This morning it snowed, and now the temperature is 1C and it is melting off the roads. This will make walking easier in the days to come. The temperature is supposed to drop like a stone tonight, a low of -9, and not rise above freezing again for the foreseeable future. It is great that there is nothing to freeze into ice on the roads. The sidewalks however will be a real mess, and we may have to avoid them on our walks, reroute.
Attila and I were shopping at Giant Tiger, he wanted long underwear and they have some that is reasonably priced, and just as good quality as the more expensive offerings in town. While there I did some impulse buying, with mixed results. I bought a pair of long underwear, and the fit is just not right, it chafes, and would make walking long distances uncomfortable. Also purchased were a bundle of warm socks, they fit well, and feel comfortable.
The big expense was two pairs of pyjamas. I call them “pop bottle” pyjamas because they are made from plastic fabrics. They are warm. The colours are pleasant enough. The challenge with women’s clothing is the fit. My size ranges from Medium to 2X Extra Large, quite a range for one unchanging body. So I bought one large pair, and one 1x Extra Large pair. Wow, the extra large pair are like wearing a billowing parachute around my body, a huge amount of flapping fabric, in a high wind I might fly. The large pair was a bit smaller, but still a large volume of fabric. Both pairs are ridiculously large for me. But here is the thing, they are comfortable, even though they look totally ridiculous, hanging in billowing waves around me. And they are warm. And the price was right. So I am keeping both pairs to wear this winter. As Attila says, who cares what they look like if they do the job.
Recently I tried to book accommodation for us to attend a wedding next summer. I found an airbnb offering, then tried to create an account as demanded. What a nightmare. After jumping through all of their hoops with a credit card and photos of myself and ID, the final verification could not be completed. Our old cell phone is not up to date enough to use their verification technology, there are no other alternatives, and there is no customer service that I could locate. They refused to deactivate the account after this failure, and are now sending me cheery email messages to encourage purchases. I hate them. I am still trying to deactivate the account, they are not allowing me to login to request deactivation. I feel I’ve been had. Wish me luck on this project.
I did find accommodation that is slightly more expensive, and a whole lot easier to book. It took five minutes to make the booking.
Attila made dinner tonight. Years ago he created a casserole recipe with cauliflower, rutabaga, and a small amount of ground beef. It is delicious. However, these days the price of cauliflower is out of reach for the most part, so he has been substituting with a lesser amount of diced carrots. Much more economical for us, and it tastes just as good, though slightly different. We eat it with a little bit of our home canned Chili Sauce on the side.
This past week we were able to visit my sister and her husband. The visit was carefully planned around the weather report and the possible road conditions and visibility. Our journey there was an easy drive.
My sister had rescued my Granny’s dining table before my grandparent’s house sold. My brother-in-law removed the damaged finish on the table, and it was offered to us. We had our doubts about being able to transport it in our relatively small vehicle. Getting it home to our place was made possible by my brother-in-law, who carefully dismantled the table and made it ready to fit into the car.
My sister and her hubby kindly put us up for two nights, and treated us, my youngest sister, and my Mom, to two wonderful family get togethers around her dining room table. We had a wonderful time, and managed to visit my Mom in her new apartment, and my youngest sister at her house, while we were in the area. We headed home with Granny’s table, and had an easy drive in good weather, on dry roads.
The day after we returned the weather was awful, with blowing snow and frigid temperatures. I sighed with relief that our journey enjoyed perfect weather for travelling.
The table will not fit in our living space, as things are. After the Christmas decor has been put away at the end of the season, we will be looking at the possibility of purging furniture in order to use the beloved table. Attila is as sentimental as I am about objects, that were/are part of our loved one’s lives.
We enjoy jigsaw puzzles. Recently we bought a puzzle board for working on them, it is a rigid and light board, that can be moved around. It would fit perfectly on Granny’s table! The board would enable us to move the puzzle out of the way to eat our meals, or work on other projects.
So that was our week just past, lots of little things going on.
P.S. Ginger was alone for two nights while we were away. When we arrived home I immediately found him, and sat with him for half an hour or so, petting and talking to him. He has recovered from his lonely vigil quickly this time!
Worldly
Weather
1°C
Date: 6:00 PM EST Saturday 6 December 2025
Condition: Light Snow
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 1.2°C
Dew point: -3.6°C
Humidity: 70%
Wind: WSW 17 gusts 32 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Visibility: 19 km
Quote
“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1859 – 1930
If you were forgiven by Ginger in just half an hour, he must be developing confidence that you won’t leave him for long. What a good thing!
Wendy, I agree, he seems to be developing a trust that we will return. I am so glad! It is always a good thing when the one who rules the roost is happy.
Hi, Maggie! I like loose pajamas and nightgowns too but I do find that excess material makes sleeping uncomfortable if there’s too much of it. The extra material can get trapped in folds underneath you and lying on the folds can cause pain by compressing the skin.
We seldom use fresh cauliflower anymore. Even for our sheetpan-roasted curried cauliflower, we use frozen cauliflower. Even when cauliflower prices were really high a few years ago, the frozen cauliflower was always reasonable.
Can’t wait for a picture of your granny’s table!
You and I must be of similar size. In one brand of camisole, I am “XL”, in another brand I am “Medium 14-16”. I favor the flannel nightgowns, but then it doesn’t get so cold here.
I’m glad you had a nice visit with your family. I too look forward to photo of the table, with and without puzzle!
Hi Teri! There is a lot of fabric in these new pyjamas, so far the extra material has not bunched up on me to cause problems, fingers crossed it doesn’t happen.
I haven’t looked at frozen cauliflower, next time I am at the grocery store I’ll check it out. For now carrots are very inexpensive, but it is possible that frozen vegetables might go on sale at some time, making them a good alternative for us.
The table is dismantled and resides in pieces in the garage, I hope we have it put together and in use in the next year or so, but things take a long time to happen here in this little crowded space we live in.
Joan, it does sound like we are a similar size, the range of sizes that actually fit is really quite amazing. I like flannel, but find that I turn a lot while sleeping, so that nightgowns become tightly wound around by morning, somewhat like a tourniquet.
We had such a lovely visit with my Mom, sisters, and brother-in-law. Visiting is not a day trip, as we live some distance from each other, so it was very kind of my younger sister and her husband to have us stay at their home for the visit. It was wonderful to see my Mom in particular, I miss her a lot.
Ah, there you are! I was a bit worried because to me it seems you write very regularly, kinda like I do. Maybe I am just not paying attention to dates and details. Anyway glad you had such a good trip, saw Mom and Sis and family, and got home safe and sound with a table that has sentimental value.
Kate, here I am, lol. Sometimes I post with great regularity, from time to time I get sidetracked. If I don’t write for while, I start to feel it, miss it, so back I come to the keyboard where I belong.
Thanks for the good wishes about the trip, it is a bit of an undertaking for us, and for my sisters who put us up. I think we all had a good visit, Attila and I certainly did. It was great to visit Mom in her apartment, which she loves, such a warm and cozy space. I am thrilled with the table, and look forward to a day when we figure out how to move it into our living space. Of course it will need to have a finish applied before we do that, but first things first, planning the layout that will bring it out of storage.