Hi Friends! It's another Toni Taddeo Tuesday 4.
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New lights for living room |
Hi Friends! It's another Toni Taddeo Tuesday 4.
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New lights for living room |
Hello friends and fellow bloggers,
How is the weather in your world today?
Weather here has mostly been like in the first photo below. Alternatively it's been raining and a bit cold. But we've had a few warmer days and in the next few days the forecast is for considerably warmer weather. We'll see if that comes to pass.
I've been quite busy but when I am at home I've been keeping busy crocheting these two sets of dishcloths. I made them for gifts for 2 different friends. One can always use a dishcloth because they need to be replaced every 6 months or so though I know some people use them for much longer.
Hello friends and fellow bloggers,
Another Easter has come and gone. I hope yours was a special one.
We had our Easter dinner on Easter Sunday or what many call Resurrection Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from his grave after being crucified on Good Friday.
This year I decided to make it easy on myself in the kitchen. Instead of roast ham or turkey with all the fixings, I made a sheet pan dinner of small potatoes, asparagus and salmon covered in olive oil and herbs. For dessert we had a fruit flan.
Dinner was delicious and best of all I didn't feel so tired out like I usually do when making the holiday meal.
On the sacred holidays I'd rather be thinking about the reason for the season, especially at Christmas and Easter instead of slaving over a hot stove. Right now too everything is in disarray at my home. There are all kinds of boxes, bags and furniture that either has to be sorted or taken to the landfill. This kind of situation doesn't lend itself to having people over as much as I'd like to host a few people on special holidays. It will have to wait until things are more organized.
On Saturday I had errands, the main one was to go to an advance poll and cast my vote for the federal election. The voting day is April 28th but advance polls were open for 3 days over the long weekend and there was a record turnout of voters. I had to wait in line a bit longer than usual and I was glad to get out there once finished because I was too hot in the small room. Everything went well though. The elections here are always well run in my opinion and things tend to go quite smoothly. On my walk to the polling station I took the following photos. This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday this week.Sorry it's late but I had an issue with trying to upload. This has been a problem over the past month.
Hello friends and fellow bloggers,
This is a continuation of my decluttering and reorganizing efforts.
I'm so happy that at long last I've been getting to little bits of clutter that doesn't seem to have a permanent home. I should throw it all out but that is not like me, ha ha. Instead, I stash it and hold on to it. Now at last I'm going through it, sorting, organizing and disposing of it as needed. I can't tell you how good this makes me feel because these little bits stashed in bags and containers of all kinds is so much visual clutter.
Visual clutter as opposed to hidden clutter, makes me uncomfortable and anxious every time I look it. I don't have hide away places where I can stash everything until I'm ready to deal with it. That's probably a good thing. I want things 'out' so it's easier to access them and organize whenever I have a few minutes here and there. That time is now.
Tuesday and Wednesday I dealt with clutter in the living room and organized the TV cabinet shelves. I've still got too much 'stuff' housed there but I did get rid of a large bag of books and CDs & I will be getting rid of more.
I've got a CD player or two and so I can still listen to them. I have a lot of study materials on them so I've kept those that I want to study soon. Mainly foreign languages and Bible studies.
Does anyone out there still listen to CDs?
I also continue making small decor changes. Although the changes are small they take so much time to research or consider products, order them, assess how they are working and package, return and reorder them as needed. Here are some of the recent changes.
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This one is for paper recycling. |
Replaced shopping bags with covered bins for recycling containers and papers. I got the new to me Sterlite bin from a woman in the neighbourhood. Previously I thrifted a covered Ikea bin which I'm using for containers.
Replaced the blue scatter mats (as in the photo above). Every time I look at these mats in the entry way and kitchen I cringe a little because the edges are becoming quite frayed and the white-ish gray colour is looking 'dirty'. I'm loving the lighter, brighter colours in the new mat and I hope they last for a while.
Covered chairs with slipcovers to bring cohesion to 2 different coloured chairs in 2 different styles which I've now put close to one another. First I tried gray slipcovers. They were supposed to be a light gray colour but instead they were quite dark. I returned them for this beige colour which I prefer. The problem is the covers aren't quite long enough to cover the bottom of the chairs. I've ordered another style and I hope they will work better.
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I've ordered a different type to see if it will work. |
Replacing old outlet covers with new ones. No amount of washing the grooves made the plate look clean. It's hard to wash the switches. They need to be changed or removed to be washed and dried properly. I figure if I am going to remove them or have them removed, they may as well be replaced. Only a few need the switch mechanism changed but this is actually quite a low priority in the long list of things to do.
Hello friends and fellow bloggers,
I hope you are all well and fine. I'm still keeping busy here at the homestead. This will be a long post so settle in with a refreshing drink and relax awhile.
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I saw that the building contractors seemed to have packed up and finished with their patio reconstruction. However there was an issue I had been raising with them all summer to no avail. Apparently they said it was due to the instructions they had received from the engineers. I kept trying anyway. Once they completed the work but still hadn't dealt with my issue (actually an issue for most of the owners but no one else seems to have raised it), I called the building management company and explained the situation. The management then spoke to the engineer and I couldn't believe that within the hour, the contractors were here having a look at the issue and brainstorming how to resolve it. We just had a long weekend so no work happened until today but I am pleased the work was done. It isn't perfect but it is much better than it was and I'm satisfied. Moreover the other owners' balconies are getting the same solution. When I spoke to the management, I told them that we owners had spent a considerable amount of money to get the patios redone and by leaving them the way the engineer recommended, we would likely be having to spend even more money in the not too distant future. I had to emphasize that because I think there was some misunderstanding that I was merely raising a design or aesthetic idea. Anyway that is done. Over the past week or two, I have also purchased new patio chair pads and a new patio umbrella. I also had time to wash the patio doors and all the windows and sills from the outside and move or position all the patio planters. It's doubtful that I'll plant anything in the planters until next spring. I will try to find some suitable greenery to plant this fall if there is anything at the nursery that fit within our new planting guidelines. If not, I'll have to wait until next year.
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Before table and chairs were washed. |
One thing that has added to my already busy schedule is potluck dinners every week at the church. I don't need to take something every week but as the church gathering is not usually that large, I have taken something for several weeks in a row. Last Sunday my contribution was dessert. I was going to take dessert bars because they are easy to make and easy to transport on the bus but in the end I decided to take a reduced sugar version of Peach Cobbler and a version of Bliss Balls which I made up with ingredients on hand. Both were quite good and a hit with people who attended. Now I'm taking some time off from baking and will take either a main course or a salad for the potluck at the end of September.
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Bliss balls made with dates, shredded coconut, walnuts, peanut butter and cocoa. |
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Reduced sugar Peach Cobbler I also used ground muesli mix instead of flour |
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I've already enjoyed wearing this one. DH liked it too! |
So much of the past few months has been all about work, some of it very unexpected like the leak several floors above me and the ensuing damage in the master bedroom. It's meant a lot of extra work for me in so many ways. To take a break from it all, I've done a fair bit of reading and watching the boob tube or the You Tube. These are easy ways to take a break when one is tired of work.
The reading statistics thus far
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The book on the Vagus Nerve. |
Hi friends and fellow bloggers,
There isn't much to report here other than it continues to be quite hot and that saps my energy and what I can accomplish. I've also been taking it easy since my last post because I wasn't feeling well. I'm starting to feel a bit better.
The interior repairs and exterior patio renovations are getting near completion. Indoors the ceiling and walls need to be painted, the carpet underlay replaced, closet doors returned and a bathroom exhaust fan replaced. I'm not sure if the contractor is going to be washing the carpets. He is sticking very rigidly to the insurance parametres because he doesn't get paid for 'extras'. It's appalling what insurance considers a restorative job. Even so, I've managed to work with the company that is overseeing the project and they have approved small extensions to the work here and there for which I'm grateful. I have my own carpet cleaner and if the job won't be done by the contractor, I will wash the carpets myself before I ask the moving company to delivery my furniture from storage.
There are several issues with the patio work but it's a bit harder to deal with since the issues affect all patios not just mine so we'll see how things go over time. The project manager is betwixt a rock and hard place since he has his marching orders though he knows that it might be better to do things differently. Overseeing all the work which has been ongoing for long is quite a tiresome process but soon it will all be over and there will be a scramble to try and return everything to normal and enjoy what is left of the decent weather.
In between the renovations and doing the normal day to day things, I've been reading. These are the latest books.
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Highly recommended |
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Just starting the book on the Vagus Nerve |
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Just starting the E George book, a crime novel. |
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I treated myself to dinner out on Friday night. |
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Tilapia fish, fried potatoes and mixed salad greens |
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Chicken and rice soup |
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Wednesday's paper trash |
Hi Friends! It's another Toni Taddeo Tuesday 4 . Here it is a temperature breaking Monday afternoon. The meme today is all about war...