What's happening in your neck of the woods friends , Fall/11

Great that your Mom's b-day party went so well, and the weather cooperated!

I'm tired, and have more to do tomorrow (6 of us cleaned church yesterday, and 2 of us - Bob & I - will clean a catering kitchen tomorrow....

Here's something neat from Calgary, last February! Come see our beaver buddies!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beas8hgBl0k&feature=player_embedded

Marilyn you need one of these!
Peels, cores and slices .

is that an ever-cool apple peeler/corer! I can't see where the peel section is though... I suppose it's a thin blade though, so that would be why I can't see it.

The peeler is that loop section on the left side.

aaaaaaaaaaaaah now I see. A catering friend lent me her potato peeler for our Fall Supper at Renfrew Church (this Saturday - do come, Carol - $12.50 and the dinner's at 5:00 and 6:30). It stands upright, but it's the same concept, without the corer!
I'm going to the 5:00 dinner, Carol, and would love to see you there. Would you be able to come? If so, I'll get you directions, and have them hold a ticket for you, at the door.

The time has come for me to purchase, rather than pass up, one of these apple peeler/corers.
I do have a gizmo that you place over the apple once you have peeled it, it slides doen and 'wedges' the apple and holds the core in the middle, but, it's kind of labour intensive in the pushing down dept. I would imagine my shoulders would appreciate the other type. Now, i just have to find one.

Taking Lorna's car in for winterizing and a brake job in the morning, then, off to physio. Should be receiving paper work re the MRI in the mail sometime this week ..

Should TRY to get some sleep

~M~

Hi .. just read this article in 'Dave's weekly Newsletter', thought it was a nice read and thought I'd share it ..

Turning the Page: Autumnal Equinox http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3394/

Kind of an 'odd' morning .. I do think we are going to have a WARMER day .. a tease :-)

Best get a bustle on

~M~

Evening, not often I can say I've been busy at work but today I was..felt wonderful not to be clock watching! Even got my car back..lordy brought it in for timing belt and they ran into problems..was preventive maintenance only, nothing broke and see what happens..now I'll be listening for every little sound or miss..

Got to say that I'm showing my age..normally being busy all weekend doesn't fizz on me but it's taking me these 3 days to try and energize after mom's party and still I'm tired!

What a gorgeous day today, won't be many of those left will there be? Gets so cold early evening though..I'd love to just grab a quilt tonight and snuggle in but promised Ann I'd come and play bingo! Now that she's semi home bound and can't go out I go to her house instead of her hobbling here..if it were not for her looking for company to pass the time away I think I'd stay cozy here on the chesterfield.

Not many flowers left in my gardens..guess I have to wait for the shrubs to turn color..

Read the article "M". Thanks

What have you all been up to?

Well Betty, I'm still running off (and ruining) batches of fruit jelly !! Last batch was from grapes grown in a friends garden .. here in TBay that's kind of unheard of .. grapes are small and very tart .. and .. the grape jelly is semi jelled ... so .. I'll re process it this afternoon and add more Certo and see if that works .. very frustrating !! Seems I;m more of a 'pie making gal' .. !!

HUGE storm passed through the area last night .. 6/10 of an inch of rain .. Piper was none too happy with the thunder, BUT, he is doing better !!

Lorna and myself attended a forum on accessibily issues for the disabled yesterday. WOW .. the speaker was fabulous, from Toronto .. Christine Karza, a disabled woman with so much PIZZAZZ it'd make your head spin ^_^
Did Lorna good to be in a room with other disabled adults, some (most) much worse off than she, a humbling experience.

Still no date for my MRI .. but .. physio seems to be working .. can honestly say the shoulder is feeling better .. not 100%, but, perhaps 45%.

Lorna's folks arrive Oct. 2 so have been working away at DE cluttering the house, going to try an re arrange the computer room this weekend ..

Hope everyone is doing well !!

~M~

was hoping "M" that you'd come down on a jaunt to visit Lorna's parents now that you have a new vehicle and we could get to meet!

Sorry to hear you are not succeeding a jam making..must be some little thing that you are forgetting to do..easy to go buy jam right? lol I make great pies as well..keep my baking strictly to pies...ohhh Thanksgiving is coming up, must go find baking pumpkins shortly as the say they will be at a premium this year.

Glad the session was everything and more yesterday!
Busy this a.m. so got to run...

~M~ if your grapes are over ripe, they need more certo (cuz the riper they are, the less natural pectin they have), otherwise it needs more sugar and lemon to make the current certo work......
Good that Lorna was able to attend the speaker's session...... sounds humbling, indeed...

Well Susan, I'm not sure if they were OVER Ripe or just plain NON JELLIABLE LoL
I RE did the batch, added lemon and more Certo and still have a semi gelatinous goop .. that is kinda jelled in the middle, but sloppy on the outside, hard to explain .. Gord says it'll be fine to use on something like a Holland Rusk biscuit .. but .. that said, with him being a Type 2 diabetic and having to watch his blood sugars .. he shouldn't be indulging in this jelly with its 8 cups of sugar !!

As always .. busy days here .. physio, dropping off baking for a weekend bake sale, visiting my NEW Hospice client ,, on and on and STILL poor sleep at night :-(

Wonder if our HAWAIIAN vacationer is back from her holiday .. YOO HOO Alberta Ann .. how was your trip ^_^

Off n running

~M~

Morning all,

Thought of Lorna yesterday aft. Was having coffee with a lady 3 offices down from me, we've become quite chatty..she was asking me if I saw her with her friend in the wheelchair who has been coming into work every day..yes I had...seems she had a baby around Christmas, wasn't well..had flesh eating disease, lost both Arnold down from the elbow and both legs below the knee..omg..and she is back to work and in good spirits..soooo amazes me..

Beautiful fall day here, might be leaving early and going to the city to meet up with my youngest...Suzanne is I'll today and likely not in tomorrow, might have to change my plans

So quiet here on my own..sewing up moms afghan blocks into an afghan..she said it took her last time 1/2 day..im quick as a bunny and so far I've about 10 hours into it and likely 5 more to go..think she exaggerates. Lol


Looking forward to Hawaii photo's...maybe she will not come home, stay until winter has passed us by!

WOW .. both arms and legs .. lord .. you wonder how these poor souls (not what they would refer to themselves as) manage to remain positive after such a horrific loss!
The website for the speaker I mentioned above is http://www.icandothis.ca/
What a truly inspiring woman ..

Weather here has been dreary and cool with splashes of rain here and there .. got my haircut YAHOO!!! Been on my "TO DO" list for about 3 weeks !!

Best cruise along here

TTFN

~M~

Evening all...lordy it has been raining heavily all day, keep this up and I will need the Foxy Lady in the morning..damp so heat is on! Took today off and enjoyed getting a few of my to do's done as well..we are now both sporting new do's "M"..

With nothing to do over the weekend I decided to have a make work project so bought wood to make a 5' scarecrow...have the wood, now I have to get ambitious.

Almost 8pm and I'm ready for bed..got to love getting old, good excuse not to stay up late..lol

What did you all get up to today..

Another warm day here although rather cloudy. My second peony order arrived yesterday ( 6 roots) and I managed to get two of them in the ground this afternoon. I know where they are all going just have to find the energy to get out and dig those holes!

Hi All
Back from Kaui, Hawaii and straight into Month end at work. Yikes!
Have some photo's that I will post when I get them off my camera and my sisters computer. I emptied my Camera every evening there expecting to buy a flash drive and bring them home. That island is so small that no flash drives were available! Would have to order it in!
Anyway it was AMAZING! The weather, the wedding and location, location location! We were in a house on a beach that was right accros from Puff the Magic Dragon. Will post that photo too. The flowers that were growing everywhere were so bright and beautiful along with orchids growing on trees here and there. I splurged and went on a helicopter ride that show me the NaPali (sp) coast and the locations for some movies.
Talk to you later.
Ann

Good to hear you had such a nice time Alberta Ann ^_^
I can imagine the colours were something else ..

Carol, heard on the Weather Channel that Calgary hit almost 30C Friday .. guess your summer is coming later as opposed to sooner!
We're seasonal here with a high of 22C predicted today. That means we'll have a good chance to put a few of the gardens to bed and plant a few things in dire need of same.

Got my MRI appt. 8:15pm DECEMBER 5th/11 ~~~ Lots of time to anticipate !!!!! Find I am constantly reading up on it .. and I KNOW I will be calling and asking if I can pop in to just SEE the machine before I have the procedure .. right now it's all just too abstract to me ..

Enjoy your weekend all

~M~

It's hot today..............
Glad you enjoyed your Hawaii trip, AbAnn!!
Amazing that we can still plant this late in the season eh, Carol!?!
Just back from the Fall Supper today, and going to relax now.... chat later!

Another lovely day here and I got 3 more peony roots in the ground. One left and not sure where it will go and one that has not yet arrived but has a space waiting. The one left is a freebie so thats why Im not sure where it will go.

Susan this is the best time to plant peonies and if you mail order they do not come before Sept/Oct.

Actually so long as you can give them about 6 weeks before the ground freezes ( not frost) you can plant/move perennials.

A dog event tomorrow,( RDOG- Responsible Dog Ownership in Canada) supposed to be another warm day, we will be outside but I understand will be set up under trees so have shade. Not taking any dogs.

I love the ones you have, Carol, and I still have the picture of your prize winning ones! I really like the red & white one - CandyFloss or something?
You've Sold me on peonies, however, I don't have any room to grow such a lovely plant.

Seems we are pretty much all busy readying our beds etc for the winter ahead.
I SHOULD have done 5 minutes of stretching before I started today, but, NOPE .. just went at the weeding like a 'bull at a gate', as did Lorna.
I am up right now as this old bod cannot find a position to sleep in where i do NOT ache .. even got a bit of a sunburn. BUT, 2 of the beds are taken down .. my ONE peony is cutback, and the Bleeding heart ... day lillies are ready for spring too ..
Want to transplant some Rudbeckia and I dug up some Iris bulbs that need relocating too.
Today will be taken up with the AIDS walk .. will be helping with the registration and set up .. not sure if we will walk or not .. depends on whether we bring the furries with us ..

Young fella across the way and up the road won the Pumpkin Fest yesterday .. his pumpkin weighed in at 1025lbs !!!!!!!!!!!!!! He babies them from April on .. he lost 2 others (Ground hog) .. anyway, a backhoe/loader and 5 men got this monster out of the Pumpkin patch on Friday .. and, I guess following the weigh in, they 'gutted' the pumpkin and filled it with Hallowe'en candy .. yesterday it was lifted by a crane, and dropped .. KERPOW .. and the kids had a ball racing in and grabbing the candy.

Has anyone entered any pics etc into Dave's County Fair contest? I wasn't going to, but did yesterday .. guess the voting begins in October sometime ..

I had best toddle on back to bed .. if I don't, before I know it it'll be 4am and then I won't want to go back ..

TTFN

~M~


This message was edited Sep 25, 2011 2:35 AM

Morning all, " m". You went to bed just as I was rising, couldn't sleep so thought I might as well get up and be productive..too bad it wasn't light outside, could do some fall garden clearing as well! Not, so I'm working on a wooden 5' scarecrow for my yard...

Carol, this was the first year I ended up with actual peony flowers, plants always did well but no flowers...maybe it just takes several years to be established

Oops dog barking, hope bears and skunks aren't around.

WOW .. another extra gorgeous day here in TBay ..
The AIDS walk went very well .. had perhaps 100 walkers .. am unsure as the the grand total in pledges .. but way in excess of $10,000.

Came home and did another garden .. I was heard over hill and dale I am sure as I screeched at the EARWIG that got in my Croc !!
We NEVER ever had the lil beggars up til last year .. my gosh, what an absolutely horrifying looking little creature !!!!

Just finished cleaning up from a BBQ, and, I think I will be in bed EARLY, cuz heavens knows ... I'll likely be up half the night !

TTFN

~M~

Busy day yesterday - RDOG event. ( Responsible dog ownership in Canada, started by the CKC but clubs in individual cities plan their own events. We were located a beautiful Bowness Park in the west of the city and it was a perfect fall day. City Animal control, By law officers,vet tech present, a large number of rescue groups and local humane societies. Plus demos of a variety of dog sport- obedience, rally, agility, scent hurdling .
There were a lot of shelties there although we did not bring any dogs. However a local breeder brought out her 11 week litter of pups and offered them to us for a Hug A Puppy for $1! It was very popular, we had each pup for about an hour, after that they were pretty tired but it was great socialising for the pups who also got to be walked around on leash and meet other dogs. We had them in a small crate beside out table and one really funny sight was a huge Mastiff who stuck his head in the crate to sniff the pup- his head was almost the same size as the crate!

awwwwwww puppies! What a great idea "hug a puppy"!!!
I'd love to hug the wee pups - so warm, soft, and wriggly!

Ahhhh what a great idea..remember the kissing booths, they were always a money maker, am sure the puppies brought in mega $$$. the day here today is 'perfect'..just too bad I have to work! well maybe I can't call it work ..
Can you believe that some years we get snow late October and we're less than a month from that.

Think I should call and make appt. for snowtires..am sure it's a tad too early but .......
am sure they'll tell me when I should if I call

I think we are setting records here because we have not had a killing frost yet.

PUPPY KISSES !!! PUPPY HUGS !!!! ALL so wonderful. and one of the things I SO anticipate when going to see some puppies, or get mine ^_^

I am positive we must have set a record for temps here today .. just flippin amazing weather ... sunny and warm

Are ya ready for THIS ONE!! Lorna has injured her left rotator cuff !!! Xrays done today and an MRI on her horizon .. right now I am keeping her arm iced .. I gotta tell ya, 2011 is going to be SHOVED out by me !!!!! Well .. I guess I should say booted .. shoving is not in my vocabulary right now.

Best clear away the supper dishes and wait for 7pm to run the dishwasher ..

Toodles

~M~

Let's just enjoy it..much the same here,sure wish I could have been home to enjoy..wind is up, calling for showers tomorrow and the low of 18 tonight.even the furries did not want in..so nice that I decided to open doors and windows for a bit..air out the house.

Omg, that is not what Lorna needed..drats...frustrating isn't it! Lucky you both have each other to nurse each other back to health!

ooooooooh geeze, so what Lorna Doesn't need! How did she injur it? Too much yard work, and pushing herself, or did she do something else, like fall?

As odd as it seems, all Lorna did was reach over to pat one of the dogs .. just that simple mov't. It IS frustrating, but, unlike me .. icing her upper arm is proving quite effective .. thank heavens !!

I'm having an UP night ... but since today is going to another busy one, I had best try and get some sleep.

TTFN

~M~

Sometimes it doesn't take much does it to put something out of whack, simple turn and there you go..pain!!!!

Looked like rain early this morning, think it is only overcast right now, shows rain right through the weekend.
Am hoping that it's half decent for Saturday for Meaford Applefest, shows high of 48 yikes, better wear my skivies.

Bored, think I shall take a walk downstairs to the Halloween shop and dollar store..looking for red or orange raffia for my 5' scarecrow I made..will be nice to finish and put him outside. If it weren't for t.v. bingo tonight think I would sit and put him together..

other than that, not much going on except in this mind of mine I'm thinking of all the weekends I'm busy, what needs done, what festivities need planning..lordy, I'm already in 2012

LoL .. Betty .. I think WOMEN are typically planners, and PRE planners .. I know part of my 'sleeplessness in Thunder Bay' is my inability to 'shut off' my brain. With company coming I seem to go over menues in my mind along with what chores need to be completed and how I am going to do that in conjunction with my Hospice client, physio and general everyday life !!!

Temps in excess of 25C again today .. have all the windows opened so as to avoid using the AC .. there is a super nice south easterly breeze.

Best get a hustle on for supper ..

TTFN

~M~

Think at some point I get may days/ night's mixed up then I'm really in trouble!looks like a storm is brewing, looked the same this morning yet no rain. Ann called to say she was coming over for tv bingo, first time since she broke her foot about a month ago..will be nice..kind of wishing it wasn't bingo night..could so do with a hot bath and bed.

wow - what a day! I feel Very Productive and Pleased today:
I went to Jackie's kitchen, and entered a bunch of company names/addresses in her Merge Mail, and then printed out letters to all of them, so they can be sent/given to the companies letting them know of her new ph# and email address so they won't "forget" her. She really needs to drum up business again now that Summer vacations are over and Sept is here! There are several clients that she hasn't heard from for a long time, and she will give them a 5% "welcome back" one time discount.
Then I'd found some Industrial Strength toilet bowl cleaner and all the hard water yellow calcium stains WENT within 1/2 minutes when they bubbled up and I just wiped them away! She'd tried using a knife, but all it did was scratch the surface! It was that way when she got the kitchen leased to her......
THEN I got a very pleasant shock! My old boss (Leland - now a friend) had emailed me about 3 weeks ago, saying he'd gotten married in July. I was so pleased for him! Yesterday a co-worker of mine from same company emailed me asking me to join her and "Laura" for lunch today. When I arrived, neither of them were there, so I sat in the lobby and waited. Then another woman came, said something to the staff, and sat down beside me. After about 5 minutes, I thought "she's waiting too, and it's too coincidental Not to be Laura" so I asked her, and she was Laura! Then she said she'd given her name for a table, and laughed when she said she used her maiden name and should have used Baskin. That's when I was shocked, because she's Leland's new wife! To say I was thrilled to meet her, and for their marriage is an understatement! I'm so happy for him, and very very pleased to have met her!!
I found out her favourite colour, and I'd been making a lap quilt for him and when I found out he was now married I asked him her name and fav colour - he hadn't responded so now I know her name & fav colour, I'll make a lap quilt for her too! :-) :-)

Now that is quite a day Susan! What a Godsend you are...you were pleased with Leland's choice? What did you pick for lunch? Bet it will be an early night for you and what does bob do while you are out playing angel?

I'm no angel, Betty LOL perish the thought!!!
Today I went alone to Jackie's cuz Bob took a friend of ours to get her tires fixed - they had a slow leak, and by Sunday were entirely flat on one, mostly flat on the other, and the other 2 are so old they need replacing! So, she went to where she wanted, and they wanted $137 to repair all 4, but he could get her "new" to her tires for all 4, under $200. She went with his choice and they've put one on, to replace the totally flat one. She'll get the other 3 installed in a couple of days.
Normally Bob comes with me, and we work on different parts of her office/kitchen at the same time-ish.
Leland's wife is a sweetie! lol she & I are almost the same height, too! And to find out she was the one who passed on some of her quilt "stash" to me, was an extra plus. The three of us (Judy, Laura, and me) are going to meet again. Right now Laura lives in Texas, but when she gets things "wrapped up" with job, etc, she will be moving to Calgary! How nice is that?!?!?!

That will be nice for you Susan..nothing like getting out with the girls for an afternoon. Nice that Bob was able to steer your friend in the right direction..so glad I bought snow tires just before Christmas and don't have that to worry about this year!

Well, adrenaline was high at tv bingo, needed 0-67 and they called 6 numbers before there was a winner..nope $2,600. isn't being picked up by me!!

Ann came here rather than me go to her house, but, the way her foot was swollen and blue I think she should have stayed home...these boot casts to me aren't doing the job regular casts do..

Betty - she only gets all-season tires (I don't like 'em!) and has had her previous ones for Ages.......
the lady who invited us out insisted on paying for everything! Wasn't that sweet of her?!?!