Meanwhile, Across Town

It certainly feels like this is the home stretch of the winter season. Don’t get me wrong I’m well aware of the fact it is only the first week of February and there is most likely still some sub zero temperatures ahead of us. Probably a snowstorm as well but let’s try to think positive.  But there is something in the air this morning and the sun feels brighter and the sky just that little bit more blue. It’s almost like spring may be just around the corner. Talk has turned to what veggies we’ll be planting in the garden this year and new chores that will be on the girls plate. First we’ll need to catalog what seeds we have left over from last year and then decide what gaps we’ll need to fill in the seed supply. Then we’ll need to get some new laying hens  from the Woodville Sales Barn since I for one miss fresh eggs each day. You think it is just something that people say but it’s the truth, store bought eggs can’t compare with ones fresh from the hen.Personally I’d like to get a cow as well to raise on pasture and then fill the freezer with beef but this would take a whole lot of convincing as far as Corrie is concerned. It just seems like a waste to have all this land and not be doing anything with it. Like all spring seasons that have come before the best part is the optimism of the summer ahead of us. What are your plans for the upcoming warm months?

Full post

This past summer there was an abundance of wasps in our area. I guess the conditions were just right and so they multiplied and prospered (and then multiplied some more). Since I don’t spend a whole lot of time in the woodshed during the summer months this little gem escaped my notice until now.  I usually only go in there to stack the wood until winter and forget about it but the other day when replenishing the supply in the furnace room I spotted the abandoned wasps nest. The previous owners left us a couple that they had cut out of trees from around the property that are quite large. This one is a lot a bit smaller, more the size of a football but still pretty cool. It’s amazing the things you miss until your perspective changes. Considering I walk within five feet of this spot at least twice a day it’s amazing that I never noticed it until now.

On the topic of nature I’ve yet to see a single deer this winter. Last year we had several right in the back yard and more out in the back field. I guess we’ve gotten off relatively easy this winter snow wise and therefore the food has been more plentiful and they have had less reason to venture from the woods. We do have a jack rabbit foraging the grass from the septic bed this winter and man it is a monster. We followed it’s tracks the other day and he must have been at a full run as there must have been a good two feet between tracks. As the girls and I were walking to the bus this week we startled him and he took off through the fence and across the field and man can those things fly. It only took about 30 seconds before it was gone from view.  Rascally rabbit indeed!

Things are progressing nicely on the kitchen renovations. All the demolition is done and the new wall has been studded, drywalled and mudded. All the electrical is done and all I have left to do is build the cabinet for the built in oven and the pantry. Then just some finish work and a coat of paint. I must say it all came together pretty easily although this most likely means that Corrie will have more projects like this lined up before the last coat of paint it dry on this one. The new wall certainly brings allot more light into the kitchen and it is actually kind of shocking exactly how much wood and brick will suck up the natural light in the room. The other bonus is all the new space we’ve created in the kitchen by moving the fridge onto the other wall and creating the new pantry spaces. Since Molly is joining us at the dinner table now it can get a tad crowded jamming six people into the corner of the room. So there is still more work to do but for now I leave you with the progress shot and although it doesn’t look like much I assure you it has made Corrie very happy and therefore can be termed a success thus far.

Apparently Cait has tagged me to share with the world ten things that you probably didn’t know about me. I’m not really sure if any of these ten qualify but I’m sure there are one or two gems in there. So without further delay and in no particular order I present the Ten Things.

1. I have a near photographic memory when it comes to driving directions. I can go somewhere once and will never ever forget how to get there even if it is years in between visits. A quirky fact about this is that it is all done without street names and I go pretty much entirely by landmarks. Of course none of this applies in the town of Peterborough, ON as I’ve been there more times than I care to count and get turned around and lost pretty much every time I visit.
2. My birthday is September 11^th and has been for 36 years, long before the events of 2001. Yet still to this day if I’m somewhere that requires me to write down my birthday or show ID I’m confused when someone makes some vague reference to the significance of the date. It’s almost been a decade you would think I’d know by now.
3. In my youth I was an avid downhill skier. This was of course before the advent of snowboards on the ski hills. During this time my hero was Glen Plake and I too dreamed of having a giant mohawk and jumping off cliffs.
4. In 2000 I changed my surname to my mother’s maiden name essentially ending any connection left I had with my father. To date it has been 16 years since I last saw him and I’m okay with that.
5. At the age of 19 I was the assistant greens superintendent of one of the most exclusive golf clubs in all Ontario the Toronto Hunt .
6. Corrie assures me that this is indeed an obscure fact but I remain unconvinced. I’ve been to Walt Disney World in Florida three times as a kid. Apparently this is a rarity but I’ve done it several times riding in the centre of the front seat with my Grandparents talking on the CB radio the whole way. As an extra factoid my “handle” on the CB was Little Peanut!
7. I spent the majority of my childhood growing up with my Grandparents. Both parents worked in Toronto at the time so I was dropped off in the early morning and picked up at dinner time. They are both gone now and I miss them quite a bit. I choose not to have regrets in life but not spending more time with them as a young adult is one regret I choose to carry with me.
8. I’ve never had a driving infraction of any kind. Not a speeding ticket or parking ticket to speak of. Some would say that I drive like an old lady but I always get there safely without having to fork over any dollars to the government for driving too fast.
9. In the winter of 1994 I had a severe infection (from an improperly cared for scarification) which landed me in the hospital. The infection entered my bloodstream and you could track its movements by which of my veins had turned black. It could be seen making it’s way from my calf all the way up my leg and across my chest. There was the fear that it would reach my heart but luckily a cocktail of antibiotics and morphine for the pain caught it just in time.
10. Last and certainly not least is the fact that since my early teens I always wear two pairs of socks at a time. Mostly it’s a pair of cotton sport socks with a pair of wool work socks over top. I find this also extends to dress shoes and sneakers as well in which case I’ll usually just double up a couple pairs of sport socks. Weird eh?

So that’s it. The next task is to assign this exercise to four other bloggers unfortunately I read a total of four blogs each of whom have already participated or are on deck.

I guess now is the time to undertake a home renovation project. The winter blahs have set in so rather than just stare at each other for the next couple months we decided to start tearing apart the kitchen. It isn’t like it didn’t have it coming. I mean who decided that a faux roof complete with shingles would be a nice interior accent for a kitchen? So the roof and shingles went and as so often happens when these projects start they take on a life of their own and tend to get a little bit bigger. So now the plan is to tear everything right back to the bare bones and start fresh. So out comes the brick accent wall (which didn’t really accent anything at all) and we’ll then stud and drywall a nice new blank canvas upon which our fridge, stove and countertop will go. Unfortunately one of the casualties in all of this is the antique cookstove (which I really love) but unfortunately it takes up too much room for something non-functioning. As a side note if you are in the market for an antique cookstove drop me an email as ours is for sale. As you can see below things are progressing nicely and hopefully this project won’t drag on as long as some of my others have been known to do.