My Flog for February 29

Well, my extra Leap Day is over, and I did nothing exciting. A walk to Walmart with my buggy, which brought $120 worth of groceries and necessities home. A sweep of floor. A wash of laundry. A bake of bread - 5 loaves, a pan of rolls, and a mini-loaf for the mini-people. A cook of dinner - really nice Pepper Steak and White Rice. And a walk to a corner 'store' for tomatoes, which I forgot to get at Walmart.

...now all we need are the 2 fishes and a multitude of people...

I thought there was a market on the corner of 88th and King George, at least I hoped there would be one. If there wasn't, there should be one. But after walking there, which was a lot of downhill that turned into uphill on the way home, I found there isn't one. However, there is this really little closet-sized Hole-in-the-Wall mini-store, and although I had to get down on the floor to find a bag of tomatoes on the bottom shelf in their fridge, I did find what I was looking for. Sure beats another hour and a half walking to Pricesmart and back. Got a little bit caught in showery rain/snow mix on the way home, but c'est la vie. When customers come in complaining about the really cold, wet and windy weather we've been having lately, I just say, "Yeah, you'd think it was winter, wouldn't you?"

Now even though it's only just after 6 o'clock, I think maybe a really early night, in hopes that tomorrow will be better. First though is to watch some Doc Martin.

The only thing that's wrong with me right now is just a state of mind, as I feel a bit cantankerous. Be glad you are miles away.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Leftovers - Shepherd's Pie. Now that's all gone, which is good, for it makes room in the fridge for tonight's leftovers.
• Dinner - Pepper Steak, Rice and Warm Fresh Bread. Mmmmmm.
• Snacks - A Pep bar, a diet Pepsi, and a few grapes 

My Flog for February 28

This morning at the Skytrain station, I passed a Skytrain person talking and writing what I assumed was a ticket to a commuter. I just skirted them and put my 3.75 in the ticket machine, which proceeded to gulp my money and refused to issue me a ticket. 

That's when I realized the same thing had happened to the commuter, and the Skytrain person was taking her name and not writing her a ticket after all. I asked him why he didn't tell me the machine was broken, and why he just let me go ahead and lose my money. So he went on about how he wanted to make sure it wasn't working (I guess I was his test subject) and he would make everything okay. So he wrote me a day pass - which meant I could use it for a free trip home at the end of the day. 

After I got on the train, I wondered what he would have done if I had put a $20 bill in the machine, as it will give you back change when it's working properly.  And what if that had been my only money and I was depending on the change for my lunch. Would he have written me a cheque? Hopefully I'll never find out, but I only hope that if a machine decides to steal my money again, there will be a Skytrain person there with a piece of paper and a pen.

However, now I'm home, and warm, and almost ready for bed. It's pouring rain outside my window, and there is a chance of snow overnight. I have tons of plans for tomorrow (Day 1 Off) but what I will end up doing will depend on the weather. One thing for sure, I am going to have me some Doc Martin - missed him over the past few days, which I had to spend catching up with Coronation Street.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch- Bagel with Cheddar Cheese (thanks to Steve for making my lunch), Coffee
• Dinner - Pizza, the Rest of the Orange Cake, as I was doing dishes and wanted to get all the plates clean. No one else would eat the last slice, so I had to. Sometimes one just has to do what must be done.
• Snacks - a few chips, Hot Chocolate, 3 cookies

My latest sweater:

I told my manager today that I had something published in a magazine, and she asked me if it was a Letter to the Editor. I thought that was a tad insulting, and must remember never to dedicate anything to her. 

My Flog for February 27

It's 8 o'clock and I'm home for the night. It's been a very long day, and I actually had to work to make the time go faster. I think I need a holiday. Now I've got the washing machine going, and I will crash when this load is washed, dried, and folded.

Today was freezing, although it was sunny and bright. The mountains seemed astoundingly close this morning, and the sun shining on them made a picture-perfect view. That just shows how clear and cold the air was. I tried to get a pic with my phone, but it didn't work. It's here anyway, so you can see one of my morning stops.

Guess you just had to be there, and you weren't. I think I was the only commuter, though, who went out of their way to try to photograph it - everyone else was hell-bent on getting on the skytrain.

My stash of words is pretty empty tonight, so we'll just have the List.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Soup, Pudding
• Dinner - Fried Potatoes, Bologna, and Beans
• Snacks - 3 Cookies, Cranberry Juice, Hot Chocolate

I think Nikkie wants me to go swimsuit shopping, as she bought me a huge pack of Cheese Chips, my absolute favourite.

My Flog for February 26

Slept in until about 7 AM, then it was an early trip to the bank and the grocery store, to beat the Sunday rush, and to provide me with a much-wanted shopping experience before I headed off to work. Thanks, Howard. Thanks a lot. However, the morning wasn't a complete loss, as we had breakfast at A&W, where the conversation went like this:

Me: I'll have the classic breakfast, please. (Bacon, Eggs, Toast and Coffee)
Gal Behind Counter (from now on, GBC): Do you want white or brown bread?
Me: White, please.
GBC: We only have brown.
Me: Well, I really have no choice then, do I?

Sometimes I really do feel like beating my head against the wall. It may stop me from flitting in and out of the fifth dimension.

• Breakfast - Bacon, Eggs, Coffee and Whole Wheat Toast 
• Lunch - Shepherd's Pie and veggie leftovers, 2 Cookies, Ginger Ale
• Dinner - 2 Chickie Drummies, French Fries, Mixed Veggies, and a piece of Orange Cake
• Snacks - Banana, Baileys w/Milk (now that's a Worthy Snack. I remember drinking Baileys on ice at The Village Inn, when the world was new. I think my limit was about 16.)

We had more snowflakes today. I don't know about Surrey, but Steveston had hail and snow mixed, heavy at times, but it didn't last when it hit the ground. It's a bit too late in the year for all that, as bulbs are growing and buds are plumping. Spring will be so welcomed.

My Flog for February 25

I didn't really plan anything for today, as it's a Howard-at-home Day, so my plans aft go astray on these. So I really didn't know what I was going to do, until we were both in the basement where we store a whack of stuff, and he said, "You've really got a mess here."

And it was true. Every now and then I go treasure-hunting - a VHS here, a cookbook there, here and there a bread pan. And I don't always put things back where they belong, even though Everything Has A Place. So my day became planned.

I went through tons of boxes, unpacked some books, records, VHS's, and etceteras, and got a pile of stuff for Value Village. Although when I put it all in my older Value Village pile, which was there for about 4 months (since we moved here), I had a brain wave. So off to Craigslist I go, to the Free category, and guess what? Pam is going to pick up 7 boxes tomorrow morning at 11am. I am so smrt. Still.

Dinner was easy. I baked an Orange Cake, and Chris 'helped' me make the frosting - so it took a little bit longer that unusual. He gave me my daily smile though. I said, "We need 6 tablespoons of butter," so he went to the utensil drawer and started counting out tablespoons - "One, two, three.... " How cute was that?

Because it was really windy and cold today, I never went for a walk. The only outdooring I did was to visit the garbage can. But in between boxes, I watched the last two episodes of the last season (5) of Sanctuary, and I do indeed like the way it all ended, and I did some knitting and some sewing together of a previously knitted sweater

Now there's not much left to do, only frost that cake and eat a pile of it and go to bed. Tomorrow begins my 3 days of work, and once again, I will enjoy the rest.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee 
• Lunch - Baked Beans (left overs) and sort of stale Beer Bread
• Dinner - Shepherd's Pie - so so so good, and Frozen Mixed Veggies - well, they weren't frozen when I ate them, as I cooked them as instructed.
• Snacks - 4 cookies, and probably, maybe, some cake before I hit the sack. Maybe not. We'll see.

My Flog for February 24

5:53 AM
Seems like I got a lot accomplished yesterday for someone who had no energy. Oh well, it just shows that when you want something done, get right down and do it. I am very happy with our room now, and I can even watch TV and tap at the same time. And no more mountain climbing every time I get in and out of bed.

Today's plan? Tidying upstairs - I told the kiddies I'd help them tidy their room, which usually means they stay out of the way until it's done, then come in and tell me how nice it is (always does a heart good to hear a few words of praise), and maybe I'll bake something. It's a really rain-pouring-down kind of day, so I don't think I'll venture far on my feet. Hopefully I can dig up something from the bottom of the freezer and turn it into something spectacular for dinner. If not - pizza is only a call away.

12:17 PM
Even though raindrops were falling on our heads when I got up, they turned to something else a couple of hours ago. Can you guess what?

If you said 'Snowdrops' you were right. Great big huge ones.

Since winter was outdoors, I decided to bake something - in fact 3 somethings -

Oatmeal, Raisin Oatmeal, and Gingersnaps

They passed the Taste Test - and also passed the Stuffing Your Face And Flaking Out On The Couch Test -

I could have baked more, but ran out of the basic stuff - shortening, sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips.

5:44 PM
I guess my day's about done. I swept the living room, and that's about it. Helped Lizzie put together 2 of their 24-piece puzzles - that's about my level right now, it seems. And, I was right - pizza was just a phone call away.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - an Undetermined Number of Cookies, Coffee
• Dinner - Pizza
• Snacks - Nada. Nil. Nutting. We could always share the number of cookies I had for Lunch, I guess.

And - on the slight possibility that you missed it, a story I wrote a couple of years ago, The Orange Sock, was published in the March edition of The Downhome, a Newfoundland Magazine. I don't have a copy, unfortunately, but I did paste the story onto my Flog, so if you haven't read it yet, click this: 

http://tamarlosesit.blogspot.com/2012/02/orange-sock.html

The Orange Sock

On this cloudy gray and chilly day, I took a chance at sunshine and hung my laundry outdoors. As I pegged my husband’s socks in a row like soft white soldiers, I noticed I was hanging them with their heels all facing the same direction. This brought me back to a time when I was young and single, living free and trying so hard to make a mark on life.

I turned 20 the year I moved to Trinity, and became the middle teacher in a three-room school on the hill. The School Board had found me a boarding house in the community, and I got the biggest bedroom of the three, since I was paying the most rent - $50 per month. I moved in with my Herman Hermits and Monkees records, my What, Me Worry? poster, and my hopes and dreams of teaching all the little 8 and 9 year olds of the town their multiplication tables and world geography. 

I soon settled in my new home. The couple who were my landlords would become, in the future, my aunt and uncle by marriage, but long before then Evelyn became my friend. We would play Scat for pennies, and she would drag me to Bingo, which I soon learned to hate. And every now and then, I guess I would help a little around the house.

My sister would probably never believe this, as she knew I would hide in the bathroom whenever there was a chore to be done. (At least that is how she remembers it. I think I may have been a little bit lactose intolerant.) However, I remember one sunny, warm day when Evelyn was doing laundry, I ended up hanging it out for her, and I remember pegging a row of her family’s little white soldiers on the line. However, when I came to the bottom of the basket, I found one lonely single orange sock, all by its lonesome.

I counted the socks on the line, and moved the middle one to an end, so I could peg that little orange sock in the middle. When Evelyn came out, she started to laugh, to see that bright exclamation point surrounded by white. I have no ideas which way the heels were pointing. That didn’t matter to me back then. What mattered was the single little stocking dancing in the breeze.

At that time in my life, the orange stocking and I were very much alike. We were both independent and bright. We didn’t care what anyone said, as long as we could dance and enjoy the dance. In fact, if I remember, I enjoyed being a bit different, pushing the boundaries, and meeting new adventures head on. 

The years have passed quickly, bracketed by a married life, and my babies are now adults with their own babies. I hope they find their own adventures to bring them smiles as they grow older. I hope at least once in their lives, they punctuate their clotheslines with an orange sock.

My Flog for February 23

8:49 AM

I stayed in bed this morning, until almost 8 o'clock, just waiting for some energy to seep in from the blankets. Didn't work. Now I feel like the day's half gone and I have nothing done. Not that I plan to do much. Drinking coffee is about all I can think of right now.

Things I might do if I get a burst of get-up-and-go:

• Move our beautiful dining room table and all the boxes, plus TV, that's stored on top of it. Steve's 4th bedroom renter moved it all over in the corner and blocked the door to the furnace sometime over the past couple of days. Now we have no access to the furnace room, but more important, I have no access to my box of recipes, which prevented the guys from having some really nice baked stuff for their lunches today, as the recipe I wanted was in that box. (On a scale of  1 -10, 10 being No Way, Uh UH, Am I Crazy?), how badly do I want to do this? ... -23)
• Laundry (Well, at least I don't have to take it to the nearest river - so that's not too bad ...  7)
• Move the bed in our room so I don't have to walk, straddle or crawl over a small mountain of a husband every night when I go to bed. (I would have to move other stuff as well ... 8)
• Tidy ( 6)

Things I will probably do instead:

• Knit
• Watch Sanctuary 
• Eat (feed a cold, starve a fever -  I'm pretty sure I'm breeding a cold - which is better than breeding 2-legged creatures at this time in life. A while ago (a long time ago) I realized that 39-40 must be about middle-aged, as those numbers doubled will bring forth comments like, "Well, he lived a long life...." Now I'm almost 60, I don't even want to think about it. But if I was a Native American, I would be revered for my wisdom and knowledge - for example, feed a cold and starve a fever.
• Nap

Things I will definitely NOT do:

• Walk 9128 steps

Things I did:

In order to move and tidy, I had to first use my bed for a temporary storage unit.

I do have a lot of stuff, don't I? (Well, this ain't half of it.)

The corner became handy, too, although this made it more difficult to open the door. I'm glad there was no fire or flood.

Now, see, if Howard was here, he'd just think I was making a mess, and not tidying up. 

A storage cubey thing fell on my head, but I kept on going.

And now we have a nice dustless (kinda) room. 

the dark thing in the corner is my record player on top of a drawery cabinet

gotta have a place for my knitting books/magazines - and baskets for my socks and undies (not that you're interested)

•  Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Soup and left-over Crust from last night's dinner - still yummy. Now the soup's all gone, so it's time to make some more.
• Dinner - Crock Pot Baked Beans and Beer Bread - yummy yummy yummy
• Snacks - Muffin, Cranberry Juice

I don't think Howard is talking to me tonight. Our room was so stinky last night, even burrowing my nose in the blankets didn't help. I had to go upstairs and get the room freshener so I could get to sleep. And tonight he says it was the cat.
All I said was, "I didn't know the cat was a ventriloquist."
Steve and I thought that was hilarious, and bust out laughing.
I'm pretty sure Howard won't talk to me tonight. And come to think of it, why the heck did I make beans for dinner? Rats.

My Flog for February 22

It was a Good Morning, Morning, Hello Sunshine day today. Even though it was my first Day Off, I still got up at 5:15, had breakie, and did fun stuff, like watching Sanctuary and knitting, until the kids got up for school. Later in the morning, I walked to Pricesmart, and visited one of my favourite Surrey sites, Holland Park. Too pretty not to share.

These trees are so tall, it's amazing, really. There are a couple of high rise apartments on the other side of the park, and trees come more than halfway up.

Hey! Our first daffodils and crocusses - croci - whatever ...

There were 3 ducks in the fountain pool

guess the ducks don't know how to read

Oh look! It's the Sky Train! And I'm not on it! Yeah!

One of Holland Park's beautiful works of art 

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Soup and Bread
• Dinner - Beef Stew - I must say, I surprised myself by making crappy Beef Stew. My Beef Stew is usually the best. I know what happened, and I was pretty sure I could fix it so it would be perfect. For example, I made sure the turnip (rutabaga on the west coast) and carrots were cooked. And I made sure I thickened the gravy and not depended on the flour from the crust to thicken it. I could have probably thought of a hundred things I could have done to make it more perfect, but these are the only ones I did after dinner, so I could freeze some lunch-sized containers with the delicious, make-overed goodness. Oh yes, also had Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli
• Snacks - 1 Ritz cracker (better not forget that, as Nikkie saw me test-taste it. From now on I have to test-taste everything I give the kids, as I opened a little chocolate milk for Chris today (dated 2 days in the future) and it seemed it was very sour. Poor little guy. If he was a big guy (like his daddy or poppy, it would have been frigging hilarious. Also, cranberry juice, a few candy, and an orange. Don't know if anything else will travel the long lonely highway to my tummy before I go to bed - I'm in a real craving mood. 

My Flog for February 21

Day 3 at work, brain dead, finger and toes hurting. I think I have arthritis in two of the toes on my left foot, and no matter how I write about it, it's not funny.

However, tomorrow is another day , and it's the first of my Magical Four Day Offs, and that makes me very happy. Big plans to make hundreds of things for tomorrow night's dinner (won't mention it to Howard, because then he'll say he doesn't want that and I'll have to change my plans) and maybe a bit of housework. Definitely a bit of Sanctuary in the morning. In fact I can't wait for 5 am to roll around so I can start - knowing a nap is always available any time during the day is what makes early morning rising easier, but I never ever nap. Usually that is.

Enough about tomorrow. If I don't stop writing about it, I won't have anything to write about tomorrow, just as I have nothing to write about today.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee. More homemade toast, toasted over the red hot stove element. Mmmm.
• Lunch - My terrific Beef, Veggie and Pasta Soup, Bread, and an Orange. (And no, I didn't make the Orange, if that's what you're wondering.)
• Dinner - Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, and Howard made it. Not me.
• Snacks - Date Square, Hot Chocolate, Coffee, and half an Omega 3 cookie. And yes, it tastes just like its name - Healthy. Full of nuts and seeds and healthy stuff, leaving no room for tasty goodness. First and last time. I guess the only reason it's called a cookie is because it's shaped like one, but then so is a cow patty (albeit a big one) but I wouldn't eat that either.

My Flog for February 20 + Skip-a-dee - don't (Duh)

Have you ever had such a deep sleep, that you didn't wake up when your partner got up for work, and missed making lunches, having coffee, knitting, watching Coronation Street or Sanctuary, and would have been late for work if your son hadn't come down to see if you were ready to leave? Well, that's what happened to me this morning.

At 7 am, 2 hours after I should have oozed out of bed, I opened my eyes, and was ready to leave in 15 minutes. After about 5 of these minutes, when I was trying to avoid the mirror and the droopy eyed old creature looking back at me,  I realized I was probably getting sick. My manager has been really ill all week, Steve wasn't feeling well on Saturday, and I was just saying how I have gone through all winter without getting sick. Crap, why do I open my mouth some times?

However, being a trooper, I grabbed a ceramic travel mug of coffee (my nice pretty ceramic mug that I dropped on the sidewalk on my way home - down it went in one piece, and landed in several,) and made sure I had my 3 Important Things (keys, phone, and bus fare,) and off we went.

Of course it was cold and rainy. I settled in a seat on the Skytrain, untangled my earphones, and turned on my MP3 player. The first song I heard was - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPUlMC2qETo

She obviously had a nice breakfast after she got up, while I had nothing at all, except a cooling cup of coffee. However, I made up for that when I hit Steveston.

• Breakfast - Sausage and Egg McMuffin, Coffee
• Lunch - a shared Chicken and Veggie Chowder and a Sante Fe Wrap
• Dinner - part of a Pork Chop, Potato Salad, Strawberry Tart
• Snacks - Iced Mocha, Diet Pepsi, Muffin, Banana

My Flog for February 19

As my Sunday morning was coming down, I was either watching Coronation Street, having a shower, knitting, or sitting in the truck getting a ride to work. The latter wasn't a choice, but a must. Well, actually, the shower wasn't really a choice, either. And I didn't have to put on my cleanest dirty shirt, as I did laundry yesterday.

I didn't have a beer for breakfast, and my head didn't hurt. My fingers hurt a bit from knitting too much, and my knee is starting to act up a little, and it's getting harder to kneel down and get up. And I definitely didn't smell chicken cooking, because that was yesterday, too, and I didn't hear church bells ringing - but I still love that song!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-axr23-WP0E

Today must have been a special day for some shoppers, as it seemed we had a lot of needy customers, some of which had Pauline and I shaking our heads and wishing time would fly (or maybe even wishing we were stoned, whatever that is.)  Maybe there was a Mother Ship circling overhead, who knows. If so, I'm glad they weren't gathering knitters, as I pretty much like my life here on Earth.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee - not just any old toast, but home-made bread toasted to perfection over the re-hot stove element (yummy)
• Lunch - Beef, Veggie and Pasta Soup (Ground Beef, tons of Veggies, and squirly pasta. Secret to my super delicious soups? My super delicious stock!), 2 slices of Bread and Becel, and a Yogurt
• Dinner - BBQ Chicken and Salads, last night's leftovers, which were just as good tonight (now I have 2 chickie carcasses in the freezer just a'waiting for the next batch of soup), and a Strawberry Tart
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Coffee, Bran Muffin, Diet Pepsi

Now, I would like to make a short note regarding the Bran Muffin. A Bran Muffin isn't really a treat. If I wanted a treat, I would have brought a Chocolate Chip Muffin. No, a Bran Muffin is more of a dose of medicine, with some sugar and fat added to make it palatable. A substitute for a bowl of Hay for breakfast.

My Flog for February 18 + Recipe and A Couple of Food Secrets

So here goes with what I did today, a big breath - grocery shopped, made Bacon and Egg Pie for lunch, made bread, soup, humongous potato salad, coleslaw with home-made coleslaw dressing (of course,) two roasted chickens, one with seasoned salt and Garlic Plus, and one with BBQ sauce, cottage pudding with Steve's home-grown and frozen strawberries and some kind of whipped petroleum product - well, it doesn't seem so much when I write it down. Of course add a few loads of laundry and tons of dishes, washing them  as I dirtied them - well, no wonder I'm pooped.

(Note to all you young gardeners: When you freeze your strawberries, remove the leaves first.)

I was going to walk to the store for groceries, but bullied Steve into driving me, as it was pissing down rain and 'blowin' a starm.' What a perfect day for staying in the kitchen and making yummy smells.

Tomorrow it's back to work for 3 days, and I'll be glad when they are over, as I seemed to be busy on every one of my day offs this week. One I spent walking around Richmond, one walking around Ladner, one working, and then today - I did keep busy but it was all stuff I either enjoy or don't mind doing. Not having to get up at 5:23 am makes a huge difference, and not having to spend 3 hours on transit just adds to that huge difference, to make it actually a humongous difference - just like the potato salad I made. (See how good I am at tying things together?)

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Bacon and Egg Pie - a tad overcooked, will know better next time, Spinach Salad (that wasn't overcooked)
• Dinner - Oh my. Half a Chicken Breast, the seasoned garlicky one, Potato Salad (alright, I'll give you my very own secret to the yummiest potato salad - use half Miracle Whip and half Kraft Coleslaw Dressing - believe me, it works, Coleslaw (with grated apple instead of pineapple), absolutely delicious home.. no, it deserves caps -Homemade Bread and butter. (I didn't make the butter - well, it wasn't actually butter, it was Becel.) Dessert was Strawberry Shortcake. I'll give you the recipe PLUS my magic way of doing the Strawberries.
• Snacks - Diet Pepsi, Coffee, Muffin (the ones that are like donuts), Apple

Boy, I'm stuffed. What a feed!

Strawberry Shortcake (sort of)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cream thoroughly: 1/3 cup shortening (I used Golden Crisco) and 1 cup sugar

Add: 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla

Beat until light and fluffy.

Blend or sift together: 1 1/2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt.

Add to creamed mixture alternately with 1 cup milk. Beat well after each addition  (3 dry and 2 wet)

Pour into greased 8" or 9" square pan and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Best served warm.

Strawberries

Use frozen strawberries, even in the middle of summer. Put them in a bowl and toss a cup or so of sugar on top. Let them thaw, don't torment them at all. When thawed, give them a bit of a shock with your handy dandy potato masher, then pour into a colander - make sure you put a bowl underneath first. Then let the strawberry juice drip into the bowl. Now get about 2 tbsp of cornstarch and dissolve it in a bit of water, not a whole lot, maybe half a quarter cup. When you have lots of juice, put that into a pan (well, I guess you could let it drip into a pan in the first place, rather than a bowl - why dirty two things when one will do?) and bring to a boil on the stove. Add the  cornstarch, stirring all the time, and it will thicken nicely. Remove from heat, let cool a little, then add to the rest of the berries. Yummy Yummy Yummy. I was scared it would turn to jam, but it didn't. 

To serve, just put a piece of the cake on a plate, add a spoonful of berry deliciousness, and top with whipped cream. 


If I wasn't so stuffed I'd go get some more.

My Flog for February 17 - And A Whole Lotta Nuttin'

I know you'll all feel bad for me when I tell you I had to go to work today. After all, I only get 4 days off a week, and to have to take one of these days and spend it working was absolutely horrid. But I did. Up so early, and, unlike the muffin you will read about shortly, I was risen but not shining. Before I went to work, I made some Bisquick tea buns (I should say I burned the bottom of some Bisquick tea buns,) and cleaned Kitty's litter box. Then it was off to the Sky Train station.h

Work wasn't too busy, so we sort of slacked off. I still looked at it as my day off, just that I had to spend it at the store and get paid for being there. My manager called in the afternoon and said she was just sitting around all day doing nothing, and I said, 'Yeah, I'm not doing much either." She just laughed. She probably thought I was kidding. I wasn't. However, before she left yesterday, sick as a dog and feeling like she was dying, she forgot (or didn't care about) her bike locked up in the alley beside the store. Which wasn't a really big deal,
until a guy from the set of Once Upon A Time came in, and said it was in the way of the film crew, as that was where the next scenes were going to be shot. The guy offered to drive up and get her key, unlock her bike and bring it either back to her house, or into the store. She wasn't fussy about giving a stranger the key to her lock, so I said I would come up with him and get her key and take the bike inside the store, and she was okay with that.

It was only after, I realized that though she didn't trust her bike key with a stranger, she didn't mind me riding in his car to get the key. Guess she's got her priorities straight. Oh well, it's all for the cause, and who knows, maybe I'll get my name in the credits if there is a Bike Mover category.

It wasn't a very busy day customer-wise either. Another guy came in and asked if we had boxes of popsicle sticks. I said no, but we had packs of them. He asked how many were in a pack.

I answered, "Enough that you'd say 'Oh Crap' if you dropped them on the floor."

By the way, there were 150 and they cost $1.49. Less than 1 cent each. Just in case you're interested. Which you probably aren't.

The only other interesting thing from today was the van parked across the road.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Some kind of soup from Steveston Bakery, I have no idea what it was, but it was really good. I think it may have had cauliflower in it, no, come to think of it, it was corn something or other - I knew what it was when I ordered it, but now I really can't remember. Also a Rise and Shine Muffin. I like the sound of that one. I said to the cashier, "I've been risen and shining for hours, but I'd still like that muffin." And it was really good. I think it had carrot and raisins in it - so there you go, tons of veggies and fruit today.
• Dinner - KFC - Who the heck wants to cook at 7:30 on a Friday night? Not me. I don't believe anyone should have to work on Friday, anyway. I had to work today, and it sucked big time.
• Snacks - Orange Pop, Hot Chocolate, a little Bisquick tea bun, and a few crappy Sponge Bob Hallowe'en candy.

My Flog for February 16 + Did You Miss Me? Cos I'm Back Now....

I guess I could fill in yesterday's blanks. For Lunch, my buddy and I shared a foot-long Egg Salad Sub from Subway, and I also had a coffee and a Chocolate Chip cookie. For Dinner, I had Chicken Noodle Soup and a Yogurt from Tim Horton's. And Pauline and I each had a toasted English Muffin and Hot Chocolate (well, she had Tea, but then she's English, so what else would she have?) So even though I had freedom of choice and lots of places to choose from, I remained a good girl with the vision of a huge bathing suit looming in the near future.

I had two days of marvelous, actually. Went to Steveston to pick up my cheque, then did all the stuff I planned (see yesterday's half flog), plus walked for ages and ages,  and then went to the Gateway Theatre to see Theatre Newfoundland Labrador's production of Tempting Providence. It was fantastic, if you get the chance to see it, don't miss out. I've never seen a sheet transform into so many things - plus the acting was incredible, the story was wonderful. 

After the play, I went to Pauline's for a sleepover as planned, and I had a big bed all to myself - and a good night's sleep. I know Howard was here hugging my pillow, but that's okay. Tonight he can hug me - when I get around going to bed!

This morning, after (imagine this) a coffee served to me while I was still in bed, Pauline dropped me off at Shannon's and we spent the day together, lunched at a really nice cafe - soup, and CAKE - we shared a big ball of Carrot Cake and Chocolate Volcano Cake -

looks yummy, doesn't it now?

also very yummy

Even Dominik liked the chocolate cake! Yes, we did indeed share with the little guy...

- and thrift store shopped. I stayed long enough to see the boys after school, then transitted home. The only rotten part of the whole thing was getting the phone call to go to work tomorrow. Rats. But I said yes, because I'm dependable and you can count on me, yessiree. (Insert naughty word here.) 

• Breakfast - Scrambled Egg on Toast, Coffee - thanks to Pauline and her wonderful B&B!
• Lunch - Pea Soup, Mocha, and a few bites of yummy cakes - Carrot and Chocolate Volcano
• Dinner - Cheerios (back home again!)
• Snacks - 2 Hershey's chocolates, not the big ones, or even the Hallowe'en ones, but the ones that look like mini bars, only about 1 1/2 inches long. No room in them for calories.

I am thinking about going upstairs to make muffins. If I do, rest assured I will be doing a quality control test, because I have a rumbly tumbly, and who can sleep with a rumbly tumbly? It would probably even drown out Howard's snoring.

My Half Flog for February 15

• Breakfast - Toast, 1 pancake, and coffee - toast and coffee when I got up at 5:23 so I could grab the last of the early morning brew, and a pancake and coffee when I went upstairs at 6:45 to surprise the son and the grandkids with a pancake breakfast - and fresh  coffee. The surprisees were very happy, and Chris subtracted his way through a whopping 14 pieces of pancake.
• Lunch - debatable. I'm leaving the house at noon, so I'm not sure if I'll eat before I leave, which is very doubtful, or pick up a coffee and muffin at Timmys on the way, which is somewhat likely, or if I'll just wait until I get to Steveston, which is the most probable.
• Dinner - No idea. I know I'll be in Richmond, so I imagine I'll pick up something to eat somewhere.
• Snacks - ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

I know this flog is a bit strange, but I have an adventure booked for today. I'm going to Steveston to pick up my cheque (payday is a lot better that Valentines Day), and I'm going to meet my pal Marina for coffee and a possible something to eat. Then I'm going to bus uptown and get my Simply Knitting magazine from Indigo Spirit book store, and then I'm going to get my hairs cut. And finally - I'm going to meet Pauline and we are going to The Gateway Theatre to see this -
https://www.gatewaytheatre.com/whatsonm3.html
- and I am SO happy!

Now, after this, which I know will be wonderful, assuming I can still understand what is being said and maybe act as translator at times, I am going to Pauline's house for a sleepover. It will be too late for me to come home on bus/skytrain. I'm not that brave to be wandering around King George skytrain station late at night, as I could either be mistaken for a (what the kids call) a crackhead looking for a handout, or a hooker. And although I do crochet sometimes, I don't do it often enough to earn the title of hooker. But I am usually happy.

And back to normal tomorrow. And that's okay, because I love my normal too!

My Flog for February 14

I do believe this was Valentines Day, and Facebook confirms it. Kudoos to all the gals who got roses and chocolate. The closest thing I got to roses, was I rose out of bed at 5 o'clock this morning. And I bought myself a Hot Chocolate when I got to work. Actually, I didn't buy it, it was my buy 6 and get the 7th one free one, so that was a little gift, I would think.

Another gift for the day was a beautiful sunny blue-skied afternoon. Even though they are rare in February, just when you really really need one, one comes along.

Doing the commute thingie gives me lots of time to think, and sometimes that isn't a good thing. This evening on the way home, I pondered over the beginning of Sky Train. Just think of it. A few years (or more) ago, some guys (probably) sat down and talked about a really fast moving train, speeding overhead (at the King George Station, it's 51 steps up in the air, and Surrey Central, it's about twice that many,) and delivering hundreds -no thousands - of commuters to their jobs every day. A train that would take me, for example, from King George to 22nd Street Station in about 20 minutes. I have no idea how long it would take to drive a car (or truck) there, but I assume it would be way more that 20 minutes, as this train track has no stop lights -

Sky Train tracks in Burnaby - no pics from my route, unfortunately

.

- and its very own bridge over the Fraser River.

Now this bridge is narrow. Just wide enough for two trains to pass without scratching each other's paint. If you are on the river side, don't look downwards out the window, or you will see just how high the bridge is, and that may not be a good idea, especially if you're not too fussy about bridges. However, I can just imagine these guys planning all this out, the speed of the train, the narrowness of the bridge, the height of the track.

So one of them says, ``Well, I`ll build it, and you can drive it.``

And the other replies, ``No way am I driving it. Hey, let`s make it electric, and control it from a safe place somewhere, on solid ground. That would be way cool, just like the remote control dune buggy I got for my 10th birthday.`

And so the Sky Train was born. And now hundreds (or thousands) of people every day speed through the sky in a tin can with no driver.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee. 
• Lunch - Oh what a lunch. Let`s see. I started with an Orange, then progressed to a bit of Gingerbread Cake and a Pudding 
• Dinner - Cheeseburger, a Coke, and a few Fries. For some reason I was ravenous and my tummy still hurts. Wonder why.
• Snack - a Valentine Cupcake, thanks to Nikkie and her Valentine surprise for me

• 
  

My Flog for February 13

It's almost 9:30 pm, and I do have some more Stuff to do before bedtime, although I'd rather not. I finally finished a very long scarf for a customer who wants it tomorrow, but I don't think she'll be pleased with it, as it's a big narrower than she requested. Fingers crossed. Personally I think it's ugly, but she chose the colours, and there's only so much you can do with stripes and tassels.

It's been a long day, but one thing that's helping is the sun rising earlier in the mornings. I get to Richmond long after daylight happens now, so am not so apt to doze all the way in. In fact this morning, I started to read another bus book - which was crappy, so I won't waste my time reading any more of it. Value Village, here it comes. When I can get a driver to deliver my stash of unwantables, that is. Who knows, I may have an ugly scarf to donate also - if the gal decides she doesn't want it after all. (Reminder to self: DO NOT, and I mean, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT, take on any more customer knitting needs.)

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Salmon Sandwich -minus the bones, of course, it's horrible having big long salmon bones in your sandwich, and having them trying to escape down your throat before you can hawk them up - I hope Steve didn't get too many in his sandwich. Howard wouldn't take any chances, and just had a couple of salmon steaks - he'd rather take out his own bones, I suppose. Probably did a better job of it, too. And a Pudding (boneless, thank heavens.) And a Ginger Ale - the kind made with Real Ginger.
• Dinner - Salmon Cakes - just like Fish Cakes, only with Salmon, which as we all know, isn't really a fish, as North Atlantic Cod is the only real Fish. However, the Salmon Cakes, which Nikkie started and Steve finished, were a real treat. And a piece of Gingerbread.
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate (I had one yesterday, too and forgot to write it down. I'm usually very good at not forgetting. And an Orange.

My Flog for February 12

Back to work today, so of course I'm in a rotten mood, knowing there are 2 more days to go. In fact, if I were 4 years old, I would probably have looked like this

.... but since I'm a lot older than that, I had to pretend I was happy and glad to be helpful ... although, in retrospect, I may have scared away a few customers.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Cream of Corn Soup - spicy, as in burning lips and tongue, which sent me to the cafe for a San Pelligrino
• Dinner - Fried Salmon - so delicious, oven baked fries and onion rings, Lemon Pie - well, that's all gone now, thank heavens. A Lemon Pie has never lasted so long.
• Snacks - A piece of Lemon Loaf, and a Vanilla Pudding

My Flog for February 11

For the first time in my married life, when I crawled out of bed this morning after sleeping in until 5:45, mainly because I had to pee, but also because I figured I should put the coffee on, Howard decided to also get up to pee, THEN GO BACK TO BED. When I asked him how come he went back to bed, he said it was Saturday, and there was nothing to do.

When I think of the thousands of mornings I got up sooo early because he woke me up and started coffee - when I had nothing to do only enjoy a morning lie-in ... well, I'd rather not think about it.

Anyhow, I stayed up - and he got back up - and I resumed knitting the blasted scarf I need to have done by Tuesday. Only had it half done.

The morning turned into a big bag of fun, actually. I had two little artists taking turns, snacking and painting.

Lizzie doing her artistic impression of a rainbow ....

... while Chris enjoys his yogurt....

... and Chris doing a montage of his favourite things ...

... while Lizzie chows down on Gingerbread Cake.

Meanwhile, somebody else was not getting much knitting done. Hopefully we won't need to have a 24 hour marathon.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Bacon and Bean Soup - I found one lonely little baggie of it in the freezer while I was hunting meat for tonight's dinner. Didn't find anything suitable, but did find something yummy for tomorrow night
• Dinner - Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Coleslaw, and Tomato
• Snacks - one little bite of Gingerbread (it was really good) and one little bite of Pineapple Fruit Cake (not so good, although Howard appeared to like it, which is fine, as that means he can eat it all) - just two little bites of Quality Control, really, and tons of coffee, to the point where I am sloshing when I walk, most of an Orange, a bite of Banana - I share with Lizzie, she shares with me - and since I found the candy jar with the leftover Hallowe'en candies in it, three candies. Can't wait for next Hallowe'en, as the only candies left are the crappy ones - no chocolate ones at all.

Well, here are Lizzie (the youngest gal) and me (the oldest one) just sitting here at the kitchen table while she doesn't eat her grilled cheese sandwich. She's only been sitting her for the past hour or so, and I think she has probably two bites gone. And that would be two little teeny bites. 

Scarf knitting went really well today, but I got no walking in, which is probably for the best as my blasted knee is starting to hurt again. I sure hope it's just a temporary glitch in the old system, so maybe a few days of rest (at work) will help. 

My Flog for February 10 + Recipes for Pulled Pork and Terrific Coleslaw Dressing

My surprise for Howard's dinner didn't work out exactly had I planned it, as he decided to stay home from work today, so he spent all day smelling it cooking (which wasn't a bad thing, as it actually smelled really good.) I emailed Steve the following menu, and he called me to tell my how upset he was that he had to work all day with dinner on his mind -

Entree:

Pulled Pork Sandwiches on Fresh Kaiser Buns - slow cooked pork, spice rubbed and simmered in a rich BBQ sauce

Oven Baked Irish Nachos - fries topped with grated cheese, tomato chunks, and green onions

Pineapple Coleslaw - finely chopped cabbage and grated carrot, with crushed pineapple, green onions, and home made dressing

Dessert: Warm Blueberry Cottage Pudding with Brown Sugar Sauce

Drool all day and come home hungry!

Love

mom

My only worry was that Howard would complain about wasting a fine piece of pork by shredding it for sandwiches. But I had that taken care off. If he complained, I would give his share to the cat. As well as that, though, there was the fear that an unknown recipe just wouldn't work out the way it was supposed to, and the cat would end up with it anyway. Then we would order pizza.

Today was a pretty productive day, even though I didn't walk a hundred miles (or 72 steps) like I did yesterday. I did 1 1/2 laundries, made sugar cookie dough for the kids Valentine Day cookies for school, made a gingerbread cake for DH and whoever else wants any, and there's a pineapple cake in the oven right now, hopefully baking, plus the rest of the stuff on the menu. Add on a bit of dishes, a bit of tidying, and a bit of knitting - and now I'm sitting and tapping and almost fall-asleeping.

Far from bedtime though.

Now, one may think that all this baking is playing havoc with my diet, and one would be right. Even with all the walking I've been doing, I haven't lost not one single pound this month - and there is still half a lemon pie left, so you know I haven't eaten it all. Yet. I have 19 more days to go. Once again my big mouth (tapping fingers?) will have gotten me into trouble.

And the dinner turned out great, so much so that I am posting the recipe for the pulled pork and the coleslaw dressing, as one should share great things with Great People. (I'm assuming if you're reading my Flog, you're a Great Person. To prove the greatness of dinner, Steve is flat on his bed unable to move, he figures for the rest of the night. And Howard never had one complaint at all. Which is the same as a hundred compliments.

http://tamarlosesit.blogspot.com/p/pulled-pork-sandwiches-and-coleslaw.html

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - 1 slice of French Toast, an Orange
• Dinner - half a Pulled Pork sandwich, Coleslaw, Cheesy Fries, and a SMALL piece of Blueberry Pudding with a SMALL bit of Sauce
• Snacks - Cranberry Juice, Yogurt

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to eat anything else tonight, so I can safely post this now. Burp.

My Flog for February 9 - Too Bad The Pedometer Only Measures Up To 99,999 Anythings

Up real early this morning, after yesterday's unbelievably long sleep-in (7:30). The plan today was to knit, watch Sanctuary, go to Safeway and Pricesmart to get stuff for tonight's dinner, and get home in time to cook it. However, as we all know, the best laid plans of mice and men (and Tamar) go aft astray.

I left at 8:30, with my trusty little buggy tagging along at my heels. All was good, a bit of rain, but that's no problem for a west-coaster/Newfie cross like me. We followed the same route as yesterday, but this time walked through Holland Park to King George. It may have been a gray day, but it was still beautiful.

How stately is that?

intricate design

Even on a gray day, there's colour aplenty

Bonny Purple Heather

Peace in the midst of a city

So, through the park and across the street to Pricesmart, first stop of the morning, to pick up some basic stuff that is less expensive there than the same stuff at Safeway. Unfortunately, Pricesmart is on the opposite side of the street from Safeway, and it's in the middle of quite a long block, so after shopping there, I had to retrace my steps way back to the crosswalk, then walk up the other side of the road to Safeway. One doesn't jaywalk across King George Boulevard tugging a half-full (or is it half-empty? Hmmmm...) buggy. At least, I don't.

Safeway done, then Zellers for a couple of thingies, one of them being a Pedometer, so I can follow Cliff's instructions ( https://www.facebook.com/notes/cliff-pike/a-very-sad-day/10150550533381169  )and figure out how much walking I've been doing. I was going to wear it home, but I had nothing to open the package with. My phone may have a camera, and a calculator, and the ability to call people all over the world from my pocket (Hi Penny! Hi Roxie!) but unfortunately, it doesn't have a box cutter, so I'll just have to get it ready to go before my next expedition.

Nearing home (via a viable shortcut) I walk by this fence, which is so beautiful in the winter, as the greenery is mostly gone, leaving all the branches and vines growing through the wires. This picture doesn't do it justice.

What Mother Nature can do - cover a metal fence with twisted branches and leaves - and 

what some  ....  assholes seems appropriate ... can do - 

And talking about assholes, which is a word I don't believe I spoke out loud until I was in my 50's because I think it's an ugly word, but have discovered many of the 2 legged ones over the past few years - this guy seems to think the world is his parking lot.

Not a lot of room for someone dragging a fifty pound grocery buggy to get around, right? So I took a pic, and wrote a note to leave under his wiper:

Thanks a lot for making it easy for strollers and grocery buggies to get by.

However, since it was still raining, and the only writing implement I had was a washable marker, I imagine by the time I walked two steps away, the note was just a blob of blue stained paper. 

And - because my excursion took almost 4 hours, it was way too late to do my slow cooker recipe for dinner, so that had to be postponed for tomorrow night's dinner. When Howard got home to sit with the rugrats, Nikkie and I walked to Walmart to buy even more stuff, plus the jug of milk we needed... and a heart cookie cutter. I decided to try out my new pedometer - and you can imagine my surprise when I saw the number of steps it took me to walk for over an hour - a big whopping 71. Wow. Either my steps are longer than I thought they were, or the bloody thing isn't working properly.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - the last of the Chicken Veggie soup
• Dinner - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (made with Homemade Bread - and boy, were they ever good! Nothing like cardboardy white bread Grilled Cheese, let me tell ya!), a few French Fries, and Lemon Pie
• Snacks - An Oatmeal Raisin Cookie fresh from Safeway's bakery, Diet Pepsi

Do you realize that today, I walked past 2 Tim Hortons, an A&W, a Burger King, and 2 McDonald's? And that was just the fast food places. But even though I was tempted, I darkened neither door. Just came home and ate my cookie. And my Lemon Pie.

My Flog for February 8

It's been a looooong day, and I could go to sleep right now if I went to bed, even in it's only 7:30. However, I can't. I have a loyal readership waiting for my words, and a nagging customer waiting for a scarf. She actually called while we were eating dinner to see if I had it done (I don't know why the hell I gave her my cell number.) I  said it was more than half done and I would have it finished by the 15th like I said. She said her daughter needed it by the 14th. I said I'd try my best. So after I post this, guess what I'll be doing? At the very least, knitting until the first half is done. (Oops, did I tell a fib? Oh dear.)

As you all know, I DO have very busy days, and today was no exception. I left about 10:30 to walk to Safeway, as I can buy Bread and Roll Mix there and I wanted to bake bread. Didn't know it was pouring rain, though, until I opened the door to leave, but went anyway. Took my umbrella and plastic bags instead of cloth grocery bags. I decided to walk a different route, as I'm getting tired of the sights and noisy traffic of King George, so I headed up 134th Street, planning to turn on 104 Avenue, where Safeway is located, just on the other side of Surrey Central Mall. This actually would have turned out quite well, as this way has most of its uphill early on the walk, leaving a lot of almost level and actually downhill just before the store. If it worked out that way, of course.

I came to Holland Park, which so far I've only seen from the King George side, and saw some terrific cedars with terrific roots. And you know me - I've got my handy dandy phone camera, so I gotta share.

It's a cedar tree!

It looks like they may be alive - I can just imagine them slithering...

explanation below....

I did get a few more pics, but don't want to bore you to death. I have to make sure Howard doesn't see this little cedar grove, though, or they may end up as canoes.

So I walk through the park, and come out on a side road behind the brand new library, which was good because Safeway is on the other side of the library. I did notice the signs saying Sidewalk Closed, but you can never go by signs. You can usually walk there anyway, there just may be a bit of gravel or maybe a sawhorse or two you can walk around. So I didn't bother crossing the street. However, when I got nearer, I saw that there was no way to travel that way - the sidewalk wasn't only closed, it was covered with those honking big cement triangular prism thingies. So that was okay - I figured I'd just go through the library, and come out on the King George side, and go from there. But - remember I said the 'new' library? Yeah, the other three sides were enclosed in gravel pits, no kidding. Only one exit - and it happened to be the entrance I came through. However, there was one beautiful moment on the way back -

The first Cherry Blossoms of the season, tucked away in a sheltered spot. 

So then it was around the corner, to a path which actually did lead to the back parking lot of Safeway, even if I had to skitter down a dead grass and dead leaf slope to get there. Me and buggy, what adventures we have!

So. Safeway was just a hunting, gathering and paying expedition, then back on the street. Figured I'd walk down King George to Holland Park, cut through the park, and walk back the same way I came. Thought it would be nice change to talk to Penny, my sister-in-law, on the way, so I called her, and we did indeed have a nice chat. However, as I was chatting, I was also trying to figure out the path that would take me to 134th Street, and as there were no signs, and I couldn't see the road from the middle of the park, it was just a sort of intuitiony zigzaggy way I chose. And after about 5 minutes (or more) of walking, I actually found myself back on King George again. (Sorry for the foul language, Penny.)

Anyway, to make this long story over, I did find the proper street, and did manage to stumble home. On the way I passed a road construction crew -

Stop! Stop! Sto....oh oh, too late!

I don't know if he was supposed to stop on the pylon, but if he was, he did a really good job of it.

After I got home, I started my bread, made the meatballs, and made a Lemon Pie. Then it was an early dinner, as Steve had school tonight and had to head out to Burnaby. Then Howard and I walked to the corner store - and now I'm utterly pooped.

So now, I'm going to either knit and watch Sanctuary, or go to bed.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Chicken Veggie Soup (rescued from the freezer), crackers (Saltine crackers - this was something I ate, not something I am), Yogurt
• Dinner - Waikiki Meat Balls, Fried Rice, and a piece of Lemon Pie (Yum Yum) (I think I'll soon have to go bathing suit shopping....)
• Snacks - a slice of homemade bread and jam