When Company Comes

My baby brother and sis-in-law arrived at noon (in San Diego) from the east coast, one week ago today. What a treat!

An outdoor lunch (by the beach) at the Hotel Del was in order.

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Day 2 – We gave them the scenic tour of our surrounding areas. My sis-in-law shot this stunning image from Point Loma.

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Brother and sis enjoy Point Loma.

There are days I wish I had taken more images, but the memories we made are priceless.

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On over to Balboa Park – image of the Japanese Gardens. The only image I took in the beautiful park.

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Day 3 – The couple took off for a day-trip in San Diego. They enjoyed breakfast on the harbor, strolled thru Seaport Village, took a 2 hour boat cruise, had lunch on the water and enjoyed their day.

Day 4 – We all took a little drive up into the mountains to visit the town of Julian.

The lama on the street corner was pretty cool.

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And hot fresh apple pie, it’s what we came for.

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Served up with cinnamon ice-cream. Good eating under a nice shade tree.

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We all got a little chuckle over the signs out front of one of the shops.

True story – The gal running the place asked us (after we took our shots) to refrain from taking pictures. We may or may not have wanted to meet her family – read signs below. All in good humor, of course.

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Sis with a bear cap…Truly a fun family day of shopping.

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Day 5 – Enjoyed spending a bit of time in La Jolla – What a beautiful hilly seaside community. Cute couple too!

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And then we went to our favorite spot (Jake’s restaurant in Del Mar) on the ocean for dinner. My salmon dish was so good. And everyone’s plate was equally as good. And we declare they serve the best calamari on the face of the earth. Amen.

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After dinner picture at the homestead.

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Day 6 – The day we said goodbye. But the memories will stay with us forever.

Day 7 & 8 – I’m still trying to find myself. On day 7, I had two naps. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. And we were in bed by 9:30PM. A sign we had a lot of fun this week.

On a good note – I’m caught up on the laundry, the garden was given much TLC this morning and the weekend will be here soon.

Blessings – Debbie

Our Productive Weekend

It’s Monday! And as I reflect over the weekend, I gotta tell ya, it was a good one.

Some may question what two people do with over 20 tomato plants. Well, the short answer is this. It keeps us busy in the kitchen, side by side with our cutting boards and dueling knives.

So over the weekend, we made two different salsa recipes. The dutch oven below is getting piled high with a batch we were preparing to cook for 3.5 hours. It turned out really good!

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And we made tomato bisque + grilled cheese sandwiches.

I’ve despised tomato soup since childhood, but I could eat the entire batch of tomato bisque.

We’re certainly getting our fair share of vitamin C.

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Our drainage, pavers and retaining wall project is complete, all the way around to the front of the house. Happy JOY! It’s done folks, DONE! Truly hard for us to believe as we’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time.

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The clean-up crew has a few more things to tidy and there is some happy gardening and furnishings on the way…In time…

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We’re thrilled with the productive weekend and looking forward to this new week.

Blessings – Debbie

My To Do List is Shrinking – Or Is It

Happy Friday! I hope you’re having a delightful day.

News Flash – IT RAINED TODAY! That’s big news out here in Southern California.

So this week is flying at record speeds for me. And I’m thankful my to do list is shrinking.

  • Finished editing (our nephews) Sr Pictures – will have CD in the mail tomorrow
  • Harvest tomatoes – I had a count of 78 ripe tomatoes (in the kitchen) yesterday. Big things are happening with our bumper crop!
  • The hubs ordered a food mill last weekend = we’re making a large batch of tomato bisque this weekend.
  • Spent 2 + hours each morning in the garden, it’s what I love.

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One of the things crossed off the list, is a “hair-cut” appointment (yes, I’m cutting it off) scheduled for next week. Truth be told, I’m having second thoughts. That means I have plenty of time to change my mind another 10 – 20 times between now and then, right?

The little breakfast nook is coming right along. From the succulent pots in the window, the painted fork and spoon and the hubs hung the valances for me last weekend.

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Afternoon Labor of Love – So we made salsa last Sunday afternoon. It’s something we could not wait to make with our fresh tomatoes, bell and jalapeño peppers from the garden. Good stuff right there…In fact, another batch is in the works.

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Since this is not the hubs Friday off weekend, it’s my day to play catch-up in the house before the weekend.

Cheers to crossing a bunch of chores off the list such that I can have a nice weekend of rest with the hubs.

I suppose that means it’s time to add more things to the list of thing to do. Isn’t that the way it goes?

Blessings – Debbie

LA for the Weekend

Last Friday, the hubs and I made our way to LA.

That evening we got to meet our daughters boyfriend’s parents and sister.

We did it  up right with BBQ dinner at Lucille’s. Allow me to say, their baby back ribs are fall off the bone tender and yummy and messy. Oh my goodness! And they brought warm rolled cloths (to the table) after our meal. I call that great service.

Then we went to Cold Stone for some ice cream.

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And then we partied ’til the early morning hours in Koreatown, at this really cool Korean karaoke place.

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Fun times!

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Daddy daughter team.

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While the hubs was singing…(He was singing a special song “to rme” – Makes me happy.)

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the rest of the gang were finding favorite songs to cue.

One of the groups favorite of the night was Yellow Submarine – we all got a big kick out of that.

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Singing a song

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Gotta love it – I believe they were singing Mamma Mia and they danced the entire song.

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Getting ready for her song…

And sometime in the early morning hours, we grew a little weary and called it a crazy fun day and night to remember. We shut the place down!

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The next morning (Saturday) we took a stroll down to the beach for brunch.

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And what do you know?

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We happened on Jillian Michaels summer shape up.

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I didn’t bother counting all of the tents and crew, but it was quite the turnout.

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She had the place rockin’

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I walked all the way around and got as close to her as I could.

She’s in the image below up on the stage between the two flags with a  cap. See her?

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And then we found the perfect spot for brunch.

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Cute little picture as we were leaving.

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And then we were off to Dodger Stadium to watch our Cardinals play ball!

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Good Year kept us company all afternoon.

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Here we have a few of the hubs friends from St Louis.

I’ll say the hubs did an amazing job coordinating this super fun event. He even scored tickets just 13 rows from the field and close to the home plate.

There were 16 of us total.

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It was a sad day for Cardinal fans, but we still rallied at the 7th inning stretch.

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Friends at the game – I think they were discussing a Cardinal comeback.

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But our friend need not say a word – He truly shows that our Cardinals were out there looking like a bunch of clowns. It was pathetic…Almost laughable.

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Then a few of us gathered at a Mexican joint to finish the day.

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And the hubs and I made it home sweet home a little after midnight.

We’ve been trying to catch up on rest ever since.

I think we are finally back into the swing of things.

And we are truly looking forward to this upcoming three day weekend. Although I think we have plans to keep it as low key as possible. Sounds good to me!

Blessings – Debbie

Gardening + Beach + Root-Rot

Just so you know (up front), the root-rot has nothing to do with gardening. And everything to do with “my” roots, literally.

This past weekend was one of those really nice three day weekends with the hubs. It’s the kind of weekend I love where we spend time gardening, living outdoors, cooking on the grill and eating outdoors.

The hubs picked his first round of jalapeño peppers.

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And our first round of corn. Actually, we had fresh corn a couple of times over the weekend.

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He seeded his peppers + added a concoction of cream cheese + spices + sharp cheddar cheese + bacon. He said they were yummy. I do know this, they had to be good. And I wish my tummy were able to handle these things like it used to. Oh well…

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The corn was yummy too! In fact, the hubs did a fine job serving up yummy meals over the weekend. Trust.

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Then Monday rolled around. First up, I had plans to visit the fair with my girlfriend. However, we learned (over the weekend) the fair was closed on Monday.

Then I made a plan to have my blood-work done. The reminder (see image below) was attached (Sunday evening) to the right source as a reminder to stay away until after my blood-work was finished. Somehow I forgot about my reminder early Monday morning as I was making breakfast and lunch for the hubs. And then is when I accidentally tossed some fresh watermelon my way while making his lunch.

Oops!

May as well bring on the coffee too after a stunt like that. So I did.

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And just like that, I made a new plan, while enjoying my coffee. It’s my philosophy, when one plan fails, make a new one.

Worked for me, as I went to the beach.

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Enjoyed a little sand between my toes.

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Truly enjoyed shopping along the boardwalk.

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Does shopping get any better? Well for me, I’m not much of a shopper to begin with. Should you see me at the mall, you know it’s one of those once every six month sort of visits, when I really need something. And once I nail what I need, I’m out of there.

However, should you see me in and out of old shops filled with antiques, or shops with pottery and art, or any sort of funky cool stuff. Look out, I could stay in places like that for days…

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Then Tuesday rolled around. I was so excited for Tuesday! Never-mind the image, I did some crazy stuff to it in Photoshop just for fun cause that’s the way I roll.

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But the reason I was so excited is…it was time to take care of root-rot! I love the fact that my hair is growing, but those pesky grays have a way of making themselves known. If you know what I mean. Now that that’s taken care of, I’m sure I’ll be sharing some more stuff soon. Stay tuned!

Blessings – Debbie

Summertime

Is For…

  • Enjoying nice long days
  • Dinner on the patio
  • Firing up the grill for things like shrimp, chicken and burgers…

I cleaned up a mess of these guys for dinner last evening.

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  • Finding my way to bed somewhere around 9PM and waking sometime around 5:30AM. I love my waking hours in the light and sleeping when it’s dark.
  • Changing nail polish every 4 or so days. This was the color applied yesterday.

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  • Enjoying sunset hikes with the hubs. Images taken this week with my cell.

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  • Bumping into Neighbors – It’s fun to bump into neighbors (on our way home) on these summer sunset hikes. They were interested in seeing the progress in our backyard, so we had them over + she brought us a nice sack of fresh fruit from their garden. We shared tomato plants + red pepper plants with them.

We’ve had several neighbors check out the place this week.

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  • No AC needed for the month of June – Loving our cool So Cal breeze
  • Fresh produce from the garden
  • The hubs planted pumpkin over the weekend – Here’s what it looked like yesterday.

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Here’s what it looks like this morning. We are big fans of these little greenhouse type trays to start plants. We pick them up from Home Depot.

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  • Beverages and visits on the patio
  • Reading good books – This month, the book club is reading “The Art Forger by Barbara A. Shapiro – two thumbs up = I’m loving it! It’s where my nose will be a good chunk of today.

Happy Summertime, Everyone!

Blessings – Debbie

A Weekend to Remember

I remember so many wonderful things over the weekend. So I guess it’s time to document these precious memories.

Memories like this rose blossoming – it was fun to watch over the last couple of days.

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And catching this vivid pop of purple. I’m not really fond of this plant, but I think the flowers that shoot up are simply spectacular.

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The dragonfly found a new place to rest. Last weekend the hubs and I used a sledgehammer on a faux rock. And the old supports are the last thing standing. Turns out, the dragonfly loves his new perch.

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Another form from a different spot.

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This guy has been soaring in the yard for years. I’m a bit sentimental but had the notion to shoo him away get rid of it. Turns out, the hubs has a bit sentiment too. I think he stays.

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Projects – Outdoor projects continue and work is still being done on the side of the house. The guys dug a new trench and pipe was tied into the backyard for proper drainage to the street. We look forward to next week new progress on the project.

While they were here, we had them chop down the smaller faux rock. It’s exciting to see things evolve around here, making this home sweet home our own.

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There was a bit of weed pulling and rose deadheading.

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Tomato picking and eating. Talk about the yum factor, let me tell you, that guy was so good!

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Happy Father’s Day Wishing – I called my pops to wish him a very Happy Father’s Day. And found this old faded out pic that holds priceless memories of pop, me and my brothers. He was taking us to bedebye. Love that he always had room for us and he still does with all of his heart.

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Friends – Friends invited us to their home for dinner last evening.

And when the “Hostess With the Mostess” can strike a pose in the midst of lobster preparation with all the fixins’, she’s pretty amazing. What a tasty meal last night!

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Fun with friends…

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You guys, now it’s time to pay close attention. See this bouRsin box? Well it’s not just any old box. It holds something very special. The Garlic & Fine Herbs GOURMET CHEESE is nothing short of a party in your mouth. So I just HAD to take this image such that I can find it in Trader Joe’s during my next visit.

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I love the festive handle on her cheese spreader gadget.

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And while I’m visiting Trader Joe’s, I plan to pick up a package of this too! And hey you guys, if you have a Trader Joe’s, and you have not tried these packages of cheese, I urge you to give cheese a chance. I’m telling you, SO good!

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I can’t think of anything more exciting to nibble on while preparing dinner. The olives were SO good too!

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+ A few veggies and a fiesta dip I made up to share.

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The hubs took the reins over the grill while Jerry looked on.

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I think this is the part when they decided it was time to flip the lobster.

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And peace was signed. And all was well.

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And the lobster was looking good! Image shot before the flip…

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Time to take those bad boys off the grill…

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The hubs adding holders for the sweet corn.

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Let us eat! All I can say is this – Everything was positively delish!

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Sweet Kitty – I’m just sad my camera scared Kitty and this is the only shot I was able to get.

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We truly had a wonderful weekend worth remembering.

Blessings – Debbie

A Stroll Does the Soul Good

An early morning visit in the garden on a pretty Friday morning, does my heart and soul good.

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Seeing this rosebush covered with roses is truly a sight to behold. Especially since it only bloomed not even a handful of roses last year. My hat is off to fertilizer and all the beauty that happens when the roses are loved.

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I had my little stroll following the sprinklers this morning. Perfect timing!

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Then I checked on the produce patch. And what I really want to do is pluck this ear of sweet corn and eat it raw, right there in the garden.

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Remember the image of this guy a few days ago? Well it’s getting so big! I also noticed quite a few more melon coming along. Fingers crossed for some good summer sweet watermelon.

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I’m so glad it’s Friday. For a number of reasons. A: We have gardening plans up our sleeves this weekend B: We’re making chicken Fajitas and rice for dinner tonight C: It’s FRIDAY! What more can I say, the weekend fun is about to commence!

Happy Weekend Friends!

Blessings – Debbie

Bits and Pieces

Getting Overhauled

Well I’m up for new lenses.

I could already tell my eyes were failing. Turns out, I am in dire need of a bit more oomph. You have no idea how excited I am that I’ll be seeing crystal clear soon! Totally “LOOKING” forward to it.

As of last Thursday, my frames were shipped to the lab.

And I feel blind wearing my old frames/lenses from 3 years ago.

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The nose piece hurts my nose – Band-Aids are applied to either side (see image above) for relief. Now all I need is a little sympathy. Perhaps the string orchestra, or even a little violin would work.

On the bright and cheerful sunny side of life, at least I have my old computer glasses. While the prescription is weak, I can still see for reading and computer work.

News to me – I found out I have asteroid hyalosis in my left eye. It’s a benign condition, but something my Dr. will monitor.

The hubs and I both had such a positive experience with our new Optometrist. So much so, that we can finally say the search is over (for our Eye Dr.) after 4.5 years out west.

Monday Happenings

A stroll thru the garden first thing this morning was such a blessing – I especially find our roses add cheerful greetings. I started applying rose fertilizer (every two months) this year and the difference is huge. Trust. And apply to your roses if you haven’t already.

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So far we have 14 roses and I’m looking to add more. In fact, I was talking to the hubs over the weekend of how I would like to start some roses from seed in the near future. It sounds much more exciting than purchasing from the local nursery.

Water drops (from the sprinkler) on the rosebud this morning.

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Lunch

I can’t think of a better place to have lunch in the summer. Or in the fall. Or in the winter. Or in the spring.

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The sound of birds chirping and the waterfall are all the music I need to enjoy this yummy salad. The only thing missing, is fresh tomatoes from the garden and the hubs. I really wish we lived close enough for him to come home for lunch.

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While having lunch, I played with the camera. And took this shot of the bubbles on my glass. It’s crazy the little things that cause a girl to put her fork down to play.

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Other Monday chores include laundry and a few other household things. Things that may or may not make a pretty picture. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Back to work! And wishing the very best to you on this first Monday in June. Can you believe it’s June already?

Blessings – Debbie

Feeling Blessed This Week

There is much to be thankful for. We’re especially thankful for each other and time spent with friends.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner out with friends Thursday evening, to kick off our 4 day weekend. We celebrated three birthdays. The hubs, mine and our friend Jules. I call my one friend Julie “Jules”. But it was quite comical as we couples had two Julie’s in the group. The couples kept calling the other Julie “The Other Julie”.

The hubs insists we celebrate my birthday all weekend. So he’s treating me to another birthday dinner and dessert tonight.

Thankful for the book club girls – Mid week, we gathered, we visited over coffee, lemon cake and fruit, we discussed around 20 questions our amazing moderator (Sue) put together (our book – The Last Aloha by Gaellen Quinn), we had lunch and spent the early afternoon visiting…What a great day and visit. Love these ladies! Wish I had all of us in the shot.

I needed a nap (that afternoon) to refresh, before spending the evening hours with the hubs.

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Vegetable garden – Our garden is producing some really exciting things these days. Exciting things! Like tomatoes…

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Our little cherry tomatoes flourish…

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Backyard Progress – Remember where I left off the last time? Here’s an image to remind you.

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And this image is hot off the press, early this morning.

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We hope this is all a memory very soon.

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It truly is worth the mess in order to make progress. We’re hopeful to have this part of the project wrapped up by next weekend.

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A view from the other side – We’ve given several vegetable plants away this week. We were hoping to get rid of a lot more. Now we’re trying to figure out what to do with all the leftovers…

In other news, we’re enjoying our jacaranda tree in “almost” full purple bloom. As is the oleander tree in pretty white bloom. We certainly enjoy the punch of color.

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Now to enjoy the next couple of days with the hubs…Feeling blessed this Memorial Day weekend…And remembering those who gave all…

Blessings – Debbie

Let There be Cheesecake + Projects

After a week filled with progress and change around the home, it was nice to chill this weekend. Plus it was good for the hubs to get his rest to shake that nasty cold.

It was good to have friends (Julz and Jerry) stop by Saturday evening for a nice visit.

And do you know what they did? They brought us some chocolate cheesecake…

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From The Cheesecake Factory. Now that right there is Sweet Love!

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And over the weekend the hubs and I spent time in the garden and spent some more time at the local “Home Depot”.

I picked up a boatload of color samples for the guest bath.

Then came home and scattered the paper samples all over the bathroom. And spent a day picking out 5 different samples that I thought would work in the room.

Then went back to the Home Depot and picked up the samples of paint and splashed it in swatches over the walls.

And guess what happened next? Well it seemed to take a split second to decide which one I liked the best. And I was astounded with how easy the choice was in this room.

And then I asked the hubs what he thought about the one I liked the best and he agreed with my first choice. Let the joy-bells ring!

So folks, this is the room where I will be spending quality time this week.

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And I plan to tackle those baseboards with paint while I’m at it.

Fingers crossed it makes my heart sing in the end.

Until next time…

Blessings – Debbie

Baking ~ Gardening ~ Friends ~ Painting

There’s much to be said since I last posted.

And I have a moment to jump on in and post my heart out. Here goes.

I left the blog hanging with my bread making class last Thursday.

Last Friday evening, I was all set to put the lid on this baby and pop it in the oven for dinner. Like so.

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And the next thing I recall is this.

  • I had our butter “room temperature” and ready.
  • The camera was ready to take the image right out of the oven
  • The “bread cutting” knife and cutting board were ready
  • We did not bother with the cooling of the bread on a rack phase. No siree! We took a knife to this bad boy right there on the spot.
  • Butter was slathered and we were overcome with the yummy goodness of homemade bread.

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I may or may not have had anything else but bread and butter for dinner. Ok, I had the bread for my meal and the hubs had his bread as an appetizer + he had it with turkey, taters and green beans. Yup, I just had the fresh hot bread.

And Saturday morning we made toast. Oh my word, I can’t decide how I like it best. All I can say is this “By now, it’s a very good memory.”

Last Saturday we worked in the garden. We transplanted tomatoes, corn and peppers.

And I caught the hubs on camera taking a much needed break.

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I pulled a bucket of weeds.

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And the roses were fertilized – What a delight to see the assorted roses in bloom. This particular rose is called “Sun Flare”.

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And Saturday afternoon, our friends came over to spend the evening. Actually, we went out for a nice dinner. Then stopped by the Cheesecake Factory for our dessert. And came back to our place for a visit into the evening.

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Painting – My “To-Do” list calls for a little more painting in the house. Next up = the powder room.

While it’s the smallest room in the house, it has been one painful experience after another, starting with the valance.

To make a long story short, I still don’t have the valance, as I learned they don’t carry a large assortment in stores these days. In fact, Macy’s had nothing, zero, zilch in the store. But that’s ok, as I’ve decided that I’m going with a white valance.

This is the powder room before image.

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This “was” my inspirational color (on Pinterest) for that room.

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After 5 trips to the Home Depot and 8 different samples splashed in the powder room (this week), I have the color that makes my heart sing. Now to wait for the hubs to come home, as it’s just as important for him to like it too…

Note: I had a color close to what you see in the inspiration image, it’s just not visible in the image below. Hard as I try, the inspirational color did not work with the counter and flooring color in the room. But finding something that makes my heart sing, is so much better.

P.S. After posting the image (below) on Facebook, the hubs asked if Goldilocks had painted this room. It’s too cute to not make a note on the blog.

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I purchased two really cheap brushes such that I could have what I needed to try 4 samples yesterday. Note to self: Do not use those cheap sample brushes. The bristles they leave to dig out of wet paint are not worth it.

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One last blurb – The hubs spied our very first tomato Monday evening. We are so excited!

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As I think over the last few days and how far along I wanted to be on the painting this week, I’m reminded again – some things are worth the wait and all the extra miles it takes to get the happy end result.

Until next time…

Blessings – Debbie

Almost No-Knead Artisan Bread

Bread Making Class – So my sweet neighbor provided bread making lessons for the ladies this morning.

And I wrote a little letter before the lesson to the flour and components. It went something like this…

Dear Flour + Components, If you turn out anything like the bread Janene makes, you are going to be “So Yummy”!

Love, Me

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And out the door I went with my bowl + 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour and spatula. Janene supplied the rest of the ingredients for us. How sweet of her!

I’m bringing the bread lesson to the blog, for review, just in case I need it. Sometimes I need these things. So here goes. I’ve included the notes from Janene along with the recipe. Everyone needs a note here and there, right?

Almost No-Knead Bread

  • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast (I buy a jar of rapid rise) – She adds a heaping 1/4 tsp.
  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt – Exact amount for the salt
  • 1 cup + 4 Tbsp. water – Did you know 4 Tbsp = 1/4 cup = good to know
  • 1 Tbsp. white vinegar

NOTE:  May need a tad more water if needed to absorb all the flour – My leveled off three cups of flour did not need additional drops of water.

Whisk flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl.

Add water and vinegar. Using a rubber spatula, fold mixture scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

We may or may not have told Janene that we would be showing up in 18 hours for the next step – In our PJ’s no less. 😉

Lay 12 x 18 inch of parchment paper over bowl and spray with Pam.

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She uses the Kirkland brand from Costco.

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Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface… Lucky for us, she made a batch last evening to sit at room temp for 18 hours, to show us the next step.

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Fun – FUN!

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Just about ready to dump out the dough.

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Out of the bowl and transferred to the prepared surface.

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And scooping out the last bit of dough.

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Then knead 10 to 15 times.

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Add more flour to the work surface as needed. She said “don’t be afraid to add more flour to the prepared surface and into the folds, girls!”

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Knead

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And finally kneading into a ball.

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Shape dough into a ball by pulling edges to the middle.

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How beautiful is that?

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Then transfer dough, seam side down to parchment paper lined bowl.

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It’s getting there…

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Then cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger…approximately 2 hours.

For this process, Janene turned her oven on “bake” for just about 30 seconds to warm the oven. Then turned the oven “OFF”

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After the oven was turned off, she placed her bowl into the oven to sit and rise for the 2 hours.

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About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to the second from bottom shelf (the rack just below the pot in the upper photo) for baking the bread.

If you are using the two hour oven method to allow the bread to rise, be sure to take out the bread for the following step. Unless you have more than one oven.

Then heat the oven to 450°. Put dutch oven (or heavy pot) covered with a lid in the oven and keep the empty, covered pot in the oven for 30 min to preheat the pot.

Her go-to bread making pot and lid.

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Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot letting excess parchment hang over pot edge.

Cover and place in oven and bake for 25 min.

Remove lid and continue to bake 5 min to brown the top of bread.

Carefully remove bread from pot and transfer to wire rack to cool.

And if you are anything like me, it will not cool for long as I will be ready for warm bread and butter…Ahhh…

*Note – Janene did say that after the original 8 – 18 hours sitting at room temperature, the bread can go into the refrigerator for a day or so before baking. Once you are ready to bake, simply remove from the refrigerator and go to the next 2 hour step.

If you are making this, I hope yours turns out as yummy as the bread Janene makes.

You know what really upsets me? I mean really, I had my camera all ready to go to the class and left it sit right there on the counter. And all images, except the first image of me were taken with the cell phone. Makes me sad, but I’m still happy I took the pictures. Goodness knows I work better with the step by step process.

Edited after I made mine as I made a few changes. Here’s what I did…

Purchased a new Dutch Oven – I didn’t have one.

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  • Let my mixed dough mixture sit for 12 hours and put in the refrigerator over night.
  • Took the dough out of the refrigerator at 1PM (Did not jump into the next 2 hour step from there) and let sit without disturbing for two hours.
  • Then went to the kneading step and let sit in oven (heated for 30 seconds then turned OFF) 2.5 hours.
  • Did not preheat my dutch oven as the manual for my new pot clearly states “Do not heat empty Dutch oven. So I didn’t.
  • Then placed pot with dough in oven and baked for 27 min (covered) I thought it needed a little more time (the recipe calls for 25 min covered) to bake as my pot was not preheated.

DSC_2440Then took the lid off to brown for an additional 7 minutes.

After all that, I came to the conclusion that this recipe is no-fail! You really can’t mess this up.

I love how crispy it was on the outside and I especially love the CHEW of this bread. So good!

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Blessings – Debbie

Hey ~ Hey

Hey Peeps! It’s been too long. What’s up? I hope all is well in your world.

We just finished enjoying a nice 3 day weekend.

To kick it off, the hubs sent a message Thursday afternoon, asking if I would like to join him for a dinner date.

This is me (ready for my date) waiting for the hubs to get home from work Thursday evening. What a wonderful way to start the weekend!

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We also spent a good deal of time at Home Depot. I think we made 3, if not 4 trips over the weekend.

I picked up a handful of green samples.

And pretty much picked out the (green) color for the walls in the guest bath and powder room.

The painting part of this chore is for next month.

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Another run to Home Depot – This is the run we purchased the rock for the retaining wall in the backyard. It should be delivered sometime this week.

Hopefully we’ll have another backyard update soon.

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Saturday Morning – I went to check out our neighbors yard-sale. I came home with a beautiful rose tree and 3 nice rose bushes. Now to find just the right spot in the garden for these beauties.

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And Sunday, we went to our neighbors St Paddy’s Day party. What a treat!

We took this pot of gold for the host.

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It was a also a weekend infused with a whole lot of dining out.

  • Thursday = Mexican
  • Friday = Pei Wei
  • Saturday = Panera Bread
  • Sunday Lunch = 5 Guys
  • Sunday Dinner = St Patrick’s Day dinner party + dessert

Um, I hate to even tell you what is going on with my healthy eating journey. But I think I just made it pretty obvious.

Let’s just say, I hope to be back on April 1st with a much better report.

Cheers to a wonderful weekend with the hubs and a new week with a fresh start!

And here’s wishing all of you a glorious week.

Blessings – Debbie

Happiness Is

Getting my camera out and finding a fun subject (the dandelion) to shoot.

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And blow the dandelion, then take another shot.

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And cutting my bangs right before my lunch date. Well, not in the parking lot, but about 5 minutes before it was time to head out.

I really don’t think I’m ready to grow them out. But the rest of the hair continues to grow.

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My girlfriend and I met (for lunch) at Panera Bread. Makes me happy.

And I was nearly half way finished with my lunch when I remembered to take a shot of my lunch. In case you did not read earlier, I’m doing my best to take images (this month) of  the food I eat when dining out. + I believe it will help to make healthy choices.

I had the turkey chili with an apple. And it was a delight to catch up with my dear buddy Sarah.

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P.S. The above photo was manipulated in photoshop by using tools in the filter gallery to give an artsy look to a not so pretty picture. I’m still not so sure it looks artsy, but I went with it. 🙂

As for the rest of the day, food shopping and house work are well underway.

Blessings – Debbie