My Boys & Wiarton Willie Festival 2013

Last night my boys arrived !!!  All three of them from almost 30, 8 and 5 years old.  Once again, or shall I say, as most usual, I am outnumbered again.  Really though I LOVE they are here with me.

"After arriving "safe & sound" last night amist snow squalls and slippery roads, we awoke to over a foot of snow in our drive way.  Regardless of the snow, we headed out early to the Wiarton Willie Festivities."

"All four of us were revved up for some Pancakes in the Big Tent.  Ha ! now that is one way to mix lots of pancake batter is it not? in a 5 gallon pail.  By the time we made it around the line-up to the service tables a fresh batch had just been cooked up to be served."

"We enjoyed some Wiarton Willie time, as well as some really good pancakes."

"There is our neighbours, Verna & Ed Elliot of Elliot's Garden Centre being interviewed by a reporter..  Check out the TD's Ice Scupture ... pretty cool replica of Wiarton Willie.  The predication, should you not have heard? Spring is coming early as Willie never seen his shadow."

"Back home there was some Wee Willie snuggling time going on, as well as "stop with the camera, Mom" !!! "

Once Papa "Crabby Cabbie" got up after a much needed sleep since he had not arrived home until 3:30 am, we had a bit of family time together before he was called out.  Later on though while the boys were watching movies, Rob and I snuck out for a bit of time to ourselves.

I was going to go to the Wiarton Willie Tea, however the weather had been too bad down Saugeen Shores way for my Auntie, Cousins and friend to come up this way today.

"Rob and I did a bit of touring around town to end up at the School where a Craft Show was going on."

"I was so happy to walk in to see Cathy of Cathy's Confections & Clare, her Crockinut !  Check out all the goodies ... and yes they are all really beyond "good" !"

"Remember those Blueberry & Cherry Cheesecake Tarts ... guess what I got from Cathy?  Yes and I enjoyed every morsel of the "one" I got to try.... as I had made the mistake of leaving the other two in the "Crabby Cabbie" vehicle thinking they are long gone now.   Thanks Cathy I really LOVED the one I did get, and would have enjoyed all three had I been given the chance to."

Valentines Day is just around the corner now, make sure you give Cathy a call to get your order placed at 519-934-1351.

"There is my Rob trying to flatter my young friend, Wanda.  Wanda is a lady you might want to get in contact with should you need to get yourself on a healthy intake of nutrition?  Then please give Wanda a call to find out about the Vi-Shape Nutritional Meal Replacement Shake Mix at 519-422-1515.  Wanda is walking talking proof that Visalus Sciences does have products that are working.  Another interesting item we had came across was a local lady selling Balance Bands ... the sign "Live Pain Free" tells it all, based on these bands.  Interested in knowing more? please contact Linda Bridge at 519-534-5710.  And Margie Doman was also there with Heaven Scent Natural Products, she may be contacted at 519-376-5685 ... some very nice products.

We "hooked up" with Paul and the boys at Tim Hortons for a coffee, then head back home as Aiden was itching to get out to enjoy some snow fun with his buddy.

"Fun is exactly what Aiden and Bandit had themselves."

 

"These were the best photos I had taken all day.  I still can't not look at it without chuckling.  Here is my Aiden and Connor."

It had been a long day but I still manged to whip up ....

" .... a Lasagna from scratch to serve it up to my boys.  All four of them."

This is is all she wrote this day, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

February 1 ST GIVE AWAY

My day started again at 3:00 am.  This is three days in a row, no wonder I feel so tired and my eyes are blurry.  Once I had a coffee part way into me, I had to do up a "Crabby Cabbie" invoice so Rob could be out the door before 6:30 am.  He was out the door with me following shortly after with giving each of the "Checkerboard Aussies" their first out and about to start the day.

The remainder of my morning was spend getting a few things prepped and ready for ..... The "Crabby Cabbie" Facebook page, as well as a couple other Facebook media resources.

"The "Crabby Cabbie" Taxi will be servicing Wiarton & Area for the Wiarton Willie Festival from 6 pm Friday Feb 1 until Sunday Feb 3 at 6 pm. Business Number to call for South Bruce Peninsula is 519-477-5950. See you out there in Willie Country!"

Many thanks to Karen Lancaster of Karen's Creations & Scrapbooking for setting up a template for The "Crabby Cabbie" Wiarton Business Cards.  A huge thank you to Holly Morrow of The "Cluttered Cupboard" for making us up a QR Code, linking it it to  The "Crabby Cabbie" Facebook page.  Another big thank you to Koreen Ryan of RAM Trophies and Sportswear for issuing Rob's "Crabby Cabby" logo on his shirts, hats and jacket.  I can't say enough how much I admire the talent these three wonderful ladies possess.

Pssst .... got a minute?  *Click* on the above business names and give them a BIG old "LIKE" on their Facebook Page, and tell them I sent you around (this will be a surprise to them, believe you, me ... *smile*).

Another huge thank you goes out to the Explore the Bruce Team for posting the above SHOUT OUT on their Facebook page, as that was a big help to get the word out at the last minute for us.

Nice to know there is such "awesome" teamwork and support within our Community.

Actions like these are why I LOVE supporting the Communities and the Small Businesses who Support them and Each Other !  HOORAY !!!!

Speaking of talent, some of you will remember not too long ago I won an original drawing from local Bruce Peninsula Artist, Michelle Hogan Equine & Fine Art.

"This is the drawing, "Carefree".  Read all about it over HERE."

When Michelle had been down my way to drop off my "Carefree" to me, she had also dropped around a beautiful package of her Gift Cards, you can read more about that HERE.

"Today is the day I am offering theses same Michelle Hogan Equine & Fine Art Gift Cards in a Give Away."

Rules to Qualify for this February 1st, Give Away:

1)  You must be a FOLLOWER of my Blog, by a) Joining As a Follower, b) Through Subscribing Via Email   Both these options are available at the sidebar of my blog;

2)  You must leave me a comment that you do follow my Blog and how you follow it, either in the Comment section below, or via Email at justnorthofwiarton@live.ca

3)  Go to Michelle Hogan's Facebook Page HERE,  to "LIKE" it, leaving me a comment you have done so.  Should you not have a Facebook Account, go to her website HERE and leave a comment for me here, or via email on which one of the three photos on Michelle's Contact page you liked the most.  (I expect full honesty on the Facebook Acct, please).

A winner will randomly be drawn one week from now on the 8th of February, 2013.

Please note I do not receive any remuneration from any of these businesses I have mentioned in my post.  I believe we support each other, as I LOVE doing so,wishing many more would think this way. or as people in general should as well.

Okay now for the January No/Low Spend and Declutter Challenge update I had entered in over at the lovely Carla's at My 1/2 Dozen Daily.

The following is what I am going to try and attempt to do, when and if I am able:

Declutter Challenge:

1)  Declutter and clean the whole portion of the basement where the dogs reside; DONE

2)  Declutter and clean the downstairs bathroom;

3)  Declutter and clean the bottom stair area; DONE

4)  Declutter and clean the kitchen cupboards.

Trust me there is more to do, but I have to begin somewhere, and this is enough at the moment.

The Declutter Challenge I think I did amazingly well considering I had a lot of other personal things going on in the Month of January.  I had also decluttered the Bathroom Linen Closet, cleaned the Fridge from top to bottom, and decluttered some more from our Bedroom Closet.  

Low/No Spend Challenge:

1)  Spend absolutely no money at the grocery store, making an exception for milk and bread;

2)  Having 6 out of 7 "no spend" days per week; 

3)  No eating out for the month, with the one exception outlined below (good thing we had King's Buffet today, is it not?);  DONE

JANUARY SPENDING:  

Groceries:     $  104..56  (went beyond the milk & bread);

Misc:               $    63.50  

Canada Post:  $   16.78  (this was part of the "giving" to someone else, making me happy too)

Even with the pre-planned trip to Costco, my total spending this month was only $378.16.  

Not sure about what Carla will think, but I am thinking I might not get an A+ this Challenge, but I most certainly should get a big E+ for the Effort !

Now for the 5 week "Check In" on the 52 Week Money Challenge, Toni, Judy, Stacey, Michelle, Diane, Ellen, Debby, Cathy, Jean, Karen, Elsie, Gill, Darlene, Vicki, Abby, Marg, Janet, Farmgirl Files, Christy, Alice, Monica & Kathy.  

Hoping everyone is still "on board"?  realizing, of course, everyone is doing the Challenge what their own budget allows with the end result being the same.   I will do another update with this Challenge in another month's time.

My Rob would LOVE to extend a really big Thank You for all the Birthday Wishes you all sent his way.  It sure put another *smile* on his face, other then the one when he was going to dig into his piece of Carrot Cake of course.

Psst ... check out the amazing recommendation my "Checkerboard Aussies" got yesterday by *clicking* HERE.  I am so proud !!!

That was a really big day !  Would you believe me if I told you I was tired? of course you would, friends always believe each other.  I am signing off and heading into my evening here, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".