A Kitten Finds a Home

My friend Amy discovered this adorable little kitten abandoned and alone. Being a “dog person” with two dogs at home, Amy was not looking to add a feline to the mix. She found a foster family for the baby and was relieved to hand the kitten over. But the foster mom called in two days to announce she could not keep the kitty because her own dogs threatened to harm it.

What to do. What to do. Amy knew little about felines but made sure the kitty had enough food to eat and was healthy. As the days went by Amy became more and more attached and she named him Sam.

And it has been a love story ever since.

But the true love of his life is now Amy and the true love of her life is now Sam.

When Amy was sick for a few days recently Sam slept with her and never left her side and she would wake up to find Sam’s little paw on her face.

This is an ongoing story of course and it will make for a few more smiley faced blog posts.

But isn’t Sam adorable?

I am so glad he and Amy found each other and that Sam has found a real home.

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A New Trend in Holiday Desserts?

Pumpkin Pie No Longer for Christmas?

It was Thanksgiving and of course there were lots of pumpkin pies available for the big feast’s dessert.

I love pumpkin pie and it doesn’t even have to be homemade.  Ready made and store bought can be just as good.

But Thanksgiving came and went and suddenly it was Christmas.

I planned to cook a ham dinner for Bill and me and friends.

And Bill asked, “What shall we have for dessert?””

“Pumpkin pie!”, was my immediate answer. I know I can make one from scratch, but just to save a little more time and effort, I felt lazy enough to add,

“We can just pick up a pumpkin pie

at the local grocery store.”

• And there was the rub!
• Alas!
• There were no pumpkin pies available.

No such thing at our favorite grocery store or any other store a week before Christmas or even days before Christmas.

I cannot even blame it on small-town country living since we have three major grocery stores close by.  Maybe our small-town population is always hungry and bought up all the pumpkin pies.

At any rate, we wound up

having Key Lime Pie for dessert.

Not exactly Christmas Fare in my mind.

Perhaps we are trend setters?

The Key Lime Pie was good and went well with ham.

But here is my question:

Is this a new trend whereby pumpkin pie is now only acceptable at Thanksgiving?

And my second question is:

Why?

Christmas Ham Dinner Minus Pumpkin Pie

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Gathering Grownups

 

Last week the son came.

Then one of the three granddaughters arrived with Kota the dog.

Followed by the middle grandgirl.

And finally, the oldest who lives the farthest away.

It was her (Jessica’s) birthday!

A day and a night and a day.  Some left and returned and the son stayed.

What did we all do?

A whole lot of talking.

The girls made stir fry vegetables.

We ate out.

And there was  a whole lot of talking and catching up to do since “the kids” have all grown up.

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Country Outings and Lunch With Bruno

Dining in a Virginia Orchard

The bear came back today.  I was preparing lunch when there was Bruno having his own lunch in the “orchard.”  The orchard consists of two fruit trees that didn’t make it and one pear tree that may still be offering something edible.

Bruno is a teenager or young fella who is out on his own I think because we never see the Mama Bear.  Anyway, as I sat down for lunch I was imagining joining the kid and sharing a pear or two.

Fortunately, reason and abject fear stopped me from being mauled to death.

Shopping Delusions

I thought I finally purchased the perfect pair of jeans yesterday!

Some stores have mirrors that make things look great.  The illusion is usually fleeting. This store was like that.  Wow! I looked young and glamorous in that mirror.

And the jeans even felt good – the stretchy kind you know and high wasted like in the old days so they wouldn’t slip down below my belly button.  A bit long but I began hemming them as soon as I got home.

Well yes, they are comfy all right and I wore them all day today.  But some people (like me) don’t have the right body image for jeans.  Mine always seem rumpled and a bit too baggy (my body as well as the jeans).  Obviously, jeans should emphasize curves shouldn’t they?

Having a flat butt doesn’t help I guess.  I mean you have to have curves to emphasize them.

Yesterday’s Outing

Yesterday was a big shopping day and lunch out with my friend, Norma.  We do something exciting like that once a month.   A lot of talking goes on (stored up for four weeks).

As for shopping, I am almost overwhelmed in those big malls with so many choices. Living in small town rural Virginia you get used to limited buying opportunities.  This time my friend and I added “The Cheese Shop” in Stuart’s Draft, Virginia, for spices and nuts, dried fruits and homemade jams and jellies, and cheese of course.

We had lunch at a Thai restaurant but I missed Bruno. 

And on the way home we stopped for a frozen yogurt dessert.  It was a cool ending to a lovely day.

 

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Cooling Off in the Freezer

 

I know it is a bit unorthodox to lean into a deep freeze when the temps hover around 100 degrees outside, but yes, I confess, “I did it.”

Truth is our cavernous HUGE deep freezer suddenly began spewing water over everything in it.  I haven’t defrosted it in a month or two, 3 or 4 months, maybe a year, so I blamed myself.

Well, I know I defrosted it since 1990.

We bought the freezer in 1990!

Imagine?

And it has been going non-stop ever since.  No repairs, rare defrostings, overloading, underloading, whatever.

Anyway, I was overheated due to rising temps in this part of Virginia, so decided to hang over the edge of the old girl, chipping away at mountains of accumulated ice and picking at giant slabs with gloved hands and long prongs.

Cool!

And to add to the joy of being slightly chilled in a heat wave I had memories of balancing on the monkey bars when I was a kid.  Leaning leaning leaning over the edge of our freezer was  a similar feeling.

I felt young again!  Carefree.  And yes – Cool!

It took about four hours to defrost, de-ice, and displace all the foods that needed to be discarded or moved to our smaller refrigerator freezer.

And at the end of four hours I could barely move!

No longer cool.

In need of Ibuprofen.

Exhausted.

I turned the X&6%#@&* thing back on again, but Bill came along and turned it off.  “The freezer’s shot,” said he.  And this morning he went to Lowe’s and ordered a new one.

Me, I’m still wondering why I defrosted and cleaned a 26 year old faltering freezer.

It must have been to keep cool.

http://www.thecollist.com

The Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Finland offers a variety of accommodations, including snow igloos. Guests who book a snow igloo during their stay get to sleep inside a shelter of ice. The temperature is kept at a consistent level regardless of the temperature outside and the guests are provided with down sleeping bags to keep them warm when they turn in for the night. If you’re noticing a trend, it is one of many ice hotels based in the Nordic countries, a sign of ingenuity from countries that celebrate the cold.

 

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I Didn’t Eat the Bread

Visions of a Demure Dinner

Will I lose weight on this diet?

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Patterns

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Joy at The Fat Tuna

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.”  

~Jonathan Swift

If you are ever in Williamsburg, Virginia and you’re hungry (especially if you are hungry for shell fish), I discovered a place I would drive three hours to go back to.  It is called The Fat Tuna Grill and Oyster Bar.

I was yearning for  seafood  and though it is available “inland” where I live, it is oddly not quite satisfying.  But on our trip to Williamsburg I learned I  had forgotten the joy of consuming fresh oysters on the half shell and big fat broiled shrimp dipped in butter!

And that is exactly what I ordered at The Fat Tuna – oysters on the half shell and broiled shrimp.

Ambrosia!

Bill doesn’t know it yet, but I am planning a calculated semi-yearly blitz urging him to join me in return trips to Williamsburg – just for a repeat of that dinner!  Tomorrow would not be too soon.

But back to my somewhat less than professional food critic’s review:

I was oohing and ahhing so much the smiling Manager came over and touched my shoulder in gratitude for such exuberant appreciation of the chef.

I loved the service too.  “Star” understood  and she was truly a star in bringing us fabulous warm hush puppies and corn bread for starters.  I am off grains of course, but had a taste of each to set me swooning for more.   Selected sides were green beans cooked to perfection and fabulously delicious coleslaw.  And Key Lime Pie for dessert – the real thing!

The Fat Tuna is a casual dining destination – meaning it is not hoity-toity and you don’t have to dress up but it is pleasantly appointed.

Can you tell how much I love this restaurant?

If you love seafood too and you are anywhere near (or even far), The Fat Tuna is the place to go.

 

1433 Richmond Road
Williamsburg,Virginia 23185

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Williamsburg Adventure

Chownings Tavern – Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

The Way We Were

Tavern Reception Team

Bill and I have been escaping the past several days, on a brief trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – not the first time for sure.  There is always something to see and do and never enough time for any of it.

The main allure of this incredible place is the ability to experience a “living museum”

where you can see and feel the past

whilst knowing you are viewing it from the future.

O.K. I know this doesn’t make much sense but it is perfectly true.

But we had another reason to visit the area this time.

We stopped at the MAI Conference being held at the Williamsburg Lodge!

Our friend, Pete, is the organizer and MAI stands for Mid Atlantic Innkeepers, so it was a conference and trade show for Bed and Breakfast people.

Attendees are either eager Hosts and Hostesses, eagerly Aspiring hosts and hostesses, or eager Suppliers of eager hosts and hostesses.

In any case, they are all delightfully friendly energetic people enjoying courses, classes, and camaraderie dedicated to optimizing the travel experience in today’s bustling new world.

Here are photographs of our friends who were working so hard to make the conference a success.

MAI Organizer Pete Holladay
http://midatlanticinnkeepers.com

Beautiful Friends Phebe and Katherine

Bill Wondering Where We Were

Believe it or not, the Williamsburg Lodge was a stop on our bus route around the periphery of Colonial Williamsburg.  We had lunch at Chownings Tavern along the way.

Bill tried the Shepherd’s Pie with Root Beer to swig it all down.  And I had Brunswick Stew and hot apple cider.  We were serenaded by a lovely lady in period costume who played the fiddle and then we were visited by a fellow who looked like John Adams. Then we heard a fife in the back room.

Talk about being transported back in time!

How I would love to vacation again in Colonial Williamsburg – but via a time machine back to 1734.  Then I would return of course, to all my modern conveniences!

Well, a lunch hour at the Tavern in the restored Old Towne will have to do.

A Colonial Street of Homes

 

Wood Pile at the Ready

 

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Best Flour-less Chocolate Chip Cookies

Following in the noble footsteps of one of my favorite bloggers, MJ of Emjay and Them, I have embarked upon a wheatless, almost-grainless, eating program.  People like MJ are raving about the Wheat Belly weight loss theory and feeling good too.  I have been doing this now for about 5 weeks and have lost about 4 pounds – also feeling pretty good.

However, being skeptical of almost everything (as noted by the array of vitamins and minerals in my tried and never-true massive collection), I am only teetering on the edge of issuing a rave report about WHEAT BELLY.  Isn’t that the most awful title for a program about healthful eating?

Of course, things like cookies, cakes, muffins, bread and pancakes, etc. that have a flour base are no-no’s  and they naturally become delicacies  to be missed.

But I have a secret remedy!

It’s a tried and true recipe discovered even before reading the first two Wheat Belly books.

FLOUR-LESS Chocolate Chip Cookies

(But, if you are allergic to peanuts, please ignore this recipe.)

1 Egg

1 Cup brown sugar (I use coconut sugar – 1 cup = 1 cup)

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Cup chocolate chips (I use dark choc chips)

1 Cup chunky peanut butter

Mix all.  Drop by minimum Tablespoons onto a parchment sheet or Silpat

Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 10 to 12 minutes.

Note:  If I can only control how many of these to eat in a day, the Wheat Belly routine may just work!  I am averaging SEVEN now and still lost 5 pounds!  Working on decreasing to SIX (cookies that is).

 

 

 

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