Short Days

    Still very chilly (didn`t get up past -8C) so the fire is on and I am home for the night beside it. I have been keeping track of the sunrise and sunset times and finally there has been some movement - we now have 5 extra minutes of daylight! It has been stuck at 9 hours since the winter solstice but, when I checked today, I found it is now 9 hours and 5 minutes (7:51 to 4:56). How does this compare to your part of the world.

   A few chores this morning and demo practice this afternoon. We are working on the dances for the Burn`s Night demos which are coming up in a couple of weeks. I`m looking forward to some delicious haggis! In fact I have to go and order one for the Monday night group as our noble leader is out of commission for the rest of the month.

   Chicken and broccoli casserole tonight and I found a good recipe on the internet, so must away and get it started.

Still Cold

    The cold start to the day didn't stop me from my usual Saturday activities. It got up to -5C this afternoon but was back down to -8C when I came home around 5:00 p.m. and is still dropping - could be down in the minus double digits again tonight. I'm presently watching a Peruvian cooking a guinea pig on the food channel. Yuk!! I had it when I was in Cuzco but wasn't told what I was eating until afterwards. It was very bony and didn't taste of much but it is a delicacy there.

    I had a ticket for the Verdi opera, "Nabucco", this afternoon - what a great production! It was part of the "Live at the Met" series and the best I've seen so far this season. The chorus of the Hebrew Slaves got an encore. Very moving - check it out on You Tube.

   I defrosted a few shrimp for dinner - I had them in a cheese sauce with vegetables left from last night. It was the easiest dinner I could think of at the last moment and it was very tasty!

An Indoor Day

   A very cold start to the day (-12C) and it didn't warm up much in spite of the sun shining. It's going to be colder again overnight (still no snow) but not quite as cold tomorrow. I didn't venture out, other than a trip to the composter, just kept myself busy indoors. A bit more painting, finished my jigsaw puzzle and got on with my current book. There's a book waiting for me at the library but I won't pick it up until later in the week. The gas fire's on and the family room is nice and cozy.

    I made soup for lunch today and there's a piece of salmon for dinner. I am cooking up some turnip although I don't think it's a perfect match for salmon, but there will be peas as well. Tomorrow I will weigh myself and see if I have lost any of the three pounds I put on over the holiday season.

So very cheery!

Braving the Cold

   Very cold today but still no snow, thank goodness! The wind was bitter and I had to sprint from the car to the community centre for Mah Jong. We played for a couple of hours (I`m finally getting the hang of it) then switched to Bridge when the others went home.

   Bonnie was my partner again and we really had terrible cards although I did have one good hand when I bid and made a 4 Spade contract. I also went down badly on No Trump. I hate playing a no trump contract!

   Home for 3:30 and have just been relaxing since then, reading and working on my current jigsaw puzzle. Will get stuck into some chores tomorrow and do some more painting. Back to my usual schedule next week.