Cold and a cold

No, I didn't buy the bread in Wednesday's photo - I bought a competitors brand that was "on sale" for $2.99 a loaf. I could hardly believe the price on the Dempsters bread - I'm thinking it will go stale on the shelf before it gets sold. Is it any wonder that grocery chains are making profits hand over fist?

The week started out cold and got colder still by mid-week. And the head and chest cold that I thought I avoided finally caught up with me and by Wednesday I was, as my son said, "hacking up a lung". If I hadn't gone out to feed the birds and squirrels that morning, I probably would not have gotten out of my pj's.

Because of the forecast I had gone out Monday and picked up some groceries, dropped off some baking at my friends, and did a Dollar store run. D asked me to check for a certain item that has shown up in stores in Ontario. Of course it wasn't there but I found the nicest paper gift bags. These aren't the shiny paper, but decorated brown paper bags. I'm a big proponent of re-using gift bags, but these were too cute and the price was right too.

Then Thursday arrived with slightly warmer weather and snow. There was a good half inch layer when I went out to feed the birds and squirrels about 8:30. Thankfully, my cold seems to have mostly cleared - that was fast - and I was feeling energetic enough to go out and shovel the driveway before C got home. I prefer to clear it before he drives on it and packs the snow down. 

Once the snow had fallen, Mother Nature turned mean again, with temperatures falling to -25C (-13F) on Friday. According to the Environment Canada, with the windchill it felt like -38C (-36F). I did venture out just long enough to feed the birds but beyond that it was another stay at home day. These are the days that I am grateful to be retired and able to do just that.

I finished my Christmas letter, and got the few cards I'm sending ready for mailing next week. As well, I pulled the gifts from my closet, checked them against my list. Just a few things to pick up, mostly gift cards for my niece and nephew and the "Santa" gifts for my kids. Sometimes that's socks, sometimes food items - this year food will probably win out. I'm been holding off on the gift cards because the grocery store usually has a deal just before Christmas that provides bonus points when you buy a certain dollar value of gift cards. Something for them, a little something for me.

Some items were finished this week, including a pair of mittens for donation, and the five angels for Eli. I finished a toque for the little guy and the first of a  pair of matching mittens is on the needles. I should be able to finish them this weekend too. These items are being made from some lovely Paint Box yarn I found at Value Village. The original skeins are about $5.50 a piece, and I paid $5.99 for five skeins. I do so like a bargain.

Thankfully, my cold is pretty much over with - it wasn't Covid, I did test just in case. The weather is improving too, just -19C (-2F) this morning, and we're supposed to see a warming trend through the weekend, -4C (25F) is the forecast high for Sunday. It'll be almost t-shirt weather! Just kidding. 

Not much else happening around here. Because I don't watch football/soccer, I've been catching up on PVR'ed television. There will be curling streaming starting on Sunday...I remembered to check the schedule so hopefully I'll catch some of the draws. I've also been working on Ancestry, and I think I'm coming close to the end of the material I can add. However, I purchased a book on Genealogy and have found additional sites for research. I do limit the amount of time I spent on the project, otherwise nothing else would get done around here.

Have a great week ahead everyone. I hope the weather is kind to you, where ever you are.