how many of them, including Company's Coming, had NO recipe for butter tarts!).  David commented that it might be a treat to have some cinnamon toast if there was left over cinnamon sugar--so I spent about half an hour trying to put the cinnamon/sugar/tapioca through a sieve.  Cinnamon toast for breakfast tomorrow! Couldn't save the tapioca, though.

Meanwhile I was ordering magazine subscriptions over the internet, and decided that it would be a good time to order a video I've been looking at for awhile.  An hour and a half to download, and I do this so seldom that I'm not sure what I'm doing.  It finished downloading and started playing( all by itself--I didn't ask it to!!) just as there was a crisis time in the kitchen, so I stopped it, planning to play it later.  It totally disappeared.  Nowhere to be found!  Frustration and bad words!!  So it was downloaded again, but  this time I pressed "save" instead of "run", and when the download was finished I sat and watched the whole thing, before exploring ways to save it for posterity.  Meanwhile David, discovered that the toilet was broken, and set out to fix it.  First set of "innerds" turned out to be useless and he is now trying to fit in the second set (That's two trips Rona in less than an hour) To deal with everyone's frustrations I have suggested that we walk over to the mall and get some shrimp fried rice to go with the chicken planned for supper.  Won't save any money but we'll feel as though we've had a treat.

And, this being Hallowe'en, the church across the street has a big sign out front inviting people in to warm up or use the washroom.  So, for today I'm grateful that I don't have to worry about having a toilet to use until at least 9:00 tonight

Now I can breathe!

Just got home from delivering my three pieces to the gallery in Selkirk for their month-long exhibition.  I will be volunteering in the gallery on three separate days during that time and there will be a reception November 13th in the afternoon--should anyone be available.  Now, I have no more deadlines until April, amd it's the time of year to hunker down and find busy work.  The next step is to sit down and make up a list of the next few commitments I have.  Luckily the commitment part is in my head and not on paper.

 Having said all of that, I've poked my head up and started looking around the house.  OMG!  So vacuuming, and freezing pies is in my immediate future.  Having bought poultry with Cathy's help, we stocked up on beef and pork this weekend.  Not a lot, as I'm not supposed to have a lot  (any?) of it, but every once in awhile I get that craving.  The price is certainly right this year, and I have to wonder why that is.  A lot of beef producers had to cull their herds with all of the flooding last srpring, and it's obvous that there isn't much hay around.  Always the little guy that suffers, isn't it?

We are blessed with nice weather.  I was communicating with a lady in North Carolina today and she said that the weather forecast for her area was for snow this weekend.  Never happened this early before on records.  So, of course, I had to tellher about the beautiful fall weather we're having here.  Someone will get me for that!

David had a cancerous growth removed form his nose last Wednesday.  It was supposed to be minor surgery, but he looks like he's been beaten!  A lot of bruising, and swelling,, and there are about 8 ugly, black stitches.  His face is too sore to shave, so I was out shopping with a pretty scruffy bugger today.

But we have food, ( freezers and pantry are full)  and shelter ( Hydro was in and changed the gas meter on Friday), and High Definition tv, so we are ready for winter--and for that I am grateful but broke.

Finally finished

The beading on the piece I need to deliver by Saturday.  I still have all of the finishing to do, but thankfully, it won't need blocking.

Everything else in my life has been on hold for a week and a half now.  David has been a brick, picking up a lot of the slack and running errands for me.  So you would think things will be back to normal now, but the next week is going to be  pretty busy.  Amber and the girls were over for supper tonight,and the little one was cranky and full of cold.   Amber says she hasn't been sleeping with the cold, and that tonight probably won't be much better.  Amber, herself is showing the strain, and I worry. She has a lot on her plate.  I remember those days of full time work and small children--not a good time in any woman's life.

We all have such different lives.  All of us have stressors, but they are very different for each of us.  I'm feeling very introspective tonight, thinking of life, love and mortality. Maybe the time of year reflects the time of our lives.  Wow!  Maybe I should just have a glass of wine and go to bed.  And I'm grateful for having enough wine in the house to do that--whenever it's needed.

Same here

Have been very busy working on a deadline for a new piece.  I really hate deadlines, and avoid them religiously, but got caught this time.  I have to have this finished for delivery a week today and have other commitments for most days next week.  So have figured out the hours and need to work every minute I can. 

I'l be in touch when I can.

Be - Still here....

...a quick note just to say I'm still here but haven't been able to check or write for awhile. So nice to see the picture – wine glasses and all! Terrible weather becomes very depressing day after day – and tonight a severe weather watch with forecasts of approx 40 mm rain, and winds up to 90km/hour. Yippee. Happy to read all your news and hopefully I'll be able to write a longer note soon. Take care

Holidays are over....

... time to go back to work for a rest. I think the closest I came to a vacation day was last Friday when I skipped meat draw and stayed home. I tried to suck Pati into taking some beets and carrots but I think she was on to me. As a result I have got 16 bags of beets in the freezer and we had some for supper. I put Auntie Lorrain's sauce on them. Yummy! I still have the carrots to do, but the garden is completly empty now. Jim is hoping to get some of the leaves tilled in to give the sandy soil some body. Rrain had a good time at her conference in Winkler. She met some nice people and made some good contacts for work. She came home excited. Except for the part where she did something to her neck and is currently living on T3's. She brought home some cinnamon buns too. My mind wonders back to food over and over. That must explain my size. We are having an inches challenge at work now. We are recording our cumulative loss of inches from now until March. I have a feeling that after this week I will be starting all over again. I think it is just a scam 'cause Patty & James are planning to get married and Patty wants to look good in her wedding dress. They don't have a date set, so I guess the challenge will go on until she is happy. Rrain says she will be crashing early tonight, but I think I might beat her. After digging up the garden and then processing the beets and cooking supper and cleaning everything up, I am sore and tired. One good thing about beets is that you DO clean up right away and don't leave anything until the next day. Tomorrow when I get up for work :( the kitchen will be clean. Today I am grateful that I got to see Pati, even though it was a whirlwind trip. It is nice to have that phyisical touch.

An adventure and lunch

But first----Lunch

Yes, a flying trip up to Neepawa to pick up the chickens and turkeys that we ordered.  They arrived unexpectedly yesterday. A beautiful fall day, and much better than maybe driving through snow in a couple of weeks.  But--another very windy day. David had quite a time keeping the car on the road on the way up.  We went through the best part of 1/2 a tank of gas just getting there!  We had said that  it would be a flying visit, but it turned out to be a little more flying than I expected--I don't think we spent 1/2 an hour there!  David really wanted to make sure we got home before dark and we made it around 4:00.

On the way up we noticed an "open" sign at the pottery, so stopped in on the way home.  We have wanted to get one or two more small covered casseroles for awhile now, as the ones we had are slowly cracking beyond use.  Well, I guess we arrived at the end of day 3 of the sale.  We found more fibre art than pottery, and no sign of any covered casseroles.  Just as we were about to leave David spotted one on the table behind the cash desk, and remarked that it looked like exactly what we wanted.  She then said that it had a rough spot and if we wanted it--she would give it to us!  Say what!?!

Of course, then I felt obligated to buy something,but we honestly couldn't find anything that we wanted--and we were prepared to spend the equivelent to the price of a casserole.  So we ended up buying a coffee mug to go with my collection, but now it's home, I see that it really doesn't match.

It must be a long time since we were out that way.  They are building two huge overpasses on the West Perimeter just North of the race track.  This is obviously a major project and the signs predict that it will take two years to finish.  It's also interesting to see the development going on in Headingly.  This is definitely a growing community.  There are housing developments North of the highway, for as far as you can see.  There is also water in most of the creeks and rivers--not common at this time of year.

The trip home was much easier.  The wind still howled but it was a tail wind.  It must be fall--there were an awful lot of roadkill.  And a lot of idiots on the road.  But overall, I'm grateful today for the washrooms at Tim's in Portage, and a day spent in the company of my husband

Be - Let the rains begin......

The less than ideal weather began yesterday and continues today, and apparently will continue through out the weekend. I had to set up the sump pump again this afternoon as I got frustrated with shovelling water away from under the front window where it always accumulates. I had hoped that getting the roof fixed, and eaves trough affixed properly, that we wouldn't be bothered with this problem, but apparently not. Although in all fairness, the eaves are full of fallen leaves so I guess I will have to clean it out once the weather improves. It didn't stop me though from working for about two hours outdoors – really "indoors" if you count being in the greenhouse. I took down all the plants that were in there over the summer – tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and parsley. Only a few small tomatoes and some peppers to harvest, and they were not going to grow any more. Now it is empty and ready to put back the shelves for over winter and then early in the year, Harry will be planting seeds and the fun begins again. I need to retape the seams, and doors with Gorilla tape in attempt to try to keep the heat in, once we get the electric and propane heaters going in the spring. I have already banked the outside with soil, and then raked up leaves hoping that may make a difference. I found a store in the next town of South River where I can turn in my used pocketbooks that I purchased, and get a credit for buying other used books. Today I accrued $13. 46 of credit – the books are not too expensive to purchase either, so I may utilize this option as well as borrow from the library. I got another library book today and so tonight I shall start a new Steve Berry novel. I enjoyed browsing through the Cloth Paper Scissor magazine and found so many really neat ideas I'd like to try if only I could. How about making "A parliament of owls", or gift tags, or a Christmas tree of scraps and buttons, or a coffee cup holder ? It all looks so interesting. I did have to use my machine though on Wednesday and I , too, had some trouble with the thread. Mother has a very old apron that she loves to wear – it is actually rotten, but I have sewn it two times already and went for a third time. Very difficult to stitch rotten material, but I managed to make it so that she can wear it for a little bit more. But something was wrong with the threading as it kept bunching and pulling on me. I took it apart and cleaned the bobbin area, and then rethreaded it completely and it worked. I think that I did not have the top thread in properly for some reason but this added a bit to my frustration of even having to sew the apron. Aunt Evelyn called tonight and spoke with Harry – Uncle Walter who is in the Nursing Home is deteriorating quickly in health and she is worried – wants to go every day and stay for a longer time to be with him. She knows we are visiting on Tuesday again and suggested that we spend more time there with him. She says it will give her a little break! Oh boy. Anyway, time for bed

Not a great day

Started with a very poor night's sleep.  Had planned to spend the day working on my piece for the gallery show at the end of the month, but then spent 2 hours trying to figure out why the machine was giving me grief.  Decided it was the timing as I had accidently sewn over a pin yesterday while trying to demonstrate to the two students I had.  So I called and arranged to take the beast in for servicing.  I had bought some very expensive thread that had been highly recommended and sewing with it had turned into a disaster.  I had contacted the company over the internet and had no reply so decided to take back all of the unopened thread for refund, and then stop to buy some paint for my class on the same trip.  Dropped the machine off, but likely won't get it back until next week.  Okay, I've still got the old Pfaff as a back-up.  Took the thread back, and refused to be intimidated by the dragon who manages the shop, and got a refund on my credit card.  Hit the paint store but they only had 2 of the 10 colours I need.  No wonder they offer the deal of buy 5 and get a big tube of white free ( regular $20)!

When we got home there was a reply from the thread company offering some realistic suggestions.  But I was exhausted and had a nap.  So now I've spent about an hour trying to get the Pfaff going, and discoverd that I have a problem with the thread I normally use! so I've given up for the evening,but I'm probably too tired still to play poker!

So today I'm grateful that I own a back-up machine--even if I haven't quite got it operating yet.

Be - Luncheon out

Today I met friend Sue for lunch in Huntsville at the Swiss Chalet. Our semi annual event – once in Spring, and once in Fall. It rained torrential downpour on the way there so much so I feared I may have to stop the car. Once into the town it stopped a bit – enough for me to go the dollar store and purchase an umbrella for $1.25 since I had not brought one. It was sunny in Sundridge when I left. Enjoyed a nice lunch and conversation with Sue. She always has lots to share and it is fun to listen but I find I am becoming less and less engaged because her life is nothing like mine and I feel somewhat detached. And she always brings a little gift – today it was two packages of hasty notes that she had printed with pictures of her watercolour paintings on the front. She does lovely paintings, and also writes so is very talented. On the way home I stopped at convenience store and picked up a copy of the Winter 2011/2012 Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine – I haven't read one of those for years. And I nearly died when I was asked for the very expensive cost at the till – I was too embarrassed to return it to the shelf so actually bought it, but now will have the pleasure of reading it in bed tonight. So I really splurged on myself today with lunch out, and magazines etc, but it feels so good !!! I have been trying to follow the news re: the Jets, and the Bombers but so little comes on about it locally, and I haven't got the WFP on my favourites yet. CBC television does not broadcast football anymore, and rarely hockey unless it is Saturday night so I may not get to see much action. Most is viewed on TSN and we still only have two channels – CTV, and CBC with the use of rabbit ears. Sorry I missed the Lion Ceremony, but apparently most of you there did as well!  Mike and I have often mentioned the time when we flew to Wpg for the May long weekend years ago and he had the honour of carrying the beast at that time but he hauled it outside for the summer. Today on the radio I actually got through to the contest line which is a miracle in itself, but I am now registered at a chance to win a weeks vacation for two to Jamaica in January. Now I am worried that I might actually win, and this presents a few problems because I really don't want to go, and we can't go together because of Mothers care, and so I see this as a dilemma. I am not even sure that the tickets would be transferrable so that I might offer to Mike and a friend, or maybe Harry's brother and wife. Our passports are due for renewal Feb 2012 and I have actually got the applications already to do that, all we would need is new pictures and $87.00 each. Just when you think things are going fine, something as simple as a free trip to Jamaica becomes another issue haha!  Tralee for now......

Catch up

The panic is over.  The big rush gone, and I now have time to think. Most of Thursday was spent out in Selkirk for the selection porocess for a galery exhibition. ( I think I mentioned that)  Sunday was great with the children all over.  Of course, dinner is wild with such a small kitchen.  Everyone fends for themselves ( little ones with Mother's help), and we all try to sit at the table.  Gillian wanted to learn how to make whipped cream, but was barely tall enough to handle the small hand mixer. This just a couple of days after her audition for The Nutcracker, when she found out--probably for the first time in her life, that she was too big for something.  She is 4'10'' and the size limit was 4"8".  She seems so tiny, but she's the same height as her Great-Grandmother Findlay. Loren and his children arrived at almost the last minute, as he had been watching the Jets' game on his big screen tv.  We watched some of the celebrations after we ate, as well.

We did play "that dice game".  It's so nice to have a game that everyone can play from 3 years to adult.  Samantha gets bored and wanders off after 5-10 minutes, but she still feels as though she was part of it.  She hasn't noticed that no-one is writing down her score.

 Before everyone went home we had a Lion Ceremony--we forgot to do it earlier. Now, this wasn't much of a ceremony.  Loren's leg was bothering him, so they decided to use the wheelbarrow to transport the poor beast to the garage.  ( No-one was willing to try to get him down the basement stairs.)  By the time we got out there it was dark.  The little girls weren't sure what was going on and the older ones didn't care.  Amber had disappeared.  I was off looking for Amber, and missed half of it.  But he got moved, and will rest in the garage until next May.

Monday my Ravenesque group came for the day.  A very nice way to spend a day, but it still meant that I had to tidy up the studio and prepare food and drink.  Tuesday I finally got to start the quilted hanging that I've promised for a gallery exhibition at the end of the month--and it all has to be hand-beaded.  There is a second piece for the exhibition that is half beaded but will have to be framed. 

Today I taught two ladies how to make reversible quilts.  We had a great time, and then found out that there had been confusion about my fees.  Big embarrasment for all. The yhad thought that my hourly fee was the fee for the total class.  As if!!  At first I said that it was fine and I would take what was offered but one of them ( the one who had organized everything) insisted she would pay me.  So I got my money, but they went away unhappy, and I probably won't see them again.

But I forgot to take anything out of the freezer for supper, so we're eating pizza from Giant Tiger.  But there is nothing more on the calendar until next week and for that I am grateful.

I'm Back!!!

Finally my computer has let me back into the blog. It just wouldn't load it for the last couple of days, and then no problem today. It sounds like the two of you have been busy. We had the high winds here for a couple of days. Our lawn chairs blew around the yard, but since most of our fall clean up is done there was little else to damage. You are obviously the big winners in the lottery this week. I had high hopes when I heard the 50 million went to Ontario, but I guess it wasn't you, Beth. We had company for dinner last night. Rodney & Kristy came over and we had Turkey, and potato casserole, and carrots, and beans, and stufffing, and gravy and salad and buns and, of course pumpkin pie and whipped cream (it was more like spanked cream though, because I got tired before it was really stiff) Kristy took a care package home to Tyler. He was lying on the couch and decided to stay there, Jim said we should have sent him a lettuce sandwich. Today is Rrains birthday and she has asked for Chinese. Jim checked and the restaurant is open for supper so we will be ordering take out. None of us want to go to the restaurant where we have to behave ourselves and can't wear our pajama pants with the elastic waist! :) I have the week off work and I am so looking forward to it. I was going to stay home the whole week, but tomorrow we take Chace to the vet's to be neutered, and Wednesday we are getting a meat order in, and Thursday Jim wants to go to Brandon to look for running boards for the truck and suddenly it is Friday. Rrain is going to a conference in Winkler from Thursday night til Sunday so the house will seem very empty without her. I hope she has a good time. I think she will enjoy it because it is a showcase of artists and performers and I think she will like a number of the people she meets there. I was going to go, and I think if I hadn't already had holidays booked I might have taken a couple of extra days and gone but I just want to stay home for the week.Chace has taken to eating shoes. Both Rrain and I have had to throw away a pair. We have tried hitting him with the shoes but I am not sure he gets the idea. I said we should show him a shoe and call him bad before we take him to the vets. Maybe he will conect the two in his tiny little mind. I know he is just a dog, but I was so used to Chi's intelligence that I find Chace kind of slow. He has really come around in the last couple of weeks. He spent the first few weeks here with his tale between his legs, cowering at everything and whining. Now his tale wags and he runs around and even barks at the coyotes. He still cowers at sudden moves towards him, but we have had Nika for 10 years and she still cowers sometimes. You have to wonder what was done to them before you met them. JIm is up and dressed now, so I guess he wants me to get busy and start cleaning the kitchen. (actually, he usually cleans up while I am at work. I guess he figures this is his holiday too.) Today I am grateful for all sorts of things. For family and friends, for the opportunity to rescue pets and give them a few years of happiness, for a truck that eats gas, but is so much more dependable on rough roads and just for being alive.

Be - OMG

...here I am eating a big piece of cheese cake and sipping at another glass of sherry. Two days down and one to go..... OK so that explains the cake and sherry, right? I have to prepare breakfast tomorrow so will get the pancake batter ingredients together tonight but when we got home tonight at around 6 pm. I realized that I was short of milk for tomorrow and needed to buy some more. Thank goodness the local corner store was open but of course you pay a high price for milk there. C'est la vie! I spoke with Mike briefly tonight – he was able to go skeet shooting yesterday inspite of being really busy with work– off to Petawawa this week again. There may be a chance to see him on Tuesday when we go to North Bay – always a treat for me.  I hear about the wild fires in south east Manitoba worsened in part by those fierce winds of which you spoke Patty. Spring was filled with floods, and  lakes and water from horizon to horizon, and now wild fires – is there no happy medium? I plan to look at my map tonight to refresh my geography of that area. Thanks for the details r/t the dice game. I plan to play with myself- sounds like fun, eh? Until tomorrow, take care!

winning

I, too, got a free play on Friday night's draw AND won $2 on Saturday's 649.  Let the celebration begin!

that dice game

Five dice.  Winner is the first player to reach an agreed upon amount--often 5000, but we play until 10,000
-ones count for 100
-fives count for 50
-three of a kind count for 100 times the dots on one dice i.e 3 fours count as 400, three fives count as 500, except for 3 ones which count as 1000   A fourth one will only count as an extra 100.  This is the only time 2's, 3's or 6's can score.
-each player must roll 1000 or moer in one turn to open and start recording scores.
-each player keeps rolling until he rolls something without either a one or a five, in which case he looses everything.  To keep going, a  player must keep at least a  one or a five from each roll, and thereby roll fewer and fewer dice at each roll in his turn, until he has a one or five on all five dice, at which point he can start rolling all five.  This can keep going as long as there is a one or five on each roll.
-Once a player has opened, he can choose to stop rolling and keep whatever his score is at that time, on each turn.
-if a player stops without keeping score from all five dice, provided the next player has opened, he can take a regular turn OR he can then take whatever dice are left and roll only those dice.  If he scores a one or five he can keep going and thereby "steal" the same amount as the previous player had rolled and taken.  This player can continue rolling until he chooses to stop or makes a roll without a one or five, and looses it all.  "Stealing" can move around the table, getting bigger and bigger, until someone makes a roll without a one or five.

I know this sounds complicated, and I've gone into a lot of detail.  It is really a fun game, and it becomes quickly obvious why it's sometimes called "Oh shit"

Be - gorgeous here

But unable to capitalize at home on the yard work as was at Mothers all day. Just got home at 6 pm so after collecting a few items ready to head out again in the morning, here I sit listening to Randy and having a glass of sherry. I just checked the Lotto Max numbers and won a free play only so will try again next week for the big loot. Meanwhile for the Thanksgiving weekend, one day down and two to go......not bad! Tomorrow is the big turkey dinner so likely get intense at some point in the day as we try to prepare the meals. I made a most delicious cherry cheese cake that we ate at lunch today and I must say I truly enjoyed it. Was able to bring home a piece ( purposely leftover ) and will savour the time when I shall eat it all up haha You have to look forward to something, right? Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend – that is if you don't get blown away. By the way, please remind of the basic play and scores for "that dice game" – I did not write it down when we played it at the lake with Dianne. I'll recall it quickly if you just give me the basics. Thanks. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

Strange day

It was breezy while we were out.  Later, I had a bit of a nap, and woke up to howling wind.  Our chairs were blowing around outside,and we had to put our recycling boxes in the garage.  We even found empty soft drink cans in the front yard.  I can't remember the last time I experienced such strong winds.  Most of the trees are now bare. Right as we were finishing supper the power went out, and stayed out for almost  2 hours.  We ended up playing "that dice game" by candle light. When the power cameback on the wind was totally gone.  Go figure!

But then what am I grateful for today?  I think I'm grateful for being able to take a nap when I need it--and I really needed it today.

Canadian Tire money

I remember collecting it before Amber's wedding social.  We wanted one of the prizes to be $100.00 of Canadian Tire  money and for weeks before, we were all buying our gas there.  I think Darren still goes there often and saves the money.

Yesterday was spent at the gallery in Selkirk helping out with the selection of pieces for an exhibition there next month.  There weren't too many entries, despite our trying to get the word out over the past year.  A bit disappointing, but we were prepared for that happening and have enough to fill the gallery from other sources.  Unfortunately, I made the arrangements knowing I had the time, but not realizing that David had an appointment.  So he dropped me off at Tim's in Selkirk before noon.  I had a drink and then walked to the gallery.  It was a bit of a hike, certainly further than the walk from house on Maplewood to the top of the street-which Daddy always said was about 1/2 mile.  I have been walking  more lately, and have a new pair of outdoor shoes that are much more supportive.  And I did it!

Today was spent grocery shopping for the weekend and the rest of the month.  Now I'm beat.  Still have lots to do before Sunday though.

Be - wow! wine tasting tour

I remember going to a Brewery Tour and Tasting in Germany once, and a Champagne Tour in France, but never a Wine Tasting Tour including three different Wineries. The buying is the result they are hoping for when you tour and taste. Daddy always said as we approached the only exit (which was always through a gift store ) after a tour or tourist attraction- "Now comes the commercial break...." Glad to hear your weekend was enjoyable and stimulating for you. You will need a few days to get back to your usual self I am sure – always great to get away but nicer still to return, right?

I have a new vacuum – this is actually a milestone event for me. We bought it at Canadian Tire with Canadian Tire money. Have you ever had to stand in line for about 20 minutes while the cashier counts one by one all the paper money. We had it all organized into denominations, counted and written on each package so it made it easier for her to count. What a savings to be able to use that money as actual cash. It pays to save it all. We get most of it by buying gas in North Bay because that is where we fill up the van every week. I unpackaged it this morning, put it all together as per instructions and gave it a try and low and behold it works!

This evening we attended a seminar put on by the local Funeral Home on Legal issues of POA's and Wills, Service Canada on CPP and OAS, and on estate Planning, and Pre Planning Funerals. It came with a free dinner – roast beef! Unfortunately, the attendance was low, but the info was great and because of the low attendance turned into a rather nice informal sharing of info and Q&A. Well worth going, and now I have a better idea of how to proceed with a few things – just hope we can turn this info into reality with tangible results in the midst of everything else. To Mothers tomorrow again, and then start to get ready for weekend. I am still trying to get work done in the yard and spent another few hours outside today before getting ready for the seminar. Slow but sure as long as the weather lasts – it has been wonderful – warm and sunny. Today on CBC they had a show about internet issues – face recognition, security, and what information we leave innocently when we use social networking such as blogging. I don't use Facebook which apparently is the worst place for information about yourself to be available. It is very scary for me to hear about what can be had. Apparently all one needs about a person is date of birth, perhaps a picture and from that everything including SIN numbers can be obtained.  I think about some of our messages on the sister blog and wonder what people could glean about us???? Well, with that in my mind, it is now time for bed.

Home again

A really wonderful weekend.  I saw the tallest, oldest willow trees!  Unbelievable!  Right behind our meeting room and my living area was a salmon creek with tiny (!!?) Kokanee slamon trying to swim up stream over rocks and many barriers.  I spent  a lot of time watching them, even walked down to where the creek fed into the lake, where there was a grey heron enjoying his supper.  There were three different bridges that we could watch from.These are "land-locked" salmon, and never get bigger than about 10 inches.

Three different groups of us spent a couple of hours visiting three different wineries for tastings. Great fun, and, yes, I bought some wine--drank it too! ( It was the fall Okanogan Wine Festival weekend)  Ate carmelized onions with wild boar bacon and goat cheese. I told David that I would like to try carmelizing onions and--low and behold--there was a recipe in today's paper for them.   I saw some of the best fibrework in the country, and have been inspired to make more.

But I was glad to be home.  This week is going to be wild., but I'll try to post agian this evening.

Be - welcome home,Patty

Welcome back home from your retreat.  Wondering how your "rock cut" was received by the other attendees? Only time for a short message tonight but will be anxious to see if any comments posted tomorrow night when I log in again. This week will be a busy one for all of us I am sure with Thanksgiving, and Birthdays (Rrain) and not to forget Kris and Sandi's anniversary. I pulled out my pictures the other day and thoroughly enjoyed reliving that wonderful weekend in Neepawa  even with the snow fall that added to the picture taking! And I will never forget making that lasagna for the rehearsal party and having to watch it heat up in the antique dealers kitchen while the clock ticked away. I look over my pictures a lot and get great pleasure in remembering all the events we have enjoyed together over the past many years.

Short lived cold spell

You were right to gloat over nice weather as it has changed a bit here now – still seasonal, but at least not the bitter cold winds and rain and snow. The snow didn't stay around, by the way, it fell to the ground and disappeared as quickly as it came but nevertheless, it was real snow. The leaves are falling very quickly and the one tree at the front of our house is almost free of all leaves but they are all on the ground needing to be raked up. The next door neighbour mows his lawn to get ride of all his leaves and it almost looks like a deliberate demarcation line has been drawn between the two lots. Last year I raked three or four times under that tree, so this year I will not do it until all, or most, of the leaves have dropped. Actually I haven't had time to think about that sort of thing yet, as I have been emptying all the pots of tomatoes and flowers etc, and stacking the pots away safely until next year. This afternoon after coming home from Mothers, I started to gather up all the ornaments and put them under the picnic table. Once all organized, I'll cover it with a tarp for winter time. After I worked in the yard I wanted to have a drink, and since I have only had beer all summer, it didn't tempt me as it did when the days were long and hot. So I drove to the LCBO, and bought a lovely bottle of Golden Cream Sherry which I now have a glass in front of me. I haven't had any of this for a long time and I forgot how smooth it was going down, so it hit my palette perfectly.

Tomorrow we shop in North Bay and Mothers list is long in preparation for Thanksgiving weekend coming up in a few days. One bright spot is to have coffee with Mike and I always look forward to these occasions, brief as they are. We will have to drive to Mothers place directly from shopping in order to deliver most of the groceries including a frozen turkey which will fit into her freezer nicely. I don't have room in my freezer for her stuff, nor in my fridge so I actually like the idea of dropping it off. Harry went over the menu with her today (out of courtesy as he does it all anyway) I'll be making two cakes this year – a carrot cake and a cherry cheese cake. And I'll be doing Monday mornings breakfast of pancakes and sausage although I'll be helping with all the other meals as well. I believe, the Thanksgiving weekend is for giving thanks, is it not? So I will be thankful to see the back end of it on Monday afternoon!!!

That's all for now – thinking of Patty and her trip back home tomorrow. Also, Manitoba's election tomorrow and what the outcome will be. We go to the polls on Thursday and it is turning into a real battle here in Ontario with a prediction of the possibility of a minority government – the first since the 80's. Oh, the times they are achanging!!

sorry to tell you.....

It is beautiful here. We are having a heat wave. I just came in from outside. We had a fire and cooked hamburgers over it. I was in my shirtsleaves and was more comfortable away from the heat. the forcast is well over average for the next two week.s We still need some moisture though. It has been too long..... Spring was over-wet and then nothing. Jim was hauling potatoes and it was so bad. The wind was blowing the dust over the line, and the potatoes were so dry the lumps of dirt were bigger than the potatoes. On the other hand.... we could have snow. it was nice to sleep in this morning... Jim finished last night. I didn't get up til 8. Of course he came to bed and took the middle. I spent the night with his elbow in my boob, and my other hand hanging over the edge of the bed... He deserved one night..... tonight I will not be forgiving!! I got the kitchen and bathroom cleaned today and we got everything put away outside. It is a good feeling to get things done.... Sorry y9u havc snow, Beth, but I am enjoying our late summer anyway

Be - just a shocking revelation

What a moment I had today to realize what was missing in my life. Every time I went onto the computer to check our sister blog, and then e-mail, I would then sign off and always have a funny feeling that I was missing something. It hit me today. I had not implemented the Mouse Factory Blog after we got the new computer. I guess I was too upset at not being able to publish on the sister blog that I completely forgot about the Mouse Factory?? Is my mind going ??  So tonight, with a shot of galliano in hand, I went on to it after figuring out that Patty had a connection to it on our sister blog that I could access. It is now saved as a favourite. I had a ball reading all the past postings and seeing all the pictures. The one of the sunprints hanging on the line amused me as you didn't actually say you were at the Lake, and the out buildings behind the hanging fabric indicate a rather rustic surrounding. I'm sure one could not mistake this for your home in the city! But the sight was a real mood booster for me – I've always being so fond of the Lake. Thought you folks would get a laugh at my lapse in memory – and it only took me a month or so to catch on haha. Now I am happy and can go to bed with Randy Bachman and a new book. I am back to the Library lending again as I could not fathom accumulation of more and more pocket books read and sitting in a pile. I have no place to recycle them. But the great part of going to the Library again was that I found a large print book by Steve Berry that I had not read. It seems he has written two new books since I was following his work. So I am now warmed to my soul with my little bit of galliano, and thus sign off for now. 

Be -Snow?

Welcome to October 1 and to the first "snow" for the season. It has been cold, and rainy and windy the past two days and this morning snow, but apparently supposed to get warmer as the week ahead approaches. I suppose that you folks have already had this terrible weather your way as we usually get similar conditions about one or two days after you. I am preparing to go to Mothers this morning, and Harry has already left on his day of scavenging, as it is Saturday and the markets and sales beckon him. Today I plan to make a tuna casserole for lunch at Mothers, and I'm looking forward to having a nice simple lunch for a change. I have lots of work to do there, so can't really fuss over cooking etc. I actually bought a can of tuna, and a box of Tuna Helper so how easy can that be? Now, I can't say what it will taste like but it can't be that bad – just tuna and noodles with sauce, right? And Cathy I got all reminiscent yesterday and made myself a Prior Pizza for supper – just sauce and shredded cheese for filling, but it was still delicious. What did you tell me Keri did with her pizza? –You mentioned once to me a variation she made that enhanced the taste? I just checked my Lotto Max ticket and I have actually won not only a free play, but also$20.00 so I consider this a big win. I will turn it into more tickets and maybe we'll be on a winning spree? Anyway, must gather up my stuff and get ready to leave. Have a good weekend and hoping the weather is better there than here!