summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Saturday, February 19, 2022

how to spend your days, and going to Florida!!!!!!

 ...snow day well spent:

A single batch of cookies is so easy, after so many years of tripling the recipe.  These had a whole bag of peanut butter chips, and a whole bag of milk chocolate chips, plus a few mini regular semi-sweet to balance them out.  The house smelled heavenly, and no, I did not eat any.  
Miss Charlotte Claire, did you do this to Sunny?
We had the yummiest dinner!  I had Chik-fil-A nuggets in the airport when we were traveling back from Florida, and they were so good.  I decided to recreate them...a five pound package of chicken breast, carefully trimmed and chopped into small cubes, chunks...soaked in dill pickle juice for a bit, drained, tossed in olive oil, and dredged in a mixture of flour, with salt and pepper, and a bit of confectioner's sugar.  I wanted to air fry it, but there was too much, I would be making batch after batch...so I put it on parchment covered baking pans with lots of olive oil, and turned the oven to 400.  I did flip it and stir it up a few times, and was pleased at how crispy it got, and the inside was still tender.  I don't think I exactly nailed them, but they were really good, so much cheaper, probably healthier, and we at them with...knock off Chili's Chipotle Chicken Crisper sauce...(1/4 cup Franks red hot sauce, 1 cup brown sugar, a tablespoon water, a few tablespoons of butter, cook until boiling, let boil gently for a few,stirring the whole time,  it gets thick! ) Spoon that over your nuggets, mmmm.  not healthy, I know...but so yummy.  I had mine with cauliflower rice, but the kids had Basmati rice and there were seasoned fries from the air fryer.  I did snitch two of those, why are fries so good?   

....and, we are going to FLORIDA!!!!  Yay, I am so excited!  We are going to see grandma, just Paul and I and the two little girls...next week!  We're only going for four nights, but it'll be so nice.  

I have to say, I'm disgusted and disappointed with the Canadian government's response to the protests.  I saw a video of the cops on horses riding through a crowd and trampling people.  Arresting peaceful protesters, freezing accounts, threatening...hmm, free country?   I know that these times will happen, and there's not a heck of a lot I can do about it, but my goodness, it's alarming.  

Here in New York State, the government has decided not to enforce the vaccine booster requirement for healthcare workers, wish they had said that a few weeks ago.  They can't afford to lose any more of the health workforce.  A substance abuse center in central NY just had to oust their inpatient patients, due to all of the remaining nurses handing in their badges, sick of working in understaffed, unsafe environment.  We have the military staffing hospitals here, wings still closed, beds still closed, it's crazy.  

Things are opening up, slowly, hope they stay that way.  Norway has opened it's borders, no vaccine or testing required anymore.  

We just need to get the masks off the school kids.  You've probably all seen the memes about the hypocrisy of the elite visiting schools unmasked, and the school board members trouncing around maskless, while a regular parent in that same district gets tipped out of his chair and dragged out of a school board meeting (here in NY state, AFTER the state mask requirements were dropped...but still being enforced in schools)...  I mean, seriously?  If you have mask breaks in classrooms, kids taking them off to eat and drink, then putting them back on...little kids, touching them, tugging on them, breathing in them and dropping them....I cannot for the life of me think of a scenario where anyone thinks this actually helps anything.  And if it DOES prevent kids from getting colds and flus, well, what's going to happen to their immune systems when things go back to "normal"?  

Anyway.  The poor kids.  Lots of them say they don't mind.  Well, they've been TRAINED to not mind.  It's sad.

Going out and about and seeing peoples' faces again is wonderful.  If someone still chooses to mask, that's fine and dandy too, who knows if they have immunity issues, or fear, or are especially vulnerable, or just plan feel safer.  That's fine...

Well, I'm certainly not short of strong opinions today, am I?  I need to get busy around here...there are projects, believe it or not...

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Della. I have to say the Canadian government gave these protesters LOTS of time to move on. This is our nations capital and the people who live there have rights too. The people living in the downtown area said it was becoming unbearable. They were honking those big air horns day and night……..having parties and loud music. I know I sure would want that going on on my front street. People who work downtown couldn’t get through sometimes and just walking along the sidewalks was scary. I know the truckers said it was their right to protest, but I think the people living in that area have rights too……the right to live in peace in their homes and be able to walk the streets and feel safe. At the beginning of all this……..which went on for 3 weeks………some of the truckers used the front yards of houses as toilets and that is disgusting. They bought in portable toilets……..I’m not sure who paid for that! It was a horrible situation and really what was the point. Canada is peaceful country and it was very sad to see this happening here in our capital. Anyway that’s my rant……….

It will be lovely to go see grandma in Florida. She will love that 🥰

Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦

Linda said...

While I understand what Marilyn is saying, I totally agree with the trucker movement. Enough is enough and the passiveness of the Canadian people have come back to bite them, just saying...you people allowed this violence and tyranny from your government to happen. I AM NOT ATTACKING Marilyn. I'm just saying...and yes, perhaps they outstayed their welcome...but that does not give the government to do what they are doing, horrible.

Have fun in Florida--SOON we will be down there perm. We still have to wear masks at work--my employer put out this message, "It's for your good and the good of the community." Blech...enough.

16 blessings'mom said...

Marilyn, I think you are one of the nicest people, and I so appreciate you. I too understand what you are saying, but just because a place is peaceful, doesn't mean it is REAL peace. And yes, Grandma is SO glad we are coming for a visit!
Linda, I know. I am thankful, ever so thankful, for those who have the courage and the drive to speak out. And I know you aren't attacking Marilyn, as I am not either. I appreciate hearing about the other side of the issue. As for your employer, the only good it's doing for you to still mask is to make them look virtuous....

Unknown said...

Hi Della ………as an aside to all of this I wanted to let you know we had to say goodbye to our beautiful Labrador boy, Hudson, on Wednesday. He really went downhill in the last week. He would have been 12 tomorrow. Such a beautiful dog and being a therapy dog he helped many people. We visited a nursing home with him and the people there just loved him and would really perk up when we walked in. We also went once a week to the Young Offenders facility. These are kids between the ages if 11-18 who are in for very serious offences. I would say the majority of them never had any guidance or a loving family support 😢 They are mostly 14-18. Then we also went to the big University Hospital where he visited patients there. He was a wonderful ambassador to his breed. We do all these things with Bindi too. She’s a bit of a lost soul at the moment…..as are we really…..and we are hoping the hospital visits start up again soon. Someone asked us if we would be getting another dog, but the answer is no. We are getting too old for that……I am 78 and my husband is 82. We are really healthy now, but who knows what the future holds? Anyway you are such a doggy person I knew you would want to know 🥰

Thank you for your kind words and it good to know we can agree to disagree. Our prime minister is indeed an idiot, he is, but this convoy went on for 3 weeks disrupting so much. It was scary for the people of Ottawa.

Have a lovely day 😊

Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦

American Housewife said...

I have two good friends from Canada (and a BIL but I only see him about once a year at our reunion) and it's been interesting to hear their views.

Something I think might be important is the view of the protests have been influenced by where you are getting your information and coverage.

One of my friends was livid and blaming 'white supremacy' and 'hatred of the First Nation people' on the truckers convoy. She also thought they were being wildly destructive and horrid... I wondered where she was getting this idea? She got her 'news' from CTV and mainstream Canadian news.

I suggested she look further, including The Pulse (which is Canada based and has been quite enlightening.) https://thepulse.one/

The truckers have maintained from the start they simply want to be able to do their job without mandates and quarantining for 2 weeks when they cross the border. Did you know the truckers carrying vaccines and other medical equipment do NOT have to quarantine even if they didn't get the experimental shot? Nope. Only 'other' truckers. Because... science you know. The germs only work on those carrying food and household supplies... not medical supplies. :) But this has been a very boring, peaceful protest. No looting, burning, stealing and destruction. A lot of the truckers have their children there with them too.

Thousands of Canadians have showed up to join in solidarity... the streets are lined with supporters. Many other countries have completely dropped ALL the hullabaloo about this cold/flu virus. As Della mentioned, even Norway has deemed it little more than a cold and flu at this point and people need to learn to live with it. You have a bigger chance of dying in a car accident on the way to get a shot than you do of the actual cold/flu virus they've given names to.

If you are watching Canada's main media or even the US main media, you are getting a very very (very) slated view - carefully chosen to fit the narrative they want to spread. I only ask to broaden your choice of news to get a more balanced view of not only this, but all situations. It's rarely what the main stream media and celebrities are force feeding us.

There is a LOT more coverage - photos, interviews, video than what the average person sees just listening or watching the morning news. (And America may be having their own version soon as well - which I fully support - even if it will make our shelves bare a little longer - or tie up traffic on an interstate).

Diana said...

I have two granddaughters who went through really hard times because of the masks... one was borderline wanting to hurt herself, but we found out in time to help her. Masks went bye-bye a long time ago here (like summer of 2020 ago), but some schools forced the issue and got into trouble. Yay for parents who are standing up for their kids, and not just on masking! I can't even read the news anymore about the Canadian goings-on (riding your horse over a disabled woman using a walker?! really?! THAT'S uncalled for!). I absolutely see Marilyn's point and I do NOT say things to cause friction because I'm one of those who hates that people are outright fighting, but I agree that our worldwide governments have gone way too far in their overbearing tyrannical violence on so many fronts. Just let us live our lives... and stop calling us stupid for wanting to keep our freedoms!

Annnnyway.... I can almost smell your cookies -- and I can't stand chocolate! LOL!

And I adore Sunny's new "look"... lovely! Hahahaha!

Blessings to you, Della!

16 blessings'mom said...

Marilyn, I am so sorry about Hudson. I am sending you a big hug, and am so sad for your loss. I know what it's like to love these Labs like they're our children, they have such distinct personalities and they totally love us in return. I am so sorry.

Oh my goodness, the madness in Ottowa! The lady who was trampled by the Mounties, the businesses being shut down, the fines for bringing minors to the area, zip and bang, they king has spoken. I agree, news is so very slanted, you need to really poke around to get a good idea of what is really going on. And I do appreciate your advice on stocking up...:)
Diana, we just got rid of the mask mandate, but most stores/employers still require them, and schools too. You can't stand chocolate? Oh, I wish! Even when I had Covid and couldn't taste or smell anything, I still enjoyed the texture of Hershey Kisses!