The "Shlook" that Heralds Spring!

"Shlook" (as defined by me) is the sound a boot makes when being forcibly removed from surrounding muck.  Our boots have been making that sound frequently as we trudge down the driveway to the car and back.  You may not think that 600+ feet is a long way but when you're prying your feet out of the mud, it could be considered a work out.  Despite the inconvenience, this is one of the first passages to SPRING.  Oh, we've had other indicators, like the first robin and the flocks of Canada geese returning.

It has been a remarkably mild winter, by Atlantic standards, but don't think that makes spring any less exciting for us.  I can't wait to see the blossoms on the trees, the buds coming up in the flower beds and the plants returning to the green abundance.

The snow has receded markedly over the last two days, which is very encouraging, but we've come in to that truly ugly portion of late winter/early spring.  The snow is dirty and grey or brown, depending on whether it's town snow or country snow.  The last wind storm has left debris strewn over the remaining banks of snow and the exposed grass is straw yellow.  I don't know why, but I worry that it won't come back, even though it was nice and green when Ron first saw the place, and last spring once the snow melted and I must presume that it will be green again.

We're planning a short summer holiday to St. John's, Newfoundland and are looking forward to the trip.  There are all sorts of interesting things to do there including whale watching, iceberg watching and clubbing (night clubbing, to be precise...thanks Hopalong!).  (Apparently George Street has the highest club density in North America.  Of course, Ron and I aren't big clubbers, but how can we resist such a claim?)  The scenery also looks stunning, so we are anticipating witnessing all these things for ourselves.  Let's hope the weather cooperates.

House renovations have ground to a halt until Ron can get himself fixed up.  Hernias really put a crimp in heavy manual labour.  We do have all the fixin's to get the downstairs bathroom tidied up and the living room and hallway floor laid to match the dining room.  If Ron ever gets back to himself, he'll have a lot of work to do, poor thing.  We don't have much else going on, so I'll leave off for now.   Drop us a line to let us know what's going on with you.

Raptor-ous!

Hello All!

Old man winter is giving his last gasps and they're cold and snowy.  Fortunately, (& I can't believe I'm saying this!) it's currently raining.  Good news for snow blowing (or lack there of), bad news for driveway drive-ability.  We're more than ready for spring, despite the fairly mild winter, but OMW just won't let go...fighting to his dieing breath.

But things here move on.   I've decided to self-publish my book, so feel free to preorder.  I'm not sure what the time line on having hard copies, but I'm sure I'll tell you all about it when the time comes.  As to other endeavours, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that we've completed another cake.  (Oh, have I been griping about it?)  We completed a 40th birthday cake in the shape of a Ford Raptor Truck.  (Now, to be honest, I've never even heard of a Raptor Truck, before the order, but what do I know, I'm just a girl.)  Here's what they look like:  (again shamelessly stolen from Internet)



Here's our version (please note the purchaser didn't want the fancy black paint job):

It was truly a team effort, Ron helped with the shape, wheel wells, front grill and side venting, plus all the finishing work, like painting on the paint finish, covering the board with graham crumbs and various other items.  It was quite stressful.  I find it much harder to recreate something that already exists than to make something completely original.  Of course, there are 100 things that we would do differently now (like centering the tail gate handle better), but as always, this is a learning process for us.  The license plate says "BAD RAP", I hope they get it...as in bad ass Raptor...but who knows.  I resisted making the banner read "Happy Ford-ieth Birthday", but it was a close call.   We battled dry fondant...not fun, mild hysterics (on my part - PS Ron might debate the "mild" description) and a tight deadline.  In my own defense, all I want is a really good product and when things go wrong, or I have to redo work, I get cranky.  I guess it's part of my creative process.  (I don't do that when I'm writing, however.)

We aren't quite sure where the business is going (if anywhere) and I'm not crazy about working 6 days a week, plus extra hours during the regular work week.  Most of you know that I'm fairly lazy by nature, so it pains me to work any more than I have to.  All I want now is a good night's rest and maybe a nice soothing bath.  (We're currently watching the Montreal/Toronto game...there's something a little bit sad about two of the bottom teams trying to beat each other...but on the up side, one of them HAS to win.  Go Habs go!  Not that we're partisan in any way!)

To all of you, (as always) be well and know you have people out there who love you and think about you often.  (PS Why is Don Cherry such a blow hard?  I know that seems absolutely random, but he's ranting on the TV right now.)