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"