a new chapter

Michael has a new job. I can't go into huge details about it, but I can tell you that he's driving truck for the first 3-6 months as preparation for a job that I think he was made for and is going to enjoy so much.

It's exciting and strange all at the same time. Neither of us ever thought we would do this again when we sold our equipment back in 2006. Hauling a tanker is a new experience too.

We're making the most of it and getting in some travelling to places that we want to go (either to visit people we know, or places we've never been).

We did a few loads to Regina, where Michael just dropped me off in Austin to visit with his mom and sister. Which was really nice. I got to enjoy some cuddles with my nephew.

I think I could've sat there like this all day.

Happy New Year!

our christmas

It's a crappy picture, but it shows off our new 'when we go home for Christmas' Christmas tree (I don't bother setting up all our decorations the year we head to BC).

Our new stockings:

I made these, and I was so eager to get them done that I completely overlooked sewing any kind of loop on them so we could hang them. That's why they're sandwiched under a book. haha.

I wish we had more pics (and ones where my hair didn't look so awful), but we don't. Michael's gifts to me this year left me speechless. That box is a personal cutter thing that can do many cool things! The shelves are ones that I've wanted since visiting my cousin Debbie back in 2010 over Easter. In November Michael and I were at Ikea in Minneapolis and I wanted to get them, and he said we couldn't. It was almost a really terrible fight, but I finally accepted the fact that I wasn't getting them this time around either. Meanwhile, he'd been sneaky and had our friends buy them for us (do you know how bummed I was when they bought the exact shelves that I had been wanting?), and then he wrapped them up and gave them to me for Christmas. Well done, Michael, well done!

a new adventure!

Michael and I signed up to be part of our church's dragon boat team this year. Cancer Society hosts dragon boat races as a way to raise money for cancer research.

It was a lot of fun to try something new together.

Team photo.

Practice on the river. Waiting to get in our boat. Zipped & Clipped! (not being completely done up before you were anywhere near the water had serious consequences...something about a paddle getting shoved somewhere).

Race day. Our green shirts made us incredibly hard to miss.

Waiting to get in our boat for our first qualifying race.

Waiting to get into position.

Paddles up!

We ended up doing quite well and even won a trophy!

home ownership

So, for a while now, Michael and I have had a problem in our entrance that has been staring down at us. We have very different ideas of how to approach these sorts of things.

Thanks to a friend, Michael finally had a ladder tall enough so he could go up into the attic and see what the cause of the wet and now mouldy spot on our ceiling.

Check that out. That's a section of drywall in our attic that is exposed. It's supposed to have white. stuff. on. it. Otherwise known as insulation, a somewhat important ingredient in a Manitoba attic.

The beauty is that what we though was going to be an awful, expensive and messy repair is now a relatively simple fix. Cut out mouldy drywall, replace, and blow in insulation to cover the exposed part.

Whew.

scooter and motorcycle cruise

Michael and I were the most mismatched pair the other night.

We have a scooter, but it has been in disrepair for a while. Now that it's finally working, I just needed to get used to riding one again (I had done it a few times when we lived in BC). Michael's friend stores his bike at our place and gives Michael riding privileges, so we went for a spin together, me on the scooter, him on the red bike, so that I could gain some confidence.

I wish I had a picture of us driving, but that's kind of hard to do. Let's just say we turned heads. A lot. I don't think it was because our bikes looked hot (though I do think the red one is sexy), or that they made a really cool sound.

ice skating

For our sacred date, Michael took me ice skating at St Vital Pond.

It was such a gorgeous day I'm wearing my vest. Not a jacket, a vest!

A classic arm shot. Though michael has such long arms they're usually not as dorky looking as my attempts.

hey carrot pants! it's harvest time!

Michael cleaning carrots.

Already partly damaged by frost, I finally broke down and picked what was left and ripped up the plants.

One potato plant and we got this basket of potatoes. I thought this was pretty good (and more than enough since we don't really eat potatoes).

Mr Carrot Pants. Enough said.

My onions that didn't really grow. :( Next year hopefully we'll have more success on the onion front.

guest writer

I wrote something for Siloam, and it's up on their blog! Check it out!

http://siloamblog.tumblr.com/day/2010/10/18

farming

So last year I helped my boss Roger on the farm for harvest. I really enjoy working on the farm. It ends up being a lot of long hours because after I finish my regular duties in the office at 5 PM I change clothes and head to the field until about 10 to 11 PM on average. It depends on we are doing. We have to stop combining when the dew starts because the straw gets to tuff for the combine to thresh it efficiently. If I am doing field work, like cultivating I can go until I get tired or finish a field. So here are some pictures for you to see.

Roger mans the combine. And I or Travis run the grain cart.

We go out to meet the combine on the field when he needs to dump and travel along side the combine it dumps so the combine never has to stop. This grain cart hold approximately 1 semi load and can be off loaded in less that 3 minutes with the 16 inch auger.

Once the grain cart is close to full we unload it into the semi which takes it to the main yard where the grain is put in the bins.

  

*this is Esther: I can't handle leaving this unfinished and Michael doesn't always even remember we have a blog, never mind that I sometimes ask him to contribute to it, so I'm posting this as is. Yes that is his quad sitting precariously on farm equipment. He took it to the field that way.

windshield

Someone who was going to the lake for the weekend, didn't tie down their firewood properly, so it hit our windshield Thankfully Michael was ok. Our car got a new windshield and the dent fixed on the hood and the hood repainted.

When we got the car back, I had to keep touching the windshield to make sure it was still there, since it was so clear. Apparently we had gotten quite used to the hazy view of a sandblasted windshield (Michael drives down gravel roads to get to work).

cheese, chocolate & summer living

Michael and I like cheese. We also like a bargain.

So, when cheese goes on sale (our threshold is $1/100g), we stock up. Cheese usually has a date of at least 6 months, sometimes even longer, so we've never had a problem with it going bad before we can eat it. Although sometimes I wonder if we eat too much cheese.

Summer is a great time to eat ice cream (then again, I think anytime is a great time to eat ice cream). There's a local ice cream shop called BDI, that has spoiled me with the most delicious hot fudge (I can't even eat Dairy Queen's now). Problem is, it's not particularly economical to go there every time I want a little ice cream. So, I thought to myself, I wonder if I could make hot fudge sauce at home? I started with a google search. Found a recipe that sounded good to me on the Eagle Brand website. I decided to go all out and use some of my swiss chocolate instead of cheap chocolate chips.

It was super easy, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, a little butter & water melted together on the stovetop, add some vanilla, and voila, hot fudge! I'd say it's pretty darn close to the stuff from BDI. I also doctored mine up and added a bit of cinnamon, because in my books chocolate and cinnamon go together like peanut butter & jelly.

Michael and I recently spent an evening at a friend's place. They had turned their gazebo into an outdoor living room, which we thought was just great. So, we decided to cozy ours up a bit too. Michael started by hanging some lights.

He also found this chain downstairs leftover from hanging our chandeliers, so he put that up so we can hang lanterns from it.

Then we dragged our ikea chairs in, so we had a comfy place to sit.

After all this was set up, we decided to test it out by having an outdoor movie night.

It was lovely!

And, last but not least, here's an update of the garden growing:

saying good bye

Our very good friends N&M and their beautiful little girls moved away from Winnipeg this week. We had our goodbye lunch with them.

It was the same day that my Dad & Tim arrived for their visit.

Enjoying dessert...

Uncle Michael took S for a ride on the 'horsie'

She also took a tumble, but Uncle Michael kissed it all better

Notice how she's already smiling when Michael kisses her 'owie'.

Pretty darn cute, eh? The giraffe was a garage sale find.

So we said goodbye to the Klassen family, it was sad to see them go, but with tears in our eyes we wished them well. Good things are going to happen for their family in Calgary! We'll miss you N&M, S, & N!

another check mark on my list! Fort Whyte Alive

Look momma, I'm climbing a mountain!

How cute is that?

Walking on the board walk!

Finding stuff in the water.

Turtles sunning themselves on a log.

Taking a break from all the walking.

Some birds and a cool (literally) sod house.

All sacked out after exploring.