IKEA hell

Today we popped in to Ottawa to pick up some Jetta parts.  The original plan was for us to go in tomorrow, but the weatherman is calling for snow and since today was clear, mild and sunny, we figured we'd go ahead and make the run today.  Nice day for a drive.

I also wanted to combine the trip with a quick side trip to Ikea and Cosco.   Well, we went to Ikea first - specifically to look for a kitchen item.  Well, the new (and improved?????) Ikea is gi-normous!!!  Ikea was always a bit of a bitch to try to get from point a to b without meandering all through the store.  Well, let me tell you the new and bigger store is 10 times worse - I swear we walked over a mile following those stupid arrows - of course, if you don't FOLLOW the stupid arrows you want up going in circles, so we walked, and walked and walked (3 floors by the way) only to reach the kitchen area where we discovered they no longer carry the item I was looking for (or maybe I saw it at another store....shhhhhh don't tell Rick)  Anyway, I find the store so big, it's daunting - or maybe we're just getting old.   I know the purpose of the layout is to make one HAVE to view ALL Ikea's products whether one wants to or not - but I sure wish they'd indicate short-cuts to get out quickly!   Rick swears (a lot hahaha)  that he will never darken their doors again unless they get (a) segways (b) moving walk-ways (like the Jetsons had) or (c) a Star Trek "beam me up" machine.  Guess we're not going back to Ikea...

Then as if we haven't punished ourselves enough,  off we go to Cosco (duh!!!!)  which is nearly as freakin' BIG!!!!  Actually EVERYTHING is big at Cosco - it's like a grocery store for giants!   I've never seen such large packages - my God, what does one do with 4 dozen bagels - sure, they're a bargain, but......!    And you can't tell me you keep 1 dozen and freeze the rest, cuz, you'd need a huge freezer to fit in all the stuff you buy - wieners come in 3 packs of 18 (that's 54 wieners!!! - I'm not kidding 54 wieners!!!)  We bought a 2 lb pack of Starbucks coffee for Rick - which was the reason for going and $150 worth of other giant items.  I'm wondering though, when you buy food in such large quantities, does it last longer or do you just eat more???
So, all in all, an exhausting day and if I learned one thing, I learned that I better get me a pair of comfy running shoes for our next shopping spree!
Today's pictures are not any of mine - just a picture of a doggie I'd love to have - a Cardigan Welsh Corgi and something we need for our fat cat, Missy - a pet treadmill - which, incidentally costs almost as much as a people treadmill, leading me to think we should buy one for ourselves and share it with Missy!

I hate colds

well, Rick and I finally started to feel better this weekend.   Rick woke up a week ago, just full of cold.  His has been mostly in his chest while mine was mostly a head cold.  But we  had a couple of days where we felt pretty lousy. On Wednesday we went up to Pembroke to pick up a few things - once we got in the store, we started to fade and left with nothing more than orange juice, a fresh bottle of Robitussin for Rick and some decongestants for me!   I think we're in the home stretch now - graduated to Benelyn for dry coughs!

Still, in spite of not feeling 100 percent, we were been busy over the weekend - I had an appointment in the office yesterday to do an offer and Rick did an Open House in the afternoon.  Today we had an Open House in Calabogie which was very quiet - typical for this time of year!  Glad I bought my Nintendo DS to keep me occupied.

here's a few updates on things I've blogged about over the past year or so:

Pellet stove - still doing a very good job and I estimate we have saved close to 10,000 kilowatts since November last year.  Our average usage in months when we don't generally have either heat or a/c on (like May or September)  is around 1500 -  1700 kilowatts.  And that's about what we used in Nov. and Dec. (so almost no electric heat) and in January which was colder we still only used about 2500 kilowats (last January we used 7600 kilowatts.  So, the stove is keeping about 80 - 90 percent of our electic heat off.  Not bad!   Not only that the kitchen has never been so warm!

Kindle - I still like it for the convenience - as in having a book instantly through Amazon and  also so many free books on Amazon - BUT I found I was missing the feel of a "real" book and I must admit I still buy books.  I don't know if an e-reader will ever take the place of a real book.

Today's picture is Buddy and Nibbles curled together having a nap - they are the only onces who do that.   Last week Buddy literally jumped (quite un-expectedly) from the floor into my arms - something he has NEVER done before and no matter how hard I try, I can't get him to do again!!!!

cold weekend!

Well, we haven't had much snow over the past week or so, but this weekend was quite cold.  Other than popping out Friday night to evaluate a house (very nice one), we've stuck pretty close to home this weekend.  Rick woke up yesterday with a cold - sort of came out of the blue - so not doing much seemed like a pretty good idea.  We had a nice fire today and I make some bread in the bread machine and we just watched TV and surfed.  Rick coughed and sneezed too!  I finally convinced him to  take something - which he did and seems a bit better now.

So, we're chillin' and watching the Grammy's on TV tonight.  Rick and Kris could take a pass, but I like to watch them.  Bruce Springstein opened the show and Paul McCartney is doing a couple of numbers so I'm enjoying it.  I'm glad to see they haven't totally over-shadowed the show with Whitney tributes, but I'm sure they will be one soon - must have been tough trying to whip something together in 24 hours. 

Nuthin' really exciting going on - showing houses and the usual.  I'm looking forward to the Spring when things get really busy!

We've getting lots of deer almost every evening - I really like watching them moving through our bush on the trail up to the spot where Kris puts out their food.  Rick snapped these pics tonite as they munched. And our "old lady" Tigger (we figure she's around 12 years old) peeking out of a box.

nice day

didn't do much special today - we were in the office for a few hours - then off for a quick lunch at an agent open house at aVERY nice bungalow - about 1700 s.f. with a double garage.  I think I could live there.  Road is fast though and our 4 cats are not used to a busy road - we get so little traffic around here.  I honestly think if we ever move, we will probably have to build a cat run for the babies.  They simply have no road sense whatsoever living on 5 acres in such a quiet area.

Weather wise - it hasn't been too bad this week - not much in the way of snow and fairly mild.  Tonite is minus 14 and I think that is the coldest it's been for a while.

Tomorrow we're out to list a piece of land near Dacre - I haven't seen it, but it has access to Constant  Creek - so should be a nice little building lot!  Hopefully we can walk it a bit to get the lay of the land - although I don't do a lot of tramping around in deep snow these days.

We are seeing things picking up in real estate  as to be expected as we head into February!

Todays picture - Kris on his snowmobile - notice the snow banks!

snow day!!

so it snowed allllllllll day today - maybe a bit of freezing rain too.  We had planned to pop in town for some groceries, but decided to wait for tomorrow when the weather has improved.  It's odd that, although we can (and sometimes do) shop anytime or any day, somehow we manage to wind up in the stores on Saturday afternoon - the busiest time.  duh!!!

Well there may not be any sign of Spring soon, but there are signs that NASCAR is gearing up for the season.  Got an email today from Bill that said - "26 days to go" and Rick's brother emailed from Florida that he purchased tickets for the Gatorade Duals!  All pointing to cars going round and round - FAST in a few short weeks. 

A quick mention that our pellet stove is still our primary source of heat this winter and we're quite comfortable - only on the coldest nights have we turned the heaters on.

We've been picking up some great shows lately on VH1 Classic - last night was an interesting special with The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White called "it might get loud"  -  good title!   Tonite is a documentary on The Who - that we're looking forward to watching.   When I was growing up listening to these bands (The Who, Zepplin, Cream etc.) it was all about the music - the sound -because other than album covers and the occasional performance on Ed Sullivan show, we had little visual idea of the musicians - so I find it interesting to watch these old videos and recordings of bands performing from the '60's and '70's.  Besides they were really good!!!

We've been getting lots and lots of deer lately and lots of birds at the feeders.  Buddy hangs out under the feeders as long as he can stand the cold, but he hasn't caught anything yet! (good thing) 

tonite's picture - deer feeding in the side yard and birds and a really pretty sunset from last week .

cold weather

well - classic winter weather now - snow every other day and cold.  Parking lots are slushy and yukky to walk in.  oh well, now we can start dreaming of Spring.

we didn't have a really busy week - but steady.  This weekend should be quiet (the cold keeps people at home) but we're watching the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction on TV.  Rick pays far more attention than I do - I really only pay attention to the odd-ball cars - like a Beatles replica Yellow Submarine etc. or Doris Day's Mercedes (it sold for $7500 - I can afford THAT!!!!  It is entertaining to watch.

Our pellet stove is still impressing me - we are hardly using our electric heat at all.  Our kilo-watt usage for December was about the same as our September usage (when we don't have any heat on at all)  so it is certainly making a difference.  We have had the electric heat on a couple of times this month though - like when is it minus 20 degrees - the second floor can be a bit cold.

We're getting lots of deer - in fact I see them all over the front lawn most evenings.  Kris continues to feed them - but they are gobbling up a LOT of food.   Lots of birds at our feeders too - chickadees, woodpeckers and blue jays mostly.  Keeps the cats entertained!!!!  They get soooooooo bored at this time of year.

buddy likes the suet ball

well I think it is safe to say that winter is finally here!!   We don't have a TON of snow and I don't think the snow mobile trails are open yet, but the roads sure feel like winter driving!!!  We've just sort of had light snow all day and then blowing snow tonight.  A good night to stay off the roads.

Fairly quiet week in real estate - a few showings - that's about it.  Typical for this time of year - and the wintery weather keeps people at home, too.  We're doing an Open House tomorrow on Calabogie Road - hopefully we'll get a few people through - it's supposed to be clear tomorrow (which is good) but very cold!

We're still very happy with our pellet stove - we've hardly had the electric heaters on at all - only when it's been minus 15 degrees or so.  Most of the time, we just have the stove on.  It's doing a better job that I had thought it would - certainly the kitchen has NEVER been that warm.

Today's picture is Buddy playing with the suet ball we put out for the birds.