New To Me

    Very excited - I picked up my new car today! It`s a 2018 Prius Prime - a hybrid with a plug in battery so should save me on gas. I had my last car (also a Prius) for 15 years so it had served me well. This one will probably be the last car I buy so I wanted it to be environmentally friendly. It runs on gas and electricity - a rather complicated system but I`m sure I will figure it out.

Not my favourite colour but when you are buying used, you have to take what`s available.

    The Spring melt should start later this week (I know I have said this before but this time I am sure it is about to happen!) I am going to document the melting snow banks each day to see how fast (or slowly) they go. Here`s today`s shot.

No grass to be seen yet. Stay tuned for the next installment!

Sign Me Up For Some Warm Weather

    Snow is forecast for tonight (pray God it's the last time!) and there are still snow banks lurking about. Everywhere the snow has melted is a muddy mess. I had a wander around the garden to see what was coming up and to inspect the pool cover which has a huge rip in it. Once all the snow has melted on top of it I will tape it up with duct tape - the universal repair kit! I think the cover will last until it is time to remove it in May but there will have to be a new one for next winter.

   In the garden, however, there are signs of life.

There are quite a few clumps of these spiky shoots, probably daffodils.

But nothing much happening here and won`t be for some time! It`s my rhubarb patch and it`s in a shady spot.

 

   What we desperately need is sunshine, warmth and a ton of rain to clean things up. Can`t wait!

A Couple of Signs of Spring

    Seems ages since I last posted but here I am, still around!

    We had a Zoom meeting on Thursday (how people love to talk, it went on and on) but the only part I was involved in was whether to start up our activities again. Seemingly head office ( RTO - retired teachers) thinks we need to be getting out there with activities for our members. So after the meeting I looked into getting the Knitters and Crafters started. About 10 people are eager to meet but unfortunately the community centre where we used to meet is booked at our time. I will go down on Monday and try to arrange something with them.

   Weather is still very iffy and although we have had some nice sunny days, it's still pretty chilly. We have been going through a cycle of freezing and thawing but tomorrow is supposed to get up to 15C with rain. Maybe this is the start of the snow disappearing! I saw a few green shoots in a sheltered spot this morning.

   I was up at the crack of dawn today (for me that was 6:45) to sign up for some fitness classes at the senior's centre. The website opened at 7:00 and I got on pretty quickly and enrolled in three classes - Gentle Fit, Stretch and Strength and Yoga. That will get me out of the house before 9:00 a.m. three mornings at least. I have become very lazy recently with no reason to be anywhere. After my early rise I won't be staying up late tonight. 

Two Tasty Meals

   I have become very bored with my own cooking during the pandemic and have been desperately trying to "up the ante" on meals recently. One day I made a lasagna using broiled eggplant instead of the noodles. Another good meal was a cabbage casserole, like cabbage rolls but much easier. I did make cabbage rolls too as the cabbage went on forever!

    Yesterday I had some Air Miles points to use so decided to splurge on scallops. They are an awful price here (I got four big ones for just under $10) as we are so far from the ocean, but my points covered that. Everything else I had in the house so it wasn't an expensive meal but Oh, so good! 

    I seared the scallops in butter, then cooked some green onions, mushrooms and red pepper in the remaining butter. Then I made a cheese sauce and returned the scallops and vegetables to the pan to cook a bit more. A final sprinkle of cheese on top and some green beans on the side made it all delicious and a very nice change. That was meal#1.

   There was quite a bit of cheese sauce left over (I always make too much) so I saved it and, this morning, made Eggs Benedict for breakfast. What a treat that was with orange juice and coffee. I skipped the slice of ham and just had it on toast but have to say it was delicious.  That was meal #2. Tonight is just some leftovers from the freezer as I have had quite enough treats for this weekend.