Nutchos – for nut nuts

At this time of the year I get nostalgic for Nutchos. For those of you who aren’t “nut nuts”, Nutchos were a chocolate that Nestle used to make that was loaded with nuts but didn’t have caramel. They used to come in a six inch cube with three or four layers of chocolates and they were only really available around the holidays.

They were always hard to find. Luckily, Shan was also a fan so when we came across them shortly after getting married, we bought a half dozen of them to tide us over through the year. For the next few years we made sure to top up our reserves when we could. Then they came out a few years later with a flat box and a slightly different recipe – having swapped out some of the nuts for crisps but we still picked up a bunch of boxes.

We haven’t seen any of them at all for the last few years so they might have been taken out of production again. There doesn’t really seem to be an alternative - with the Pot of Gold nut collection being pretty hit-and-miss for quality, it seems that we are out of luck.

Happy Holidays

Happy Christmas to you and yours from me and mine - as applicable.

Another holiday picture from the Leg - our tax dollars at work.  The open house was a lot less crowded this year - due to the weather.

more wiring fixed

In correcting the bathroom light, some of the wiring had to be rerun. In order to rerun the wiring some holes were cut in the hall as well as the bathroom ceiling. The bathroom ceiling has been a mess since we had some leaking a few winters ago.

After a trip to Rona for supplies, we replaced the wet insulation and tuck taped up the plastic. As we had suspected, the vent tube from the exhaust fan was no longer attached to the outside vent but was instead venting warm, moist air into the cool space of the roof. Using duct tape, we fixed that as well.

So we had a bit of leaking while the air space cooled due to condensation. We left the drywall off and cut a hole in the plastic sheeting to allow drainage. It drained for a couple of days and then was fine. But with the warmer days we had, a bit of the ice dams on that end of the roof melted and needed to be drained as well.


We’ll get it ready – but not close up the drywall until before Christmas. We might open it back up to check before the spring melt.

Renos - counters and door to deck

Last week Monday was a busy day for renovations. They came in to change the kitchen window out for a door. They also replaced the kitchen counters.




Even though they had checked before, there was an electrical wire running under the window that had to be rerouted. Shan had picked out the door but we thought it have more glass in it. The one installed was solid – which makes that corner a bit darker.

In rerouting the wire, we lost power to a few outlets on the counter as well as the bathroom light. We got to use the battery powered camp lantern for a few days until we could get the electrical fixed.



The counter replacement went smoother. Both the large one by the sink and stove as well as the smaller one between the fridge and freezer were swapped out. We had the old one replaced with a darker one that will match better with the new flooring when that gets done in the new year.
Since they had to take the sink and taps out to replace the counter we had them put in new taps that we had picked out at Rona.  The stainless steel double sink we had was still fine so we just reused it.

Car woes - new battery

We had a bit of trouble with the van on the weekend. On Sunday, the signals stopped working and we were unable to restart it. We got a boost and it stalled out again on the way home. We picked up a new battery but the battery light kept coming on.

On Monday, I drove the van to work and back and the battery light would come on occasionally. That night I took it to Walmart to return the old battery and it stalled again on the way home.  We tried to boost it but had to call CAA to have it towed.

It seems that there is a problem with the alternator – which is apparently what the battery light actually indicates. So my dad is going to change that out for us.  Luckily it did not happen while on holidays or in the depths of winter.

Snow delay

With the dump of snow, certain renovations need to be put on hold until the spring. The back roof being the main one. In the meantime, if we thaw a bit for the weekend, I may pick up a can of that spray rubber to try until then.

The wood from the deck, and the broken sofa chair from the living room also need to go to the dump. We also have some piping from the old pool that needs to be cut down for the garbage. While we can still take a load during the winter, it gets a lot messier with all the snow. 

I have cleaned down my corner of the kitchen and we took down the garland and lights in the kitchen in preparation for the door to the deck going in. Since that had to go somewhere, it ended up downstairs which puts a bit more pressure on cleaning up the downstairs again to make that desk a viable surface on which to work.

New tub surround

Bathfitters came out and did manage to change out the tub surround in one day. The removed the old surround and some of the drywall where it had gotten wet through the cracks in the old surround.
I was concerned that it would have had mold in behind to the insulation but it didn’t penetrate that far. They replaced the drywall with greenboard and put in the new surround.



Because it now goes up to the ceiling and the doors are higher, it makes it seem a bit tighter in the shower but it’s not really. The surround also covers the tub itself and has a grid in the bottom to prevent slipping. They didn’t put back the vent cover but that was easy to finish. They replaced the hot and cold taps with one combined tap (which I don’t like) and the shower doesn’t have the power that it used to.


But even with that, they did a great job. They were very tidy and neat and the finished work is very nice. I would certainly recommend them to anyone who needs a change.