A Doing day

This morning the kids were copying everything Huffle said and did. Here they are starting their exercises!

Silly boys!

A whole night's sleep, lovely lie-in and a jolly breakfast together. The boys had their showers and made a den which took over the front room and used all the cushions, blankets and chairs in the house (nearly). Of course this created a bit of tension between the kids and they had to be separated several times.

Huffle and I, in the meantime, made the cake I needed for my party this evening. I made, with the assistant cheffness of Huffle, a Victoria Sponge with Strawberry jam and vanilla buttcream, topped off with an icing sugar coating depicting the British Bulldog.

Next we moved on to writing silly notes for each other in the advent calendar. This was something we started last year and it is becoming a new tradition. While the kids finished off their notes, Huffle watched his football and I wrapped some presents for tonight and for sending to the UK on Monday.

Football watched and lost, presents wrapped, the boys played on the Wii wrestling. We had dinner and then watched the end of Man of Steel after we cleared away all the den mess. The boys had a silly half hour and then Small did his Maths and played on the computer and Smallest, Huffle and I played Snakes and Ladders followed by pass the pigs and Yahtzee.

I got ready to go out in my party dress and Huffle and the boys drove me to a friends house who then drove us both to the party.

 

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It's company policy!!!!

Smallest barked through the night but decided he was going to school, ten minutes later he wasn't going, then after breakfast when he started running around the house laughing, he decided he did want to go to school. Bearing in mind I had to be at school assembly for 9am (if he was going in) it was a bit of a rush to get them ready and me. Anyway, the boys got on the bus in time and I got to school in time. (Ha, the assembly was late, typical!).

If you can't spot Smallest he is in red with mad hair. Six from the right.

Smallest's class stood at the front and sang a song about Respect which was adorable. At one point I saw Smallest's eyes watering and I wondered if he was trying to hold back his cough. They also sang 'santa claus is coming to town'. Very cute. While I was there I sorted out the library book that the librarian said was due (which we didnt have!) and I also sorted out with another teacher about a book I ordered which Smallest was convinced we hadn't paid for (we had!). Job done. I told Smallest to call me on my mobile if he wasnt feeling well.

I carried on to knitting but stopped off at the supermarket on the way and picked up some essentials. On to knitting and today was a full house, very noisy, lots of customers coming and going too. I actually knitted nothing today. I couldn't do my Christmas Aunt Pear project as I was using wool from somewhere else (and that seemed rude), I couldn't carry on with my cardigan as I need to block it and sew it up first and I couldn't start the new socks as I need to go to the technical day! But I had a chat, a coffee and bought some new wool to make myself a pair of socks and wound my wool for the new socks. I came home, took my boots off, dumped the shopping and listened to a message from school saying that Smallest was feeling unwell. I went back to school and picked him up. The Secretary was just going to ring me on my mobile. Poor Smallest was sat in reception drawing a picture of his daddy - funny! We found Small and let him know Smallest wouldn't be coming with him on the bus and came home.

Smallest sat in front of the TV with his lunch and a cup of Hot Lemon and Honey and then did his maths on the computer. I rang Sears to ask for our repair details. OMG I was on the phone for over an hour. I spoke to five different people and ended up putting the phone down on them because I was well and truly p!55ed off with them. It is not company policy to provide that information over the phone. It is against the privacy act to give those details if not in writing. I had already given them my name, telelphone number and full postal address. I gave them the dates the engineers had been and exactly what work they had done but still they could not put that in writing to me without written authorisation. Many times I was told to ring Samsung. Many times I told them I had already rang Samsung. I spoke to two French men who were very rude and sighed at me a lot. I was on hold for so long I banged the phone on the worktop to get their attention (that worked). I asked for the supervisors name. Michael. He wouldn't give me his surname as it is company policy not to give last names. It is also company policy not to put you through to a manager. When I asked to speak to his supervisor he said they were away. His supervisors supervisor? - no not company policy. I told him that I hoped he was well paid as he did a despicable job and I was completely disatisfied and hung up. Poor Huffle now has to deal it. Sorry Huffle I did try very hard.

Smallest and I played snakes and ladders which took forever because we kept sliding down snakes and never going up any ladders. Two people now have suggested putting vicks on feet with socks at bedtime to stop coughing - I have to try this - how does it work?

We skyped Grandma and spoke to CousinD briefly and CousinE and Grandad made me stand on the porch waiting for Small to come home. A runner went past and Grandad shouted "get a life". The runner looked over at 'DonNoQuoteys' house luckily. naughty Grandad!

Nice hat

Huffle came home, briefly spoke to Grandad and then took Small swimming. It was their last lesson and we should have taken their report cards in (why didnt they tell us last week?). Smallest was disappointed because he wanted to do the last one but I don't think it would have been a good idea with his cough. Instead he stayed at home with me and we made Pizza for dinner. Both boys have to carry on in their levels as they didnt quite finish their badges. Poor Smallest, if he had gone tonight and done his Elementary Back Stroke (the one he has been struggling with) he would have got his badge. Never mind. When they start their new lessons, if they finish their badge before the end, they still get to move up so it doesn't really matter.

When Small and Huffle came home we ate our pizza in front of 'Man of Steel' - we got about half way through before Smallest went to bed, without a story but with vicks on his socked feet. I'll let you know how we get on.

Huffle and I played table tennis and watched IACGMOOH - oompah oompah oom pa pa. Last nights was so funny - we think there will be trouble soon as they are getting a bit tetchy with each other.

 

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Oompa oompa oom pa pa

A photo from yesterday outside the dentists

Last night we watched IACGMOOH - so funny, so emotional, such good entertainment. Ant and Dec are turning into morecambe and Wise but are a fabulous double act. I particularly like watching their faces when the tasks are going on. It was very hard not to feel for the celebrities whose nearest and dearest turned up and very hard not to laugh at the critters on the 'Roach Tour'. LOVE IT!

Smallest woke us in the night. A small accident but only enough to warrant a change of PJ's. When he went to bed he had a small rash on his body which was itching. Today when he got home from school it had dried up but was still sore looking. We tried sudacrem and today put on an antiseptic cream. He said he couldnt go to the doctors tomorrow as he was singing in assembly. We will assess it in the morning.

I awoke this morning after a very strange dream. I also felt like I hadn't had nearly enough sleep. No more snow though thank goodness. The boys went to school but not before throwing a few snowballs at each other.

Who me?

Huffle worked from home after taking his car back to the garage for an air filter change and something to do with his battery. I went off to work. I didn't feel like it again and I have come to the conclusion that going to work on a Thursday is harder than a Tuesday. By Thursday, the week is nearly over and invariably I'm tired. Still, we worked in the greenhouse today and had a good laugh. We took cuttings of pelargoniums, cactus, succulents and a plant called cockatoo which had a curious flower. Coffee break was coffee and oatmeal chocolate cookies YUM YUM! I came home about 1pm when we ran out of soil.

Huffle and I had lunch together before he got back on with work and I cleared a bit of snow, bought salt for the water softener and salt for the drive and then salted a nice path for the boys to walk on as the drive has become quite slippy.

I made a soup for dinner, Huffle worked on. We walked to the garage to get huffle's car and drove home. The boys came home, made lots of mess and noise, and played upstairs in each others rooms. Small did his homework and Smallest read his school book to me.

I had a skype call from my lovely Friend 'York'. We haven't spoken for ages so it was lovely to talk to her and the signal was really good. We had dinner and then all played table tennis. The boys watched TV before bed. Poor Smallest went to bed coughing like a seal again. I put Vicks on his chest (next to the antiseptic cream for his spots), propped up his pillow and left him some water. (He already had a hot lemon and honey which he said tasted soooo good). He fell asleep instantly but cried when he was reading his bedtime story. He said he didnt want to go to school tomorrow in case he coughed while he was singing. Bless him. I told him he didnt have to go to school if he was poorly and if he did go to school histeacher would understand if he coughed or if he really didnt want to sing while coughing.

We have had no contact from Samsung re our cooker so Huffle sent another email off to complain and had a reply saying that they could do nothing on email and we should contact them by phone. OH DEAR! Huffle then spent over an hour and half on the phone to Samsung. To cut a long long story short, I now have to call Sears to get a report of the work they have done and email it to Samsung with our receipt and they will escalate the problem and get back to us within 24-48 hours with a decision on replacing the cooker Aha!

More IACGMOOH tonight. Brilliant.

A lovely Christmas card we received from England.

 

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Out of Office!

During the night it snowed - BIG. Though not as much as the forecast said. Everywhere was covered though and it looked like the snow plough had been along the road. The boys thought it was exciting and started plotting how they were going to make their snow fort! Smallest put his snow pants near the door ready as yesterday he wasn't allowed on the field without them. That was my fault of course, even though I reminded him the night before. I had to get myself up and dressed early today as the plumber was due to arrive at 8:30am.

The plumber and his mate arrived with a huge truck full of 'stuff'. The boys went off to school in full snow gear, snowballed each other whilst waiting for the bus and fell over a few times.

The plumber found a leak in our well. I went off to my exercise classes. I had my aerobics stuff on, joggers to the knee and had to put my wellies on which didn't look great. The classes were hard and I was tired and distracted but I enjoyed it. I dropped my car off at the garage on the way home and they gave me a lift back. Then I cleared the snowy drive which was exhausting after an hour and half class. Still it is done now and as long as it doesn't snow again its fine.

I had a shower, lunch and then walked to the garage to get my car. On the way, a man from the council (or whatever they are called here) was gritting the paths. Now they only go up to the start of the Royals drive (two doors away) and not past it and up to us, so I asked him if he could go further. "Oh no, thats the homeowners responsibily, call the "whatever number" and get them ticketed for not doing it!" NO, I'M THE HOMEOWNER, I DONT TO GET MYSELF TICKETED. the man found this hilarious. I bumped into ClownRose and we promised to meet up soon.

Winter tyres on and an oil change. Wahoo, ready for Winter now. When I came back the plumber had finished. An Ultra Violet system in to remove all bacteria from the water and a Reverse Osmosis tap in the kitchen to take out everything and leave lovely pure drinking water and a valve on the well to stop it leaking temporarily. In the Spring he will have to crawl down the well and sort it from there. YUK! PERFECT.

I skyped Moo and we had a good chat. She is very excited about our snow and hopes there will be plenty more for when she arrives in just two weeks. After a bit of knitting I went and picked the boys up from school early and took them to the dentist.

The dentist and hygienists are lovely there, in fact all the staff are. "No Cavities" says the dentist. I honestly dont expect any at their age but apparantly kids normally do get them here. Too much pop and sweets. Smallest tooth is not far from coming through and Small needs to brush better.

We came home, ate dinner (Huffle arrived at almost the same time as us) and then Huffle wrote to our dedicated contact at Samsung complaining about the lack of communication. Would you believe it............ Our contact is on holiday until the 5th December, which happens to coincide with our end of warranty agreement with Samsung. I hope that is a coincidence and not meant!!!!

 

 

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Throwballs Snown

For some reason Huffle and I couldn't get to sleep last night. It seemed incredibly warm. How come? It was freezing outside! Anyway, I didnt want to get up this morning (do I ever?).

I had to cancel my tuesday walk with NoCustard today because of the cooker man coming.

The boys, all dressed for winter, went off to school. I waited in for the cooker man to call. He actually rang at 9, said he would be there between 9am and 11am and turned up at 9:15 - RESULT! Of course, he had no idea what was going on with the cooker so I had to tell him the whole history. He took the back off the cooker, scratched his head, sucked in his breath, put the back on and said "I'll ring you when I know what the problem is!" I asked him if he could get us a new one. "No Way, your warranty has expired". OH NO IT HASNT, NOT UNTIL THE 4th DECEMBER AND EVEN THEN WE HAVE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR A FURTHER TWO YEARS! Oh yes, well it won't be exchanged, our policy is to get it fixed. YES WELL YOU SEEM TO BE HAVING A BIT OF DIFFICULTY THERE DONT YOU! Actually he was realy nice and helpful and I didn't lose it with him. I haven't heard from him today and I haven't heard from the Samsung lady who said she would be my contact and keep in touch at all points!!! RIGHTEO THEN!

Huffle and I decided we would go fingerprinting and police checking today, so I went out mid morning and did some food shopping and a bit of Christmas shopping, came home, put everything away, started my lunch and then got a message from Huffle saying he would be there earlier. I grabbed my grapes and jumped in the car. I followed my sat nav but only had time to put in the road I wanted. It was a straightforward journey until I got to the road, rang Huffle and shouted at him till I found my way to him. I was not impressed. This process seems to be taking far too long, far too much time and effort and I was in a terrible mood by the time we got in. Luckily the office was empty and we didn't have to wait. The officer was lovely, from Grenada, loved our accents, wished she could talk like us and just got on with it. We had to have a photo taken, pay just over $100, give all our fingerprints digitally,flat and rounded and sign some papers. ALL DONE NOW - hopefully that is the last of it.

We came home, Huffle worked while I knitted and watched some more of The Paradise. I skyped Grandma as another present had arrived. We chatted for a bit and then the boys came home. Small and I put the Scalextric away and the boys played on the Computer and IPad before we all played table tennis.

We had dinner, the boys played and then watched TV. There is no IACGMOOH (you know this is celebrity Jungle right?) - did that sound Canadian? Because of the football it isnt on. What will we watch tonight?

I took this footprint this morning. It is another one of those that is indented but looks raised (like the sand prints - weird) anyway, what is it? I suppose I should tell you it is less than the size of my hand from bottom to top. A three-toed squirrel? A small yeti? A bear?

Actually I think it is a squirrel and one of the three marks at the top is from another squirrel's print. But you never know!!!!

 

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All change at montreal

Small forgot to wake me up because he thought it was a Sunday and was very surprised to see me downstairs at 7:35am. It was another cold one and the boys went off well wrapped up.

I also went off to school this morning as Smallest's agenda invited me to an Assembly where Smallest would be singing. I parked a little way from school and walked on the icy paths (not in my snow boots) and tottered to school only to be told that Smallest's teacher had got it wrong and forgotten to tell me it was now Friday instead. Ohhhhhhh! I came home, filled the car with petrol and set about about clearing the kitchen, washing, drying and sorting clothes.

I skyped Moo and we had a good chat and catch up. She has been away with her friends on a Sporty trip and had a great time, however it occurred to her when she got back that she was going to be here soon.

 

I finished off some sewing in bits for various things I am making and watched a bit of The Paradise too. At lunchtime, I drove about twenty minutes away and met a Welsh lady I met at the ExPat British Pot Luck night and her friend (who is also the wife of someone Huffle works with). We met for lunch in a Portuguese Cafe which made excellent coffee, sandwiches and beautiful custard tarts. We stayed for a couple of hours chatting. The Welsh lady has been here for 3.5 years and the English Lady the same as me, 2 years. They were both lovely and we said we would do it again. I am trying to persuade the English lady to come to the Christmas ExPat party which is this Saturday. Unfortunately when it came to paying I didn't have my purse. They had to pay for me - well that's a good first impression!

We swapped numbers and I drove home - my purse was there thankfully. I owe them lunch now. I sorted some more washing, tidied away my sewings and skyped Grandma as a couple of her presents had arrived for Christmas.

The boys came home. Small was grumpy and had homework to do. Smallest did his maths and then the boys played upstairs together. I made dinner.

Huffle came home after a decent day at work, we ate, talked about our days and then Huffle and I played table tennis (I won one out of four) while the kids watched some of Elf. Huffle has booked our little trip away. We are going to Montreal by train 3 days after Moo gets here - whoops, she won't mind (we are leaving her and the boys here to decorate the house for Christmas.

The plumber is booked to sort our water. My car is booked in for Winter tyres and a service. The handyman has been cancelled and a roof man is being looked into.

 

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The one where it was too cold to venture out

Brrrrrrrrrr it was cold today.

We didn't actually go out apart from to dig up parsnips for dinner, empty the compost bin and take a photo of the icicles.

The day started at -10* with a small sprinkling of snow from yesterday or during the night. Small made scrambled egg for him and Smallest for breakfast. Huffle and I swept, swiffed and vaccuumed. Small and Smallest did their maths. Small and I played with and cleared away the lego.

The boys played in their rooms, in each others rooms, argued, played nicely, got told off and generally annoyed each other most of the day. Small made some Christmas decorations for us (I know its not December yet but I made an exception because he worked so hard).

We skyped Aunt Pear and had a good chat with her and small chats with HB, Cousin Pest and Unc Pear. Aunty A skyped us and we had a good catch up. We skyped Grandma and Grandad and Grandad said his parsnips were bigger than mine - men never were any good at measurements!!

Huffle and I made a Roast Chicken dinner and we ate early afternoon.

The next photo is for Moral Guardian eyes only (defnitely not Grandparents!)..........

Learning the art of opening Mummy's beer.

We played a lego game with a monkey and bananas and then watched the film Thor (Yes AA it was good). After many interruptions of the film we finally finished it and played lego Robot builder. Huffle won one game and then we abandoned the last game because Smallest grumped off to his room and the game went on and on and on.

The boys had tea, watched TV and went to bed. Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnn.

 

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Don't drink the water

As if there weren't enough things to get sorted in the house lately, this morning we reveived a letter from the water sample people telling us our water was unsafe to drink and had bacteria in it - no E Coli but definitely enough for us to have to have an Ultra Violet thing installed. That means a call to the plumber on Monday too.

We all had to get up early in order to get the boys breakfasted and out of the house in full hiking gear for a Cubs and Beavers joint hike in the Greenwood Conservation Area. Huffle and I were also dressed for a hike but once we got there and it started snowing, we changed our minds and did some shopping instead. So we left the kids with instructions not to get too dirty - ha! and carried on to a supermarket just for stuff for the weekend really.

We managed to buy food, get home, unpack and put away before the kids got home (thankfully the leader brought them both home for us). The kids had a great time and were not too dirty though Smallest did fall in a mud pit (Small said it wasn't Smallest's fault though). We all changed into comfy wear and the kids played nicely together. We had warming jacket potatoes for lunch before settling down to watch Lord of the Rings with a chocolate muffin while it carried on snowing outside. Today the temperatures got to -11* Brrrrr.

We watched about half the film and both Smallest and I nearly fell asleep. We turned it off in the end and the boys played with the scalextric and unfortunately broke one of the cars and then played in Smallest's room. I finished off my Christmas Stocking - it looks a bit weird because I rushed it but I'm sure Santa won't mind.

Late afternoon we got ourselves dressed in full and complete snow gear and headed off to Port Perry for the Santa Parade. The snow was really heavy on the way and visibility was almost non-existant.

We considered turning around but didn't. As we got onto a more major road it was better as the road had been salted. It was very cold. We parked up and walked into town and met NoCustard and Umbrella. Unfortunately we were standing on a corner and the wind was whistling past us.

We were standing watching the parade but it was so cold we started to slowly walk back towards the car but so we could still see the parade. We stopped for periods so the kids could collect sweets and watch the floats. Santa arrived HO HO HO'ing, and it was time for us to go. We went to NoCustard and Umbrellas house and had warming Hot Apple Cider, 3 year old cheese with gorgeous crackers, HoneyCrisp apples slices, Humus and Crisps. That was just while we were waiting for supper. Lovely. The boys got given an advent calendar each and a pair of superhero socks. They are very lucky.

Supper was beef Stew, Pop overs, Soda bread for the meat eaters. For the non-meat eaters we had butternut and Apple soup, Brocolli Cheese Rice. It was fabulous. Then we had trifle which had no custard (obviously) and ginger cake. Just perfect.

Smallest was so tired he fell aleep on the sofa and then moved to a chair and fell asleep there too. He woke up briefly to snuggle up to Small (Small wasnt so pleased!) and then fell asleep on the sofa again. In the end we had to give in and take him home. It was only 9:15 but to him it must have seemed like the middle of the night. We were going to play Irish Monopoly as well!

Again, just to reiterate, he hasn't turned redneck, this is his thermal top (he was too warm).

The drive home wasn't too bad though a car did overtake us hooting manically at us. Huffle made me get out and check the lights but I think the driver was just being impatient because we were driving carefully. Silly us!

The boys tumbled into bed as soon as we were home and Huffle caught up with the cricket while I blogged.

 

 

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TOMAYTO / TOMARTO

Today was a PA day (this doesnt stand for Parents Annoyance day as someone at knitting said) in fact I don't know what it stands for but it means the kids are off from school. I dont know why I wasnt prepared for this but I only knew mid week. Anyway, the kids let me sleep in a bit though they were starving when I came down at just before 8am. We had breakfast, which Small made for us, and once they were clean and dressed, they played on the computer.

We drove to a local town and we went to knitting. Lots of people there, it was full and noisy. The boys were good and played on the Ipads. On the way home we went for dinner at a breakfasty place. The boys had cheese burgers and I had a small plate of fries and an egg which I asked for Easy Over instead of Over Easy. I asked the next table "can I take your Tomato Sauce please?" To which they said "its called Tomayto Ketchup here". OH REALLY - WANT SOME OVER YOUR HEAD MISSUS?. There was an old man next to us who smelt very bad and Small said he was pouring sugar on his butter. We didn't stay long. While we were in there I got a call from the cooker engineers who asked if they could send an engineer. I refused and told them we had put in a complaint to Sears and Samsung and that they were dealing with it now.

On the way home, the boys started arguing about the arm rest in between them. It resulted in a punch from Small to Smallest. I pulled over and stopped the car, made Small get out and shouted at him to never ever do that again. I then told them to apologise to each other and said I didn't want to hear them again all the way home. Once home, I sent them to their rooms and told them to think about how difficult it was to drive with them fighting and arguing in the back. Small also did his homework.

In the meantime I got a call from Samsung who had received the complaint and wanted to send an engineer. I was fuming. Anyway, to cut a very very long conversation very very short, I agreed to let them send an engineer but we now have one person who we can call on to keep a track on everything. Not convinced this will sort anything but I don't have much choice. Not long after, the engineers rang and we agreed on Tuesday. Apparantly they will call between 8:30-9:30 to tell me when they will be there so I don't have to stay in all day. However, they had no idea that any engineers had been before or any work done so I don't hold out much hope for it to be sorted anytime soon.

Smallest came downstairs first and was vey sorry and understood what was wrong with fighting in a car. We started a game of Tumbling monkies. Then Small came down to show me his homework and to tell me how sorry he was to me and Smallest. Bloody pair! We carried on the game and then we had a visit from Loftman and his wife. I explained what we wanted done in the basement. He is going to give us some quotes. We have a problem with water coming down one of the basement walls (sometimes) so he wants to investigate that too. He thinks we need flashing on the roof between the house and the sun room. I asked him to look at our chimney too. He said that needs extra flashing to divert the water from the chimney and into the eavestroughs. I rang the man who cleared the gutters the other day and asked him if he had seen the state if our chimney as it has been raining most of the day. He seemed unsure and I felt he fobbed me off. When I spoke to him further he said he knew what to do but again I am not convinced.

The boys and I set up the Scalextrix in the loft and played for a while until they started arguing again. I sent them to their rooms and told them is is how it would be from now on. Any arguing and whatever they were doing would stop, they would go to their rooms and come out when they were ready to apologise to each other. One day off and they are at each others throats!!!!!!

We went off to swimming lessons after a bit more scalextric. The wind and rain was awful and it was starting to get really cold. The lessons were good. Small seemed to do well apart from a few dodgy dives. Smallest was struggling with Whip Kick - not getting his legs right. They seemed to work on it for most of the lesson and three different instructors tried to help him. Bless him, I cant do it!

We came away and by the time we got home in more horrendous wind and rain, Huffle was home and had made the boys their tea which they ate in front of the TV. We discussed our days and were both thoroughly fed up with all of it. Good points were that Huffle had got his emissions test done on his car and his secreatry had found a place for us to get our fingerprints and police checks done at the same time.

I think this week has been a particularly hard week for us and we are well and truly fed-up. Oh well, it can't all be lovely can it?

 

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An Angry day

I slept so well last night that when I unwillingly woke up I actually felt like I could sleep the same sleep all over again. When I came downstairs I was all of-a-dither. I tried to take the toaster from the fridge and the milk from the pantry. Huffle worked from home because his car 'The Hunk of Junk' was in for a service at the local garage. I helped him roll his winter tyres to the car with my PJ's on (this is getting to be a habit!). The boys went off to school with the correct lunches, unbelievably, and I got ready for work. This is the first day that I didn't actually want to go to work, though once I was there I was fine. I wore my thermal underwear for the first time today as I wasn't sure if we would be outside working, we were in the greenhouse but I still needed them. Today we got to pot many many pelargoniums, some of which were tiny little things. Coffee break was a lovely cup of steaming fresh coffee and two pieces of brownie (not the brownie I have ever tasted, though it was amazingly mouthwateringly fabulous) but I was assured it was 'real brownie'. I left around 12:30 after counting and sorting bulbs for a customer who bought 300 bulbs, that'll take some planting.

Once home Huffle informed me there was a message on the computer for me. It was from Santa. He said I had funny hair (it was a photo of me when I was about 9, with huge front teeth and a wonky fringe my mum, Moo, had cut for me). I drove too fast (what?) and was a procrastinator. I questioned the word's meaning (thinking it meant 'I wouldn't let it lie') but Huffle thought it meant 'swearing' (the cheeky B@57@rd - I don't swear!) but in actual fact meant 'delaying in taking action' - well that's not me then is it Santa? Suffice to say that he put me on the naughty list and I wont be getting my much wanted present this year. Maybe next year he said. BOO HOO :(

We drove to Whitby in order to get our digital fingerprints and police checks done for our final preparation for Residency or extension to work permit. Whitby was the place, said the website. OH NO IT ISNT! Huffle walked away in a rage and refused to get any of it done if he couldn't get it all done in one place. Oh Dear, he was not a happy bunny! However, we went for a lovely lunch anyway in an Italian pizzeria we like. We sat and talked about the pro's and cons of moving here (for Wonder Woman - one day I will write it all down).I couldn't eat all of my pizza and had to bring it home (I wonder if that's because of the brownies?). On the way home we popped to a salubrious area to look at a discount shop where they 'rescue things others have sent back' (their words) - we saw a flyer for this place the other day. It was interesting and some things were very cheap but we didnt buy anything.

It was certainly an adventure

We came home with just enough time for a quick cup of tea before the boys came home and we ran off again to attend the Parent/Teacher Interviews at school. We met all three of their teachers, all very happy with the boys work, lots of positive things to say about them, apart from Small has a tendency to be loud and is constantly being moved to stop him talking too much. The latest move is with the girls (it may stop him, he thinks girls smell still!). When he was a toddler he had his hearing tested as he always shouted and sometimes didn't hear. His hearing was perfect. If I whisper chocolate he hears from the other end of the house but if I ask him to tidy his room, he can't hear! Selective hearing, but why the shouting?

On the way home Huffle picked up his car with new brakes. It needs extra work next week. Huffle made the boys dinner and we sat down to write two emails of complaint. The cooker people said they would ring between 24-48 hours after my phonecall and they hadn't rang. So we sent an email to Sears saying that it was their responsibility to get Samsung to give us some customer service and then one to Samsung saying we wanted a new cooker and a reply by tomorrow.

The boys had their dinner and we all played table tennis. We were interrupted by the Loft man ringing to see if he could come round tomorrow as we wanted some work done on the basement. YES!

The kids watched TV and Huffle watched Cricket and I had to write this whole bloody post again because it disappeared. OMG it has certainly been one of those days!!!!

Aunty A sent us this photo after reading yesterday's post. She said she couldnt get a card that said what she wanted. Ahhhhhhh thanks AA x

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Two years here

During the night, 12:30 to be exact, Huffle decided to get a chair and stand on it and bang on the ceiling. I was not impressed as he woke me up. Plonker - that is the best word I can use to describe him without swearing (which is what I did in the middle of the night). Apparantly he heard a scampering of tiny feet above our heads and wanted to scare it - well it didnt scare it, it just kept both of us awake for the next two hours. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH. Bloomin' idiot!

So, guess who was tired today? Well both of us to be exact because when I spoke to him midday he was yawning - well he gets no sympathy from me I can tell you. As I was waving the boys off on the bus, two men arrived to clear the gutters (eavestroughs I'm informed is the Canadian term). I had to stand outside in my PJ's - it was freezing.

I left a man up a high ladder and one holding the ladder and drove off to my exercise class. The first part (strenghth with weights) was really tough today (possibly because I'm tired) but the second class, cardio, seemed easier than last week, possibly because I knew what was coming. I had a great time and worked hard. I drove to a Petrol Station cafe and met NoCustard and we sat and had a coffee and a chat. Then I came home. The handyman arrived for his money. He couldnt find any problems with the chimney but is coming back on Friday when it rains to see what happens. I had lunch, had a shower and made dinner.

My Plantar faciitis has now appeared in my right foot. So I basically have it in both feet. PAINFUL. It is actually worse in my new foot and better in my old one. I have been wearing my insoles but it seems much worse after I have walked in the forest. Well I cant stop that can I? What would the forest do without me taking photos in there and showing you the beautiful trees and paths? Perhaps I should do my exercises more, or find another Podiatrist who is interested in my feet rather than my money!

I twisted my ankle at Aerobics today and I thought it was okay but later on after I had been standing making dinner, it swelled up and really hurt. I put it up and put peas on it later (frozen ones not mushy!). The boys came home with their reports today. Very very good. Both are doing excellent work and we are very pleased. They skyped Grandma and Grandad to tell them. Grandad told them to have wine gums to celebrate! Naughty Grandad. Smallest chatted for ages while Small did his homework and then they both played on the IPads.

I finished dinner and when Huffle came home we all ate. Small reminded me that today two years ago we arrived in canada, so we read the blog for that day to see what it was like. Can't quite believe we have been here for two years. It seems we have been here forever but that we only just got here - I don't know if that makes sense.

While I was eating dinner I bit the end of my tongue and it bled and bled and bled. What is wrong with me today? Tongue, ankle, foot - if i was a horse.........(huffle edit - draw the curtain and then a swift gunshot)

We noticed yesterday that Small was back to normal with his constant chattering, well today his teacher noticed and he got told off for being too chatty and loud. That confirms it then, he is 100% better.

Back to watching IACGMOOH (I'm a celeb) tonight, it wasnt on last night because of the football. We watched a Carl Pilkington instead - it was very funny - he was helping a lady give birth (which is apparantly not as painful as passing kidney stones!), though I would argue that once you have passed kidney stones, you are finished, whereas when you give birth you have a noisy, stinky, worrisome thing for the rest of your life.

 

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New Rule

IACGMOOF (Im a celebrity get me out of here) last night, caused Huffle to sit on the sofa with a blanket around his face. He was laughing so hard we were worried he would wake the kids. He seriously laughs and laughs so much, he hurts himself. I couldn't look when Joey and Matthew were eating willies and balls and Scorpions. Huffle though, halfway through said he needed a break as he had laughed too much. The poor pair have to endure the next challenge too. The British Public are cruel. I wanted them to pick others as I thought they tried really hard but knowing how this programme works, Matthew and Joey will be chosen until they break down.

The boys nearly missed their bus again today as it was slightly early. They were at the door getting their coats on so we saw it and they ran out. I had my breakfast and then got ready for a forest walk with No Custard.

It was quite cold but once we got walking we soon warmed up. We never stopped talking all the way and we walked for about an hour and a half. We were both tired so we walked a bit slower today. There was still a sprinkling of snow on the forest floor and it was beautiful. Unfortunately NoCustard lost her hat in there.

This afternoon I washed and changed all the beds and made two soups for dinner. While I was in the middle of making the soups, the cooker decided to error message again. Nothing worked, everything beeped, lots of lights came on and then it went dead. Then it all came back on again. So I rang Sears who have been out three times already and fixed the problem twice. Each time the same problem occurrs. However, this time when I called, Sears informed me that because the appliance is still under warranty (as it was the last three times I called) I needed to speak to Samsung and they would deal with it. WHAT ABOUT THE ENGINEER WHO DID ALL THE WORK BEFORE? Its a new rule as of 4th November. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE RECORDS OF PREVIOUS PHONECALLS? Its a new rule as of 4th November. BEFORE YOU TRANSFER ME TO THEM ARE YOU GOING TO PASS MY FILE ON SO I DONT HAVE TO GO THROUGH THREE PHONE CALLS AGAIN? I will do my best to tell him what has happened and you will have to do the rest as its a new rule as of 4th November. ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH. So you can imagine, already I am wound up and ready to scream. After a long hold listening to that goddamn awful music again I am put through to a man who wants to know how he can help. I sigh loudly before speaking. I think he gets the message as he doesn't speak much after that, just processes a service request for 20 minutes, occasionally reassuring me that although he is not speaking he is actually working on it for me. Eventually he gives me a number and I am put through to someone else who asks for my service request number. I give it to them, they say there isn't anything for that number and repeat it to me wrong, I give them the correct number and we are friends. She likes my accent, where am I from, oh England I thought so. Here is another number. WHAT IS THIS NUMBER FOR? Someone will call you and ask for it, this will be the appliance engineers. OH GOODY, SOMEONE NEW WHO HAS NO IDEA WHAT HAS GONE ON BEFORE. do you want their phone number she asks. WHY WILL I NEED TO RING THEM? no they will ring you within 24-48 hours. THEN NO I DONT WANT THEIR NUMBER. GOODBYE. WHY WHY WHY WHY...........

I finished making the beds, sweeping the floor which I was doing while on hold and huffing and puffing and sighing lots. Luckily the soups were done, just needed warming and the cooker appeared to be working again.

The boys came home and we went to the library. Huffle came home early to do some scanning for our residency. We now have to get a police check for this country and digital fingerprints done. I had to get my police check done for here so I can volunteer at school. It came back yesterday and I am clear to work with children.

Once we had eaten dinner, while Huffle was scanning the many documents needed for residency, we moved Smallest's room around. Of course, the places that furniture had to be swept and cleaned but it looks much better. He is very particular about where things go. He now has a corner with his beanbag and cushions next to his book shelves for chilling in. Funny boy.

Smallest and I played a board game in his Beano and Huffle was a human dice. Small is definitely feeling better. He is full of beans, chattering away like a chattery thing and eating almost normally. Phew, thank goodness.

 

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Don't Confrontate Me

Well we did get to see I'm a Celebrity last night, via YouTube. Very funny. I love Ant and Dec, the show would be terrible wihout them laughing at the celebrities and making their silly quips. Joey Essex was fabulous, I was cringing as he left the helicopter and I actually felt sorry for him. Seeing 'Carlton' and Matthew Wright crying was great TV. How awful are we that we tune in and watch celebrities squirming and not dealing with all the jungle throws at them? fantastic, love it. Huffle and I, very early on, knew Matthew Wright would be picked on for the first task, and quite possibly many more after that too. His words "will I have to eat something?" regarding the bush tucker trial were legendary. Hopefully the ITVPlayer site will be working tonight as we don't like to rely on YouTube as we have to wait for it to be uploaded.

During the night the winds were ferocious. Uxbridge and Port Perry were badly affected with power cuts and storms. However when I saw the damage caused by a Tornado in Illinois I realised our winds were nothing, though what we got was the tail end of it apparantly. Honestly, the weather has gone crazy.

Small got me up this morning and said he felt a bit better. He got himself and Smallest up at 6:50am this morning, to which Huffle said "why get up so early if you are not feeling well." I told him this morning there was only one way to get better. He said "go to the doctors." After I told him that the doctor would telll him he had to eat and drink better (which is exactly what we are telling him) he seemed to perk up a bit. He ate his breakfast and got ready for school, revised for his french test, played on the IPad and then walked like an invalid to the bus. He makes me feel gulity for sending him to school but I am not convinced he is being completely truthful. I threatened him with going into school and to his class to check he was drinking in the day just to embarass him into drinking more. He didn't like that idea. Why doesn't he want to be well and healthy? Is this an age thing? Is he looking for attention?

I tidied, sorted washing and collected the sample for testing the water. This involved me filling out a form, sticking the end of our tap in diluted bleach for about ten minutes, running the water for a few minutes to make sure it was nice and cold and then filling a bottle, removing a barcode and putting it on the bottle plus a sticker with my name on it. The bottle was then put in the fridge and then a cool box with freezer blocks until I was able to drop the sample off at the Municipal office. This was easy and i just put it in the fridge there until they take it for analysis and then they will ring or mail us with the details.

The wind is still really strong, buffeting the cars. There is debris everywhere which the council (what are they called here?) are hurrying around picking up. I stopped at the supermarket and picked up some food and Christmas presents. When I came home I noticed my lovely Winter Planters had been hit by the wind too. The trees are horizontal and the pine bits have flown away. Owwwwwww!

I put the shopping away, had some lunch and made two quiches for tonights dinner. I am determined to get some goodness into Small and make him better.

Top: spinach and ham

Bottom: vegetable

The boys came home. Small was much more positive and feeling better. Thank goodness. He didnt eat his yoghurt because i forgot to put a spoon in and he didnt eat his wrap because he said it tasted wrong - my fault. Smallest had an elastic band wrapped around his wrist which was cutting fof his circulation - he said it was a friendship band and his friend had one too. We sat in the loft and made him a proper friendship bracelet, I now have to make one for his friend too.

Huffle came home early. The boys did their homework and maths. We all ate and the boys went off to Cubs and Beavers. Tonight Small did a night hike in the woods and Smallest was at his normal place having fun.

Huffle and I took a child each and met back home for some table tennis.

My lovely friend Everett sent me this postcard today. It is of our old Village. I especially like it because when Small was very small, he would sit on this little wall for a rest next to the Lavendar. Ahhhhhhh.

She has sent me three postcards, all different seasons and I keep them on the kitchen window - sometimes I look out and pretend I still live in the Village.

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Men, Moustaches and Marching Men

As it was a rainy day, we had a 'list day'. The morning was filled with homework, maths, gingerbread man baking and chocolate moustache making and finishing of the trifle.

Huffle cleared the pantry of all winter coats, hats and gloves and moved them into the front closet (is that a Canadian word?). I know it seems strange for coats etc to be in a pantry but it started life as a coat cupboard and then the food moved in and the coats eventually had to go. Besides, the kids leave by the front door mainly now.

In between waiting for the gingerbread to cool and the moustaches to chill, we played Uno. Smallest won but there was debate over whether you can win by putting down a 'change colour' card. Moustaches were cut and stamped and baked, the boys got bored and played on the Wii while Huffle and I created many more facial appendanges. Huffle also rearranged the front closet/cupboard.

By lunchtime Huffle and I were worn out. We had lunch and watched the end of the film Captain America.

This afternoon we watched the start of Spider-man 3, played table tennis, Jenga............

..........the boys made dominoes rallies with the jenga pieces and we made toffee popcorn for the parade. What a healthy day we have had!! Though we never ate the trifle and only Huffle and I had gingerbread.

Grandma and Grandad skyped and we caught up and then we watched the parade on TV.

Smallest was trying to hug Small and Small was trying to get him off.

It was the 109th parade in Toronto and a lot of the floats were the same as last year but with a few new ones. They had a float with giant bobble-head 1Direction with a Red Telephone Box (how silly). The commentary was awful and we were glad we stayed at home. Some people get there at 7am and it doesn't start until 2pm. Crazy. It is far too early for Christmas (have I already said this?). Also no-one is allowed to say HAPPY CHRISTMAS, they have to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS - NO, it is Happy Christmas, it has always been Christmas so why do we need to change it now????

We slipped in a bit of dinner for the boys (just a bit of soup) and I played Hangman with them. Everytime they guessed a letter, they had to have a spoon of soup. Poor Small was very feeble and went to bed early again. I promised him a day at home if he was still poorly in the morning. I don't feel like I can take him to the docs as I'm sure its just a tummy bug or a virus but we will see how he is.

We attempted to watch ITVPlayer tonight as it is the start of I'm a celebrity get me out of here and It's Huffle's favourite programme, however the ITVPlayer site is down and he is not pleased.

Tonight's forecast says 100% chance of thunder storms. Oh oh!

 

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