Elfisms at the Mall

It was so cold last night, my hair was cold and my nose was freezing. We watched a bit of Red Dwarf and I had my nose under the blanket and the quilt around my head like a hood. Aunty A had to put on her hoodie at 5am as she was so cold. When Huffle got up to morning he said it was -21 and felt like -31. Huffle's steering froze while he was reversing out of the drive. He wore a vest under his shirt for the first time in his working life.

When I got up the Weather Channel said it -20 (feels -27) and our temperature gauge said -18.

Small went to school wrapped up again. I forgot to make his lunch so it was a mad panic at bus time. Smallest, AA and I had a lovely breakfast of waffles and fruit. I rang a few people back about the jam jars. One of the people that left a message yesterday about jam jars, I thought was a man, turns out was a woman. I spoke to her husband, who happened to be DonNoQuotey from across the road (you know, the man who came to look at the loft, over a year ago and promised to quote for us, but never ever got back to us - yet sits there happily playing his guitar while we are sitting on our porch and doesn't say a word!) well I may have inadvertently offended both him and his wife this morning when I said someone rang from their house and it was definitely a man! Whoops.

Anyway, AA, Smallest and I got dressed and went out. Our first visit was to a nice lady I knew, who gave us half a dozen jars. Next we visited a lovely lady (English, been here since 1976) who gave me about a dozen huge Mason Jars which will be perfect for our ping pong game. I had an email too later offering me a few more.

We carried on to the mall in the freezing car. AA and Smallest both complaining about cold feet. We had to divert due an accident but we got there eventually.

We found the shop we wanted and bought a few things. Smallest was very good and didn't mind being in a shopping mall at all. We showed Aunty A how to climb the escalators in an 'Elf' style. She was very good at it. We even found an 'Elf' top in the sale and bought it for Smallest.

A moose, Elf Escalators, waiting for AA and a Koala

Hats were tried on. Shops were perused. We had a big stop for lunch and a small stop for coffee.

Breakfast, coffee and a scary two-Smallest moment

Then we came away and drove home. We had a game of ping pong jars and then set up Disney Monopoly and waited for Small to come home. It wasn't long and we all played (though I think I fell asleep a few times). AA won.

The boys had their tea/dinner. Huffle came home. Today he had his blood tests at the doctors - he wasn't allowed any food or drink after 8pm last night and AA and I sat tucking into Quality Street (poor Huffle). He is terrified of needles and always faints, but he did well and it is all over now. In fact he did so well, at the end the nurse said 'I'll get you a sucker'. Imagine Huffle's surprise when she handed him a lollipop! I wonder what he was expecting? Hopefully he can get his results now for the palpitations.

We all sat and watched some of Narnia and then the boys went to bed. It's still very cold. AA and I are waiting for snow so we can go boarding but it's just not happening.

 

P.s. Mandanorian, in Smallest speak, means Mandatory. It was mandatory that they wore their ski pants outside.

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy

It's definitely Mandanorian

-12* (but feels like -21) wasn't as bad as it sounded. The boys went to school well wrapped up against the cold elements. Huffle had on one hat and two hoods for his daily walk to the sandwich shop and he was still cold. Aunty A and I started our day with a workout in the basement, a scrabble game and a shower. Once we finished our scrabble game (AA won easily with a score over 400, eh Yogi!) we made our way to the local town for a look in the Thrifty shop, where AA bought a jacket two sizes two small. She has given herself until July to fit into it else it will be sold. I bought myself some bobbins. Then we went to the consignment store where I bought a lovely tea cup (not for drinking, just for looking at). AA saw some lovely champagne glasses and wondered if she could get eight of them in her case without breaking them on the way home. She decided it was a silly idea and as the sideboard had gone that she wanted, she came away empty handed.

We had lunch at a lovely cafe we have frequented before and ate Empanadas, coffee and shared a blueberry and lemon loaf. (Not a whole loaf, just a hefty slice). We drove to the jewellery shop but it was closed (I need a new battery for my watch and unfortunately it is one of those that I can't prise the back off, which is annoying as we have a whole load of watch batteries at home!).

When we got home we started a new game of scrabble (it was a very close game, just a few points in it, though I did win!) and attempted to read the instructions of a new game we got but we didn't get very far.

As you may be aware, Huffle and I are in charge of the games for the Winter Carnival. Mr Royal sent an email round asking for used jam jars for one of our games. I have had two phone calls and one email already offering jars. Tomorrow I have onto go round and pick them up. This is for 'throw the ping pong balls into the jars!'.

The boys came home from school. Smallest was wearing his Snow Pants and I asked him why. He said "we had to put them on, it was Mandanorian". He comes out with the funniest things.

I made Turkey Meatballs and Veggie BeetBalls with pasta. I have to say my beet balls were amazing. I know I shouldn't say that because I made them but............. Ummmmm ummmmmm.

The kids played on the Wii. Huffle came home. We all ate and then we all played a game of Ticket to Ride. I won. Yay.

The boys went to bed and AA, Huffle and I played another game of Ticket to Ride and probably something else but it hasn't happened yet.

 

 

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy

Which way now?

Everyone slept well. Aunty A woke at 3am thinking it was morning, read for a few hours and went back to sleep again. Huffle went to work, Small went to school. It was -10 and cold. Smallest and I played Rhino Rump whilst waiting for Aunty A to appear from her pit. I had an email from Moo with some photos of her garden in the snow.

After breakfast Aunty A, Smallest and I got our thermals, hats and gloves and boots on and headed for the forest. We were going to the beach but the wind was South Westerly and that meant it would whistle over the lake and along the beach. So the forest it was. Practically empty apart from a man who said "slippy eh?". We took the sledge with us in case there was enough snow, and a bag of sweets in case we got lost.

Due to the storm and wind the other night, there were a few trees which had fallen and we had to climb them, sit on them and generally fall over them.

We found the trees which all had names and reasons for their names. Smallest found his 'Freddy' tree.

Aunty A and I took lots of photos of trees.

And we had lots of fun with the sledge. Mostly Aunty A pulled Smallest along. I had a go at pulling AA but she was a bit 'Christmas Heavy'. We got lost and ended up walking a long way off the track but with AA's excellent hiking skills, we turned round and went back the way we came until we recognised a path we had started on. I had a small injury where I got a log lodged in my thumb (well a pine needle). I wore my new boots and got a blister too. AA got caught in the bear trap that Smallest and I made. Smallest fell over and out of the sledge many times despite AA trying to tell him how to corner correctly.

We had a fun time, got to the car and drove home for lunch. Smallest had his in front of the TV. After lunch we went to the supermarket and bought food for the week. We were a very good team and got it done really quickly. We came home, put it all away, had a game of table tennis and made a start on dinner. We had a roast. AA was in charge of the chicken and I did the veg. Small came home and him and Smallest played on the Wii. Huffle came home and we all had dinner.

Tonight the boys were having their Investitures into Beavers and Cubs so we all went along to watch. It was mad and chaotic and if we learnt one thing from it, it was that we don't want to become leaders or volunteers. Some of the kids behaved terribly and we watched while one of them constantly kicked Smallest all through the Leaders speech.

Smallest went first and did his Law and his Motto and received a badge for delivering presents at Christmas.

Small went next and repeated his law and motto. They both got their neckerchief and woggles which Huffle had to put on for them.

After all the ceremonial stuff was out of the way, they played games, including an egg and spoon race. Watching six grown men trying to clear up two broken eggs was hilarious!

The whole thing was very noisy and we found it quite an experience.

We came home, the boys went to bed and we ate some Quality Street one of Huffle's work colleagues had bought him after a trip to England. Ummmm lovely.

AA has been reading the Cub Book and is astounded at their lack of correct punctuation. We had to wrestle the red pen from her hands.

Last night we played scrabble. AA had only been here a few hours and already her rules are different to ours! I blame her Mum Yogi and those Scottish rules and dictionary. Every word she tried, she said "well it's in my mum's dictionary!" I think I won though. Tonight we are playing Monopoly Deal.

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy

All Change

Huffle and I sat and watched (and knitted, well me anyway) a film last night called Walk Hard, a Dewey Cox Story. It was a satirical musical comedy. Very silly but mainly funny and poked a lot of fun at rock stars and their lifestyle.

At 3am we were woken by a storm. Thunder, lightning, rain and wind so rough I thought we were blowing away! Everyone woke up but we all got back to sleep fairly quickly. This morning there was a message from Moo saying she had been upgraded and got to sleep on her own little pod and she was home safe and sound. There was snow in England and more on the way. We also had a message from Aunty A to say that she had been delayed for an hour due to them having to defrost the plane!

Huffle skyped Grandma and Grandad and we told them the bed and breakfast would be closed for the months of February and March due to refurbishments of the upper level. (Which obviously will put the rent up considerably).

Huffle and I had a mad dash around the house. Changing the bed, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning toilets and generally tidying up. Smallest learnt his Beaver Law and motto. Small finished his homework and the boys took it in turns to go on the computer.

Huffle took Small to Cog's house so they could finish their French Play. Then we picked him up on the way to find somewhere to have dinner. We stopped at a pub we have seen many times but never ventured in. When Smallest ordered his dinner he spoke through his glove as if it was a puppet. The waitress didn't blink an eye, just smiled. The food was okay. Nothing spectacular. We probably won't go there again.

We drove home, dropped off Smallest and Huffle who put salt on the drive because it was really really slippery and then Small and I drove off to the airport to pick up Aunty A. Although her flight had been delayed at Heathrow for an hour, they had somehow gained five minutes in the air. We got there, parked and walked to the correct terminal. It was really busy and there seemed to be many people coming in. We waited and waited and waited. We made fun of the people coming through, saying "Here she is, if she now had a white beard!" "Here she is, if she had shrunk". A man passed us who had bad teeth, Small said he looked just like Smallest when he has his silly teeth in! I know I should have told him off but it was funny.

Eventually I saw her and she looked about wondering which way to go. I shouted "this way" and she saw us. We hugged and then went off to look for the car. We paid, found the car, and drove home. It started snowing, blizzardy, snow dancing in front on the road. It was almost mesmerising but I tried hard to concentrate of the road ahead.

Once we got home, Aunty A emptied her goodies from her bag and we had a lovely time reminiscing about various chocolates she had bought for us.

...and a Mollie Makes Magazine and a Sainsbury's Magazine - I am easily pleased

Small and Smallest (with fake teeth) and our hoard! They were especially pleased with their Red Leicester Cheese.

We had a cup of tea, tried a digestive cake, chatted and caught up with all our news.

The boys went to bed. Huffle read to Smallest and I read to Small while Aunty A listened and made sound effects.

This evening we played Scrabble and listened to one of Aunty A's CDs. (And talked about going snowboarding soon).

 

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy

PUSTIN BOOTS

We slept! We even had a lie-in. I had a strange dream last night/this morning about the Winter Carnival. It was the day of the Carnival and we had forgotten to sort out the games. I took off my flip flops (in Winter?) and when I came to put them on again, someone had taken one of them and then I found the ones I lost last year! Very strange!

We all had breakfast and while Small did his homework and I knitted a second slipper, we all played Mousetrap. I lost but I'm not sure how, one minute I was on a safe zone and the next I had been caught under the trap. I finished my slipper. Moo packed her cases and wrote out her luggage labels. Huffle watched Stoke lose. Oh dear.

We thought we were delivering brochures for the Carnival today but we heard nothing so we stayed in. Smallest and I made the snowman for the 'Pin the tail on the Snowman'.

The snow melted. Last night when Moo went to the Royals, Mr Royal told Moo her flight was delayed from 6:30pm to 10pm when in fact her flight was actually still on time (and still is now). Don't know what he was looking at! A lot of flights have been cancelled from Heathrow London but so far Moo's and Aunty A's are still okay.

Small did more homework and played on Wii. The boys had baths. There was a bit of table tennis, Lego and then before we knew it, it was time to take Moo home. She popped to Drew's to say goodbye and then luggage was loaded, goodbyes said, cuddles and hugs given, a few tears and we were off.

Small and I drove Moo to the airport. The traffic was busy but flowing well, in fact it only took us 40 minutes there and less on the way back. We didn't park in the car park this time, we went to Departures and parked in the drop off point. We chatted briefly, got the cases out, hugged and said our goodbyes. Still a rubbish part of any visit. Never gets any easier. We watched her walk through the departure doors and drove off. (I got Small to check the time of her flight once more and it was fine, though at one point we thought her flight was delayed till 12 (5.5 hours later).

The return was easy, still light and we knew Pizza was on its way. When we got home, no-one else was there as they had gone to get the pizza. We all sat and ate in front of the film Puss in Boots (or Pustin Boots as Smallest calls it). It was very good.

We put the boys to bed early as Small is coughing a lot, Smallest was very tired, and we have a busy day tomorrow. Smallest fell asleep before I even tucked him in. I read Harry Potter to Small and I was intending to read a whole chapter but I got a sneeze attack and had to stop so Small carried on.

It seems quiet here without Moo, not that she was particularly noisy, but we can tell she's not here. We had a great time and I think she did too, the boys will miss her greatly. We are pleased she got to see the snow and go skiing and even try her hand at snowboarding (only in the garden). We are very grateful that we got to go to New York and had a few bits of time to ourselves. Bye Moo, see you on Skype soon.

 

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy

Dicky Ticker v Fanny

Almost a full nights sleep until I woke up and heard Smallest crying. I went in to him and he was sitting up in bed, clutching his leg. He said it hurt him so bad he couldn't walk. I went and got him some medicine, Small had woken too. They both went back to sleep and we all got up a little bit later this morning. It had snowed in the night but just a thinnish layer. When we got up the temperature was -11 which meant it felt even colder. Brrrrrrrr (I had a comment from Mrs Rumbkeskins about their heat (Australia) - I sympathise and couldn't imagine it that hot at 45.8).

....and Yes, that IS ice on the inside of the window.

The boys went off to school wrapped up nice and warm (Smallest was fine in the morning).

Huffle went off to have his interview with the new doctor. Moo and I had breakfast, jigsawed and then went off and joined my knitting group for two and a half hours. Today we were all making "nanny slippers". Very Canadian thing that used to be made by Grandmas for everyone. They are very cute. Moo made a purple one but it was a bit small so she might re-knit hers. I made a blue one, sewed it up And finished it off with a Pom-Pom that I made using a new Pom-Pom maker (which I have ordered).

When we finished there we went off for lunch at my favourite place. We had a roasted Red Pepper Soup, Roasted Veg and Goats Cheese thing that was delicious and a gorgeous salad with cranberries and a raspberry dressing. Ummmm, yum yum. I wanted to take Moo out as it was her last proper day and it was nice for it to be just the two of us.

Moo's new friend

We drove home - still very cold. I wrapped her birthday presents and she wrapped Huffle's and Smallest's - aren't we organised (birthdays are February and March). I went through some photographs and made a short list of the photos I am going to enter into the Winter Carnival Photography Contest.

The boys came home, had a snack, got their swimming stuff ready, we had a quick visit from Drew and we drove to the boys lessons. We found out that Bucket's name was 'Dunkin'. We wonder if it is really Duncan but who knows, the boys thought it was hilarious. They swam really well. Both were really tired at the end.

We drove home and it was snowing again though it was more sleety. The roads were awful. I really hate driving at night here. It is so hard to see the roads with the headlights glaring, no cats eyes in the middle, hardly any lines to follow, snow covering the windscreen, dirt being thrown up but you can't wash it because the screen freezes - arrrrgggghhhh! However we got home, the boys had a quick meal of pasta and cheese and then we had a phone call from the Royals inviting us over with NoCustard and Umbrella. We didn't think we would be able to go because the kids were really tired and almost ready for bed and we had invited Drew over for a game of 'Take Two'. However after many games of Take Two, lots of silliness, laughter and wrong Translations of Canadian/English words, Drew and Moo went to the Royals for a spot of Merry Making.

Huffle tried to get my photos to print off while I blogged.

Huffle got on well at the doctors and he has now accepted us all. However, I got a phone call from the doctors secretary saying that the hospital wouldn't release Huffle's results because he hadn't named our doctor at the time (possibly because we didn't HAVE a doctor then silly!). She asked, very nicely, if he could come in again on Monday and sign some papers but Huffle rang her back and they agreed he could fax them a letter. Hopefully it will all be sorted soon and we can get some results. What a palaver!

 

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy

Lovely David

I didn't sleep last night because I had sat knitting in the kitchen yesterday evening, in a draft and it gave me 'Urk'. This is a made up name for something I have had for many years. It feels like toothache in your limbs and when you try to pinpoint it, it moves. It is a curious thing and can be the most painful, annoying thing ever. It kept waking me up and I had to come downstairs at 3am for Iboprofen (though had already taken Paracetamol before bed) a cup of tea and a biscuit. I sat down for an hour with a blanket wrapped around me until I was sleepy again. What a nightmare. Oh to sleep all the way through again one day soon.

The boys all went off to work and school. it ws really cold today. Minus 9 but felt like -13. Moo and I had planned to go for a walk to our beach along the nature trail but wondered if it was too cold. We had breakfast and did a bit of jigsaw and got our thermals on and drove close to the nature trail. There was a road I hadn't been down before that I wanted to see where it went so we investigated. It was close to the lake but near to some private houses. We parked and followed a Waterfront Trail. It was so open and cold and went away from the lake and towards houses that we decided to turn around and go back in the car. On the way we found another trail and decided to check that out instead.

We found our way onto the beach where it was sheltered. The sun was out, the sky was a deep blue and it was lovely. Not quite warm enough to take off our hats and gloves though. We walked for a long time along the beach, stopping for a banana and a coffee and a sit on a tree. We watched the gently lapping of the water. It was so peaceful.

We walked some more and stopped at the point where we normally get on the beach and watched the Geese landing. There were hundreds on the lake and they all seemed to be looking towards the sun. Warming their beaks? We turned around and walked back stopping at another tree for our bagel, however the geese came up on to the sand and decided they wanted some too so we left there and walked up on to the trail behind the beach. It wasn't sheltered and was really cold. There were chickadees and they kept landing on our hands. We tried to feed them bagel and seeds and one by one they landed on us but none of them ate anything. They were so tame.

Each photo was a different chickadee checking us out

We stopped for our bagel lunch and the rest of our coffee at the top of a non-sheltered, freezing cold picnic area. Funnily enough there were no other picnic'ers with us! We finished quickly and walked towards the car. More chickadees found us and landed.

The sky was peculiar. One minute is was bright beautiful blue and the next it changed suddenly and looked full of snow.

We drove home, got warm, did some more jigsaw and waited for the Dry Wall man to come and look at the window to see if he would be able to take it out to get the dry wall through! He brought a friend with him and ummed and ahhhh'd and asked lots of questions.

The boys came home. Small did his homework. Smallest looked for an object beginning with Ch to take to school tomorrow (he chose his little monkey 'chimp'). Smallest and I made Beef Burgers and the boys ate them while Moo and I made many-bean-paella which we ate when Huffle came home.

We carried on with more jigsaw and the boys played on the Wii.

We played a few games of Table Tennis. The boys went to bed. More jigsaw. TV. EVERYONE SLEPT BEAUTIFULLY (pllleeeaaaasse).

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy