And so It Begins.

This is actually the post I tried to post yesterday but was unable due to some kind of stuff happening with my computer - today all is good (so far, fingers crossed) 


Yesterday was Sean's final Provincial exam and the official end of the school year.

Last night was Awards night at his school.  He was getting two awards.

He didn't dress for the occasion.

Both boys were so unimpressed with the evening's events that Adam stayed home.

In his report card envelope today, along with the two awards last night, were four additional certificates of accomplishments and excellence.  He's such a keener.

 A month into his first year of high school he said to me "If the teachers think you like them they give better grades.  You just have to smile and ask them how they are". 

That's actually a good life skill.

I wonder how often he uses that ploy on me?

He phoned me at work about 2:30 today - "I'm bored"

And so summer vacation begins.......

Hair Do's - and Don'ts

This is a California Quail - there are thousands of them in our area and they eat the seeds I plant in my garden or they eat the vegetables that grow in my garden.

They are kinda cute and they run funny.

The chicks are adorable

When they aren't eating things in my garden they spend their time on the road, dodging cars.

When I first moved here I noticed that the women/girls copied the style of the Quail - not in the way they run but the hair style. I called it the Quail-Do but I found out recently (during Margarita night) that it was known as the Claw of Bangs usually worn with a pony-tail.

 You know how they say that people start to look like their pets after a while?  

We looked like our wildlife.

I'm FInished

   Several of you know that from time to time I post articles that are not my own.  I give credit where I can but I don't always have that information.

This came to me in the form of an e-mail.

Once again, I don't know the author of these words to be able to give credit, but  not only would I  like to thank them but would love to meet them.  I feel they might have been looking through  my window - seeing all the things I've started and meant to get back to but either ran out of steam, interest or time.

CALMNESS IN OUR LIVES 

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. 

Dr Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished."

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates, and a half bottle of scotch. 

You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.

The 50/ 50 Rule

The 50/50/90 rule: Anytime you have a 50/50 chance of getting something right, there’s a 90% probability you’ll get it wrong.

 Today I told my husband I would recover the drivers seat in our boat.  It had a few splits in it and I thought before it got too bad I should fix it.  I'm not sure what hallucination I had that made me think I could do this, but it is a job far beyond my abilities.

Before I could go back and say "I changed my mind"  there he was with the upholstery removed from the seat and  handing it over to me.

oh oh

Boating season has already begun and it is very short.  A drivers seat is a necessity.

So I did what any sane person would do. I poured a lemonade and went and sat on the deck in the sun for about thirty minutes wondering how much a new boat seat would cost.

Then I tackled the job.

About an hour and a half and the seat is together - it should look like  this:

It doesn't - it is much smaller.
Getting the foam in and stapling it to the frame will be like me trying to wedge myself in a pair of pants that are two sizes too small.  They might go on but the end result will not be attractive.

I am hoping for a miracle.

Meantime here are some photos of Bluenose mountain and my yard

Wild Lupins on Bluenose Mountain

View from the top of Bluenose looking down on the community we live in.

Peonies in my back yard

Peonies in my house

 Poppies in my back yard

Poppies in my front yard

 

This is a picture of the spinach slaw salad that I posted a recipe for last week - yum.  I think it's the dressing that makes this salad so delicious.

We finished the retaining wall.

And finally this is the dog Archie doing his second most favorite thing.

Wasted Away in Margaritaville

I love that song - Jimmy Buffet is awesome.  I  looked for him several years ago during a trip I took to to Key West but only found his bar.

You can listen to him here with Alan Jackson while you read on......

The smell of the sea and the flowers and the tourists! what a great place.

I shopped, went scuba diving,  saw Ernest Hemingways house, the Audubon house, the treasure Mel Fisher recovered from the Atocha ship wreck, several restaurants, an equal number of bars, cigarette boat races, scuba diving and the Fantasy Fest. Did all that in  5 days. 

Whew! Exhausting.

But I digress. 

The reason I mention Margaritaville was our monthly ladies club get together.
  A group of nearly menopausal lovelies get together and eat, drink, gossip and bond.  Thursday night was Brigitte's turn.
The evening always starts at 6:30 - appies and drinks followed by dinner and drinks and then dessert and drinks.
Briggie's theme of the evening was lime.
Lime Margarittas, lime and pepper chips, veggies with lime chipolte dip.
Grilled frenched lamb chops with a spicy lime garlic sauce Chicken breasts with Chili Lime dressing.  And for dessert Key Lime Pie.

I suspect we will not have to worry about scurvy for the next few weeks. 

Everything was delicious. 

Particularly the Margaritas which I had to try several times just to be sure.

Margarita
1 (12 oz.) can frozen limeade concentrate
12 oz. tequila (choose a good brand because the flavor will come through)
6 oz. Cointreau or Triple Sec
12 oz water
12 oz.beer
2 Safeway Select frozen Lime Bars
ice
1 lime, cut into wedges

Put limeade, tequila, Cointreau, water, beer and frozen lime bars into a large blender and process til the frozen limeade and bars are crushed up. Add plenty of ice and blend until slushy and the large ice chunks are sippable sizes. Garnish with lime wedges. Adjust with additional water, if needed .
We did not dilute - that might have been where we went wrong.



Spicy Lime Dip for the Lamb Chops
1/2 Cup fresh Lime Juice
6 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
3 Jalapeno Peppers chopped very finely (B used canned)
2 - 3 cloves Garlic chopped finely
1 tbsp Rosemary fresh and finely chopped
Mix well and let sit for at least 4 hours

Serve on grilled but still rare chops cut from a rack of spring lamb


Chicken with Chili Lime Sauce
 4 boned Chicken Breasts sliced into strips
shake on  Chili powder until the chicken is well covered

In a separate bowl mix:
Zest and Juice of two Limes
1/3 Cup olive Oil
2 - 3 crushed Garlic Cloves
1/4 cup finely minced Onion

Put Chicken and Marinade into a zippered bag, squeeze out the air and let sit in fridge all day (or at least 4 hours)  Stick skewers through the chicken, place on a tray, pour marinade over top and bake in a 400 deg oven for about 20 minutes but this depends on the size you made your strips watch closely and I am sure this is not so delicious if the chicken dries out.

So yesterday I suffered lime overdose but I think the previous evening made it worth every painful moment,.