Maggie Turner: Page by Page

I love sweet treats. One of my favourites has always been chocolates, particularly on special days, like Christmas. At times, over the years, I have eaten a lot of chocolate sweets! Now, I don’t indulge in them, but for special occasions. On Christmas Day a box of chocolates sat under the tree. I had one, after a little while another, and so on, and so on, until I had eaten far too many. And I felt pretty good, great in fact. I was well pleased with myself. I woke up on Boxing Day feeling fine. We went shopping. After walking around in the store for a little while, I began to feel sad, that intensified, then I began to feel bad as well. By the time we entered the second store, I had to curb my tongue, as irritability had also developed. By the time we headed home I had the biggest, baddest, sugar crash of my life. It was a doozy. I felt physically ill. And it did not diminish that day, or during the night. Finally on Friday morning I began to feel a little better, and my state improved steadily thereafter. Wow, this was a first. I … Continue reading →

I began my day feeling a wee bit melancholy, I would have said sad, but that might imply a reason to feel sad, and I don’t have a reason, it is just the way I felt this morning. This afternoon a friend called me on the telephone, a nice surprise, and we talked for hours. It was an absolute tonic. I’ve known this fellow and his wife for more than 25 years, and the words flow easily between us. A perfect treat. I contrast this with social media, where one feels lucky if someone clicks a thumbs up on something you have written or shared… or one counts the number of viewings, or comments, as connection of some kind. A real conversation represents an infinity of upturned thumbs. It is a cold, brittle, ice sparkling day. Mist Cottage is cozy and warm. The ingredients for tonight’s pizza dough have been carefully measured into the pan of the bread machine, and it has been set in motion. And oh dear, I’ve eaten the last Gingerbread Cookie! Time for another day of baking. Thank goodness tomorrow is Saturday, a whole day of off-peak hydro prices. I plan on giving the oven a … Continue reading →

Overnight the temperature dipped low. The wind chill this morning is -30C. The weather people tell us that this cold spell will be over in a matter of days, time will tell. I am leaving the curtains closed until the sun shines, they help keep the cold at bay. Attila has built stud walls and insulated the south wall of the basement, and now the east wall as well. Last year he insulated half of the north wall. So just half the north wall, and the west wall, to go. As a result we are already noticing changes in the house. I found information on our hydro web site that revealed that the average temperature in November 2018 was -1C, while the average temperature in November 2019 was colder, -4C. Our hydro usage went down for November 2019 by 60 kWh, clearly a result of the new insulation in the basement. This is pretty good considering the insulation project started mid-November, and went slowly at first. I think we are seeing real results from this basement insulation project! A reduced electric heating bill is not the only change though. Since the rim joists below the living room were sealed and … Continue reading →