ugh March

Its the end of March, its overcast outside right now and a bit cold. I say a bit. Only because I don't need to put my hood up to walk as I am in fear of losing my ears to frostbite due to the insane bite of the wind. But its really dull out there.
I am not a fan of this time of year. Even when its super sunny so that you can convince yourself that its not cool out as you sit in your hot car with the sun beating in, it is. Or its cold and grey, and the grass is still dead and the trees are still brown and naked and I KNOW that its going to be about another month of this at least.


This is the time of year that we really ought to be in Florida. Somehow we never ever make it down there at this time. Its pretty depressing really that we are 5 years in and haven't got out shit together enough to recognize that this is what's needed at this time.
Even more depressing is the knowledge that unless we win the lotto we aren't going at all this year.


But.... enough of all that. Paul and I are going to Toronto for a long weekend and we do have a family long weekend to Boston to plan and look forward to and I am then going to Boston for training, so its not all doom and gloom. And the weekends away will really be nice. Summer is really and truly just around the corner and we have plans for the house this year.


The big money grabber will be sorting out the bog that is the back yard. Water pools just off from the house and its all wet and then it stinks, so we need to sort that out.
We also need to paint the interior again, thank God we are not wallpaper people, and put in our coffee bar in the kitchen. The coffee bar has been planned in a vague way for about a year now so I am pretty excited that its almost reality.

March already??!!!

So January zipped by in a flurry of long and busy working days and 2 weeks in Newfoundland where I had to slum it with a car for a week that had no heated seats! wth! So no heated seats and car parked outside overnight did not a happy start to the day maketh but that really is a first world problem resolved by a trip to the Starbucks drivethrough. February flew by, winter is almost over, light is at the end of the tunnel, summer is returning.... joy
So.... I did two rounds of 21 day fix, loved it, nailed it, one round of 21 day fix extreme - not so enthralled, way too much jumping around for me, I hate cardio and i hate plyo and this programme is a joyful meeting of the two.
So onto Hammer and chisel. I started this last night and I am sore today. I also rode yesterday for the first time after work this year. Ace decided that it's incredible good fun to set off into canter with a huge buck so had to ride that out of him. He's way too big to play those games and I am sadly way too old to want to hit the deck. So maybe I am sore due to that, or to both, or who knows... Anyway I hurt.
Onto chisel day 2 shortly so tomorrow should be fun.

It's freezing today too, currently sitting at minus 4 with a playful wind with take your breath away gusts. But summer is coming, it really is......

I had a real blonde movement the other night. I have the bad habit of sitting in the bath reading my kindle and then, gasp, laying it on the side of the tub when I get in or out. It struck me that this is a risky move if I want to keep enjoying my current Bill Bryson " Road to Little Dribbling" and then more worryingly I envisaged that if I knocked it in all the pages inside would get wet. Serious concern, I shared this thought with Paul who was shall we say gob smacked by such a statement.
Maybe it's time it up my RSP contributions for early retirement to the Keys. Clearly propping up a beach bar in my flip flops is where I am headed sooner rather than later.

2016 , not a new beginning but a continuation of a great time

It's 2016 y'all and for the first time in years I stayed awake to welcome it in. I also drank a whole bottle of wine and ate excessively... But you know what I don't care.

For the first time in a new year I have minimal resolutions and the main one called change my life by becoming fit has changed significantly to continue what you started. So at the start of December I joined a challenge group for 21 Day Fix. I am slightly ashamed to admit that when I was asked to join my attitude was that " well what he hell, it's $77 and I can afford to throw that money away" but I also realized that a typical December for me consists of eating whatever I lay my eyes  on whether I really like it/ want it and feeling annoyance and gaining about 8 pounds ( at least). I also realized that even I can stick to something for 21 days.
Well in short I loved it, I gave up International Delight in my coffee which I knew was terrible but I was addicted to, almost ditched the sugar and confronted the ugly truth about just how much sugar and carbs I was consuming in an average day. I also love the workouts and can't go to bed without my date with Autumn. Anyone that has met the 21 day fix knows who Autumn is and I love her. So I lost 6 pounds and gain tone and muscle and love it love it love it.

So... The point is that my New Years resolution is simply to continue with it. I feel different, I feel good and I am going to keep feeling that way.

The other resolution is to repaint the interior of the house this year which means of course that my part in this will be choosing colours and supervision.

And finally save for our vacations from this day forward. We are in a position for the first time in a while to return to this and I am embracing it fully. I plan to save like its the new trend.

First snowfall of the season and what we did with it.....

I instagrammed everything and had some fun...

Currently..... Christmas

This Christmas was another green one, much to my childrens disgust. But despite the lack of the white stuff and the punishingly warm temps we managed it. There was a lack of Christmas crackling logs on the fire as it was way too warm for that on the big day and absolutely no reindeer tracks on a white roof but it was a festive and merry event.

But first... backing up a bit to a couple of weeks ago when I discovered Instagram and got this shot:

Which got me to thinking and resulted in this hair cut (for the season ya know):

Instagram also featured in our Christmas walk around Oakfield park and enabled me to get a picture of Duke that shows his coat colours way better than before;

Our Christmas living room;

My youngest rocking the polar bear onesie on Christmas morning;

It was a polar bear event:

According to the weather network its going to snow today, so I am waiting for the commencement of this event to see if it will require the use of the snowblower thats currently resting its heels in the garage.

November cookie exchange

Still waiting for it to get truly cold, it rained today so there's mud everywhere which is horrid. It's been hard to get the motivation required to get Christmas off the ground this year and I am sure that's weather related.
Tomorrow I am at a cookie exchange which was a great idea three weeks ago when I signed up for it, not so great this morning. The prospect of whipping up 6 dozen cookies broke me out in a cold sweat, but Pinterest prevailed and today I discovered the beauty of cake mix and Kool whip and peppermint chocolate chips. Voila I have managed 6 different cookies and impressed myself actually.
I had some help to be honest, Lily hung around and got involved which turned it into a great afternoon.

M&M and confetti cookies

 Peppermint and white chocolate bark

Lemon crinkle cookies

My little sous chef

Oh and I discovered how incredibly easy it is to make fudge too - go me!

And then I went to the barn and hung out with the cuddliest horse on the planet:

Here's one from September with his pal Tommy, they are a funny pair:

I know I will regret this statement come mid February - but here goes - "bring on the snow!", it looks all kinds of wrong to have a lit snowman on the lawn when its still green. There its out in the Universe now!!!

my trip to England

Its raining outside - buckets! But its warm, at 12C I think its one of the warmest November 13th I have seen since moving to this spot on the planet.
I feel thankful that I have a window at work, the sound of the rain against the glass is soothing (although frankly it can stop by the time I need to leave work, please and thankyou)

So I had a week in England recently and it was pretty nice actually.
It was warm.
People know how to drive and I mean they know. I zipped around in a Kia Piccanto and navigated narrow streets and congestion pretty expertly if I say so myself. This is entirely due to the way English drivers conduct themselves and also due to my traffic jam attitude of "lets bypass the time of sitting here by gazing around at my surroundings" - namely the English countryside outside of Arundel - its beautiful there. (And I really miss stiles and footpaths and I was stuck right next to one - happy days).

I took in (in awe) the 89p price for 2 litres of milk at Asda (how are farmers feeding their cows?) and the 3 pounds for a bottle of wine - 3 pounds!!!
And it wasnt any old wine either, this is wine I would happily drink and did!
I discovered too that I had forgotten the depths of English bath tubs differ to Canadian ones. I nearly broke my leg stepping down way further than I had expected when getting out and taking a slide across the floor.

I ate way too much chocolate and spent way too much time getting lost. It was a case of "yes I can drive to Lingfield, absolutely" and then the realization that I can no longer remember which village is which and there is some distance between Lingfield, Cuckfield, Ditchling and Faygate. I had to resort to GPS and then I couldnt easily recall the best and fastest routes. I was a true tourist in my home country.

So back to here in Nova Scotia. Its raining, its warm, its windy and I am wondering if having winter tires put on in October (new ones too) was the smartest choice.