Winter arrives!

Winter is arriving in its full fury. Starting tomorrow, snow is going to arrive and about 30 Cm's will be deposited. Oh my, this is good weather to enjoy from the comfort of your home. I do know that I will be out shovelling which is the downside to being home but better than struggling to get to work and home on the bus or in the car.
How many of you enjoy shovelling the white stuff? I know that it is good exercise but I can think of other ways to get the muscles warmed and exercised.
Will let you know how bad the snow is in two days. Hoping to be able to be able to report on my latest muffin recipe tomorrow. It will include apples and rhubarb.
Enjoy today.

Auditions

Yesterday, I was part of an audition process with children who are in grade 3. They are auditioning for an arts school. The concept of the school is good but the question that they should be asking is: is the child motivated and does the child have time for the academic work as well as the work involved in the arts. Apparently, less time is devoted to academic subjects because of the emphasis on the arts however, the child must still achieve. Also some of the children may have ability in one area but not the others. What happens then. Also boys because they do not audition in the same numbers have a better chance of getting in than girls who auditions at 3 to 1.
I feel badly for the children who come from schools that do not give the children the background that they need or they do not have the support needed from home. What a waste of wonderful potential.
I will continue with the process but it is worth asking some questions after I am finished.

Cocoa Oatmeal Muffins

Here is the recipe which was promised yesterday. And yes, these muffins are excellent:

Cocoa Oatmeal Muffins
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) all purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) oats
1/3 cup (75 mL) cocoa powder
1 tsp (mL) salt
2 eggs
1 cup (250 mL) milk
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter or margarine melted
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) nuts chopped
Honey Spread

Preparation:
1. Stir together flour, sugar, oats, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
2. Beat eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla in small bowl.
3. Add milk mixture and nuts all at once to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.
4. Spoon batter into 12 greased muffin cups.
5. Bake at 400oF (200oC) for 15 to 20 minutes or until done.
6. Serve warm with Honey Spread (see recipe below).
Honey Spread
7. Beat together 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter and 1/3 cup (75 mL) honey until smooth. Makes about 3/4 cup (175 mL).
from www.simpleyhomemade.ca. Made January 23, 2011

Enjoy.

New Recipe

Finally, I am back trying recipes. The latest one is Cocoa Oatmeal Muffins. Excellent recipe. Will post it tomorrow.
Today is a hectic day. I have to go to a school to pay a bus bill, then it is off to tennis which will be good. My friend Mari and I are doing drills; it is really helping our play. After tennis, it is time to go to a senior's home to read her meter which is outdoors. Why she does not have her daughter read it, I don't know. Do not ask. Then, it is off to lunch with a friend. This friend is going to treat me to lunch. She has a certificate for the restaurant-Sisters. What a nice treat.
Then time for coffee with my brother. I think that will depend on how cold it is and it is supposed to be very cold today.
Finally, orchestra. By the time, I get home I will be ready to relax and tomorrow that is what I will do. The only commitments that I have tomorrow are to do dry cleaning and post the recipe.
Keep warm and have a wonderful day.

Happiness

Last night, I heard about an author who spent a year blogging about happiness. After blogging, a book was written about her search for ways to be happy. What was pointed out in her interview is that she is a professor and has written several books already. Well, she has a career which she finds interesting and probably stimulating-good start for happiness. She is successful another plus. She is married with children. I think that she is well on her way. She managed to tweak her activities but did not do a complete turn around.
What would be interesting would be to see someone who has a much more difficult situation turn their life around. Much harder but also would be instructive. Unfortunately, someone who is experiencing problems is going to have problems turning their life around and making decisions that will make them happy.
Worthy goal but difficult for some.

Arts for Life

I am finally getting around to reading a booklet sent out by the Baycrest centre. It has articles about Arts for Life for one. The article mentions one of my favourite groups although I have only seen them in film, the vocal group from the film "Young at Heart". The point of the article is to discuss the research into the arts and aging.
I suspect that the finding will be that anything that keeps you thinking and alert helps in the aging process. We can not completely stop the aging process but we can help if we find ways to be creative. The arts are the obvious way to be creative. However, I suspect that writing and not because I do that as well as play music but it keeps you thinking, needlework, knitting, gardening if it is not the same pattern all the time, these all help. Things that keep the mental juices flowing.
I will look for those things. It is easy to just sit back and relax but dangerous as well. I remember the husband of an acquaintance spent his days in a shopping mall watching people. This did not last long and he passed away soon after retiring. Often wonder what would have happened if he found something creative to do. My father-in-law made steam engines and model boats. He was very good. Must keep my creative juices flowing.

Repairs

Well, the saga of my repairs does not end. Yesterday, Michael told me that the old Toyota had a light on. This seems to be an all purpose light that says something is wrong. I decided to use a different dealership than the one that I had used for years. Time to start using one that is much closer to home. I only have to drive a couple minutes and I am there. This morning, I had someone drive me to tennis and I could have had them pick me up but the other person who I play tennis with was happy to drive me to the dealership. At least, I think that she was happy.
The repair was not too bad thank goodness but it is strange that this one car seems to have many more problems than any other Toyota that we have had. Unfortunately, I don't think that the dealership is willing to admit that this might just be a lemon.
Hopefully, there will not be any more repairs for awhile.

Repairs

Do you hate waiting for repair people. I hate to say this but the word is generally repairmen since I have yet to see a repair woman. I would not be disappointed it is just that I have not seen one.
Today, I just finished waiting for someone to come and repair my washing machine. I certainly hope that he can do it. It will be very frustrating if he can not. I do not like going to laundry mats and I do not want to buy a new machine. I already said in a previous e-mail, the machine is only a little over two years old. I am getting more and more reluctant to depend on computerized machines. They are becoming more difficult to repair and unfortunately more expensive.
Will have more information about this repair once the repair person is done. Hopefully, he can fix the problem and I am back to doing laundry.

Maytag!

I believed the ads that Maytag washers are good. Well, we bought one and paid good money a little over two years ago. The machine is not working, it washes but does not finish the spin to make sure the clothes dry enough for a reasonable drying and there does not seem to be anything I can do to make the machine remove the extra water. I can do extra spins, put on the cycle that the load needs to be drier, nothing is working. Going to have a repair done next week. Hopefully it does not cost too much but I can honestly say that I am not impressed. Only two years and the machine needs a repair! That is much too soon. So much for all the ads that say that the Maytag repairman is not needed.
Are there things that you find dissatisfying?

Lost Art of Handwritten Letters

Lately, I have prided myself on trying to get a letter out each day. That is not as easy as it sounds. There are days when I send letters but they typed on the computer. I have not gone out and bought special pens, inks, sealing wax. Finding a relaxing time to write is another challenge. Maybe that will be one of my goals for the coming year. Write letters. I think that I will start with short letters. It is much easier to send letters that have been word processed.
Will read this article on The Lost Art of Handwritten Letters again and see if I can not be inspired.
Maybe one of you will be inspired to send a letter.

North Hill Garden

Finally, I am really clearing up. Getting to magazines that have been ignored for too long. Don't want anyone to think that I am overwhelmed but I am certainly pleased with what I have managed to accomplish.
Reading the Toronto Botanical Garden newsletter there was a tribute to Wayne Winterrowd of Northhill Garden. He and his partner created a wonderful oasis that you can explore when you check the website: www.northhillgarden.com. It is definitely worth a look.
Enjoy.

Starting the New Year

This is it, the New Year has started. I spent most of the day getting organized. I have rehearsals, performances- the first one for the trio will be next week Tuesday, and concerts to plan. Lessons for my two bassoon students which is fun. Also meetings, amazing how many there are. Luncheons- those are the best. The first one might be this Thursday, one of the people I am supposed to meet might have to go to a funeral, we will discuss plans later today. I certainly understand about sad events like this.
Hope that your day was good.
Time to get to laundry. Yes, I want to get that cleared up as well.