Cold… brrrrrrrrrr

When we got up this morning it was only -9C/16F outside under a clear sky.

That was COLD for us here on the Westcoast.  It was only 14C/57F inside but it did not take long for Cliff to start the fire upstairs and downstairs. It always amazes me how quickly the upstairs gets warm. So far we have only used the electric heaters in our bedrooms for overnight. Just the same, I hate to see the next electricity bill. It only got to 0C/32F outside today. It was a good time do do some baking and as we were out of goodies (that will never do) I made some oatmeal-raisin cookies.

By the time they were done I was nice and warm.
This afternoon I took out my knitting again and cozied up to the fire downstairs.
That is how I spent the last day of 2010. We will sleep into the New Year.
I wish everybody a Happy and Prosperous 2011.
Good night everybody ☺

A Shopping Afternoon

We are having really nice weather at the moment. After some rainy days the sun has been out for 2 days now. It is cool though. Cliff has been cutting wood all afternoon and I went shopping with our niece Mylisa. Normally I don’t have very much stamina for shopping but at the Shoe Warehouse the time just flew. The shoes were so low priced that I felt like a kid in a candy store. I ended up buying 2 pairs of boots a pair of leather sandals and some brown Hush Puppies. To top it off I also bought a pair of jeans and a pair of dress pants. That should last me for quite some time. I prefer to spend my time and money at Staples or Future Shop  
When we were finished shopping we walked over to Tim Horton's for a donut and coffee even though I don’t like their coffee.
We had a very good Christmas. Unfortunately the Young turkey I bought at Country Grocer was young about 10 years ago. It was quite a disaster but we ate it regardless. The soup is not bad though.
In the evening on Christmas day we had company and I was happy to give away 4 pairs of the socks I knitted during the year. I enjoy knitting socks but I also enjoy getting some that Nicki knits.
Watching the News I heard that we are in for some cold nights but the days should be sunny, so all is good.
Life goes by on an even keel, so there is not much to talk about.
Good night everybody ☺

Christmas Eve 2010

I want to wish everybody a joyful Christmas and hope you all have a wonderful time.
Our Christmas will be wet but at least driving will not be too stressful.
For you people in the desert I hope Santa will find you. For the people at home I am sure he will come.
Merry Christmas from Vera and Cliff

A dusting of snow

That’s what we saw when we got up this morning. By noon it was all gone. It looks like we’ll have a green Christmas and that’s the way I like it. It’s nice to see a bit of snow but it gets old quickly.
I had a lazy day today. Doing the laundry was the only job on my agenda, that and of course cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I still don’t care very much for my front loading washing machine. It takes so long to do a load. I always give each load another complete rinse. Maybe that is overkill but I hate to have soap residue on my clothes.
Looking at my flannelette sheets I find that they are getting pretty threadbare. I am waiting for Sear’s white sale after Christmas to get new sheet sets for our beds. I hope there will be some colourful ones.  
Nothing else new at our house so I will say
good night everybody ☺

Dreary day

We had two very nice days but this morning it started to rain. Thankfully it is more like a drizzle. Good thing Cliff went out early this morning to replenish the wood supply for the house. He was just finished when the rain started. I am so pleased it is rain and not snow. I don’t miss a white Christmas at all.
Today is supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the Season. I am sure glad I don’t need to go out and mingle with the crowds.
We just finished lunch. I cooked some of our squash together with cabbage. That is a great combination. Since we only have 2 small burners on the stove I like to combine the veggies. Sometime that turns out great and other times not so great.
In the summer I bought a few solar lights for the flower baskets. They were now starting to burn very dim and not for long since the days are not bright enough for a charge. When I had a closer look at them I found that they run on one rechargeable AA battery. I took the batteries out and recharged them on our 110 charger and now they shine bright again. I will probably have to do that again soon but that is OK.



Tomorrow is the 4th of Advent and Christmas is fast approaching. I hope everyone has a healthy and happy time. 
In case you are interested in some good food have a look here:

Christmas Island

Good bye everybody ☺

No rain

I am very happy to report that. Yesterday I had an appointment with my doctor and today I had my hair cut. Glad both of those appointments are over with and I did not have to worry about driving on snow or ice or both.
Most of the time now Cliff drives and I love that but it sure does not help my own driving. When he first retired I would have rather gone to town by myself because I was used to it but now I would rather go together. Time sure changes one’s outlook.
A few days ago I noticed that one of my outdoor solar lights was not working. I had a closer look and saw that it worked with one AA rechargeable battery. I opened the light, removed the battery and charged it up in our battery charger. Then I put everything back together and tonight it burns bright. I wonder if it will work tomorrow at least a little bit because all the other ones only work for a short while since there is hardly any sun to charge them up.
On Tuesday I got a book from the library that I had been waiting for. When I first ordered it more than 400 people were ahead of me. When I brought it home it only took me about one hour before I knew that I would not have the patience to read it. It was No. 2 book of a trilogy. I had a hard time getting through the first one: “The girl with the dragon tattoo” but I thought I would try the next one, “The girl who played with fire” but it was a no go. The books are supposed to be such big hits, but not for me.
One of our baseboard heaters did not work so Cliff fixed it today. It sure is nice to have a handyman around the house. We hardly ever use the heaters but sometimes it is good to have them on a cold night after the fireplace dies down.
Now I am off to do a bit more knitting and listening to a book at the same time. I just love my new little MP3 player.
Good night everybody ☺

Too busy to write

too busy reading that is. I really like my new MP3 player, Sansa clip plus. It is easy to use and I have never lost my place in a book yet. I sure like that. I can do lots of housework and cooking listening to interesting novels. I also have a regular book from the library which has to go back by the 14th.
Yesterday  we had another few hours of sign waving. It was raining hard though so it was not so pleasant. The end of our driveway is full of water which does not happen very often. I am only glad this did not come down as snow.
This afternoon we had a nice visit with Tom and Joyce again. We usually walk to their place and today we were lucky that it did not rain both ways.
Joyce bakes the best buttermilk biscuits. She gave me the recipe but for some reason mine never turn out as well. Makes me mad but I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
Today is the 3rd Advent and it will not be long until Christmas. Too bad Christmas falls on Saturday and Boxing day on Sunday that means less free time for the working people.
Time to get back to my book.
Good night everybody ☺

Gadget update

I really like my new iPod Touch but the Sansa Fuze + went back to Future Shop. It has a touch pad and the sensitivity was too great. I had it locked and it often unlocked just by moving the gadget and when it did it skipped a few chapters. It was very frustrating and I could not see dealing with that for a long time. I returned it and bought the Sansa Clip + instead. It is so tiny that it would fit in a matchbox, has 4 GB and not a touch pad but a clickable pad. So far I have no problem with bookmarking which is very important when listening to an audiobook. I really think that this is a keeper. I have never taken stuff back this much in my lifetime. Normally when I buy something I hang on for dear life.
I hope this is the end of the gadget chapter.
We spent another 2 hours yesterday waving our signs. This time it was by Country Grocer and it was not too cold and the sun was shining. We had quite a few people with us so we even had a good time socialising.



After that I had time to play on the computer and read all the Blogs I follow. In the evening we had friends over for tea and cake. It was very enjoyable. We stayed up until after 11 PM which is very rare for us. Usually we get sleepy around 9 PM.
Now I better start our Sunday pork roast.
Good bye everybody ☺

iPod again

This morning I had to be in the hospital by 8.15 AM for a CT scan that had been booked about 2 months ago. Cliff drove and stayed in the parking lot doing some of his paper work. By 10.15 I was finished and we went to Superstore for some gas and a few groceries. When we finished we were on our way back when I remembered that Walmart had a good deal on toilet paper this week. Of course right next to Walmart is our new Future shop!!! which was the big attraction. I bit the bullet and bought another iPod Touch. I really enjoyed the one I had but took back because I could not download some audiobooks from the library. I am keeping the Sansa Fuze + so now I have both players. Hopefully that are all the toys for a long while.
We got home too late to cook so we just had a few snacks and I made a good meal tonight. I prefer having my big meal at lunch time.
We still have a fair bit of snow on our property but not far from here the fields were free of snow. It is supposed to be sunny for a few days although it will be colder too. Just as long as the snow stays away I don’t care if it is cold.
Cliff is at another meeting and I will sit by the fire and read my book for awhile.

Good night everybody ☺