This is Newcastle England such a beautiful romantic looking city. I wanted to post a photo of this city as I am in the midst of a book where the story takes place in this area. Most of the books I choose to read are novels but novels that are based on fact. So as I read sometimes I make a trip to the computer to goggle something that I have just read usually a location or a bit of history. I think I would love to travel to this city for some reason it draws me. It sits eight miles off the North Sea. Basically the city was in it's early beginnings a fishing town. Now it is a booming metropolis with a mix new and old. And strangly they have wonderful venue for folk music. Music inspired by the sea and working folk of years past. Anyhow I find it all quite interesting.
I am listening to Pandora as I type. I have it tuned to Celtic music. Very appropriate. I heard a song a earlir that I love so much I have heard it many times before. It is called Adagio by Secret Garden. You can goggle that and go to YouTube and listen to it.
As I am drinking so much tea of late, I found myself setting up a little tea area adjacent to my stove. I put out a proper tea pot and my favorite mugs. I am going to purchase a electric tea kettle soon. Boiling hot water in two minutes sounds very inviting. We can use that kettle for individual coffee's too as I have a filter holder for cup size or for tea water or to make a mug of hot chocolate. The one I want to buy is the Cuisinart. It is not exactly thrifty but when I buy for my kitchen I buy what I want. Cost does not seem to matter as I want appliances and kitchen tools that will last and do what I want them to.
By now my daughter and Doug have landed in Honolulu and have picked up their rental car and are making their way to the other side of the island to Makaha. Where they will stay in a beachfront condo for ten days. Gina said they will make a stop at Costco and a grocery store on the way.
I so remember how it was on our tropical vacations. The last trip to St. Martin was kind of unusual however. We arrived on one of their major holidays. So everything was closed. Everyone goes to the beach and there are all kinds of events. We could not find one grocery open on either the dutch side of the island or the French side where we were staying. So luckily there was a Seven Alive open. Yes it is the equivalent of a Seven Eleven. We bought cheap wine(was all they had) beer, cheese and crackers, chips, junk. We were starved. We drove to our hotel almost getting hit head on by a farmer behind the wheel of an old truck hauling cages chickens. He was right in the middle of the road on a blind corner. Hubby headed toward the field on the right hand side of the road. There are so many crazy drivers on that island you would not believe it,that is another story as they say. Anyhow we arrived at our hotel and went to our room, home at last in St. Martin for two weeks. We refreshed and headed to the hotel restaurant as we were famished. Well guess what? They were closed......bummer. So we ate what we had bought at Seven Alive and our snacks we took on the plane. At least we had a bottle wine! So I think Gina and Doug will be a little more prepared than we were. The next day we went and bought groceries after we figured out how to unlock the grocery carts and of course we had no idea how much we were paying for anything as the pricing labels were in French.
Our wok food was so good last night. It seemed my body was craving vegetables. I so liked the combination of veggies used that I wrote down what I did. I am happy there is enough left for me to have lunch today.
I could not sleep very well last night. Then it dawned on me how much tea I put away yesterday and my last cup was at three thirty. So if I am drinking tea that late in the day I will have decaffeinated. I have an entire box of it to use up.
My husband will be home today at two or so which is so lovely as we need to go to his sister's early evening for a birthday party for his mother. Actually her birthday was on the 10th but it did not work for others to have it at that time. It will not be hard for me food wise as I am just asked to take coleslaw. It is my mother's coleslaw recipe and it is good the dressing is always perfect, the right amount of tartness and sweet. After dinner we will come home and watch more Olympics. We sure enjoy the winter games.
Well I must tidy my house and get on with my extra chores today. I would like to be done so I can enjoy our afternoon together.
Ciao
This was to be our dinner last evening I had everything chopped and ready to go. Then the power went off for three hours last night. As I finished dicing the chicken, the lights went out. I scrambled for lighting as the house went completely dark. I grabbed a flashlight and then proceeded to light my oil lamps and then some candles to put in the bedroom and bathroom. My hubby came home to a lamp lit house and a cold dinner of salad and cold slices of bread and butter. Later just before nine the power returned and we heated mugs of chicken noodle soup. Then watched a hour of Olympic's and off to bed.
So I still have all those veggies chopped and waiting in the fridge so it will be a easy dinner tonight. The photo is of a previous dinner.
Today it is rain and more rain. And yes we do so need it. We have some wind but not as bad as the weatherman predicted. I am staying in today and working in this office so it makes no difference to me. In fact it is quite cozy.
I had a very nice visit yesterday with the birthday man my son Mike. He had just returned home from spending time with his sister. She was so sweet she bought him a german chocolate cake as that was always his birthday cake of choice when he was growing up. He said he had a nice day and talked to everyone in the family.
Seems I bought the grocery store out yesterday. But you know I am the kind of person that needs my pantry, fridge and freezer full. As I love to cook and bake I like to have the supplies on hand I need if I decide to whip something up.I also bought many things at the $Tree. I have not been for months in fact I think the last time was when I visited my daughter in Damascus and we went to the one there together.
I get some office supplies there, such as paper clips, pens, post-it's, that type of thing. Also a lot of cleaning supplies. As I have mentioned before there spray window cleaner is great. A different container but the same product as the grocery stores. Anyhow it was fun to poke around the dollar tree.
My daughter Gina and Doug are off to Hawaii at ten this morning. So they are waiting for their flight at this moment. They will be celebrating their birthday's Valentines day. They were both Valentine babies...how sweet. They have so many things planned for their ten days there. It will be an amazing trip for them.
Well this office waits for no one so I best to my work.
My son Michael's 52nd birthday.I love the photo of him in his grandfather's cowboy boots and hat. The middle photo is of Mike at Paulina Lake where he worked at the resort. He rented us a cabin for a couple of nights there in mid-winter. He and a co-worker picked up hubby and I at the snow park on the way up the mountain to Paulina Lake. We stashed our gear in the sled they towed along and we each jumped behind a driver and made our way to the resort in falling snow. It was such a fun time snuggled in that cabin buried in deep snow with the wood stove popping and cracking keeping us warm.
The picture at top right is of Mike playing basket ball on the varsity team at Bend High in Central Oregon. This next one is one of my favorites. He was riding his rocking horse which he just loved doing. He was such a little character and always so happy. The bottom photo is Mike opening gifts on a past birthday.
So my son I am sending you so much love today on your special day. You mean so much to me and always have. I am proud to be your Momma as you call me.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!
Olivia in Central Oregon with her Mommy and Daddy enjoying the snow. She is so cute in her little snowsuit. Her Mommy is not bad either!
I remember the first time my son Mike saw snow. He was seven months old, we were living in La Pine in central Oregon. One evening the snow started to fall just after dark. We bundled up little Michael in a brown snow suit and cap. We jumped in our car a 54 Chevrolet and headed up toward Paulina Lake as it was more elevation. The farther we went the deeper the snow got and more mesmerizing it became as the flakes landed on the windshield like patterns in a kaleidoscope. My son was in the front seat of the car between the two if us. He was just bedazzled by the event. We went as far as our car would allow without becoming stuck. My husband stepped out into knee deep snow with his son in his arms. The snow was falling in huge flakes and with Michael's pudgy little fingers he was pointing to the sky and saying something that sounded like, oh, oh, oh. He was laughing his hearty little laugh and was so animated in his gestures. He was loving every moment as were we his parents.
For some reason that picture of him pointing to sky and jabbering his baby jabber will stay with me forever it was such a happy moment. It was magical.
You know what that son of mine is still crazy about snow! He absolutely loves it, to work in it, to play in it, to drive in it, it does not matter that he is cold he is never miserable. One of his fave things is to snow camp. He is my mountain man, that is what the family calls him.
I for one am very happy that the snow is melting. Though it is not gone yet. This morning finds us here in Eugene, with snow still on the ground, but the ice is gone. Trees are broken, shrubs are down trodden, leaf plants look as if they came from the Adam's Family set. We need to take a tree down, the one that split that stands by our trailer. Well you get the picture and it is not a pretty one. But as my son nicely reminded me yesterday, "but it's winter Mom." He has the same scenario going on in Portland. He does not mind, he was without power for 12 hours not the pitiful three we were without it. I suppose I have turned into a weenie.
We enjoyed our scalloped potatoes last night and we have a couple of helpings left so to those tonight I will add a couple of baked pork chops and boil more carrots with honey butter. They are so yummy. I just clean the carrots and simmer till barely tender, then drain and add a dollop of butter and return to the burner to melt the butter, then put them in a bowl and drizzle honey over them. They are wonderfully glazed and sweet and savory both.
My husband made it to the job site yesterday and all was well. Of course because of the weather he is running behind now as he had jobs scheduled back to back. However we cannot control the weather so I am sure his next folks will be fine with the delay.
Well I need to get myself around as I say. My hubby left before seven this morning, so I have had a nice couple of hours to read the paper and have tea and toast(am I from the UK) and play on the computer a bit.
Tomorrow I will go grocery shopping so today I must make out my menu and my grocery list. At least the major roads are in OK shape now. Our street though is still a mess.
The work week starts today for many folks. Sounds as if the folks in Portland may be getting a day off however. I would assume my daughter will not be working as I think the schools are closed. So a fun snow day for her.
See ya later.
Sunday morning starts out frozen. No changes during the night we are still encased in ice. It is now noon and things are starting to drip. Tree's continue to loose their branches you can hear the cracking noise throughout the neighborhood. As of now we have lost a couple sections of our arborvitae shrubs in the back, they are what gives us privacy from our backyard neighbors. A big limb fell from the tree beside our travel trailer but fell in front of it. I hope no other limbs come down off that tree and land on top the trailer. Needless to say all of the shrubs, flowers and small trees that surround our home will need to be cut to ground level and we will hope they survive. The heart breaker for me is our Star Jasmine which grows by leaps and bounds every summer has succumbed, looking like death at this point. This plant fills the deck rails at the north end of our deck and I have been training the trailing vines to go through and along the rest of the deck railings. But now all will have to be cut to the ground. Our spring scene will surely look different without foliage softening the perimeter of the house. There will be much work to do.
My hubby talked to the contractor whom he is doing work for this morning. The contractor was clearing the long driveway at the job site with a bucket tractor. So my husband left for the job site about nine-thirty. I watched as he spun out going down our street. He must have made his destination in the Coburg Hills as I have not heard differently. He has not been able to get that job started for four days now because of the weather.
We lost power after going to bed last night it was only out for about three hours or so. The news this morning said to be prepared to lose power again as more and more trees and limbs come down while they are thawing. I have the oil lamps ready, candles etc. We had already decided in the middle of the night when the power went off that if it were not back on today we could stay warm and cook meals in the trailer as we have the propane tanks full.
My grandson Tyson, Lindsey and baby Olivia are stranded in
Central Oregon, the roads to bad to travel back home to Oregon City. Tyson was there the past couple of days applying for a job with the Dechutes County Sheriffs Dept. I think he is still at his Grandpa Carl's who lives between Sisters and Bend. They had a huge dump of snow over there and the news reported this morning that the highways are not cleared as of yet and to stay off the roads unless it is an emergency.
Bless the newspaper delivery folks. Our paper was late but then here the delivery man came spinning down the street and brought our Sunday paper. There are still thousands of folks without power. We heard last night while watching the Olympics that 24,000 homes were without power in the Eugene/Springfield and outlying areas.
I am not going to do anything today other than what I have already done which is tidy the house. I will make us a nice comfort food dinner tonight. I thought I would make scalloped potatoes we have not had them for a while and I will make some sauteed veggies to side and I may make a nice warm loaf of bread to go with.
My husband will not be too late as he wants to head home before dark in case he were to have a problem.
I think I will relax today, read and scan a few photo's of the grandkidlets when they were little. Obviously we did not sleep well last night. After we discovered there was no power we snuggled in bed and talked for well over an hour. So we both felt a little jet lagged this morning.
I think now is a good time to fix a little lunch for myself. As we had taco's last nights I saved a few remains to make a taco salad bowl.
Have a nice Sunday and I hope you are not dealing with a mess like this.
I took this photo about nine last night. Nary a foot print on the side walk in front of the house or leading to the front door. It was so still and quiet. Not one sound came from any directions. Most folks were tucked into their warm homes enjoying having the day off. Many work places and stores were closed. The streets and freeways were such a dangerous mix of ice and snow it was treacherous to drive.
We sat and played gin rummy at the nook table and watched huge flakes come down for the most part and then some freezing rain came through. Then finally the silence.
Our roast was good and a easy diner to put together. Tonight we have roast remains morphed into shredded beef taco's.
Another day with my husband home. With the ice thick under the blanket of a foot of snow, no one is going anywhere. So hopefully tomorrow he will be able to make his way to the job site in the hills.
We watched the opening ceremonies last night from Socho. It was beautiful, they did a fine job on the building that was constructed just for the opening and closing ceremonies. No other events will be held there. We are looking forward to the watching the Olympic's every evening now. We both prefer the winter games to the summer ones.
I am not planning any big projects today. I will tidy the house and then I want to scan some more old photo's. That scanner is a wonderful Christmas gift my husband gave me.
February is a big month for birthdays in both my hubbies family and mine. Starting tomorrow with his mother's, then his nieces, then my son and a couple days later on Valentines day my daughters, then hubbies sis Liz finishes off the month. I think I forgot someone well I will remember at some point.
The ginger cream cookies and old family favorite are wonderful as usual. They are such a glorious mixture of warm spices, with cinnamon,ginger,nutmeg and cloves. They have a cake like texture and are not sweet so you really need the butter cream frosting on top. I was going to have a couple with my tea this morning but decided on a half piece of toast to go with a wonderful crispy mashed potato patty my husband made this morning for breakfast.
So I am off now to enjoy my Saturday.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend. If you have snow it is so nice to stay in enjoying your warm home. I love glancing out the windows seeing the frozen snow and knowing I am safe and cozy in my home.
I am getting better and better at making the perfect pizza. I make it the way we like, with thin crispy crust, easy on the sauce and ingredients. There was a really good crunch to this crust, the homemade sauce from our last summers garden tomatoes mixed with herbs, garlic and a little olive oil was tasty without being spicy. We topped it with what I had on hand which was, a little green pepper on hubby's side and pineapple tid-bits and black forest ham that I sliced very thin. Then we put sweet chopped onion after it was cooked. That is way my husband likes it so I go along makes no difference to me. He likes the crunch. So we do not go out for pizza any longer. The reason I learned to make it from scratch is we were never satisfied with what was offered out there.
I truthfully must say and I think I have mentioned it before, Eugene is not a city of the culinary arts. Sad but true. There is a wonderfully authentic Italian restaurant over in the University district and it is out the way for us and it is only open for dinner and we tend to go late afternoon or for lunch. There is a good Mexican eatery fairly close by. Then we have our favorite pub and grub place(The Cornucopia) which we seem to gravitate to more than any place else. Seems a lot of folks in Eugene are satisfied with common fare but not great. When we went out the Steelhead Brewery last Wednesday for lunch and micro-brews for hubby we went there for the beer as he loves their brews,not the food. The food was mediocre nothing special. I had a french dip and it was all bun no meat. He had small lack luster chicken wings. We can do better at home but it is nice to get out. What I cannot understand is the place was full hardly a table left at lunch time on a weekday. So see it obviously does not matter how tasty the food is, or else the general public does not know good food. That is hard to believe but it might be so. Eugene is sort of an odd little city staying stuck in the past.
So it is still snowing and snowing and my husband is home again as he cannot make his way to the job site. We have a lot of snow. At this time it is nine inches and still piling up.
I am going try and accomplish much today. I have pot roast cooking in the slow cooker. So tonight it is roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and fresh carrots sliced and simmered till tender and glazed with honey butter.
I am baking today also. I decided to make ginger cream cookies with butter cream frosting. Also I have laundry to do and a few other chores.
We want to eke out some time before dinner to finish our gin rummy game we started yesterday.
Well off I go have a nice snow day.
