Hint of Spring

    It got up to 7C today, the sun was shining and the snow piles were melting (a bit). Tomorrow, more of the same but with rain. 

   More like a mid-winter thaw which we get from time to time, and the weather will revert to more seasonal temperatures by the middle of next week - an overnight temperature of -11C is forecast on Wednesday. I made the most of it by clearing the last of the ice from the freezing rain off the driveway and just enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. 

   I had a Zoom meeting this morning but managed to escape with a flimsy excuse just before noon. Then it was a quick trip to the electronics store as I am getting set up with a new cell phone that has all the "bells and whistles". lt will take me a while to get up to speed on all the new stuff. The sales person was very helpful and even got me a better price than my previous company which is always welcome. 

    Some boneless chicken thighs for dinner tonight which I will have with some eggplant parmigiana which I made yesterday - so tasty! I have restocked the freezer, just need to make some ready meals and I will be set for a month or two.

Happy New Year!

     I woke to a beautiful sunny day with a glorious white sparkling covering of snow, but......oh, so cold! This is often the way - when the skies are clear the temperature drops dramatically. Today started at -14C and only got up to -9C so it was mostly an indoor day for me. I did spend half an hour clearing the driveway and the exercise did keep me warm, but I was happy to come inside for lunch and a piping hot bowl of tasty soup.

   I had a very small weekly shop yesterday as I am trying to eat out of the freezer this week. I figured it was a good opportunity to make sure nothing is lurking in there from days gone by and I will start to restock it in a week or two. Yesterday was the last piece of fish and today the last two chicken thighs are roasting with some vegetables. There is still some ground beef to use up and bacon slices so that will take me through the weekend. Also, I have pretty much used up all the alcohol purchased for the Christmas and New Years celebrations so plan to have a "dry" January. I was invited to the Markham family on Tuesday and took the last bottle of red wine as grandson was cooking a brisket - his claim to fame, he is an aspiring chef - and it was very tasty. 

   As far as New Year resolutions go, my main one is to plan to downsize from a house to a flat or condo. This past year I have found the upkeep of the house, and especially the garden, has been a bit overwhelming so will try to get my head around living in a smaller space. And getting rid of the accumulation of junk acquired over the 27 years since my last move!

   

Snowed In!

    Lots of fun yesterday when the family (daughter and hubby, and three grandkids) were over for the Christmas meal. Everything went smoothly with only a couple of mis-steps, and lots of leftovers for me to eat in the coming days. I did send half of the plum pudding and some custard home with them as it was a big one. Gifts were exchanged although we had agreed to keep it simple this year, and quite a bit of wine consumed by the adults. Oldest grandson has reached drinking age but declined to indulge as he hasn't acquired a taste for it yet. Plus he was the "designated driver"!

   It started snowing and blowing a hooley early this morning so I haven't ventured outside. The snow is piling up on doorsteps and around windows, making any excursion outside pretty near impossible. It should stop soon and I will try to go outside tomorrow and view the damage, and see if I will be able to clear it with my little snowblower. It will depend on how deep the drifts are. Luckily I don't have to go anywhere until Monday. By that time the roads should be cleared. Meanwhile I have a new puzzle on the go and some books to read.

    It looked like we were going to have a green Christmas but it snowed overnight, very wet and heavy but, luckily, only a couple of inches, so not too much of a struggle to clear the driveway to get the car out. It should hang around for at least a couple of days. 
I had a couple of last minute errands to run today but I think (and hope) I have everything for the Christmas guests. 

   

     Had to post today so that I could include my favourite Christmas song which no one else seems to favour - Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas".