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”

last hurrah

 The sky is low and heavy with grey although I can see tiny slivers of blue - it's supposed to be sunny and 'warm' today but the weather forecasters must have mixed us up with somewhere without clouds!

We are at Kirsten's, 'holding down the fort' with all the tiny and big beasts while they go off to celebrate with Shenna for her 'white coat ceremony', which is sort of a welcoming celebration for first year medical students :-) Unfortunately their water system is fubar so we are without running water in the house - thank goodness for the villetta! And thank goodness that Carm filled up our water tanks last weekend so we should be good until Friday.

It's our last hurrah before we bring the trailer home for the winter 😞 Ah, such is the rhythm of the seasons… soon we will be hunkered down for another 6 months of isolation… I'm going to try harder to have friends over on a regular basis - last winter I more or less hibernated for the duration! Time to get the recipe books out :-) 

Yesterday was Mom's appointment to get setup for radiation treatments - we were shuttled from one location to another as she got scans, a mask, and other accoutrements needed. Mom was a trooper through the whole thing. While Mom was getting the MRI done, I chatted with a young woman (maybe early 30s) - she had breast cancer that had spread to her bones - inoperable… so sad for such a lovely young person.

Sometimes I hesitate initiating conversations with strangers, especially in a waiting room, but I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to make contact. I'm glad I did. It must have been a little overwhelming for her, sitting alone, waiting for her prep, and perhaps the distraction helped pass a bit of her time. And there's something about sitting in a room with other people with no one talking that feels even more isolating than if I were by myself.

Last week a friend from writing class contacted me about a quilt for Mom through Victoria's Quilts. They make quilts and donate them to people undergoing cancer treatments; the quilts are blessed in a church service, and along with a prayer, are sent out to the recipients. Mona did the arrangements and I picked it up on Monday night so I could give it to her yesterday - a figurative hug that bolstered her spirits. I will admit to a tear or two when Mona passed it to me… Thanks for thinking of us Mona!

Monday I made another batch of soup for Mom: a pumpkin red-pepper soup with lentils, zucchini and a bit of cabbage added to bolster nutrition. As I was driving to the hospital with Mom yesterday, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten it at home - an expletive or two burst from my lips, shocking Mom who never swears! 

Anyway, I had a bit leftover, so invited Trudie & Leo over for a bowl… they didn't stay very late - perhaps they were still hungry from the megar supper and wanted to get home for a snack!

Going back to Saturday, we were blessed with an overnight visit with Olaf & Stephanie. They got to ours a bit before 7pm, just in time for a comforting supper of pot roast, potatoes, roasted squash & carrots, and of course, yorkshire pudding! It wasn't a late night as there was a golf outing planned for early Sunday morning. I skipped out of golf, (the dogs would have been alone for too long), but after golf, I met them down at the St. Lawrence for brunch at the McIntosh and a trip around the flea market. I scored the blue candle holder that I'd had in my wish list for a few  years. 

Awesome!

“Victoria Quilts”

“visit with Olaf & Stephanie”

“finding the perfect candle holder at the flea market!”

“running water”

“Ted Lasso”

second spring

 I'm not really sure where the time went but it has flown by in a really weird way. I left off last time rhapsodising about the late summer weather… alas, it has passed and we are now into seasonal temperatures with rain most days.

With Thanksgiving looming, and Kirsten's birthday on Friday, I set to work last Wednesday making cakes. First up was a flourless chocolate cake - I had to use a smaller springform pan than recommended so baked it a bit longer which was a small mistake as the outside was a bit dry - other than that it was a big hit, especially with the Skor Chocolate Buttercream icing (both recipes are an easy 5/5 star). 

Next was a cranberry cake. It came together easily. I worried that making them so far in advance would wreck the cakes, but it's possible that they were better than they would have been fresh! Especially the cranberry cake :-)  (or as Mom called it as she was eating it for breakfast - Cranberry Bread!). That cake got slivered away, bite by bite, by the lot of us 😉 

I did manage another quick dip on the 5th after taking Mom to see the radiation oncologist for a pre-treatment consultation - lots to remember but they sent home reading materials and a link to a video which describes treatment and side-effects.

After getting home from the hospital with Mom, I trussed up the turkey and stuffed it into the oven. Crazy, but with 16 people for Thanksgiving dinner at Kirsten's we decided to do 2 turkeys - I'd do one at home and Kirsten would do a smaller one 'on the day'. It was a good plan! My turkey was just over 8kg - not huge but fairly big - it cooked quicker than expected (I need to update my notes better for next time) - we let it sit for an hour to cool then Carm got to carving it up (and we did a few little taste tests! The meat was juicy and flavourful - I guess it's hard to go wrong with a Butterball!

Friday I futzed around making icing (the buttercream!) and then we packed up for the drive to Kirsten's. It rained on the way there, but as we drove closer, we could see some blue sky in the distance and sure enough, the rain cleared up. Kirsten, Nissa, and I went for a long walk (to tire out the dogs!) while Carm helped Shawn with his giant tractor. Later in the evening we gathered at Kirsten's for fish tacos and chocolate cake to celebrate her birthday 🥳 

Saturday was the big day! Kirsten got the turkey in on time and then we putzed and puttered and prepped for a giant meal. All hands on deck made light work for all, although Kirsten was busy getting the house ready for a bunch of people staying overnight. We were a bit late getting dinner on the table but only by 20 minutes, which in my eyes is almost a miracle! 

We were blessed with a gathering of friends and family. We were missing Olaf, Stephanie, and Freya, but in their place we had our cousin Aura from Medicine Hat, Aunt Kari, Ted the Illusionist, and Shenna's young man, Mathias :-) We needed 2 tables!

We came home on Sunday late morning… and as I started to unpack I realized I HAD FORGOTTEN MY TABLET AT THE TRAILER! Cue panic and distress. We quickly checked in with Kirsten and arranged to go get it on Monday. Since I was home I thought I'd make some 'caramelised onion and gruyere buns'... ugh. So much work for such a mediocre result :-( I brought them as a 'booby prize' lunch to Kirsten's on Monday…

Tuesday I went into town to meet with Mom's nutritionist to get more ideas moving forward.

Thursday I took Mom to an appointment with the dental surgeon to have her appliance adjusted then made it home in time to bring in the patio furniture, at least the sofa and chairs. Ugh.

Yesterday we took care of the rest of the stuff on the deck and Carm got out the chainsaw to cut down the tree that dangles over the camper just in case we get another ice storm this winter! One less tree to worry about.

Which brings us to today! We are rushing around cleaning and tidying and cooking for Olaf & Stephanie's visit tomorrow :-)

Lots of busy days! I'm still struggling with motivation and energy but one foot forward at a time gets me to where I'm going :-)

Awesome!

“visiting with Aura!”

“family gathering together”

“Mom eating a proper turkey dinner”

“fall colours”

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

― Albert Camus

june in october

 It is impossible to believe, but here I am on October 3rd, outside, relaxing, after having gone for a (very) brief swim! Carm went in first and when I saw that he survived the ordeal, I stripped down and dunked myself for a few seconds into the 63F water… just to say I did! It's actually hot with a humidex of 33C!!! On October 3rd. Tomorrow is expected to be the same or even slightly hotter.

Having said all that, my bipolar brain is misbehaving, leaving me drained of energy and motivation. It's no big surprise I guess - fall, and a slipping away sun, usually tips me off balance at some point, but I think it's a bit early this year… perhaps there are just a few more things to worry about this fall…

Leo came by late Tuesday morning with his tractor to swing two giant tree trunks from sticking out into the field to along the fenceline, out of the way of hay machinery. Carm had done a great job de-limbing the behemoths to prepare them to be moved so Leo was here and gone before I could bat an eye… 

….. that was all yesterday but today I am again on the back deck, swathed in a fluffy robe after having dipped (quickly) into the pool! A few new records set: coldest water I've swum in (64F) and latest date! Never in October, and sometimes even September has been iffy. This year I have stretched the season tremendously by becoming a beluga whale!

What I failed to mention, is that both yesterday and today we were driven inside by tiny biting flies that have covered my arms with raised itchy bumps :-(  

We just finished bringing in the plants that stay upstairs so the deck is looking forlorn and almost ready for winter :-(  It's actually a bit hard to imagine that in a month or two (let's hope two), we could be under a foot of snow!

I will suffix this by mentioning that although I am enjoying the extended summer, inside I am worried about what it means overall... 

Awesome!

“June in October”

“the impossible white of a marshmallow”

“Grace having a bath in her outside cage"

“a microswim on October 3rd and again on the 4th!”