Mommy said I could take over Oma’s blog while she is abandoning me on vacation. Oma forgot to tell you that Mommy and Daddy got me a thing called a raincoat, for Christmas.
I hope you are having a good weekend, and that Oma is missing me as much as I miss her.
Rock on,
The Bowz 🐾
By the time most of you will be accessing this blog post on Feb 1st, I will be on a plane to Barbados after being kicked out by spending some quality time with Joanne in Ontario, first. I have been looking forward to this trip since my last one, in February 2020 – just before all hell broke loose and Canada went into lockdown.
One of my goals for this trip (besides relaxation and exploration) is to leave healthy, vacation healthy, and come home healthy. So far I have been “Novid” for Covid, and I’d really like to keep it that way. Thanks, Donna for teaching me this term! To that end, I’ve been super vigilant with hand sanitization and masking leading up to now and I have packed a lot of N95 masks and sanitizer in my carry-on to assist with this goal.
Imagine my dread then, when about 2 weeks ago now my daughter informed me she woke up with the worst sore throat and a fuzzy head. And my son-in-law wasn’t feeling good. Eeeek!!!! Luckily we had not spent much time in close contact in the couple of days prior to them falling ill, and now we agreed that they would isolate from me (and everyone else). Multiple negative covid tests later, it turned out to be either a bad cold or flu but regardless, not something I wanted to experience.
Still, I wanted to help them during their illness so I continued to walk Bowser every day and I did make them sustenance (dropped off just inside the door, with me in a mask). It was Ed’s Soup Shack to the rescue! Ed’s Soup Shack is a Vancouver Island business that makes gourmet soup mixes. I am a big fan, as you might infer from the photo, below.
I made 2 batches of soup, to keep them nourished as they dealt with this virus. Firstly, it was Chicken n’ Wild Rice to the rescue.
Once they finished this soup, a request came in for Mulligatawny – a family favourite.
Of course, I didn’t send ALL of the soup next door. I did reserve a couple of bowls of each for myself, purely for research and quality control purposes 😉. Ahem! Anyways, both kids are back on their feet and I am (knocking on my head wood) still virus-free.
So what’s on your plate this month? Do you have a go-to packaged mix (or two or more) that you turn to in times of desperation need? Do tell, in the Comments! And please join Donna and myself in blogging about What’s On Your Plate.
Here’s the invite to the Link Party. Hope it works because I won’t be able to fix it from however many thousands of feet in the air I’ll be…who am I kidding, I wouldn’t be able to fix it regardless 🤣
Rock on,
The WB
Oma has gone away. Mommy says she is ON VACATION. Mommy explained what vacation is, and how vacation IS my everyday life. I am a lucky dog. Still, I miss Oma. I hope she comes back soon.
Rock on,
The Bowz 🐾
I had a close call a couple of weeks ago, where I couldn’t find Bowser’s harness and leash next door when I wanted to take him for a walk. I imagined that it was in my daughter’s car, parked at her work. It wasn’t. Her hubs had hung it up in a different place from it’s proper home usual spot, so I had to make do with his baby leash and a collar.
That prompted me to do some looking around for a harness to keep at my place, so I wouldn’t have to worry about a cancelled walkies anytime in the future. I didn’t need a leash as I had found a really cute (and high quality) one on one of our walks.
It was hanging up in a tree just off the logging road, and we kept walking by it every day. After a full week, I decided whoever lost/left it wasn’t coming back for it so it came home with us. Now my son-in-law is joking that I will be posted on neighbourhood crime watch Facebook page as a leash thief…
Anywhoodles, here is Bowser modelling his new harness:
And in case you were wondering about me in all my sartorial splendour on that rainy walk?
Have a wonderful weekend everyone, what’s left of it!
Rock on,
The WB
Waaaay back in mid-December, Donna and I found some time to dive into the last Universal Yums box in my gift subscription of 2022. Donna wrote about it, here. Pardon my tardiness in posting! Mid-December to mid-January is usually a time when I “hibernate” both socially and in terms of projects (and become even more introverted and introspective than I already am) and I am just starting to come out of this period now.
So, without further delay: I give you the Italy box!
We started off with the world’s tiniest cookies (to my knowledge 😉): Amarettini Almond cookies.
Next up: Pizza-flavoured corn rings.
Another savoury treat followed – Paprika potato chips aka the main ingredient in BBQ chips we learned by tasting, as that is pretty much what these tasted like. Universal Yum’s writeup on this chip stated they had never tasted a chip seasoned like this before. Seriously? BBQ is an OG Canadian chip flavour, as I recall. It was around even before ketchup chips!!!
After all that salt, we tried the Chocolate Tiramisu Cream Cake. The name tiramisu means “carry me up”, and the booklet assumes this means “to heaven”…LOL!
After that we tried the chocolate bar with hazelnuts. I think everyone can imagine what that would taste like. (Nutella, that you still have to chew.) Apparently containing hazelnuts from the Piedmont region of Italy.
After all that chocolate, I was relieved to taste something different – the Italian fruit jellies. I am not normally a fan of fruit candies but these were quite tasty and delicious! Made with real Italian fruit juices, apparently.
Finally, we came to the last treat in the box – Milk chocolate popcorn bites. Sounded intriguing but nothing extraordinary or exciting in flavour.
This gift subscription was a whole lot of fun – and the most fun when I got to share it with Donna and all of you lovely readers! Donna and I are going to put together our own box – the Canadian version of a Universal Yums package – we have all the goodies picked out already.
That probably won’t happen until later in February though as I am leaving the island next week. First, to spend some shenanigans IRL time with Joanne (of the now quiet blog My Life Lived Full) in Ontario, and then to join my practically life-long friend CJ for our annual 2 weeks reading books under the palms and drinking Banks beer enjoying the sea and sun of Barbados. YES! After 2 long years, I am getting on a plane and heading out of Canada to a tropical destination again, universe-willing!
Rock on,
The WB
Bowser has a bone that he stole found that was gifted to him by our across-the-street neighbours and their dogs. Well, perhaps not willingly by the dogs…I dunno. There is not much left to this bone but Bowser seems pleased nonetheless.
We hope you are spending time with something/someone you love this weekend.
Rock on,
The WB
I was busy doing something (probably haus-frauing) in my place and Bowser was playing outside with one of his new favourite squeaky toys when suddenly he started barking and would not stop. Now, he usually barks once or twice when he sees something he feels should be noticed (and I usually take no notice as I am wise to the Ways of the Schnauzer) but this was unusual.
I took a look outside and this is what I saw:
Of course, before going out to free Mr. Squeaky Chicken and relieve Bowser of his misery I HAD to take pictures of all this drama.
After all, it was much more amusing than haus-frauing 😉.
Rock on,
The WB
For those of you who may not already know, I moved recently (late Summer 2022) from my city apartment to a separate dwelling located on my daughter and son-in-law’s semi-rural property. I have spent the fall waiting not-so-patiently for my kitchen to be installed and become workable. Thankfully, I am on good terms with my new landlords 😉, and had access to their kitchen while mine was being worked on. My kitchen is still not finished – backsplash, range hood, and under-cabinet lighting has yet to happen – but it is a fully working kitchen now, with brand new appliances. In December, I gave my new range a workout one Sunday as I prepared a meal for my landlords family. This post is about that momentous day, when I officially “broke in” Blue Steel, my navy blue Samsung range.
The inspiration for my range’s nickname:
Blue Steel is very smart (and chatty). He sends me messages all the time, on all my devices.
But how is he at actually doing the stuff he is built for? Let’s see, shall we?
The meal’s menu consisted of the family favourite: Greek potatoes, with a simple salad and air-fried chicken. I also made an almond cake.
Blue Steel came with an air-fryer function and also this tray, for that purpose:
For the “fried” chicken, I used this KFC dupe seasoning recipe, with some modifications: I didn’t have buttermilk so I soured a cup of milk with 1 tbsp vinegar; I used gluten-free flour; I only added 1 tbsp white pepper; I skipped the MSG; I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt and added an extra tsp salt (I figured that was close enough). Instead of deep-frying, I air-fried the chicken for 20 minutes at 400F, then turned the pieces and air-fried them again for another 20 minutes.
To finish off the main meal:
And the cake?
Blue Steel, you did me proud. (And you were worth the 4 month delivery wait.)
You’re welcome, Widow Badass.
Please share with Donna and/or myself what’s on your plate this month, in the Comments! Please check out her post on the delicious soup she made me, here! And here’s the Link Party, if you are so inclined.
Rock on,
The WB
Mommy and I came over to visit Oma using the back yard entrance, and her boots were within reach. Time to switch into Evil Villain mode!!!
Alas, my mission was interrupted when Mommy reclaimed her boot from my lair.
‘Til next time, Mommy! Bwahahaha!
Rock on, and happy 2023!
The Evil Villain Bowz 🐾
We had another big snow dump this past week. It wasn’t safe to drive, but it was perfectly safe to go for a walk in the woods. Or so I thought…
Bowser either tried to walk on the very thin ice or fell off of the bank into the channel! He was completely submerged for the longest millisecond of my life. Then he popped back up and tried to grab onto a nearby branch that was in the water although even further from land. Meanwhile I ran like a rocket to his location and coaxed him back to the bank, whereupon I grabbed him by the harness and hauled him back onto land. All the while agonizing how I was going to get this dog back home without him turning into a pupsicle in this -8 degrees C weather. (Obviously no pictures were taken of all this drama.)
Turns out I had nothing to fear. Bowser’s instincts kicked in and I was treated to the “snow zoomies”.
I doubt future walks will find us near the creek, for the time being! Bowser got over his dunking in no time at all, but I am still traumatized recovering.
Good Yule, Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah! However and wherever you celebrate, hug your loved ones (and stay away from icy creeks).
Rock on,
The WB
