Counting My Blessings...

This is the time of year that so many of us here in the US have much to be thankful for. 
We celebrate Thanksgiving with copious amounts of turkey, gravy, rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry relishes, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie and lots of whipped topping...just to name a few dishes. 
We spend time with family and friends around large tables and in front of televisions watching the Macy's Day Parade and yards of football.  Sometimes a nap is in order...too much food I'm sure.
This is a great time to reflect on all that we are thankful for.  My list is long and I am truly grateful for so much.  I will keep my thoughts to myself at this time and know that I am sincerely fortunate for so many things and people in my life. 
A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my US blogging friends...

Sister Reunion...

Here we are...four sisters.
Two sisters were not able to join us.
We got together for the day after sister Renee drove over 500 miles one way to spend a week with me in my home.
Sister Joyce took the train and sister Marie picked her up and drove them 75 miles to visit.
We spent a wonderful day together at my home. Lots of chatting, laughing, and eating...to keep up our strength.
Thank you sisters for a day of bonding and keeping the love flowing. It is always bitter sweet to say goodbye and not know when we will get together again.

Delicious Colors and Tastes...

This might look like Springtime.

Bright colors.

Simple foods.

Delicious tastes.

Here are the things I am trying to eat.

Healthy and delicious.

Oh and the unphotographed pounds of chocolate.

Yum!

Sunshine and Warmth ahead...

Warm & Plentiful Thanksgiving...

Do you see this wonderful wooden chair with all of it's character?
Well come sit down a spell.
I am certain you will enjoy your Thanksgiving so much more if you take a break, breathe and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of this wonderful day of giving thanks for family, friends and food.
May each of you celebrate in your own special way and have a warm and plentiful Thanksgiving.
Happy eating...

August Birthdays...

August is a very busy month around here. We have 10 birthdays to celebrate. Not everyone lives so close however we still celebrate all that we can. My daughter's birthday was on the 7th and because she lives in Southern California she got a phone call and a mailed birthday gift. Then we have my friend and creative coach Margaret on the 8th. Now Margaret lives very close and we can truly celebrate with a party. I made her a card with fabric and paper and chipboard letters.

I used the same fabrics to make yo-yo's for decorating this framed bulletin board as her gift. Once again with the chipboard letters to spell out abundance as that is Margaret's inspiration word. Since Margaret is a wordsmith (http://www.goldrushwordsmith.com/) this might come in handy for slipping notes into.

Of course we played games. A very silly game involving plungers and toilet paper rolls. We all laughed so hard I think we gained years instead of aging. You really should try this as it is much more difficult than it seems. We considered it exercise and therefore got to eat a lot more yummy birthday food.

I didn't get a photo of the tables but we had a wonderful indoor picnic with lots of great food. Cold cuts, cheeses, assorted sandwich makings, chips, cole slaw, green bean potato salad and lots of beverages. We even had super fun ants on the table. For the birthday dessert we had home made lemon meringue pies and yum yum!

Birthdays are so much fun when you just let them be such.

Happy Birthday Margaret and all my August family and friends!!!

Now I think you secretly want to try this plunger game. Do you? Have you?

Happy creating...

Cool and Calm...

This is where I like to sit and enjoy the wonderful pond Mr. C built several years ago. It is so relaxing and cool and calm sitting here...well at least now that I have finished trimming for now.

Our pond that Mr. C built after going to "pond college" is probably my favorite and most relaxing part of our home and landscape. We had a lot of frogs and polliwogs this year and now we are having the tiny little baby frogs as a result. I had to take this photo since I had never seen two froggies sitting on the same lily pad side by side. They are so adorable.

Another photo of them with their own beautiful white lily to enjoy. I have gotten hours of enjoyment from watching the dragonflies, frogs, and other assorted pond critters.

This is just one half of our wonderful pond. I have shared photos in the past so not too many this post.

I do hope you are enjoying your summer and the days of living outside with friends and family and fun and games. And of course bbq food, watermelon, ice cream and lemonade.

Southern Food...

When you are traveling and you get multiple recommendations from numerous people along your path to eat at a specific restaurant you tend to want to experience it just to find out if it is as promised.

Savannah Georgia in the historic district is Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House on Jones Street. We waited in line for 2 1/2 hours not knowing what we would be eating. Fortunately for me I am never bored as I love to watch people and I will talk to anybody anyplace. Mr. C was okay because he loves food and his knee couldn't walk so sitting on a bench worked well for him in this case.

Lucky for us the food was good and the company interesting. As you can see you sit family style with strangers and you pass the various plates and bowls of food. The food was more than plentiful and so much waste was really bothering us so Mr. C asked the kitchen and they give all the excess food to the shelters who feed the needy.

Unfortunately for me Mrs. Wilkes is so popular that they rush you in and out in order to accomodate the horrendous long lines of people. They only serve from 11 to 2 each week day with no service on the weekends. Our 2 1/2 hour wait was for 35 minutes of eating time. WHEW! I cannot eat that fast and definitely cannot enjoy my food experience that fast.

Well, at least we experienced Mrs. Wilkes and we found out that people from all over the South were correct that we had to eat here at least once.

SOUTHERN FOOD

Fried

Greens

Grits

Chicken

Sweet Potatoes

Bacon

Sausage

Sweet Tea

Pecan Pralines

Do you have a favorite Southern food?

Vacation 2010...

Anticipation, excitement, explore...

Plan, prepare, pack...

Travel, experience, eat...

Exhaustion, overload, frustration...

Visiting, relaxing, enjoying...

Mr. Createology's sister on her lakefront property living the dream.

We had a wonderful time with Sisty and Tom and we enjoyed our visit.

However...

It is so good to be home, safe and in our own bed.

Chillaxation...

This is another view from my Kitchen and Great Room deck. It is our pond Mr. Createology built himself. He went to pond college and then got busy creating this masterpiece. I can truly say that nothing gives me greater pleasure than this spot of nature and all it's wonder. As the summer progresses I will post better photos of it however for now this is a sneak peek.
Yesterday was the most relaxing day in a long time. It was also one of the busiest days. How could it be relaxing?
We visited with friends at a local open house for a super interesting business that just happens to have set the world land speed motorcycle record at Bonneville Salt Flats last fall. I had not seen the production plant and I love all the equipment and parts and what it takes to produce product.
Then we stopped by a local car show for Mini Cooper cars. They are so cute and quick. I just love seeing what people do to make theirs unique.
Then we went to town where all the super excitement is as Amgen preparations are in full swing. It begins here today in a few short hours. Lance Armstrong is here again folks.
Where are my pictures you ask? I forgot to take my camera along with me yesterday. How thoughtless of me. I do apologize.
Last evening we celebrated Mr. Createology's birthday with friends. We each bring food and that way no one person has all the burden. Dinner was delicious with BBQ Tri-tip, baked beans, potato salad (made from scratch!) and cibatta bread. YUM! Then we had birthday fudge brownies with home made vanilla ice cream. Yes, that would be Margaret who brings dessert. She is a master at desserts...especially chocolate. Lots of eating and lots of stories and lots of laughter with friends. It doesn't get much better than that.
Such a great day. I think we shall have another one today!
How are you relaxing this weekend?

Hungry for flavor???

While we were in Italy we tried to eat something unique each and every day. And you can be very certain that we ate very well. As you know dinner is served later than we are used to here in the USA. So after walking and exploring all day long we were always "starving" long before the 9:00 pm dinner time. We were usually the first to be seated at any restaurant and therefore early at 8:00 or 8:30 pm. In Florence I ordered Raviolini with drunk cheese and this is the picture of my dinner. What an unusual meal I had! The pecorino cheese is actually stuffed into grapes and left to ferment. The flavor is strong and quite tasty. The small dark flecks are the grape skins that actually petrify during the fermenting process. The waiter had quite a smile when he explained my meal to me in his broken english.

So for truly unique cuisine we went to a very posh restaurant in Monterosso which is one of the five towns in Cinque Terra. This photo is of the salted anchovies we ate for appetizer at lunch. Thank goodness for bread. Monterosso hosts an annual world festival dedicated to anchovies.

In Pisa we missed visiting the one restaurant we had pre-selected based on recommendations. Instead our hotel suggested Benys across the river. I must tell you that it was the best overall in our entire trip. Damiano and his wife (who does the cooking) were wonderful and ever so friendly and charming. He suggested the white wine and the red wine both of which were perfect. He had his wife make a special salad for us that was not on the menu.

This is porcini mushrooms with pecorino cheese and white truffle oil. The presentation was beautiful. The flavors were superb. Luckily for us it was mushroom season and we both enjoy mushrooms very much. This salad was original and yummy.

Then for the he-man hunger Damiano suggested the Chianna Beef stuffed with prosciutto and pecorino drizzled generously with a browned red wine sauce. My husband was in heaven. I had a bite and it literally melted in my mouth. Oh my goodness.

As I have said we ate extremely well throughout our trip. Luckily we did a lot of walking so it offset the immense food we so willingly ate.

No photos of gelatto but I did enjoy my share of this cool and creamy treat. My favorite flavor was the mascarpone e nutella I ate in Vernazza.

Okay...back to reality and regular food. At least we have our memories of such tasty treats.

Celery anyone???

Colors of Italy...

I just love the colors in this photo. They are so vibrant and alive. Our last day in Florence we went to the Mercato and spent time visiting each of the different stalls. There were amazing buckets of olives in every shape and color. Fruits and vegetables of all types...but do not touch any of them or you will get yelled at as they think they (the vendor) should select them for you.
There were cured meats of all shapes and sizes. Hams, prosciuttos, salamis, and many that I have no idea what they were. This photo just makes me think it should be our cover shot for this year's Christmas cards. LOL

And then there was Andrea...the happy, smiling and helpful deli counter Italian who spoke a tiny bit of English. We had eaten some salami at one of our dinners earlier in the week and asked if he knew what it was. Our lucky day! It was Finocchiona and made special in Florence. The salami is infused with fennel (which we both love!) so it has a slight licorice taste and is delicious. Well, Andrea honored our request for some picnic items for our train ride and packaged our items perfectly. We bought Finocchiona sliced just right, Pecorino cheese, some soft dark bread and the extra special item...pear chutney to dip our Pecorino cheese into. Very YUMMY!!!

We boarded the train in Florence and headed to Cinque Terra which was our next location. Along the way we enjoyed our little picnic and the amazing views while zipping along. We found the trains to be quite accommodating and easy to use.

To sum up our stay in Florence...thank goodness we went in the off tourist season since there were hundreds of people in their tour groups. It was quite crowded to say the least. After hours it did settle down and one could walk the streets much more easily.

Ciao Florence. Boun giorno Cinque Terra will be the next post.

It's good to be home...

Oh it is so good to be home. Dear Hubby and I are safely home after spending 20 days away. I am still recovering from exhaustion but today finally feel like I will survive. This is the only photo of me that I do not look as weary as I felt every day. This was early in the day before the grind of museums or hill towns got me drop dead worn out.
Our destination was Italy...Florence, Cinque Terra, Pisa, Tuscany, Umbria and Rome. In the next few weeks I shall tell more in detail. As for now we had beautiful weather with only one morning that rain drenched us and shortened our plans. We had excellent travel with planes, trains and automobiles. DH plans everything so well that we really were well prepared for this trip.
As you can see from this photo we ate our way through Italy. This was homemade granola (muesli is what they call it...I prefer granola as it sounds so much better to me) with some strawberry yogurt. I have lots of photos of food that we enjoyed which I shall share along the way.
My goal was to find bead shops in Italy for my new jewelry line "Adorn Me!". Well that proved to be very difficult however I did manage to find a couple and will share these adventures as well.
As for now, I am catching up on tons of laundry, reacquainting myself with our beloved aging fur-child kitty and enjoying friends who are all too willing to listen to our travel tales. This entire trip was a no techno gadget time for us so you can imagine how much I missed reading all of your blogs and now I am catching up on those too.
"There is no place like home" and it is so good to be back in my beautiful cozy familiar home. I am extremely grateful for the trip of a life time and the experiences and memories it allowed me.
Now it is time to get into the studio and get to making jewelry.

Home from road trip...

This is the Saucy Chicks leaving on their road trip. We traveled about 1500 miles all total during our 9 days.

We had very hot weather which surprised us all as it was supposed to be cooler. Therefore we did not have quite the proper clothes and I tend to wear lots of black so you know I was baking in the heat and sun. We also encountered a surprise thunder and lightening storm with huge rain drops which dried almost as quickly as they fell. We also had lots of road debris to watch out for because of the heat. So many trucks and vans were losing the tread on their tires due to the extreme heat.

We enjoyed lots of friends and family.

We ate way too much food. What is it about everyone wanting to feed us all the time?! lol

We did lots of interesting events. A Grand Picnique fundraiser for the hospital foundation. It had a Parisian theme and was the best planned event I have attended in a very long time. We attended a putters event which also had a costume theme and then a luncheon. We went to a dinner playhouse and thoroughly enjoyed a wonderful presentation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We also attended a very funny campy live performance in a very small club theater. How fortunate we were to be able to enjoy so much in such a short amount of time.

This should be enough for now. I am still in a fog as we never got an entire night of sleep for all the fun we had and of course we talked until the wee hours.

Back to reality and domestic chores. Also catching up with friends here at home.

We missed blogging and reading everyone's postings. I must admit I never did touch a computer while gone.