Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Early Skywatch
Sunday, April 28, 2024
The Last Weekend in April
This is what it looks like here on Sunday early evening.
I'm keeping busy on this rainy weekend with a bit of cooking, decluttering and cleaning.
Roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables |
Chicken and rice stew |
Roasted, seasoned chicken |
Roast beef stew |
This Omega juicer is like new but needs a good cleaning. |
These cute stamps were a bargain. |
I've been wanting a tray with an old map on it for ages. |
During these times of heavy rain and cloudy skies before summer arrives I've been turning up the hygge.
Some lovely, fresh tulips. |
A lemon scented candle. |
Some faux flowers with twinkling bulbs at night. |
Saturday, April 27, 2024
A Perfect Gift
Hi friends and fellow bloggers,
I hope you are all doing well on this last weekend of April. I'm doing well. I'm trying to make the most of the time by doing small task around the house to tidy, organize and declutter. I'm also aware that the last day of the month is fast approaching and I haven't completed the tax returns yet.
I actually started way back in January but we were waiting for 2 T4 slips (they didn't appear on line in the CRA account) so they eventually arrived but I got busy with other things. Now I think I will simply start all over again and use different software. The one I like is Ufile but for a few years I used a few others like Turbo Tax and Simple. I can't remember why I did that.
I was watching a YouTube of a young friend of mine in Botswana on Thursday. It was storming and raining heavily in her town and after the rain a beautiful rainbow appeared and beautiful blue skies. I said to myself that I wished I could see a beautiful rainbow too and that I hadn't seen one in quite some time. Lo and behold I was out for a walk on Friday and I was gifted with a rainbow.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Last Weekend - Skywatch Friday
Hello friends and fellow bloggers,
I hope you are all doing well.
We've had a few beautiful days of sunshine. Now we are in the very last hurrah of April. I captured these photos on Tuesday before the rains returned Wednesday morning for the rest of the month.
It was a beautiful and sunny day but by the time I took these photos the weather was turning in preparation for the morning rain. The temperature was just right for me with a thin long-sleeved top and puffer vest.
Monday, April 22, 2024
City Gardens, Weather & Cooking
Hello dear friends and fellow bloggers,
Time passed too quickly this month and before you know it May will be here. With it's return the deadline imposed by the Community Garden Committee to fully plant the small community garden plot or lose it, rears it's head.
It should be relatively simple and straightforward to plant, but it never is for one reason or another.
Firstly, I think the timeline is too early. Good starter plants aren't really available here until May begins. That means you'll pay a premium if you want to get starter plants from the nursery. The 'real' gardeners always seem to get their gardens growing in April! I don't know how they do it but there are many who are just as behind as I am, if not more so.
To be honest, I'm not even sure you can buy a variety of vegetables and flowers until some time in May because that is when the garden season gets underway in the city. Maybe you can if you travel a distance by car.
If you can't buy starter plants or nursery plants, the other option is to start your own starter plants from seeds. If you want to start your own plants to beat the deadline, you'll need to start early and have all the soil, seeds, trays and pots at hand. There is a method to planting this way which includes transitioning starter plants to the weather so you need to factor that process into your timeline. I believe this is called 'hardening" or 'hardening off'.
Secondly, the weather doesn't always cooperate. It's been very wet and very cold in the months of March and April though we have had a few good days here and there. This is what the weather was like on Saturday.
I was actually organized enough to start seeds early this year but they sprouted way too quickly and were unusable. I thought I'd try again but ran out of time and now it's too late to start my own seeds and still plant the garden on time. So I had to try and find some nursery plants.
Saturday I called around to a few places might have what I was looking for and one of them did. The other store said sometime next week and that would be too late.
I went today to buy what I could. The variety was somewhat limited but it will do. Last year I didn't buy start plants or start my own. Instead I sowed seeds directly into the soil and most of the plants did sprout and do reasonably well except the sunflowers didn't look that healthy. The exceptional heat we had was not conducive for good growing conditions though the kale did very well.
On the food front, I made a lovely lentil dish of lentils, carrots, eggplants, onion and various spices. I'll be making it again or variations of it. We had it with some air fried chicken which was also good.
The Weekly Home Blessing (part of Fly Lady's cleaning system) was done over the weekend and so now the house is clean ad relatively tidy and ready for the busy week ahead.
Wishing you all a fabulous week.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Friday Beauty
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Hi friends, It's been incredibly hot here. Yesterday on the news they said it was the hottest day of the summer so far. But I went out...