CARDBOARD UP THE WAZOOO

 Back in the Bill days I watched Bill garden.  At times in our life together he went to town and did major transformations outside the current house.  One of the things I learned from watching him was that keeping weeds at bay was almost a full time job.  Consequently he attacked the problem in the most innovative way.

We had ripped up a huge amount of carpet in one of our places we had foreclosed.  He brought it home, cut it to proper sizes and laid them on the flower beds.  He covered it with dirt then did his planting.  It worked like a hot dam!  He also, when carpet was not available, used cardboard.  He would put it down and cover with mulch.  To plant plants he would cut holes in the cardboard, dig a hole in the corresponding dirt and plant the plant.  Again, it worked like a charm.

And that is what Ange and I are going to do this year.  So, guess what is alive and growing on our deck.  CARDBOARD!!!  We have way more boxes out there than we have garden bed space.  It is just too easy to throw those Amazon, Costco, Post Office boxes out the sliding door and now we have a monster to tame.  I have ordered a pack of 8 box cutters and they arrive today.  We are going to sit our butts down on chairs out there and cut appropriate size cardboard pieces.  The rest Monte can take to the recycling place.  I want to see bare deck floor when we are done.

Now I am prepping dinner for tonite.  I have noticed that in the morning I have lovely ideas for dinner but by mid afternoon my mojo seems to evaporate.  So now I am trying a new strategy.  Do as much prep when I have the pep, and that is in the morning.

So I have just finished slicing up a couple sweet onions and three yellow peppers.  I am thawing a whole chicken which I shall spatchcock to lay on top of the onions and peppers.  Half an hour before it's finished roasting I will drain if needed and then cover it all with BBQ sauce (only Diane's).  I also found an amazing recipe for Jonny cake that you make with jalapeños and corn and cheese that you make in a slow cooker!  Oh yeah!!!  I hope it turns out!  I love my slow cooker.  I am also making  creamed corn.  I have milk to use up and thats a great way to do it.  Broccoli rob to top it off.  Mmmmm...now I am hungry and it's too early for it all.

Well sorry...got carried away there.  Cooking is probably my fave subject.  I don't eat much any more, and def not meat but I still love to cook.  This dinner totally reminds me of Bamfield summers and Bill...probably one of his fave dinners.

Well gotta bounce and go get the ingredients ready to mix for the Jonny cake.  Have a great week people and TTYL

'Be decisive.  Right or wrong, make a decision.  The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who couldn't make a decision.'       Unknown. But man alive!  I could have written this one.

I shall include pics next post.

POSTY POST POST POST

 I can't believe there are still people reading this blog.  I have such a NOTHING life!!!

  I kinda noticed I was getting tired of my chair.  I found myself on google maps yesterday, as a distraction from mind numbing boredom, mapping out a trip to Omaha Nebraska.  A very dear friend lives there and he is on my bucket list.  I met him on one of our China trips and we became fast friends on fb.  I would so love to make a big sweeping driving trip that also included another couple I met on a cruise and we have communicated for years.  She and her husband live in California...Sherri!!!!!!  I would be so content and happy to see all three of those awesome people.

A trip we ARE planning in the spring is to Alberta.  I want to see Jen and the grandkids in a town just north of Calgary.  I also want to see Jen, my brother's daughter and family.  And......we would be making a two day stopover in Drumheller, Canada's dinosaur capital.  Monte is all gungho to do a two day visit there.  He is still so interested in dinosaurs, never out grew it!!!

I got a text/call from the Kevin household a couple of days ago.  Their truck was stolen.  Poor Kevin.  I am beginning to think he is living under a little black cloud.  It has been one thing after another, and now this.  The neighbour has a security camera and it showed the guy using the keys he stole when I was there.  And then he sawed the steering wheel apart and got the club off, started her up and took off, in the middle of the night.  I am not sure what was saddest, not having wheels in a very busy life or losing the last thing that was Bill's.  They are very aware when they are in the truck that it was a gift from Bill's deathbed.

Then last nite I got a call from Kevin, the police found it!!!  They found it in Kelowna and it looks like its just fine.  Thank goodness.  No way would they have obtained an amount equal to that Toyota Tacoma.  Plus they have the biggest dog on the planet.  Two big kids and a giant dog just wouldn't fit on the back seat of a Rav 4.  The biggest problem now is getting a new key.  To change the locks and get a fob cost about 800 bucks and he is probably going to have to get it done in Kelowna.  The Toyota in Penticton has to order it all and it can take weeks. Meanwhile there is a lowlife floating around with keys to the truck.

Well it's time to move to my bedroom.  The housekeeper is about to arrive.  The house is so neat and tidy right now, but dirty.  She hasn't been here for a month and the floors are showing it.  The sun is shining into my living room right now and it makes me happy!  Take care....TTYL

'Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood.'  Michael Fronti

MY RAYS OF SUNSHINE

GRAEME!!!!!

 Monte and I had a fantastic trip down to Nanaimo.  We super visited and ended up at Costco right on time.  We dashed about and got our list.  I had given him most of the list as my butt was not up to too much dashing.  That guy is like an ace shopper.  I ran into him after I had one item in my buggy and he had everything on the list!!!  I don't know how the hell he does that.  We didn't stop for hot dogs or anything.

  Although we had a spat at the self check which I stomped away from and went and sat at a vacant table.  I was so mad.

  He is always telling me to move in the rudest way when he needs to be where I happen to be standing.  I was busy reorganizing the groceries in the buggy so I could move it out of the way and yells, MOVE! repeatedly.  Rudely.  I said don't talk to me like that and he says that I always talk to him like that and I said no I don't and he starts to....well I am going to call it Montyize the convo.  He hammers back endlessly with all kinds of stuff and NEVER STOPS!!!  He does that all the time if you don't agree with him.  So I dropped whatever I had in my hands, spun around, and marched away.  He could finish the damned order!  A few minutes later he came to the table all cheery and ready to go.  Grrrrr!!!!

We picked up Graeme, so good to see him!, and went to Carlos O'Brians for supper.  What fun!!!  Then a quick trip home.  Very uneventful thank goodness.  It was coming down in buckets out and the road was slippery.

We have done very little this week.  Graeme and Monte have been out for jaunts and visits to friends.  Last night Monte invited his friend Colton over for the evening.  He arrived with his husky, Juneau, a two year old female, which I had invited him to bring.  Holy crap!  A completely beautiful dog but so freaking hyper!  That dog crawled on the couch, behind the couch, under the coffee table and chairs, into the bathrooms, bedrooms and downstairs, all at a hundred miles an hour, leaping and jumping through the air.

After they left Ange texted me to let me know that she (the dog) had crapped on the laundry room floor. Jeez!!!!  They do NOT discipline that dog!  Monte had to clean it up and wasn't stoked about that!  He texted Colton and told him and I will say he offered to come back and clean it up.

Graeme has done a few things here that has helped hugely.  He hung a new light I bought for the living room.  I am tired of being in a too dark room that in their wisdom the builders did not feel the need to put a ceiling light in.  He also built my end table to put beside my chair and I have another one ready to build for a bedside table in my bedroom.  This makes me so happy.

We are still micro managing the hot water tank.  I do believe it is the thermostat that is faulty.  The water gets so hot now that the amount of cold coming in doesn't make it colder.  And from what I have read a hot water tank has a shut off when it gets too hot.  So I turn it on every two days, tell the household, get the dishwasher done, one load of laundry by someone, showers all around, then let it go off the next day.  And whilst doing this I remind my self that I am not having to haul the water five miles from a watering hole and heating a limited amount over an open fire. Could be worse.

Well now it is time to haul out the ham, seriously huge ham, the size of a piglet, out of the cooler outside and get my kitchen chainsaw going and hack it up.  I detect pea soup in our future!!!  Costco is definitely the king of all stores.  I have become used to shopping in regular grocery stores and even the paper towels are smaller.  This ham has to be two feet wide!

So we are taking Graeme back to Nanaimo on Sunday.  He is job hunting and needs to be available for interviews.  But he will be back!

So thats it for this week.  Take care and TTYL

'I consider that a man's brain is originally like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture that you choose.'  Arthur Conan Doyle

-furniture that you have to build-

TIP OF THE WEEK

I know a lot of you have electric can openers.  I don't.  I would if I had room and I hadn't read all the reviews on the internet.  None of them worked for long and they were expensive.

I had a fantastic can opener for years.  And I mean years.  It always worked.  Then about a year ago it just upped and disappeared.  Gone.  It probably got thrown out in a pile of peelings.  But...it had been acting up.  It was getting harder and harder to get right round a can without having to reposition it and keep a death grip squeeze on the handles.

And now started the great search.  I first went to Amazon, looked at all the look alikes to the old one. Read all the reviews and proceeded to spend 24 dollars on the most promising.  It lasted one week and literally fell apart.  Then I got one from Walmart, the heaviest best looking one.  It didn't even work from the start.  I paid over ten bucks for it and considered taking it back but I couldn't find the receipt.

Then I was in the dollar store.  Now I need to clarify first that I am a huge Betty Crocker fan.  Instant mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, paring knives, scissors, all kitchen implements, brownie mix, and on and on.  And there it was, hanging on the implement wall, a bright red handled, heavy, just like the old one in looks, and I grabbed it.  Four dollars!

  Now its a month later and the other day I was back in the kitchen aisle at Dollarama and there it was.  I bought a second one just as a back up, just in case.  But I have a feeling this gorgeous little sucker is going to last a long time.  It is the easiest, smoothest most fantastic can opener I have ever used in all my 70 years.  I love Betty Crocker.  Plus she makes the best tasting instant potatoes, scalloped potatoes and brownies.  The best!!!!!  TTYL

I HAVE BEEN APRILIZED...IN THE BEST WAY!!!!

 Well that was a fantastic much needed few days...too short but I will take what I can get!  April arrived on the 2nd and left today, the 6th.  We had the best time.  On the 3rd we went to a fave bakery/coffee shop.  Ohhhhh.....cakes, donuts, croissants, breads, cookies, bakery goodies.....and we sat at a table and partook in a delectable lunch!  So much fun!  We also spent a goodly amount of time in my fave coffee shop for lattes...the Steampunk Coffee shop.  We just sat and visited.  After a while Monte showed up and joined us.  Somewhere in there I made a giant pot of Dahl.  I bagged it and froze it and sent a bunch home with April.  She loves Dahl.  The first day we also went out to Naesgards, the market/farm shop.  All their Xmas stuff was on sale for thirty per cent off.  That's the place with a gergillion decorated xmas trees, covered in the most amazing spectacular xmas balls. Their store was all on sale as well and they have pretty much everything in there....from clothes to chocolate and purses and socks and jewelry.  We had a blast.

We decided to have one 'nice' dinner, set the table etc...  So we went shopping and bought steaks and potato bakers with all the trimmings and salad makings.  April told me not to look at what she was doing in the dining room whilst she did something utterly gobsmacking amazing to the table.  I have never ever in my entire life have I ever seen anything as wonderful as what I saw when I could look.

Unfortunately words, and pics, will never really show what I saw.  She had decorated the table with a sparkly black tablecloth, big full wreath with white flowers, little fairy lights wandering around the table, beautiful dishes and glassware, candles ......unbelievable.  I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Very rarely has my breath been totally taken away but it surely was the moment I saw it.  The pictures below just don't adequately show it.  I will never ever forget this.  She seriously did the very thing I utterly love the most.

And now she is gone.  This is the only downside to having someone you love so much come to visit.  Sigh.  It is very quiet and lonely right now.  She has gone to Eithne's which is great.  She is spending the night there so she gets to spend time with a best friend and a new baby.  I sent along a jar of my Caesar dressing.  Eithne loves it!

Now it is time to get ready for Graeme.  He is coming to stay for a while and I can't wait!!!  He will be coming to Nanaimo and we shall be picking him up.  Normally I wouldn't be going with Monte down to pick him up, but I need some stuff from a better supplied store than Port has. I just finished talking to him and we are picking him up on Monday!!!!

Well this is it for today.  Stay safe and be happy and stay true to     any resolutions you made for at least a week or two!  Hahaha!!!!  So far I have!!!!......as I sit here dressed for NO REASON!!!!  TTYL

'Siblings:  children of the same parents, each of whom is perfectly normal, until they get together.'  Sam Levenson

SO FRIGGING BEAUTIFUL

I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.  THE TABLECLOTH REALLY SPARKLED. THAT SPARKLE BUNCH TOP RIGHT IS THE LIGHT CATCHING THE TABLECLOTH.

SURE BLOGSPOT, LET'S JUST PUT A PICTURE RIGHT WHERE IT DOESN'T BELONG.  STEAMPUNK CAFE

LAST ONE

WALKIES

STUPID BLOGSPOT

EAGLE BAIT

THIS POST IS FOR TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE

I'm not kidding.  This post is for those people I have heard whining about rent being too high and they should never get their rent raised, and for those that are whining because it is so hard to buy a house right now.  Frankly I am kind of tired of hearing these old old complaints.  It's been around for millennia.

Firstly let's deal with the house owner wannabe's.  Let me tell you it just isn't all it is cracked up to be.  I have had to spend thousands of dollars fixing up this house.  And I am NOT talking about cosmetic fixes.  The fixes are mandatory.  And expensive.

  My front door, which was falling apart was five thousand.  My toilet was 150.00.  I just spent four hundred on a tap to replace the broken kitchen sink one.  My outside pipes froze last winter and need fixing.  My front door, the wooden parts still need painting.  I could go on but you get the point.  If I had a renter, no matter how much I was renting it for, I can't raise the rent to cover all the costs that always crop up.  As a house owner I have to plan for these costly issues and not use my house as part of my income like I would if I had a renter.  

Now trying to buy...well I can only hope the potential buyers are actually realistically looking at what it is to own a house.  Even if you buy one with a mortgage helper you won't come out ahead.  The only way you come out ahead is if your house appreciates in value.  And then you just become one of those very people you resent...the ones that saved up a down payment and bought.  And you just purchased a whole lotta issues.  No longer calling up a hapless landlord to come fix your stove, or furnace or pipes or, as in my latest case, the hot water tank.

Now for the renters.  I know it seems rent is so high. But as I already pointed out there is a reason for this.  I forgot to mention the renters that don't pay, you can't get them evicted in a timely fashion and they sneak off in the night leaving you holding the bag for thousands of dollars.  And then along comes your friendly government and tells renters they don't have to pay rent while covid is lurking about.  When it came time to pay up, the true nature of humans came out and a good number of them absconded without paying.  Having renters is actually more expensive than owning a house and paying all the repairs.

Speaking of which, the hot water tank quit last week.  I finally got hold of a plumber that is still working in this town and he is coming next week on Wednesday, a whole week and two days away.  Hahahahahaha!!!!  

Old school time.  Won't be the first time I get my giant pot out, fill it with water, keep it hot on the stove and put a dipper beside it.  Hand wash dishes, PTA (pits ti*s as*) baths, cold water laundry soap etc...It's a pain in the patooty but its gotta be done.

I was saying to April that at least I don't have to walk five miles to get that water and carry it back on my head.  I saw an ad on tv about African kids that have to do that every day and I was ashamed of myself for being annoyed with the situation.  She responded by saying that those ads were setups.  Everyone knows there isn't any water over there.  Hahahahaha!!!!!  

Anyway that's it for today.  April arrives around five tonite!!!  I can't wait!!!!  I'm hauling out the paper plates!!!  TTYL

I usually put a quote here. I looked up quotes about landlords and renters.  Every single one was slamming landlords.  In my opinion there are far more bad renters than bad landlords.  But  public opinion has very successfully made renters to be victims.  I'd rather be a anything other than a victim.  Victim is a bad word in our house!!!