Ash Wednesday/St. Valentine's Day

    Funny to have both these special days coincide. Although today was the start of Lent, this was ignored at the Senior's Centre as we had a special free day - cake and unlimited coffee. We had a huge turnout as everyone likes free food, especially cake.

   I was out early for my Fitness class but came home to pick up my lunch. It was sunny and above zero so I decided to walk back for my shift in the coffee shop. Lots of melting going on but we are not done with Winter yet. The puddles will probably freeze overnight and make for tricky walking tomorrow.

   I was kept on my toes churning out coffee all afternoon so was quite beat by the time I walked home. Then a nap and some quiet reading before dinner (salmon and broccoli). Now it's the Women's Slalom at the Olympics which will keep me entertained until bedtime. 

Shrove Tuesday

    This is also known as Pancake Tuesday when you use up all the butter and eggs before Lent begins tomorrow. However, today was also the Senior Centre's outing to the Mandarin for the Valentine's lunch. Tomorrow I will start to live frugally and have already begun with no wine or chocolate this past week.

    Catherine brought pancakes to dance group on Monday and we had them with lashings of butter and home made strawberry jam at the break, so the week started out well. At the Mandarin today I started out with some sushi, then had dumplings, dim sum, shrimps, mussels and stir fried veggies, and finished with several delicious desserts. Green tea washed it all down but I was thoroughly stuffed when we finally rolled out of the restaurant. Home for a nap then I went to see "The Shape of Water" at the movie theatre. A bit of a tear jerker but most enjoyable.

   Just soup for dinner tonight and more Olympics. Canada is doing really well!

   

What Next?

    Finally a day without any snow although the skies are still grey and overcast. After doing my morning chores (kitchen clean-up, ironing, bed changed) still in my night clothes, I finally got dressed just after 10:00 a.m. and went out to get rid of yesterday's snow. That took me about an hour and the snowblower had to dig through the windrow that the street plough had left at the bottom of my driveway.

My trusty machine - it has had a good workout this month!

   I was hoping that would be it for today but when I stepped outside later I realized everything was coated with ice - freezing rain had replaced the snow! Surely we will get a break from this particular weather system soon.

    When I got in from the first time out I made a pot of cauliflower soup for lunch. I usually don't buy cauliflowers in the winter as they are too expensive, but yesterday I cashed in $30 of PC Points so got myself a few treats - avocados, red peppers, berries and  piece of blue cheese. Despite the rotten weather I am a happy camper by treating myself with some tasty food!

Inundated with the White Stuff

Friday  
  Having an early dinner (last night's fish with some pickled beetroot) as I have to go to babysit the grandkids in half an hour. I wish I didn't have to go as it has been snowing since noon and the roads will be a mess. I am always amazed when people write in their blogs how much they prefer snow to rain and how beautiful it is. Obviously they don't have to shovel it or drive in it! We have been promised (?) 25 cms. in this current storm.

Saturday
Well, the driving was even worse than expected, very slow and cautious. It was impossible to see the lane dividers so you just had to follow the car in front and leave plenty of room for an agonizingly slippery stop. It took me 50 minutes to get where I was going (usually half an hour). The kids were good, just the two younger ones so no squabbles. Number one son was on a camping trip, hope he survived the weather!

    Judy was back just after 10:00 p.m. and I had an easier drive home. The snow had stopped and, although the roads were slushy, at least a path had been cleared down the middle. The snow started up again overnight but by the middle of the morning it petered out. I used the snowblower to clear the driveway, went grocery shopping and have stayed in since then. Guess what? More snow! I will have to get the snowblower out again tomorrow. It is getting a real workout this month.

   That's it for today. A piece of salmon for dinner and lots of Olympic coverage on TV.