A New Month

   I am managing to get the upper hand in the battle of the snow clearing. I used the snowblower a bit yesterday and today widened the path to the front door and some more of the driveway. The sun helped. It was actually quite pleasant working outside although the temperature was still well below zero.

   Lots of exercise today as well as shovelling. Fitness class first thing this morning then pickleball at noon. I went really early to make sure I didn't end up on the waiting list like last week. As it turned out, there was not a big crowd - in fact I had two games in a row. By 2:00p.m. I was running out of steam so came home for a nap. Now I am quite stiff but it was fun!

A Wintery Scene

   I was out early with the snowblower this morning to tackle the drifts but ran out of power before I was even half way through. I will plug in the battery tonight and finish it tomorrow. 

My trusty machine - the snow was actually deeper than the snowblower so It didn't do a very efficient job. Better than shovelling, though!

The path up to the front door. I will have to widen it tomorrow.

I had to step over this barrier to get into the garage. The snow was over the top of my knee high boots!

   I managed to clear enough of the driveway to get the car onto the road which had been plowed. However, the snowblower couldn't handle the windrow across the street end so that had to be shovelled by hand. I was sweating when I came back inside for a rest.

   The dance demo was cancelled, thank goodness, as the main roads were still a bit iffy. Instead I went to Bridge which wasn't as far - we only had 8 tables filled. Tonight my bones are aching so I will soak in the tub before bed.

Snowed In!

    A humungous snow storm started up while I was at Bridge this afternoon and by the time we headed home the roads were already clogged and slippery. I phoned about tonight's dance group and the teacher was reluctant to cancel. However, clearer heads prevailed (his wife!) and we phoned around and made sure everyone knew to stay home. I think they were all planning to do so anyway.

    I have a demo tomorrow afternoon and I am hoping it will be cancelled too as the roads will still be bad. If not I will have to try to get there. Fingers crossed!

   This morning was Hava Java (our coffee social) and a surprising number of people showed up despite the dire weather forecast. Now that the evening has set in I have got out my Twiddlemuff and am determined to finish it before next week's Craft club. They are becoming very popular and we have several orders pending which we can't fulfill. 

  Nice warming stew for dinner tonight so must go and warm it up. Then it will be an evening in front of the fire with my knitting and a movie on TV.

Food For the Cold Weather

   A sunny day today with no wind and I was out without a hat and still no boots - quite unheard of here in January. It felt a lot warmer than -9C. However we have another chilly week coming up.

     As you can see from this snap from today's newspaper, we will have no positive values at all!  The warmest day will be Tuesday but it will bring snow....and just look at those overnight numbers! I wish I could stay home on Wednesday as it will be fiercely cold to go outdoors but that's my day in the kitchen at the Senior's Centre. There will be a few hardy types who will be there expecting their coffee. 

    The furnace will be chugging away non stop this week and my heating bill will be on the rise again. Luckily I changed the filter on the furnace today so it will be working more efficiently.

    I had a productive day in the kitchen today - a pot of carrot lentil soup on before I went grocery shopping, just a small shop for some fresh fruit and vegetables, but I did find a piece of blade roast marked down 30% so made a stew this afternoon. Not a great deal of meat but loads of veggies - carrots, onion, brussell sprouts (I love them in a stew), tomatoes and half an eggplant. It should be yummy and will do me several days. Normally I would have put in some red wine but I am having a dry spell so used apple juice instead and a splash of apple cider vinegar.

   I am still eating mincemeat tarts left over from Christmas so that, with a clementine, will be dessert. I can't think of anything nicer!