Winter of my discontent

Have I mentioned recently how much I dislike winter? It's only mid-December and I'm already tired of shovelling snow, bundling up in a parka, mitts, and toque just to take out the garbage, chapped lips and dry hands...  Well, you get the picture. We had a couple of reasonable winter days, meaning overcast, not too cold, and no snow.  However, on Wednesday, a Colorado low moved in from the southeast, and another storm came from the northwest. Here in the city we didn't get as much as other areas did, but there was another 3 inches on the ground when I got out of bed Thursday morning. I had shovelled the inch or so that accumulated by Wednesday afternoon when I returned home after the stitch and chat.

Alright whine over...nothing I can do (yet) or anyone else can do to keep this from happening. I did enjoy our stitch and chat this week; S has returned from Arizona and the lady (Io) I've been meeting with, while she was away was there too. Poor S, she arrived back in Regina the day that the windchill hit -48C. Things haven't improved much, as her car wouldn't start, the picture on her television has gone wonky, and some forms she had sent into to a provincial department were rejected because her cover page said 16 pages, and there were 17 attached because one page was duplicated. You'd think someone on the receiving end would be able to remove the duplicate, but apparently not, and she has to resubmit the documents.

She brought along a couple of knitting pattern books she no longer needs/wants and gave them to me. The patterns are lovely, meant for older children (8-16) and adults. I'm sure I'll be able to use them as Eli keeps growing. Funny that! S also brought a piece of knitting (a UFO) that was tucked away in her closet in Arizona. She had lost the pattern, but we were able to identify it as the moss stitch and with a Google search had the pattern figured out. Io was was finishing sewing buttons on kitchen towels, and then brought out her embroidery. She's making a set of tea towels that are likely to be gifted to her granddaughter.

I had my crocheting with me. I pulled a couple of balls of yarn from the stash and started working on a lap blanket. I'm not a fan of the colors but I need to use up the stash and they do look bright and cheerful together. 

The sugar cookies and red velvet mini-cupcakes were iced and decorated early one morning. Two of the sugar cookies broke as I was working on them, so they and a cupcake were that morning's breakfast. Breakfast of champions? Probably not. :) On the weekend, I had finished the peppermint sandwich cookies. They're tasty, but not nearly as good as my sugar cookies. I'm not sure what I did differently but man, oh man, are they good. 

I've finally caught up on my updates on Ancestry this week. I was thinking I might cancel my Newspapers.com subscription but received notice that they've added a number of additional newspapers from Scotland. I'm hoping I might find mention of some of my ancestors, though it is much like looking for a needle in a haystack with the last name of Stewart. Recently, I picked up a book "Online Genealogy", which I've skimmed and I think may help me identify other sources for searching. At the moment, my hopes are pinned on DNA testing. My adult children purchased the kit for me as a Christmas gift, and it arrived a couple of weeks ago. I've mailed it off and received an e-mail this week that it has arrived at the lab. Results are expected with 6-8 weeks. I'm hoping against hope that this information might be the key to finding the links to origins of various family members.

The other (and much more exciting) thing I worked on this week was preparing for my January cruise. My travel agent L and I had a chat Thursday morning and went through her checklist of things for me to remember and consider. She is truly amazing and is so detailed oriented. L was concerned about my airline e-tickets as they have my first name and only my initial for the second name. This doesn't match my passport which has both full names. We went through the list of things to be saved to my phone and items I need or want to have in printed form as well. I was a bit ahead of her on that as I had the printouts and had updated the electronic documents before our call. 

I made a call to the airline and confirmed my full name is in their system, but the tickets will show only my first name and initial. To be certain, I asked the agent several times, and she confirmed it will not be an issue at the counter. My next call was to the hotel to confirm my reservation. I booked through Airmiles, a third party booking system, and wanted to be certain there was no hiccup. Several years ago, I had used Airmiles to book a New York hotel, only to learn on arrival that they had no reservation for me. I had to pay $400 room for the night. On returning home I contacted Airmiles and eventually learned that the booking had been made for February instead of September! They reimbursed me for the cost of the room, but I'll never book again without following up directly with the hotel to confirm.

I pulled out the suitcase and carry-on bag, and went through my summer and "cruise" clothes. Yes, I have certain items I only wear when I'm cruising. I'm hard on my everyday clothing, so I keep some nicer pieces for my trips. This is a 14 day cruise, with an added travel day at the beginning - I always fly in a day ahead, in case there are delays. I've learned to pack enough clothing for 7 days, along with a few nicer items for evening wear, not including the travel day clothing. The ship has a DIY laundromat that I'll use on a sea day. We have eight sea days and four ports and full day transiting the canal. I do enjoy sea days! One port that was initially on the itinerary, Nicaragua, was cancelled - no reason given, but I hadn't planned to get off the ship there anyway. It would been a long bus ride to the nearest city and none of the posted excursions looked particularly worth the travel time and money to me.

Friday, I ran out to pick up a few groceries to get us through the next few days, and more cat food and bird seed. The birds and the squirrels have been inhaling the seed and at least one rabbit is enjoying the feed too. He/she leaves behind evidence of their visit. It was out in the front yard the other day - looks pretty healthy doesn't it?

No curling streaming this week, though there is an event in Japan that I'll be keeping my eye on for the scores. I'm planning to relax this weekend, watch some sports, catch up on PVR'ed television, and continue crocheting the lap blanket. I better not have to shovel any more snow! Shouldn't have to, as the weather forecast is for more cold weather. I'll end this post as I started...I hate winter!

Have a good week ahead everyone.

Catching up and lazing about

Speaking of curling, the one event ended on Monday and the second started on Tuesday. But the channels that carry the curling didn't actually start airing it until Wednesday.  I'd like to say that I got a whole lot of housework done as a result...but that would be a lie.  

On Tuesday morning, I happened to look out the front door while I was walking in the house and spotted this robin in the remnants of the snow fall from last week.  It's not a great shot - I was shooting through the window of the door and the screen door.  

Instead of housework I caught up on the television that I'd PVR'ed last week and did more research on Ancestry.  I've been working on more current members of the family, mostly cousins of my grandparents and great-grandparents.  It was a pretty lazy day around here.  

On Wednesday morning before the curling was televised, I headed out for a walk.  It was just above freezing but the wind was quite cool so I did my 30 minutes and came home.  Here are few photos from that walk.

I might be wrong, but it appears the geese are starting to nest. 

As I was focusing in on the goose, I could hear the song of the red winged blackbird.  I headed across the street and followed the music.

I thought the cattails made a pretty picture.

At the pond there were a pair of geese grooming themselves along the path.  This one is quite the contortionist.  I almost wish I were that flexible.

Back in the park on the way home I spotted five rabbits. There was a couple with a dog coming towards me, and they startled all but one. It's still not quite brown yet, but it's getting there.

Thursday morning, I went to the tire shop to have my winter tires switched out for summer, only to learn that I'd made the appointment (on-line) with another location, same company but this location didn't have openings for the morning.  So I cancelled that appointment and re-booked for next week.  Reminder to self pay attention to the confirmation e-mails.

I did my grocery shopping for the week and picked up dry cat food at PetSmart.  When I got the counter, I asked about the particular variety I buy because I hadn't been able to find it.  The clerk was great and checked for me and I learned that they've changed the packaging - I just didn't read the fine print.  My next stop was Pet Valu for a replacement pump and filter for my cats' water fountain.  They had none in store, so when I got home I ordered the pieces on-line along with a large bag of cat litter.  The total of the purchases gave me free delivery to my home.  And yes, I checked the confirmation e-mail carefully. :) It all arrived on Saturday morning along with a package of dog wipes.  Nice to get a freebie but you would think it would been cat related.

Friday was a cool morning; I awoke to my cat alarm at 5:30 and the temperature was a mere -10C (14F). In the middle of January I would welcome such a temp but not in late April.  My Bergenia was just starting to show some signs of life but after this hard frost all the leaves were crumpled and lifeless. (Later in the day they were back to looking healthy and perked right up.) I did get out and feed the birds, and the squirrel - who I've named Hoover for its ability to clean up the bird seed.

Today, I've been catching up on a bit of housework this morning and getting the bedroom ready for Monday.  I got a call from the contractor and the windows in the living room and bedroom will be replaced that day, barring any rain or that s word....the weather forecast is for neither.  He asked me to ensure the curtains were removed which I'll do that morning.  I did need to clear the night side table and remove a couple of other items to give them more room to work.  He told me to simply cover the bed with plastic - I have a roll from when the kitchen was redone so I've pulled that out of the garage. 

I'm off to watch the tie-breaker before I tackle more housework.  Have a great week everyone!

Walking my way

I'm posting an extra post this week because I've lots of photos to share from my daily walk.  Don't feel like you have to read any further if you're tired of seeing these.  

The smoke from the California/Oregon fires arrived here on Monday.  The sun didn't stand a chance, and there was an almost yellow glow to the air.  It didn't smell smoky though and it was quite warm.  I can't imagine what it is like where the fires are burning and my heart goes out to all those who are affected by them.  

Autumn has arrived, seemingly overnight as these photos would suggest. At least I don't recall seeing the colors when I walked on Sunday.

I know for absolute certainty that this tree had leaves the prior day.  It's the only one that has dropped all of its leaves so I assume there it is stressed for some reason.

Tuesday was a walk with lots of critters! First up were the bunnies in the closest park, but none of them would pose for me.  So here's a photo from the following day instead. 

Over at the creek park I ran into a fellow with his dog.  The owner told me the dog loves to have his photo taken, so of course I obliged, after a few scritches and pats.  What a handsome boy!

The ducks and the Godwit were at the creek too, but I have taken so many photos of them I carried on over to the pond.  The geese were gathering, with pairs and larger groups flying in overhead and landing on the pond.  This pair made me laugh, I can almost hear the one saying to the other, "landing gear down!".

I get so excited when I see something different on my walk and this day it was a snow goose.  Normally when I see these, there are out in a field north of the city.  R said that he's not seen them this far south this early in the year before.  I wonder what they know that we don't.

A bird or an alien?  It looks a bit like both!

Today's walk took me to the creek again, where the ducks and Godwit were seen.  Along the banks the vegetation is still green  but the rest of park is pretty brown and dry.

The jack rabbit hunkered down as I passed.  If it weren't for the bit of green he would have been hard to see.

As I arrived at the pond it was evident the geese are gathering. My goodness the noise!

There was another surprise for me at the pond too. This was the best photo I could get, and I'm pretty sure it's a beaver.  I've send the photo to my brother to confirm.  It  headed into the water after this photo and dived under and though I stood and watched I couldn't get another photo of it.  (Update: Kea mentioned it may be a muskrat and my brother has confirmed that is indeed what it is.)

I've heard of having your ducks in a row, but never one's geese.  What can I say, I'm easily amused. 

No birds in this photo, I just love the colors reflecting on the pond.

The smoke has cleared and the sun is shining brightly this afternoon.  The cats are in the sun room and I'm going to join them there in a bit. 

Take care and stay well everyone!

Week 5 - What a wild life I lead, and some wild life

Easter Sunday was just another day around here.  I didn't even cook a special meal, I had leftover chili and my son fixed Ramen noodles for himself. (He likes them with added vegetables).  Saturday was my day to cook.  I made the pot of chili, put together hamburger patties for the freezer, made a potato salad and a quinoa salad.  There was leftover meatloaf from earlier in the week in the fridge as well, along with some taco meat.  With all the leftovers I didn't see the point of cooking anything more, in fact I didn't bother on Monday either.

I did manage to get my sweater started on Sunday but ended up frogging it and winding up the ball of yarn for a new start on Monday.  I didn't like the way the pattern was looking so spent sometime finding another similar pattern.  If I weren't such a skinflint and was willing to pay for a pattern I'd have more choices.  I've finished several inches of it and am happier with the way it's going.  The crocheted tote bag was also partially re-done when I realized I'd messed up about half way in.  

We woke to snow on the ground Monday morning, with a temperature of -11C (12F).  It warmed up a bit through the day and the snow was nearly gone by that evening.  Tuesday and Wednesday mornings were stupidly cold for this time of year.  But both days the sun warmed up the sun room sufficiently for the cats and I to spend a good of the afternoon relaxing.  I've managed to read most of a book, take a few photos of the birds, and I even took a short nap one day.

This isn't a great photo, the blackbird flew away after this shot.  It's the first red-winged blackbird I've seen this spring (and the only one thus far).  It's a good sign that spring is on its way.  Fingers crossed.
Another not great photo, it's taken across the neighbour's yard with robin in the foreground and a Hungarian partridge in the back.

The next photo made me laugh.  I'm not sure what the bird is doing but the squat made me wonder. :)

In the front yard I had another visitor.  

He's actually eating some of the needles off the tree.  I can't imagine that they taste that good, and suspect needles aren't the most comfortable to eat. 

You can just see the tip of the ear in this photo. He's found the bits of celery and apple I put out for the rabbits.  I hope they taste better than the needles!

Back in the back yard I captured a robin in the tree.  It wouldn't give me a profile, but oh my goodness is that not a fat bird?

Wednesday I decided to spend the morning baking.  I had a few apples in the fridge that were beginning to soften; these were baked in an apple crumble.  I also made up a batch of buns, some regular, some hamburger bun size, and a dozen cinnamon buns.  The house smelled so good!  For dinner I'd marinated some chicken breasts in one of my favorite salad dressing, Italian Zesty Lime.  These were grilled up and with some garlic noodles and veg were our dinner.  I'll use the rest of the chicken in wraps for lunch over the next few days.  

While the sun shone Thursday morning, it was still cold.  So it snowed!  I know it doesn't looks like the sun was shining, but it truly was.

The smudge you see in the photo is actually a plastic maple leaf that I have added to some of the windows in the sun room.  They're supposed to reduce bird strikes though I've found one out there so far this year.  It always makes me sad when I have to pick up a dead bird.

It did warm up through the day but was overcast so it never got comfortable in the sun room.  I spent the after crocheting and knitting.  I finished the shopping bag, which frankly isn't a shopping bag.  I followed the pattern to the letter and ended up with more a purse than a shopping bag.  I could have modified the pattern but I decided a new purse for spring would be nice.  I checked and I have a piece of lovely green satin in my stash (picked up at the thrift store for $3.99) that I'll use to line the bag.  I need to check on-line to see what I can do to make the bottom firm - I'm thinking thick cardboard would work.  I've checked my stash of sewing items and while I have a couple of zippers neither of them are an appropriate color or size.  

I'm continuing to work on my sweater (knitting) and I really should finish off the infinity scarf before I start anything new.  I say that now, but Pinterest sends me an e-mail every evening and I keep finding more ideas.  I did have enough yarn left from the bag to start another shopping bag using a different pattern.  It's working up quickly so should be finished in the next couple of days.

Finally, on Friday I actually got off my butt and went for a walk. The temperature was a 6C (-14F) but initially felt a lot cooler.  But by the time I had walked through the little park and over to the nearby pond I felt quite warm.  I'll do a separate post for this as I took numerous photos!  There weren't many people out walking, perhaps a dozen or so but we all managed to be on the opposite side of the street.

Today, was just a lazy day.  The darn cats had me awake at 5:45 a.m. and I felt tired for most of the day.  Beyond feeding the birds, doing dishes, taking out some garbage, I spent much of the day catching up on my television watching, a bit of crocheting, and chatting on the phone.  I lay down for awhile in the afternoon but didn't actually sleep. Instead Saku and I had a good cuddle.  Almost as good as a nap.

Take care everyone and stay well!