A Full Larder

I  was standing at the kitchen counter today cleaning up roasted red peppers, it’s not my favourite job but I was filled by such as sense of peace and contentment. I didn’t feel rushed like I did when I was working, but could instead just enjoy the process. I’ve always had a sense of… humm I can’t think of the right word… but when I’m doing things like baking bread, preserving food and often when cooking as well - it feels good – maybe like pioneers must have felt when they had a full larder.

Retirement is good.

Pleasures? Eating some freshly cut sweet juicy pineapple ; watching the dogs run for their crates as suppertime – on your mark, get set, GO! ; screwing a few of the legs of the screen shelter to the deck – it was very satisfying feeling the screw grab into the wood ; smelling the red peppers roasting on the bbq ; still eating the occasional tomato salad – last night’s might have been the last though – and darn, I bought some basil and forgot to use it ;

The list didn’t do me too much good today – I got caught up in my scrapbook software… but that’s okay ;-)

It’s Jeff Goldblum’s birthday today – normally I wouldn’t mention a celebrity but there’s a story … At our morning coffee break (in the olden working days) we had a list of names that we would repeat, usually because all 4 of us had tried to remember their name but had to resort to goggle. I’m sure you’ve all been down this road - “remember that guy, you know, the one that was in that movie…”. So we had a list of half a dozen or more names: Francis Gary Powers, Marisa Tomei, Jeff Goldblum, and here’s how bad my memory is – I can’t remember the rest, or even if there were any more!

I, uh, don't think I'm, y'know, so different than your average, y'know, average.
Jeff Goldblum

Lunch with Meryle

Today I had lunch with my Mom and Meryle. We spent a few hours gabbing about families and other such matters – it was really great :-)

The trailer went in today for it’s bi-annual leak test. We learned to do this the hard way… The spring after we purchased the current trailer we noticed a bulge on the curb side… further investigation revealed delamination. A leak test showed that a window seal had come undone. Luckily we have a top-notch repair place nearby but $ouch! After that we vowed to have this test done on a regular basis. We’ll find out the results tomorrow.

I finished reading “The Edible Woman” this afternoon. I’m so glad that I read it again, it was so worth it. It was one of those books that I feel like reading again just as I finish the last page. I haven’t read any other books by Margaret Atwood but I’m sure the library must have others. I’m not a mystery or adventure reader, I like to read books about people and their experiences. The last two books, both by Canadian authoresses have been right up my alley.

More work on my scrapbook – gosh I can get so caught up with this. I like that I can add text into the pages. There are places that you can get your albums printed into books for quite reasonable prices – that’s my goal. I used to spend huge amounts of money printing before digital cameras, but since then I rarely print anything. I still go back to my old photo albums every now and again and would like to do the same with the photos from the last few years…

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
John Muir

We’ve Found a Fridge

Cough cough… $$$$ installed! Yikes, yikes and YIKES. These things are mega pricey – just think of the things that you could do with that money that would be much more fun than a fridge. Good news though, the shop thinks they will be able to get it delivered and installed in time for our next trip – keeping fingers crossed.

I’ve been reading a lot this summer and have enjoyed most of the books. I just finished reading “Alice, Let’s Eat” by Calvin Trillin. It was a humorous little book about food and eating. A nice read but not good for the diet! Right now though I’m reading two others that I got from the library – “Last Call at the 7-Eleven” by Kevin Cowherd and “A Day at the Beach” by Helen Schulman. I’m just not getting into either of them. The 7-Eleven one was from the humour section, but honestly I’m just not finding it that funny – maybe because it makes so many digs at people. The other I will continue to give a try since I’m only on page 22 (surely it will capture my attention soon). What do you do when you get a book you just aren’t enjoying? Do you read it anyway (kind of like doing homework)? How many pages do you give it before giving up?

It was raining this morning so I took the opportunity to start working on my digital photo album of Presqu’ile. It is fun to putz around in the software, laying out the pages and adding “embellishments” to them. I’m still pretty much a newbie so do-overs are the norm. This is one of the pages that I’ve done so far. It will probably get re-worked as I layout the rest of the pages.

 

The pleasures of the last few days – I’m sorry if it’s getting repetitive but so many pleasures are things that we do/experience on a daily basis – remember to keep enjoying them!

• seeing all the lovely dogs at the dog show. There are so many attractive breeds (and so many that have been wrecked by the show scene as well). I even like seeing the poodles in all their finery. They really prance and carry themselves proudly with their fancy haircuts ;
• meeting up with old acquaintances and friends – sometimes in unexpected places ;
• Here’s a repeat – waking up at home and just letting the dogs out rather than having to get dressed and walk them myself. Although getting moving early in the day is probably a good thing ;
• tomato salads – we’ve been having them at least once a day – paired with a crusty loaf they make a fine meal and are a wonderful taste of summer ;
• going through the pictures from Presqu’ile and re-living some of our vacation ;
• seeing the sun peek out of the clouds after a rainy morning. Everything looks so sharp and green. A bad thing about the rain though, our hayfield got cut the other day and it’s had 2 days of rain on it so far. I wonder if the farmer will bother to bale it?

 

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
William James

Ditches Drifted with Tiger Lilies

Today we managed to get out for a little drive in the countryside. Many of the ditches were resplendent with drifts of orange tiger-lilies. We drove by without stopping for most of them, but finally I just had to capture a snapshot for the blog, unfortunately the photo just doesn’t do them justice.

Yesterday though was a day of recuperation. I spent some time on the computer putting together the first draft of some scrapbook pages of the wedding. I want to put some text on the pages, but somehow I find that impossible, yet I manage to write things for the blog – go figure.

Today’s word of the day is raiment (RAY-munt noun : clothing, garments). The wedding was adorned with the fanciest of raiment. There were dresses embellished with pearls and sequins, some made with satin or silk, some long to the ground while others were short and sexy. All set against the backdrop of dark suits and colourful ties.

What have my pleasures been over the last few days?

• Spending time with Carm’s family at a festive event ; seeing all the lovely dresses on the young women ;
• listening to the drum mixed with Lebanese music – such a primal sound that strikes a chord deep inside our consciousness – there was something so elemental about the music. It was rendered even more exciting by the chain of dancers ;
• doing a decent job putting nail polish on my fingers and toes – “she had rings on her fingers and bells on her toes” was really just referring to coral painted nails (ha ha) ;
• looking at the sequin dress lying on the table – I left it there ‘cause I wanted to enjoy the vibrancy of it’s colour for just a little while longer – it is now wrapped up and put away in the closet for perhaps another 20 years ;
• reading on the swing on a Sunday afternoon ;
• eating Baklava – honey pistachio phylo packages of goodness! My first real experience with baklava was in Jordan 22 years ago – it was so incredibly good (not to be matched in North America). Dad and I bought a package to have in our room, that night I woke up to see Dad sneaking across the room to have one in the middle of the night! So that’s where I got the food calling to me in the middle of the night gene!

Today’s pleasures - watching a much needed light rain come down (not for long enough though) ; eating an ice cream cone – very yummy ; seeing all the tiger lilies in the ditch ; smelling the sweet charred smell of roasted red peppers.

Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.
Robert Green Ingersoll

Sucked In

I'm finding it more difficult to find time for blogging... I'm sucked into the scrapbooking software big time. I've got a bunch of pages done for Bella, and now some for Kabira as well but I go back and change things incessantly - there's always something to fiddle with. I suppose at some point I will have played around enough to know what I like and just get things done, but for now I'll just experiment. There is no deadline after all!

Today we got outside and did some more yard work. We have now done more cleanup and general work about the place that we did all last year (excluding cutting the grass). It feels good and it is a bit of exercise as well - double bonus.

Today's word of the day is vestige (VESS-tij noun : a mark or visible sign left by something that existed before; also: a minute remaining amount). There is not even a vestige of regret for our decision to retire this year!

My pleasures today: getting some raking done outside ; coming back into the warm house - it was freezing out there! ; making a bunch of branch perches for Grace to enjoy in her outdoor cage - lots of bark to strip off and wood to gnaw ; getting a couple of really good recalls from Spike.

Cloud-cuckoo-land

Today's word of the day is cloud-cuckoo-land (kloud-KOO-koo-land noun : a realm of fantasy or of whimsical or foolish behavior). Huh? I would like us to take a trip to Disney Land/World (whichever is in Florida). I was at the California edition years and years ago when I was just in grade 12. Our whole family went, including my two little brothers. It was so fun experiencing cloud-cuckoo-land through their eyes. Maybe it wouldn't be so fun to go now?

Last night we had two of Carm's buddies from work over. I felt like I was in cloud-cuckoo-land except instead of a fantasy it was more a nightmare (just joking!). I think they all had a good time, but let me tell you, sitting with a bunch of guys who used to work together and that's about all they have in common is, how would you put it? boring, tedious, I'm sure there are many other words to describe it . All they did is rehash events that happened in the past. I went to bed early. As I told them when I headed off to bed - I've had as much scintillating conversation as I can take - is that too sarcastic? All that being said - I was happy to be the hostess as I know it was a lot of fun for Carm, plus his two buddies are nice guys that I would like to see again. Oh yeah - they didn't complain about the healthy grub.

I had trouble getting to sleep last night as I had plans for designing a new page background for my blog using the scrapbooking tool. I get these ideas in my head and they just churn. As you can see they didn't turn out exactly as I what I had in mind - a bit dorky - but I'll play with new backgrounds as "time permits" (I'm so busy in retirement you see).

I sent some photos to my niece this morning of the farm that we get our last name from. The photos were taken in 1974 when we visited Norway. The farm was given to an ancestor centuries ago for their role in saving Norway from a Scottish invasion. It's pretty neat to have a documented history that goes back so far.

My pleasures: sitting on the front step (in the warm sun) last night and watching the geese fly overhead - I love hearing them honk "are we there yet" over and over again, and especially love hearing the swish of their wings cutting through the air ; getting up in the morning with a clear head - there's something to be said for cutting out the wine! ; at 10:30 am I saw flies buzzing around outside - it's warm out! ; seeing the tips of tulips pushing their way out of the cold earth ; and it is always a pleasure to watch the dogs running at full speed.

Bella's Big Day

Today is Bella's 6th birthday. It seems like just yesterday that we picked out our little puppy from a litter of 9. She was about 4 weeks old at the time. Then came the long, long wait for her to reach 9 weeks old and be ready to come home. I did go out and visit her once (maybe twice - I can't remember) and then finally it was the time.

I picked her up during the day and unfortunately Carm couldn't come with me. So I set up a crate in the truck's passenger seat - she wasn't very happy and cried all the way home. She didn't like the car for the next year or so and would puke every car ride. Poor little dear. Once we got home she settled in and quickly became a member of our pack. We had Pan, Grizzle and Titan - they each treated her like a princess. I know it's crazy but I hardly took any photos of her when she was a little puppy - maybe because she was a little black blob.

Today's word of the day is conventicle (kun-VEN-tih-kul noun - 1: an assembly of an irregular or unlawful character ; 2: an assembly for religious worship; especially : a meeting for worship not sanctioned by law ; 3: meetinghouse). Tonight our house will be a conventicle (meaning #3) for a few retired and out-of-work work mates (Carm's) who are coming over for supper and conversation. I'm pretty sure the conversation will be mostly boring work talk - I'll keep busy in the kitchen... I wonder how they'll like the healthy meal? It doesn't compare to the Prime Rib and Yorkshire pudding the last time they were over!

My pleasures today: remembering Bella as a puppy ; playing with my new software - I can see that this is going to suck up a LOT of time! But it will be fun. In fact I spent so much time playing that I hardly got this entry written. I'm a sucker for software.