....and an extra plate?

Last night we spent considerable time online trying to find a new light fixture for our living room. The one we have now hangs down too low (used to be over a dining table) and it gets in the way of people near the piano. We have never particularly liked it but the array of light fittings here are very unimaginative. They all look like boobs hanging from the ceiling. We don't want boobs on our ceiling so we found something different that we did like. Tiffany style glass semi flush ceiling lights. Mostly it seems you can only order them online but Huffle found a shop nearby that sold them, so this morning we braved the -9 (-16 windchill) thinking it was considerably warmer than previous days and went to the said shop.

Fabulous ice patterns on the window

Huffle drove us to the lighting shop. Smallest said he thought they couldn't possibly make any money because of all the electricity they must use keeping all the lights lit. He made a good point! We were welcombed by a young woman who told us they don't keep the Tiffany style lights in the store and that we would have to order them from a catalogue or the website (which we could have done at home without having to come out!!!!). We were also told that buying online meant it was Final Sale so if we didn't like it when we saw it, TOUGH! We wandered around the shop looking at all the lights just in case we saw something we liked. We didn't. The woman told us Tiffany lights were old fashioned and there was no market for them! In the end we decided we would just order the one we originally liked and a salesman asked if he could help whilst clutching an IPad. Huffle told him we wanted to order a light and he asked if it was in the shop. NO! He was useless and just stared at us and pointed to the computer. Huffle got annoyed and walked away and I said DO YOU WANT US TO USE YOUR COMPUTER OR JUST DO IT AT HOME? He pretty much told us to go home and use ours which was weird but we walked away. Great customer service!!!! NOT!

On we went to get some lunch and ended up in the chippy again due to lack of inspiration and minimal places open. This ime it was very nice but the waitress asked us if we needed an extra plate when I asked for five haddocks. We looked around as if we would find someone sitting with us we had forgotten about. She thought she had counted six people and said maybe they would come and pay for the bill at the end. They didn't!

From there we drove to the harbour again as I thought it might be better for walking in seeing as the temperature was considerable warmer. If was horrific and so much colder which makes no sense. The water was fiercely choppy and still icy but the wind was biting and I really hurt my fingers trying to take photos without my gloves. The kids gave in and sat in the car and then we all sat in too. It was just too cold. We sat in the car with the heater on until we were warmer and then I realised I had dropped the lens cap on my phone telescope. Smallest thought he had seen it so Huffle went out again to find it. Moo followed him and then Smallest went out too but no one found it.

We gave up and came home. I thought it seemed warmer at home so Moo and Huffle decided to go for a walk with me. We only got to the end of the drive when we realised it was just as cold. We shovelled some snow instead and came in for some lovely hot tea.

Small decided today he wanted a trifle so Smallest and Moo made some jelly this morning and this afternoon Small and Moo made a blancmange (Moo bought us a multi packet about four years ago so it may be a little out of date but surely there's nothing in it that can go off?).

1970's inspired trifle minus the lady fingers

The boys all played FIFA and the rest of us played Skip-Bo. We all had a game of Agricola early evening. It was a good but tough brain draining game. Small, of course, won!

The boys went to bed a bit earlier. It's going to snow tonight through to the morning but it will be warmer.

 

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HollywoodHandshake?

The last weekend before Huffle goes back to work, the kids go back to school, I start my normal routine and Moo leaves to go home.

Huffle and I watched the second half of the Leicester game this morning whilst still in bed (very early game here). Stoke was playing later but wasn't on the TV. We listened to it on the radio but turned it off after a while because it was just a noise.

It was still incredibly cold outside with temperatures of -26* (-33* real feel). Smallest's football game was cancelled due to the indoor pitch being returfed. Showers were had and crepes were made for breakfast. Smallest has been asking for them for ages and I promised next pancake/waffle day, I would make them. Smallest was my assistant chef today and I taught him how to toss them. He was doing really well until he dropped one and touched the side of the pan, burning his fingers. We heard about the 'burn' for the rest of the day. He will be fine. The crepes were delicious especially with Golden Syrup.

The first part of the morning was spent playing Kingdomino and while the kids played FIFA, the olds played skip-Bo.

Late morning, I decided I would make a bread from my new PaulHollywood book. I chose a Bloomer loaf because it's supposed to be a good starter bread. I kneaded it until it was stretchy and left it to prove. Meanwhile we had lunch and watched GrandpasGreatEscape which is the film of a DavidWalliams book that Smallest's has read. It was entertaining enough though Huffle likened it to Brum and AuntMabel.

After my dough had tripled in size, I knocked it back and shaped it and left it to prove for a second time. During this time we played more Kingdomino and Carcassonne. The boys had some IPad and reading time and some FIFA. Moo carried on with her jigsaw.

The bread was put in the oven and we made dinner. Airfry chips and fried egg (all instructions to Huffle including how to cut potatoes and use airfryer and how to fry multiple eggs). The bread was baked and cooled just time to cut it for a chip butty. It was delicious and reminiscent of our old village bread from the local shop. Yum yum. I will definitely make it again despite it taking a total of about five hours. (The first prove can take up to three hours)!

This evening was Small's first game since before Christmas, so him and Huffle went off to that while Moo, Smallest and I played a few more games of Kingdomino and ate some AngelDelight that Smallest made for us.

Small's team lost against a team that had so few players that a couple of Dads played instead. Huffle said it was so cold that the temperature gauge didn't move until he had got to the destination, 20 minutes later. He said it was very very cold and he couldn't get his windscreen completely defrosted and the engine was very sluggish.

Temperatures should be coming down slightly tomorrow.

 

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Chicker sticker & Jammy Bobber

Another very cold night with temperatures definitely hitting a real feel of -41*. It was a really cold day too. Huffle and I went out to take the recycling out and my nose hairs froze. It's been a while since that happened here! There was more ice on the inside of the window too!

Brrrrrr

Very brrrrr

It seemed pointless to go out, despite us all having a bit of cabin fever, so Huffle was given instructions on how to make a chilli in the slow cooker while we played Kingdomino and Huffle was FaceTimed by Grandma. The boys played on FIFA, Moo started a Christmas jigsaw that I tipped all over the floor the other day so we need to see if all the pieces of there before we give it away to charity. Huffle and I tried to create a chart for a Blanket I want to make for Smallest of a Stoke badge (huge mummy points if I ever do it). It was very frustrating but I think we did it in the end.

We all had lunch and finished the Jurassic World film and then played Alhambra (Small won) and Wizard (postponed while Smallest had a grump, Small finished homework and we made a veggie chilli) and finished after we had dinner (Huffle won).

This evening we played a game of Pictureka! and then watched a GrandTour before the kiddlies went to bed. The rest of us watched MiriamMargoylies in America. Very interesting.

 

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StAndrews in a building

Moo and I had to get up early in order to leave everyone else at home while MrsChristmas drove us 80 minutes away to a warehouse selling fabrics, wool, sewing paraphernalia and all sorts of everything. It reminded me of a similar place we went to in Southampton, Ontario. MrsChristmas drives a van which is very comfortable and warm. She let me use her coccyx cushion in the car which seemed to work very well. Moo sat in the front and I sat in the back, way back. We went along the toll road which made it seems less of a distance but I think we travelled around 140km. MrsChrstims bought plenty. I bought a bag full of wool and Moo bought nothing. We were in Cambridge but it was no Cambridge I had ever been been to.

This was only half of the size with five or six more aisles!!

We decided to go for something to eat and ended up in Paris. Once again, it was not anywhere near like the Paris I remember. We chose to eat at a restaurant that was a chain I had heard of before but not been to. After many questions to our waiter, we all decided on a pasta with Alfredo sauce and Broccoli. MrsChristmas had a soup first (the waiter couldn't tell me if it was a vegetable base as he couldn't find anything on the list of ingredients which didn't fill us with confidence) and our pasta came soon after. The pasta was cold so we sent it back. When it came back, hot, we had to send it back because it was dry and the sauce had disappeared. We asked for more sauce which came cold. We decided the broccoli was frozen originally, the pasta had been cooked and reheated and the sauce was a watered down version of a sauce in a jar. At this point we abondoned our dinner and called for the Manager. She came to talk to us with hardly any voice and was obviously ill (she should not have been there). She offered us something else but we declined. The only thing we had to pay for was the soup and we left a tip for the waiter as he did his best.

MrsChristmas drove us on to another crafty shop about 30 minutes away. I did buy a Coccyx cushion here but they seemed to have the same wool and although I was very tempted by a lovely blanket pattern and accompanying wool, I didn't get it, YET! On the way home we stopped off for a cake and a drink before making our long way home. Thank you MrsChristmas for taking us out for the day.

The boys had gone to an indoor Golf place where they played a simulated game of golf at StAndrews, Scotland. They had a good time. Smallest said he wasn't very good though. The boys wore their new Christmas golf gloves. I think it might be something we, or they, do again.

It has turned even colder with temperatures this evening falling to -35 to -40 overnight and into the weekend. The boys originally asked to snowboard but it was just too chilly! This has been a mighty cold Winter so far.

We went out for dinner, played a game and a half of Monopoly Deal and came home.

Oh tonight it's getting really really cold!!!!

 

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Hairy Gone Christmas

After breakfast, the boys, Moo and I went off for haircuts (well I had my fringe cut) with our local hairdresser. She had a jigsaw puzzle on the table and Moo and I spent the whole time, in between cuts, jigsawing. The boys played outside with MrsHairdressers' kids on their ice rink (without skates of course).

Back home Huffle was starting to take down the Christmas decorations. We had already decided today would be the day as Moo and I are out all day tomorrow. Huffle likes to take things down and leave them in a huge pile for me to sort out. This, of course, drives me crazy. Moo and I worked on wrapping all the Christmas tree decorations and boxing them. The boys took down their own trees and went through the decoration box getting rid of stuff they no longer wanted or things that were broken. Bit by bit the house was emptied of all things Christmas. It looks so much bigger and cleaner. The tree was left while we had lunch and watched part of Jurassic World.

Small and Huffle removed the tree and placed it in the garden so we could still look it. Apparently they give Christmas trees to the elephants at the zoo but probably don't take just any tree as they wouldn't quite know if it was treated or not. I would have liked to have taken our tree to feed them too!

The boys played on FIFA, Moo and I tidied and organised the pantry and I cleared up some of the Christmas presents the boys got.

Late afternoon I taught Huffle to make a simple soup. Moo and I chopped but he did the rest. Carrot, Lentil and Tomato with enough left to go in the freezer. I think I will be making lots for the freezer over the coming weeks.

 

 

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What's your button preference?

Today we decided to brace the elements and go for a walk after we bought some snowboard boots for Smallest. He starts his ski club after school next Wednesday and his silly feet have grown once again! Luckily we have a shop here that allows you to trade in old boots for new or used ones. We took three of his old boots back. He found a used pair that fit nicely and we traded in two pairs which paid for the new ones and then got $24 back on the third pair. Not bad considering we didn't pay much for them all in the first place. Now he is ready for his lessons which he hasn't done with the school before.

We went to the lake to see if we could walk long enough to get our appetite up and ended up at the harbour. It was bitterly cold with icy blustery winds. The lake, apparently, had frozen on New Years Eve and then the water got choppy and broke it all up. It was sooo very cold but looked absolutely breathtaking. I almost got frost bite trying to take photos without a glove and then my phone shut down it was so cold!

Huffle is pointing at Smallest's head!

We attempted to walk down the beach but it was just too cold and we headed back to the car and had fish and chips nearby. The food wasn't great but it did a job.

It seems it was THAT cold today that Toronto Zoo put the penguins away.

On the way home the boys all went to Dollarama looking for DAP (hole filler) while Moo and I did a bit of food shopping.

We came home, got warm and played SkipBo while the boys did a chore and played FIFA which Huffle joined in with once we beat him twice.

We all played Kingdomino several times and then watched KongSkullIsland which is the perfect just before bed film. We managed to watch the whole thing.

This evening, after the boys went to bed, we watched TheUndateables which was THE best one so far. So funny, such brilliant editing. We also watched the Christmas FirstDates which inspired the conversation "how many buttons should you have done or undone?" Moo decided three buttons was too many on a man as she didn't want to see his chest hair and I said I hated to see all buttons done up. Huffle likes just the top button undone unless he's wearing a tie!

 

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I smell something bad. Pardon me!

Happy New Year. Welcome to 2018. I bet I get that year wrong the first time I write a cheque.

The temperature outside was a mere -30 windchill. It also snowed.

We had another day inside starting with a late start for some of us not getting up until near 10am (though we did have showers). Breakfast for the Stokeboys was sitting in front of the game watching them lose and the for the LeicesterGirls, sitting in front of the tablet watching the winning game and playing Skip-Bo and then finishing off the jigsaw.

The boys played more FIFA while we finished the jigsaw. Huffle FaceTime Grandma.

For lunch we sat and watched SpiderManTheHomecoming all the way through.

This afternoon we played Kingdomino and Wizard before our Pudding Party which was Small and Smallest's idea for New Years Day.

We had our Indian leftovers and spicy fries and naan and then the boys' puddings came out. Orange and Blackcurrant Jelly (made by Smallest), Ice Cream, Butterscotch and Chocolate Angel Delight (made by Smallest), Party Rings and strawberries and raspberries.

We ended the evening with a game of UPSET! So called because Small likes to upset me by making me lose!! Moo won!

 

 

 

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