A Fresh Start

  Sunny again this morning and the snowbanks are receding. Water is running down the gutter so it is almost like Spring. It clouded aver around noon but I had already had my walk and had sat outside for half-an-hour. The sun really had some warmth to it.

   I spent the afternoon painting the baseboard in the basement. First the sanding, then a wipe with a damp cloth and finally the paint. I ran out of steam before I was finished (my knees were getting stiff and sore) but I will get the paint out again later in the week. There is another little job I need to do down there. I always feel the need to do something extra around the house as we enter the New Year. I think this is a holdover from my childhood when my mother would compulsively clean the house from top to bottom before the last day of the year so as to have a fresh start.

   Last night's brussell sprouts turned out well and the leftovers will go in tonight's chicken pot pie. This is an attempt to use up the last of the stuffing before it becomes too potent to eat. I have to be careful with leftovers as I tend to let them hang around too long. I've had a few tummy upsets as a result - not very pleasant!

Finally, Sun!

  Glorious sun today! I finally got the last of the ice chipped off the driveway and even sat out in the sun for half-an-hour. I also covered the outdoor air conditioning unit, a chore I should have done several months ago but...better late than never! It`s now protected from the elements for the rest of the winter.

   Apart from a trip to the grocery store yesterday and a half-hour walk around the neighbourhood today, I have barely been out of the house all weekend. Luckily I have a really good book on the go - `Òther People`s Children`by Joanna Trollope. I found it on my basement bookshelf the other day and hadn`t realize I hadn't read it. I probably picked it up at the Probus book exchange.

   Another surprise yesterday - I thought I had eaten up all the leftovers from the Christmas meal but found a container full of stuffing at the back of the fridge. Yesterday I fried some of it up with half an onion and today I will eat some more with a piece of salmon. I am also roasting some brussell sprouts in oil, cider vinegar and maple syrup, a recipe I found on the internet. It also called for bacon bits but I think they will still taste great without it.

A Winter Wonderland

   We had a dump of snow last night. In fact it was still coming down when I got up so I was glad not to be driving anywhere until it stopped. I was out shovelling by 9:00 this morning and it was quite beautiful with everything white and fresh. The temperature was hovering on zero so the snow was rather wet and heavy. Luckily there was only about 5 cms. so it is almost all cleared away. I have to do it in intervals as my back starts to ache after half-an-hour. There will be more to do at the bottom of my driveway once the snow plow has been around but that can wait until tomorrow.

    I had another Mah-jong lesson this morning at the Community Centre and am finally getting the hang of it. There were eight of us and, luckily, two people who knew what they were doing. We played until noon then my Bridge group headed over to Margaret's condo as the Senior's Centre is closed this week and next. Her condo is quite spacious and I could see myself living there if it wasn't for the lack of outdoor space. I do love being able to step out into the garden.

She gave us a light lunch and we played until 3:00 when I came home to do some more shovelling.

   Still eating leftovers but they are diminishing. After the chicken, stuffing and vegetables I plan to treat myself to a mincemeat tart and custard. There seem to have been a lot of treats recently!

Keeping Busy

   With all my usual fitness classes over until the new year I habitually at this time get some long delayed chores done. Today was no exception. First off was to put away the last of the Christmas decorations. I took the tree down on Boxing Day as I had nothing else to do; yesterday I boiled the carcass of the bird (this year, again, we had a capon and lovely and juicy it was) so today there was a quick trip to the grocery store (blessedly quiet) to pick up the veg for the chicken soup. This all got done before lunch with the soup bubbling away while I had a nap.

    When I got up I decided to make some marmalade as the clementines left over from Christmas lunch were already getting soft. I found a great recipe in my "Preserving and Pickling" guide book on all things domestic and made three jars of marmalade with one pound of clementines and a lemon (and, of course, a ton of sugar). It seems to have turned out well but I will have to wait and see if it has set as I couldn't get the temperature up to the proscribed 105 degrees. Best part, it called for 2 tbsps. of Cointreau so I had a swig while the bottle was open - very tasty!

 

These jars of chicken soup are going in the freezer. Notice I craftily left a space for expansion as I have had nasty accidents when using glass containers in the freezer.

Not a bad result from a few clementines and a lemon. One jar is only half full so I will use it first.

My preserving bible - I particularly like some of the chutney recipes.