Wonderful and Scary Day!

Thanks to my friends for the nice anniversary wishes yesterday!! It was so nice to feel special like that...gush. It will take me a few days to catch up on your blogs!

We had a very nice day yesterday. We started off the morning in the sunshine. There was some snow in the forecast for the evening, but our outing was planned for the afternoon, so we figured we were safe...anyway, more on that a little later! I made Alex's grandma's signature "Toast-ettes". This is a variation on the toad in the hole. Alex's side of the family is French Canadian, though he was brought up in the States, and we live an English life here. His grandma didn't pronounce the "t" at the end of toast, so we call them "tosettes"...yummy!

I have so many food allergies and intolerances...so I make mine without the yolks. They're so good. The toast itself tastes almost like melba toast around the edges!

We went out after breakfast because we wanted to get some anniversary gifts for each other. It has sort of become a tradition that we get fishing gear! We decided to buy these ice fishing rods, see how tiny they are? We will eventually use them for ice fishing, but in the summer we will use them for small crappy fishing. We're building our collection! We just need to find some reels.

We also got some new insulated rain boots for spring and fall fishing. They were on sale so we took advantage of the lower price. So..while we were in the store, the weather got really bad. What started as a sunny day with snow forecast only to begin after 8pm, turned into a white-out blizzard - NOT what was in the forecast and we were a 90 minute drive from home. We hurried to get the food we needed for dinner, then started back at dusk in a blizzard. Alex doesn't drive yet, so it was up to me and I have to say my hands are still sore today from white-knuckle driving for 2 hours.

I went onto Google Maps to take a print screen of this hill. This is the ONLY way home unless we backtrack for two hours, then take the other way, which would total 5 hours. It's beautiful going up the mountain in the summer, but last night...it was frightening. The onslaught of snow, the cars skidding, ice, lack of road clearing...see the exclamation mark? That's where we got stuck. Thankfully I made it just beyond that point so I could slide back into someone's driveway (thank you to those people for having a clear driveway!). I actually started crying from fear because people were all over that road, it was so dangerous and we nearly got hit a few times. We were stuck there about half an hour, waiting for the trucks to clear and sand and even then, in the lowest gear with my foot to the floor, we only inched up as the tires whirred. Things go through your head in situations like that...the pets are alone, what if we can't make it home, what if the car slides down into the lake or the river or what if some yahoo with a four-wheel drive and an impatient attitude hits us...I heard stories this morning of people stuck ALL NIGHT in their cars on the highways near Montreal - what a disaster.

We were both traumatized from that. It was really scary folks. We don't have studded winter tires, just the regular ones, and a front wheel drive and the lack of control was terrifying. We agreed that we will try to put the thousand dollars aside as soon as we can to get new winter tires that are studded because we aren't ready to buy a new car with four-wheel drive, and we do live in the mountains so winter is going to happen whether we like it or not! The fishing boat might just have to wait a few years now sigh...but our safety is so much more important. But we made it home safely - much later than planned, the dogs needed to pee and we needed a drink when we got back! This is a nice Moscato wine called Nivole, it's sweet and we relaxed, listening to the Jack Benny radio show, sipping on wine! Jack Benny is a master comedian...I'm so glad these radio shows are available on You Tube, this kind of comedy doesn't exist anymore.

We honestly didn't feel like cooking, but we agreed that we can't let what happened ruin our plans. We really wanted to celebrate our 4 years together, so we tackled the recipes together which was so nice! The appetizer was a Tuscan Tomato Soup that was really fresh and yummy!

For our main course, we had more appetizers :) I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but we had Steak Tartare - well Alex did. I used to eat this and LOVED it, but my fear of beef getting stuck in my esophagus outweighs my desire to eat this lovely appetizer. Yes, it's raw meat, that's why we know it's not for everyone! For me, I made a Smoked Trout Mousse with Orange and Chives.

For dessert, we thawed out the other half of my birthday cake! That Ferrero Rocher yummy cake. There is just a little bit left! The meal was so delicious and we stayed up intil 4:30am watching a series called Alone. It's just about people being dropped in remote locations all by themselves to see how long they can survive fending for themselves, we are hooked on it and had to force ourselves to turn it off for some sleep. But we were kind of riled up from the trauma of that drive home.

We woke up to about 2 more feet of snow this morning and it's still going! We had to shovel out just to give the dogs a place to "go". I say this every March when spring seems to be arriving. "We ALWAYS get a horrible snow storm around St-Patty's Day". And we got it again this year! It never fails.

Jack didn't last long outside but the girls loved being in the snow, watching me shovel for them lol...now I'm headed back to bed, after very little sleep, to watch more tv shows with Alex...we have no intention to take the car out ever again in any type of snowstorm, no matter what special day it falls on! I remember the days of commuting to work and back and I'm so grateful that we have built a life together that doesn't require back and forth driving to an office. Simplicity and planning...despite the scary experience from yesterday, I feel lucky to be living where I am and having my loving relationship and my wonderful fur family. Can't take any of that for granted!