Mcgrath sisters talk

😁  Hi,  I am just in from being out in the cold and "mixed precipitation" trying to decorate at the front in preparation for tomorrow evenings Hallowe'en frenzy. I am freezing with the temp at 34 F right now and cannot wear gloves and also try to decorate, so my hands are cold and overall I am feeling rather "stupid" to be out there at all. So decision made.....leave it all for now, and go in and make a coffee and put a batch of cookies in the oven and sit and write in the blog and fill my mouth with deliciousness. I am going to have to mix up some more rolls of refridgerator cookies at this rate. They are too handy all ready to go in the freezer and too easy to bake up on an impulse. Tomorrow promises the same weather so hopefully few little goblins will be coming. And...that means that I get the leftovers to myself. That is why we buy Kit Kats and Coffee Crisp  and Ereo little bars and put them in a little bags to hand out hoping that there will be leftovers....

  Recently, I hired a man named Jacob to clear the windrows left by snowplows over the winter.  He's certainly of an age to be retired, and I got his name from a neighbourhood service that connects retired workers to elderly people who need a bit of assistance.  When we realized that the snow was deep enough to freeze into ice ruts, I called him and asked if he could clear the driveway. He had another job earlier this morning, but promised to be here before noon.  He arrived at 10:30, ready to shovel the driveway.  David was putting away the yard furniture, and was there to greet him.  When I realized what was going on, I headed out.  During introductions Jacob asked who was J. Findlay, as he'd checked out the address. So we had a chat about names.  Then we talked about how the job would be done, and settled on using a snow blower.  Then we had a chat about where the snow would go which lead to a chat about the neighbour. Everything planned I...

  It's heavy in the trees and white everywhere but on the road and driveway.  Any that arrives before Oct31st usually melts away in my experience.  I sure hope that's true this time as our snow clearing contract doesn't come into effect until Nov 1st. My doctor has put me on a diet of absolutely no dairy products.  I'm confused and dismayed.  I've relied on dairy products for about 75% of my protein intake ever since I discovered Dr Phil's diet.  The danger is relying too much on starches to replace the dairy protein, as David and I did many, many years ago when we experimented with Vegan-ism, and tried to delete meat from our diet.  So breakfast today was two small slices of pumpernickel with peanut butter and an handful of grapes. Today, David and I have decided to go nowhere.  To just stay at a home and relax, or maybe do a little house work?  I have a list in my BuJo that could keep us busy for a week.  I would prefer to spend t...

  ...if not already on the ground as I hear from forecasts out your way. I am almost confident that i will be prepared for Winter this year with all that i have tried to accomplish lately outside in the yard. I think that I have often mentioned the privacy i enjoy when the next door neighbours are away in their home in Holland for the Winter. Well....it appears that things are changing. The daughter of my dear friend Ruth ( deceased three years now) who lived across the street with her husband Gerd, has arrived from Vernon, British Columbia with her husband to take up residence in Ontario. This past Summer she visited and bought a lot in South River ( next town up) They arrived by car this past week and appear to have set up home next door. I assume that they have rented the house from her Uncle and Aunt in Holland, but maybe they are just offering them the use of it - who knows. I do not intend to seek further info unless in speaking with Gerd i get the lowdown. In meantime, their...

  This afternoon I attended a class on Cyber-Security for Seniors.  Had to drive out to Lorette in the rain to get there, mind you.  I'm glad there was a good Power Point presentation as the young woman giving the presentation had a very strong accent.  There are two more presentations, but I've suggested that David not go, as accents frustrate him. This afternoon, while I was away, Loren came over and helped hang the Panda wall hanging in the bedroom, and tried to sort out some problems I've been having with my basement tv.  We ended up calling the MTS Help line, only to find out that all we had to do was re-boot the "modem" connection.  Since there is such an important football game tonight, I have to watch my regular Saturday evening shows in the basement.  Handwork sometimes interferes with my understanding of the tv, especially with British shows, and it's always a challenge to watch downstairs without a needle in my hand.  The only solution ...

  With all that has been happening with us lately, our telephone calls and emails have taken precedence over the Blog - and rightly so. We are dealing with what we have to deal with in a timely manner regarding updates and the like. And, that will likely continue as needed. Without saying much more about this, I am thinking of you both. 💏 So I sit here and sip at my special Chai Tea Latte that I just made with the Tim Hortons Chai Tea bags I have stored in a neat little jar, and using my Milk Frother machine and adding the unique flavour of Matteos Vanilla Syrup. It is a treat for me and I make it sparingly to ensure I have the right ingredients on hand (I hoard my delights) And I will make it only at the right moment in time and the most appropriate time for me. Today was that moment. It is dismal outside so no working in the yard today. Instead I have had a steady workout with the washing machine and the huge pile of dirty clothes. They, too, tend to accumulate around here when ...

  Seems like the best way to describe Cathy and Jim's life, and even ours.  At our visit to the Denturist last week, David was diagnosed with an infection in his mouth, and given anti-biotics, as his first extractions are tomorrow.  He's reacted somewhat to the anti-biotics, and is feeling "out-of-sorts", sleeping a lot and generally taking it easy. We have been sorting out the freezer, to a certain extent, resulting in us roasting two chickens this week, and more-or-less living on chicken sandwiches. But--today the chicken runs out and we have to find something else for supper.  Since I don't feel like cooking a big meal (ever!) I have a hunch that spaghetti is in our future, although maybe better tomorrow, after the extractions. Could be I might just have to cook a slightly bigger meal than I have in awhile. We both got haircuts last week, me on Friday, after which I went across the mall to Starbucks and sat reading for about 30 minutes.  It's been a long...

Jim had his last “new” test this morning. Hopefully the lung specialist (who phoned from Hawaii!!) has some ideas. Then Jim had a bath. Lisa let him soak in the hot tub while she made his bed. He really enjoyed the soak. (I’m jealous!  It looks like such a relaxing tub). We even played crib this afternoon. I had ordered some meat so I had to pick it up this afternoon (and pay for it☹️). But I have 10 pounds of lean ground beef, 11 pounds of thick sliced bacon and a beef tenderloin that I will be cutting into steaks.  Tonight was packaged salad. It was $6.00 but I had it for two days so it was worth it.  Plus I wanted it and I enjoyed it😊.  Tomorrow I think I will make another pizza. I am trying to eat more than toast and peanut butter (although that is pretty good).  The neighbour dropped in today just to see how we are doing. She gave me ideas on how to use my convection oven as an air fryer!  I didn’t know how to use it as a convection oven let alone how...

  Good afternoon on Sunday, Just a quickie message as we return from shopping in Huntsville for some groceries but also a new printer which I shall soon take from the box and program into the Laptop hoping that Harry will then be able to set up shop once again after hesitating to try the new desktop. He is familiar with the Laptop so should be able to make the transition. But....it is snowing nicely here right now. The ground is becoming a bit covered with white as the temp is about zero and so the snow falling is starting to stick around. Will not last long though, so no need to get out the snow shovels ...yet!  And as well, it is a bit of a surprise for Thanksgiving Day. 😒 Enjoy every little thing you are both doing today and tomorrow. And be thankful you can.. XX

  And about time too. I was exhausted, and I'm sure David was exhausted from my exhaustion! Yesterday was my workshop at a nearby quilt shop.  There were only 6 of us, and most of the work didn't require instruction, so the instructor, who was also the shop owner came and went.  Often when she was with us it was just for social interaction.  The Kit, with full instructions, was provided, and she went over the instructions thoroughly before letting us loose with any cutting, and most of the day was spent just doing that--cutting.   All the tools were provided, and the rotary cutter I was given was terrible, so I spent most of the day with shears.  Thank Goodness, I thought to take them, as my hands and elbows have had enough cutting for awhile. This was the last scheduled event for me until the next Craft Sale on Nov. 25.  Not so for David.  We see the denturist on Tuesday. and his first working appt. with the Oral Surgeon next Monday.  T...

  It is done and I am now doing the 4 times a day eye drops in both eyes for a week. And booked for a return visit for reassessment in a month. It is so interesting now to be the elderly patient  in my life rather than the young, excited, vibrant health care worker that I once was. How did this all change so quickly, one has to ask oneself? But nevertheless here I am. Often times feeling very patronized as I flow through this  and that to reach the end. The professionals are now very young and very lively and very busy running about the office seeing one patient after another - assembly line fashion. I even feel alienated from visiting the local Pharmacy anymore as the staffing has changed and the old guard is gone. So...it is me just feeling this way, or has our time come 😔 The rainy weather has come and with it all the leaves are falling and the temp is falling as well. We really did enjoy a wonderful period of gorgeous, sunny and warm days, didn't we?  Now I loo...

  Not this house, but the last one.  Yes, the big fancy house in the new development, that we really couldn't afford, on a pension.  Because of the grasslands to the North and west, and Tall Grass Prairie to the South East, the field mice used to invade every fall.  I wanted nothing to do with it, so David looked after trapping them.  Cathy, living on an acreage, probably has more mouse problems that either Beth and I. Of more concern , in our last house, were the skunks that nested under the front stairs.  Darren eventually came with a special trap for skunks and used sardines as bait.  He said he took them out to a rural area and released them.  The special trap was long and low so that the skunk couldn't raise his back end to spray. In hind sight, it doesn't seem fair that we encouraged the rabbits and partridges, even the deer, but wouldn't tolerate the skunks. In this house we aren't concerned but the neighbour across the back traps rabbits--...

  Cats..  they are truly wonderful to have around but.... with six of them here it makes for some exciting adventures. And yes, Cathy, they own the territory. It is not yours.. you are sharing your territory with them. They will lay where they are as long as they want. And this morning just now when it is feeding time I was missing two - the youngest were gone. After checking the bathroom to make sure they were not stuck behind a closed door ( which has happened) i ventured into the Sun Room where I heard some commotion. And yes, they had corralled a mouse under a table. My mouse capturer is a plastic bowl with a piece of cardboard to fit nicely under it. It worked for me again this morning and up and outside where it was let loose in the trees. Spoiled the cats fun but one less mouse in the house is better for me. Pati do you have nay issues with mice in your home or have you? Maybe at the Lake you might have had to do some trapping?  Anyway, folks, on with the day....

  Have you ever noticed that cats never move?  You have to go to the bathroom and they lie there. You have to push them to get out of bed, and when you come back they are still lying there!! Just asking. Not that it is happening to me 😊( repeatedly😜). Love you♥️♥️♥️

  I voted early, and Jim voted at the hospital today. They set up in the TV room and expected patients to come to them. (We were led to believe they would be going room to room). After much difficulty we got Jim there and he was their first customer. After him, they said there was a woman who couldn’t get out of bed, so they decided they would figure out how to visit individual patients. (Poor planning!).  Last night (through my negligence) Lucky ate 3 chocolate cookies and one chocolate chip muffin (including paper wrapper). I was watching him and googling all day. He is fine, but I was scared for a while!  Jim has convinced me to stop at the legion every day. I guess when I told him Lucky was answering me when I talked, he got worried😜. I must admit seeing other people is helping me deal with life. Today I wiped out in the driveway. We have had Nostic near our garden (it is a slimy, jellylike scum). It appears we have it in our driveway. I slid on the slime and went do...

  It is a nice treat to log on and see more posts from you both. And also on your Studio posts as well Pati.  Yesterday we headed out early to head to the Callander Cranberry Marsh just south of North Bay. Beautiful day for a march and off we went following the trail in. Takes 55 minutes to walk to the Lookout Tower and into the most used entrance to the actual Marsh. You can follow the trail a bit further to reach Lake Nipissing but we just went to the marsh area. Many others out for the walk as it is a very popular area. People and dogs and strollers and small ones so lots of "Hellos"  and "Nice day" conversations back and forth along the way. It took Harry two seconds going into the Marsh to exclaim "NO" we are not going further. Soggy and wet, and muddy and well used terrain. Apparently on Saturday (unbeknownst to us) they had a "Cranberry Day" there so I imagine it was a very busy place, and trampled down nicely and slushy, wet areas where o...

The weather over the next 4-5 days should be fairly warm.  I still think of this as "Indian Summer" even as I acknowledge how inappropriate the term is.  I very much prefer the warm days of fall to the intolerably hot days of summer.  Maybe because I've never been one to walk around in a bikini or short shorts. I still remember being at the lake in the last half of August and early September when the nights were cool, but the days were wonderful. David has been battling the leaves, armed only with a rake, but that is about to change.  Amber dropped off the 5 gal. "jerry" can yesterday, and now David can use the old lawn mower to turn those darn leaves into mulch.  Given the pleasant weather, I've been sitting on the patio observing the battle, so far, but the noise of both the machine and the operator, during operation may well make me take cover in the basement. Beth, I was attracted to Kelley Armstrong through her "Omens" series.  It is a lovely...