Unique Aspects of Days – October 2022

Unique aspects of October….

Border crossing (US to Canada). This was not the only time I crossed the boarder from the US to Canada…but the first time in more than  decade…so rare enough to be unique for me. It was the first day of their new policy to no longer require documentation of COVID-19 vaccination….probabay made it a little faster than it would have been the day before.

Buying a baby present in Canada. Two aspects of uniqueness of this one: deciding that having a baby in my exended family is unique enough to buy an ad hoc present and enjoying shopping during vacation …wanting to buy something (and not always something for me).

Discovering that the fireplace vent was leaking cold air into my office and the hearth room upstairs. There was cold air from the bottom of our gas fireplace doors (the vent area) during our first cold weather of the season. The magnetic strip I ordered from Amazon has fixed the problem…and I am glad I noticed the problem so quickly.

Dry Cleaners. I hadn’t been to a dry cleaners in years. I probably could have taken the jackets I had been wearing for a couple of years several years ago…but then the pandemic stopped our being out and about. I aired the jackets and continued to wear them occasionally. When I went to a dry cleaners near our new house, I was the only customer…and the racks didn’t look very full either.

Exploding broccoli. I was pleased to find a cup of carrots, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli in one of the places we stopped on our way back from Canada. I had not anticated that the lid would be so hard to get off. As my daughter was pulling us out of the parking lot, I was working on the packaging…finding it a bit of a challenge…when the lid suddenly came off and broccoli flew out into my lap and onto the center console! I ate it anyway…and the other veggies too!

Hail. We had quarter sized hail at our house for a brief time. I’m glad our cars were in the garage. In Maryland we never got hail above pea sized (and it was slushy). This hail bouced and stayed around on the ground longer!

Peppermint honey. I bought some peppermine infused honey in Canada…and it is yummy!

Sitting in a sunny window like a cat. A very nice place on a cold morning while I was in Canada.

Tator tots. I hadn’t had tater tots in a lot time….and they were a big disappointment…so the event will probably be unique.

Went to the doctor’s office but the doctor had called in sick. I was signing in for a doctor’s appointment when the nurse came from the back and informed the front desk that the doctor had called in sick! I ended up making an appointment with another doctor since she was so fully booked it would be more than a month before I could be worked into her schedule!

London, Ontario Purchases

My first purchases in London, Ontario were at the Covent Garden Market and were food I that would enjoy while I was there: bread from the bakery, mint dark chocolate Smoothies and dark chocolate covered ginger from The Chocolate Factory, and two kinds if tea and peppermint honey. I enjoyed the honey on the bread and to sweeten the tea.

I splurged on bone China mugs for myself…feeling the chill in the air and realizing I would be drinking hot tea in the coming months. The poppy mug was purchased from The Tea Haus in Covent Garden Market and the other I purchased from the Museum London shop; its design is from a Frank Johnston (Canadian artist) painting: Sunset in the Bush. I also purchased some other gift items at the museum shop but am not posting about them yet…want them to be a surprise to their recipients over the next few months.

I did purchase some gifts for people that are not online…more dark chocolate and an outfit for my grandnephew from Happy Wear in Covent Garden Market. Hopefully the outfit will fit him this winter!

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The last day I was there I tried to find some toys for the kittens. There was no place in Convent Garden…so I opted to go to a nearby Dollarama store as I walked back to the hotel for the last time and found what I needed; the kittens are enjoying the small toys!

I am very pleased with my purchases…good food and items that are useful (not stuff to simply display in a shelf!).

Oatmeal with a Difference

When I was growing up, we doctored our oatmeal with brown sugar and butter…maybe we added some raisins. In recent years, I’ve substituted maple syrup for the brown sugar and, if I wanted raisins, I added them to cook with the oatmeal rather than after the fact. Sometimes I added cinnamon.

Recently, I’ve enjoyed oatmeal with very different additions: cooked with a mashed banana and cranberries….drizzled with honey after it is in the bowl.

It’s a very different flavor. I should have put chopped walnuts or pecans on top to give it some crunch and protein. I’ll try to remember for next time.