harsh white light

 I could tell before the curtain was fully open (and my eyes for that matter!),  that overnight winter sent a frosty tendril to dust the world with snow. Ugh. The harsh white light was an assault after months of golden light warmed by the green of the grass and more recently the amber glow of fall leaves. I was slightly prepared for the white ground in that some photo memories over the last few days showed snow in previous years around the end of October, but I held out a weak hope that this year, winter would forsake us. Alas.

The sodden grey skies are threatening to drag me under so I've been having to dredge up energy and motivation… oh, it was sunny on Saturday (and gosh I had so much more energy), but leading up to and following, the grey threatens to engulf me. 

Every day we've inched forward towards having all the hatches battened down for winter. Last Thursday we got the garlic planted - all 160 cloves! Carm did the bulk of the work sticking them into the ground while I stood around giving moral support and staging cloves. We had to break apart most of this year's bulbs to glean the biggest cloves - they were harder to find than last year - but it's in the ground and none too soon!

Friday we putzed around some more - I made myself get into the kitchen to make a beef stew for supper along with yorkshire pudding, etc. Trudie & Leo joined us for an early evening gathering around the table. It's dark at supper time again so out came the batteries for my candles and we reset the wifi bulbs for more light… Tonight I might add some real candles to the tablescape for a bit more ambience.

Saturday was sunny and warm! I took the opportunity to wash all the surfaces inside the camper (although to be honest I didn't get out the step stool so if you are really tall you will see dust). Then, with a flourish that bordered on sadness, closed the slides for another winter. While I was doing that, Carm was busy putting the pool to bed.

We got everything done in time to make a lentil soup - Cathey came for a sunny lunch (lemony lentil soup & naan). I made a mistake with Lupa when Cathey arrived. Lupa has been doing better when guests come, but Saturday she was way over threshold. Usually we head to the kitchen island while I finish up cooking which gives Lupa a chance to calm down, but Cathey went to the sofa and sat down - unfortunately Lupa was still hysterical so jumped all over her… lesson learned - no sitting on the sofa until she has burned through her excitement. It usually only takes a few minutes for her brain to return to normal.

I had a bit of leftover energy on Sunday from the sun the day before and since we were going to Trudie & Leo's for supper I wanted to make something to bring. I started off making walnut bread but then decided that chickpea brownies would be better for Leo. I hadn't made them for years! They are sweetened with ripe banana and medjool dates (add a few more dates next time) and instead of flour uses chickpeas. They turned out moist and delicious - a semi healthy treat :-) and maybe good breakfast food!

I honestly don't know how I would cope if I didn't like to cook, but I need to spend more time making healthy food rather than bread and cake! Since mid September I've gained 4 pounds :-( I read that it's not unusual to gain weight in the fall and it is in fact programmed into our DNA to eat more to get ready for a long winter hibernation. Excuse? Perhaps! Time to surf for plant-based recipes.

Tonight we are snuggled on the sofa after a warm supper of leftover soup and toasted walnut bread with stilton cheese and a glass of bubbles to celebrate/commiserate (?) being ready for winter and the first snow. 😀 

Awesome!

“grilled cheese sandwiches on day old homemade bread - so crispy and saturated with butter”

“everything in the camper done”

“garlic planted!”

“lots of company”

“little grey dog snuggled up against my legs on a cold morning”

“getting on the treadmill for 20 minutes”

“blue glasses embellished with gold”

wooden you know it

Our deck guy John left just before lunch today - two and a half days of sawing and screwing and now we have a rejuvenated front deck and better stairs on the back deck. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out but there was some drama yesterday when it looked like the stairs in the front would block the garage door. Luckily, John tilted and shortened so all is functional.

We haven't decided on railings yet, but I'm thinking big black pots with trees in them for the upper deck and a slim black handrail on the stairs. 

The rain spat down all morning but luckily no downpour as John and Roy were outside with electric saws! But blah… so grey… so bleak… I had invited Kari but she couldn't come so I sent out a quick message to Jo Ellen and Don - yup :-)  We gathered around the table with big bowls of soup and fresh bread before the afternoon was out. A bright spot to an otherwise grey day.

Carm bought the dogs a new toy a few weeks ago - it's a giant flamingo that is about as long as Lupa and weighs half as much. They love it - especially Lupa. She runs up and down the hall with her toys, bouncing onto the end of the bed before running back up the hall… ha ha! The first few times she tried it with the flamingo she didn't make it all the way up. She was persistent and by the end of the day was able to drag that thing up with her!

Monday John & Roy arrived first thing and got to work right away - I hung around the house ready to answer questions while Carm ran back and forth to the lumber store. I made a big pot of soup and invited Pat for a simple supper. Tuesday I went into town to take Mom to her first radiation treatment. And there's another week almost done.

Awesome!

“back steps”

“front deck finally refurbished”

“last minute lunches”

“Wendy's frosty”

bundled up for a long winters nap

 It wasn't tears of joy that pricked at the back of my eyes Friday morning… no, the sadness of packing the villetta and bringing her home was constricting my heart… another long winter, no villetta visits with long morning coffees and evenings lingering over suppers. I feel blessed that we have had three good summers there and are looking forward to hopefully a fourth!

The weather gods were on our side Friday - the forecast had been for rain but instead we packed up and drove home under sunny skies and a balmy temp of 18C!

Kirsten, Shawn, and Shenna arrived back home around 9:30 pm Thursday and I was happy to be able to tell them that Murphy was still alive… yes, I was fully expecting him to pass in the night after an entire day of diarrhoea, the last being mostly blood. Murphy is almost 16 so has had a good run but he has a strong will to live or maybe a strong duty to protect, so after 36 hours at death's door, he rallied Friday morning and is back to pottering around after Kirsten.

But now we are home with the trailer snugged up against the house, ready for a long winter - that was yesterday's job: shifting a mountain of detrus from wheels to sticks & bricks. There may be a few things that still have to come in, but the large bulk has been removed and tucked away in the warmth of the house. It's mostly just things that will be ruined by freezing, as well as a few things that we might want over the winter - like my extra supper bowls, our collection of DVDs, random clothes, and goodness knows what else.

The sky was low yesterday with the clouds weeping moisture. Not a heavy rain but enough to make it cool and damp. Today it's raining harder which is a shame as Carm has to get the hitch out of the truck. It's a good 75lbs so not an easy task. We'd wait until tomorrow but Carm will need to make some trips to the lumber store - John is coming tomorrow morning to start demolition on the front deck!

Awesome!

“safely home”

“a beautiful day for moving the villetta”

“all the bins tucked away in their winter locations”

“snugly warm in the house on a rainy day”