Friday, November 30, 2012

Very strange dream.....

I woke up on Thursday morning very confused and tired as I had, had the weirdest dream.

I was in England at my mam's house.  We were in her kitchen, dd was washing dishes........that in itself is strange as she hates doing the dishes.  She was talking with my mam and they were talking about the meal we had, had at Swiss Chalet the night before.  I was confused as I couldn't remember going to Swiss Chalet for supper???

I was boiling the kettle to make a pot of tea.  However the teapot was a fold up teapot and plastic?  Needless to say when I poured the boiling water into the teapot I missed???  As I was wiping up the water, I heard someone hoovering, and as dh was in bed, I went to see who was hoovering.  When I got to the living room my step-father was cleaning the windows with furniture polish?  We all know you don't clean windows with furniture polish.

Then a dog comes bounding towards me and it was a Komondor (had to look up the breed to figure out what it was), and instead of it having white hair it was a blue/green colour?  I then see a basket and in it was what I thought was a black cat, but it turns out to be a dog.  THEN another white fluffy dog comes running up to me.  So now there are three dogs in the living room.  My mother doesn't have dogs, so I go back into the kitchen to find out why she hasn't told me about all these dogs, and both her and dd are still talking about the meal we had the night before at Swiss Chalet??


Thankfully I woke up at this point, very confused and tired.  Now the only thing I can decipher from this dream is the small black dog, as Cindy had emailed me this week about a black Pomeranian dog that needs a home.  Otherwise I have no idea what the rest means??  Any ideas anyone?

I think this is the most expensive "Home of the Week," I have featured at $14 million and in all honesty it's awful.  There are small signs that children live in that house, but it isn't a family home.  It looks more like a model home that no one lives in.  Very sterile and I would feel like nothing could be touched or messed up?

The "Condo of the Week," for $1.6 million is interesting.  I would actually really like it if I could drywall/plasterboard all the ceiling and walls.  I am not a fan of the exposed concrete look personally!!!  Look at picture 6 and that funky looking lamp, never seen anything like that before have you?  In picture 8 you will see the bar stools in the kitchen, "R" has them in bright orange, very cool.  I am always terrified I will fall off them....LOL

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Stress when driving.......

(image from here)
Had to go downtown Toronto to take dh for his checkup on his eyes.  Pleased to say everything was good, and he was in and out in 15 minutes.  Only took two hours again to get there {{SIGH}}

I am one of these people when I have been somewhere once, I am pretty good at remembering where to go.  However I do tend to get a little stressed driving to new places especially in a major city.  Wednesday was no exception, as after we left the hospital we headed to dd house, as it was "sort of" in the vicinity.  

Unless you know Toronto this won't mean much, but we were at the Toronto Western Hospital on Bathurst and then we headed along Dundas East to pick up the 404/Don Valley Parkway, then the 401.

There are street cars/trams down there, I am terrified of those.  I have no idea why, but I hate driving along the same road as those.  Also we went through China Town and the hustle and bustle in that area is crazy.  So suffice to say I wasn't a happy camper.  However as soon as I got on the 404 and then onto Highway 401 I was a happy camper.  Highway 401 is one of the busiest in Canada, but I don't have a problem driving on it in the Toronto area as I know it well enough.  Same with Highway 400, no problem, I put my foot down and Betsy and me do 130 km and all is well.  Stick me in the middle of the city where I haven't been and I am not happy.

Are you a confident driver?   Also do you ask for directions or do you behave like a man and be too manly to ask someone?  I of course will stop and ask for directions, dh won't!!!!

By the way is anyone having the same problem as me with Blogger.  A lot of SPAM posts are coming through on my regular comments and not in the spam file?  Luckily I moderate all comments otherwise you'd have to plow through tons of spam to read any comments...........it's bloody well annoying.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

All done, other than some baking.........

Yep, I finished off my Christmas shopping on Tuesday so all I have left to do is bake some cookies for a couple of neighbours and maybe get dh a small gift.  We don't usually exchange gifts as I prefer to go shopping in the sales.

On Tuesday I also went into town to pick up my "win," from the library silent auction.  I had put in a number of bids but thankfully only won the one thing and it was a basket of Presidents Choice brand groceries, and so it was a useful prize.  It was worth $75 so it said and I put an offer in at $40.

Here is everything out of the basket:
Here is a list of what was in the basket:
Other than the hot sauce, we will be able to use everything in there.  It's a good fund raiser for the library and along with a home tour, a raffle and book sale they managed to raise over $11,000 which is good.  I also bid on a print and they were saying the lady who won it doesn't sound very reliable, so if she doesn't pick it up, they'll call me.  It was a print of tulips and very pretty.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Cold enough that even the horses had their coats on...

The horses were out in the field behind us, busy chewing on what little grass that is left:


I read the following over on Valerie's blog and thought it was so true:

A new book has confirmed a theory that I first proposed in 1987, in a column explaining why men are physically unqualified to do housework.

The problem, I argued, is that men -- because of a tragic genetic flaw -- cannot see dirt until there is enough of it to support agriculture. This puts men at a huge disadvantage against women, who can detect a single dirt molecule 20 feet away. This is why a man and a woman can both be looking at the same bathroom commode, and the man -- hindered by Male Genetic Dirt Blindness (MGDB) -- will perceive the commode surface as being clean enough for heart surgery or even meat slicing; whereas the woman can't even see the commode, only a teeming, commode-shaped swarm of bacteria.

A woman can spend two hours cleaning a toothbrush holder and still not be totally satisfied; whereas if you ask a man to clean the entire New York City subway system, he'll go down there with a bottle of Windex and a single paper towel, then emerge 25 minutes later, weary but satisfied with a job well done.

When I wrote about Male Genetic Dirt Blindness, many irate readers complained that I was engaging in sexist stereotyping, as well as making lame excuses for the fact that men are lazy pigs. All of these irate readers belonged to a gender that I will not identify here, other than to say: Guess what, ladies? There is now scientific proof that I was right. This proof appears in a new book titled "What Could He Be Thinking? How a Man's Mind Really Works".

I have not personally read this book, because, as a journalist, I am too busy writing about it. But according to an article by Reuters, the book states that a man's brain "takes in less sensory detail than a woman's, so he doesn't see or even feel the dust and household mess in the same way." Got that? We can't see or feel the mess! We're like: "What snow tires in the dining room? Oh, those snow tires in the dining room.''. And this is only one of the differences between men's and women's brains.

Another difference involves a brain part called the "cingulate gyrus" which is the sector where emotions are located. The Reuters article does not describe the cingulate gyrus, but presumably in women it is a structure the size of a mature cantaloupe, containing a vast quantity of complex, endlessly re-calibrated emotional data involving hundreds, perhaps thousands of human relationships; whereas in men it is basically a cashew filled with NFL highlights.

In any event, it turns out that women's brains secrete more of the chemicals "oxytocin" and "serotonin", which, according to biologists, cause humans to feel they have an inadequate supply of shoes. No, seriously, these chemicals cause humans to want to bond with other humans, which is why women like to share their feelings. Some women (and here I am referring to my wife) can share as many as three days' worth of feelings about an event that took eight seconds to actually happen.

We men, on the other hand, are reluctant to share our feelings, in large part because we often don't have any. Really. Ask any guy: A lot of the time, when we look like we're thinking, we just have this low-level humming sound in our brains. That's why, in male-female conversations, the male part often consists entirely of him going "hmmmm." This frustrates the woman, who wants to know what he's really thinking. In fact, what he's thinking is, literally, "hmmmm."

So anyway, according to the Reuters article, when a man, instead of sharing feelings with his mate, chooses to lie on the sofa, holding the remote control and monitoring 750 television programs simultaneously by changing the channel every one-half second (pausing slightly longer for programs that feature touchdowns, fighting, shooting, car crashes or bosoms) his mate should not come to the mistaken conclusion that he is an insensitive jerk. In fact, he is responding to scientific biological brain chemicals that require him to behave this way for scientific reasons, as detailed in the scientific book "What Could He Be Thinking? How a Man's Mind Really Works", which I frankly cannot recommend highly enough.


I posted another book review yesterday here "Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing," by Kathy Cano-Murillo

Monday, November 26, 2012

Lots of links for everyone in today's post.....

On Sunday I decided to take advantage of it being cheap hydro/electric rates all day and do some cooking.  I needed to do something with the nearly 8 lbs of ground/minced beef I bought on Friday, so thought I'd make some Yorkshire Cornish Pasties.  Cornish Pasties are made with stewing steak, Yorkshire Cornish Pasties are made with ground/minced beef.

Here is the recipe:

Yorkshire Cornish Pasties

8 oz Shortcrust Pastry
8 oz Minced/ground beef
8 oz chopped/diced potato, onion and carrot
1 tsp salt/pepper mix (recipe to follow)

Combine filling ingredients.  Roll out pastry and cut into 6 or 8 inch rounds.  Place filling down the centre of the pastry and dampen the edges with water and bring sides to centre  and pinch together, with fingers and thumb (see photo).  Brush with beaten egg and place on a greased baking tray and bake in a moderately hot oven 400 oF or 200 oC for around 40 minutes.  Lowering the heat if browning too much.  ***The Recipe is a Keeper!!***

Dorothy Sleightholme's Salt and Pepper Mix: For seasoning, mix 3 teaspoons of salt to 1 teaspoon of ground pepper.  Mix well together and keep in screw-top or sprinkler top jar.

I doubled the recipe and I made 9 pasties using a 5 1/2 inch saucer to cut out the pastry circles.  I had a bit of filling left over which I put in a Ziploc bag and froze for another day.  The recipe is from a book I have had for donkey's years called "The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cook Book," from Yorkshire Television.  There was a television programme that went along with this book, I found a You Tube Clip here.


I had a little pastry left over so I made some jam tarts in a mini cupcake pan

We had some warm for lunch and then again for supper, with mashed potatoes, gravy and broccoli.  The last three I popped into the freezer for another meal.
Also made a batch of choc-chip cookies for dh and at the bottom of the photo is the jam tarts I made.
One of my new to me kitchen finds which I love are these cutting boards.  They are very thin and very flexible and have pictures on them so you can use them just for veggies, meat or fish.  I got them from here and I picked up three sets, as I am giving a set each to two people for Christmas!! (The one on the top is dirty, as I was using it!)
At the end of my cooking session, I had seven 12oz bags of browned and drained ground/minced beef and onions all ready to go in the freezer.  Two more meals of pasties for the freezer; a batch of meat pasta sauce which will do two meals. I thought of having part of the sauce with pasta and the rest use to make some calzones using this recipe.  I have never made them before?  I cooked enough potatoes on Sunday night to put another meals worth in the freezer as well.

I posted a book review on the book, "A Year of Biblical Womanhood," by Rachel Held Evans here if you are interested.

There are a lot of links in today's post isn't there?


Sunday, November 25, 2012

Another treasure and quilt blocks...

On Saturday we went up to the charity shop as I had put bids in on a couple of items.  A very funky chair in a gold/yellow/floral print and a side table.

I wish I had taken my camera as the chair went for $377.  It was so NOT worth that amount.  When they lifted it out of the window, folk in the store said they heard all the springs rattling around in it.  I was however lucky to "win" the side table with my bid of $45.  Look at the legs:
It has seem a lot of life and has a lot of scratches on it but I will put something on the top to cover it.
I wanted it to put it in the living room to put my Denby Encore Sweet Pea lamp on.  We haven't touched the living room yet, renovation wise.
I bought the burgundy chair at the same store the other week and here is where she sits.  All the woodwork is original to the house.
I did a little sewing also on Saturday and did the next block for my block of the month club.  It is the bottom one in the photo.
The top one is called Ribbon Quilt.  The middle block is Electric Fan Variation.  The bottom block is Yankee Puzzle.  My points are not exact and I need to size all the blocks.  The store supplies the material for the block, but you do have to buy all the finishing pieces for the quilt.  I am not going to buy the pack as I am not too keen on it.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Grocery Shopping and mending socks

On Friday I went grocery shopping.  As always I generally buy what's on sale so it's not a balanced diet shop.  There is only some romaine lettuce and some banana's there as we have other fruit and veggies that need to be eaten up.  There is nearly 8 lbs of lean ground beef as it was on sale for $2.49 per pound and I had coupons for $4 off ground (mince) beef when I bought an Old El Paso dinner kit.  So I bought two of those to take advantage of the coupons; plus the dinner kits were on sale for $3.49.  I ended up buying two more kits as I had a free product coupon and a $1 of coupon for the kits.

All  in all that little lot below cost $78.13.  However I had savings of $43.48 in coupon and tax savings, as Friday was pay no tax day as well.  I will also be getting a $5 PC gift card as I had to call customer service when I got back home, as there was a discrepancy between the flyer and the sticker on the product shelf.  To cut a long story short, I think there was a problem with the flyer but the customer service person would NOT give me my products for free (scanning code of practice) saying it was a flyer problem.  Very happy though with how Loblaws customer service handled the issue.

All the items in the photo below was what I had free product coupons for, so all were free.
I then went into the other town after lunch as I had to go to the library and run some other errands.  I called into No Frills and picked these items up as they were good deals with my coupons.  I paid $5.22 for all those.  The Lunch Mate is a treat for dh, as he takes sandwiches every day, paid $2 for it after the coupon.  The butter was $3 for the pound block, that is a super price and I had a 75 cent coupon for it.  The Crispers were $1 and I had a 75 cent coupon so only cost 25 cents.  The pasta sauce and tomato paste cost 59 cents for both when I bought them together, as again I had a $1 coupon.
So all in all I spent $83.35, but I am going to get that $5 gift card, so I guess that takes me down to $78.35 and had $46.98 in coupon and discount/tax savings.  I am going to have a cooking/baking session on Sunday and will be using some of the items I bought on Friday.

Friday afternoon was blustery and wet.  It's also a lot cooler so I wear socks all the time.  I am rough on my feet and am forever putting holes in my socks where the heel seam joins the sock.  So I spent part of the afternoon mending them.  Sorry about the photo, it turned on me.


Friday, November 23, 2012

What a glorious week it has been weather wise.

It's hard to believe we are going to be heading into the last week of November.  I was out in the garden, gardening on Wednesday with just a long sleeved t-shirt on, no jacket or hat as it was that warm.

We are still eating the tomatoes I pulled off the tomato plants last month.  They are ripening up nicely in the window sill.

Had the best smell in the house all day on Thursday as I was cooking chicken leg quarters in bbq sauce in the crockpot.  Stripped them off the bone and had the meat on hot dog buns with cheese and onions.  I am in the process of cleaning out the downstairs freezer.
 
I posted a book review for the book, "Debt-Proof Your Christmas," by Mary Hunt on my book review blog.  If you have a moment please read the review, as it is an excellent book that I thoroughly recommend.
I haven't been posting the home of the week for the past couple of weeks, as honestly they have been awful and this week's isn't much better.  However I thought I would post a link to this week's "Home of the Week."  I am not a fan of the minimalist look, and wanted to ask a question to those who love the look.  How on earn do you get comfortable in a house like that?  Those stool thingy's in the living room would kill my back in seconds.  Also how do you keep an all white house looking clean?  Not live in it?

The $1.1 million price tag on "The Condo of Week," doesn't make matters any better.  Very overpriced for what it is, don't you think?  Then they have featured the new Google Offices in Toronto.  Didn't even know there were Google offices in Toronto.  Looks like a fun place to work though?


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Got some freebies in the mail on Wednesday......

I have had a run of bad luck with some products recently and have had to call up companies a couple of times to ask about their products.

At the top of the photo is a flyer telling me that next time I use my credit card I will get 10,000 bonus points which I think is worth $10.  Mind you in the small print it could be next April before I get the points.    Regardless that's a bonus.

I then got a coupon for a free bottle of Dove "Style Care" Frizz Proof Cream/Serum.  Which I will say is more useful in the Summer with the humidity than this time of year.

I bought Blue Water's Simply Bake Haddock.  When I cooked it it shrank by more than half.  Dh wondered what he had done wrong when I plopped this tiny bit of fish on his plate.  Even I looked in the bag to see if it had broken in two and the rest was in the bag!!!  Anyhoo, turns out the company has had shrinkage problems and have changed the cut of haddock it uses and were more than happy to send me a free product coupon, which I thought was awfully nice of them.

However will say General Mills gets the gold star for customer service.  I have recently discovered Old El Paso's Extra Mild Taco Kit  It is not at all spicy so I am a big fan of it.  The first time I bought it when I come to open the taco package most of the taco's were smashed to pieces.  So I called them to get a suggestion as to what to do with it.  The lady told me to smash the rest up, heat them in the oven for a few minutes then pour the ground beef mixture on top along with the rest of the toppings.  It was okay, but not as good as the original way of serving them.  She also sent me a free product coupon, along with a $1 and two 50 cent coupons off of any General Mills product.  So I was more than happy.

Went out and got another box from the same store as before and you know what's coming next.......the tacos were broken, not as much as last time.  So I call them again to see if this is from the same batch.  She didn't know but insisted on sending me the same coupons as before.

Do you call to complain when you are not satisfied with a product?

I posted a couple of book reviews here yesterday, really lovely books.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Wow things have changed a lot.

On Tuesday I went with "R" to the hospital for her ultrasound appointment.  Her dh couldn't make it, so I offered to go with her.  The things those machine's can show you is marvelous.  When I had my kids the husbands weren't  even allowed in for the ultrasound.  They couldn't show as much as they do now.  I had to say I was very fascinated with it all.

"R's" baby is now 3lb 3oz and is in the breach position.  She is 31 weeks, so she is on schedule weight wise for the little one and there is plenty of time for the baby to turn.  Other than that both are as healthy as horses!!  I will say I couldn't make head nor tail of what the technician was looking at, but the baby was all curled up in the fetal position and could see the baby when she pointed it out to me.  I was going to stay behind so I could find out what sex the baby is, but "R" wouldn't let me as she doesn't want to know what sex the baby is!!!  Must say I am really looking forward to seeing the little one in January.

On a sadder note though, I would love to ask for your prayers regarding another family.  A friend of dd has just had triplets that weren't due until the end of February next year.  There are two girls and a boy.  Unfortunately one of the girls died right away.  The other girl and boy, are only around 1lb and 1lb 8oz in weight.  They will be in hospital until next February at least.  The parents as well as the babies will need all the the prayers that we can give them.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

What a glorious day Monday was..........

I spent most of it outside doing odds and ends and taking advantage of the lovely weather.  We have two huge Willow trees and they are messy trees, so I spent a lot of the day cleaning up the fallen branches and leaves from them.  I even pulled weeds out of a couple of the flower beds.  I plan on doing more weeding today as well.  For those of you who don't live in the snow belt in Canada, the orange fence is a snow fence. It's to help stop the snow drifting onto the driveway.  We have another 50 feet on the opposite side of the driveway and we need to put up another 50 feet at the beginning of the driveway when we can find posts on sale.


I took this photo at around 4pm on Monday afternoon.  Thought it was neat to see the moon in the sky while it was daylight.  I was looking south, south east when I took this.
I took this at 4pm as well, but was looking in the south, west direction.  Isn't it surprising how different the sky looks?



Monday, November 19, 2012

Told dd not to waste her money buying these..........

but when I saw them half price I figured I would try them out.  They are Presidents Choice fully washed and trimmed veggies.  They are normally $4.99 for a 907 gram (just under 2 lbs) bag.  I picked up a bag of mixed veggies.
And one of the broccoli.
So I took the carrots and as there were only 12 oz added a couple more carrots I had in the fridge to make a batch of carrot soup for my lunch for at least three or four days.

The broccoli from the mixed veggie bag, I steamed and made a broccoli and cheese quiche, so that will last us two meals.

With the cauliflower and some of the broccoli from the broccoli bag I steamed it and will make some cheese sauce for a cauliflower and broccoli cheese sauce casserole.  With take the two crusts from the loaf of bread and make bread crumbs for a topping on the casserole with garlic bread.

The rest of the broccoli I blanched and I put into two freezer bags to use at a later date.  I wish I had picked up some more bags as I think at half price they were good value.

What's funny is that I was talking to our son and mentioned to him that we were having broccoli and cheese quiche and Greek salad for supper and would he like to stop by for his supper.  He declined as he couldn't imagine not eating meat as part of his supper.  He's a meat eater through and through.  I think its from all the years he spent working part time in the meat department of a grocery store.  He started when he was 14 and only left when he left university and started work full time.  He knows more about meat than I do, he knows how to prepare it and what are the best cuts.  Me I don't mind meat, but it doesn't bother me if I don't eat it every day.

Are you a meat eater or do you prefer your veggies?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Don't mess with a woman who has PMS!

On Saturday I was in Brampton all morning with dh.  Did call in to see "R" and she really does look pregnant now, so that's good news!!

Later in the afternoon I had to go grocery shopping and as I had a few shops to visit, dh wisely said I should go on my own.  However dh had NOT so wisely said earlier in the week I had "AN ATTITUDE," so it must be coming up to that time of the month.  Personally I am sweetness and light every day of the month........but will say the comment regarding my attitude went down like a ton of bricks.

Anyhow back to my grocery shopping trip.  Went to Shopper's to take advantage of the 20 x the points event.  I politely said excuse me to a woman, so I could get some milk.  She said NO, and luckily for her, then said she was only joking and got out of the way............

Went to Zehrs and a huge guy was at the cash out with an equally huge load of groceries.  Luckily for him, there was another customer in between us, as I was VERY, VERY irritated with him.  He stood there the whole time with his hands in his jogging pants bottom's, which by the way made his physique look even bigger........again I digress........while a guy and the cashier packed all his groceries for him????

What the hell, take your hands out of your pockets and bloody well help.................

I then went to Sobey's and all I wanted there was four things.  A woman in front of me was buying a couple of planters for the outside of her house.  She comes to pay for them after much discussion {{{SIGH}}}, opens up her wallet and fishes around for a credit card and believe me there were plenty to choose from!!  Only to pick up a credit card that still has the sticker on it from when you get it in the mail.  Of course it doesn't work, so I say: "Have you called in to have it authorized?  As maybe that's why it's not working."

She says: "I don't remember, so that's why I am trying it."

What the hell (again).  Now she went on to pay for her things, I think with her debit card, as the bloody credit card wouldn't work.


By the time I got home and put away the groceries I was in no mood to cook supper.  So I persuaded dh to take me to Swiss Chalet for supper.  The good thing about this time of the year at Swiss Chalet is their festive special meal, which included Lindt chocolates!!!  As that is all a woman with PMS needs is chocolate.

As soon as I finished typing up this post, I settled in to eat all 5 of the Lindt chocolates, and no I didn't share!!!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Movember, a funny and book reviews

Our son is participating in Movember again this year.  For once he doesn't look creepy as he has grown a beard as well and it suits him.  I was quite surprised as I am not a huge fan on facial hair on either men or women!!!

If anyone wants to boost up their charitable donations in Canada and would like to sponsor him please let me know and I'll email his link.

Rose posted this on her blog, so I borrowed it from her:

This has to be one of the funniest things in a long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired. This is a true story from the WordPerfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care department..............

Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect organization for 'Termination without Cause.'

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee.
(Now I know why they record these conversations!):

Operator: 'Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?'
Caller: 'Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect .'
Operator: 'What sort of trouble?'
Caller: 'Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.'
Operator: 'Went away?'
Caller: 'They disappeared'
Operator: 'Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?'
Caller: 'Nothing.'
Operator: 'Nothing??'
Caller: 'It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.'
Operator: 'Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?'
Caller: 'How do I tell?'
Operator: 'Can you see the 'C: prompt' on the screen?'
Caller: 'What's a sea-prompt?'
Operator: 'Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?'
Caller: 'There isn't any cursor; I told you, it won't accept anything I type..'
Operator: 'Does your monitor have a power indicator?'
Caller: 'What's a monitor?'
Operator: 'It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV.
Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?'
Caller: 'I don't know.'
Operator: 'Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where
the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??'
Caller: 'Yes, I think so.'
Opera tor: 'Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's
plugged into the wall..
Caller: 'Yes, it is.'
Operator: 'When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that
there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one? '
Caller: 'No.'
Operator: 'Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and
find the other cable.'
Caller: 'Okay, here it is.'
Operator: 'Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into
the back of your computer..'
Caller: 'I can't reach.'
Operator: 'OK. Well, can you see if it is?'
Caller: 'No...'
Operator: 'Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?'
Caller: 'Well, it's not because I don't have the right angle -- it's because it's dark.'
Operator: 'Dark?'
Caller: 'Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is
coming in from the window.'
Operator: 'Well, turn on the office light then.'
Caller: 'I can't..'
Operator: 'No? Why not?'
Caller: 'Because there's a power failure.'
Operator: 'A power .... A power failure? Aha. Okay, we've got it
licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and
packing stuff that your computer came in?'
Caller: 'Well, yes, I keep them in the closet..'
Operator: 'Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it
up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to
the store you bought it from.'
Caller: 'Really? Is it that bad?'
Operator: 'Yes, I'm afraid it is.'
Caller: 'Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?'
Operator: 'Tell them you're too damned stupid to own a computer!'


Tears were rolling down my eyes when I read that.

I posted three book review yesterday here.  All were books I had purchased from BookCloseOuts.  Finally a question for you.

I only like to read Christmas type/themed books in November and December.  Can you read them year round, or only on or near Christmas?

Friday, November 16, 2012

New tea pot and other things

I bought a new teapot the other day.  It's the Aspen teapot from Tea Forte.

I wanted a teapot with the option of using loose tea or tea bags.  This one comes with a removable filter.
The other day when I was in the city I had a few minutes to spare so I called into a thrift store that I have been too before.  As I was parking the car in the car park, a woman driving a newer model Jaguar pulled in beside me.  The woman got out and was very well dressed.  She followed me into the thrift store and I saw her looking through the clothes rack's.   This thrift store does not have good quality items to my mind, and found it surprising that someone who obviously had money would shop at a thrift store?  Though maybe that's why she does drive an expensive car, as she saves money by buying clothes at a thrift store?  By the way I spent a total of 57 cents for a brand new Christmas mug to add to a gift.

I managed to get all my Christmas cards written and all the international ones mailed out on Thursday.  I did have a parcel to mail which was just over $17, but the stamps itself for the cards came to $40.  Now I will have a couple of local stamps left over, but overall I used them all.

I have nearly finished the Christmas shopping.  I ordered some more things from Amazon as all my Swagbuck's Amazon gift cards came through.  I had $40 this month, and with what I ordered, I only had to put just over $4 to the total.

On Wednesday night I went to "Ladies Night," at our local Home Hardware.  I actually thought it was just a figure of speech, but they really meant it was Ladies only and turned away men.  I picked up some things, all Christmas gifts and my scratch and save card was worth 10% off, so that was better than nothing.

I can't believe it is Friday already.  I am determined I am NOT leaving the house today, as I have been out of the house every day.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Surgeon's, Optometrist's and Doctor's........

Been a busy week health wise for dh and I.  On Wednesday we had to be at the Toronto Western Hospital for 8:30 am, as he had an appointment with the Eye Surgeon at either 9 am or 9:30 am, no one could make up their mind which one it was?  Didn't matter as no one got in on time.  Dh had to have a Laser Iridotomy.

Laser iridotomy is a surgical procedure that is performed on the eye to treat angle closure glaucoma, a condition of increased pressure in the front chamber (anterior chamber) that is caused by sudden (acute) or slowly progressive (chronic) blockage of the normal circulation of fluid within the eye. The block occurs at the angle of the anterior chamber that is formed by the junction of the cornea with the iris. All one needs to do to see this angle is to look at a person's eye from the side. Angle closure of the eye occurs when the trabecular meshwork, the drainage site for ocular fluid, is blocked by the iris. Laser iridotomy was first used to treat angle closures in 1956. During this procedure, a hole is made in the iris of the eye, changing its configuration. When this occurs, the iris moves away from the trabecular meshwork, and proper drainage of the intraocular fluid is enabled.

Read more: http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/La-Pa/Laser-Iridotomy.html#ixzz2CETKCuxu


In layman's terms, there are channels around your eye ball's, that slowly close up.  If allowed to close up you can go blind.  So they make a hole in your iris and this allows the liquid to wander around the eye and releases the pressure.

It was very successful and he goes back in two weeks for a follow up appointment.  I couldn't even sit through the consultation and testing as it totally grossed me out.  We all should pray and hope that I NEVER EVER need anything done with my eyes as I am a total baby when it comes to eyes.  It was $28 to park for over two hours at the hospital, luckily I found a parking spot across the road for $10.  It took us two sodding hours to get to the hospital from our house.  How people commute to down town Toronto is beyond me!!!

On Tuesday morning I went to the Optometrist's to have an eye exam.  I would rather go to the dentist and have my teeth pulled than have my eye's tested.  I DO NOT DO DROPS what so ever, so he made me do a slew of tests on my eyes and charged me $60 for those and $90 for the actual eye test.  My prescription has gone up to 1.75 from 1.50, so I need to get new lenses for my eye glasses for reading and close up work.  Otherwise my eyes are fine, and I left the office telling him I was NEVER EVER having those tests done again!!!

I then went to the doctor's about my rotten hand.  I have arthritis in my thumb joint that is why it is so sore.  Anyone with arthritis in their hands what do you do/use to get some relief.  I am being sent for another nerve test in my hand to see if the nerves are pinched AGAIN.  I also need x-rays on my hand to see what else is going on.

I wish I had never let her touch my right hand.  I can only type for a certain length of time now.  Driving kills me, hoovering is not much better.  I have very limited strength now in the right hand.  Once I have had the nerve test done I can then book an appointment to see the hand surgeon again.  There is no point doing it now until I get all the test results back.  My mam has arthritis in both of her hands, so it is maybe a hereditary thing?

If anyone has first hand info on arthritis I would love to hear your story.

So there you are.  I am hoping that's it for doctors for the next week or two!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

I will probably tick some people off but....

I have to do something.  I talked this over with Jane and she agreed with me.  

Every year I mail out Christmas cards to various people and more than half are to people in the UK.  Now granted a lot are family, but some are to friends and acquaintances in the UK.  I was looking through my list of who I had received cards, letters, notes and photos from last year.  I received only a couple of letters from people. Remember the majority of these people I don't talk to from one year to the next.  

Due to the lack of communication other than a Christmas card, it makes me wonder if they actually want any contact with us, and only send us a Christmas card because I send them one?  So this year I am giving them a "way to get out of sending us a Christmas card ever again card."  I composed my annual Christmas letter on Monday and mentioned that due to the cost of postage for us and how busy everyone else is, that if they wanted to stop sending us a Christmas card that was fine.  If they wanted to just send us email greetings, I have included my email address.  The choice is theirs; as to my mind if they can't even be bothered to include a few lines in a card I am quite sure they won't care one way or another if they mail us a Christmas card?

I am sure this will tick off some people, but I am also sure some people will be thankful that they don't have to trail to the post office for an international stamp.  Is there anyone else that feels this way?  I plan on having at least the Christmas cards with UK addresses on sent by the end of the week.  Stay tuned to see what happens.  By the way I asked dh about this and as he pointed out if it was up to him, no one would get a Christmas card!!!

Thanks to the temperatures being warm still on Monday I also managed to get some of the Christmas lights hung up on the deck, so another job out of the way.  Just as well as by Tuesday am it was flipping cold and after the rain we had late on Monday I now have an ice rink for the birdies:

Have to say there have been a few close calls when the birds come in to land!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

More photos from the baby shower.......

This time I am going to show you photos of games and details of the baby shower.  The first photo is one of the favours we gave out along with the tea cup, saucer, plate and spoon.
Inside the box was this, a small tin of loose leaf tea and a package of three filters to put the tea in; and all were packaged inside the green bag:
One of the games was disgusting if you ask me!!!  It was the dirty diaper game:
This is what was inside of the diaper:
This was the form we had to fill out, yes the diapers were filled with melted chocolate bars, still disgusting if you ask me:
Just for your info, only one person actually got two right, and they won.

Another game was the baby version of "The Price is Right,"
There were four items and you had to guess the price of each one and whoever got to the closest total price won:
Dd mother-in-law won that game, and we gave "R" all four of the items to take home.  The other game we played was guess how many candies were in the baby bottle.  As there were around 50 people at the shower we thought these type of games were easier to play, than group games.

Dd came up with this idea.  Everyone got a piece of card with "wishes for Baby," and had to fill it out and it was put into a binder for "R" to keep.

Dd best friend made this banner, you had to see it in person to see the detail, it was just gorgeous.

One of the diaper name tags had a sticker in it and they won a prize, everyone loved this idea as well.

Finally here is a photo of "R" in front of all her presents, she got a lot.
I have some more of the Indian baby shower which I'll share with you later in the week.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Baby shower photos (photo heavy)

I may split these up over a couple of days as there are a number of photos.

Here we are, dd, "R" and me........I am truly shocked I am actually smiling.  Hard to believe "R" is seven months pregnant there!!!
Lets look at the food:
This was the cold drink dd provided:
These are the cookies that dd best friend made, they were stunning; and she put a lot of work into them.
I purchased a small 5" cake for "R" to take home with her:
Another photo of the cupcake tree and cake:
A photo of the sandwiches and other things on the table:
This is a photo of the room we held the event in:

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Birthday presents and are you a man or a woman?

Dd main present from us was a Sophie Conran vase to match all her other dinnerware she got as wedding gifts.  Love her in her birthday tiara!!


Her brother got her this birthday card; notice the 7th hand written in!!

The kids were dears and put up the snow fences for us............another job off the list!

I "stole" this from here as I thought it was funny....... Carla was talking about this store on her blog.  So are you a man or a woman when it comes to colours?

Hotel Stay

First of all thank you for all your birthday wishes.  Each and every one of them was greatly appreciated.  The kids bought me/us an overnigh...