New painting and other stuff...

I know it's been too long since the last time I blogged, but like I said before, I didn't sign a contract so you'll just have be brave and try to understand.
Hubby and I had a great lunch at a local Inn in the Big City. I want to go back again SO soon. God maybe we just haven't been out for so long but a simple soup and sandwich meal turned out to be almost a gourmet treat. The soup was some odd strange sounding brew of broccoli, peas and mint but it was very tasty! The sandwich was ham, tomato and lettuce on grilled homemade rye bread, mmmmm.We managed to spend lots of cash on Saturday.

I recently came into a small amount of money. A distant relative passed away last year and I received a small part of his estate. I didn’t know him and in fact I had only heard of him once or twice from my dad. The estate consisted mainly of his savings accounts which were divided amongst his nieces and nephews and their children. He really should have enjoyed the money himself but instead it went to people he didn't even know. I am curious now about what he was like. I've asked the lawyers for some pictures and information and I hope that they will be able to supply that for me. I feel so sad actually to have received the money under these circumstances so I wanted to do something meaningful with it. Hubby reminded me about a painting that we had looked at back in February. We were thinking of buying it when I received my Christmas bonus but we let it drop for other reasons. I guess we never really put that painting out of our minds. We bought it on Saturday and it now sits beautifully above the new couch. I feel I will remember Eric every time we look at this painting because honestly we probably would never have bought it, otherwise. So, I thank you, Eric.

We have enclosed pictures of some reasons why I haven't had time to blog lately. Gardening, gardening and more gardening. Plus, I got a new promotion at work and I have been in training for the past several weeks. I will be off in two days for a short holiday and I can hardly wait. Canada Day cannot come fast enough for me!

Giving Trees

What a day!

The weather was perfect and the day was full of hope and promise for everyone. We went to a fund raiser which benefits everyone now and in the future. It's an annual event sponsored by the Department of Forestry and The Breast Cancer Society to raise some money by giving away trees. For a small donation to the Society you can pick up some local tree saplings in plug form or even dig up some larger native trees from a site managed by the Forestry Department. There was even coffee and doughnuts to be had but we were too late arriving to get any.

When we finally got home we had at least 20 trees to plant. Now don't get all worried, that's not as much work as it sounds like. We spent way more time figuring where to put each plant than we did actually putting them into the ground. Besides we have been doing this for over 20 years between here and the old place. That's a lot of digging. I can remember one year where the better-half planted Austrian pine saplings in a snow storm on Victoria day weekend. Poor fella! I think that we have planted trees just about every year we have lived in this province, I guess it must be several hundred trees and counting.



While most of the trees we have planted have been evergreens and hardwoods we have put in a bunch of fruit trees as well. Fruit trees have been our favorite because we love to make jams, jellies and preserves. I often wonder if, when we retire, we can pass on these skills. Most people can't be bothered, what a shame. I was blessed with these life skills from my Grandparents who had to work the land to survive and make a living. What would happen if everyone actually had to? Scary thought isn't it?

We started some veggies seeds in containers for the garden this week. They have already sprouted and need to be re-potted to bigger containers. YES, in one week!! We are hoping for another great gardening season. Last year's garden was so good. We have ordered some compost from a local farmer and we're just waiting for them to deliver it in their big New Holland tractor. I'm really becoming a country girl now, not everything has to be a John Deere! All we need after that is to get the Horse back from the shop, where it is getting an overhaul, and then we wil be able to rotill that shit right into the ground! No pun intended.

We love the new couch and love seat. The old set sold the day before the new one arrived, so it worked out perfectly. We actually had 2 couples who wanted it and the first one to hand over the money got it. The second couple lost out by 20 minutes. You snooze you lose as the saying goes. What I find funny is that we got $230.00 for the set and 30 plus years ago we only paid $650.00, in a no tax sales event, from Eatons, I believe. You can do the math to see how long it lasted and how well it held up. I bet you the new set won't last as long. Let's hope I'm wrong.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there, especially mine.

She is a classy Mother who loves to garden and is a great joy to talk with every day.

Love Ya MOM.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The New Furniture

Well, I'm going to keep this short because well I'm just too tired to post a full page. I've been really tired lately and I don't know why but I'm just feeling that way.

The new furniture arrived this week and it looks great. I really do like the RED. Hubby, I think ,is enjoying the new colour, too. The smell of new leather is wonderful.

This weekend we visited friends in the old neighbourhood including the couple who bought our first house. They're moving back to Ontario for health reasons, he is really not well. The reasons have made me think about alot of stuff, meaning of life stuff. It has been a hard week and I think that I'm just going to wait for another time to post. Hope you all understand.

Out with OLD and in with the NEW

The sorry-ass furniture that we have had longer than we have been married is up for sale. Cheap, real cheap, if any one is interested. We've bought ourselves a new set to liven up the newly redecorated tv room and we need to make room for it by passing on the old stuff.

Our new couch and love seat is leather, soft, gorgeous leather. And they're red, a lovely, sexy, Ferrari red. Well, I like to think of it that way. We are going more modern which will be a change for me because I'm really more of a rustic country type, but we all need a change sometimes in life. Turning 50 will do that to you (only kidding, don't go off the deep end and replace everything!)

This all started after we painted the tv room last week. Hubby did a great job of filling the cracks and wall imperfections so now they are perfect. He always does a good job, no half-assing it when he is on the job. Anyway, I really enjoyed painting this room and we will be doing the hallway next. This is a safe area where no new furniture will be required. Now comes the fun part, mixing and matching end tables, pillows, new wall decor, etc. Let the games begin. By the way, the couch and love seat we purchased was made in CANADA! I wouldn't have done it any other way.

A couple of weeks ago we did the day trip to Moncton that I mentioned previously. We were actually on the hunt for new furniture then but we didn't really see anything. Barnaby's was our primary destination and our excuse for going as this is where we found our first good set, but they let us down. We parked our asses on a lot of uncomfortable leather in the past six months but for some reason we couldn't find anything to suit us. Finally, Hambly's came through and we should take delivery on Wednesday.

The trip to the mainland wasn't a complete loss because we were able to enjoy some fine dining. We had dinner at our favorite restaurant -The House of Lam- and even ordered more food to take home for Sunday's supper. We both had the Schezuan combo plate, extra-spicy if you please! It was so good, and not expensive, either. Both dinners plus fried wonton appetizers plus 2 beers plus a half litre of wine PLUS take-out lunch for the next day AND tip was about $80. I don't know how they do it but let's hope they continue! At $40.00 for the bridge plus gas money we can't afford to do this all the time, but, we want to!!


Hopefully everyone had a great Easter I did. Check out the cute Bunny I received, I just LOVE him. He sings and dances and his ears move. I want a dozen of these! It just makes me smile just thinking of pressing his start button.

Not much going on.

My Birthday has come and gone. DAM!!!! I had a great day thanks to Hubby and my family. Turning 50 hardly hurt at all. Age, what does it really matter? I should be happy to have made it to 50.

Spring is in the air and I want to garden so badly.

Hubby bought me an Oriental Lily plant and it smells fantastic. Plus my Orange Tree should be in sometime this week. I guess I'm gardening indoors because I have bought quite a few indoor plants lately.

Earth Hour was a success and I'm glad to have participated once again but really most days you can drive right by our place and no lights are on. Some people have actually thought we went away for the winter. Any way, it's the message that we are all trying to send that really counts.

The birds are all looking for nesting material and are also looking at the tree swallow birdhouse. They are all too big for it so I hope it will be safe till the swallows return to claim it. They are truly beautiful and I enjoyed their company as much as the Hummingbirds. We made an Owl box last year and will have to put it up around August for the Barred Owls. The only thing is Hubby has to climb up a tree and secure it. Not an easy task when you have to climb up12 feet or more to attach this huge box and secure it safely for the owls. I guess that's why we didn't do it last year. Wish I knew someone with a boom truck.

We are planning a day trip to Moncton soon and I can hardly wait. The farmers market is calling me as is a great scoff of Chinese food at our favorite restaurant.
I received some money for my Birthday so I thinking I would like to buy myself a new wardrobe. What are the chances of that? I'm too cheap to buy new so I'll properly be at Value Village or Frenchy's. See You There!!!!

Not too much new on Witch's Island

Spring has Sprung!!!!

At least I hope so, I'm so sick and tired of looking at this snow. Yes, we still have lots of it.Who can think of gardening with all this shitty looking white stuff still hanging around. Well, I guess I can because I went to the local gardening store yesterday and bought some seeds to start indoors sometime soon. We got some bottle gourds which are a strange looking seed. I really can't tell which end to plant in the soil. Last year we put them in and they grew nicely but I felt they were way behind because I didn't start them inside earlier in the winter. This year we will give them a head start. Last year's gourds are drying out nicely in the basement and will become birdhouses, probably in the next couple of weeks.

We haven't won a damn thing from Tim Hortons roll-up the rim to win. There has been lots of winners around here, though. Two people have won the 10,000 dollar prize.

We're making baked beans again for supper again tonight. We're also cooking a roast beef and a meat pie, which I made around X-mas time, so we should have lots to eat through the week. I'm working the evening shift so it is nice to plan for the week ahead. That way we both eat healthy. For dessert I'm making my world famous butter tarts and I will post some pictures later, supposing that I can snap a shot before Hubby eats them all.

Just want to remind everyone of Earth Hour this Sat (March 28th). At 8:30 until 9:30 turn your lights out and have some fun while helping the environment. Can't wait to see what Google will do this year on their site. My plans are maybe playing a game of chess by candle light, a bubble bath by candle light, a walk down to the stream by candle light, or if the night is really nice I would like to bundle up in my winter coat and sit in the deck chairs with a glass of wine,( no candles it will ruin your night vision)and just take in the moment.

Hope you all think about your plans for Earth Hour!!!

Take Care.

Take the Quiz

Here's the Quiz.
10 Easy questions to answer about your partner.
Let's see how you score.

1) What's his/her favorite number?
2) What's his/her favorite colour?
3) What's his/her favorite dish?
4) What's his/her favorite movie?
5) What's his/her favorite song?
6) Whats his/her favorite gen stone?
7) What's his/her favorite store?
8) What's his/her favorite Blog Site?
9) What's his/her favorite passion?
10) What's his/her favorite animal/mammal/fish, you get the picture.

I gave Hubby the quiz and he scored fairly high, but I didn't do so well.
Who knew his favorite song was "Twisted"! I'd never heard of it before.
Anyway I really enjoyed thinking up these questions, but feel free to change or add to them.

Snowing again today. I think every Sunday it has been snowing for monthes but I know Spring will be right around the corner bringing lots of water, spongy driveways and wet basements.
We visited friends yesterday and at our old house my heart jumped. The little daffodils in the front garden had popped their heads above the ground. A sure sign of Spring, RIGHT?
Hubby and I are doing the Sunday cleaning together, we have baked beans in the oven and they are smelling sooo good. Later on we will coat some chicken thighs and bake them and I might even make some butter tarts because I found a package of tart shells in the freezer yesterday. Hubby's ultimate favorite.