Stouffville, Ontario Canada (647) 962-1997 gwstudios@rogers.com M-F 8:30am - 2:30pm & 8:00pm - 11:00pm

Tag: winter

Oh that’s pretty chilly.

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Sun is out but that minus nine looks unappealing. Scattered clouds on these blue skies makes me think it isn’t all that windy, which is a plus. Let us all try to avoid any brushes with Frost Nip this weekend, please and thank you. Luckily last time it was the merest of tickles upon the Frost Bite spectrum, but I don’t want anybody to risk it for a snowmobile ride. Put on a helmet and a weather suitable balaclava to stave off the worst effects of the cold. So if we could all do just the bare minimum to avoid the cold that would be much appreciated.

Doesn’t feel much like a Saturday morning. Not sure what’s making the vibe feel off. Hmm… I’ll have to think on that for a bit to see where things feel different. Perhaps it’s because this is a long weekend, and the extra day off feels weird. Is it the presence of snow and cold after that long warm/dry spell. I don’t know what it is. Could be the looming feeling of Ugh! From next Friday’s funeral and visitation services putting a dark cloud over everything.

On the plus side nobody rushed to call me with the results of my small intestine MRI from Thursday. Which makes me think the news will be mild to good. No news is good news. I’m still worried about having my mask off partially to drink at the hospital, and inside the actual machine. I really hope I haven’t tracked home Covid or anything along those lines. I feel fine thus far. My kids have been coughing and in various stages of gooey for several long weeks now, which I have avoided. Could be the near continuous running of our Hepa filter in the living room. Or my immune system isn’t fighting it and my chest feels a little less than normal, but I’m not oozing like they are with it. Is that a blessing or a curse?

Good news is we can go tobogganing now that we have six or so inches of snow on the ground. We haven’t been able to go for a number of weeks. The town doesn’t even have any outdoor rinks out like during the lock-down periods of 2020-2021. It was pretty awesome, you could go to any number of local parks and skate outside with hardly anyone else around. If I recall a fair few winter birthday parties were held on skates during those years.

In other news I broke down and bought four more substantial caster wheels for my rolling tool cart build. One of the four small ones I had lying around shattered into two halves and would not go back together on the bearing. I went up from a 1 inch wheel to a 3 inch. So it didn’t effect the overall height by too to much. Plus it rolls like a champ now, and all four wheels can be locked, and swivel independently. Very maneuverable. It’s ugly as sin, but suits my needs to a “T”. I even got to repurpose several pieces of our old change table. Now I have memories to keep.

My wheeled cart with shelves, drawers, storage space, and an open top for power tools access. Just what I wanted!

Feels like mid March outside right now.

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It’s currently raining, in late January, in Southern Ontario, Canada. That’s absurd. It should do only one of a few things at this point in the winter season; snow, freezing rain, icy cold wind, or dead calm and sunny but still be cold. Not get up into the positive temperatures and rain. I’d expect this leading into Mid March and April, but not now. Not that I cared for the polar vortex and those insane low temps, but this is just as bad. Need a sustained cold to kill off all those extra bugs we don’t want around here, and to keep snakes and shit away.

Friday is here, you’ve made it through yet another week. I have at least two more weeks with appointment shuffles to do for the kids, and myself included. By then it will be February, and the red/pink lead up to Valentine’s Day. Yes! Little more than two weeks away. Chocolates and stuffed toys, flowers and such to flood the market place. Great thing is all of that will be super cheap come the 15th. Wait a day and get 25-50% off face value. Love it.

Given that I can’t get a weeks groceries for less than $200.00 any more, I think those savings on the extras are worth my while to wait for. I spend about $1,000.00 on food for the month roughly, for us four, and my kids don’t eat all that much (according to their school lunches that come home 60% full each day). Milk, juice, juice boxes, and snacks run through our fingers like water. Laundry soap and toilet paper are an investment to make these days. Wowzers. Need vitamins? $20.00 or the better part there of, easily. We aren’t poor, and I’m not broke, but god damn I feel bad for folks whom were struggling before. This shit is crazy. Don’t get me started.

Had a good wander around the shops yesterday. My day was off anyway, with a sick wife, youngest who couldn’t sleep and woke me up at 4:00am, and kept me awake until just after 5:00am. Then we had a later start, doctor appointments, late school drop off, and a grocery shop. I took an extra 45 mins to just wander around looking at pajamas, tools, and movies still available as physical media. By the time I got home, un packed the shopping, made & ate lunch, did some paid work, it was time to go get the kids – again. Then off to night time sports with the oldest. It was calming to come home afterwards though. I ended up making grilled cheese sandwiches, and watching the animated Addams Family movie until I put the kids to bed. I was in bed asleep by 9:30pm last night. I could have gone to bed at 7 if I’d of had the chance. I have a huge capacity for sleep. Probably stems from years of dealing with fatigue. Though sleeping with fatigue doesn’t help all that much either. Nothing like waking up feeling more tired, and not feeling rested and utterly exhausted. Like going to bed with your body battery being on 3%, and waking up eight plus hours later feeling like you’re at 1% and falling. Don’t miss those days at all. Too tired to sleep. Awful. Just awful feeling. I spent my later teen years like that, for months on end at a time.

But enough about me, how are you all doing out there in Candy-Land? Moving your pieces strategically or just taking a roll of the dice and pushing forward, sideways, backwards as the roll dictates? Strange times. Yo, when do the masses rise up and eat the rich? I hear those 1% folks are building bunkers and safe havens. I guess they know something we don’t. Until next time.

According to my back, that felt like twelve inches of snow – if not more.

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Why oh why must it all come at once. I’d have been just as happy with three days with four inches of snow each. But no! Gotta dump at once. With more coming on Friday evening. Might make the Saturday birthday party a hassle to get to but oh well.

I gotta invest in Voltaren or A535 rub, or Icy Hot or something, because I need that shit more & more as the years progress. Three sessions of snow shoveling, and each time it was wet, heavy and deep AF. Plus the wind chill was up today, minus 1 feels like minus ten. Cheeks are feeling it this morning, lordy lordy. I will say this though, all that shoveling seems to have helped my hand from yesterday. So that’s good news, to me atleast.

Lots on the books today to accomplish, so I best sign in and get to work. Ciao Bella.

Three days in, how are you doing?

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We are three days into 2022 and how do you all feel? I didn’t make any resolutions this year, much like I haven’t done the last three years or so. I have things I want to do more of, which are things that I all ready do ‘some’ of. I will do what I can to utilize my down time more constructively over the year. Now this doesn’t mean that every single second needs to be accounted for, or that I must produce X amount of projects or progress in any single hobby. Just that over all, I did more of just about anything; cooking, cleaning, mending clothes, wood working, home DIY stuff, sculpting, drawing, painting, playing the guitar or piano, creative writing, blogging. Anything, just try to limit being a lump.

Also, if at all possible, refrain from going out and picking up a new pet from a shelter. It has been eight months since our old boy passed over the rainbow bridge to take up residence at the farm, in a room with a view. I love dogs and having one around the house, but it has made life simpler to not have one around during the pandemic. Puppies and old dogs and just about everything in between are very appealing, but I just need to hold off for another year or two. I can easily break on this issue depending on how the school year in Ontario shapes up with covid and Omicron lurking about. However, not having to pick up bags and bags of poop off the back lawn means the girls can play barefoot in the grass again without fear of a nasty squishy surprise. But a warm dog cuddle does a weary soul some good when you didn’t know you needed it most.

It is currently warming up from minus seventeen degrees Celsius, so perhaps a play at the park is in order, or a jaunt to the farm for some private sledding with my girls. Snow pants are a must here, there is no denying it anymore. Winter is far too long and cruel to the skin here to not properly outfit yourself for the bitter cold. We are nowhere near as bad as the prairies, but getting down to minus twenty five or below consistently over a course of three months means you need to be realistic, and dress accordingly. Take care of yourselves out there.