Friday, December 21, 2018

YOLO - Eat the Cookie!


I made sugar cookies for myself yesterday - no one else in the family seems to love them like I do and I was seriously considering not making them this year.  Then I saw this posted by my friend Lorraine (of blog CLAMCO - borrowed from her):

So - I made myself the sugar cookies and even made some tiny quarter size ones so that when I feel guilty about eating them I can have a small one and not feel any guilt at all.  Life is short - we should all live each day to maximum!


We had a whopper of a windstorm yesterday, the worst in 10 years they say.  We had no damage and managed to keep our power on (thankfully so since I was making cookies and hubby was doing online conferencing during the storm) unlike many others.  There are power outages all over Vancouver Island, smaller islands and Vancouver and the lower mainland took a huge hit as well. As of right now there are still 50,000 people on Vancouver Island without power.  It is a very large island with lots of old growth forest, which tends to take down power lines in weather like this.   It's times like these that we think we should buy a generator, maybe if they go on sale after Christmas.  Some may be without power for days but our BC Hydro power line repairmen are stars and are working around the clock to get everyone reconnected.  My friend lost power a few days ago during another storm but was not affected this storm.  She has huge trees all around her house, we just have some smaller ones in our front yard.  Winds were a constant 50-60 km per hour with gusts up to 80 km here and 100 km other places that were by the Ocean.

This is just a normal winter occurrence for the coast though, we get a lot of windstorms and rain in winter.  Sometimes snow but so far none this winter.  That might change this weekend, I would be ok if it snowed but am hoping it waits until after my Stepson's flight comes in tomorrow.  Last year we had our first snow storm November 4th.

On Tuesday Mom and I had a bit of excitement - driving home from the chiropractor we saw a fisheries vessel in the estuary next to the road.  This part of the estuary is a deeper channel that boats can pass, in summer it is quite shallow, in winter deeper with much higher tides.  The road is literally 20 feet away.  I had heard earlier in the day that a grey whale had entered the estuary and was seen at the mouth of the river.  Click here for pictures/local article on the whale sighting.    All of a sudden the whale blew his spout - really neat to see, so drove off onto the shoulder to see if it would do it again, but we didn't get a second look.  It was just getting dark and the fisheries boat was trying to shush it back out in deeper water before it got into trouble.  We kayak right in this part of the estuary in the summer so know it well.  They gave up a few hours later and I checked for updates, fisheries believes the whale did go out to deeper water as it hasn't been spotted again, they couldn't go out in the terrible windstorm but people would have seen him from shore by now.  I've said it before and I will say it again, I love living near the Ocean and at this point in life can't see ever living more than a short drive from it.

Hubby got up at 530 this morning to try and finish off business until after Christmas.  He has had a brutally busy week but now we get a few days off.  We are working a bit between Christmas and New Years but mostly on our own business projects that need to be furthered along with regard to a website and a new course, not with clients.  That means we can sleep in and go at a more leisurely pace for the next 2 weeks - much needed by him more than me.

This will be my last post until after Christmas as I will be busy eating, drinking and making merry with my friends and family - Merry Christmas to those who partake and for those who don't enjoy a couple of days at home in peace!

34 comments:

  1. How exciting to see that whale! You and yours work hard! Glad you will get to ease up the pace for a couple of weeks. Merry Christmas from Texas!

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    1. Thank you Linda - Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!

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  2. Merry Christmas and enjoy those beautiful sugar cookies! I love that quote from your friend Lorraine!

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  3. I'm so touched that my post inspired you to do something special for yourself. Thank you for the shout out. How exciting to see a whale, even if it was just him/her spouting off. lol I love living near water also. Yesterday I drove down to the gulf and visited a friend who has a beachfront condo on the 10th floor. I opened her sliding glass door leading to the balcony and was awed, AWED, at the sound of the waves. Oh my goodness, it was so amazing! They looked like they were rolling in at slow motion from that high up. I could have stayed there all day. Enjoy your break and enjoy those cookies too! YOLO!!

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    1. Yes, I decided it was a Merry Christmas to me present :) I have a bunch of other type of cookies in the freezer to be unthawed when my stepson comes into town tomorrow - but these ones will mostly get eaten by me. The waves are mesmerizing, we often just sit and watch them in the summer. This time of year though it is bloody cold down by the water to watch them. You enjoy your break - so glad you got a day away and a nice lunch with your friend, now that's how holidays are supposed to be!

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  4. how wonderful to see the whale! I love the ocean, grew up near the beach and I miss it living inland. ...and yes... eat the cookies!

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    1. The whale was a treat, but I also saw a couple of eagles stealing food from two seagulls and a gigantic heron at our duck pond the same day, really a fantastic place we live.

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  5. I hoard things that I don't want to waste. Then they end up going bad, or something like that. I was super careful to get the most out of pads for my floor steamer. The thing broke beyond repair and I still have three pads left! Or I buy an article of clothing and only wear it for special occasions -- which are fewer and further between these days... and end up putting on weight and not having it fit! Maybe I need to eat less cookies for that one... or not!

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    1. I hate waste too, just part of being frugal. Food waste is my nemesis though, had to throw out a piece (albeit super cheap) of ginger today as it had molded

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  6. The winds have been something. Our neighbours trampoline ended up in the ditch at the front of our property. We had power outages two days in a row, one 5 hrs and one 2hrs. Feel very fortunate not to be without power for as long as the people on the Island. Hugely grateful for the hydro workers out in this foul weather getting power back on. Have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the cookies.

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    1. Our friends in Sooke were out for 28 hours....we decided to order a generator today, all the ones on the island are sold out but this should get to us after Christmas for whatever mother nature feels like throwing at us. Thanks Susan, Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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  7. I always think of November as our windy month, but not this year. November was a warm, calm month instead. I made Spritz cookies today. They are a reminder of my youth and my heritage. - Margy

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    1. We got off easy in November....we just ordered a generator. Our friends in Sooke lost power for 28 hours and they don't even have natural gas like we do for HWT, fireplace and bbq. I want to be better prepared for these storms. Another one today but less vicious except still cancelling the ferry sailings, sad for all the holiday travelers.

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  8. How cool was the whale sighting!
    Enjoy the eating, drinking and making merry!
    I loved Lorraine's post as well. Life is short so I am using the candles and the special soaps, and in 2019 we are going to use the china every week, even if we are just eating sloppy Joe's!

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    1. I know, I am going to start using my Mom's China more, it's basic white bone china with a beautiful silver ring, so pretty.

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  9. Love your cookies & the philosophy behind them. We decided our gift to each other this year was to change our flights to allow for a few extra days at our vacation house. So worth it! Sometimes you just have to take advantage of every opportunity to celebrate your life.

    Enjoy your time off & family time.

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    1. That is a great idea, money well worth spending, I am sure. Enjoy your time away! Merry Christmas

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  10. I had to Goggle YOLO. So very true and good for you for looking after yourself. Now its time for you and hubby to slow down and enjoy each other and every moment of the holidays.

    Feliz Navidad.

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    1. I love a good storm, although being tucked away in a valley we don't get it that bad. Geneva, on the other hand, has a wind called la bise which just howls and makes the lake look like the ocean. I love it but it is freezing when the bise blows. Have a lovely Christmas and a good rest. Anna

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    2. We're actually having another one (not quite as bad). We've been talking about getting a generator for years now - we just ordered one online as everything is sold out on the entire island. We'll be ready for the next storm or even better - we'll never have to use it once we've bought it. Merry Christmas Anna!

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    3. Thanks Contessa! I hope you and Colin have a fabulous Mexican Christmas

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  11. Glad to hear you made it through the storm. My cousin and her husband last power, ended up at her dad's place in Qualicum Beach as it got too cold at their place.

    Have a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your company and all the good food, sugar cookies included. :)

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    1. After I wrote this post we heard from a friend in Sooke (suburb by Victoria) and they lost power for 28 hours! All the generators on the island are sold out. We've been saying for years that we need one due to the earthquake possibility, but I think it is more important for these windstorms that we get every fall. We just ordered one from Home Depot, it will get here likely in the new year but we will be ready for it. There was just enough money to cover it in our appliance fund so now I have to replenish that fund. You have a merry Christmas too!

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  12. What a wind storm and the amazing whale sighting. Some day I hope we get more Oceanside living but of course, quite land locked here in Minnesota. Go gor the big cookies then enjoy your walks.

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    1. The only problem is I sprained my foot lol. During the windstorm it was our garbage/recycle day. We usually only have half a can a week of garbage so decided to skip that - but when the storm died down I heard the recycle truck so ran to the garage and grabbed our paper recycling and sprained it running down the driveway. So no long walks, more small cookies lol. Merry Christmas Sam!

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  13. I read your post before I went to bed and spent ages racking my brain over what YOLO meant. is it you only live once?
    So cool that you saw the whale!
    Have a wonderful Xmas. xxx

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    1. Yes! You only live once lol. Yesterday we saw a deer, today birds are crowding around my feeders - hummingbirds trying to chase off finches, finches trying to chase off hummingbirds. I love seeing wildlife almost every single day here. Thanks Vix - you have a wonderful holiday too!

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  14. Merry Xmas! Enjoy the Holidays and take time to relax and have fun! see you in 2019!

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    1. Thanks - you too! We are going to Quebec either summer 2019 or summer 2020 - now that my stepson is in Ottawa we can combine a holiday - always wanted to go there. Merry Christmas!!

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  15. We were 40 hours without power. The food in the freezer was fine and we could cook on the top of the stove but with no fireplace it was so cold.
    Our son did get on the ferry to us so all is now well.
    Merry Christmas.

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    1. Wow, that is terrible! I don't think most of the island has ever seen power outages that long. Apparently the generators all over the island are sold out. We have been talking for several years about buying one, ordered one online - should be here any day. I am perfectly happy if we have it and never have to use it. So glad you guys didn't lose anything in your freezer. We have natural gas HWT and fireplace and are so grateful for that along with a bbq so we have heat - but my Mom does not, baseboards only so glad she lives near if we experience something like this again.

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    2. We are going to have a natural gas fireplace installed.

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