Saturday 9 January 2010

Saturday January 9, 2010-The Lost Day

Last night was not a good night. I must have gotten a touch of food poisoning. Enough said......

So I spent the day sleeping. It was bright sunny and cold. Gordon went on a photo shoot with a friend of his and got photos of a snowy owl. You can see it here.

To see my nephew interviewed on CBC yesterday, click here. His interview is about 1/4 of the way in. Just after they interview the paramedics about the recent police officer stabbing here in Ottawa.

Friday 8 January 2010

Friday January 8, 2010-Dinner Out

I've been changing my walk time to sometime during the day as it seems to warm up a bit by then so I walked today around 1 p.m. The wind was still cold but it wasn't bad.

I didn't do much all day except watch TV. I haven't even read any of my book in the last two days.

Gordon went out on a photo shoot by himself this morning but said he didn't see much photoworthy.

We were meeting my nephew, Nick and his wife, Becky at Swiss Chalet on Bank Street which is about 1/2 way between where we live and where they live. We had an excellent dinner and now that Nick is a full fledged paramedic (though on training for 5 weeks) he picked up the cheque. Thanks Nick and Becky! It was really great to spend one on one time with them. Usually when we see them there's all kinds of family around so we managed to have a good chat. Although I had the camera around my neck, no photos were taken.

That's about it for our day.

Thursday 7 January 2010

Thursday January 7, 2009-Recycling

I wish I could say I had something to report on my Immigration problem but I have not heard anything from the lawyer in Buffalo. I know he received the package of information that I sent him around the end of December so hopefully he's working on it.

I didn't feel like walking this morning, so I didn't and instead got ready to go out and pick up some supplies. That took all morning.

After getting home and putting the stuff away, I sat down to be a couch potato and decided I'd better go for my walk so away I went. I even had a little sunshine. The wind was cold but other than that it was a nice day for a walk.

From my walk



The City of Ottawa has implemented a new recycling program in the form of a green box. This is for recycling of kitchen waste. With the green bin you have a smaller bin to keep in your kitchen. There are lots of rules that go with the green bin. It has to be lined with either a compostable bag or newspaper. You have to put vaseline around the lid. It takes all leftover foods, yard waste, animal bedding, fireplace ashes, vacuum cleaner bag contents and lots more.

Green box

We also have the black box program for paper, cardboard etc and the blue box program for bottles, cans etc.

Ottawa is doing their part for recycling!

I expect a lot of people have never seen a sidewalk snowplow so here it one of ours!

Wednesday 6 January 2010

Wednesday January 6, 2009-Funeral

It was warmer this morning. The wind chill was only -13C (8F) and no snow flurries so I was able to get out for my walk. The snow was kind of mushy to walk on and a lot of it stuck to my ice grippers but it's nice to have a couple of mornings where it's fairly mild.

Today was the funeral of our family friend who passed away on December 30th so Gordon and I arrived at the church early as I wanted to see the flowers that we had sent and get a photo of them for my sisters who weren't able to go. It was a nice service. Cassie had picked out the hymns that she wanted and in fact her funeral had been planned and paid for many years ago. She was organized!

We left immediately after the service as we had to be home for the dog walker so didn't see anyone we knew. Apparently her only close living relative, her nephew, was unable to come to the service. The minister mentioned he couldn't attend but didn't say why.

Now, I'm tired. I'm not sure why but I'm very tired.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Tuesday January 5, 2009-More Flurries

Guess what I woke up to this morning - more snow flurries! This is getting really old and winter only started on December 21st. I decided to brave the -18C (0F) wind chill and went for a long walk this morning. I wasn't cold since I dressed for the weather but my glasses kept fogging up which is really annoying.

The snow flurries stopped about mid morning so this afternoon I went out and shoveled the steps and walk again and took the push broom to the back deck.

Other than finishing my book by James Lee Burke-"Last Car to Elysian Fields", I watched some TV, did the laundry and cleaned up the tree stand so it can go into storage for another year.

It was interesting to note this morning that the temperature at 6 a.m. in Victoria, B.C. was warmer than it was at 9 a.m. in Tampa, FL. Maybe Vancouver Island isn't a bad idea for the winter after all!

Monday 4 January 2010

Monday January 4, 2010-Jeans Are Not Warm!

Another cold morning here with the wind chill.

Margaret, our housecleaner came at 8:30 a.m. and when she was gone, Nancy wanted to go to the gym as she hasn't been since August so we took that opportunity since we have to move the truck out of the driveway to let her out of the garage to go for a drive.

This time we went north and west of Kanata and wound up at Constance Bay. A few years ago there had been a little restaurant on the main street going in that made really good hamburgers but unfortunately it was closed. We continued on to The Lighthouse which is a restaurant and general store and had breakfast. Thankfully the eggs didn't seem to bother me but I didn't eat the home fries.

A couple of photos of the Gatineau Hills across the frozen Ottawa River.


Three barns that were all in a row



The Lighthouse

We stopped at a trail head that is just outside Kanata. We've never been to this one so will be checking it out in the spring. Right now they are using it for skiing.

Cross country ski trail.

We got out of the truck to take some photos a few times and although I had on my heaviest jeans, I was still cold. Whoever thinks jeans are warm haven't lived in Canada's capital city!

To Carolyn: Yes, the book is Last Car to Elysian Fields. It's not James Lee Burke's best but it's good. I'm nearly done with it! I enjoy reading books about places I've been and we know that area pretty well.

Sunday 3 January 2010

Sunday January 3, 2010-Whistler's Mother?

Nothing much happened today. It was cold and windy and it turned out I didn't go outside at all.

The wind drifted the snow overnight so Gordon got to clear the front steps and the walk again and the plow came to clean the driveway.

The day was spent watching a movie called 'The Holiday' and reading. The book I'm reading is by James Lee Burke and it takes place in New Iberia, St. Martinville and New Orleans, LA and a lot of places I recognize.

Nancy went out but only had to pick up a few things so I didn't go along.

I was just thinking of getting dinner on the table when the power went out. It was out from about 5:30 p.m. to about 7 p.m. We were just getting ready to go out to eat when it came back on. Here's a photo Gordon took of me reading by candlelight in the rocking chair. A new take on Whistler's Mother!