The Gotham Steel Low Fat Grill

I bought myself one of the Gotham Steel grills "as seen on TV".  I don't normally buy a lot of products advertised like that. Commercials like that always make me wonder if the products are as good as they say, or at least work the way they say.

My dad used to run out and buy all those "StarFrit" products that you used to see on TV.  He loved odd little gadgets like that but he didn't cook so he didn't really use those products. My mom would try them but in the end, she'd use the things she already had.

News Print and Global Warming

Yeah, I know ... a bit of an odd title all things considered.  I wrote a while back on another of my sites (OrilliaTravel.com) how we lost our daily newspaper to some big conglomeration who decided just to shut it down. What that meant was that we no longer had an "in-print" newspaper, and they eventually closed the web based version of the Orillia Packet as well. Thankfully, some of the long-standing journalists at the Packet got themselves together and created an online newspaper for Orillia, which is wonderful (Orillia Matters)... it's just not printed on paper. There is seriously something missing without a print version ... for me, anyways. I like to have it in my hands, turning the pages, smelling the newsprint-smell ... you can't replace that with a computer screen.

Ground Turkey Dinner Recipe (download below)

Pelicans at Lake Morton in Lakeland, FL

We've just finished up the end of another winter season in Florida ... to be really honest, I'm very thankful that we can spend our winters in a place that's far warmer than our home in Canada. I'm getting way too old to enjoy the snow, and being in Florida means I can still be active all winter long. Back home in Canada, I'd spend the winter hibernating in our home (much like our bears) and feeling a little like a hermit.

One thing I've had difficulty with is figuring out what to do with the left-over groceries when we are getting ready to leave - some things do get stored (canned and dried goods with a long expiry date) when we leave ...

Minimum Wage Increase in Ontario

January, 2018 saw the minimum wage in Ontario rise to $14 per hour and the early predictions (made in 2017) were ... a little off. That doesn't surprise me in the least. Back when the the bill came out, my thoughts (personal opions) on the increase in the minimum wage were virtually opposite of what economists and business specialists predicted should happen. It's still early in the game but so far, but many things are not very rosy ... not for employees (who haven't actually had the light bulb turned on yet), and not for the business owners.

Maybe large conglomerates aren't feeling too much of a pinch, but a lot of smaller businesses are, including one of Canada's wide spread coffee shops ... Tim Horton's. But that's only one of them.

Crocheting a Cool Weather Poncho

Knitting Needles (morgueFile.com, licensed under CC)

Although I learned to crochet and knit as a teenager, I probably haven't picked up a hook or set of knitting needles in the last 10 years or so. I used to make all kinds of things, from accessories like hats and lace trims to clothing for my little ones. For a long time, I kept the baby sets I used but eventually passed them on to another family member. My grandmother used to knit these sets (usually consisted of a hat/bonnet, a sweater, booties and sometimes a pair of short pants meant as a way to cover the diapers) in beautiful, intricate patterns. The ones I made were crochet, often in shell stitch, and weren't that difficult once you understand the basics of the stitches, and learned how to read the patterns.

Date Night: what do you do?

Some of my friends have regular "date nights" with their significant other; some weekly, some bi-monthly. I would think that depending on where you live, it could eventually get to the point where you are "re-doing" the same thing on date nights - dinner at a favourite restaurants, visiting favourite parks, going to the show ... those are nice things to do I guess, but for us, stuff like that just is normal.

We don't have set or regular date nights. For us, a date night would be something special; something we don't normally do. Of course, it doesn't have to be a "night time" event either. Some day time events can be lots of fun, and feel a lot more like a special date than a dinner out.

One Tiny House

Back in November I wrote about my annual obsession with Christmas village pieces (see Excitement is Simple) and my recent efforts to add a few more pieces. And no, this post isn't about Christmas villages again, but my newest "obsession" has grown from that interest.

I had been thinking it would be nice to have a couple of pieces something like the village, but that weren't typical seasonal pieces - houses or buildings without snow or seasonal decorations on them.

Got the Flu?

Yeah, me too. And to be honest, I'm hardly ever sick so this has been a tough go. I'm in the third week and at this point, I'm no longer sure it's the flu. It feels more like pneumonia now (having had that several times in the past, I know what it feels like).

It's been the oddest type of flu ... each week brings something different, but the most prevalent thing has been the fever. Although aspirin and excedrin have been working to keep it under control, I have to take them twice a day. Yesterday, I started on some antibiotics and that seemed to help. Yesterday, no fever and no having to take aspirin.

Controlling it has been pretty tough ... lots of coughing (almost none yesterday); eating only small amounts of food (notably, homemade chicken soup!), and drinking tons of water.

55+ Communities in Florida

I've recently started looking at some of the other 55+ communities in Florida ... for several reasons. We love our home here, but the lot fees in our park are increasing at a rapid pace, and for those enormous increases we receive little ... what the resort does for us is nothing more than cut our grass once a week and collect our garbage.

Clubhouse

We pay our own utility fees. Yes, there is a clubhouse with a lot of activities, but many of those activities aren't hosted by the resort - they're hosted and produced by the Homeowners Association, which charges additional fees (very minor compared to our lot fees).  In the last 2 winters I didn't use the clubhouse at all ... swam in the pool twice, and have never used the hot tub or any other facilities. I'm not a fan of restricted usage in the gym, so I don't use it any more. I walk outdoors, and work out with weights in my livingroom.

The Rolling Pin Saga

One of my pins ready for resale.

Have you ever found yourself in need of a rolling pin, and then not been able to find one? Just such an event took over my life a few weeks ago. Such a silly thing, yet something one needs to perform certain cooking acts, like rolling out pie dough, or cut-out sugar cookies. And at that point, a rolling pin wasn't something I had.

Actually, it wasn't something I expected to need either, until I did need it. Oh yes, I have several rolling pins ... at home in Canada. But not a single one in our Florida home. Back in Canada, I still have 3 or 4 rolling pins (out of the dozen I used to have, including a tupperware one) ... one is a solid rolling pin, and while it has handles, they are part of the body of the rolling pin. I don't like it to work with, but I kept it because it was handmade by a family member.