Sunday, October 2, 2016

Decisions Decisions

I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks.
I am seriously thinking of giving up blogging for now.
It is a very time consuming hobby and I seem to have a plate full of other things.
I have enjoyed it for the most part and will continue to "creep"...
Altho I am not a huge Facebook fan ... it seems more friends and family see those posts.
I love Instagram and post on that a lot as well.
So for the time being you can find me

on Instagram @zazanona

on Twitter      @nonazazamomo

Facebook     Susan Wilkes


HB, Sparty, 
 
 and I are heading to Nova Scotia on a road trip
to do some sight seeing and
 get caught up with my sisters and their families.

I have a few knitting projects to do on the road and just enjoy the trip.

I will be posting on all above social medias.
Hope you check it out.

Thank you all for you support over the years.
 Who knows I may find I miss this crazy blogging and be back ....
I have been known to be a wee bit fickle at times ..

But for now ----
Ciao and Bientot  ...


Wednesday, September 28, 2016

An experiment

Our silly Miss D

Just installed blogger on my new samsung7edge.
Will I be able to blog from it.
This post is a total experiment...

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Through my Garden Gate








The petunias are starting to look tired.
They have had a beautiful show along with the fuchsia geraniums.
Time for a trip to the garden centre and pick up some of those half price annuals.
















My wonderful little rose bush is still flowering after a big battle with some teeny caterpillars.



A quick soap and water spray and a wee trim and it has been flowering all summer.







I lost ALL my jalapenos last year in the garden.
I think our squirrels have Mexican roots.
So this year I put it in a big pot.
Lovely .. hunh ..??
Well those squirrels tried again and before I could harvest they had taken off with a few.
I managed to save the rest and have about 10 sitting in my fridge.

See that evil eye.....
















And a little nod to my Maritime roots..
Three plant pots painted red with white windows.
A great find at Dollerama for the perfect solar garden lite glued on top.
I got the idea from a Pinterest post.
The dory was my idea .. cuz what's a lighthouse without a boat?




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Sunday, September 18, 2016

Hostas

What can I say about these fantastic plants??
They seem to put up with just about anything.
Even with this terrible drought we have experienced in Eastern Ontario
And I will add still experiencing ...
They are looking a bit bedraggled but continuing to be the show offs they can be
They do get attacked by slugs but the one nice thing about a drought ===== no slugs!









 
 One of my favourites I ordered many years ago from Gardenimport.
And the only Hosta in my collection I remember its name --- "Fire and Ice"



 
A few years ago we dug up the front Garden (with help from Sio and Will)
 and replaced the English Style with Hostas
I am so glad we did.
It is a lot less work especially with the red bark mulch we put down.
You will notice the drought damage.
Along with drought damage comes many many grubs which have done major destruction as well.
HB has put down nematodes and we are hoping they are doing their job...
 
 
Hope you are having a glorious day!!
 
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and if you have or are thanks :-) .
 

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Towny Cousin

For all of you who read Deb's blog (Just Cats) you will understand this post.
If you haven't and want to click on above link....

So what happens when you leave a bird feeder on your deck unsupervised??

 
 




Meet Simon's Town Cousin...




TED

 

 
He doesn't seem too interested in meeting Addy..
 
 
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Saturday, September 10, 2016

Friday at Presqu'ile Park

What better way to spend a beautiful Friday than with our two besties and a trip to one of our fav Provincial parks.
It's about 2 and a half hours from home to the park so yes we left early.
Along the way there was an escape and we slowly made our way past the wanted villains.



Feeling lucky we made it past them with no injury or lactose attack we continued our journey...

Arrived to the park around 10 and started our trek.

 
Altho it was starting to get pretty hot there were a number of lil birds that we spotted ---
I tried to get pics of the warblers but they are like wind up toys on speed so no luck.




There were lots of Monarchs floating around..

Nice to see them.

They have been fairly non existent in our backyard....
After our picnic lunch and being attacked non stop by nasty little stable flies...
We went to the Beach (being a Maritimer it always makes me chuckle to say that)...
Anyway we went to the Beach to check out shore birds and the sand seemed to be moving with them..
 
 
 

 


After that we were starting to get pooped so headed out of the park
 with a last shot of the day.



We stopped in Perth and had supper at a Mexican place on the Tay River.
Margaritas and Beer all round.
It was an awesome day as it always is ..
 
Back home for our friends to wait and wait and wait
 for the arrival of their first grand baby in 11 days ...


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Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Jarring Tomatoes

I received the gift of a hefty bag of tomatoes from a friend the other day.
I do not eat raw tomatoes ---
a quick allergic reaction of bumpy hives appear on my forearms and face .
But once they are cooked I can eat them.
HB loves them in a Caprese salad or sandwich but he cannot eat the mountains of them that will quickly start appearing.
So starts my jarring project.



X marks the spot then a quick dunk in boiling water to remove the skins.
Cut into chunks and let gently boil for about 30 minutes.
I added a pinch of salt and the same amount of sugar.
Washed my jars. Popped the jars in a 150*  oven for about 30 minutes.
Put the tops in a pot of simmering water for about 10 minutes to soften the rubber ring.
Added basil and garlic to the jars then using a jar funnel topping the jars to about half an inch from the top. Clean the jar rim with a clean damp cloth. Screw the tops on fairly tightly. Then wait for that satisfying P O P.....

 
 
A lot of people use the canning method however I have been doing this method for close to 30 years and no one has died of botulism.
The tops must pop
 and if they do not then you know one of the meals if not 2 that week will be a tomatoes based one.
 
 
Sounds like another Tasty Tuesday post .....
 

Friday, September 2, 2016

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday

Its a two for one day today....
Thirty eight years ago we said "I Will"







 And what do you collect in 38 years??
Beautiful children
Fabulous son in law
Awesome grand children
Terrific friends
Tons of travel memories
Heaps of just memories
Morning coffees
Evening cocktails
Pizza nites
Lots of kisses and cuddles
And yes I would say I Will again....
Love you Lots HB
Happy Anniversary ...







And a Happy Birthday to our girl Holly ..


I really wish we could just hop on a jet plane and be there to celebrate with her.
She has had a pretty rough 6 months but she has realized how strong a woman she is.
We are so proud of you hunny and LOVE you very much ...



..... and believe it or not these lil munchkins start school today....

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Plum Oatmeal Squares

It is a Sunday altho this is being posted today.
Another extremely hot humid one.
I'm melting! I'm melting!




After topping the bird baths and hummer feeders and seed silos
 I was ready to be back in the cool house.



I was making
Plum Oatmeal Squares  for a treat today and I got to thinking.
How lucky I am to be able to bake on days like this ...
Or any day really  --- just for fun.

Thought of all those ladies in their long dresses and bib aprons with babies hanging off their legs.


They HAD to cook and in all kind of weather .
Hubby was not happy with a piece of grilled chicken
 and a black bean and pepper salad for a summer supper.
Nope it had to be some kind of roasted beast with the fixins and most likely a pie for dessert.
My Nana told us stories of her "old maid aunts" cooking in the summer kitchen.
And as a child loving the lip smacking aromas that came from there.


I want to thank all those wonderful women who have come before me.
And also thank the guy/gal who came up with the idea of AC

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Not a Product Placement

We all know that we should be moisturizing right?
I was going to say "especially at certain ages" but that is wrong..
Everybody should be moisturizing their skin.


Anyway I am pretty religious about slapping on my lotion right after a shower.
I have tried lots and lots and lots of OTC body lotions.
The one that works great for me is Curel


But lets face it I get lazy once in awhile.
So when I saw that Dove came out with body wash that had oils in it and
promised you didn't have to moisturize out of the shower I was ready to give it a try.


I have been using it for about a week now and my skin seems fairly moisturized.
I decided to just use the body wash and no lotion and see what happened.
My only complaint is the smell. Not sure what it is but it is somewhat unpleasant to me.
Not unpleasant enough to stop using it but not for every day
I know I know I shouldn't be showering every day -----


Saturday, August 27, 2016

Afternoon entertainment





Sitting on our patio sipping wine on a hot afternoon
Being dive bombed by about 5 of these lil fellas.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Someone had a Birthday

Yup and that someone is me!
Starting another decade .... or as some kind friend said "the winter of my life"  WHAT????
Winter?? I hate winter.

I still feel like perhaps the late summer. Ya I like that better.
I had an absolutely fab day --- spoiled beyond belief.
HB organized a facial and mani at my favourite spa for the afternoon.

Then he prepared an awesome meal for me and a few very dear friends and our fav Arnprior ites
Lots of my favourite foods ---


 scallops
chicken with garlic in a white wine sauce
 homemade dinner rolls
 

 
 
 
 
Our friends contributed too with a mixed garden vegetable salad and a scrumdilicious spinach salad.
 
Ended the meal with Siobhan's famous Hummingbird cake
Check the link HERE for the recipe
 
 
 
 
 
As I am usually the pic taker at these events not many got taken but here is proof there was a party :-)
 
 
 
Oh and Miss D enjoyed the festivities too


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Bomb Threat in CP

Monday morning Bapa and I headed to Arnprior to pick up our Miss D
Workers were going to be at their house all day replacing the walls that were damaged in a major roof leak.
 So lots of hammering and clattering.
Of course the girl would not get a nap so off to the Nona Bapa day resort.

When we arrived at the Corner --- there was a bit of playing .. some colouring .. a wee snack then off for a nap in her new big girl bed.

I went online just to check some Facebook and emails and saw this.



W T F

In our town --- Carleton Place is a small town of 10,000 and is about 46 km (29 mi)   west of Ottawa

This is only a couple of blocks from us......




The rumours swirling about was that an unidentified male was held up in the laundromat and he had a bomb!  A BOMB??????

Thank goodness after quite a few hours of what the police called " a serious and potentially dangerous situation" it was diffused without incident.

We have not been given too much info on it except to say he has been arrested and there was NO bomb.

I was ready to just pack up and head to Arnprior. I DID NOT want to be here. I actually felt unsafe in my home which made me feel scared, angry, and sad And of course we had our granddaughter here!!

Once D was up we had a bit of outdoor play then back home.
Had a very nice dinner at East Side Mario's --- which is a 2 minute walk from the van N's.


This incident made me realize that no matter where you live your life can be affected by disenchanted people --- be they terrorists -- people with mental issues -- or someone just pissed off about something.

The pictures I used were from this local website http://www.insideottawavalley.com/ottawavalley/

All is good now. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Peachy Keen Ice Cream

 
Follow the link below for the recipe ...
 
Peach Ice Cream

I used my ice cream maker and it was creamy delicious ----
 serve with your favourite homemade ( okay or store bought) sugar or ginger cookies....


Let me know if you have made it or if you have another recipe I should try..