Sandys' Slightly Silly Smarties

The LaHave and District Fire Dept  Auxiliary have been holding an annual trivia contest for about 10 years, and my friend Sandy and I have had a team every year.  Twice we have gotten first place; one year we won the last place booby prize.  This is the first year they've held the contest during the Halloween season. What a wonderful idea that was.  

After all ......... 

We know that as adults, Halloween means shelling out money aka treats on the 31st.  But did you also know that it's a great opportunity to dress up, look ridiculous and act extremely silly -- perfectly in keeping with the name of our group.

Halloween is not just for kids, ya know!

We are definitely the happiest, noisiest, most disruptive team in the room. Even when we come in last place, we accomplish what we set out to do which is to enjoy ourselves to the Nth. We certainly live up to our name.

"Sandys' Slightly Silly Smarties"

Other than we two Sandys', the team has changed members --- some of our members can no longer make the trip due to health and distance. This latest inception has been in place for just a year; but as we've won the last 2 times, we seem to be a great combination of brains and silliness.

Let me introduce you to the group:

(Clockwise from the top left frame)
We have the short guy with the large brain, Joliet "Jake" Blues [from the famous Blue Brothers] & his brilliant wife, the 11th Doctor Who [Matt Smith]; our beautiful, British Cat Woman; her talented husband, Captain Morgan; the 2 Sandys' otherwise known as Bat Woman [Old Bat] and Robin [Sparrow]; and the gorgeous Mexican Wonder Woman and her husband, Captain Vegetable.  
  

We had a fantastic time last night.  And once we have sufficient time to recuperate from our wild shenanigans, we will be ready to defend our 2X championship title.


PS - 

     Did you know that you can tell the sex of horses by looking at their teeth?

     Or that next to man, rats are the most destructive animal on earth?

Things that Make Me Happy .....

The things that make me particularly happy today are:

............................................

The wonderfully kind and supportive comments left on my last post. Light ALWAYS overcomes dark! And the hearts and hands of friends always helps.

Receiving a video of my gorgeous grandson walking! What a clever and beautiful boy he is. 

My delicious weekly latte treat from Lahave Bakery across the street. (And finding out that if I bring in a larger mug, I get a larger latte!)

A momentary lapse in the rain -- 2 days so far and a forecast of 3 more to come including today -- and a chance to inhale the freshness of the sea air outside my office door and see what is probably the last of the color on the trees and covering the street.

One of my favorite days is here again!

Have a wonderful weekend y'all!

Prayers for Canada

I am praying for our wonderful Nation and the horror that is ongoing in Ottawa.

Please join me if you would.

At the Massage Therapist

I recently discovered a new blogger: Ginny Marie at  Lemon Drop Pie.  And she hosts "spin cycle" prompts which simply give the reader an opportunity to share their "spin" on the topic at hand. Today's topic is about what's on our agenda for this week. It's entitled:   

At the movies. At the deli. At the gym. At the library. At the _________. 

My post is called "At the Massage Therapist". 

I'm lying on a heated massage table, one pillow under my knees and one under my belly to take any strain off my spine.  My head is cocooned in a little padded donut hole; and I am feeling warm and cosy.  I breathe deeply and inhale a slight scent of eucalytus.  The room is softly lit -- no harsh glare of lights --  and I can hear gentle, relaxing instrumental music coming from the corner.  I close my eyes, breathe deeply and allow the tension to leave my body.

I completely surrender myself to the healing, ministering hands of this skilled and caring woman.  There is a feeling of absolute trust which brings deeper relaxation which in turn allows my body to receive more healing.
  

Ahhhhhh!
Feel, smell, hear...
Breathe thru and release the pain 
allowing my body to mend and heal.

It is an hour of therapeutic indulgence.

Necessary for my health.  

But medicine as well for my mind and my soul.

Slapping $635 on your face!

It's a miracle!  I can see!

I finally got real, adult, grown-up glasses and have had to put aside my 15 pairs of stylish magnifier glasses.

And even though these are grown-up glasses, don't expect me to grow-up.  I shall still take jumping pictures as often as possible, eat ice cream at every opportunity, dance in the aisles at the supermarket, and continue try to find someone who will let me get in the bouncy castle.

Tropical storm Gonzalo will affect Nova Scotia today as it heads up the coast towards Newfoundland:  wind and rain but nothing serious.  I'm hoping that all the leaves won't be blown off the trees as they are at their peak the past few days: the colors seem to glow! It sure would be nice to do one more drive with the girls with a possible stop for fresh apples and an "exotic" Frenchies store. 

My quest towards organization and clarity continues: every week I purge the house of something more.  Sunday will be a rain day, so there's another chance to be productive inside the house and (hopefully) cross an item off the list.

But while there's sunshine and color and boot 'n' scarf weather, I want to be productive outside -- fill my lungs with fresh October air; fill my eyes with amber and gold and crimson; fill my spirit with the magnificence of Autumn.

Have a wonderful weekend.

And the festivities continue.....

Just wanted to say:

1. Being 60 + 1 day is a blast.

   

   My annual jump at Peggy's Cove. 
   (No photoshop: I just got good air!)

2. This is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend

   

   Pumpkin pie anyone?

3. Harry Potter Marathon today and tomorrow (and sweet foreign daughters can be quite persuasive)

   

   She may be the only one with a costume; but tomorrow, we'll all wear the lightening bolt on our foreheads. 

4. Walking Dead Season 5 begins tonight.

   

   And yes, you can blame yet another foreign daughter for teaching me to love the redneck with the crossbow.

Ahhhh.  Isn't it wonderful that in the midst of stress and financial worries and the cares of this world, life can be so good!

Have a great day, whether there's turkey on your table or not.

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday AND I get a long weekend!  Not many people can say that.  

There's buzz around me about cheesecakes at work? And a road trip tomorrow with cake and sunshine? And a weekend with festive foods and possibly a lot of lying around the living room with 2 sweet teens watching a Harry Potter TV marathon?

Well really, I'm an adult now.  So, any kind of celebrating can happen, right? As long as it's legal and in good taste!

AND next month, I get my first government CPP cheque; don't know how much, but it's payback time Revenue Canada!

How old am I?    

Thrifty Tuesday's got the Blues

It's going to be a beautiful day here on the South Shore.  I started my day with a short walk. My massage therapist says short 10-15 minute walk 2-3 times a week would be good for me and shouldn't bother my hip bone spurs.  What a relief to hear that! And it felt so good to get out there in the crisp morning air and "Breathe, breathe, breathe, for Lord's sake!"

Thrifty Tuesday today is featuring the only piece of clothing I bought at Sunday's 50% Frenchies run -- this gorgeous 3/4 sleeve linen top.  It's sort of a last run at summer, if you will, while still being suitable enough for fall, n'est pas?

Purse (new from The Shoe Company), linen floral shirt ($1.75) and blue cotton pants ($4.25). Not shown are my yellow ballet flats ($5.99 Value Village) for an extra punch of color.  
Take that, Autumn!

An early morning walk, a colorful shirt and a good breakfast.  Makes a body forget about their minor aches and pains and glad to be alive.  Now -- Hi ho; hi ho; it's off to work I go!






Advice Foodnote -- Always wear your glasses when you prepare your morning museli and repeat after me:  Unshelled cardamon pods are NOT sunflower seeds!

Weekend Update

It rained and rained and rained all weekend in my neck of the woods. No lovely autumn drives in the country for us. 

My organizational skills this weekend took the form of changing  out the seasonal clothes. My goodness! I have a lot of clothing; but there are still a few summer-ish things in there that will get put away later.

Frenchies had a 50% off sale today, so I took the girls for clothes and me for anything but clothes! So I stuck to books and things for others. "Cooking Light" cookbook and "A Moveable Feast" for $1.45 each, Madhur Jaffrey for $1 and the "Food" magazine for 50 cents.


I also bought this costume -- Woody from Toy Story -- for my grandson to wear in a couple of years for $3 (similar to this one but not exact). He's already the cutest little buckeroo in town!




I made a delicious Japanese soup with squash, kale, tofu, udon noodles and a touch of red chili paste. Really tasty.


But my favorite meal was our Sunday night dinner -- Rasam -- from my fairly new-to-me "A Taste of India" cookbook, $4 at Value Village. (Recipe to the left if you're interested.) It was a lot of work: toasting and grinding spices, chopping, frying, baking.  But well worth it.

The dish was marvelous! Really quite spicy (so we cooled it down with Greek yogurt) and served with mixed veg and rice. Lena was content with an egg instead of the Rasam.

Then Lena taught me to make Weckmann or Stutenkerl which are traditionally made in Germany for St Martin's Day.  They are a sweet bread dough shaped into a man; and Lena's mother's version has the addition of gently heated water with mashed apple. 

It's a sad, sad day when I have to make my own man!

Lena made the traditional fat guy at the far right; mine is the slender gent in the middle with the debonair moustache and goatee; and Nagisa's man is actually a Japanese cartoon character.  


They tasted very, very yummy: golden and crusty on the outside but soft and tender on the inside.

Now it's off to bed to catch up on some cookbook reading.

Yup, if I'm not cooking or eating, I'm thinking or reading about cooking and eating.

Magazine for the Aging (Disgracefully)?

I'm a lover of magazines. Most of my magazines come from the thrift store ('cause who can afford the prices of most magazines these days).  But I will subscribe and pay full price if I think the mag is worth it.

Like Prevention.  (Even though they drive me absolutely mad with their constant emails; and when you click on them, they automatically take you to the "would you like to subscribe" link.  Just give me the info, goll darn it!).  My aging body and mind needs all the health advice and tips it can get, and they seem to have a lot of good, up-to-date info.

I also like Nutrition Action Newsletter (Canada).  I'm not currently subscribed as last time I checked (6 mon ago), the price was a little too steep for me.  But their prices seem to fluctuate (probably depending on readership); so I keep checking.  They offer advice on what food and health/beauty products on the market are actually good or safe for you -- very useful information.

I used to buy an occasional copy of More , "for women over 40". But let's face it: even at 40, I didn't look like those women.  

There are a lot of gorgeous older women out there that I truly admire. And I think we need to acknowledge and applaud the ones who are slim and fit and have 'held it together' so to speak, as well as the ones who have overcome health problems through exercise and diet.  Their success stories can serve as inspiration.  

As difficult as it is to change ones diet and ones habits, it can be done: we can all learn to eat healthier. But exercising is not as easy.  Because of aggravating already existing health concerns or making deteriorating joint problems worse, we're unable to jog, do Zumba, lift weights or any of the traditional means of becoming more fit? We are no longer a size 10 or 12 and never will be again; but we do still want to be as fit as we can possibly be. We want to look and feel as good as we possibly can.  

Where are the magazines for us?  As we age, we become more and more invisible to those around us: people don't acknowledge us on the street; sales clerks ignore us: and there are more of us now than ever before.  Do we not even matter to the magazine industry?  

I want to see a magazine that shows the average looking 55 to 60+ yr old who are still trying to take care of themselves and look good. I want to see women who have visible crows feet, jowls and flabby arms.  I want to see women who are overweight and have bunions and varicose veins.  I want articles on how to dress the body I currently have, what changes to make to my make-up for my changing face and how to take care of this aging body as best I can.

Anyone know where to find a magazine like this because I still can't find one; and I've been looking for years.