May 30th

It did get very chilly last night.  It was just 1C when I got up in the morning.  My plants and flowers were fine, but tonight they are predicting a possible rain or snow!  I am hoping for the rain.

This morning started out with a workout at the Y, followed by breakfast at Paladins.  This was our first breakfast trip to Paladins.  The food and service were great.  The price was a little more than the special we get at the Red Top, but then the Red Top’s meal is a special.

Once I got home, the dogs and I had our walk to and along the Red River.  There was nothing to take pictures of on this walk.

I did manage to get a  picture of the falcons from the CBC Winnipeg Falcon Cam.

falcon & babies

I haven’t seen the babies without one of the parents on them yet today.  It is a bit cooler today, so I assume that is why they have been constantly covered during my viewing times.

All I managed to see at Africam was a herd of wildebeests around a tree this morning.

Wildebeests

There were quite a few more sightings on Saturday though and you can take a look at the day’s sightings at Daily Sightings May 30/09. One of the sightings is of a leopard and her cubs at the Elephant Plains cam.

I just put a new jigsaw puzzle up at my BellaOnline site. You can see Charlie, the Bare-Eyed Cockatoo here.

If you have been reading my blog, you are aware that I am a BzzAgent and receive items to review and to bzz about to my friends.

I have just received two items from Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew.  One is daily moisture lotion and the other is daily eye cream.  These products are anti-sun damage products that are supposed to reverse the signs of sun damage (uneven tone, discolourations, skin dryness & fine lines).  It is good to know that it is never too late to reverse the signs of sun damage.

I have only been using the products for a couple of days, but will continue to use them and report back to you after the 4 weeks that it indicates the fine lines and discolourations will appear reduced and the skin tones look more even.

What I can tell you now is that the lotions are absorbed quickly and my face feels moisturized.  I have coupons to hand out to people who are interested in trying the Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew products.  If you live near me and are interested in a coupon, please let me know and I will get one to you.

You can find out more about these products at the Garnier website.

Its a Dog Day

Today is pretty much devoted to Dakota and Chester.   

After my workout at the Y and breakfast at the Red Top, the dogs and I plowed through the fresh snow and went for a walk.  The temperature is so much better than it has been for the last week so we had a nice walk.

After the walk, it was time for their Christmas bath.  They do not have baths often and Chester really doesn’t like them.  Dakota loves anything to do with water, so she isn’t a problem at all.  Last year I bought a booster bath for them and it certainly does make it easier.  I didn’t take pictures of it today, but here are a couple that I took when I first got it and was bribing them to hop up with treats.

Chester didn’t buy into that idea quickly, but he did get up and he did get treats – I just didn’t get any pictures of him in it, but this way you can see the bath.

Dakota hopped right up and sat down nice & comfortably.   Of course, she likes treats even more than she likes baths, so she got a couple of treats too.

Chester went first today.  He got lots of treats for getting up and then another treat when I got him tied in with the harness, a couple of treats after the water was finished and before the toweling off started and then a couple more when we were finished completely.   Then it was Dakota’s turn and she gave no problem at all (as expected), and she got her treats too.  Even though she likes it, I still attached the clip to her collar too.

I am going to let them dry and then it is nail time.

Oh – now for the continuing story of my seed paper from Nabob.  The soil is finally thawed out and I am planting two of the seed papers as I type this.     OK – so I stopped typing long enough to plant them.

Seed Paper

Here is a closeup of the paper.  I’ve never used a seed paper before.

Ready for planting

Two cards in the pot and ready to be covered up.

Planted

Just a little more dirt to put on them and they are ready to start growing.  I will probably not bore you too much with them until they start to grow now.  

OK – now its time to get working on the dogs nails, and then I’d better get my article up for Birds at BellaOnline

Wow – I can’t believe that its almost Christmas – that really snuck up on me this year.

Dec 19 08 Thoughts

Well, my big plans on planting that seed paper didn’t work out yesterday.  Silly me thought the snow would melt in a couple of hours and it would only take maybe a couple more hours for the dirt to thaw out.

Snow Pot Dec 19

As you can see, there is still ice on the top of the dirt and leaves about 20 hours after I brought it into the house.

I will dig some of those leaves into the dirt and some of the leaves will go into my worm vermiculture container.

Maybe it will be warmed up enough by tonight or tomorrow sometime to actually plant the seed paper.

Speaking of my worm vermiculture, I decided I might as well show them now that I’m digging in dirt anyway.    These little guys are camera shy, but I managed to get a bit of two of them today.

worms

Hey – if you want to see something really funny, check out my elf yourself greeting at

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/x02IRZhHN3MeMDmIBgOK

You can make your own elf yourself greeting too – its tons of fun and you will get lots of laughs while watching your little video.

Well, here we are about 10 hours after I wrote about the ice still on the top of the pot and the ice is finally gone, but the soil is still frozen solid.   Maybe I should keep my house a little warmer. 

I picked up some groceries this morning and then later in the afternoon, I traded a couple of empty water bottles for a couple of full water bottles and also picked up 5 lbs of parrot seed for Jewel.  I mix the seed in with an equal amount of pellets every morning for her.  Later on she gets some fruits or veggies or bean mix or whatever I am having – and often, more than one of the above.

It is still COLD

The dogs and I have not been for a walk in about a week, so today we decided to be brave and face the cold to go out.  The temperature is supposed to be dropping all day, so we went early.  It was -26C with a windchill of -34C .  It was a quick walk (only 15 minutes), but at least we walked.  There is still no end in sight of this cold stuff and we are soon approaching  January when this is the normal temperatures we get.  I am hoping that we get normal December temperatures in January since we didn’t get them in December.   

A couple of days ago, I received 2 tins of  Nabob Coffee in the mail.  As a member of BzzAgent, I received these to try and to let people know about the fact that Nabob is supporting sustainability in the environment, social and economic areas.  I have tried both coffees in my little drip coffee maker and enjoy both flavors – Breakfast Blend and Full  City Metropolis.   Nabob teamed up with Rainforest Alliance for good causes, which I support.  I received $2. coupons for Nabob Coffee to hand out to friends and three environmentally friendly seed papers to plant or to give away.  I will be planting one of the cards today and will show the progress here.

So, the first shot is the pot that I just brought inside to plant my seed paper.  The snow has to melt and the soil has to warm up, but this is my first picture as I grow the seeds.      I have no idea what plants or flowers will grow but you can all watch this pot while we find out.

The room in the basement is progressing slowly.  Damien added a few more pieces of drywall, and will be back later today with more that he picks up after work.  Jared, the electrician will be back this afternoon to finish the wiring.  Then we can get the furniture all placed in the assigned spots and start using the room.