Hang on to your hat

We have a very windy day, drying up all of the puddles, bringing down dead branches off the trees, blowing the empty garbage containers around, (today was our day in the neighborhood for garbage and recycle pickup).

We had rain for most of the day yesterday, sunny with cloudy periods today, it is still quite cold, with the wind making it feel even colder.

No much happening on the estate today, too wet to do anything outside, so it is going to be an inside sewing day.

Because it is Friday, we are having salmon for dinner, veg, salad and not sure what is for dessert.

If something earth shattering happens, I will be back. 

Wardrobe & brolly

 What do I wear?  one day it is hot and humid and shorts and T-shirt are the order of the day, the next warm pants and sweater.  Two seasons of clothing in the closet, until we know for sure the cold weather clothes can be washed and stored away for a few months.  Today, the brolly came out of the closet for use as we have rain.  The earth is soaking it up quickly as it is very dry, have not had much moisture during the last month.   April showers bring May flowers, so "they" say.

I wear hearing aids and have done for the past seven years, checkups every year for adjustments and that is where I was this morning.  One ear had an accumulation of wax that needed to be flushed out.  Oh! that is an uncomfortable experience.  I know way too much information.  Adjustments were made, isn't it just marvelous how the technicians can use the computer programs to fine tune the aids to my hearing loss.  I need to use them at for a month and if I see no improvement, I may need to buy new ones.  $$$$

Update

Stopped post for lunch and now just getting back.

We have had rain all afternoon and it is downright cold.  It is the dampness that makes it feel that way.

We had spaghetti, meatball, and salad with lemon cake for dessert.

 

Thunder

Yesterday, was a lovely day, albeit quite cloudy in the late afternoon.  During the early evening, the sky became dark and we could hear thunder in the distance, but it did not come any closer.

As it was such a beautiful warm day, we could not resist the urge to get in the convertible with the top down and go for a ride.  This is just about  the only thing we can do at this point in time during the lockdown we are still in.  Farmers were out on their fields with their huge tractors and equipment being pulled behind to break up the earth.  The ground was dry and great clouds of dust were following behind.  The modern tractors have a cab on them, so the operator is protected from the weather and this dust.  The Winter wheat is coming along nicely, the crop does not appear to have been damaged by the snow and cold temperatures of the past season.  At this time of the year a lot of the farmers are using natural  fertilizer (POOP) to augment the soil for the coming season's crop.  I am sure you all know that it smells, cow, chicken and pig poop are terrible when it has been fermenting for a long time.  Sorry too much information?   This is the only downfall of driving in the country with the top down. Ha Ha.

Onward:  Stopped this post for lunch.

We had a few drops of rain, but now the sky is cleared and it is humid, which means we could have more rain and a thunder storm.  As I indicated earlier, the ground is dry and we could do with a good rain.

I finished edging my front garden this morning, it looks so much better when it is straight, neat and tidy.  Now, I am taking it easy, I find the constant motion hard on my shoulder and neck muscles, so do a bit each day.  The only problem with that is when I have finished edging and weeding it is time to start at the beginning of the gardens again.   I don't mind, I need to get my hands dirty and be outside.

Hubby has done his thing with the dandelions again and it looks so much better, now he has gone to his daughters' to help her with her lawn cutting and putting together her garden bench.  She lives alone so needs some help from a stronger person once in a while.

We  have a few dishes of food in the fridge that need to be cleaned up, so I am going to describe tonight's dinner as a buffet.  A little bit of this and little bit of that.

 

 

Early riser

 Up early again, it must be Tuesday, grocery day.  Again, only a couple of people in the grocery store, so it was a quick trip, in and out within the hour.  We did notice there were two young men erecting the enclosure for their garden centre, which is put on a section of the parking lot.   Soon they will stock it with plants, so happy about that.  Usually they have a good variety and all healthy looking too. 

The sun is shining again this morning, but it is forecast to be getting cloudy with rain later today and tomorrow.  Warmer temps too, which will be nice compared to yesterday, it was downright chilly and the air felt damp.

The inside of my car is going to get a good clean today, getting rid of the Winter sand and gravel on the floor mats.  It stick's to the snow which then melts and the gravel ends up on the floor.  Not going to bother with the outside, 'cause the rain will clean off the dust.  

The chickadee's have claimed one of the bird houses in the back garden, we have seen them going in and out with material for nest making.  They were also trying to get into the wren houses, however, the entry hole is too small for them to squeeze into.  

Hubby has a "thing" about dandelions, he hates them with a passion, so he got on the garden tractor yesterday and cut off their heads so they won't go to seed.   The dandelions bring back a memory of my Mother making dandelion wine.  She had everyone picking the flowers and I remember them being in large containers along with water and I am sure other ingredients with orange and lemon slices floating on the top of this concoction.  They were covered with  a cheese cloth attached to the top of the containers to keep insects out, as they sat on a table in a mud room at the back of the farm house.  My Father passed by these containers every time he came in or out of the house, and after the "wine" started to ferment he would pull back the cheese cloth and take slices of the oranges and lemons.  Cannot remember how this wine tasted, or even if it was drinkable, it could have been due to the lack of citrus fruit in it.  

Dinner tonight, seeing as though it is Tuesday again, it is chicken with left over cauliflower, scalloped potatoes and salad.  I also made an orange jelly with fruit yesterday, still some more of that left to use. 

My mind is blank

Sitting here on the computer for a few minutes this morning, as I normally do after I have done a few necessary chores.  Cannot seem to come up with a title for my daily post, so what you see is what you get today.  Not much of anything really.

The weather today, is cold but, the sky is blue and we have a lovely sun shining, who can ask for more?  Well, it could be a bit warmer in my opinion.  Mid week it is possible that may happen.

Hubby picked up all of  the cutting he took off of some invasive shrubs in the field across the street, then took them to the recycle depot.  At this time of the year it is open on Sundays for a few hours, so he took advantage of that.

I did some sewing on the placemats for our guild project, finished the tops of six, so now I need to sandwich them with some batting and backing, quilt and then bind them.  Members are asked to make two per month until November, but I am trying to make all of mine now, so that I need not be inside sewing during the warm months of Summer.  

We had two yellow finch at the feeder this morning,  we hope that they will bring back some of their relatives this year,  we had very  few come last year, there must have been a lot of  seed out in the wild.

Waiting for a couple of weeks before the Oriole feeder is put up, then the next feeder to be put out will be for the Humming Birds.

Dinner tonight, might be pulled pork on a bun and salad.  

For a blank mind, I seemed to have been able to ramble on.

Up & down like a bride's nighty

 That is our weather at the moment,  what were you thinking?

One day we have beautiful sunshine and warm temps which makes me shed some of the long sleeve sweaters I have been wearing outside.  Next I am putting them back on again, along with a coat.   It is only 6*C at the present time, the wind is quite brisk, and we had a shower over night.  I keep forgetting it is still only April, historically weather can be fickle this month.

Did some garden work yesterday, Oh!! how I hate getting old   After about an hour I was done, I get very tense in my shoulders which causes pain, so must learn to pace myself, I suppose.   After a good nights sleep I am ready to go again.  Very seldom do I take any medication, don't like putting in my body, any more pills than is absolutely necessary.

Yesterday, I missed another birthday celebration for a great grand daughter, she was nine, her sister will be two next week, another one I am not able to attend.  When we are back to a more normal life I would like to plan a birthday party for all six of my grands, only time will tell when that might happen.  Hubby and I will both have a milestone birthday, in Oct. and Nov. so hope we can do some kind of celebration for that.  

Previously I believe I have mentioned that correspondence, via snail mail is still done with a school friend I had in England.  On Friday, I received another letter from her.  We both started school together when we were four years old.  When I was 12 years old I left England, and never saw her again until 2001.  In 67 years since leaving England, I have met with her only once for 48 hours, but we have been writing regularly since 1954.   I doubt we will ever meet again, which is quite sad.  During a  lifetime, I know friends come and go,  because we are so far apart could be the reason for us still being long distance friends.

Dinner tonight, have not even thought too much about it at the moment,  I am sure we will not go hungry.  There was a change of plans last night and we had hot dogs, beans and a salad, lemon pie for dessert.  Maybe yesterdays menu will be tonight.

 

I love flowers

In the garden, also in my house.

This past week we had some really cold wintery weather, but the days have been improving since then. Every morning I go out just to see what is poking it's head up through the ground, did the rabbit eat those day lily leaves again?  Did those transplanted lilacs survive?  Oh! good those clematis cuttings are growing too?  That is my ritual, yesterday I spied a new daffodil blooming, raising the bloom the centre trumpet was a beautiful colour, never have I seen one like it.   It must be a rogue  bulb in the package I bought last Fall.   Not knowing how reliable the weather forecast is, and I didn't want it damaged by any frost, I picked it, and  now enjoying it in the house.  

The tomato seeds which were planted about three weeks ago have sprouted two plants, which are doing well.  Also, the marigolds are sprouting too.  The geraniums are a riot of colour, so I am a happy indoor gardener for a few weeks, until I can get out and plant them out in the garden.  

Yesterday, I did some much needed housework and did some weeding in the back garden.  Hubby has been a self imposed lawn mower and tree trimmer in the field opposite our house.  If he did not do this work every year we would be looking at a forest of shrubs, long grass and dandelions.   Several people thank him for making sure the public footpath is trimmed.  The dog walkers must like it too, as they always pick up after their pets.  Well, except for a couple who let their dogs off leash and don't know where they squat. 

Laundry in process, and later today I will be pulling more weeds.

Dinner tonight, taco's for two.  It is a new packaged taco kit especially prepared for two people, which is just perfect for us.  First time using it, so will see how it is.  Dessert? not sure yet, maybe a jelly with some fruit.

Will have to start thinking a little differently regarding meals starting next Saturday, as I have decided to go on a diet, not a strict one, but I really do need to loose some weight.  I am not fat, but just feel uncomfortable in my skin and if I don't do something now, those Summer clothes which I always say shrink over the Winter, will not fit.  Wish me luck.  

Have a wonderful weekend.

Finally

 The sun is shining and it is a lot warmer today.....warmer?... it is above the zero mark, for me that is warmer.   The forecast is looking a bit more positive as far as better weather is concerned.

Most of the flowers that were blooming have survived, however, the newspaper indicated the ginseng farmers are reporting problems.   In the Summer the crops are covered with black netting to protect the plants from the hot sun.   A couple of weeks ago we had some hot temps and bright sunshine, so the protective netting was put up, however, the heavy wet snow a couple of days ago, pulled the netting down on the plants.  Due to the weight it also broke the poles and support wires.  Now the netting needs to be lifted off the plants soon or they will get to hot and die.  

The quilting Zoom meeting was a success last night, we had a presentation of English paper piecing and also all of projects members are doing.   We have decided to make some children's quilts for the local Woman's Shelter.  There are so many people needing some help these days.

Dinner tonight salmon, have not decided on what else is on the menu yet, I am sure something will come to  mind before we eat.

 

Sirius

 My car is a 2006 model, so no modern convinces such as GPS,  Bluetooth, Apple play etc.  just a plain radio and disc player.   Hubby has a new SUV which had Sirius radio and all the bells and whistles, half of which we never use.    For some reason, he received information regarding Sirius when he signed up for it to be connected in his vehicle, in this info there was a special deal, which included among other things, to purchase a unit for another vehicle.  I don't like most of the music??? that is on the regular radio so I got the Sirius for my car, also in the package was the hook up pieces to put it in the house if you wanted.    I had it in my car until today, my car sits in the driveway 24/7 only going on short trips to the store etc. it was actually as waste of money,  so I suggest that we put it in the house.   We hooked it up today and now I am listening to Frank Sinatra.  

Cold, snowy, windy, not much like Spring at all.   The temp went down to -3*C last night and the plants that have sprouted in the garden were looking quite bad this morning, but did perk up somewhat when the sun briefly showed  its face.   

Tonight is my quilting guild meeting, again on Zoom, we have not had an "in person" meeting for a year now.  It's great to see everyone but certainly not the best way to have a meeting.   We were hoping our June dinner meeting would be able to take place but that is looking more and more as if it will not happen.

My eldest daughter told me last evening due to her job  she will be able to get her first vaccination in a weeks time.  That means all three of my children will have had at least one shot, one grand daughter has had one due to her job.  Now need to wait for SIL,s and grands to get theirs.

Diner tonight, the stuffed pasta shells were good last night, just enough left for our dinner tonight.  a big salad, and another piece of lemon cake for dessert.

Where did Spring go???

 I guess it was a very short season this year, because we had an inch and a half of snow over night and it is cold.  My poor flowers in the garden are looking very sad this morning, all hanging down with the weight of the wet snow.  The temp is not suppose to get very high today, so do not expect much melting to happen.  I am just glad this came now as it would be devastating if it came when the fruit trees were in blossom.  

My father always said that we would get two snow falls in the Spring before the frogs and toads were croaking with their mating calls.  If, he is right, we can expect one more, hoping he is wrong this year, as I have had enough of this weather.

Not much else is happening here today, Hubby is wondering what he going to get up to today.  Me I always have my sewing to fall back on if I have nothing else to do.

Next week I have two great grand daughters  having a birthday, one will be nine and the other two, will miss any celebration again.  Cards were popped in the mail for them.   I do not like buying things on the internet, so will wait until we can go into the stores again to buy their gifts.  I give clothes, I know, not a very exciting is it, but I leave all of that for Mum, Dad and grandparents to do the exciting gifts.   Thinking I might take the nine year old with me to the stores so she can choose what she wants, she is good at picking out nice things to wear.  I have no idea what is in style for youngsters these days.

There are a lot more birthdays coming up during the month of May too, so hope I will be able to do some gift buying then.

Dinner tonight, going to conjure up something from the meat sauce I have leftover from the spaghetti we had a couple of nights ago.  Some veg and salad will round out the first course, dessert, we have another serving each of the chocolate mousse I made last night, so that is all taken care of too.

  

Brrrrrr

 Spring and come and gone for a few days, it is down right COLD today, only 3*C when we went for groceries this morning.  Overnight we can expect some of that white stuff.....SNOW.    Oh well, it is still April and we can expect almost anything at this time of the year.

Yesterday, wouldn't you know it, I had my Winter tires taken off my car and the Summer one put on.  It really doesn't matter much, as I do not drive it much anyway.  No where to go, no one to see.   One consolation, I received an e-mail which indicated I could get a rebate on a portion of my insurance due to be not driving much.  Only done approximately 3,200 km. during the past year. 

Hubby and I felt very lazy yesterday, so did not do much during the afternoon.  He is going to clean out his work shop today, I think I made him feel guilty about the mess it is in. My sewing studio it just as bad, I describe it as organized confusion.  It usually stays that way until a project is completed then it get tidied up.  

I am going in my sewing studio today, as I want to get the quilt top currently under the needle finished soon, it has been in the process far too long.  This is the third time I have started it, both previous starts I hated the way it looked so redesigned it, liking it a lot better this time.  I also want to start on another two placemats for the Meals on Wheels project our guild has started.

One of my blog readers asked me to show a photo of my Dragon Cactus, here are two views of it on my coffee table.

Dinner tonight our usual Tuesday chicken, veg and salad, dessert is a piece of lemon poke cake.

Verte, glas, midori

GREEN

That is the colour I see when looking out of my window.  Trees coming our in leaf with every shade of green imaginable.  The grass,  plants in the garden, putting forth their spiky leaves to get the most of the suns rays.  

GREEN is my favourite colour, not sure why but, believe it is due to my love of plant life of all shapes and sizes.  I must have at least one live plant in my house at all times, not just because they are add a decorative touch, but they also help clean the air.   African violet has bloomed again, some lovely pink flowers are showing through the leaves.  My Christmas cactus is going wild with new growth, not sure if it is the banana infusion water I have been feeding it, or if it is just what they do in the Spring.  In any case it has never done it before but, I am happy it is growing now.  Also, there is the Dragon Cactus,  it is so ugly it is beautiful.  It looks like a pit of  writhing snakes coming out of the pot.  It does sound ugly, now I have described it to you.  When it was bought the tag indicated it would have pink flowers, still waiting for those.  

What is your favourite colour?

The geraniums which are have over Wintering in the house are full of blooms, again, as a result of the banana water??  Also planted some tomato seeds that were saved from last years crop, only two have started to grow but they are enough plants for us.  

Hubby gave the grass across the street its first cut yesterday, I think he was just itching too get out and do that job, he likes riding on the tractor, which he has just repaired, so also believe he wanted to make sure it worked as he had hoped, and it did.  Now he is ready to mow all of the lawns we have.  It takes him about two hours to do it every time it is cut.

We have a lovely sunny Sunday, but it is still cold, which is the normal weather to expect at this time of the year,  we were spoiled a couple of weeks ago with the unseasonably hot weather.

Not sure what is on the menu for dinner tonight, I am sure to come up with something.  There will be a lemon poke cake in the oven shortly, so dessert taken care of, with some put in the freezer for desserts later.  I would love to go our for dinner, but that is not going to happen for a long time I am afraid. 

 

Cloudy and cool & lockdown

We have another cloudy cool day, however, the sun keeps on peeking through the clouds and it is not quite as windy as it was yesterday.   Nothing we can do about the weather just complain, it's too cold, too wet too hot and so on and so on, just accept what we got and be thankful we don't have floods, earthquakes etc.  

So on, to the lockdown, numbers here in Ontario are getting really bad, so yesterday more restrictions were put in place.  Too many to list here but do hope the people follow them better than they have been or we will be in an increased state of emergency.   Hospitals are filling up and there is a fear that if people do not adhere to the rules, decisions may have to be made as to who gets the care they need and those that do not.  A scary situation for all of the medical hospital staff to be in.   

We watched the funeral for Prince Philip this morning, he had arranged a lovely service for himself, even though it had to be toned down somewhat due to the pandemic.   I wonder how the Queen will be able to get through without him.  She will be 95 years old this coming week.  It was nice to see Harry talking to his brother and SIL.

Needless  to say not much has been done today, the laundry is done, lunch and now I am here, so should get moving and do something constructive.  

Dinner tonight is pretty much taken care of as we are having left over beef, I will cook some veg, make a salad dessert is lemon pie.  

Have a great day.

Taking a rest

 Finished the living/dining room cleaning yesterday, happy that is done, now going to do some "me time" today and do some sewing.   

During a facetime with my youngest grand daughter last evening, I was able to give her some of the dishes etc from the kitchen and dining room that we no longer need.  She will be going to university in the Fall, so needs a few things for her dorm.  Later today, I am gathering up some extra linen and towels we do not need for her also.  

We are now back to normal temps for April, which means low double digits for the daytime and low single numbers for the night.   Woke this morning to grey skies and it had rain during the night, as we were having breakfast, that rain turned white.....SNOW,  just a few flakes thank goodness.  These temps will slow down the growth of things, just hope we do not get a killing frost.  

Hubby broke the frames on his glasses this morning, and insisted on trying to repair them himself, as a result,......... he needs to get new frames.   Trying to get the same style to fit his lenses may cause a problem, so he may have to have an entire new pair of glasses, fames and lenses.  As a result of trying to help him repair the glasses, not much has been accomplished this morning.  

Now going to get some lunch and then go into the sewing studio and get some work done there for the afternoon.

Dinner tonight,  good question, should go and source something out of the freezer, it almost feels like a roast of beef day, something to smell good in the kitchen and knowing a lovely meal will be ready for dinner time.  Add some squash, broccoli and a salad.  Yep! dinner decided.  

Well I am off.

  

Ouch, ouch

Yesterday I started to spring clean the living/dining room, when I spring clean I really do a deep clean.  Using a toothbrush to get into the corners of the windows and along the baseboards.  This house was built in the 70's and not much has been updated in the windows and wood trim in these areas. What has been cleaned so far, is looking so much better.  Today I am finishing the room.  The carpet needs to be cleaned but at this point in time with the lockdown that is not going to happen so I have been using a spot cleaner to get at the little spots.  Today, I washed the curtains and cleaned out the china cabinet, the drawers and cupboard below it.  Hubby washed to dining room window this morning, so now we can see out of it, it had not been done for a couple of years as it is very high, he had to get on the extension ladder  to be able to do that job. Just need to clean the light fixture over the dining table and polish the table and chairs then I can call that area done.  Pacing myself today, so that is all that will be done. tomorrow the fireplace, the mantle and redo the flower arrangement on the hearth.   Then on to the guest bedroom, it is not that bad as it was recently painted and of course during the past year ....no guests.

We had a beautiful sunny morning and it was still decent enough to eat our picnic lunch outside, however, while writing this at 3:45 p.m. it has clouded over, so we could be getting the rain showers that have been forecast.

Dinner tonight, pulled pork on a bun, a big salad, and apple turnovers for dessert.

Green, green grass, and flowers of home

 I can't believe how much our lawn has grown in the last couple of days,  Those Spring showers and now the sunshine today, will make it grow even more.  The buds on the trees are splitting open, first with flowers and then the leaves.  There is an ornamental fruit tree, not sure what it is though, in the neighbours front garden which is full of white blossoms, unfortunately, the flowers do not last very long.   Some of the early blooming magnolia's are in flower also, the one we have in our front garden, is a later variety, so no flowers yet.  

 These primroses were given to me a couple of years ago by Hubby's niece N,  the colour is brighter than the photo shows.  The plan is to divide  the plants to make more splashes of colour in the garden during  the Springtime.  I have done this several times in the past years so now have some nice patches of colour, but would like more.    Also found the clematis has grown two new plants due to some of the branches being under some soil, so have put those in pots and the rain we have had will do them more good than tap water.  

I bought a Christmas cactus on sale a couple of years ago, it was looking a bit neglected but has been brought back to life and at the present time, I have been feeding it will banana skin infused water.  I cannot believe the number of new leaves growing, now I don't know if it would have done this without the water I have been feeding it or not, in any case happy with it growth.    I have also been feeding this water to the geraniums cuttings I potted up last Fall,  and they are full of flowers.  

By now you must know I love plants, flowers and gardening.

Early start getting our groceries this morning.  

My youngest grand daughter 18 years has just taught herself to crochet from the computer and has recently finished a sweater, which she showed me a photo of last night.  It looks great on her too.  She is the only GD that has shown any interest in doing crafty hand work, so that pleases me, as I am that way inclined also.  

Dinner tonight our usual Tuesday chicken, asparagus and salad.  I bought some apple turnovers for dessert, not really a good choice but they looked yummy.

So that is all from me today, enjoy what ever you are doing this Tuesday.

Wet

 Almost every day in this coming days we will be having those April showers,  so not much outside work will be done this week.  That's OK as it gives me a chance to do some more cleaning and sewing.  

It was a lovely day yesterday, so we worked out in the yard cleaning up weeds and twigs  on the gardens and lawns.  We filled enough bags to be take to the recycle depot.  It was even nice enough to have out picnic lunch outside on the patio again. 

Once home, lunch and then we prepared to become couch potatoes for the afternoon and watch the Masters golf.  Love looking at the beautiful flowers and manicured gardens as well as the players.   

Late dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes and peas, with jelly and fruit for dessert.

Hubby was restless last night and was snoring like a lions roar, so a nudge to get him to move solved the problem and I was able to get to sleep.  Usually he does not snore.

Just had a call from my long arm quilter, my quilt is ready for pick up, so will need to make arrangements to do that later this week.  

So that is all from me today.

 

Gardening in the sunshine

The weather yesterday was nothing like the forecast of rain and clouds.  It turned out to be a beautiful day. Sunny and quite warm, so we had our lunch outside again.

The front flower bed needed to be cleaned from stray leaves and weeds that have started to grow already, so that was my task to the afternoon.  It is looking a lot better than it was.  All of the perennials are doing well,  hope the rabbits stay away from the phlox this year, the deer also like the tender leaves.  Got a bit sunburnt doing this garden work.  I turn brown overnight, however, it is a farmers tan.  I just don't have the body I had years ago, you know those "wings" that seem to grown as the years pile on,  that would allow me to wear something different than a T shirt doing this work.   

Hubby is out raking up the stay twigs and leaves etc off the front lawn.   Our hedge is showing some green leaves, the lilac is also.  Looks like Spring is here.

Not much else on the agenda for today,  it is just like any other day.  I am feeling some of the side affects of the garden work, so will take it easy today and do some sewing.  Hubby will watch some of the Masters golf this afternoon I am sure.  It brings back some great memories for me, as my son was chosen in the lottery in 2011, to purchase four tickets for a practice round.  His son was unable to go, so didn't want the ticket to go to waste, so asked me if I wanted to go.  I jumped at the chance and spent a lovely vacation with my son, DIL and grand daughter.  We went to the Masters, then to a condo on Hilton Head Island.  Great time was had by all.

Dinner tonight, BBQ ribs and we have very left over from yesterday, so just need to make a salad. We have one cherry turnover left, it might be eaten for lunch, so need to do something for dinner.

Lost Post!!

 I wrote a post for yesterday, did I forget to publish it, or did it get lost in the world of the internet?  

Yesterdays post was about the absolutely gorgeous day, it was as hot as some Summer days we have.   The temp went up to an official 25*C but ours went up to 27*C.   Lunch was outside, and we could have sat there for a lot longer than we did, however, not wanting to get sunburnt we reluctantly came in.

We are also back in lockdown/stay at home emergency status due to the increase number of covid cases.  All of the stores that sell food as well as other things can only open the food areas to customers.  Costco and Walmart have all of those aisles blocked off with skids of product wrapped in shrink wrap.  Even the Dollar stores are not allowed to sell any other product other than food.  Actually this is a good idea for two reasons, it puts all of the stores selling food on an even keel, and  it restricts people going into these store for more than food, cleaning and health care  products.  This emergency measure is in place for 28 days, hopefully,  this along with the vaccine the numbers will improve.  

All of the university students that can return home have been asked to leave the university.  They are being tested and if they have a negative result, they can go.   If they have a positive result they quarantine for two weeks and then go.  All of those who cannot go home, ie: international students are being kept in one of the dorms.  All the classes and exams are going to be done on line.

Our lovely sunny days have unfortunately come to an end for awhile.  We had rain overnight and the temps are now in the high teen range, still higher than the norm for this time of the year. 

We have now received all of the information required for our income tax to be prepared by our  accountant so Hubby worked on getting them all in order yesterday.  

He then cooked a steak of the BBQ which was delicious.

Tonight dinner, being Friday, Salman, not sure what else, but there will be a salad  of some kind included. I made some cherry turnovers yesterday, and we have some of those left, so dessert all taken care of.

Today is a good day to get some more cleaning done as nothing can be done outside as it is just too wet. Will also get into the sewing room sometime this afternoon.

Bird Baths

 We have another glorious sunny warm day, so decided we would not get any really cold weather at this point in time, anyway, not cold enough to cause the water to freeze in the bird baths and break them.  So a good clean with a brush and water, all three of them are now ready for the birds to bathe.  I love watching the birds, especially the robins, they just love having a bath.

Worked out in the garden yesterday, picking up stray leaves and pulling weeds.  It was so nice to be able to work with no heavy outerwear, just shirt sleeves and light weight pants.  More and more flowers are starting to bloom,  Hubby's niece gave me some magenta coloured primroses which are starting to look beautiful as more and more of them flower.

The smell of the leaves, takes me back many years when friends and I would pick the yellow wild primroses in the hedge rows in England.  We would pick bunches for our Mothers and I would also pick one for a great aunt.  Mum would give us some yarn to tie the bunches together and we would attach them to a stick and carry them home like a hobo would carry his possessions.

Today, is two weeks since our vaccination, so we are protected about 92-95%, from the virus.  Not much will change as far as masking etc. just nice to know some protection is now there.

No thought has been given to dinner yet, but I should get busy and do that.

April Showers bring May Flowers

 Showers yesterday afternoon, and it was quite cool.  The forecast is indicating warmer temps but, again showers for almost every day this week.

We did not have a lot of rain, however, the grass is looking better already, so with additional moisture this week, we will be cutting it soon.

As I have mentioned in the past this kind of weather does nothing for my energy levels, so a very laid back day yesterday, I did get quite a bit of sewing done.   Hubby had an eye appointment and needed to do some errands so he was busy doing that.

Early morning grocery run again today, did not need a lot of things this week, as we had in the past stocked up on a lot of the specials of things we use on a regular basis.  Mostly fresh veg, fruit, milk, eggs and juice were needed today.

Each week we purchase a couple of lottery tickets, not big winners, but for the past couple of months we have won a bit of pocket change and some free tickets.  Waiting for the big one, but that is not likely to happen I am not lucky at all.  Do you buy lottery tickets.

Dinner tonight is our usual chicken, so not much preparation needs to be done today. 

Picnic Time

Yesterday was a lovely day, so nice in fact we decided to have a picnic lunch outside on the patio.  The sun was quite hot and we got a little burnt during the time we sat eating.  Today, lunch in the house,  We did have sunshine earlier, however, it has now clouded over and we could get some showers apparently.  Actually, we could do with some, as the ground is getting quite dry.

I did finished cleaning out two more cupboards yesterday, and now have a couple more things that are going to new owners in the near future.  The only cupboards needing some cleaning now are the two with food in them, then I can say the kitchen has had a good tidy and clean. 

I have been waiting two week for our vaccination to be fully effective, before I went to the hair salon to have my hair cut, just an extra precaution I was taking.  I would still be wearing a mask as everyone else would be in the salon. The two week time period will be on Wednesday this week, however, as of Saturday, this past weekend, we are now in lockdown again and a lot of retail stores, including salons are now closed until the end of April.   I cannot imagine what my hair will look like after three or more weeks before I get it cut.   It could result in a new hair style.

The roast of beef I cooked yesterday was so tender, we enjoyed it very much.  There is enough left over for dinner tonight,  as well as the riced cauliflower,  another veg and a salad and dinner is taken care of.  There is one piece of carrot cake left so along with some ice cream I think dessert is also decided.  

Not sure what I am going to do today,  I would love to get out in the garden again, but not much point doing anything at the present.  There are some small branches to be picked up, so that is first and foremost before those showers arrived.

Happy Easter memories

HAPPY EASTER

Today is beautiful, sunny, and getting warmer as I write.  What I mean by warmer, is temps near 10*C. hopefully, it will be even nicer during the afternoon. 

My daughter #1, will be putting out chocolate Easter eggs for her grands today, which bring back a memory of when I did it for my grands years ago.  It was a day like today, pleasantly warm, sun shining, and I started to hide the little eggs all over the garden.  They all arrived early a frost with a low temIt had melted all of the chocolate, so you can imagine the mess these little ones were in.  The eggs, or I should say blobs of chocolate were placed in the freezer, but only after some of the grands faces were all covered with this gooey brown chocolate.  They thought it was great fun,  the parents, not so much.  

Oh! I am on a roll with memories today, when the girls got a little older I purchased small straw hats, flowers, little birds, butterflies etc. from the dollar store, gave them some glue and they made their own Easter bonnets.  They had a lot of fun and they all looked great.

We went to daughter #2 for dinner last night, we were reluctant to go, however, after discussing it between ourselves and her, we felt we could go with no problem.  We had a lovely meal, and conversation, face to face conversation, it was so nice to do that.   My grand daughter 23 years, is volunteering with an assistant, doing research for a paper they are writing.  She is doing this until the first of May when she starts working on her Masters.  The youngest grand daughter, 18 years is getting anxious to start her first year of aviation training.  She is currently updating her safety requirements on line.  

Today, we are going to dev a socially distance visit Hubby's daughter in law,  it was her birthday yesterday,  

I went for a half hour walk yesterday even though the wind was cold, it felt good to be able to get out and not freeze to death.  I will do the same again after lunch.

Dinner tonight, roast beef, veg, salad dessert, I brought home a couple of pieces of the carrot cake from dinner last night, so that is desert all taken care of.

Have a lovely day, today, doing what ever your plans are.

Better day

 There is no wind today, but the clouds are back, sun trying to peek through every one in awhile.

Well, the cake pops were a hit, the carrot cake turned out beautifully, will put the icing on today.

Jumped on the scales as we do every Saturday morning,  do scales lie, I am sure they do,  where did that high number come from?  Too many cake pops?  Or is it because of me not going for my walks?  I suspect a bit of both.  So... today, as my hip is feeling so much better, I will go for a walk,  the ground is dry so I will go through the field today.  All the morning dog walkers have come and gone, just hope they have picked up where their dogs relieved themselves.  So many of them do not pick up after their dogs, so will need to watch where I place my feet.

Dinner last night was a disaster.   I buy a thin crust frozen pizza from the grocery store, the ones you get from the pizza take outs have just too much crust for our tastes.  The one  we like is a spinach and cheese, just take it out of the box, place on rack in  toaster oven and cook for 15 minutes.  It always is perfect, except for the one we had last night.   It seemed to be cooking on one side more than the other so decided to turn it around on the rack.  Mistake,   It slid right off the rack, under the elements, cheese stuck to everything.  Using two egg lifters it came out in a mangled mess.  More cheese added and it was edible but then needed to clean the oven.  The saving grace for dinner was the salad and cake pops.   

No dinner prep for me tonight,  we are having a roast of beef tomorrow,  (cauliflower masked as potatoes,) broccoli, gravy, salad.  Going to try skipping dessert.  In all the years at home when I was child Mum always had dessert, and I carried on doing the same for my family and still do it now.  But, maybe it is time for a change.   

The sun is shining a little more often, so I am now going out for my walk.  

Have a lovely day.

Another....Beautiful Day & Lockdown/Stay at Home

 The only good thing I can report so far today, is the weather, it is absolutely gorgeous, the sun is bright and warm, blue sky with not a cloud in sight.   Better take advantage of it because we are to have thunderstorm tonight and tomorrow, then cooler wetter days for a while.

We are also now as of midnight last night, once again, in lockdown and we have been advised to only go out for necessary purchases.  Only essential services are allowed to open albeit with restrictions on the number of people inside the store, and on line ordering and curb side pickup in bein encouraged.  Big box stores are only allowed to sell food, meds and cleaning supplies the rest of the store is cordoned off.  There were long line ups yesterday after the stay home order was issued.   People stocking up on items, so they could avoid the lineups that will be taking place in the coming days.   No toilet paper again! who knows.

I am going to persuade Hubby to take a couple of hours off doing things this afternoon so that we can take advantage of the weather and put the top down on the convertible and go for a ride.  The trees should be showing a bit more green than they were the last time we went out.  I know this is against everything I said in the above paragraph, but we will not be around anyone.  It might be out last chance for a week or so.

On my walk yesterday afternoon, I saw seven deer grazing in the field I was going through, they did not seem to be worried about me going through.  

Not much happening on the estate today, Hubby is putting out the garden hoses, they shouldn't freeze now.  I will get him to cook dinner tonight , steak on the BBQ.   Along with some mushrooms and a salad.  I will also make some turnovers, with fruit inside for dessert, as I have some puff pastry that needs using.

 

Daffodils

 We have a lovely sunny day, not a cloud in the sky but it is cold.  No snow, thank goodness, we had several flurries yesterday, however, it did not lay.  

A couple of days ago I was talking to my neighbour and told her the daffodils in her garden were looking very pretty this year.  Yesterday when the weather was so bad, she called and told me to go over and pick a bunch to bring in the house, as they would be whipped to shreds by the wind.  She has two different shades of yellow and they look lovely in the living room,  thank you M.B.

Baking a carrot cake today, it is currently in the oven and smelling nice.  I will let it cool and tomorrow add the cream cheese icing.  I am taking it to my youngest daughter's, she has invited us for dinner.  We were hesitant, but have decided to go.  Our Province in now under lock down, for the month of April.  Not much has changed for us, but stores must restrict the number of people going in even more than they were. Restaurants can only do delivery, pick up or drive through, no in house dining, not even on a patio,  Salons, gyms etc are now closed.   

Not much happening around the house today,  Hubby is working on the slats for his daughter's garden bench.  The iron legs and arms are in good shape, however, the wooden seat and back has been out in the weather much too long.   He is hoping there will be lumber in the stores soon as he wants to start making her shed.  At this point in time it does not look promising. 

Dinner tonight is pizza and a large salad,  not sure what we will have for dessert.  I have some banana bread that should have been eaten a couple of weeks ago, so I am defrosting it, and going to make cake pops with it.  Never made them before so an experiment.  I hate throwing food out that is perfectly good to eat but just looks a little dry, so thought I would try this.  Wish me luck.

Not funny

April 1st. April Fools Day.   If Mother Nature is pulling a joke on us today, I am not laughing.  We woke to beautiful sunshine, -3*C and windy.  Within an hour the sky had turned black and it looked as if we were going to be getting the snow which was predicted.  Now, however, it looks as if that cloud went north of us, so we are in the clear at the moment.   Our weather is very changeable in the Spring so we can expect almost anything.

Yesterday, I decided to clean out the kitchen cupboards, so Hubby suggested we purge some of the contents.  When I moved here, I brought a lot of things with me, at the time I just could not get rid of any of it.  Hubby had lots too, but it has got to be a little too much, so yesterday was the day.  At the present time I have a couple of boxes of dishes etc. on the dining room table waiting for family to claim some of it.  My youngest grand daughter needs some pieces for when she goes to University in September and another grand daughter is setting up an apartment with her boy friend so some of has been spoken for the rest will go to the charity shop.  Honestly who needs three toasters.  There is one more cupboard that will be done today and then the kitchen will be take care of.  Next on the list is the dining room.  Then I will take a break of cleaning out, until we are able to get these things taken to their new owners.  Plus it will give my poor legs a rest, climbing up and down a step stool all day, is hard on my legs, which I must admit have not been doing much exercise recently.

My birthday book quote:

APRIL

She who from April dates her years,

Diamonds should wear, lest bitter tears,

For vain repentance flow; this stone,

Emblem of innocence is known.

Birthstone: Diamond.

Dinner tonight,  Pulled pork, veg and salad.  Dessert is yet to be decided.