Hot and Cold.

Monday night the wind was howling around the apartment building and it often gets pretty cool in here when it’s windy. We went round checking windows and it appears the new bedroom windows leak air. That’s nice. I ended up getting a very thick blanket on the bed which I could snuggle under. Tuesday morning when we got up it was worse, the temperature was 64°F or 17.7°C in our living room, and the heat was not working properly. Called the Super and he came and looked at it. He is now scared that the pipes might freeze causing yet another flood – the last lot must have cost them quite a bit when the pipes broke a week or so ago and people got flooded. He said he would phone the office and asked us to do so as well. When I did it turns out that the office is closed and the main woman is on vacation anyway. Sh*t. However, the Super has an emergency number to call which, obviously, he has called and now we have to wait and see. We have the oven on which is helping a little bit. Meanwhile, it is one of the coldest days in this part of Canada with -19°C. Anybody down south got a room they can spare? Maybe we should move into the dragon cave.

Someone finally came in the afternoon, meanwhile the Super had opened the zone control wide manually. Made a bit of difference.The young man said basically that there was nothing wrong with the heating but that the system was old and the weather was bitterly cold and it just couldn’t cope. It’s much better here anyway, having had the oven on all day. It really is bad out today with the howling winds which don’t seem to stop. The wind chill is between –30°C and -40°C and there have been warnings all over the radio and TV. The local schools either side of us are closed. I feel so sorry for the birds and animals. I saw a squirrel’s dray with a lid of snow yesterday, I wonder if that would keep them warm? Tonight it is going to be -23°C. I will be using my big blanket again.

Having written that, another young man turned up and he is working on the zone control. No I don't really know what this all means, I need Tina's Engineer!

This tip turned up on Facebook today. Sadly no pots. What a good idea though.


Here’s a somewhat different way to prepare shrimp which I found on WebMD’s website today.

Jasmine Green Tea Shrimp

By The Healthy Apple
WebMD Recipe

from Foodily.com

 Ingredients

2 quarts water
1 ounce jasmine green loose tea leaves
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons ghee
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ounce fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
1 pound fresh rainbow Swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 pound fresh kale, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot, bring water to a boil. Add tea and shrimp; cook for 4 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.
2. Remove from heat; set aside to cool.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, add ghee, garlic, ginger and basil. Cook for 1 minute; add Swiss chard and kale; cook for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat; transfer to a serving dish. Serve shrimp atop greens, sprinkle with sesame seeds and a drizzle of white balsamic vinegar.
5. Enjoy!

Have a great day