AWFUL!!!

Pretty soon the mercury will just disappear!

CANADIAN WEATHER

For my friends south of the border I have this weather map of Canada.

The red indicate one or more of the following: Extreme Cold, High Winds, Snowstorm, Blowing Snow.....   You get the idea!

Our overnight low is predicted to be -30ºC (-23ºF).  And it won't warm up a whole lot tomorrow during the day.  Our predicted high for the next week is several degrees below the normal high for this time of the year.  How long can this go on?

This was the view from our back door this afternoon:

Well, it is pretty, especially when the sun comes out!

GOOD BREAD

I finally got around to baking some bread.

We really miss our homemade bread when we are in AZ, but baking bread there just doesn't work for me.  I bought a second-hand breadmaker to use for making dough.  When the dough comes out of the breadmaker it seems just fine.  It feels smooth and elastic.  But after shaping it into loaves and setting it to rise, it just flops.  It doesn't rise.

When we lived in Salem, Oregon I had the same problem.  Just couldn't get the dough to rise although I had been baking all our bread for seven years.  There was a rather small wall oven there and I thought that might be the problem.  But then why won't it work in AZ either? 

People have suggested that it's the flour there, not as good as the flour at home in Alberta.  So I took some Alberta flour (I grind my own flour from wheat) along to AZ.  No dice!  It made no difference.  I took some AZ flour to AB.  It rose just fine.  So I think it must be something about the elevation.  We are just under 3,000 ft. here, and at only 1,200 ft there.  Any ideas?

I also last weekend got around to making burger patties.  I like to use a lean ground beef for burger patties, but Jim doesn't want to eat beef, so I make his from ground chicken or 

ground turkey.

The ground meat goes into the big glass bowl.  I add (not measuring): a handful of quick oats, some oregano, some basil, a little bit of nutmeg, some seasoned salt and some garlic powder and some chili powder.  I used to add chopped onion, but now we just slice some onion onto the bun.  That all gets partially mixed through and then I add a raw egg to help the patties stick together.

The white contraption there with the ball of ground beef on it is, for lack of a better term, a patty shaper.    The metal object next to it is a good digital scale.  I scoop up a portion of seasoned ground beef, weigh to make sure I have 4 1/4 oz., roll it into a ball, put it on the patty shaper and press it down with the top part (the white thing with the handle).  They are put onto a cookie tray lined with parchment and put into the freezer until they are hard enough to store in a zip lock bag.  All ready for a Saturday night supper, a tradition here.

I've always loved burgers.  When I was in High School there was a restaurant across the street run by a cousin of my Dad.  An aunt on my Dad's side took care of a room for H.S. students downstairs.  If a student had a permission note they were allowed to cross the street for a burger or hot dog lunch.  One other girl and myself helped my aunt prepare the burgers, hot dogs, fries and malteds.  Our pay was our lunch.  So throughout most of my high school years I did not need to make a bag lunch--I had a burger.  I still liked them when I graduated.  Still not "burgered" out!

In 1987 our oldest daughter and I drove to G.R. to visit Mom who was in a hospital with an operation for colon cancer.  K. lived in Niagara Falls, so I flew out there.  The first evening she didn't feel like cooking so we went out to a Burger King.  That was fine with me!  The next day we drove to G.R., about a 7 hours trip.  Had a burger for lunch on the way.  We stayed in Mom's home and went to visit her in the hospital every day.  For lunch we went to the Burger King right next door--every day.  On the way home we stopped at a plaza on the 401 and got some lunch.  But we couldn't face another burger.  The only other choice was a chicken fillet, so that's what we had.

A few days later I flew home to Portland and Jim picked me up from the airport.  He had a special treat for supper that night: Burgers.  I said, I don't know if I can eat that.  "But you LOVE burgers!"  I did eat it.  It was sweet of him to have one of my favourite suppers ready.  

DEPTHS OF WINTER

Since we came home to Alberta we've been in the deep freeze.  Overnight lows have been around -30ºC (-20ºF).  So we've spent a lot of time indoors.  It began snowing last Thursday, very light tiny flakes, hardly big enough to fall to the ground, but evidently they did because the snow cover began to grow.

We went to town on Saturday afternoon to visit the library and the grocery store--preparations for a house-bound weekend.  Saturday evening the snow was coming down in big, fat flakes, thickly swirling.

By the time Sunday morning that it had warmed up to -22ºC  I bundled up and went out to do some shovelling.  I had made a deal with Jim: he would do the kitchen cleanup and I would do some shovelling.  Twenty minutes later I had the path over the back patio to the driveway and the path from the backdoor to the garage door cleared.  It felt really good to be outdoors and get some exercise.  Here's the cleaned path.  The snow on the driveway is between 6" and 10" deep.
                            

It actually looks just beautiful outside with the smooth, fresh snow covering everything.  Right now the sun is shining and the hoar-frosted trees shine with millions of diamonds.

Yesterday just before 6 p.m. I looked out the front window at the setting sun:

The camera has a hard time capturing the full effect.  There are no filters for this camera, but the right filter would have shown the setting sun as a big, very red ball.

The scene out the back door was also inspiring:

A big, luminous moon was rising as the sun was setting.  What glory!

When I was up during the night around 3:30 a.m. the entire landscape was glowing in the moonlight.  How beautiful!

When we are in Arizona we don't see much of the sky.  We miss sunrises, sunsets and seeing the moon.  Here in Alberta we are treated with a 360º view of the horizon and the big, big sky overarching it all.

Just now the neighbour's hired man arrived in a Bobcat and began plowing out our driveway.  We have wonderful neighbours, a farming couple, young enough to be our children, and the young man doing the bobcat work is younger than some of our grandchildren.  We are blessed to have ended up here, among these terrific people!

QUILT CLUB

Yesterday was a regular meeting of the town quilt club, always so enjoyable.  Not that we get a tremendous amount of quilting accomplished, but we visit, we tell stories, we joke and laugh and sympathize where needed.

I was working on the last few squares of a Disappearing Four Patch that was begun last fall.

I was aiming for 42 blocks, for a 6 x 7 setting.  At seven square inches each, that makes a 42" x 49" quilt.  Add a border and binding and you have a nice sized lap quilt to donate.

Yesterday was a day of one mistake after another.  I counted 41 blocks and was working on the 42nd, but gave up after lunch and settled down to cut out another 42 blocks for a similar quilt, but one that has a variety of beige backgrounds and darker main fabrics.  By 5 p.m. we were all at quitting point.  We packed up our machines and our projects and went home.

Just now I took out the finished blocks and put them up on the wall.  There was room for a 7 block by 5 block display.  To my surprise there are 19 more completed blocks!  That means there are 12 extras.  Wonder where they came from?  They will go into another quilt.  

The extra blocks that I cut in the afternoon are for a demonstration day in March on how to sew a Disappearing Four Patch.  I've made up a method in which all the seams can be pressed to the dark fabric, so all the sides of the blocks will "Nest Together" nicely.

It's slightly warmer today, still not what deserves the title "Warm."  Current temperature:-19ºC or -2ºF.  Just high enough that our county is no longer "red" on the national map, signifying "Extreme Cold."  So I guess we are just plan "cold."

EXCELLENT CONDITIONS

We reached home around 3:30 this afternoon in bright sunshine with clear, dry roads.  For just a short distance in Montana we had packed snow in the driving lane, otherwise the driving lane was always clear and visibility was good.

We stayed at the Days Inn in Helena Montana because we like that motel.  They serve an excellent breakfast there.  The hotel is very close to Interstate 15, but is a quiet location.  It's one of our favourites, just like the Comfort Inn in Fillmore, Utah.

The house was warm when we arrived, thanks to S. who cares for everything while we're gone, and that was so much appreciated because the current temperature is -9ºF or -23ºC.  BRRRR!

I'm all tuckered out from three days on the road, but wanted to let you know we reached home safely.

ANOTHER DAY ON THE ROAD

After a good night's sleep and a filling hot breakfast at the Comfort Inn in Fillmore, UT, we got on the road by 8:10 a.m.  We got to the southern end of the HOV through Salt Lake City by 9:30 a.m. and were through just south of Ogden by 10:30.  Saturday mornings work well for getting through SLC with minimal hassle.  Weather was high overcast, but the roads were clear and dry.  We felt blessed by those conditions and a very moderate amount of traffic.

Most of the day there was a high overcast.  About 20 miles on either side of Monida Pass, the boundary between Utah and Montana, and also the continental divide there was a lot of snow on the fields, up to 2 feet I thought on the Utah side, less on the Montana side, but the driving lane was always open and the visibility was good.  There was just some low snow blowing over the roadway.

Just for a bit in Montana even the driving lane was snow covered and bumpy.  The rest of the time the driving lane had at least two track open.  Jim drives according to the conditions, so we were always quite relaxed about the drive.

Were happy to arrive at the Days Inn in Helena, Montana about 5:40 p.m.  We like to stay here on the way home because they have a really good breakfast.  Lots of choice and all good and hot.  That's for tomorrow morning.

We hope to reach home late in the afternoon.  The forecast is for fairly clear weather but COLD, COLD, COLD!  That's just the way it is right now.  The car heater will keep us warm, as long as the road is reasonably clear, we'll be all right.

ELUSIVE INTERSTATE HWY 11

We had a relaxed morning preparing to leave and were on our way at 9:15 a.m.  The day was bright and clear, if a little nippy.  We had good roads and good travel times.

The highways in AZ really need upgrading.  Some sections of pavement are very rough.  We traveled north on Hwy 60 to Hwy 93.  That highway was designated as part of a new Interstate, number 11, planned to run from Alaska(?) at least from the Canadian border to the Mexican border.

Highway 93 was twinned between I 40 and Wickenberg many years ago (I think at least 20 years ago) and was intended to become part of the new Interstate 11.  I wonder what happened to that plan?  The twinning was never completed, making it a dangerous highway, most especially after dark.  The possibility, probability of someone mistaking a two way section for twinned highway is great and there have been some tragic crashes on that road.  I won't drive it after dark!

West of Kingman, AZ on Hwy 93 we saw a sign, Part of planned Interstate 11 North Corridor.  Something like that.  Well, we thought, maybe the plan is still in prospect.

Just west of Hoover Dam where we usually catch the Northshore Road through Mead Lake Recreation Area, a good alternate to going into Las Vegas to catch I 15 North, we unexpectedly found ourselves on a brand new road--Interstate 11!  What a nice new road! We should have taken Business 93 after the dam, but that was a new turnoff and I missed it.  Up to this time that was the way the road went.  This is a new section.

Interstate 11 North took us in the right direction so I was happy with what had happened, even though unexpected.  After a while Interstate 11 turned into Interstate 515 which took us into Las Vegas and onto I 15 north.  That is a one lane exit, so be sure you are in the very right hand lane when you approach the interchange with I 15.

We went through Las Vegas around 1 to 1:45.  It was not too bad.  Jim doesn't mind that kind of driving.  Just stick to a middle lane and flow with the traffic.  Not my favourite kind of drive!

North of Las Vegas on I 15 there was light traffic.  It was a clear, sunny afternoon.
South of St. George there was an accident on I 15 south (fortunately not on our side) in the Virgin River Gorge.  Traffic was backed up for miles!

Thirty miles north of St. George there was snow cover on the ground, and you could see that the road had been plowed, but all lanes were clear and dry.  At a speed limit of 80 mph we sailed along and were at Fillmore, Utah by 5:30 p.m. where we checked into the Comfort Inn, a good motel we have stayed in several times.  We visited the Burger King right next to the motel for a supper of chicken sandwiches and fries.

I put the contents of the cooler in the room fridge, but when we realized that the fridge made sounds like a giant breathing, we took the "freezable" contents back to the car.  It will be a cold night!

SERENDIPITY

Of all the amenities available in S.V. the one we use the most is the outdoor swimming pool.  These pictures were taken in November of 2014, but this is exactly what it looked liked today.  View from the east of about 2/3 of the pool:

View from the south showing the west half and behind that the north third.  The rock area on the right of the water is where the waterfall splashes down into the pool.

                        

The current air temperature is just 55ºF and there's a stiff breeze.  The sky is deep blue, the sunlight is comforting and the clouds are just as they are in this picture.  The pool is heated to 84ºF, but today it seemed they had upped the temperature just a bit.  It was blissful, taking our usual leisurely swim for about 45 minutes.  We had the pool to ourselves.  It takes a couple of crazy "Canucks" to go swimming when it's cold and windy.

Yesterday it was cold and rainy, in fact it's been cold and rainy since Saturday.  But Arizona always needs the moisture, so we don't complain.  When we went to the pool yesterday the rain was a sparse mist, but after a half hour swim it had intensified to a steady shower.  We cut our swim short, went home (to the condo) and brewed up some rich hot chocolate.

I'm making good progress on packing and cleaning in preparation for leaving on Friday morning.  Just need to wash the stove and fridge and they are not very dirty.  We'll vacuum and dust before we go so everything is good and clean for when Mort arrives that afternoon.

We appreciate Mort as a renter, even though we've never met him.  The couple who rented in the spring six years ago put us in touch with him.  Everyone who meets him says he's a really nice fellow.  He leaves the condo as clean as he found it and always pays the rent on time.  That really helps with the condo fees which must be paid year 'round.  So this arrangement seems to work well for him and for us.

GOT A LOT DONE

I was happy with what I accomplished this morning: by 10 a.m. I had the laundry done--all two loads--and then I hung the new painting over the couch.  I borrowed a stud finder from Dennis, located the studs, which, of course, were not in places where I wanted to drive in the nails!  But these few tools were enough to do the job: a yardstick, a level, hammer, screw driver and pencil.  I had marked the studs with a pencil.  Now I had to figure out how to hang the picture level when the studs were in the wrong places.

I centered the painting above the couch, put a screw in a stud which was pretty much in the middle, did some measuring on the back of the framed picture, and put two screws into the drywall about 2" lower than the main screw and about 32" apart.  Well, that was about my third try.  And that worked.

I think it looks just right!

Then I went to the Amenities Committee meeting as they had the renovation of the sewing room on their agenda--again!  The report was simply that they were in the process of getting new estimates on cabinets, etc., since so much time had gone by since the estimates were given.  We were all happy with that report, except for two of the new quilters this year who want to get in touch with our liaison with the committee and give things a good push forward.  I just hope they don't interfere with the process.  This renovation has been in "the works" for many years now.  It was supposed to be accomplished last summer and now is promised to be done by this coming fall.  We HOPE SO!

A VERY INTERESTING PURCHASE

Today I received an original painting that I purchased in January.  I first saw this painting in a show at Art Headquarters, and thought it was the best in show.  It struck me as a very joyful painting.  That was a year ago.  Then this January I saw it again at an art show at WHAM and realized it was for sale.  Oooh!  I would really like to have that painting.  A week later I was talking with my friend Nan Adams who knows the artist, Karen Mayfield.  We discussed the painting and she encouraged me toward a decision to purchase it.

Nan set up a meeting between Karen and myself, and I bought the painting.  It had to remain in the show until yesterday.  Today Karen brought it to Sun Village where Nan and I met her.

On Friday mornings the "Art Group" meets in the art room from 9 to 12 (approximately).  I had brought some sparkling juice, some grapes and small "cinnamon cheesecakes"--bite sized goodies.  This was a little party to welcome the painting to its new home, and also a little "goodbye party" as this is the last Friday of the season for me at Art Group.  I had hoped to have Karen celebrate with us, but she was on her way to other appointments, so we just had the little celebration with those of us who came to art room this morning.

The painting is resting on the back of our sofa right now.  I need to borrow a "stud finder" and get some nails in the wall.  When it's hanging where it belongs I'll post a picture of that.  In the meantime, here's a picture of it, with Karen, hanging up in the show at WHAM.

I am renaming this painting "Joie de Vivre."  Karen agreed to the change of name from her original title "Fragmented Emotion."  I feel that it expresses a lot of joy.  The red squares seem to dance.  I look forward to years of enjoyment with this purchase.