Saturday February 20, 2010-More Truck Problems

I had another nice walk this morning. It was -1C (30F) so it was quite enjoyable.

Gordon had to move the truck this morning so Nancy could get out of the garage and he found a shredded belt under the truck. It appears that it must be as a result of something done improperly when they installed the water pump last week as the week before the belts had all been checked at the dealer in Smiths Falls and they were fine so we can't drive the truck and will have to have it towed to the dealer tomorrow so it's ready for the appointment Gordon made for it on Monday at 9 a.m. Always something!

While Nancy was out she put a bid on a house so we'll see what happens.

We just hung out around the house today. Gordon hasn't been feeling well so he spent a lot of the day resting and I read and watched some TV.

I made some chicken breasts with taco crumbs. (I'm running out of them and need to get back to the U.S. to get more!) I can get gluten free bread crumbs up here but they are expensive and not very good!

Friday February 19, 2010-Winterlude Again

Other than my usual morning walk, going out for groceries and a nap this afternoon, the daytime here was quiet.

Tonight after dinner we decided to head over to Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau, Quebec to see the snow sculptures. So we bundled up and headed out. It was 0C (32F) so it wasn't too bad out but I forgot my ice grippers and Gordon wore his running shoes so it was slippery but we arrived home all in one piece.

Here are some photos I took tonight.

Lots of things geared for kids.

Writing in the snow

Gordon and I sitting on the big chair

View of Ottawa from Quebec

Beavertail stand and no I didn't have one

Ice sculpture

Thursday February 18, 2010-Eye measurement

When I brought the paper in after my walk this morning, this was one of the headings on the front page, click here.

I had a nice long walk this morning. I'm discovering more nearby paths that go through greenbelt areas within the city and I enjoy walking there rather than on the sidewalks. It was -4C (25F) with a windchill of -10C (14F) with wind coming from the west. We've had a lot of west wind rather than north this winter it seems. Must be El Nino! Although the forecast for today was cloud and snow flurries, this afternoon was bright and sunny with blue skies! From the radar, it looks like our 'weather' went south of the border. Good news for us! We actually reached 0C (32F) today with a bit of a wind.

Today was my appointment to have the tech measure my eyes to make my implants. There are three different machines they use, one of them is a laser measurement which costs me $180.00. For that one they have to freeze your eyes with drops. Well, my eyes move even when they're frozen but eventually she got the reading she needed. Then I wait to see the doctor and he does another check of my eyes, explains to me that I can get some vision improvement (he said 1%) with lenses that cost $300/eye rather than the ones covered by our provincial health care. I tell him I'll think about the lenses. My extended health care with Nortel does not cover any part of the interocular lens.

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has chosen the upgraded lenses and also those who haven't to see if they're happy with what they chose.

For anyone interested, here's the website. They have an interesting video about the lenses.

Wednesday February 17, 2010-Walk in the Woods

We decided to go out this morning again and let the housecleaner do her thing. The first thing we did was do a drive by on a house that Nancy is interested in. It's not too attractive looking, no curb appeal but Nancy would have that fixed up pretty quickly.

From there we stopped again at Jack Pine Trail hoping to see deer. Nada! I even took apples for them! But there were lots of chickadees that were partaking of seeds that I held out for them. I didn't take any photos of them this time.

We were having a light snow when we were in the woods this morning.

The snow was landing on the evergreens and sticking to them.


There was a woodpecker, a hairy, I think, on a bare tree. It was pretty dark but even with lightening the photo it's still dark.


This afternoon, I coloured my hair and watched TV. How exciting!

Tuesday February 16, 2010-Shrove Tuesday

I follow my Immigration lawyer on Twitter. He brings a lot of these little gems to my attention. - Immigration cases flooding U.S. courts. Will this help me or hurt me? I think it could go either way. Because I'm not in the U.S. this probably won't go to court quickly. But because it's a minor issue of failure to notify me properly of the deportation hearing, it could just be dismissed without going into a courtroom. Who knows?

Now this is something every photographer should have, to read about it, click here.

You get a lot of information on Twitter both useless and useful!

Gordon took this photo of me last week. I'm taking a photo of the bird on my glove. Boy, do I ever look like my mother!

I did get another letter from the lawyer today enclosing a copy of a letter that he received from Homeland Security. The gist of it is that they are copying the file. They handle requests on a first come first served basis so who knows how long that will take!

Vera wanted to know what my abstract photo was that I posted on Sunday's blog. Actually it's just a big piece of ice sitting in the water.

I've also had a couple of requests for Gordon's mother's butterscotch pie recipe. Since it's a family recipe, I won't publish it on my blog but I would consider giving it to people individually if they give me their email address. You can send me an email from my profile page or contact me on Facebook.

I went out grocery shopping today. While out, I bought a gluten-free pancake mix but instead when I got home decided to use the El Peto gluten-free waffles I purchased the other day. They were excellent! They tasted just like regular waffles. We were very happy with them. I had some strawberries with them and some bacon. Not a diet dinner for sure!

Monday February 15, 2010-Family Day

I received a comment from Diane on yesterday's post. Thanks Diane and to many others that have commented on how stupid this whole immigration problem has been. Hopefully it will get resolved on a positive note and SOON. I can't tell you how tired I am of being left up in the air not knowing what we'll be able to do for next winter.

Today is Family Day for most of Canada. This is the second year that Family Day has been celebrated here. The powers that be seemed to think we needed a day off in the dead of winter. However, although it is basically a Federal holiday, the Feds don't get the day off while the provincial government does. Also there are no grocery, wine, beer, libraries, malls etc open. It is a day to be spent with your family going to Winterlude! We, however, have elected to stay at home. Gordon spent most of the day backing up photos and I finished my book 'Death in Kenya'.

It was quite mild today with a high of -2C (28F), a nice winter day!

Sunday February 14, 2010-Happy Valentine's Day

The radio said it was -6C (21F) this morning and didn't mention a wind chill but when I got up Gordon said it had been windy when he was out and indeed the wind chill was -14C (7F) but I went for my walk anyway. Kanata has a series of paved trails which runs usually to schools to allow the kids to be able to get to school without being on the road. So I took one of those trails this morning. It was nice to go somewhere different.

My sister called around lunch time. They were planning to go for a drive and we had planned to do the same thing so we went together. We went west through the back roads to Almonte and then to Pakenham, back through Carleton Place and then stopped at the Swiss Chalet in Kanata and had dinner.

The Falls at Almonte still aren't frozen.

Abstract - can you guess what it is?

Mount Pakenham Ski Hill


Margie and John intently reading the menu

We stopped on the way home to bring Nancy a Tim Horton's coffee!

Saturday February 13, 2010-Happy Valentine's Weekend!

I went for my morning walk as it was only -11C (12F) and mostly cloudy. We had a few snow flurries on and off during the day but nothing compared to what they're getting or have already gotten in the eastern and southern US. It's interesting to note that Dallas has only gotten 1 inch less snow this winter than Toronto! To read about it, click here.

My day was very laid back. I read, did some computering and slept.

Since I don't have much to say today here's a joke I picked up from my Zoomers group.

WHY YOU NEVER QUESTION A DRUNK...

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:
A half-gallon of 2% milk
A carton of eggs
A quart of orange juice
A head of lettuce
A 2 lb. can of coffee
A 1 lb. package of bacon

As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind
me watched as I placed the items in front of the cashier. While the cashier was ringing up the
purchases, the drunk calmly stated, ''You must be single.''

I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by the
derelict's intuition, since I was indeed single. I looked at the six
items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my
selections that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I said: ''Well, you know what, you're absolutely right.
But how on earth did you know that?''

The drunk replied, ''Cause you're ugly.''

And with that I'll say, Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Friday February 12, 2010-Butterscotch Pie and Lots of $$$$

It was -23C (-9F) with windchill this morning so I elected not to go out. It's still sunny and bright though.

Since it was so cold, Gordon decided that the truck would probably make it to the dealership so he drove rather than have it towed. He had made an appointment for 9:15 a.m. He called me to let me know that the water pump needed to be replaced which turned out to be $950. They had us prepared for $1200 so the $950 was actually a pleasant surprise. I think they do that on purpose. That wasn't in the budget but these things never are!

Dee commented that she can't believe we haven't heard from the lawyer in Buffalo. Actually I got a letter this week with a copy of a letter from the Executive Office for Immigration Review stating that they acknowledged his request for a copy of the file and they would comply within 30 days. Their letter was dated January 27th so hopefully by the beginning of March my lawyer will have my file. There will probably be more charges for copying the file.

I had purchased some gluten free pie crusts yesterday so today I made Gordon's mother's recipe for Butterscotch Pie. Luckily Gordon's daughter, Michelle had the recipe and she had given it to me some time ago but this is the first time that I had made it. Since I had to use gluten free flour it didn't set very well so next time I think I'll do what Michelle does and use corn starch. It tasted good though!

Thursday February 11, 2010-Nancy's New Car

It was back to -17 C (1F) windchill this morning. I was warm enough on my walk except for my face and it wasn't too bad. It didn't get much warmer during the day although it was bright and sunny.

I went out for some groceries this morning and then just relaxed for the rest of the day. I got our bills input into my spreadsheet. Nancy came home around 4:30 p.m. and asked me if I wanted to go with her to pick up her new car - a shiny new Pontiac Torrent. So away we went and traded in her Saturn Vue.

When Gordon backed the truck out of the driveway to let Nancy in he noticed that it's leaking something so I guess it will be towed to a dealership tomorrow to see what the problem is. He said he thought it was antifreeze. I think the truck hates the cold weather as much as we do!

Today's photo was taken by Gordon yesterday when we were out on the Jack Pine Trail.

Wednesday February 10, 2010-A Full Day

Today was balmy compared to what it's been lately. The temperature got up to 0C (32F) this morning so it was quite nice for my walk.

Since this is cleaning day, we decided to head out to the Jack Pine Trail and leave Margaret to do her cleaning without us in the way. We saw lots of little creatures but no deer! My sister and her husband were there last week and saw two deer, we only saw squirrels, chickadees and nuthatches but it was fun anyway.

A chickadee pecking at seeds that I dropped on the snow.
\This is part of the boardwalk trail except the boardwalk is snow covered.

A chickadee and a nuthatch on a tree stump. People put seeds in the stump for the birds and the squirrels.

And here's the nuthatch with the squirrel peering from behind him.

Nuthatch feasting on seeds from my mitten.

Two chickadees taking their turn.

Then it was off to find this stand of white birches. Gordon had seen them when he was out with his photographer friend, Jim but we hadn't been able to find them. Well, today we did!

We got back early afternoon and Nancy arrived home shortly after. She had started physiotherapy yesterday and it had caused her more pain so she came home.

We had an early dinner and then headed downtown to see and photograph the ice sculptures at Winterlude. I got another chance to use my tripod. I have to say the ice sculptures weren't as nice as they used to be overall but there were a few that were well done. Also the lighting I didn't think was as nice as it usually is but it's been five years since we've been there so I could have just forgotten!

This dragon was nicely lighted.

A two headed python - scary thought!

I think this was a sea monster. It looked like 'Nessie'.

An ice bench - lots of kids were sitting on it getting their picture taken but I managed to get a shot when no one was on it.

This is the only saguaro I'm going to be seeing this winter!

I need to straighten out a couple of things from yesterday's post. First of all, my pension is not with Nortel. I took my money in a lump sum when I left so all I have with them is my health and dental benefits and no. the Canadian Government does not supply these benefits. These are extended health benefits over and above what the government pays for. The government does not provide dental or prescription coverage, vision care etc. Prescription coverage, however, does come under government care at age 65 but not all prescriptions are covered but that's a whole 'nother story.

Tuesday February 9, 2010-Town Hall Meeting

It was pretty cold again today when I went for my walk but my new mittens worked really well. My hands were sweating!

This afternoon I went to a Town Hall Meeting put on by the NRPC (Nortel Retirees Protection Canada). There were four speakers and it did get pretty heated at one point but I did find out that we will have health & dental benefits till the end of this year. That was what I wanted to know.

Those pensioners who collect a monthly pension from Nortel are guaranteed only $1000/month (top up only) from the Ontario Government but that will be quite a shortfall for most if there is no amendment to the Bankruptcy Insolvency Act (BIA). It's all too complicated for my little brain but it's something that no pensioner should have to face. The NRPC are lobbying all politicians to get these changes made.

While I was there Gordon went shooting photos. This mallard is one of the photos he took today.

Monday February 8, 2010-Trip to the RV

Well it was -19C (-2F) (wind chill) when I set out for my walk. It was cold and the wind was nasty but the only thing that was cold was my nose. I tried my best to only breathe through my nose so my glasses wouldn't fog up.

After breakfast I decided to make up the gluten free tea biscuits that I had purchased the other day. The mix comes in a box. They turned out really good - light and fluffy. Gordon is wondering what he did to warrant bread and tea biscuits in the last two days.

Randy asked the other day what books I've been reading. Here's a list of what I've read over the last couple of months:

Karen Robards-Beachcomber; Heartbreaker
Nora Roberts-Time Was; MacGregor Grooms
Dorothy Galock-Song of the Road
Philip Margolin-Ties That Bind (reading now)
Sandra Brown-Send No Flowers
V.C. Andrews-Heaven; Broken Flower; Darkest Hour; Pearl in the Mist
David Baldacci-Saving Faith (didn’t like it); Absolute Power
James Lee Burke-Elysian Fields
Harlen Coben-The Woods; Just One Look
Margaret Maron-Sand Sharks
Julie Garrand-Shadow Music
Mary Higgins Clark-Daddy’s Little Girl
Iris Johansen-No One to Trust
Faye Kellerman-The Burnt House
David Rosenfelt-Open & Shut
Anne Rivers Siddons-The House Next Door; Nora, Nora
Stuart Woods-Grass Roots

We had lunch and then took the long way out to the RV. I wanted to pick up a few things that we were running out of and I knew we had in the RV. We went through the countryside and took some photos along the way.

The Old Almonte Road

A couple of scenes along the way

A group of old log barns with a rail fence in the foreground


I got what I needed from the RV, then we stopped at the Superwalmart in Carleton Place since there isn't one in Ottawa and Gordon bought a pair of lined pants to wear outside on cold days and I got some extra warm mittens. They don't make them for ladies apparently so I got a pair of large in boy's size. I'll hopefully get to test them out tomorrow.

Now if I could just get a nose warmer.......

Sunday February 7, 2010-Meeting an Old Friend

No walk again this morning -23C (-9F) with wind chill was way too cold for me.

I had made arrangements with a friend that I haven't seen for about 18 years to meet up with her at the Carlingwood Mall this afternoon. I found her on Facebook a couple of months ago. It was so good to see her and she looks wonderful! We got caught up on each other's lives but all too soon I had to get on the road so I wouldn't have to drive home in the dark. Hopefully I'll see her again later this year when the weather is better.

Today was cold but bright and sunny again.

I had my camera hanging around my neck but completely forgot to take a photo! I've gotten out of the habit lately.

Saturday February 6, 2010-More Bread

Well, I bit the bullet and went for my walk this morning but it was cold, sunny but cold. This is the first morning that my glasses fogged up so much that I had to take them off till they cleared, then they fogged up again. If we have to stay up here again next winter at least I won't have that problem after my cataract operation.

I spent most of the day reading but I did make Gordon another loaf of bread so at least I did something worthwhile today.

Nancy went to visit a friend who lives in a small town about an hour south of here and is staying overnight. She took Max with her so we're by ourselves for the first time in a while. It feels odd!

Last night Gordon went to the opening night of Winterlude to take photos of the fire works. Winterlude is a yearly event up here.

I borrowed one of his fire works photos for my blog tonight. There hasn't been much worth taking photos of lately.

To read Gordon's latest update, click here.

Friday February 5, 2010-Another Ho Hum Day!

It was way too cold to walk this morning but it turned into a fairly nice day with lots of bright sunshine.

All I did today was go out and pick up some stuff we needed, then back home to prepare dinner and then an evening of TV.

Thursday February 4, 2010-Trip to Smiths Falls

It was -16C (3F) but bright and sunny when I went for my walk this morning. Thank goodness there was no wind chill but even without it, it was still pretty cold.

Late morning we started to get ready to go to the Dodge dealer in Smiths Falls about 45 minutes away. We were leaving early so we could have breakfast at our favourite restaurant there, The Roosterant. We arrived about 11:15 a.m. as they stop serving breakfast at 11:30 so we were able to get breakfast.

Lots of roosters at the Roosterant





I have been looking at some houses in this town as they are still fairly inexpensive and a reasonable drive to Carleton Place, Ottawa, Brockville and Kingston. Here is one of the houses we looked at.


These houses are mostly bungalow or 1 1/2 storey houses much like the ones built for the servicemen when they returned from WWII. This one was very cute from the outside however you don't have a street in front of the house. The street is more like an alley at the back of the house and that's where the garage is. The lots are very small. There is no real sidewalk at the front either but they had plowed a sidewalk like area. All the houses were well kept.

We're just looking at options in case this immigration problem doesn't turn out in our favour.

The truck went in for service (which was our main reason for going to Smiths Falls) and got the oil changed and a tail light changed and a few other minor things. We were home just in time for Max to go for his walk with Will, his walker.

It did warm up to -5C (23F) when we were on our way home.

Wednesday February 3, 2010-New Followers

It was snowing lightly when I left for my walk this morning but it was a beautiful morning for a walk. The sun was trying to shine and we eventually did get some sun later in the day. The snow also stopped and we didn't get any significant accumulation.

The housecleaner came this morning and I spent the day reading. I read almost a whole book today.

I see I have three new followers. Welcome, folks!

And that was it for my day!

Tuesday February 2, 2010-Webinar

It was cold this morning but I decided to go for my walk anyway. I dressed warmly and had no problem being out in the frigid temperatures.

After breakfast the first item on the agenda was to get some groceries. So four stops and several frustrations later, I was home with the groceries.

On to the next frustration. I retired from Nortel. My retirement provides me with health benefits but I took my pension in a lump sum (thankfully). Nortel filed bankruptcy proceedings last January and have sold off most of the companies within. This afternoon the Nortel Retirees Protection Canada was having a 'webinar' together with the lawyers representing the pensioners.

First I tried using Firefox on the PC part of my Mac. I could see the slides but no audio. I switched back to Mac and tried two browsers, still no luck so I put in a ticket to the IT people supporting the webinar. I was told I needed to use Internet Explorer. I hate Internet Explorer! So back to my PC side. I tried to open IE and kept getting an error so I downloaded the new IE. By this time over an hour of the conference had passed. When I downloaded the new IE, I got a window saying I was dangerously low on space on my hard drive. I ignored that and eventually got in to the conference. Now I remember what working was like! I did get some answers with respect to my health benefits and the news isn't good. It looks like we're covered till the end of March. We're not sure what happens after that. I have a Town Hall meeting to go to next week so maybe I'll find out more. This one is in person!

It's just been one of those days!

Monday February 1, 2010-Eye Surgeon

If my Dad was still alive he would have been 97 today. Unfortunately he passed away in 1988 of bladder cancer. I'm still thinking of you Dad!

It was too cold again this morning to walk. I really, really hate winter!

Today was the day I had my first appointment with the eye surgeon who is doing my cataract surgery. I really liked him. He said they suck the cataract off the eye (not his words) and replace the lens with a prescription lens that matches my prescription so I should have close to 20/20 vision for distance. He said he could do one eye for distance and one for reading but I said I didn't think I'd like that and I'm ok with using glasses for reading. He gives me a signed form to take to the license bureau to get my license reissued showing I don't have to wear glasses to drive anymore. Since I have such poor vision, he's going to do the eyes two weeks apart so the soonest they can be done is August 4th & 18th. I am on a cancellation list but the receptionist didn't think I could get an earlier appointment due to the two week time frame. Most people wait 4-6 weeks between appointments for cataract removal. Anyway, now that I have the appointment scheduled I'm ok with that even though it will probably interfere with our cottage weekend in Lindsay. I'll have to do a couple of follow ups with the eye surgeon after the cataracts are removed so I'll have to stay in Ottawa. I'll just be happy to have it done!

On our way home we stopped and picked up another gluten free bread mix. Gordon has really enjoyed his bread so we're taking advantage of the breadmaker while we have it!