That'll be 1 peso please

Today I did a load of laundry and I found a peso at the bottom of my machine. Just thought I'd share that.

Not a walk on the beach and not your normal shoes

When at first I come home to this..

it can be a little depressing. It doesn't seem to matter when I come home, there is always one last snow storm reserved for me....or 2.

That may all seem depressing, and it is a bit but then, I get on my snow shoes and that is when I know I will be ok here in the great white north once again.

There is a certain thrill about being out in the blinding bright white light, and it is bright, shiny and sparkly, crisp and clean, and knowing that you are walking somewhere where no one has dared to go on foot, sharing the space with only the wild bush animals ...no people.

I over heard these geese saying that next year they are going to book a later flight home

I love the familiar feeling when I strap my boots into my shoes, the perfect fit, snug but soft, the leather strapping stretched to perfection like a favorite pair of shoes....only I don't have a favorite pair of shoes, I hate all shoes....I have shoe issues, but my snow shoes are perfect, and are always in the trunk of my car ready for an in prompt adventure. These are not your normal shoes and this is not like a walk on the beach......but it is thrilling.

A tiny little hint of spring

Cake and chickens

I bought these really really cute cake pans in Mexico and was just itching to use them as soon as I got home. 

I also did a quick inventory of my freezer and pantry and noticed that someone needs to eat a LOT of Saskatoons in this house, what was I thinking last fall? So I cruised my favorite recipe site here http://www.tastespotting.com/category/food/27   

And found a recipe for a Raspberry Chocolate Coffee Cake that looked like it would change up easily. I turned it into a Raspberry (had some of those too) Saskatoon and not so chocolate cake. Of course by the time I was done altering the recipe it didn’t even resemble the original anymore. I always have to mess with a recipe, I can’t help myself. I always use whole wheat flour and I always use brown sugar instead of white and I always use less sugar (a lot less) Then it said to grease and flour the pan first, usually I will grease and then dust with powered Vanilla but I had none (forgot to bring some back this year) so I decided to dust with cinnamon, then I had too much batter and the pan over flowed making it look like I would not be able to get the cake out, at this point I thought maybe the cinnamon had been a mistake (serves me right) but when that moment came to tip it over, I held my breath and it came out in one piece and the smell of hot cinnamon floated out of the pan...oh my! Wonderful. Brilliant idea! Sometimes I get lucky. What I a pretty pretty cake to take to a friend’s house.

I held my breath when I tipped this over.....

whoooo, can you smell the cinnamon? 

Whipped cream would have been nice as well

I love going grocery shopping in my freezer; this is why we gardeners go through allllll that work in the fall. So we don’t have to go grocery shopping. It thrills me to make a meal and not have to got to the store for anything. My first meal at home was a crock pot of pumpkin soup. I took a jar of frozen pumpkin, a baggie of frozen tomatoes, a little container of frozen chicken broth, a head of garlic from my pantry (they wintered well) and a handful of little onions, put it all in the pot, added a little bit of dried peppers. After it was cooked I stuck my hand mixer in there and pureed it making it all creamy. 

Today I took out some chicken breast, ( organic homegrown chicken) cut it up and put it in a casserole dish, added a baggie of frozen tomatoes, a baggie of frozen green beans, some onions, a few cubes of chicken broth, some frozen chili sauce and soon I had this....and just cooked up some homemade noodles and there was another meal that didn’t require anything from the store.

Shopping in my freezer is the best

Yummm yummm

Speaking of not going to the store, member how I often talk about my fantasy of having chickens in my backyard, that may soon happen. Imagine my excitement when I read in the local newspaper that the town has given a resident permission to have 3 chickens and some rabbits in her back yard....IMAGINE! I was so excited and raced over to the town office first thing. Turns out there are a few hoops one must jump through first, well ...I’m an athlete from way back and am willing to do the jumping. I must also go to the council meeting and plead my case (and jump through hoops in front of them like a circus...I guess). Next council meeting is on April 24^th, I am ready. Can you imagine....one more thing for me to go on and on and on about on this blog, chickens! And eggs! I can’t wait, oh the chiffon cakes we’ll bake in my new cake pans, because one cannot afford to make chiffon cake unless one has ones own chickens....you need a gilzillion eggs. (at least) In the mean time we should figure out what we will name our 3 chickens because that’s most important you know. Of course I have to stay true to my geekness and so I have been cruising the web looking at all kinds of house options for my chicks...they will have only the best you know. Like this;

Or this;

There are many beautiful ideas on the web for making very attractive chicken coops. 

These chickens are going to be an enhancement to the community, not like some people’s shittin, digging, messy, barky dogs....not saying names or anything, just sayin is all. I have nothing against dogs I just think it high time dogs and chickens were given equal rights. .....I can see that this will require a few trips to the hard ware store, ol’ Blue will be so excited, he loves going to the hardware store on Saturday morning, throw in a trip to the dump and it’s a Saturday we both remember for a long time. Ok now I’m just talking crazy talk. 

Minding my own business

It is pretty funny merging into the Canadian society sometimes. Just today I was at the counter of the phone place (my least favorite place to be) dealing with the problems of my phones not being used in months and months and SIM cards expiring and getting a new phone number (again!), and getting International phone time and dealing with contracts that are no use to me and  yada yada yada. For all of us snow birds this is an ongoing problem, twice a year, once at each end of our travels. Anyway......there were 3 clerks helping 3 clients at 3 different counters and a few people standing in line. I found myself listening to the other 2 people as they were explaining their problems to the clerk and I found myself wanting to voice my opinions a few times as well, for some reason I wanted to get involved in their conversation with the clerk...weird. I realized that if I did this they would think I was eavesdropping or being nosey or at least be accused of not minding my own business. Then it dawned on me why I was having so much trouble “minding my own business”.

 First...Not only can I hear them I can understand them, for months now I haven’t been able to eavesdrop because my Spanish is not good enough for that....I have been missing out, and now I want to eavesdrop everywhere I go. It’s like I have just received the gift of hearing and can’t stop being amazed at what I am hearing.

Second....I have just come from a place that doesn’t know what “minding your own business” is, I don’t even think that translates into Spanish, seriously, I tried looking it up and I can’t find it. I have experienced standing in line in Mexico, at the Tel Cel office, at the bank, at the Jumapan office (where you pay your water bill) at the taco stand....nobody minds their own business. By the time you are done with your business you are on first name basic with the people that are standing in line with you (for sure with the person in front of you and the one behind you), you may even know about their families and you know why they are there (what their problems is...etc) and they may even have tried to help you. When it is your turn to step up sometimes they will follow you to help you explain what you want and may even have suggestions for the clerk. Your problem becomes a group project. Now this may just be because my Spanish is that of a kindergardener and I am always in need of help (I am the needy one in line) but I don’t think so because I have stood in line with my Mexican friends and have observed how they interact with the other people in line...you become a little community, you ban together, you’re a team of people that are on a similar mission. I’ve stood in a small group waiting for a bus, and by the time my bus came along I didn’t want to leave my new friends behind, but I got on and pressed my face up against the window sadly waving good bye (insert sad music here) ....we were comrades for 8 minutes....not really that sad, but you get what I mean....you don’t mind your own business...EVER!

Then there is the loneliness that you feel here, I wanted the women at counter to know that I felt her pain, let’s face it dealing with Telus can be painful, she should know she is not alone. When you stand in line at the bank, the insurance office, or at Telus chances are you are there because you have a problem, maybe it would be nice to know that the person in line in front of you has the same problem.....it’s not just you! You are not alone!  But yet....I know if I go to the Tax place later (that’s another thing I have to deal with as soon as I get here every year) and I turn to the person standing behind me and ask “so, why are you here today?” they mostly likely will think I am weird and I will feel weird.  So....I go about minding my own business. It’s how we do it here.