That's a long drive just for some apples!

Nova Scotia is known for it's apples, especially the MacIntosh. And the Annapolis Valley is the best place to get them. So, even though Lunenburg County has it's own apples, I always like to take a trip to The Valley this time of year; the apples are tastier there ..... and it's a pretty drive.

At the last minute, the girls and I got an email telling us that the international students are actually headed to The Valley today (Monday) to pick apples and do the corn maze. So, we decided we'd head a little more south and see sights I hadn't seen for many years. We went to historic Annapolis Royale.  And to be honest, the deciding factor was this German restaurant - Sachsen Cafe. Annkatrin was hankering for some "home cooking".

The food and the service were delightful. We each had a luscious bowl of German tomato based soup, filled with veg, ham, salami and chopped pickle. Delicious! And Annkatrin and I also shared a schnitzel sandwich: dark bread, sliced sweet, white onion, thin sliced tomato, greens and just a smear of mustard. Quite wonderful!

But did you get a good look at the pastries? Wow! Such a selection! I bought bread and these amazing, chewy pretzels. (And I may have had a cherry turnover for dessert; I just may have, but you'd never find the evidence on me because I didn't let a single flake of that thing get past my lips. Soooo good!) Both girls opted for the huge, flakey, chocolate-dipped pig's ears. Chihiro may look daunted, but she was able to handle the whole thing.

It wasn't a day for sight seeing ..... not outside the warmth and calm of your car anyway. The sun was beautiful, but it was only 1 degree celcius and it was blustery! My little nose got quite red. We walked for a little and took some pictures. As a matter of fact, just next door is the inn where I stayed for part of my honeymoon. I have lovely memories of Annapolis Royale and the surrounding area. 



However, we quickly got back in our car and took another 1.5 hour drive through some of the prettiest towns lined with autumn's finest foliage:  Bridgetown, Middleton, Greenwood, Kingston, Aylesford and finally Berwick, the apple capital of the world! 

We stopped in at Bargain Harley's, because you really never know what you'll find there:  chocolate covered cranberries, undies, brand-name cosmetics at a fraction of the price, a huge mounted moose head ... it's always fun to visit. We saw the dreaded white stuff floating down from the sky as we entered! EEK! But there was no evidence of it when we left. 

 Last stop was one of the many, many farm market stands for apples: we choose Granny Smith, Gravensteens and Honeycrisp; and drove the 1.5 hours over the mountain back home, the girls asleep in the back seat, the whole car fulled with the fragrance of our purchases, and my not-so-dulcet voice singing along to Charlie Tuna's "Hits of the 70's".

Yes, that was a lot of driving just for a few apples. So, I added a little variety to add a few more memories!

Music hath charms......

 "Music hath charms to soothe 

a savage breast, to soften 

rocks or bend a knotted oak."

William Congreve  

There's some music ..........................

I can be trying to recover from a nasty headcold (as I am now); worried about leaky pipes and no $$; worried about kids or bills (or kids with bills!).  I can be in traffic, in pain, in limbo.   It doesn't matter where I am or how I'm feeling, there's some music that makes it all disappear.  It's like an answered prayer.  It's like floating.

Canada's classical station CBC Radio Two is "Rocking Your Bach" this morning.  I like classical music, and I really like Bach.  But I just heard JS Bach's Cello Suite #1, and it was more than just music.    

Here I was -- alone in my (this morning) dreary, damp office, rain falling outside, head cloudy, nose stuffed, shoulder aching.  But when I heard that music, I had to stop typing, sit back, close my eyes and drink -- long and deep.  Soooo, beautiful!  It transports me:

--- to a sun dappled meadow of flowers or a quiet beach or the loving arms of my Father; warmth and peace fill me; the presence of God is all around me and it is simply divine.

Ahhhhh!  
Back to reality all too soon.  But it's a little piece of heaven that I can enjoy over and over again, whenever I need it.

How about you?  Does music touch your soul?  Does it stop you in your tracks?  Transport you?  Make you cry? 

• What music?
• And where do you go?

Can your children moving out be considered de-cluttering?

Lovely daughter #2 moved out this weekend.  I'm looking forward to loving her from afar from now on.  

Is it too soon to do a dance of joy?  

Molly and friends did all the moving, but I worked like the dickens as well because Daughter #3 is coming home from university this Friday.  I slogged through the back basement, hauling out the extra bed and dresser, and organizing back there.  Then I slogged through the rec room (And believe you me!  It was a wreck!) cleaning, re-arranging, organizing, tossing out whatever wasn't wanted or needed.  

• 7 bags of garbage,
• 5 bags for the thrift store,
• 7 dirty pop bottles,
• 2 almost empty tortilla chip bags,
• 3 flattened packages of gum,
• 4 teaspoons (I wondered where my teaspoons were)
• 1 fork
• and miscellaneous dirty tissues & junk food receipts 

    LATER ........ my knees ache, my feet throb, my hands are dry and sore, but Molly's happy in her new place and the room downstairs is almost ready.

The sad thing is that by this time next week, that room will look similar to what it did like last week!  

Pig children!

But in spite of the fact that my kids don't all fully appreciate their loving mother (and her many sacrifices, stretch marks, grey hairs and empty pockets), they do appreciate her cooking.  Yesterday was Molly's birthday, so Mama slogged in the kitchen Sunday night and prepared Lasagne Bolognese and this delightful lemon cheese pie.

Pie crust; cheesecake layer; lemon layer -- and after
it's baked, the cheesecake magically goes to the top.
Add a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!

Sigh!  It's hard (and very tiring) being a SuperMom!     But we've got to be nice to them because some day they'll choose our nursing home!

.

"Sing Hallujah! Come on get Healthy!"

As some of you know, I've been on Weight Watchers for 3 weeks now.  It's going well, and I'm not often hungry.  With the new Points Plus system where fruits and vegetables are 0 points, I've been eating more of those than I normally would.  And any hunger gaps that are left have been filled in with Weight Watchers and other snacks (such as WW little Choco Mint cookie = 2 pts) which are usually sweetened with fructose.


What does that mean for me?  Four things:

1. Yum!
2. I've lost 6 lbs so far! 
3. Oodles of fibre
4. I can still indulge my sweet tooth.

However, it's also come with some drawbacks.  

The extra fibre has been playing havoc with my digestive system!  There are the quite  frequent trips to the bathroom when my tummy speaks to me -- and speak it does!  It's downright chatty with it's gurgling and popping and whining!  And if it's not the tummy then it's the opposite end -- "Here a toot, there a toot, everywhere a toot-toot!"  Pardon me!  and thank goodness I work alone most of the time.  But I'm assured by my WW leader that (excuse the deliberate pun) this too shall pass!  Harharhar!  And the problem is a little better this week.  

The second drawback I've found is that I have a low tolerance for fructose (which may be contributing to my toot-elage)!  I had my usual green smoothie yesterday morning at 7 am (with spinach, yogurt, 1/2 banana and 2 Clementines); then I had an apple during my work break at 10 am.  And almost immediately, I had the most excruciating tummy pains and bloating.  This kind of thing has happened a few times in the past; but this time, I immediately looked it up online and then I put 2 and 2 together and came up with 4. 

 4-get the Fructose!

Yup!  Pretty sure it's excess fructose; and the culprit is probably that awful man-made chemical fructose.  I've also noticed that if I have a WW snack bar for my dinner-time dessert, I feel kind of sluggish the next morning.  So, it's a definite IXNAY on the chemical sweeteners for me.  But I'll also be watching my intake of fruit -- at least until my tummy quiets down so I can hear what the rest of my body is saying!  

So now, I've a new challenge to rise to.  How do I feed my body and my  cravings for sweets and chocolate in the most healthy way possible?  Never fear!  Doris the Great is here!  


Armed with her 57 years of knowledge (weeding out the naughty stuff, of course), high-speed internet, a daughter who's a health-food nut, a few good cookbooks and her amazing stick-to-it-ive-ness, Doris will delve deeply into superfruit and veggie-dom and boldly go where she hasn't gone before!  I'm excited.     

I hope you'll join me on this new food journey.  I'll be experimenting with some new recipes and sharing some of the amazing health facts that I find along the way.  

And who knows:  perhaps this will enable me to age a little more gracefully.........  
Or give me increased energy to find more wonderful (and harmless) ways to continue to age disgracefully!