Monthly Archives: March 2012

A Walk in the Fog

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Good Day!  It’s been a rather enjoyable morning and day here in the neighborhood.

The day started off with a dense layer of fog and the temps were just a little chilly at 58 on the bare arms.  But by late morning the sun was shining and melted both the fog and chill right away.

My chilly hike started here.

Once I start truckin’ the hills, the chill soon wore off.

And I’m on my way thru another successful week of exercise and eating for my health.

I adore my neighbor’s yard.  Especially now that those climbing roses are in full bloom.

My hike ended on a high as I met some more friendly neighbors.  We even stopped for a nice little visit.  I just love mornings like this.

After my hike and shower, I fixed my newly cut hair and took a few pix such that I can remember the day and the cut.

I love this style, it’s so easy to blow dry and go.  I also think it’s going to be a fun summer cut.

Now on to a few afternoon chores as I’m trying to get the home ready for the weekend.  Tomorrow is hubby’s Friday off.

With that I leave into the weekend with a happy heart and so much to be thankful for.

Blessings – Debbie

I'm Blown Away

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Not only was it a blustery day.  It was also a day to try a new hairstylist for the umpteenth time since our move to San Diego.  To say I was blown away with my cut, would be an understatement.

 I had no idea it could take this long to find someone who understood just what I wanted.

When trying to explain this cut to other stylists, they would constantly texturize the cut.  Later I would ask them not to texturize.

Please don’t texturize, I would plead.  Only to be shot down saying texturizing was a must.  I’m not a fan when they do that.  While I’m nice and generous with their tip, that’s the last they see of me.

Then today, just like magic my “new” hairdresser saw the state of my hair and frustration as I explained just what I wanted.  And for the first time in years, I knew I was completely understood.

Not only was I understood, but I quickly relaxed as I knew this was not my average stylist.  And even tho the salon is a little further drive than I would like, I can’t imagine going anywhere else.

Sometimes it takes a while to land on just the right stylist.  But oh is it ever worth it when you find just the one.  It’s been nearly 6 years for me to have had a positive experience like this.  I’m totally blown away.

Blessings – Debbie

Monday Sampler

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I would like to say “good morning!”  But here it is late evening already.  Where did Monday go?

First up, I was so excited to dig into my stash of rye toast again.  I’m feeling back to my old self. I’m so thankful.

Blessed that I learned my egg and spinach sandwich would be much better sans that peach mango salsa.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that salsa but I prefer my eggs and spinach as is, with a dash of s and p.  Blessed to have another check in the box for a lesson learned.

Today made their third day on display.  I think I’ll be a big fan of this bud vase all summer long.

My Twin Nieces – Can it be they are graduating from high school already?  It doesn’t seem that long ago when I rushed to the hospital to meet them, on the day they were born.

They’ve grown up to be two of the nicest young gals in the world.

I was asked to take their senior pictures over Christmas and I’m finally getting around to getting all the finishing touches done.  Fingers crossed I’m able to mail them out this week.

She has big dreams. I wish her the very best now and always.

Her “twin” sister

Her dreams are great.  My wish for her is nothing less than the best.

Presh, it’s what comes to mind while I edit their pictures.  I love them and miss them so much.

This post started late afternoon.  It was then put on hold when hubby walked thru the door.  I didn’t get back to it ’til nearly 10 pm.

Where did our evening go?  They say time flies when you’re having fun.

Blessings – Debbie

A Wild Ride

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Yesterday was pretty much a wild ride with that sore throat.  From feeling like I was hit in the head to the food choices I made, depending what my body told me to eat.  Everything was a bit out of whack.

Breakfast was a baked potato.

Lunch was a bowl of cooked carrots, mashed with some sharp cheddar cheese added to the blend.  Does that look like baby food or what?

But it sure did slide down nice ‘n easy.  There was something about the warmth with the cheese added to the carrots that made this the best lunch ever.  Does this mashed carrot concoction sound good today?  Maybe not.  I would prefer the carrots whole today, please.

Dinner was completely off the cuff.  I had thoughts whirling around all afternoon of how nice a warm batch of chocolate pudding would taste and feel going down the sore throat.  The more I thought about it, the more I knew just what to make for dinner.

Chocolate and Cherry Gelatin Pudding

Ingredients:

* Chocolate JELL-O brand Sugar Free Cook & Serve Pudding (small box – 4 serving)

* Sugar Free Cherry Low Calorie Cherry Artificial Flavor Gelatin (small box – 4 serving)

* 1 1/2 cups of water

I use less water than the 2 liquid cups like the pudding calls for.  I like this particular consistency thick.  Plus I wanted to eat it warm and didn’t want it too runny.  So 1 & 1/2 cups of water is all I use for both packages.

With medium heat and a constant stir with a whisk, bring the mixture to a solid boil, turn off the heat, pour the mixture in a container, let stand in the fridge maybe 10 min.

Then eat the whole thing while it is hot.  Did that ever hit the spot once again.

I had a lot of water throughout the day, took my vitamins and shoved a yogurt and a 1/2 banana into my system as snacks.  And what do you know?  I woke feeling like a brand new person today.  Makes me happy it didn’t last long.

My eating habits are still a little quirky today, but I’m beginning to feel like my old self.

I was well enough to run some errands with hubby.  When we returned home, I had the desire to stomp in the garden for a while.

We’re beginning to see lots of new changes in the landscape here at the new place.  This week, our rose hedge came alive with loads of rose buds.

To brighten up the family room, I brought in my favorite bud vase and added some buds from the garden.

Makes me happy.

Until next time…

Blessings – Debbie

Dinner – It's What's for Breakfast

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What’s a girl to do?  She went to bed dreaming about breakfast and woke with a sore throat.  And it feels like a cold is moving in.

No longer are my thoughts leaning towards the breakfast I dreamed of all night long, rather a bowl of nice macaroni and cheese or a baked potato.  It’s what sounds good to me for breakfast.

Even this cup of hot tea seems to soothe better than coffee.

So long for today, I’m going to go see about having a late breakfast and take it easy the rest of the day.

Blessings – Debbie

Breakfast

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Breakfast is one of those meals where I start with first things first.  That = Coffee.   I generally don’t mix coffee with the food part unless we’re out-of-town or eating out.  Not that I don’t like the two together, I do, in fact I prefer it that way.  It’s just, well you know, when I get up, I want my cup of coffee first thing.

Now when it comes to the food part, I’m not so antsy.  For whatever reason, I don’t wake up starving and some mornings I don’t actually start the food portion until 10 AM or so.   And I tend to get into the rhythm of eating the same thing over and over.

For months, I was hooked on yogurt with piece of fruit or yogurt and cottage cheese mixed together.  I’m still hooked on yogurt and have one every day, just not for breakfast nowadays.

It was traded in for a brief visit with the green monster, not long ago.  But the monster didn’t last long.  It appears some rye bread made an appearance in the house.  It totally has my undivided attention.

My new favorite breakfast revolves around, lightly toasted rye and a boiled egg.

This 6 burner gas stove is my new favorite appliance in the kitchen. Not that I’ll ever use all of those burners at the same time, but I do love cooking with gas and the additional room the stove offers.

A rolling boil, that’s what happens fast with a gas burner.  Love me some instant heat!

A boiled egg mashed over lightly toasted rye, sprinkled with a generous portion of ground black pepper and a light dash of sea salt.

Awaiting the baby spinach to make it whole.

And this my friends was Breakfast.  A very yummy satisfying breakfast.

A breakfast worthy of taking pictures, it is that good!

Another thing worthy of pictures are these magnificent blossoms from our plum-tree.  I’m completely smitten each time I see a new blossom.

And our figs are growing by the day it seems.

But the question at the end of all of this is, “do you know what I’m thinking?”  Did you guess breakfast?  Good guess. I’m thinking about breakfast and how I’m going to have my rye and egg in the morning, that is, after my cup of coffee.

What’s your favorite breakfast?

Blessings – Debbie

The Flower Fields of Carlsbad, CA

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As morning coffee was sipped, the thought came to me of getting out and doing something today.  I had a couple of thoughts A – Drive up to the mountains for a peak at the snow or B – Drive to The Flower Fields.

It turned into a short tug-of-war.  The strings of my heart tugged towards the flowers, a place where I could roam.  50 acres of flowers, it sounded wonderful.

The question when I arrived was, which way to turn.

The path along the way was perfection.

And the flowers were strikingly beautiful.

Beautiful flowers, stretching as far as the eye could see.

There were rides – Hello there sir!

And I was happy as a clam to be in the midst of it all.

What a jolly man.

So jolly.  And what a treat to see the pacific ocean from this spot too.

I like how this guy waved when he noticed the camera.

Be still my heart…The color of Carlsbad is amazing.

How many petals can a flower have?

I’d like to think that for every flower, there’s a smile.

The sweet pea maze is so cool.  There was every color imaginable climbing the fence.

Twas fun!

Hey, another tractor – What a great team of men and women working such that visitors could have a great experience.  And what a cool way to see the flowers.  I opted to stay on foot.  I got to stop and enjoy the flowers when I wanted + get my exercise.

Known for their 50 acres of flowers, I’m impressed with all the amazing things they do to make their fields shine.

Today made my 2nd annual trip to the fields.  I’m thinking this will turn into an annual tradition for years to come.

My heart is full and running over with joy.

Blessings – Debbie

Winter and Spring and A Surprise Visitor is in the Kitchen

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Good Afternoon!  I hope all is well in your world.  It’s been one of those, what shall I say, frigid blustery last three days.  But this morning was a new day and So Cal was back to beautiful springtime weather.

While I’m a lover of snow with all of its beauty, it was fun enjoying it from a bit of a distance.  Like today, the mountains in the distance are topped with snow.

We can still see a teeny bit on the tops of these guys.

But here in our world, it’s beautiful springtime.  And my morning hike was nothing short of amazing.

After my hike, I made a visit with the orange tree out back.  I think these guys will be added to smoothies in the very near future.

And then, one of the highlights of my afternoon.  Allow me to say, It’s not something most would get excited about.  But for me, It was over the top amazing and hit the spot.  That is, a piece of rye toast (lightly toasted) with a medium – hard (not too medium, not too hard) boiled egg.

Rye bread, it has to me my favorite bread ever.  And why is it that I never buy it?  If I think back over the last 10 + years, I would have to say it never once entered our home.  We have our  moments with bread.  A loaf could mold before we finish it.  Hubby is not a rye bread fan and I normally could take bread or leave it.  Perhaps I feared overeating bread if I brought the rye in.  Or it’s possible I didn’t want/need the butter on a nice hot slab of rye toast.  For whatever reason, I just never bought it.

But today, it made a grand entrance into the kitchen.  An entrance that is sure to wow me more than once in the days to come.

I have gained control over my old eating habits.  Butter was not an option, nor did I miss it.  I had just one slice and already thinking its what’s for breakfast tomorrow.

It has to be the best food reconnection ever.  And if it’s up to me, it won’t remain visitor status for long.  I plan for it to reside in the kitchen for years to come.

With that, my day is complete and looking forward to my evening with the hubs.

Blessings – Debbie

Fire ~ Smoke ~ Wind ~ Rain ~ Hail

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That’s a large portion of what our weekend looked like.  And it felt like the dead of winter.  However, we did have the bonus of a little sunshine ~ grilling ~ and patio eating before the blustery winter set in.

First off, our weekend started Thursday night when hubby walked in the door from work.  We always enjoy these longer weekends every other week.

There was a nip in the air and a fire seemed to be the thing to have in the home.  So hubby got started on it right away.

It was the perfect way to chill or shall I say relax all evening long.

When Friday morning dawned, another fire seemed the likely thing to have in the home while sipping that first cup of coffee.

The crackle, glow and warmth was much better than the heater.

But look out!  Friday afternoon we had the most amazing sunshine along with (it seems) every window in the house open.  From the screen doors to windows, the breeze was sheer bliss.

In springtime fashion, we lit the grill fires and enjoyed dinner on the patio.  The new favorite thing on our baked potato is that peach mango salsa.  So Good that we don’t need butter and all that high fat/calorie stuff on there.  P.S. My plate is not the huge dinner plate, rather a small salad plate.  And those are gilled onions there in the back with a small 2.5 oz serving of grilled chicken.

Saturday morning mother nature greeted us with some pretty massive winds, rain and hail.  She was on a mean chilly winter streak and we San Diegans thought we were in the dead of winter.

Another fire was in the works but this time, I think that crazy wind affected the chimney and it literally blew the smoke back at us, filling our little warm nest with smoke.

Every window in the house was quickly flung open and soon winter greeted our toasty warm bones with a chill.  True, it only got to 65 in the house, but for us, it felt like winter for hours as we continued to air out the house until the fire died.

We bundled up and puttered around getting a few more things crossed off the list.

As the evening hours settled in, we, in true hubby and wifey fashion, watched a few flicks and settled in for old man winter.

Winter lasted thru Sunday with more cold and rain outbursts.  And I can still hear hubby say “I can’t wait for it to warm up.”

I have a feeling we’re becoming San Diegans having forgot what winter really means.

So this Monday morning, the weather man forecasts partly cloudy skies for this area and it still feels like winter.  I think after a few days of winter, we will gladly take back our beautiful weather.

The good news, our apricot trees are in full bloom and I’m looking forward to more fruit in the days/months to come.

After this last spell of winter, I’ve already decided what I’m going to do in the next week or so.  But it has to be a day filled with abundant sunshine.  I can’t wait!

Blessings – Debbie

Not My Average Day at the Beach

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My day started off with uncertainty.  I knew my girlfriend and I were getting together and what time we were meeting.  We just didn’t have the day planned.  It was something we said we would figure out when we got together.

So when the decision was made to visit Coronado Island, it sounded like the perfect ticket for a fun-filled day.

Little did we know these sandcastles were in the making.

Soon we became bystanders taking in the detail from the steps leading into the castle to the trees surrounding this amazing fortress.

A castle next to a castle aka the Hotel Del.

It was fun to watch him work magic with his hands and tools.

It was also nice to have the soft sand between my toes.

Soon we made our way to this spot for lunch.  This pic was taken after lunch.  As you can see, the clouds rolled in.

Then we had the most amazing afternoon stroll on the island with Starbucks coffee in hand.  I had my first skinny latte ever, it was amazing.

I loved the feel and style of the homes on the island.  But this one struck me as if it leaped off the pages of Hansel and Gretel.

Oh the charm of this bike, I’m truly in love.

Friendship over coffee blended with a stroll made for a picture perfect afternoon.

I’m so thankful and blessed to have days like this.  It makes me look forward to our next visit.  Who knows what our next visit will look like, but it’s sure to be filled with love, laughter and more bonding.

Blessings – Debbie

My Cup is Full

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Good afternoon!  Is your cup full?  Well, mine just reached the overflowing part and I have some to spare.

Although the last couple of months, it hasn’t been this full.  And I’ve notice my glass at the half full mark.  There’s been a lack of things in the cup like fruit and veggies.  And I could tell my system was off.

So I was thinking this week, why not get back to my green monster that I love so much?  It’s packed full of all things good!

Today was just the day to make it happen.

I used Chobani yogurt instead of the Almond milk that I’ve used in the past.  I quite like the creaminess it produced.  It was nice and thick without adding ice.

For this full glass I used:  1 Black Cherry Chobani Yogurt + 5 oz orange + 3 oz fresh spinach = a 235 calorie beverage

I’m learning along the way that our cup doesn’t have to remain at the half full mark.  If there’s something we lack, why not fill the void in a big way?

Cheers to a full cup!

Blessings – Debbie

The Little Things

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The little things in life are well-known for bringing a great amount of pleasure.  Sometimes we need to pause and take a moment to reflect on these things.

Since our move, I longed for my good hiking shoes.  They were “packed/lost” in one of the boxes in the garage and I had no clue where to begin looking.  Leave it to hubby to have a good sense to know precisely the box to check first.

My feet were jumping for joy during and after my hike this morning.  It’s the little things that mean so much.

It was a nice 5.27 mile hike with an elevation gain of 2,219′.

I met a brand new neighbor while on my journey.  Her name is Rhonda.  We stopped and visited in front of her home.  When she learned that I hike each day, she said, “we should hike together sometime.”

I learned that she takes hiking serious.  As a matter of fact, she will be hiking in Europe soon!  We exchanged information and plan to make a hike date.

She also said “We have drinks on the patio every night, you’re welcome to join us anytime.”

If you were to ask me, It’s all about the little things that make a day great.

Now on to a few more little things around the house this afternoon.

Blessings – Debbie

Hubby was Mad at Me

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Hubby got mad at me in the wee hours of the morning.  Our 3:30 AM conversation went like this.

Hubby: Honey, we were on the Titanic!

Me: We were?

Hubby:  Yes! I told you to get in the life boat and you wouldn’t.  I got mad at you.

Me:  But Honey, I could never leave without you!

Hubby:  You’re a stubborn one.

Me:  Yes

We must have gone over the above for at least 10 or so minutes when he said, but I could never stay mad at you for long.

Whether in his dreams or in real life, this makes me so very happy.  And sometime just after our little round and round we heard a sweet little melody from a bird just outside our window.  We laughed and closed our eyes and carried on with sweet dreams thru the remains of the night.

As the morning sunbeams danced around our room this morning, we stretched and opened our eyes just a bit slower than usual.  It was a morning where things went at a slower pace.  A morning that didn’t require the extra effort for anything.

Morning coffee was leisurely sipped.  And the peaceful relaxation was just what we needed.

But this relaxation won’t last for long.  We have a list of things we want to accomplish by days end.  And the melting and relaxing will not achieve these goals.

Cheers to Saturday morning relaxation and an afternoon full of things to accomplish.

Blessings – Debbie

All Things Sweet

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Of all the fruit trees in the backyard, guess what we picked for our sweet tooth last evening?

If you guessed the chocolate, you’re hot, very hot.

This was an amazing turtle.  It’s huge!  I didn’t finish mine and sent the leftovers to work with hubby this morning.  I’m in trouble when these kind of sweet things are left hanging out with me.

Nothing draws my attention faster than the most fragrant sweet goodness in the air from the many blossoms. The sweet fragrance is hard to describe, but it’s amazing and everywhere.

There’s something magical when it comes to picking a fresh orange off the tree.

Peeling and eating it before I make it back into the house.  That’s how fast these guys draw my attention.  The sweet juicy goodness inside these guys get me every time.

This was my sweet treat this morning.

My attention is still drawn to the sweet aroma from the wisteria vine. The blossoms are dropping and few are left.  I’ll be in awe ’til the last one falls.

And last but not least, Friday, how sweet that today is FRIDAY!

While hubby was not able to take the day off with his crazy busy schedule, I’m looking forward to the weekend.

Blessings – Debbie

Something Kicked My Tush

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So yesterday’s hike could have contributed to part of my tush kicking.  And the night before last could have contributed to the other part.  Either way, I was in bed for a nap last evening at 7 PM and ended up sleeping a full 12 hours.  I have no idea the last time I felt that exhausted, but the rest was just what I needed.

My hike yesterday went on for exactly 4.5 miles.

I included a few more streets in the neighborhood and was delighted with the new scenery.

These African Daisy’s will always have me at hello.

The path along the way was so inviting.

I’m a lover of mailboxes.  This one has to be my favorite in all the land.

The winding paths going up and down and all around make for a killer workout.

My elevation gain yesterday morning was a whopping 1,897′ and I’m feeling every bit of it today.

It kicked my butt, but I want more where it came from.

Just for today, I’m taking a little breather from hiking.  My feet are none too happy with the shoes I’ve been wearing and my hiking shoes are nowhere to be found.  I think hubby packed them and he insists we find that box this weekend.  Knowing him, he will find them for me.

These paths are beautifully lodged on the front burner as I don’t want to stay away too long.

I’ll be back soon!

Today I need to play catch up on food shopping, laundry and get the place ready for the weekend.  Hubby mentioned taking off tomorrow, fingers crossed for a nice three-day weekend with him!

Blessings – Debbie