End of February Bits and Pieces

First off, a big Mad Trout welcome to Saucykodz and Gill who have joined the madness.

February was cold. I don't really want to talk about it except to say that it was the coldest in 30 years. and one day the wind chill was -35 so the schools were closed.  Yeah, the Board of Education caught a lot of flack for that but their reasoning was that after 10 minutes at that temperature, it becomes dangerous to be outside and most kids have to walk more than 10 minutes to get to school. And a lot of kids don't have or don't use appropriate clothing.  I see one tool at a bus stop in dressed in shorts.  However, the light is coming back.  I actually eat all my meals in daylight.  And there is some warmth back in the sun.

We had Science Girl home for her Reading Week.  It was uneventful;  she didn't have any plans and managed to piss away the week doing nothing.  She was supposed to study for a couple a mid-terms but didn't; she was supposed to look for a summer job but didn't.  There was a bit of excitement on the Sunday she was going back to Ottawa.  Her train left Toronto at 2:30 so Himself figured he'd leave at 11:30 to give them lots of time (we live about 1 1/2 hours away from downtown Toronto).  The car wouldn't start so they had to wait for me to get home from church with the van about 12:30.  Then they got stuck in traffic due to an accident or something.  I get a text from SG asking me to book her another ticket on the next train which left at 3:30 just to be on the safe side.  I got her the last seat on the next 3 trains.  Turns out she would have missed the 2:30 train 'cuz they were 5 minutes away 5 minutes before the train was to leave.  Thank goodness I was able to make the changes online and email her the boarding pass.  The wonders of technology, eh.

Books Read:
A slow month for reading this month.

This is a new author and series for me.  It's a quick, easy read. 

In the Highlands of 1950s Scotland, a boy is found dead in a canal lock. Two young girls tell such a fanciful story of his disappearance that no one believes them. The local newspaper staff - including Joanne Ross, the part-time typist embroiled in an abusive marriage, and her boss, a seasoned journalist determined to revamp the paper - set out to uncover and investigate the crime. Suspicion falls on several townspeople, all of whom profess their innocence. Alongside these characters are the people of the town and neighboring glens; a refugee Polish sailor; an Italian family whose cafÉ boasts the first known cappuccino machine in the north of Scotland; and a corrupt town clerk subverting the planning laws to line his own pocket.

Together, these very different Scots harbor deep and troubling secrets underneath their polished and respectable veneers - revelations that may prevent the crime from being solved and may keep the town firmly in the clutches of its shadowy past. - http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
I enjoyed it because the focus was not on the police solving the mystery but these investigative reporters being able to go places and ask questions that the police can't.  I'll certainly finish the series.

To cap the month off, we had Boat Drinks with the Maggots.  Too yummy.  Although my Magic Bullet took a bullet and is now broken.