Baby It's Cold Outside!

This morning at 07:30 when Pounie had to go do her business outside it was -38 Celsius.  I was afraid to let her go out alone, so I donned my winter cloak and I carried Pounie outside in my arms (she was wearing her sweater but in this weather it is not enough).  I put her down and commanded PEE!  She did.  We quickly went back in and started the morning coffee.  What a cutie!

The old lilac tree with promises of purple blooms to come.

Last Monday it was bitterly cold as well and my car wouldn't start.  Had to have a neighbour boost the old battery.  So this week Poppy the car got a new battery and she started with no trouble today.  I let the car run for about 20 minutes.  I should be good tomorrow to go to work as I need money to buy seeds and plants.

Taking a longing look at where the future garden will be.

I imagine my poor old pot dreaming of the lovely flowers it will be holding in a few months, maybe some blue petunias and yellow nasturtiums.

Last fall I bought a down duvet at 70% off and a duvet cover at 50% off but so far I have kept my old comforter on the bed.  I thought this afternoon I must put my new duvet on the bed since it is so freakin cold.  I think it looks pretty nice.  Hopefully it's cozy too.

I have placed my small Ikea chair in the kitchen to take advantage of the sun, but someone has stolen my spot before I could make a cup of tea and sit down with the new seed catagues that have arrived.



chair hog



Winter Workout and Beaver Balls

I can't say it enough, I love my little house.  I sleep in peace, I have my dog Pounie and when spring comes I will have my own garden in my back AND front yard.  I think lawns are a waste of valuable gardening space.  This weekend we were back to normal -19 Celsius with the wind chill and about 10 cm of snow fell.  So Pounie and I were out cleaning off the driveway.  The air was crisp and clean, a great way to get some exercise.

Poppy my car covered in snow.

The composter still in use but slowly disappearing.

Pounie checking my work.

With the new house I splurged and got a satellite dish for the TV, well really had no choice if I wanted any TV at all up here.  I have been enjoying watching the food network which has inspired me to cook more.  I suffer from Celiac disease and cannot eat most grains.  I haven't had many cravings since I went on my celiac diet but of late I have had the desire for some Chinese food, shrimp balls in particular.  Chinese food is out because some is breaded and the rest has soya sauce that is made with wheat, who knew!  You can find soya sauce made with soya beans but it is more expensive and so the restaurants don't use it.  I have some and do make stir fries but never shrimp balls.  I found a recipe for a  tempura batter using potato starch.  I tried it out and my shrimp balls were amazing!  The batter puffed up beautifully and was tasty.  I had some left over and didn't want to throw it out but I had no shrimp left.  Then I had an epiphany, here in Canada we have a treat called a beaver tail. It is bread dough that is flattened like a beaver tail, deep fried and topped with things like sugar, cinnamon, chocolate.  Just delicious and often eaten after partaking in some kind of winter sport.  Along the famous Rideau Canal in Ottawa there are booths every where selling beaver tails.  So I dropped my left over dough in the oil and since there was no filling they puffed up but stayed a little flat.  I sprinkled them with sugar and cinnamon and I thought wow beaver balls!  They were scrumptious, I ate them all.  So much for healthier eating, well they were not that bad except for being cooked in canola oil.

Bon Appetit

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am celebrating the new year not with a cocktail but a glass of fresh juice called a celery balancer.  One of my new year's resolutions is to drink more fresh juice.  The celery balancer is suppose to help with arthritis of which I suffer from.  It's easy to make if you have a juicer, just throw in 4 stalks of celery, 1 apple, 1 carrot, 1/2 red grapefruit and a handful of grapes.  I try to use organic produce if I can find it and it's not too expensive.

This is my Jack LaLanne power juicer.

The view looking past my house on January 1st, eeriely misty very unusual for where I live in the capitol region of Canada.  The thermometer went up to 9 celsius.

Lilacs in the mist...

The front door sporting it's new outdoor lights.

Since it was so warm I took the opportunity to clean the snow of the deck before it turned into giant sheet of ice.  I have been too busy concentrating on keeping the driveway clear.

The supervisor

Ahh, the clean deck, only took me 3 hours.  I swear every shovel weighed 10 pounds.

Kindness of Others

This is the south west corner of my backyard, first pic is now and second was taken in June when I first came to see the house.  When I moved in, there was an old metal doorless shed with a rotten floor in this spot.  I had the shed hauled away and this weekend ripped up the rotting floor.  There are also 3 small manitoba maples that had to be cut down.  You see my backyard is small and I want a garden more than anything.  I have waited 10 long years to garden again and finally this spring I will be able to dig into my own soil and plant.  The trees would also eventually interfere with my septic system so it was best to get rid of them.  I still have Cedric (large cedar in the front), another huge manitoba maple along the driveway and of course all the wonderful lilac trees I named the house after.

The problem about cutting down the trees is I have no chain saw and no one to do it.  So I went over to one of my neighbours and asked him if he knew anyone that I could hire to come and cut the trees down.  He said "oh I'll come and do it" and he went in the garage came out with his chainsaw and got to it!  Above is Martial cutting down the trees.

Not to be outdone my 76 year old neighbour on the other side had to come over and help too.  They both worked for free and Martial and I dragged all the branches to his backyard where he will burn them.  Country neighbours are the best!

While ripping up the floor of the old shed I found an old ball and Pounie aka my sidekick grabbed it spent the afternoon having us the throw ball and then she would run like mad to catch it!  It was hilarious to watch, as she jumped and growled at the old ball.

Seed catalogs have been ordered....