Friday Funny

 

Wordy Wednesday

In lieu of a Saturday post, I'll do a short post today. Tomorrow I'm off on my trip to Bismarck - this time for real!

The snow we were promised came and came and came some more. It snowed for close to 24 hours, and in that time the weather channel suggested we had nearly 30 cms. (12 inches) of snow.  I would say we were closer to 20cm/8 in. We should have gone out and cleared snow Saturday evening, but instead waited until mid-morning on Sunday. It took nearly 2 hours for my daughter and I to clear the sidewalks: back, side and front (including city sidewalk), as well as the area behind the back fence and the garage. There had been a couple of vehicles; trucks, I assume, that had been down the alley. But my vehicle was covered, and the snow around it and behind it was deep.

It continued to snow until mid-afternoon, when I realized there was a bright orb in the sky to the southwest. What could that be? It's been a few days since we've seen the sun. Once we were sure it was sticking around, D and I went out again and cleared the snow that had fallen in the meantime.

The town plows were out sometime overnight to start the street clearing (I heard nothing). It expect it will take a day or two to get to the alleys. Sadly, at least a couple of our neighbours are idiots. One attempted to blow the snow across the alley to the vacant property but, of course, much of the snow ended up in the alley. In the other direction, another neighbour made a mess weaving his way through the snow and apparently spinning his tires. 

I drove Eli to school on Monday morning, as D's car would not have had the height to make it through. We chose to go towards the snow blower mess and I bottomed out in the SUV. That spot is flattened now. We decided to try the other direction on the way back from the school, and it was even a bigger mess. 

Tuesday morning, the alley had yet to be cleared, so I again drove Eli to school, and then D to the bank before heading to the city. The highways were clear, but it was very foggy for about half of the trip. I saw a couple vehicles in the ditch and one fender bender in the city. The city street were definitely not as clear, however sanding trucks had been out so the intersections weren't bad. I think having a heavier vehicle is a benefit too.

I ran a few errands, stopped at the doctor's office to drop off and pick up some paperwork for D, the bank to pick up cash for my trip, and at the mall for a haircut. I use cash because it is the easiest way to stay within my spending budget. The haircut was desperately needed as I hadn't had a cut since September. While there are a couple of salons in our small town, getting an appointment is quite difficult and often requires a wait of several weeks. No thanks!

Back at the house, I discovered C had only got half of the driveway cleared after this latest snowfall. After a bite of lunch, I went out and did the rest. A downfall of the neighbour having install the fence, the snow now blows across the area behind the house and up against the fence. This blocks access to the garage. Not good when the temperatures are forecast to be in the range of -25C to -30C (-13F to -22F) later this week. Thankfully there is no snow in the forecast, so we'll both be parking in the garage. 

Today, I've got some housework to do. No, the vacuum has not moved since I left over a month ago. I'm running a load of laundry, and will pop out to pick up a few groceries. Since I'm in the city, I'll make a run to Value Village as well. In particular, I'm looking for a small ottoman or a stool to put by the door into our porch at D's. We both would like something to sit on as we put on our winter boots. An ottoman would be best, as we'd have storage for the mitts, toques (beanies) and scarves we use most often.

To my readers from the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! To everyone else, have a great weekend.

Winter has arrived!

For those who did not see my edited post - my Black Friday shopping trip is happening this upcoming week, not last. I'm not sure why I had the dates mixed up, but thankfully reader Cheryl let me know in the comments. So I wasn't a week early waiting for the bus in the Walmart parking lot. :) 

The wordless Wednesday photo was taken on Sunday evening after the first snowfall. The sky was much brighter than my phone camera captured. Winter storm warnings were issued as well, and we were expecting up to 15-20 cms (6-8 in) of snow overnight Monday into Tuesday. I'm not sure if it was the winds, but we were fortunate and the storm skirted us. While we got a bit of freezing rain, by morning the temperatures were at or slightly above freezing. As a result, the streets were wet not icy. In the meantime, my son got a pile of snow in the city.

We walked, again, this week at the community center. On Monday, the hockey team were exercising, and the cardiac center was also open. As a result the track was busier than we've seen thus far. After walking, we went to the local Canadian Tire to pick up another shovel - we only have one. With the expected snow, a second one would come in handy.

Wednesday was cold, about -8C (18F) with the windchill sitting around -20C (-4F). Though we'd had some snow overnight, most of the accumulation was the result of the wind blowing from the west. D shovelled out the walkways before we hopped in the SUV for the short drive to the school. Good thing, as the drifts at the end of the alley were quite deep and her little car would have had a time getting through the drifts. By late afternoon, the city had plows out cleared most of the streets and at the alley entrances. Of course, then it started to snow again.

I spent much of the morning working on the gingerbread ornaments, crocheting the edging and adding a small amount of stuffing. There was curling to watch so I was definitely in my happy place. Meanwhile, D was working on her Cricuit creating cards for the Elf on the Shelf. I am so grateful this fad didn't exist when my kids were young. So far, the Elf has been found in various places, hanging from a lamp, a garland strant, in the bathroom, and more recently, in a jar. One cannot touch the elf; the jar meant he could go to the dentist's appointment Eli had on Thursday.

That appointment was to remove the spacer that was put in to keep his teeth from shifting when he lost a tooth before the next one was ready. Did I ever tell you how his first appliance went missing? A child, that would be Eli, removed it and flushed it down the toilet. As can be imagined his mom freaked out because it cost $300 to replace. He sent me a message asking if I'd pay for it. :) Of course, I told him I would. His tooth finally erupted but the trip was for naught, as it had not erupted enough for the dentist to remove the spacer. 

While they were away, I ran out to the grocery stores. More items than I had intended made their way into the cart. In my defence, when grocery items are sale here, it's best to buy. Again, I found some items at prices that were more reminiscent of pre-Covid pricing. Others, not so much but necessary purchases. After putting things away, I went out the cleared the sidewalks out to the front of the house. Our next door neighbour was kind enough to use their snowblower to clear the front side walk last night.

D and I spent Friday morning winterizing a few of the windows and starting our Christmas baking. The bathroom window, as well as the small window at the top of the stairs are definitely leaking cold air. We used a kit we bought at the dollar store and it seems to help. D made a shortbread base for her homemade Twix bars (I call this a caramel toffee bar), and I made a batch of shortbread after lunch. My taste test of my cookies told me I haven't forgotten how to make them. :)

While the cookies baked, I watched curling and worked on finishing off the gingerbread men. When both cookies and the ornaments were finished I pulled out the pattern for Christmas gnomes. The first one is on the hook. These will be for my nephew and niece, though if I like them well enough, I may make two more for my brother and SIL. The nice thing about these is, I can customize them for each person.

Today, D and I will do a little more decorating, more baking, and I'll watch curling and crochet when I can. The snow is supposed to start this evening, and get heavier overnight. Perhaps as much as 12-20cm (4.75 - 7.75 inches) my mid-day on Sunday. I've got my fingers crossed it will be the lesser amount. It is also going to colder. That's winter in Saskatchewan for you.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday funny

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Christmas preparations, shopping, and oh snow!

For those wondering, the wordless Wednesday was an experiment. D and Eli have been trying various experiments over the last week. This one started with three glasses with water and two empty. They added food coloring to the water, and then placed folded paper towels in the glasses. D explained to Eli how plants get water from the soil around it, seeking out water from a distance through their root system. Interestingly, while they started with different water levels in the three glasses, all five ended up with similar amounts through the transfer. We also wondered how the colours would blend (they did, but not as we expected). The experiment continues as she is using the project to explain evaporation too. 

Another week in the rear view mirror and with it, winter is drawing closer. We did have a few snow flakes on the weekend but nothing stuck. The day time temperatures are staying above the freezing mark, which is appreciated at this time of year. We haven't seen a lot of the sun either, and the "dark" hours being earlier in the evening and extend into the morning. I heard my daughter asking Google how many days until the winter solstice. She really finds the dreary days difficult.

As a result, we've started the winter/Christmas decorating. There are ornaments like icicles, snow flakes, even snow men that can be put out now and remain out until spring. We put up the tree on Sunday, fluffed out the branches, but didn't start to decorate it for a few days to allow it to settle. This tree holds only ornaments that D had - my ornaments remain in a tub as they don't match her silver and blue theme. We've talked about a second tree, but I don't know where we'd put it. I don't need/want a small tree in my bedroom, as the cats use my dresser for watching out the windows. The big tree is currently in the office with the French door, allowing it to be seen from the living room but out of reach of interested kitty paws!

Wednesday was voting day for the municipal elections. We dropped Eli off at school, and drove over to the community center to vote. It was a short walk upstairs to the walking track where we spent a half hour walking with a few regulars. This is the third or fourth time we've walked and I'm starting to recognize some individuals. The hockey team was exercising on part of the track today, so we would walk one way as far as we could without interrupting their work-out, and then turn and walk the other direction. A couple of the other walkers weren't as cautious and walked along the edge of the track. Some of the exercises had the young men jumping over low pieces of equipment on one leg or from side to side...we didn't want to chance being bumped if someone lost their footing. Besides, they smelled funky! They were clearly putting effort into their work-out.

I've started working on Christmas ornaments for Eli's teacher, teacher's aides, principal, and counselor. There are six ornaments needed this year, and I decided to make crocheted gingerbread ornaments. I found a couple of patterns, tried one - didn't like it, so used the second one. It can be made a single or double layered ornament and I chose to do the double layer. I changed the pattern slightly to include the white edging, added safety eyes and a bit of stuffing, and enlarged the little bow. Of course, I learned a bit with the first one and Eli has asked to keep this one, so I'll continue to tweak the pattern and finishing as I go along. 

Once those are complete, I'm planning to make trolls for my niece and nephew. What my brother and his wife will get is still to be determined. The more I look through possibilities in Pinterest, the more suggestions I get so I know I'll find something.

Grocery day was Thursday, which normally means sticker shock here in our small town. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sale price on many of the items was as low as I find in the city. I tend to buy our groceries based on what is on sale, with a few basics thrown in. But even the basics seemed to be a bit lower than I remember from this summer. I know it won't last, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

We dropped Eli at school on Friday and went to the walking track. We walked for just over 35 minutes before heading home. My right knee has been giving me grief, and while I'm sure the walking is good for me, it does irritate my knee. My daughter has issues with her hip flexors and needed to stretch when we got to the house. Clearly, we both need to keep moving!

That afternoon we got a call from the delivery company - they were on the way with our new fridge and stove. We had about 15 minutes to clear out the old appliances before they arrived. After removing the doors from the old fridge and taking off the back door it was removed from the kitchen and the new one was brought in. Switching out the two stoves was much easier! Then it was time to return all of the food items into the fridge. The old fridge was a side by side, while the new one has French door fridge on top and the freezer on the bottom. The new freezer had just enough capacity to hold what was in the side freezer, however the new fridge capacity is much larger than the old one. D baked that afternoon to try out the new convection oven - it also doubles as an air fryer, though we'd have to buy a special pan. D has a double air fryer so I don't think we'll bother. She also set up the app on her phone as both appliances are WiFi enabled. I won't bother...

I spent some time crocheting and have the bodies of three more gingerbread stitched. Once I've got all of the pieces made, I'll put them together and do the finishing. There is football today and tomorrow to watch so I hope to have them all done by the end of the weekend.

Though I hadn't planned to return to the city until mid-week, my plans have changed as we're getting snow and rain in the next few days. (5 cms./2 inches expected today). I'm scheduled to take the bus trip to Bismarck for Black Friday shopping on Thursday. And no, that isn't the trip I hinted a month ago. This will be my first winter driving in the SUV and I'll admit, I'm a little nervous. Monday seems to be the best option. Since I'll be away, there won't be a post next Saturday. CORRECTION: Thanks to Cheryl for reminding me that Black Friday isn't until Nov 29th. I would have been 10 days early for the trip. Plans have changed!

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny