Niagara Falls

An organization that I belong to put on a bus trip to Niagara Falls yesterday, and DH and I went. It was a great deal, $10 each for a bus down to the casino in Niagara, a $10 voucher to gamble, and the bus back. Told you, a great deal!

DH and I are not gamblers, and are not really very keen on casinos. We went on this trip because there are other things to do, you don't have to spend the entire 5 hours at the casino. The trips to the casino at Rama are different. There is absolutely nothing around there to do except stay at the casino, and the noise there is incredible!

So, we got off the bus at the casino, got our $10 voucher to gamble, and headed out somewhere to get breakfast. We saw a sign on a place a block away that said "Breakfast Buffet $6.99" so we headed over there. There wasn't a great deal in this buffet, but it was enough to feed us so we got our seat and then went to get some food. We were both really hungry, we got up early and didn't have breakfast before we left the house, and we arrived in Niagara two hours after we left the house. Anyway, we just sat down with our plates of food and the waitress comes over to ask if we want coffee and that it's not included. We both said yes and I said to Randy that the coffee was probably $3.00. The waitress came back with cups of coffee and I asked the price. I was close ... it was $2.85!!!!! For coffee!!!!!! If we'd realized that we would have gone somewhere else.

The Horseshoe Falls

After breakfast we wandered down to the Falls. I'll try and post photos from work tomorrow. We have dial up here at home and it will take forever. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and warm (for this time of year). We wandered past the American Falls, towards Clifton Hill, the real tourist area, and past the Rainbow Bridge crossing to the States. We ended up at an Exotic Bird place (can't remember the name). It's supposed to be the largest place that exotic has birds flying around. We just went into the gift shop, it was $20 each to go inside and besides, we probably wouldn't have had time. We started our way back and went into the Hershey shop and there was chocolate everywhere! Halfway back to the casino we took a break and sat on a bench for a while. That's when I noticed that the grass had a real green look to it. Everything is still so brown and dead looking after the winter so that tinge of green was wonderful to see.

The Niagara Casino

We made it back to the casino and decided to spend our $10 each. I sat down at a 5cent machine, and after about 6 spins I cashed out with $70.50!!!! That's the most I've ever won! I decided to keep that ticket so at the next machine I put in a $5 bill and played that until it was gone. I was afraid if I used the $70 ticket that I'd end up losing it. DH played his $10 and $5 of his own, but I was the winner!!

There was about half an hour till the bus arrived to we just sat and had a coffee and the bus left at almost 3pm.

On the way home we noticed that a couple of the overpasses on the highway had crowds of people. They we noticed that some of them had police cars with lights, or a fire engine, and there were a lot of flags. That's when we all realized that they were waiting to salute a fallen soldier who was on his way home. There were some cars stopped on the side of the road, waiting, and each overpass had a crowd of people. Unfortunately, it was went we left the highway that we noticed a little further up the traffic was slowing down and there were flashing lights coming the other way. The soldier on his way. It was nice to see so many people lining the route, paying tribute to someone who had paid the ultimate price for his country. No matter what a person things of a war, or of a governments decision to send their armed forces into combat situations, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those men and women who are willing to serve their country knowing that they could end up paying the highest price of all, their lives.

We got home at dinner time and boy was I pooped! But it was a wonderful, and profitable day!!!

A wonderful way to see the Falls ... no, we walked!

The bottom of Clifton Hill, the main tourist area

How's that for a Hersey's Peanut Butter Cup ... for sale in the Hershey shop

The Rainbow Bridge between Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York

The American Falls with huge hunks of ice at the bottom

Ice at the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls

Housework update

Well, it's been a week since my cleaning lady paid her visit and left my house looking wonderfully clean and tidy. Seven whole days that I've had to keep on top of things. So, how have I been doing:

• Dishes have been done every day. There was a ring around the kitchen sink that I've not been able to get rid of with the Vim stuff I have under the sink, so I bought some SOS pads and scrubbed the kitchen sink so that it shone! Aren't you impressed? I sure am! Of course, DH didn't notice, he hadn't even noticed the ring around the sink! Men!!!
• The bed has been made every morning, and the sheets changed after a week. DH wondered why I was changing the sheets as they only just been done. Oh my, I have been a bad housewife in the past!
• The living room has been tidied every evening (or morning if DH stayed up longer than me).
• There is nothing sitting on the stairs waiting for me to remember to take it upstairs. I usually put things there then walk straight past them!
• The bathroom sink and toilet received a wipe through the week.
• The laundry and ironing are all up-to-date.

So generally, not bad for the first week. I must admit to being rather pleased with myself!

I love old movies

DH and I were at Costco last weekend, and this movie (or should I say movies) caught my eye and just jumped into my cart! As much as I love old movies, I don't think I've ever seen Casablanca straight through from beginning to end. Same with the others.

It was actually Mrs Miniver that caught my attention. I saw that movie once and really enjoyed it, and I've been looking for it periodically. Of course, old movies are not always that easy to find, so I was really happy when I was able to get this set. Maybe it's my fascination with the 1940s and wartime Britian that makes me like this movie.

We are busy all day on Saturday, so maybe Sunday will be a day of rest and I can take a couple of hours to watch an old movie.

Which one should I watch first??

End of Spring?

Spring officially arrived last week, but I may be pushing it a bit. Today I'm getting my snow tires taken off and my summer tires installed. Knowing my luck, we'll be hit by a freak snow storm in a couple of days!!

I just read a comment I received from CIRCLED_dolly (thanks, Dolly!), and went to her blog. She's got snow! And five minutes after reading her blog, I heard on the news about a bad snow storm hitting northern Colorado. Stay warm, Dolly!

So keep your fingers crossed for me that the weather here in southern Ontario won't revert to back to winter.

Neighbours

Who'd have them!!!! I had to leave work early today to go to a municipal meeting because our neighbour wants to put a used car lot on his property!!! It seems his properly is already zoned commercial so he wants to sell cars, he just needs a minor variance because the lot is just a little too small. The biggest problem is that our house is at the corner of our property, right on the property line where he wants to put his car lot. I'll look out my dining room and kitchen windows on a used car lot!!!!!

I'm so angry. While I know he can use his property as he wants, and its within the zoning rules, HE'S IMPACTING OUR PROPERTY AND OUR LIVES!!!!!!

We went to the zoning meeting to find out that they were going to put a fence between him and us. A fence a foot from our house! How are we supposed to perform maintenance functions on our home when there is a fence a foot from the wall of our house!!!

I'M SO ANGRY!!!

I moved to this little hamlet wanting a quiet life. I wanted out of the city, I just want a quiet and simple life. AND A USE CAR LOT WASN'T PART OF THE BARGAIN!

But, it looks like the variance is going through, although they are not going to put up the fence. If they do that we may as well board up a couple of our windows. We lost the battle. And right now I just want to put up a "For Sale" sign outside and tell them to bugger off. But we can't.

Now that's the neighbours on both sides of us who have negatively impacted the reasons I wanted to buy the house in the first place.

Neighbours ... who'd have 'em! My parents have it right ... live in the middle of nowhere and the only cows next door have four legs!!!

Time to Fess Up

I suppose I'd better admit it ... I have a cleaning lady. She only comes once a month, but the fact remains, I do have a cleaning lady.

Problem is, I generally have to find the house before she gets here so that she can clean it! Pretty bad, isn't it. She was here on Thursday last week, and I've vowed that I'm going to try and keep the place looking good. My "inner housekeeper" is going to stick around for a whole month. Now, she's never stayed that long before, but I'm being very nice to her, kind and appreciative and supportive. With any luck, she'll see that I'm serious this time and she'll take me seriously.

Why do I have a cleaning lady in the first place? I know, there are only two of us in the house, it shouldn't be that difficult to keep up with things. I've been through this before, trying to get my house in order and keep it that way. But I'd get really frustrated that I'd be cleaning and tidying, and my DH would be sitting watching TV, completely oblivious to everything, never seeing that things around the house need to be done. I finally told him ... either you help me around the house, or we get someone who will. So he agreed to once a month, and that's when Kathy came into our lives. I never see her. She has a key to the house and she arrives after I leave in the morning, and I come home and the house looks and smells wonderful! It's absolutely marvelous!!!

But I’ve got in the habit of letting things slide between Kathy’s visits. My DH is a "piler" … any flat surface he sees as a place to pile papers both large and small. And they multiply all over the house. I just can’t get him to stop, or even to realize that this is a problem.

So far, it’s been 3 days since Kathy’s visit, and the house still looks good. The only pile he has around is of papers and cheques I need to sign tonight. I’ve kept the bathroom clean. The kitchen sink sparkles and the table is clean. The bed is made. There are a few rough areas that were rough before Kathy got there and it’s not her responsibility to find a home for our “stuff”. I still need to do that.

But, so far so good. Let’s keep fingers, toes and eyes crossed that I can keep it up!

Happy St Patrick's Day

And Happy Anniversary to my parents. They celebrate today!

Today's Ramblings

Work
I received the printed copy of my annual review. This is my first with this supervisor, and funny thing, my average score dropped dramatically this year. It's been fairly consistent for the last 6 years, with the same descriptor, that I'm doing OK. This year, I'm down and rated as needing some development! Funny that, isn't it! I'm doing OK with my previous two supervisors, but with this one I'm not doing OK, in fact I'm substandard! Is it me, or is it my supervisor?!

Home
Yesterday before I left for work, I managed to put a small load of laundry on to wash. I'm determined that I'm going to keep on top of this laundry thing. It really shouldn't be that much of a problem, I mean there's only two of us, so how hard can it be! But for some reason all the housework gets behind. So ... when I got home I put the laundry in the dryer, stripped the bed and put clean sheets and immediately put the dirty sheets in to wash. Before the night was done, I had washed one load, dried two loads, and done the ironing that came with them, including ironing 6 pillowcases and the top sheet!! Dammed if I know how to iron a fitted sheet!

DH made supper, and I cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes. He went to bed before me so I couldn't put away the clean laundry, so the baskets sat on the couch all night, but the rest of the living room was picked up and tidied.

Got up this morning and made the bed before I left the house.

Misc.
I think I'm starting to get that dizzy thing again. A few months ago I suffered terribly for a few days from dizziness. I mean I lay on the couch and watched the wood beams on the ceiling to around in circles. And I was sober, too! Doctor said it was an viral infection of the inner ear that would work itself out. And it did. But I've been feeling a bit wobbly again recently, and this morning I got up out of bed, turned to move away from the bed, kept turning and fell back onto the bed again. I had to sit for a minute till I stopped feeling wobbly. I've been feeling it a little bit at times throughout the day as well. I'll just see how it goes.

DH is curling tonight, and I'm off to meet a group of people to talk about parrots. So it will be a late night home for me tonight.

Tomorrow night I'm out as well. Then Thursday is my French class, and I haven't done my homework!

Where, oh where, does the time go!

My Weekend

Friday night's hockey game was probably the most exciting of the season. First two periods were not so great and I was actually tempted to go home because I was so tired. Going into the third period we were behind 5-1. The third period was the best hockey yet. We scored, 5-2; we scored again, 5-3; and again, 5-4; then we tied it up 5-5! End of the third period we were tied, overtime didn't decide it, so we went to a shoot out. AND WE WON!!!! Amazing game!!

Saturday, DH left early to go to curling and I started cleaning the house to get ready for the wine and cheese party. Got the living room, dining room, bathroom and hallway done (all looked very good!), then decided I'd better pop out to the store. That took longer than I expected, and I got home just before 4pm. Company was coming at 6:30. Got the table and sideboard ready to accommodate all the wine and cheese that would be coming. Got the extra wine glasses out of storage in the basement, washed and dried, and on the sideboard ready. Jumped in the shower and got myself ready. Tidied the kitchen. 6:30, just ready in time. Ended up sitting for about 45 minutes and started wondering if anyone was actually coming! But it ended up a great evening and I think everyone had a good time.

Sunday we ended up going out (after Coronation Street) for brunch with friends, which was great because we haven't done that for a long time. It was so good to spend time with them. I didn't realize how much I'd missed them. After brunch, we went out for a drive to a place that sells parrots. DH and I are thinking about getting a small parrot so we spent some time looking around and asking questions at a store that specializes in parrots. I think we've narrowed it down to a Lineoated Parakeet. They don't have any right now so we'll have to call back periodically to find out when they will get the next clutch of birds.

It was a good weekend, but I was really tired. Went to bed around 8:30-9:00, but do you think I could fall asleep!?! Not a chance! As tired as I was my brain wouldn't stop long enough for me to call asleep. I think I was still awake when DH came to bed at 11:30. So frustrating!!!

Today is Monday and it's back at work. I hate week-days. I really don't want to be here at work. I'm eating my salad for lunch and typing this, and I'd much rather be at home. These feeling seem to be getting stronger and stronger. I wonder if it has something to do with menopause? Maybe my hormones are out of whack. I should probably do a better job of taking that HRT the doctor gave me. I am starting to get a little grumpy so maybe it would help.

Anyway, I'll try not to dwell on my desire to be home and not here. Won't do me any good.

TTFN

Planning the Weekend

Just finished lunch: left-over liver and onions from home, on a bun brought from home, with fries purchased at the cafeteria here are work. I never seem to be organized enough to bring a proper lunch from home, and I end up spending way too much money in the cafeteria at work. Today was a start ... at least I put something in a lunch bag and remembered to bring it with me this morning!!

Starting to think about and plan my day tomorrow. I have to do some grocery shopping, clean the house, get the wine glasses washed and the table set for the wine and cheese, get myself ready, light the candles and be ready to be charming by 6:30 tomorrow evening. Somewhere in there I also want to go to the antique market to get that 1940s cookbook I've been thinking about all week. I saw it last weekend but didn't buy it and I've been obsessing about it ever since!

Saturday is actually our annual wine and cheese party. I started it 7 years ago when I was dreading the long stretch between the Christmas holidays and the first signs of spring. We've usually held it in late February, but the timing didn't work this year. Anyway, it's something to look forward to after the holidays, a time to get together with friends and complain about the long and cold Canadian winter. Everyone brings a piece of cheese and a bottle of wine: we supply everything else. Some people get quite creative and put a lot of thought into what they decide to bring. I just got an email from a friend saying she was researching on-line what her selections might be this year. It's a fun and inexpensive way to entertain.

Sunday is definitely going to be my day of rest. I need it after the busy week I've had! Now DH wants to go to a bird shop. He wants to get a bird as a pet, some kind of parrot, so we'll go and have a look at them on Sunday afternoon. Let's see ... Coronation Street in the morning, bird shop in the afternoon ... that should still leave time for an afternoon nap, right?

Really Tired Today

Got home from the hockey game last night and did those dishes straight away! Ain't I a good girl! Managed to get to bed around 10:30 or so, but still woke up really tired this morning.

Still managed, in my sleepy state, to get the bed made before I left the house. Had to leave a little earlier this morning to make sure I was ready for a meeting. Had a lunch time meeting as well, and then French class after work.

French is such a difficult language to learn, and I'm struggling with it.

I'm about to turn my computer off here at work and head home. I'd like to get the last of the ironing done before I have to do laundry again. It would be so nice to have a completely empty basket! Right now my bed is calling me, but by the time I get home I'll probably get my second wind. So, do you think I'll get it done? Hmmm ... I'll let you know.

Tomorrow is Friday, and it will be another late night. Saturday we are entertaining and I have to get the house ready. Sunday, blessed quiet and relaxing Sunday, will be a joy when it gets here!

UPDATE: Got most of the ironing done, just a couple pairs of dress pants and one blouse left!

Thinking

When I woke up this morning, the radio said the temperature was +9, but would be dropping through the day to -3 by this evening. It had stopped raining but there was a wind warning for this area:

STRONG WINDS TODAY DUE TO A COLD FRONT. THIS IS A WARNING THAT DAMAGING WINDS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH A DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHEASTERN ONTARIO WILL CROSS EASTERN ONTARIO BY NOON AND CONTINUE TO GIVE STRONG WINDS IN ITS WAKE. ALONG THE FRONT WINDS WILL GUST TO 90 KM/H WITH SUSTAINED WINDS 40 TO 60 KM/H. NOTE THAT TEMPERATURES WILL DROP TO BELOW FREEZING BEHIND THE COLD FRONT.

I was reading Jitterbug’s blog (destination1940.blogspot.com) and 50sgal’s blog (my50syear.blogspot.com) yesterday, and read a little about 1940s housekeeping when I went to bed last night. Fell asleep thinking about it … still thinking about it when I woke up this morning.

Jitterbug is single so is able to run her home as she sees fit and has no-one to answer to or complain about it but herself. 50sgal has is a stay-at-home wife of a very understanding and supportive husband, so she is also able to run her home as she sees fit. I started to wonder about my making attempts towards finding my "inner homemaker". My DH, however, would think I’d lost my marbles (or more marbles than usual) if I told him I wanted to try running our home as if I was a 40s or 50s housewife! I certainly wouldn’t get the support or understanding that 50sgal has.

So what’s a gal with a vintage bent in her soul to do!! That, my friend, is what I need to figure out.

But it's hard when I work full time, and interests take up a lot of evenings. Last weekend I tried to catch up on the laundry and did most of the ironing (including sheet and pillowcases!), but I still have a basket of clothes to iron. I’ve made the bed every morning. I’ve tried to do the dishes every day. Problems arise when I have places to be in the evenings.

Take this week, for example: Monday night - WI; Tuesday night - Red Hat; Wednesday night - hockey; Thursday night - French class; Friday night - hockey. Three of those nights I don't even go home first. I work in this city, and I socialize and/or play in this city, so making the 1/2 hour drive home to our village cottage just to make the 1/2 hour drive back less than an hour later just doesn't seem to make sense: on the gas consumption, on the wallet, on the environment, on the time-factors. So I stay at work, like I am right now, and mess around on the internet reading blogs and such. All that's easier to do here anyway as we have dial-up at home (yes, the dreaded s-l-o-w dial-up!).

So this week I've made the bed in the morning, but the dishes in the sink have taken a direct hit as DH is home and I'm not. Last night, for example, I was out and the pot of leftovers that DH used is still sitting in the sink. Didn’t have time to look after it last night or this morning.

So I’ll continue to mull it all over, and maybe my “inner homemaker” will wave her magic wand and give me a brilliant idea! One can only hope!

My Interest in 1940s

I actually wrote this yesterday but didn't get it posted.

There was a dusting of snow when I woke up this morning. The weather is crazy. Last Monday it was -15, on Friday it was +18! It rained almost the entire weekend, and it’s supposed to be a high of +6 today.

OK, so my current “thing” is the 40s. It’s not a recent “thing”; I’ve been interested in this era for a long time. Maybe it has something to do with my history, growing up in England with parents who were born just before the start of WWII. There’s something about that period in time, the country coming together, working together, and standing strong against the foe no matter what they threw at them. Even the Blitz didn’t break the spirit of the country.

I don’t think anything like that would ever happen again. Not the war, but the entire country pulling together as one. In this day of political correctness (gone mad) there would always be someone to take offence not matter what position the country or the majority of the population took. Everyone would then be too busy arguing about that instead of standing strong against the foe, whatever or whoever that was.

Maybe I romanticize a little. And I certainly wouldn’t want to turn back the clock and live during the war years. I can’t imagine the terror of sitting in an Anderson shelter listening to the bombs dropping, and wondering if it was your house that was hit and if your life would be the same again.

However, I’m interested in how they lived in the 40s. I like the music and the clothing. And I like that men were men and women were women.

There was a TV show put on by Channel 4 in England that was called “The 1940s House”. It was one of those living history reality-type shows. They took a modern family and transplanted them into a 1940s house to spend several weeks living the war years of 1930-1945, complete with rationing and an Anderson shelter in the backyard. I loved that show. I’m still thinking of buying the DVD so I can watch it whenever I want.

I am also a subscriber to a magazine called “Best of British” and they have a section on the 40s. 1940s re-enactment groups seem to be very popular in England, and if I still lived there I’m sure I’d be getting involved. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything similar here in Canada.

My current interest in the 1940s was peaked by a blog I recently found – destination1940.blogspot.com – an amazing blog written by a woman learning the skills of a 1940s housewife. A wonderful read, and a highly recommended blog.

There is another great vintage blog – my50syear.blogspot.com. She is living the year 1955. Another great read.

My Day

I hate my job. I didn't always feel thlat way. I used to enjoy my job. I'm not sure when or why it changed, but right now I hate my job. Maybe it will pass. Maybe I've been in the job too long and I'm bored or not challenged. I don't know. But like I said, right now I hate my job.

I spent my whole day at work today wishing I could win a lottery so that I could be a stay at home wife. That's what it would take, winning a lottery, because we couldn't do without my salary. I've been going through phases like this for years and years, wishing I could be a stay at home wife (or mother when The Boy was younger). It's the old-fashioned part of me, I think, that wants to stay home and create a nest, a haven, an escape from the cold and cruel world, to have the dinner on the table when my husband comes home.

I wonder how long it would last, that feeling, if I really could stay home. Would I get tired of it? Would I feel resentful? Would I long for the things I have now as a working woman? Who knows!

Right now my husband is sleeping (it's 6:15pm). He took a half day off work, time owed, so that he could spend the afternoon curling. Stress relief, he called it. I left work right on the dot of 5pm (which I usually don't do), stopped at the liquor store for a bottle of wine, stopped by a furniture consignment store on the way home just to browse (it was still open, it's usually closed when I go by), and arrived home earlier than usual. So here I sit, on the computer, writing to you (whoever you are!), and sipping a glass of Beaujolais. Someone at work told me it was a really nice wine, and they were right!

I'm going out later tonight to my WI meeting. It will be a busy week ... WI on Monday, Red Hat on Tuesday, hockey on Wednesday, an evening home on Thursday, hockey on Friday, entertaining on Saturday. Whew ... I'll need Sunday when it gets here!!

I'd better go see about getting something for dinner. If I'm wishing I could be a stay at home wife, I'd better get my act together and put some dinner on the table!

Talk to you later.

Hello

This blog is just between you and me, but it's not my only blog. I discovered blogs a couple of years ago and found some really interesting people living interesting lives, and in those lives I found aspects of myself. So I started the other blog as a way of connecting with those other bloggers and commenting on those interesting things. The feelings I wanted to share on that blog were not feelings that I necessarily wanted people who know me to read about. I wanted to be able to share my confusing and confused self freely, and maybe in the process find out who I really am.

But a family member found out about my blog, and I suddenly felt inhibited. I don't post there very often anymore.

There are so many things out there in this world that I find intersting. So many things that speak to parts of me, sometimes huge parts, sometimes little parts hiding in the shadows. I want to find a way to tease those little parts out so that I can learn more about myself.

So, what kinds of things might I talk about here. My interests are varied, and seem to go in phases, and the don't always seem to go well together. So, let's make a short list:

1. England
2. Simple living
3. French style and French chic
4. 1940s
5. Mennonites and Amish
6. Chickens
7. Homemaking
8. Being a good wife
9. Old fashioned values
10. Victorianna

How's that for a varied list!!! See what I mean about these aspects of me not making much sense. They are very difficult to reconcile with each other.

So where do I start. Well, my current interest is in the 1940s. Maybe I'll start with that ...