Me On A Monday - August 30th

Good Morning .  I hope that every one is doing well.  A little bit of a catch up; I had a good birthday, low key. My carrot cake was good & in the end I did not colour the cream cheese icing. It felt a little strange not putting candles in the holders, but there's no more blowing across a cake.  I had candles off to the side so I could make my birthday wish. Also, I don't think I've ever had a square birthday cake before!  I had lots of very kind people remember me on my birthday with cards & other forms of messages - all very much appreciated.

I'm not sure if anyone else is doing this, but I have found my self on several occasions in the last month matching what I'm going to wear with my face mask.  Is this the new normal for styling? 

One of our leading doctors on the regional COVID task force issued a warning on August 27th, in one of her twice a week F/B messages in response to the COVID-19 4th wave rising new cases & hospitalizations,    " We should be avoiding indoor social gatherings unless everyone in the room is fully vaccinated & asymptomatic.  We must avoid outdoor gatherings where people are in close contact & the vaccine status of everyone in the group is unknown.  Wear masks in all public spaces."  

I can now fully understand why many are wanting vaccine passports, which for Canadians isn't that unusual; all through school we were issued yellow vaccine (measles, mumps, chickenpox, etc) cards that had to be produced for attendance at school.  No one complained about that.

My garden is really struggling with the 2 1/2 weeks without rain although as I write this, Sunday night, there's a possibility of a storm with rain coming through.  Fingers crossed.

Now having said that about my garden, I have been able to keep my flower pots watered, using my 4 rain barrels (now empty) & the water from our dehumidifier (indoors).  My 5 pots of morning glories are all doing well.  Lots of variety in colours in each pot. 

 

And I'll leave you with this thought ... "I was asked recently, if I had plans for the fall; it took me a while to realize they were asking me about Autumn & not the fall of society."

Wisdom

 

“Life is amazing. And then it’s awful. And then it’s amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it’s ordinary and mundane and routine. 

Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. 

That’s just living heartbreaking, soul healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.” ~L. R. Knost

 

 ... this week I am going to be very conscious of this quote so that it becomes like my own background music.

Me On A Monday - August 23rd

Good Morning Everyone.  I've got nothing today, well nothing of any value to say, so I'll share a new to me recipe that I found in my Pinterest Wanders.  It's on the plan for this week.  

Broccoli & Chicken with Noodles Casserole

Ingredients

·         1 (16 oz) package egg noodles, cooked (make sure to salt the water)

·         1 lb of broccoli florets

·         2 cups chicken breast, cooked and shredded

·         1 10.5 oz can of condensed cream of chicken soup or two cups of chicken flavored white sauce

·         ¼ cup sour cream

·         ½ cup milk or noodle water

·         ½ tsp lemon juice

·         ½ tsp onion powder

·         2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

·         Parsley (optional)

Instructions

1.    In a large pot, cook the noodles according to package directions.

2.    Cook Broccoli.

3.    Drain water out of the noodles. Reserve ½ cup noodle water, if you plan to use it instead of milk. Place noodles back in the large pot.

4.    Next, in the same pot, add chicken, broccoli, canned soup, milk or water, sour cream, lemon juice, and onion powder. Mix well until everything is coated with sauce.

5.    Then, pour into a 9x13 pan and sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

6.    Next, put under the broiler until cheese is melted.

7.    Sprinkle with parsley if desired and serve.

Wisdom

 

Do It Now,

Because Later 

Often Becomes

Never.

 

 

Me On A Monday - August 16th

 

Good Morning.  I trust all is well with everyone.  

Currently Watching: more DVD's from the library; Brokenwood, series 5, this series just gets better & better; 800 Words, series 1, which we have seen before but now that the entire series are available we wanted to reacquaint ourselves with the story.  Mr Man enjoyed more than I did, series 2 is on order.

I've also watched, The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family & I cannot wait for the 2nd episode. 

Source: Internet

 

Currently Reading: just finished People You Meet On Vacation & Road Trip; both fall into the summer read category, IMO.  I am #1 in line at the library for Louise Penny's newest book, release date August 24th. In the meantime I'm currently re-reading some life motivating materials I have, it is after all a "new year" coming up for me & time to re-evaulate.

Currently Thinking: that our current Prime Minister, aka sock boy, is a misguided so & so for calling an election just 2 years into his minority government during a major world wide pandemic. He'll be sending us to the polls September 20th. Plus this election with cost the Canadian people millions because of all the extra safety health precautions needed to vote during a contiguous pandemic. Money we don't have!  I'll say no more.

Source: Internet & he certainly doesn't have his in a row

Currently Baking : this year's birthday cake will be a 3 layer carrot cake (with pineapple) with cream cheese frosting. While last year's Victoria Sponge was OK, it's not a repeat for me & I really wanted something with a WOW factor.  I may colour the cream cheese icing pink ... something like this perhaps ...

Source: Internet

Currently Enjoying: the cooler less humidity.  We had a week of extreme heat & humidity & in spite of living/working in air conditioning, I still found the humidity to be so draining. Friday night a cooler weather front moved in & all weekend during the day I had the a/c turned off & windows wide open.  The cooler fresh air had the cats excited & they were wild beasts.

And I'll leave you with this thought ... it's probably my age that has tricked people into believing I am an adult.  😍

 

Wisdom

 

When you have a friend going through 

a personal storm, 

rather than being the weather person 

& reporting on the news, 

try being an umbrella & 

shelter them with 

love.

Source: Internet

SPSH - 2nd Link In

 Greetings & Good Morning.  Today is our second link in for the 2021 Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt (SPSH) - the  easing, but not gone  pandemic restrictions edition.  June 1st - September 30, 2021

Listed below are the folks wanting to link in & in no particular order. After that are some of my finds.  Next Link In Date is the final one Friday, October 1st

Eileen at: A Bracelet of Days

Ruth at: This West London Life

Deb at: Debs14 Blogspot

Bless at: My Two Cents

Joy at: Forty Three, The Final Front Door

Nil at: The Little House by the Lake

Karen at: Random Reflections

Amanda at: Amandas-Scrapbook-Pages

Anne at: New Happenings at the Table

Leslie at: Once Upon a Time Happily Everafter

Liz at: Life at the Gables.

Kirstin at: Loving Life

Louise at: Louise's Book Buzz

And now to some of my latest finds:

#2 Favourite Time of The Day:  morning, I have always been a morning person & in the Summer & early Autumn you can find me sitting on the patio to enjoy the morning quiet & the way the sun appears across the field.

#3 Something To Represent Home But Not The Building: my cats represent home to me as they are a huge part of the comfort I find at home. (yes they are on the table ... but at least we were done lunch 😊)

#4 Head In The Clouds: this cloud was part of several big thunderhead clouds seen from our front door during moments before a big storm. We experienced a lot of rain, thunder & wind from this storm but the city north east of us (about a 2 hour drive) experienced major damage from the tornado born out of these storm clouds. 

#5 The Art Of The Fold: three of my specialty folded cards. The more I get into card making, I know my strength is not in ink stamping but in paper on paper so I am trying to build my paper skill with artful folds.

#8 Window Views: this is the church I attend & for the last 17 months I have only been able to view from the outside & I have missed looking out the stain glass windows from the inside. There are 5 types of windows in this photo & each one frames the same view in a different way.

#9 Something Older Than You:  this is a tea cup & saucer from the set of fine bone china that Mr Man inherited from his Mom. I did not know her as she had passed away before Mr Man & I started dating.  This china set was apparently something she was very proud of buying before her marriage to Mr Man's Dad, part of her hope chest.

#18 Upside Down, Right Side Up: our crazy black squirrels.

#20 Decades of Sharing:  I believe this set of corn on the cob "plates" is from the 80's possibly the 70's.  I inherited this set from my Foster Mom a couple years ago when she was downsizing to move into a senior's apartment.  They, at the time, amused me, so yes I lay claim to them. Maybe after this season of fresh corn on the cob they might be part of the August de-cluttering challenge!

Alternate B: A Local Landmark:  this  home was once a private boy's school known as The Academy, built in 1853 by William Wetherald, a Quaker. The school closed in 1883.  The movie, Agnes of God, used this home as the convent. The current owners use not only as their home but as their art gallery & pre-COVID, each August they hosted an open house to the gallery.  Maybe next year.

And that is a wrap for me for now.  Our next check in/link in will be the day after the closing of the 2021 SPSH, Friday October 1st.

 

 

Wisdom

 

Laughter Is Like The Windshield Wiper

It Does Not Stop The Rain, 

But Allows Us To  Keep Going.

 

 

 we have been experiencing a lot of rain.

Me On A Monday - August 2nd

 

It's a holiday Monday here in Ontario & for the most part it is referred to as CIVIC HOLIDAY, although you may find many communities call it by other names. Civic Day is not celebrated in all provinces and/or territories.

Regionally COVID cases & hospitalizations are declining, yeah. The fully vaccinated are rising in numbers, yeah.  The new word I am seeing & hearing is "vaxxed"  referring to be people being double and/or fully vaccinated.

I've been working on creating cards to send to members of our church, to advise that our Bishop has authorized a return to in person church services.  For our church that will be in September.

We watched the farmer harvest the winter winter on Saturday; it's a dusty business but it makes me reflect on how fortunate I am to have such a view in my back yard & of course give thanks to farmers.

We spent some time finally tackling the cupboard of mugs in our kitchen. We got rid of (donated) 26 mugs! There is now an entire shelf empty. I am well on to my way to meeting the August De-cluttering 31 items challenge. For more info, click here for Bless's August Challenge:  An Item A Day Keeps The Clutter Away

A reminder that next Monday, August 9th is our next SPSH check in.  How are you doing with your search & finds?

And I'll leave you with this thought; A lot of horses is called a herd, a group of cats is called a clowder,  a gathering of crows is called a murder, a lot of geese is called a flock  ... & a whole lot of people is called a no thanks!