Saturday, January 31, 2009

IT HAS BEEN A VERY BUSY WEEK

We are still in a building mode. I now have most of the kitchen cabinets up in place (no doors yet) and DH is in the process of putting in my new kitchen zinc and hooking up my new dishwasher. WooHoo!! The Guy doing the crack filling has been here and is coming this afternoon to do the final sanding. Once that is done, I can start my housecleaning. Boy, will I ever be happy to get that done. We have ordered my new counter top yesterday. We have the paint for the walls so DH will be in the painting mode next week.

Last weekend, DD and Brie did come to visit and we had a lovely visit with them. Simba's masters picked him up on that day as well. Brie was not happy with him being here but when he left to go home, Brie turned into a perfect little dog.

Yesterday, we had to go to Town to go to DH's dental appointment. He broke a tooth before Christmas and was finally able to get it looked at this past week. It is so hard to get appointments in decent time.

This past week, we did get a fair amount of snow, about 8 inches. The snowbanks are starting to be high now. It was on the radio the other day that Fredericton is having a lot of accidents because of the snowbanks heights. I don't know where all that water will go when it melts. We probably will get flooding again this Spring, especially in the Fredericton area. Fortunately, where we live on the lake, flooding is not an issue. The only problem here is when the ice breaks up in the lake, if the winds are on our shore, the ice builds up on the shore and it can and has in the past done serious damage where it lands.

Must go as I'm being called to get DH's lunch.

Have a Great Day and a Great Weekend everyone!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Finally Getting Rid of Cold

Today, I am finally getting better with this cold. It has been the longest cold I have ever had. I guess it likes me too much. LOL

We are awaiting a visit by DD and our granddog, Brie. DD just called to say they were on their way, so this should be interesting as we still have Simba here too. Brie does not like any other animals paying attention to me or DH, so we may have to leave Simba in another room. He probably would prefer that anyway especially with Brie here.

We are having a sunny day today but it is also very windy. It is a bit warmer as well. When we got up, it was -2C but it is starting to get colder as the day goes by. Our weather forecaster says that it will get colder for the next few days - so back to the deep freeze. Yak!

DH has started to install my new kitchen cabinets. It sure is going to change the look of our home. It will give me a lot more storage but I'm sure it will be filled in no time. We are now awaiting the crack filler guy to do the kitchen walls. I think he may be available sometime in the coming week - I hope so. Once that mess is done, then I can start filling up the cabinets. The materials for the counter top has been ordered but have not heard if it has arrived yet. We also have to order the doors for these cabinets. Hopefully, they won't be too long coming.

DH is presently out cleaning up the driveways of snow. We did get about another inch of snow during the night. He has a John Deere tractor and he loves to play with it. He should be done fairly soon.

Have a great day everyone!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Brrr - It's Cold Here

Welcome to New Brunswick, the coldest place in Canada yesterday. That is not supposed to happen but it did. In the Fredericton area, it was -34C and north of here, in Edmundston, it was -43C - all that without the wind chill too. Warnings on the radio were sent out that exposed skin could freeze in 5 minutes. They also warned people to not let their pets outside too long - poor Brie freezes up on her trips outside.

DH has removed the rest of the old cupboards yesterday so I am literally living out of boxes for a couple of days. I am having to do dishes by hand - hard life. LOL I am looking forward to a whole new kitchen though, and all new cabinets. Because of the many interruptions DH has had, it didn't get done in the time frame he had planned. He is feeling a lot better with his bout with the cold and I'm starting to feel better as well. It is a miserable cold to catch and really hard to get rid of. There is a lot of colds and flu going around this area at the present time. Even the Nursing Home where my DM is was closed to visitors and is restricted to only immediate family right now.

We still have the Fat Cat Simba with us and he will be here until next weekend. At home, he will only drink water out of the bathroom tap, where he sits by and meows until they turn it on and when he is finished, he meows until they shut off the tap. Here, he has a dish with water in it on the floor and he drinks out of the dish no problem. His masters called the other night and when DH told them what Simba was drinking out of the dish on the floor, they couldn't believe it. DH told them that Simba has them trained instead of the other way around. LOL

DH and DD went to Moncton and moved my MIL into her new room at the Special Care Home. She was released from the hospital on Thursday afternoon and allowed to do the move that day. It will take her a few days to get used to her new surroundings and hopefully, she will be happy. I didn't make the trip as I was still quite sick with the cold and did not want to pass on to any seniors there.

Today, the sun is shining bright here and it is still quite cold. The little birds at our feeders are fluffed out and looked much bigger than they really are. It is so cute to see them like that. They sure can eat though, I suppose they have to get their energy to keep warm. I find it amazing that such little things like that don't freeze to death. Even the squirrels don't travel as much in this cold.

Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Colds & Cold Weather Go Away

Yes, both DH and I have come down with awful colds. It is not pleasant being stuck in the house with these colds. However, I believe it is the first time in my life that I sat around and watched movies most of the day. DH started with his a few days ahead of me and so far, has it much worse than me. He has been sleeping a lot more than me too. By nature, I don't usually sleep during the day and I am a nighthawk as well - guess I am afraid of missing out on something. LOL

Around here, there is also a stomach virus going around and so not only is my MIL's hospital floor closed to visitors but my own DM Nursing Home has also closed its doors to visitors. We, of course, would not have gone in with these colds anyway.

The weather has been cooold! We are thankful, however, that we are not in Regina where my SIL is as their temperatures have been much worse than ours. This morning here it was -22C. It is clear though and from the inside looking out, it looks quite nice. On morning such as this, I feel sorry for those poor souls that are street people or people that have to stay out in this cold.

Yesterday, our dearest friends left for Florida where they will get on a cruise for a few days. Since they have a devon rex cat, we have been the recipients of Simba the cat. Simba is not suppose to have any fur but now at the ripe age of 11 or 12, he has grown a short curly fur on most of his body. He has also put on a lot of weight and looks a lot like Garfield in colour and body except he has a smaller head. Simba is thoroughly spoiled but knows us and doesn't mind spending time with us, even if we don't spoil him as much as his masters. Right now, he is perturbed with me as I'm on the computer and would not allow him to come up on my lap.

DD was supposed to come and visit this past weekend but due to our colds, she decided against it as she doesn't need to catch it again. Truth be known, we may have caught it from her in the first place. LOL Maybe she can come to visit later in the week.

I have been collecting Royal Doulton figurines for a while and DD and her DH have given me one more for Christmas. This one is called Julia and she has a cloth that she is stitching on in her hands - appropriate or what! She is beautiful and I just love her. Most of the figurines I have do have a special meaning one way or another. Some are named after people that are closed to me like DD, DM, MIL, friends and even one named Zoe. Then others are the Bride which DM gave me when DD was married, the Queen Mother's 90th birthday and one that matches my own china. Once my kitchen renovations are finished, DH is making part of the new cupboards as a china cabinet, then I will have more room to display my dolls. Woohoo, I can't wait.

Enough rambling for today. Simba is presently watching our goldfinches at our feeders and it is driving him batty. LOL.

Have a Great Day everyone!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

We Are Back

Hi:
We have been so busy with the Christmas Season and with having to travel to Moncton to deal with my MIL. She has been assessed as a level 2 and we had a meeting with hospital officials and her, and she was advised by them that she was going to have to go to a Special Care Home. She has now accepted that fact and between DH and his brother, a very nice brand new Special Care Home has been found. She has a large room with a private bath. It is very elegant too. So next we had to close out her apartment. What a job! She had been in that apartment for over 30 years and had saved everything. We stored most of the furnishings, took some to put in her new place and we assigned some of the pieces to whoever she wanted them to go. It was a big job but now we have the apartment empty. We also set up her new place so that when she walks in, it will hopefully feel like home to her.

All we needed was for her to be released from the hospital. However, a virus has closed down the whole floor that she is on and so, no visitors allowed or no releases either. Last night, DH's brother called to say she has now come down with the virus so I expect that it will be at least one more week before we can move her in at the new place.

We did spend Christmas Day with DH's brother and we had their mother get a day pass from the hospital but she was not feeling well and did not eat at all during the day. It was not what I had hoped for DH and his brother. The rest of the time was not bad though. It had been a long time since we were able to spend Christmas with DH's brother and his wife, so it was very nice.

DD and her husband were away to New Jersey for Christmas so we all got together and celebrated on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We really enjoyed having them around for the time they spent here. We also enjoyed having Brie here after they left so DD and her husband would have a day alone together before he headed out for more training in Regina. We know it will be a long nine weeks but hopefully, time will go by fast for the two of them.

Today, we are getting snow, sunny periods with snow flurries and then more snow. Up to now, we have been very lucky in that we did not have much snow here. Moncton had their share but for some reason, we had been spared. We did have cold, cold weather though.

With being so busy with other things, quilting has taken a back seat and I have done absolutely nothing in that category. DH and a friend of his have part of my cupboards built but they still have to be put up in place. We are still in a mess but hopefully now with things settled in Moncton with my MIL, we may be able to keep on renovating.

Seeing I was away during the festive season, I want to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year.