Busy Busy ... love it !

Well another busy week has ZIPPED by ... gone. But it was a great week ,full of lots of fun and accomplishments !
Hmmmm ... here are a few highlights ...
* We now have 2 new BIG windows and a lovely black glossy front door. Job well done !
* I picked my first broccoli from my garden. BEST BROCCOLI EVER !!!

* I am continuing on my quest to bake ALL of the cookies in "Big Fat Cookies" and NOT eat them all thus avoiding "Big Fat Me". This week it was Snickerdoodles. They rock ! Oh, and I bought Martha Stewart's Cupcake book so that is also on the list. ( hint : I often have treats at the store on Fridays ...)

* A trip to Halifax to get a shelf ... and other goodies ... but mainly a shelf because I SO needed to clean up my space. The shelf is huge and it is WONDERFUL !!

And check out these awesome wooden bins I bought at a yard sale on Sunday !! They are old sewing machine drawers and she has another 7 or 8 for me. JUST THE TICKET !!!

I made pizza on the grill again but this time I made the crust from SCRATCH !! Another first. It was excellent !
* And last ... but not least ... my latest project. I saw one on the Kenner Road blog and loved it. So I am making this little flippy recipe book to hold all my often made recipes and it will sit right on my kitchen counter.And it will add a definite cute factor , I'm sure !!




* My latest adventure is piling wood ... ashamed to admit that this is my first time ... The wood is in 2 feet lengths and FREAKIN' HEAVY !! But it is very satisfying to see the big tall rows and know how toasty warm we will be this winter. ( Not to mention how damn hot we get in the process ...)
Have a great week !! I'll be back next week with more of the recipe holder, a new cookie, and ... who knows what else ? The world is my oyster !!

In Praise of BAD TELEVISION

I seem to have lots of energy these days ... and get so much done after work. I BBQ, wash dishes, garden, do laundry, work on various things, bake up a storm, read , whatever. I have been wondering where it is coming from ... longer daylight hours ...... better eating ...... losing weight ..... hmmmmm . But I think it is coming from bad television.
You see, I love TV . Plain and simple. Crime shows and cooking shows. If there is a dead body or a saute pan, I'm there. ( not together though, ewww) CSI, Bones, Criminal Minds, the Food Network ... all good. But now, it's all reruns. And THAT ROCKS !!! I have all this free time and it is great !
I usually work and putter until about 9:30 at night and then I watch Jeopardy. Then I read ... and I have gone through a pile of excellent books this summer, not just my usual winter magazine flipping. And then I may decide to bake or just keep reading until I go to bed at about midnight. We do watch TV . Don't get me wrong. I am not one of those people who say "Oh, I NEVER watch TV." (But they usually know what everyone is talking about when discussing a recent show ...) No, we watch it. But just a glance up every now and again. Or the news. Or maybe we watch something totally different ... we've been watching an interesting food documentary. That would never have won out against a crime show in the fall season !!
So I am singing the praise of THERE'S NOTHING ON !! It's a whole new productive slant on things. Lovin' it !!

"The Unappreciated Vegetable"

Last night was our first dinner from our garden ! What a great feeling. I harvested some broccoli rabe (or rapini) ... had to Google it to see when & how to pick it ... and some radish & Italian parsley. (The Google articles called the rapini the Unappreciated Vegetable ...) I cooked the rapini with turkey sausage, hot pepper flakes, garlic, whole wheat pasta, and roasted red peppers. The radish & parsley went in our salad. It was DELICIOUS !!! I have to say I was prettttyyy smug sitting there eating the food I HAD GROWN !!!
Now rapini is supposed to be very healthy for you ... but I think it is an ENERGY FOOD !! After that I did the dishes, cleaned up, semi cleaned out the fridge, cleaned out a cupboard & put away all my jam I had made, folded and put away 2 loads of laundry, got groceries, and baked cookies.
Rapini - I appreciate you !!! Eat you soon !

Another Productive Weekend ... and where else can we drive ?

Wow ... we have become big ol' slackers since we bought Hester the Hearse. All we want to do is drive around. We have been to New Minas 3 times in one week. Our cats probably think we have moved away ...
But anyway, this weekend we combined driving and GETTING STUFF DONE. HOORAY !!
Saturday night we went to the Middleton Birthday Bash. Sat in the beer tent with friends, were told the choices ....BEER or WATER ... such a huge-vast-enormous array that I really couldn't narrow it down. So I opted for none of the above. We wandered out to hear Minglewood. After the first song started I remembered that I really didn't like Minglewood. At all. So then we wandered off again ... aimless people we were. We visited with friends who had a booth there. I wondered how we would kill off the next hour and fifteen minutes until the fireworks. Their 7 year old son looked at me and said "I'm bored." I looked back and said "Me too !" So we came up with a plan ... involved a quest for a glow stick and a Frisbee. So we happily played frisbee in the dark for the next hour+. A lovely way to pass time. Then we practiced our OOOHS and AAAHHHS for the fireworks and we were all set ! The fireworks were BEAUTIFUL !! We watched a woman pee in a non existent bush beside our car and then we headed home...
The next day we headed off for building supplies and then , on a most glorious day, Charlie & I put in a new door and a BIG front window in our house. We visited with Deedee & Stephen who stopped by. I also weeded the garden, replanted a few things, harvested some rapini and radishes. Deedee picked rhubarb from the "Eternal Rhubarb Patch". It was a lovely day and oh so productive ! Gotta love those kind of days ! ( oh .. yeah, I also broke the washer but that only took me a few minutes ...)
So I am hoping today will be just as productive ... I have 5 boxes of stuff to unpack and put out. And I HAVE to look at each item, imagine what I would do with it, get totally distracted, and then pull myself back . Takes a long time you know !
Have a great one !!!!

MARK THIS on the CALENDAR

I drove. TWO DAYS IN A ROW.
I know ... you're saying "So what ?". But I never drive. When I do , Charlie marks a car on the calendar and we often go an entire calendar with no cars. And on the rare once per 2 years, it would be only from the outskirts of town to maybe my parent's place in Wilmot Station. Three minutes, tops. Well, for me to drive two days in a row and THROUGH TOWN is .... well... almost unbelievable.
I CAN drive ... and I am a good driver. I just HATE IT. I drove to Annapolis and back everyday for 10 years so I was a constant driver. But not now. I would happily drive if I was the only one on the road. But it is all those other drivers I don't trust. As a little boy, my brother was hit as a pedestrian and we were hit in a car by a drunk driver so I have no faith in those other vehicles. And I absolutely cannot see after dark. So it would only be a daylight past time ...
BUT, when we bought Hester the Hearse, I realized that SOMEONE would have to drive our Polly Purple the Cruiser back to the store. YIKES. I knew that someone would be me. ( Because I sure couldn't drive that HUGE hearse). So I did. After the first little bit I realized I was holding my breath ... not great when driving. So I decided to try breathing and it went better.
And then the next day I drove to my parents ... AND BACK. A very close friend of theirs had been killed and I couldn't bear to tell them by phone. That was so hard - to tell such terrible news and know how devastating it would be to hear. Terrible. A sad day.
Today I ... HEY ! I DID drive today too - I drove Hester around the parking lot. Gosh .. I'm a regular transit worker these days. This driving foolishness has got to stop !!!
Well, I have 6 large boxes of beads & paper staring at me so I must get to work. Happy trails !!

HIS and HEARSE

THIS IS SO EXCITING !!!!! We have a new car .....

It's a hearse !! We saw it last week and I suggested that we go check it out ( I wanted it !!) on Friday after work. We got there & it was gone ... I felt sick. Tried again Saturday .. gone. So we called Monday and the owner had just been driving it for the weekend. So we made arrangements to go see it RIGHT AWAY after work and bought it an hour. We drove around happy as can be!! It is now going to lead a happy life ... weekend outings, ice cream at Perle's, parades ... It goes in a few weeks to be painted black with lovely crow foot flames. We are now on the hunt for a chrome skull for a hood ornament and a few other goodies. It will be a FAB pimped up ride !!! I LOVE IT !!!!!
We will be adding a seat in the back so we can take friends with us. let us know if you want a ride !!

Hey Alana & Doug ! "WELCOME TO NOVA SCOTIA. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CLOSE AT 11PM"***

I have a friend Alana. We have been friends for ... gosh ... more than 20 years. We worked together way back in 1986 I think. That was one of the most fun summers at work that I ever had ! Anyway, we became great friends. But then a few years later , life took us in different directions and she eventually moved out west. We lost touch with each other. Then, a few years ago, out of the blue, an email wondering if the people she googled were indeed us !! I was thrilled ! I called her and we arranged to visit on an upcoming visit. Every summer since we have had a visit - I look forward to it every year !!
Our visits are always pretty much the same - we quickly catch up on any of the big things and then just settle into a normal visit. ( And now we have the added bonus of a visit with Doug !) Laughing, talking, enjoying our friendship. We rarely even reminisce... it's like our friendship doesn't need to be built on a constant parading of memories. It is a living growing thing that just continues to hum along. We just ARE.
I have to say that my heart sings each year when I see her. I am delighted to see her and thrilled to see how happy she is. And I love this constant strong thread that is woven through my life. This friendship that lives, breathes, and grows but demands nothing. I am grateful.
*** This is a little commentary on our social adventure - or lack of - last Saturday. We got together to see the Hupman Brothers ( Alana's cousins !) at Upper Clements.( and have a little bumper car action ...)


The band was great, the evening was one of the most beautiful all summer, the company outstanding. After the concert & fireworks, Doug suggested we go have a coffee in Annapolis ... this at 10:30. We all laughed but then remembered the Pub. Great idea !! We all met there to find it closing. Closes at 11pm ... ON A SATURDAY !!! So we chased an albino raccoon that was scurrying along the street ...
does that give you any idea of now quiet the town must have been ???? So we then decide to go on to Bridgetown to Tim Horton's. We meet there to find it closed as well ! But I had a back up plan. The End of the Line would be open. Great ! Off we go again in our little parade of vehicles. The parking lot is completely dark and the building is locked up. Closed. By this time it is about 11:30 and we wave the white flag. A little chat in the parking lot, hugs, and we all go off our own ways. Is there a curfew that I am not aware of ???? 11pm ... sheesh !
WATCH FOR MY POST TOMORROW ... BIG NEWS !!!