Nor'easter and Tea

Today is definitely one of those days which makes a person thankful that they can build a nice warm toasty fire, pour a cup of tea and curl up with a good book. To say that it is shitty outside is a major understatement. It is a typical eastern Nor’easter. The wind is gusting, the rain is falling horizontally, and there are snow pellets beating against the window. Yes, a really great day to stay inside and avoid the unpleasantness.

And to be honest, I am not in the least feeling guilty about it. Yesterday we hauled four truck loads of wood into the basement and stacked it up in the crib. By the last load I had, had enough. But this morning when I went into the basement and saw the big chunk of work completed in the form of nicely stacked firewood it certainly made it all worthwhile. There are two and a half bunks left to fill and once done it will be the wood for the winter. The left over wood we are going to pile into the small Wookie Cave, so on the off chance that the winter is particularly long and cold we will have enough to last us through the worst of it. (Or on the chance that the kids come to visit and more heat than normal is required we should be prepared.)

Yesterday was also our first official “Cheat Day” for this new diet that I decided to embark us on. I decided that it would make sense to do our first measurements the morning of, (just in case we really, really over indulge in the cheating) so we did our weighing and measuring. So I am pleased to report that after only five days the hubby is down five pounds, and yours truly is down four. And all that was done on a diet that didn’t leave us hungry, ever. With those kinds of results I think it will be relatively easy to stick with the plan. So bring it on!

No BS for Iron Bess

Is it too early to give an update on the new health regime happening at Kitpu Estates? Perhaps, but I have to report that so far (fingers crossed) it hasn't been too bad. I've opted to follow a low carb kick start diet to try and get some of the added weight off of Dora and Darren Domestica and really the only thing that is a tad bit difficult is breakfast without bread, cereal, or other types of carbs. Today was boiled eggs, red peppers, celery, cucumber, and a piece of bacon each. We both missed the toast. But if things work out that is a small price to pay for losing some of our jiggly parts, and not being in the slightest hungry.

I have my spreadsheets finished, broken down by days, short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. I have a chart in the works, as well as a list of healthy ranges which both of us should be in. I am working on a menu for the next two weeks, and the recipes that go along with the meals. I know my BMI, my BMR, so I no longer have to BS myself.

And as on aside, the garage now has 3.5 walls done for siding. Woohoo! Although the last half will be a bit of a pain in the butt. A window, which is now housed in the Wookie Cave on the floor, still needs to be installed into that wall. Which means...cutting a big assed hole in the wall, putting in headers, prepping the wall for the window, then trying to figure out how to get the big assed window up onto the scaffold and into the hole without breaking it. (Oh and there is that tiny bit of work where the work bench, tool chest and a myriad of other crap has to be moved out of the way before any of this shit can be done.) But that's all.

Goodbye Dora Domestica

Goodbye Dora Dometica, or should I say, see you later Dora. Tomorrow will start a new chapter of life at the shack in the east, it is with some regret that I will be hanging up my spatula and apron and turning once again to the deary side of haute cuisine. Unfortunately all the apple cobbler, apple strudel, apple pie, apple crumble, and everything else pastry has finally caught up with me. Right now I am more like Porky Domestica, Dora's rounder and flabbier cousin. Granted I've never been one who could, or would turn down pastry, most especially if it was of the chocolate persuasion. Typically I would just say, "I'll just run an extra five or ten k this week and that will take care of it." But now I would have to run an extra five or six hundred k, that's if I were still running. So a new era at the ranch is dawning. My husband, lucky man that he is, will reap the benefits of the new regiment. Can you hear that? It is the sound of a grown man weeping. He was just getting complacent about the advent of Dora into his life.

My goal is to say goodbye to about twenty pounds of unwanted flab, and to say hello to some well hidden muscles, perhaps adding a few more to the family. Good thing I am a goal oriented, slightly OCD type individual otherwise this process would be really, really, really hard. I happen to be really fond of many bad kinds of carbs and I am saying fare thee well to all of them (for five whole days at least). I am busy doing up spread sheets, researching recipes, and planning out meals. So wish me luck and send me lots of supporting thoughts, but please, do not send me any cake, because I will have it and eat it too.

Random Autumn Leaves

Critters

Okay, so here is a picture of a critter which decided to take up residence underneath the scaffolding blocks. Probably not a good place if you want to live. Just saying.

The Continuing Saga

Yesterday was another sweet day in the land of the east, the sun was out, the wind was blowing, and best of all, no rain! We spent most of the day working on the siding project, ala the garage. Ninety percent of the work consisted of dicking around with all the prep work, starter strips, J-molds, strapping, leveling, screens to keep out critters, etc. Once ALL that crap was finished the actual putting siding up went pretty fast. We had company at one point, thankfully, and it gave me a chance to do a couple loads of laundry as it was a pretty good wind day for that. (We still don't have an actual dryer so I have to take advantage of any day which doesn't have 100% humidity. Okay I take that back, I do have an actual dryer, a brand spanking new one, it happens to be sitting in a box in the living room waiting for the day where it will be hooked up. But that folks, is a different story.) So I think we are about a third of the way done with the siding project for this year. The small garage, my Wookie Cave, isn't on the schedule until sometime next spring.

I will post some progress pictures when I have access to my camera and the other computer. Today I have to go to a seminar in the city and listen to someone tell me exciting things which they can do with my money. Then I am going to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday with her. All I can say is that I hope that when I turn 80 I won't be somewhere on a scaffold putting siding up on a garage.

Another Early Morning In The Rain

I woke up at 3:30 am and lay in bed trying to get back to sleep until 4:30, at which point I decided to get up and stop fighting it for awhile. I figured that after an half hour of reading I would be tired again and lay back down. Well that sure as hell didn't happen. So three cups of coffee, two egg sandwiches, a finished book, and some playing on the computer and I am still awake. It is now 7:00 am and it is still black outside. And still raining. This would be a great time to get some writing in but for some reason my brain just won't do it. I'm not sure if its because I haven't written in so long that I've forgotten how to, or if it is me just being lazy, but I sure feel like I am letting an opportunity just slip away.

On the plus side I have had almost three hours of solitude. Better than heaven.

Progress Pictures

For some reason, probably because I am trying to do a before and after show, I cannot find the original pictures of the exterior of the house. Anyway no biggie, here are some pictures of the renovation process of the exterior. The first picture shows that we have already replaced two of the windows, and are working on the new entry way. But you get the idea.

This next picture shows the new entry door in place, but the old one is still there and so is the large picture window in sun room, soon to be new master bedroom.




This picture shows out with the old, in with the new.




This is already starting to look like it looks today.

The almost finished project. Only a few touches left. Considering putting up shutters, but that won't be until next year, or until a big sale comes up for them. So all new windows, one new door in a slightly different spot than originally, and a temporary back step. Next year, when the new deck goes in, we will put the final back step into place. And there you have it...only a thousand more things to do and Bob's your uncle.

Wood, Siding, and Leaves

Today was a pretty good day in terms of finally getting things done, well done to the point where we are winterized for the coming year. We actually finished getting all the siding up and secure that we can on the house. We still have one more window to install so the siding on that side will have to wait until the window is done. That, of course, is the window for the kitchen which is still under talks. Meaning that so far all the quotes we got for it are wayyyyyy out of our price range, so the window doesn't get changed, and the siding has to be put off until that is done.

We also managed to get one and a half rows of wood stacked in the basement. Only another eight truck loads to go before we are all done for the winter. Of course the rain started again today so I am hoping that we will have another week or so of sun and non-rain type weather where we can put our backs into the project and haul the rest of the wood into the basement. Or is that another fifteen truck loads? Where is my calculator when I need one?

This is a picture of the lake this week, I'm not sure how much longer the leaves will hang in there but they sure are making things awful pretty around these parts.

Taking A Bite Out Of A Beautiful Day

Today was beautiful day number five out here on the east coast. Yesterday it was 34 degrees, sunny, warm and gorgeous. It was an odd Turkey Day to say the least. Today the temps hovered in the low twenties but it was pretty nice all the same. Unfortunately for this camper it was marred by the big trauma of going to the dentist and getting a broken tooth fixed. Fortunately this appointment was pretty smooth sailing, the only real pain I suffered was paying the bill at the end. $477.00 for spending just under an hour in the chair. Yikes! The irony is that I have been fully covered dental wise for many, many years and did not have any major issues teeth wise for years and years. Now, of course, when I have no coverage and have to pay for everything out of pocket I get zinged, and badly. I wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something?

Early Morning Thoughts

It is six o'clock in the morning and I have just started a fire to try and take the chill out of the air. It is two degrees outside and fourteen degrees inside, looks like fall has arrived. As I wait for the air to become less solid I did a bit of surfing and found some actual news on the news.

Not a surprise but sad nonetheless, Steve Jobs dies at 56. Sad. Although I don't have a Mac, and never have had one, I don't have to, to know what the man did for the world of computing. I believe the world needs more people like Jobs, not less. We cannot afford to lose those whose talents help us drag the world out of the dark ages.

Not a surprise but sad nonetheless, Palin confirms that she won't try for the leadership of the G.O.P. It really is too bad, I was kinda looking forward to the comedic relief she would have provided for the year. Now instead of being a laughing stock of the world she may actually be an evil influence on the sidelines. Although, in my humble opinion, I'm pretty sure that Palin is only into politics for one thing...show me the money! So if you see her throwing her support over to a specific candidate you can bet you booties it will have been for a goodly chunk of change.

Oh and a bunch of shit happened in soccer, but that isn't news now is it.

Apples and More Apples

Although I still haven't got my computer back from the computer hospital today it wasn't a complete bust. My property, and most of the bush around it, is bursting at the seams with apples. So I went out and picked some big assed apples, and made Apple Kuchen from them. For those of you who do not know what Apple Kuchen is, join the club, I hadn't heard of it myself until this morning when I was perusing the recipe book for something to do with apples. Turns out that Apple Kuchen is yummy. Most especially if you use the tart kind of apples, which I did. You make this kinda muffin consistency type of dough, but out of yeast for the rising, stick it in the fridge for a couple hours, pour it onto the bottom of the cake pan, slice up the apples and then pour melted butter, sugar and cinnamon over top and then bake. Like I said, yummy. Probably a billion calories, but yummy nonetheless. I also made some danish dough and stuck it in the fridge for its overnight cooling needs so I can take some fresh baked danishes over to a neighbour who tried them once and raved about them ever since. Just call me Susie Homebaker.

All this I was doing while waiting for a phone call to come and pick up my computer. Normally I would be okay with waiting for a day or two but I found this job on line which may just be up my alley. You need to be OCD for this position, it isn't a management position, and you need steel toed boots. Check, check, and check. All things that I want out of a job. Well actually I'm not a big fan of steel toed boots, but I have some, and I also want to be creative and to be left alone as well. What does this have to do with my computer you ask? See my real computer has my resume already prettified on it and it only needs things like address changes, etc. Without it I would be reduced to coming up with a new resume and "using my brain" for something other than an instrument used to figure out how to get apples out of a tree without actually, a) climbing it, or b) dragging a ladder out of the garage all the way across the field. And frankly I'm not sure if I'm that desperate for a job at this point. Ha-ha, who am I kidding, I know I'm not that desperate for a job, thus the Apple Kuchen and danish pastry.

Oh and completely off topic, but near and dear to most Canadians hearts, the Weather Report. Holy snapping arse holes Batman but is it ever windy here. First it rained like hamsters all night long, now the wind has been acting like a hurricane, which is strange as the hurricane that blew by here a couple of days ago didn't throw any of that wind stuff around. Go figure. The white caps on the lake has white caps, and those have little white cap hats. The worse part of it is that the trees which are all pretty with reds, oranges, and yellows are losing a lot of those leaves. Of course because I haven't taken any pictures yet.

And on another completely unrelated tangent, cats are assholes.

Changing My Settings

It seems as if the Settings Fairy came to visit my Blog and decided to randomly change some of the settings. I have gone in and set them back (I hope) to the way they were. Just another fun thing I do during a rainy fall day.

Things Are Looking Up

Alright so things which I have done to try and fix my computer have not worked, I tried booting it up in Safe Mode so I could isolate the virus.  It would not boot up in Safe Mode, nor go to Safe Mode.  I tried to use Kaspersky Virus Remover, it just laughed in my face.  I tried to change the virus protector I had to a different name and run it that way, trying to make it seem that it wasn't really a virus doctor, it stuck its tongue out and wiggled its ears at me.  I contemplated wiping the whole thing out and running the recovery discs in it but was reluctant to lose all my information.  So I took a deep breath and made a couple of calls to people who know how to do stuff to these magic boxes, fearing the worst, and was surprised to learn that if I took my computer in to have diagnostics run on it they would charge me a flat fee of $59.00 to shoot some antibiotics into it.  I was expecting mucho denaros and actually contemplated buying a new one instead.  $59.00 I can actually live with.  So my real computer is in the hospital and I am writing this on my lap top, which I swore I would never connect to the net.  I guess the lesson here is that you shouldn't take my word for things because obviously you can't trust me swearing to things. 

But even though it looked bleak for my computer the guy at the shop seemed to feel he could help me and fix it while still managing to retain all my files.  Happy days.  :) That totally deserves a smiley face. 

So today turned out to be a good day, the weather went from rain forest like deluge to sunny, warm and beautiful.  I actually got out into the back forty and spent a few hours working on my trails.  That is the first time in forever that I was able to do that.  It really has been quite a busy few months and I have been seriously missing it.  I also went to the recycle place and unloaded all the bottles, glass, plastic, etc which we have  been hoarding for the past year and walked away with $24.00.  Not bad.  But the next time will be better because we found out that there are a few more items we can return, which we have been sending out with our regular recycling, which are redeemable for money.  I also got a hair cut.  Boy oh boy did I ever need it.  I dropped some baby stuff off at the Salvation Army place.  The hubby and I tried out about twenty of so beds, I definitely want to go with the plush mattress, so now all I have to do is wait until they go on sale.  I am sooooooo looking forward to getting back into a king sized bed.  We also planted our butts on some couches and found one which is very, very, very comfortable, now if only it didn't come in size XXXXXXXL.  Not that our front room is tiny or anything, but this behemoth would make it a wall to wall couch.  So I guess this means we have to continue to get friendly with store furniture for awhile yet until we find something we can live with. 

When I got home from town me and the trusty dog unit went out into the bush and picked me some apples.  They were huge.  So this evening I checked the internet for a recipe and baked an apple crisp.  I'm pretty sure the recipe was missing some key ingredients, it looks more like crusty apple soup. I am hoping that it will taste better than it looks.