There recently was an interesting article in the Globe and Mail - DIY fungi. Now this is something I would love to try. Not that I am particularly a big fan of shitake or oyster mushrooms but I certainly would give it a go. My backyard is not that glamorous so a log would probably be a great focus point.
I recently borrowed a book from the library call the Knopf Mushroom Book. It was very interesting. I didn't realise that there were so many poisonous mushrooms. Not that I pick wild mushrooms, well I would pick morels. Maybe next spring I will organise an outing and find a location to pick some.
Had another interview today at a public library. I don't think it went well but my interview skills need improvement badly. It would be a great job, just 16 hours a week. With that and Seneca I would practically be working a full time job. The pay at Seneca needs improved though.
Tomorrow is the vote at Seneca for a union for part-time contract staff with OPSEU. I hope this will increase our wages. It would also be nice to have benefits, vacation pay and sick days. Well I certainly will be voting YES.
Today I must finish painting Detta's room. I have put on a second coat of the orange, I am just waiting to see how it turns out. I think I may have to put another coat of the purple on. I can't wait for it to be finished. Detta is sleeping in Donovan's room since we started so Donovan is sleeping with Hugh and I!!! Now it is going to be so difficult to get him back in his own bed. Donovan loves his Mummy!!
Had a weekend away at camp with the Pathfinders. It went well. The food was good. The beds could have been more comfortable but it was a Girl Guide Camp. At least we were sleeping indoors.
Detta enjoyed herself. We had 23 girls attend out of 25 which was great. We did lots of crafts and the girls enjoyed rolling on the hill. The weather was beautiful. Some of the girls went for a walk on the Brownie Trail!
I was reading some interesting articles in the Globe and Mail online - Hard to Shake. There is this really cool Salt Calculator or rather Salt-O-Meter. It really is amazing how much salt there is in processed food. I was allowing my sons to use soya sauce. I think I need to monitor this more than I was already. I do love my potato chips though.
I also had a look on the BBC website. When I was there last summer, my cousin mentioned that there was a government push to reduce the amount of salt at restaurants and prepared food. Our government should be doing the same thing, it certainly would reduce health costs
Well I had to finally get those lavenders I bought planted. They only cost $1.00 each. In fact, Hugh had to pop out to the grocery store so I had him buy 6 more. So in total, my front bed has 15 lavender plants in it. They are all French Lavender but 3 different varieties: Mulberry Ruffles, BoysenBerry Ruffles and Blueberry Ruffles. They look very nice. I just hope they all last being planted so late in the year. When I saw the lavenders on sale, it reminded me of when I was in England and Detta and I were visiting Ham House. The lavender gardens there were beautiful.
Well I haven't heard about the Environment Canada job. But I have an interview with Clarington Public Library. This position is only a part-time 16 hours a week but with 20 hours at Seneca, it may just be perfect.
Anne arrives home tomorrow. She has been in Italy for the past 2 weeks, touring around with a bunch of her girlfriends. Sounds like they had lots of fun. Kath and her husband are in New Zealand until December. They seem to have been having lots of rain and 2 tsunami warnings but then it is spring. Check out her blog - Kath's Blog.
I am off this weekend to camp with the Pathfinders. We are sleeping indoors, thank goodness. I am supposed to have set up some games, but this past two weeks have been crazy and I am not going to get around to it. I haven't even started to pack, well I guess that's what I am going to head off and do now. I still have to finish painting Detta's room. Just the last coat of the orange but that may have to wait till next week, I am running out of time.
Well Thanksgiving is past. We had a wonderful dinner. I bought a 20lb turkey and there was only 9 of us for dinner. There was roast potatoes, roast sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts with bacon, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, oh and stuffing. Though this year I didn't make the stuffing from scratch. Andrew, Lizzie and Joan were with us and Tom came later after work. Joan made a wonderful dessert, Better than pumpkin pie. At least that is what I think it is called. It had this lovely cream filling and then Joan put caramel bits on top with hot caramel sauce - mmm mmm good.
The previous week has flown by. I had a lovely dinner with Tom and Joan on Tuesday evening. The courgettes with breadcrumbs were delicious and there was carrots and beets. The pork chops also were done with breadcrumbs but I believe these were Japanese breadcrumbs. It was all very tasty.
Then on Wednesday, one of my old professors (though she isn't old), asked me if I was still looking for work. She had someone call up looking for a person who could catalogue and she thought of me. Anyways she put the two of us together and I had an interview after work at Environment Canada. It would be a temporary contract through an agency so essentially not a job with the government. But the pay was so low I just couldn't accept it. I emailed her on Thursday to tell her. Come Thursday evening she called me and said if she could get more money for the position would I still be interested. So I said yes. So the short of it is I have registered with a employment agency and will have to wait and see what happens. Detta and Hugh went out on Saturday and bought the paint for her room. As of today, Detta and I have painted two coats of the purple and one coat of the orange, yes purple and orange. But we chose "nice" purple and orange. I still need to do one more coat of the orange paint. I think Detta wants a stripe, I really shouldn't have suggested it!!
And tonight, there was a call on our home phone from 'Laurie's Cell'. Well I wasn't going to answer the phone because I thought it was one of the children having fun. Miles answered the phone and didn't know who it was so I took it. It seems I dropped my phone while I was at the grocery store. I have a pocket on the side of my purse where I have been keeping my cell phone lately. It won't be there any more. So I drove by the person's house and picked my cell phone. I think I may write the Star about this for their section on the kindness of strangers.
This past weekend, I went for a girls weekend at my friend, Heathers. There were five of us all together, Kim, Heather, Lynda, Karen and me. Heather just had her kitchen and bathrooms refinished and they are beautiful. Kim and I drove down on Saturday morning which took 1.5-2 hours.
Once everyone had arrived, Heather fed us this delicious broccoli soup. I don't usually like soup but it was so good, I may try to make this at home. We then went for a tour around town and stopped at Daves for a martini. Of course, we stopped by the Liquor store and bought a few supplies. We drank a few liquors and drinks before dinner. I suddenly didn't feel so well so ended up having a lie down but recovered enough by dinner time when I also switched to water. Heather made this delicious, Late berry-crusted Ontario lamb rack with cheddar gnocchi and asparagus. It was delicious. And for dessert we had chocolate souffles with caramel sauce. It was great seeing everyone. It has been a few years since we have all got together.
What a week, last week that is! Detta was sick on Tuesday; she had a bit of a cough and felt a bit hot so she stayed home.
Then on Wednesday night, Donovan and Miles were horsing around, what’s new. But then Miles ran into the bathroom and shut the door. Donovan charged after and put his arm through one of the glass panes. At least the panes had a protective plastic coat on it so the glass just broke away from him. Donovan only ended up with a load of scratches down his arm.
Also on Wednesday night, Detta fell at skating, backwards and smacked her head on the ice, though I didn’t find this out until Thursday morning. I even picked up Detta after skating and went to Pathfinders and she didn’t say a word. Anyways Detta stayed at home on Thursday, her head was still sore and her shoulders were aching.
Now to Friday morning, Donovan and I were horsing around. I told Donovan to do some sit-ups but I guess he grabbed his head and gave it a good tug to pull himself up. Well I guess he pulled himself very hard and hurt his neck. At first he wouldn't move so I picked him up. He rested his head on my arm and then I laid him on the bed. After half an hour, Hugh tried to move but Donovan screamed and screamed. We just didn't know what to do so we called 911. The paramedics came and had a look at him but they felt no damage was done to his neck. So we kept him home. Hugh took him to the doctor later in the day and it was decided that he had pulled some muscles in his neck.
But on a good note, I made some cabbage rolls for the first time. I bought a green cabbage for 97 cents, it was huge. I used a recipe from the Joy of Cooking. The hardest part was getting the cabbage into a pot of boiling water. I had one pot which was just big enough to fit the cabbage in but it was very ackward getting the cabbage back out again. I made 6 large cabbage rolls instead of 12, the leaves were so big. I followed the recipe for this batch. For the second batch, I added a load of vegies - courgettes, peppers, mushrooms. These cabbage rolls were smaller and I made about 10. The only thing was once we had one of the big cabbage rolls, we found them somewhat bland. Next time, I would definitely add something to them.
There recently was an interesting article in the Globe and Mail - DIY fungi. Now this is something I would love to try. Not that I am particularly a big fan of shitake or oyster mushrooms but I certainly would give it a go. My backyard is not that glamorous so a log would probably be a great focus point.
