Home Sweet Home

 

We got back to Canada late Thursday and stayed overnight at Kris's home. We did leave there fairly early on Friday, but were just plain tired right out. 

The flight home was uneventful really, but being awake for 29 1/2 hours is not at all fun. We both tried to sleep on the longer flight, but neither of us can get a very good sleep when flying. 

Also it didn't help that we were both coming down with colds and once home kind of crashed. 

Then came the fun of trying to get the garden harvested and processed. That is moving along very slowly, but it is moving ahead. Yesterday I picked cucumbers and cherries. Pie filling made, and the cucumbers will be eaten as we will be getting many more over the next while. 

Cherry pie filling in the molds and ready for the freezer. This is supposedly enough for three pies, but I hope to get more cherries on sale and make a few more containers.

Today picking continued.

Harvey picked beans and I washed, clipped, blanched and packaged for the freezer. I managed to get 7 bags of beans packaged from this lot. He also picked four cobs of corn, two of which we will eat tonight. 

I picked these.

Some eggplant to make our first Parma for the season. There are a few smaller ones on the plants and more flowers as well. 

Tomorrow, even though I still feel slightly punk I will need to go shopping. It will probably be the only shopping trip this month. Considering how spendy our trip was this is probably a good idea. However, as we were eating down the fridge freezer and the pantry the list is long and probably very costly. 

I will be getting my pictures together of our trip and will share them with you all starting a bit on Monday. I will say that even though the cruise was changed due to very low water on the Danube, we treated it as an adventure and Viking treated all the passengers like Kings and Queens.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Home Sweet Home

 

The roads were great if a bit blowy on our way home today and I am glad we did not come home yesterday. I believe the roads would have been icy and snow covered.

However, we got into Estevan, pulled in the driveway and started to remove the items from the back of the car. I started to walk towards the sidewalk beside our vehicle shelter and started to slide!!! I managed to keep my balance, warned Harvey and made my way slowly down the path. This was actually the iciest part of our trip (well there was one fairly icy patch in Regina). 

Once all was inside, Harvey went out and sprinkled ice melt and then later went out to chip away at it. We definitely need more ice melt as the bag I purchased is now gone. Hope we can find some. 

No menu plan today as I need to do a bit of tweaking on it since we were gone and I just pulled whatever out of the fridge freezer to have for supper tonight. 

It has been snowing off and on since we got home, and between that and the icy roads in the city (and of course grocery shopping parking lots) I am going to give a few more days before I head out and pick up what we need. I also hope that we will have better sales as well. Good sales are few and far between and the new sale will start on Thursday. Flyers will come out today and tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Supper is almost ready. I will try and catch up with all of you a bit later tonight and tomorrow morning. I probably have lots of reading to do.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Home Sweet Home...Or Is It?

 

Well we are home once again from our travels. I am going to spend the next couple of days catching up with all of you and catching up with all the garden produce. This really was not the time to go on vacation, but we did have so much fun. 

Hopefully the garden will be finished with in the next few days and I can get back to regular posting and also fill you in on all our travels.

Right now I am going to start trying to catch up on all of your posts while we have been gone.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Home and Menu Monday

 

Home once again, after a lovely visit with Kris. It was so nice to get away for a bit, even though I did some cleaning and cooking. At least he had an oven that worked. LOL. Kris did cook our meal on Saturday, and I helped him prepare tomatoes for tomato sauce to be canned in his pressure cooker. Now that was an experience. 

Okay so now my post is being centered even after I have made it left align. Once again Blogger is acting up for me. Hopefully the menu plans will be okay this way. Now since we were gone for a few days, my menu plan is pretty much moved around with meals scratched out and new ones put in. Sometimes up to three changes.

Monday

Meatballs in Mushroom Soup, served over noodles. We will finish off the salad from last night's meal.

Tuesday

Salmon fillets, rice, and broccoli.

Wednesday

Chicken Soup and egg salad sandwiches.

Thursday

Soft tacos to use up some items in the freezer. Served with sour cream, shredded lettuce, cheese and chopped tomatoes.

Friday

I have some fake crab meat in the fridge freezer that has been there for awhile so I will make a casserole. Served with green beans.

Saturday

The remains of the taco meat made into some more soft tacos.

Sunday

Warmed up leftover roast beef served with mashed potatoes, corn, and gravy.

There are a few more items in the fridge freezer that need using up so the menus for the remainder of this month will be taking those into account. I am always surprised at how many leftover bits and bobs are located in the freezer. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Home Sweet Home

 

Well we are back, actually we arrived home yesterday. Tired, working hard getting things done that need to be done. My goodness my tomatoes went crazy and I managed to pick a number last night and processed them all today. Many more need picking, but laundry took precedence for much of the remainder of today. It is going to take awhile to get caught up on what needs to be done around the old homestead. 

Bills also needed to be paid and I did that first thing this morning. When I went online to pay them a notification came up that I had a GIC coming due the beginning of October and the bank was offering me a special rate. That rate was really high so I clicked that I would accept it. It is set for another year, and I am hoping when the next one comes due the rate offered is just as excellent. 

I hope to get pictures of our cruise off my phone and onto the laptop sometime tomorrow. We both enjoyed it so very much and we will be planning a cruise of the Greek Isles. Hopefully that will be done in December or early January. Hopefully in a small cruise ship like we were on for this one. Those huge ones scare me a little bit, this one that had only 1450 passengers on it and was a perfect fit for the two of us. 

Off to try and catch up with all of you, which of course will be a task that I am looking forward to.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

I am home once again and hope to be able to head back up to help Kris out by the 15th or 16th. We shall see what happens.

The drive home was okay, I have driven on worse roads (though at the time I was at least 10 years younger). The curves in the highway were quite slushy and there were areas that snow was covering quite deeply. I believe it was more from the actions of the wind than real snowfall. I just am glad that I came home during the day, as I am pretty sure that as the sun went down and the temperature dropped the roads became very icy.

Kris slept well (at least that is what he told me) last night. We both had a cup of Sleepytime tea and he took his herbal melatonin. He seemed contented over how much sleep he got at any rate. 

I did a quick clean of one of the shelves in the cupboard over his countertop dishwasher and now his kettle resides in there. The next time I go I plan on cleaning the other two shelves and getting a few more of the appliances on top of his cupboards rehomed so he can reach them.

Harvey decided that he is going to come with me on the 28th of this month for Kris's next appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. He has already told me to reserve a hotel room for the night of the 27th. 

Funny story, but I woke up at one point of the night and was patting the futon wondering why he was not in bed yet. Took me awhile to realize that I was not at home and Harvey was more than likely in our bed here at home.

I am hoping to get some sewing done this week and I have an idea for the next pair of pants I plan on making.... Hopefully some embroidery around the bottom of the legs, it will just take a bit of thinking and planning on my part.

While I did not get to attend Mass today, I followed the Lenten devotion by Tim Gray on the Transfiguration of Christ. Very interesting and it is really making me think. I am loving this Lenten program.

I am off to have a lovely soak in our tub. Heck I may even turn on the jets.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. I will visit those I missed today, tomorrow.

God bless.

A Visit to My Province

Today I though I would share my home province with all of you.

Saskatchewan is the rectangular province in the middle of Canada.

Our capital city is Regina (where Harvey is today).

Our legislature is located in this city and is on Wascana Creek. The province has made the area very into a very beautiful park where people walk, cycle, jog and picnic. I so wish it was closer to us as we live in the southeast corner of the province.

It is also the home to the RCMP training depot and Heritage Center.

Not too far away from Regina is the Quapelle Valley. Lots of small towns and farms dot the floor of the valley. 

Our provincial flower is the Tiger Lily or wild lily (the wild ones are slowly going extinct).

Saskatoon is the largest of our cities and is situated on the Saskatchewan River.

Moosejaw, just a few kilometers down the road to the west of Regina is home to our Snowbirds aerial team. These jets travel the country and the United States taking part in various air shows.

Farther to the west (almost to the next province) are the Great Sandhills. 

These abandoned grain elevators are all that is left of something that was in every Saskatchewan town, city, and village. It is hard to see them slowly but surely disappearing and larger inland grain terminals taking their place.

There is a standard joke about Saskatchewan that you can watch your dog run away for weeks the land is so flat. Not quite true as we have lots of dips and water filled coulees.

This is what we are really known for though.

Our skies are ever changing and we are known as The Land of Living Skies.

Hope you enjoyed the trip through my province.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Is Winter Arriving?

Today I did my errands mainly because we could be heading into some wild weather overnight and tomorrow.

The weather pundits are predicting rain turning to snow overnight and continuing into tomorrow. While there is not supposed to be a great accumulation of the white stuff, I would much rather stay off the roads until those around me finally realize they can't drive like Mario racing around a track. We always seem to have a few accidents with the first snowfall, and I would much rather be snug and dry at home.

So, because it is a home day I am going to do a bit of decluttering, list a few more items on the garage sale sites, do some extra cleaning, and of course work on my various projects. As well as hope that the weather improves for us to travel to the city to watch the football game.

I have finished two of three pairs of mitts this week, and have gotten a good start on the third pair. I am hoping to be finished most of the knitting portion of Christmas gifts by the end of next week. Then I will move on to the quilt and the pj bottoms. I may even try to sew a set of soup bowl holders..... As long as I keep plugging away things will be finished before time for a change.

Thought I would share a picture of the Doubles playing Family Feud at my family reunion. The reason I picked the name "Doubles" is because we are doubly related. My Mom and their Mom (Aunt Isabel) were sisters, and my Dad and their Dad (Uncle Sam) were brothers.

As far as cousins go we have always been very close. Aunt Isabel and Uncle Sam had four boys and so my sister and I were always treated like daughters when we went to visit. Funny thing was we won the whole thing and thus supposedly have the bragging rights until the next reunion. Considering this one was 20 years after the last one we could have bragging rights for a very long time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

After Mass, since I had the entire house to myself, I decided that there were a few things that needed doing while Harvey was not underfoot.

After changing quickly, and having a very light lunch I got started. First I cleaned out the freezer of most of those things that slipped to the bottom and were old or freezer burnt. I then got a bucket of soapy water and washed down the washer, dryer, upright freezer and chest freezer. They are sparkling clean now.

I had a rather large box of hamburger patties in the chest freezer so I removed them and repackaged them so they take up much less room.

My friend phoned and asked if I wanted a break so headed over for a talk and a cup of coffee. Met the new neighbours moving in across the back alley from me. They seem very nice.

After my break I washed the walls in the hall and kitchen. Cleaned all the pictures and even cleaned the candle holders. Smells absolutely wonderful.

That was the extent of my cleaning for the day. I was tired out by the time I finished, so I curled up on the recliner with my counted cross stitch and watched old CSI NY episodes on the tv. I did turn it off to catch the last three minutes of the football game. I needed to know if Harvey and Kris would be happy with the outcome. The would be over the moon. The Saskatchewan Roughriders won the first half of the series. They won what has become known as the Labour Day Classic. Now it's on to the Banjo Bowl (strange name) in Winnipeg for the second half.

This is a picture of Kris's new car. He loves it and I think it would be the type of car that would grow on you. It is a Kia Soul and in some lights looks almost green. However it is a titanium grey colour. The gas mileage is unbelievable as the car isn't even broken in yet and got approximately 40 miles to the gallon on the highway home. Should mean he will be able to cut fuel costs.

Off to do some blog reading and then some knitting.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Living In A Barn

No we are not really living in a barn, but it feels like we are right now.

The crew showed up today and started working on our basement. We are down to cement walls and no ceiling in either of the rooms....... Dust is every where as there was still a bit of dry wall to be removed. Who knew the ceiling in the man cave was dry wall???? Not me that's for sure.

Tomorrow the framing for the new walls starts and hopefully that will be done by Friday (like Thursday night would be better).

We have an electrician coming early Friday morning and the new outlets and switches should be installed in a few hours.

Then the construction crew takes over again and insulates the walls. They figure on being done by Monday.

Harvey will then go to see the plumbers and get one here to see about the new furnace installation and new duct work. We are hoping to get rid of all the electric heating in the house. If we can't, well the insulation will help keep costs down. Every time we open up a wall we find that there is no insulation!!! No wonder we have such high electric bills in the winter.

Once that is done we can start on the finishing of the basement. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long and convoluted experience. We are trying to mitigate the effects of any upcoming water seepage by putting in flooring and paneling that won't rot or be damaged by water. An expensive proposition, but one that will pay for itself over the years or when we go to sell our home. If everything goes well we could be using the man cave and the library/office/extra sleeping space by the middle of the winter.

This is also becoming a bit more expensive than we thought it would be. Mind you, Harvey keeps adding things to the list to be done. I think the front steps and the garage he wants to build will be put back for another year. Perhaps next summer will see everything finished and things back to what passes for normal here.

Sharing with all of you another picture or three from our vacation.

I have a habit of taking pictures of plants on every trip. This time a great many pictures were taken of strange and brightly coloured mushrooms.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Fence Building

This past weekend Harvey, Kurt and Kris spent some time building us a new fence.

Thought I would share with you the growth of a fence.

Post holes were dug first. Look at the size of that rock we had to dig out!!

Kris busy digging out one of the post holes by hand. We couldn't get the auger between the shed and the garage next door.

These posts were braced up and then cement poured in the holes. I didn't get a picture of this as the men just worked too quickly.

The next day the cross pieces were put on and the metal applied.

Here is my finished fence....without the gate. That is something Harvey will work on when we get back from our holiday in Banff.

The yard was cleaned up and today Harvey took the old wood and all the small pieces of metal to the dump. He also took my old clothesline poles as well.

After the construction of the gate....yard work will be done for the year. I am just so glad that Harvey, Kurt and Kris can do jobs like this, sure saves us cash.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Winter Is Here

Today started off cloudy but there was no wind and no sign of snow. Yet by this afternoon snow started to fall. Not much at first and it was melting as soon as it hit the ground.

The temperature started to drop and by 5 pm this is what the outside looked like.

Now there is a lot more and it is still coming down. Looks as if winter is here to stay as our temperature is not supposed to get above freezing any longer this month.

This turned out to be the perfect day to get a few chores done around the kitchen (tomorrow is supposed to be the same way).

I pulled out the slow cooker and started to make baked beans.

This is what they looked like when I started, and here is the finished product.

 

Just waiting for them to cool down enough to put into the freezer. Yummy goodness to eat later on this winter.

Then because making beans did not keep me busy enough I started my Christmas baking.

I made this Almond Bark first.

Next it was on to Butter Tarts. Sorry there is no picture of these beauties. I made 3 dozen and stuck them in the freezer as quickly as possible. If I leave them out for any length of time Harvey has a bad habit of snacking on them.

This was a very productive day in the old homestead. I just love the way the house smells getting ready for the Christmas celebrations. Between times I get to do crafty things!!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

This and That Thursday

I really have meant to post before now, but life seems to have a habit of getting in the way.

Today I have managed to finish decluttering the office area. Quite proud of myself, I actually got ruthless for a change.

I think I just may follow this rule....Declutter just one thing each day. Small bites of what could be a fairly large elephant if I allow it to grow.

I also spent time doing one of my favorite things.

Baking!!! I love to bake, except when I absolutely have to. Guess what??? I absolutely have to. I have a fairly large meeting on Sunday and need dainties and such to serve. I did ask for help at our Parish Council ..... but not one single person stepped forward with an offer to bring something. Hmmm, perhaps I should pay back in kind. I really don't think I could do that however.

So far I have made Butter Tart Bars, Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars, Oatmeal Muffins, Bran Muffins, and Brownie Bites. Tomorrow I will make 3-Layer Squares, Banana Bread and Coffee Cake. Whew, hopefully that will keep everyone happy.

I have also spent time on line looking at real estate on the various lakes in Saskatchewan. Harvey would really like to move to some place a bit more picturesque... I am beginning to think a move would do us a world of good. Things are getting much to expensive around here, and we are not getting any younger. An area of our province closer to specialists, good shopping, and a place we can be ourselves seems to be in the picture. Lots of all season cottage/homes on various lake fronts, but we would have to do some traveling to see them in person. Could be some short weekend trips in store for us come spring.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Home Sweet Home

Back home now from the family reunion. Just checking in to let everyone know I survived. I have started the glass is half full type of thing and am really trying to get along with all of Harv's family. I will fill you all in on how things went either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I know this is usually my Menu posting night, but I still have to work on the monthly menu for this month. More about that tomorrow as well.

Happy Canada Day to all Canadians out in blogland.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Making Salsa....Or Not

Today I was going to use up some of the lovely tomatoes from our garden.

See the lovely basket full.

Did I get to make it? No way at least not during the day.

So what did I do?

Helped my wonderfully handy hubby fix the front door.

Couldn't really do much else as he was always calling me

to hold something, hand him something. Or hold the

door so it wouldn't fall out.

It is finally in and the rest he can do on his own.

Perhaps I will make Salsa tonight!

Everybody have a wonderful late afternoon and evening.

God bless.

Finally

It has been a long time since I have had time to sit and do some blogging. I am so glad to be back, don't know for how long, but until our new carpet arrives I have a few spare days to visit and let everyone know what has been happening.

We have finally finished dry walling, taping and mudding the spare room. It is a job that both Harvey and I really dislike.....but we did save quite a bit doing it our selves.

Here is a picture of the first part of the mudding and sanding. Now imagine doing this three times and the dust flying all over the place. Such a big mess!!!

Next we had to pick out a paint colour. Almost more of a job then the one we had finished. We finally decided on a colour called Candle Wax.

It is kind of a creamy yellow and does brighten up the rooms. However because of the light blue that was on the walls first, we ended up putting 3 coats of primer/sealer on and then three coats of colour. Whew....it is finally done.

I went to the carpet store and picked out a Berber for the floor. It is cream, brown, and yellow tweed. Should keep the room nice and bright, just what I want.

Now we have to pick out the trim colour. Any ideas out there? I am leaning towards a white trim to match the window, but I am open for suggestions.

The last two days have seen the mail person dropping a couple of parcels off at my home. The first was from my swap partnerBrenda filled with loveliness for the holiday season. This time I ate the chocolates before Harvey arrived home from work. Her parcel contained so many lovely things....a silver angel for my tree, ribbon, a candle that smells heavenly, a bell door ring, a stuffed heart in Christmas colours, a lovely mesh metal basket, a wreath and berries, and of course the chocolates and fruit slice candies. (Harvey says thank you for those, he has been nibbling on them....had to have one of each just to test them of course). I will so cherish everything you have sent me as well as the friendship that we have formed.

Today another parcel was waiting on my front porch. This one was from my good friend Ginger at Enchanting Cottage. A pretty mug to drink the coffee or the Spiced Tea mix she sent, a book to keep track of all the important dates in my life (I really needed this as I forgot my Dad's and sister's birthdays this year), and enough yarn to knit myself a scarf or even a shawl!!! Thank you so very much Ginger you are a wonderful friend and I am so glad to have met you.

Well I think that is all I have to say for now. I am off to spend some time visiting each of you.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. God bless.

Life Back To Normal.....Sort Of

The last few weeks have gone by in a flash. Due to computer problems, I was unable to post any pictures and I don't know about the rest of you, but a post without pictures or images is missing a great deal.

Kris worked on my computer on the weekend and I am back in business. I am beginning to think that the computers we buy get a mind of their own. The first one we had years ago seemed to last so much longer and caused me a lot fewer heart aches.

Any way here I am once again.

I finished the baby afghan while the computer was being crabby. This one I did in yellow and white. Turned out not too badly (if I do say so myself). I will be parceling it up tonight to go out in the mail tomorrow.

I also got to help Harvey put the window into the hole in the wall in the basement room. I am sooo very happy that this job was completed before the weather got too bad and we had to contend with a foot or two of snow as well. Here is what the room looks like now.

Now he is busy with the wiring for the extra plug in I wanted and the baseboard heater. Hopefully those will be done quickly and we can finish dry walling the rest of the room and fixing the dry wall that is already up. Harvey dislikes this part of the job intensely, but if we want the room finished by Christmas it needs to be done. I have picked out new paint colours and the material for the curtains. We both need to pick out new floor coverings however.

I received my second blogging gift from Brenda.

Some lovely wax melts, they infuse the room with the smell of maple sugar, one of my favorite things. A lovely stuffed pumpkin, which matches my decor perfectly, an embroidered linen dish towel, perfectly gorgeous note paper (which is something I never buy for myself) and a pound cake, which Harvey started to nibble on right after I took this photo.

I have her third of four parcels almost ready to go and I hope to have it in the mail by Friday. This has been so very much fun.

Well I guess I had better go and visit everybody.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. God bless.