We spent the better part of the week up in Canada watching the leaves change from beautiful reds to deep golds. It was stunning and the weather could not have been more perfect. Unfortunately I was still feeling less than my usual self so I didn’t go out and walk which I would have really loved to have been doing. By the end of the week I was feeling better and felt I was on the road to recovery. Autumn colds are just not fun.
Putting the Dock and Boat Away
There was a lot to do in Canada this week as we had to put that house to bed for the winter. The boat was the first thing we had to do. It was taken out of the water and put on the trailer and by the skin of its teeth, put into the bay in the garage. Literally a few inches on each side but Steve got it backed in there. He is probably the only person who could have possibly done this. Then the boys came to take out the dock. It is quite a procedure and we watched with ever happier hearts as they worked hard to get the dock and the lift up on the shore and we didn’t have to do it. They use a winch to bring in the big pieces and eventually it all got piled up on the shore. Way back when, John would put the dock in and take it out. Sometimes with the help of a friend or a nephew and always with instructions from me. So nice to have Jonathan and his crew to do it for us now.
The other thing that happened this past week was the installation of the new propane tanks. We had discovered last summer that our tanks were too close to the house and needed to be moved. It took a couple of months but we finally had it scheduled for October 11th at 8:30am. Need I say more. It ended up being October 12th at about 11:30am. The first technician came on the 11th and said he couldn’t find anyone at home and there was no trench and he left and he couldn’t do the job. It took about two hours of telephone calls and wait time to find out what happened and get it rescheduled. The tech must have gone to the wrong house because we were there and no one came to our house. Ultimately the job got done with some last minute panic when we found out we needed some conduit. Our good friend Doug had some on hand and brought it over just in time. I didn’t want that tech leaving. You can’t make this stuff up.
The Tale of the Black Car
While I am in Canada dealing with the propane tank install and the missing conduit, John was in the states coping with the car purchase. We had agreed to help our daughter buy a used car for our grand daughter for her birthday. We knew it needed a part and were told that right at the beginning but it didn’t sound like it was going to be a big deal to take care of. The part had been ordered but was taking rather a long time to get to the dealer. Traces were put on the part to no avail. One week went by, then another and then another. We called regularly to check on it but got the same story, no part yet. Finally this week we decided to go ahead and pay for the car and see if we could somehow get the part and get it fixed. We have a wonderful mechanic in Canada who said he could get the part and take care of it for us. Many phone calls later we discovered that, in fact, he could not get the part any faster than it could be in the States. I even had a tow truck ready to meet me as soon as I crossed the border, to pick up the car and take it to our mechanic. About this time I am pretty sure everyone thought I was nuts. The part it needed is a catalytic converter. Well I guess they are in short supply everywhere. There are ways to make the car useable but we didn’t want to push it. We eventually paid for the car and were told that the car would be ready the next day to at least drive it to where it could eventually get properly fixed. We waited all day to hear from the dealer without success. We called and called but the phone was not working properly. No word whatsoever. We began to think we might have been had. After all, he had a bank check for the car and we had a piece of paper that gave us title to a car that we didn’t actually have. We finally drove there to see what was happening only to find the place shut up tighter than a drum. Yikes, now what? Well you couldn’t make this up. The next morning we got a phone call from the dealer telling us his mother had had a massive heart attack and that he had spent the whole day at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital with her. And to top it off his daughter was getting married over the weekend and he couldn’t do anything about the car until next week. If I wasn’t living this, I wouldn’t believe it. Stay tuned, who knows when or if we will get the car!!!!
Back at Jenny Lane
New Hampshire is a beautiful as Canada. Our trees are very happy this year and giving us a wonderful splash of color. We had a number of trees taken down last fall and the result is a much happier forest behind the house. This is looking right out the back of the house. We have spent a few days putting the gardens to bed for the winter, moving summer furniture and replacing it with the winter furniture and generally doing the things one does to make the place ready for winter. Only we have to do it twice. It is still quite warm so it feels a little premature but we all know that when the cold wind blows we won’t want to be out there doing those chores.
Katie and I decided to put the little white lights up on the trees as it was a lovely weekend. Many years we have done that job in November and we have been frozen. It was quite pleasant to do it today. Once again we had to buy all new lights. Every year we think we are going to be able to reuse the lights we had but it never seems to work out that way. Either they are the wrong color or some of them are burned out or they don’t work at all. Then we have to remember how to hook them up which entails multiple extension cords and connections. We did it and we were still smiling when we were done.
Exercise – Not
I have to admit that I have done absolutely nothing in the way of exercise. I just haven’t felt up to it and so I haven’t. This has been the longest I have gone without doing a walk almost every day in years. I’m ready to get back out there but am pretty sure it will take me awhile to build up my stamina again. Couch to 5K kind of thing. I’ll go back out with the dogs this week after Wyke gets his stitches out of his ear. That’s another reason we have been staying quiet. He can’t go swimming and he isn’t supposed to do any rough housing so we have been pretty much confined to home. It will be good to get back to normal again. I did spend some time putting up the Hallowe’en decorations however and cleaning the house.
Cooking for the Colder Weather
Looking up some recipes that warm us up during the cooler weather. We have had a few stews and pot roast but it’s time to look to some of the other cold weather meals we enjoy. We have Jack home for a couple of days as he has a break from college. It’s a big year for him as he is a Senior and he has all kinds of exams and comprehensives coming up. A good time to be home and chill for a few days. I’m sure we will have Sunday pizza but we might just have a few other good home cooked meals. To lighten this up you can use Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and serve it over vegetables instead of noodles.
Beef Stroganoff from Lovely Food Blog
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups onions, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 pounds boneless chuck steak, sliced
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
Heat a cast iron skillet on medium low. Melt the shortening and saute the onions for 10 minutes. Add mushroom, cover and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Remove onions and mushrooms.
Cut steak into 1 inch strips. Add to the skillet and brown meat slowly and sprinkle with all purpose flour. Stir until well blended. Cut tomatoes into bite-size pieces. Add salt, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce to the skillet. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Add mushrooms and onions and sour cream to the skillet and simmer again for 30 minutes or until. Serve with cooked noodles, if desired.
