The Driveway Is Clear of Ice

 Yesterday was sunny with a high of 6C. This morning it is snowing lightly and 0C. Today it is supposed to snow and rain and we could have freezing rain also. The high is to get to 3C. 

Lifestyle

My first job of the morning was to finish cleaning the driveway. That job took about 20 minutes of hard work as I was chipping through 2.5" of solid ice. It is a good thing that I had salted it well as the salty water ran under the ice when I got it lifted a tiny bit. It lifted the ice just enough for me to chisel my way through it. The driveway was clear of all ice by 9:20 am. 

Once inside, I set about making a meat sauce for the gnocchi. It is very similar to spaghetti sauce except it has less spices in it. I left it to cool and put it in the fridge. 

Daughter-in-law picked me up and we went to Dartmouth to get a few things for her parents who arrive tomorrow. We also did some snoop shopping. We had a lot of fun looking at the discounted Christmas items of which I bought 2 black ornaments to decorate and she bought two small boxes of chocolates. We got a few things we needed at Dollarama and the rest was food at Walmart. We were home by 1:30 pm.

Once home, I did some cleaning, folded laundry and laundered the 2 pieces of fabric I bought. My friend will be over for dinner tonight and I am better prepared for her to come tonight than last night. 

Sewing

I did not sew yesterday as I spent the afternoon doing jobs upstairs. 

When I was at the quilt shop, I saw the apron pattern I want was in stock. 

I will be buying it at the end of the month or in early February. I love it made up. 

It takes 1 yard of the main fabric and 3/8 yard of the contrast fabric. I have fabric in the stash for this project. 

I also have a Mary Mulari's Crisscross apron pattern to make up this year. I want to make a few aprons for myself and for sale before November's craft bazaar. 

Knitting

I started a bowtie scarf for the dolls and hate it. I am going to rip it out and try another scarf pattern. Part of trying new patterns to see if they work or if they don't. I am using left over yarn from socks. 

Thoughts

    My allergies are settling down and I am coughing less often. I think I had a reaction to snow mould when we got home. I will have to be careful this spring and summer as I will probably react to a lot of pollen. 

    We are under a weather warning for rain, snow, freezing rain, and what ever else Mother Nature will throw at us. I have to salt the driveway first thing this morning so I don't get ice forming on it. Our weather is all over the map for the next few days; cooler, wet, warm, sunny, and everything else in-between . 

    I am slowly getting back into a routine and will be working on cleaning the house (up and down) and enjoying sewing and knitting projects. I do want to get out some each week so I don't feel cooped up and depressed. 

Today

I am out early this morning to make sandwiches, home to do a few things to get ready for dinner, back out to help serve the sandwiches, and back home to make dinner for my friend. It is a busy day but I am looking forward to it. I won't sew but I may knit tonight for a bit. 

Until the next time.................................................................

Progress In All Areas Of Life

 Yesterday was a mix of sun and clouds with more sun than anticipated. The high got to 3C. This morning it is cloudy and 7C. Today is going to be cloudy with a high of 8C. 

Lifestyle

After doing a bit of ice removal and salting the driveway, I headed out to New Minas. My first stop was Walmart for groceries. I wandered the store looking for items as I hadn't been in it for over 8 weeks. I was use to shopping at Disco in Montevideo. Had a couple of chuckles while shopping. 

My next stop was the office supply place where I asked about the USB hub. They don't know why it stopped charging my phone. I'll buy a new one next month if a different cord doesn't work. 

The next stop was at the quilt shop and I got 2 pieces of fabric. One for the Edwardian bicycle outfit and one for a dress I am making to show proportion. 

The last stop was at Dollarama. I got a couple of things I needed but they didn't have one item I wanted. I'll look at other Dollarama stores as they could carry it. 

Once home, I scraped more ice off the driveway and put down more salt. Between the salt and the rain that fell last night, I may have a small amount of slush to shovel this morning. And I may not have anything to shovel. 

The sky last night was beautiful. 

We didn't see these types of skies in Montevideo. 

I did spend a couple of hours reading before dinner and while eating dinner. I am enjoying the fun mysteries I found on Amazon. They are light and easy to read. 

Sewing

I did sew yesterday afternoon. The sleeves were hand basted in to the coat and then sewn. I spent a lot of time pressing them to look nice. I then sewed the side seams and pressed them open. 

I am pleased with the how the coat looks though I am going to shorten the sleeve length a bit. 

The collar is pinned ready to sew together and attach to the coat. Then it will be on to the lining. I am not rushing this project and am enjoying the time I spend working on it. 

Knitting

I knit last night and finished the sock. 

I am now going to knit something for the dolls. Then it will be on to knitting another pair of socks. 

Thoughts

    The temperature is supposed to drop today and we will be back to cooler weather. It is supposed to snow some so I am glad I spent a lot of time cleaning my driveway. It will be easier to keep clean. We had a lot of snow and ice in December which is unusual. One wonders how much snow we will have this month. 

    I am slowly getting back to feeling better. I still get tired but am not exhausted like I was when I first got home. I think part is the cloudy weather and part is my body recovering from the allergies I had. 

    It was great to get out and go to New Minas yesterday. I did enjoy my little trip. I hope to do a few small shopping trips this month. I know I will try to shop after I have osteopathy on Jan. 21. I know getting out to shovel snow and for small trips helps keep me from feeling depressed in the winter. 

Today

I have to check the driveway first and then will be making cheddar broccoli soup. I want to invite a friend for dinner so will be making gnocchi when she arrives. I would like to do a bit of sewing on the doll's coat and may do some knitting tonight. 

Until the next time................................................

Doubting Myself

 Yesterday was a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 2C. This morning it is cloudy and 1C. Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 4C. Tonight we are supposed to get rain. 

Lifestyle

I was out to get a hair cut first thing and it felt good to get 8 weeks of growth cut off. I felt human again. 

Once home, I set about doing the balance sheet. It was a curse session once again until I realized my bank statements were short 2 withdrawals. I found them online. Once that was figured out, I sped through December and am up to date to yesterday. 

The balance sheet I use is from Money Coach. I taught this to a few people when I did adult literacy in Ashcroft. At the bottom of the page, I downloaded the Microsoft Excel 97-2003. When you open it up, it takes you to the Budget Calculator Worksheet. The last tab at the bottom of the Excel worksheet says Spending Planner and that is the spreadsheet I use. Over time, I have changed some of the categories to suit my needs. As you enter your spending, it tracks what you have spent. What you have left over each month goes into the Expenses/Savings/Other so your monthly balance at the bottom is 0. I do go over each expense weekly so I know where I am over spending or what I have spent a large amount of money on. This month I paid for my lawn care for the year. This program was developed in British Columbia and is now under the Credit Counselling Society. I feel it is a great tool for anyone to use. 

Once I was done with the balance sheet, I took out all the garbage to their proper bins and did a bit of tidying up. It was lunch time. I had the last of the chicken soup which I really enjoyed. While watching a show while having lunch, I lost wifi. I left it be for a while and tried again. No wifi. I finally called my provider and found out it was down. I also found out that a courier service hit the fibre optics line at a house down the road and the company was out fixing it. It was back on later in the afternoon when I saw 2 repair trucks turn around at my street. 

I was over to see my neighbour (she told me why I had no internet) to give her and the boys their gifts from Uruguay. We had a nice visit and I came home to put down more salt at the end of my driveway. It is still icy but getting better. I will salt it more today and scrape tomorrow when it is going to be warmer. 

Sewing

I spent some time working on the doll's coat and have the back side pieces sewn to the back. I did stitch up the side seams with a basting stitch so I could try it on one of the dolls. 

I like the fit but I am questioning the appliqué pieces. One lady commented on Facebook that they looked too big. 

I tried another smaller appliqué that I quickly cut out. I am not sure what I want to do now. 

I don't like it as it is white and I wanted the darker colour on the coat. At this time, I am going to remove them all and try again once the coat is finished. 

For Sewing with Cinnamon, I have taken out 3 patterns to look at. One of the dresses I have made before. One pattern I made the plain dress but am looking at a long dress with ruffles and the third is a western outfit. I need to look at them for proportion. I may make the dress I made before as I really liked it. 

My hair dresser told me that all the clothes I made for her neighbour's granddaughter have been passed down to another granddaughter and are equally as loved by her. I am so glad that this family is still enjoying the outfits I made. 

Knitting

I did knit a lot last night and got the foot done on the sock. 

It could be done tonight. Then on to another pair of socks and maybe a little scarf for the dolls. If I don't use the appliqués on the doll's coat, I can use up some leftover yarn to make a scarf for the coat. 

Thoughts

    I am feeling better every day. I am still sleeping a lot every night which means my body is healing. The cough is almost gone. Between the lack of sleep as we came home and my body over reacting to pollen and dust, I realized I was a wreck. 

    I am hoping to get my driveway cleaned of ice tomorrow while it is warm. I want it clear before we get more snow. It will make for easier cleaning if I have no ice left on the driveway. 

    I am enjoying soup for lunch so am going to make Cheddar Broccoli soup next. I will share the recipe once if it is a good one. 

    I got the USB hub to work for my passport (holds all my files) and a USB thumb drive. It will not accept my phone which is strange. I will take it with me to ask questions where I bought it. 

Today

I am going to put a lot of salt on the driveway before I go to do some shopping. Once home, I want to sew this afternoon and knit tonight. If I have time, I will make the cheddar broccoli soup. 

Until the next time..............................................

More Sewing On The Doll's Coat

 Yesterday was warm and wet with a high of 2C. This morning it is cloudy and 0C. Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 2C.

Lifestyle

I started out the morning going to the community hall to help daughter-in-law take down the Christmas decorations. We got it done plus did all the recycling and garbage. I was there for almost 2 hours helping. We chatted and was told son has a bad cold and is feeling horrid. 

Once home, scraped more of the driveway and threw down more salt to help the ice melt faster. It was raining lightly when I did that and before long it was raining harder. By late afternoon we were under a rain fall warning and it was pouring rain. The ditch was half full of water. The road end of the driveway still has ice on it and I will throw more salt on it today. 

I worked on the balance sheet. It almost stumped me until I figured out what was the issue. That was a 2 hour job in which I was stressed out and worried that nothing would balance. I got November completed and balanced. I have December to do and then set up 2026. December is easy, thank goodness. 

I did get a load of laundry done and it is ready to fold. Lunch was homemade chicken soup which was delicious. I also made the chicken and onion stir fry and it was also delicious. I have 2 more meals of it. Rosie the robot vacuum cleaner was set up and she did the whole house for me. I was feeling better. 

Sewing

I did sew yesterday and got the fronts attached the front side pieces. 

I took a small piece of appliqué left over from a dress I made in 2013 and cut it up for this coat. I want to hand sew it down on the front pieces. 

There is still one piece left for the hat I am going to make to go with this coat. 

At this point I had to stop as the lighting in the sewing room was fading quickly due to the rain. I was pleased with what I had accomplished in the time I had in the sewing room. 

Knitting

I knit on the socks last night and got the gusset done along with 10 round on the foot. I am pleased with the progress. 

I am looking forward to wearing these socks this winter. I have been wearing my hand knit socks to keep my feet warm. 

Thoughts

    My allergies are starting to settle down thanks to the nasal spray and eye drops. I woke up feeling much better this morning. I'm still monitoring myself as I do not want this to get worse. Hopefully this will be over with in the next 10 days. 

    The shovelling I did the past few days made my SI joint tight. I had to do stretching exercises to release it. The stretching I did yesterday also allowed the big muscles to relax leaving only my core muscles a bit sore from the shovelling. I see physio next week for a tune up. 

    I am slowly settling into my old routine and am enjoying doing things around the house and getting back to sewing. I know I will have busy times but I will also have slower times also. 

Today

I am out for a hair cut this morning and then checking in with daughter-in-law to see if she needs help at the community hall. I want to finish the balance sheet for 2025 and set up 2026. I need to fold laundry. I also want to sew on the doll's coat and knit tonight. 

Until the next time...........................................................

Scraping Ice Off The Driveway

 Yesterday got warmer by the hour with a shot of snow flurries put in for good measure. The high got to -1 by midnight. This morning it is cloudy and 1C. Today is going to be wet with a high of 3C. 

Lifestyle

My first thing of the morning was to go to the doctor. On the way, the sharp thing in my mouth was feeling weird. When I parked at the doctor's office, I was able to fish out a large fragment of tooth. It had 2 sharp points on it which had caused me a lot of soreness. On the way into the doctor's office, I stopped and cancelled my dentist appointment. They are a husband and wife team. I may have one more small tooth fragment to come out but it is going to take time and she can look at it when I go in on Jan. 20. 

My appointment with the doctor was good. My allergies had gone into full blown mode and were still raging in my system. I got a prescription for eye drops and nasal spray which I used last night and again this morning. My cough is better which is good and my lungs are clear. I am to watch to make sure I don't get an infection now. 

Once home, I decided to start scraping the driveway. I did about 20 minutes where it was salted and easy to remove. After lunch, I did an hour of heavy scraping and shovelling and then had a short rest. 

I was back out at it and did over an hour the second time out. I have 75% of the driveway scraped and the last 25% shovelled. It was heavy going as there was about an inch of ice to scrape off. I threw some salt on the driveway and am letting the rain loosen the rest and will try to do more today if necessary. 

I was sore and tired when I got done. No sewing or knitting happened. I did sleep almost 11 hours last night. 

Thoughts

    I am thankful that my neighbour is a great pharmacist. She made sure I understood how to use the prescriptions and told me (like the doctor) to watch for an infection. I think they are worried I could get pneumonia. 

    I am also thankful that I can still clean my driveway. I was surprised at how much strength I had while doing the job. I am slow but steady. I am still very independent which makes me happy. 

    I am ready to start eating much better now that I feel better. Yesterday I made chicken soup using the chicken carcass and dark meat I had frozen. I add onions, carrots, and celery to the soup and when I heat it I will add orzo. Today I am making a chicken and onion stir fry to have for dinner the next couple of days. I will have it with rice. 

Today

I am starting the day off catching up the balance sheet. I have to help daughter-in-law prep for sandwiches tomorrow. I hope to sew and knit today as I am feeling better. If I have to, I will scrape the bottom of the driveway to get rid of the ice but I am hoping the rain and warmer weather will take care of that. 

Until the next time.........................................................

 Yesterday was cool with some sunshine. The high got to -10C. This morning it is snowing lightly and -10C (got to -14C during the night). Today is supposed to have some snow showers with a high of 0C.

Lifestyle

I was busy, again, yesterday morning. I put all the folded laundry away and did some sorting. I have 2 items for donation and will be looking at my clothes once again to decide what else I can let go of. 

I took the suitcase down stairs and put it away, paid bills, and called the dentist to get an appointment (Thursday at noon). I also went grocery shopping. 

I had a short visit with the pharmacist (who is my lovely neighbour) and she thinks I have the lingering cough from allergies but said it's good to see the doctor to make sure. We talked about Uruguay for a few minutes and then she had another customer to look after. 

I stocked up on groceries and still need more food. I plan on making several batches of soup for lunches. I have the ingredients for chicken/rice, broccoli/cheddar and fish chowder. I have food for several dinners (fish and chicken). I am slowly building up what I need for meals. 

Sewing

I spent about 2 hours in the sewing room. First was dealing with the laptop which has been off for 7 weeks. It decided to hate me when I turned it on and then I couldn't find the file I needed. Thirty minutes later I was ready to sew. 

My first project to sew is a coat which has a pocket hack. I spent a lot of time on prepping the pockets and they turned out great. When it came time to sew the pocket to the side part of the coat I had some issues. Bad pictures, slightly confusing instructions and some swearing occurred. I finally figured it out and the pockets were onto the side pieces. I gathered the pocket on the inside and then pulled the ribbon to gather the pocket at the top. I am loving these pockets. 

Now I can start on sewing the coat using the instructions. There is lots of top stitching on this coat and I will have to get another spool of thread. 

Knitting

I knit on the socks last night. I did 15 rounds which was a lot for me. I was tired as I hadn't napped. 

These socks should be done by mid next week. Then I have to take apart a pair I made so I can knit them with less stitches. They are too big. I also have another pair ready to knit so am hoping to have at least 1 more pair of socks knit this month. 

Thoughts

    Today is Epiphany which is known as Kids Day in Uruguay. This is the day the children get their big gifts. They put out shoes filled with hay for the camels to eat as the 3 Kings leave them gifts. 

    I am slowly getting back to normal. My cough seems to be less but I will still see the doctor this morning. I am less tired as I am catching up on sleep. 

A Busy Day

 Yesterday was cold with a high of -10C (windchill -16C). This morning it is mostly cloudy and -13C (windchill -18C). Today is supposed to be mainly cloudy with some flurries and a high of -10C (windchill -24C this morning and -18C this afternoon). 

Lifestyle

It was an inside day yesterday for me. I started laundry early and finished it in late afternoon. Each load washed and rinsed for nearly 2 hours making sure everything was really clean. It is all folded ready for me to put away or set aside to donate. It was a big job and I am glad it is behind me. 

While laundry was on, I stripped down a bbq chicken. The carcass and dark meat are in the freezer ready to make soup this week. The white meat was for dinner last night and tonight. 

My friend was over to return my house key. We visited for 90 minutes. I gave her some small gifts I had bought at artisan's booths in Montevideo. She was thrilled to get them. She leaves for Ontario near the end of the month so we will be having dinner together before she leaves. 

I broke down and had a nap in the afternoon. I was falling asleep on the couch so went and laid on the bed. It did help me a lot. I didn't realize how tired I was until I got home. Between the heat, allergies, the cough, and lack of sleep I got more exhausted than I had thought I was. 

Sewing

I took the fabrics, trim, and yarn down to the sewing room. I looked around, after I had put everything away and walked out. I was too tired to look at my projects. I will get there as soon as I can. 

Knitting

I picked up the gusset stitches and got 5 rounds knit last night. 

I am enjoying knitting again and will try to do more rounds each night. 

I did look at my book I forgot at home and the only mistake I made was not knitting enough rounds on the legs of the sock. Not too bad considering I was working from memory. 

Thoughts

    I was cold yesterday due to the cold weather. I bundled up good and didn't have the heat too high. I will get climatized to the cold as the days go on. I didn't go out yesterday as the windchill was more than I could handle. I am not sure if I will go out today or not. 

    I am trying to eat healthy now that I am at home. I have a few things to change in my diet and I need to move daily. It is going to be a journey for me as I work on keeping fit and loosing some more weight. I am going to set a goal for the month and try to meet it. 

Today

I am trying to get an appointment with the dentist so I can have what ever is going on in my mouth removed. I would like to get some groceries to get me through until Wednesday. I have laundry to put away and a few things to do. I am hoping I can do some sewing this afternoon and knit tonight. 

Until the next time.......................................................