On the Go

    A snow squall this morning but no accumulation on the ground which is still not frozen. However, it is a sign of what's in store for us soon. Some years we can get through December without snow which is a definite bonus!

    I had an early start as the tickets for the Seniors Christmas lunch at the Mandarin buffet restaurant went on sale this morning. I was there by 8:30 as I had another place to be later and managed to snag one of the first tickets. They sell out really fast as they are subsidized by the Executive of the Centre and are a really good deal. More on that later. 

    Then it was off to Hava Java for coffee and a muffin. We had a good turnout and much good conversation. We won't be meeting again until January as people are so busy or on vacation in December so there were lots of Christmas wishes despite still being November.

   On my way back I stopped at the other community centre to pick up an application for the room we use for the Knitters group. Our current rental agreement runs out next month so, hopefully, we will get the room from January to June of next year. We just use it once a month but it has lots of cupboard space to stow our supplies in between meetings. 

    Next stop was back to the seniors centre (and, yes, the tickets were almost all gone as we suspected) for an afternoon of Bridge. My partner and I had terrible cards (or played really badly) as the other pair won all three rubbers. Luckily no money changed hands!

Too Much of a Good Thing

    Fitness class was cancelled again today as Alison went on a two week vacation without giving the coordinator time to find a replacement. Also my Wednesday class was cancelled as Brenda was sick so only my home workouts this week. They are quite good, cover cardio, abdominals and upper and lower body toning but are rather boring! I'd much rather workout in a class.

   This was all rather unfortunate as I had a week of overeating. Tuesday was the worst as it was the Christmas lunch at the country club - turkey, stuffing etc. followed by gooey squares and coffee. All delicious but I had to be careful as I was going out in the evening for granddaughter's 16th birthday party. I tried to eat the minimum at both events but it was all so delicious! Just too bad to have two meals scheduled for the same day.

   Thursday was the RODEO "Eating Around the World" outing. This month it was the letter B and we ate at a Turkish restaurant for The Balkans. I just had an appetizer but that was followed by yummy Turkish Delight with rosewater and pistachios. Next time will be January and for the letter C it will either be China or Czeck, I voted for dim sum at a Chinese place.

   One nice thing was the entertainment at the Tuesday lunch - the Enchanted Flutes, a group of musicians who, as always, were spectacular! We were singing along and dancing in the aisles - I was anyway. That's one way to work off a big meal!

Mix-it-up Sunday

    I stopped by the bulk food store the other day and stocked up on all the supplies I needed for the Christmas plum pudding. So today was the day to go into action!

    It wasn't a big job and getting in there with my hands made it go faster. But now it's done and dusted and, once it cools off, will be stored in a dry place to mature until Christmas Day. Then I will steam it again for an hour and we will all enjoy its rich goodness!'

The finished product. It weighs 3 and a half pounds!

Free Books and a Cheap Meal - what's not to like?

    With the runup to Christmas my calendar is filling up fast. I am endeavoring to limit myself to one meal out a week, not just to avoid overeating but also with the cost of eating out. This week has been good as I just went to the "Festive Special" with two of my Bridge friends at the Seniors Centre on Tuesday. The meal was catered by Swiss Chalet (our local chicken franchise), followed by entertainment by the Line Dancers. We got the meal for just $10, subsidized by the Centre Executive. It was a sold out event as it was such a good deal!

   Today was the November Probus meeting and I found the speaker this week rather disappointing, partially because she didn't use the microphone properly and I missed a lot of her presentation. However, it was still nice to be out and socializing with friends and acquaintances. I found a couple of interesting books on the book exchange table (I had brought in four books I was done with) one of which was long-listed for this year's Giller Prize. Can't wait to get started on it!

   In the afternoon I had a long walk as the weather was cooperating and I had my hat and gloves off by the time I got home. Lovely blue skies!

One More Job Done

    Got the gas technician in the other day to light the pilot light on my gas fire. No idea why it went out but it is tricky to reignite. He had it done very quickly, cleaned up the fireplace and had everything back to normal in no time. I was very pleased and now I am cosy in the family room. Saves heating the whole house in the evenings when I am watching TV. Yippee!

Frost on the Pumpkin

    Yes, we've had frost a couple of nights but no snow so far. I have a lot to catch up on as it is ages since my last post. I just don't seem to have any enthusiasm for getting my thoughts down!

   The weather has been pretty miserable - today we had thunder and lightning - but I have been plugging away at getting the garden ready for winter. I put compost on some of my more delicate perennials, mostly roses, but also the clematis. Hope they all survive! The grass has had its last cut so it only means raking up all the leaves and composting them. Today we had strong winds and heavy rain so that should bring down most of the leaves. I don't usually start raking until they are all down.

   Hallowe'en went by pretty well unnoticed on my street as we have very few families with kids. I didn't even bother carving and lighting a pumpkin, and only had one ring of my doorbell (I didn't answer it, Scrooge that I am!). We had a meeting of the RTO Executive on Thursday at the local Community Centre but it didn't even get started as we had to evacuate for a fire in the electrical room. Luckily I live fairly close by so we decamped to my living room and managed to get through the agenda by noon. 

   Book club that afternoon was a very lively discussion (aren't they always?) of "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennet. Clara and I are presenting the next book in December, "The Hidden Child" (more on that later) so we had better come up with some good questions!

   This Monday's meeting of the Knitters and Crafters had to be cancelled due to the aforementioned fire (we meet in the same building) and I also missed my Bridge game as I had got a substitute to play for me so I could go for lunch with the Crafting ladies! Best laid plans, and all that!