What's Happening in YOUR neighborhood today #11

I have a 10lb bag of frozen potatoes that I forgot in my trunk and dont know what to do with them now. If I bring them inside will they just go all mushy..any ideas? Can I still make mashed potatoes at Christmas? Shopped most of the day with very little problems..crowds that is..walked right up to most cash registers and the longest wait I had was at Winners..about 5 minutes. Its very chilly here but beautiful and sunny during the day..supposed to get snow tonite..Ill try to take some pictures..hope everyone is staying warm.

Well Jo people who like that kind of thing would probably hang it in the kitchen or the bathroom or the living room or................................

Dont know abut the frozen potatoes - tried googling to find some info. I suspect you should keep them frozen until you cook them. Most of the frozen potatoe products in the stores are probably par boiled first butIm not sure.

If nobody answers here you might post over on the cooking forum.

I'd bring them in and check them out. Your trunk will have provided SOME insulation for them. If they are mushy, try cooking a couple, but I wouldn't hold out much hope. However it's also possible that those in the middle of the bag might have been insulated by those at the outside.

Ann

HAPPY SOLSTICE everyone ^_^ .. shortest day and longest night of the year .. winters OFFICIAL beginning altho, according to the CBC news .. this will be Canada's FIRST coast to coast white Xmas since 1979 ..

Thunder Bay had a very light covering of snow on the ground this morning .. and a wonderfully warmer temp of 11F .. almost 'shorts and TShirt temps' here LoL

House cleaning and sandwich making on the agenda for today .. notice I did NOT mention 'night shopping at WalMart' .. I am savouring the moment, if it does in fact arrive .. and ,if, for some incredibly bizarre reason, I am drawn to WalMart on my trip into the city with the sandwiches tomorrow .. so be it. A Dollar Store would fit the bill just as nicely .. and there are LOTS of them here .. not to forget all the Shoppers Drug Marts.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday !!

~M~

Happy Solstice. Now we can look forward to more light. Here's what was going on last night

and heres what i was doing at 7 here the dog couldn't wait to get out any longer. Today, time to finish baking.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr! Its cold!!!!!!!!!!

Not quite as cold here, but the snow is blowing in fast and furious. Minister said in church, "welcome to the brave. Let nobody tell you you are a fair weather Christian". It was a smaller crowd than usual.

But we also managed to get downtown to Arts Court so I could pick up some OSO music for the New Year's Day Strauss gig at the NAC. I had stopped by last Thursday when they first told us the music was there only to find out it wasn't. With the bus strike, I try to stay away from downtown during the day.

Re the bus strike, they started talking again yesterday for the first time since the strike started. That's a good sign, I hope. It's affecting charities - Salvation Army has trouble getting people to man their kettles and clients are having difficulty getting to the toy depot to pick up toys for their kids. Merchants along the busways are hurting too. And some malls have a very large portion of their customers arrive by bus.

We got our tree up and decorated last night. Have a few other decorations that still need to be put out. The tree is a Nova Scotia Balsalm fur and it's dropping a lot more needles than trees we've had previous years from the same source. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to keep it up till after our party on Jan. 4.

I'm thinking that with the weather, it might be a good day to hit some of the grocery spots I was planning to go to tomorrow or Tuesday. I'm an intrepid winter driver, but I'm a lot happier when those who aren't stay home. (I grew up in the NYS snow belt and my cars are properly equipped.)

Ann

Wow, blizzard city..felt bad about not leaving Friday for Florida but am now enjoying my time just finishing projects, enjoying the day, looking outside and thinking 'thank goodness I don't have to go anywhere'..still 14 days of vacation left..am sooo going to enjoy it..

Seems strange now that I've had my Christmas last Sunday to be completely done...nice also as I can now enjoy the festivities without all the hustle/bustle...

Worked all day to finish Mrs. Claus dress so am thinking of calling it a night..know it's early but then when you get up before 5am you are tired...

With blizzard going on there will be lots to keep me busy tomorrow..

Hope you are all safe...

Nice to be inside..

Beautiful photo, Betty ^_^

It is a gorgeous photo - magical.

Love the pic Betty .. but hate the fact that you have MORE snow ..
I'm beginning to think Thunder Bay is under some kind of a dome .. we miss more storms than we get .. mind you .. we have ENOUGH right now .. the skiers and the skidooers are quite happy..

I spoke with a few people over the weekend and learned that a significant number sceduled their Xmas 'event' for this past Sat or Sun. The more I thought about it .. the better it sounded .. but .. since my turkey is frozen solid it was a non issue .. but the thoughts of having Xmas day free and clear was tantalizing to say the least ^_^

Off to deliver the sandwiches and baking this morning to the AIDS office .. they'll be served at their Xmas fund raising Bingo.
THEN .. I am going to 'get'er DONE' .. finishing up ALL my shopping .. that is it !!!!

~M~

"M" you are busy as usual..we've snow and more snow then snow on top of snow...I've had Cedric and Bailey (little creatures travelling the world) with me this week, was out to Midland shopping today and took a few photo's...

In some ways it's nice that I did have my Christmas last Sunday..Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I'll join family and friends and RELAX...not sure what that word means but I'll try...

Hope you are all cautious of travelling in this weather...we're topping what we had last Feb. and it's only the 2nd day into winter..imagine...tomorrow snow and possibly rain..now that will be a mess...

Cedric at Rona..if you look to the top right you'll see the big billboard..that's how high the snowbanks are..they are bringing steamer equipment in to rid themselves of the snow...can hardly move in Midland for the center and side banks..

Another photo of my visitor Cedric...my boys have said from time to time they thought I was losing it, it's now been confirmed..lol...

OH MY!! Cedric is quite handsome in a froggish sort of way ^_^ certainly would be amusing if he ran across Bullwinkle and the Gnomes ... LoL
'Finding "IT" is half the fun after you lose 'IT' hahahahaha !!!

Yesterday was SUPPOSED to have been my OVER and DONE day .. however .. life can sometimes be just so dang interesting !!
A friend was on his way to visit his VERY elderly parents .. NE of TBay .. his truck broke down half way to his destination .. so .. CAA ferried the truck back to the dealership here in TBay .. and we picked him up and took him home .. he thought he'd be able to rent a vehicle .. NO WAY .. so .. either we will drive him to his destination today, or, he will borrow one of our vehicles .. I would prefer he use one of the cars as I SO do not want to make the trip .. it's about 4 hours + round trip .. it's not so much the drive, but the fact Tim would be left without a vehicle .. and since his Dad is in a home up there .. he needs a vehicle to transport himself and his Mom back and forth.
Just waiting for him to call to give us a heads up ..

Soooooooooo .. I hope everyone is full of the anticipation of Xmas Day .. whatever way you celebrate it with whomever you celebrate it .. I wish you all the very best, and may 2009 be your best year yet !!

~M~

Kind of you 'M' to be willing to loan him a car..bet he's just distraught over the entire situation..

OMG bought a snowblower a few weeks ago,electric start..grandson has been coming over to do it..snowing quite heavily so thought why not go try it out...so now ALL the snow that was in the drive is now on me..soaking wet, looked like a Mrs. Snowman..will go run bath....as I haven't slept since 1:30 this morning think I'll have a hot bath and to bed I go..

Listening to all the weather from coast to coast sounds as thought it's not the nicest for all of us...please be careful...dangerous driving..left to go to Midland which only takes 15 minutes, went as far as downtown here in my little town and thought nope not for me, back home I came..

All the lights and music are on outside/inside, looks soooo inviting..just love it..

If you are on the run, enjoy family and friends..may this Christmas make beautiful memories for those you love...be safe...

I heard today that it will be the first time since 1971 that all of Canada will have a white Christmas. Happy White Christmas Canada ^_^

Outside my home as Santa and Mrs. Claus drop in to say 'thank you' for their clothing...

Snow now starting to turn to freezing rain..what a mess that shall be...

Of course Cedrik and Sailor wanted to visit with this dynamic team...

Dahlia - they've been telling us that too. Lovely, but at what cost. There are so many people stranded in airports and there's more snow coming tomorrow. I don't know what the current status is at Ottawa. I'd love to invite someone who is stuck here to join us for Christmas dinner, but short of driving out to the airport, I don't know what to do.

Love the Santa and Mrs. Claus pics.

Back to cooking.

Ann

Great shot of Santa and Mrs. Claus. You did a swell job on their costumes, Betty. They look so authentic. :D

My wish to you all...

Betty .. Mr and Mr Claus, and Cedric, look wonderfully festive and definitely 'Xmasy' with the falling snow .. I can imagine that Sailor has perhaps been watching all the Holiday Commercials on the tube that have dogs in them .. poor Lilly about jumps outta her skin when some of them come on .. most especially the ones with a Westie in them. I often wonder what goes through their little heads when they see a dog on TV, OR, DO they see the dog .. going to have to research that .. I can say with assurance, that Lilly only jumps up and barks and carries on when an animal is on screen .. when it's people she doesn;t much give a darn !!

Weatherwise we have again managed to score another perfect day!!! Little, if any, snow .. and temps that make any Canadian smile .. nice to be able to go outside and actually BREATHE, instead of inhaling and freezing your lungs!

Some tidying to do today .. having a buffet of sorts for supper tonight (thank you M&Ms) .. preps for the Xmas feast the evening of the 25th are slowly progressing .. by the time the 26th arrives .. I should have a HANDLE on the season !!

Enjoy your day everyone ^_^

~M~

Bright out today, lots of snowblowing coming up after hot chocolate..calling for more, do hope it takes a turn and passes us on buy (all of us) at least until Dec.26th..

"M" watched an interview at the airport last night of people waiting for flights...the interviewer said to this young woman that we were expecting another major 15 to 20 cm. of snow..she started to laugh, and said 'you think that's a major storm, that's nothing I come from North Bay, now that's were the storms are'...cheeky thing...

I also believe that animals show an interest in t.v. when animals are on..even the kitties will sit heads going from side to side watching..

I've absolutely nothing to do today except of course snowblow...if weather allows I'll go out for Christmas Eve ..buffet at friends house starts around 5pm..won't stay too long just long enough to say I've gone..my least favorite thing at this time of year (DH died on New Years day and I was told Christmas Eve that he would not be coming home with me) is being with old friends and being the only one on her own...so it takes a lot of courage even after all this years to venture out..but I will mak the attemp...

Tomorrow morning I'll get a call I'm sure by 5 from Noah and Kyle wanting grandma to come and watch them get open their gifts... that will take care of the morning..in the aft. I'll drop in to my girlfriends for an hour then have an invite at Suzanne and Lenny's (Mr./Mrs. Claus) for supper..MIL and 2 SIL's will be there...we'll see...doesn't take much to change my mind and stay home...

Doing my Christmas a few weeks ago anticipating my going to Florida last week changed all celebrations...so now I'll just improvise...

If I don't get back on, do ALL have a Merry Christmas and DO be careful if you are travelling..be safe...

Merry Christmas to all here. It's snowing again today. We got off our hill yesterday, first time in 5 days we could get the car out, even with chains. It'll be a quiet day, having to bake more as I've managed to eat most of it, wrap a few gifts, our Cooper isn't feeling well, hopefully it's just a passing minor thing. Last year he got real sick with pancreatitis after licking off 1/2 of the whipping cream off the pavlova. Being a Lab, he eats most anything, and yes, he watched TV when another dog is on the screen. Sometimes he goes right up to the TV. We hope to get out to the 10 oclock service tonight, weather permitted. We didn't make it up to see the folks and my sister because of the snow. We'll try again after Christmas.

Have a blessed day with loved ones.

Linda

Happy Holidays to you and yours my friends. I hope you have your days are filled with love and happiness.

Merry Christmas everyone. We went to EARLY (5 pm) kids' service at church with our daughter, SIL and DGTwins (age 6). DH was the back half of the camel (a costume which steals the show every Christmas). I would go to 11 pm service as well - it's lovely and peaceful, but there's freezing rain out there; so I think we'll stay home this year. (Actually my preferred service would be the 7:30 which is done by the choir, but there's no way we would do two back to back (though many do).

I still have things to wrap. Was at the Food Cupboard a good portion of the day as we were open this afternoon and I'm looking after files while the person who's in charge now is in Alberta. But my stuffing was done today in the slow cooker. My creamed onions and carrots are done. The turkey isn't too large; so it shouldn't take too long to cook tomorrow. Last night I did Cinnamon buns and rolls for tomorrow.

Off to finish up things. I hope all goes well for your Christmas.

Ann

Merry Christmas to all my DG friends!!! We are thankful that it has warmed up slightly, but we still have snow everywhere. Warmer weather is upon us but it will take awhile for the snow to be gone. We are also thankful that our daughter arrived safely this afternoon aboard a Westjet flight from Edmonton. It only took 2½ days!!! Looking forward to our day with family tomorrow.
Best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful 2009!

Merry Christmas everyone!

WOOO HOOO ... only 364 days left til NEXT Xmas !!!!!

I think I'm safe to say we can all join Betty in the 'anti climatic' zone .. gosh .. all the preparations and shopping and worry .. and .. POOF .. here it is Dec. 26th and we're still upright and walking.

I had a rather 'odd' experience yesterday .. had just put my turkey in the oven .. everything else was done .. the phone rang it was my Hospice clients daughter (Agnes passed away a few weeks ago) .. Jan invited us to come by and share a bit of the day with her. WELL .. the whole experience has me smiling a mile. Jan is married to a fellow from New Orleans .. and .. they have what is referred to as a 'ZAYDECO XMAS' .. with typical Zaydeco music set to Christmas tunes .. the food is spicy and the decorations multi coloured and vibrant .. lots of small twinkling lights everywhere .. the aroma of the food that permeated the home was fabulous !! I had planned to stay for half an hour, but ended up staying almost 2 hours !! I have to say .. it was the music .. and, of course the atmosphere.
Jan's hubby is going to copy some of the music for me onto a CD .. it really is quite something.
Otherwise .. back on the ranch .. dinner was served while humming and all turned out well :-)

OH OH OH !!! I got a bread maker for Xmas .. of course .. me being me .. I HAD to try it out .. had the ingredients to make a 'loaf' of whole wheat bread .. it turned out OK .. for a first attempt, I didn't blow up the house ^_^
If you have one .. do you have any tips or recipes to share ?

Enjoy your day !!

~M~

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

way too much snow here

CHINOOK! Current official temp is 0 C!

Chinook here as well .. I'm a fahrenheit gal Lol .. it's 34F here and DENSE fog !!! Supposed to have some freezing drizzle just to make driving so much more interesting ..

Off to the dump !!!

~M~

Hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas..talk about being spoilt..lol..we deserve it don't we..

Thought I'd clean up the craft room and woodworking room as it was mild here this morning, no sooner got dressed made a couple of runs to the pit and thunder/lightning and heavy rains started...if it continues, know a lot of us will be flooded out..can't win can we...

You've just made me hungry for homemade bread "M"..must get my machine out and see what I'm missing to make a loaf...just the smell is to die for..

Beautiful photo's all..

Best go have lunch...don't know why I thought it was supper....maybe getting up just after 4am did it...

So glad you went and enjoyed a few hours with Agnes' family...hard time for them I'm sure and of course your visiting would bring a smile...

I truly have been busy..can't seem to slow down..yesterday I drove to Barrie, of course a blizzard was happening so didn't stay long..did however purchase some tile for the washroom for the ceiling and side of the tub enclosure..did I wait to start..nope...did a mighty fine job if I don't say so myself..lol another day and I can grout..already looking for another project...

Got to spend the $$$ everyone gave me to go to Florida as a Christmas gift..with not going so far I've managed to purchase a new coffee table with lift top so I can use it to paint...smilling here..my other one didn't work...then the washroom...have a feeling on Monday I'm going to look for wallpaper for the hallway..did I say I had 16 days off for a rest...shaking my head 'no'..

LOL...you know what they say, Betty; Idle Hands are the Devil's Playground. ^_^

Finally celectrated solistice today. My new interpretive dance 'Emergence of the Bulbous Things"

and Look! my sleeping bulbous things sent a sign that they liked it.

HAhahahahah .. Dahlia .. you are fer sure 'a nut' .. but a nice nut .. guess I should see if I danced for my gardens if they'd smile at me .. tend to think they might LOL !!!

The temps today are such a treat .. the freeze up following sure won't be !!

Typically 'Busy Betty' .. but busy in an industrious and fruitful kind of way .. I can get 'crazy busy' and not accomplish a thing ..
I am probably one of the world's only people (besides Betty) that enjoys wallpapering .. I sorta am a BORDER lover .. the FULL ON papering sometimes drives me crazy if there's lots of matching to do !! I have done it and NOT matched and defied people to find the place where I made the boo boo .. :-)

I have a question for y'all .. I went to the Bulk store and bought ingredients to use in the breadmaker .. I don't often go to the Bulk store .. but .. I wanted stuff you can't buy at say Safeway, A&P or the StupidStore .. the question ... if you use the bulk store, do you find you actually do SAVE money? I have always wondered if I am living in a fools paradise thinking I am saving bunches of money, when, in fact, I am not.

Off to make Turkey Tetrazzini .. almost have the whole bird used up :-) If anyone has the chance to purchase a 'JENNY O' turkey (in the US0 do NOT hesitate .. I must say .. compared to the FRESH bird I had at Thanksgiving .. the Jenny O was far superior :-)

OK .. off I go

~M~

Merry Christmas everyone! Great shots of kids and dogs and critters and homes and bulbs.
We too have had a busy season. Working in retail means I have been going a bit nuts.
I do consider my family blessed as my nephew survived a head on crash down by Lethbridge which took the life of the 17 yr old girl who was driving the other car which came over the center line on ice. He said he had been going slow on the highway as it was black ice and as she came over he headed for the ditch but she came all the way over and hit him in the ditch. He did CPR on her untill the paramedics arrived and then was taken to the hospital too but just had some bumps and bruises with whiplash.
We feel very much for the other family as their Christmas will never be the same.
Life is so precious

May you all be blessed with health and happiness for 2009 and may all the bulb things grow beyond your wildest dreams!
Ann in Edmonton where it was warm enough to go tobogganing to day Yahoo!!

Ann, my heart goes out to that family....how truly blessed you are to have your nephew with you today..Lord works in mysterious ways doesn't he...
"M" I've days that I can clean, did I say clean? I make a total disaster first through the process, finish the project which normally I've put a day in to find that visually to the eyes no one would know I worked a 1/2 an hour let alone an entire day...

Yesterday I needed to purchase some adhesive for the tiles as I was short ...by the time I came home my energy level after a few telephone calls was zilch so up this morning finishing my project..turning out fine though, even DS was impressed..lol..

His wife and children were in Meaford for the weekend and as he couldn't snowmobile (boy he's upset about that one, he usually tries to get the 3 days they are away out on the trails with the boys-couldn't because of torrential downpour) so, came over to work on a few projects for his wife..staining a stool she got for christmas, repair strutts and stain one of the dining room chairs and repair a bowl/jug piece that came unglued...so I joined in and I had painted a golf piece with antique clubs and golf balls..had the frame for months but never finished it so stained it right along with him..knew he was tired of turkey so cooked a roast and made 2 pies...his first comment, 'mom, why do you cook for 10 when we're only 2'...at least I didn't burn it..lol

Meant to add, I'm hoping none of you are experiencing flooding..keep checking the basement, it's a lake outside...drats...I'd rather have snow..