YOU SUCK! NO YOU SUCK! NO YOU BOTH SUCK!!!!!!!!

 Let me just say I hate blogspot.  They have changed everything and it's become ridiculous.  I just want to turn on the lappy and type.  This new format is so assy!!!!!!!!!!  (shovel list).

Anyway, my title refers to the election.  What's really fun this time around, for me, is I don't give a rat's ass who wins or who doesn't.  The only difference between them would be how fast each of them will tank the province.  Haha! So when you don't care one whit about the outcome, the process just becomes entertainment.

Horgan seems to be in control so far but...a big but, I will never ever vote NDP.  Their ideology is a recipe for bankruptcy.  If you ran your house the way the NDP run their politics you would soon be in the ditch.  But he is Mr. Charmpants and I am pretty sure he will win.  Besides which if I actually did vote for him I know for a fact Billy Boy would rise up out of the ocean and come for me...not in a good way!

Sonia Whatsername spends her entire time throwing shade at Horgan.  What whiny nasty little beeotch that shrivelled up prune is.  I have never seen her smile (I have been watching) and she never talks about what her party will do, she only throws crap at Horgan.  Her big concern is to get rid of plastic one use bags.  She's a bag.

Wilkinson?  Who knows.  Mr. Milque toast.  He is a doctor so he must be somewhat brainy.  But I guess time will tell.  By the way...how and when did he get picked to be the Lib leader?  I just don't remember that particular event.  And what riding is he from?

Well Monte and I, mostly Monte, did the garden yesterday.  Some decisions have to be made.  First of all, I hate gardening.  So if we do another one, which Monte loves, he is going to have to understand that he is going to have to put more work into it for it to be successful.  And those garden boxes and cloth round things we bought are for dainty gardeners which we are not.  If we do garden next year I am going to have to start saving money to hire landscapers to come in and dig up and make a proper garden.  IN THE GROUND.  Also, I got the water bill yesterday.  It's over a hundred dollars a month.  Thats a lot of vegetables I can buy at Nesgaard's.  So we shall discuss through the winter and decide next March.

I bought a big batch of beets from Walmart in my weekly 'pick up at the curb' order.  I cooked them up and made a small batch of Harvard beets.  OMG!  They were delicious!!!  It's like eating mild pickled beets that are hot.  Mom used to make them.  I added nutmeg and cinnamon and they were amazing.  Plus I used Splenda.  I also roasted Brussels with onion and whole crimini mushrooms with maple syrup and sambol olek .  Jeez they were good.  Then I fried sliced tofu after marinating it in peri peri sauce and garlic.  Blech!  I hated it.  But Monte went nuts over it and pretty much ate the whole brick.

Alright, when I start writing about my boring cooking forays, I know its time to quit.  Signing off now.  Take care peeps and remember to noodle.  TTYL

THE ONIONS I FROZE.  IT WORKS OUT FANTASTICALLY!

XMAS DINNER AT BILL'S SISTERS AROUND 1994

HARVARD BEETS, BRUSSELS AND TOFU

ONE XMAS MANY MOONS AGO

SAD NEWS

Periodically I have mentioned our family's dear friend Clare and his beautiful wife Tish.  Both are in their nineties, in fact Clare is 96.  He is amazing.  He still drives for Pete's sake! Sharp as a tack!

Tish had a fall a year or two ago and ended up in assisted living at Lion's Gate.  She hit her head and it seemed to accelerate her dementia.  Of course, as anyone who has had a loved one go through this knows how sad and hard it is to watch your loved one kind of disappear into themselves.

Then covid happened.  And poor Clare, who loves Tish more than life itself, has been with her every single day for over 70 years, could no longer see her.  And I say it again, some things are worse than death, something the Bonnie Henrys don't seem to get. They had to go through months of no contact, and with a person with dementia, that is a death knell anyway.  Unbelievable!

Last week Tish passed away.  And Clare is heart broken. Our family is so sad about this too.  Clare is truly the last person in our life that we equate with Bill and we love him. Tish, beautiful Tish, was the prettiest older woman I have ever seen, and the sweetest and she could be so funny.  I have known her since the eighties and she was truly an amazing woman.  And Clare is now going to have to learn to live completely without her.  I don't know how he will.  Its going to be awfully hard.  And Clare if you are reading this just know our family is here for you, we love you, and we would be honoured if you called us anytime, day or night.  There is lots we can talk about in this day and age and I love your wisdom!  Even if its for only an hour, I would love to hear your thoughts on everything from loneliness to that silly man in the Whitehouse.  Please call any of us whenever you feel like it.

On another note, my highly anticipated red chair arrived from Wayfair.  I eagerly opened the box and pulled out the back of the chair, which is separate for packing reasons.  And....it is BURGANDY!  It is NOT bright lipstick red like the picture on the website!  I am soooo pissed off.  I put that chair back on one of my love seats in good light and decided to leave it there for a day or two to see if it would grow to acceptableness.  And it hasn't!  I would spend the rest of the chair's life hating it.  So now I have to pack it back up, lug it to UPS outlet and send it back.  Monte and I decided to stick with the terrible old green thing.  At least it's comfortable.  I will take pics.

Today the mattress for Monte is supposed to arrive but due to the lack of a phone call from the delivery people I have a feeling it isn't coming today.  So annoying.  I think I will call the Courtenay store again, where the mattress is coming from, and see what is happening.  We want to go to Nanaimo and we can't while this delivery is hanging over our heads.

As soon as I finish this post I am going to make a list, a very very long list of all the things that we have been putting off.  Hanging curtains, cleaning out the garden, clearing the flower boxes out and off the deck, cleaning up the huge laundry room and on and on and on.  He and I are terrible procrastinators. Which is probably a good thing.  When one is and one isn't its not long before you are at each other's throats, and that would be horribly disastrous for he and I.  I would rather have a long long list hanging over our heads.

Thats it for today.  I shall post a few relevant and irrelevant pics after my messages for Arnie.  Stay safe and be sure to noodle.  TTYL

ARNIE;

1.  Stand while you work.  I gather this is directed to desk workers.  My work only involves standing and running around.  Cooking, cleaning, laundry, garden etc...

2.  Stand up straight.  Give your posture some attention.

3.  Try not to cross your legs when you sit.  Circulation and hip alignment reasons.

4.  Keep your body aligned when you are driving.  You should see poor Monte when he is driving.  He has to slouch.  If he doesn't his head bangs on the divide between the front and back of the roof and he can't see out of the top part of the window.  And no matter how he sits his right knee is jammed against the lower part of the dashboard.  We have to stop every now and then so he can get out and stretch it all out.

5.  Sleep well.  I thought we already covered that.

GRAEME AND MONTE IN TOFINO

I JUST LIKED THIS. THATS GRAEME THERE

THIS IS NOT LIPSTICK RED!  I HATE THIS COLOUR...ITS AN OLD MAN COLOUR

SOME OF THE SUNFLOWERS TOONYKOOT SECRETLY PLANTED

OUR TONEAU

MY FRENCH ONION SOUP I MADE

THE COLOUR IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE AND IT DEFINITELY IS NOT NOT NOT NOT!!!!!!!!!

...

HERE IS THE OLD CRITTER...COMFY BUT TERRIBLE LOOKING.  IT'S LIKE A MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY I MUST ADMIT THOUGH.
AND THAT QUILT IS MY MOST USED ONE.  COOKIE MADE IT FOR ME! AND THAT MASSIVE BOX BACK THERE IS GOING BACK TO WAFAIR.  I MADE A HORRIBLE REVIEW ON THAT CHAIR PAGE.

 

I FEEL RIDICULOUS

 I am upset, and it's for a ridiculous reason.  There are actual tears on my freaking face.  Grrrrrr....(shovel list)

Since covid started to dictate my daily routine, I discovered that three episodes of Bones played every day.  So, seeing as how I have never watched the show, I started to PVR them.  And I have become addicted to that show.  I absolutely love the characters and the story line.

And today, in the middle of the current episode, one of my most favourite characters got shot, and DIED!  Oh fer jeez!!!!!  It was so shocking and unexpected and it has made me feel so bad I had to tell someone...so I am telling you guys.

And I feel so stupid.  It is just a story, a show.  How can one get so upset over fiction?  And it is kind of a cheesy fiction at that.  Light viewing.  So why am I feeling so bad?  I guess when you spend a couple of comfy hours every day with characters you come to love and enjoy, when they take one out it's hard.   I am not sure if I am going to keep watching.  It just won't be the same without Sweets in it.

Thats all.  Thanks for listening.  Take care and be sure to keep noodling.  TTYL

I WENT OUT...BY MYSELF

 I am waaaaay too comfortable with this current lifestyle.  Monte and I go out for little runs now and then.  He drives and we don't get out of the truck.  But the other day I got a call from Dorothy, one of my fave cousins.  She is the one that lives in Langford and we reconnected when I lived there.  She has been with Dan, her squeeze for a few years now.  I love visiting this couple...lots of talk and catching up.

At the moment they are camping out quite a ways along the Somass river.  They wanted me to come out and visit and I said yes I would.  And when the day arrived I started to kind of panic and wish I had said no.  Thats when I realized I really needed to get out more! Seriously!

So into the truck I hopped and off I went.  I hadn't driven for so long it felt weird.  But not for long.  It was a beautiful drive and true to form in this wee town, it wasn't long before I was in the forest and and in their campsite. I spent several hours there having the best time ever.  I just love that couple!

This town is completely shrouded in smoke.  I can't much see past half a block.  And it seriously doesn't bother me one whit.  I don't understand how I wouldn't even know there was smoke in the air if I was blind.  But then every one else is running around, freaking out, their eyes are burning, they are choking and they won't go outside.  I feel left out.  The upside of this smoke though is its much cooler outside.  I am ready for cooler weather!

But...last night around midnight Monte came upstairs for water.  He came and talked to me for a minute in my room and went into the spare room across the hall, just looking.  Over at the window he noticed that yet again, the drug dealer king pin in town was burning crap in his back yard across the alley.  And that smoke was coming right smack into my window.  I don't know what the hell he is always burning but does it ever stink!  It smells like rubber and chemicals.  It's totally against the current law.  One day I might report him.

Two fabulous things are happening today.  I have an appointment at ten at Cap-it.  I am getting a toneau for my truck!  In this town you seriously need to lock up anything you put in the back.  And sometime today Sleep Country is delivering from Courtenay a brand new king size mattress for Monte's bed.  I talked to Sleep Country and asked what mattress was best for long and large and she had all the answers.  I really like Sleep Country.  I have ordered three mattresses in my lifetime over the phone and had them delivered and they have been perfect.  So easy.

Tomorrow Wayfare is supposed to be delivering my big pseudo leather recliner to replace the old old old ratty green one.  Its headed to the recroom downstairs but my new red one is going front and centre in the living room.  So exciting!  And Saturday we are heading up to Tofino to visit Graeme!  And Monte wants to go to Nanaimo on Friday to a certain store.  I might veto that one til Monday.

Well I guess I should go find clothes to wear.  Time to go get a toneau!!!!  Be safe and noodle!  TTYL

ARYN:

1.  Care for your yard the low tech way.  Like go buy a push mower.  (now why for Pete's sake, is there a red line under that word buy?  shovel list). And no gas powered anything.  When it snows...use a shovel. (shovel list)

2.  Take a walk after dinner.

3.  Jump rope.  Seriously I sometimes wonder who the hell he wrote this book for.  And I can't help but feel that some of these are 'filler'

4.  Wear compression socks on airplanes.  Like we will ever be able to safely ride a plane again.

5.  Set up your workstation properly.  Mostly with posture and circulation in mind.

HOLY MOLY....FALLING DOWN ON THE JOB

 My apologies!  Man I seem to get busy, at least busy in my head, and forget to blog.

A fair amount has happened in the last few days.  Lets see if I can remember any of it!

My neighbours have disappeared...the ones that have a baby and a little boy of about five years old.  I had a knock at my door and a woman I recognized from some of the neighbour's backyard get togethers with relatives was standing there.  She asked if we had seen them recently.  I had to think and I realized that we hadn't heard the little guy out in the back yard for quite some time.  He is extremely noisy when he plays.  And what is scary is their car is there.  All the doors and windows are locked too.

We aren't all that fond of the dad.  He is very very hard on the little guy, he never smiles or says hello, and when their sliding door is open you can hear him inside causing hell with the family.  The mom is very friendly, but not when he is around.  He works so he is gone all day but when he gets home everything goes pretty quiet over there.  So it's a bit of a disturbing mystery.  But her sister is on it.  It is concerning.

Well we hared off to Nanaimo the other day.  What a lovely trip!  There was no smoke yet and the sun was clear and glorious!  Monte bought Smooch a terrarium and it looks wonderful now.  We stopped at Costco of course and I sent Monte in with a list.  First thing on that list were two boxes of Verona, Starbucks, coffee pods.  They are recyclable!  And its the best damned coffee on the planet. YES!  THE PLANET I say.  I was buying it on Amazon but they put the price for 60 pods up to $82!  They are only thirty something at Costco.

Then of course we made our compulsory stop at the drive thru at KFC.  We just buy chicken and I got coleslaw.  I love their coleslaw.  It is our last and final guilty pleasure.  

My hair.  I must mention it here because it plays a very large part of any angst I may feel these days.  I read in my covid science magazine that one of the very high risk places to get covid is at the hairdressers.  Apparently no matter how many masks and distances there are you risk getting it.  So no hairdresser.  And now my hair is so long its disgusting.  I didn't know my hair could grow that long.  The last time I got it done was when I was still  in Kamloops.  Now, let me tell you, I can reach behind me and grab my hair!  Seriously!  And I have shitty sore arms that hurt if I move them more than six inches.  Methinks scissors are in my future,  I have still to decide if I cut it myself or let Monte at it!

I gotta tell you what happened the other day.  Monte super likes 7/11 (sevvy) food.  And it is good, but just not at all healthy.  Anyway, we had thrown Wrangler into the truck and we were looking for a picnic idea to head into the bush with to give Wrangler a run.  We ended up at 7/11.  I picked a sub sandwich and so did Monte.  We both got a drink and headed off.  We took the logging road that goes up behind the shake mill near Cameron at the start of the dirt road to Bamfield.

Not far along that leg we found a wide spot and parked and threw Wrangler out to go exploring.  We sat in the truck with the doors open and grabbed our sandwiches.  They were in one of those hard plastic containers.  We popped them open and Monte started in on his.  He is too fast, he finishes before I even start.  I had snagged a fistful of mustard packets  to slather on my sammich.  So I popped it open and squirted one of them on the right side.  Then I popped open another one and started on the left and.....there, right frigging there, wiggling around was a COCKROACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ahhhhhhh!!!!

Okay, that was bad but...you should have seen Monte.  He took one look at that thing (and it was BIG...shovel list!!!!) and bolted out of the truck faster than I thought it possible a giant person could, and immediately started to barf.

Now you have to understand that he pretend barfs at home and gets Graeme and I (when Graeme lived here) laughing.  He is really good at fake barfing and it is funny.  But this time he wasn't faking.  Believe me.  But he sounded just the same!!!  And I couldn't help it...I started to laugh.  And laugh.  And laugh.  So hard I couldn't breathe.  And he hurled for a good five minutes!!!!  Finally he would stop and I would manage to get my breath and then he would start all over again and I would start laughing and laugh til I couldn't breathe. Oh my god!!!!  I haven't laughed like that in many years!  I felt bad but it was his own fault for making us laugh with his fake barfing.  Jeez it was sooooo funny.

Meanwhile, back at the sammich, I had put it back in the plastic container.  Monte climbed back into the truck, all exhausted, and looks at the sandwich.  The roach had crawled out onto the top of the bread and as we looked, it jumped!!!!  Shit we both bailed out of the truck instantly!!!  Hahahaha! What a couple of weenies!!!  So, seeing as how those sandwiches were nine bucks each, we took them back and got our money back.  I was awake in the night last night and thought about it and started to laugh all over again.  Poor Monte.  What a reaction!

Well gotta bounce.  Still have to list the next five things for Aryn.  Take care people and make sure to noodle.  TTYL

ARYN:

1.  Eat whole grains.  Well that can be good for you but I avoid grains, whole or half, all the time if possible.

2.  Here's one for you Arnie!  Drink red wine!  In moderation of course, he added!  Went into great detail about why, which we already know.

3.  Eat nuts.  Okay.  But if you are like me with plates in my mouth, you might want to rethink that one.

4.  Eat berries.  Now that one I like.  I buy them frozen and I buy the low carb, low fat, yoghurt and put yoghurt on the frozen berries.  Mmmmm.....

5.  Okay I don't like this one.  Drink tea.  Too messy.  But I guess it's healthy.  I haven't read the why part yet.

A GOOD WAY TO LOSE YOUR PERSONAL IDENTITY...AND I DON'T MEAN ELECTRONICALLY

 As I sit in my awesome comfy chair and survey out my front room window, something occurred to me.  For whatever reason, four neighbours have hung their laundry on their clotheslines.  From those clotheslines I can tell so much!

I can tell if the hanger upper is married, single, with kids, kidless.  I can tell if they are picky and separate their clothes into colours or darks and light to wash.  I can tell by the order they choose to hang their stuff if they are o.c.d. or not.  Take my next door neighbour. Only men's clothes get hung up.  His towels and sheets are definitely NOT pink, all dark colours.  And he washes every Friday morning,..like clockwork.

My analysis of that is he is single, his clothes choices are a staid older man, and he hangs six black tight boxer brief type under shorts, four black pairs of socks, individually, four t-shirts, three pairs of khaki knee length shorts.  So this staid older man is O.C.D. and extremely methodical.  And his name is Harry.  I didn't get that from his laundry, I know him.  haha!!!

But seriously, I am looking at the neighbour across the street.  I don't know those people.  Her laundry was hung out this morning.  It is clearly the weekly house laundry.  Billowing white sheets, dusty pink towels, five striped dish cloths, five matching dish towels.  Me thinks this is also an older household...a pretty traditional one.  No surprises on her clothes line.

Anyway as you can probably tell by now my life has become so mundane I could scream.  I wake up in the morning and groan.  Another day, another long stretch of tv, reading, laptopping, phone and cleaning the tiny bit of mess that happens.  And I stare out the window.  A lot.  Thats how I noticed all the laundry on the lines.

A parcel arrived today from Amazon.  It's a lava lamp.  Tomorrow morning I shall set it up.  So exciting.  A different thing to stare at.  Stay safe and be sure to noodle.  TTYL

ARYN:

1.   Create a car free zone around your house.  He says that the next time you are in Manhattan look at the people walking up and down the street....carless.  And they are NEVER overweight or obese. Smug bastard.

2.   Eat dark chocolate.  Blech!!!  I hate chocolate...especially dark chocolate.  But when I was grand kitty sitting I did discover your little chocolate stash in the door of your fridge!

3.   Control your reaction to stress.  Actually this is a good one.  Stress is so extraordinarily bad for your body.  He suggests you train yourself in some self hypnosis geared toward controlling your stress levels.  Good advice.  A life saver.

4.   Get a petable pet.  Yay Fred!  Yay Wrangler.  We got that one covered!

5.   Know your heart rate.  Well that's easy...I have an app and you have a fit bit.