Snowflake Sunday

[trissie]

I'm sorry DS10 does not feel good at school, Frenchie, having different interests is not easy when you are a (pre)teen! Just the other day I was telling DH that me going for a year to the USA was basically me running away from not being accepted at my HS class. He was extremely surprised, as these days, I am very close to my HS classmates and we do things together all the time. It took time to grow out and grow up and now we're all adults and it works, but it wasn't till our mid twenties.
kittykatt, I totally get being cautious on ice. It's no fun even if you are young and lithe - I still remember how I badly slipped in our driveway about 5 years ago and bruised tailbone, while not dangerous, took me out of commission for weeks!
Bama, parsnip is a really versatile vegetable - it can be used for stews, soups, salads (fresh or cooked), or baked as a side dish, even to replace part of the potatoes in mashed potatoes!

We're back from the cottage! The kids talked us into leaving before lunch - still took till noon to pack, clean the entire cottage, and properly winterize it (drain pipes etc). It was lovely and the last two days it was actually pretty warm there - going there for a weekend means the walls barely get lukewarm before we leave again. Today, we didn't even fire the living room stove (the cottage has big woodstove that heats water for central heating and a small one in the living room) and it was still OK!
Tomorrow is back to work and back to school. Not ready, but the dread of unfinished tasks was slowly creaping up on me anyway, so I think just getting started will help. So, off I go!

TaDas
- pack everything at cottage
- clean cottage
- drive home
- unpack dirty clothes
- sort piles
- load of darks running
- deep-clean litter box
- unpack food

ToDos
- 15 more on unpacking / putting things away
- 15 in kitchen
- 1 task from holiday cleaning list

[trissie]

oh hi L.Ann, I must have missed your post!

[trissie]

TaDas
- 15 more on unpacking / putting things away
- 15 in kitchen
- 1 task from holiday cleaning list - clean out rolling cart in downstairs storage
- load of colors running

ToDos
- afternoon routine
- 15 in living room
- 1 task from holiday cleaning list

[Doggedly]

Hello, all! Kittykatt, thank you for starting us off. I would never judge a person for fear of slipping on ice. I have lived in Canada all of my life, and I had an incapacitating fear of ice for most of it. How I got over it in my forties was just luck. First, my neighbour introduced me to ice grips to put over my boots, so I had better traction on the ice. That had a practical improvement, but didn't deal with my fear. Next, I adopted a Labrador who needed a lot of exercise, so I walked him in our off leash dog park literally every day. The city contributes nothing to grooming the trails, so there are times when it is very icy. There were times when I was draped over the car like I was being arrested, and couldn't work up the courage to let go of the car, so I just told the dogs to go in the park and run around the front part of it for exercise. I regularly saw dogs' legs going out from under them on the ice, but they didn't care and they didn't fall down. They had four legs to be going on with, so they just carried on going forward. The last part of the puzzle is when my knees started to go, and my df gave me her father's old cane to walk in the woods in the park as the ground is uneven. When I started walking with three "legs", I started to feel like the dogs that could afford to have one leg go out from under them. In reality, the cane wasn't going to help me stay up on the ice; it was the ice grips on my boots that were keeping me from falling. But an irrational fear doesn't need a rational fix and if my fear of ice believes that the magic stick is going to keep us from falling, then it works. It's a miracle--I can walk!
I have an old pair of these super-duper ice cleats:
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/ho ... 0911-icers
But the entry level ones should be just find:
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/ho ... icers-lite

(((FrenchFly and ds10))) It's so hard to watch dkids go through anything painful, though we know that these "outsiders" will be the most interesting and often the most creative adults. He has a good, secure homelife to help him through this time, and that means everything.

Hello, L.Ann.

Bama, parsnips harvested in the fall as we do now, are a bit bitter. I would recommend treating them however you treat the purple turnips (not rutabaga, which has a nice mild flavour.) One of my mothers used to tell me that when she was young, they would leave the parsnips in the field to sweeten over winter, and harvest them in the spring. But I haven't heard of anyone doing that these days. I have sliced them very thing and boiled them in chicken stock and a bit of maple syrup.

I am at the end of Page 1. Time to get up and do something.

[Peaches1000]

Good afternoon!

Next:
-Check email
-Update Toodledo
-Check bank accts/Amex
-Open & sort mail/file
-Files/Med Info/Papers/Emails - 10 min

Extras:
-Refill kitty food/order more?
-Bill pay process
-Tasks - (Toodledo tasks)
-Declutter/organize/clean - 10 min
-Files/Med Info/Papers/Emails - 10 min

Routine:
-Gather dirty laundry/sort
-Laundry #1 to washer
-Laundry #1 to dryer
-Laundry #1 hang/fold
-Put away laundry

-Foyer Bath - pupa/restock
-1pm Eat
-Cat - brush/food/water/litter
-Vacuum something
-6pm Eat
-Close blinds
-Prep for next day (clothes/calendar)

Done:
-Bedroom - pupa
-Dress/ready
-Fresh food for kitty
-Open blinds/get water
-Medicine/vitamins
-This & that

[FrenchFlybebe]

Bama, yes parsnips can be used like carrots. They are not as sweet but nonetheless a bit sweet. As Dogged said they can sometimes have a sour or acid taste, like radish would, but not as strong as in radish. We love them roasted and in purees (with half potatoes) and in soups with lentil. They like some seasoning, something hot or something sweet (honey, pumpkin spice), but maybe with meat they don't need as much seasoning.

trissie so glad you enjoyed the time at the cottage ! Good luck unpacking and transitioning into work and school.

L.Ann thanks for sharing your weekly menu once again.

kittykatt I don't think it's much different for boys. DS10 and I are definitely introverts : I use my experience as a guide, and I too feel that growing up helps.

Dogged thanks for the info about parsnips being kept in the soil. I had never heard of it. And... I would have thought all Canadians were familiar with ice and such. Maybe because most of the time the Canadians we see on TV play hockey.

Hi Peaches !

Thank you all for your sympathy about DS10's social difficulties. MrNG spent time talking with him, and I did too, several times during the 2-week break. Things change, people change, boys grow, everyone learns... We have told him we would talk again regularly about it if he needs to, even if we don't have magic solutions. I think it won't be easy for him to get to sleep tonight, but he knows we understand, he knows we care, so that's already something he can rely on.
MrNG will be home the first three days of the week, I don't have to walk them to school in the frosty temps (and leave them there waiting 10 minutes for the gate to open) until Thursday. By then it will be a bit warmer. An easier transition for all.

TADAs
ate the meal, the meat eaters said it tasted great, I had leftover lentils with the veggies and sauce
handwash stuff
drip-dry handwashed stuff
fold previous lol if dry (not much is dry)
vacuumed bedrooms
quick work in Zone (entrance veranda mostly)
recycled bottled and jars
talked with MrNG about bookings for a short stay in Lyons to see (notD)InLaws end of February
also looked at info and tariffs for 3 days in a ski resort - it's so expensive !!
tea
showers
MrNG is emptying DW and preparing dinner

TODO
check weekly list of todos
dinner, cleanup
make new list for upcoming week
kids' bedtime routine, hopefully kids will go to sleep easily
my bedtime

[L.Ann]

Waving to everyone who joined since I was last here. I took a 90 minute walk with my friend and then DD39 and her family came over and set up the bird feeder. No birds yet though.

1-store with DD33
2-vacuum
3- 2 more binders

4-read

Menus
Sunday-rest of enchiladas
Monday-spicy gochujang noodles with broccoli and carrots
Tuesday-ginger chicken and rice bowls
Wednesday-DD33 out/left overs me
Thursday-cranberry thyme chicken
Friday-black beans and rice
Saturday-sausage with pepper and onions
Sunday-eat at winter celebration

Events
Sunday-Little Bit’s family coming to put up bird feeder, walk w/ friend @9
Monday-Little Bit 7:40-5, Little Bit’s School 9:15-3
Tuesday-Little Bit 7:40-5, Little Bit’s School 9:15-3
Wednesday-Little Bit 7:40-5, Little Bit’s School 9:15-3, DD33 PS3-8, haircut@3
Thursday-9:30 orthopedic appt me, 3:30 DD33 physical
Friday-Little Bit 7:40-5, Little Bit’s School 9:15-3
Saturday-
Sunday-Winter Celebration 2-5, walk with friend @9

Weekly House Blessing-mop dining room, kitchen and bathroom, vacuum
Extra stuff-
January paperwork-my bedroom-file boxes, Little Bit’s art work—spare room- DM’s papers, organize shred box——-cabinet in living room- binders… order fire proof box-ordered
Electronic paperwork- delete email boxes, delete apps on my phone and DD33’s
Death book-updates, call lawyer for appointment to review will and DD33’s POAs, check POD on one account

Accomplishments
-stretching and knee exercises
-breakfast for dog and me
-pick up bedroom and get dressed
-upload family pictures to Shutterfly
-walk with friend
-visit with DD39 and family and help set up bird feeder
-lunch

[Doggedly]

Welcome home, trissie! Hooray for the nice weather at the cottage. We'll be here to cheer you on as you get a head start on your week.

Hi, Peaches. Welcome aboard.

Oh, we're familiar with ice, FrenchFly. Dealing with it all of my life didn't stop me from being afraid of it. It wasn't as bad in Montreal where we walked on snow pack more than ice, but once I moved to Ottawa in my 20s it was an all-winter thing.
Your DS's have a great base of support to grow from.
I heard a show recently about ski hills in North America selling premium tickets that let the holder go straight to the front of the line. That would dry up my interest in going at all, if I were waiting and waiting in the cold only to keep getting bumped back by rich people.

Oh, you've got the bird feeder up, L.Ann! The birds need time to find it. Then you will probably have a bonanza. Spring will be fun.

Sunday
Cleaned up after dog
Gave dog her Benedryl
Moved big air fryer into kitchen
Detailed cleaning of big air fryer
Wiped down air fryer’s table
Wiped down accessible surfaces
Dried air fryer and moved it back to table to dry out
Started new laundry bag
Checked laundry and put away dry tshirts
Made breakfast: rice and frozen vegetables. After heating it all, splashed too much soy sauce on. Fixed it by adding the rest of the too bland pea soup. Result: excellent dish that is somewhere between soup and porridge. I am calling it Pease Porridge Hot, Pease Porridge In The Pot, Some Days Old.
Wiped down the standing desk as it is a dust magnet

[Kittykatt]

Hello everyone!

Bama, parsnips are good roasted along with carrots. I parboil first and then toss in flour and then roast in a butter / olive oil combination, with a little honey drizzled over. Parsnips are much nicer after the first winter frosts, as this turns some of the starches to sugar .

Trissie, I'm glad you had a lovely time at the cottage. Wood stoves sound very warm and cosy!


Dogged, Thank you so much for your support and understanding, and for the recommendation for ice grips. That is definitely going to be on my shopping list!

FFB, DS10 knows that you and Mr NG are there for him and that you "have his back". I think knowing that there's someone there to support you and listen when you need someone is one of the most important things a young person can have in their life.

L.Ann, I'm sure the birds will come to the feeder once a few have discovered it and told their feathered friends. Did your friend think you potential reorganization of DD"s paperwork was a good idea?

Hi, Peaches!

It's been a good day. Ive got the curtains hanging in the spare room, and the pile of "stuff" is no more. The sitting room is clean and tidy, and the hot spots on the landing are gone. I've also finally hung those pictures. DH is safely back home having had a great time. I told him about hanging two pictures, and he also noticed for the first time a picture of Freddie that I hung several weeks ago. It's going to be cold and frosty again overnight and tomorrow, so it would be a good opportunity to finish those last few little cleaning jobs on the spare room (so long as DH is able to get to the office! In the event that the roads are too bad and he has to WFH, I'll do something in the kitchen instead).

[Kittykatt]

Today's short list:
Shower and personal care
S/S bathroom
QT
Change sheets on bed
Hang laundry to dry
New Waitrose order
Feed kitties
My breakfast
Unload DW
PUPA / dust/ hoover sitting room
Wind clock
Kitchen clean up
PA laundry when dry
Bag up donations
Throw out rubbish
My lunch
Deal with "stuff I don't know what to do with" in spare room
Deal with stuff on landing
DH back home
Hang those pictures
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