March, apparently, came in like a lamb, so of course had to leave like a lion. Monday brought about 15 cms/6 inches of snow. With my bum knee, D chose to do the shovelling on her own. She went out four times throughout the day, clearing as much as possible as it fell. I was very appreciative of her efforts. (And know Doug, it wasn't an April Fool's joke.)
Before much of the snow had fallen, we dropped Eli at school and then on to pick up a few groceries and her prescriptions at the pharmacy. On the way back to the house she snapped the first photo I posted this Wordless Wednesday. The highway between here and the next town over (NTO) was a mess according to the teachers who had travelled in that morning. Visibility was low and even here in town it wasn't great.
Tuesday morning, though, we woke to sunshine. Just last week the photo I posted on Wednesday, the snow around the firepit had started to disappear. In this week's photo, it's nearly covered. Melting did occur throughout the day and continued the rest of the week and the fire pit is once again visible.
After dropping Eli off after lunch, we headed over to the thrift and discount store. I have not heard anything about volunteering at the thrift store as yet, but I'm not in any hurry. D picked up some toddler jackets for her friend S, who is expecting her first boy in August. They range in size from 12-24 months, so it will be awhile before S can use them. But the jackets were barely worn, and at $3 for 4 pieces (a t-shirt was added), she couldn't go wrong. She also found a pair of dress boots for herself.
I certainly didn't need anything and for a change, I didn't buy anything. Since we had time before picking up Eli (he attends until 2 p.m.) we stopped at the local hardware store. Besides some garden seeds, I purchased a Christmas gift for Eli. He truly enjoys Lego, and there was a set marked down 40%. It will stay in the closet until the fall, when I'll wrap it up before I head south for the winter.
Both D and I had gone through our clothing items and had a couple of bags to donate, along with some household items including two casual art pieces, a sun lamp, and a small vacuum. We decided to drive over to the NTO to Value Village on Wednesday. I also needed to buy a keyboard for my laptop as it has a bad habit of not allowing me to type w and s. Oddly, enough while I was writing this post, that sticky problem never happened. A quick stop at Dollarama (my daughter's favorite store) and at Walmart for a few sale items, we were on our way home in time to unload the car before Eli was finished school for the day. He stays for lunch on Wednesday as his "Big Brother" hangs out with him at lunch. N is currently in Grade 11 so the two will have another year before he heads off to university.
I spent Thursday morning prepping and doing a bit of cooking. Baked pasta with meat sauce was on the menu for dinner so I pre-cooked the pasta, and put together the meat sauce using spicy Italian sausage and some leftover tomato basil soup. An easy meal! I also mixed ground beef and pork together for hamburger patties for the freezer, and baked a meatloaf. In addition, I got the turkey broth into freezer bags, and a small jar for the fridge.
The men's World curling continued through the week. Thursday was the last two round robin draws. The Canadian team had lost two games earlier in the week but were in the playoffs, in third place. To go ahead in the standings, they needed to win both games and get a little help from the Czechia, who would need a win over Scotland. The day ended with Canada in 3rd place, which meant they would play in the qualifier on Friday morning against Italy.
It was a tight game, but Canada prevailed and went on to face Scotland in the semi-final in the afternoon. The teams were tied up after 5 ends with 5 to go. Matt Dunstone, the Canadian skip had not been playing his best and my nerves were on edge. But in the final ends he and the team came together and pulled ahead of Scotland. On to the gold medal game! They will face Niklas Edin of Sweden. Edin has won the championship seven times in his career, so will be a formidable opponent. In fact Canada lost to Sweden earlier in the week. I'll still be cheering....Go Canada Go!
In between the draws, D (mostly) and I put together a new cabinet for our office/craft room. We both have a lot of craft material and equipment. Since we'd moved in, the printer had sat on top of an old end table the next door neighbour had given us. While it held the paper for the printer, it wasn't useful as storage and took up a fair amount of floor space. I had ordered the cabinet shortly after I returned, and it arrived on Thursday. After some false starts and a few blue words, we managed to put it together in a couple of hours...with a few breaks to separate corners.
That sparked a sorting and tidying frenzy. Several bags of donations were separated from the items we know we will use in the future. A number of items were also tossed in the garbage and the space in the cabinet was filled. I went back to watch the second game, while D kept on sorting her vinyl and paper scraps. I'm thrilled with the progress and hopeful that I'll be able to get at my sewing machine and catch up on some mending projects soon.
Today, I'll be watching both the bronze and gold medal games, while working on one of my knitting projects. It is nearing completion and I hope to have a photo next week of the finished project. D and Eli are planning a trip to the local theater for "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie".
Finally, while there is potentially more snow in the forecast for later this week, we are definitely seeing melting. Hooray!
Have a great week ahead, everyone!
