Invisible vs Practical

I am forever asking my friend if she has her ears on. She's supposed to wear hearing aids but she seldom does, at least when I'm with her. We have weird conversations as I'll say something and she will respond as if I said something else entirely. I've often wondered why she so frequently leaves her hearing aids in the box at home. I wear one too, but for me putting it in is just part of getting dressed. In fact, it may be the first thing I reach for in the morning so that I can understand what my family is saying to me as they get ready to go off to work.

She isn't the only one I know who I often catch without their assistive devices. One won't have hers on if she's at home until I come along and start to talk to her.  Then she will dash off to get it. Another old dear loves to spend time with people but will get upset when they ignore her. She has hearing aids but she doesn't wear them. She's in her 90's and just can't manage to put them in as her hands are rather arthritic. She has the tiny kind that nobody would notice in her ear. I wondered why someone had not taken her back to the audiologist and told him that this style simply is not suitable for her. I know I could have done that whenever I got a new one. She has a valid excuse for not wearing hers, where as I always assumed the others I know that are often running around without their aids in just never bothered to form the habit.

Hearing aids do take a bit of getting used to while you train your brain to distinguish one sound from another all over again. The thing is, if you have a hearing problem not only don't you know what it is you are not hearing, but you are more prone to both dementia and balance problems that could lead to falls. It's important to wear the darn things!

Recently I've had trouble hearing properly and have been making people repeat themselves entirely too often. I decided it was time to go see if it was me or my assistive device that needed help. My husband went so far as to tell the audiologist that this was the worst hearing aid I've ever had (it's my 4th). The audiologist was visibly shaken to hear that and asked me why my hubby would say such a thing. After all, this was a top of the line unit that he fought to get for me when the last one was found to be defective. I told him the truth. I make the poor man repeat everything he says and it's driving him nuts. Him and a lot of other people, I might add. I said that I was sorry to have to come in complaining but he quickly told me that since I'm an experienced user, he trusted that I knew when I was having a problem. He put the aid on a testing machine and looked closely at the results on the screen. He was quick to say there was definitely something wrong and pointed out several numbers that he said were out of line with what they should have been. He wanted to send it in for repairs.

That was December 13th. I had a play to go to that weekend, and my grandsons were coming for their birthdays. I suggested we wait until after Christmas, but he assured me that I'd have my unit back before Christmas and he'd give me a loner.

I have mentioned in a previous post that I don't wear the newfangled invisible style of hearing aid because I want people to have some clue as to the fact that I'm not ignoring them on purpose. If they can see a sign that I have a hearing loss, perhaps they will be more gracious if I don't immediately know what they are saying to me. Most people these days though seem to be a little more vain and don't want people to know they need help to hear. It's like they have to admit to getting old or something. Such nonsense!

Well, the loner was one of those. A little plug fits right into the ear canal, and a clear plastic tube runs to the actual hearing aid hidden behind my ear. I will admit the sound quality was good, but I now understand completely why my friends would rather go deaf and leave their units in the drawer.

It's not easy to insert that plug into my ear. It's not easy to know how to even hold the unit so it's facing the right way. If I had two of them, as most do, I'm sure I'd be doubly confused.  These things are a real pain to put on, even without arthritis crippled hands. I'm so glad I have my large, noticeable unit, and I could hardly wait to get it back.

So, if you, or someone you know is in need of some help to hear properly, unless you or they are extremely vain, you might want to reconsider taking on one of these invisible models. Think ahead and ask yourself how well you expect your hands to work in 5 to 8 years down the road. If you are  young perhaps this might still be the right choice for you. If you are in, or approaching your senior years, you may be better off with the larger unit. I know I am.

Christmas Traditions Slipping Away

I think our Traditional Christmas dinner is a thing of the past here.

We have lived in this house for the past 41 years, and as the only family left after my father died this became the place for everyone else to come for Christmas. My mother was a widower, my brother a bachelor, and my aunt referred to herself as a maiden lady. I was the one with two small children, so this was the logical place to do Christmas.

It used to be that my brother would arrive on Christmas Eve. We would have my special meat pies and scalloped potatoes for supper,  and then we would all play board games with the kids. He would sleep over and the next day my Mom and Aunt would arrive.  Christmas is more fun when kids are little as the house if full of excitement.

My traditional Christmas dinner consists of turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, corn salad, and a jellied Waldorf. Of course there would also be a pickle dish, cranberries, buns and gravy.  The food on the plate was a beautiful blend of colours, and looked as good as it tasted.

Once my brother stopped coming for Christmas Eve and my boys were grown, my hubby and I would go out for Chinese food on Christmas Eve. That way I didn't have to worry about left overs in an already over crowded fridge. But the meat pies are a family favourite, and deemed to be part of the celebration. I was somehow convinced that they had to be part of the Christmas meal along with the turkey. This caused a bit of jugging for oven use for several years,

Over the years my Mom and Aunt passed away, and my brother decided it was too far to drive, so then we were back to just our own family, which came to include a daughter-in-law and two grandsons, and sometimes one of my sister-in-laws, who had also become widowed.  Last year it was just myself, my hubby, my two sons and two grandsons. Since we had the grandsons Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, I decided to feed them their birthday tacos that night, since they didn't get them the week before when it was actually their birthdays. We never have to worry about leftovers when there are boys and tacos involved. I did miss my Christmas Eve Chinese food, and as the boys will be here again this year, I'll miss it again. But hey, I made the meat pies so we'll have those like in the old days. 


Nobody but my hubby and myself seem to eat the corn salad anymore. I can make that any time. I hear the odd complaint about there being walnuts in the jelly salad, but hey, that's what makes it a waldorf, so while I've cut back on the nuts, they are still in there.  Last year, I decided to make a simple caesar salad instead since the young ones are particularly fond of that. It's a lot less work and went over well. And while everyone seems to eat the brussels sprouts, there are always a few left over now. That never used to happen! Perhaps I'm just buying too many.

Dessert has always been an apple pie made with apples from my own tree, and a lemon one. And of course there is the big cookie platter so even if you are stuffed you can find some sweet treat on there to finish off with.

Normally I start to bake at the beginning of November, using pumpkin from the Halloween decorations. I add a new batch of baked goods fairly often after that so I always end up with a good variety even after sharing some with friends who drop by through the holiday season. This year I had a surgery that interrupted what would normally be my baking time, and I took a while to get my energy back. The baking didn't get done. I made birthday cakes for last weekend, and attempted to start my Christmas baking this morning. There are certain things I only bake at Christmas time since I like them way too much for my own good. I started with the one I had been looking forward to the most. But I'm tired I guess. I screwed it up. It's supposed to be a cheesecake square that you can pick up with your fingers to eat, but what I've got is a cheesecake with a cookie base as I forgot to divide the cookie dough. It may still taste good but it will now be served like the pie, on a plate with a fork. That's certainly not what I had in mind.   

 As I am now the only female in this family, all the work falls on me, and I feel like I'm getting too old for it. I did visit our local cookie walk, so I have an assortment of interesting looking goodies that were meant to just sort of pretty up my cookie tray. I may now just head over to M&M's to pick up something from there and call an end to this baking chore for this year. I'm sure to hear complaints as everyone, like me, has a favorite they likely look forward to. Maybe next year, if I get to start on time, they will get the cookie that they think of as their Christmas treat. Not this year, I'm afraid. It's just not going to happen.

So as times change, so must our traditions, even if that isn't really what we want. Christmas comes, ready or not. I do hope you all have one that is happy, healthy and safe.

Mouse in the House!

Imagine it's 4:30 in the morning and you feel a tickle on your leg. The tickle moves upward and seconds later you feel that same tickle run down your arm. The first sensation groggily has you wondering , "What's that?" and you reach down to brush it away. The second one has you sitting bolt upright in bed declaring, "That felt like a mouse!"

I had thrown back my covers when I got up to make a trip to the bathroom shortly before all this happened.  I figure a mouse climbed the bed-skirt and landed in the warm spot I had just abandoned. When I came back and covered myself up, I covered him up too. I never turn the lights on when I get up in the night so I didn't see him. I chalked the whole thing up to my imagination and went back to sleep. We don't get mice in the house. We've had the occasional one in the basement, but they have never been up running around my house in the 41 years I've lived here.

While reading in bed around 6 AM I saw a good sized mouse wander out from under the bed. He sauntered to the foot of the bed and I followed him, calling out to my hubby, "There's a mouse in the house." I followed him out of the room. He didn't seem to be in any hurry and I was just trying to keep track of him so we could corner him somewhere. But when he left my room he vanished very quickly.

I set about securing any food products he might decide to sample while my hubby set up some traps around the house.

All day I watched for movement out of the corner of my eye. Nothing. That night, within half an hour of taking a leisurely bath I hear my hubby calling, "He's in the bathroom."

Hubby had been doing his exercises in the kitchen when he looked up and discovered he had an audience.The mouse was sitting there watching him. Once noticed he decided to wader off to the bathroom where he hid behind the door. This mouse was in no way skiddish as twice in one day he had revealed himself to us in brightly lit rooms and then just casually wandered off.  Going into the bathroom was a major mistake though. We shut the door.

I suggested hubby fetch a box or a bucket to catch him in. He came back with a box so small it would never serve the purpose. But he also came back with a stick. At this point I must inform you that my husband is a self defence expert and sticks of varying shapes and sizes are his weapon of choice. He went into the bathroom and shut the door.

Now this is when I remembered stories about my paternal grandmother doing the same thing, but with a rat. She lived in a third floor apartment on the corner of Gilmour and Kent in Ottawa. There was a garbage shoot in the bathroom so she didn't have to carry trash all the way down to the bins in the back alley. The rat must have come up through he shoot. My grandmother decided to take care of the problem and shut herself in the bathroom with it with nothing but a broom. This is a very dangerous thing to do with a rat!

Neither my mouse nor my grandmother's rat survived these mighty warriors and their chosen sticks. The stick used here , by the way, was a yard stick frequently used by me with a folded paper towel held on the end with an elastic band. I use it to eliminate spiders. Apparently it works well for mice too, if handled by the right person. The little box ended up being useful after all, for disposing of the body. My spider killer will now be renamed as simply the killing stick and I know I can feel secure, once again, in my bed at night.

Extra Fuel On My Fire

 As if I didn't have enough to do at this time of year, I had to add fuel to the fire by taking a card making course at Sketchbook Skool. No, it's not one of those ones where you cut and paste one piece of paper onto another, or stamp the words. It was a two week course on how to use your own art to design and create greeting cards good enough to send out into the world, not just to your friends and family, but maybe even to the card publishers themselves.

I got one week into it, when, of course, someone decided that it would be great if we held a holiday card exchange. About 150 of us sent off our addresses to someone willing to divide us into groups of six, with people scattered throughout the world. The cards have to be in the mail by December 10th in order to be sure they reach some of those destinations. That meant I had to suspend my class and get to work on the cards for this project. I'm sure they would have turned out a lot better if I had been able to finish the class first, but I'm learning new tricks with each one that arrives in the mail. Oh, this is great fun!  Everyone has their own style and ideas. I can hardly wait to see what a Christmas card from Australia looks like. They are in the midst of summer there and, as I hear it, often go to the beach for Christmas day.  I do hope she doesn't make me one with a snowman on it!

I was also able to rejoin the art explorations with the group at the library this month, after not being able to attend the past couple of months. This time we learned about portraits and drawing faces in general. We did it in stages. First we were to draw a blind contour. That's when you look at the picture you are copying, but are not allowed to look at the marks you are making on the paper. You are also not supposed to lift the pen from the paper. It's easy to get lost and have to backtrack, making all kinds of wonky lines. The results can be rather interesting. After that we had to do a quick sketch, taking just two minutes to get the face onto the paper. Those were our warmup exercises before taking our time to try and draw the face we had chosen. I was introduced to conte pencils and now I want some!

Not long ago this sort of exercise in the presence of others would have had me panicking, but one of the other courses I took this fall had me sit really close to someone and stare at them while drawing a big face and then add a little body on whatever space was left on the paper.  I got my grandson to "help me with my homework" and he liked the results well enough he wanted to take it home. 






Shortly after that I captured the face of a total stranger, at a bit more of a distance. He didn't know about it until I showed him later.

A friend saw these and wanted in on the action, so she posed for me too. None of these faces are realistic, but they are still faces, and they are recognizably human so I'm happy with that. Besides, they were just fun to do.

Maybe I should try to draw Santa's face sometime soon. I really do have to get back to that card making course. I still have a week's worth of lessons to get done. What I've learned so far is that you don't have to be able to draw really well to make beautiful greeting cards. Simple designs and lots of colour work well. I may have to take up calligraphy next though.

Oh, that reminds me. I still have to send cards to the usual people on my Christmas list, and write at least a note to go with several of those. So much to do. So little time. But I'm sure it's the same with you, even if you aren't silly enough to add card making classes and extra projects to your chores at the busiest time of year. Let's take a deep breath and get the work done without adding any more logs to the pile.

Kitchen Gadgets for Christmas?

Christmas is sneaking up on us again this year, and it's harder than ever to find the right gift for those on my list. Every last one of them is male and they are less than helpful giving hints as to what they might like. Women are much easier as, while men generally like something useful, women want beautiful things they would never buy for themselves.

My hubby informed me early on never to buy him tools. He likes to pick his own. Likewise, I'd rather not get things that would be useful around the house as I would consider those gifts to be for the house and not for me. But just in case you are need a few hints as to what might just become the most useful gadget in the kitchen, and still not something she would buy for herself, I have decided to show you some of my favorite kitchen tools.

I got this handy little grater, that fits right onto a non-slip container at IKEA. Everything goes neatly into it's own bowl so there is no mess to clean up.  It even has a lid so that if you grate more cheese than you need, for instance, you can put the lid on it and put the freshly grated product right back into the fridge. I use this a lot, and often wish I had a second one.  They are so cheap, it's just silly not to have two.

I have a food processor, but sometimes you just want to make a few bread crumbs or mash a banana, or chop up just a bit of nuts or something and the food processor is really too big for the job. I found a mini processor at Canadian Tire, and I use it so often that I don't even put it away anymore. The big one hardly ever comes out of it's storage spot.  I know I paid about $7.99 for mine several years ago. I'm not sure Canadian Tire still has them but Walmart has something similar.

The third thing I wonder how I ever got along without is a gravy separator.  You poor the juices from your roast pan into it. There is a filter at the top to sift out impurities and after the fat floats to the top, you pour what you need to make gravy back into the pot. Only the good broth comes out of the spout. All you have to do is watch and stop pouring when the fat decides to follow. But by then you have what you need anyway. My grandson says I make the best gravy ever!

None of these gadgets costs more than $20. But all three are worth their weight in gold.

And for those of you who fill stockings for adult women, go to the Dollar Store and find a mini whisk. I do have two of those as they, like the mini food processor, get used way more often than the full sized model.  I see Amazon has them too.

This year I'd like a garlic press, if anyone is listening.

All these things are kitchen gadgets she doesn't know she needs, likely wouldn't buy for herself, but will be so glad to have. Happy shopping.

A Useful Site

 I once told you about the difficulty I find when face to face with all the product choices available these days. In recent years I have been testing a multitude of samples through such programs as BzzAgent, Influenster, Shopper Army, Chick Advisor and Sample Source.  Even Proctor & Gamble sends out a box of their products from time to time.

I've tried new products in categories from dried pasta to electric toothbrushes. There were many shampoos, face creams and even makeup items like lipstick and mascara. I've been introduced to so many products I might never have discovered otherwise and some of them have become family favourites.

I've discovered that in some cases you really do get what you pay for. John Frieda and Vichy are two companies that I likely never would have gambled my money on. Their products are quiet pricey, but now that I've had samples to try first, I know they are well worth the money. I now have favorite products amoung these brands.

Still, there are new products introduced everyday and the choices are still hard to make in many cases.

In another blog I mentioned the Oral B toothbrush I received from BzzAgent. That post was spotted by a member of the staff at Reviews.com and she reached out to me to see if I would include a mention of their site in that post or some future one. Well, that's an old post and I doubted many people would find it (or would have if I had not mentioned it here) so I didn't really see the point of adding anything there until now.

The thing is, I have now explored their site and decided it might be helpful to some of you in sorting though products to find one that's right for you. It may even help you with your upcoming Christmas purchases. They do extensive research on a wide range of products and name what they feel are the best. They tell you how they reached those conclusions and realize everyone likes different things for their own reasons. They even welcome your input.

The first review I found, of course, was about the electric toothbrushes. The amount of research and effort put into this one review is so extensive it boggled my mind. But it proved to me that this is not just some lone person, like me, with an opinion. Looking further I discovered there is a team of at least 50 people in this company and they really do look into not only products but services as well, before giving an unbiased review.

It is an American company so some of the things just don't apply up here. On the other hand, a great deal of it does and is very helpful. The only thing I can compare this site to is Consumer Reports but the lists of things they review don't often overlap. I suggest you go to https://www.reviews.com/ and check it out for yourself. Decide what type of product you would like to see their top choice for and put it in the search box. Play with it a bit. Decide for yourself if this site will be useful to you in helping you make difficult product choices in the future. I think it is at least a site worth knowing about.



Note: July 17, 2020   Apparently the link about the toothbrushes doesn't exist anymore but I have now been provided with a new one for you to check out, if you care to.   https://www.consumersadvocate.org/electric-toothbrushes

Sugar Celebrations

Well, I did it. I survived 30 days without sugar. That means I had no cookies, cakes, muffins, squares or pie; no ketchup, pizza or barbeque sauce; no soft drinks or specialty coffees; no potato salad, pasta salad or even a typical salad dressing on a veggie salad. And most important, no ice cream during all that hot weather even though one of my sponsors offered to buy me some.

I was one of 6,529 people who took part in this challenge. Together we raised $122,145 for the Canadian Cancer Society so far. People are still free to donate, so if you were putting it off until you knew I'd stay the course, you still have time to add to the total.  Personally, I managed to gather $287.28, and I'm thankful to everyone who donated to my campaign. I'd love to get over that $300 mark though.

As a bonus, along the way, I managed to lose 6 or 8 pounds, but one day of celebrating when it was over likely put half of that back on. It's okay. That wasn't the goal anyway, and I'm sure it will drop back down again over the coming week.

Saturday was the last day to pick up our annual Buttermilk pie from the North Gower Farmers' Market. Even if I couldn't eat it that day, we had to go get it. Franks makes the best baked goods anywhere, and at a more reasonable price than most. I would never consider drinking buttermilk like my Mom did, but it sure makes a great pie. This year I chose one with raspberries in it.

As if that wasn't enough of a reward, my sweet husband thought I deserved to celebrate the end of these self-imposed restrictions. He was impressed with what a good job I did of sticking to my promise to avoid sugar for the month. What better place to indulge in whatever caught my fancy than at Rideau Carleton Raceway. They have a buffet that has something for everyone. It was so nice just to choose to eat whatever I wanted without having to stop and think about how it was made and if any of the ingredients contained sugar when we went out on Sunday, Oct 1st.

My first plateful was from the salad bar, as usual, so I got my potato salad, pasta salad, seafood salad, and a veggie salad with a real creamy dressing. I don't know if it was Ranch or Caesar but I really enjoyed it, sugar and all. I also had some egg rolls with a chicken stir-fry later. Plum sauce definitely has sugar, even if they do call it something else in commercial versions. The third plate was probably safe as it was surf and turf. But of course one never has just one dessert at a buffet. I had four. The butter tart that I'd looked forward to all evening was less interesting than the trifle, blueberry mousse cake or the coffee cheesecake. I'm sure I got a month's worth of sugar all in one meal. And I finally got a butter tart worthy of my craving on Wednesday at Treats in Ottawa. I'll be good for the rest of this week and eat pie with my Thanksgiving dinner. I still have not had any ice cream yet. I will do that soon, before it gets too cold. Really though, I'm likely not to go back to eating quite as much sugar in the future as I have in the past. I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would. I just found I wasn't as hungry as often as usual. Unfortunately, the experiment didn't do anything for my sore joints though.


Near the end, I found a totally sugar free muffin recipe.It was so easy I will definitely make it again. I only wish I'd found it sooner. I didn't even have to share them with my son as he thought they looked funny and was afraid to taste them. They look different because there is no flour in them. They are not only a quick snack but also nice at breakfast time. Here's the recipe:

1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup oatmeal
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of blueberries
I added 1 tsp cinnamon
You can also add nuts if you like, or any other berries

Bake for 5 minutes at 425F and then decrease the temperature to 375F and continue to bake for another 12 minutes.
This makes about 8 muffins. If you only have tins that hold 12, put water in the empty ones.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, but since it was the first baked goods I'd had all month, I highly doubt it.

A Little Enlightenment

Jim Carey is not who he used to be. In fact, if you listen to him now you will hear him claim that Jim Carey does not exist. He has never existed. Jim Carey is just a character he plays, just like he plays all his other characters.

From an early age, he says, we are often urged to be a certain way, act a certain way and believe in the things that others around us believe in. Doing so may cover up our real selves. The person we become would be nothing more than a character we create while trying to fit in.

He found acceptance by making people laugh from a very early age and continued to do so and had a very successful career. Then he made a movie in which he portrayed Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon.  He got so deeply into that persona that when it was over he had trouble getting back to being Jim Carey. That's when he realized that Jim Carey, as we all knew him, never existed and was just an act.

People started saying Jim was depressed and he was for a while. After all, his off and on girlfriend of three years died of an apparent suicide. And as if that wasn't bad enough he then had to face a wrongful death lawsuit from her mother. That's enough to depress anyone. Jim says though, that sadness and depression are two different things. Sadness is a reaction to things that happen. Being depressed, according to his doctor, is your body saying it needs a Deep Rest from trying to be the persona you have created for yourself. You are tired of pretending all the time and you just want to stop.  That's what happened to Jim.

Forget about the  existential and the tetrahedrons and any other thing he's said that sounds crazy to you. The things I've mentioned in the preceding paragraphs hit home with me, just as his playing Andy managed to touch him.

I have never felt that I fit in and have often joked about being from another planet or at least having been dropped off on the wrong one.  If he's right and he and most other people invent themselves as they go along in order to fit in, I missed out on doing that and just always wondered where I belonged. Apparently instead of sitting on the sidelines and wondering why I was different I should have made changes in my thoughts and behaviours to become part of a group. While Jim Carey and others  are busy playing the part of being who others around them expect them to be, I have always been just me. It wasn't the easy route to take, but perhaps it was the best one after all.

As I've aged I have come to accept my own uniqueness and am now comfortable with myself. I no longer worry about whether you like me or not. It took me a long time to get to this place. Somewhere along the way I learned from Dr Wayne Dyer that differences are not necessarily a bad thing and that some of us are just more highly evolved.  Jim Carey just had to evolve the hard way. How are you doing with your journey through life?

Three Down and One to Go!

Three weeks with no sugar.  I think that's quite an accomplishment. Especially since one of my sponsors forgot and actually offered to buy me ice cream!  I resisted. The Sugar-Free September people on Facebook saw a post where I mentioned that and commented on how strong I was. I'm pretty proud, I can tell you that.

I felt like I was missing out on some things just because I like them with mayonnaise. There are nice fresh tomatoes at this time of year and they make wonderful sandwiches, with a dab of mayo on the bread. I usually use Miracle Whip, but it has sugar in the ingredient list, so I found a recipe and made some of my own.

Pat Trew was a local food columnist for many years, and she put out a couple of cookbooks along the way. I happen to have one that I picked up at a yard sale a few years back. I've never really paid much attention to it before, I just wanted it because I knew her. The one I have is called It Doesn't Have to be Gourmet to be Good, and is listed as a Canadian Best Seller. One of my friends wanted to make some squares that were a favorite in her youth and her cookbooks were all packed away so she asked her Facebook friends if they had the recipe. She said it was one of Pat Trew's. Sure enough one of them had, not this, but the other book and it was in there. Meanwhile, I had pulled out my book to look too, and though I didn't find the requested recipe, I did find one for mayonnaise and one for spaghetti sauce, both with no sugar.

I have now made, and enjoyed both and will be checking to see what else I can make from this book. It's heavily sprinkled with desserts though, so I'll have to wait until next month if I want to try those.
The spaghetti sauce is made with tomato soup instead of tomato sauce. Surprisingly there is no sugar in the soup. The sauce came out a slightly different colour but was very tasty.

Breakfast has generally been eggs or oatmeal with strawberries. I have found that no sugar is needed as the natural sweetness of the berries works well.

The rules actually say I can have chocolate as long as it's not milk chocolate. 85% dark chocolate may be too bitter for many of you, but I've enjoyed it for several years now. This month I have not even been tempted.

As I've mentioned before, I don't find I'm as hungry as I usually am, but I did get nibbly one evening as I was reading. As I was wondering what I could have, my son decided to make himself some popcorn. I collected a bowlful for myself. It was perfect. I've always preferred salty over sweet anyway.

During this process of avoiding sugar, I have discovered Andy De Santis and subscribed to his newsletter. I will definitely be making some of the recipes I found on his blog, starting with one of carmelized brussel sprouts with chestnuts and cranberries, right in time for Thanksgiving! Another great bonus for getting involved with Sugar-Free September.

I can say at this point that I'm sure I will break the $200 mark as far as donations go towards raising funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. Feel free to add to the total, either by getting in touch with me or leaving a donation online at https://www.sugarfreeseptember.ca/users/karen-wattie I'll even pass along the recipes I mentioned if you ask for them.

My Sugar Substitute is Fat

I have now completed two weeks of the Sugar-Free September campaign for the Canadian Cancer Society and have managed to avoid a great deal of sugar in the process. One thing I have noticed is that I'm not nearly as hungry as I normally am. They say sugar is addictive, but I thought that meant you go looking for more sugary things. I'm not even looking for regular food, and occasionally have to remind myself to eat something before I wait too late and find myself not hungry enough for the big meal I make for the menfolk at the end of the day. Normally I would be looking for something to munch on about every two hours! That's just not happening.

I'm not going to tell you about all the horrible things cancer can do to you. Everybody already knows that.  My blog posts on this sugar-free campaign will be more about my thoughts and discoveries while taking this journey.  Some of it is still muddled in my mind, as you will see, but I hope to sort it out as I go along.

I'd like to report that I've lost even more weight, and one would think that would happen when you don't eat as much, and all the added sugars have been eliminated. But it's just not so.

For many years we've been told that fat is not good for us, and while the population now eats 10% less fat than it did 30 years ago, obesity has doubled. When you take fat out of your diet, you are bound to add foods that have more sugar. Sugar is now very hard to avoid as manufacturers added it to things to make them taste better when they cut back on the fat content. Sugar, not fat, causes weight gain. Calories are not the same across the board. I learned that way back when I did Weight Watchers years ago. We had a calculator that let us keep track of points, based not only on calories in any given food but also the fibre and fat content as well. We counted points, not calories and I found I could actually eat more and still lose weight easily. So, here I am, trying to avoid sugar, but have not been avoiding carbohydrates at the same time.

These days I seem to be doing the reverse of what used to be recommended. If I can't have sugar, then something with more fat tends to be my first choice. Recently we had a fast food meal. I often have a salad. The dressing would have contained sugar, so I decided I'd have an order of fries instead.  So now, as my sugar consumption goes down, my fat consumption has gone up. That's not necessarily a good thing either.

I'm thinking I'll see how many carbohydrates I can eliminate soon. Then, not only won't I be eating things with added sugar, I'll be eliminating things that turn into sugar after I eat them. I always feel good when I get rid of the carbohydrates, though I find two weeks is my limit. Even if I add them in again every second day, I suddenly want more, and more often. I've never had a sweet tooth, so my body doesn't crave sweet things. It does, however, react to carbs as if I'm addicted to them.

I've been to a couple of nice outings with various groups now. I passed up all the lovely cookies, squares and apple crisp and even refused the sandwiches at these affairs, not knowing for sure what was in them. I took a big Greek pasta salad to a potluck, just to make sure I had something to eat. I was lucky that there were several sugar-free dishes available and nobody had to question why my plate was empty. I did identify the problem dishes as I walked down the length of the table though. Someone commented that I was very knowledgeable about the ingredients.  I told them what I was doing and that I was getting rather good at reading labels and identifying the pitfalls.  Luckily for me, there were even fruit platters at these events so I was able to have dessert too.  Yes, I know there is sugar in fruit, but it's not added sugar and is allowed.

I think I'm doing well. People have told me they could never do what I'm doing. It's not that hard really. It just takes a little thought and commitment. I am, however, looking forward to a nice big piece of pie at Thanksgiving. September will be over by then.

I am disappointed at the lack of response to my fundraising page but my local friends have been quite supportive. I'm grateful for that as it encourages me to continue to stay away from the sugar and I get to do my part for the Cancer Society. I'm so glad to have found a way to help. If you want to help too, the fundraising page is still at https://www.sugarfreeseptember.ca/users/karen-wattie

Doing Battle with Sugar

I am nearing the end of my first week on the Sugar-Free September campaign for the Canadian Cancer Society. Nobody said it would be easy, but I'm finding that it's not just about skipping the treats and watching out for sugar laden condiments. There is sugar everywhere!

The week before I started this I made a cake and went out with friends a couple of times to places where I could get a nice treat to go with my tea. The day before I began my hubby wanted to know if I wanted to go to Rideau Carleton for the buffet. We had been there not long ago so I didn't think that necessary. I realized he was just trying to give me a last chance to pig out without having to totally analyze everything I ate.

I eat eggs for breakfast most days, so there's no problem there. For lunch on the first day, I thought I'd make myself a mini pizza on a pita with lots of fresh veggies. Too late I realized there was sugar in the pizza sauce. Oh well, the rules say to start slow and not beat yourself up about every little infraction. This was already proving to be a learning experience.

Before someone tries to tell me there is sugar in bread I will mention that the Cancer Society has kindly provided sample meals and recipes and they do seem to include pitas, tortillas and crackers and such, so I'm not totally eliminating that kind of thing yet. I may go totally carb free near the end but I know as much as I enjoy how that makes me feel, my body can't handle it for more than 14 days before I start to get dizzy.

On the second day, I had some leftover sloppy burgers. There's sugar in there too (besides the buns) but only one tablespoon of brown sugar in the whole pot so at least the amount that got into me was minuscule.

Then came the time when my hubby wanted to take me to McDonald's. As we walked through the door he asked what I wanted. Well, I knew they dress everything with a mayo type sauce and even the dip for the chicken nuggets would be full of sugar. Luckily I like their tea so I'm no longer forced to drink soft drinks. I just shook my head and said, "I can't do this!"  It was then that I realized that my being sugar-free is going to affect others around me.  The adventure had just begun.

I made spagetti sauce and two days later I realized there was sugar in the tomato sauce. I guess I'll have to buy some tomatoes and make my own now as we use a fair bit of that around here.  My only other failure was when I polished off a couple of spoonfuls of brown beans that were in the fridge. Once again that was more of a habit. I was cleaning out the fridge before garbage day and it was either eat them or throw them out. There was no can at hand to remind me of the probable sugar content. Beans are something else I'll be making my own of, much to the delight of my hubby, I'm sure.

Lesson number one: Step away from anything that comes in cans!

So, here I was feeling like a failure with so many infractions in less than a week. But I really have cut down on the sugar intake and the scale proves it. I'm down 4 pounds already! That's an added bonus I wasn't looking for.

At six days in I have twenty-four more days to go. I'm doing battle with sugar for those who are doing battle with cancer. Please support the cause if you can.   https://www.sugarfreeseptember.ca/users/karen-wattie



 

Whatever It Is, Just Do It

I'm almost finished my urban sketching course. I have definitely fulfilled my New Years resolution to take my art more seriously, and I'm sure I've improved at least my drawing a lot this year. It hasn't really given me much time to paint very often but I did learn to use watercolour in a looser style.

Back in February, I tried to draw the house across the street. I used a method called contour drawing, where you follow the outside lines and then fill in the middle with details. I found that method works pretty well for some things but it wasn't working at all well for that house. 

A couple of weeks ago, during this Urban Sketching course, I learned a new method called spiraling, where you pick a starting point and draw outward from that in an ever increasing
spiral. I was interrupted by a major downpour but as you can see, my drawing of that same house improved greatly over just a few months.

This course often had you drawing in public too, as I mentioned a month ago.What I've learned at this point is that that's not nearly as scary as it sounds. People either ignore you completely or stand inside your picture frame and teasingly wonder out loud if you are going to include them. I even had one guy offer to park his snazzy car where it could be added to the picture. I actually thought that would be a good idea, but he didn't do it.

All during these warmer months while I've been out of my house drawing in various place only two people have actually come right over to have a look, and both of them were very kind and complimentary.

I joined a group of local sketchers that met once a week this summer and even they don't really make a point of checking out what the others were doing very often. Everyone was busy doing their own thing. I'd like to get that point across as the group actually had 60 members, but very few of them could get themselves to come out and draw with us. The others obviously wanted to or they wouldn't have joined the group in the first place. They were too shy, or perhaps felt they weren't good enough. Hey, I certainly don't have a natural talent for this stuff either, but it was just plain fun.  You can't get better at something if you don't at least try to do it more often. I hope some of those people see this and understand that they won't embarrass themselves as they won't be attracting nearly as much attention as they imagine.

There are a lot of things many of us would like to do and don't because we're afraid of looking foolish. I know I've said this before, but other people really don't pay that much attention to you at exercise classes, dance groups, drawing classes or anything else. If they are there, they are busy learning or exercising just like you are. They don't have time to look around and make notes on who is screwing up. And, as I found, when I sat and drew all by myself in public places, most people are too polite to just barge into your space and check out what you are up to. I'm not actually getting braver, I've just found out there is nothing to fear.

Sugar Free for September

Everyone has  has been touched by cancer. If they haven't had it yet themselves, they know someone who has, or perhaps a family that has suffered through it along with their loved ones. Right now, I personally know of a few people fighting this disease in one form or another.

I have friends and family who take part in runs, walks and biking events to raise money every year to fight this disease, or help fund a cure. I don't have cancer but I do have arthritis in my hips, knees and feet, so I can't take part in such worthy events. I did, however, just come across something I can do.  It seems the Canadian Cancer Society has created an event that's made for people like me. I've signed up to participate in a Sugar Free September.

I have a friend who has been fighting arthritis for years and she tells me the best thing I could do to reduce the inflammation in my joints would to be to get off sugar.  I'm not sure there is any scientific proof of that working, but I'm about to give it a good test run. I may kill two birds with one stone, and perhaps help save somebody's life at the same time. You can help me by leaving a donation online at https://www.sugarfreeseptember.ca/users/karen-wattie

I have at least six social events already lined up for September, so this isn't going to be easy. Maybe some nice person will supply me with a Golden Ticket if they care to donate $20 to this cause. That would give me a day off to just eat normally, treats and all. But any donation would be gratefully received, no matter how small. It would encourage me along the way while a Golden Ticket would actually give me something to look forward to. In the meantime, I'm now going to search out recipes for homemade salad dressings and other things that are sugar free. I expect this to be a real challenge, especially since, as soon as I told my hubby what I was up to, he took me out for ice cream.

This could get interesting.  I'll keep you posted.

Getting My Greek On

Greek Fest is going on in Ottawa. In case you didn't know, Greeks are all about food and music. That's what you will find at Greek Fest. Darn good food, and hopefully music, if you happen to land there at the right time. Oh, and if there's music, there is bound to be dancing. It's really hard to keep your feet still when you hear Greek music and Greeks love to dance.There is also some art, and a few vendors, but that really seems to come across as something to look at while you wait for more music, or while you wait for your full tummy to make room for some of those honey balls!

It may not be the most exciting festival you will attend this year, but you aren't going to get a better meal anywhere. Admission is free and so is the parking. There is parking on site, and along Prince of Wales between Baseline and Meadowlands Drive. There is also parking on a few of the back streets too If you go looking for it, watch out for signs that tell you not to park certain places during special events. They really enforce those.


There is a free shuttle service to and from St Pius High School (1481 Fisher Ave) about every 10 minutes. Free parking will also be available (without shuttle service) at the St. John the Baptist Shrine (952 Green Valley Cres.) and the Temple of Israel (1301 Prince of Wales Drive). Please note on August 11th & 18th parking will only be available after 6:30pm.

So why am I telling you about this?  Well, my paternal grandfather came to Canada from Greece.  My Dad may have been half Scottish, and my mother was Scottish from both sides of her family, but that bit of Greek blood I inherited runs deep in my veins, and that's what I identify with. I will tell you I'm Greek and only mention the Scots as an afterthought.

Go get your Greek on. Have a great feed, and get your toes atapping. The festival continues until Sunday. You'll find it at 1315 Prince of Wales Drive.

Week one of Urban Sketching

As I mentioned last week, I have just started taking a course on Urban Sketching. One of the things we were supposed to do this week was to go out where there are some people, like an event perhaps, and sketch what we saw. We were to include the people in the drawings, even if they did move a lot. Sometimes they would even leave the scene before you were finished. Like most people, I'm not used to drawing in public. I guess that was the point, as I don't feel the need to hide anymore, even if what I produce isn't fantastic art. Anybody who came to see what I was doing seemed to understand that it's more about the process than the result. It was all a learning exercise, and I really enjoyed my week.

We did some rambling this weekend. Saturday, at one point, we were in the St Laurent Shopping Centre in Ottawa. While I was waiting for my hubby to get his glasses adjusted at Lenscrafters, I had a few moments to do a trial run on my homework. I say trial run as we were supposed to spend more time than I actually had there.

Then, while having lunch at the food court, where I resisted trying to draw, we heard music coming from downstairs. I looked over the rail and discovered that the Ottawa auditions Canadian Idol were underway. After lunch we went down and watched that for a while, and I did a bit more practice sketching.

On Sunday I had the morning to myself and Canalfest was happening down at the Blockhouse Park. I decided that would give me the time and opportunity to do my homework properly.  I sat in the middle seat of the front row and concentrated on the musicians. They could see that I was trying to draw them but it was the wife of one of them that actually came over to see what I was up to. She seemed to like it and wanted to show her friends. That's a bit embarassing but one of them even suggested I send it into the local paper. That's not going to happen! (except my blog gets reposted at Hometown TV12 in Brockville  LOL).

Sunday afternoon I wanted to go check out a Sunflower festival at Krinklewood Farm near Frankville. I expected to get a lot of pictures of fields full of sunflowers, but even though such fields were indicated on the map, there was no sign of them. There were lots of venders though.  The only sunflowers I found were those on the pottery of one of the venders, and in a few vases.

It was a good weekend, and while my Urban Sketches may not be great art, they do represent the things I saw, and I am definitely more comfortable making marks in public.

Art Taught Me a Life Lesson

Urban sketchers are people who draw on location, wherever they happen to be. They document the real world as they find it. Nothing is arranged. This has become such a trend that there is an actual organization for urban sketchers. Their motto is to meet, sketch and share.

Photo by Leyna Sanger

Saturday, 29 July, 2017 was the 56th World Wide Sketch Crawl. People all over the world were taking part in this event. In Ottawa there were three locations listed and times to go there, but I couldn't get there so I took part by going to one of my favorite local spots and trying to capture what I saw. I found two other members of the local Sketch Night in Merrickville group drawing in the same area that day. Actually, the spot was prearranged and it was hoped more of the current 59 members would take part.

I'm finding people are intimidated by drawing where others can see, and even more intimidated by the idea of posting their work online. I frequently post my urban sketches to that group, and others, in hopes that they will see that such sketches don't have to be photo realistic in order to capture the spirit of the place. Many members of this group are very  artistically talented, while I am still struggling to learn. Or, as my grandson said recently, "You can't draw, Nana, but you can sketch."  It is my hope that by sharing my less than perfect renderings some of the others will think, "if she can do it, so can I," and start sharing what they draw too. I know it would only give them more confidence as that's what is happening with me. More confidence means I am likely to draw more often, and the more often I draw, the better I'll get....or so I'm told.

Sketch Night in Merrickville is a new group that formed about a month ago. They gather every Tuesday evening between 7 and 9 pm, usually in the Blockhouse Park. I never would have had the nerve to even think about joining such a group before this year so I'm definitely moving forward.

I first learned about Urban Sketching while taking the online Exploring course through Sketchbook Skool earlier this year. After completing my first assignment along those lines, I was totally hooked. It's very relaxing to just sit somewhere and make my  marks try to line up with what is in front of you. I've learned it's important not to stress over perfection and now I always use a pen to draw with and then I add colour to hopefully distract the eye from my mistakes.  I have recently signed up for another five week course at Sketchbook Skool. This time it's entirely on Urban Sketching. Since I'm having so much fun I want to learn more about the process.

The first lesson was posted Monday morning and one of the points made was that we should find things we don't do well and just get out there and do them anyway. It isn't important if you aren't good at it. It's more important that you are doing it. So many people stop themselves from doing things they believe they aren't good at, even if they really wish they could do them. They will never learn to do those things that interest them if they don't get out there and try. What do you want to do that you have been holding back on.  Go do it! Have some fun!

Sundae Sunday

There were so many things available to do this past weekend but the weatherman was threatening rain again. We decided to choose an activity we wouldn't have to pay for, just in case. We spend the day in the country and were highly rewarded in the process.  We discovered something called Sundae Sunday. 

Two family farms, the Avonmore Berry Farm and Kemmatten Dairy Farm, opened their doors to the public this past weekend to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday and Canadian Agriculture.

Our first stop was at the berry farm. They are actually much more than that as they also have an apple orchard and fields full of a wide variety of different vegetables. Besides visiting their lovely shop where produce and baked goods are sold, on this day you could take a guided walking tour of the fields. There are play areas for the kids too, including a hay mow with ropes set up for them to swing and hang from. Great fun, I'm sure! The main event this day was the strawberry sundaes.  For just $5 you received a large bowl of ice cream covered with an equally generous portion of fresh strawberries grown right there on the property. 
 

While eating this heavenly treat we were entertained by two McDonald brothers. Hamish, the young fiddle player, is only 13 years old but already an accomplished musician. His brother, Alec, who didn't appear to be more than a couple of years older, had a surprisingly rich and mature voice. They said they were normally part of a four-member band called the County Lads, but they were fantastic all on their own and I  expect them to go far in the music business.

While they were playing some of the red-shirted volunteers for the day gathered in front and gave us a little demonstration of their Scottish dancing abilities. One girl, after some coaxing, proved the Irish can dance too. Once she got started she had a wonderful time.

When the musical entertainment was over we moved on to the dairy farm. Everyone was issued blue booties to prevent tracking disease into the barn. The cows were housed in a nice clean modern barn with mechanized back scratchers, manure scrapers and a hay pusher that travelled back and forth pushing the hay the cows scattered into the aisles back where they could reach it. 

Out back there was a large assortment of very large John Deere equipment, all nicely cleaned up for viewing. The milking parlour was unfortunately empty at the time we were there. But we were all treated to a pint of milk (chocolate, in my case) and a good serving of St Albert curds. Oh, they were so good! 

We had a lovely day that didn't cost anything except for the gas to get there and the $5 each for the sundaes. We also went home with a pad and some new pens, plus a couple of large shopping bags.  It was a great way to spend the day and we definitely got more than our money's worth. All the money raised from the sale of the sundaes went to the local 4-H, Junior Farmers and Lions Clubs.

Mid Year Report

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Here we are at mid-year and I have to wonder how you are all doing at keeping your New Year's resolutions. I called them New Beginnings this year and had three of them on my list. I'm not doing so well with the weight loss and tidying but I'm certainly having a great time keeping the third one. That's all about furthering my art.

I have gone out of my way to make sure I learn new things this year. As I've told you I took a course through Sketchbook Skool called Drawing Without Talent and really enjoyed it. I was so pleased to see a definite improvement in just a month's time.

Then I got involved with a group that met at our local library once a month. I was introduced to a lot of new mediums while we set about creating an art project for Canada's sesquicentennial. The work was all photographed and printed on shipping labels that were then stuck onto a map of Canada in a way that corresponded to the regions. The map was unveiled this past weekend with just some of us in attendance.

In the meantime, I took on a five-week course at Sketchbook Skool that, among other things, had me go sit in a public place and draw what was in front of me. I had never done that before and I thought it was great fun. It will be my new summer pastime. In fact, I just got invited to join a local group that would be doing just that each and every week throughout the summer months. A year ago I never would have considered accepting such an invitation but the Sketchbook Skool courses have given me the confidence to jump in with both feet.

I stopped by the Sketchbook Skool closed Facebook page to tell them about it. I was excited by this new opportunity and wanted to thank them.  They put out a weekly bulletin in video format for the students and they even mentioned me in that (from about the 1:20 to the 2-minute mark). While Dean of Students, Morgan Green, managed to put her own spin on things what she said rang truer after I actually experienced my first session with this group.

We met in a local park where there are all sorts of sights worth drawing. I expected everyone to gravitate toward something of interest to them, but they all clustered around two picnic tables. I stayed close to them but sat off to the side where I had a better view of a suitable subject.
I like to draw in pen and then apply a watercolour wash. I forgot my watercolours at home but did have my watercolour pencils with me, and a water brush, so I used those. One young gentleman was interested in this process so I showed him how it worked. Me! Not only was I exposing my scribbles to a known artist, but actually showing him how to do something! I'd certainly call that progress, wouldn't you?

Now, if I could just do so well with the tidying and weight loss...... Maybe another new beginning is needed for the second half of this year.

What have you accomplished so far this year? Or do you need to begin again too?

Making My Mark

I don't seem to be painting much recently.  I'm busy learning how to draw. Or perhaps I'm learning I always could draw and I'm learning that perfection isn't that important.

I previously told you about a little course I took called Drawing Without Talent through Sketchbook Skool. I was delighted with the results and wanted to learn more.  Danny Gregory had taught me that drawing with a pen would make me commit to my lines and I would, therefore, be more careful about where I placed them.  But that little course did not teach me how to shade with a pen.

Sketchbook Skool offers a variety of multi-week courses that have as many different teachers as they have weeks. I enjoyed the Drawing without Talent class so much I wanted to learn more.  Just as I was struggling to choose which course to take next they came up with a brand new one called Exploring. They claim they will only offer it once. It's a five-week course with five different teachers, and the very first one was Danny Gregory, teaching hatching and cross hatching.  Just what I needed!



Shortly after I signed up for the course I noticed an old friend on the Sketchbook Skool Facebook page. I mentioned that I'd just signed up for Exploring and she told me she had taken a course through Sketchbook Skool once but was very disappointed. She said there was "too much teacher info and not enough teaching."

I quickly discovered she was right.  Danny didn't break down the hatching process into daily lessons as he had done with the previous course.  He showed a lot of his own work, did one little demo and then gave us homework. That was not at all what I expected, and I told them so when I was offered a chance to give feedback.  I made a similar complaint at the end of the second week.  But then something magical happened.

I really enjoyed doing the homework for the second class, which basically involved drawing outside. I'm now looking forward to doing a lot of that this summer. I made some major mistakes on that homework assignment, but I like the overall idea so much I'm planning to rework it and use the image on a t-shirt or something. The next teacher actually reinforced that idea and showed us images could look whimsical and unreal and still be effective.

The fourth instructor gave us homework that sent me into a tailspin as it was a long, involved process of creating a concertina style sketchbook and then filling it with a particular theme.  I turned to the Facebook page and confessed that I was procrastinating because the mission seemed impossible to me. The monkey had me firmly in his grip.

The monkey refers to the little voice inside your head that tells you that you can't do something, or if you do, it's just not good enough.  (Check  out Danny Gregory's book Shut Your Monkey).

The Facebook gang encouraged me, shot the monkey and told me to put pen to paper and get on with it.  I did and felt a great sense of accomplishment when I was done.  Once again I discovered I really enjoyed the process.  I'm learning I can draw for the sheer joy of it and it doesn't have to be perfect. When I draw with a
pen I may make a few mislines but they are not mistakes.  They are simply part of the process and I can find ways to incorporate them.  I've also discovered that a bit of colour goes a long way to distract the eye away from these spots otherwise previously thought of as errors.

So while the Exploring course was not at all what I was expecting, What I got out of it was far more valuable than techniques on how to draw well. I gained confidence and the ability to accept whatever I create as just part of the learning process. No matter how good you are at something, there is always more to learn. I learned to play and regained the joy of making marks on paper. I had that in my youth before some high school teacher found a way to spoil it for me. Somebody should have shot......er, shut that monkey!

Thanking my Lucky Stars!

Some people are lucky, and some people are not. I spent the majority of my life never winning anything. Well, that's not quite true as I did win a record album from a radio station once when I was a teenager. That got me all excited, but I never did get it. I expected it to arrive in the mail, but perhaps I was supposed to somehow make my way across the city to fetch it. No such luck. I ended up more disappointed than if I had never won it at all.

My youngest son won a Mickey Mouse phone from an Ottawa TV show when he was about 8, and he managed to win a couple of summer camp trips too. I thought he had way more luck than I'd ever had. Perhaps it had just skipped a generation or something.

Things changed for me about 5 years ago when I suddenly had a winning streak. I enter contests on line and was doing rather well.  Then it petered out again and I was actually having bad luck for a while.

This year has been extremely lucky for me so far, though I expect that luck just has to run out any day now.

In February I told you about winning a big basket of goods from the merchants of Almonte. Since then the BzzAgent people sent me an Oral B Genius 8000 electric toothbrush to test. The thing is amazing as it works with my phone's blue tooth and actually teaches me how to do a better job of brushing while it gets my teeth dentist clean. It was worth about $200 but all I had to do was write a review.  I did that but it was nothing compared to the extensive review on electric toothbrushes I later discovered posted on https://www.reviews.com/

 

Of course I managed to score a box of goodies from Sample Source too. That also takes luck and timing. I always count myself lucky when I manage to get one.

Then recently I went to the Shop Local Showcase in Kemptville and, as usual, filled out slips for various draws I found there. I was present when I won one of the hourly prizes. I got a $25 gift card for Hard Stones Grill. Later in the week I got a phone call and found out I had also another basket full of stuff from the Royal LePage realestate booth.  That's almost embarrassing as that's the booth I went to first, when I was trying to discover who had called my name. And before I could even get into Kemptville to pick that up, a new friend, Gary Blake,  presented me with a lovely painting he had done out of appreciation for some little thing that required no reward. Lucky is one thing, but who can believe there would ever be so much of it all at once! It's been an amazing week!

I picked up the basket this past weekend, and it contained two bottles of Wayne Gretsky wine (one red, one white), four jars of Mrs McGarrigle's mustard, a $50 gift card for Heather's Healthy Harvest, another $50 gift certificate for the Brigadoon, and also one for a car wash. The rest of the stuff in the basket had to do with rolling your own sushi. That's not something that is likely to happen in this house, but I'll find someone who will appreciate it.  Maybe it's even you, if you tell me a story about how you do such things at your house or what on earth got you started.  I've had such great luck lately, I think it's time I gave something away.  You deserve a reward for reading this far, or for answering my question on Facebook. Only a couple of my facebook friends have done that so far, so this is your chance to see how I actually win things. I pick contests like this, where the odds are really good as there won't be a huge number entering. I'll pick the winner on June 5, 2017.  I'm sorry, but you will have to be living in Canada to win though I'd love to hear stories from the rest of you too..