Reno's

Well the weather put us behind a bit on our home renovations. The snow we got on Tuesday was enough to bring things to a grinding halt for a couple of days. Yesterday we picked out the two entrance doors. I must say they are going to look really nice. Friends are coming out to help us this weekend, plan is to get the doors hung, the rest of the windows in and all the insulation up on the walls. Hubby is hoping that by Sunday they can start the siding. I am really getting anxious to see the finished product...my old house will look like a new house. Once all that is done then we'll start on building the deck. We have the big deck on the front of the house to remove, then to clean up the ground below that will be a job and a half. For nearly 17 years the cats and the dog have spent time under there so it will consist of removing some of the dirt and replacing with fresh top soil. Don't want a flower garden that will smell like the cats. Who knows what treasures will be found under that deck. So time to start planning and designing the front gardens. Everything I plant will be a perennial except for anything that goes in the planters. Have started thinking about what I want to do in the back yard as well, especially now that we are putting our deck off the back. This will be a project that will probably take this year and next year to complete.

What is with the Snow!

Here it is May 20th and I woke up to about an inch or so of snow this morning. Instead of looking like a Spring day it looks more like an early winter day.

It had started snowing last night on our way to Saskatoon, I was surprised that by the time we hit McDowell the fields were white. Sure enough the snow kept falling throughout the night. On the radio this morning the announcer said we got a skiff of snow...maybe in the city but it definitely wasn't a skiff at my place and I live 20 minutes north of town.

I am starting to wonder if Mother Nature isn't feeling very well or if it is just old age catching up with her and she is having trouble remembering that it is Spring not Winter!

I haven't even thought about planting my garden as it has been so cold the last week or so.

House Reno's

Well after being sick for a week, I am back in the land of the living.....my girls were a little worried that I might have swine flu.....nope just the stomach flu but did it knock me on my butt!

Well Saturday we started our house renovations. First thing Saturday morning the insulation and siding was delivered. Allan and Michael got all the siding off the north wall and the west wall of the house a bit of the insulation on the west wall that day. Sunday being a day of rest was truly that for the guys. Monday right back at it they put in 2 bedroom windows and the bathroom window and got all the insulation on the two walls. Today they were hoping to get the kitchen windows in but with the cooler weather that might get put off till it is a bit warmer, guess I will find out when I get home.

Snow in May

Apparently the snow started in Prince Albert on Wednesday May 6th shortly after the rain. When I returned from Regina last night there were traces of the snow here and there. Well this morning what did I wake up to but about 1.5 inches of the lovely white stuff. Instead of looking like May it looked and felt more like a fall day in late October. Something is not right with this picture...SNOW in MAY.

Regina

Well once again I find myself in Regina for work. Drove down this morning for an afternoon with our HR Team and then tomorrow a meeting with the entire PSC HR Department. Our drive was mostly uneventful until the town of Bethune SK where we one of the first vehicles allowed through the scene of an early morning accident where and RCMP from Craik lost his life...at least that is the story we got from staff her in Regina saying they heard on the radio. By the time we were let through they had the semi tractor hooked up to a tow truck and the little car was loaded on the back of a flat bed truck. We said there is no way someone survived that crash by the looks of the car. The entire roof of the car was gone. Don't know any details on the accident but there were a lot of skid marks on the highway both before and after the turn off into Bethune. We were told that the accident happened around 7:30 am and we drove by just after 10:00 am.

More Kittens

Yesterday my daughter and her friends found that we have another batch of kittens that were born sometime Saturday or early Sunday morning. There are 4 more little ones, these ones don't even have their eyes open yet so are very new. Now we have 9 kittens to find homes for. Yep time to get the two cats fixed maybe or get rid of the male cat.

STRAWBERRY PUNCH

1 package of strawberry jello
1 cup of hot water
1 can frozen orange juice
2 cans frozen pink lemonade
6 cups of cold water
1 bottle of ginger ale

I also put in a package of whole frozen strawberries
You can use raspberry jello in stead of strawberry and put in frozen raspberries instead of the strawberries

Mixed Berry Turnovers

Dough
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled) plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling:
2 cups mixed fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (quartered lengthwise), and blackberries (halved if large)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
juice of ½ a lemon, about 4 tsp

eggwash: 1 egg beaten with 1 T water
sanding sugar or granulated sugar to garnish, optional

Prepare dough: In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if necessary, add up to 4 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). To help ensure a flaky crust, do not overprocess.

Transfer half of the dough (still crumbly) onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form into a square 3/4 inch thick; wrap tightly in plastic. Repeat with the other half. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days).

Prepare filling: In a medium bowl, toss together berries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 425. On a lightly floured surface, roll first disk out to an 8 x 12-inch rectangle. Cut into six 4-inch squares. Spoon berry mixture into the center of each square. Brush 2 opposite sides of each square with egg wash and fold into triangles. Crimp edges to seal. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with second dough. Brush tops with eggwash. Sprinkle with sugar if desired and make a ½ inch incision to create a steam vent in the middle of each of triangle. Bake until golden brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet pan halfway through.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

1 1/2 cup Fresh or frozen mixed berries
3/4 cup Milk
1/8 cup Low fat yogurt
2 tbsp Orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Flaxseed or wheatgerm

Add all the above ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.

Pour into glasses and serve cold

Time Flys

Where does time go....it seems to pass by so much faster than it used to, must be all a part of the growing old scheme of things. I remember as a kid, time seemed to stand still, summer lasted forever and it was always such a long time until your birthday or Christmas arrived now I am afraid to blink as another month may have passed me by. Here it is May 1st - we're into the 5th month of the year....fells like it was only a few short weeks ago it was 2008.

The busier our lives get the fast time flies by. The saying is so true "Time flies by when you're having fun" but they forgot to tell me that it flies by just as fast when your busy working and not having fun too.

Yes we best make the best of today as yesterday is a memory and tomorrow is the future. You never know what the future holds. What you may plan on happening in the future can be drastically changed in the blink of an eye.

Like my wise grandmother used to say "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today!"