chapter 14 already

It was a great run of sunny days (or partially sunny days), but as winter still has us in its frozen grips it felt obliged to toss a bit more cloud and snow at us. It's not a full on snow day, just annoying flurries… and not even snowy enough to keep me home. Carm dropped me off at Mom & Dad's while he did all the shopping chores - I had a leisurely visit while he braved the crowds! If he wasn't a shopper I don't know what we'd do for groceries as it's like pulling teeth to get me into a store!

Chapter 14 Cato and Bailey Wonder about the Christmas Tree

Cato and Bailey thought that today would be a good day even though Laura and Carm went away for a little while in the morning. Laura told them that Carm was going to Costco to get more food for them. They hoped that he was buying the almond crackers that they like.

https://youtu.be/uSnpObUx71Q?si=EpBryDY6wjgTOt5K

Laura told them that she was visiting her Mom and Dad while Carm was shopping. They wondered if they should go too but Laura said it was too cold outside to risk them going in the car. They agreed that they didn't want to get cold feet. When she got home Laura told them that her Mom still had her Christmas tree up which didn't surprise them because they remembered that it was second Christmas just a few days ago.

Laura took a few pictures to show them and they were amazed by all the beautiful decorations. They thought that the decorations would be fun to play with. Bailey thought the tree could have all its little needles pulled so they wouldn't be so prickly looking.

Cato reminded Bailey that they were not allowed to play on the Christmas tree at their house so Laura's mom probably wouldn't have let them climb it anyway. She thought that some of the decorations might break if they threw them around but that it would be fun to try.

All the parrots were happy that Laura and Carm were home so early. It wasn't too late for toast and in fact they were still a bit full from toast when Laura made their glop. They weren't too full to eat lots of glop though!

I thought that after my walk with Kirsten this afternoon I'd be raring to get out on the snowshoes again today but alas… instead, I collapsed on the sofa with no motivation to get outside. My excuse is that it is snowing, but that's rather weak! 

I was a bit bored so opened the document that has a few years worth of suppers sorted alphabetically. It was from the COVID years so lots of recipes with meat which I'm rarely cooking these days (going on 2 years now!)... but I did see a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Chili which I'm going to adapt with beans, tofu, and cauliflower. Carm stocked up on Frank's Red Hot sauce without realizing that we already had gallons of the stuff - it makes sense to use some! And gosh, cauliflower and Frank's is a great combination :-)  (update: it was great! Will make it again.)

On another more irritating note: for years we had Koodo home phone which worked perfectly for years, but since Bell ran fibre down our road we switched our internet to Bell which included a home phone… It's been giving no end of trouble since it was installed after Christmas. In fact, just getting the phone number switched from Koodo to Bell was a royal pita which required I don't know how many hours of trouble shooting with Bell Customer Support. What a pain! I probably would have given up but Carm is persistent and excels at these types of problems!

I need some sort of sweater that is like a reverse vest - something that will keep my arms warm but not overheat my body. I've had issues with body temperature regulation for absolute yonks (it was terrible when I was on tamoxifen - I was always frozen), and these days I freeze in the afternoons, especially if I've walked… my hands and arms feel icy cold… but then in the middle of the night I sleep outside the covers in my cold bedroom - it's crazy! 🤪 

Awesome!

"visit with Mom & Dad"

"roads still okay for the drive into the city"

"chilling out on the sofa, feeling slightly tired but relaxed"

"the hush of a quiet house"

trying new glop

It is an absolutely glorious day! At -5C, it's the warmest it's been in ages plus there's barely the hint of a breeze. After doing my morning walk, then making hummus, roasted chickpeas, and a giant batch of glop, we dressed up Lupa and headed out on the snowshoes. None of us really wanted to come back into the house! When we did get inside, Lupa's legs were covered in snowballs - at least where her outfit didn't cover. Adia was fine without a coat, but she should have one by Wednesday anyway :-)

Chapter 13 Cato and Bailey Try New Glop

It was still morning time, but after 'third breakfast' when Laura told Cato and Bailey that she was going to make them a new batch of glop. They weren't too sure about this as they like the one that Ruth makes but thought they'd see. Laura told them that it would have butternut squash that she grew in her garden which they thought was pretty cool. Laura showed them out the window where the garden was but they could only see a white expanse. They didn't really believe her but then they knew that everything outside looked different when there was snow.

Laura also told them that it would have red pepper and red lentils. She said that she'd put paprika in it for flavour which they thought was a good idea. There would be lots of red and orange things. She told them that she didn't have all the ingredients to make it like Ruth so they'd just have to see if they liked it.

While it was cooking Laura played a song for them. It talked about today being a good day which they agreed with. There was sunshine and Laura told them that Ruth was starting to feel better. This made them feel very happy.

https://youtu.be/H_GeXvPtp4s?si=KVwVumq9Z1B-HFwT

Cato and Bailey could smell the glop cooking and were anxious to try it. Finally it was ready so Laura took some out and gave it to them on a spoon. Cato thought it was good but maybe a bit too thick. She liked to eat it off the spoon but wasn't sure about having it spooned into her beak. She ate lots though. Bailey loved it and gobbled down tons. Grace liked it too. They thought it was warm and filling and that maybe they could taste a bit of summer from the butternut squash.

Laura told them that she made lots and lots of little cubes of glop that she will put in the freezer for lunches. That made them happy so they had a nap.

Awesome!

"a gorgeous afternoon outside"

"birds liked the new glop"

"leftover carmalized onion lentils, butternut squash, broccoli, kimchi, and sardines for lunch"

"grated tofu airfried till crisp"

chapter 12 reminising

Sunny morning again. Quiet day. I did manage to walk for an hour which exceeded my expectations… should have gone outside for a snowshoe too but was too lazy! I did manage to hammer out a bit of story at least!

Chapter 12 Cato and Bailey Reminise with Grace

The house was quiet, except for the occasional howl from the dogs. Cato, Bailey, and Grace thought that they were ridiculous as they knew that Laura and Carm would come home in time for supper. At least they hoped so.

With the people gone from the house there was plenty of time for Grace, Cato and Bailey to remember the summer that Grace came to stay with them years and years ago, in fact it was so long ago that it almost seemed like a dream. Laura and Carm had gone on an adventure without Grace. She was sad that they didn't take her with them, but Laura had told her that they would be in the truck driving for days and days. She wasn't keen on the idea of being in her little travel cage for so long so was happy to be staying with Ruth and John.

Grace, Cato, and Bailey remembered how much fun they had being outside where they could see the lake. Sometimes there were birds swimming in the lake - they all thought it was weird for them to be wanting to be in the water for so long. They all liked to take a bath but only to splash around for a while. They didn't understand how those birds could float on the water and thought that maybe it was magic.

Grace remembered how much good food she had that summer. She thought that Ruth was a good cook. Cato and Bailey agreed with her. They also agreed that the food was good here too, except Bailey thought that he would like to have more snacks.

Grace told them that when she got home from her vacation with them at the cottage, Laura would play a song for the dogs which would make them all excited and happy. The dogs told Grace that Laura made them listen to that song on their adventure.

https://youtu.be/XWVVFetjz8w?si=r3OM-3kC_XQlk80X

They were all happy when the dogs started barking like crazy, shouting that Laura and Carm were home. The dogs were really excited, but Cato and Bailey knew they'd be back so didn't think it was quite the miracle that the dogs did. They asked Grace if we never came home and she told them that sometimes a nice lady named Pat came instead which was fine because she thought Pat was nice too. Cato and Bailey wondered when they would meet Pat. Grace thought it would be soon.

Awesome!

"another sunny morning"

"quiet day"