Playing games

The photo I posted on Wednesday was taken on Sunday afternoon.  With the temperature just around the freezing mark, we were getting rain. :( Not something I wanted to see knowing I was driving out to D's on Monday. Thankfully it didn't last long and while there were some icy patches on the highway the next day, there had been enough traffic through that it wasn't a bad drive at all. I did meet an oncoming "insert swear word here" on the highway passing several vehicles. He may have had just enough room to do so, but I pulled onto the shoulder just in case he hit a patch of ice. I also gave him a one fingered salute as he went by.  The really stupid thing is the highway has passing lanes every 15 kilometers (9 miles) in addition to other areas where passing is permitted.

We had a good visit with less cleaning involved than the last. D's car was at the garage, the part having just come in that morning, so we drove into the nearby larger community to pick up a few necessities. On Tuesday, D had the telephone appointment with the psychologist who will be completing Eli's assessment next week. Eli and I hung out together, watching cartoons, reading books, and playing tickle monster or freeze tag. Tickle monster requires me to catch him, pick him up and toss him onto the couch or bed and tickle him. He tries to hide, but since he always hides in the same place (under the bed covers or a blanket), he's not difficult to find. I try to make it more fun, by looking behind the door, in the bathtub, under the bed, etc. before I actually locate the lump in the covers. Freeze tag is something they play at school, but unlike any freeze tag I've played before, the stuffie that he carries is able to un-freeze him before I've even turned around. When I tell him I'm tired, he says "five more minutes, please?" 

After lunch we picked up D's car at the shop; she headed out to do a few errands while I went back to the house with Eli for a few more minutes of precious time with my favorite kid. One more game of tickle monster was played before she arrived home, and I packed up the car. The trip home was cold and windy but the roads were good. 

Wednesday started out much warmer (-4C/25F) and windy, with snow falling and blowing. I'm glad I came back the day before. I'm pretty sure the roads would have been messy. The clouds never cleared off, but the snow and wind stopped blowing so I headed out to do my grocery shopping.  Jackie, your idea of shopping on a two week cycle might just be what I need to keep within my grocery budget. I didn't even come close to spending double what I would have spent had I shopped both weeks. When I was updating my spreadsheet on Thursday I realized that a good portion of what I had spent was actually cat/bird food which I separate from groceries. I do have a bad habit of picking up items that aren't on my list but are on sale so if I don't shop as often, that should help with impulse buying.

Thursday, I had the company that owns my water heater in to do their annual maintenance.  Which apparently, I don't have to do anymore? When I called in for the appointment, they asked me what the issue was with the water heater - I said there wasn't one, it was just due for an annual inspection. They seemed confused. The appointment was for any time between 7 to 11 a.m. I knew darn well no one would be there by 7, so I didn't get out of bed until then. I got a fair amount of housework done before the fellow showed up at...10:30. We discovered the water heater had a small leak in the pipe coming into it - good thing I called - and he had to go back to the shop to get the piece he needed. He said he'd be back in an hour and showed up 2 hours later. Do you suppose he went for lunch? That's my guess.

When he arrived back at the house I asked how long he'd be as I had an appointment at 1 p.m. Oh boy, did he looks shocked...but he hustled through the appointment and was out the door with about 10 minutes to spare. Luckily the flooring place I was going to is a short drive away. Jason had e-mailed the day before to ask that I pick out the flooring for the basement. I had brought back a piece of laminate flooring left over at my daughter's place, of a color and pattern I liked. It looked good with the existing paint color and doors when I tried it here at home, so I took it with me when I went to the store, even though I was looking for luxury vinyl planking (LVP). Alison pulled several pieces for me and I settled on two different ones as possibles that were fairly close. I was able to bring them home with me to try them out.

At the second store, I found a couple of different ones, but there was no option of bringing home the samples. I decided on the way home, I'd choose between two I had. Luckily that worked out and I've found the flooring - my son choose the same one when I asked his opinion. Best of all, the product is currently on sale, and lower than the budget amount Jason had given me. I'll take whatever savings I can get because I'm sure there will be some surprises that will add to the costs as we go through this process.

Friday was a quiet day of housework, working on Ancestry, and waiting. Waiting for what, you ask? Hooray, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canadian women's curling) was starting its broadcast. The event is scheduled for January 28 to February 6, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. So far Covid has caused a few hiccups as two curlers tested positive before departing their home provinces, and an on-air announcer tested positive after arrival. But they're taking every precaution, isolating as necessary and testing regularly.  

Normally, I avoid controversial subjects on my blog (one of the reasons I now have this one is I didn't on the last). But I'm quite concerned with the so-called Freedom Convoy that is headed for our nation's capital this weekend. Initially it was said that they were protesting the mandated vaccination of truck drivers crossing the border between Canada and the U.S. Since this policy has been put in place by both countries, and the industry was given three months notice it was coming, I'm not sure what they hope to accomplish. More recently the coordinators have changed their commentary and suggested they are "fighting for our freedoms". Since they are free to travel across Canada and have the freedom to protest (freedom of expression), I'm not exactly certain ewhat freedoms they are referring to. Those who are unvaccinated have the freedom not to be vaccinated, however that is a choice they are making and like any choice in life comes with consequences. Sadly, the rhetoric has ratcheted up and there are now calls for a "January 6th" type protest with trucks ramming the security fences around the Parliament buildings. Even worse, are the calls of death to our Prime Minister and media, with even a few individuals calling for civil war. Sadly, certain opposition politicians are stoking the flames of this anger too. And while I've no doubt that the majority of the attendees plan to protest peacefully, I also have no doubt that more vocal minority have other plans. Frankly, I think this has turned into a demonstration of hatred towards our P.M. Whether someone likes PMJT or not, he was duly elected last October in a minority government. We can argue whether our electoral system is broken or not but at this point, it is what we have. Enough said.

On a happier note, I had a bird fly into the front window on Friday morning (that's not the happy part). I checked and was certain it was dead, as it was lying face down in the snow with one wing extended out. I left it there until later since I don't like picking up a dead bird that is still warm. Imagine my surprise when I went back to the window several hours later to see it was gone. There was some excrement in the snow and no tracks to suggest a neighbourhood cat had carried it off, so I'm assuming it was able to recover. Is this a metaphor for our country? I hope so.

Today, the curling starts this afternoon, so I'm getting my chores out of the way this morning. I was just out to feed the birds - it's clear the weather is improving as they are eating less. I did see Hoover (the squirrel) out there yesterday and it didn't clean out the feeder either. Inside, there is some vacuuming to be done and the bathrooms need a good scrubbing. Time to get off my duff and get moving.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Funny

Wordless Wednesday

 

*Taken January 23

Taking it easy and spending big

Many of you suggested I was due for a rest this week after the busyness of last. I agreed. So there isn't a whole lot to share in this post. 

The weather turned ugly again on Tuesday - we were supposed to get a storm Monday evening but it was kind enough to hold off until the following day. We didn't get a whole lot more snow but the wind blew. All of the highways in/out of the city were closed due to poor visibility. It isn't as bad here in the city. I took a photo out the kitchen window of the birds huddled up on the fence, waiting their turn at the feeder. The sun had peeked through but it was blustery out there. Cold too, the temperature dropped throughout the day.

Wednesday was just plain cold again with the temperature at -29C (-20F) when I got up to feed Saku at 6:30.  It warmed up slightly throughout the day, but then a warm front came through and things were much improved after that. I can manage a single day of cold weather!

We had more snow overnight into Friday and it warmed up to near freezing. I shovelled the driveway and sidewalks and enjoyed the nicer temperature. Unfortunately it didn't last long as the temperature dropped throughout the day. This morning, it was -17C (1F). It has been snowing off and on all morning. I'll head out there shortly to shovel once again. We've had enough snow that the the city actually plowed our street. Of course they left big ridges of snow on our sidewalks, which we're expected to clear. :p

Since I wasn't doing a lot of houswork, I spent a good deal of time on Ancestry focusing on my father's side of the family. There is new information available since the last time that I did a review. More exciting (at least for me), is finding a distant cousin here in the city. I've sent her a message as I was hoping she might have more info on my paternal grandmother's side of the family. Her great-grandfather was my grandmother's brother. There is little info for this branch -  just census data from 1842 for my great-great grandfather and his wife, and I located their marriage certificate in the UK, but nothing prior. Nor did I find any evidence of his death in Canada. She got back to me quickly and sadly, she nor her mother met the great/grandfather and she wasn't able to provide anything more. However, she did suggest we meet sometime this spring or summer - I think it's a great idea.

My other big task was ironing clothing that D plans to take to the consignment store on her next visit to the city.  I might have left it until she got here, but the chances of her getting it done in the short time she's visiting is slim to not at all. With the ironing board set up in the living room, I watched television while I worked on it. It is all children's clothing, items that Eli has grown out of....and a few pieces that still had their original tags. 

Oh, and the other big (ticket) item on the list was meeting with the contractor about the basement renovations. He arrived on Tuesday afternoon, armed with a pencil and paper, measuring tape, etc. We walked through the basement and I explained what work I was looking for. He was able to explain what needed to be done in order to get what I wanted, and provided a few different options for doing the work including the products to be used. When we finished discussing the work, he spent another 20 minutes or so taking measurements. 

As he was leaving he recommended I get another quote - I'd told him I probably wouldn't since I'd seen the work he did. But, after some thinking about it, I decided to do so. On Wednesday I reached out to another local contractor based on reviews in the Better Business Bureau listings. He called and we arranged for him to walk through the same afternoon. Hmmm...quite the difference. He showed up with a business card, no paper and pencil, nor anything to take measurements with. As I explained what I wanted done, he told he couldn't do it because a couple of the interior walls are not floated. He told me he'd have to get a permit, and basically the entire basement would have to be gutted to ensure all the walls are properly floated to code. Then he went on to tell me he didn't like my design ideas for the room, and he'd create a drawing to show me what he would recommend.  Before he left he gave me a verbal quote....and I just about collapsed on the spot.

In the meantime, J had e-mailed his quote, and after reading through it I immediately called him. I asked about the permit and he explained we would only need the permit if the basement was being developed. Since the room already exists, and I'm merely adding an interior wall, this wouldn't be necessary. Phew! We went through his quote, and while it is somewhat higher than I had hoped, I do know that the work will be done properly and within the limits of what I have requested. I'm also well aware that the costs of construction material have increased significantly in the past two years.  Maybe I'll get lucky and prices will drop in the next few weeks. Ha!  So we're tentatively scheduled to start the big project at the beginning of April. This will allow Saku and I to spend our days in the sunroom and away from the noise. 

I'm heading to visit D and Eli again on Monday. She has a telephone appointment with the psychologist who will be assessing Eli. He advised the appointment will take up to two hours for their conversation. That's too long for Eli to play quietly while she talks with the doctor.  While she normally would have asked a friend to take him, one family is currently in isolation as one of their children has Covid, and the children of the other family were exposed to Covid at daycare this week. D has keeping him home and limiting their contacts as she wants to get him through these important appointments first. So far, so good. I'll drive up Monday afternoon and come home on Tuesday.

I'll leave you with a photo of a visitor to the yard yesterday. It's a Hungarian partridge.  It and several of it's friends were hanging out on the roof of my house when something startled them. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch them.

Have a great week ahead everyone! 
 

Friday Funny

While it isn't ha-ha funny, it seems apropos to post a Betty White meme this week. Especially one with a great reminder.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Projects, plans, and purging

Wednesday's wordless was indeed a photo of my efforts to get part of the basement floor ready for new flooring. The family who lived here prior to us were a foster family, and they had put down indoor/outdoor carpet in that area - I assume to add to the play area for the children as there was a gate in the open doorway at one time. Several years ago, I had the interior walls framed in, insulated and drywalled, however since we didn't use the area except for cat litter boxes and some dusty exercise equipment I hadn't done anything more with that space. 

When I had the house listed in 2019, it was a bone of contention for the potential buyers. They couldn't identify it's purpose and didn't want to have to spend the money to finish it themselves. As I said then, damn HGTV and all the shows that provide, at least in my mind, unrealistic expectations. 

I've told my son that I will not, repeat not, live in this house beyond the summer of 2023. Between the yard work and the upkeep of the house, I'm ready to sacrifice space for less work. Plus I really don't want to spend another winter in the cold - or at least not all of it. 

I've yet to call the contractor for a quote, but expect I'll do so next week. He did the work in my brother sister-in-law's property here in the city and did a fantastic job. The work to be completed includes, not only the flooring through the entire basement and stairs, but installing a wall between the furnace room and the open area (which will put the cat litter boxes out of sight), a closet, and install a door. There is some electrical work to be done as well. I'm steeling myself for the price but it does need to get done. Besides I've finished paying off the roofing and fencing that was completed last year. :)

The weather finally improved this week, and I was able to get out of the house for a bit. While out, I made a stop at Value Village and the Salvation Army thrift stores before picking up some groceries. At V.V. I got six small balls of yarn, originally priced at $9.99 a piece, while I paid $7-8 for the complete lot. I did even better at the Salvation Army store, finding a pair of Roots sweat pants and two pair of Osh-Kosh summer shorts for Eli for about $6. My daughter tells me she won't use the sweat pants as is, because the cuff isn't elasticized. 

Well, I'll fix her. I had already planned to drive out this week to deliver her television and few other odds and ends that got left behind, so I measured a pair of his current pants to determine the length of elastic I'll need. Now I just have to pick the stitches of a small portion the hem on the pants, insert the elastic and sew it in place. 

The drive out on Thursday was occasionally white knuckled as there was heavy fog in some places. For the most part visibility was better than a half mile but there were times when it dropped to less than a quarter of a mile. My worry is always the dummies driving without headlights (there were a couple) or those that try to pass when visibility is poor (thankfully that day, none).  

After a short visit and a bit of lunch we headed off to Eli's occupational therapy appointment. D's car had to go into the garage for some work so we took my car. I dropped them off and scooted over to the Dollarama for a few bins, and Canadian Tire for some weather strips. I had a plan for the first, and had noted some gaps at both back and front door that needed some additional sealing to keep out the cold weather.

On Thursday evening and overnight we got about 5 inches of snow. D's car was at the shop and she'd ordered groceries for pick-up that morning at 9. Our first order of business was to shovel ourselves out. She did the front sidewalks while I started behind the garage. It took the two of us about 45 minutes to clear the snow so I could get into the alley. Thankfully, a neighbour with a truck had gone through so I had tracks to follow out to the street. 

Back at home, D unloaded and put away the groceries and then we got busy. We pulled everything out of her freezer to defrost it (the front porch was a great freezer until we were ready to put everything away). We sorted everything and put like products in bins. She has a small chest freezer and whatever she wants seems to be on the bottom. This way, she still has to lift out the bins but things won't get knocked upside down or simply lost. She was thrilled when that project was complete.

Then, while the deep freeze continue to defrost, it was onto clearing counters and shelves, sorting through toys and clothing and hanging and putting away clean laundry for her and Eli. When we finished there were four part bags of clothing for drop off at the local thrift store, and a bin of clothing to be taken to a consignment store here in Regina. Much of the clothing was Eli's, that he has simply outgrown over the past two years, but D found a tub in her closet of old clothing she'd forgotten about and lot of that was added to the donate pile.

By the time we finished all the sorting there were two full bags of debris, broken toys, papers, stuff from the bottom of the deep freeze, and other items to be disposed of. It was garbage day so the bin was empty when I took it out. I also put the four bags for the thrift store in her trunk so she can deliver it next she's out. Oh, that reminds me, we ran out after lunch to pick up her car from the shop. Hooray, the repairs cost less than she had anticipated! 

By late afternoon we were all exhausted and my fit-bit said I'd gotten in nearly 14,000 steps and 70 minutes of excercise. I will tell you, it felt like more than that! After dinner we relaxed, watched some television, and went to bed early. Both nights I had company; Eli decided he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed with G'ma. I must have been tired because I actually slept reasonably well with a kid who likes to spread out. Add on a cat (Sheldon) and it was definitely tight quarters.

Saturday morning was busy too.  The television stand she had in the living room wasn't large enough for the base of her new television so we did some furniture swaps in the house as well. There was a credenza in her office/craft room that was originally used as a tv stand when she first bought it (about 2007?), but had been put into use for storing craft supplies. We switched it out for an old dresser in Eli's room, and took the shelving unit she had been using for the tv stand up to his room. Have I confused you yet? This necessitated the movement of books and other items from one room to another. Once the furniture was moved, she took care of the vacuuming on the second level, while I swept and mopped floors on the first. By 9:30 a.m. we had pretty much everything done that needed immediate doing - we'd been up since 5 a.m., and I started getting ready for the drive home. 

The drive home wasn't all that great. The snow plows had been out but the highways still had snow on them with bare tracks where the majority of the traffic drove, there was blowing snow, and in some spots, even wet pavement. I used a fair amount of windshield washer fluid keeping the windshield clear of the moisture flung up by passing vehicles. Semi's are the worst.  

I was home by 10:30 this morning, and back out shovelling snow not long after. We didn't get nearly the amount of snow D did. I cleared the driveway and sidewalks, fed the birds, and then came in to get some lunch and just chill. I can already tell it will be an early night here. 

On that note, I'm off to catch up on my blog reading or maybe that will wait until I've had an afternoon nap. Take care everyone, stay well and have a good week ahead.

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

What's happening?

 First off, just a few words about my wordless Wednesday.  Last year Jackie, from In the land of the Living Skies II, shared that she had knit up several scarves for donation. (I think it was last year...or maybe the year before). In any event, she inspired me to get off my duff and use some of my extra stash of yarn to make up scarves that I donated to a warming center here in Regina. This year I started a little earlier, but still didn't make any more than I had last year. There are nine scarves and four headbands. The latter are made of double strands so they ought to be nice and warm. I typically don't follow a pattern, I just knit until I run out of yarn or until I reach a length I think is reasonable. It was a good way to use up some of the stash and as Patty said, to keep my hands busy.

I washed and dried them on Tuesday to get rid of as much cat hair as possible. After folding they were placed in a bag and the bag tied up. It was my plan to drop them off the same day, but with the slightly warmer weather we got, came snow! I did make a trip to the closest grocery store for a few items, but turned around and came directly home. I put things away, had a bite to eat and then I was back outside to shovel the snow that fallen. Two to three inches maybe? It took about 45 minutes to clear the driveway and sidewalks. 

We had more snow overnight into Wednesday, so I cleared the driveway again of the 1/2 inch or so that had accumulated. I had forgotten my grocery list the day prior, so headed out to Walmart to pick up the last few items. It was bitterly cold -28C (-18F) but I decided to make a fast trip to the Dollar store as well. I did pick up a couple of things, but nothing particularly exciting.

The excitement for the day though, was hearing from my brother R, that sister-in-law P tested positive for Covid. Later in the day, he let me know that their daughter L tested positive as well. L had a couple of friends out around New Years, had driven her friends home the next day, and the following day both friends tested positive. L had been testing every day since and had always had a negative test. It was only when P started showing symptoms that L's test came positive as well. R had been at work when he got the call so he immediately called his boss and headed home to isolate for a few days. P has planned to isolate at the lake house, but as R said, if he tests positive in the next day or so, she may as well come home. (Update: L tested negative this morning, has completed her quarantine of 5 days, and returned to work today. P is still isolating at the lake house...I think she's enjoying the quiet time.)

The stupid cold weather continued into Thursday - it was -36C (-33F). It had "warmed up" to -34C (-29F) by the time I went out to feed the birds around 9 a.m. We're expecting slightly warmer weather over the next four days. I will get those scarves to the warming center soon.

Since I had no plans to leave the house, I set up a batch of dough for buns. We have leftover chili from the night before so dinner was figured out early in the day. While the dough was rising, I caught up on blog reading and then turned to Ancestry. When I signed in for the first time after the new year, I found a couple of messages.

One was from a young woman seeking information about my maternal grandmother's family. Unfortunately I wasn't able to give her much assistance. My grandparents married in 1899, moved from Quebec to Saskatchewan in 1904. My Dad had mentioned that his mother went back east (Ontario) to visit family members - however, I was just 8 years old when she passed away so did not hear the stories first hand. This contact indicated both her mother and grandmother were adopted, and her grandmother was a niece of my grandmother's. 

The second was from a gentleman, someone my mother would call a shirt tail relative. To be honest I haven't quite worked out where he fits in on the family tree. But his family and my father's families are entwined through several marriages. He indicated that I had incorrect information for one of the daughter's of my great grandfather's brother's. I guess that makes her a niece of my great grandfather. To correct the error (I'd copied from other trees), I had to delete a large branch of the family, and then add in the correct information. This is what can happen when cousins have daughters who have the identical name and are born within months of one another. I've been working my way through that branch. I've been able to identify some additional information that Doug did not have so have shared that with him in an e-mail. It was kind of him to reach to me, it's the least I can do.

On Friday, the temperatures started to improve, though the wind was still freaking cold. -28C/-18F with windchill of -44C (-47F). You can bet I didn't stay outside for long when I fed the birds. It appears the hares have found a way under the new gate and are bunking down in the back yard, along with the Hungarian partridges. The latter are scraping at the snow and getting down to the frozen grass below. Too bad they won't do the same on the driveway. Especially since, with the warmer weather came another dump of snow. 

I went out to the garbage bin mid-afternoon and spent another hour clearing the driveway and sidewalks of the snow. I don't think that much fell, but the blowing snow blew in nearly 6 inches at my garage door. It always seems to pile up there. 

I've been puttering in the craft room in between chores and playing on the computer. I repaired a couple of items that got damaged over Christmas and finished a set of coasters. I had picked up the cork pieces on my day trip in November in one of the small towns we've visited. I've never seen them in the craft stores here in the city. I used scrap book paper and modge podge to finish them off. I think I'll tie them in a ribbon and they'll make a nice small gift for some one. (I made the crocheted peppermint candies for myself). I'm currently working on a new wreath for summer - it's made of clothespins and will be painted to look (somewhat) like a sunflower. I'll share a photo when it is finished...assuming it looks decent. :)

Today, I needed to run out to do an errand for D, and pick up bird seed. With this cold weather they're going to eat me out of house and home. I shovelled the path to the back yard (I didn't get that far yesterday), as well as cleared the driveway of the snow that had blown in overnight. The pile on the east side of the driveway is a good four feet tall now! Again, with the wind it was freaking cold out there. 

The snow plows were out on the main roads nearby when I went out. They're moving the snow into the center of the road, so that what is normally a two lane street is now a 1 1/2 lane street. The piles are almost up to the roof of my car so it makes for some fun driving as one nears corners especially. They will eventually have the snow removed by trucks and taken to a snow dump. Meanwhile the wind is doing a lovely job of polishing the remaining snow on the road into ice. Have I mentioned recently how much I hate winter?

When D called this morning, she told me she'd had an e-mail from the school that there was a confirmed case of Covid in the pre-K class. She had kept Eli home this week because of the rising number of cases, and intends to keep him home this week as well. He has a couple of appointments that she doesn't want him to miss. He is missing his friends so she is arranging a Zoom playdate with a friend K for later this week. Her family is currently in quarantine as most of the family members have Covid, thankfully most with relatively mild cases.

On a happier note, I'm home with no plans to leave the house until Tuesday when the weather improves. There are several curling games on today, with the women's provincial tournaments being run in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I've got the first of a pair of mittens on the needles, a cup of tea beside me, and dinner is prepped and in the fridge.

Have a great week ahead, stay warm, stay safe, and be well.

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Out with the old, in with the new

Welcome 2022! Maybe it is simply that it is a new year, but I'm feeling hopeful. Hopeful that this is the year the pandemic will truly be over, and the new normal of our lives will be healthy and safe, and we'll find common ground as we move into the future.

Today it is a bright and sunny day here, and that may have something to do with my current positivity. Too, we're getting a brief respite from the bitterly cold weather. I woke to -24C (-11F) with a forecast high of -11C (12F). It will feel practically balmy, though this morning breeze made it feel much colder when I went out to feed the birds.

Yesterday I gathered up and put away all of the Christmas decorations, though left out anything that wasn't too Christmas-y. Snow themed items, and a basket of stuffed animals are still displayed. It looks soooo empty now. 

I also spent some time yesterday, and again this morning, reading through posts on my old blog. I started blogging in May 2011, ending that blog in Dec 2016, with several hundred posts. I enjoyed reading what I written, the posts brought back many memories and refreshed others, I laughed or cried every so often, and cringed at the typos! For the first year, I had few comments, but by the end of 2016, I had a group of loyal followers, many of whom have made the trek to this blog when I started it up in 2017. You know who you are, and I thank you. I'm also grateful to those who have come onboard since My Life, My World previewed. All of you are precious to me.

When I first started my blog I posted every day! But it didn't take long until my posts were less frequent and with the exception of Friday Funny (when I posted a meme or cartoon), there would be times when I posted only ever few weeks.  Here on this blog I've gotten into the routine of posting once a week (except this past week). 

All of this to say, I admire those who post everyday. I don't think I could do that, but I will endeavor to add a little more variety to my posts. Rather than a litany of what I've been doing, I think I'll revive Friday Funny and possibly throw in a thankful Thursday or even a throwback Thursday to the mix. Some of my favorite posts were from my travels and I'm planning (cross my fingers, toes and eyes) to do some of that this year too. D and I are planning a trip to my home town this summer; we'll camp at the Regional park and will visit a few nearby places while we're there. There may also be another more exciting trip...but that's all I'll say about that for now.

Oh, and at least for now, there will be less chatter about curling. Sadly, the Canadian mixed doubles and the Grand Slam event planned for this month have been cancelled due to the increasing cases of Covid. The World Junior hockey tournament was also shut down before the end of the tournament as several teams had outbreaks and had to forfeit their games. To add insult to injury, did you hear that the Russian hockey team and their coaches were removed from their flight to Germany due to improper behavior? I've read other articles that the coach, in business class, was vaping, refused to wear his mask, and was using his cellphone to play loud music. He refused to comply with the flight attendants requests. Back in economy class, the young men were behaving no better, tearing apart cigarettes and refusing to wear their masks. They were de-planed but I don't know whether they were put on a later flight or had to find another way home. But worse still, were the comments from readers cheering on this behavior. One comment suggested the individuals were fighting against the communism of Canada. That made me laugh and shake my head!

On a far happier note, here's an article about a Seattle Kraken hockey fan and the assistant equipment manager of the Vancouver Canucks. To summarize, this young woman spotted an irregular mole on the back of the man's neck at the first home game of the Kraken from her seat behind the bench. She decided to say something to him, and later, he had the mole checked out and learned it was malignant. The two teams have since announced they are contributing $10,000 towards her medical school funding. I think she'll be an incredible doctor.

To end this post, I'll leave you with these photos:

My mom generally had a jigsaw puzzle out on a card table over the Christmas holidays. I've done it for the past couple of years. While I was visiting D in the fall, we stopped at the Winners store in the nearby city, and found a box of four puzzles (all fall scenes) for $19.99. That's an incredible price for four 1000 piece puzzles. I didn't have any help with it, as my kids aren't interested, so it took me over two weeks to finish it. I'll be taking it down shortly as this is also the table I use for crafting but at least I have proof of it's completion.

I'm dreadful at taking selfies. These are a couple of gifts I received for Christmas. The pajamas are from my adult children, and the socks are from Eli. He told his mom I needed the socks, because "G'ma loves purple." He's right, I do!

And now you know why my daughter also gave me a purple hand mixer.

Finally, you'll probably notice I changed out the header photo. It was taken in early January, 2021 as it's been too damned cold to go for a walk thus far. Perhaps by mid-month we'll see some nicer weather.  

Have a great week everyone!