Back Soon!

Life, cabin fever and writer's block are in play right now. Must be February! 😱 I'll be back soon!

Yummy Dinners and Snow

Hello Friends!! ❣❣

I hope everyone is happy and healthy! Yesterday I had a nice surprise, Alex offered to make our Valentine's dinner - I was banned from the kitchen! :) I'd found a recipe for Giant Tacos and wanted to try them out, so that's what he made. One with beef for him and one with chicken for me. We have lots of leftovers...I love that!

This is the chicken taco, he also made a Homemade Enchilada Sauce to go with it! And he made my Nacho Dip to use as a nacho sauce. He did everything from scratch, including grinding the beef and chicken. I was very impressed and it was delicious!! :) He even took the dogs out and fed all the pets AND did the dishes...I was Queen for the day! :)

This is the video recipe for the tacos that I found on the Food Network if anyone wants to check it out.

Earlier in the morning, I made my Sugar Pie. We had that after dinner with some cocktails and chocolate while we watched old episodes of Cheers. :)

We haven't eaten meat in a very long time, but we were both craving it lately...we've had lots of meat dinners in the past few weeks. Last week I pulled out the dusty old meat grinder and made burgers. Alex had his with beef and bacon; I breaded a piece of Tilapia for mine - I love fish burgers!  I was one of those people who ordered the Filet-O-Fish at McDonalds!! :)

The backyard....the fence is completely buried.  We are having record breaking snow falls here in the Laurentian mountains. It's very beautiful, but the shoveling...

Friend and Foe!!! I have a love/hate relationship with this thing...my arm is all better. I have a little kink in my left wrist so I can't use it 100% yet, but the snow continues to fall and life goes on right? Next year there will be a snowblower in my tool chest!!! (I say that EVERY year lol!)

The ever shrinking path to the door (Susan I'm sure you can relate to this!). Every winter we start off shoveling a lot to make sure the paths are wide, but at this point (earlier than usual), it's just about 2 feet across! We are running out of place to throw the snow!

Weather permitting, I'm still keeping up with my daily Charlie walks!

Jack in the sun. :) My little fella knows how to keep comfy. Despite the snow, February brings a lot of sunshine with it and I'm so grateful for that!

Cute little farmhouse on Prince Edward Island

The house hunting continues. I've found some possibilities, but there won't be any visits until the spring. We really were looking for an off-grid property...but found out that the bank won't finance it with a mortgage...sigh. We have lots to think about; we may have to settle for a residential property with power - which means a little too close to other people than we want, but again...we are still pondering our options!

Scribble Picnic: Market

Hello Friends :)

The theme for today's Scribble Picnic is "Market". I figured I'd draw a day in the life of Wile E. Coyote as he's shopping at the Acme Market. He always has enough money for gadgets but never enough to feed himself right? :) Here is a Road Runner cartoon for anyone who wants to watch:

I'm such a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies fan...I can't get enough of these shorts! I hope there aren't too many ads on this video, I have Ad Blocker so I don't see them!

Watercolour: I am DREAMING of a day trip next summer to my favourite market for fresh produce!!! During the winter months, I really miss the fresh stuff...

...speaking of that, the sixty pounds of potatoes that I harvested last September have served us well! We went through about 45 pounds already, holy potato! The last 15 pounds or so were starting to grow "eyes" so I took Mama Pea's advice and canned them. I kept 5 pounds of the best looking ones so that we still have some potatoes for french fries or baked potatoes. I realize that the next time I set up my old tires to plant my potatoes, otherwise known as my "tater tires", I will have to double them up!! Also, I need a proper root cellar! I checked the temperature in that unheated basement room and it was at about 10 Celcius (that's 50F)...not cold enough?

Gotta use those potatoes!!! Leek and Potato Soup was on the menu last night! Alex actually took the time to strain my soup because I don't like those stringy parts that always come with leeks, ain't that nice? :) I served this with a nice side dish of comforting garlic/Parmesan bread! (I flash froze a bunch of chives before Christmas and they are PERFECT for using in my cooking! Great way to extend the harvest!!)

What's Rain's kitchen without a pizza? :) This is a vegetarian version of my BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Most of the river around the village is covered with snow, only a few spots near the little waterfall are still showing the raging current.

I'll tell ya though, I wouldn't want to be in that water.

I'm still trying to take my daily walks with Charlie despite the deep freeze. She does pretty well with the boots on her! 

My arm injury is healing well (I strained it shoveling snow), I can function very well again despite still being one-armed most of the time; but I'm thankful that I have one good arm! This week we have rain and snow in the forecast, then back to winter by the weekend. Crazy weather!

Do You Believe The Varmint?

"Sunburst"

Hello Friends! :)

I've been fooling around with the digital art program again. It's fun, but kind of bores me to be honest! I think if I had a proper digital pen it would make things more fun. It's on my wish list for next winter!

Do you believe the Groundhogs today? They didn't see their shadow from what I've read, so that means an early spring. (Except stubborn Shubenacadie Sam, Nova Scotia's Groundhog...HE saw his shadow...and I am planning on moving there eek!)

I often mention that I follow the belief system of my Celtic ancestors. February 2nd is called Imbolc (also called Candlemas). Today is the day halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, traditionally marking the beginning of Spring. Imbolc is the Fire Festival commemorating the successful passing of winter and the beginning of the agricultural year. Though you wouldn't know it in my neck of the woods!

This is what my world looks like today. So if I believe the following weather lore, I have some hope!!

If Candlemas day be sunny and bright, Winter again will show its might.

If Candlemas day be cloudy and grey, Winter soon will pass away.

Some Celtic Lore:

One of the more malevolent creatures in Celtic folklore, the Cailleach, would spend the day of Imbolc collecting firewood for herself if winter was to last a while longer. To do this, she would need a bright and dry day to collect her wood, so if Imbolc was wet and windy, that meant the Cailleach had gone to sleep and winter would soon be over.

Whatever lore you may or may not believe, let's all hope for an early spring! A Blessed Imbolc to those who celebrate! 🌻