Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) (Abbado)

This song from youtube is to do with the next post:)  - Hope you enjoy it!

November Crunch is On...

Apparently a snow squall warning is in effect for these parts- meanwhile the sun is shining. I am not complaining!

I am considering this photo of Lily and her Christmas mouse for Christmas cards this year...

Cheery....no?

My chili stretcher week was a success (chili with buns; chili on top of a baked potato with sour cream and taco salad - romaine, scoop of chili, grated cheddar and crushed tortilla chips) but there are still 9 more days of eating before the next budget takes over. I grocery-shopped on Monday and used $20 of PC points in addition to the $70 that was left in the food budget. Not to worry (though no doubt I will anyways) as I have put a meal plan into place. After reading all of your posts the past 10 years or so I don't know why I wasn't meal planning sooner!!

Upcoming yummy dinners include Tuna Melts, Chicken Fajitas, Salmon Patties, and/or Salmon Steaks, Stuffed Peppers, Jerk Chicken and Breakfast for Dinner. 

That's not quite 9 dinners but I get two meals out of some of these recipes and sometimes more if Kazi eats at her boyfriend's house or goes out with friends like she did last night. So I'm pretty confident that I'll make it to the end of the month before the end of the contents of the fridge :)

My Snowflake Box (extra savings squeezed weekly out of my misc budget) currently holds $620 with about the equal amount being added in December. Christmas is paid for - hurrah! And my PC points will cover extra food, what I need for baking and stocking stuffers. Yes, I still do a stocking for Kazi although she is 27 years young. She says it's her favourite gift. All I do is go to the Superstore and purchase lotions, facial masks, hot chocolate, toothpaste and other drugstore type items and then wrap each one with the odds and ends of leftover Christmas wrapping paper. Covered by points it costs me nothing but time. So why mess with tradition?

I don't usually do a lot ahead of time though I do have a turkey frozen since the Thanksgiving sales. I have gifts for one of my brothers (he's so easy to buy for) - I bought him a book by an author we both love about the "WILD" parts of Scotland, a CD called "The Secret Path" written by Canadian superstar rock god Gord Downie of the band "The Tragically Hip" who recently passed away from a brain tumour. The CD is about a young indigenous boy who ran away from a residential school in winter and was found frozen to death. True story. My brother makes his living as an oil painter and told me the last time I visited that he wants to explore stories of Canada's First Nations people for inspiration for his paintings. Whenever he tells me these things I tuck them away in my mind as gift ideas :) The other thing I got for him is sheet music for Mendelssohn's song about Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa. My brother plays piano and we plan to see the Isle of Staffa next year if all goes well! 
I'll post the song by Mendelssohn in a separate post.

Now if only the rest of my family was so easy to buy for! My great-nephew is 10 and I have not a clue about what 10 year old boys are into these days - his Thomas the Tank Engine days are over unfortunately!

Suggestions??? Anyone???

Sunshine on my Shoulders Makes me Happy

It seems like forever since the sun was shining around here but today it finally is. Flood warnings are in effect though as the Thames River has received a ton of rain recently. Not to mention that white stuff. See? I'm not going to mention it!

Life has been chugging along satisfactorily. I would say my only problem (if this can be called a problem) is that I need a few more hours in each day to get done the many things I want to get done. I complain frequently that there are not enough hours in the day. Years ago, before retirement, I imagined that most of my time would be spent lounging around reading from a big pile of books.

What I didn't imagine, but should have, is how much time my other hobbies/sports & recreational activities would consume in a day. If I had then I might have fewer hobbies and more reading time. So the point of this is do I try to be more efficient with my time, ditch a few hobbies or try to make reading a priority?

Perhaps a combination of all three:

• I have ditched, sort of, a couple of hobbies - I'm never going to be an expert crocheter or spool knitter. Now that I've put my outdoor bike in storage I spend time at night riding my stationary bike (and watching Netflix) to make up for the hours I had been spending cycling outside. Instead of long hikes I walk 2km twice a week to volleyball and then try to find ONE sunny day each week for walking in the forest. I also play volleyball on Friday nights. Each day I do 30 minutes or a bit more of yoga and stretching. My back has been giving me fits but I find yoga really helps. If you ever have lower back pain the cobra pose (start with baby cobra) provides instant relief!

BABY Cobra

Cobra

• Time management is not one of my strong suits. Today is genealogy day and Wednesday is workshop day.  So far I've done zero genealogy today. I've read the paper, made a meal plan, had breakfast and gone grocery shopping. And I have to say that the sunshine is compelling me to go to the forest. **just checked the forecast and tomorrow looks like a really nice day so I will delay the walk until tomorrow after volleyball and today I will do research all afternoon. There, that's solved!

• I guess instead of complaining I should be happy (I am) that I have so many choices of "things to do"!  On the bright side I finished a book during all of the rain and am partway through three others (part of the problem!!! I need to stick to one book til it's done - it's just that others beckon me with their wonderful covers and promises of what's inside!!). I'm reading a lot about Scotland especially the Isle of Skye. I am trying to find more times throughout the day when I can pick up a book. It's pretty much my most favourite thing to do yet I keep putting it off. No more!! 

See ya!

Hah, just kidding! Sort of.....first yoga, then reading while eating lunch and then research! 

See ya! 

Here I Am

Your know you haven't posted in a while when you have to "sign in" on your blog site! I've been busy playing volleyball, going into the forest, going to rallies, visiting friends and relatives and going to a "blanket exercise"and other workshops and a memorial service.

Here's a few photos:

Oh...oops! Here's a photo of Lily binging on "The Walking Dead"! Bad girl...., but she is a carnivore after all!

The following photos were taken in Toronto where there was a rally against privatization of public resources - oh look, there's Kathleen Wynne, the premier of Ontario! She loves to sell off so-called public corporations for a little bit of easy cash that she can spread around while making more false promises. Election time next year Ms. Wynne - I don't think it's going to go your way!

 City Hall and Nathan Philip Square where soon there will be an outdoor rink for ice skating. We did get a bit of a snow squall last Friday but it's melted thankfully.

For over two years the Council of Canadians has been protesting weekly against the sale of Hydro One. Sadly we did not win that battle so while in Toronto we walked down the street where there is a memorial to Sir Adam Beck whose wish it was that everyone have access to cheap electricity. He is now rolling in his grave which you can see in the photo below! Since this campaign is now over we left behind our signs and props. I wonder how the gov't will cover the loss of $750 million per year in revenue that they received from Hydro One??

Last Wednesday was a beautiful day so I headed out to do a little forest bathing :) There are still beautiful photos to be taken...milkweed...

 ...wild turkeys...let me know if you need a turkey for the upcoming American Thanksgiving!!

Most of the colour is now on the ground...

Grape vine always makes for interesting photos...

The sky was as blue as it could be...

Still small areas of enchantment...

I had a number of burrs stuck to my clothing when I left...

Lily lapping up the sun...

...and trying to get used to Daylight Savings Time!  Extra naps needed :)

An event I attended last Thursday is called the "Blanket Exercise" which is considered a form of reconciliation with our indigenous peoples through education. It was an emotional, gut-wrenching experience but so worthwhile if you get the chance to attend one, do it!

We started off with the floor covered in blankets to represent North America.

Gradually the areas where aboriginals were allowed to live grew much smaller as treaty land

was taken away from them. 

Also, as aboriginals were killed, mistreated and abused the blankets were decreased in size until there was barely anywhere to stand.

Everyone has a different role to play in order to walk in the shoes 

of a disenfranchised person.

My role was of a woman who left the reservation and her family to become a teacher. As a result

the government took away my Indian Status and I wasn't allowed to return to my home 

and my people. I had to leave the circle and stand alone, isolated.

The toughest part was the loss of so many children who were literally torn from their parents' arms and sent to residential schools where "teachers" tried to erase the Indian from them. 

It was a very emotional night and the shame and guilt I feel from the terrible mistreatment of our aboriginal peoples is heavy indeed. Being a member of an Anglican congregation for many years I have watched as the Anglican Church has tried to right the many wrongs done to First Nations people. Mostly with money. And mostly inadequate to their needs. If you would like to learn more about the blanket exercise I have included a link below.

Blanket Exercise

November Numbers: New Budget

Good-bye October and HELLO November!

I experienced some belt-tightening in October due to the new car purchase which left me with a much smaller amount of Misc money for weekly spending. Knowing I couldn't play "fast and loose" with my funds I was way more careful with misc spending than I normally am! So...even on a reduced budget I managed to squirrel away more money than usual in my snowflake box! Yippee!!!

A number of factors helped me stash away extra snowflakes:

• I had set a gasoline budget of $80 for October. I didn't use any of that! When I bought the car the tank was full and I didn't buy any gas during the rest of September or October. When gas went down in price Nov. 1st I filled the tank for a cost of only $40! Looks like I won't be overspending on gas though I anticipate using more now that it is getting colder. If I can make it til the end of November without buying more gas I'll have another $40 to add to the snowflake box :)
• Both electricity and natural gas bills came in under the budgeted amount. It's been a mild fall so far and I haven't had to use the furnace much yet or the electric heater downstairs in the TV room. 
• I was very frugal with my grocery shopping this month. I'm still eating from the package of 5 chicken breasts that I bought: first I made fajitas (lasted 2 nights), then I used some in a pasta dish (1 dinner and Kazi took the rest the next day for her lunch); and then I made chicken vegetable soup with the remainder which I am still eating. (yes, chicken was frozen after being cooked!) I had $50 left in the grocery budget which went into the snowflake tin. 
• November will brings its own savings opportunities. I have switched to a cheaper internet package (more gigs at a lower cost!) I have been paying $93/month for 200g. I was browsing my internet company's website (Rogers.com) and saw a different, cheaper package so I switched. I don't know how much exactly my new bill will be what with taxes and so on but should be in the area of $60 for 250g.
• My share of car insurance is going down by $11/month - that's not a lot but it's money in my pocket instead of the insurance company's!
• I've also paid off $2,000 on my credit card: this was the maximum the car dealership would accept from using a credit card to pay for a car. As interest could accrue it was the first part of the car's cost that I paid off.
• I have made another purchase (a Yamaha keyboard-Merry Christmas to me!!) and paid most of it off (a different credit card). When I receive a GIC interest payment later this month it will go to pay off the rest owing on the credit card. By the end of November I will be 100% debt-free once again. 
• Now that one c/c is paid in full I have also repaid my savings in the amount of $500. Having no debt means that starting in December over $1,000 per month will re-build my savings to my pre-car purchase balance. If I didn't travel my savings accounts would be totally repaid in 10 months but as I have plans for a couple trips next year it will taken longer to rebuild my savings but that's ok. Can't be frugal all of the time! 
• Come January my pension will receive an extra bump up due to increased cost of living raise. When I first started receiving my pension not ALL of my pension received cost of living increases. That was due to the pension plan not doing as well back in the financial crisis of 2007-8. But now that the stock market has recovered my entire pension will receive the cost of living increase. I'm very happy about that! I know how much the gross amount will be but not what my net increase will be. 
• By the end of November my snowflake box should hold about $500.  Along with my PC points from using my President's Choice Mastercard for all purchases (currently around $100) I will have $600 saved for Christmas. I will also have an extra $300 from not having to pay property taxes in December or January (I pay my taxes on a 10 month plan)! That should cover any additional expenses during the very expensive month of December:) 

And there you have it - my spending adventure (car and keyboard) is over for now. Snowflakes are growing and by the time the real snow is on the ground I'll have Christmas expenses covered. Having a plan and sticking to it really helps. I must remember that as I plan my travelling for next year: Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and SCOTLAND!