Into the final holiday push of gift creation, Christmas tasks such as putting up the tree - an Inuk friend said "must be so nice to have a real tree that smells so good" and she is correct, visiting / entertaining, end of year paperwork, duck hunting for the shore captain, appointments which will have to last until March and getting ready to pack for an extended vacation. So a fairly steady pace here which was only made more frantic by a friend's unfortunate loss of everything but the clothes being worn in an apartment fire. They returned home from an evening out to find smoke pouring out the eaves, kicked the door in and rescued the pets and now are trying to put their lives back together, not an easy task at any time but with the holidays and lobstering even more difficult. Our community is a very generous one and donations of clothing, money, groceries, a fundraiser ongoing and offers of a place to stay and more are being offered. I am carrying the Red Cross disaster phone and so was able to do provide assistance through that fund, something I hadn't thought I'd be doing for someone known to me.
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| Mandela vest |
I've been working on some crochet projects and although the pattern for my granddaughter's circular vest stated one ball would be sufficient….it wasn't. I am off to source an additional ball, thankfully the local yarn store has it in stock to complete it. The way that baby is growing, there's no point in holding on to a size 2 creation. I have been resisting the temptation to visit the yarn store and have actually been working on reducing my 'stash' with a couple of projects - grey, white and red (lumberjack look) crocheted cap for a friend's grandson to be born this winter, some fish shaped dishcloths which I've been gifting, a hat and slippers which the granddaughter will 'grow into' and a couple of toques for the homeless shelter but…who am I kidding? Not really making a dent in it and all it will take is a moment of weakness at the yarn shop, feeling the fibres - it's like sitting in the car at the dealership and….
Today I made bread pudding, but not the kind my mother would've made - apple bread pudding created with some brioche I found in the discount bin (so sweet it burns if not closely supervised in the toaster) and caramel sauce. Yum, will make it again.
Gramma's Apple Bread Pudding
- Prep15 m Cook 45 m Ready In 1 h
Ingredients
- PUDDING
- 4 cups soft bread cubes
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 cups peeled and sliced apples
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 3/4 cups milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, beaten
- VANILLA SAUCE
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup butter. Cook and stir until butter is melted. Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.
- Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender.
- While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve over bread pudding.
I also made cranberry pudding (for the extended family Christmas supper on Saturday) and a few dozen chocolate chip cookies for the boy captain as they'll be a welcome treat when lobstering. Tomorrow's plan is to make doughs (fried brown bread dough) for him as well. What do you get the young man who has everything? Mom's baking of course.
Have been making the rounds and getting together with various friends as it'll be March before we catch up again. Squeezing in visits before and after errands or other social events takes some planning but is possible. Still working on a meet up with northern buddies temporarily in this province, will be tricky with the weather forecast and travel schedule. I've arranged to store my vehicle with my nursing class buddy and reduce the insurance as I did when heading to work. Ticking all the details off my to do travel list.
Have been making the rounds and getting together with various friends as it'll be March before we catch up again. Squeezing in visits before and after errands or other social events takes some planning but is possible. Still working on a meet up with northern buddies temporarily in this province, will be tricky with the weather forecast and travel schedule. I've arranged to store my vehicle with my nursing class buddy and reduce the insurance as I did when heading to work. Ticking all the details off my to do travel list.
Had the grandson over a weekend ago and he was assisting with some of the holiday tasks - moving of the bear on the advent calendar "who does that when I'm not here - Grawmp?" Now that's funny! The guy who has traditionally done very little for Christmas… doesn't do cards, clean, decorate the house, bake, wrap gifts and when urged grudgingly brings home a tree for me to decorate and puts up minimal exterior lights while complaining how much he dislikes the holidays. This year is slightly better - it is very difficult to complain that one "doesn't have time for this" when retired, as you DO have is lots of time. But the moving of the bear awaits grandchildren at this point.
We travelled to the city on the weekend and kept our youngest grandchild while her parents enjoyed supper, a hockey game and a night away. She's a busy 15 month old, but no where near as frantic as her mother was. She was very cheerful, ate everything she was offered and repeatedly said "mo" smiled and pointed at the fridge, stove or counter for the additional food. We discovered that she treats Pete their yellow lab as if he is a sibling, chattering to him, sitting on him, reading him books etc. and he is very gentle with her. After a bath, pyjamas and a bottle she was off to bed and settled herself at 7pm and slept the night. Shortly after we turned in, Pete launched himself onto the mattress with us and all 80 lb of him in the middle of the bed was like sleeping with a boulder! In the morning our granddaughter was chirpy calling out "dog, dog, dog" then "kitty, kitty" upon hearing her pets awake and was up for breakfast and the day. Sure wished we lived closer to be able to do that more often.
The details are mostly in place for the travels with flights booked, some accommodation, bus tickets, plans to meet our Argentine friends for a couple of weeks, some open ended time in Chile to explore the coast and a four day trip to Easter Island in Feb. When I was explaining that we were going to Easter Island, our grandson asked "is that where the Easter Bunny is?" so I described the statues and showed him some online photos and he said "still pretty cool" which I agreed with, then "Nanak, I just can't believe that you aren't taking me!" and when I explained that he was in school in Jan/Feb he said "that sure doesn't make it any better!" ahhh hard to disagree with that. He has been the guy with the quotes for sure lately as this is the quote of the day to his younger brother from one of the places he stays …..you gotta put your undies on first THEN your pants. They go under your pants that’s why they’re called undies, if they went over your pants they’d be called ovaries….maybe he's going to be a Dr.
When I was relating the story of my great nephew being on a Timbits team which was chosen for the intermission display (also televised) at a Mooseheads game, our grandson (who enjoys playing nerd guns, legos, board games etc with this hockey player) gave me a piercing 'annoyed' look and said "Nanak, you never told me that Grant was famous!" I'm sure the upcoming visit will yield some more yarns as he is pretty pumped for the holidays. We will have him for an early and late Christmas, looking forward to that as we'll miss him for the next few months.
When you say "home eight weeks" it seems like a long time but…after catching up from a previous extended trip, making sure to not miss anything on the home front and then prepping for the upcoming extended trip….the time slips away. A week from tomorrow we will be starting out on our journey…
It has been a year on Saturday since I finished the chemo treatments and I continue to feel well (obviously by the pace I keep) with good checkups and it's amazing how quickly you can put that part of life behind you. So much better to be getting my own haircut this morning than wearing a wig and hats. I was reading an online article about a 35 year old with children 5,3 and a few months old who was diagnosed with colon cancer with metastases and undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. He wrote about the need to live each day to the fullest but also described the disconnect of planning for the future while getting things in order in case you weren't there. It's a weird dichotomy. He sure nailed it! I had a lovely email from a nursing classmate today who wrote "I am so glad to hear you're doing so well. Only you could bounce back like that" which made me smile.
Have been purposely putting off thinking about work, there is clearly no shortage of northern nursing and I will sort out how to work for about five weeks in May/June when I return from southern travels. I had hoped to return to the NWT community I've been working in for a couple of years but this may not be possible as an RCMP posted in has a nurse partner so there might not be room for a casual CHN in May. I'm considering a return to a community in Nunavut which I enjoyed and haven't been to for three years, it's a busy spot and I'd have to get back up to speed but May tends to be a quiet time in the arctic with the majority of folks 'out on the land' and it would be a good chance to visit everyone. Another option is a TB nurse contract which is an office (read day job no on call) and involves managing the TB program in a Nunavut community meaning I'd get to explore another part of Canada's north. Since the majority of communities withTB outbreaks are in the Baffin region this would require travelling in through Ottawa where the oldest daughter is now located so….benefits to each of the choices. The title of this blog may be retirement planning but one thing is certain…I am not ready to give up work completely just yet.
When you say "home eight weeks" it seems like a long time but…after catching up from a previous extended trip, making sure to not miss anything on the home front and then prepping for the upcoming extended trip….the time slips away. A week from tomorrow we will be starting out on our journey…
It has been a year on Saturday since I finished the chemo treatments and I continue to feel well (obviously by the pace I keep) with good checkups and it's amazing how quickly you can put that part of life behind you. So much better to be getting my own haircut this morning than wearing a wig and hats. I was reading an online article about a 35 year old with children 5,3 and a few months old who was diagnosed with colon cancer with metastases and undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. He wrote about the need to live each day to the fullest but also described the disconnect of planning for the future while getting things in order in case you weren't there. It's a weird dichotomy. He sure nailed it! I had a lovely email from a nursing classmate today who wrote "I am so glad to hear you're doing so well. Only you could bounce back like that" which made me smile.
Have been purposely putting off thinking about work, there is clearly no shortage of northern nursing and I will sort out how to work for about five weeks in May/June when I return from southern travels. I had hoped to return to the NWT community I've been working in for a couple of years but this may not be possible as an RCMP posted in has a nurse partner so there might not be room for a casual CHN in May. I'm considering a return to a community in Nunavut which I enjoyed and haven't been to for three years, it's a busy spot and I'd have to get back up to speed but May tends to be a quiet time in the arctic with the majority of folks 'out on the land' and it would be a good chance to visit everyone. Another option is a TB nurse contract which is an office (read day job no on call) and involves managing the TB program in a Nunavut community meaning I'd get to explore another part of Canada's north. Since the majority of communities withTB outbreaks are in the Baffin region this would require travelling in through Ottawa where the oldest daughter is now located so….benefits to each of the choices. The title of this blog may be retirement planning but one thing is certain…I am not ready to give up work completely just yet.
