Today was supposed to be a bit warmer – the high was to be a balmy -20C this afternoon. After that, it’s supposed to scream back down again for the next few days, so I thought I would try again for a trip into town.
The van started no problem, but after about half a minute, it started making noises.
Different noises. Continue reading
My older daughter and I were going to make a run into town today.
We decided against it.
The van started fine and we let the engine warm up before we started, but as I backed out of the garage, I was just not comfortable with how the engine sounded. So back into the garage it went and I plugged it back in.
We depend on that van too much for me to take any chances.
This is what we’re looking at for the next while. Continue reading
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration. May the Christmas season continue to be one of peace and many blessings.
For us, today seems to be working out as a day of recovery! There is still a possibility of carolers coming by, but I don’t know if this place is still on the list of stops. My family usually had a big dinner here on Boxing Day, and the carolers would come. I’m pretty sure the grapevine has spread the news that we now live here. I do hope they come. It’s a local tradition I have missed.
Our usual custom, when living away from family, was to have a big wigilia feast on Christmas Eve, stretching things out until midnight, when we would open gifts. On Christmas morning, there would be the stockings to go through, and the day would be much quieter and contemplative.
Of course, we couldn’t do that this year. Continue reading
As I was using a spade to chip the water bowls out of the ice, I noticed one of the cats doing a bit of a dance, shifting its paws back and forth, to keep as little contact with the cold ground as possible.
So I decided to try something.
I lay some cardboard on the ground and put the food and water bowls on it, to help insulate their tiny little feet. At least a bit.
I do believe that is Squishums on the far right! Haven’t seen him in a while.
They weren’t too sure about it, but the call of food and warm water was enough to convince them. It probably won’t last. Especially when we need to shovel at some point. But cardboard is easy to replace.
Our current temperature has warmed up to -27C, with a wind chill of -34C.
I found this under our door this morning.
Checking out the frost…
Yes, we have weather stripping, and it’s in good shape.
The Re-farmer
I finally got around to taking one of the many random mirrors down. This one was in the kitchen, partially covered with a wall hanging. It was adhered to the wall in spots, so I ran a butter knife under it and managed to pry it off with only minimal damage to the wall (as if that matters, given the condition the paneling already is in).
On the back, I found this.
The ones in the corners make sense, but what’s with the ones scattered all around the middle?
How does this even happen???
The Re-farmer
This is one of those easy to make things that I like to keep on hand to add an extra zing to my cooking. It’s great in marinades, with poultry and especially with fish.
It’s just two ingredients.
Course salt
Lemon zest
The salt can be Kosher salt, sea salt, or just ordinary course salt from the baking aisle.
Lemon Salt
You could buy lemon zest, but it’s just as easy to make that, as well. The next time you have a lemon, give it a try. Wash the lemon thoroughly, then dry it before removing the zest. If you have a zester, use that. The zest in the photo was done using a zester. Or, you can use a fine grater. You can also use a paring knife, but I find it’s not worth the effort trying to get just the zest and not the bitter white pith.
Allow the zest to drop onto a paper towel as you zest your lemon, then spread it out as thinly as possible. Set aside in a warm, dry place. Move the zest around every now and then as it dries, so it dries evenly. Once dry, store it in a jar with an air tight seal.
For the lemon salt, just add the salt and some zest (how much depends on how strong of a lemon flavour you want) into a glass jar with an air tight seal. Close the jar and shake well. Set aside out of direct sunlight and let it sit at least a few days before using.
Enjoy!
Remember I was saying we wouldn’t need to go out again until at least after Christmas?
Scratch that.
Well, technically, we didn’t need to go out. But thanks to a generous gift from my FIL, and still reasonable temperatures for a few more hours, my husband and I dashed into the next town. This allowed us to get a few more little things for Christmas (we start celebrating on Christmas Eve with our semi-traditional wigilia dinner) and some gas. We were also able to get a gift for the girls – a much needed item that I know they will appreciate. I’m glad we could get it now.
While we were chatting during the drive, I mentioned something I saw in our hamlet’s store when I was there last. This is an old time sort of general store, which as some groceries, clothing, pet foods, etc, along with the liquor store and post office. I had noticed a bag of deer feed (you can get hunting and fishing licenses here, too), and we talked about how it might be nice to put feed out for the deer when we can.
On the way home, we stopped at this store to pick up an item the big grocery store didn’t. My husband just dashed in to get it. As much as he can dash, anyhow. LOL Well, our local store didn’t have it either. Instead, he came out with a bag of deer feed!
Turns out, it’s incredibly cheap.
We will have to be careful about putting it out. Small quantities, every couple of days, near the spruce grove. Too much, too often, can harm the deer. This way, they’ll have some supplemental food during the cold times, near the shelter of trees, and we’ll be able to see them from our living room window.
I’d love to find a way to have water out for them, too. Water is always hard for wildlife to get at, this time of year.
In time, we want to include bird feed as well. A nice little wildlife sanctuary around out home.
But that is for another time.
For now, I’ve started brining our turkey for tomorrow. It’s a simple enough thing to do – so long as you have something big enough to immerse a turkey in! Normally, I would use course salt and float lemon slices in the brine, along with other herbs and spices. This year, I just went with lemon salt. Another thing that’s very easy to make, which I’ll include in a separate post.
For now, it’s back to work. Yesterday, we got all the cube shelves in place that I wanted in the dining room. Now they need to be filled with the things want in them. Which requires getting other stuff put away, at least temporarily, elsewhere.
I’m really looking forward to not having to dodge boxes, bins and furniture.
I can start by making the space I need to fit one last cube shelf into my office.
I do hope it actually fits!
The Re-farmer
I got up this morning, and found art up on the living room wall. This is awesome!
These are paintings done by my older daughter. Before the move, we talked about what we wanted to put up on the walls once my mother’s stuff was down (which still isn’t finished, but we are getting there…). I told her that, aside from the photos we had, I wanted more of her art up.
These, with green and gold, are perfect beside the umbrella tree and gold framed mirror.
Love it! I look forward to more!
The Re-farmer
My daughter went to do the outside cat food while I got the warm water ready. I started hearing the strangest meowing.
It turned out to be the Mothman, under the kitchen window.
I have got to get a recording of sounds this cat makes, one of these days!
As he moved closer to the door, our inside cats were all over the screen door window, checking him out. I had to chase them off just so I could open it enough to put the bowls (now free of ice) and pitcher of water outside.
The Mothman returneth…
He gets a food bowl all to himself, it seems.
I get a pretty good view from my office window, too.
The Re-farmer
The Re-Farmer 