cousins

 Just a faint echo of spirited conversation, Italian style, is all that is left of Vince's visit. He dashed off around noon to another commitment, leaving a bit of a vacuum. Conversation flowed freely from the moment Vince stepped in the door last night… well, it did as soon as he was off the phone with another cousin as it seems he got his days mixed up and was supposed to be somewhere else as well!

We started off gathered around the kitchen island as I finished up the last of the cooking (beef stew w caramelised onion, bacon & herbs, carrots, broccoli, and of course mashed potatoes), and then lingered over supper. Vince brought tiramisu for dessert, and then finally we retired to more comfortable sofas to look at his photos.

I took myself off to bed around 10:30 (the conversation was flowing freely without my input so figured it wouldn't be too rude!) - they stayed up a few more hours. This morning we were up by 8:30, had coffee, breakfast, and more visiting. It was a lovely time - Carm is still excited and a bit wound up… while my head is slightly spinning!

Awesome!

“cousins”

“possible all clear”

trifecta of activities

 The crusty snow has given Lupa a super highway to everywhere… her little legs carry her as fast as she can run on the slippery surface, stoked to not have to struggle through long grass or deep snow. Luckily she's reasonably good at coming when called but I have been ensuring that I have a pocket full of treats when we head out to the field.

We've been zooming around the house today, getting ready for Carm's cousin Vince's visit tonight. The first time he was here (which was the last time - 2015 - shocking how many years have passed - there's that weird thing that time does sometimes…!), we went crazy cleaning as we weren't sure if he'd be disgusted by our house of pets! As it turned out, he's a dog lover :-) And I don't think our house gets really gross… Carm is a star with the Dyson!

Yesterday I went into the city to spend time with Mom & Dad… Mom and I ‘took off’ for a few hours of retail therapy,  mostly at Value Village. I had to use LOTS of restraint as I saw a few dish sets that I loved and gorgeous crystal bowls that I have no room for. Gosh I wish I had purchased that crystal bowl with a modern flair… chips would look awesome… but alas, I had Carm's voice in the back of my head!

I did score a black beaded top from Melanie Lynn that will look great with black dress pants, if we ever go anywhere again! For only $8 I couldn't pass it up. Got a furry vest too :-) And a pinkish blanket for my trailer remodel 🤪

Mom is much more fun to shop with than Carm! She asked if I wanted her to drive since we'd be stopping at the shopping mall and I'm not the greatest parker… BUT I've parked at the Civic hospital parking garage so many times now that the mall parking lot feels like a giant open field! I guess that's awesome!

Did another walk on the treadmill with Kirsten this morning - 50 minutes of full-on walking on an incline! I’d already had a good start to my day… the headphones were stuck on my head from the time I got up… and by the time my blood was rushing through my veins, it was a full-on PEF day! (peaceful easy feeling)

It really was the trifecta of mood boosting activities! Music (all my favorites), walking & talking with Kirsten, company coming! 

Sunday we had a lovely supper at Trudie & Leo's and then we rushed home to have a ‘v-drink’ with Olaf & Stephanie! 

Awesome!

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone”

“beef cubed and rubbed with garlic, herbs, and kosher salt”

“a good night's sleep”

“realizing that I feel more confident driving - yay me!”

“going for a walk with Kirsten!!!! More awesome than words!”

blathering

 Just in case you are wondering… yes, it's cloudy…

I think I've mastered the carrots with hot honey - I want to gobble them right out of the pan! Tried roasting broccoli last night as well but I can't say I'm blown over… perhaps if I had added butter and parm like the recipe suggested, but gosh! Everything can't be covered in parm or can it? I also made mushroom gnocchi and tried air frying half the mushrooms which might have given it a richer more umami flavour. The bacon might also have helped! I think it was worth the extra effort.

Back to the hot honey! Last night I had some of my bread toasted with some stilton cheese crumbled onto it and then drizzled with the hot honey. Stilon is good but with honey, on top of crunchy bread was awesome! The only thing that would have stepped it up another notch would have been walnuts in the bread - next time for sure!

My facebook feed is filled with house and rv decor… it runs the gamut from horrible to amazing and sometimes there are rooms that I'd like to emulate so I save screenshots of my favorites. Well, yesterday one of my blog memories came up and the photo was of the living space in our house - I was surprised to see that there was a resemblance to some of my favorite rooms! I guess I know what I like and it's not grey. I like bright, sunny, and cheerful! With lots of blue, white and fresh green. Sometimes with a little pop of pink 😉 And for sure lots of gold accents for a little bit of bling.

My FB feed also has a plethora of cooking and recipe posts. I've saved a few recipes to try into my recipe app. I've TRIED to pick some healthy ones but obviously failed with last weeks brussels sprouts recipe (cream, butter, parm). I did save a lentil recipe which looks healthy and delicious - I'll try it this week. (assuming I get myself over this lethargic hump otherwise it will be leftovers, things from the freezer, and takeout!)

As I try to figure out what was Awesome these past few days, I realize that I've been just going through the motions and I've not been mindful. I haven't been actively looking for all the awesome things that are everywhere. That will be my goal this week - to get back into the habit of noticing and appreciating the wonder that is around us.

When you try something new to eat and don't immediately like it, do you persevere and keep trying it or do you dismiss it as a possibility? Last week I got some protein powder to have in the morning to start my day. Well, I don't normally eat anything until lunch, and certainly nothing that can have the powder mixed into it, so I added it to my coffee. Yuck. But it was the easiest option so I kept up with it, getting better at whisking all the lumps out and now! I love it! It makes my coffee into a special treat 😀 

Awesome!

“laundry all done for the week”

“morning coffee with vanilla protein powder whisked in”

“so many birds at the feeder - we've even had some Northern Flickers this year”