The Clouds have Cleared

It is 2:30 in the afternoon - the rain has finally stopped and the clouds are mostly gone so I am outside squinting at my tablet. I can barely see the screen so this will be a short post and one with possible typos.

It is great that we can finally be outside. With the rain and cold people hunker down in their trailers so we don't get to do much socializing. We don't know anyone well enough to invite them over to our place, plus you have to see them to invite them!

We skipped the pancake breakfast this morning - the diet actually won out over heaps of hot pancakes and reams of greasy bacon and sausage. Next on the food marathon- pot luck. I'm bringing the Sesame Lime Green Beans - Carm's going to cook the green beans on the bbq using the grill that Mom and Dad got us for Christmas. It's worked great for asparagus and zucchini so should do a crack up job on the green beans. I like them roasted/grilled so much more than steamed.

Oh, about cooking - I brought down Black Bean Quinoa burgers for two nights. This time I added the zest of one lime to the quinoa when I cooked it. They were FANTASTIC! Even better than without the lime. This recipe is perhaps a 6 out 5 star ;-) We like it as much as a beef hamburger. And it is fat free and full of protein.

Yesterday we didn't do much, aside from walking the dogs till they dropped (hummm maybe that's why my legs are so tired today!). After supper Carm went over to the campfire but I wasn't really in the mood so stayed in for a quiet night. And that was okay.

Have I mentioned the train? It runs right through the site next to us - at least that's how it sounds in the middle of the night! There must be a crossing nearby too cause it blows and blows and blows that whistle. The funny thing is I didn't really notice it the first night or two... There are other strange sounds here, although none of them as loud. Yesterday morning, before the crack of dawn I heard a rooster crowing, and every day throughout the day we hear this strange call - it took me a while and then I recognized it as a peacock. We saw him this afternoon - a beautiful blue bird with a huge tail. He is quite the fellow. Oh - there's the rooster again. Later in the day - after the pot luck: ummmm lots of yummy food. I did have 1/2 plate of green salad without dressing, but the rest... let's just say there was nothing vegan about it! It was fun and we met more people. I'm going to hand this over to Carm for the final edit, but before I do I have to mention the congregation of men at the end of our site. It seems that someone's truck is having trouble and men seem to have radar for this sort of thing and they emerge from their trailers like, well, I can't think of what - Stepford wives/men I guess.

Cruisin

The cruise was great. We sat with 2 couples that we had never spent any time with (Leslie & Don, Carol & Tim) which is great cause now we know a few more people. Both couples are from Ontario (one not too far from us), but both of them spend their winters down in Texas - "deep in the heart of Texas"! Carm and I think about it, but we've never gotten past the excuses of what to do with the house while we are gone. I guess we just aren't ready to make the trip - some day though we will. 

The cruise was for dinner, and also featured an entertaining performer - some of his stuff was sort of dress up karaoke (just him though, no audience participants thank goodness!) and then dancing at the end. It was fun, but we should have done more dancing!

The boat took us through the Thousand Islands, including Trident Yacht club where my parents kept their sail boat years ago. It's too bad it was raining as the only photo I could get was the raindrops on the window...

I did pretty good anxiety wise... although I did stress about the dogs somewhat. And then it seemed like the boat hadn't turned around by 9pm - I was close to having a panic attack at that point, but then the waitress came around for last call and said we were just 1/2 hour from docking. The tension just melted from my body. I would love to find someone who stayed back to ask if they heard anything, but the people from all the campers near us were on the cruise, and it rained most of the evening so no one would have been out and about, or even had their windows open. So I'll never know! It might be time to set up the webcam to do some remote spying as there were some cushions mysteriously rearranged - just who was up on the couch!

The rain stopped mid morning today so I got out for about an hour with the dogs. I would have walked more but the dogs were lagging and Spike was really dragging. I even carried him for a bit (hey - he weights 27lbs! so I didn't carry him far). I'm not sure if he's feeling well, or it could just be that he's out of shape and carrying some extra weight. They were at the vet last week and every single one of them had gained over 10% of their body  weight. They are porkers like me! I've had the benefit of time on the treadmill but they haven't... I guess I'll have to start walking without them (how weird is that!).

Since it is a cloudy, windy, cool day there hasn't been much socializing... we've just been inside reading and taking it easy. Despite the weather Grace has spent much of her day outside. We can hear her talking and whistling away - a sure sign that she's happy. She gets pretty darn cranky when she's stuck in her little inside cage for very long (and I can't really blame her - it's small and dark). Yesterday I got her outside for just a short while, just enough for her to know she didn't really want to be outside - it stops her from biting me when I bring her back in!

I keep meaning to tell you about my pant size experience a few days ago. I've shrunk enough that I didn't really have any shorts to wear so we went shopping and I ended up getting a size 10 short - I'm not a size 10! The next day I found an old (and they must be from ancient history) pair that were size 13 - so of course I tried them on. I couldn't even do them up!!! Talk about today's sizes being vanity sizes. What does that say about our population when a size 14 is now labeled a 10? Is everyone really that much bigger? Anyway, I folded those 13's up and tucked them away to be tried on "later" when I'm closer to my goal. I wonder how long ago I wore those shorts? (and as a side note - you can see how "good" I am at clearing out old clothes... I think they were found in a bin of clothes that we took to the salvation army this winter... I guess being an optimist (or delusional) that I saved them for when I'd fit into them again!)

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful Saturday as much as I am.

Rideau Acres 2012 - Day 1, just a bit of rain

Here we are... enjoying ourselves at the Titanium Rally. We arrived yesterday afternoon after a uneventful drive down the 401. Traffic was lighter, despite a few places of construction. The campground was dry this year, unlike last year when it was underwater, so set up was easy. Then it was time to visit. Some people we remembered from last year, but new connections were also made. I decided before we came that I wasn't going to sit in the camper feeling awkward and shy, this year I am going to fake it and get out there! When I am a bit manic is the best time for social outings - then I'm outgoing (ish) and it is much easier for me to socialize with people I don't know. When I'm a bit depressed is it very much the opposite. Thankfully this year I'm in the middle, so it's a bit of work but not impossible.

With the park being drier they have cut the grass in many areas and the park looks just beautiful. There is a loop in the back that goes along the river. It has just a few campsites along there, and on the other side of the road there are wide open grassy areas, dotted with trees with nicely cut grass - perfect for walking the dogs. When we camp somewhere we like to pick out a "pooping field" that is away from campsites and other places campers frequent. I think people appreciate not having dogs doing their business on their campsite. Hopefully photos - of the park, not the dogs pooping - tomorrow when it is drier (fingers crossed)

I did say it was dry? Well, actually it has been raining on and off all day today. The dogs and I (and Carm for a bit) still managed to get out for a pretty long walk. Scouting for bunnies on the way (they are everywhere, much to the excitement of the dogs).

Before we came I spent a day cooking up dips, black bean quinoa burgers (this time with lime - yum), and some vegan peanut butter cookies. The dips are all vegan and mostly fat free as well.
    Sun-dried tomato & olive hummus
    Artichoke heart & red pepper white bean dip
    Sesame Lime Dressing - I'm bringing the green beans to the pot luck
    and then of course the peanut butter cookies. They used just a touch of canola oil (1/4 cup I think) and maple syrup for the sweetness. The were perhaps the best pb cookies I've had! And not scads of butter. I can't remember which recipe book it was in - either "Vive Le Vegan" or "Eat, Drink and be Vegan", both by Dreena Burton. The first two dips were from the second book.

I was determined to have some food along for satisfying snacks so we wouldn't be as tempted to eat take out (there's a KFC not too far away). As it turns out, tonight is a cruise, with dinner, Sunday am is a pancake breakfast, Sunday night is a pot luck, and then Wednesday is a steak dinner. So much for healthy eating!

Tonight will be the first time we've left the dogs in the camper for more than an hour or so. I'm not too worried about barking - the blinds will be shut and the TV on, but what if they howl?

Before we left home there were a pair of robins setting up house-keeping in a tree just off the deck... it looks like we won't get our deck back yet! Oh, and the peonies... the first one was showing colour yesterday morning... we'll probably miss them all together. It looks like it will be a fantastic year for them - I couldn't believe how many buds there were. They are my most favorite flowers...

How's that for a bunch of incoherent babble!