Winter returns

The snow continued to fall, and the ground was well-covered in a pristine blanket of white. As I began my day, I picked up a book to read. I prepared coffee using our new coffee pod order, and S was up, making his porridge to have with his coffee. I enjoyed my yogurt and then headed to marketing.

I published my IKEA dresser tutorial  and shared it on various link-up sites, Facebook pages, and with the paint company. Now to the workshop, I sanded Kaylin’s desktop and applied a coat of oil based clear coat to the top side. I then brought the coffee table in and, while doing so by myself, accidentally dinged a leg against a wall corner. Fortunately, I was able to remove the mark with a soft scrubber. Now, it’s ready to be staged, but this step requires moving around a lot of things. The snow stopped around 11 am, and the snow that had fallen was starting to melt. S finally installed the new RO filters.

Seeing an opportunity for a new project, I pulled out a drawer from the curvy front dresser I recently acquired and applied stripper to it. While the stripper worked its magic, I went in for a bowl of soup for lunch. Britt and Coop were out as I scraped off the first layer and applied another coat of stripper. She finished up and headed back home to rest still feeling unwell after 1 pm.

I then carried over one of the nightstands and applied stripper to its damaged top. While it worked, I went ahead and placed the coffee table in position and snapped some photos. S continued working on computer tasks after tidying up the bathrooms. I managed to maneuver the coffee table downstairs without dinging it this time and rearranged the furniture back into its original place.

The stripper was scraped off the drawer, revealing the lovely wood grain underneath. It was scrubbed, wiped with a towel and left to dry. Now to do all the other drawer fronts.

In the city the Boysis family is cleaning and packing for their big move. Even Renn, who loves to clean is doing her share. XOXO

The nightstand was vacuumed, the top scraped, and the entire thing scrubbed clean and wiped dry. As the sun peeked through the mid-afternoon, it was time to take Harley for a walk. The snow was now all gone. S took his turn reading the library book in his big brown chair.

Supper consisted of leftover pork roast. While S watched hockey, I began working on the jewelry box tutorial. Once again, the book was passed back to me for reading in bed. Around 10:30, I decided it was time to take my Spanish lesson. Amanda had reached an impressive milestone of 1500 consecutive days! That’s dedication, right? Britt has the family bonus week, which includes AJ and me, so I took advantage of my free hearts and time bonuses. This is the first time AJ and I have encountered real people we know on the same level, and it’s us!

April 1st

What a beautiful day to wake up to, with full-on sunshine! I spent some time reading until S woke up, then I made our coffees. I used the last two regular pods and had a second cup of decaf. We had breakfast, and then I started working on marketing, while S went to his laptop.

Uncle Elton sent this old article to Sheldon, there are many names of people we know including Mom and Dad, Dick, Connie, Joe etc and apparently Elton's uncle Stephen Millar AKA Mickey used to be the pickup man each stampede.

For lunch, we used up leftovers, I put the chicken carcass on  to make soup. Then I went out and flipped Kaylin’s board, applying a second coat to the “top” side after lightly sanding it. I swept the garage floor while S took out the recyclables and loaded them into his truck. We then took Harley for a walk.

Back at the house, I staked up one of the newly planted little evergreens that was growing crooked. S headed to town to have coffee with a friend, look for hockey gear, and pick up Cooper. Britt is trying to get us in a contract to pick him up four days a week in exchange for a babysitting fee. I went back to the garage and applied a second clear coat to the coffee table, hoping it would dry well.

It was then on to an hour on hold & chatting with our internet provider about the lagging service. They’re sending us a router to try and improve it. Here’s hoping! I managed to finish yesterday’s blog posts while doing this task, which was okay.

Kaylin sent this memory from last year, how sweet is this little angel? XOXO

S got home after 4:30, having picked up the coffee pod parcel from the mailbox. Awesome! He did not pick up Cooper as B was home early from work feeling sick. She feels she caught it on the plane.

I finished my chicken soup with veggies and noodles. Next I made an apple crisp using apples Kaylin had sent home with me. I had also prepared vegetables to accompany the pork roast I had put in the Instant Pot earlier. Britt was out at the same time as the Amazon driver delivered a parcel before 6 p.m. She prepared the food, gave it to the horses, and then joined us for supper while they ate.

After supper, Britt and Coop left for home, taking her bowls of soup and apple crisp with her to enjoy tomorrow on her day off. She gathered the horse feed buckets before leaving and refilled for tomorrow then was off before 7. S washed up the pots and then graded the yard for a bit before heading to the neighbours who had bought Stout’s house and are now selling it. He has been offered a case of beer to grade their yard. I worked on today's blog before moving to bed to do a Spanish lesson and read.

The horses raced around as the skies darkened to the west and moved this way. Ugly weather and snow is to roll in tonight and next 2 days. So long sunny plus 9 day today, you were enjoyed! The rain started at 7:30 with the temperature dropping. Good bye sunny springlike day. S was back at 7:45 having gotten the neighbour's yard done just in time. He headed to TV room for hockey and I watched the storm roll from bed reading.

It was really odd just before midnight when the power bumped in the stoma and the range hood came on full power, the blue deck lights turned on and the hot tub speaker started blaring. S shut them all off only to have this happen about 5 more time with the lights and hot tub.. all which were derived from S's cell phone. He even turned it off as I suggested but the net power bump turned it on as it was plugged in charging. How eerie and bizarre!! It was quite the April 1st.

Let Them ...

Mundane Monday started at 6 am, greeted by a dreary, dull, and cold day. Deciding to embrace the quiet, I settled in with a new library book at 7:30 am after not falling back asleep. As I prepared coffee, I made two, but S, slept soundly through the morning, waking around 9 am.

After breakfast (I am trying to implement eating before noon), I embarked on my morning marketing routine and completed the Etsy sale post, successfully launching it.  I had S, the Telus account holder, cancel our home number which took forever. They even came back offering free long distance and phone for $5/mth. After 24 years, we were no longer using the familiar 403-934-3222 as our landline.

While S worked on his Matt invoice in his big brown notebook, I handled accounting tasks and started a load of laundry, including washing our bedding.

After lunch, S folded and put away his laundry, then headed to the public skating rink to gradually get back on the ice without worry of tearing the hamstring again. He also fulfilled Britt’s request by picking up Cooper.

As I prepared for the upcoming month end, accounting continued to be a priority that I diligently worked on. I tried the first rinse cycle on the Nespresso machine then made an iced coffee.

Just before 4 pm, S returned home with Cooper, We prepared for Taco Monday. While the meat simmered, I applied a black stain coat to Kaylin’s desk topper.

Nathan sent these cute pictures of Renn volunteering to help clean poop off the upper deck - I don't believe she did any just got a bag ready like Dad does. This brave little girl is out in the elements sans diaper or pants :)

Hockey was on Prime so into the bedroom went S. I stained the other side of the desk topper then joined him sorting years of prescriptions and health receipts to save or toss. B was out to do her thing then took Cooper home. We ventured out for a hot tub during 2nd intermission. The game switched up with the Flames winning in OT which made S a happy man. We then watched another 1883 episode before he was off to sleep.

Come on spring, where are you?

It appears we inhabit a -6 universe, which I fervently hope will soon come to an end. While it’s possible that the temperature will drop further, I am hoping that it will rise. S was up to take a refreshing shower at 8:00 AM, getting ready for the day ahead. I fed the cats and Harley, prepared us coffee, and spent a few moments relaxing in bed, starting the day with a sense of calm.

As the morning unfolded, S prepared a bagel breakfast for himself and me, before he headed off to church. I had him to leave a stack of games at the gate for someone to pick up after church ss well as drop off another bag of used coffee pods at the post office.

The hippo rider

I dedicated the morning to working on the sales ads for the jewelry box. Listing on Etsy necessitates providing all the necessary information, including the shipping size box and weights, as well as a video. I also completed the accounting tasks for the day.

In my search for the original box for my Saje diffuser, which had stopped working, I spent countless minutes scouring the house. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate it, and S returned home at noon while I was still on my quest. As a result, we had limited lunch options, and S decided to cook grilled cheese sandwiches for us.

I loaded Shelby’s babies gift and was leaving the yard for town when Britt arrived to feed the horses at 1. I stopped at No Frills to get a prescription and a few groceries, then headed to Amanda’s to drop off some things for the kids. Craig’s sister arrived while we were having a quick visit, but I soon had to leave and go to Sharon’s. It had been a while since we had a “tea” visit, so there was a lot to catch up on. Of course, she had fresh banana bread to enjoy as well.

At five, I set off to pick up Britt, and we headed to our appointments at the day spa. After 6:30, I dropped her back home with a few errands to run, including another overcharge on a Walmart receipt. Please ensure you check your recipes before leaving the store. This one was $5, but if they do that to ten people daily, I’m certain it adds up in their favour. I also picked up a rotisserie chicken for supper and headed home.

S had taken Harley for a walk, given her a bath, and changed her fresh blanket in the kennel. He read a bit of my library book and enjoyed some TV time. Additionally, he prepared a pot of rice to accompany our delectable and easy supper, which included a packaged salad and the chicken.

We finished watching the movie “Your Place or Mine.” Now that it’s on Netflix, we watched an episode of “1883” so that S can finish the season and I got a rewatch. He went to sleep, and I watched “With Love, Meghan.”