I'm leaving

on a jet plane....in fact I will be airborne (not like a germ) in just over 8 hours barring delays...

Sunny days are here again my friends   Were off to the land of sun heat and beaches.  I can't wait to eat the food nom nom nom.

We are heading back to the same place as last year but not might spend both months on the same island.  We probably will though because once we settle in well we settle in.  I will be posting pics on Facebook so any of my two readers on here that are my friends there can view them.  or not if it makes you even more cold in your snow encrusted houses

Take care and Happy Turkey eating's to you all....I am thankful that I get to dodge winter two years in a row...

ps  I am enclosing a pic of my beach feet view from my hammock......

winter has cometh

27 F   -2 C

Wind: NW 11m/h

• Wind gusts: 11m/h
• Sunrise: 7:25
• Sunset: 16:20

• Relative Humidity: 43%
• Pressure: 1,012.30 mb
• Visibility: -
• Ceiling: -

Random rambling from me

So this morning I wake up to a world of white.  I actually went to bed with a world of white.  But its kind of exciting looking out the window and seeing how much stuff came down while you slept...In this case not much more.  Which is a good thing as it looks pretty but isn't going to cause any driving problems or tremendous feats of snow shoveling.   I was thinking we were going to dodge the snow bullet and wing away to the warmth but no such luck.  It's a good thing though it will make the heat and sun more enjoyable...lol  When were complaining and sweating like stuck pigs we can look back to the days preceding the trip and remember the numb fingers...

So I make a bunch of turkey pot pies for the young prince who so kindly is going to be the keeper of the castle in our absence.   He was so happy he said, and I quote 'I am going to eat one everyday till their all gone'   This kind of made me sad thinking about him all alone over christmas eating his little pot pies.  Not sad enough to stay but just saying.....He has had many an adventure with us in his life so its not like he hasn't gone anywhere.

So yesterday I decide I better get out the summer clothes and start seeing what fits and what I want to take.  I know I have packed on a bit in the last couple months but was happy to find that everything still fit and I had alot of new stuff I had bought at the end of summer and forgotten about.  I had three tank tops from Kohl's with their tags on and a nice pair of summer pj's.  A couple weeks ago at Sears I was rifling through their clearance rack and came upon the most cutest bikini top.  I tried it on and it was a dream fit.  Sadly no bottoms but I bought it anyway.  Then last weekend we had a super walmart open in town and low and behold they were selling tops and bottoms and shorts seperately for $5 each.  I found the perfect bottoms and these super cute bathing suit shorts that you can wear as well.

Well I won't bore you too much longer I have to go work on my mousehunting....a game not real mice..

rag baby quilt

I made this quilt for my niece Quincey. She is having a baby boy in December. This is my first attempt at this type of quilting.

I'm not crazy

I'm just a little unwell.....love that song.   One can do a narrative on their life by using lines and titles from songs..  I love waking up in Vegas,  but have never kissed a girl and liked it.  Like a bridge over troubled water, I'm on your side...

Well I wore that out pretty quick. 

Many a changes are a happening in my neighborhood..One of which is Harry's mom sold her house and is moving to  a different city over 4 hours away.  Then to top that she fell this week and broke her collarbone... As we aren't on the best of terms with the backstabbing psycho over the top self proclaimed christians we haven't seen or talked to her...

Did I mention I love Fall Back...this time change is my favourite and I've been up for hours...Happy time change to everyone...

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween to all my loyal one follower....  I was thinking about the different costumes I had worn for halloween over the years and thought I would share the ones I remember.

The youngest costume I remember wearing was Little Red Riding Hood.  A friend of my mom's from work gave her the red hooded cape and so subsequently that is what I was for years till I outgrew it.  Later when I was in grade 7 I was Santa Claus.  Followed by a few years of being a ghost, just cut holes in a bed sheet..I was just in it for the candy...lol  As an adult costume wearer I have been a clown, flag girl, nerd, Cat in The Hat, witch and this year I am going as Gene Simmons.

I am hoping for a dry night of trick or treating...

Thursday Thirteen

in no particular order or theme here they are.....drum roll please..

1. My niece is having a baby in Dec. and I am making her a quilt.  I bought the material this week and am excited to get it started..

2, The weather has been phenomenal... I am still wearing shorts and a light jacket..

3. Tonight the kids and I are going to Reapers Haunted Attraction.  They do a great job and it's been an annual thing we've been doing, even way back when it was too scary for Nevada.  (this is her second year)  she was totally freaked last year :)

4. Went to see Dr. Eye this morning and everything is good and no sign of glaucoma...

5.After the initial buying of large boxes and bags of Halloween candy when they first came out, I can say I've been following the 12 steps program and have stayed away for a couple weeks now.

6.Went to Kohl's this week and bought the most comfortable fantastic push up bra in the world...I know TMI  especially if there are guys reading this..

7.Hopefully we'll be going to Thailand in little over a month. Been watching the airfares but things aren't dropping like I would like to see. 

8. Side note to number 7  I had to renew Nevada's passport and it still hasn't come back in the mail....

9.Hubby has been catching so many most awesome beautiful salmon that the freezer is flowing to over capacity...Not that I'm complaining but there is no room for ice cream...

10.Today is Grover's birthday..You know the cute little blue guy from Sesame Street.  I remember him when I was little and its cool to know Super Grover is still around.

11.I kind of miss having Survivor on a Thursday night.  It makes me think now that today is Friday and then I get disappointed realizing that its only Thursday.

12.With Em heading off to the Caribbean, it reminds me of  warm sandy beaches. So I am going to win a trip to Jamaica tomorrow morning on the radio.

13. Well that's all she wrote folks...

nom nom

The food was so awesome if I do say so myself.   I was a little worried about the turkey as it had been in my freezer for a very very very long time but once again my not so secret brine did its magic and made the bird super juicy.  I didn't get a picture of the pies but they were delicious as well.  I don't know why people don't like brussel sprouts we all love them with the exception of Nevada.  The sauce on them was hollandaise. 

Today is a day for relaxing and eating leftovers...I already ate the last piece of the pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast lol

I need to blog

but what about???  I think Facebook has sucked all the literary juice out of me, with its ease of clicking and mindless games... 

Monday is turkey day here in Canada.  The holiday is not quite as big as the US holiday but we do like to bake and eat bird... Just about everyone has the day off or gets paid time and a half for working the stat.   I have the bird unthawing as I type.  I have a pumpkin pie and a pumpkin cheesecake in the oven right now.  We are doing the food orgy tomorrow.   There will just be our immediate family and my friend Traci coming.  I love the prep work and all the yummy leftovers.

well thats about all I can think of...sorry

Layered Lemon Dessert

Ingredients:
b

Directions:
b

Happy 20th Birthday Baby Harrison

Yes you guessed it the boys are born one day shy of four years apart.  Baby Harrison is the only one of our kids born in Canada.  Long long long hard labour, let me tell you that big head was stuck in there but good...He was what we called the sleeping model.  He slept through the night by about 5 weeks and is still sleeping as I type lol... 

He is somewhat a genius and refers to himself as the lazy genius which I would have to agree with.  He was diaper trained by about 15 months and reading novels by 3.  He did two column division before kindergarten,,,,well I could go on but that would be a mother bragging....

I love you Harrison even when arguing with you ...possibly because we are so much alike its rather scary looking at oneself in ones child...

p.s. long hair is gone yeah...

Happy Birthday to my KaiKoa

Today my Kaikoa turns 16.  I remember the day he was born.  Strangely it does seem like a long time ago.  My little sweetie came into this world in a room with a view, Maui Memorial Hospital.  He was the easiest of the three births and so far the easiest of the three to raise.  I don't think I've met a kinder nicer person in my life.  Stay sweet and good my special one...

Love Mom

Picture Perfect 'Sayings'

A rose by any other name.....Picture taken on our recent holiday, out the window of a moving car with my Samsung L110...

picture perfect framing

Taken from our room at Primm Nevada spring break 09.  The kids put the gecko on the window so we could find our room from the parking lot.

picture perfect framing

Picture Perfect 'Signs'

The 'signs' of discontentment...We were blocked in traffic in Bangkok by the red shirt demonstration.  They were all very nice and friendly offering us cold bottled water and the fellow on the right even gave us his bandana as a souvenir..

picture perfect mirror mirror

I took this picture of my daughter when we were camping last week at Hick's Lake. The lake was so calm and quiet all we could hear was the call of the loon.

is it just me

or do you find this totally distasteful.

http://sports.ca.msn.com/other/photos/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=24918796

  msn canada had this on their homepage this morning and it really ticks me off. grrr  I could rant and rave on this for paragraphs but I have to go outside and work with a crowbar...

thursday thirteen

No preamble here I will dive right in....

1. Nevada's in the school garden program, yesterday was her first inspection but the slugs had left nothing to inspect...Poor Nevy, the lady was really nice and gave her points for no weeds and a well placed layout of the rows...

2.In the last week I had two sets of company come that I hadn't seen for a very very long time. It was great to see my niece who was travelling with her bf.  Nine years can really change a person. lol 

3.Bacon wrapped perogies on the barbecue,  I can't say enough about these tasty little morsels of culinary delight...

4.Planning a trip at the end of the summer.  I love the excitement of where to go where to stay..

5.About number 4,  has anyone ever been to Yosemite and have any good ideas for a day trip through the park?

6.I haven't been watching The world cup on tv but have been keeping up to date online.

http://glo.msn.com/relationships/world-cup-guy-candy-4150.gallery

7.At Harrison's work they have been laying off scores of people weekly.  We never know when he leaves to work if he will be coming home unemployed.  It's rather unsettling.

8.I have switched my morning coffee to three quarters decaf, and one quarter regular and I find I don't notice the difference.  The flavour is still the same and I'm glad I've cut down on the caffeine.

9.Saturday we are having a mini grad reunion at a local pub. I am committed to attending but not looking forward to sitting in a smelly pub.  I wish they could have found a place with some outdoor seating.

10.This year I have been doing the majority of the yard work as the hubby has been sick.  I am loving it. The yard is looking pretty awesome as well.

11.Back to number 2 the other visitors I had were old friends from California.  I hadn't seen them for about fourteen years.  They had never met Nevada and the last time they seen the boys Kaikoa was still in diapers.

12.For some reason my nails right now are looking pretty awesome.  They are long and strong.  Even with the heavy gardening I am pretty proud of them.  I am not going to bother with nail polish just look at them in their natural state.

13. I am in dire need of a new pair of runners.  I wore the soles right through on my last pair.  I have only had them for about 6 months.  The tops still look nice and stylish and I'm kind of ticked how they wore out so fast.

 

Well thats much ado about nothing....happy last week of spring.

 

picture perfect

This is not only a back road its one of the only roads on Cat Island Bahamas. 

company's coming

and I'm not sure if I have to cook.....Hubby took the call yesterday from some friends that are in the country.  All I know is that they will be here today but have no idea what time or what they have in mind.  They were spending the night about 4 hours drive away from here.  All I do know is that they are staying in a hotel.  That part is good as we really don't have room for them here.  If I knew a few more details I would whip up some yummy dessert and food.  I love doing stuff like that. Men why can't they ask simple questions?

I haven't seen Clyde and Leah years and years. I have the most coolest picture of the boys in their yard with a goat. We sure had some fun times back then in the 90's.   We've always sent Xmas cards but Facebook got us back reconnected.(thanks Facebook).

picture perfect

Summer is growing things.  I love how the heads of Sunflowers turn to face the sun.  We take the seeds from the plants in the fall and save some for the next spring so we have the same family lineage..

picture perfect

Two winters ago we had more snow then you can imagine.  It snowed and snowed and then snowed some more.   At the end of this snowfall the banks down the driveway were my shoulder height.  A typical winter here is rain and more rain..

Pasta Greek Salad

Ingredients:
veggie pasta cooked, drained and chilled
cucumbers
tomato's
onions
olives
peppers any colour but not the hot kind
Feta crumbled
Kraft Oregano and Sun-dried Tomato Salad dressing (don't use a substitute, believe me it won't turn out as good)

Directions:
well you mix it all up and let it sit. It is especially better if you can make it the night before then the flavours blend

my day so far

This was my breakfast.  The strawberry was the most perfect strawberry ever eaten in the world.  Not only did it look great but the flavour explosion was to die for.  Thank you Central Valley California for sending me this heavenly treat.

That got me thinking about colours and taste.  The visual of the food is very important as well. So I made my famous pasta greek salad, exploding with colours and flavours.  The picture doesn't really do the colours justice.
nom nom nom

Picture Perfect

                                 Nothing but sand and sea "Under My Toes". 

                                     Maenam Beach, Samui,Thailand

This was my favourite place to relax for two months.    My industrious hubby and son built a beach shack right on the sand with posts to hang a hammock.  The view was unsurpassable.

Thursday Thirteen

140 days have past this year.  Just seems like yesterday we were at 139.   Today has been a day of opposites, so I guess I will try to make an opposite 13 theme.

1.  This morning my hair was long, then I went to the hairdresser and now its short : )

2. When I first got up the sky was blue and the sun was just getting up.  Now the sky is black and the rain is drowning out my soap opera.

3. On the same thread as #1 Kaikoa went from long to short hair as well.

4.Hubby hasn't been enjoying the best of health since we returned from Thailand but today he actually looks and feels a tiny bit better.

5.I had never found a good cauliflower salad recipe.  Now I have the most awesome recipe on allrecipes.com and we love it.

6.My size 9 shorts are too loose instead of slightly tight.  Now I wish I had went for the size smaller.

7.I have a whole lots of airline vouchers and no idea where to use them to.

8.Ok I am running out of opposites so how about the opposite of 13 opposites is not having 13.

May long weekend here hopefully everyone drives safe and keeps the highest death rate weekend of the year down.

30 years ago today

I was awakened by a large bang.  Normally I would have been up at that time of the morning but was out partying the night before and didn't hit the hay till the early hours of dawn.....But that's not the story we are here to talk about.  Anyone know what happened on this day?  Mount St. Helens blew her top.  The majestic lady lies about 200 miles due south of us.  They say the ash was shot up 15 miles into the air. The area around the mountain was devastated by the collapse of the northern flank of the mountain in what amounted to one of the largest landslides ever recorded, which buried 24 square miles of land under as much as 600 feet of debris. For years afterward the ash is still visible as you drive down the I-5 corridor. 

It's one of those days that you totally remember where you were and what you were doing that day and will remember the rest of your life...

I dedicate this blog to Stonegirl lol

 

picture perfect cuisine

One of the best things about travel is partaking in the local cuisine.  I have no idea what this dish is called but man was it good.  Our recent trip to Thailand was a honeymoon in tastebud sensations :) 

picture perfect cuisine

One of the best things about travel is partaking in the local cuisine.  I have no idea what this dish is called but man was it good.  Our recent trip to Thailand was a honeymoon in tastebud sensations :) 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Take for instance the animosity towards the Dandelion.  I think they are rather pretty and bright.  They grow just about anywhere and don't require replanting or reseeding.  One can make a colourful bouquet or a refreshing wine and even a tossed salad.  Of course for the latter two, you would want to ensure your crop came from and un-sprayed in every sense of the word place.  So I proclaim April 29th National Love The Dandelion Day.  Long may it bloom in its bright sunny glory : )

NLTDD

Happy Late Easter

As we werent' home for Easter I cooked a ham today.  It was succulant and delicious.  I ate another piece for you Em.

 

:) CArol

ham

Em's Easter Ham she didn't get to eat and cooked 4 days late

still alive

in Thailand....

omg here today gone to thailand

 chow  babies...

5 more sleeps

or lack of it...the thing is when preparing to leave on an extended trip, I have a hard time sleeping in the weeks leading up to the big day.  What am I forgetting to bring?  What am I forgetting to do?  What am I forgetting period?   I have lists everywhere and yet I still run around like a chicken with my head cut off. Why I work myself into such a state I don't know?  So I forget something will it be so terrible?  Actually on my last trip to the Bahamas I was so busy packing and doing everything I neglected to pack enough clothes for myself.  The whole time there I kept saying 'what was I thinking'?  Why didn't I pack this shirt?  Why didn't I bring a sundress?  No worries I guess the weather will be so hot in Thailand I will live in my two piece bathing suit (fits and looks good I might add) and my two sundresses I have remembered to pack this time.

On the home front the previous mentioned anxiety issue I was alluding to has worked itself out in my mind.  I've been sitting on the fence hoping a problem would just go away but have now realized that sometimes one must have an 'intervention'   When I was younger I loved confrontation and would start an argument just for the sake of a good debate.  Now I just want to chillax.

peace out Carol

Much overdue about nothing...

My gift of gab has gone the way of the winter snow here.  Non-existant and with two short weeks till the winter olympics.  The one ski hill where they are holding the snowboarding has patches of grass and they are covering the little snow they have with straw bales to try to preserve it.

In 10 sleeps we leave for Thailand for 2 months.(I hope no house robbers are reading this)  Said oldest son Harrison will be guarding the nest.   I feel confident that he will look after the place and himself.  I told him to hire a maid before I get home then what I don't know won't hurt him...

I've been dealing with alot of personal issues that I won't go into here but are causing my usual careless self  a bit of anxiety.  I don't know what life will roll me next but I am just going to go with the flow and follow what I think will be best for myself.

I will try to blog more in the future and definitely try to take you on my Thailand adventure but if I don't, catch me on Facebook I find its just easier there to update.