Did Granny New Year find you?

Happy New Year All,

Did Granny New Year find you?

I’m hoping everyone’s New Year will be off to a great start.

There is always promise, hope and of course, new year's resolution to be had. I don’t usually go for this sort of thing because I know it’s just a huge letdown when I break my promises to myself. Which is why I mostly don't announce them to the world.

Anyway, this year I’ve decided to post a few.

1. Have the mortgage paid off by the end of this year.
2. Find a forever fur friend pet. Yup the witch has been looking for a small dog or fun loving cat or even a bunny who needs a good home.
3. Lose some weight and eat even more healthier than we do. Sorry Hubby I’ve found lots of great tasting veggie recipes with kale. Plus walking a dog will help, right!!!
4. Buy a set of snow shoes so we can enjoy the outdoors more in the Winter.
5. Paint the upstairs bathroom and add a new mirror and shelf. Oh Hubby I have some plans for you. Don’t worry this will be easy compared to the Gazebo you built us.
6. Finally buy a generator.
7. Host a murder mystery party
8. New lamps for computer room and down stairs.
9. Try to do acts of kindness more often so I can watch the recipient's reactions. I find they cheer me up more just giving them anonymously .
10. The last one I won’t be sharing with anyone but myself because it is the hardest and most personal decision I will be making. I don’t need the added pressure of having printed it out if I fail.

So there you have it the goals and challenges for 2014.

Thanks for all who still hung around during my absence. That’s what great blogger friends do. (Canadian Saver, I miss you!)

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of my beautiful Amaryllis

Last Groceries For The Year.

Well, this week we did our last shopping for the year. For a change, I was able to go with Hubby who usually does it by himself after work. Shopping is just another chore for him but because I only go while I'm on holiday I always look forward to it. I love to go and read all the labels and squeeze all the fruit; Hubby just fumes and tries to get it over with as quick as possible!

"Grocery" shopping at Shopper's Drug Mart

This week Shopper's Drug Mart had great sales on coffee, peanut butter, paper towels and toilet paper. I saved $56.90 on just 14 items! As an added bonus they were having one of their 20X Optimum point promotions and now I am only a few points shy of saving another $60.00. It still feels weird though to be doing this kind of shopping in a drug store.

Shopper's bill

We were shopping in the Big City this week, and because it is cold outside, we were able to get to our favourite fish mart. They close so early on the weekend that we are usually not finished with our day by that timeand you really don't want to have a bag of fish sitting in a hot car for hours so we come home fishless. This week Hubby bought six pieces of salmon side fillet (enough for three meals) for about $24.00. I'm looking forward to a salmon dinner later in the week.

Yummy, yummy salmon fillets!

The rest of the shopping.

The rest of the shopping was done at the regular old grocery store and while the bill was over $108.00 it did include some expensive items like freezer bags, parchment paper, cocoa powder and corn flake crumbs. Nothing much was really on sale except for the cheese slices and the steak (4 striploins for $11.50). I'm all set now for a good start going into January. It's time to use up the freezer stuff. You know the items bought weeks ago that have migrated really far down to the bottom of the freezer. Yeah,  those items. Time for them to come to the top and get ready for menu planning. I'm not going to buy any meat for at least two weeks.

Superstore grocery bill.

I don't know about you but I  haven’t made any resolutions for 2013 because I really don’t stick to whatever plan I come up with. That in itself can feel disappointing. Lead a good life, appreciate what I have and love the people around me, that's essentially what I try to do every day anyway. So I'm going to go with that. What about you, dear reader? Have you made any resolutions, or any that you think you will be able to keep?

One thing that I am going to do next year is to try some new recipes. This week I am going to make a dish from the Pioneer Woman's site for "Zannie's Black-Eyed Pea Dip". It looks delicious and a good way to start the New Year off with some good luck from eating the black-eyed peas.

So, New Year's Eve is tonight and usually I would maybe have a visit from Granny New Years but, honestly, I have it all and don’t need anything else but love, good health and great friendships and the odd funny joke and a game to be played. C'mon Granny, bring me all that you can of that! Life is good.

Happy New Year!!!

So, The Apocalypse Didn't Happen...

A Maritime Christmas Card by Cape Shore

So, The Apocalypse didn't happen as promised(?) by the Mayans. I guess that means that we will be able to get on with Christmas after all.

I just wanted to wish all my fellow bloggers, followers, friends and family a very Merry Christmas. May we all feel the joy and magic that this season has to bring and remember to help the less fortunate with our good will throughout the year to come.

I'm a very lucky person in that I do have a full time job which pays out a bonus in the new year. This year's bonus will go to "Because I Am A Girl" and the local humane society. Last year I gave to "Smile Train". It makes me feel good to be able to donate which is why I do but also because I think that I am responsible to do so.

I'm certain this year will be more challenging for everyone to save money as the cost of everything is on the rise. I'm going to be tweaking my budget even more, with Gail's help of course. I have a challenge for myself to pay down more on the mortgage because retirement is close for both Hubby and I.

When I first started my blog it was about the challenge of saving and paying down debt so I'm going to be writing about these ideas again and about the ways I plan to stretch our budget. The first challenge will be about shopping wiser and smarter so as not to waste any food. Now that will be tough because everyone has waste whether it be produce that went bad or unused. I'm going to try to buy less and use more of what we bring home.

Wish me luck and together we can come up with some new ways and ideas to save some bucks.

Best Wishes For 2012!

We were out for a drive yesterday and this caught my eye from the passenger side window. This guy was prepared for any possibility! I had to take a picture. It’s was just too funny.

Roadside email inbox. Funny!

When I got up this morning I discovered that Granny New Year had arrived while I was sleeping. She keeps some late hours. I know because we were out in the back yard lighting off fireworks until almost 12:30 in morning and there was nothing on the kitchen counter before I went to bed. This year she brought me a book about sea glass and it should keep me going until the weather is a little moe suitable for beachcombing.

Granny New Year came through again.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish all my family and friends (including you readers) a Very Happy New Year!!

Enjoy.

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.

A Waste of My Waist(line).

What's a girl to do? With the new year just around the corner now, I'm starting to think of resolutions and how I could improve my life and health. A diet is my perrennial favourite. I mean who doesn't think that they could stand to lose a few pounds? But just look at the picture below. Between the presents Hubby brings home from his customers, goodies I make myself and lots of Christmas gifts we have a ton of temptation sitting down in the pantry cupboard. Very tasty temptation. too! People know all our favourite treats and weaknesses and send us only the best. So it's not like I'm just going to chuck it all out or something but while it's in the house I'm going to be feeling its pull just like a high-calorie black hole in the middle of the house. It's not just me, either. Hubby apparently had half a bowl of Bridge Mixture with his morning coffee before I even got out of bed!

How do I resist eating all these goodies?

So today we packed it all up into a box and tucked it away in the farthest reaches of the pantry underneath the bottom shelf and in amongst the garbage bags. We did reserve three of the nicest boxes of chocolates to pass out to the friends who are coming over tomorrow evening. Hopefully this won't ruin their diets! I haven't even thought until now about all the Christmas cookies I baked and the Yule Log, what about my Yule Log?

I'm clearly going to have to come up with a different resolution this year. I mean was it any more successful last year? Maybe I'll just give up eating tripe and eggplant instead. Yeah, I think I can stick with that one!

Home-made Seafood Chowder

This is what our New Year's Day supper looked like. It tasted even better than it looks. I wish I could have shared some with you, but I will share our recipe instead, if you are interested. It's very easy to make. We had purchased the lobster meat frozen at our local farmers market for $10.00 and it was all claws and knuckle meat only. We got the scallops there, too.

It was perfect meal to end a perfect first day in 2010.
Bon appetite.


Seafood Chowder

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. scallops, thawed if frozen, chopped if large
• 8 oz. lobster meat, thawed if frozen
• 6 to 8 20/24 size shrimp, cooked, peeled and chopped into 4 pieces each
• 5 slices bacon, chopped into ½ inch pieces
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup diced peeled potatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 3 mushrooms, diced
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup fish, vegetable or chicken stock
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/8 tsp. white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
• 2 cups skim milk
• ½ cup cream
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup white wine (optional, reduce milk if using)

Preparation:

In large stockpot, cook bacon until crisp; remove from pan, drain on paper towels, and set aside. In drippings, place scallops and cook for 3-4 minutes until opaque. Remove scallops from pot and set aside.

In drippings in pot, add onion, potatoes and celery and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 8-10 minutes until potatoes are tender.

In medium bowl, combine flour, marjoram, pepper, milk, cream and mix with wire whisk until blended. Add to pot along with corn and bacon and bring to a simmer. Cook over medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring often, until soup has thickened and vegetables are tender. Add cooked scallops, lobster and shrimp and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the seafood is thoroughly heated.

4 servings

Adapted from recipe found here.

Granny New Year Came Sometime Through The Night.

Wow, what a beautiful full moon last night! It was actually a blue moon and there won't be another one of those on New Year's Eve until 2028, so I hope you saw it, too. We rang in the New Year out in the driveway trying to take some pictures of it but they didn't turn out very good. The night was truly beautiful, though and we did get a couple of shots which lit up the diamonds in the snow on the front lawn.



Granny New Year did come and I was really surprised because I received some money to buy new clothing (and not thrift store clothing!). I don't know where to start. I always buy from Value Village and other places like it and now I'm going to have to figure out where new clothes come from. This may be the biggest challenge yet for me in 2010. Don't laugh because I'm serious.



Hubby received some goodies (a tray of his favourite iced lemon cookies, nicely decorated in Christmas-sy colours) and a solar powered radio for his shed. Granny New Year knew just want he wanted.



Speaking of Granny New Year, the tradition has been handed down from my Great Grandmother, Ludivine. I have always loved that name, she was usually just called Luddy (of course, not by me).

She was Scottish and their tradition was to extend the spirit of Christmas giving by having a small present to open on New Year's Day. It usually arrived in your stocking and was a small toy, nuts, fruit or chocolate. Times were tough back then and really your stocking was all you had. Try explaining that to today's generation.

Hope you enjoyed me sharing this with you. Maybe Granny New Year will have a few more places to visit next year.
Happy 2010, everyone.

Happy New Year Everyone

What a year it has been! No regrets, I'm just hoping 2010 is as good to us. We have our health, each other, family, friends, and good jobs. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Thanks to all you blog followers for all the lovely and kind words thoughout the year and I look forward to reading all your fine blogs in 2010. I'm joining the daily savings club which is a great idea from Gill "That British Woman". Check out her site if you are interested in joining too.

Actually I might be doing a lot of challenges this year. Meal planning, No Drive Days and No Spend Days (ala "Saving4Later") and maybe some exercising to try to lose a few pounds would also be nice. Hopefully I'm up for all these challenges. I'm going to start focusing more on savings so we can both retire sooner. And I'm really going to start saving for one mean looking BBQ this spring. Wish me luck! Now I just have to start working on getting that raise this year.

Cheer's to you all and I hope everyone rings in the New Year safely. I'll be waiting for Granny New Years to stop by sometime during the night. It's a Scottish tradition and I'll leave you in suspense till tomorrow to explain.

New Years Goals for 2009

Happy New Year to you all!!!!!

We have been stormed in for two days and just finally got our main road plowed out at around Noon.
Hubby has been out twice using the snowblower to clear the driveway just to stay ahead of the blowing snow. The drifts were 6' in some areas and out on the road they must be 10' or more.
Welcome to another New Year of storms. The same day in 2008 was also a storm. Weird.

We had a few friends over on New Years eve before we all went to the Community complex for the dinner and dance. Fun times were had by all and the New Year was officially rang in. YA HOOO!!! I'm hoping for 2009 to be the best year ever. Now that's positive thinking.

Goals for the New Year are as follows:(no particular order)

Continue paying down that mortgage as fast as possible.
Buy skates and use them.
Buy a Kayak and try and get over my fear of the water with a life jacket of course.
Learn to play poker and get a good poker face.
Smile more often (maybe that will be my poker face).
Drink more water at work and home.
Try new recipes.
Exercise more often, and use my hand weights.
Lose 10 pounds (I have to weight myself first, so I may need to buy a scale).
Open a TFSA acount and try to max it out if the rates are worthwhile without those darling bank fees attached.
Take a real vacation somewhere in the Maritimes.
Try to let go off the past and learn to live in the moment.
Make more time for myself.
Read more books.
Have more dinner parties and play some game boards.
Get a complete physical.
Learn more about my computer and what it can do for me besides surfing the internet.
Continue to declutter.
Continue to work on our basement renovations.
Paint our t.v room and maybe buy some new furniture for it.
Tweak the budget throughout the year.

Yes this list is long but surely I can accomplish some of these goals and even if it is just a few , I think I would still be pleased.

How about you? Any goals or dreams you want to share.

Take care and all the best to everyone in 2009.

Only Four Days 'til the NEW YEAR!

The New year is always about hope and promises , BUT WHAT ABOUT GOALS????

Resolutions, just forget it, everyone breaks them and then feels guilty and stressed. Goals are easier. If you don't achieve them, well, there is always the next day, week, or month.

The stress we put upon ourselves is just that. These are our goals and maybe they can't be achieved when we expect them to be. Just keep a positive attitude and move ahead every day.

I have lots of goals to post and I can hardly wait to unveil them, but right now they are all on paper and in my head so you will have to wait.