Recalls, Apples, Chickens & Lighthouses ????

I was on another date with that Mr. Insomnia guy with him putting me through the wringer again.  Wow when will I ever learn to lock "ALL" the doors and windows before I retire for the evening?  Note to one's self again .... now only to  figure out how I am going to be able close off the woodstove pipe and have a fire at the same time?    Let me tell you, he can be quite the persistent type !

Now I have almost a whole cup of Java into me, maybe I can try to carry on here with my yesterday ...... I am soooooo tired, I will really have to "think" harder then I usually do !

We had to take our van into Owen Sound as Ford had a recall on the frame to be reinforced, so that was a definite to "get done", so off we went at 7:45 a.m. to make it there for our 8:30 a.m. appointment.

"Here we were heading down the North hill into Wiarton as we make our way towards Owen Sound."

Since it was to be a 3 hour "fix", the week before I had made sure they were going to give us a loaner.  We dropped our van off in good time, picked up the loaner and made our way to the other end of Owen Sound to do a bit of shopping at Walmart.

"Before we got into the loaner, I noticed we had a hitchhiker that apparently was going to go along for the ride."

After we did a bit of shopping at Walmart carried on to the Restore, to Deals, First Choice Haircutters......

".... where my "Crabby Cabbie" got a little spiffed up."

..... and for lunch at  Subway, then on to Giant Tiger, the Dollarama, and Staples when it was finally the noon hour.  The whole time were were in and out of stores it poured rain !  Nothing like adding insult to the injury of trying to put in time.

I called the Ford Dealership to ensure our van was ready to go, only to be told "no" as there had been another recall on the back frame to be reinforced and it would be another 2 hours !  We were NOT impressed, as if we had known, we would have went back home to spend 5 hours there doing something more constructive instead of trying to "kill time" and "spending money" shopping in and around Owen Sound !  *Sigh*, after finding that out we got ourselves a coffee and went over to the TSC store to "kill" some more time by picking up the Chicken Scratch we needed.

Finally at 2:00 p.m. we picked up the van to make our way back home to "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard", but not before we made a stop in Hepworth to get some apples for Rob's lunches at Barbetta Orchard's Apple stand in the parking lot of the old Duffy's Tavern.

"The variety of apples at Barbetta's stand is absolutely "wonderful" along with there being pumpkins, squash and gourds."

"If anyone has never tasted a Honey Crisp apple, it is a definite "must try" !  These apples are so good they even have their own website at http://honeycrisp.org/ ...... lol. "

"There is Barbetta's very own onsite salesman, Mark, looking on to ensure his customers are enjoying their sample of apple he had so graciously provided them with.  I can almost bet it is a Honey Crisp Apple !"

"I was never going to remember the hours of the Apple Stand, so I  just took a picture to make my life much easier and cause my memory less burden then it already has."

I can't help but notice how these hours have been made to be a convenience to the working family by the stand staying open until 6:30 or 7:00 all but Monday.

We finally made it back to our home where  I first attended to Bandit & Lexus' needs, and Rob looked after the chicken population.

"Here they all are making a "mad dash" into where Rob is pouring the scratch into their feeders."

"Only to be shooed away so he could get it done ..... "

" .... with them right back in, in a matter of seconds, like a bunch of dirty shirts ..... lol."

We finally unloaded our purchases, making our way to our Lazy Boy chairs for a bit of a rest after our food perishables were safely put away.  After I made our bed and returned a couple of phone calls, we made our way back out the door, only to head off to Southampton to attend to a couple of things needing attending to .... but not without enjoying a couple of sights while we were there ....

"This picture was taken at the mouth of the Saugeen River looking across Lake Huron towards Chantry Island just before dusk, where you can quite easily pick out the Island's Lighthouse."

"Here is one of Southampton's Lighthouses which is located at the end of the dock, again at the mouth of the Saugeen River.  What a calming effect on one's self while looking out beyond the Lighthouse toward the water and the sky."

"This Lighthouse is located at the entrance of the bridge that goes across the Saugeen River, if  one was to be heading into Southampton along Hwy 21 from Owen Sound."

Hopefully sometime next year, Rob and I will be able take a day and go for a tour on our Motorcycle and have ourselves a Bruce County Lighthouse Adventure .

The grand finale to our day was once again to return back to our home by 8:00 p.m. where I had received an email from We Are Pet Nation, with a video attached of September 2011's Pets of the Month, with our very own "Checkerboard Aussies", Bandit and Lexus in this very same video.

Many thanks to We Are Pet Nation for all the sharing and caring they have towards all the love we have for our pets.  I am sure it is near impossible to imagine how many hours WAPN put in going through people's emails they have received with pictures, descriptions and stories about these same people's pets !  Once again, thank you WAPN for sharing and caring the way you do.

http://www.youtube.com/wearepetnation

Thanks again, WAPN, for included Bandit & Lexus in your Pet of the Month video, as it is a wonderful honor for all of us .... woof woof !

If anyone is on Facebook, it is very easy to find We Are Pet Nation, by just typing it in on the top search box of your Facebook page.  They can also be followed on Twitter by searching them @WeArePetNation, where they could use some more support to build their Twitter account.  Do not ask me what this means as I am not really sure too much about Twitter other then I have set up an Twitter account under Cindy@justnorthofwiarton where I can be followed at, but to know how it all works at the moment ..... nope.

I am not the one to be asking about such matters, however would love to have someone explain it all to me anytime!!!  I can be contacted, obviously on Twitter or by email at justnorthofwiarton@live.ca , if anyone would be brave enough to offer an explanation in "layman's terms" .... lol.

Onto what the Wiarton Airport weatherman guy has to say for the up and coming day ahead ....

.... I am already liking the part about "clearing this morning" .

I am so tired, I can't believe I got that all out !  Enough is enough, and I still have a whole day ahead of myself, right after I have that 2nd cup of Java first, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Thinking I Am Still Completely Crazy & Then Some !

The sun was shining with the wind toned down very much from what it had been on Saturday, as we geared up for our Motorcycle to take off to Port Elgin's 25th Pumpkinfest Anniversary yesterday.  I have now came to the conclusion Rob and I are still of completely crazy minds, or at least Rob is for letting me convince him to take our Motorcycle as we both froze our "arses" off, as well as some other parts I am sure !!!

Since the "Crabby Cabbie" did not get home until the "wee" hours of the morning and he needed his "get un-crabby" beauty sleep, we didn't leave the house until 1:00 p.m..  It is about a 40 minute drive to Port Elgin, however we first had to stop at the Tim Horton's in Southampton on the way, as we needed a "hot" coffee to warm us .... lol.

"We eventually made it to the designated parking area for the Motorcycles beside the Port Elgin Legion Branch #340, which by the way is the branch my very own Uncle Basil belongs to (click on the link for the Legion, Auntie, and the Uncle can read all about his Legion, lol)."

"We of course "hooked" up with some of the guys .... all who bought a ticket on this baby I might add.  There is my Rob, along with Ralphy, Hermy and there is Harold in the backdrop !"

Oh man oh man, would my Rob ever love to win this spanking new Harley Davidson and retire our 1994 Honda Goldwing Interstate.  *Sigh* maybe in a another "lifetime"?

"I was quite thrilled to see there were some bikes there in the "Pumpkinfest" spirit."

"Now check this "baby" out, isn't it something????  This baby has a 350 car motor chopped into a Harley Davidson frame (hey guys, I sure hope I got that description right?) !"

"This beauty sure was something to be "looked" at, and "check out" the rad in it !"

"Here everyone is waiting for it's owner to "let it go"; I think he was very tempted to do so if there hadn't been such a crowd of people around."

"Our very own "Explore the Bruce" crew was there representing the whole of Bruce County !  I am assuming they were there, as someone had to drive the "truck" to this location .... lol."

"How could I NOT take a picture of this sweetheart of an "Aussie" girl when I came across her?  This little girl travelled to the Pumpkinfest all the way from West Montrose, just outside of Kitchener."

"Lucan has an annual draw for a "Classic" car, and how appropriate the car tickets are being sold on is orange this year in lieu of it being the Pumpkinfest's 25th Anniversary and all !  Lucan is still well known for it's history of the "Black Donnellys", as well as it's Annual Car Draw."

" .... and yet "another" Pumpkinfest colour coordinated vehicle which I think would be a great ride around town on Halloween as well ?"

"Here is a real oldie, a 1923 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost model.  This was NOT built from a vehicle kit, and was the "real deal" !"

"I can't go anywhere in and around Bruce County without seeing someone I know .... is that Brenda Sparks having herself a "little" rest way over there on that bench?  I believe it is.  LOL."

"This is a vehicle I was interested in the most .... a 1966 Ford T-Bird.  Not only a "beauty" but very "unique" as well."

"Clearance please !!!  Roof coming up ..... "

" ...... trunk going down !"

It is one pretty cool car, in my eyes .....

"Onto a couple of "action" vehicles, with their "Hydraulics" showing them off quite nicely."

"Oh man, if our grandsons had been there, they would have went wild over this vehicle.  Is that a "monster" of a truck, or what ????"

"Since raindrops had started making an appearance, we had to "high tail" it back to our bike.  Oh man, what a "bad" hair day was I having .... lol.  Thanks for taking the picture for me, Ralphy."

"We didn't even make it to the outskirts of town when it started pouring down."

"We were able to take cover in a Car Wash bay, where Rob got suited up in his "Big Bird" attire.  Since I had my oil slicker coat on, I was already good to go."

Go figure, once we left Port Elgin, and were coming into my Hometown of Southampton, on the right side of those rail road tracks, of course the rain then stopped.  Just further confirmation on how much I love Southampton, then ".............." .  LOL, I didn't say that out loud, did I ????

We made it back home around 4:00 p.m., where I was quick to get the Motorcycle gear off, head out to the wood shed for some kindling and got our woodstove fired up, as I was totally "chilled" to the bone. Crazy you say?  Crazier, I say !!!  LOL  We only live once, and I, for one, no matter how much I suffer at times, DO NOT want to give up living the life I have been blessed with and trying to enjoy every second of it if I am able to .....

I was totally thrilled that Rob made us Fish & Chips for supper, with me only having to help clear the table after we were finished supper.  Thanks Robbie Dobbie !!!

That certainly was some cold and blustery day yesterday, so I think I will be going on to check out what that Wiarton Airport Weather guy has to say about today ....

Knowing how the weather guy operates and noting this forecast was predicted a hour after I got up, I am sure it is subject to change as the day progresses.  I will be keeping my fingers crossed that there "might" be a little sunshine break in the upcoming day somewhere????

Here it is 6:15 a.m. with all very quiet, not even a snore from the next room or a peep from downstairs, so I think I will tip toe myself back into the kitchen for that second cup of Java, before I am off and running, once again, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Hello October 2011, I Hope You Will Be Kind To Us ?

I made it through the 1st day of October without a hitch or a rain drop I might add.  It was windy, cold and sunny, but the sunshine made the day so there were no complaints from me.  However since the woodstove had gone out throughout the night I did have to muster up a fire in the woodstove to get the chill out of the house first thing.

Before I go further on into my "yesterday" I would like to recognize the fact that October is "National Breast Awareness" month.  Since my own family has known the effect of this disease on a personal level, with my Mother being a Breast Cancer Survivor 4 years ago this November, I would like to support the awareness of this cause.  Anything we could possibly need to be aware of in this respect, can be found on the National Breast Cancer Awareness website:  http://nbcam.org/

Also from my own family's personal experiences, I have learned "YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD FOR A MAMMOGRAM", if you do not go for a regular mammogram, please make that appointment today as they do and have saved lives !!!

Since I just had a gentle healthy reminder this past week about drinking "Green Tea" from AnnaMarie's Steeped Tea, whose group I am a member of on Facebook, I dug out my box of Green Tea from the bowels of my cupboards and reintroduced myself to drinking Green Tea on, hopefully, a daily basis again.

"I am looking forward to finishing off this PC Brand, then checking out a couple of AnnaMarie's flavored Green Teas.  Apparently there is an "Egg Nog" flavor that has just came out that sounds pretty yummy."

Thanks AnnaMarie for that "gentle" reminder, and hopefully I now stick to it.

Rob went downtown to the Huron Bay Co-op store to pickup some chicken scratch in the morning, as he had fed the last just the day before he had left for work in the afternoon, to find they were closed down for inventory.  I called them to see if they could put a couple bags out back for us and we would go in to pay them on Monday, only to be told that would not be possible.  I had told them that would be no problem then, as I would drive over to Owen Sound to get some, but was then told all the Co-op stores were closed for inventory.  Now with the majority of people working throughout the week, that come into town on a Saturday for supplies, wouldn't one think they should maybe reconsider the fact their inventory should be later in the day, with the store at least being open until the noon hour?  Just a thought and only my opinion.

We needed to come up with an alternative, since we need to go into Owen Sound on Monday for something else anyway we didn't want to make a special trip yesterday after all.

"Here is Rob out in our front yard gathering the "alternative", along with Bandit being "picture perfect" once again ....."

" .... and the chickens just loving the "alternative" as usual."

My sister, Donna, could not believe that chickens loved apples when I had told her we had not only been feeding apples to our chickens, but grass, lettuce, beet greens, banana peels, whatever fruits and veggies we had available for them at the time.  Um mm, those birds are going to be some "healthy" birds by the time they are made ready for the pot .... lol.  Our "birds" will not be going without food until the Co-op re-opens on Monday morning .... not forgetting that with all the "bug" population out there, they have also been getting their "protein".

Since I realized I was out of both homemade Chili and Spaghetti Sauce, I whipped up a double batch of Spaghetti Sauce in the morning, ending up with four two pound containers and one partial container for the freezer.

"I actually kept the partial container back thinking that might be a good Sunday dinner for Rob and I, along with a Cheese Bread I am dying to try out."

Quick Bread Recipe ~ Submitted by Tammy Brough-Middleton to "Cindy's Recipe Exchange"

Quick Cheddar Beer Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Flour
1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
12 oz (1 bottle or can) of dark beer (Rickards Dark or Guinness are good!)

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together
Add cheddar cheese.
Add Bottle of beer and stir in (not too much)
Transfer ingredients into a 5 by 9 pan (spray first)
Drizzle 2-4 Tbsp of butter over the top. Put in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes

*NOTE: Tammy states it is amazing toasted

 Not only sounding good, but easy to make as well, and I absolutely love "Quick, Easy & Good".

Let's see now .... the kitchen I had so sparkling clean on Friday, didn't stay that way too long yesterday after I was done with it .....

"Those Zucchini that had been on my kitchen counter made up two nice 4 cup freezer bags full, as well as a "mess" .... not only the counter had to be cleaned up, I also had to do some kitchen floor wiping up too!"

It will all be worth it this upcoming Winter when I am wanting to make some muffins or a Blueberry Zucchini Loaf.

Rob had been mentioning to me that he had been picking up toys off the downstairs floor the past couple of weeks, and did I know how they had gotten there.  Well I did not, as our Bandit is such a good boy, he would never leave such a mess, and Lexus is never out without me being there.  Not giving it anymore thought, I walked downstairs with Rob as he was leaving for work, only to find ......

" ..... who other then yours truly, "BUSTED" !!!  Our perfect boy in trouble???  I could not believe my eyes but as you can see the camera never lies !!! "

"After literally "shaking in his Paws", and not really getting into any trouble at all, here he is smiling and I am sure also thinking, "Boy, oh boy, did they ever let me off the hook".  LOL."

The funny part about it all is, it was the "new" toys he was going for, and it just happened that the box of treats probably only fell down when he was in the process of getting at those toys !!!

I never did get my bathroom or spare bedroom cleaned yesterday, but I did get two loads of laundry washed and hung out to "wind" dry on the very windy day it was.  That was enough to get done all in a days work.

I did have to go downtown at one point yesterday to pickup a couple of cards, however I couldn't resist dropping into the Salvation Army store, not without making a purchase of ....

" ...... just what I absolutely needed "another" recipe book, of course !"

After browsing through it last night, I did come across a couple of really really good recipes I will want to try out, but those will keep for another day ....

Brrr, it is a might chilly in here this morning if I do say so myself, so I will see what is going to be happening for the rest of my day, weatherwise at least anyway.

I know the picture forecast is nice, however I really have been missing the forecast read from my most favorite Wiarton Airport guy, so there that is here too, not that I am liking him any better with his "chance of showers" prediction this afternoon, as he is messing with my plans once again.

In celebration of Port Elgin's last day of their 25th Anniverary of Pumpkinfest, I enjoyed doing the "Pumpkin Jigsaw Puzzle" put out by our very own "Explore the Bruce" team. 

http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2e096be1a077

I also just read that yesterday a Joel Jarvis of St. Thomas, Ontario came away with the title of World Record for the largest squash weighing a "whopping" 1,486.60 pounds !  Can you imagine????

Man oh man that is a lot of pumpkin pie !!!  Congratulations, Joel, what a feat it must of been growing something of that size, I could not imagine, "wowsers" !!!

As I am sitting here listening to the rhythm, if I can call it that, of my "Crabby Cabbie's" snoring, I think I will take myself into the kitchen to get a definitely needed second cup of coffee before I go any further into my day ahead, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".

Goodbye September See You Back In 2012 !

I find myself exclaiming quite frequently, "where did that day go, that week go, that month go?", however as the years have gone by, I find myself more frequently exclaiming, "where did that year go?".

Could somebody now please tell me where they have gone ...... lol !!!

I suppose this is why as I age life has become so much more precious to me and I with it.  Things or feelings I used to carelessly throw into the wind at one time, I now embrace and hold onto as long as I can, or more readily keep them with me as a learned lesson for another day .....

Here I go being all melancholy again, I wonder if there is a pattern being set here somehow?  I will have to read back in "blog" days gone by to see if there is some kind of pattern being formed .... lol.

Actually just the other day I was doing some investigating in how I could print my "blog", finding out I can have not only have it saved to my computer, but also have it made into a "printable" version.  Now I just have to figure out how to do all of this .... I will just have to set some time aside and do it, is all !  Going back to being a little sentimental and melancholy, I think my daily reflections, thoughts and opinions in print would be something my son, Paul,  and/or my grandchildren might enjoy sometime down the road .....

Okay now on with my "yesterday", and it really wasn't too much of an anything at all, as I really really had to start tackling some of those humdrum weekly chores we call "housework".  I did persevere and managed to not only get the kitchen floor clean and non-sticky once again, I even got our livingroom all dusted and vacuumed, and our bedroom too !  Hooray for me !

"All shiny and clean for another couple days, or until I start slopping things while I am making a pot of homemade Spaghetti Sauce today?"

"Look at this nice "dust bunny" free livingroom.  Oops obviously not clutter free, as there I see my laptop sitting on the floor and a corner of my purse from where it sits on my Lazy Boy chair.  Perfect I am not .... lol."

Now do you think I will have any company this weekend drop by?  Absolutely NOT !!!  They will wait for a "stick to the kitchen floor" and "be attacked by dust bunnies" kind of day !  LOL, oh well this is the way my life goes ...... and I am sure this is the way it happens for many others as well.

As I say, "perfect" I am not, and "perfect" I do not want to be, as life is for "living" and "living" we must be.  Hey that was pretty good, I do surprise myself some days ....

All that is left is the upstairs bathroom, hallway and spare bedroom.  *Sigh* there are also all those scary places in our home that need cleaning which I don't care to venture into, like Rob's bathroom downstairs, the rest of our basement where there are Spiders living in great numbers ....  maybe those places could keep for another day, one more month, a year maybe, or years ..... hopefully just keep.  I am sure they will keep for one of my "some days", lol.

Even though weekly chores and all the inbetween breaks took up most of my day, I still managed to take Bandit and Lexus outside in intervals throughout the day.  These times spent with them were certainly not pleasant weatherwise that is forsure, as there had been a very brisk cold North wind with lots and lots of rain all day long.  Bandit and Lexus didn't seem to mind one iota, however I have quite a different story from what theirs would be.

Since I thought I would still have way more Zucchini before a heavy frost, I gave most of ours away and had not froze any for my own future use, so being told the temperatures were going to be dropping into the minuses last night, I did my best to pick a few yesterday afternoon.

 "Pick a few I did, and freeze my hands off while doing it, I did.....but Zucchini in the freezer there will be, along with a few more tomatoes to ripen on our kitchen counter."

 Now I think of it, it being as cold as it was out last night, if I would had left them out in the garden I am sure they would have been all froze for me anyhow .... um, however the grating and bagging parts would have been skipped.  Not such a good idea after all .... lol.

 Now that Rob is the Southampton Taxis' official evening Crabby Cabbie in Saugeen Shores, and unable to come home in between calls, he has taken up reading again, much to my delight.  A book Rob just recently read, which I have had for many years never parting with and lending out many times over the years  to be always returned (I thought it once was not to be returned for quite of few years, but it eventually did find its way back to me) was The Last Canadian by William C. Heine.

"A Science Fiction novel published by the author in 1974 with a purchase price of $1.50.  A great read then, and still today."

 I was curious if this novel was still in circulation, so I "googled" it, only to be surprised that it can be purchased from Amazon in a good used condition for $70.00, and a used very good condition for $155.00.  Wow, I was very surprised at this.  Obviously it has been enjoyed over the years by a lot more people then just myself, and is still being enjoyed.  Nice to know.

Just before I had Bandit and Lexus out for their last romp of the night, I had to break down and fire up the woodstove, as between the high winds, rain and damp it was getting rather chilly in the house.

"There is nothing quite like the heat of a woodstove to take the chill from one's bones."

Since the Weatherman was pretty "bang on" with his forecast yesterday, I am wondering what the day ahead will be bringing, as by the sound of that wind outside our windows, it is not sounding too promising at the moment.

Not looking to promising for the rest of the day either.

Apparently, or so I have been told, this is typical "Pumpkinfest" weather which begins today and runs for two days in Bruce County's very own Port Elgin.  Not too nice for their 25th Anniversary though.  Their schedule of events for the next two days can be checked out at the following link:

http://www.explorethebruce.com/pumpkinfest_port_elgin.php

There most certainly is lots of fun events scheduled, however I will be dressing really warm when I decide when I will be attending sometime this weekend.  In the meantime, the following video link will give you a fantastic idea of what you will be missing if you don't attend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5CdCFjJlu4

I am now sitting here thinking I not only need that second cup of Java, that I am also freezing and need to get that woodstove stoked up again, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".