The valley was not smoky, only one spot near Aylesford that we smelled a bit. Brought my own jars and picked up some fresh honey (the one with the sunbeam in it has some special properties).

We were thinking of heading to the Valley today but it looks like there's some fire out there with evacuation orders. Hope that gets under control soon.

Tomorrow is the national day for Truth and Reconciliation. It may be just a day off for you. But maybe take a moment to think about those who attended Residential Schools. This is an excerpt from my late Dad's application for admission to the Shubenacadie Residential School in 1944. He was SIX.

I was doing some meal prep earlier, as I prepped chickens to cook I spilled a bit of sage on the stove. Cleaned most of it up, some ended up in the drip pan. Meant to clean that but forgot. As I cook my chicken pot pie filling, I learned that burning THAT kind of sage is not nearly as pleasant.

We're watching Teen play university basketball this weekend. I'm tall and am used to feeling kinda short next to him (he's 6'9). His height really doesn't stand out in this group much. There's a guy on his team who is 6'11, a full foot taller than me. I feel so little.

I'm watching the 1923 Yellowstone prequel. The residential school bits are troubling; I'm sure they thought about what people can tolerate to see vs. the reality. It's hard to watch, but I am fairly sure that the reality was much more horrible.

Um, a what now?

I made sloppy joes for supper, added the leftover roasted veggies to bulk it up. Worked out pretty good. Air fried some acorn squash, think I like it more than the butternut.

Yay it's raining.

I posted roasted veggies last night, as they were for a ‘light’ chicken parm (you serve it on the veggies instead of noodles). The chicken breasts were baked, not breaded, and topped with some fresh basil, then some tomato sauce and a combination of mozzarella and cottage cheese and broiled.

Saw a recipe today that is served over roasted vegetables. So roasted some veggies that were taking up space in the fridge. Maybe a bit too roasted but they're OK.

Just a few smallish potatoes makes a lot of waffle fries! Going into the air fryer shortly.

Started working on that Stats Can survey on household spending. Good lord it's detailed. How much did I spend on food the last two weeks, fine. How much of that was on bakery, how much on vegetables, etc.? The next section is about clothing, how much did we spend on clothing in the last 3 months.

If you buy a bunch of herbs and only need a bit, this works to keep the rest fresh for awhile. Give it a rinse then place it in a jar of water like a bouquet of flowers. Produce bag over it, put an elastic around the jar to close it up, into the fridge. This cilantro has been around a week.

I got a survey from Stats Can in the mail last week. Wednesday they called me to confirm that I'd gotten it, and to offer to do it with me on the phone if I didn't want to do it online. Yesterday I got another piece of mail reminding me about the survey. I wonder if they want me to do this survey?

I made mashed potatoes to top my chicken pot pie. I think I could have sat down and ate the whole pot of them (partly because I'm quite hungry as I'm cutting back a bit, and partly because I <3 mashed potatoes).

Kind of pathetic I'm watching YouTube videos on how to cut up leeks. I've never cooked with leeks! My recipe calls for one big leek or two small leeks. What's a standard size for a leek? And have you ever read the word leek so many times in a single post? 🤣 (there's a lot of leeks in the post)

I find butternut squash very satisfying to cut, it's so smooth (although you need a hella big sharp knife to get through it).

The me who had all these grandiose ideas for healthy food and bought all these healthy groceries is not the same me that's currently lounging in my air conditioned living room. I was gonna make zucchini tots, cook lentils, make bean/corn salad, prep veggies for veggies boxes. And now I am a sloth.

For those who get excited about cases of peppers, they're $9.95 at Bayers Lake Superstore.

One benefit of becoming an older woman, I went to donate blood yesterday, and my iron levels were higher than they'd ever been. I've been turned away from donating a couple times in recent years for iron being too low.

These were in BL Superstore this evening. One year I bought a box of the tomatoes, called them the 'tomatoes of regret' because there were too many, took me forever to do stuff with them. Every day I'd come home and mutter at them. There's also cases of red peppers for $15. Also too many for me.

Day three of 'mindful' eating, paying attention to what I put in my face and cutting back. I'm tired, kind of hungry and crabby, hopefully I adjust soon. No I'm not going ultra low - about 2200 calories a day and eating lots of protein/fruit, etc. Just not used to letting myself be hungry I think.

I'm feeling for the businesses on Dutch Village. I was on my way home and thought hmm, pasta dish on my menu tonight, hey I'll stop at D&H Noodles that @fatapollo.bsky.social mentioned. Damn, I drove round and round the construction to even get near it and it looked closed. Will try again soon!

There was a McDonalds bag on my front steps this morning, apparently delivered by Skip the Dishes around 11 last night. I bet the person who ordered that quarter pounder was big mad.

Day one of, hmm, mindful eating? Tracking some calories and cutting back a bit, planning the food before I eat it (or drink it).

We went to Blueberry Acres earlier this afternoon. We were surprised at how plentiful the berries were, took no time to pick a 10 pound box of huge berries.

I'm watching a movie on Prime. And there's been three ads so far? WTH?

I bought corn on the cob at Gateway this morning. A dozen are now cooked and kernels cut off the cobs. These will be frozen and vacuum sealed in smaller quantities. My plan is to have frozen components for ‘burrito bowls’ or something similar. Chicken is being cooked shortly to also be frozen.

Got Teen moved into his dorm in Toronto, now we're home. We took everything on a plane, he used vacuum bags in suitcases. 3 checked bags, 3 carry-ons. One bag was overweight by 1.4 kg. OMG the fee is $100 plus tax. Fortunately they waived it (or he would have had to start putting on the clothes).

We have a lot on the go today, brain got started before 5 a.m. so here I am. Coffee has been ingested, now to do the tasks that have been spinning around in my brain.

2 Boys had AAA sirloin steak on sale today for $9.99/lb, so we went and bought some this aft (teen wanted one of his fave foods before going away). Don't think we'll go back; I used a tenderizing tool ahead of cooking, was still pretty chewy.

Where should I look for an economical case for an 11 inch iPad Air? I'm running out of time to order online.

Although you can't access the Long Lake trails in Spryfield, the Long Lake Adventure Company is still open. You can't park in their lot but you can park across the street and go swim or rent a board for a paddle. They said it's been very slow, people assume they're closed since the gate is closed.

Teen is starting university this fall. The emails and paper mail he's getting from RBC since graduation, all to get a credit card or a student line of credit feels very icky. I'm not sure if it's his age or the RESP withdrawal that triggered it.

I made the most delicious taco bowls tonight. Chicken breast with taco seasoning (added extra chili powder, garlic powder, cumin), rice, peppers, corn, onions, cheese, sour cream. I used bone-in chicken without skin, it came out really tender in my Ninja Speedi.

Teen was at the CGC, guess they're closing it.

I was a bit surprised to see sprinklers going on the ball field next to CGC this morning. I guess the fields are probably getting pretty crispy.

The bees are pleased I have zucchini growing on my deck.

It's been a couple years since I made this, but needed something easy. It was good last time, added bacon this time and a few red pepper flakes. thekitchengirl.com/instant-pot-...

NAIG was scheduled to take place in Calgary in 2027. The hosting rights for Calgary have now been retracted. We shall see who will be the new host.

I saw this headline and thought, a free pass to the house what now?

Just got back from Long Lake, took an early float around on our paddle boards. It was a lovely morning out there.

We're replacing our oil furnace this year with a natural gas option. They came today to do some work to connect to the gas line at the street. There's eight people in my yard, maybe two of them work at a time while the rest sit on the lawn or just stand and observe.

It's been 30 years since I lived in the US, but we used to use this product regularly. Couldn't resist picking up a couple when we were in AZ last week. They used to be 25 cents back then, only paid .69 cents this time. Security swabbed the outside of the box before they'd let us go with them.

Got home this morning after being in Arizona for over a week. Yes I knew it would be hot but OMG. At 6 a.m. it's over 30 celcius, by afternoon in the low 40s. We really did not explore Phoenix at all except for Teen's sports event we came for, the temps were just not manageable to be outside.

We're packing up to go home, but we're currently in a location where autonomous vehicles are a common thing. We took one yesterday just for kicks as it was the same price as the Uber. How very weird it was. It wasn't something I'd go out of my way for, but it was fine. Glad we tried it once!

Exploring accommodations in Toronto, while we move Teen to university. Staying downtown is hella expensive, do any of you have hotel recommendations that would be not far from transit that could get us to Dundas Station?

We were going to order Chinese food for supper, unfortunately our regular spot is closed for vacation. Ordered from somewhere else, still good but not quite as tasty.

I made chicken thighs with maple and curry, onions for supper, damn they're good.