KIND OF A DOWN DAY TODAY

 Thank goodness my down days don't quadruple into weeks.  I just can't imagine what people with depression go through.  I am just down, not full blown depressed and I can't wait til tomorrow or for something to come along and magically turn me around.  

I think it is a combination of knowing a lot of my family is camping together this weekend and I am coming to the realization that I am getting unable to keep up with everything entailed in running a household.  It is overwhelming.  There are so many things that need doing, from household chores to fence building.  I have a list, arranged by priority, a mile long...both expensive and/or physically taxing.  I lay awake at night worrying about it.

Anyway enough of that.  I am pretty sure everyone has a list like that!  One thing I am doing right at this moment has helped my brain somewhat!

I actually asked Monte to unload the dishwasher last night. Asking him is not something I like doing.  But that bending over ends my activities for quite a while.  My back has become a real nuisance.  So this morning I was able to load that sucker up to the nines and get it going.  Then I took all the stuff out of the oven,  pots, pans, cast iron, wok, xmas lites,....you know!  Figured out how to set the clean function and judging by the smell right now it is functioning.  First cleaning since I bought the piece of crap.

Speaking of which I have bought a new stove.  I figure I have only so many cooking years left, I am NOT doing it on that glass top crap stove.  God I hate it...we all hate it.  Poor April bought one exactly the same at the same time as us.  She hates hers every bit as much as I.  The avocado stove I mentioned before became unavailable. So....

We went to the Brick to have a look at new ones...ones with warranties.  They all were 900 bucks and made of thin aluminum!  They were no better than my glass top for cheapness.  And in the centre of each coil was a big silver button.  It is a safety switch off in case it gets too hot...which would def happen with a giant canner.  We walked out of there.

We went straight over to a restore and found the perfect stove.  It is pristine white (I have a ridiculous kitchen so my appliances do not have to match), not too old as the oven self cleans, sturdy as heck and has a three month warranty and cost half the new one...395 plus delivery and taxes.  It is being delivered and set up on July 2.  July 3rd we will be canning salmon!!!  Jonathon has already been contacting me about more fish!

We want to do more canning too.  I want to can my baked beans, bbq pork, spaghetti sauce, pea soup, applesauce, apple butter etc...  The biggest issue though is getting jars.  They are expensive and hard to find in this town.  And one thing there is in abundance in the fall is apples and pears.  We can just cross the street here and pick as many as we can handle.  And given the guy that lives with us, we don't need a ladder!!

Speaking of whom, Monte had his 34th birthday on the 27th.  Ange and I took him to Little Bavaria...our go to restaurant for birthdays and company.  We had such a lovely time.  They brought him a piece of Black Forest cake with a candle and before that we chowed down on schnitzel, rosti, sauerkraut, red cabbage, spatzel, vegetable, Russian salad, chowder soup and best of all, for me, the only place in town that serves it, ESCARGOT!!!!!!!   I could live on those soft chewy little critters drowning in garlicky butter.  Mmmmmmmm

One little tiny comment about Floppy.  He has to wear a cone to stop licking and chewing on his operation site from being fixed.  He is ruining himself but holy Hannah!! he is knocking this house six ways to seven with that big floppy cone!!!  And one more tiny thing..I promise.  I bought a mouth organ.  This dog is a howler and mouth organs and  howlers just go together!!!  OMG!!  I just pick it up now, never mind playing it, and he starts in.  And he is so loud!!!!!  It just makes us laugh!!!

Well that is it for today.  I think I shall go check on my stove.  It could be on fire for all I know...and truth be told, care.  Stay safe!  TTYL

'The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.'  Eckhart Tolle

BABIES AND MAMMA ACROSS THE STREET

MR. KNOCK EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE

I THINK HE LOOKS AMISH...NOT A BAD LOOK 

THE FUN GIRLS

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!!

NEW STOVE TIME

 I have put a bid in on a stove.  A couple of years ago I bought a new stove.  A Samsung. April bought the identical stove.  We hate them.  I mean HATE them.  Everything is wrong about that stove.  It takes forever to boil water.  It won't turn down properly, stays hot and burns or overcooks everything.  The black labelling around the dials has worn off.  It's a glass top...useless piece of crap.

And now I have discovered that you can't use a heavy canner on a glass top without taking a chance of cracking and breaking the top.  And that was the last straw.

I went on Marketplace and found a retro, never been used, 70's coil stove for sale.  And a bonus?  It is avocado green!!  It matches my turlett and bathtub!!!  What more can you want I ask?  I am buying it!!  The lady who presently owns it told me that she showed it to someone last week, who ultimately turned it down.  She discovered after he left that he stole the cord off the back.  So now she is trying to replace it for me to go and try it out.  But if she can't get that done I will be buying a different one.  They are all there for about 100 bucks.  At that price if it craps out in a year or whatever I will deep six it and get another one.  No more glass tops in this house!!!

Yay!!!!  I just got a request from April to granddog sit in the middle of July.  They are going on a short road trip with her best friend and squeeze and Myles.  They can't take LL.  Yay!!!!!  I am as excited as any Gma would be!!!!

  Then the veil hunt party is on the 20th then Graeme and I are heading to Kamloops for a few days.  I desperately need to see my friends up there, get a preview look at the storage unit and take an inventory, and visit my most awesome sissy and family.  Which reminds me I had better get hold of her and make sure it is okay to stay with them.  I can always stay at Anne's place as well.  She has the most comfortable couch in the whole world, except maybe both my daughter's couches!!!!

Well doctor appointment tomorrow.  Sigh.  (shovel list). I hate doctor's appointments, although I really like this doctor.  But my blood pressure is creeping up there again and I need to know why.

Well I had best get at it here.  Walmart delivered a big load of groceries.  First load I have bought in a while.  I did end up having to email the head Canadian office with a complaint.  That stupid online store is constantly out of stock!  It is so annoying.  Man!  I sure wish No Frills delivered.  I would switch in a New York second!!!

Gotta bounce!  Love y'all and have a great day!!!  TTYL

'Retro:  the antidote to modern mundanity.'  Anon.

THERE SHE IS!!!

BRAND NEW

WHEN I WENT TO GRADE 12 AT POINT GREY, MOM SENT ME A BIT OF MONEY EVERY MONTH.  ONCE A MONTH I WOULD GO TO THIS LUNCH COUNTER BESIDE THE SCHOOL AND GET A TOASTED HAM SALAD SANDWICH, GRILLED CINDY DONUT (THE ONE WITH THE RED DOT) AND A HOT CHOCOLATE.  BEST FOOD I EVER ATE!!!

APRIL TOOK THIS PIC UNBEKNOWNST TO ME.  THIS IS HOW I SLEEP AT HER HOUSE.  NO HIP OR BACK PAIN IN THE MORNING!!!

I WOULD MAKE A CRAPPY MILLENNIAL

 My yard person is a First Nations and right now he and his lovely wife get to fish.  And it so happens that the sockeye are running.  I ended up buying five beautiful fish from them.

I decided to can them and maybe another batch after.  I would like to have four dozen half litre jars.  In fact Ange and I have decided we would like to can other things as well.

So I hauled out the old canner I used to use back in the day.  I have canned hundreds of pounds of fish back in our Bamfield days.  Bill would scale and fillet them for me.  Thank goodness!!!  Some of them were forty plus pounds.

Ange and I scaled and butchered those fish ready for the canner.  But alas!!!  I should have checked out the canner first.  The valve piece you snap down after it has vented for ten minutes is gone.  The vent coming out of the lid is there but the part you snap down is not.  And unless I place my finger over the steam vent, like the little dutch boy putting his thumb in the hole in the dyke, and handle the pain, there is  no way this canner will build up pressure.  

After perusing with the aid of google I have come to the conclusion this actually isn't the exact canner I used to have.  I think it is not the 'snap down' type of valve but it's a 'weight' controlled valve.  So I took a picture of what I have, what I used to have and the label to show the type of canner it is and emailed the American Canner company to their contact address.  I am hoping they can solve my problem.  I really like having the canner and at 550 bucks new or 350 bucks used, I can't justify buying another one.

Meanwhile now we have over thirty pounds of whacked up salmon with nowhere to go. (shovel list). I shoved the massive bowl of butchered fish into the fridge and pulled a Scarlett O'Hara...I will think about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow was yesterday.  I hauled out that huge batch of fish and stuffed zip lock bags.  Each bag would do at least two jars and I got nine bags.  And sadly and very reluctantly put into my freezer.  It means we are going to have to eat a lot of fish in the next month or two.  Fish does NOT last in the freezer.  Best case scenario would be that I get an answer back from the canner company with a solution.  

The millennial part where I suck is I didn't take a minutia of photos of every step of the fish project.  No pics of all the whole fish, Ange and I covered in fish scales, kitchen covered in fish scales, whacked up fish, jars a'waiting on the sidelines, then the broken canner, and the final bagged fish in the freezer.  Aren't you lucky!!!!!!?????

Well hog weed has been found along the Port forest pathways.  Thanks to Ange alerting us, she read about it in our local Facebook page,  we are going to have to educate Monte and make sure Floppy doesn't mingle with it.  It wouldn't kill him but it can do a lot of damage, painful for the dog and expensive for me.  There always seems to be an issue at every turn.  I have been trying to get an appointment with a clinic for the dog since we got him.  None of the clinics in town answer their phones or take messages.  We have to take him for a free visit the SPCA provides and he does have a skin issue that needs to be addressed.  We have a shortage of vets and doctors in this town.  See?  No one wants to live here!!!!!!  Just kidding...sort of.

I kept one fish back.  Actually by the time we did four fish our backs, legs and arms were done.  So tonight for dinner it will be roasted fish with a dill béchamel sauce.  And for the veg it will be stir fried sesame oil peas and pea pods done in a wok.  For the starch...nope....none....this household is going as carb free as possible.  The sauce will be the carbs.  And guess what?  The millennial will be coming out in me....lucky you guys...I shall take pics of the whole process!!!  hahahaha!!!!!

Well I did it again.  I descaled, seasoned, wrapped the fish in tin foil and stuck it in the oven. Pulled it out at the perfect cook, made green beans and dill sauce, opened a fresh jar of Kathy's pickled beets and ATE.  I totally forgot to take even one picture.  What a dolt!  But it was delicious I tells ya!!!!

I got an email back from the canner company!!!  So quick!  And I was right.  It isn't my old canner.  It is a weight pressure canner, which I shall have to you tube on how to use it.  I have already ordered a weight from amazon so we shall be canning very soon.  Next to can on the list will be my baked beans.  I will YouTube that as well!  And take pics....maybe!

So thats it for this post.  Take care and be happy!  TTYL

'You know you are a homesteader when the pop of a sealed canning jar brings a silly smile to your face!' Anon 

HOME AGAIN JIGGITY GJIG

Well I am back in my little neck of the woods, otherwise known as Butt f*ck  BC.  And I am happy to be here.  That big city isn't for me I tell ya!  Too many nasty people and bad bad drivers.  One never feels really safe.

The first thing we did was go out for dinner.  I simply didn't feel like cooking.  I was so tired.  So off to Smitty's we went, my fave slop shop.  We had such a nice time, catching up on all that happened whilst apart.

I thought Floppy might forget me.  He hasn't been here all that long.  But he went crazy!  There is no doubt he remembered me.  I missed him!  I don't even like animals but I actually really missed him.  Jeez.  Getting soft in my old age!

Second thing that needed doing was a different bag of dog food.  And you know what?  I am not going into the details of why.  Just mentioning it because it meant a trip to Nanaimo.  We had such a good trip.  I love Costco.  Got a few things and a bag of dog food that was half the price of what we get here or on Amazon.  

I have to mention Monte here.  Don't tell him!!!  He has turned the health leaf!!!!  When he makes his mind up nothing dissuades him!!!  He is losing weight, eating healthy, walking at least five kilometres a day, if not 15, with the dog.  It's amazing!!!  I am pretty proud of him.  Tonight he is charcoal bbqing cod and prawns.  I am going to make a tomato salad.  Healthy!!!

I talked with Harry next door forever this morning.  I and he were out doing garbage.  He has a son who would be in his late or mid forties.  He is a biggun!  And he smokes.  He lives in Courtenay but he is here at his Dad's quite a bit.  Hanging over the fence at 6:30 am we got talking about type 2 diabetes.  Harry has it.  But typical old dude (same age as me) doesn't know squat about any science to it.  So of course I started to teach him.  I must say he really sucked it up, or pretended to.

So he told me that his daughter, who lives across the valley here, decided to check her brother's blood sugar.  Keep in mind if it goes higher than 6 Dr.s have a jeesly fit.  Apparently he lives on poutine.  This is the guy I mentioned way back that coughs up a lung every morning.  I thought he had covid the first time I heard him.

Well his blood sugar was FORTY SIX!!!!!!  He should be in a coma!!!  Poor Harry.  He is so fed up with his son but worried sick as well.

I have a lovely little rose bush I am babying along.  It was here when I moved in.  Stan dug it up and took it for Antonia to replant at her place.  But clearly he didn't get it all because what he missed is in full bloom out there.  Beautiful big yellow roses.  Or I should say WAS in bloom.  The freaking deer came by last night and ate the blooms.  I hate those damned dear.  We have anti deer spray.  Time to go out and respray.

Tonight while the coals are getting ready, Monte is going to haul the Adirondacks down the stairs to the lawn.  There are three of them.  Dead Bob built them years ago.  I wrote that yesterday...we didn't bbq. We used the skillet in the house.  So chairs today.

I bought an outdoor plasticky type rug I am putting down out there.  We will arrange the chairs and a table down there in the shade of the tin barn.  It gets too hot to sit on the deck and we want to keep an eye on Floppy when he is out running in the yard  Thus a coffee spot.  The chairs are feather light so we can easily pull them into the sun should we like. I did try to hire someone back when I first moved here to build me a patio but typical Port, he bailed.  So an outdoor rug it is.  Sure cheaper!!!!

Well I shall wind it up here.  There is a lot to do on my list.  Firstly the kitchen and dining room table from that amazing dinner Monte made last night.  Then the deck.  Sigh.  Always the deck.  (shovel list). So I best go get to it!!!!  TTYL

'Housework, if done properly, can cause brain damage.'  Erma Bombeck.  looking back at my life, I can sure see where I got my brain damage from!

MONTE'S DINNER

I PUT TWO YEAR OLD APRIL IN THE JOLLY JUMPER TO KEEP TWO MONTH OLD MONTE ENTERTAINED

MY PRETTY MOM AND BABY KEVIN

BILL'S BROTHER FRANK AND A COUPLE FISH WE CAUGHT, WE WERE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE RATTY OLD TRAILER WE LIVED IN WHILE WE BUILT THE LOG HOUSE.  I LOVED THERE!!!!

MY MOTHER WITH AN AXE IN ONE HAND AND A FLAPPING CHICKEN IN THE OTHER. ABOUT TO WHACK IT'S HEAD OFF, POOR ARYN WAS TRAUMATIZED.  DINNER WAS DELICIOUS.

 

IT'S A DONE DEAL!!!!

Aryn and Bradley picked me up as planned and we were off.  We went to an awesome little pho place.  The pho was delicious!!! and huuuugggggeeee!!!  I should have taken a picture.  Most of it I brought home and ate it for supper!

The next day was her birthday!!!  So we went out to Cactus Club and had a lovely lunch.  Then later we went to the Italian place down the end of fourth for the exciting Chef's dinner.  I was so looking forward to it.

Now a chef's dinner, which understandably is very expensive, is a series of dishes that they simply feed you.  You don't know what is coming.  The dishes are designed and cooked by the chef, special dishes not available to the general public.

That was not what happened.  We were sat in the cute tiny place and the wait staff were amazing.  All in all we were served seven dishes, dishes that were so tiny it was kind of shocking.  I am pretty sure that the meal was actually for two and they just stretched it to serve three.  Plus, and here is the real stickler, every single dish was straight off the menu!!!  We could have gone in there and each ordered a couple of family style dishes off the menu for five times the amount of food...for half the money!

For example:  the tortellini....they were delicious but teeny weeny tiny.  We each got a nice big bowl with six of those teeny tiny torts in the bottom of the bowl. Six or seven.  I will put a pic below.  Ridiculous. If we had ordered our meal and ordered tortellini we would have received a nice big bowl full to dish up from and had thirty or more each.

There were two dishes....one was two individual tiny soufflés and the other two tiny pana cotta.  Two.  There are three of us.  Awkward and not enough.

We left there hungry, feeling duped and disrespected.  For five hundred plus it left us angry and pissed off.  I left a pretty harsh google review.  I will put a couple pics at the bottom.

Yesterday morning April came by and picked us up and we went to a bougie wedding dress store she had made an appointment at....just to look.  It was so special having Aryn with us this time!  

She tried on a few dresses, all beautiful, and then......BOOM!!!!!  She came out in the most stunning dress of all!!!  We three were in tears!!!  There was no doubt or question it was THE dress.  OMG!!!  It is beautiful!  She is keeping it under wraps until the wedding day...no pics going out about that one!!!  What an amazing wonderful experience that was for the three of us.  We went out for lunch after just to decompress and recover!!!!

The rest of the day was spent sleeping, snacking and tv watching and convos.  Today Aryn has tax work to do so I shall be lappying and prolly watching tv and sitting on their beautiful deck in the sun sipping something yummy.  Can't ask for more than that!!!

Thats it for now peeps.  I hope you have as much fun as I am having!!!  TTYL

'Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.' Benjamin Franklin. my mother's mantra

YOU HAVE TO TRY AT LEAST ONE GOOFY DRESS!!!

AT LEAST THEY BROUGHT THREE COOKIES

SEVEN.  COUNT 'EM. SEVEN TINY TORTELLINI

HALF A SOUFFLE..THERE IS THE SUM TOTAL OF THE VEG WE GOT. ACTUALLY AT THE END WE GOT TWO ASPARAGUS EACH

WE HAD TO ASK FOR MORE BREAD...THEY REFILLED ONCE

ANTIPASTI...THREE BREAD STICKS, TINY PORTION OF BARRATTA WITH QUICKLES UNDERNEATH, SIX
 PIECES OF DELI MEATS, TUNA ON A CRACKER ONLY TWO, OLIVES.
THE MAIN DISH WAS TINY PIECES OF BEEF, POTATO PUREE AND TWO PIECES OF ASPARAGUS EACH.  MEANWHILE WE WATCHED THEM AT THE COUNTER PREP A BEAUTIFUL WHOLE BRANZINO FOR A TABLE OF TWO.  THE FOOD GOING TO THE TABLES OF DINERS WAS AMAZING.

 

WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING, FOOD TASTING, BIRTHDAY DINNERS !!!!

Holy moly!!!  An explosion of fun!  I am not used to this.  It's a far cry from my chair life at home!!!!

The trip over was totally uneventful.  Ape and Myles were at the Boulevard having a bbq with a bunch of their friends, not due home til late.  That was fine as I have a key to their place.

The only kicker to this was my suitcase.  Holy Crap!!!  It must have weighed a hundred pounds.  I had to get it from the car at the bottom of the stairs up two flights.  I gotta tell ya it almost killed me.  

They got home around ten.  April was 'happy happy' and Myles was totally a normal happy.  So the next hour or two were pretty funny.  But...

Poor Ape was so sick the next day.  Her tummy gives her an immeasurable amount of trouble.  The poor kid was in really rough shape.  It just isn't fair.

So we ended up staying home.  Her tummy cleared up around lunch time so we watched three movies in a row.  The one I remember most was Where the Crawdads sing.  It was good but basically a Harlequin romance.  Now the one about Mr. Kellogg, Unfrosted, was fun and slapstick.  Then we watched The Menu with Ralph Fines.  Oh My God!!!  It is not for the fainthearted but I totally highly  recommend it.  The shock value is worth it!!!  We had a cozy awesome stay at home Sunday.

Monday we took off at ten to Langley.  We headed to a wedding dress place.  First we found a Starbucks and had a terrible coffee.  I asked for a 'light' cappuccino and it weighed the same as April's latte.   But worse than that it was disgustingly weak.  Some baristas need more training and less gossiping whilst making things.

So in to the dress shop we went.  The dresses were insanely beautiful!!!  And this particular place is the cheapest in town.  One hoity toity dress shop she had looked into down town, just to make an appointment,  which nowadays you have to pay for by the way, said this place out in Langley is the 'Walmart' of wedding dresses!!!  Maybe but the dresses were amazing and affordable.  Good old Walmart wins again in my book.

Then later, back home again, we took off to Kitsilano

TRUST BLOGSPOT TO PUT A PICTURE EXACTLY WHERE YOU DON'T WANT IT.  WORST SITE ON THE INTERNET.  BUT LOOK AT MY SNACKS!!!!!!!! I SEE BEET HUMMUS THERE!!!!!!

to have dinner at the restaurant that they were considering for catering the wedding.  It basically was a tasting, but we got the full on dishes, not itty bitty bites.  OMG!!!  It was absolutely amazing!  And tons of food!  And half the price of anywhere else!  It's an all women restaurant and caterers from Syria.  The food was outrageously good.

Now I am sitting on April's couch, blogging and about to go make some toast.  Aryn and Bradley are picking me up around 2 to go and stay at their place for a few days.  Aryn's birthday is tomorrow and Bradley is taking us out to this special Italian place down the end of Fourth Ave.  The chef has a special menu of several courses that he serves one by one.  I am so excited.  I haven't had real exquisite Italian food in a very long time.  I will try to remember to take pictures!

So all in all it has been an amazing few days.  I always love being here at Myles and April's.  We have such a good time.  I hope all is going okay at home.

The pic of April put here with her permission, is the very first dress she tried on.  When she first came out of the dressing room we both had a moment.  She was in shock seeing herself in an actual wedding dress.  She has been planning this since she was a little girl apparently and the moment was very surreal to her, and kind of stayed that way for the whole day.  For me, I was overcome with mommy of the bride emotions.  It was soooo special.  She tried on tons of dresses, but not any were 'the' one.  Came close though.  I loved this first dress but it isn't what she really felt was right.  

So I shall be back here on Sunday.  I won't want to leave Aryn and Bradley's!!!!  She texted me yesterday and asked what I would like for snacks!  Like who does that?  So I told her a gala apple, an orange, pea pods and broccoli and dip and hummus and Diet Pepsi and a pack of Benson and Hedges menthol cigarettes. (for those that don't know I quit smoking them 25 years ago). Do you know what she said?  "I can't get the cigs, you haven't written me a note!!!"  I almost died laughing!!!  When she was a wee one I would write a note and send her across the grass to the neighbourhood store to buy me cigarettes.  She could get herself a juice box, a mega never have treat in our house.  I have such funny kids!!!

That's it for today folks.  Sorry it took so long.  I will post on Sunday.   TTYL

'This is more than just a wedding dress.  It is the embodiment of a dream come true.'  Keoula Wheeler

THE MOMENT