A filling day

It rained all night and most of the day. Very wet. The boys went to school in wellies and waterproofs, Huffle went to work and I had a peaceful breakfast. This morning I went out to our local town, trying to find Suffolk a birthday present (it was Tuesday but I see her tomorrow). I went to a lovely quilt shop and spent a considerable time just looking. With the weather being so yucky and the shop being full of lovely material, I could have stayed there all day.

The rest of the morning I spent tidying and looking for extra scratches and chips in the granite as the crew were due this afternoon.

Huffle and I stuck loads of tape near the chips for ease

MrBasement arrived first and confirmed the cracks and chips had increased. MrGranite came next and was pretty shocked by all the tape over the worktop. He said it wasn't as bad as we thought as the cracks are just 'fissures' and part of the natural stone. They were not cracks, they will not open up and they certainly won't get any worse. He didn't believe me that the cracks or fissures have been been steadily appearing. He didn't believe that the chips just keep on appearing. He filled all the chips and buffed it all and when MrsRona arrived, she made him fill some of the tiny tiny ones that he said weren't worth it. They were here for a quite a while and I said I would keep an eye on the granite. MrGranite said he wanted Huffle and I to come to the shop and warehouse where he will show us the stone plus a video to show how it is cut and polished etc. He said he wanted us to understand he wasn't trying to trick us or anything and it just was Natural Stone and that's what stone does. I wasn't 100% convinced but now that MrsRona has seen it and MrBasement confirmed it was worse, at least I have them on my side should it get worse. He left saying he was going to ask the owner if I could have a Granite Chopping Board for our trouble.

After they all went, I had my lunch, watched The A Word and made two soups for tonight's dinner plus a bread.

The boys came home, homework was done and when Huffle came home he and the boys sorted out the KubKars. Holes were drilled, weights added, wheels straightened, wood filler smoothed and sanded and varnish applied. We will look at them again tomorrow for more enhancements, racing day is Saturday.

Smallest and I played Jenga and domino rally, made silly videos and drew a picture but I can't tell you what it is yet. At bedtime, Smallest and I played mini basketball and Huffle and I watched Ant and Dec with Small.

 

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9th Birthday

I had a terrible nights sleep last night. I was so uncomfortable and everything hurt. I blame my new pillow though when I mentioned it this morning Smallest said "but does it stop you snoring?" And Huffle said it did!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVELY SMALLEST

9 TODAY

Small woke me and informed me that our plan form the night before had worked. We put gel stickers on the window saying Happy Birthday with a cake and pulled down the blind. Small checked it was still stuck and then told Smallest to open the blinds. He got a nice surprise. I asked him if he wanted to open his presents and cards and he said he wanted to wait until after school. I was far too excited to wait so I gave him a few to open plus the cards from Small and Huffle and I. Small's card had an opera singer singing Happy Birthday and made us all laugh. Plus it was used many times much later on in the afternoon when they came home. We matched Grandmas singing with it but the card won!

Grandads Canadian Bulbs

Smallest said "is he holding them because they are dead?"

Smallest opened a football (for school), bouncy balls (also for school) and a headlamp torch. He went to school with his tin of cakes for his classmates (who mainly ate them though there were a few fussy ones who didn't. His teacher had three and he saved three for Mo, Small and Log on the bus on the way home). I also gave Small a football for school and a bouncy ball to replace the one I lost on the lake on Sunday.

I went to aerobics this morning and I am hurting already though that could be from gardening yesterday too. When I got back I made a start on Smallest's cake. This year he requested a Beano Cake. Ummmm not easy! I decided I would try and make a Beano Annual but unfortunately out of the two square cakes I made, one got stuck in the tin and I could only use a third of it. The result looked nothing like a book but I made a Gnasher and a Dennis the Menace and just decorated it a bit like a comic. I had to go out before lunch and as soon as the cake came out of the oven to buy red icing and some M&M's which I carefully selected all the blue, yellow, and red ones.

Huffle and I had lunch and I carried on constructing and decorating. In fact I carried on for the rest of the afternoon and finally called Huffle at 3pm when he helped me clear the debris. I am a messy creator.

The boys came home at 3:45pm with an empty tin of cakes, looking for the birthday cake. Smallest was very pleased and Small was impressed. We decided to FaceTime Moo so she could see him open her present but the connection was not good. Next we Facetimed Grandma and Grandad and they watched him open their card and a few other presents from us, plus they sang beautifully!!!!????, and then we Facetimed AuntPear and she and CousinPest watched him open her card and present and sang.

The Singers

All presents opened, Small started his homework and Smallest and I put up his new poster and hung his bedroom basketball net above his bed.

His new turtle on a bike spinner and a nodding frog for his garden had his bedroom basketball

Smallest was given many balls to play with, football, bouncy balls, tennis balls and squishy house balls. He is obsessed with kicking, catching, throwing, bouncing so they should keep him going for a while.

Huffle and I made dinner and then we sang Happy Birthday, cut the cake, ate cake and had jelly and ice cream.

The boys played football in the garden. We should have been at basketball tonight but Smallest complained of a hurt knee this morning and again when he got home from school. However he seemed to have forgotten about it until I mentioned it and is happily playing football perfectly well! Still, it is his birthday and we didn't really want to be rushing around tonight and sitting in a school hall for two hours and a drive of an hour.

9 years old. That means that Smallest has now been here for half of his life.

 

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Lettuce and the moon

I'm not happy! Three weeks ago we sent an email requesting that our granite people come and look at our granite again as it was cracking, had holes and was generally not fit for purpose. The lady at Rona said she would contact them. I also contacted MrBasement who came to look and was disgusted by the state of it. He also contacted MrsRona and between them they decided they would all come over to look at it together (MrGranite, MrBasement and MrsRona). However, we were asked if we could wait until after the 26th March because MrsRona had a big kitchen sale to deal with. We said no problem and didn't hassle her at all but did assume (rightly or wrongly) that she would find a date to suit all during this time. Yesterday I sent MrsRona an email saying that I guessed they had a time organised and would be grateful if they could let me know when that was. She obviously hadn't arranged anything as I got an email back saying she would sort it. Then this morning I had a call from MrGranite asking if they could come Thursday afternoon, no time, just in the afternoon. I said yes as I assumed everyone else must be available too. Silly me! Huffle is going in to the office, MrBasement knew nothing about it and MrsRona said (in response to my email telling her they had contacted me) "thanks for letting me know". Honestly! Now I am waiting for a call back from MrBasement who is supposed to be calling MrsRona.............

Happy Easter to me from me X

The weather has warmed up again and the boys went to school in their trainers. I think we have snow forecast and +13* and a storm plus more snow just before Grandma and Grandad arrive. Eeeeekkkk. For gods sake - I just looked out of the window and noticed Otto has got a bloody fire going again. What is wrong with that stupid man?

I went to work this morning and spent the first half of the morning repotting tiny tiny lettuce seedlings, beetroot and dahlias. Jeff bought us cookies as Jan was ill and after coffee I went into the garden and cut back all the bamboo, Persicaria and any grasses left from last year. It was hard work but lovely to be back in the garden properly. I came home with two pots full of lettuce, kale and mustard seedlings.

Some lovelies I uncovered today at work

A quick lunch with Huffle and then I did a food shop and a last birthday shop for Smallest. Three packages came today thank you MrsChappo, Grandma and Aunt Pear.

Back home I put the shopping away, the boys came home and I started on mini muffins for Smallest's class. He requested White Chocolate ones and helped me to make them while Small watched the England match. Smallest said "I wouldn't worry about the muffins because no-one appreciates them. They usually take a bite and spit them out and definitely don't put any icing on or they'll eat the icing and throw the cake away". Ummmmm nice!

After dinner, Huffle took Smallest to football practice and Small and I stayed at home, did some more work on his KubKar and made jellies for tomorrow.

 

 

UPDATE: MrBasement called MrsRona who called MrGranite who is going to call MrsRona when he is on his way here on Thursday, she will then call MrBasement and everyone will arrive at our house at the same time (hopefully). Phew. Also if I want them to replace the granite completely (I can't see how there is any other choice) it will have to come from me and not either of them. Fair enough!.....bit happier now.

 

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Spring Blows Away

One day beautiful sunshine, the next dull, rainy, snowy and incredibly windy. Typical! Around 3am in the night we had an horrendous storm (which wasn't forecast I have to say). Huge rumbles of thunder that woke the whole house and the house didn't like it. I'm sure I felt it move a few times. Huffle stuffed himself under the pillow and mumbled every expletive known to man, though to be fair, he stayed put and didn't disappear into the snowboard cupboard. I did the normal counting every time the lightning struck until the thunder rumbled so I could work out how far away the thunder was. It started out above our heads (I never told Huffle this) and very slowly edged itself away thank goodness. I didn't like it. I went to check on the boys. Smallest was fine and wondered what all the fuss was about as usual and Small was snuggled under his duvet, not liking it but being brave.

Of course having a considerable amount of time awake during the worst part of our sleeping pattern made us all a little impatient and grumpy today. Huffle and I got up late and I have no idea what time the boys got up but they were happily watching The Simpsons when I emerged.

Breakfast was eaten. Scrabble was played by Smallest and me (he beat me the little bugger, though to be fair, my letters were all vowels, z, j, x etc and I helped him make the best of his by showing him where to place them). The kids played on the Wii for the rest of the morning and they had lunch in front of The Simpsons movie while Huffle and I tried to get our IPads working. Since the new update we can't get channel 4, Netflix and the IPads are generally behaving badly.

The boys got on with their KubKars and we had to call Grandad for assistance. They are getting there but they need a lot of nudging to get them finished.

Our Sears Actifry was delivered today we tried it out for dinner by making chips in it which we had with lasagne. Very nice, crispy, not greasy but possibly just enough for the four of us and no more but a good purchase considering Sears paid for most of it.

After dinner, with the kids running wild, I insisted we all go for a walk, despite the 50km winds and rain. We walked along the train track as Huffle has never been before (too risky for him) and we picked up some scrap metal as Huffle wants to make a metal robot for the garden. We crossed the busy main road and kept walking until it was nearly Smallest's bedtime, then we turned around and came home. That blew the cobwebs away.

 

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Golfers or Gravestones?*

HAPPY EASTER

After breakfast we hid the kids eggs all over the house and they collected them in their Easter baskets. Moo, via FaceTime, freshly back from her holiday, joined in on the egg hunt. The boys played a bit on the Wii while Huffle helped Moo sort out her oven clock.

Late morning we went out for a walk. Today we chose a new place, along the lake but further along than normal. It was a beautifully sunny (13*) day and we followed the waterfront trail, along the GOtrain track, by the water and on a beach. There were a few people around but not too busy. We took a football and a bouncy ball with us to play with. We managed to keep hold of the football for about 3km and along the beach and over a bridge and then on the way back Smallest kicked it over a barbed wire fence and that was the end of our Minion Ball. We bounced Small's bouncy ball on the way back but it only lasted about 1km before I bounced it into the lake. Whoops.

Way past lunchtime we headed off to look for food and our first two choices were closed. We ended up in a chain place which was good for what we wanted and then we came home and sat on the sun drenched porch with a cup of a tea and a mini Creme Egg. We Facetimed Grandma and Grandad and spoke to HB, Cousin Pest and Aunt Pear too.

Huffle and I had a walk around our garden seeing what was coming up and there is plenty. We ended the afternoon with a family game of scrabble on the porch in the sunshine...............beautiful

 

*we went past a sign for a golf course and I said "look there are loads playing on that hill". Huffle pointed out it was a cemetery and they were gravestones. Specsavers?

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That pub favourite - Cucumber Pasta

Huffle had to dig my car out of the ice this morning before I drove off to my sewing class. It was hard work and the drive was so slippy he struggled to keep upright. I was supposed to help him but by the time I got out, he had finished. As I walked to the car, I slipped and the only thing that saved me falling on my back was the car door hitting my shins OUCH! I left the boys and Huffle for the morning and drove along the roads lined with incredibly beautiful icy trees. They looked like crystal with the sun shining on them. If I had time I would have stopped for better photos.

At sewing, I learned that I sewed my square all wrong but that it looked correct. Well that's something. I was given instructions on how to make right the previous one I tried to fix but which also turned out wrong. We were given our new square which is an English Piecing flower. Doesn't look too complicated but the lady in charge told me I could come in next Wednesday if I needed help (I was a bit offended though I shouldn't be, I don't have a good track record with these squares!). I went back to Suffolks house for a cup of tea(she was entertaining her in-laws so we couldn't go out for our normal tea) and we had a chat had a laugh. I didn't feel so good when I looked down or up today. I was dizzy and a bit nauseous. I wonder if it's my ears?

At home, Huffle and Smallest were getting ready for football and Small and I decided to stay at home. The football practice today played next to the football trials for the second team. Huffle said there were a few good players. Small and I had some lunch, watched a bit of Bear Grylls and then played a game of Catan. Despite me being in the lead throughout most of the game, Small won! Huffle and Smallest came home just as we were finishing. Smallest went for his shower and then played Lego Creationary with me after sulking in his room becuase I upset him (something about my glasses in the toaster cupboard!!!!). Huffle and Small, or Bodget and Scarper, drilled a hole in the KubKar for the pivot pin. Small was sent to the Man Cave to fetch the drill and came back with a power screwdriver, a socket set, the drill and when he was sent for the drill bits he came back with a smaller socket set before the drill bits themselves. Huffle thought it was all very funny but we think Small has learnt something. To be fair, I think Huffle has only just learned what everything is in there. Everytime Grandad comes, he adds something else.

The three boys watched the Engalnd Germany game and I watched some TV upstairs though they were so loud I could hear everything that was going on, including Mr Vardy's goal HURRAH.

I also sewed the sheep Pom Pom on MrsSheeps hat

This evening we went out for something to eat at the Portly Piper. It was rated #2 on Trip Advisor. It was full, busy, noisy and we were told we would have to wait for 15 minutes for a table. Huffle went to the bar to get us some drinks. We have obviously been here for too long as Huffle struggled to know what to do. To be fair, pubs here are not like pubs back home. It is all waitress service and if you want a drink you don't just stand around and drink it, you have to get a table and a table means a waitress and a waitress means a tip. Huffle did manage to order and pay for our drinks at the bar and the bartender gave him his change in 5x$1's. Obviously so he could tip her. I think you are supposed to tip every round or drink. He didn't. We were shown to our table and another waitress got the 'ump becuase she hadn't wiped it and the people before had left sticky messes everywhere. She was quite rude until I told her we had been told to sit, we hadn't just decided to sit there. Huffle had a Steak and Mushroom pie which was good (typical pub food as you would expect). I didn't have a big choice so I had a Vegetarian Penne but it was really boring and dull. No sauce as such just an olive oil and lemon and instead of courgette as boasted on the menu, it came with cooked cucumber. I didn't complain but cooked cucumber!????! Small had Fettucini Alfredo and the cheese sauce wasn't good. Smallest had a pizza which was okay. I think Grandad would like it here but I think we need to order pub grub next time. It was next to a Stand Up Comedy Club and the next act in there was "Hacksaw Jim Duggan".

The ice has pretty much gone and the trees are back to normal though there are a few branches hanging a bit lower, bent by all the ice earlier. We had a pink sky this evening and are hoping for a lovely day tomorrow. The boys want an Easter Egg Hunt but no clues this year.

 

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Colonial Mustard

There was plenty of wind and freezing rain during the night but luckily for us we didn't lose any power. Plenty of others did lose power though. Everything is once again encased in ice. I went out mid afternoon to have a look. The snow filled garden has a complete layer of ice on top which made it very tricky to walk on and the ice broke as I stepped gingerly on to it. The goal net is all iced, the footballs, the apple tree, the wire fence and even the plants that have the wiggly climbing bits are all iced. It is very beautiful but very strange.

We decided to have a day in, seeing as how our drive is an ice rink and we didn't want to risk it. The boys played on the Wii and then we all played a game of Cluedo (or Clue as it is called here). Small and Huffle chose to guess half way through and got it wrong so Smallest and I carried on. No-one won (unless it was me because I didn't guess at all).

I finished my hat for my sheepy friend and made several pom-poms trying to make one look like a sheep for the top. I finished sewing it all up and blocked it while Huffle Facetimed Grandma and Grandad.

We watched KingFuPanda3 while we ate lunch and finished late afternoon. Mid afternoon we played Hide and Seek in the house. It's amazing where smallest can fit himself!

Smallest and I made pizza and we all ate it whilst watching the end of King fu panda and Ice Age Eggstravaganza. When smallest went to bed, the geeks in the house (Small and Huffle played whe the new Tv box).

Last night we watched Lady in the Van which was excellent and tonight we are watching The Walk.

The sun setting tonight with the iced trees was amazing.

 

 

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Freezing Coats

We probably had our 5-10cm of snow overnight and all was white when we woke up this morning. My left ear was deaf and my right nostril blocked. What's that all about? The school bus was cancelled. In fact all bus routes were cancelled which is strange because the snow wasn't that bad. However, what followed the snow was hours of frozen rain. Now this is really just rain at a below freezing temperature. Nothing strange in that? Except that as it lands it freezes, so everything become encased in ice.

The boys had a conversation this morning about whether they wanted to go to school or not (like its their decision?) and decided they would go. So we donned our snow gear again (I thought it was finished with for the year to be honest) and walked the treacherously unploughed paths to school. The snow was really crunchy where the ice had formed on top and the parts of the path and road that were clear(ish) of snow were icy and slippery. It took us a while but eventually we joined up with two of Smallest's friends and he happily walked with them while Small and I walked on ahead and discussed what we were going to do with our free day tomorrow. I forgot the kids and Huffle were off tomorrow due to it being Easter. Wow, is that early this year? Good job I bought Easter stuff yesterday. They both got to school in time which means no late slips for them (they don't seem to care but Smallest says his teacher is never happy when the kids are late).

I made the hard walk home, bumping into my Welsh neighbour on the way. She told me how there were kids who lived closer than us (like next door to the school almost) that didn't attend school when the buses weren't running. They just have a different mindset to us when it comes to attending school. Crazy! On the way home my coat became encased in ice. I'm not exaggerating, it really happened. I was wet through and all my clothes had to go in the dryer. It is quite beautiful seeing the ice on everything but I did not go out in my car, just in case.

The rest of my day I spent washing bedding, tidying, and baking. I made two different lasagnes for dinner and a Cinnamon Cake (yuk can't stand the stuff!!!). I also wrapped all of Smallest's presents.

At 3:10 I walked to school via the extremely slippy road and paths. It was much worse than this morning. I walked mainly in the road but had to jump off every time a car came. I was early for the kids finishing school and it was raining, not freezing rain this time but I got quite wet. Small came out first, before the bell and Smallest soon after. We walked with his friend again and I asked if he wanted to come home with us. We had to check with his Grandma first but she wasn't in so the two kids were left home alone. Eeeekkkkk. I couldn't wait, we needed to get home, apparently that happens all the time! We got home eventually and Smallest did his homework and Small played on the wii, after they had sampled my cinnamon cake (thumbs up from all but me!)

Yesterday Huffle and I attempted to spend our Sears points by ordering an Actifry online. First of all we couldn't remember our username or password so requested a new password for both of our usual usernames. Huffle received a change of password for his but lost it. I never recieved any despite them saying they had sent me one twice. We managed to order it and added our points card but it charged us the full amount. Huffle called them and they said it would be taken off our credit card. This morning Huffle received a notice that the transaction hadn't gone through but when he checked his credit card, it said it had. We tried to log in using both of our user names again and our passwords were wrong again. Huffle called them and the order had gone through but on my user name even though I didn't have a password and I never received a notification to change it. Oh my goodness, this company is a mess! Nothing works well, nothing makes any sense and everything is too hard to use. Saying that, our Actifry is on its way.

Talking to the boys today about their day, we found out that because Small only had ten in his class (instead of 27) they watched two films and had one hour of gym instead of half. I don't mind about the gym, that's fine, but two films. No normal work due to the fact half of his class was missing. Is that Small's fault. Shouldn't the other kids be the ones catching up because they are not there. Okay, some of the kids live further out but are the parents not going to work either? I doubt it! Smallest mainly did his normal work except for one film where it seems the whole school watched Pee Wee's Big Adeventure. Small said it was rubbish!

Huffle has filled the bath as there is mo freezing rain on the way!

 

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Funky booda

Boys went to school. Huffle worked in the basement after calling our Satelitte provider and telling them to remove the Satelitte from our address completely. He has heard nothing of the complaint from yesterday despite the call being 'escalated' to the Manager! We did, however, get an email asking us to fill in the customer survey to see how our service call went yesterday. I can only imagine the rude words issued from Huffles mouth!!!!!

I went back to aerobics after a week off for March Break and my Throat Infection (I am still taking my antibiotics but feeling pretty well now). It was a new routine and a new set up. Instead of the first half of the class being Cardio we now split it up and do a bit of cardio, some strength, more cardio, more strength and then arms, legs, abs and floor work. The last song played (she likes to tell us so we know when we are near the end) was Funky Budha but here it is pronounced Booda. When I questioned the 'booda' and told them it was pronounced 'budda', they said 'but that's what you put on your toast'. Oh no, butter definitely has t's in it. I think I won that one. It was tough today and my legs felt like jelly by the end. I know I will ache tomorrow and the next day.

At home I had a coffee, a snack and then had my shower before making lunch for Huffle and myself. He was very pleased with himself because he had got the expensive box working despite our slow internet speed. We managed to watch 24 which we abondoned last year due to it being taken off Netflix. Wahoo. I was given a quick tour of how to work it and then I let Huffle go back to work while I went out to get Smallest's birthday present.

All the way down to Pickering Mall (probably our closest Mall but still 25 minutes away in horrendous construction traffic), I parked and then realised I hadn't brought my purse with me and had no money whatsoever. When I remembered where I had put it, I went into the the shop anyway just to see if I could find what I wanted. I couldn't but I did find some stuff in another shop that had another branch closer to where we lived. I popped home, picked up my purse and went to this other shop. I bought lots of 'smallish' things for him and a few things from another shop and then went home. The kids beat me to it and I had to sneak his stuff in while Small stopped him from coming out of the bathroom.

I made dinner while they did a chore each, homework and then played on their tablets. After dinner we all played Robo Champ. This is an old favourite and we haven't played it for ages. We played it wrong for about half an hour, read the rules and then Huffle won. Small played on the Wii and Smallest watched the new TV box after he found 27 seasons of The Simpsons. That might take him a while!

Small is enjoying his new big bed and will be fighting Grandma and Grandad for it when they arrive.

The snow started coming early evening and started settling a bit. We are supposed to have 5-10 cm overnight which will then turn to ice pellets.

 

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The day the Internet broke!

Smallest went on the bus to school and I took Small and the Tuba in the car before going off to work. Today I worked in the greenhouse and potted on lots of very tiny things and some lovely echeveria plants. For snack we had an amazing Key Lime and White Chocolate Square (scrumptious). I had to pick the boys up early from school for their dentist appointments. Smallest has chalky enamel and has to have some sealant put on at a later date and Small was fine. Smallest's coat and trousers today were full of mud from a football game he had at school. He said it was because one of his friends got 'the rage'.

None shall pass

Huffle arranged for the Internet provider to visit today after being told we could definitely increase our internet speed when he spoke to them previously. The engineer was due this afternoon and at 9am, unbeknown to us, they changed our connection leaving us without any wifi. Obviously Huffle works from home now so this meant he couldn't do anything online. He spent a considerable amount of time trying to find out what the problem was because they didn't tell us they had cut us off. As he couldn't do any work, he headed out and bought us a new box that enables us to watch anything we want to (but needing the higher speed for it to work). When the engineer arrived he said that the office were wrong in disconnecting us before he got there and then he said we should never have been offered the faster speed because we couldn't get it living in our location. He tried to reconnect us using our old router but couldn't get it to work. He left to talk to his office and two hours later and several disgruntled phone calls and we ended up with our old router at the same speed. I didn't want to tell Huffle "I told you so...." But he does rush into things without properly thinking them through. If he wants something, he has to have it, there and then. Now we are stuck with a box that really needs a much higher Internet speed to work and unless we move......... He did end up hooking it up because we can't take it back anyway. I don't know if it works, Small and I had a go at trying it but we couldn't get anything. Now our Netflix isn't working either. HUFFLE!!!!!!!!

Earlier in the day I made all the components for fish cakes and prepared everything ready to put them all together and then went for a walk in the snow with ClownRose. We have a weather warning in effect as a Storm is due from Colorada with Ice Pellets, Freezing rain and an expected 10-15cm snow due. The snow we have had so far today hasn't settled and it's not too cold. I was told today at work that Winter is never truly over until May and even then sometimes........ NO I DONT WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE SHHHHHHH.

Smallest's football training started back up again tonight and we are pretty sure that two of the team have been cut as they are not appearing on the team emails anymore and they were not there tonight either. Not surprised. One of them is a staunch Hockey player and the other is the one who's Dad complained he was not getting enough playing time. They did have another by playing there today. A new one. Huffle said 'he was okay'.

 

 

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Jack wee'd on Austin

Huffle had to wake me this morning and I really did not want to get up. The boys were already up and I made their breakfast and lunches and then forgot what time they needed to be out of the house. Luckily, Huffle was on the case (and I even got a text from ClownRose saying the bus was on its way). How can it all go to pot after just a week away from school stuff? They got on their bus and went off to school leaving me to have my breakfast in peace while I read through one of the gardening magazines I picked up yesterday.

I did an early grocery shop, because I know it's not as busy and no-one would be in there annoying me with their wayward trollies! I spent far too much money but then I haven't been food shopping for ages. I got everything but cous cous on my list. I always struggle to find that, not sure why. I was back home and unpacking by 11:30am. I decided to clear out the fridge while I was filling it and made it much more organised. However, while doing this I squeezed the orange juice too hard and spilt it all over the floor, then I dropped a whole big pot of yoghurt, spurting it all over me and the floor and the fridge. Nice!

Huffle and I had lunch together and we watched a series about people moving to Spain and France and working there. Very interesting.

This afternoon I prepared dinner (Roast), made a Banana Loaf with my old bananas and an Apple Crumble with some slightly bruised apples. I also finished off a load of washing and drying and even managed to get some on the line. What a productive day.

Today the temperature started off at -2 (feels like -5) with sunshine and a bit of light snow and then temperatures got to around +4. The boys came home and had had a good day. Both did a chore then went on their tablets. No piano lesson today as MrsPiano's daughter had an accident yesterday and she had to take her to hospital.

We all had dinner and then we took the boys to the nearby forest where they did a hike with the Cubs and Scouts. They built stretchers out of the wood lying around the forest floor and went for a night hike. They both had fun despite them not liking that particular forest. Huffle and I took full advantage and also went for a walk there. We left the boys with their leaders and waked 4.2km around the forest. The sun was starting to go down and by the end it was dark. We were asked to be at the entrance for 7:45pm just in case and we were there by 7:40pm. 25 minutes later, they came out! In the meantime we sat on a fence just next to the car park. Three cars came to pick up their little ones and those three cars sat idling with their engines running and their car radios turned up high. My language was blue as I tried to explain, to no-one as they were happily cocooned in their oversized warm cars, how bad it was for the environment and how much we were not enjoying taking in their car fumes instead of the beautiful forest air. Have Canadians not heard how much damage a running idle engine is? Do they not care about their children's futures?

 

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Bloomin' Spring

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Small slept so soundly in his new big bed that he didn't want to get out of it this morning. I fear that is the sign of things to come. Huffle slept better and I had a horrible dream about horrible things.

We all got up early this morning in order to attend Canada Blooms at the Exhibition Centre in downtown Toronto as Jeff had given us two free tickets and the boys were free. Originally we were going to travel down by train which would have taken us directly into the Exhibition Centre but Huffle wanted to drive, so drive we did but he also wanted us to eat breakfast/brunch downtown so we left hungry for Hanks which is where he had decided we would go. However, once down there we decided we would park in the centre and then changed our minds again and parked in the nearby park. It was -4 but forecasts were higher later in the day, should we take our coats out and drag them around with us inside or not! Huffle and Small decided to take theirs and Smallest and I chose not to. It was too cold to look for places to eat so we opted for going straight in and started to look for breakfast options. This was trickier than we imagined but after going in and coming out and going back in again and then finding the food hall only partly filled with food places, and having a food truck recommended by a British Shop, we chose an Indian Naan place. Here we got an egg muffin for me, bacons and egg muffins for the boys with hash browns and a Crab Patty Eggs Benedict and hash brown with a hot sauce for Huffle. For a food truck, the attention to detail was astounding and it all tasted very good.

Some sights on the way

Onwards to the garden part of Canada Blooms (it was a Home and Garden show), we first bumped into MrsM who was there with her Scottish Shop. The boys got a free Irn Bru lollipop (Smallest really liked it - it tasted a bit fizzy!). We wandered around the gardens which were mainly showcasing the landscaping but they were fun to walk around. We tasted shortbread and pressed lots of bamboo pillows (this seemed to be the 'thing' here at this show) and something I wanted as it is supposed to stop snoring, neck and back pain. Huffle has one and he really likes it. I ended up buying an Aloe Vera pillow which is 'more stuffed' (I think that's the technical description) than a bamboo one. We also picked up a multitude of magazines for gardening so at least I have some reading to do.

These things inspired us

On we went through the Home Show where we spotted our Granite suppliers (I was tempted but resisted). There were many massage chairs which the boys all tried. I didn't like them but it made the kids laugh. Small wanted to go into the future house and the only thing they were really impressed with was the living room where they found a huge TV screen with the football on.

I liked the revolving shoe rack and the huge sofa at the end of the bed. Everywhere was very wooden and open and lots of floor to ceiling windows.

We got sidetracked at the SmartTV solution which takes away the need for satellite (which we don't actually watch until the football is on) which we considered buying until we realised our internet speed was too slow. (It would have endless films and TV shows on plus show all UK channels live and all shows ten minutes after they have aired - clever, plus all sports). Huffle spent time much later at home trying to rectify this problem with our internet provider. They are coming on Tuesday to give us a new router and cable.

Tired and hungry again, we came out and drove to another car park and walked through the city to a place called 'G for Gelato' where we shared pizza (Huffle and I had a white pizza with mushrooms, truffle oil and rocket) and then had a gelato. The man in there (couldn't work out his accent, it sounded Australian, English and New Zealand - maybe he had travelled) let us try many of the flavours and we opted for Creamy Chocolate, Mint Straciatella, Ferraro Roche and Vanilla Bean. If we can get Grandad there, he would like it. We meandered through the city once we were satisfied again and thought we were in the middle of a filming sequence as the roads were all taped off but it was an accident. We briefly walked along the harbour and back to our car and then drove home.

Celebrating Spring with our first(?) gelato of the year

Sunshine, buildings, wall paintings and sculptures

Canadians love to say "pardon my......."

Union station - love this sign

Along the harbour

The boys showered - back to school tomorrow, March Break over and we settled in for the evening.

 

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