My Flog for May 31

Today started rainy and cold, and I had to be on the go for most of it. I hate it when paydays come on Day Offs and I have to beat it into Richmond to pick up my measly paltry little check.

I walked Chris to school in a drizzle, then headed to the bus stop on King George. After a few steps, I felt a stone - or something - in my shoe, so using a nice big tree as a balancer, I hauled off the shoe and shook it upside down. Shoe back on, and a farther bit down the street - the rock was back. This time, a narrower tree helped me out - off the shoe, shake the shoe, and this time check the sock too - it wouldn't surprise me (or my sister) to find a lone piece of (clean) kitty litter inside my sock - but no, the sock was lumpless. So off I go again - a few more steps - and the rock comes back - in my other shoe. No trees around, so I just wiggled my toes, shook my foot, and made the best of it.

Hop on the bus: $3.75

In spite of the rain, the morning warmed up nicely, so when I got off the bus at Steveston, I took off my jacket and tied it around where my waist would be if I had one. I picked up my check, went to the bank, and did some Garden Deco shopping at the two thrift stores there, then headed back to the bus stop.

Hop on the bus: $2.50

Next stop was the Richmond Centre to pick up my knitting magazines. When I got off the bus at the Richmond Centre, I realized I shouldn't have left my jacket tied around my waist, as that meant I was sitting on it all the way to the mall. Now, not only my jacket was wet - so was my butt. A truly uncomfortable feeling, and one I haven't experienced in many many years. However, walking around the mall got rid of the dampness, and I headed to the bus stop once more.

Hop on the bus: last ticket still valid

No eagle sightings today, as the Not Rush Hour buses don't take that particular highway.  It was still people packed though, and I had a hard time keeping my various purchases sitting on my lap (I may not have a waist, but I do have a lap.) I was also very tired, almost as tired as I was when I crawled out of bed this morning, with the aftermath of my gardening day lingering in every bone, joint, muscle and pore. There are also fewer stops, which makes the ride a bit shorter, but my ticket still expired before we reached the Sky Train station.

Hop on Sky Train: $2.50

I never, never, never take a bus home from the Sky Train station. If no one can pick me up, I walk. However, today I was carrying, or trying to carry, three bags, one of which was from a thrift store and never had any handles, which made it harder to grab, another heavy with magazines from Indigo Spirit - it's their buy three get one free sale, and they had three put on hold for me, so of course I had to find a free one - and the other had a couple of things that would break if I dropped them, so I went and stood in line for a bus. Got on, swiped the ticket I had purchased at 22nd Street Station - and instead of the machine going 'tweeeeet' it went ' brrrrrrb' and asked for another buck twenty-five. Seems it's two zones from New Westminster to Surrey. Guess I've been lucky so far.

Remain on the bus: $1.25

I'm scared to add up all the fares. I hope my check will cover the total.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - a slice of Peanut Butter Bread and a Yogurt. I really really wanted to go to IHOP and get a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity (because I like to say it) but talked myself out of it, I don't know why.
• Dinner - a Chicken Drummie, Macaroni Salad, Oven Fries and Corn Bread

So now there's a year of my food log online, I think I'm going to change the format just a little bit and not take you through another year of toast and coffee for breakfast. I can't imagine everyone waiting with bated breath to see what I eat each day - at least I hope there's no one doing so, as that would be very scary. See you tomorrow with a (probably) slightly used number - and I may have to change the name of my blog to Tamar Finds It ... who knows? Who cares?

My Flog for May 30

I have sore fingers, feet, knees, elbows, arms and legs. I think it's all because of the Strawberry Patch I made today, and I hope I'll be able to walk once I get out of this chair. Every part of me is begging me to take it to bed, and I think I will do that very shortly.

I am very happy with my little gardens, and hope I don't kill the pretty plants. In fact, I'm sort of hoping they will grow very much like the ones in this video - I'm pretty sure Steve would come down and play the guitar for them. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs

As you probably figured out, if you've read my previous post about how to make a Strawberry Patch, I didn't do a lot more than that today. A bit of sweep, a kitty litter lump removal times two, a Chris walk to school, and a few dishes. If I hadn't cooked dinner, I would have had fewer dishes, but I was really hungry too. 

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - 2 Egg Omelet, 2 slices of bread, and yogurt
• Dinner - Ground Beef fried up with Onions, Oven Baked Frozen Fries and Onion Rings
• Snacks - Pudding, Diet Pepsi, Banana

How To Make a Strawberry Patch

I started off the morning with a walk to the nursery to get some plants - mostly strawberry, but also a Lavender, Chocolate Mint, and a Sage to plant in my Strawberry Patch. Unfortunately when I got home, I realized I didn't have a Strawberry Patch, so went out to do some digging, weeding, and black landscaping plastic removal. Since there was about 4 inches of teeny tiny landscape rocks on top of the landscape plastic, this was not the easiest job in the world, and not even Merle Haggard or the Monkees could make it seem easier.

Steve says landscaping is hard work, but to me gardening always seemed so ... genteel, somehow. Pull out a weed here, sprinkle a plant with water there, pat a worm every now and then and thank it - doesn't seem hard at all, does it? As you can tell, I've never started a garden before. Howard has, quite a few of them, but they always seem to get neglected over the summer - for example, the turnip seeds he planted in a bucket last summer spent the winter sitting on top of the soil, and now have produced some very pretty yellow flowers/seeds of their own. I think we were supposed to haul them up and cook them at one point.

Anyhoooo -

HOW TO MAKE A STRAWBERRY GARDEN

Pull, haul, dig in your heels and yank, weeds - but not the stabby ones.Use garden shears for these. Since the stems - trunks - are too thick to cut, grab them with the shears and twist until they give up the ghost. Put them in the green recycling bin with the rest of the stuff and then pull the stabbers out of your hands

       

 Push, shove, or shovel 3-4 inches of landscaping rock to one side so you can remove the landscaping plastic. That stuff is so heavy it would remain in the ground for millions of years - but between your hands and your kitchen shears, some of it is now in the garbage bin.   

                             
Level off the little rocks.

Using a big boy's spade and fork, dig up and break up the clay soil that's been compacted under said plastic for God knows how long. Level off with the rake, so now you have a layer of soil and little rocks, which should be good for drainage - I hope.

Scrounge the front, back and side yards for bricks and pieces of bricks and stones to make a little fence around the plot.

Go up in the far corner, where Mother Nature has been composting the downfall from a big old tree, and bring down three buckets of dark brown, slimy, rotting leaves. Spread on top of soil/rock layer. Hope and pray they enrich the soil. I think they should.

Steal Howard's 3 buckets of topsoil from the front yard- many trips, as you can only carry about a third of a bucket at a time, and spread over the leaves to make a nice bed for your plants.

When you're absolutely too pooped to do anything else - find cheap labour.

Plant and water your new garden, then go and shower, cut your fingernails and toenails in a futile attempt to remove the dirt - that's it! All done!

This little Strawberry Patch also has a pretty Latte Cup of Chocolate Mint, a pot of Lavender on one side edge, and a pot of Sage on the other - but like my first little garden they are both works in progress.

My Flog for May 29

Here is the future of our land:

3 young 'men?' on the Sky Train this morning, having a very loud discussion about where it is best to smoke weed. One said he would prefer home, where he could enjoy his weed and play his XBox and it wouldn't cost him anything - as opposed to going to the New Amsterdam Cafe, where I believe you can go to smoke, as long as you buy something, except weed, of course, they are not allowed to sell weed.  However, they sell everything you could possibly want or need to master the art of marijuana smoking - if you so desired. I would assume he no longer lives with his parents.

The train was packed from front to back with silent, gloomy, sleepy people, people like me who were just barely staying awake so they wouldn't miss their stop, so these voices resounded through the fog of sleep deprivation as if their owners were wearing microphones.

Well, you would think, maybe this will be the generation the girls will shine - sorry to tell you, the ride home ruled that out completely.

3 young 'ladies?' who were sitting opposite me on yet another packed train, one that had kiddies as well as almost-seniors, were talking about boys. Unfortunately, it seemed there wasn't a lot of respect on the part of either gender, as the girls' vocabulary was mostly made up of words from the B, C, F and Sh pages of the dictionary. And I don't mean the picture dictionary, either.

Now, looking back on both trips, I think I would rather spend the ride with the boys - especially when one of them emitted a very loud BAZINGA, letting everyone know they were fans of The Big Bang Theory - one of my favourite shows back when I watched TV. At least we had one thing in common.

• Breakfast - Sausage and Egg McMuffin - weren't expecting that one, were you, now? Coffee
• Lunch - Turkey Veggie Soup, Bread w/Becel, Yogurt
• Dinner - a piece of Schnitzel compliments of Steve's kitchen, a banana, and a little glass of cider (Now you're all going to think I'm becoming an alcoholic. Maybe I am.)

Before I close I want to thank the parents of the hundreds of wonderful kids I've met in my life. These are the ones that give me faith in the future, and hopefully for each kid that tries to push the boundaries there will be one to soften the edges and instill respect.

My Flog for May 28

Good Evening from Gordon Lightfoot and me - although I guess it's Good Night for some of you, and Good Morning for more. I'm just getting the chance to sit in my Riting Room with my new used cat, who seems to be settling in quite nicely. Every now and then, he/she will come by my side for a petting, now he/she is just sitting behind me thinking how nice my room is. I guess I should come up with a generic name until I get the nerve to lift up its tail and try to determine its gender.

Morning bus ride was a seat share with a young big man who was so into reading his book, he kept elbowing me, and leaning against me every time the bus took a turn. I honestly couldn't make myself any smaller (as you know, I haven't really been trying the past few months,) so I just put up with it. As long as the book he was reading was not 50 Shades of Grey - then I probably would have moved, even though I am merely one shade of grey.

One mistake I did make this morning was bringing a container of frozen Pea Soup for lunch. There's nothing better to keep you alert on the bus than a frozen meal sitting in the bottom of your lunch bag, which is perched on your lap. Not only that, it was still frozen when I got to work - not sure what that means, but I suppose someone will come up with a suggestion. I was wide awake when we passed my Eagle's aerie, but there was no one at home, and the same was so on my way home. I guess I'm more interested in seeing him than he is in seeing me (little flashback to my youth there.)

And - I have to be more careful of my husband, as I think he may be trying to get rid of me. I was up at Steve's yesterday, when he phoned and asked me to bring down his bolt cutters from the garage. So there I was, early Sunday morning, strolling down the street with a pair of bolt cutters in my hand, not realizing, until Steve told me, that if a police cruiser had cruised by, I could have been questioned as to why I was carrying bolt cutters. I can just imagine the headline -

SENIOR-LOOKING CITIZEN ARRESTED ON POSSIBLE BICYCLE THEFT CHARGES


- and meanwhile, Howard would still be waiting to cut the piece of chain he needed to attach to the screen door so it wouldn't keep blowing open and banging against the outside porch light.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Pea Soup, Tuna Sandwich - I brought the soup, Pauline brought the sandwich, and both were really good, especially the sandwich. She put diced apple in the tuna filling - really nice (well, a whole apple would have been too lumpy...)
• Dinner - Store bought Rotisserie Chicken, and Salad - we didn't get home until 8 o'clock, and no way was any dinner going to get cooked then, so we did the lazy thing. I still did other stuff though - washing dishes, running uphill to kiss my rugrats nighty-night, finding the cat, cleaning one litter box, and doing another, taking out garbage and recycling for tomorrow's pick up, doing a laundry for Howard, sweeping the floor, bringing down another strawberry plant from Steve's, bumping my head on the crawlspace door while getting a warm blankie to make a cat bed, mixing up cranberry juice, getting Howard's lunch ready for tomorrow, and fertilizing some house plants - I think that's about it. No wonder I'm so tired. 
• Snacks - A cupcake, Hot Chocolate, Iced Mocha, Lemon Loaf slice, diet Pepsi - no booze tonight, I woke up this morning and could have sworn I had a hang-over. 

Well, the cat just lay down on the woolly blankie that I put under my desk, so I think I'll go lie down underneath the comforter I put on my bed. My feet are almost cold enough for me to go to bed - Howard appreciates a nice cold pair of feet on his legs at night.

My Flog for May 27

What a weird day. Starting off with no computer was not good at all - well, actually, I did have the computer, but it was on its last legs and I was scared that I would push it over the edge if I wrangled any usefulness out of it. To make a sad story short, Steve came and worked his magic on it - it was so full of viruses his only option was to completely wipe it clean and start from new, so I lost my downloads and my favourites and a lot of other stuff. BUT because I have 3 blogs on  the go, I didn't lose all my words, or my pictures, or my recipes. Aren't I smrt? (as well as stupid - my computer crashed before and I still didn't bother to do a back up .... duh duh duh)

The only reason I got upset was I lost my 'new' project, which I had spent quite a few hours on last week. Oh well. It could have been a lot worse. Now I have to make a pan of Brownies, and that seems a small reward for such a big accomplishment.

Work was very slow - the only exciting thing that happened was first thing this morning, watching this guy direct traffic in front of the store. After about half an hour wondering what the hell he was up to, I went out and asked him - "What the hell are you up to?" - (well, not really these words) and he pointed to the other side of the street where there was a sinkhole. Oh. That explained it. After a while, a city truck pulled up and they played Jacks with orange cones for a while, and left.

Got off work, came home, ate dinner, and walked up to Steve's to get my laptop, then found the cat that visits occasionally in the side yard. I went up to him, with the generic 'Here, Kitty, here Kitty,' and he actually here-d. That's when I realized that he was a bag of bones under a messy coat of long hair. He is part Siamese, according to the colour of his hair, and part Persian according to his hair and his bright blue eyes. I brought him a bowl of cat food, and he ate ... and ate .. and ate. Poor little thing, now I'm pretty sure he was left behind when the previous tenants left, and he is probably wondering what the hell happened to his little world. He's such a friendly cat, he needs a loving home, and unfortunately I can't give it to him, for two reasons: first, Howard hates cats, and just barely tolerates the one we have, and second, my Kitty hates other cats and either terrorizes them or is terrorized by them. 

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Veggie Sandwich, Yogurt
• Dinner - 2 Sausages, and the last of the left-over mashed potatoes, Cranberry Juice
• Snacks - Hot Chocolate, Scone, Granola Bar and a few Tootsie Roll candy - shoot, I keep forgetting I have a wee little bottle of Baileys - maybe I'll go get some for a bedtime snack - it may help me sleep, as I haven't been sleeping well lately at all. Yes, that's a good idea. Medicinal purposes only.  

My Flog for May 26

Did I really have 4 Day Offs? Because I feel like I've just done 4 days of hard labour. Tomorrow morning will find me on the sky train on my way to work, and if I'm lucky I won't fall asleep at 22nd Street Station and end up at Downtown Vancouver.

Today, Steve, Howard and I went to the Nursery, and no, not to look at babies, but at plants. I want to have a garden, and although it is a little late to start one now, we do have a lot of growing season left, so I got a few plants and a whack of seeds. Now, the area where I want to start is at the fence behind the house, just on the other side of the sliding doors in the kitchen. It's quite a narrow tract of land (ahem) and has a rickety board fence behind it, so I thought I'd do a nice bright flowery garden to brighten it up, and hopefully attract some hummingbirds. I also decided I'm going to decor it with found objects - either found in my back yard, Steve's back yard, or on sidewalks in front of rich peoples' houses, if I'm really lucky.

So first I starting bringing pieces of broken bricks - the big rectangle ones with the two holes in the middle - from the upper part of the side yard to build a 'fence' around my plot. Looks very rustic .. and cheap, but that's okay. Then I lugged two whole bricks - man, they are heavy - to put down as risers so all my pots wouldn't be on the same level. I potted the plants I bought today, and watered them, hung out a couple of cutesy things - a tin lizard and a hummingbird feeder - and all I could think of when I stepped back and surveyed my work was the little towns I used to build when I was little out of Buried Treasure treasures. If you know what I'm talking about, you must be pretty old too, but weren't these the best ice cream treats ever?

I cannot tell a lie - this is not my backyard garden - yet.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Turkey Soup and Bread
• Dinner - Pork Chop and Left Over Mashed Potatoes - also stole a few of Howard's fries. After all, I walked up to Walmart this hot afternoon and brought home some russets for him so he could have them in the first place
• Snacks - a few Tootsie Roll candies, Pudding and a couple of cookies

It was another beautiful warm ... no, hot ... day. Summer seems to have set in, and I would be happy if it stayed like this for the next few months, in the low twenties with beautiful blue skies and a nice little breeze. Except of course when I have to work - it can pour rain then and I won't mind.

Tamar's Lumpies...what everyone should know by Cliff Pike on Saturday, 26 May 2012 at 09:08 ·

The Truth About Tamar’s Lumpies

Tamar’s Lumpies came to live with us a long, long time ago. Whatever else she tells you about them, the fact is they are relics from her kitchen, loaves of home made bread gone awry before she perfected her technique. Other uses were also found for these relics. Pounded flat they made excellent hub caps to replace those pesky missing ones, or when rounded out with a flat bottom became quite presentable, but oversized, heavy-duty paper weights. I am sure that Howard also has found numerous other uses for them.

These things are actually living creatures. When or how this happens no-one knows. Nocturnal in nature, they are active only at night when the house is in complete darkness and everyone fast asleep in their beds. They live in our family room, on the top shelf of one of the book-cases, where they preside over our activities each and every day, lined up like little soldiers on parade awaiting inspection. They may look cute, but they are actually pretty dumb, if you ask me. After a long night of frivolity, when dawn approaches they must quickly return to their perch on top of the books. The problem is they cannot remember what order they were in on the day before, so none of them is ever in the same position in the line-up two days in a row. Pretty dumb, if you ask me…..and they innocently pose there day after day believing that no-one knows of their nightly activities. Sometimes, out of the corner of your eye, you can see fleeting movement of a doughy eyelid slowly opening or closing, or even a single eye slowly scanning the room from left to right to see what’s going on. I strongly suspect they have an ulterior motive but it beats me what it might be.

Oh yes, and they breed somehow. We started out with two and to our dismay there are now a dozen of the little buggers. I don’t know where their reproductive organs can be, because they are pretty much all head. I have looked carefully but have been unable to find any protuberances or orifices that might be used for this purpose.

A  word of warning. Should Tamar offer you one or two of these, or make the secret of production available to all, beware! I think they may be secretly planning on taking over the world. If not the world, at least your household, so they may not be as dumb as they appear to be. You cannot be too careful!

Thanks, Barb, for the Memory (and the picture)

One summer, while we still lived 'back home' in Newfoundland, my husband repaired a small boat for a summer resident. Wooden boats don't do well in the sun, so it was the owner's suggestion that Howard use the boat for the summer, as he would prefer it be kept in the water.

What beautiful mornings that boat gave us! We would get up before dawn, when the sea was as still as a mirror, and head out with our jiggers. Sitting on the swell of the ocean, waiting in silence for the first gullible cod to nibble the lure, we would hear the world wake up gently around us.

The first glow in the eastern sky would be accompanied by other early risers - the sea gulls, calling their mournful good mornings to the world. Then, if we listened carefully, we would hear the woosh of a whale spouting in the distance - if we were truly lucky, it would come closer, but just hearing and knowing it was there was good enough for me. (And yes, it would be a 'woosh,' not a 'whoosh').Then, before we knew it, there would be a brilliant sun in the sky, and the sounds of nature all around us. These were times when I was actually glad Howard wasn't a chatterbox, and times when I actually wasn't a chatterbox, although there are those of you who would never believe it.

Silence has its golden times, and these early mornings were certainly golden.

I did break the silence one morning though, when I pulled a gigantic 'cod' to the gunnel of the boat, only to see two big fat lips that looked like bike tires and two beady eyes staring up at me hungrily - you can't scream and run in a boat, so I had to make do with a scream and once again Howard came to my rescue, shaking the catfish (?) off the hook and releasing it. Wikipedia calls the catfish 'charmingly ugly.' I disagree. Whoever wrote that didn't have one staring in their eyes.

I found a lot of images of seacats online, but none of them as scary as the one I caught. This was closest:

but it's only a sketch. Just combine that one with the next one, and you can imagine the fright I got:

Cod were plentiful then, although it was getting near the Moratorium that harmed a lot of lives, and that was the summer we ate fish at least once a day - fried for breakfast, which the boys loved, or stewed or baked for supper.

My thanks, Barb for the memory - and I'm stealing your picture too ...

My Flog for May 25

I think I ticked off the cashier at Walmart this morning.

"Would you like to apply for...... ?"
"No, I'm just paying with cash."
"But you could apply ...... "
"No, thanky....."
"You would get...."
"Look, I just want to pay for my stuff and go home, okay?"

Jeez, it's worse than answering a phone call from a telemarketer. With them, you can just slam the phone down - unless you have a cell phone, of course. I'm glad they haven't found my cell number number, because I think I would remain frustrated if I couldn't slam the phone down. Maybe I should get an old fashioned phone just so I could do that, I don't have to get a line connected, I could just stand beside it if (when) I do get a telemarketer calling, gently end the cell phone call and slam the receiver of the desk phone. Yes, I'm definitely going do that. I think I'll watch in the thrift stores for a black old-fashioned telephone with the finger holes for dialing. It's always nice to have a purpose when one goes Thrift Store Shopping.

Meanwhile, today was very much a Skippidy Doo Da day, the warmest of all spring days so far - a bit of a breeze, but even that was warm. Walking to Walmart made me realize I'm living in a jigsaw puzzle scenic world.

So pretty it's fenced in

Scottish Broom in all its glory

Steve and the kids came to dinner, and after eating we all went to the playground at Chris's school for some good times -

where's her feet?

just a swinging...

tips from dad

atta boy - kick!

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Egg Salad Sandwich, San Pellegrino, Pudding
• Dinner - Pork Tenderloin - a recipe I got from the internet, which called for Russian Dressing, Onion Soup Mix, and Honey. So off I toddle to Walmart to get these ingredients, and wouldn't you know it, they had no Russian Dressing. Now I have no idea what Russian Dressing is like, whether it's vinaigrette style or mayo style, so what to substitute? I figured I'd stick with the European countries, so my choices were either French or Italian, and I didn't want a pizza or pasta flavoured tenderloin (I don't know what Italian tastes like either,) so I went with the French. Worked out swell - very tasty, or in Howard's words, "It'll do." Sometimes I could hit him with the wooden spoon, I really could - Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, and Corn.
• Snacks - Granola Bar. I can't believe that's all I ate. Maybe I should go get a snack before bedtime .... nah

My Flog for May 24

Day Off 2 seemed like a long lazy day, but looking back I guess I did accomplish more than nothing. The most important thing was finding a Nursery (?) Rhyme our daddy used to tell us when we were little - my sister, Shirley, had been trying to find it or remember it for a long time, so she could sing it to her grandbabies. She could remember a bit more than I could, as all I knew were the first two lines. I wonder who else knows it? Our dad learned this in school, I guess in the mid 1920's.


A RHYME FOR LITTLE FOLK

Oh, I'll tell you a story that nobody knows,
Of ten little fingers and ten little toes,
Of two pretty eyes and one little nose,
And where they all went one day.

Oh, the little round nose smelled something sweet,
So sweet it must surely be nice to eat,
And patter away went the two little feet
Out of the room one day.

Ten little toes climbed up on a chair,
Two eyes peeped over a big shelf where
Lay a lovely cake, all frosted and fair,
Made by mamma that day.

The mouth grew round and the eyes grew big
At taste of the sugar, the spice, and the fig,
And ten little fingers went dig, dig, dig,
Into the cake that day.

And when mamma kissed a curly head,
cuddling it cosily up in bed;
"I wonder was there a mouse," she said,
"Out on the shelf today?"

"Oh, mamma, yes," and a laugh of glee
Like fairy bells rang merrily -
"But the little bit of mouse was me,
Out on the shelf today !"

Many thanks to Linda Alchin -  (Author of the Secret History of Nursery Rhymes http://www.babyseen.biz/secret-history-nursery-rhymes-book.htm) -  we are so grateful to her for her fast reply.

The day started out as a sunny/cloudy mixup, and after yesterday's walk, which was only 5 miles ('8 kilometres' sounds so much longer, doesn't it?) I didn't feel like doing the walk to Walmart for soup veggies. Thank heavens I didn't have to, as we had a massive amount of carrots, celery (celeries?) mushrooms, and onions in our veggie supply, which I dumped in with the dead turkey to make my stock. I made sure I left some for the soup itself, which also received some frozen bagged veggies and left-over turkey, with some bouillon powder and various herbs/spices from my spice rack. I also made a batch of Partial Whole Wheat Bread, and a Banana Cake, so we wouldn't be too hungry after a bellywash dinner. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-cake-vii/detail.aspx

To round off the day, a load of laundry washed, dried and put away, and a huge amount of dirty dishes, and a few short walks - one looking for my red hoodie, which I assume must have fallen out of my Not-So-Trusty Buggy yesterday on the way home, as I couldn't find it anywhere in the house this morning, one around Chris's school looking for his brand new jacket, as he wore it to school this morning and couldn't find it this afternoon, and one to Nikkie's looking for some chicken broth to better my soup. It seemed like my day was one of non-discovery - except of course, for the poem above, which was the most important and most appreciated discovery ever.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Egg and Cheese Omelet and Green Salad
• Dinner - Turkey/Veggie Soup, Fresh PWW Bread, Banana Cake
• Snacks - Yes Yes Yes, of course I had snacks .... 

My Flog for May 23

Well, the countdown has begun - in two more days, I'll have been writing these little pearls of wisdom for a year - a year plus one day, as this is a Leap Year.

I was so bloody tired this morning, I actually seeped out of bed at 6:40, and that was only because I had promised a certain son I would put on a pot of coffee so he could grab a fresh To-Go Mug of it on his way to work. It wasn't until I set the smoke alarm off three times while making toast that I actually woke up.

Two cups of coffee later, I realized if I stayed home I would accomplish nothing, and probably end up back in bed doing something stupid like watching an old movie and dozing off. The thought of sleeping on one of my Day Offs scared me into going for a walk, so my buggy and I left just after ten o'clock and headed for Value Village.

Instead of heading home after, I decided to explore a bit and headed even farther away, looking for potential adventures. Hmmm. Passed an African store/restaurant, a European store/restaurant - Chinese, Malaysian (I think, it was far back in a strip mall and I didn't want to go there), Taiwanese, a couple of Tattoo places, a Pawn Shop ... Gospel Mission Thrift Store .... seedy cafe .... a fellow picking at a scab on his leg .... and finally, after turning my trusty buggy around, a young feller who was overly excited at the scooter he had just obviously bought at the pawn shop. He had previously buzzed by me on the sidewalk, turned around, and was parking it in front of the shop, where his girlfriend? mother? was waiting. According to him, it was 'F...ing great, f...ing wonderful .. ' etc etc.

As I passed I said to the female, "So, do you think he actually likes it?"

She turned, stared at me with her bleary eyes and I caught a glimpse of her scabby chin and  blood (?) encrusted nostrils - and I booted it out of there pretty fast.

When I came home, I did a Google map thingie, and found I had walked 8 kilometres. Then I got up to see to something for dinner, and discovered I could hardly move. Life is good.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Ham and Cheese Lettuce with salad greens, a San Pellegrino, and a wafer bar - and I didn't eat it - I inhaled it, I was so hungry. In fact, on the way home I was wishing I had bought a tin of beans, cos I would have just grabbed them, a can opener and a spoon and dug in.
• Dinner - Chicken Drummies baked w/BBq sauce, Stuffing, Oven Fries, and Raisin self-saucing Pudding, Cranberry Juice
• Snacks - a few Licorice All Sorts, but not the good ones. I made the mistake of buying them at Walmart and they only carry the crappy ones. Oh well, I won't have to worry about them much longer, as they are almost all gone now.

My Flog for May 22

As my Faithful Readers know, I was so tired last night when I finally got time to sit and tap I just couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to produce any words. I don't know why I'm so utterly tired after a day at work, even though it wasn't busy. I did keep busy restocking and such, but I certainly didn't rush myself, just kept my motto of slow and steady. I think the store has some sort of physical defect that drains me. 

Just to prove my tiredness, I missed my Eagle tree on the way home. I remember seeing all the trees before, and all the trees after, but not the Eagle tree. No thanks to the woman who was sitting beside me and kept interrupting my doze with elbow pokes almost all the way - at least she could have poked me when it was necessary if she had to poke me at all. I did see him in the morning though, so I have to make do with that sighting until next Monday morning.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Egg Salad Sandwich on Flat Bread from Subway. Can't seem to get one as good as the first one I had there a while ago, so I think this will be my last one. San Pellegrino (reminder to me: NEVER ever check the calorie count on things you really enjoy, especially if have 2 or 3 a day.) Strawberries.
• Dinner - Left Overs from the day before - known as Hash - those of you who know exactly what I'm talking about here, will also know the music on the record player right now - Dick Nolan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jluoo2QYLOE
• Snacks - Yogurt, Turkish Delight - one of the 'real' ones -

and not one of these -

I must say, I was shocked when I saw other image results for Turkish Delight on my computer screen. I'm still blushing.

My Flog for May 21

As you all know now, I have my perfect house, but we also all know there is no such thing as absolute perfection - even I can see a few little (or not so little) faults when I come downstairs. So, one of the few imperfections here is the lack of divider shelves in the freezer part of the fridge. I don't know what the previous tenants did to this house, and I'm sort of glad I don't, but one thing they must have done was take the shelves with them when they left.

Since we don't have a deep freezer - yet - it's sometimes quite a re-arranging battle when I put stuff away. Fresh bread has to go on top before it freezes, or it will end up pancakey. The best way is only to freeze flat stuff which would stack neatly - however, it's difficult to find flat meat - even the flattened chickens are lumpy. Bags of frozen fruit and veggies are even worse. But - when I mentioned to Howard we needed to find at least one shelf - there are slots for two - he said, "Nah - just pile everything in there."

Which  he was sure would work - until he opened the door to get a chilled beer and a can of Cranberry Cocktail fell on his toe.

We had a wonderful most-of-our family day - Neil and Steve and their families helped us gobble down a turkey dinner and surprise (yeah, right) belated birthday cake for Steve. It would have been perfect if Brad and his family were here too -

Grown up kids - Shannon, Neil, Steve, Nikkie
Ungrown up kids - Chris, Dominik (on his daddy's knee), Tanner, Clayton, Lizzie

Sometimes I wonder how grown up my kids really are, though -

- but he's still m'boy! And sometimes the resemblance to his daddy is really clear.

No, the cake isn't on fire. It's just that my baby boy now has enough candles on it to have the Fire Department standing on guard.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - can't remember if I had lunch - I don't think I did
• Dinner - Turkey and all the trimmings - Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, Turnip, Peas, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce and Gravy. Birthday Cake.
• Snacks - a few candy, 2 San Pellegrino drinks, small bag of chips

My Flog for May 20

It looks like we have lost the sunshine today - in fact there was a bit of rain - to be truthful, a lot of rain. We even had hail in Steveston, enough to almost cover the road. It was windy and cold, and I got a shock when I went outside to get my lunch and my skirt did a Marilyn Monroe thing. Thank goodness it was a tighter skirt, but the pleats on the bottom seemed to get a life of their own. I almost bought a pair of jeans at the Thrift Store, but couldn`t bring myself to even try them on without washing them first, so I just froze and shivered the day away.

That`s the last time I ask Howard for getting dressed advice, because I did ask him if I should wear tights, and he didn`t give me the proper answer. If I had known how the weather was going  to be, I would have worn warm tights and my winter boots as well. And my winter jacket. And probably gloves, hat and scarf as well.

Steveston was still busy, as it was the first day of the Farmer's Market, even if most, if not all, of the so-called 'local' produce would have been imported from south of the border. About the only thing ready to harvest locally this late spring would be weeds. I walked around about half of the market before I opened the store, and was very impressed with the size and variety of goods - everything, it seemed, except for veggies and fruit.  I was going to check out the other half during my break, but the weather was just too wintery for me. 

Talking about weeds, Steve, my favourite landscaper, and Jesse spent a couple of hours yesterday morning pimping our lawn, so now the house and its surroundings look very smart. He sprayed weed killer on all the weeds growing around the house - I had to go inside as I felt a little bad about killing all these growing things - but next weekend we should be weed-free, and that sure will beat pulling them all out by hand, as they were sort of taking over. I want to do a pot garden outside the sliding doors - and no, not that kind of pot, even though I'm told I could easily earn five grand a month and give up my transitting. I mean herbs and veggies and flowers in pots, containers, whatever. I plan on recycling containers, actually, starting with my rusty wok. 

About the only things I've done so far in that area is hang some hummingbird feeders, which so far haven't attracted any hummingbirds, but we'll be patient, and hang a Welcome sign, which I wouldn't have put up if I had known some lowlife would have made him(her?)self welcome enough to drop by and steal Howard's beer.  Maybe I should hang a Get The Hell Away sign instead. But then I may never see any hummingbirds. Seems you can't win.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Soup, Roll and Yogurt
• Dinner - Breakfast for dinner! Love it! 2-egg Omelet, Bacon and bread`n`butter
• Snacks - Pudding, Hot Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cookie

My Flog for May 19

Long day, tired out, need sleep - yawn. Now if I can only get Lizzie and Chris to feel the same way - they are here for their first sleepover, and do not feel the need for sleep at all. It could be a long night. I figured two trips to the playground would knock them out - no such luck.

Back to work tomorrow, for one out of two. Since Monday is a holiday, the store is closed, and I get to spend the day at home with no pay. How lucky is that (I cannot use punctuation as my keyboard is all screwed up - if I want a question mark, it comes out like this - É, and an apostrophe comes out like this - è and so on and so on. If there is any smrt person out there who knows how to fix this without restarting everything, please let me know.)

It was a very upsetting day for Howard as somebody walked up to our side door this morning, when we were home, and took off with his case of weekend beer. It is unbelievable, and that is why my bike is now in my Riting Room with me, standing very pink and pretty and quietly in front of the cupboards.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Peanut Butter sandwich, Banana
• Dinner - Sausages, Mashed Potatoes, a slice of fresh warm bread
• Snacks - a couple (ha ha) of toffee candies, and a few (he he) cookies, pudding, sparkling water - I also know what you are saying to yourselves as you read this - she may be laughing now, but will she laughing in 13 days time ... 

My Flog for May 18

It was a beautiful sunny day again, but the wind was still a bit too cool for my liking. I wish we'd get nice warm temps, with no wind to chill everyone. I don't think I'm asking too much, just a bit of normal regular May weather. You'd swear there was an iceberg floating down Bear Creek.

I rode my bike for the first time in over a year, and I must say, it was quite easy once I got over the initial whoopsy daisy balancing act. Howard whooshed some air in the tires with his mighty compressor first, as they were a bit sloppy, and away I went.

The road I travelled was very pleasant - it takes me 220 steps to walk it from my house to Steve's house, where my bike was, and as you  can see, it is all downhill. I did have to pedal twice to get started, then it was just a breeze - although I did worry for a minute that the brakes wouldn't work, as I gathered up speed. They did, but they were really noisy.

Now she too is home safe and sound, locked onto Steve's antique lawnmower. I'd like to see the person trying to steal these strange Siamese twins.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Pudding
• Dinner - Pork Chop, Fries, and Onion Rings
• Snacks - I hopped another ride on the Carb Express today - cookies, cake, candy - what can I say. I'm just a Non-Will-Powerful Person.

THE GRAVEL PITS

In honour of May 24th weekend, here is Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers singing The Gravel Pits, with the lyrics below so the 'mainlanders' (and Texans) can understand what they are saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCz5adDDOAw&feature=player_embedded

The Pits

MAY 14, 2011

Recorded by: Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers

Written by: Wayne Chaulk

Lyrics

(CHORUS)

It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away

Up in the woods or going out the bay

There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get

Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

We loves to go out in the good old gravel pits

We loves to go out there when life gets smelly

We can spray paint our names on the face of the cliff

Go up to the Irving for a coke and chips

Hitches up the camper and out of town we go

Out on the highway with everything in tow

The dog is in the back seat and Grandfather’s drunk

Youngsters in the trailer and the wife is in the trunk

(CHORUS)

It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away

Up in the woods or going out the bay

There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get

Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

John is coming over and Sue and Henry too

We polish off a bottle and a pot of moose stew

We tell a few stories, an awful lot of lies

Green boughs on the fire to keep away the flies

The youngsters gets excited then they starts to bounce and jump up

When we piles in the car and goes up to the dump

It’s cheaper than the movies so we all sits and stares

Up by the garbage b’y you’re lookin at the bears

(CHORUS)

It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away

Up in the woods or going out the bay

There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get

Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

We flies a Newfie flag on an old spruce pole

And drowns a few worms in a tractor mud hole

Then listens to the radio we plays it good and loud

A scoff on the Coleman stove is bound to draw a crowd

When the weekend’s over and we’re headed back to town

A half inch of sloppy snow lying on the ground

A hundred dollars poorer, who wants to be rich

We just had a lovely time out in the pits

(CHORUS)

It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away

Up in the woods or going out the bay

There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get

Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

The Gravel Pits

In honour of the long May weekend - Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers singing The Pits, with lyrics below so the 'mainlanders' (and Texans) can figure out what they're saying! A big thanks to Patricia for the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCz5adDDOAw&feature=player_embedded

The Pits

MAY 14, 2011

Recorded by: Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers
Written by: Wayne Chaulk

Lyrics

(CHORUS)
It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away
Up in the woods or going out the bay
There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get
Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

We loves to go out in the good old gravel pits
We loves to go out there when life gets smelly
We can spray paint our names on the face of the cliff
Go up to the Irving for a coke and chips

Hitches up the camper and out of town we go
Out on the highway with everything in tow
The dog is in the back seat and Grandfather’s drunk
Youngsters in the trailer and the wife is in the trunk

(CHORUS)
It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away
Up in the woods or going out the bay
There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get
Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

John is coming over and Sue and Henry too
We polish off a bottle and a pot of moose stew
We tell a few stories, an awful lot of lies
Green boughs on the fire to keep away the flies

The youngsters gets excited then they starts to bounce and jump up
When we piles in the car and goes up to the dump
It’s cheaper than the movies so we all sits and stares
Up by the garbage b’y you’re lookin at the bears

(CHORUS)
It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away
Up in the woods or going out the bay
There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get
Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

We flies a Newfie flag on an old spruce pole
And drowns a few worms in a tractor mud hole
Then listens to the radio we plays it good and loud
A scoff on the Coleman stove is bound to draw a crowd

When the weekend’s over and we’re headed back to town
A half inch of sloppy snow lying on the ground
A hundred dollars poorer, who wants to be rich
We just had a lovely time out in the pits

(CHORUS)
It’s the 24th of May and we likes to get away
Up in the woods or going out the bay
There’s all kinds of places but the place we likes to get
Is up on the highway in the gravel pits
Is up on the highway in the gravel pits

My Flog for May 17

Second day off for me, first day for Howard, as he booked two days off so he could have an extra long weekend. Before we got up, I told him I stayed up late last night doing a list of 15 things for him to do on his Day Offs - he thought that was funny. Not really. But I told him he really only had to do one of them today, and that was to reverse the vertical blinds at the ... patio? French? I don't know what you call them - sliding glass doors in the kitchen, as they were put up backwards - the blinds, I mean, not the doors - the part of them that open are opposite to the door that slides open, so when you (meaning, I) are putting out garbage or recycling, you (meaning, I) have to slither through vinyl slats coming and going.

Later on in the morning, I asked him how many times he wanted me to remind him to do this, and he said "None." So I guess I'll be slithering for another day - or week - or month - whatever.

Oh. I just realized they slide all the way over to the end, even if it is the wrong end. Seems they were stuck and I guess I just unstuck them. I wonder should I tell him, because I really wished they opened the other way, as they don't really go a hundred percent out of the way.

Today was Cookie Baking Day - Oatmeal and Chocolate Oatmeal. While they are indeed delicious cookies, Nikkie's two little brats, who obviously inherited her taste buds (or lack thereof), decided they 'didn't like them' - even before they tasted them. So Neil has graciously accepted my offer - he just has to come over and pick some up. That way I will be sure not to eat them all, as I've already exceeded my taste test quota. I'm sure Steve will also help me out. I only hope there will be enough to share, as I only ended up with 12.8 dozen. Which isn't too bad, as the recipes said you should end up with a total of 15 dozen. I don't know how small you'd have to make them to get these numbers - but I didn't want doll-house sized cookies.

http://tamargetsstuffed.blogspot.ca/2012/05/best-by-far-oatmeal-cookies.html
http://tamargetsstuffed.blogspot.ca/2012/05/chocolate-oatmeal-cookies.html
Now the evening's drawing to a close, Howard's toddled off up the hill to Steve's (I guess he remembered Steve had beer in the fridge, come to think of it - I think he finished the last of his a couple of hours ago) and  I'm here in my favourite room - the kitchen - with Don Williams - I Believe In You - Don Williams

Life is Good indeed.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Ham and Cheese Sandwich on PWW bread
• Dinner - Stew, Mashed Potatoes
• Snacks - Cookies, of course. A few candy. Not many. Yogurt. Diet Pepsi. Pudding.

My Flog For May 16

I started the day with a ton of whoomph, but unfortunately it didn't survive very long. My Buggy and I left to walk to Walmart at 7am, dropping into Steve's with an order of Blueberry Muffins on the way - the sun was sunny, the skies were blue, but it was a tad cool and I shouldn't have been wearing absolutely flat slip-on shoes. However, the walk home was a lot warmer, and my feet forgave me and accepted the punishment stoeically.

Had a great chat with Penny on the way back, too - we laughed so hard! A while ago, my pocket phoned Penny without my knowledge (or permission), and when she mentioned that, I said that my pocket called lots of people (I can't say behind my back, because it travels in a front pocket, but you know what I mean.) Then I realized that guys who keep their phones in their front pockets must have a whole lot more pocket calls ... if you need an explanation of that, don't expect one.

I told her the reason I liked starting new blogs was the naming of them. I am really happy with my blog names - this one, of course, which you all know, then Tamar Shags Off,  Tamar Gets Stuffed. and the original, Tamar's Day Off. So now I'm considering starting one up to be made public after my funeral - I would call it Tamar Gets Laid ...... To Rest. Of course another possible name for that one could be Tamar Finally Shuts Up - and I know quite a few people who would sigh with relief over that one.

Dropped back in to Nikkie's (this time, as Steve was gone to work by then,) and picked up a little boy to take to school, since it was on my way, so the little sister and the little mamma didn't have to get all ready to go out, then came home and started on some White Bread. Cliff, you should tell Penny that making bread is really very easy, and though the process may take a few hours, the actual physical work only takes a few minutes. Maybe if you're nice to her, and send me some Scottish Tablet, she might make some bread for you. Today's batch turned out wonderfully delicious and was a great accompaniment to the Beef Stew I made for dinner.

It was sometime mid afternoon that all my energy seeped out of me. I think it was because we were laughing so hard on the way back from Walmart. And that, my friends, is why I'm posting my flog so early - when the Enter key is pressed, I'm off to bed.

• Breakfast - Toast and Coffee
• Lunch - Pea Soup - I finally froze the rest of it. I don't care if I never see another bowl of Pea Soup again. Bread and Becel. Pudding
• Dinner - Fresh, delicious, soft bread and Beef Stew
• Snacks - Toffee candy, don't wonder how many because I never counted them. But I couldn't get the lid on the jar I poured them in at first, and now I can. Muffin.

My spell checker doesn't seem to be working - maybe my brother's misspelled recipe sent it over the brink - so forgive any errors, feel free to bring them to my attention, I won't mind. Much.

Not a Flog - A Plagarism - But Read Anyway.

Scottish Tablet Recipe (For Christina, so she can stop whining) 

by Cliff Pike on Sunday, December 19, 2010 at 10:42am

1/2lb butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp corn syrup

2kg fine sugar

1 cup 3.25% milk

2 tins eagle brand condensed milk.

26oz. bottle of Captain Morgan DeLuxe dark rum.

Dig out a pot that you feel is of an adequate size then get one twice as big and use that. When the stuff comes to a boil it acquires a life of its own and does its very best to find its way out of the vessel. Not only that, it burns like the devil when it spits on your hand so wear oven mitts. Slippers are a good idea too. The burn marks and scars on the top of my feet will attest to that. Shorts and no shirt ( this applies to males only ) are definitely out. Safety goggles are optional.

To get started pour out 1oz or so of rum into a small glass and pour it down the hatch. Then add the cup of milk to the pan. Make sure that you use 3.25% milk. Nothing else will do. 2% is mostly water and 1% is water. So if you decide to go with 1% use water instead, it’s cheaper. If you thought this was milk when you bought it you were ripped off.

Taking a sample of sugar from the bag, run a quick test using the 77710e gauge and test it for moisture content. This should be between 0.03% and 0.05% at a relative humidity of between  55% - 65%. If the sugar meets this specification add it to the milk already in the pot. Failure to do this test will result in a very unhappy Christmas.

Pour another ounce or two of rum and wet your throat with it. It will help wash the sugar dust down.

Open both tins of Eagle Brand condensed milk and empty them into the mix. Fight off the crowd who are vying for licking rights to the empty tins. Using one of Poppy Pike’s home-made wooden spoons give everything a good stir until it liquifies, at the same time add a little heat. It is important to keep things stirred up from now on to prevent the sugar from burning at the bottom of the pan. Bring the mix to a slow boil, during which time cut the ½ lb. of butter into smaller chunks and tiss it on. Keep stirring slowly throughout untul the bitter hes malted, and it should boil for about 12 minutesh, give or take half an hour or so.

Another shot or two of rum will go well about now. Gulp!

When the butter hash fully schmelted shcramble to find the candy thermomeme…….thremem……the thing that tells you how hot it ish… that I forgot to menshion above and clip it to the odge of the pet. Don’t shtop shtirrrrring. Now you can add four tbsps of corn syrp, making sure that this is made using Number 2 Yellow Dent Corn. Better pull up a chair or a stool and shiit down because this is impossible to do from the floor. Close one eye and focush on the black stuff in the middle of the theromito…..oh you know what I mean…..until it reashes about 230 -240 ‘grees….then turn back the heat to maintain the bile.  With one hand shtirring and one holding the pot, use the other hand to pour in a teeshpoon full of valinna extract. All the ingradaen……stuff ish now in the pit.

Rum. Little happy dance. Wheeeeee!    Oops, keep stirring!

After about twelve minutes or so the colour of the shtuff shood be close to the colour of the wallpaper in our kitshen at 49 Rhonda Road back in 1974. When you see this take the pot away from the heat and keep shtirring until it stops spitting back at you, then beat the crap out of it either by hand or with an electric thingy. After that pour it into two cookie trays lined with parchment paper, that you forgot to prepare beforehand. Let it sit for a couple of hours before etching it to the size of your liking, then set it in the fridge overnight.

Drink whatever is left of the rum.