Games Night is Always Lots of Fun.

A new Easter flag to welcome our friends to Games Night!

Well, Games Night has come and gone for another year and I think it was a great success despite the fact that I was suffering with a miserable cold. Luckily, I had made most of the preparations and gathered all the games and prizes the previous week so all that was left to do was clean the house and prepare the meal. This being Easter weekend there were bunnies everywhere.Everything was done nice and early, and because it was such a beautiful day outside, Hubby washed Black Beauty (again!) so that he could show it off to our friends. It does look great when it is clean and the sun is shining on it.

Every one arrived shortly after 3:00 and Hubby took the guys out for a spin around the block in the new truck (so much for it being clean, sigh). When they got back we put out some snacks and got everyone a drink and the we got right into the games!

It was a beautiful day so Hubby decided to
wash Black Beauty, (AGAIN!).

It is a pretty truck, especially when it's
gleaming in the sunlight!

The first game was the Elimination Game. Last week I mailed each of the four guests ten playing cards and I gave Hubby his own set of ten right before the game. There were two cards left over in case anyone wanted to trade. I had a matching set of cards in a bag and, one by one, I pulled out each card and the corresponding card was eliminated. After each group of ten cards there was a small consolation prize and the person with the final card got to select a prize from the Prize Basket. All the prizes were wrapped so that nobody knew what they were getting but these guys have all been here before so the knew to go right for the packages that felt like boxes of chocolates! Everyone loves chocolates, right? The other prizes included shower gel, packs of Kleenex, a novel, a puzzle book, lottery tickets, etc. There wasn't anything really expensive, it was all just for a laugh. The winner of the Elimination game, not surprisingly, managed to find the biggest box of chocolates!

The Easter Bunny Girls.

The dining room / games table is all
set for a night of fun!

A close-up of my beautiful birthday orchid.

Home-made butter tarts were just part of the dessert menu.

Here are the games and the prize basket.

The Elimination game is under way!

The winner of the Elimination game gets to select the
first prize from the basket.

The next game was trivia contest. I found a great and timely quiz on the CBC website about the recent demise of the penny. The quiz is just below and I'll put the answers at the end of this post if you want to play.

PENNY TRIVIA
1. Four of the five designs that have appeared on the reverse side of the penny have included maple leaves. What was the fifth design?
A portrait of a rock dove
A rendering of the Atlantic puffin
A view of the St. Lawrence River
A sketch of the Canadian Rockies

2. About 35 billion pennies have been minted since 1908. If they were stacked on top of each other, this would be the equivalent height of this many CN Towers:
100
1,000
100,000
1,000,000

3.The federal government announced plans to withdraw the penny, owing to production costs. How much did it cost to make one penny?
1.6 cents
2 cents
3.1 cents
5 cents

4. The net cost of redeeming the six billion pennies expected to be turned in over the next six years will cost the federal government:
$10,500
$125,000
$3,000,000
$38,300,000

5.How many pennies can you cram into a four-litre pickle jar?
344 pennies, or $3.44
4,992 pennies or $49.92
12,280 pennies or $122.80
175,333 pennies or $1,753.33

6.This country has also eliminated the single-unit coin from circulation:
New Zealand
France
Spain
All of the above

7.The last penny was produced in May 4, 2012 in which city?
London, England
Ottawa, Ont.
Winnipeg, Man.
Calgary, Alta.

8.A rare Canadian penny sold for $402,500 US at auction in January 2010. The penny, one of three ever made, bears this unique feature:
A misspelling of the word "Canada"
A small dot below the year
Renderings of both King George V and Edward VII
A hexagon shape

9.The letters KG appear on the penny below the maple leaf. This stands for:
King George, in honour of the monarch who preceded Queen Elizabeth
Kingston and Gatineau, to mark Canada's bilingual tradition
George Edward Kruger Gray, the artist who designed the maple leaf twig design for the penny
Kilogram, a reference to the metric unit of measurement standard in Canada

10.Pennies produced from 1982 to 1996 were unique in this respect:
They were made of copper-plated zinc
They were no longer round but rather had 12 sides
They didn't have "Canada" printed on them
They were extra lucky

After that we tried playing a game called "Don't Fall" but Larry got a perfect score of eleven on his first try so we stopped there and moved on to the Memory Test. This proved to be a lot harder. Everyone got to study a plate that held 13 items for 30 seconds and then the plate was taken away. The most anyone could remember was 11 of the 13. More surprisingly, when we we repeated the test later in the evening with the same items, most people did even worse!

Larry played this winning entry in the "Don't Fall" game
in his first try!

This is the Memory Test Game. The best anyone
could do was 11 of 13 items.

We stopped for supper at that point. We had Cabernet Beef Stew and Home-made Cheese Biscuits for the meal and pumpkin pie with whipped cream, key lime tarts and butter tarts (all home-made as well) for dessert. Nobody went away hungry!

Freddy was the King of backgammon and,
 of course, crokinole!

The only game I won all night was Blockus!

After supper we went back to the games. We had a game of Yahtzee with everyone and then we broke up into  a couple of groups and played crokinole and Blockus. Blockus was the only game I won all night but by then all the prizes had been given out. Oh, well. It probably wouldn't have looked good if I awarded myself a prize! We had great fun even though I didn't feel well and I'm looking forward to the next time we have Games Night, maybe it should be a semi-annual event!

(answers to the penny quiz - (1) A portrait of a rock dove, (2) 100,000, (3) 1.6 cents, (4) $38,300,000, (5) 4,992 pennies or $49.92, (6) All of the above, (7) Winnipeg, Man., (8) A small dot below the year, (9) George Edward Kruger Gray, the artist who designed the maple leaf twig design for the penny, (10) They were no longer round but rather had 12 sides)

Holiday Time!

I have 1 week left out of my three week vacation and the time has just been flying by. We have done lots of interesting, fun stuff and have spent a ton of money. I said I was on vacation right?
I bought myself a new bike!!!! I got one that fits my frame size with lots of accessories for serious bike travel. I can pack great lunches, throw in some beach clothing and away we go. We have been riding the trails and loving every minute of it. My legs are very sore but I guess I have just been that out of shape. There are lots of very steep hills in our area so my new bike gears are getting a work out also.

Here’s my new bike on the day it came home. I got all the accessories to go with it, too. I got a bottle holder, a trip computer, a kickstand and a carrier rack including a soft bag big enough to carry lots of stuff.

On its first day we took a ride around the block to see how it would go. I didn’t realize that it was that big of a block!

We have also been out for the maiden voyage in the canoe we bought from a co-worker this spring. The day was beautiful, sunny and calm and we paddled around for about 3 hours. I even got out into the middle of the bay without getting scared. I’m just getting so brave!

What a perfect day to go canoeing. The water was just dead flat for the first 2 hours. We were able to travel around the entire bay and check out some of the homes that can’t be seen from the road.

We paddled right out into the bay and under the bridge just to see what was on the other side. Well, okay. We knew what was over there but we did get to see under the bridge!

We have visited lots of restaurants and sampled some of the finest foods out there. I’m glad to be exercising or I’m sure I would have gained 10 pounds easily.

I’ve had lots of time to fly my kite, build beach art and play Rummoli.

I found this funky looking piece of driftwood at the beach and decided that he looked like he wanted to dance so I propped him up and gave him a stage.

The dancer looked so good that I made him a dance troupe to back him up.

Of course, every artist needs to sign her work!

We’ve played lots of Rummoli this summer but this was the perfect evening to play outside. Needless to say that I won again!

There’s something so relaxing about flying a kite. It just hangs up there fluttering in the breeze.

I’m leaving you with some great pictures and hopefully I’ll get back on track financially and will have more blogging time in October. Oh wait that’s Halloween Pumpkin season, the Witch’s favorite time of the year!

No, this crab is not sun tanning. I assure you that he is quite dead and I’m okay with that.

We’re not sure what kind of birds these are. They might be semipalmated sandpipers but that is just a guess. They were taking a siesta on a nice warm rock until we showed up.

We’ve been able to spend a lot of time at this beach this summer. The weather has been crappy all year but it has been perfect ever since I started my holiday.

Now that’s a summer meal! Fresh oysters and corn heading off to the BBQ as a side dish for smokey chicken wings, mmm.

This red fox came out to greet us while we biking down the trail. He was quite happy to pose for pictures and even brought a friend out to play.

We had a great ride on this afternoon. We rode along the trail for 8 or 9 kilometres until we got to this fishing village. We found a small dockside café and had a bowl of mussels and a beer and then rode back again.

Being on vacation means that there is lots of time to make breakfast and one of my favourites is blueberry pancakes and fresh fruit, peaches in this case.

Food Bank Challenge

Recently Sam from "An Ostrich Named Sam" wrote:

”Many of us are so fortunate in being able to buy what we like at the grocery store and never having to choose between putting food in fridge or paying for rent. If you can, please give to your local food bank this Christmas. A box of pasta can make a difference to a family in need.”

and:

”Actually how about a challenge people? Give to the food bank and post your photos the month of December! Anyone in?”

Well, I’m up for your challenge Sam! In fact it was going to be pretty easy to do because donating to the food bank is something that I already do every year anyway. I was a volunteer at our local Salvation Army for over 10 years. They ran their Thrift Store and the food bank out of the same facility so I got to see some of the people who were using the services and hear some of their stories. Some of the stories were very tragic and they convinced me that I have been very fortunate in my life to be in a position to help others. So, among other things, I donate to that food bank regularly.

Also, once a year for the past dozen years or so, Hubby and his co-workers collect food donations from just about everyone in town and take them to the same food bank. I help with this too by driving Big Red while Hubby goes to the door to pick up food. We almost always bring in an entire truck load of stuff because people are so generous. The Salvation Army is always very grateful. It’s the single biggest donation they receive and it keeps the shelves stocked for months.

The back of Big Red was full again this year.

Ready to off-load.

So Sam, here’s my response to your challenge. I’m a little early but that’s just my nature! I included lots of KD, soup, peanut butter, spaghetti and sauce, beans, sugar and Kleenex. I look forward to seeing everyone else’s donations.

Okay Sam here’s my contribution.

Lots of KD because who doesn’t like KD?

All boxed up and ready to go!

Fondue Night

As you can see from the pictures fondue night was awesome. The meat was so tender it just melted in our mouths. That’s not always the case with this meal. We have had some fondues where the meat came out of the broth very tough and chewy. Last night’s was great whether we cooked it for a short time or a long time. This is probably because of the way it was processed. The butcher is also the farmer who raised the cattle. He actually hangs the meat for 21 days in his cooler and then does the cutting himself. This is the way butchers used to do things but it’s not the way they do it at today’s grocery stores. It’s just one more reason to make the trip to the Farmer’s Market.



We first had this meal at a restaurant in Montreal years and years ago. They called it a Chinese fondue for whatever reason. The meat was sliced into very thin pieces and was brought to the table on a platter. The cooking medium was beef broth and was served with a variety of dipping sauces and bread. It made a big impression with us. Later, at home in Toronto, we found an Austrian restaurant called the Graf Bobby that also offered the same meal. We must have gone there a hundred times and we always had the same thing. It became quite a tradition for us; they even kept our favourite table reserved for us on Friday nights. Unfortunately, the Graf Bobby went out of business so we had to learn how to make fondue for ourselves. It turns out to be surprisingly easy to do.



We make all the sauces ourselves. We start with a mix of plain yogurt and sour cream as the base then we add our own blend of spices. Hubby loves the curry sauce so I usually make two. I love the onion sauce. It’s made with a bit of onion soup mix. We tried two new dips this time. We used the chipotle chili spice and the hot paprika we wrote about a couple of weeks ago to make them and they turned out great. They are definitely keepers. If you are going try this yourself make the dips a couple of hours ahead of meal time to let the flavor spread into the base.
The veggies are great cooked this way, too. They always add an extra welcome to the broth in the pot. We use the broth a day or two later over some ramen noodles for a quick dinner. We always put out a selection of different cheeses, too. A couple of different breads just make this meal perfect.







Hubby got a very nice surprise for Valentine’s Day this morning. This is the second year I have made these cookies for him. They’re fun to make and are delicious, too. I think he was pretty happy to get them. I think the Snowman is also happy. Hubby made me a great breakfast this morning and now I'm stuffed. I also got a beautiful card and the wine we had with dinner last night was also my Valentine’s gift. I didn't want any flowers this year.





Oh, and I just had to include one more picture. I purchased this beautiful poinsettia tree after Christmas for $5.00 and the colour is such a bright red that I call it my Valentine's tree.



Hope you enjoy.

Grocery Shopping For The Week

We had our first big snow storm for the season last week. That is pretty amazing when I think about it. By this time last year we had had snow on the ground for almost three months!

On Friday some stores closed early in the day due to the weather, which made Saturday's grocery shopping an awful chore. The store was so busy that there were no shopping buggies to be had. People were actually lining up to wait for the cart wranglers to bring some in from the parking lot. Hubby cut to the chase and just went out and got his own. The check out lines were crazy, every cashier had at least ten people waiting. Never again will I be shopping on a Saturday after a storm.



I did get some good deals because they were having a B.O.G.O. event (you know, Buy One, Get One) which may have also contributed to the crowds. Anyway I'm all stocked-up for now. The cost for our little adventure was $114.27 and you can see for yourself what that gets you here on The Witch's Island.



I thought I would share a few pictures with you of Hubby blowing out the driveway. He had to do it three times over two days, poor fella. He didn't mind, though. Any reason to play with the power tools is a good one.

Our Christmas Party

We had a little get together with close friends last night for some finger food, drinks and lots of laughs. We also played a few games, crokinole and chess (the latter is so much fun after a few rummy eggnogs). We always have a great time with this group and I'm planning a games night of some sort for the New Year. I can hardly wait.

I've finished my Christmas shopping and it's all wrapped up. I'm just waiting for Santa to hopefully drop by (I think I've been a good girl). We'll just have to wait and see!