Spring in my Step!

I think it's safe to say that Spring has finally come to the west coast of Newfoundland. Although temperatures are still cool, the crocus are blooming, tulips are showing their buds and the snow is gone. (It may still make an attempt to fall from our northern sky, but winter has been beaten.)

Jack and Buddah in the garden. It's not green out there yet,
but there's no snow! 

A spring has also returned to my step. I made my last visit to the surgeon last week, and my wrist is fully healed. I still have to work on gaining full flexion, but I'm back to just automatically using my left hand. AND this morning, I was able to wear my rings again. Hurrah!

Punta Cana 

Now the excitement is setting in for my upcoming trip south for my daughter's destination wedding. I've never been to a sunny clime, much preferring Europe's old churches, museums and the sort. But the idea of sitting under an umbrella at the beach reading and sipping something cold is extremely exciting, especially when in the company of my three daughters and the happy wedding guests. And, of course, I'm over the moon at my daughter's upcoming wedding to an amazing young man. 

I splurged and bought a lovely wedding outfit at a store I always window-shop at but have never purchased. I love the flowy, beachy, natural cotton dress with a little bling on the shawl. (I'm not a traditional mother-of-the-bride kinda gal.) And the sales lady picked out the perfect necklace as it mimics the circles on the dress. Add my sparkly sandals and I'm complete. 

But what shall I pack my clothes in? My suitcases are all old, tattered and so worn. 

Voila! The local online Buy 'n' Sell came to my rescue! I happily paid $25 for these 2 pieces and later found out from my daughter that they're Heys, a well respected but expensive luggage company. 

(I just liked it 'cause it was blue!)

Another thing that always puts a spring in my step is walking; and the weather and my schedule have cooperated so I was able to walk twice in the past week, breathing in the fresh salt air of The Bay, listening to bird song (and the occasional buzz of a chain saw) and being surrounded by lovely, budding trees.

Ahhhhhh! Spring! It's like a magic elixir for my soul! 

Weekend Wanderings

I stopped taking Symbicort over a week ago but was (am) still experiencing side effects. One of the worse was the depression and anxiety -- something I don't experience normally. So, I took Friday afternoon off for some much needed "Me" time. And as it was a drizzly, cool day, I crawled the mall.  I still had a Xmas gift card and gifted money (whatever wasn't spent on medications!), and it was burning a hole in my pocket. And I needed socks. 

I think most of my hometown was at the grocery store stocking up for the upcoming weather. There weren't a lot of other shoppers around. So, I leisurely strolled through the shops -- Reitman's, Cleo, Ricki's, Spring, Cole's Bookstores and Northern Reflections. I only had to hold my nose twice as I scurried past the smellier shops. I spent hours and hours, touching and looking; I tried on several items and hemmed and hawed. Most items were marked an additional 50% off. So, I was a very savy shopper.

Here's my haul.

Okay! I admit that I may have gone overboard with the socks. I was aiming for 3-4 pairs and ended up with 10 pairs. The jewellery was in the $2-$3 each range. And the sweater! Ahhhh! Well, the sweater has polka dots -- on both sides so you can roll up the sleeves and have alternate colored polka dots! And who doesn't love polka dots!

On my way home, I dropped into Winner's. I wasn't looking for clothing; I was looking for food! My little (hick) town doesn't carry a lot of variety in foodstuffs. These were sale items again. 

Saturday I began taking down my Xmas decorations. And when I stopped for an afternoon break, I was very happy with my selections. I had a macha latte (with a sprinke of chocolate) and a most delicious chocolate orange biscotti. Fortification for the tedious task of undecorating the tree.  That evening, I prepared a really nice dinner for myself and (Happy gasp!) poured myself a large glass of wine -- the first since early December! "Merry Xmas, Sandy", I said with a smile!

Sunday brought news about the devastation we suffered on the west coast of Newfoundland after the warm temperatures and torrential rains all day Saturday and the resulting snow melt and runoff. The rains continued into Sunday as well. And by late afternoon, Corner Brook was one of 4 communities that declared a state of emergency.

These people lost their house, garage and truck (which you can't see because it's under water!) The smaller villages on both sides of our very long bay were completely cut off with high flood waters and washouts. Half of them are still cut off today with crews working as hard as they can.

Roads in the city as well as several areas on our major highway collapsed. For a while, CB residents were told NOT to try to leave the city. And anyone who needed emergency medical services were told to call the Coast Guard as boat was the only way to get into the city. It was (and is) a mess. But no one lost their lives, thank God.

Early Sunday evening took us back into the deep freeze. So today, although it's clear and at times sunny, my city of hills is a skating rink. 

But as happens everywhere on this beautiful planet, at times like these, people come together to help others. We will rally and smile and sing and survive!  

Boozy Berries and R 'n' R!

Summer berries!  Yummy!  I know that we never run out of wonderful ideas for using and preserving, but isn't it great that people keep coming up with new ones.

Because of Hurricane Arthur, I didn't get to take Nagisa strawberry picking as I'd promised.  So, Friday we visited a local u-pick and purchased berries:  8 quarts to be precise.  We cleaned and trimmed and bagged several quarts for the freezer.  But one new idea (new to me, anyway) piqued my interest.  So I gave it a try.      

Strawberry Vodka

I got the idea from a rabbit trail that began with checking out "Cherry Bounce" at The Runaway Spoon (another recipe I plan on trying) which led me to other boozy fruit recipes and then eventually to David Lebovitz and the simple recipe for strawberry vodka --- just the choicest fruit, a decent vodka and a week of your time.  I'll let you know how it tastes.

Saturday, Amy and I dropped Nagisa off in the city; she's headed for a month long summer camp.   And I was headed for freedom! She's a honey of a girl, don't get me wrong.  But sometimes Mama doesn't want to feed the babies on time; sometimes Mama just wants tea and toast for supper; or sometimes Mama wants to walk naked from the bathroom to her bedroom, etc. etc.

After we dropped Nagisa off, we went to several thrift stores Sally Ann had 50% off selected items; and of course, I had a 30% off coupon for Value Village.  Even more fun, we visited the Asian grocer for Japanese and Korean supplies.  Then we found this little gem:  Cafe Aroma Latino and stopped in for lunch.

The thing I most liked about Cafe Aroma (besides the food) was that you could order one of each thing:  the portions were small and the prices were as well.  

We began in Mexico with a beef taco as well as Colombia for a couple of empanadas; they were gorgeous!  Full of flavor and not at all spicy.  Then we visited Guatamala for chuchitos and a couple of tamales; but sadly, we were a little disappointed in them as they were fairly bland.  We probably should gone to El Salvador for pupusas.  Oh well!  Next time!  But overall, we were pleased with the meal and the lovely decor.

They also had a small shop attached where we filled our basket with mole sauce, purple tortillas, dried hot peppers, tajine, hot sauce and all sorts of other goodies.  Such fun!  I love finding new food sources.

I'm looking forward to my month of relative freedom.  Yesterday after work, Amy greeted me with an amazing super supper salad and yummy healthy cookies made from oats, almond meal, chocolate ships and coconut. Don't you love it when someone else does the cooking.

Later in the week, I'll show you my thrift store finds.

In the meantime bloggies -
It's summer!  

Breathe.
Relax.
Swim.
Explore.
Enjoy.

And eat!

What delicious items have been on your table lately?

I'm ALWAYS feeling blue!

Yes, I'm always feeling blue .................... 
meaning that I always feel in the mood to wear blue. I have a lot of color in my closet, but you don't need to look to closely to see that it's predominantly blue.  I look good in the color, and I just feel wonderful when I wear it.  I'm drawn to the blues on the racks before any other color (although that harlot red often seduces me, especially in a shoe or purse).     

I walked into our local Atlantic Superstore early the other morning to deposit my cheque into the ATM machine ... which is right next to the clothing department who've begun to receive the new spring line.  What gorgeous colors!  And oh dear!  The blues were abundant! They were in front of me on racks; there were shelves of blue shoes; there were blue coats & sweaters & pants hanging above me.  I felt light-headed with glee; I was floating in a beautiful sea of azure!  

I've had myself on a very tight shopping budget since Xmas because there's nothing I really need.  I hadn't thrifted since then and have done fine on my shopping sabbatical.  But spring is coming. (Repeat this mantra as necessary!).  And as I stood there surround by blue, I remembered 3 things:

1. I had found $25 cash in a last-years purse when I switched last week.
2. I probably had some PC cash points on my account at the Superstore.  (Yep.  When I checked, I had $40 worth!)
3. I had an unused $25 in my thrifting budget for last Jan.

So, here's what I bought :  

Some pieces were on sale (like that awesome charcoal grey poncho/sweater for $4.94! the blue pants for $14.94 and the baby blue open weave sweater for $15).  Some were just great prices (like the powder blue sweater bottom left for $16 and the gorgeous blue cloth ballet flats for $19).  And the center Indian cotton blouse for $29 was just irresistible.

Once I added in February's $25 thrifting budget, I didn't overspend. 

Well done, Sandy!  

• Good budgeting
• Great clothes
• Gorgeous color!  

What's your Achilles heel color?