Snow For Sale... Cheap!

Sno Cone Picture via "Make Five"

Snow cones anyone? They are just about the only good thing I associate with that stuff. We were hit hard on Thursday and have lots of snow to spread around. We believe in sharing so the snow is going very cheap. Actually, you can have it for free if you bring a shovel and want to load the back of your pickup truck for weight. It’s all yours baby. Clean, white, pristine, heavy and FREE; just what you need!!!

The Witch’s Island can look cold and lonely in the dead of winter. It’s still beautiful, just different. It’s really a special place where you can find beach combers on the coldest of days looking for that washed up treasure. I haven’t found any recently but would like to share some photos and hope you enjoy your day around a warm fireplace with a good book which is what I plan on doing This afternoon.

You really don’t want to step too close to this edge.

This crow was surprised to find somebody out walking around.

The walkway might just need some work this spring.

It was cold enough that Hubby decided that he wouldn’t go swimming after all.

This is not actually the surface of Mars.

There was some light on the horizon.

Oh, the book I’m reading is “The Girl Who Played With Fire” by Stieg Larsson, the second one of his trilogy. Hubby bought me the set for Christmas and they are just as good as everyone is saying. My fireplace will be warm and toasty and hubby will bring me a glass of red wine. Life is wonderful in the Witch’s cold island paradise.

You can get yours from Amazon.ca.

Pie, Anyone? My First New Recipe of the New Year.

Well, here’s it is, the start of the second week of the new year and I’m following through on one of my resolutions. I made my first blueberry pie last weekend and it turned out great. It was easy too, in part because I had my pie crust already made. Back in October when I was doing a bunch of baking I made up a whole batch at once and then froze the extra in disk shapes, enough for one pie each. They are so handy and convenient to have on hand.
Here’s the recipe I used. It is my adaptation of one I found in the summer 2006 edition of Homemakers magazine.

Blue Berry Pie

Ingredients
5 cups blueberries
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
2tbsp orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
2 tbsp butter
2 pie crust doughs

Directions
Roll out dough into 2 rounds, ¼ inch thick and press 1 into the bottom of your pie plate. Toss the berries with the rest of the ingredients and pour into the pie shell.
Dot with the butter and then top with the 2nd piece of dough. Trim the edges and then crimp them together. Cut some steam vents in the top.
Bake in the lower third of a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbly, about a further 40 minutes. You’re done!

My first ever blueberry pie!

This is the easiest pie ever to put together and even better, blueberries are supposed to be great for your health! Look at that beauty, you know you want some. With the snow falling down around us today it helps to think about late summer when these August Blues were harvested. Oh August, that’s vacation time right? Sorry, memory lapse, I was thinking vacation already, sigh.

Yesterday we took down the Christmas tree. It’s always a sad thing to see it going away again, the living room looks so bare. We also put away all the decorations pertaining to Santa Claus. Snowmen get to stay because, well, um, they just do. That’s my rule and I’m sticking to it.

Here are some of the guys who will be hanging around for awhile. Try not to think about that pie while you’re looking at the snowmen. I bet you want some pie.

Warm Winter Wishes

This is the wall hanging I bought in the Big City last fall.

This is one of my all-time favourite decorations.

What do you suppose snow actually smells like?

My brother gave me this skating snowman for Christmas this year.

Over The River

This guy usually carries a Merry Christmas banner but it has been put away for now.

I don’t necessarily agree with this sentiment.

I love this little snowman lamp!

This guy will play Jingle Bells when you press his belly.

This guy is on the back of the front door.

This was a fun craft to make!

This star is made from dogwood branches.

He should be saying Let It snow Like Crazy SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Husbands, too.

This is one of this year’s Christmas presents from Hubby.

This guy is actually a candle holder.

Okay, thanks for looking. Here’s your piece!

It was as tasty as it looks.

Welcome to 2011!

This is the first time my Christmas amarylis has produced 5 blooms!

Granny New Years has come again in a small and quiet way. What you don’t remember "Granny"? Check her out in last year’s post here.

Granny New Year Present

A new puzzle book, thanks Granny!

Hubby had a visit from Granny, too. Well, sort of. He finally bought himself a new table saw with the extra cash he received in December. It will replace the $50 Black and Decker saw he has been using for the last 25(!) years. The poor old thing (the saw, not Hubby) fell off the tool trailer one evening during the gazebo build this summer and broke the table top. The stubborn old bugger (Hubby, not the saw) would still be using it if not for that. The saw got great reviews and the price actually went down $1oo from the time he first started drooling on it in the store. Granny works in mysterious ways!

A life-time warranty and great reviews, oh yeah!

Hubby’s new saw over by the stack of the gazebo’s cedar deck boards.

We had a fantastic year with lots of fun, laughter, great food, good weather, late night fire pit parties and just a deep down happy feeling in my stomach. LIFE IS GOOD!! I really don’t see how things can get any better but I’m going to give it a huge try. So I looked back over some of the goals I wanted to accomplish for 2010 and it seems like I have met the challenge head one.

I wanted to have more “No Spend Days” and I managed to keep from spending anything on 106 days for an average of about 2 per week. The same went for “No Drive Days” and while we had a bunch we didn’t record the number anywhere. It’s a little tricky anyway because I car pool and pay on Friday so really I’m not driving.

The meal planning was a great habit to pick up and we still do this daily because when we don’t it really screws things up. We end up running into the store to buy something on the way home from work. So there are lots of positive reasons to continue with this goal.

We bought a new BBQ for all our outdoor cooking needs. I love it; it’s much better looking than the old hunk of junk. Hubby is still getting used to the smaller BTU’s and slower cooking times but he gets the food cooked.

Losing weight has become an up and down cycle with me. I want to lose 10 pounds and will continue on this goal. My new job involves a lot of sitting on my ass and I’m not used to this. I plan on requesting a new work table so I can stand more during the day. I need to spend less time at the computer at home, too.

So now we are at the nitty-gritty of this year’s new resolutions. I honestly don’t have many.

I will continue with the old goals because they work.

I want to set up a daily savings plan with a charitable organization. I have a few I’m checking out.

I want to take up running; VERY, VERY slowly at first till maybe I have enough stamina to run a small 5 km race. We have a company challenge coming up and I would love to be able to participate without me looking like a complete running moron.

I want to have more dinner parties with friends.

I want to cook a new meal or baked item every month and share it with you all.

I want to save more money in my Goofy account so one day we can visit Disney World and go first class all the way.

I want to watch more football games so when the Super Bowl rolls around I’ll have a team to cheer for because honestly the Oakland Raiders just aren’t going to the Big Game again this year.

Happy News Years everyone, may the best be awaiting you in 2011.