Everything's coming up roses

I had one of those days that everything seemed to be going my way.  Do you remember that song "Everything's coming up roses..."?  That's what I thought of all day.  And if you are like me, that song will now be stuck in your head for hours.  (sorry)

Yesterday's rain stopped and the sun came out and it was Hot, Hot, Hot (and humid).  So a nice drive in an air conditioned car seemed like the best plan. 

We headed out to Parrsboro, along the Bay of Fundy.  It's a nice drive and not too far, only an hour.  We stopped at the little summer restaurant I like, right on the beach.  A few months ago I blogged (well, whined) about them taking my scallop burger off the menu.  And you know me, I have trouble letting go of disappointments......   We had one of my favorite waitresses today - she is usually there when we are, except for that last disappointing visit.   After I gave her my order, naturally I had to whine about the missing scallop burger.  (I know, I can't help myself)   She says "Oh, do you want one?"  My eyes dilated in excitement.  "Really" I say, "Can I have one even though its not on the menu?"   Sure, she says.  I'll get you one.  WOOHOO!!! 
And yes, it was every bit as good as I remember.

Then we went to a great little shop in town - Sweet Briar Boutique.   Joan, the owner always has a great selection of unique items.  I get a fair amount of jewellry there and always get compliments on the pieces.  She also stocks a nice selection of purses at very reasonable prices.  My last visit I was looking for a spring purse and all they had were small ones.  That's no good for me, I like a big bag you can dump a bunch of stuff in.   So today I same more of the same.  UNTIL.....I meandered into the back room.  A day bed FULL of big beautiful leather bags.    I found my new Fall bag

Then we cut across country and stopped into a little bakery in Oxford.  The name is Grumpy's Bakery, and I have to say I think he lived up to his name - Just sayin'
But luckily he had just put some fresh blueberry pies out in the case.   Blueberry pie made in the Blueberry Capital of the World.......How could you go wrong?   It was so good, we had it for supper with ice cream.  (Yes, we only had dessert for supper)
   

I'm so glad my friend Kim didn't tell me to eat healthy on vacation!!  Tomorrow morning I think I'll check out the Sackville Farmers Market.

The good old days??

Well girls and boys, I am officially on a 5 day stay-cation.  I practically sprinted out of the office at 4pm. 

I went out to the store after supper and this little excursion spawned this post.  Remember the good old days before we were controlled by technology?  There were no cell phones.  How did we stand it when we couldn't make or receive a phone call anywhere??  And worse, if you are like me and have a smart phone, how did we cope when we couldn't read an email on our phone or (gasp) check out what is happening on facebook from anywhere??  Or the worst....not know immediately when someone has commented on our blogs!   The horror!!!!   Worse thought, before there was internet and blogs.........Can you imagine the sadness in a blog-free world?  (Too terrible to think about)

And remember when we had to carry a large enough quantity of cash to purchase what you need.  There were no debit cards or cash machines open 24 hours a day and on every corner.  We had to get ourselves to the actual bank, before 3pm when they used to close, and withdraw enough cash to survive until the next time you were forced to stand in a line.....to get your own money!

I rarely have more than $40 cash in my purse.  Tonight I had $20.  I went to Walmart to buy dog treats.  That's all.  Well, I walked in and cases of pop were on sale.  Hmmm, I should pick some up since I'm here.  Then I took a short cut through the cereal aisle on my way to the dog treat destination.  That is when things really started to unravel.  I saw a box of Captain Crunch.  Mmmm, that would be good.  I wanted it.  And then my friend Kim (Farm Girl's) last comment came into my mind.  She told me I should eat whatever I wanted on vacation.   So I grabbed the Captain Crunch, all the while very pleased with myself.  

Slippery slope ladies.  Then I spied those yummy sugar waffle cones for ice cream and some caramel sundae syrup.....Grabbed that too.  Salt and Vinegar potato chips.......Yep!  Eventually got to the dog treats but by then I was too far gone on the "spoil myself binge".   Wandered down another aisle and spied these cute little pink and brown leopard print undies.   Well, had to have those!   Oh, and last week I bought a bottle of Oil of Olay face cream but Auntie stole it, so I had to get another (to keep my girly complexion in tact)

When I finally got to the cashier we got into this discussion about how bad it was in the good old days when you needed a wallet full of cash to shop.  I told her I had just come in for dog treats!   She looked at my 4 bags full of stuff and burst out laughing!

So the point of all this is it is Farm Girl's fault but I am happily listening to my friend and eating whatever I want on vacation!! 

Tomorrow I am going to take a quick trip to Moncton to look at crafty supplies and go have lunch.  It will be my little me-time break.   Maybe I might find an idea for a soon to be announced giveaway......

Comfort food

The roadside along the Northumberland Shore is now dotted with little garden stands.  This one is just a few miles down the road from the cottage and it is a regular stop this time of year.

"Grampie" meets you in the driveway and if he doesn't have what you are looking for in the tent, he will gladly lead you to the garden and let you select what you want.  We picked our own lettuce Friday. Now THAT is fresh!

All of this leads to my favorite summer comfort food, which was on the menu today - Hodgepodge

New carrots, peas and those cute little new potatoes with the almost paper thin skin.  And of course there is just no way to low cal this recipe without ruining it.  You need real butter and heavy cream to appreciate this dish.  It is true Maritime comfort food.

And we even found some crowsfeet greens being sold just up the road.  These are another maritime delicacy.  They grow mainly in marshy areas.    The finishing touch - Nanny's homemade lemon cheesecake pie.



If I keep eating like this, soon this hammock will not hold me anymore :)

A trip to the pound

A warm summer day, a beautiful beach-front setting, and a trip to the pound.  A perfect way to play hooky from work.

First stop was the pound - - - The Lobster Pound

(Jane would kill me if she knew I didn't crop her out of this pic)

So many lobsters, so hard to choose

There was also a large bag of mussels that looked too good to pass up

so we grabbed them for appetizers. 

Nothing better than sitting on the beach with a cool drink and a big pot of steamed mussels.

Sorry, I didn't think to  take a picture before we ate them.  These are just the shells. 

I guess we were hungry mid afternoon.  They were really good :)

We had a perfect beach day.  Oh, and the lobsters were even better than the mussels.  We ate and ate and there is probably enough leftovers to do it again tomorrow!

Christmas in July

It was almost as great as Christmas in July.  The other day I was at work when I got a call from home that a package had been delivered.

I asked who it was from and she said it was from California.  Well, could I wait 3 hours until lunch time to find out what goodies were inside??

Hahaha Not likely.  I couldn't stand it so I ran home on my break and grabbed the box.  It was a late birthday box from my friend Kim, the sweet blogger over at My Field of Dreams.

I ripped that bad boy open and just as I started to rifle through it I thought I should take a picture.  (Isn't it funny the way we are always thinking about pictures for our blogs now?)  So before I had unwrapped anything I gently placed things back in the box and snapped this.

It was stuffed full of goodies.  Kim and I sometimes will each get a coffee while we are chatting together on the computer, so she punched me this sweet little mug.

There was also a jar of California sunshine (also known as Kim's own apricot jam).  I have been having it on my breakfast toast.  

 It is so good that I had it hidden way in the back of the refrigerator behind some tall bottles so no one else will eat it.  Isn't that terrible! 

The box also contain several (yes, several) other hand crafted items from Kim.  I will show you those in another post.  She is such a sweet thoughtful person and her kindness has brightened my week!

Doing stuff

A day off.  A big yellow sun shining in the sky.  A cup of coffee on the deck.  All good things for me today.

That is how my first day off began.  I went downtown and stopped in to visit a few friends, got my 2nd coffee fix from Flow Lifestyle Boutique, then grabbed a great Hummus and Chicken Toastie sandwich from the Art of Eating Deli, and retired to the deck again.

I had a nice cold Bud Light (just in case I got dehydrated ya know) and my Kindle for an afternoon of reading and relaxing.  Hmmm, battery low on the Kindle.  Well, I had no choice but to fully recline on the zero gravity chair and have a nap.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!!

Later this afternoon, I thought I should do at least one chore so I replaced the door knob and lock on one of the doors.   Since our beloved handyman Clayton passed away a few months ago, I don't have someone to do all those little chores.   I'm actually quite handy, but if you can get someone else to do that stuff - why do it yourself?

I have tools and I know how to use them BUT I pick and choose the types of chores or fix-it tasks I will admit to being able to do.  Basically if I have to get dirty to do it - forget it. 

No crafting today.  It was just too nice outside.   I hope Day Off #2 is just as good as today.



Thursday thoughts

It's hard to concentrate all day when Thursday is your Friday.  Yep, today was the end of my week :)   I have 4 days off........in a row. 

I was so excited you would think I had 4 weeks off instead of days!!  But it has been so busy at work that 4 days off.......in a row is like a PARTY!

And the last hour before vacation is always so painful.  I think I counted down each individual minute. 

Yesterday was the first of my fresh vegetable delivery from the farm co-op I joined.  I did it last year and just loved it.  Fresh vegetables, locally grown, organic - perfect.  This weeks delivery was full of lots of salad greens, swiss chard, pea shoots and strawberries.   I ate the strawberries for lunch and tonight made this tasty salad.  I added a little smoked salmon and threw in some blueberries.

It's amazing how much better this tastes than the stuff you get at the grocery store.  I had never had pea shoots before but they were tasty and I am told them are great in a sandwich or wrap.  Maybe tomorrow. 

A bright beginning

The long weekend in May is the traditional start of summer around here.  And it couldn't have started out on a better foot. The weather was ideal and the smell of fresh cut grass and barbeques filled the neighborhood air.

Yesterday and today I got to enjoy some sun out on the deck.  I relaxed, read, and drank my morning coffee watching the birds zip around the birdhouse.  Nothing is better than starting the day like that.  It gives me that little bit of me-time that is kind of rare around here.  Plus I even got a little color on this pale skin. 

I have even managed to hook a fair amount this weekend.   This is just a sample.  I will show you the finished results soon.   I need to hook 6 squares before I can cut the fabric.  Three done, three to go.

I was still dreaming about that stupid scallop burger.  So, I decided to make my own.  (Its just not the same when someone doesn't serve it to you!)  I must say, it was tasty!  And I have enough scallops left to make another tomorrow ;)

The evening sky is pink so that means another great day tomorrow.  I'll meet you on the deck in the morning with a coffee.  Days off are fabulous!!

Let your hair down

Everyone needs to let their hair down every once in awhile.  Getting together with friends, old and new, is good for the soul.  Letting go of all the stresses of life for a few hours and just having fun.

The monthly Friday Night Ladies Dinner Club was last night.  An assortment of different women, different backgrounds and lifestyles, various ages, all having bonded over the winter.

There is no shortage of laughter, fellowship or great food which is thoughtfully presented.

Conversation spans from the serious to the downright silly.  None of us take ourselves too seriously.   We are not a high-falutin group.  A discussion of books and book clubs quickly declines into giggles about being a member of a book club where you are expected to actually read the whole book.   (Can you imagine!!  Lol)

We are honest.  We are real.  We are sometimes silly.   We are fun.

Find a group of people you enjoy spending time with, and let your hair down. I highly recommend it.

Easter Bunny Humor?

An Easter Bunny with a sense of humor?  But somehow when I woke up this morning to discover the blanket of white snow left behind, I was not amused.

I thought the Easter Bunny would leave me a pile of chocolate goodies - NOT a chore to shovel. 

When I was a little girl it was tradition to get a new skipping rope along with the other goodies.  I think I looked forward to the new skipping rope almost as much as the chocolate and candy eggs.  (Well, almost)  You could hardly wait to get home from Church and change out of your fancy Easter clothes so you could go outside and play with the neighbor kids.  That skipping rope would have been a big disappointment this year.

OK, enough weather whining.  I did get some chocolate.  The bunny now has no ears.  Now it looks like a gopher.  In fact, I picked away at junk food all day.  When it was finally time for the big easter dinner, I wasn't hungry.  Nobody was.  Sigh......what a waste of several hours of preparation.

These are the eggs Mom painted and dipped at Alzheimers Day Care this week.  They always find the cutest little crafts for them to complete.

Now  I am ready to reveal the little projects I was making from the scrap basket.  I did actually manage to hook a bit today, in between snacking.  They are small lavender sachet pillows.

I shared all your birthday greetings with Millie.  I think she was quite pleased!  She got lots of extra treats and loving yesterday.  Well, she gets lots of loving everyday.  I don't know if you have noticed, but she is kind of spoiled :)

I hope you  all had a lovely Easter weekend.  I still have one more day of vacation tomorrow.  Yippee!

Still Relaxin'

So, it has been more of the same around here.  And by that I mean lovely, relaxing vacation days.  On Day 2 (Thursday) I dropped Mom off at the Alzheimers Day Care and Auntie and I went to a nearby City shopping.  We had a nice lunch together and we did buy a few little things - mostly new clothes for Mom.   We had a great day - just like old times.  We laughed and giggled as opposed to the caregivers stress fights we have been having lately.

Yesterday I made our traditional Good Friday brunch of Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon.  It is so good I didn't even care about the calorie or cholesterol count.  I could just eat that Hollandaise sauce with a spoon :)  Then the day was capped off with a little gathering of friends.  There were lots of laughs, a few inappropriate stories and a few beverages.  Perfect!

I am working on a few little projects using the bag of leftover wool strips.  It seems that bag of wool strips never goes down.  The strips multiply like rabbits (or Easter bunnies??)

The last thing I am going to share with you today is another milestone.  Miss Millie turns 10 years old today.  It seems like just yesterday she was a new puppy.

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby!



Sweet Satisfaction

At last, the sweet satisfaction of nature's goodness



I went to the corner store at 5pm and got the last block. 

I talked to the owner and he said they had a large delivery this

morning and by 5pm I got the last one.

A creamy block of pure sugar

Was it worth the wait?  Oh Yeah

Satisfaction.....(and a mild sugar rush)



Sweetness delayed

It's Maple syrup season in Nova Scotia.  Sweet!!

This is how I remember it as a child - trudging through the woods in March and checking the buckets nailed to trees with a simple spigot.  Sap buckets were collected each day and taken back to the "Sugar Camp" to be boiled down and turned into a variety of sweet delights. 

Today its not the same - it has gone moderately high tech with tubing going direct from tree to tree and into the camp.  Its just not the same to me.  I still remember checking the buckets.  But although the process has changed, the sweet products remain the same tempting delight.

Today was the ideal day.  Sap runs the best with warm sunny days and cool nights.  All day I daydreamed about a block of maple cream.

After work I stopped at a couple of stores.  The story was the same - Sold out.  The last clerk laughed and said everyone had the same idea today.   They are expecting another delivery tomorrow.  Yummm

So my sweetness fix will have to be delayed until tomorrow.  

Weekend update

I found this on pinterest today and thought it summed up the weekend quite nicely.

The storm we were supposed to get didn't really materialize as predicted.  No snow, in fact the rain and plus temps melted quite a bit of it.   Gotta love it when that happens. 

However the wind was worse than expected.  After chasing my compost bin across the yard twice, I resorted to bungee cording it to the back step.    But I should have also tied down my rain gutters.  The gutters over the back porch are now bent, mangled and hanging precariously down on one end.  I'm going to have to find someone to fix that soon or else someone will get whacked in the head.

Just to give you an idea of the wind - yesterday 2 tractor trailor trucks blew off the highway just on the outskirts of town.  Yes - - - blew over.   Here is a pic I stole borrowed from facebook.

I have a large pot of chili simmering on the stove for supper.  The smell is driving me crazy.  I made the mistake of having a beer while I was making it, and now I am so hungry.  And supper is still 2 hours away.  Its gonna be a long 2 hours.  Hmm, maybe another beer will pass the time??

And lastly, I finished hooking the mat last night, without any major reverse hooking.   I might give myself a few days off before I start something else. 

Tonight I'll be watching the Oscars.  Not that I am such a huge movie fan, but I like to see what everyone is wearing, who looks ridiculous, who should be dragged off the stage in a large net, and yell bad things at the TV when someone wins I don't like.     Should be fun!!

Dangerous

Consider this a warning - especially if you are one of those trying

to drop a few pounds this month.

Do not go to the grocery store before lunch !!  There is danger around every corner.

I breezed past the fruits and vegetables and then saw these

Amazing!  And when it says on the label "bursting with flavors" - It is telling the truth.

And before you ask, I have no intention of reading the nutritional info on the back.  It will just ruin this fabulous new relationship. 

I just puttered around today and hooked a little.  I won't be finished this rug by tomorrow but I will show it to in tomorrows post.   And then I wasted some time on pinterest. 

I found this and it was too cute not to share.  Lauren, this is for you

Afternoon social

This afternoon I was invited to a friend's house for a little afternoon social.  Well, sort of.  Actually it was one of those selling parties - like those old time tupperware parties.

I hate those things.  You always feel obligated to buy something and the prices are always high.  (Its OK to say this, she doesn't read my blog)
But I don't get to see her very often so that part was nice and I saw some other people I knew.  I had a nice time.  And yes,  I bought some things.

The party was for Epicure products.  Its a line of spices, seasonings and bakeware.  I ordered a few spice blends and a new silicone steamer.

And I even behaved at the snack table.  I sampled a few dips with veggies and stuck close to the fruit tray.   And tonight, although I am dreaming of potato chips, I am munching on grapes (zero points)

I am spending less time on the computer the past few days and more time hooking.  I peek in on all of you every once in awhile but am not leaving as many comments.   I will catch up with you all soon, but I really need to get this rug a little further along before I can relax. 

So, here is another little piece of the puzzle.   Short post, but just wanted you to know I was still alive.

Clever Marketing or . . . . .

Sometimes it is a fine line between savy, clever marketing and down-right manipulation.

To what am I referring ?   Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal.  The clever marketing part - "specially formulated to make you feel full longer"

The actual truth - It is so bad that it actually removes your desire to ever eat again.  Yes people - It is that BAD.

This morning I removed it from the microwave (following the package directions exactly) and as I stirred it up - it was like a glue-like substance.  I bravely and against my better judgement took a bite.  N-O-T  good.  I picked up the spoon, turned it upside down, shook it a little and it didn't move or fall off.  I have another marketing suggestion for the company. . . .

It could be used by bricklayers as a substitute for MORTAR.  Each bite I gagged down seemed to fall to the bottom of my stomach and meld together into one glue-like lump.  At the mid point I even added some extra milk to try and thin it out a bit.   The milk just disappeared and it didn't get any thinner.   That part was a little disturbing.

The only accurate part on the packaging was that I didn't want to eat the rest of the morning.  That lump remained ever present for hours, effectively removing any desire to eat - - - anything. And there was also a very disturbing coating of the inside of my mouth, even after brushing my teeth.   Aaackkkk.

So clearly by now you have figured out this is not a paid endorsement from the Quaker company.  Lol

Other than that little experiment, I have stuck to the Weight Watchers plan today.  There was a tiny moment of weakness around 3pm but I powered through it without cheating.  I'm going to have to bring a piece of fruit or something to work for mid afternoon.  I even have a few points left to spare today.

Now - On to more serious business (If anyone is still here reading this foolishness)  I need your help

 As many of you know I always hook a special rug and donate it in February to an auction to raise money for Palliative Care in memory of my friend Tim.

Well, it is one month away and I have nothing.  I have a nice new piece of linen and a brand new pack of sharpies but no ideas.

Since I'm crunched for time, it can't be a very detailed rug.  Something fairly simple.   And just to muddy the water a little more, I have always incorporated hearts into the past 3 rugs.     Any ideas ?  Suggestions ?  Design thoughts ?

Please help me Ladies - This is for a good cause.