I have come to the conclusion that there just is a large number of people that jump onto that negative band wagon and find any little bitchy thing they can to spear a happy event. Christmas is too commercial, stop shopping and spending money, call it anything but Christmas, if you have to shop, stop shopping online or in big box stores, don't eat too much, Turkey is bad for you, stop with the predictable green bean casserole blah blah blah. Seriously!
Never mind that: Christmas is all about those awesome presents. You might be one of those naysaying downers but you sure are happy to open and keep the present I bought you back in November when xmas shit first showed up.
And: Christmas is Christ's birthday. If Christ hadn't been born there would be no CHRISTmas. I am not going to call it by any other name, including Holiday, because it is CHRISTmas. Go away and celebrate whatever you are somewhere else and you better not be going to mass or eating turkey or opening presents. Let me know and I will happily cross you off my CHRISTmas list. No presents for you!
And: I love to give gifts. I love to shop for those gifts. But two things play into it here. One: due to the amount of gifts I give, I can't afford to shop 'locally'. And I live in a wee town that sports only a Walmart. So logically I must go to the online community. I am not giving up on the gift giving and because I am giving gifts to about twenty people, Walmart, Dollar Rama and Canadian Tire don't cut it.
And: Turkey. Are you kidding me? Even if it gives me the grand daddy of all grand daddy belly aches, I am eating turkey on Christmas Day.
And: The whole point of a Turkey dinner is to eat so much all you can do is roll away from the table and collapse on the couch til it passes, and that might take a while. Get up only when a leftover turkey sandwich is calling you. And while you are in the kitchen, dig the turkey carcass out of the garbage that some well meaning relly threw out, brush it off and make soup, using that delicious leftover green been casserole.
All in all you know what I am talking about. I am talking about TRADITION!!!! Don't frigging mess with it!!!! TTYL
Friday, November 29, 2019
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
THE OLD ARGUMENT
It's an old old argument. Should you buy or should you rent.
Buying always won out. And yes, there are lots of good things about buying. Mostly its so you won't feel like you are 'throwing' your money away.
But think about what you are getting by renting. You are getting an insecure roof over your head, true, but not one thing in that place is your problem or cost to fix. No property tax, no insurance (building), lots of times no utilities, better chance of no barking dog right next door (apartment) etc.... There is a certain freedom in renting that you simply don't have by owning. There are times when a home you own feels like a ball and chain.
I have rented places so many times I'm not sure I can count them. Just a minute, I am going to try....as near as I can remember since leaving home at 18 I have rented eleven times. In all of those places I have NOT had to fix a furnace, washer, fridge, broken window, a flooded condo. I have not had to pay for wallpaper, paint or a new rug. And I didn't have to rent money...called a mortgage.
When I bought this place I was aware that it isn't 'young'. It was built in the seventies I do believe. Around the forty year mark things start to go. (Kind of like us...hahaha! shovel list). You have to start replacing and fixing things. I am aware of that of course. But this place had all new guts, which is really the most important thing.
But a while ago the stove crapped out. And at a lovely cost the appliance guy told me there was no return for the critter. It had cooked its last meal. I hadn't thought about the age of the appliances. No landlord to call...just a trip to the Brick for a new one. And guess what...that brand new whole stove just completely quit last night. Yup!! Bastard!!!!
On that stove was a pot of boiling veggies, a cast iron full of half cooked chicken, a wok with a delicious herbed roux ready for a gravy and a heating oven waiting for biscuits. Suddenly nothing was sizzling, thickening or browning.
But here's the thing. The stove breaker had thrown. Monte switched it back on and guess what...didn't work. Dead stove. Now I ain't no genius but that tells me that its probably the socket in the back. This means the stove, which is under warranty, is just fine but the electrical socket back there, which isn't under warranty needs an expensive electrician. (steam shovel list). And now renting is looking a tad better. And in this town electricians are impossible to find. And Samsung told me it would be a couple of weeks before they can check it out.
Jennifer is coming for a long weekend this weekend. I was going to make her fave rib dinner like always but now that won't be happening. Electric frying pan its going to be for the next while. Speaking of which, I have cooked potatoes, carrots, and onion from last night. Time to fry up a hash! TTYL
Buying always won out. And yes, there are lots of good things about buying. Mostly its so you won't feel like you are 'throwing' your money away.
But think about what you are getting by renting. You are getting an insecure roof over your head, true, but not one thing in that place is your problem or cost to fix. No property tax, no insurance (building), lots of times no utilities, better chance of no barking dog right next door (apartment) etc.... There is a certain freedom in renting that you simply don't have by owning. There are times when a home you own feels like a ball and chain.
I have rented places so many times I'm not sure I can count them. Just a minute, I am going to try....as near as I can remember since leaving home at 18 I have rented eleven times. In all of those places I have NOT had to fix a furnace, washer, fridge, broken window, a flooded condo. I have not had to pay for wallpaper, paint or a new rug. And I didn't have to rent money...called a mortgage.
When I bought this place I was aware that it isn't 'young'. It was built in the seventies I do believe. Around the forty year mark things start to go. (Kind of like us...hahaha! shovel list). You have to start replacing and fixing things. I am aware of that of course. But this place had all new guts, which is really the most important thing.
But a while ago the stove crapped out. And at a lovely cost the appliance guy told me there was no return for the critter. It had cooked its last meal. I hadn't thought about the age of the appliances. No landlord to call...just a trip to the Brick for a new one. And guess what...that brand new whole stove just completely quit last night. Yup!! Bastard!!!!
On that stove was a pot of boiling veggies, a cast iron full of half cooked chicken, a wok with a delicious herbed roux ready for a gravy and a heating oven waiting for biscuits. Suddenly nothing was sizzling, thickening or browning.
But here's the thing. The stove breaker had thrown. Monte switched it back on and guess what...didn't work. Dead stove. Now I ain't no genius but that tells me that its probably the socket in the back. This means the stove, which is under warranty, is just fine but the electrical socket back there, which isn't under warranty needs an expensive electrician. (steam shovel list). And now renting is looking a tad better. And in this town electricians are impossible to find. And Samsung told me it would be a couple of weeks before they can check it out.
Jennifer is coming for a long weekend this weekend. I was going to make her fave rib dinner like always but now that won't be happening. Electric frying pan its going to be for the next while. Speaking of which, I have cooked potatoes, carrots, and onion from last night. Time to fry up a hash! TTYL
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| LOOK AT THESE GORGEOUS BEAUTIES PETER BROUGHT HOME FOR US TO ENJOY AND STARE AT ENDLESSLY. I LOVE FLOWERS AND HE ALWAYS MANAGES TO FIND JUST THE RIGHT COLOUR FOR THE ROOM. I LOVE THEM!!! THANKS PETE...YOU'RE THE BEST! |
Sunday, November 24, 2019
HOUSE BOUND...WILLINGLY...WARNING...A RANT
Nothing of note has happened since getting home, other than I did manage to separate my summer and winter clothes. Now I am doing a mountain of laundry.
I have not left the house even once in the last six days, since getting home from Vancouver. And that's the way I like it.
I was thinking about that. I had an extremely busy life before Bill died. Between babies, teens, dogs, work, then extreme travelling, moving umpteen times, condo in Maui, friends, family, funerals....I am totally and completely happy to sit at home and only go out when forced to by circumstances.
But even I am beginning to kind of wonder why I am so able to just be in my chair with occasional forays into the kitchen to clean. I did manage to organize all my papers and today I am going to file them into file folders that arrived from Amazon a couple of days ago. So I decided to take advantage of an empty house (the boys are back in Victoria til later today), turn everything off and think about it.
And what I came up with was this. If I did not have a laptop I could not do this. Even the tv only keeps me in my chair for so long. But my lappy makes it all possible.
I read my books on it. I blog on it. I read the esoteric news on it. I research for answers to everything I think of on it. I write...not good writing but writing just the same...on it. I do my photography on it. I am completely busy without moving anything but my fingers. Not an ideal situation....even I know that.
But I hate walking. It rains here from October until April. I hate walking at its best...unbelievably boring. But in the rain? OMG!!! Brings to mind the time in Bamfield Kathy, Kerry, Emily, Monte and I decided to hike out to Kia Bay. Its not that far...maybe two kilometres.
We asked someone that hiked that trail regularly how it was and he said, "Its a great trail, but if its raining it gets pretty muddy." Well it hadn't rained for some time so off we went. And....of course the minute our boots hit the dirt, you guessed it, it started to rain. Not hard enough to cause rivers of water, but a steady light downpour, enough to cause a lot of mud.
Within minutes my glasses were all covered with running rain drops...rendering me half blind. My hair got soaked in spite of my now soaked Tilly hat I was wearing and if you know me I have toxic hair. I use liquid cement to keep it in place and the rain running through picked up lethal amounts of chemicals, and then ran straight down, under my glasses and landed in my eyes. Jesus!!! it stung like acid! Pretty soon my cotton cargo pants were soaked right through. And so was my jacket and shirt....soaked to the bone. At one point my now heavy with water pants just simply fell off!! Pants on the ground...no .... pants in the mud. I finally had to take the waist string on the pants and tie it to the long hat string on my Tilly hat. It worked but looked ridiculous.
At one point on the trail we came across a mud hill so steep it had a long rope tied to a stump at the top and hung down to the bottom. You actually had to use that sucker to get up there! Jeez!!! This is just so not me. If it hadn't been for Kerry's encouragement along the way whilst I sat on stumps, crying and refusing to go further, I would never have made it.
When we finally got to that beach its was so covered in logs, BIG logs we couldn't even walk on it. There was a wooden food box one could leave leftovers in for the hippies that live out there (somewhere...we never saw them). I looked inside and there was one potato. We ate our soggy lunch standing around...nowhere to sit in all that mud.
On the way back when we came to that mud hill I just simply squatted down on my big old tromp combat boots and slid down....really really fast! Way faster than I thought it would be. I remember I just had time to think "If I run into an anchored in the ground stick, I will be permanently violated in a terrible way." Oh, and the roots! All along the path there were roots, like snakes twisting and turning just under the mud. Every step you had to turn you boot to fit into a small unrooted spot which of course, I couldn't see because of my stinging eyes and rain covered glasses.
Now you tell me....what about any of that is enjoyable. Meanwhile the others were all bouncy and energetic and happy and exhilarated!! They are crazy!!!! (shovel list....and we almost needed a shovel at one point. Monte was wearing socks and sandals, not the best choice for hiking but he was young. He stepped in a mud hole and sunk in mud half way up his leg. When he pulled his foot out his sandal was gone. He was going to carry on with only one sandal but Kathy, bless her, made him dig into that mud and pull it out.)
Now I know walking around the streets here is not like that hike. But the moment my glasses get covered and my hair gets wet things go to crap. I. HATE. WALKING. I think I will test out the temperature of the local pool water and maybe go swimming. Not the best exercise but it will get me out of my chair and I do like swimming.
And now this rant has gone on forever and I have a feeling I lost my readers several paragraphs ago. I feel better though...almost like I've gone for a walk. TTYL
I have not left the house even once in the last six days, since getting home from Vancouver. And that's the way I like it.
I was thinking about that. I had an extremely busy life before Bill died. Between babies, teens, dogs, work, then extreme travelling, moving umpteen times, condo in Maui, friends, family, funerals....I am totally and completely happy to sit at home and only go out when forced to by circumstances.
But even I am beginning to kind of wonder why I am so able to just be in my chair with occasional forays into the kitchen to clean. I did manage to organize all my papers and today I am going to file them into file folders that arrived from Amazon a couple of days ago. So I decided to take advantage of an empty house (the boys are back in Victoria til later today), turn everything off and think about it.
And what I came up with was this. If I did not have a laptop I could not do this. Even the tv only keeps me in my chair for so long. But my lappy makes it all possible.
I read my books on it. I blog on it. I read the esoteric news on it. I research for answers to everything I think of on it. I write...not good writing but writing just the same...on it. I do my photography on it. I am completely busy without moving anything but my fingers. Not an ideal situation....even I know that.
But I hate walking. It rains here from October until April. I hate walking at its best...unbelievably boring. But in the rain? OMG!!! Brings to mind the time in Bamfield Kathy, Kerry, Emily, Monte and I decided to hike out to Kia Bay. Its not that far...maybe two kilometres.
We asked someone that hiked that trail regularly how it was and he said, "Its a great trail, but if its raining it gets pretty muddy." Well it hadn't rained for some time so off we went. And....of course the minute our boots hit the dirt, you guessed it, it started to rain. Not hard enough to cause rivers of water, but a steady light downpour, enough to cause a lot of mud.
Within minutes my glasses were all covered with running rain drops...rendering me half blind. My hair got soaked in spite of my now soaked Tilly hat I was wearing and if you know me I have toxic hair. I use liquid cement to keep it in place and the rain running through picked up lethal amounts of chemicals, and then ran straight down, under my glasses and landed in my eyes. Jesus!!! it stung like acid! Pretty soon my cotton cargo pants were soaked right through. And so was my jacket and shirt....soaked to the bone. At one point my now heavy with water pants just simply fell off!! Pants on the ground...no .... pants in the mud. I finally had to take the waist string on the pants and tie it to the long hat string on my Tilly hat. It worked but looked ridiculous.
At one point on the trail we came across a mud hill so steep it had a long rope tied to a stump at the top and hung down to the bottom. You actually had to use that sucker to get up there! Jeez!!! This is just so not me. If it hadn't been for Kerry's encouragement along the way whilst I sat on stumps, crying and refusing to go further, I would never have made it.
When we finally got to that beach its was so covered in logs, BIG logs we couldn't even walk on it. There was a wooden food box one could leave leftovers in for the hippies that live out there (somewhere...we never saw them). I looked inside and there was one potato. We ate our soggy lunch standing around...nowhere to sit in all that mud.
On the way back when we came to that mud hill I just simply squatted down on my big old tromp combat boots and slid down....really really fast! Way faster than I thought it would be. I remember I just had time to think "If I run into an anchored in the ground stick, I will be permanently violated in a terrible way." Oh, and the roots! All along the path there were roots, like snakes twisting and turning just under the mud. Every step you had to turn you boot to fit into a small unrooted spot which of course, I couldn't see because of my stinging eyes and rain covered glasses.
Now you tell me....what about any of that is enjoyable. Meanwhile the others were all bouncy and energetic and happy and exhilarated!! They are crazy!!!! (shovel list....and we almost needed a shovel at one point. Monte was wearing socks and sandals, not the best choice for hiking but he was young. He stepped in a mud hole and sunk in mud half way up his leg. When he pulled his foot out his sandal was gone. He was going to carry on with only one sandal but Kathy, bless her, made him dig into that mud and pull it out.)
Now I know walking around the streets here is not like that hike. But the moment my glasses get covered and my hair gets wet things go to crap. I. HATE. WALKING. I think I will test out the temperature of the local pool water and maybe go swimming. Not the best exercise but it will get me out of my chair and I do like swimming.
And now this rant has gone on forever and I have a feeling I lost my readers several paragraphs ago. I feel better though...almost like I've gone for a walk. TTYL
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
TO NORTH VAN AND BACK...LICKETTY SPLIT
Cookie: My picture...We hung it up but its way too low and we just haven't moved it up yet. Procrastination Station in this house. I was just at Myles and Aprils the last day or two and he was going on about how he just 'doesn't understand people that when they see something needs to be done, they don't just get up and do it." He would NOT survive in this house. Like we putoffskis care....NOT! Haha!!!
As I mentioned I just spent the last couple days in North Van with April. I didn't see Clare and Tish, poor Tish had some issues with her back, poor thing. Next time.
We had a lovely time. We ordered Chinese food for supper on Saturday night. It was delicious and then we sat around and visited. I always enjoy our catch up sessions.
The next day we sat around and drank coffee and talk talk talked. At one Myles went and brought Baka back. It was so good to see her. What an amazing lady she is! I pumped her for more stories about her life in Croatia and her early life here in Canada. I love her stories! She is such a strong lady with quite the sense of humour.
We had made a list with things to cook for dinner. Myles was going to go and do the shopping while us ladies visited. But before he left he noticed that the ensuite bathroom toilet was leaking a bit. Well...long story short something blew!!! Holy hell...poor Myles, the air was blue! Eventually the main turn off was found and applied. But not without a whole lot of angst and drama and streams of bad bad language! LOL!!
I was just in the way so I went back to the living room to sit with Baka and seriously? We couldn't help it...to the tune of Myles exploding in the other room, she and I almost cracked up. Honestly, we were laughing so hard! That poor guy...in the end he absolutely saved the whole apartment from being totally flooded! But as a result there was no time to cook dinner, including the shopping. So another phone call was made to the Chinese food place and we did a repeat....which was totally fine with us! Baka loves Chinese food and she doesn't get the chance to get it very often.
After Baka went home we settled down and watched the movie Klaus. What a delightful movie, I highly recommend it!
The next day, Monday, Pete and I caught the one ferry back to the Island and got home around four. It was so nice to be home. Monte had cleaned the place and it just felt good to be home. We all three were very tired and hit the hay early. Today the boys have gone to Victoria. Peter has an abscessed tooth. His dentist is in Victoria. I gave them a hundred dollar Keg gift card I had laying around so that's where they are tonight. I don't really eat meat anymore so its kind of wasted on me. They will be back tomorrow.
And that's it for now. I don't have much else to report. Hopefully something momentous will happen before the next post! (in a good way!)
TTYL
I am including a couple of random shots
As I mentioned I just spent the last couple days in North Van with April. I didn't see Clare and Tish, poor Tish had some issues with her back, poor thing. Next time.
We had a lovely time. We ordered Chinese food for supper on Saturday night. It was delicious and then we sat around and visited. I always enjoy our catch up sessions.
The next day we sat around and drank coffee and talk talk talked. At one Myles went and brought Baka back. It was so good to see her. What an amazing lady she is! I pumped her for more stories about her life in Croatia and her early life here in Canada. I love her stories! She is such a strong lady with quite the sense of humour.
We had made a list with things to cook for dinner. Myles was going to go and do the shopping while us ladies visited. But before he left he noticed that the ensuite bathroom toilet was leaking a bit. Well...long story short something blew!!! Holy hell...poor Myles, the air was blue! Eventually the main turn off was found and applied. But not without a whole lot of angst and drama and streams of bad bad language! LOL!!
I was just in the way so I went back to the living room to sit with Baka and seriously? We couldn't help it...to the tune of Myles exploding in the other room, she and I almost cracked up. Honestly, we were laughing so hard! That poor guy...in the end he absolutely saved the whole apartment from being totally flooded! But as a result there was no time to cook dinner, including the shopping. So another phone call was made to the Chinese food place and we did a repeat....which was totally fine with us! Baka loves Chinese food and she doesn't get the chance to get it very often.
After Baka went home we settled down and watched the movie Klaus. What a delightful movie, I highly recommend it!
The next day, Monday, Pete and I caught the one ferry back to the Island and got home around four. It was so nice to be home. Monte had cleaned the place and it just felt good to be home. We all three were very tired and hit the hay early. Today the boys have gone to Victoria. Peter has an abscessed tooth. His dentist is in Victoria. I gave them a hundred dollar Keg gift card I had laying around so that's where they are tonight. I don't really eat meat anymore so its kind of wasted on me. They will be back tomorrow.
And that's it for now. I don't have much else to report. Hopefully something momentous will happen before the next post! (in a good way!)
TTYL
I am including a couple of random shots
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| THE ONLY PLACE I LIKE KALE...IN BILL'S GARDEN |
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| BILL PUSHING ONE OF MOM'S BUTTONS OUT OF HER BUTTON BOX INTO THE GARDEN OF MOTHER MARY AT THE HOUSE WHERE SHE DIED IN EPHISUS TURKEY |
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| BILL'S MOM SITTING IN THE SAND IN HAWAII ONE YEAR WHEN WE TOOK HER WITH US (1988) |
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| WRANGLER'S PRIVATE DAY SPOT, BEHIND THE COUCH |
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| KEVIN ON THE VERY LEFT AND ARYN ON THE VERY RIGHT. THEIR SPERM DONOR TOOK THIS PIC. THEY WERE ON GALIANO ISLAND AND NOTE THE TIPPED OVER FERRY IN THE BACKGROUND. NOT A HAPPY MOMENT FOR BC FERRIES. |
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| PINK MOUNTAIN TOPS OUT MY FRONT ROOM WINDOW |
Friday, November 15, 2019
DAD PETER GOT ME OFF MY ASS....FINALLY.....HAHAHA!
And no, it didn't feel great. I do not knoweth what y'all talk about when you say how going for a walk makes you feel better. Not me. But I am going anyway. I only went around the block today and I hope that my hip will just frigging knock it off. It flipping hurts at about the halfway mark. So annoying. I do think if it weren't for Peter, I def would not be going. So if you are reading this...thank you Peter!
We were out of dog food today. When I went to Walmart this morning I went on the hunt for Wrangler's usual Salmon and peas, Beneful. They didn't have Beneful, which is okay because Purina owns them all anyway...if you read the tiny print you will see. So I looked for a salmon dog food...and found one. And guess what the main other ingredient is? PUMPKIN!!!!!!!!!! I am so going to take a pic of the ingredient list and send it to my brother....this will make him happy!!!!
Its been a little boy heavy around here lately. Monte's friend, one he is in a band with, came over on Wed. evening and he and Monte and Peter had an evening downstairs of drinking, talking and listening to music and telling inappropriate jokes. Colton stayed over and slept on the couch downstairs.
They sort of hung around all day yesterday and into the evening. I sort of hoped he would be going home, which he finally did. Lovely guy but a wee tad exhausting. Today Levi is coming! I haven't seen Levi since Kamloops. The boys are pretty happy that he is coming. Monte and Levi are planning on doing photography. Peter will be with me, heading to Vancouver.
Now its late afternoon and time to put groceries away. I am making dinner, even though there will be only two of us. But the food can be hanging around for the Monte and Levi to eat over the weekend.
I bought a deep electric frying pan a while ago. I like to make chicken on stuffing and bake it all but the stuffing burns on the bottom. So I am going to put in layers of tin foil first and see if that helps. The only trouble is the tin foil is in the back of the corner cupboard and I don't fit into the hole enough to reach it. Kind of like getting into the backseat of Tank was impossible. Sigh. Such heavy duty awful troubles. LOL!!!!
One thing I did for sure today was buy a dozen litre containers of various, mostly beef, getting ready for our big fast coming up. You need to have everything all ready or you don't start. I am kind of dreading it but also really looking forward to the challenge....one I am totally familiar with.
Okay enough boring crap. Gotta bounce...TTYL
We were out of dog food today. When I went to Walmart this morning I went on the hunt for Wrangler's usual Salmon and peas, Beneful. They didn't have Beneful, which is okay because Purina owns them all anyway...if you read the tiny print you will see. So I looked for a salmon dog food...and found one. And guess what the main other ingredient is? PUMPKIN!!!!!!!!!! I am so going to take a pic of the ingredient list and send it to my brother....this will make him happy!!!!
Its been a little boy heavy around here lately. Monte's friend, one he is in a band with, came over on Wed. evening and he and Monte and Peter had an evening downstairs of drinking, talking and listening to music and telling inappropriate jokes. Colton stayed over and slept on the couch downstairs.
They sort of hung around all day yesterday and into the evening. I sort of hoped he would be going home, which he finally did. Lovely guy but a wee tad exhausting. Today Levi is coming! I haven't seen Levi since Kamloops. The boys are pretty happy that he is coming. Monte and Levi are planning on doing photography. Peter will be with me, heading to Vancouver.
Now its late afternoon and time to put groceries away. I am making dinner, even though there will be only two of us. But the food can be hanging around for the Monte and Levi to eat over the weekend.
I bought a deep electric frying pan a while ago. I like to make chicken on stuffing and bake it all but the stuffing burns on the bottom. So I am going to put in layers of tin foil first and see if that helps. The only trouble is the tin foil is in the back of the corner cupboard and I don't fit into the hole enough to reach it. Kind of like getting into the backseat of Tank was impossible. Sigh. Such heavy duty awful troubles. LOL!!!!
One thing I did for sure today was buy a dozen litre containers of various, mostly beef, getting ready for our big fast coming up. You need to have everything all ready or you don't start. I am kind of dreading it but also really looking forward to the challenge....one I am totally familiar with.
Okay enough boring crap. Gotta bounce...TTYL
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| how can you tell there are very polite people eating breakfast...tiny bits of everything left in the pans! Bacon, mushrooms and scrambled eggs. |
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| Stan's birthday dinner |
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
WHAT THE HECK?
A certain something has occasionally been happening to me lately, and I can't believe it after all I have expected of myself and mouthed off about.
I have pretty repeatedly made it abundantly clear that I love being alone. (as in married alone, not living alone necessarily.). And don't get me wrong...I do love being alone ( the 'not married' type of alone.) now that I actually am. As much as I loved my Spod, and would be married all over to him in a New York second, I really am suited to being unattached.
But in the last year or so I have noticed that I, unbiddingly, have had twinges when I see older couples. (shovel list) They are maybe driving somewhere, or talking to each other in restaurants, or on tv they are conferring with each other, or I see pics of older couples on boats, trains or planes, travelling somewhere. And I am envious!!!! I can't believe it!!!! I feel like I am betraying myself!! I am envying their closeness and their automatic responses to each other. I am going to have to make an effort to knock it off.
I don't want to feel that way cuz there is absolutely no way in hell would I ever want to have another male in my life!!! When I think of the laundry, cleaning up after, the farting, the belching, the demanding things their way, NO NO NO!!!! So it seems there is no compromising and seriously? I will give up the camaraderie to live without the neediness. I have to slap myself out of it!
I just made a million pancakes. No one is really up yet but I am pretty determined to get rid of unnecessary food in this house. There was a box of Aunt Jemima sitting in the cupboard...which is now a pile of pancakes on the stove. The best part of that is once again my cast iron pan has performed a miracle. It makes the best pancakes easily! No sticking, cooks super fast...I swear by that thing. It also makes hash browns with NO STICKING!!! Either from raw, cooked potatoes or frozen hash browns.
Speaking of which, I was talking to someone (keeping it anonymous for their own privacy sake) who is doing a three day cleanse later in this month. She and another gal found it on google. This guy has created this plan that involves a three day fast, drinking bone broth only plus supplements etc. This plan throws one into ketosis and supposedly does a body cleanse as well.
So I looked it up and read his plan. It was too expensive for me to do and too late. I would actually rather put the 100 bucks into our travel account that we are working on. So I looked carefully at what his kit included. I have pretty much everything he included and I have done exactly this sort of thing umpteen times before...mostly to get my blood sugar numbers down. So I am going to do it too...only I will do a week. A week is easy for me. I have ordered a gorgeous coat one size under my normal size. (the only size available) and I want to fit it....THIS winter!!!! Peter says he is going to do it with me too. Monte totally refused to join us...had a million excuses, oops, not excuses....reasons, all pretty valid I must say. Next shopping trip I will load up on broths.
Out of respect for those that are doing this reboot, as the dude calls it, I won't vigorously slam this plan but....I think, after researching his pretty expensive packets in the kit, the real value here is the power of doing this with a group of people online. Accountability is powerful. The supplements are not necessary, the broth is and its pretty easy to make your own. If you really want to know the value of fasting, read Dr. Fong about type 2 diabetes. He will super educate you.
I am heading to North Van on Saturday til Monday to visit April and Myles. Aryn, if you are reading this, I will be coming to visit you in January and I am going to Shanghai you to lunch with Clare and Tish! And Clare, if you are reading this I shall be phoning you. I was wondering if we could meet for lunch on Monday (thats the 18th of Nov). I apologize for the short notice but I didn't realize I was coming over til yesterday. I would love to see you guys if its possible!
Well today is organize my business day. I have the table covered with every piece of paper that has entered this house since I moved here. I have kept up with the bills but not the filing and answering mail that requires an answer. I also have to make arrangements with Aryn to switch my phone to a plan she has. I am paying over a hundred bucks a month for 2 gigabytes of data and the usual texting and phone plan. Ridiculous! Thanks Telus...for nothing.
One last thing. I found this absolutely hilarious but you maybe won't. My darling brother and his lovely wife came for the night as I said. My dinner I discussed in great detail last post, was not great. The roasts had obviously been previously frozen as they ended up swimming in inches of liquid.... (shovel list...Save-On) which doesn't happen with fresh meat. Pissed me off. And for some reason the scalloped potatoes were all watery...still tasted good but....
But we had a wonderful time with them. I love spending time with that couple.
But...my brother made a comment that puzzled me at first...then cracked me up. We were talking about the pumpkins that get lined up along roadsides after halloween. And he pipes up and says that he just doesn't like it. What???? Like Why???? It's a wonderful fun thing for all of us to do.
Well apparently he doesn't like to see the waste of all that 'food'. Pumpkins should be EATEN not used for entertainment. And if people insist on making carved pumpkins...they should use battery operated lights in them so that they can be eaten after!!! Oh man, I laughed, most rudely!!! My apologies Stan! But honestly, they should grow pumpkins just for fertilizer, which is exactly what they become out there along the road and on logs and sitting in the trees! But he is right...with half the world starving, it does seem a waste. But then on the other hand if we didn't carve them...they wouldn't be grown in numbers in the first place! Hahahaha!!!!! It is a sustainable product after all!!
TTYL
I have pretty repeatedly made it abundantly clear that I love being alone. (as in married alone, not living alone necessarily.). And don't get me wrong...I do love being alone ( the 'not married' type of alone.) now that I actually am. As much as I loved my Spod, and would be married all over to him in a New York second, I really am suited to being unattached.
But in the last year or so I have noticed that I, unbiddingly, have had twinges when I see older couples. (shovel list) They are maybe driving somewhere, or talking to each other in restaurants, or on tv they are conferring with each other, or I see pics of older couples on boats, trains or planes, travelling somewhere. And I am envious!!!! I can't believe it!!!! I feel like I am betraying myself!! I am envying their closeness and their automatic responses to each other. I am going to have to make an effort to knock it off.
I don't want to feel that way cuz there is absolutely no way in hell would I ever want to have another male in my life!!! When I think of the laundry, cleaning up after, the farting, the belching, the demanding things their way, NO NO NO!!!! So it seems there is no compromising and seriously? I will give up the camaraderie to live without the neediness. I have to slap myself out of it!
I just made a million pancakes. No one is really up yet but I am pretty determined to get rid of unnecessary food in this house. There was a box of Aunt Jemima sitting in the cupboard...which is now a pile of pancakes on the stove. The best part of that is once again my cast iron pan has performed a miracle. It makes the best pancakes easily! No sticking, cooks super fast...I swear by that thing. It also makes hash browns with NO STICKING!!! Either from raw, cooked potatoes or frozen hash browns.
Speaking of which, I was talking to someone (keeping it anonymous for their own privacy sake) who is doing a three day cleanse later in this month. She and another gal found it on google. This guy has created this plan that involves a three day fast, drinking bone broth only plus supplements etc. This plan throws one into ketosis and supposedly does a body cleanse as well.
So I looked it up and read his plan. It was too expensive for me to do and too late. I would actually rather put the 100 bucks into our travel account that we are working on. So I looked carefully at what his kit included. I have pretty much everything he included and I have done exactly this sort of thing umpteen times before...mostly to get my blood sugar numbers down. So I am going to do it too...only I will do a week. A week is easy for me. I have ordered a gorgeous coat one size under my normal size. (the only size available) and I want to fit it....THIS winter!!!! Peter says he is going to do it with me too. Monte totally refused to join us...had a million excuses, oops, not excuses....reasons, all pretty valid I must say. Next shopping trip I will load up on broths.
Out of respect for those that are doing this reboot, as the dude calls it, I won't vigorously slam this plan but....I think, after researching his pretty expensive packets in the kit, the real value here is the power of doing this with a group of people online. Accountability is powerful. The supplements are not necessary, the broth is and its pretty easy to make your own. If you really want to know the value of fasting, read Dr. Fong about type 2 diabetes. He will super educate you.
I am heading to North Van on Saturday til Monday to visit April and Myles. Aryn, if you are reading this, I will be coming to visit you in January and I am going to Shanghai you to lunch with Clare and Tish! And Clare, if you are reading this I shall be phoning you. I was wondering if we could meet for lunch on Monday (thats the 18th of Nov). I apologize for the short notice but I didn't realize I was coming over til yesterday. I would love to see you guys if its possible!
Well today is organize my business day. I have the table covered with every piece of paper that has entered this house since I moved here. I have kept up with the bills but not the filing and answering mail that requires an answer. I also have to make arrangements with Aryn to switch my phone to a plan she has. I am paying over a hundred bucks a month for 2 gigabytes of data and the usual texting and phone plan. Ridiculous! Thanks Telus...for nothing.
One last thing. I found this absolutely hilarious but you maybe won't. My darling brother and his lovely wife came for the night as I said. My dinner I discussed in great detail last post, was not great. The roasts had obviously been previously frozen as they ended up swimming in inches of liquid.... (shovel list...Save-On) which doesn't happen with fresh meat. Pissed me off. And for some reason the scalloped potatoes were all watery...still tasted good but....
But we had a wonderful time with them. I love spending time with that couple.
But...my brother made a comment that puzzled me at first...then cracked me up. We were talking about the pumpkins that get lined up along roadsides after halloween. And he pipes up and says that he just doesn't like it. What???? Like Why???? It's a wonderful fun thing for all of us to do.
Well apparently he doesn't like to see the waste of all that 'food'. Pumpkins should be EATEN not used for entertainment. And if people insist on making carved pumpkins...they should use battery operated lights in them so that they can be eaten after!!! Oh man, I laughed, most rudely!!! My apologies Stan! But honestly, they should grow pumpkins just for fertilizer, which is exactly what they become out there along the road and on logs and sitting in the trees! But he is right...with half the world starving, it does seem a waste. But then on the other hand if we didn't carve them...they wouldn't be grown in numbers in the first place! Hahahaha!!!!! It is a sustainable product after all!!
TTYL
Sunday, November 10, 2019
DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER?
For you long time readers do you remember Shannon? She is my grand child (woman), one of my faves, and she used to comment on this blog...really really funny comments and stories. Well she has been absent for just over a year. I never judge or question why people may stop communicating...as long as they know they can talk any time to me and they are basically okay. I give them their time for whatever reason.
Well she def had her reasons, which I won't go into here. It's her story to tell....or not to tell as it may be. But she messaged me last night and I am so freaking happy she did. I am not sure she is reading this blog anymore but if so...I invite you Shannon to feel free to say anything you want in the comments. We love you!
It's been a quiet few days, at least for me. Yesterday we went to the local massive craft fair. I was just blown away by the talent in that room. From pottery, to hand knitted sweaters, scarves and toques, hand made jewelry, carvings, paintings, signs, baking, preserves etc etc etc....And due to the basic wage average in this town, things were selling way way below what you would pay in a larger town or city. I couldn't believe the prices. Needless to say we did not walk out of there empty handed!
Some new neighbours have moved in, a couple of houses down the street. Sure has livened up the neighbourhood!! They drive noisy vehicles, whipping around at all times of the day and night. But the most noticeable difference is their yelling and screaming, again at all times of the day and night, with the most awful profane language. Jeez! I feel bad for the much older generation that lives within earshot of that. It's scary for them and so obscenely inappropriate. And these are the kind of people you don't mess with. If I did I am pretty sure Gladys would be violated shortly after! And thats how they get away with such abhorrent behaviour. The one that stoops the lowest wins.
As I mentioned last post Stan and Antonia, or Aunt Onia as we refer to her!, are coming today. I have already got the skinny pork shoulder roasts in the oven super slow roasting. Instead of the usual applesauce I have apple jelly. Yummy!!! Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes, the only kind I will buy, and a ton of veggies. Parsnips, carrots, beets, chard.....such a winter dinner!
It's Stan's birthday today so I am making a layered dessert in Irish coffee mugs. I ordered three books at Amazon, they will be delivered in the next couple of days at his house. We will see if he figures out who sent them!!!!
Well veg prep is next on the list. Best go get at it. I love this part!!!!! I will take pics as I go. I am sure y'all would just love to see pics of my food. hahaha!!! TTYL
Well she def had her reasons, which I won't go into here. It's her story to tell....or not to tell as it may be. But she messaged me last night and I am so freaking happy she did. I am not sure she is reading this blog anymore but if so...I invite you Shannon to feel free to say anything you want in the comments. We love you!
It's been a quiet few days, at least for me. Yesterday we went to the local massive craft fair. I was just blown away by the talent in that room. From pottery, to hand knitted sweaters, scarves and toques, hand made jewelry, carvings, paintings, signs, baking, preserves etc etc etc....And due to the basic wage average in this town, things were selling way way below what you would pay in a larger town or city. I couldn't believe the prices. Needless to say we did not walk out of there empty handed!
Some new neighbours have moved in, a couple of houses down the street. Sure has livened up the neighbourhood!! They drive noisy vehicles, whipping around at all times of the day and night. But the most noticeable difference is their yelling and screaming, again at all times of the day and night, with the most awful profane language. Jeez! I feel bad for the much older generation that lives within earshot of that. It's scary for them and so obscenely inappropriate. And these are the kind of people you don't mess with. If I did I am pretty sure Gladys would be violated shortly after! And thats how they get away with such abhorrent behaviour. The one that stoops the lowest wins.
As I mentioned last post Stan and Antonia, or Aunt Onia as we refer to her!, are coming today. I have already got the skinny pork shoulder roasts in the oven super slow roasting. Instead of the usual applesauce I have apple jelly. Yummy!!! Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes, the only kind I will buy, and a ton of veggies. Parsnips, carrots, beets, chard.....such a winter dinner!
It's Stan's birthday today so I am making a layered dessert in Irish coffee mugs. I ordered three books at Amazon, they will be delivered in the next couple of days at his house. We will see if he figures out who sent them!!!!
Well veg prep is next on the list. Best go get at it. I love this part!!!!! I will take pics as I go. I am sure y'all would just love to see pics of my food. hahaha!!! TTYL
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
GRRRRRR....WHY?????
I am sitting here slowly being driven around the bend. I don't know if this happens in your house, but it always happens in mine.
Last night, fairly latish, I was heading to bed. I finished brushing teeth etc and about to enter my room when I heard that all too familiar frigging, (humungous shovel list) loud BEEP! Yes, it is the smoke alarm. And I don't know about your smoke alarms, but mine don't wait til morning to do this. No no no, they start right at bedtime. And I can't reach them, and I get super dizzy reaching up, standing on a stool. Not only that, that stupid thing is right outside my bedroom door....I think.
Its quite scientifically diabolical that the beeping sound is NOT pin down able. Its over there...no its over there....no it's downstairs......no it's in the hallway....The only reason I know its outside my bedroom door is because, well why the eff not? and its the only smoke alarm I can find. But even when I am standing right under it and it beeps, it sounds like its coming from totally somewhere else.
And thats another thing....laying in my bed all night it beeped every twenty seconds. I get up, discern that this is THE one and stand under it and wait for the beep...just to be sure. AND IT DOESN'T BEEP!!! Finally I went into the kitchen to make coffee and the second I did...beep! So I quickly got my coffee and went back under the beeping thing and waited again. Nope. No beep. It's like it can see me there and it's taunting me and laughing at me.
I am waiting for one of my boys to get up to give me a hand. I can do it but I need someone to catch me if I fall. Hahahahaha....it would kill them. Maybe I will wait til they can do it for me.
Stan and Antonia are coming for dinner and the night Sunday!!!! I am so happy! It is his birthday so today I will start getting their room ready, planning dinner (my fave thing) make lists etc... I was thinking of giving him a book I just bought, but I think I already gave him this one. Its all the names of every thing, towns, cities, rivers, mountains etc in BC and how they got the name and what the name means. An amazingly interesting book. But I will have to find something else. Which is another task I love. Well gotta bounce. TTYL
Last night, fairly latish, I was heading to bed. I finished brushing teeth etc and about to enter my room when I heard that all too familiar frigging, (humungous shovel list) loud BEEP! Yes, it is the smoke alarm. And I don't know about your smoke alarms, but mine don't wait til morning to do this. No no no, they start right at bedtime. And I can't reach them, and I get super dizzy reaching up, standing on a stool. Not only that, that stupid thing is right outside my bedroom door....I think.
Its quite scientifically diabolical that the beeping sound is NOT pin down able. Its over there...no its over there....no it's downstairs......no it's in the hallway....The only reason I know its outside my bedroom door is because, well why the eff not? and its the only smoke alarm I can find. But even when I am standing right under it and it beeps, it sounds like its coming from totally somewhere else.
And thats another thing....laying in my bed all night it beeped every twenty seconds. I get up, discern that this is THE one and stand under it and wait for the beep...just to be sure. AND IT DOESN'T BEEP!!! Finally I went into the kitchen to make coffee and the second I did...beep! So I quickly got my coffee and went back under the beeping thing and waited again. Nope. No beep. It's like it can see me there and it's taunting me and laughing at me.
I am waiting for one of my boys to get up to give me a hand. I can do it but I need someone to catch me if I fall. Hahahahaha....it would kill them. Maybe I will wait til they can do it for me.
Stan and Antonia are coming for dinner and the night Sunday!!!! I am so happy! It is his birthday so today I will start getting their room ready, planning dinner (my fave thing) make lists etc... I was thinking of giving him a book I just bought, but I think I already gave him this one. Its all the names of every thing, towns, cities, rivers, mountains etc in BC and how they got the name and what the name means. An amazingly interesting book. But I will have to find something else. Which is another task I love. Well gotta bounce. TTYL
Monday, November 4, 2019
TMI
Before we get to the TMI story, I want to tell you about Antonia's book launch.
Saturday morning the three of us duded right up and headed over to Campbell River. The launch was set in the Campbell River museum, a beautiful perfect setting I must say.
We arrived in Campbell River early enough to get lunch somewhere. I wanted fish and chips, kind of suits the place. A really close venue to the museum was a place called Dick's Fish and Chips. It was a cute quaint looking little place up against a rock cliff, right across from the ocean, along the main road through town.
But a certain someone in the van didn't want to go to a place called 'Dick's'. No no, he said, its a dirty name. No way was he going to eat in a place called Dick's!!! What the hell? I questioned in disbelief! Trip Advisor repeatedly reported that Dick's was the best place in town for fish and chips!!! Jeez..you'd think it was called Dirty Dicks! But it WASN'T!!!
So we didn't go there. We went to another cute little place right down on the dock. We had fish burgers and oysters and clam strips. The clam was good but I am afraid the rest of the meal was def NOT good. Even he admitted we should have gone to Dick's after all. Silly boy!
We then headed to the museum. They were expecting 30-40 people, and over a hundred showed up!!! She had on her authentic beautiful kimono she acquired on one of her trips to Japan. And then she stood up there in front of all those people and proceeded to mesmerize the entire audience! Her stories were delightful, her readings left us wanting more! Her artwork and
pictures were beautiful. And Antonia was quite funny!!! Won our hearts over, thats for sure. All in all the whole event was super successful.
Now for the TMI story. I asked for and received Monte's permission to tell this story. But I do warn you that it does involve some rather personal information that some may find....well....too personal. Please feel free to skip this tidbit and if you don't I don't want to hear about it!!!!!
Whilst we were at the museum yesterday, we spent some time in the gift shop. And may I recommend this little gift shop to anyone who happens to find themselves in Campbell River. It is a beautiful store!
Monte found a native carved silver ring, in size 17! This is not a common event for him. He never finds rings that fit him. It fit perfectly on his pinky finger. So he bought it. It is big and beautiful and suits him perfectly. All the way home and even after getting home he kept admiring it on his finger, showing us over and over. It really is a lovely ring.
Well.....I was in my chair here, sipping my coffee, reading my book very early this morning, when I hear unusual stirrings and noise and talking downstairs. I stopped reading and listened. Then I heard the vacuum cleaner going and more activity and talking. At some point I figured it out. Monte's ring, which he swore he wore to bed, was missing.
Well Peter, bless him, took the bed apart, vacuumed everywhere, listening for the clink of something ring size going up the hose, they shook blankets, looked into the pillow cases and simply every possible and impossible place in that room and the bathroom. That ring was absolutely nowhere to be found. Finally we suggested that we take a break, have a coffee and try again after. Peter and I headed upstairs, Monte stayed downstairs to keep looking, futilely.
A few minutes later Monte hollered up that he found it!!!!! OMG!!! You would never guess where! He had to go to the loo at one point, and as he sat down on the John, he heard a clink. And yes! there it was in the turrlet, winking up at him through the....ahem! Later, upon discussing, we came to the conclusion that in his sleep, he did what ALL men do, adjust his parts, and as he did the ring slid off into the family jewels....trapped there until released later, after total panic and mayhem, into the loo! He was so relieved! I had a really hard time not offensively laughing myself silly. The family jewel was lost in the family jewels...hahahahahaha!!!!! Oh well alls well that ends well. TTYL
Saturday morning the three of us duded right up and headed over to Campbell River. The launch was set in the Campbell River museum, a beautiful perfect setting I must say.
We arrived in Campbell River early enough to get lunch somewhere. I wanted fish and chips, kind of suits the place. A really close venue to the museum was a place called Dick's Fish and Chips. It was a cute quaint looking little place up against a rock cliff, right across from the ocean, along the main road through town.
But a certain someone in the van didn't want to go to a place called 'Dick's'. No no, he said, its a dirty name. No way was he going to eat in a place called Dick's!!! What the hell? I questioned in disbelief! Trip Advisor repeatedly reported that Dick's was the best place in town for fish and chips!!! Jeez..you'd think it was called Dirty Dicks! But it WASN'T!!!
So we didn't go there. We went to another cute little place right down on the dock. We had fish burgers and oysters and clam strips. The clam was good but I am afraid the rest of the meal was def NOT good. Even he admitted we should have gone to Dick's after all. Silly boy!
We then headed to the museum. They were expecting 30-40 people, and over a hundred showed up!!! She had on her authentic beautiful kimono she acquired on one of her trips to Japan. And then she stood up there in front of all those people and proceeded to mesmerize the entire audience! Her stories were delightful, her readings left us wanting more! Her artwork and
pictures were beautiful. And Antonia was quite funny!!! Won our hearts over, thats for sure. All in all the whole event was super successful.
Now for the TMI story. I asked for and received Monte's permission to tell this story. But I do warn you that it does involve some rather personal information that some may find....well....too personal. Please feel free to skip this tidbit and if you don't I don't want to hear about it!!!!!
Whilst we were at the museum yesterday, we spent some time in the gift shop. And may I recommend this little gift shop to anyone who happens to find themselves in Campbell River. It is a beautiful store!
Monte found a native carved silver ring, in size 17! This is not a common event for him. He never finds rings that fit him. It fit perfectly on his pinky finger. So he bought it. It is big and beautiful and suits him perfectly. All the way home and even after getting home he kept admiring it on his finger, showing us over and over. It really is a lovely ring.
Well.....I was in my chair here, sipping my coffee, reading my book very early this morning, when I hear unusual stirrings and noise and talking downstairs. I stopped reading and listened. Then I heard the vacuum cleaner going and more activity and talking. At some point I figured it out. Monte's ring, which he swore he wore to bed, was missing.
Well Peter, bless him, took the bed apart, vacuumed everywhere, listening for the clink of something ring size going up the hose, they shook blankets, looked into the pillow cases and simply every possible and impossible place in that room and the bathroom. That ring was absolutely nowhere to be found. Finally we suggested that we take a break, have a coffee and try again after. Peter and I headed upstairs, Monte stayed downstairs to keep looking, futilely.
A few minutes later Monte hollered up that he found it!!!!! OMG!!! You would never guess where! He had to go to the loo at one point, and as he sat down on the John, he heard a clink. And yes! there it was in the turrlet, winking up at him through the....ahem! Later, upon discussing, we came to the conclusion that in his sleep, he did what ALL men do, adjust his parts, and as he did the ring slid off into the family jewels....trapped there until released later, after total panic and mayhem, into the loo! He was so relieved! I had a really hard time not offensively laughing myself silly. The family jewel was lost in the family jewels...hahahahahaha!!!!! Oh well alls well that ends well. TTYL
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| MY FAVE SPOT IN MY LIFE. AND NOTE...I DON'T HAVE THE SAME SLIPPERS ON EACH FOOT....I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW UNTIL HALF WAY THROUGH THE DAY. WHAT A TOOL! |
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| CONTINUING THE WORLD FAMOUS Port Alberni TRADITION, PLACING OUR PUMPKINS IN CATHEDRAL PARK |
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| THE SUNSET ON THE WAY HOME |
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| ANTONIA READING TO US |
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| I FEEL LIKE AN RCMP MEMBER |
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