Now This Is My Kind Of Winter

This was the temperature around nine this morning. Remember people, we are talking the Canadian east so it's the 63 F that should be impressing you..

I had tossed the green spiky plant when I thought summer had ended. It continued to flourish lying on its aide behind the globe cedar so I plunked it into the iron planter for another reincarnation. Now it's a Christmas decoration.





The fish are swimming around aimlessly, no doubt wondering why they aren't hunkered down under a sheet of ice. I'm continuing to feed them since I have no idea what's around to nosh on in that pond.

The Best Non-Diet Ever

I've hit upon the greatest, most painless diet ever and it works.

Over the years I've probably tried over a dozen types of diets and they were successful as long as I denied myself the foods I liked and felt hungry most of the time. Worse still, I never stopped thinking about food. I'd manage fairly well until there was some sort of change in my life or daily routine and that was the cue for the old habits to return.

We're inching our way to the truthful part--when I tell you why I couldn't maintain a size twelve. The big number one, absolutely key reason is that I loved that evening martini.

The ritual of mixing that drink was the perfect way to hail the end of the daylight hours. My favorite stemmed glass chilling in the freezer; fill the shaker with ice and add a dollop of gin. Add a whisper of vermouth over the surface and shake vigorously, then strain the liquid into the perfectly chilled glass. Plop in a perfect queen-size olive. So civilized.

But for me the ritual had long since palled and I was aware that the taste just wasn't that interesting anymore. Still, I felt anxious about eliminating this tradition. Although I kept busy during the day, I lived alone and was reluctant to give up an evening ritual that took time to accomplish.

My doctor was threatening to increase my high blood pressure doseage and I didn't want that.

Then, on my way out of her office several months ago I thought about my eating and drinking habits and realized I really didn't want or need alcohol anymore. And I stopped just like that.

I went home and closed up the bar and that was the end of my drinking career and I have never ever missed it.

Now comes the pay-off.

Twenty pounds slipped away without any further help from me and now it's still slowly dropping away, asisted by daily walks for exercise

The major diet obstacle was the alcohol-induced desire to eat more and I could easily consume the equivalent of a second dinner and often did. Once I removed those high cal grain culprits from my life, one dinner was enough, and less of it than before.

My blood pressure doseage has been reduced to half a pill daily and the pressure readings are in the normal range, with an occasional blip to remind me it's there.

There you have it--the easiest diet ever and it only took me thiry years to figure it out. It's all about atitude, that's all it is, and I was lucky enough to stumble on the answer at a time when I was ready to listen to my own advice.

My Own Spyware

The fish pond was carefully positioned to give maximum viewing pleasure but there was a tiny flaw in my planning--it's impossible to tell from inside the house whether the pump is working.

This isn't a big deal in the summer because I'm outside all the time. In the winter, viewing the pond entails donning parka, boots and mitts,prying open the kitchen sliders,shovelling the snow and ice off the deck and sliding to the edge to even see the water.

So what?, you ask. And thanks for asking. I have to be sure the pump is blowing up air so that there will be a hole in the ice or the little varmints can't breathe and they're picky about that.

A power surge on the weekend killed off the pump but since I am a tad obsessive compulsive, I had a spare one on hand and installed it.

Anyway, I was thinking about the not-being-able-to-see-from-the-house problem and I had this epiphany.

I'd drive over to the Habitat for Humanity recycling store and find me an old closet door mirror and position it so I can see the water from inside where it's warm. That would also preclude the hand-wringing stage, wondering how the fish were doing.

Turns out I visited the store the day they only had really big mirrors but since I was there, I bought the cheapest one and lugged it into the car.

Now it's lashed to the garden arch and from the upstairs study window I can see a nice little geyser chugging away.

Did I mention the sight of the mirror is butt ugly?



Although you would require superhuman power to recognize it in the picture, the spouting water shows at the upper left corner of the glass.



Don't ask me what I plan to do when the mirrow is snowed over or turns to ice.

Unless anyone has a suggestion?

Too Late For Florida, Fishies

We've had our first snow and ice, just a smattering to remind us what's ahead and the fish are pretty well resigned to hibernating for the next several months.

The pump is weighted down and tucked in quilt batting to keep out anything that might cause clogging. It works all through the winter to ensure there will always be an air hole for the wee critters.



This is the way the fish looked this morning, reflecting off the ice.



The Japanese grass continues to lend an elegant air to an otherwise bleak period in the garden.