Are you like me and find that January is the longest month of the year? It must be the cold weather. It snowed a bit overnight so there is a light dusting of snow, looks like that sun will be shining today.

This week they announced that Target is closing all it's stores in Canada.  What a shame.  I like to shop at Target.  I wander the isles and shop for items on sale or on liquidation.  Yesterday I bought 10 pairs of Xhilerate ankle socks in different colors on sale for .99.  I don't know when I'll be able to buy them again, so I stocked up just in case. 

I also bought some nail appliqués on Liquidation of $2.99 they were originally $9.99.  I've seen people on Youtube getting them for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree, what a bargain!  If you see some you should try them, they are real easy to put on.  They say they stay on for 5-7 days, I don't know yet since I just put them on yesterday.   

Another thing people are saying they are finding at Dollar Tree for $1.00, are little wallets or cell phone holders made by Golla, if  you see any you should grab those as well,  they are selling on line for $24.00 sometimes more.  You can use them for all  kinds of stuff and keep things neat in your handbag.

Reading

Oh my

It's been so long since I posted. What's my excuse. I don't have one. I'm working, but I've worked before and I still posted. Most days I can't think of anything interesting to write about but the real reason, any free time on the Internet I'm playing Farmville and Farmville2. I admit it, I'm a Farmville junkie.

Got the idea of embedding tweets from Liz at Say-Very Sweet Things. Thank you Liz.

It's the weekend! Let's eat cake! Pineapple Cake Recipe http://t.co/TkakHTsWbU #recipes #cake pic.twitter.com/d5bxg4mQI5

— Amy Johnson (@WearsManyHats) May 23, 2014

Fruited Tea Loaf

Yes it's me posting. I received a recipe from a friend that I wanted to keep without losing it. Posting here is the best way for me to save it, and it's an easy way to share with my friends.

Here is a delicious excellent recipe from my neighbour, Winnie Kennedy. It is taken from a compilation of recipes donated by members of the United Church.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 cup mixed candied fruit, chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup butter or hard margarine
8 oz. pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 300 - 325 F. (Winnie bakes at 300 F.)
In a large bowl, cream butter, cheese and sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time and beat thoroughly.
Gradually add flour sifted with baking powder, lemon rind, fruit and nuts.
Bake in greased loaf pans (recipe make 2 medium size loafs).
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until done.
Excellent for freezing.

Let me know if you try it.

While cleaning up the beds for the winter, I was removing the dying leaves from a Daylily. My cutting was stopped by an unusual sight. The Daylily was putting out fresh flowering scapes in the first week of October. I can only hope that the extended warm weather that we have been having, continues long enough for these flowers to develop and bloom.

J K Rowlings has a new book, The Cuckoo's Calling, she wrote under the name of Robert Galbraith. I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer," JKR said, "because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name."

I will start reading today. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

I wrote the above on July 15th and I did start reading "The Cuckoo's Calling" however I only read a couple of pages so far, not because I don't like the book but I picked up other books that I wanted to read. One of which was Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Like The Paris Wife, Z imagines what it was like being married to someone famous. I will immediately want to read any book with Paris in the title.

At the moment I am reading

Coconut Sugar and Coconut Oil

Coconut Sugar is a tasty substitute for its more refined counterpart, white sugar. As Dr. Oz points out, coconut sugar doesn't put stress on your blood sugar levels the same way that white sugar does. I thought I would share his video as he does a better job at explaining. There is no chemical taste, why would Dr. Oz think that sugar made naturally from coconut nectar would taste like a chemical? There is also no coconut taste, important because I don't like the taste of coconut.

I bought mine at Winners (TJX company) in the US you have Marshalls, I don't know if Marshalls carries food products in the US. In Canada I often find special products that are not found in regular grocery stores. I believe that I have seen Coconut Sugar at Target in Florida, they also carry it at Health Food Stores.

Coconut Oil is recommended for everything from frying your chicken to shaving your legs. Topically applied, it is said to prevent wrinkling and be good for dry skin and hair. This fact alone should make me run out an buy it, but I haven't tried it yet. But coconut oil is more than 90 per cent saturated fat and saturated fat is considered to be a bad fat that increases overall cholesterol levels and specifically bad cholesterol. The reason this doesn't apply to coconut oil, say supporters, is that about half the saturated fat in the oil is medium-chain fatty acids, which are easier to digest than the more prevalent long-chain fatty acids in most other oils, including butter.

I have tried Coconut Milk (not in the can). So Delicious (not available here) makes amazing coconut milks - the vanilla is only 90 calories a cup and the unsweetened is 50 I believe. They have both refrigerated half gallons and shelf stable liters