Sunday Night Chit Chat: One Extreme To The Other

Good Evening Humble Readers...

I'm hoping you've all had a lovely weekend.  Ours was busy but good.  Errands, housework, an impromptu date night, church, and a fun/interesting afternoon today (more on that later) made for a lot of running around, but it was good. 

First and foremost, we have had the most astounding change in our weather.  Tuesday we had a daytime high of 1C.  Today we got up to 28C... from winter to summer in the span of six days.  While I'm going for my walks I've noticed that the trees are finally sporting green buds!  Hooray!  It's supposed to get back to seasonal by midweek, but tomorrow is supposed to be another hot one. 

My Beloved and I decided, rather on the spur of the moment to go out this weekend.  MIL came to spend time with the wee-lings, and we did a little antiquing (just window shopping, trying to find some interesting/affordable pieces), went for dinner, and to a movie.  It was fun, and I did splurge a little bit on dinner (felt it later) but I did enjoy it.  We went to see "42" as well... fabulous movie.  I loved it! 

The highlight of my weekend was this afternoon.  One of the local malls was hosting a sort of antiques roadshow.  I heard about it on the radio a few weeks ago, and made an appointment to have my family heirloom violin appraised (you can read about the violin here).  The gentleman who was looking over my family treasure was intrigued by the history of the violin, even more so when he spent some time looking for my grandfather's great uncle in multiple lists of British violin makers and through auction records and not finding anything about him.  It fits with the story that I've been told that he was a cabinet maker by trade.  The appraiser speculated that the violin may be something that Frederick Barnes may have made it as an apprentice or perhaps as a hobby.  Because there were no auction records and nothing about Barnes in the lists of UK violin makers, it's hard to establish a value.  However, he said that it was beautifully constructed and even with the damage and repairs that happened when I was a child, he felt that it could easily be worth up to $3500.  It's nice to know how much it's worth, but it will never be sold.  It belongs to the wee-lings now.  I simply hold it in trust.  I just hope to hear one of them play it.  I long to hear it make music. 

On to this week's chit chat.  Here's what I'm...

Reading - I just finished "In This Mountain" by Jan Karon early this morning.  Now I'm onto "Plan D" by Sherri Shepherd.  It's about her journey with type 2 diabetes and how she has managed to go from medication to controlling the disease with diet and exercise alone.  I'm hoping to get some insights and ideas, and hopefully laugh a bit too.

Watching - Call the Midwife (tonight's episode was particularly heart-wrenching.  Poor Sister Bernadette), Mr. Selfridge, and Bletchley Circle.  I love Sunday nights on PBS!

Listening to - the neighbours thumping up and down the stairwell.  There was a break-in in the building (a basement unit on the back side of the building) on Friday, and I'm finding I'm a bit hyper-aware of the outdoor sounds now. 

Cooking/Baking - Typical Sunday night fare... lemon dill roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, gravy.  I did a bit of baking this weekend too... I was on the volunteer list for church this weekend, to make the communion bread.  I tried a recipe I haven't used in a while, to make a brioche loaf.  It tasted great, very eggy and yummy, but the shape of the loaf was a bit off.  Looked a little funny when our pastor was holding it up at the front of the church.  That's what I get for trying to be fancy, I guess. 

Happy I accomplished this week - I hit my 10000 steps!  Yesterday and today.  I don't know how I'll manage it during the week, but with errands and grocery shopping it was easy to get there the last couple of days. 

Looking forward to next week - I'm half excited/half dreading Pippin's birthday on Friday.  How is it that my baby boy is a year old???  I'm hoping that the party comes off okay. 

Thankful for today - The fact that the Big D is coming into line.  That I have this chance to change my future and my health. 

****Bonus Question**** What are the top 3 things on your to do list for next week?  Wash all the windows.  Clean the blankety-blank fridge.  Bake a cake!

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This has been posted as a part of Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat.  Click over to see what the others are chatting about tonight, or even better yet, join in!