Rollercoaster

a couple of months ago my fur baby Yoda was diagnosed with arthritis in her hips and the vet asked us to think  about starting treatment....

Then we had the broken ankle and heart attack to worry about.....

Last Thursday we went to the vet, started the treatment and the vet suggested some blood work because with a diabetic cat...it is good to check once a year

 Friday night we get the vet's call and it is not good news...her platelets are very very low. The vet wants to double check with another test. If it comes back super low again then she needs to be hospitalized in an emergency animal hospital because it is the weekend and our vet is closed on Sunday.
She will need round the clock care because she is at risk of spontaneous hemorrhages.

Can you imagine the shock I had? As much as we love her we both agreed that if this was the case, it was time to cross the rainbow bridge....

She's diabetic, has chronic diarrhea and arthritis we did not want her to suffer.

We cried a lot on Friday night. Saturday we bring the cat to the vet, they take blood and go back home. And we wait and we cry, we watch tv, we cry, we wait....

I needed comfort food bad! Here one of them is Kraft Diner or Kraft Mac'n'Cheese as it is call in the US. With ground beef, parsley and green onions....delicious

but that doesn't heal that big hole in my heart....

at 3:00 pm the phone rings, neither of us wants to answer it....yes it is the vet. Yoda's platelets are  450 not 20, they are perfectly normal! The lab messed up!!!

WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? I felt such joy! A huge weight was lifted, I danced!

And then I felt really tired and a good long nap with Yoda!

I can feel Spring in the air!

Can you feel it?

I can!

Even if the soil is full of snow, even if the temp is low....I can feel it

The sun is setting later and rising earlier....

And it feels GOOOOOOD!

My steps are lighter, my spirit is soaring higher.....I feel so light!

Even If I have concerns about the snow on the roof.....

I am making plans to paint the kitchen, the bathroom, the guest room (my office)....I am also looking at companies that can come and look at my plumber's basement because of the moisture...and last year I was screwed over by a local company...

On a brighter note I found  a frog to hold my scrubber.

We call her the big mouth frog. Of course I could not resist glueing

google eyes on her!

This is PIA (Pyrex in Action). I was making beef and snow peas

with assorted asian veg.

The frog is kinda scared....I might need to call Mulder and Scully.

Today was DH first day back at work.

I am happy to report every thing went FINE.

Gotta love the everything went fine thing...

I love a workday where everything is smooth.....

Life goes on

Saturday we brought back the wheelchair as it is no longer needed.

that feels so good! We can move one from there, a new chapter begins.....

That took a big old five minute from my life!

i gently coaxed Veronica (my stepdaughter) to stop at a thrift store nearby...

And I am so glad I did!

By chance I found 3 things I love......

 A car throw...100% wool and in great condition!

I very rarely turn down good condition blankets and throws.

They are always handy when you live in an old house in a cold climate!

 If you've been following 

the blog for a while you might remember that I had an Etsy

shop and that I sold quite a few Le creuset snail dishes...

I have regretted this for a llllllooooooooonnnnnngggg time!

So I was super excited to find one for a dollar....I am sure I will find 3 other fairly soon.

so since I have being jonesing for snails with garlic butter I bought 4 

stainless steel dishes for a dollar

It even says Le Creuset!

Last but not least as seen in the first picture, a Old Orchard Beach souvenir glass!

It is so tackylicious and I had to get it a total no brainer...

I got no flack from the boo because they are small items and Barware is always a go...

I am not the only one jonesing for some snails.....

On a more somber note....

yesterday January 28th marked the second anniversary of my Dad's death.

I had a long talk with him.

I miss him everyday and talk to him most everyday. The big heavy duty sadness is mostly gone, but I had an episode in late December.

What I do now is whatever thing I am doing that my Dad would enjoy...I think about him, or I chat with him.

So this is the beginning of my first year as a homeowner in Montreal.

I got my first municipal tax invoice today. Made calculations so we can pay them on time.

as much as I did not want to be a homeowner again....God decided otherwise and I will do my very best to honor him.

I am very excited as we made plans to paint and renovate (cheaply) one room at a time!

My faithful readers, take time to enjoy each day

and hang out with your loved one

Seen Around

Last Saturday there was a vintage church basement sale in Montreal.

I told Dan about it and he said I wanna go!

So off we went!

 Let's start of with a declaration! 

I need a plastic ottoman with plastic flowers in it!

That is seriously sweet!

 I do love a spaghetti lamp....but I had 2 in my apartment.

 Canisters are always a fave of mine....

I have no idea why I took this picture....lol 

 I was tempted by these milk

 pitchers, however I felt they were too expensive

 I should've grabbed this ashtray...but I did not

and it was only $5

Oh well live and learn...

This is what I came home with.

a Pyrex Citrus Daisy loaf pan and 2 cool glasses.

We really had fun but were really glad to come home!

Sleep tight!

Ice Ice baby

strangely enough the weather forecast here in Quebec has been strangely accurate.....Some readers are probably wincing at the use of strangely twice in the same sentence....

I apologize but always keep in mind that my Mother tongue is French....

I can write really (mostly) well in both languages and even in Insurance talk (my work tongue).

But in my day to day life I speak Frenglish...Half French, half English and it seems it is a Montreal thing..

Okay back to the story...So Meteo Media predicted snow last night, check, and freezing rain after continuing this morning and rain later in the day...

I had a dentist appointment at 10:00 am. The dentist is approximately 7 minutes away by foot....

I step on the first step with my boots with ice grips...specially worn for the occasion!

and I just slip and fall ...it is all in slow motion....and when it stops I find I am holding the rail with my arms that has the bad tennis elbow.....ow!

 I get up, I"m thinking I"m going to the dentist! and I proceed to wobble on the sidewalk. It is like ice skating rink but with bumps and dips and it is really hard to navigate....

I walk maybe 60feet and I think the F*** with it, I am going home and rescheduling that appointment...

 Look at those Xmas tree needles!

They look frosted, they are!

Unfortunately my pictures do not do the situation justice.

a lot more freezing rain fell after.

I never thought of taking a picture of my steps, my very icy steps before or after my fall!

Oh well! We can certainly count on the weather to keep us entertained! 

I iced my arm multiple times during the day.

Sleep tight!

Last Thursday

So we are gently settling down in our new life....I cook healthier with even more veggies, less fat and less salt and more lean protein...

Dan is going to physiotherapy and doing the exercises and doing better.

I find that since things are calmer I am more tired and lazier.

I believe that is my way of heeling and coping.

Tuesday I worked in the office, Wednesday at home and was just too lazy to go out after...Thursday I could not wake up and kept snoozing...

Finally 2 hours later I messaged my boss and said sorry I will work from home, I could not wake up!

Yes I am grateful that my employer is flexible and I can work from home pretty much when I want!

So Thursday at around 5:00 PM , I decide that I need to go pick up essentials at the grocery store...

So I go outside and I see a lot of firemen.....and one tells me : Maa'm you can't stay there....this is closed up.....

So I just went back home....

 Good firemen but not calendar worthy....

They evacuated a lot of our neighbors....

 The street was blocked off for 2 hours because it turned out there was a 

gas leak.My SD came back from work and could not get in her apartment.....We sent her to a restaurant... And then they turned off the power for 28 blocks....

so I figured that I might as well use the BBQ to

cook turkey quesadillas!

 Since I was on the balcony I decided to take a picture of the snowed yard.

Sorry about the pic definition...since there was no light it is kind of fuzzy...

To be honest this really stressed me out!

Ever since the 1998 ice storm, I guess really stressed whenever we have a power outage...

Total Mish Mash

Today I'm offering what I call a wish mash

mish·mash

  (mĭsh′măsh′, -mäsh′)

n.

A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge.

---

[Middle English misse-masche, probably reduplication of mash, soft mixture; see mash.]

I took down the Xmas tree, I know, I know!

The ornements are waiting in Pyrex bowls to be stored until last year...

 This year these are my favorite ornements. I got them a couple of years ago

in my go to church basement when I lived in the burbs.

I paid a big old quarter for them. I think they we ment to be hung from a chandelier....

But not sure. They are all handmade.

Next up a plumbing issue....

When it is very cold in winter, the bathtub drain freezes....

The first time I freaked out but thank God, Dad was around to explain

that this situation didn't cause damage, that it would thaw as soon as the weather

is milder and that he had tried to correct this but nothing fixed the problem

and this had been happening for 30 years....

I was very surprised to notice that the shower drain was super duper

lazy.....And when I noticed it Dan was in the hospital and it

never occurred to me that it might be clogged by a wig!

Ew! Problem fixed!

 I was so glad I had this nifty tool on hand!

 Since Dan wasn't mobile and at one point I couldn't stand cooking anymore...

So we had some really amazing salmon tartare Japanese style delivered.If you like sushi there is a 

very good chance you will like tartare.....

I marinated and cooked lean pork cutlets on my

new Le Creuset grill pan....

It was free , the grill pan not the pork.....

Grilled pork, with celeriac salad and collards

I need to revise the collard recipe....It needed something
I don't know what but I will figure it out!

Have a great evening

I'll be watching the X-Files!