Look at that will ya?

More than a month has passed since I last posted.

Oh, well.... it's summer.  We don't get that many months of summer up here north of the 49th.... so we make the most of it.

Golfing, gardening, hanging out on the patio sipping a cold beer .. admiring the fruits of our labour ...etc... you know how it goes.  The lawn is the best its been in years..in spite of those pesky voles having made hundreds of trails all over the one side ..it grew in beautifully.  Kind of like they aerated it I guess.  You'd never know they'd spent the winter wrecking things under the snow banks.

My pots are beautiful... a riot of colour this year.  I particularly love the 'million bells' flowers (Calibrachoa)  ...  they just keep on blooming all summer.  I always have yellows and pinks ... and purples ...  and even the odd orange just to get my own attention.  I don't even like the colour orange ..but, some oranges are nicer than others...and, for some silly reason, I like how orange and pink flowers look side by side.

After my visit to my sister's "fat farm"... there was no Mr. Limpy when we got back.  Nobody fed him while I was away ... and I guess he moved on to greener pastures.  Like the clubhouse at the nearby golf course.  I was there one day and a whole family of crows was perched on trees and signposts "cawing" for a handout...hahahhah...I laughed and tossed a few bits of my peanut butter sandwich in the air.  I scared one off the post... must not be my guys...my crows wouldn't be afraid of me.  I did try to call out to Limpy just to see if one of them was him...but, no limpy guy hopped down to greet me.

This is the last time I saw him .. through the window... having some fun in the birdie bath all by himself.

And, this is the last one I have of Missus..... giving me the 'come hither' look ... there is just something about her.........

We had a huge storm last Wednesday and I saw my first funnel cloud.  It gave me goose bumps.  I know the folks in Kansas and Oklahama will be saying, "big deal"... but, we don't get that type of weather around here.  Well, not often.  There was a tornado that did touch down several years ago in Edmonton, a city not too far from us ... that did a lot of damage...and a lot of people were killed.  That was a first.

I looked it up on Wiki ... here is what happened.

~~~July 31, 1987 The tornado killed 27 people, injured more than 300 people, destroyed more than 300 homes, and caused more than $332.27 million CAD ($597 million in 2015 dollars^[1]) in property damage at four major disaster sites.~~~

Our day was nothing in comparison.  But, on Wednesday, I was coming home along a busy highway and cars were stopping to look  ...and take photos...traffic was doing ridiculous things.  I kept my eyes on all of them and on the clouds too... knowing I could make it home in 8 minutes and feeling as though I would beat it for sure.  Hard to tell how quickly things were moving but it was a fair ways off in the distance.  I did get home just in time to wrestle the big flower pots closer to the house.  I "walked" them by turning them side to side .. cuz I sure can't lift them.   All 8 of them.

Next, I grabbed the camera and stood in the garage with the big door open.  Got a few good ones of the clouds. The lower ones were rotating as it all moved along (just like in the movies) and I was happy it was moving south ... at quite a rate of speed .. not a funnel, but a huge dark bank of clouds... looking pretty ominous....
black as night at 1:00 pm...


then it rained ... next came hail.. then... oh, wow ... huge hailstones!!  And, seeing as folks might think I was exaggerating when I told the story, I took this photo with my tape measure to corroborate things..... no doubt how big it was now!!  I had to wait til it stopped as I didn't want to feel the bash of one of these on the old noggin.  Guess I could have worn a motorcycle helmet...but, what about the rest of my body? .. Didn't risk it.

Areas just outside the city were the hardest hit and crops decimated by the hail ....several houses totally trashed....it did plenty of damage.... and apparently a small tornado touched down just outside the city limits...but, not a lot of damage in that area.

But, today is beautiful.... time to go out and water my pots...... luckily I still have pots to water. !!

a week zipped by..

it's Monday....again......

The weather has taken a drastic turn.  A few days ago it was fall......

now......it's winter...

-5C .....

snowing lightly......

Won't be using the Barbie''''.... I'll be 'toaster-ovening' some chicken.... that little guy works great.

Guess we can put away the patio furniture ...
Looked out the basement window and saw the spruce decorated with snow and pretty red leaves that had blown into it from the Mayday tree....which is now naked after some cold and blustery winds...

Not long now til we decorate our indoor trees ....

hmmm....lots of swearing going on upstairs...hope it looks better than it sounds when it is all done.  The finishing carpenter is up there ..... sawing, hammering and of course, swearing and grumping.... not many people sing, whistle or hum while they work do they?  Maybe they all need an attitude adjustment...or ...a new job.....

typical spring day ...

Well, okay if not totally typical.... it happens.... especially here in the foothills...... and we haven't had any snow all winter to speak of ...so what made us think it was over already?

Some golf courses were set to open today....aha.... that's the reason then.....sure fooled them.  Those "flakes" were so big you could hear them plop when they hit the ground.  Very wet.
And, it's been up as high as +20C some days already...so it won't stay.  The ground is warm inside now... well, a bit anyway.

Oh, well.....it's a good day for staying home and doing some baking .... Apple Streusel Crumb Cakes..... tiny cakes...in muffin cases.  A new recipe from a fellow food blogger ....

I do feel more like digging out the Christmas tree and decorating it for the weekend........ really I do.  It could be fun.  And, it would have the neighbours talking.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry....

... but, seeing as we Canadians are supposed to be a tough lot....I better yank on the ol' boot straps.. hike up my britches and get one foot in front of the other...... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh....I don't wanna!!

Of course, this happens every year about this time.... last year it was April 10....the year before I think it was June 5.... so.... this isn't too bad...........I guess. *pout*.......

It was raining last night so we knew darn well it would look like this when we got up.  It is barely 0C so this new 6 inches will melt quickly...but, the underlying 2 feet or so in most areas...won't be melting along with it.....not yet.  It's all frozen and crusty and icy under this new soggy stuff....

That Elmo...always so ready to help me measure snow.  You'd think as often as I've plopped his bum into freezing white stuff... it'd wipe that stupid smile off his face.

Before I even grabbed a shovel, I grabbed a broom and went out to rescue my poor juniper... knocking off the huge amounts of snow as it was bent straight over from the weight of the heavy wet stuff.

One of the lower branches was already in trouble from an earlier snow fall...it was on the ground nearest the wall.  With the snow off...you can see how far over and down it was pressed with all that weight.  Hope it stands up all the way once again some day.  A couple of the branches are probably going to have to be trimmed off.

I decided to take a walk around the block and see what else got crushed....and...sadly.... plenty.

OMGosh.... this...... well, this was the biggest Mugo Pine bush we have ever seen....and usually the branches are totally upright like raised hands and arms..... oh, dear..... squashed totally.... hope it recovers....

All of them were bent under the terrible weight of the snow....

This guy had the right idea.... shovelling would be a killer today.

Oh, oh........

I couldn't believe my eyes when I rounded the corner to our place..... my sidewalks were clean!!  Oh, thank you, thank you, Dan!!!  He was just crossing the road to the older lady that lives opposite us.  He hollered that he didn't want anybody having heart attacks and decided after doing his own ....he would just do the rest of us.  What a guy!   He's been shovelling our walks pretty regularly all the weeks we were away...and now... he's doing it again.  Says this winter he has used his snow blower more than any winter so far.  So much for global warming..... I still maintain that we are heading back into another ice age.

Even if it is a pain.... I do have to say....it does look beautiful.....

I especially love the look of the drooping or weeping type trees and shrubs....

A poor little robin..... wondering why he came back from Arizona or Mexico or wherever he went for the winter.  They always come home about 2 or 3 weeks too soon.  Just like us.  And...no worms out of the frozen ground yet.  I see them hopping around behind the sparrows and chickadees.  Probably trying to get the lowdown on what to eat before their own food source shows up.... much later now than ever I would guess. They probably lose a bit of weight before it gets nice enough to forage for the good stuff.  All this, after having to fly hundreds if not thousands of miles just to get here.  Not right.  Not right at all.

Well....now...I'm off to bake Dan some strawberry muffins.  He deserves them!  Maybe it's time to invest in a snowblower....even though I usually am happy to do it for the exercise..... or..... save the money to make a downpayment on a tiny house somewhere warm.... so I can follow those robins when they leave in October......

-16C .....

... and another 8 inches of snow.  Sigh.....my blog has turned into a weather report.
It's hard to get motivated to do much else it seems when I'm having to spend hours shovelling and more hours trying to get readjusted to doing my exercise routine. I even opted out of doing my weights and most of my exercise routine today.  I figured I did enough weight lifting just scooping and shoving and tossing the white stuff.  The main piles are now over 4 feet deep at the corners of the property.

There is a skating rink under the snow where the alleyway meets the sidewalk....I sure hope the mailman or a dog walker or any other unsuspecting passerby doesn't have a nasty accident.... it's tough to know where to walk for safety's sake.   We had some lovely warm days...and then... pow!... pummeled by Mother Nature.  Temperatures plummeted and the snow flakes swirled.  Again.  This is a pretty big snow year compared to the past few.  Last year I hardly had to shovel at all.  And... snow shovels?  (they are really wide scoops .. but, we call them shovels.. I had Judi worried for a bit there..she thought I was only using a little shovel..hahhaha nope...) Somebody is getting rich on what I call planned obsolescence  ..worn one out already and it's only February.   We're not nearly out of the woods yet as far as snow is concerned around here.  Ridiculous.  Don't dare buy the kind that has a metal strip on the sharp edge either... if ya hit a bump in the sidewalk you could do yourself an injury midsection.... or wreck a wrist... forget that.  Too much uneven pavement or pavers to shovel.

The youngish male neighbour across the street has anger management issues.... there was a lot of swearing coming from his quarter.... even with his ancient mother out there.  What a wimp and lazy ass that guy is.  The 83 year old fella 3 houses over was out there shovelling.  Whistling.  Suck it up baby boy....

Another day or two of this... and the weatherman is talking about plus numbers once again.  Yo yo weather.  We are sort of used to it...but, still...each time it begins to melt and you can sort of see bare pavement in spots... it seems hopeful.  But, again...waaaay to early for any springtime stuff.

Good thing I did some shopping on the weekend....
tomorrow... baking...hahahha...that's the other thing about this blog.  It has become my second food blog.  Somewhere I must find an hour and do something cfrafty...hahahha...look at that will ya?  I even forget how to spell it!!

Just for that....I'm gonna show and tell my latest wonderful focaccia bread.
with spices, olives.... sun dried tomatoes... and ... hmmm... forget already what else...oh, yeh...a bit of cheese.  More on Mr. BV's side of the loaf than on mine....

oh, it's absolute hell I tell ya.....

... when the weather isn't co-operating and I can't go out to play.  No golf, no gardening...no anything in the pouring rain and cold.  It's a lousy +5C if you please!!  update:: the rain just turned to big fat wet flakes that splat as they hit the pavement...... sigh.............and it's so dark in here, even if it is the middle of the day, that I have all the lights on .....

And, nobody is home to help with the chocolate... the beaters, the spoons, the mixing bowls...... oh, yeh...  heh heh  ...nobody is here to help.  Gee.  Had to take one for the team and lick them all myself... think I need a glass of nice cold milk now.  Isn't it funny how milk just seems made for chocolate?

oh, and...the spoon and spatula too...let's not forgot those!  hahah.....ooohhh...I'll be giddy after all that chocolate.  But, strange as it may seem...I prefer the "raw mixture" as a friend of my sister's calls it in her broad Yorkshire accent... than the actual baked goodies.  So, I don't eat more than a cookie or two of the two dozen.   Mr. BV knows they are all his.......  but, even so, I have to try to monitor his hoarding and consuming.  I hope they last more than two days.  Luckily, he is slim but, I must guard, (yes, I insist! I must!!) guard against his consumption of too much refined food.   I want him to be around for a long time.  Which is probably why I don't bake cookies too often.... muffins more so because there is a lot less fat and sugar content.  I usually save cookies for the festive season.  Go all out and then, forget about them for a year.  But..today..it's dreary, I felt like baking to warm up the house...and thought about ....cookies........

What I would really like to be doing is golfing.  Well, trying to golf, as I seem to be unable to do anything right so far this season.  Or, at the very least, digging in the dirt ...planting my annuals.!!  I'm definitely not putting them in til next week now.  It's going to snow on Saturday!.  Down to 0 C.  Sheeesh.  We already must have the shortest growing season in the world... and now this ....   see why I had to cheer myself up with some lovely warm oven stuff?  Now...what should I make for supper?

...there they sit.... getting a good soaking of rainwater.... waiting.... just waiting...
although I did keep Basil in the garage.  His leaves got frost bitten a few days ago when I left him out overnight..... I figured the Thyme and Rosemary were a bit more hardy.  I hope.

Want a cookie?  Recipe from Christmas on my other blog.  Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Photo a week....

This is the time of year when the weather is the most ...uhm..... disconcerting?  Let me use that word instead of dingy, dirtry, depressing, or dissatisfying.. or ...discouraging or ...well, any one of many words that some folks might use that conjure up uncertainty or hours of clean up ... or days, weeks, or sometimes even a few months of a waiting game.  It's not that bad really...just a bit dreary.... why do all the words seem to be "d" words I wonder?  And... the weather (whatever it is) should come as no surprise, because, after all, we do live north of the 49th... and mostly it is unpredictable.

But, in reality.... the winters around here seem to be getting shorter...and less cold...and there is even less snow than when we moved here in '85 ....  less harsh all around it seems to me.  Or...maybe I am used to it..or don't mind it...or whatever .. ... unlike poor Mr. BV, who gets a bit depressed at this time of year.  He want summer and he wants it now.   I pretty much like it all and just roll along with our changing seasons.  There is plenty to do or see or enjoy all year.  What else can a person do anyway?  Mother Nature is in charge.  Just make the best of it... do things that don't require good weather in the winter or cold months...and do other things in the spring, summer and lovely autumn days... it's all good.  Today, after taking back some movies, baking cookies and vacuuming... ...I'm cutting out a new bunny pattern....

Besides... dirty and messy is pretty good compared to last year on the 22 of March.  Aren't blogs great as a journal of weather and all sorts of other "stuff"?

Look what we had last year after some lovely warm weather days....  see?  I could be building snowmen.... ...but, instead.... today is balmy and going up to +14C... hmmm... wonder if this is next week's surprise.  Hope not ..   but, if it is ...oh, well.  I get some exercise shovelling.... .

Soon...it'll be time to store away these....

I'm already wearing these ...

And, will soon be dusting off this.... oh, wow... look at all that dust and sawdust!  Disgusting!  There is actually shiny, new looking black, red and chrome under all of that!!

Think I'll go outside and pick around in that bark on the sunny side of the house and search for a green sprig of my daffs......