Dancing and a Birthday Party

   James was four yesterday and Judy had us over for dinner and cake - chocolate, of course, James' favourite. I managed to persuade James that some of his presents from Christmas and his birthday could come to Grandma's house. He has outgrown most of the toys I have here for him.

    Before heading out to Markham I joined some of my Petronella friends at a nursing home where we entertained the residents with a Robbie Burns celebration. There was the "Address to a Haggis", recitations, Highland and Scottish dancing and a piper. After the residents sampled the haggis, we got to carve up the leftovers and make off with our tasty treats. It will be the first of several samples over the next two weeks.

   A much colder day today with the temperature dropping from -8C this morning to -11C, even with some sun this afternoon. The wind is bitterly cold and I came in from clearing snow off my driveway with a runny nose and watering eyes. Fortunately the very act of shovelling kept my extremities warm enough and I was well bundled up. It's going to be another cold week!

Snowed again

   More snow overnight (only a couple of centimetres) and although it was a sunny day, the temperature barely reached zero.

    Usual Saturday chores, laundry, grocery shopping and a quick trip to find a birthday present for James. He will be four tomorrow and there's a family party at his house. I have his present ready, something I'm pretty sure he will like and a couple of small gifts for the other two so they don't feel left out. There will be lots of good food ( I think Judy mentioned Lasagna, one of my favourite dishes) and lots of cake - probably chocolate, James' favourite. Also, aunt  and uncle and the other grandma. I must try to get some decent photos.
  
   An easy dinner tonight - chicken legs in a Thai Curry sauce which I bought recently and is a bit spicy. I'll add mushrooms and peas and on the side a new vegetable for me, celeriac, which I will mash with onion and garlic. But first, crackers and nippy cheddar with some smoked mackerel, washed down with some wine. Not too much or I won't be fit to cook the meal!

A Half Day's Work

   Worked this morning at my local school - the 5/6 class. They were no bother at all as they had band and the 5's went to another teacher for Math.  It was fun to see all the familiar faces on the staff - a few changes but most were there when I left. Also, today was treat day and, boy did they do it spectacularly.  I was sorry to leave at noon.

   Spent the afternoon napping as I had a rather restless night last night. I think it was due to the stress of learning the new dances for the demos but I do feel more prepared.

Feels Like Spring

   We are experiencing unseasonally mild temperatures this week - to make up for the frigid cold of last week, I guess. Or this might be our mid-winter thaw. Today reached 7C again; with the sun shining it felt quite spring-like. The ice created last week is somewhat melted although there is no green showing through the snowdrifts as yet.

   Went to the first Burn's lunch today  at a church hall in the west end - a tiny helping of haggis and a meat pie but the coleslaw was good. We were  dancing after so couldn't eat too much anyway. Robbie Burns birthday is January 25th so there will be lots more of the same in the next two weeks. We did 8 S.C. dances and some audience participation ceilidh dances, so I was quite tuckered out by the time we departed the church. Not a perfect performance (we all made some bloopers but I don't think the audience noticed) and lots of praise afterwards. The next one is on Sunday and a new set of dances which we will be learning tomorrow.
 
   Nothing special for dinner tonight, still eating the weekend's stew, but I plan to make a mackerel pate to nibble on while I watch the news on TV.