Friday, December 4, 2009

Items to do

Yesterday we got the new (to us) countertop dishwasher running and it is an interesting addition. A couple of minutes washes up preparation dishes that do not fit into the machine and then we just set it going and about an hour later all finished. We are using the cabinet that Ed built to put it on as it has rollers - he actually built it for the microwave which is a large old machine now by modern standards. It is over 20 years old and he has been thinking of renewing it with a newer smaller one which works well because it doesn't fit into the new microwave cabinet that he built yesterday. The new cabinet can hold baking dishes and utensils plus the Lean Mean Grilling machine that he bought last year. We had lamb burgers last night cooked on it and as always they are absolutely delicious. I really enjoy lamb.

Someone knocked at the door looking to sell us hydro because of the smart meter coming in the new year. We will stay with Ontario Hydro as our direct supplier. It is simply too awkward to have many middlemen supplying your services. It is different in new subdivisions where they are already in place when you buy. As I look around our home of 30 plus years I am reminded that we may not be here in ten years but may have moved on to a different accommodation (condo or living with one of our children). Adding to our furniture was not in the plans but the microwave stand will be handy as would the dishwasher if there isn't one built in. Plus you could have it on a bar in a family room in the future for washing up glassware or the like and not having to run a large one. The microwave would be handy to have in a small area especially if you were living in units that provided the main meal of the day. However, that is still somewhat in the future likely.

We talked about our trip to Europe a bit and looking at times I think we will probably go for the 20 day tour instead of the 24 day tour. Although inspired to have a longer time I did find that the 21 days in England plus our visit with cousins was a very long time and I was keen to return home before the end of the last one. You do not enjoy everything quite the same when you are thinking of going home all the time! Mind you Stonehenge on the second last day was certainly a draw and kept me concentrated on our trip. Plus we drove by Andover once again where some of my families lives for over 500 hundred years.

I need to hem my dress and that is becoming a higher priority. It has hung nicely now for over a month and the natural folds of the material have taken over once again. I will need to apply a little steam here and there to knock out the creases but for the most part it is ready to wear except for hemming.

I need to plan the cooking for the next two weeks with regard to the cakes and rehearsal dinner plus I need to order the food from Farm Boy that we are picking up. I should do that by tomorrow.

Today we are going to look at a new microwave to replace our old one and then I think we are finished with the kitchen. We are thinking of paneling two walls of the basement since we spend so much time down there now and likely to spend more with the fireplace there. We are thinking of watching one movie a day now that we have looked once again at all of the videos that we have purchased over the last 20 plus years. I am up to 635 now recording them in Library Thing. As a child I watched movies every Saturday at the theatre so probably saw most of what was produced between the late 1940s and the late 1950s when there were were a lot produced. I would say that a large number of our movies come from the period between 1930 and 1970 but also we have purchased a lot of TV series and movies produced since then but the bulk are probably earlier. Once I have the database completed I will sort by year and see how that bears out just for interest's sake!

We are also going to start using our high electricity guzzlers in the offtime (i.e. later evening)for clothes washing and drying especially. We managed to only use the dryer half a dozen times between the first of April and the end of November this year (eight months!). But we will likely use it solidly now until the snow clears away in the spring. Today is a bright day but very cold and the remaining load is heavy items so they will just freeze to the line. With just the two of us there isn't a lot of washing anyway as it turns out.

Now to accomplishing more data entry for the videos and baking a couple of cakes.

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