Mincemeat

Attila and I donned our glad rags last night and headed off to our evening out at the restaurant. The experience exceeded expectations on all counts, and we both had a lovely time. Good company makes all the difference! The restaurant staff were wonderful. Attila said the food was great. We both ordered a drink, which came with the meal, and Attila ordered what I was drinking; and then gave me his drink so that I would have two drinks to nurse for the evening. Attila’s employers are wonderful people, no doubt about it.

We have always had a good time at this annual event, and it will be something to look forward to next year. I might even keep my eyes open for a new outfit! But probably not!

Today we dedicated our time to mincemeat production. I love mincemeat. The mincemeat sold in the grocery stores has preservatives in it, every single brand on the market. No shortcuts for me! If I want to have mincemeat at Christmas, I have to make it myself. So today was the day. Attila peeled the apples, the Spy apples I bought a few weeks ago. I prepared the rest of the ingredients, washing raisins and currants carefully to ensure that no traces of preservatives remained. We made two batches, three one quart mason jars to a batch, for a total of seven mason jars of mincemeat. The extra jar was what was leftover from the first and second batch, and that jar will be consumed this week.

After the mincemeat was jarred and refrigerated, we set off to do errands in town. It is a 70 km round trip to go to the bank, or the grocery store. We like to get as much done as possible while we are there, because every trip is costly, in terms of time, and fuel for the car.

Arriving home again, we began to prepare for the wind storm, due to arrive this evening or overnight. Dinner was put in the oven early, so that it would be cooked before the stormy weather arrived. The aroma of baked a squash, and sweet potatoes filled the room.

High winds, here in the country, often mean power outages. We set out candles at the ready, setup a cooler with basics like milk, and of course the masonry heater was well charged, and easily kept so.

So here it is evening and the rain and the wind have arrived. We have our fingers crossed that we will not lose any of our trees. There are concerns locally about flooding, but luckily we are high and dry. There are advantages to not living in a building built right at the water’s edge.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

WIND WARNING IN EFFECT – up to 90 km gusts possible
12C
Date: 4:00 PM EST Sunday 17 November 2013
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 100.2 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: 12.1°C
Dewpoint: 10.9°C
Humidity: 92%
Wind: SSE 26 gust 37 km/h

Strong southerly winds have developed ahead of a cold front over Southwestern Ontario. Winds of 50 gusting up to 80 km/h have been reported in a few places. Behind the cold front, very strong southwesterly winds with much colder air will blast in late this evening and into Monday morning with winds gusting up to 90 km/h or above. A few gusts of 100 km/h or more are possible in regions near the Great Lakes and higher ground, such as Southern Niagara, Picton and the Dundalk Highlands.

The low pressure system originally from Colorado is near Whitefish Bay. The associated cold front will reach Southwestern Ontario very soon then blast east across the remainder of the regions tonight. Very strong southwesterly winds with much colder air will affect much of the Southwestern and South Central Ontario.

Quote

“Seek not, my soul, the life of the immortals; but enjoy to the full the resources that are within thy reach.”
Pindar
522 BC – 443 BC

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Joan Lansberry

I hope the winds weren’t too damaging. From what I understand, some people nearer the coast lost their houses. Stay safe! (Glad your event was enjoyable.)