Pea Soup Foggy Fish

Since I finished my job (until Spring) on a Tuesday and now no longer Garden on a Thursday and any other day I can fit it in, I seem to be struggling with organising my days. Which is silly because I have loads to do and it's because I am mostly free that I think 'ahhh I have plenty of time to fit that in' and then end up doing nothing! Ridiculous.

Smallest had swollen puffy eyes this morning and I gave him an antihistamine and eye drops though I'm not sure what has set him off unless a rabbit is living in his room. Though he is cuddling the most enormous elephant (I think his name is Bob) at the moment in bed and who knows where he has been shuffling in the dust! Huffle still has a twitching eye and also had an antihistamine in case the rabbit we haven't got is affecting him too (though he is allergic to cats so perhaps one of the mice brought a stray cat in). MICE - today we caught one in the trap and another one just died in the middle of the floor (all in the basement). Smallest found them and was worried I wouldn't like to see them but I checked the one not in the trap. Maybe he died of hunger because there is no food to find now. We were told MICE normally live in groups of seven and so far we have caught three and found one, so hopefully only three more to go. Everything is still mainly boxed in the pantry and the steel wool is still under the door.

The boys went to school, Huffle worked in the basement with his MICE friends and I went to exercise. We did a lot of work on arms today so I won't be hanging the washing out tomorrow!! I went for a walk with ExerciseNic and her dog in the rain and then came home.

I wrapped all presents that weren't from us (ie sent from family online) and then had lunch with Huffle where we watched some of First Dates whilst making a Roast Butternut Soup for dinner later.

This afternoon I finished the soup, made a bread and started filling the advent calendar with chocolate, sweets and Christmassy notes (Huffle made some of his own to add later). I got to about day8 and then ClownRose popped by to print something and we went for a walk.

She dropped off her CV (resumé) at the local daycare and I picked up a gift certificate for our post lady for Christmas, we carried on our walk and finally came home in time for the bus having had a very good chat on the way.

The boys watched I'm a Celebrity and Smallest had his soup and bread early so he could get to Football. The rest of us ate later. Small cleaned his bathroom where I found he was using my granite polisher as a flannel the silly boy, the mirror was all smeary and the sink was disgusting. Piano was practiced before Smallest and Huffle went to Football and Small and I went to the very last basketball.

On the way home the fog was soooo bad, Small and I struggled to see the road. Small was very helpful though in guiding me when he could. No cats eyes, hardly any lines and no street lights. Rubbish!!!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Mr Canoe smells of Poo

Huffle woke up with, and has had for some days now, a twitching eye and it is starting to really annoy him. I decided to check Woogle to see if we could find a remedy without resulting to the doctors (because our doctor either sends you for blood work or diagnoses a new disease). T'internet suggested *cut out caffeine, *rehydrate, *eye drops and *more sleep. So today he had no caffeine, slept at his desk and I put eye drops in his eyes. Hopefully he can finish this day with a jolly good sleep. I too have had a twitching arm muscle for about four days but mine comes and goes and I can cope with it for now (not ready to cut out caffeine just yet).

After the boys went to school (Smallest struggled to get up this morning and asked for an alarm clock for Christmas so he can set it for 7:15 and be responsible for getting up Small and me), I meandered around the house, having breakfast, wondering what my day would become when I got a text from Suffolk saying she was on her way to Costco if I fancied joining her. So I did. We had a brief visit in the shop and then went and had a cup of tea and a banana and a nice chat until she had to go off to school for her afternoon job.

I stayed and went in a few shops, picking up a couple of Christmas presents and a pair of jeans for me and then came home for a very late lunch. I decided I was making quiche for dinner and so started my pastry, blind baked it and made a few mini mince pies with the leftovers.

ClownRose and I went for a quick walk before the bus came home carrying our little darlings and then I continued with dinner. For some reason, the egg mixture separated and the egg went underneath the pastry (I have no idea how because there were no holes that I saw) and it took ages to set. Still it was very nice and despite there being veggies in it, the boys liked it too (even though some of the vegetables appeared on the side of their plate at the end).

I took Smallest to football practice tonight wearing new shin pads to see if we can stop his terrible rashes. I am worried that because I hand washed his usual ones (they stunk) I may not have got all the washing liquid out and he could be allergic to it. We'll see what happens with these new ones.

I had an email today asking me to attend the Winter Carnival Meeting (tonight) as a representative of the Grade 8 Mums as I had been allocated the responsibility of the BBQ. Who me? The only Vegetarian? What would I know about BBQ'ing? I apologised and said they had the wrong person and then a barrage of emails arrived. Apparently, my name was put next to the BBQ for the fundraising of the Grade 8 Graduation trip when we attended a meeting a month or so ago. In actual fact I volunteered to ask the Beer Store owner for a 'basket of cheer' (Booze) to be auctioned at the Carnival and the lady that volunteered to organise the BBQ said she couldn't do it and put my name forward instead - the lazy beeeeee. I emailed everyone involved to let them know I wouldn't be doing it and sat and fumed for a while. Can't wait to see how that one turns out. Talk about last minute too!!!

Late morning Huffle realised that the uppermost drainpipes were leaking. To get to these points he had to get an extendable paint roller (12ft) without the roller itself, with a trowel taped to the end. He then leaned out of the loft window and angled the pole to scoop out the debris. I can't believe he didn't do it while I was here so I could have at least photographed it whilst laughing. Good job Huffle.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Big Baby Twinsies

HOME ALONE YAY!!!!

Huffle went into the office today for meetings and the kids went to school. I was left all by myself and I had a really long slow breakfast and watched nearly a whole episode of My Mother and other strangers, did three loads of washing, a bit of sorting and then I finally got out to do a food shop.

For once I had no problems, no issues and everyone I saw was nice. Some people would think I was starting to get used to this place ;) although on the way home one of the cartons of Apple Juice tipped over and spilled!

Now it's nice to have the house to myself but there was no one to help me on with my shopping and no one to put it away for me BOOOOOOO. I half put the shopping away and made my lunch and tried to Skype Moo but there was no answer so I settled myself in front of the TV to watch the new series of The Gilmore Girls. Just as it was about to start, Moo called me back. We had a chat while I ate my lunch and she persuaded me to go for a run/walk.

A photo on my run

I'm glad I did and it was easier than last time, plus it wasn't too cold (7*). I started on the railway tracks but soon realised it's not a good surface for running so continued on my normal road. 35 minutes later I was walking back home where I had a lovely hot shower before I sorted all the Christmas presents out that I already have. I made a list (wow so organised so early) and packed them away again.

I finished putting the shopping away and realised something else had spilled but in the fridge, so I emptied it, cleaned it and put it all away again. Goodness there has been a lot of cleaning here lately. Talking of which, there was no mouse caught last night but also no signs of droppings either so thats good. It getting very hard to find anything in the pantry because it's all hidden in boxes.

I did lots of drying and folding and then started on dinner just as the boys came home. Smallest had a volleyball practice today and Small had tried out for the Dodgeball team. He said it was very quick and he had no idea how he did. There are more scheduled.

Small took the washing off the line for his chore but didn't fold it or sort it or check it was dry (needs more instruction) and Smallest sorted the washing from the dryer and folded it and sorted it (though some of it was still wet and the folding was 'interesting'). Definitely more instruction needed.

MrsPiano came and Smallest went first while Small did his homework. Today's homework was working on a poem of the song Redemption Song by Bob Marley. He doesn't like it, he thinks it's too slow. Smallest is doing very well on piano but needs to practice his Christmas Recital pieces for 15-20 minutes daily (Recital is in two weeks) and Small has to practice for 30 minutes daily (his is tricky).

We had dinner and today I made individual apple and strawberry crumbles from some apples I had frozen into Autumn and some crumble mix that Grandma had frozen. They were yummy after our homemade fish cakes.

Tonight Smallest went to the Hamlets Conservation Area where they did some Night Vision activities with the Cubs. He thought it was great. Huffle and I picked up a second hand blanket box from a friend who was getting rid of it and then went for a night walk leaving Small playing on his tablet. Huffle picked Smallest up from Cubs where he had been eating Moon Rock that blowed in the dark and shot sparks.

Small, Huffle and I watched I'm a Celebrity when Smallest went to bed.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Scully shops at Dunilm

Huffle woke up early and got up to watch the Stoke game (won) with the kids. I stayed in bed and rested my neck (still sore but not nearly as bad).

After breakfast we all got ready to go out to take Smallest to his party at The Laser Quest over in Richmond Hill which is about 40 minutes away. We made Small come with us as we were due to be away for over four hours. We dropped Smallest off with his present and took Angel (one of the boys Mums) off to the Mall where we wandered aimlessly round for two hours (very boring and very dull). Huffle kissed a moose, Small blowdried Huffle's hair with a Dyson hairdryer, Angel and I sat in a comfy chair in a bathroom department, we learned that a huge department store didn't do children's clothes anymore and sat and had a hot drink in the food court to waste time.

The latest craze in the Malls is to ride around on these electric animals. $60 for an hour. Some of the parents were also riding in the back with their kids!!!!!

We picked up Smallest and went for dinner at Nonnas Oven which was very nice. Smallest had alread eaten so he just had a piece of garlic bread while Huffle ate Lasange and Small and I had handmade pasta.

At home we sat and relaxed while the boys played on the computer. Huffle Skyped Grandma and Grandad and caught up on the week's news.

I might copy this for our Christmas urns

Smallest and I played table tennis and I won one game and then he beat me. Then he beat Huffle too. The little bugger!

We sat and watched I'm a Celebrity and the Xfactor results. Wow! Thank goodness Honey G has gone, what a load of rubbish and who the hell os voting for Shut up Martin. Stop giving him airtime!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Pain in the neck

The pantry was free from mouse, it looks like none came in thanks to Huffle sticking steel wool under the door (mice don't like it and won't try to get through it). However, he did catch a mouse in one of his traps in the basement and when we went into the cold room downstairs, there were droppings everywhere. We don't really use the room except to store Jams, chocolate and tea bags but all in sealed contains, but the room isn't properly sealed from the outside yet!

I woke up with a trapped nerve in my neck which was so painful I couldn't get back to sleep. I got up with Smallest as he had to be up early in order to go out and deliver Christmas Presents to the less fortunate children on behalf of the Souts and Cubs. He went with his friend Evan and his dad (Leader) and between them they delivered 18 presents to various under privileged families, though Smallest said one of them had a limousine (I'm sure he was mistaken).

On the way home Leader took them to Tim Hortons for a hot chocolate and timbits and although they said they definitely didn't go there, they both had telling chocolate moustaches.

Small, Huffle and I stayed at home and watched TV, had breakfast, did some jigsaw and watched football until Smallest came home.

Early afternoon we went out for dinner and to buy a birthday present for Smallest's friends' party tomorrow and then came home.

It was cool, rainy and not nice to be out so the rest of the afternoon we played Monopoly, practised piano, cleaned out the small top freezer, played on gadgets and then watched XFactor and I'm a Celebrity.

Posted with Blogsy

You little dinglebat

Small had to wake both Smallest and I this morning. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

It was a more milder day today with rain later. Apparently we need lots of rain and then lots of snow so that our wells get filled up otherwise we are going to have huge problems. OH!

I left Huffle working and painting. He is almost all the way round the dado (chair) rail now. It does look nice. I went off to knitting where I finished a project (shhhhhhhh). We have decided we are all going on a road trip next Friday, to a wool shop and for lunch. Not too far away but it will be different.

Suffolk and I went for lunch where I tried Corn Chowder Soup for the first time. Nice. I asked the young man in there (not one who is used to our foibles) what Corn Chowder was and he said "it's like Corn Chowder but a soup". Umm that was helpful. Suffolk had chilli but picked out the beans and I had her Tex mex scone which was very nice with my soup.

Today it was Black Friday so we poddled around the few shops there to see if we could get any bargains. We got a few but nothing too spectacular. I was feeling very agitated by people and in one shop I had to ask four times for something I was looking for and this happened for three separate things - aaarrrrggghhhhh, plus I was having problems with people and their trolleys. DONT BOTHER SAYING EXCUSE ME, DONT WORRY ABOUT BUMPING ME AND CERTAINLY DONT THANK ME FOR GETTING OUT OF YOUR WAY YOU..............

I came home to news of a mouse in the pantry. I then spent four hours of hard, continuous work, taking everything out, cleaning the shelves, disinfecting and re-boxing everything. Huffle found droppings as high up as our middle shelf!!!! So annoying. Luckily, most of our food is in containers but a few things we had to throw out. It looks as if little meeces have chewed their way through the foil wrapper of a nutrigrain bar and eaten huge chunks out of it. That's probably been feeding a whole family for weeks. Eeeuuuugggghhhh.

7pm and the whole pantry was cleaned and disinfected and all food containers and tins wiped clean. Floors hoovered, mopped and swiffed. ALL CLEAN NOW. Huffle brought us back some pizza after all of us got stuck in and helped.

Smallest had a friend round to play (Evan) and they both played Club Penguin on the computer. They were very good and I didn't hear a peep out of them. Small watched I'm a Celebrity in his room.

We finished the Ghostbusters film. Meh! Tired now zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Shut up Martin

It snowed through the night but the roads were clear. It just left a good dusting on the cars and by the time I went out (late morning) it was all a big slush!

Kids went to school. Huffle worked in the basement and did a bit more painting. I went to the doctors to pick up something they had left for me and then went on and did a food shop. I forgot my quarter (25c) for the trolley and a very kind lady gave me one. I didn't have a lot to get and popped in to Suffolk's for a cup of tea and a chat before heading off home for lunch with Huffle.

This afternoon I found Small's football kit (which he needed for this evening) stuck at the bottom of his laundry basket with his stinky socks and wet towlels. Half of me wanted to teach him a lesson and leave them but the other half of me, nice Mummy, had to get them washed and dried ready. I told him though, if he did it again, I would make him wash his own kit for the rest of the season. Tonight, he brought them down to the washing machine after his shower.

After I did all the washing, I made dinner and sorted out some of the kitchen drawers. The boys came home, did piano practice and watched I'm a Celebrity. After dinner, small and Huffle went to Small's football and Smallest and I watched a bit of TV and started a jigsaw. Smallest went to bed earlier tonight as he came home in a very sensitive mood. Mind you, I have felt quite sensitive today too and we are all very tired. Huffle thinks it's the weather.

 

Posted with Blogsy

C'mon Ben

Another cold one with -2* but temperatures are going up with the oncoming rain and we should be back in positive figures tomorrow.

The boys went off wearing their snow boots and coat and gloves. No snow pants yet! I left Huffle taking calls and went to aerobics with Small's Tuba so I could drop it off afterwards. There was only Orange and I there today and it was hard - nowhere to hide today! Afterwards I waked with ExerciseNic and her dog and then came home, forgetting to take the Tuba to school.

I popped to MrsRoyals to give her some money for our new Downpipe Stone and just happened to be there in time for coffee so I stayed and drank and chatted and then took the Tuba back to school.

Huffle and I had lunch together and watched an episode of First Dates. Huffle did a bit of painting yesterday and today. He is slowly working his way around the dado (chair) rail and door frames. It is looking much better (it gets a lot of bashing).

This afternoon I showered, made a Curried Cauliflour Soup for tomorrow and made a start on tonight's dinner of Salmon and New Potatoes. I also went round to MrsRoyals again as she wanted to get rid of a picture she had. It was a 1950's Map of Leicestershire and our village was on it. It is now proudly hanging on our wall.

As soon as the boys came home they ran up to Small's room and watched I'm a Celebrity Live (sometimes it doesn't get loaded on until much later so they don't get a chance to see it).

Smallest and I went off to football practice this evening and Small and Huffle went to basketball.

This evening I introduced Smallest to Grizzly Adams. He liked it.

Posted with Blogsy

Club Brooky

I don't think we had anymore snow in the night but our road was nicely ploughed from yesterday. It was cold -1* with -5* windchill.

I spent the morning (after the boys went off) cleaning, tidying and putting away clothes before going off just before midday to school to pick up Small and three other boys for the School Cricket Tournament.

The tournament was in a big dome and there were about four pitches and lots of school's of mixed co-ed teams. Now Cricket was the first National Sport of Canada and was extremely popular until the early 20th century when it was taken over by hockey (oh how boring). Today the game of cricket was played like so....

1. The wickets were double the size with no bales
2. The batsman rans sideways to two discs placed either side of the wickets
3. The bowler bowls non-stop (very closely) for six balls regardless of whether the batsman is caught out or not
4. The fielders try and catch the ball or get it back to the bowler as fast as possible.
5. The fielders, batsman and bowler rotates after every six balls.
6. A waffle ball was used (like an air ball, plastic with holes it. It does not travel far)
7. If the ball gets hit over the line without touching the floor you get awarded 4 or 2 depending on something the umpire said!
8. You should not bend your arm when bowling but everyone did. Sometimes the umpire pulled them up on this and other times didn't!

Our team lost by 80 in the first game, then won the second game by 40. The last two games were lost but not by many. It was long, but enjoyable and I got to chat to several of the nice mums though it was cold in there.

Smallest got home before us as we dropped off three other boys (not one of them said thank you - grumpy face emoji) and we had dinner before Smallest and Huffle went off to football practice. Small watched I'm a Celebrity in his room and I did some knitting and tried to get warm under my blanket.

Well done Leicester City for winning today.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Slockadosh

It snowed all day. Quite a lot but it didn't really settle until later. I think it was too blowy to settle anywhere properly. But now it really feels like winter. What a strange country. It can go from +18* to -9* in two days. Crazy crazy crazy and I'm not ready!!!!

Five years ago today...............

.........and we were bombing around our hosts 99 acre fields on a golf cart and Smallest was driving! OUCH! Oh my goodness he looks so young. Bless him he was only four years old.

After the boys went to school, not in their snow boots. (Huffle shouted after them "what are you saving them for? The real deep stuff?"). Silly boys, both came home without their coats on! I took my car in for Winter Tyre change (just in time) and ran home though it was too cold to do my whole 30 minute run. Huffle took me back later to pick my car up because the snow was coming down and starting to settle.

The rest of my morning, I made a herby bread which tasted yummy but looked too small. Something happened to it during the proving stage. I also made a Baileys Trifle for the Garden Club Pot Luck Christmas Dinner. Something went wrong with that too and although it was delicious, it was very sloppy and difficult to transport.

When the boys came home from school they had soup and bread early and then piano lessons, followed by Cubs and Scouts. Huffle was MrTaxi tonight and dropped Small off at the leaders house for instruction in Tyre changing. He took me to the Garden Club and Smallest to Cubs for cookie making. Then he had to pick up Smallest armed with a cookie he made and then he picked up Small.

I got a lift home from a friend of Garfunkel's because I had my slockadosh Trifle to bring home and a downspout catcher (handmade stone hosta leaf) which I won in a Silent Auction. The person who made the stone was a vegetarian and I have her email address so we can exchange recipes.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Wayne Dance

Oh the weather outside is frightful............................

That's it! Winter is here! Well I guess we can't complain, it has been a very long Summer/Autumn.

This time five years ago, we landed in Canada, had to sit for hours in immigration feeling like second class citizens and wishing we were back in blighty. Then we spent ages picking up our luggage, our hire car and navigated without any sat nav to our temporary home for four weeks where we had a lovely warm welcome from our hosts.

So.....today. We were woken during the night by coyotes AGAIN whooop whoop whooooping and then by the winds which were 44kmph. We got up and sat and watched the new 'The Grand Tour' with the boys whilst eating breakfast. The weather was horrible outside and I needed to get to the Mall to pick up some gogo's a woman was selling on kijiji. Huffle and I decided to go and we left the boys at home. The mall is about 35 minutes away so we picked up the go-go's, had a quick peruse, bought some choccies for Christmas from the new Lindt shop and came home. We had given the boys a chore each to do while we were gone and asked them to get changed for when we got back. As we pulled into the drive, Small ran upstairs and got changed, the lazy naughty boy!

That grass is normally straight but today it was horizontal

That's a big chocolate Huffle!

We all went out for dinner, picked up a few essentials from the supermarket and came home where we made the Christmas Cake. The fruit has been marinating in brandy and orange for a week. Huffle, using his mathematic skills and Smallest's ruler (very important) to carefully line the tin. That went into the oven while we made a toffee sauce and popped some popcorn for our yearly viewing of The Toronto Santa Parade. Four years ago we went into Toronto to watch the Parade but ever since then we have watched it on TV with our own popcorn and warming drinks in a lovely warm house (brrrrrrrr it would have been cold there today). However today we couldn't get the full coverage so we finished watching Top Gear (I know it's not called that but it is that really). We also watched I'm a Celebrity and part of a film. (Ghostbusters).

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Crying under the hammer

A very rainy day which turned into sleet and then later had squally snow showers due with forecasts of 12-20cm through the weekend up until Monday afternoon.

Our morning started with crepes made by Smallest and I, with fruit prepared by Huffle and table laid and ingredients got by Small. The crepes are something we haven't made for ages and they were very nice. I taught Smallest how to toss a pancake and he was very good at it.

Piano and Tuba was practised and then the Leicester (lost) game was watched upstairs and the Stoke (lost) game downstairs and Club Penguin was played on the computer. In the meantime, I Facetimed Moo and gave her my shopping list for a Town visit in the week plus I heard all about her trip away.

Midday, we left Small at home showering, putting his clothes away and mainly playing on his tablet, and took Small to his game against Toronto Nitros. His team won 5-2 and it was very exciting. Smallest as usual organised his team despite him not being the captain this week. He got an assist and we thought he was going to go for a goal but he didn't.

We picked up some chips on the way home and some cobs and had dinner at home. Small had sorted out the table again and got drinks nearly ready for us. This afternoon we played table tennis doubles. We realised that Small and I don't like sharing or hitting the table and Smallest was as silly as a ship.

Later we watched I'm a Celebrity and XFactor before playing on gadgets before bedtime for the boys!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Cold Water Frisbee

5 years ago today, we left our lovely little house, in The Village. We spent the next two days staying with Moo and Grandma and Grandad before beginning our adventure here in Canada. WOW!

Huffle and I got up early in order to get to our Parent Interviews at school. We left the kids at home watching TV and eating breakfast. We saw Smallest's teachers first. PaddingtonsDad. He said that Smallest was a polite student who everyone liked, even the Grade 5's. His work was good and he was very happy with him. He had no concerns. Small's teacher MrBeard was also happy with Small, especially with his leadership qualities and his willingness to help younger students. He suggested his path in High School should be a Pure Academic (which is a University path) and we would be getting home lots of helpful info regarding this. He said he would also look into some outside courses that would help him ie code and robotics. He will also put him forward for the Science Olympics again this year. We were very happy with both of their reports at this stage and extremely happy with what their teachers had to say. There were two of Smallest's teachers missing today due to illness but we didn't need to see them as we had no concerns at all.

The boys and I made a picnic and headed out to the Lake where we met up with Suffolk and her kids. We walked to the big rocks in the water kicking a ball on the way and had lunch on the rocks. The kids played on them afterwards and threw rocks and stones into the water.

LittleKid needed the toilet so Suffolk and her went off one way and the rest of us went off to the beach and built some rock structures on the way, still kicking the ball.

On the beach we played frisbee but unfortunately it ended up in the water four times and MiddleKid and BigKid had to wade in the freezing cold water to get it. Suffolk and LittleKid came back to us and continued playing frisbee until we lost it forever in the lake. We were hoping a dog would fetch it for us but it didn't (though we didn't ask it to).

We carried on walking until we went over the bridge and did some looking out over the water and then did some running up and down steps. Then we lost LittleKids ball which ended up in the water. We were hoping the canoeist would get it but he didn't (though we didn't ask him to).

LittleKid was upset so we got out our bouncy ball and played with that all the way and we stopped to play a game with a it until it was time to go home.

What a lovely day, thank you Suffolk and Kids. The boys and I drove home and they caught up with a bit of Tv before Huffle and I took them out for dinner to say well done for excellent reports and parent/teacher interviews. Unfortunately the restaurant they chose wouldn't take reservation's and told us over the phone they wouldn't be busy and when we got there, there was a 45 minute wait and we were already hungry, so we went to another favourite one instead. Here we had lovely pizzas and dipping bread.

Back home, the boys watched the end of I'm a Celeb in Small's room (this time Small let Smallest onto his bed, but only at the end of it and he wasn't allowed a pillow or cushion or blanket).

 

Posted with Blogsy

Bodget, Scarper and a ladder

When the kids went to school, I had a lovely slow breakfast, tided up, donned my running gear and went off for my day 3 of Couch to 5k. My app has Day 1, 2 and 3 of week 1 and then Day 1 of week 2 and then runs out until I pay for the next step. I decided I would do Day 3 of Week 1 even though I started last week. That all sounds complicated but I'm hoping I can look back and know exactly what I have done. So, I started my walk by picking up the Royals paper and then turned around and did my warm up walk for 5 minutes. Then I ran for 1 minute which was surprisingly quick and easy (I could have ran longer), I walked for 1.5 minutes and then ran and so on and so on. This time I decided to run in a circle instead of up the road and back again. This was much better except that I had to walk up a huge hill (no way of running it yet) and there were tons of lorries driving past with no path for me to walk/run on and I was a bit intimated by them all thundering past me. I was also stopped part way for directions and I couldn't turn the app off. Still, I did 30 minutes or more and walked/ran for 3.5km and found it easier, I was less breathless and my legs didn't hurt quite so much. Huzzah!

I came home, had a shower and then had lunch with Huffle before I then went off and did a food shop. On the way home I was followed by a police car for ages and I had to drive really slow to stay within the speed limit. In the end I pulled in to school to get away from him. In school I checked with Small to see if he wanted me to take the Tuba home, had a chat with MrsMuppet who told me we should get Smallest tested for giftedness. (I told her we did and he failed miserably ha ha). We know he's intelligent, they both are but they seem to be doing okay where they are and we know they are gifted in their own right. aren't we all?

When I got back, Huffle had the long ladder out and was waiting for me to help hold it while he went up and cleared the guttering of leaves, sycamore seeds and general mess. He did a good job except when he whacked me with the ladder twice on my ankle.

ClownRose came over with LittleFin and we went for a walk leaving Huffle to clear the lower one by himself. We walked for about 40 minutes and we pulled LittleFin in a wagon that was really noisy and hard to talk over. We taught him how to high five. I drove to school and picked up the Tuba and Small, leaving Smallest to accompany MissM on the bus.

I made a soup for dinner and pretended I made a huge round bread too that I really bought at the supermarket. Small and I went to football leaving Smallest and Huffle playing FIFA (Smallest won easily). I haven't been to one of Small's game this time so it was good to see what he got up to. I think he played better on the outside pitch as it was bigger. He wasnt enamoured with CoachOl stopping and starting the game but at least he didn't play against the girls which is what they were told last week.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Tommy S on ChocNipMuffin

For those of you that work all day standing up. I salute you. Today I went to school to volunteer for Chef a l'ecole. I have done this before so knew what to expect (basically of LOT of standing around and poking of students who arent listening, rolling out pastry, washing up, oven checking, more washing up) but today I was there ALL DAY. I started at 9am and I briefly left between 12:15 and 12:35 to go home and eat lunch, and I carried on until 3:45. I was exhausted, mentally and physically. I helped out with four classes. Small's was first and I got to help his little group of five. They were very well behaved, funny and worked well together. The second class was Smallest's. I didn't work with his group as there was another mum there who wanted to work with her little angel so instead I took control of the ovens and another group who worked well and behaved pretty well. I was the only mum who ran up and down the stairs, baking, washing up and bringing the pastries down. Who knows what the others were messing about at! Then we stopped for lunch which mainly meant me washing up some more before I got home. Huffle wasn't home so I shouldn't have bothered really but it was nice to sit down properly if only for 20 minutes.

The afternoon classes were one tiny group of seven kids who were extremely well behaved and quiet and had the tiniest hands which proved difficult for them to squish the pastry dough together. This was my favourite group as I had a headache all day and they were nice and quiet. The last class were boisterous, noisy, didn't listen, didn't care and had me running ragged again. Fortunately one of the other mums took over control of the oven and helped me clear up at the end. The pastry they made was called Nunfarts. We had a discussion about English v Canadian words over this one. I had a laugh as I like the French teacher a lot and she has a good sense of humour. The French chef was very appreciate of my hard work. Glad I don't volunteer every day or even every week! I met a mum who said of Smallest "oooohhhh Smallest, who could ever get mad at him?".

Huffle had to go in to the office midday to pick up his fixed laptop. He spent the rest of the day on the phone. He did get a package from M&S in which he had to pay $60+ because of duty tax and handling fee. DONT SEND STUFF FROM M&S. it's not worth it. Even though they have small (and we're talking tiny) terms and conditions, it still appears we get ripped off. I'm guessing that's the Canadian system and not M&S themselves.

The boys got home before I did because I forgot where I parked the car. DOH! We had a very quick early dinner again in order to get Huffle and Smallest out on time for football practice. The boys watched Small's TV and ate dinner up there again watching I'm a Celeb. Huffle guest starred in goal today for Smallest's team. Smallest told me tonight that Small lets him watch TV under sufferance but he is not allowed on his bed or to even touch it.

I took Small to basketball and wrote a letter to try and block out the sound of idiot boys (Small excluded) not listening or paying attention. I sat on the cold wooden floor until my bum and legs were numb. On the way home we encountered several twits (and believe me that is not what I called them whilst driving) and had to flash one that overtook me dangerously from the inside lane and then slowed right down and kept braking suddenly.

This evening we watched I'm a celeb. Eeeeek, the eating task was horrendous, I couldn't watch.

Posted with Blogsy

I gotta Burk

I had a bad night's sleep (so did Huffle) and I was dreaming about us both going to the doctors. Huffle had an old fashioned tape recorder which he was going to play to the doctor to show him what the matter was. As we were called, Huffle went in and I handed the receptionist a metal ice cream bowl with ice cream in it (worryingly melting) and about three packs of cards that were not nicely tidy. I then couldn't find which door to go in so peeped around the doors but couldn't find Huffle or the doctor. I went back to the receptionist who was sitting on the floor (I think she might have been eating my ice cream) and then my dream came to an end as Small woke me up.......... well that's a bit weird!

The boys went to school. Smallest had his first volleyball game (he is AP which is a substitute. He seems a bit annoyed by this but as he has only just started playing, we assured him he would probably do much better next year as he would know what is expected and how to play). Small has created own website to put on his Readers Response work. We haven't seen it yet but he is quite excited about it.

I have been feeling a bit fed up of late. Huffle thinks it's the onset of Winter. I was desperate to get out of the house and away from all things 'domestic' and needed some serious cheering up. I called Suffolk who normally is the perfect antidote. However today she was in the same mood as me. We put it down to the Supermoon. Apparently her sister used to work with the mentally ill and the full moon would turn the whole place very weird! So we spent a weird day together, not really wanting to shop or really talk but we went to the Mall nevertheless. We did shop but not to extreme. We picked up a few ideas for Christmas and a few bits and bobs and our favourite part of the day was when we stopped for a cup of tea and some chocolate. We vowed to meet up later in the month and have a proper shop. Suffolk had to leave early afternoon in order to do her 'job' at school so I mooched for a little while longer and came home. While I was at the Mall I met a woman who was selling some Go-Go's on kijiji. We got talking and I am buying them from her at the weekend. I've been looking for some for ages for Smallest. Funny who you meet.

This made me laugh - a bunch of lumberjacks to hang on the Christmas Tree!

At home I made a start on dinner as Smallest needed to be out early again for football. I took him while Huffle and Small played FIFA. There were only seven boys tonight, that's half the team missing, though i don't know where they were!

The Granite people have come back to us and it will cost $150 to get the chip repaired. I have been very Canadian and asked if that is the lowest price. Bearing in mind the company said they would make us a chopping board for our inconvenience in the beginning and we never received it! We'll see. In the meantime Huffle has put tape over it so we don't cut ourselves or make it any worse.

Spooky tree shadow on the house.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Escape from StinkyAlan

The boys went to school and were supposed to wear their England shirts to taunt any Scottish pretenders (I say pretenders because there are a lot of people here who suddenly support Scottish Football, and have relatives or distant heritage, but only when they are winning) however they forgot. Huffle worked from home and found out his laptops motherboard was faulty and needs to be sent away. I went into work and worked in the Greenhouse with Red and Jan and did cuttings all morning. At break time we stopped for coffee and swapped shortbread. Red and I both made Jan's recipe and they both turned out completely different. Today was our last working day as Jeff needs to close up the Greenhouse to keep maximum warmth in there. HAPPY CHRISTMAS LADIES, SEE YOU IN THE SPRING.

I came home and had lunch with Huffle and then I went into the garden and cut down everything I could find that needed cutting, moved a few of the precious ornaments back into the barn and then mulched the huge amount of dry leaves on the drive using the ancient antiquated old push mower we have. Actually it did a really good job and was a very satisfying job to do. Unfortunately I then had to move all the mulchings on to the garden beds and then sweep the whole drive (exhausting) on the garden. I wanted to get it done before the weather turned as the leaves were lovely dry and crispy. I'm hoping the mulch will just disappear over the winter months and we won't have to rake it all off in Spring. Yes Grandad we put our tools away later.

ClownRose and I went for a walk until the bus brought the kids home and then the rush began. The boys wanted to watch I'm a celebrity so went upstairs in Small's room to watch it. Piano started late as MrsPiano didn't get my message to come early if she could. I gave the boys their dinner early which they happily ate in Small's room in front of his TV (what a treat). Smallest almost finished his by the time MrsPiano got here and the rest of his dinner went in the oven to keep warm. Small managed all of his before his lesson and then they both went off to Cubs and Scouts with their Leader. Tonight they went to The Escape Rooms. Small has been here before and they both really enjoyed it tonight. Smallest was in a room with two leaders and five other Cubs and they were all spies about to be executed. They had 45 minutes to get out using codes, puzzles and riddles. They got out with ten minutes to spare. Small's room was a harder one because they have all done it before. It was a Speakeasy and they also had 45 minutes to get out. They didn't make it but they were close. He was in a room with StinkyAlanFartridge and Monty and two other Scouts.

Huffle and I didn't get to do much. I had a shower while Huffle went for a walk and then we sorted washing, made beds, emptied and filled the dishwasher and then finally sat down and watched I'm a Celebrity. The boys came home and pretty much went to bed.

Huffle dropped a glass Pyrex jar on the worktop today and it chipped the granite really badly. The bloomin' cheap glass jar hasn't suffered at all! WOW! Isn't Granite supposed to be the toughest stone available? How come in th UK we had granite for 9 years and never had any issues, problems, anything? I have emailed the lady who sorted it all for us and asked if she can get a call to the company who supplied it to see if they can fix it! Bloody Hell!

Posted with Blogsy

Supermoon Sunday

Sunday. Ahhhhhhh. Nothing to do. Chill Radio playing. More Christmas presents ordered via the wonder that is the internet while the boys played on their tablets and Wii. A nice gentle morning with the sunshine beating through the kitchen window camouflaging how cool it really was outside. Actually it wa very mild today. Weird how many sunny days we have had this year.

Mid morning, Huffle and I went out by ourselves leaving the kids playing on the Wii. We bought the Christmas Cake ingredients and spices to make Mulled wine plus a few extras for today's dinner. There was a woman in the supermarket who was buying napkins purely for the use of her guests using her bathroom. She said that she was told other people don't like to use your towels as they could be unhygienic. Go use your own bathroom then!!!!! Honestly some people DO pander!

Christmas Cake fruits soaking in Brandy

We came home, unpacked, had a quick sandwich and then we all made a start on dinner. Today we made pasta from scratch. Huffle and Small made the pasta. Huffle kneaded. All the boys rolled it and cut it. Small and I made a tomato sauce. Smallest and I made an Alfredo Sauce and Small and I made a garlic bread. It was a proper family affair. Small and I also made Chocolate Mousse for later.

In betweeen, the boys went out and played football. We had a fabulous dinner. Possibly the BEST pasta we have ever made.

Afterwards we went for a walk along the train tracks.

This evening we all watched I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here while outside we enjoyed the Supermoon. Why was it a supermoon?

"When a full moon makes its closest pass to Earth in its orbit it appears up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter, making it a supermoon. This month’s is especially ‘super’ for two reasons: it is the only supermoon this year to be completely full, and it is the closest moon to Earth since 1948. The moon won’t be this super again until 2034!

 

Posted with Blogsy