The Great Outdoors

Gorgeous day! Headed out the door at 9ish and came back at 4ish. I spent the whole day with bins and camera around my neck and enjoying the great outdoors… from woods to beaches… MacCormick’s Beach, Harlen Point (Back Cove), Rainbow Haven, and Conrad’s Beach. It was the first time I had been to Conrad’s Beach (lured by a Glossy Ibis sighting there)… just a beautiful beach with lots of shorebirds… I’ll be baaaaack!

 

On my way in the Do Not Enter area of Hartlen Point (shhhh!), there were two of these bags of Periwinkles.. a little further on there were four bags. They were still there on my way out several hours later????  There will be periwinkle putrefaction if they weren’t picked up shortly!

Did I mention I LOVE fall!

.. and so does this young White-throated Sparrow!

The fall grasses are so beautiful .. hello, Great Blue Heron!

Saw five of these Pectoral Sandpipers at Rainbow Haven.

I crawled on my belly to get shots of this Dunlin at Conrad’s Beach!:-)

DH made a rice, herb, cherry tomato salad and I made butternut squash soup for our supper.. yum on both counts!

Pura Vida

 

 

 

Do Not Eat The Plastic

Grooved the gravel at 7:30 this morning after 7.. count ’em..SEVEN.. hours of uninterrupted sleep. On a two night roll.. can 10 yr. habits really be broken?? Stay tuned!

Not many birds this morning so I was paying more attention to flora.

Brown is beautiful, too!

Seeing a lot of Canada Holly around this year.

This guy showed up in my yard this morning with seven of his buddies.

Something (maybe me but I was taking pics through the window) caused them to scatter and this one flew into the willow tree at least 25 ft. in the air! That’s the highest point I have ever seen a pheasant!

Got all nostalgic making chow this morning. Is there anything that smells better than chow simmering on the stove? It took me back to my childhood. Mum used to make so many preserves and I love using the funnel and wooden spoon that she used. Don’t be alarmed that I have gone off my pristine, clean eating and am going to eat sugar-laden chow (as if you care.. :-)) These are for gifting. See I don’t care what others eat. I’ll even support your sugar habits… right, Kara?

Chow Down

I got a rain jacket from LLBean delivered this morning and am a little concerned at its’ pinkness.. I don’t do pink. My goddaughter talked me into this colour.. we’ll see!  Anyway, there were four little squares of plastic in the package and be darned if I can figure out their purpose but I DO know, thanks to the instructions, that I am not to eat them!  Plus… bonus.. they are DMF free.. so I really should be able to eat them… right??

So many instructions for such a little piece of plastic!

Pura Vida

 

 

Old People Can’t Walk Very Fast

Had a lovely day yesterday in Truro.  DH dropped me off about 9 a.m. and Kara and I went to the farmer’s market. I got some great organic kale, green beans, carrots, broccoli and spicy hummus.

Porter asked if I would like to go for a walk with him to the ‘nature path and pond’. I agreed and then found out by ‘walk’, he meant he would be on his bike and I would be half walking and half running,  yelling “Wait for me”! To which he matter- of -factly  responded, “Old people can’t walk very fast, can they”?  I only held his head  under the water for a short period of time!! 🙂

Look at that innocent little face.. waiting for his ‘old’ Nonna!

Lovely nature trail .. Valley, near Truro

Happiness= a stick and water

Cormorant ballet  and fall reflections…

Porter asked me take a picture of this leaf and he artfully arranged it before I was allowed to take the shot.  Photographer in the making??

I watched some AUS (obligatory with hubby doing the colour commentary) and NCAA (for pure enjoyment) football in the afternoon.  Then I spent the evening reading, catching  up on the NS Bird Society Facebook page (not after 9 o’clock.. as promised!!), more football, yoga and meditation. Now THAT was a day!

Today started with an early morning walk.. caved in and took bins and camera.. still managed to get some real huffing and puffing in! Porter should have seen this old lady motoring along.. hahaha!

The fungi are starting to be more abundant.

 

Drops on the underside of a fungus on a dead tree.

Fall flowers are SO pretty! This was in a ditch!

Fought the crowds at Costco and a quick stop at Michaels and Bed Bath and Beyond and I was beyond happy to get back to my little house in the woods.

Off to get green tomatoes cut up for chow making in the morning.

Pura Vida

 

Boo Hoo!

I am supposed to be at a breast cancer survivor’s retreat in Tatamagouche right now but I woke up sick this morning and had to cancel. Boo hoo! I was there last year and had a blast. Now hoping that I find another opportunity to wear my tutu… don’t ask!

I spent a lot of the day in bed listening to the rain beat down between my zzzzz episodes! Haven’t done that in a LONG time.

I have been reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Peace Every Breath and wonder if it would be received well as a selection for my book club. Our current read (which I haven’t started) is The Pleasure Games Trilogy by Catherine Fox. Catherine is a local author and is coming to our book club. I hated Shades of Grey so much (and no, I wasn’t freaked out at the topic.. I just couldn’t get past the horrible, horrible writing) that I fear reading this genre again and having any chance of being kind to the author but I promised the hostess that I would behave myself.  Obviously the Shades of Grey author wasn’t at our meeting so I  let ‘er rip! 🙂

In the interest of accountability… remember you are supposed to call me to task if I veer from my plan to get a better night’s sleep… here is a shot of my iPod and e-reader settling down for the night last night in the livingroom far away from my bedside table.

Note to self.. clean iPod screen!

Well I did sleep a little better but woke up sick so maybe I need these devices close by at all times to prevent illness… hmmm???

DH cooked a very tasty supper again tonight. He grows the garlic himself and cuts off the scapes at just the right time and freezes them. He also grew the parsley. I think I will keep him!

Lemon Scented Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Veggies

(Serves 2 as a main course or four as a side dish)

• 1/3 box of spaghetti
• 5 or 6 garlic scapes sliced thinly
• 6 Sun dried tomato halves sliced thinly
• 3/4 cup fresh corn
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
• Zest of one lemon
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 cup chicken stock (vegetable may be used)  We used organic veggie stock.

Cook the spaghetti till al dente and set aside.

Sautee scapes and tomatoes till fragrant then add the corn, parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice and simmer lightly.

Turn the heat up a bit; add the chicken stock and pasta and toss everything to coat and until the sauce is slightly thickened.

I forgot to take a pic until it was almost all gone!  We (the royal we… really DH) also grew the Golden Boy tomato.. SO meaty and tasty!

DH is off to a brunch tomorrow at Mt.A where he is introducing Eric Lapointe as Mount A retires Eric’s sweater #5. What thrills Eric brought to MacAulay Field and then to the Montreal Alouettes. Then DH will do the colour commentary for Eastlink broadcast of the football game. I am going to take my sorry self off to Kara’s for the day in Truro. I will feel better by then.. I will better by then… I will feel better by then!

Happy Friday everyone!

Pura vida!

Shakes

Two days in a row with no birding .. getting the shakes! I have control over my birding hobby, it does not control me… OR… my name is Donna and I am a birdaholic!

DH and I went to Kingston today to deliver a ‘new to them’ washer and dryer to Kyle and Crista. I made an amazing discovery this summer. I, who used to get car sick doing anything but staring straight ahead, can knit in the car!! I should be able to knit sweaters for the whole family on the drive to Texas this winter!!  Mind you, I think I will still be doing some ‘navigating’ (some rudely call it ‘backseat driving’.. but technically I am in the navigator’s seat!), especially if we end up going through New York again this year!!

Working on an infinity scarf.

Quinn helping Papa with the installation.

Can you tell their last washer was top loading? 🙂

Mama/Son love!  Quinn and mama Crista

I LOVE ‘The Valley’ scenery, even on a drizzly, dreary day like today.

I even have DH saying, “That would make a nice shot” and offering to pull over for me to get photos!

No late summer/fall trip to the Valley is complete without picking up some squash! Today we got some Sweet Dumpling squash and roasted them in the oven along with other veggies and added a bean/oat burger and voila.. supper!

Recipe for burgers ( I posted before but you forgot to copy it and wished I would post again so here it is): Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes | Indian Vegan Recipes | Gluten-Free | Eggless Baking

I used tomato paste instead of ketchup and halved the cumin and dijon … best ‘fake’ burgers I have had yet (very tasty.. I swear)and they freeze well.

Oh.. btw, that theory that the QiGong helps me sleep through the night was shot to ‘heck’ (my 7 yr. old granddaughter reads this!) last night. Turns out it helped me ONE night! Had my usual 3ish  wake up.. made myself stay off my iPod (seems birding isn’t my only addiction…. hmmm) and read instead for an hour and back to sleep for another 1 1/2 hrs.. I’ll take it! Going on the theory that it takes more than two nights to prove or disprove any sleep theory, I’ll give it another zen-like attempt tonight. Serenity now.. NOW ‘darn’ it.!

Pura Vida

… And I Let Him Live

Remember that I was supposed to get up early to get to Lawrencetown Beach for a 7 a.m. birding walk? Well, I was up early alright… 4:15!!! DH accidentally set the alarm for 4:15 a.m…. no more sleep for me… back to sawing logs for DH!  Thus the title of this post!!

Anyway… sucking up my bitterness…. it was a beautiful morning.. so calm with every shorebird showing a perfect reflection in the water. I saw my first Wilson’s Warbler in N.S this year and we saw a Sora Rail in a tree or actually alders but an amazing place to see a Rail!! They are usually hiding in the reeds and only come out for short photo ops.

There he/she is trying to hide from us. Amazing sight for everyone!

Semipalmated Plover and Reflection

Yellowlegs… have no idea why it is called this… heehee.

I got home around noon and made a massaged kale salad for lunch. Yep, that kale is one uptight, tough green that is in great need of massage with olive oil and sea salt!

Kale, blueberries, black berries (DH picked this a.m.. good job I let him live!), dried cranberries, almonds, balsamic vinegar.. seaweed was put on after I put salad on plates.. yep, seaweed.. better than it sounds.. .really.. honest… cross my heart.

The afternoon found me doing long overdue housework. I tried to stay in the moment and not wish I was doing something else on this gorgeous afternoon … varying degrees of success. I love the expression: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

My bed is calling to me….wondering where I have been since 4:30 a.m.!

Pura Vida

First Post.. Gulp

August 13, 2013… my first blog post!  Who says you cannot teach an old broad new tricks.. or she cannot stumble around and learn a few tricks on her own? Where is that darn teacher of new tricks when you need one??

Since this is a daily diary of my adventures, I might as well take a deep breath and jump right in.

DH (dear hubby) and I are babysitting our just newly 6 yr. old for the summer, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. This is a week off those duties so this morning saw me planning a long list of things to accomplish. Then the phone rang………..”birding at Eastern Passage, why I would love to”.  And off I went with our friend, Jacques, ….bins and camera, Sibley Field Guide to Birds of North America, apple and nut/date balls (may get around to posting recipes eventually.. not for apples) in hand!

No ‘lifers’ but a decent assortment of shorebirds.. Willets, Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstones, Dowitchers, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers.

Willet and Yellowlegs (Lesser.. I think)

 

So back home to my list. Oh.. a cup of green tea and a few minutes on Facebook.. what the heck.  An hour later and back to the list.. oh oh.. time to start getting supper. DH has decided to make supper this week but he has chosen as the stars of the meals..shrimp, mussels, cream, etc. I have been vegan for close to a year now but DH doesn’t have the concept nailed yet. So I made a Massaged Kale Salad.. yep, that’s right ‘massaged’. I have seen different recipes for this on Pinterest and I decided to try one. It was AWESOME… turns out if you add a little olive oil and sea salt to kale and massage it a little, it becomes tender ..not that tough stuff that takes a blender to chew! I kid you not.. TENDER!! Should  have taken a picture of my first massaged salad. I’ll get onto this blog thing.. give me break. It’s my initiation post! Oh and also made a quinoa (keen wa), bean, sundried tomato, lemon, salad. Maybe I should do a food blog! 🙂

Well, no need of going on and on with my first post ever.

Hope you are having a better hair day than this little guy!

Have a great day! Namaste! Pura Vida! Ciao! I will settle on something eventually! 🙂