December 23, 2024

 This will be a great big post with probably not another one for a few weeks, so get comfy…

It took about three to four weeks for the plague to leave husband ( but still a lingering cough) and I had a much quicker, milder form. Seems to be the thing right now. Oh well.

In an effort to deal with Murphy the cat’s eating disorder ( he’s FAT and has bad manners when insisting that his humans feed him… again), I purchased ( on sale of course) an automatic cat feeder with two bowls ( because Scooter-the-cat-with-no-tail who is sweet and shy and puts up with all kinds of crap from Murphy also needs a bowl). 

This is a picture of Murphy cautiously checking it out for the first time. 

It’s pretty cool and now it’s not ME feeding him, it’s the machine. This has made no difference in his bad manners and now he expects his humans to get up and walk to the feeder to see that he is going to eat. Yes I realize that we are enablers and we were much better parents to our own children than we are to this cat! So no lectures please.

Due to the plague, we were a little later in the whole Christmas preparations, and we intended to go out and cut down a tree at the same tree farm we went to last year. However when we got there, there were two signs at the end of the lane. One said "closed” and the other said “ sold out” which can’t possibly be true being as it’s an extensive tree farm but they must just put a limit on how many they allow to be cut each year. 

So… we went looking for trees in other locations. One had no more left, one seemed quite expensive  (and all the trees were tightly wrapped so you couldn’t tell what you were getting), so we ended up at Home Depot where the trees were also wrapped up, but we were just too tired and submitted. 

So… we brought it home and husband cut a little off the bottom and we moved furniture and retrieved the tree stand from the basement. Here is the supervisor checking the water level.

Husband did admit that getting the tree braced properly with little blocks of wood and re-engineered threaded eye bolts ( dear god, did I marry my father?) was easier when the tree was all tied up. Then came the big reveal when the twine was cut and the tree was released. Would it be stunningly symmetrical or “ it was an ugly tree anyway, Clark” ?

Well it ended up being quite nice!! There it is decorated, tree skirt and all ( before Murphy messes up the tree skirt by sleeping under it daily). 

There has been baking…

 

There are other cookies that I made but didn’t take pictures of. The ones above are peanut butter confetti bars, spider cookies, and Christmas crack. 

Today I decorated cookies. Usually we decorate as a family, but this year I just wanted to get it done with minimal fuss ( sorry, dear daughter). 

The decorated ones are sugar cookies and gingerbread. Some I leave plain, for those people who are watching their waist lines ! (sarcasm)

We are hosting my side of the family this year on Boxing Day and I’m pleased that we will have some of the cousins, as it is not always possible to get them from far and wide. 

It is currently snowing. Our weather has been everything from blizzard, to rain and melting, to extremely cold, to just regular December weather. 

I will leave you with best wishes that the Christmas holidays are what you wish them to be and that you are contented and healthy. The finishing pictures are Murphy presently ( oh, hey, that was good wording!) under the tree, and mild mannered Scooter in one of his favourite places. Merry Christmas bloggers! 

Back

 We went away for a week to a sunnier climate. It was nice, a place we had been to in 2008, and not a whole lot has changed. Our time there was fine, and was mostly for the purpose of thwarting husband's seasonal affective disorder which has been getting worse and worse every year. 

When we got home, unfortunately husband started to feel like he was getting a cold (airport germs?) and then it hit him hard and I did everything in my power to not get sick, but now it has hit me, too. Blah!! Oh well, it was inevitable. I likely would have caught it from a school anyway. 

Speaking of airports, did you know (in Canada) if your flight is delayed so much that your arrival time is more than three hours late, you can apply online for compensation? Our flight through Sunwing was delayed by five hours (yes, five hours) and we did get money back because of it. This does not count if it is due to weather (which it wasn't). 

But here is what has really been happening at our place:

This started a little more than a day ago and it is still very much coming down! That's just snow on top of the porch railings, but it looks like a garland. It feels very Christmas-y but I don't have the energy or the inclination to start decorating for Christmas. I have to let this cold pass before I begin dragging out "the twelve boxes of Christmas". We are in a snow belt and always get the brunt of it. Our son, in a city a couple of hours away had a light dusting of snow. Daughter gets the same as us. 

Beginning of November- goodbye pumpkin

 I’m someone who likes to put holidays away as soon as they are over, or as soon as possible. I had no Hallowe’en decorations up because we weren’t home for Hallowe’en. I did purchase one big pumpkin from the Amish down the road for colour in the porch but now it’s November ( we’ve already had Thanksgiving in October here) and it’s time to get rid of the pumpkin.

I carried it back to the chicken coop, put it in their run and chopped it in pieces with the shovel. As soon as I left the run, curiosity took over. Here are some pictures later of the hens enjoying their treat.

Beautiful colours and a Fresh Cut

It’s late October and we still have some gorgeous trees in the little village. I took some pictures on my walk this morning.

That last one is the burning bush on our property. 

I have been thinking about cutting my hair for a while now. In the summer it was easy just to throw it up in a bun but it had just become too long and unflattering and I wasn’t happy trying to dry, style, straighten it. 

That’s my “ before “ today. 

Here’s the after. I’m happy with the length and will play around with it and see what I can do with it. 

I hope everyone has a nice upcoming weekend!

Friday, October 18, 2024

 I shouldn't be typing up this quick post. I should be standing in front of a bunch of small children, doing morning attendance. Alas, I had to cancel due to feeling really awful yesterday and not knowing how I would be doing today. I didn't want to cancel last minute, in the morning, because I know what a nightmare that is for principals or vice-principals to try to find a teacher in the morning. 

Yesterday morning I felt so horribly dizzy, the whole world was moving. I had a scheduled physio appointment and husband drove me, as I didn't trust myself to drive safely. The physio was part of my lymphatic drainage / post breast cancer and radiation treatment that I've been getting and I didn't want to miss it and have to reschedule and I knew I would just be lying down for it. 

The rest of the day was spent on the couch. This morning I am about 85% better with a hint of dizziness but I'd love to be 100% as we have two things planned this weekend. 

On better notes, our lagging Fall colour has certainly caught up and the colours are gorgeous! I never tire of seeing the leaves change and put on a beautiful show. As well it is the Full Harvest moon right now, or the "Super Moon" as some are calling it and it is gorgeously white and bright. We had our first frosty morning yesterday, but the temperatures are supposed to go up nicely this weekend, so we get a bit of a reprieve. 

Husband managed to investigate and diagnose a problem with our in floor heating system (our old house has had a few different heating systems over the years) which is good because the local company that he called and booked a technician with failed to show up and didn't seem terribly bothered that they messed up. So, husband ordered a pump, knows which pump needs replacing and will do so when it arrives. Handy guy to have around!

Chickens are molting. Cats are diligently catching mice, and bringing some to us (lucky us). Life carries on. 

October 3, 2024 - A Good Day

There were birds flocking on my lawn just a few moments ago. It's supper time and I looked out the kitchen window to see a large flock of, I think starlings, on the lawn. There was also a black squirrel and a cottontail rabbit. It's like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom out there. 

The weather was so lovely today. I've been cutting back the Black Eyed Susans from the perennial beds in small increments (so I don't wreck my back - again). They self seed so prolifically, I want to get as many out as possible before the seeds start to fall. I had already dug out the last three potatoes, and the remaining small carrots and beets from the garden yesterday. I had also gathered up the last little tomatoes that had fallen off and were starting to rot on the garden and gave them to the hens. I also pulled out tomato cages and nested them all together for storage during the winter. 

Today I picked the last of the green beans and pulled the plants. I rototilled the garden so that it would be lovely and ready in the spring. I hardly ever do this, usually because I have plants in the ground and then frost comes and it's just too much and too difficult to get it all done in the fall, especially when I was working full time. But this year, it was not too bad and I'm glad I did it. I also did something that I NEVER do, but thought I should, which was wiping down my tomato cages and other wire supports with soapy bleach water to kill any spores and plant diseases that could over winter. Where I got the energy to do all of this, I have no idea because it darn near killed me and I had to stop the rototilling for a couple of hours, and then I finished it later.

As well, I just could not be inside on such a beautiful Fall day. I purchased one really big pumpkin from the Amish down the road for $8.00 because I had to have something bright and Autumnal on the property. I would like to pick up a couple of brightly coloured mums and maybe a couple more smaller pumpkins to finish it off. 

Son has been in his new apartment for one week now and has started his new job, but so far he is just sitting listening to power point presentations. He and I text usually once a day or a bit more depending. He's been out purchasing a few more things for his new home (mostly kitchen-y things, garbage cans, rugs, ...) and he sounds like he is settling in well. A big thing for him was shaving off his beard (he's had a beard since highschool, he's now 24). He always kept it neat and relatively short, but for his new job, he has to be clean shaven ( I think he can have a moustache, but I'm not totally sure), so big adjustment for him. He won't send me a selfie - ha ha. 

It's almost time to check my potatoes (from the garden today), and sit down for supper, so I shall bid you adieu (did I spell that correctly?) and I hope you all have a very nice Fall weekend! 

Catching Up...

 Blogging has not held the same interest for me lately (last few months). But to prove I am still alive, I shall do a quick catch up. We have been busy doing this and that to prepare for son's moving out of the house. He interviewed for, and got, a good job in line with what he went to college for (please note that in Canada, university is where you get a degree and learn to become a specific profession like doctor, lawyer, or you get a degree with which you can do nothing, like philosophy, and college is where you learn a specific skill and are more likely to get a job, but no guarantees). Anyway, he managed to find a one bedroom apartment in a city about an hour and half away from here and about a 25 minute drive to his new workplace. For interest sake, with housing the way it is in Canada, a decent (but not new, not fancy) one bedroom apartment will cost him $2,045 a month, all utilities included (except internet which I know is not a utility). It is insane. 

He has been purchasing some necessities like a set of dishes, a set of pots and pans (on sale of course at Canadian Tire), a set of glasses. He just bought a couch and loveseat (very used) for $150. I offered to strip off the cushion covers and give them a good wash. I'll be doing that today because I can hang them on the line in the sunshine. We have a toaster and microwave that he can have. He will take his current bedroom furniture. We have rented a small U-Haul to move him on the 26th. It's a three storey walk up. Oh my aching back! But of course, son will do most of the heavy work himself, or with husband. 

We are very happy for him. It has never been his life's dream to still be living at home at 24 years of age, (and he's been working steadily in construction - also not his life's dream, but still a good job), but now he can do his own thing, have his own life, be on his way to earning a better pay, have benefits... We will finally be empty nesters. We were for a while when he was in college, but then covid came and changed the world and screwed young adults out of a regular university / college experience and both of our kids came home from their places of higher learning and we were no longer empty nesters, but instead had everyone back together again. (Canada, especially Ontario, had extreme lock down measures). 

On other notes, summer has returned. It is gorgeously hot. I managed to process just a few bags of tomatoes (I just blanch them, so I can peel them, squeeze a bit of the seeds out and put them in ziplock bags in the freezer). It was not a stellar garden year unfortunately, but toasted tomato sandwiches have still been enjoyed, beets have been pickled, potatoes have been eaten, as well as carrots and green beans. 

I have taught three days now as an occasional teacher and have a few more booked for the next few weeks. I like being back. I will also like the pay cheque.  We have booked a week away later in November to someplace warm. This is an effort to also keep husband's seasonal affective disorder somewhat at bay, as well as just because it is cheaper to do in November. With son out of the house, we shall have to ask daughter to pop around to check in on the two cats and top up chicken feed, etc. She's very good to do that, and gets free eggs out of the deal! 

I've been trying to keep up with daily (or almost daily) walking. I am enjoying the newly changing leaf colours here and there. It is very cricket-y and a lovely time of year.