Thank Goodness

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Remembrance Day today. My family was lucky. My Grandpa fought in the first world war, and came home safe and sound, and so I am here with my fingers moving across the keyboard, due to sheer good luck. It is a day to remember those who did not come back, and their descendants that did not come to exist. A typical weekend here, and thank goodness there is a typical weekend! Yesterday the second bag of beef bones dragged up from the bottom of the old chest freezer. It was from the organic, grass-fed, half quarter of beef that we purchased from Terra’s neighbour, back in October of 2013. Yikes, that is five years ago! The day was cold and windy, so the Nesco portable oven was placed indoors, in the kitchen, to do its magic with the bones. The heat from the Nesco helped to heat the house, instead of the freezing winds on the porch. This is quite the opposite of summer us of the Nesco, when it is used on the back porch, to avoid heating up the house. The biggest disadvantage to having waited until the weather turned cold to make bone broth, is that it … Continue reading →

Furnace Fixed!

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The oil furnace is the auxiliary heat at Mist Cottage, and it wasn’t kicking in when it needed to. The first thing we thought of was the thermostat, but it seemed to be working as expected. When the temperature drops 2C below the target temperature, the oil furnace is supposed to come on to bring the interior temperature up to the target. This doesn’t happen very often when the heat pump is heating the house, as it kicks in if the temperature falls by 1C. It is only when the weather throws a quick and extreme temperature drop at us that this whole sequence comes into play. Attila had some ideas, and started with the simplest, checking all the wiring that was visible. Sure enough, one of the connectors was dislodged! He secured the connector, turned the heat up to 27C (from 21.5C) and bingo, the furnace instantly began to do what it is supposed to do! I turned the thermostat back down as soon as it was a sure thing that everything was working as it should. Relief!! This morning Attila looked very stern minutes after he got out of bed. He was pondering and worrying over the furnace … Continue reading →

Tank is Home

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Tank arrived with November! Yesterday evening, just as we were finishing our dinner, the telephone rang. It was the garage, the call display let me know before I picked up the receiver, and I was prepared for bad news. But it wasn’t bad news, it was great news. Tank was ready to come home! Even though it was after hours, they had called us and were willing to wait until we could get over there to pick her up… and pay the bill of course. The bill was what kept my anxiety high, and Attila’s too. Tank had been at the garage for two weeks, with repeated calls regarding additional parts needed. I was afraid the bill would be so high that we would have to decline paying it, and walk away from Tank. This happened to me once before, as I’ve mentioned, and it was disastrous, there was no safety net, the children and I fell. So the drive over the garage was one of great trepidation. Sometimes the universe directs you to what you need, and in this case that is what has happened. The garage had repeatedly told us they wanted to get it right, and get … Continue reading →

Bwa ha ha ha

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Happy Hallowe’en! My All Souls list includes my Granny and Grandpa, my former partner Pat Logier, friends Norm Hacking, Derek Currie, Sam Larkin, Irene Bean, Sarah (Rhubarb), Alison Simms, Paul Simpson-Housely, my brother Carl, my Aunts Marie and Anna, my second baby born too soon and who I never saw, Blackie the Dog, Bim the Dog, Mist the Kitty, and many more. Now they travel other shores. The world was a better place for their lives lived, my world was a better place. How lucky I have been. What a dismal day! It rained off and on all day, and it was cold. It looks like the little Trick or Treaters are going to have a cold, wet walk-around this evening. Last year no one came to our door, and we ended up eating all the candy we bought for those phantom children. So this year the exterior lights are off, the curtains drawn, and we have no candy, or anything else, to distribute. I always enjoyed handing out candy to the costumed hopefuls who came to the door, so I feel a little let down, but not a lot. And so October comes to a close. What a month! … Continue reading →