Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from June, 2008

They came!

It's here! Supper from the freezer! Blintzes Breaded lemon/lime-thyme sole TetraPak Roasted Red Pepper soup Frozen peas Tomorrow supper @ the parents house... yum!

These ARE the after pictures.

OK, even at its most stunning , this bathtub is never going to win any beauty contests. But at least it's clean. This is AFTER me spending a whole hour yesterday afternoon scrubbing every single inch of grout between the tiles. You already saw the BEFORE shots in the kiddies' bathtime pictures I posted from Ted's camera last week. Ugh. Two kinds of mould - pink and black. Ugly, ugly. Anyway, the slime has been scrubbed away, to reveal the inner... whatever... of this bathtub. Here's the remains of the paint the previous owners painted the tub with to make it look like a real bathtub and not the mutant leprous bathtub it truly is. Ew. These lines look like "lines of cleanliness" where bleach or some super-strong cleaning agent has dripped... but I have been unable to recreate the same degree of whitness elsewhere on the tub surface. The soap dish was almost all pink with slimy pink-mould, whatever that stuff is. Now it is clean & white. There are st

New word: Gosling!

Naomi, drawing a person at the table... "mommy, look - I made wings and it's a sibling [pronounced "sibbi-ling"]"... I almost asked "is it a brother or a sister?" when she added, "...and it's a baby goose ."

Going away again!

Well, the parentals are going away again in the fall... and I finally clued in to the fact that they're doing my dad's "bucket list" (apparently a reference to a movie I didn't see)... the "no more procrastination" list he made while he was lying in the ICU of all the places they need to see together.  So far this year, they've been to Israel, Vegas, Victoria, and Montreal (to see Abi graduate!).  And in the fall they're off on a European cruise.  I'm jealous, but hopeful that someday that will be me.   (if there's anything left of their inheritance to spend on myself)   <3 J   P.S.  Yes, the pace of it frightens the bejeepers out of me a bit, especially after the last rather sedentary 40 years I've known them.  I suspect it means what I think it means, but don't want to think about that...   P.P.S.  Smack!  So selfish, thinking about the inheritance, even after daddy sat us down at Chanukah to tell us, ba

Just cuz

The last post had such a blah and unflattering picture, here are some decent ones - Ted took them - to make up for that awful shot of the bathtub. Can't believe she's old enough for bead-stringing! These are super-cheap beads courtesy of the treasure box at the dentist, where Naomi sat SOooo nicely while the hygienist "counted", then polished her teeth. Now we have to floss her, every single night. Ugh. She now wears her new necklace every day. Here she is in the carriage on the way to Bubby & Zeidy's house tonight. And the mandatory camera-bag-chewing shot. Poor baby has NOT been himself today at all. He's having tummy problems, I think... pretty burpy and not eating normally. Not that he's usually voracious these days (as opposed to three months ago when I had hoped to exclusively breastfeed him), but he refused just about everything except straight bread. In this shot, Ted had to take him outside from my parents' house because he would no

Just when I think I've at least written down the whole list...

(the kvetch list, that is) ...here comes another one: we have the ugliest, dirtiest bathtub in the entire known universe. Look at that grout! Look at the mould! If it's not orange mould, it's black mould and falling-apart grout and soap scum and omg... the bathroom is so clammy and disgusting-smelling. No wonder the kid in the picture (no relation to sunny ol' me, of course!) is screeching her head off. Anyway, resolution for tomorrow: I will clean the bathroom. This is one NOT to add to the list but just to step up to the plate and take care of it. Let's just see if it gets done. Supper: YM-made sloppy joes! Yay! We were in Sobey's and he said Sloppy Joes, and I said okay, bought all the stuff, and then, at home, just quietly handed over the task to him. He almost refused to put the onion in, but I said a) it was cooked, and b) if he wouldn't, I'd do it myself and he wouldn't get to eat any. Yum. Had it on kaiser buns, with Sobeys-bought sh

Last week's kvetch list

In case you're interested in more of me whining... I actually wrote a list on the fridge: ~ taps - bathroom tap leaking ~ kitchen wall - hole where Elisheva hit the wall ~ wall - not sure what I meant by this! ~ mice - self-explanatory ~moths - ditto ~ sticky floors - always ~ hot - well, at least that hasn't been a problem this week... ~ baby pee - the baby was refusing to pee for hours and hours at a time. In the heat, I thought there was a small chance that he was dehydrating, except for how jolly he was insisting on being every single minute. And that he did it on cold days, too. I think he just doesn't like to be wet - so we're sitting him on the potty now... ~ diapers - rapidly being outgrown. No luck on Freecycle. :-( ~ woollies - ditto, and the serger is broken, hence no chance of new diapers or woollies, and the next item on my list: ~ serger ~ freezer (new) - hey! this one's actually fixed... we have a new small chest freezer in the basement humming

It may not be a snazzy new Kenmore dryer, but...

Look what Ted made for me!!! After over 3 years in this house, at last, we have backyard drying capability. There is still one pulley thing that needs a rope so the close-to-the-house end can be raised and lowered, but I am SO happy to be able to raise the serviettes up the flagpole as shown here. Dunno how sturdy the line itself is - it's the original one and cracked in many places but seems to be holding up okay so far. Ooooh, baby awake. <3 J

Is it a fish supper? A pasta supper? A garden-lettuce supper?

Yes, you read that right... fresh, fresh lettuce straight from the backyard square-foot garden!!! This was last night - Wednesday. As for tonight, I have NO CLUE... waaah! Everybody had dentist's appointments and now I am worn out. :-((( Dug up & divided irises today. Hopefully, I can sell 3 pots for $10 each - $30 worth of free irises - amazing. :-)

When's a girl supposed to launder?!?

The chart at right indicates the expected forecast for the nex t week or so. Basically, rain, rain, RAIN every single day. I suppose the gardener in me should be happy but the struggling, dryer-less laundress (?) is appalled...

Oy, I'm so out of it...

This article explains why I couldn't find as many outdoor "cultural" activities last summer! Hmm... sad, but true.   So I'm planning our little doses of outdoor culture for this summer and the offerings seem nowhere near as rich as past seasons: ~ Cooking Fire (this weekend - Abi wants us to go tomorrow; Sara wants us to go on Sunday... Ted thinks Abi may win this one) ~ Dusk Dances (July) ~ Dream in High Park (all summer - and I've emailed them to see if I can volunteer) ~ Dusk Dances (August)   And that's it?!?  Maybe I'll poke around a bit more.   Suppers!   Tuesday:  Elisheva's friend Shula came over, so we were all (mostly) on our best behaviour ~ Homemade pizza ~ Homemade creamy mushroom soup (deeelishus)   Wednesday (ie today): ~ Pasta with salmon, no idea yet what kind of sauce   Drove down to Riverdale with the littles this morning to catch the milking.  We actually got there on time (10:30) - yay!!! Naomi h

End of the Moby Era (snif)

The Moby is gone... I sold it yesterday for $35 along with a fleece pouch I never ended up using for Gavriel Zev. SO sad... this was definitely my favourite newborn babywearing thing , although the Ergo is it for all-around sheer comfort & usefulness. It was hard HARD parting with it because of all the cuddly memories it carried.

Well, wouldn't ya know it?!?

The bloody dryer was about an inch too big to fit through the laundry-room door. Umm... hey, guys - next time you're moving appliances into an old house, howboutcha measure first?!?! We told Mary (aka the laundry machine fairy) that at least one dimension must be 27 inches or smaller to pass through the door, and she says she went to the Sears store in Calgary with a tape measure , and they stood around measuring the machines until they found one that was perfect. So I dunno what happened. She thinks maybe they "upgraded" us somehow, secretly. Drat, drat, drat. The guys were pretty abrupt about it, too, like "decide - NOW" whether they should leave the dryer just sitting in the basement or take it back with them. Guess they were po'd but, like I said, measure first ! I am eager to test the new washing machine BUT a) I'd have to hook it up myself and b) it looks like it could rain any second. Darn, why does the weather.com site do this? They show you a pi

Jealous of Ted's camera! (with suppers)

These swingin' action pictures were taken by Ted's slightly-better-than-mine Sony camera. I love Naomi in the action shots! Sunday - Father's Day: For some reason, I didn't want to BBQ... I guess the combination of Sara coming and the weather was threatening massive thunderstorms. So here's what I came up with... mm, mm, good... ~ Homemade, handmade, from scratch, FALAFEL! ~ With garden-herb (parsley & mint) Tabouli (orange Ontario tomatoes) ~ Chopped tomatoes and cukes ~ My own special Techina (tehini) blend Note to self: Mrs ViKi wants the falafel recipe... oy, now I have to make something up! How can I break it to her that it's really just a couple of tins of chickpeas with cumin mixed in??? FWIW, though, here is the recipe I started with... I'm thoroughly hooked on Recipezaar these days. The site is not fabulous, but the reviews are a tremendous plus - I figure 80 people who have left four-plus stars plus comments can't be utterly and completel

Don't be RUDE... have some Shabbos food!

Tired potatoes! Up at last - actually, they've outgrown the first layer of tires... this picture was a few days ago already. Shabbos Food 6/13/2008 Raisin Challah Chicken Soup Mini Spring Rolls from Sobeys Broccoli on the side? of... Roast Chicken a la Lemon Thyme stuffed w/leftover Shavuos challah Brownie mix cookies (getting a bit tired of those , folks, but can't think of what else to make!) Lunch - Dairy. Tortellini salad Grama's frying-pan FUDGE , mmm... Elisheva's out buying Jello cooked pudding mix - it's getting harder and harder to find. Umm... what else? Cheese, Ted's buying bagels... you know, dairy stuff. YM's friend Elijah is coming over. He's going to camp in Israel next month... imagine having a kid with the maturity to just stick him on an airplane. :-( I bumped into an old friend of YM's from Netivot last week at Sobey's. He was in the cheese section, looking for Ricotta. He was on the phone and aaalmost towered over me (ok,

Oh, one more...

The laundry room door is broken - the bottom hinge is off. Guess that's a mixed blessing - it won't be so hard to take off when Ted needs to take out the dead washer and dryer. :-(

Here's Naomi's mood today...

Probably mirrors the mood / attitude she's getting from me. But I don't know if I can help it! Aaargh. We just never get a single step forward around here without about a million steps backward. There is not a single thing around this house - except maybe the garden! - that is even a tiny bit better than when we moved in. It's this unbelievable entropy: everything just decays until it explodes and needs a costly replacement. Is that the way it is with all houses? Or just the 70-year-old ones??? It's not just the house. Ted's work, too: like just when we think we're getting around the lousy pay, cruddy pseudo-random schedule, etc., they'll do something bizarre like ask him to come in half an hour early (and no, they don't let him leave half an hour earlier to make up the time - but thanks for thinking of it, like any SANE person would!). Or refuse to let him take off for the Zareinu moveathon - a family event that cannot be held on any other day

Small Petunia Triumph (photo-documented)

Emerging as almost-microscopic seedlings on February 17th. (click the picture and maybe they'll be visible - I can see them in the full-sized version here) Still tiny & very cold in the basement around March 11th. And now, today, blooming and lightly candy-scented! They smell like those little powdery candy hearts... weird. Any tips on saving seed - send them my way - I love these guys!!!

See this knob???

<--- Looks mighty functional, doesn't it??? Well, think again. This washing machine is about to join its Brother Dryer in the Big Sky Appliance Warehouse of Dreams. This knob is basically good for turning ON each cycle if you don't care if the cycle advances or ever shuts off. Bad, bad, bad. Mary has offered us her "special realtor" discount of up to 40% at the Brick. But even at up to 40% off, the prices of a wash/dry pair are more than we have budget for at the mo'... :-( Meanwhile, just a couple of garden highs! Potatoes! These lovely specimens are purple potatoes and the shoots & leaves are darker than the standard Yukon Gold ones. I planted these in the "scrap heap" area by the back door, then let Elisheva toss some cosmos seeds on top thinking it would pretty up the little patch... but I have no clue how I'm going to hill the soil up around the 'tatoes without killing the cosmos. Very, very carefully, I guess! And, then, of co