Halloween Pinwheel Cookies

Halloween is only a month away.  Which means Christmas is 86 days away, which means New Year’s Day is 93 days away.  Which means the first day of Spring is only 171 days away.

Now that you are all freaked out about how soon all these special dates are coming, lets get to some fun Halloween stuff.

I have a recipe for Christmas Pinwheel cookies that is extremely versatile.  I usually just make them at Christmas time, mainly because they can be a tad time consuming to make due to making the dough one day, then baking the next.    So … Read more...

Next Week’s Menu

Boy, has this week ever flown by.  It is already Friday and we have had such a gorgeous week full of sunshine and warm weather it almost feels like August again.  For the third week in a row, I have tried to make Lemon Thyme Chicken, each time, it was subbed out at the last minute by something else.  This week was no different. We had a great excuse this time though.

After we launched the boat on Monday afternoon, we woke up Tuesday to a perfect day for fishing.  We eagerly headed out to our favourite fishing hole and … Read more...

Daunting Dock Dilemma Decked!

Mother Nature = 1

Hubby = 1

Tie Round, lets hope there isn’t a Rubber Match next Spring.

Mid-April this year saw our dock get trashed in less than a minute from a very peeved and obviously menopausal Mother Nature.  This is the before shot.  The lake was starting to melt and warm Spring temperatures were a welcome respite from the long, cold winter days.

Dock_1Then She threw her hissy fit…

Dock_2And left us with this….

Dock_3Hubby had just replaced the entire deck 2 years ago but now he had to remove all his hard work.  As he was removing … Read more...

Soup For The Soul

As the sun lightens the sky this morning, it reveals a low fog that has settled over the lake during the night.  The tree tops of the offshore islands are just barely visible, with nothing to see below but fog.  It blends with the calm waters of the lake making for an eerie and ethereal landscape.  A Blue Jay screams good morning as he lands on the bird feeder, breaking the silence.  Good morning to you too I reply.

With the temperature hovering around 46F and my hands firmly wrapped around my mug of hot tea.  My thoughts wander to … Read more...

Wooly Bear Caterpillar

Known scientifically as ‘Pyrrharctia Isabella’, the Wooly Bear Caterpillar is the larvae of the Isabella Tiger Moth.  Abundant in Canada and found as far north as the Arctic, the Wooly Bear hatches in the Fall and overwinters in its caterpillar form, literally freezing solid only to thaw out in the Spring, then pupating into its adult stage.

woolybear

I went for a walk yesterday and this fellow was in the middle of the road, aimlessly wandering in circles.  I moved him to the side of the road lest he become flattened by a passing car.

Common folklore has it that Wooly … Read more...

Signs Of Fall

The Autumnal Equinox officially happened yesterday at 4:44 p.m.  Prior to Sunday though, it had already felt like Fall the past couple weeks.  The sun has been much lower in the sky with the days noticeably shorter, and cooler.

The cheery summer warblers, thrushes and sparrows have all vacated the north, departing at least 2 weeks ago for a warmer climate.  The last hummingbirds were seen at the feeder  a week ago Sunday.  The feeder has since been taken down and washed, replaced by a suet feeder for the chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers who live here year round. Fall Leaves and chair_1

The leaves … Read more...

Next Week’s Menu

The first full day of Fall is Sunday.  I am sad. Very sad.  After Sunday, you will find me buried under my duvet with my cherished pillow refusing to come out until next Spring.  It seemed like just a few weeks ago I was planting my tomato and pepper seedlings.  Now I am harvesting the last of the fruit and composting the remains.  I even put my canning pot away the other day, although I will probably haul it back out next week or so if the Green Monster offloads more tomatillos before a frost hits.

This weekend will hopefully … Read more...

Greeting Cards…

In my quest to find the missing vehicle ownership the other day, I expanded my purge zone to my bedside night table.  I keep lots of stuff in there.  Stacks of photos in those paper jacket/envelopes from the good ‘ol days of print photography,  an MP3 player (apparently passé in technology), a pile of old pay stubs, new cheques, and greeting cards.

Lots of old greeting cards.

CardsMostly Anniversary and Valentine cards.  From me to hubby and hubby to me.

I don’t know why I have kept them.

So this prompted a question to be thrown out to the masses.  … Read more...

Toss? Or Keep?

The change of seasons spurs me into purge mode.  Each new season (or at the very least, twice a year) I pull all the clothes out of my dresser drawers and closet and fling them onto the bed.  I inspect them.  I try them on, I yank them off in disgust wondering how I could have purchased such an item, then toss it onto the floor.  Though I go through this ritual with most of my clothes, I have never actually gone through my ‘unmentionables’ drawers.  Typically stuffing any new items in while pushing the old to the back.

Purging … Read more...

Having a Stocked Pantry is….

like having your very own grocery store in your home.  Minus the outrageous prices and hard to pronounce ingredients that belong in scientific experiments.

I am winding down on canning season, my big ‘ol canning pot will soon be put away for another year.  It is time to enjoy a well stocked pantry and take pride in knowing the food we will be eating is actually that – food.  Not genetically modified, disease resistant and/or hormone filled products that the government deems safe.  What is safe about ingredients that have more than 12 letters in its name?

Me, I prefer … Read more...