So yesterday, I was up bright and early to head to Red Deer to pick up my dad who had his truck in for some repairs while home from camp work in northern B.C. and off to breakfast we went afterwards, I had been told we had a few place’s to get to and do a little shopping..

14! stores later, I was ready to spit fire, first off, I still can’t believe how huge red deer has gotten, I remember living there when I was back in collage, granted that was 20 years ago but its a whole different city these days and it shows.. the growth is amazing!

While my dad honestly did the shop till you drop thing, I stayed much more true to my own roots, I picked up one of the last gift for my step-dad, a leather wheel cover on sale from Canadian tire for his car, mom sent me to look for a cream long sweater for a outfit and I found a 80 dollar dress orginally that fits and looks lovely on me for 11 dollars including tax.

I had thought that I had made enough of my knotted roped necklaces/scarf things, but was I wrong, everyone loves them and suddenly I need to make at least four more.. OK, so off to micheals, with a little digging, I was thrilled to find perfect wool patterns/weights and colors on a great sale, regular 9 per ball, on sale for 3.. so will get them made over the next while yet..

Last but not least was getting Dh’s short stories made into a spiral bound book for gifts for family, it was only his stories from 2010-2011 and it was just under 250 pages in length, for a total of 17 dollars per book, to be printed, and done with cover etc.. For sure my most costly store was staples who is doing the book for me, but I am hoping that it will be a unique and treasured gift, I am try as much as possable to have a handmade or personal gifts as possable this year.

As luck would have it my mom and my step-dad current have colds, I am trying hard to make sure that I won’t get it but really the odds are not in my favor on this one..

Woke up this morning to a winter wonderland with lots of fresh snow, and I signed and said to mom, I will throw on yesterday’s cloths and go shovel and then have my shower and put on clean cloths cause I will be working up a sweat.. she looks at me funny.. ah.. snowblower? LOL I am so used to doing things by hand on the farm, I forget that my family are the Kings and Queens of modern life out here.

My best part of the day was watching two hours of Chopped with my mom, we are both long time and big time cooks, and it was a hoot an half to get to figure out what we would cook with the different ingredants given to them, and to make smart mouth and to be honest nasty little comments on some of the choices and dishes..  You can tell that mom’s been off the farm for awhile, she could not come up with a dish on how to cook the goats brains that was one of the dishes, where I knew they needed to be soaked in milk first 😛

Same with how to make a main course out of fish heads, I think its because she has cooked now for such a long time with just the store bought foods, where I have now been spending a number of years working on learning how to cook with everything from nose to tail on the farm.

My laugh of the day was that I finally gave in an striped down the bed I was given and pulled the sheets, mom had gotten new flannel sheet’s for me but they are so rough and scratchy, I pulled them and put on old cotton sheets, that’s how you know that you shop way! to much at farm sales, I have gotton all my flannel sheets from them, and they are old and washed goodness know’s how many times an they are soft and smooth.. Clearly new ones need to washed a few times at min before they get that down home feel..

It does not help that my mom is keeping the house at 19 as the night low and higher for the daytime with a electic fireplace on in the living room when we are sitting, I didn’t even turn on the heat in my house till nov and its kept cold, so I am melting in this heat.. Now to be fair between the colds and that fact that my step-dad is alot older, he is almost 80 and he gets cold very easy so I will just need to suck it up but dang, when you are used to it being cool and layering, the heat is hard to get used to..

I will get a picture of this up on the next post or two but got to see the most amazing HUGE bull moose just hanging out on the side of dad’s hill, the rack was most impressive, would have liked to have put him in the freezer and the head on the wall.. but till not the season.. so photos instead.. Everyone have a wonderful day!