Meat Pie Sausage Roll C'mon England

Everyone got up super early this morning. Moo knocked on our bedroom door and shouted "coffees ready, get up". We got ready had breakfast and got on our bikes and cycled the whole of the village in two hours. Today was the Hamlets Garage Sale. A lot of the houses have garage sales at the same time. Normally we would walk around and it would take all day but cycling is a much better way to get around. We left our purchases and Huffle and Small collected them in the car later.

We bought a solid oak table for my sewing, a golf bag for Huffle for his early morning run rounds, skis for Moo, plants, two games and three expanding lizards!!

They haven't grown yet - they need 72 hours

When we got home there were so many people mailing about that we decided to bring up all of our unwanted stuff from the basement. We sold an ugly fireplace that came with the house and a small fire we used to have in the loft. The boys sold some of their old books, a puzzle ball, two small wheelbarrows and some toys. They made about $18 for themselves. We also had a lot of comments about how good our garden looked.

Moo and I left all the boys selling and drove off to the other side of Toronto for our Chocolate Making Workshop. Huffle bought this for me for Christmas but I didn't want to go by myself so we bought an extra one so Moo could go with me. The traffic was horrendous and for some reason my at Nav took us straight through Toronto. However we got there on time and entered the building going up the lift and down the stairs!!! In the room we were greeted with some very nice hot chocolate, an apron and a leaflet. We sat at a table with one lone girl on who didn't really speak and were soon joined by a grandma and her granddaughter and two other couples. Our end of the table proved to be the best. We had a laugh and it seemed we were sitting with a real chocoholic who helped us to secure much more chocolate than anyone else.

We started by tasting three different flavours of ganache. Cinnamon was the first (not my favourite), then chilli and ginger. Next we decorated a lava cake. We were given white chocolate, cocoa powder and coconut to do this.

We were shown tempering and then given a slab of chocolate, cutters, some melted chocolate and we made truffles and cut out chocolates and decorated them. Plus we ate some too and decorated a couple of marshmallows. While our chocolates and cake were cooking and freezing, we had a talk on different chocolates and tried one from Uruguay which tasted of mushrooms, earth and something else. The other was from Equador and was supposed to taste floral. The first was bitter and the second was better.

Then our chocolates and cake came out and we were handed boxes, gloves, ribbons and pretty bags and we sat at our tables and packaged our stuff up to take home. Most of the other people were gone except for Moo and I and the chocoholic couple with us. We ended up with extra hot chocolate, extra cups of ganache and they emptied the white chocolate into cups for us.

We drove home, this time along a different route. Much better traffic and slightly less time.

Huffle and Small had been to the golf range where they did chipping and range hitting. Small shot over a 100 yards drive and Huffle hit the car on purpose which is in the middle of range(which is 200 yards away).

Smallest went to his Gymnastics party and had a good time though he complained it wasn't as good as it was last time he went there.

Moo and I picked up a few bits and came home. The football had just started.

We ate our jacket potatoes watching the football and Moo made jelly and blancmange for tomorrow.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Happy Canadian Gardening Day

I had a fabulous nights sleep. Huffle did too. I didn't hear a peep out of the boys and Moo slept better. Only five more days and her jet lag will be gone (not that we are letting her have jet lag).

Small in his new top.

Huffle went off very very early and played 18 holes of golf. He forgot his water but luckily half way round he found some all wrapped up and new. He took some photos of the ducks and the course.

Moo and I went to The Garden Centre where they were celebrating Canadian Gardening Day. We had coffee and lemon cake and a tour of the garden by Jeff. He is very knowledgable and it was a good talk and tour. While we were standing under a huge Locust Tree, there was a huge gust of wind and all the flower buds fell off. It looked just like it was snowing.

Moo smelling a lemon day lily. Scrabble on the porch.

We drove to knitting where we only got half an hour before it finished. Everyone was being very silly but they welcomed Moo and then Suffolk, Moo and I went for lunch at the cafe. We had a roasted garlic, mushroom and spinach soup with a toasted bagel. Very nice. Suffolk left and Moo and I went to the quilting shop to buy a pattern for me to make an apron and we had to choose some material. it took ages and they were very patient with me. Next we went to a shop to buy fruit and some supplies for the weekend.

Once home, Moo and I started a game of scrabble on the porch. While we were playing a van parked up at DonNoQuoteys house across the road. It was a 5* restaurant meals delivery van. He got out and tried to sell DonNoQuotey some meat and fish. He looked across the road to us and shouted :

"Do you want some beef?" I'm vegetarian. "Oh I got ocean fish" No I'm vegetarian. "What about organic chicken?" That's meat! "Oh - how do you get by?"

Before the kids came home we mowed. I started, Moo finished the back garden and I did the front garden. What a lovely job.

Smallest went in the pool. It was only 20* and it was too cold to stay on for long. Boys had showers and then we had pizza whilst watching the Addams Family. There was a bottle of wine opened (Moo couldn't believe she had to wait till her third day before she got alcohol!).

Aunty A sent me this photo. She wishes to enter it as the 'worst bunting ever'! Can you beat it?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Did you do a cannon ball?

What an awful night's sleep again. From about midnight until 3am we had extremely heavy rainfall, loud thunder and big flashes of lightning. Of course Huffle spent most of the night cowering under the covers. At 2am ish I got up to check the basement and as Small was awake too, he came with me. No water came into the sun room and none into the basement. PHEW. MrBasement and his son did a good job there then! The only person that slept through it all was Smallest.

Huffle went into work and Moo and I walked the boys to school. It was a nice walk, warm and a little humid but not too bad. We walked back home and had our breakfast and coffee. We spent a good part of the morning sorting the pool again. Vacuuming and clearing leaves and unplugging the pipe again. It is still working but we are going to let the pool people come and sort it as we are not fully convinced it is 100%.

Moo and I then went out and picked up a few things for the weekend. Fathers Day present, some food for Sundays BBQ and we were looking for a shade material for the pool and a storage box to put pool things in when not in use. We have decided we are going to pick up some sheets from the charity shop and sew them together to make a shade canopy and we moved a box we already had up by the pool. By the time we finished and got back it was past 1pm so we sat on the porch, had lunch and played a game of Scrabble. I did a bit of knitting in between, moved a couple of plants and DonNoQuotey serenaded us with his guitar. The afternoon soon ambled by and Small came home on the bus (Smallest went straight to his friends house where he played on the trampoline, the XBox, went in their pool and then had dinner with them). Small's friend came to play on the trampoline and the Wii.

Smallest and his new tee-shirt. Very apt!

Moo and I made dinner, Huffle came home and we all ate. A bit more pool work, some trampolining, a check of Moo's bike, a bit of IPad and TV and then it was bed for the little monkies.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Moo and the teabags arrive

Last night was very sticky, humid and hot and we didn't sleep well. I had a dream that I was in a sewing class and everyone but me had really elaborate and difficult things to work on. All I had was my silly robins and I had left them at home.

Huffle went to work with an apple (I don't think it was for the teacher or his boss, seeing as his boss has gone on 'vacation' leaving him with all the 'doody'. The boys went to school on the bus (it was raining and not at all cycling weather) wearing wellies and raincoats.

I drove (still not cycling weather) to aerobics where we tried to exercise. It was very very humid and all the windows were open and the ceiling fan on. ExerciseNic decided we were not going to do too much cardio today and we mainly did weights and floor work. It was very hard work.

I rushed off from exercise and came home for a quick shower and then drove off to the airport to pick up Moo. Only one small incident on the way where I slightly clipped another cars wing mirror (whoops). It was very foggy on the highway but I got there on time. The car park was under construction so it was difficult to find a space but I managed to get there as Moo got off the plane. A small wait later, where I did some serious people watching. I tried to guess who people were meeting and I was wrong nearly every time. Moo came through the doors with a big grin on her face and we hugged and went to find the car.

I made Moo go up the escalators and then back down because I chose the wrong one, then up in the lift and back down and eventually we found the car. We had such a good journey back chattering that we didn't really notice the drive at all. It was like auto pilot and we were home.

Moo emptied her bag..........

Then we sat on the porch and drank coffee, looked at the garden and carried on chatting. Drew came over and chatted too for a while and then the boys came home. Big massive grins on their faces, lots of cuddles and then they found what she had brought. Small sat for ages reading a magazine she had brought for him.

Smallest took her on the trampoline and she had a good bounce. We came in and started dinner when Huffle came home.

Huffle went and tried to fix the pool again and we think it is better. We shocked it and left the pump running. Hopefully it will be okay as Huffle requested a day by the pool for Fathers Day.

Moo, Small and Smallest and I all had a 'meeting' upstairs about The Father's Day performance.

Once the boys went to bed, Huffle, Moo and I watched So You Think You Can Dance - we have been saving it for Moo as we know she likes it as much as us.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Old Fred

Huffle went off to work reluctantly. The boys went off to school on the bus but Small asked if he could now walk to school by himself (where did that come from? MasterLazy walk all that way?). Today they took the bus but I said we could cycle or walk on a day where I didn't need to rush out of the door the minute they left.

And rush out of the door I did today as I had to be at the Garden Centre for 9am. MrsM and I went off to The Royal York again to finish off the gardens. She did tell me she wanted me as a driving companion for the journey, plus she gets to use the 'two people or more' lane which really does cut a lot out of the journey to Downtown Toronto. The journey there was eventful except for the huge amounts of traffic. When we arrived a huge metal sign fell on my knee. Fred the Concierge asked me if I needed ice and then proceeded to tell me about when he hit his head on the corner of the desk and how he felt like his head went into his neck. Nice!

Up on the roof we tidied up the beds, planted lots of parsley, a couple of Hibiscus (apparently you can eat part of the Hibiscus but I can't remember if it's the flowers or the leaves, just in case you fancied a chew of one!), peppers and watercress (apparently it is possible to grow this if you use a large saucer underneath the pot to keep it almost constantly in water). It was warm but there was a lovely breeze up there. We arrived just after 10am and finished just after midday. We were treated to lunch in the Deli which was very nice except for the awful noise coming from a function room right next to us!

We left and drove home, popped back to the Garden centre and emptied our boxes and then I came home. I thought I should check the pool as I didn't have time this morning. The water was at a good level but the pool looked unusually still. I checked the pump and undid the lid. Water poured out in great amounts and I couldn't remember where the on/off button was. I was almost up to my ankles in water and Huffle wasn't available to talk to. Eventually I got it sorted but lost so much water I had to refill it again with the hose. I attached the vacuum ready and went inside for a cup of tea. Once the pool was full (I may have left it a bit too long), I checked the pump again but it wasn't really doing anything. I tried many things but nothing worked.

When the kids came home (it was really warm and very humid) they wanted to go in the pool so I let them. I tested it and it seemed okay just wasn't pumping much. They had a lot of fun though they said the water was very cold (22*). Smallest got grumpy and ended up on his bedroom and I went off to make dinner. Small got bored on his own and that was the end of the pool time. When Huffle came home he had a look but ended up ringing the pool people who think it is blocked and are sending someone out to sort it - great, more money!

We tidied up, finished dinner and ate. The boys played on IPad and Computer and Huffle and I cleared the kitchen and chatted and put the world to rights. We had another go at sorting the pool and came in and put the kids to bed.

No update as yet on cooker.

I take a lot of photographs (is that obvious?) and sometimes I post my favourites on instagram (stuandsamhall). Today I had one of my photos featured of @number_of. How exciting. I wonder if they noticed that Huffle is giving the V sign?

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Bazzas bargain, get the pool open

Huffle worked from home and had a horrible time. Work is awful for him and he is counting down the months.......

The boys went to school on the bus (I was going to bike with them but I didn't get ready in time). I went off to my Faraway Garden. Just as I was leaving, the pool people turned up. This time it wasn't MrLittleGrumpy, it was MrHappy and his man who were very nice. Apparently the pool was done and sorted with no problems that they couldn't sort. They left the pool filling with water.

At the Faraway Garden there was no major work being done today by bulldozers or rock movers so it was nice and quiet. Mich and her husband went off to pick up the bees they are having in the garden. S and I got on with moving some plants and weeding. The bees were put in place and after their initial sugar water, let out. I know they are not aggressive but I'm not keen on being too close, though they are fascinating to watch. Two and a half hours later and I drove home.

Mich and her Bee Top. The Bees.

I didn't shop on the way home as I was really really hungry and tired (I forgot to drink my coffee this morning) so I joined Huffle for lunch instead, briefly skyped Moo and then went out and did some food and pool shopping. I bought us all new noodles and water squirters.

While I was shopping I got a call from MrsM who wanted to know if I was available to go to the Royal York again tomorrow. YES! I came home and they boys were already home, Smallest wanting to go to Malcolms house. Small put the shopping away for me while I was gone and I helped him when I got back.

I skyped Moo properly sitting on the porch, telling her who was passing. I saw MrRoyal, Drew and ClownRose and our Cop neighbours across the road who are selling. They were having a viewing.

I made dinner, picked up Smallest and we all ate. Our evening ended with much pool maintenance, trampolining and watering of plants and then just as we were putting the kids to bed a man came to the door and spent a long time with Huffle persuading him to change the utilities to a different company. Huffle edit - for a decent saving obviously

Vacuuming and clearing of leaves. Ice cream eating and reading because he was grumpy!!

Boing boing boing

Our vegetable beds being watered

Foxglove. Coreopsis.

Lupin. A

Alium. Foxglove.

There is no update from Samsung re: COOKER as Huffle never got round to ringing them again today.

PHOTOS FROM SMALL'S CUB CAMP WEEKEND

The theme was 'around the world'

Apparently there were a lot of water games to keep everyone cool

 

Posted with Blogsy

First Born Returns

7am - woken by builders building new house three doors away. Tap tap tap and then ten minutes later they seemed to build quietly!

7:10am - cyclists go by shouting to each other. HELLO WE ARE CYCLISTS AND WE HAVE TO SHOUT!

7:15am - dog walkers go by talking as loudly as they can. DID YOUR DOG DO A POO TODAY?

8:30am - next door starts mowing. DOES NOBODY HAVE A LIE-IN ROUND HERE?

Luckily for us though we did not hear the helicopter rescuing the prisoners from Quebec prison (thanks for that info Grandma and Grandad - don't worry that's not near us).

Once again it was strange not too have Small around this morning. After breakfast Huffle skyped Grandma and Grandad and Smallest and I played a few rounds of Mastermind, then Huffle joined in afterwards. We got ready and went out towards Oshawa, which is where Small was at camp, just in case we wet called earlier than the originally planned 2pm. We found a park near the lake but it wasn't very nice so we went to another one. This was a nice big green space, with a nice walk along the lake and a beach. It even had facilities, a couple of cafés, a fries truck and changing rooms. It turned quite cool and we were wearing shorts so we didn't walk too far.

We drove to a restaurant called Wally's World. One thing about the restaurants here is that you can never tell what a place will be like. They don't always look great from the outside. This one looked like a typical greasy spoon but was in fact very good. Huffle and I had omelettes and Smallest had a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. Just as we ordered (approx 12:30) we got a call from the cub leader to say they were almost finished and how far away were we. We told him we were five minutes by car but that we were waiting for a food order. After a few texts we decided he would bring Small to us, by which time we finished eating.

Small had had a fabulous time. They watched Despicable Me 2 outside on Friday night until around midnight! He slept in a tent by himself but was kept awake by the tent next to him with three chatty boys in. Saturday was lots if events, like dropping water balloons on people (it was very hot), building the Eiffel Tower out of sticks and string, catapult shooting World Cup style and a camp fire at night. They went to bed after 10pm. Today they had the closing ceremony and activities. He was very very tired and a little grumpy (which is understandable). We drove to a shop to buy milk, sandals for Smallest and trainers for Small so we could throw his stinky muddy ones away and then came home. It started to heat up all bit and the clouds were very strange!

Once home we emptied Small's bag while he had a shower and then the boys watched Rio. Huffle got the pool stuff ready as it is being opened tomorrow. I did some sewing and tidied the loft as Moo will be here on Wednesday. The boys had tea and Huffle and I swept the floors and mopped including the porch deck. All ready for Moo's inspection (I wonder if she will bring her white gloves!).

 

 

Posted with Blogsy