Windy, Cool Walk, Library Hold, Successful Salmon Cakes

Paisley, On

I didn’t feel that I’d had as good a sleep as I normally do. When I woke on Tuesday, Dec. 22^nd, Bill was getting ready for work and after he kissed me goodbye and left, I was sure I could drop off again. I seemed to be in that state of 'go back to sleep, stop thinking about things'! 😊 Alas, I didn't seem to solve any world problems while laying there and yes, I'm sure I dropped off in there somewhere.

Looking out at the morning's snowfall

It was around 7:30 when I got up for my tea. Something about it didn’t sit right with me. I’d fully planned to walk when it was done but I wasn’t feeling great for about an hour. Strange bit of nausea. Luckily, it passed and I went down and had some yogourt and while downstairs, I made a decision on supper. No other major decisions needed to be made today and no obligations to uphold. I was feeling better so dug in the closet for something I'd been meaning to do.

I didn't take my poles today so just had to
be careful on streets like this

It was a nice walk along the river
This looking across at the back yards with access
If you look closely you can see stairways

I did some stitching on a fuschia top I’d got from Donna. I love the colour and style so didn’t want to just get rid of it when I wore it a month ago. Bill pointed out the seam under the arm that was ripped. It didn’t take much and I’m sure Donna didn’t know it was there or she never would have offered it to me like that. Or maybe she told me and I'd forgotten. 

Most streets weren't too bad to walk on

The second thing I wanted to work on is my Davy Crocket hat (for lack of a better name), (minus raccoon tail). I didn’t like the wide ‘fur’ band across my forehead so folded and stitched that. That’s for the really cold days when my ears and whole head needs covering. It isn't pretty but it is warm.

Sunshine trying again to break through

Around 11, I bundled up against the cold wind and went for my walk. The temperature said 2C/35F but with the wind, it felt more like -4C/25F. Today, it was another river walk and I realized that I was almost on the exact same route as yesterday once I got back onto the other streets. I’ll have to plan better next time since I like variety. It’s the spice of life, right? My camera battery died so it meant taking my gloves off for each picture on my phone. I didn’t take many, it was too cold!

I walked one block of the pathway

Back home, I made a coffee and warmed up the last of the pea soup from Saturday. With a couple of pieces of cheddar cheese, I was quite sated. I curled up on the bed and read some of my story until my eyes got heavy. Dozes never last long for me, they are indeed cat naps. My phone chirps or the phone downstairs rings and unless I put my earplugs in and/or close our door, I’m in and out of sleep. That’s okay though as at least I’m resting.

And of course the river dam

I had placed a book at the library on Hold last week and although it said ‘available’, I had to wait for it to say ‘ready for pickup’. I must have misunderstood because this is the second ‘hold’ book I’ve requested and I don’t get an email notice. I was sure they told me I would. Nevertheless, I checked on my account on the website and lo and behold they have it ready for me. They close at 6 and are not open tomorrow so I’d better get down there.

Some blue sky when I went out later to the library

Facing the cold wind, which was coming from the northeast, I walked over the bridge to the library. I questioned about getting an email notice and she said ‘yes, that is how we notify you’. I politely informed her that I didn’t get one either time and would hate to miss out on a book that I’d requested. ‘Hmmm, let me check.’ Sure enough they had my email but an ‘s’ was added to gmail.com. She rectified that right away also informing me that starting next week, it would be curbside pickups only. ☹

Haven't seen the shows so I'm happy to get the story
this way

Back home, I made myself a cup of tea and then proceeded to finish the whipping cream for our pudding. Oh, while I’m there, I may as well make the salmon cakes for supper. I’m not great at these, but I’m persistent if nothing else! Bill is pretty good now, and tries (& usually eats) what I make. I remember when we first got together, he had no hesitation telling me ‘got broccoli in it? No way!’ Ha ha, he has mellowed and I’m grateful for his new-founded patience in my attempts. (PS, no he still doesn't eat broccoli inhabited creations).

A little Ginger breadmen on the fence

I haven’t decided what to have with the cakes but perhaps a salad will suffice. We do have dessert to fill in any remaining gaps. It was near 4 when I came upstairs and my tea was almost cold. Darn, I got busy! Now, to just bide my time until my working man texts me, which he did at 4:45. I went down and unlocked the door for him. We caught up on the day, the short version, and while he napped, I went down and started making a salad.

Not real fur so no protests, please!

Definitely not a fashion statement
but winter in Ontario means bringing out the big guns, pretty or not!

The salmon cakes were wonderful, I believe that is the first time I’ve had any success with them. We had salad on the side and the chocolate pudding with homemade whipped cream for dessert. 😋 

Black Beauty backing in the laneway

And a filling, tasty and good for us supper was had

I came upstairs to work on my blog and Bill made his lunch for his last day of work this year. We watched the London news and the weather for the next few days and it looks like we’ll get dumped on, on Christmas Day. Oh joy. That won't make my day but it won't hinder it either. I'm sure a lot of people will be happy with the white Christmas.

And an equally tasty dessert (not quite so good for us)

This was a good day. I accomplished a few things and squeezed a walk in as well. Meeting my goal of 8,000 steps, (3 ½ miles, 5 ½ km) was pretty easy today. I hope you enjoyed your day.

Here is a lovely memory
Dec. 21, 2016
Our first winter with some very special people
Lins in Yuma, Arizona
Good night!

Thank you for stopping in.

Durham Library Visit, Afternoon Swim with Donna, Nice Rain

The Ridge

On Wednesday, Aug. 21^st I woke around 5:45 to see that Bill was up and downstairs getting his breakfast. It was a warm night and even though I started my sleep at 10 pm with my little window open, I had to close it at 12:30 because the rain was coming in on my face. Refreshing but not what you want in the wee hours.

It was still dark when Bill left

I reached over and opened it again to a lovely fresh breeze and just waited for him to finish getting ready. Downstairs, I declined an offer for tea when he was making his thermos of coffee. I wasn’t ready to get up yet since it was still mostly dark. At 6:15 we said goodbye and I immediately felt a void so went up to bed again and turned the tv on. Last night, our CTV news gal, Julie, informed us of more storms coming our way today.

Because I'm thinking of our snuggle bum,
this is a cute picture of him and Link, Jessie's cat
from when they lived with us for a while

We did get a nice rain over night, a couple of times Bill said, so everything would be good and watered. Yay! says my veggies. I watched until 7 and got up for a walk down the road. I didn’t check the temperature but with just a long sleeve shirt on with my vest, my body heat on the return told me that I was overdressed. It still felt very muggy out there so it’s possible that another storm could be in the making.

One more - Mom made him some slippers
so he was kind enough to model them
(for 10 minutes)

 This is only the second time that Bill has worked since we lost our little bum and I’m avoiding looking at his picture on the mantle for obvious reasons. Usually, we say good morning to him each day but I get too teary-eyed when I’m alone. So! I move on, make my tea after my walk and sit with my book to read until 9:30 or so. The West Grey Durham Library doesn’t open until 10 and I’m going in to finish my blog post from yesterday.

And these puddles were from the overnight rains

I parked Black Beauty in the back lot, there really isn’t a lot of parking at this new location so I backed in for an easy out. The gals are pleasant as I asked my questions and found a suitable chair off by myself but with a nice view of the street. The pretty little social media group was busy, with people frequently moving in and out. Seldom did anyone stay and certainly no one as long as I did.

Woops! something happened to some straw bales

I had written notes at home of things to Google once I got there and felt very relaxed doing so. No reason to rush home but I was still surprised that I was there for 2 hours. From there, I stopped at Foodland to pick up some groceries before heading home. Luckily, I had some of my egg quesadilla left from yesterday so no effort was necessary for my breakfast. I made a coffee, started this post and then read through the local flyers that were in the mailbox. Nothing too interesting there so moved on to my book.

On my walk, I discovered these choke cherries
so that gave me an idea

At 2:30 I drove to Hanover to meet Donna at the Aquacentre. She was taking me swimming again on one of her free passes. We spent the hour floating around. I tried one of their waist belts instead of a noodle and once I got used to it, liked it a lot better. My hands were freer. We changed out of our suits and Donna drove us to Fashion Fables, the consignment store and we perused and picked up a couple of deals. Back to get Black Beauty and we said goodbye.

On my way to Hanover, work continued at the corner
of Baptist Church Rd and Lambton Rd/#4
for the new power plant

I drove to Walmart to see if my parcel had arrived, but it hadn’t so I made one more stop at Mark’s work Warehouse. The sky over Durham (20 minutes to the east) looked ominous. Oh no, I’m going to get a storm after all. The sun was shining overhead all the way home. A rainbow greeted me as I turned onto Baptist Church Road and then North Line. Beautiful. I couldn’t believe that I’d missed the storm but The Ridge hadn’t. There were puddles everywhere! Good timing, I’d say!

This was my drive home from Hanover
As I turned onto our road, the rainbow welcomed me

It was after 6 and I was ready for supper so prepared the fresh green beans Loree gave us for my supper. Bill isn’t keen on them so won’t miss them. I heated up the leftover hamburger mash that I’d made a couple of nights ago and enjoyed a quiet meal by myself. I’d heard from Bill a couple of times today, the last text indicating that my new camera had arrived at Henry’s. Yay! Good thing as we were about to cancel the order and ask for a credit if it wasn’t there.

And the puddles in our parking area shows that I missed
a good downfall

I chatted with Bill before we both said goodbye to eat. They’d had rain in London earlier as well and as we spoke, I could hear it coming down once more on the trailer he was in at CanAm. For me, supper was delicious! The beans were yummy, thank you Loree. I popped a crust of rye bread in the toaster and with lots of butter, it, with cherry tomatoes and olives, was the topping for the whole meal. For dessert, I had some creamy Jell-o and I know Bill was having the same.

I picked a few of the cherries

Everything was really wet
I'm grateful that Bill moved my painting inside before he left

I watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy before setting the pvr to record Americas Got Talent. I planned on finishing my book tonight since I wouldn’t be posting my blog. 

Supper was delicious and those beans!!! Yummy!

I’ll download the few pictures I have in the morning and decide about a trip to Durham to publish today’s story. I’ve had a good day and it zipped by, the way I like it when I’m alone. A slight pang of unfortunate news came our way today but it isn’t my news so I wouldn'’t relay it. Prayers would be welcome though. Thank you.

And I think the rain was done for the day
Good night!

Thanks also for your visit today. I always enjoy your comments if you care to leave me one.