A Blog Break

These pretty flowers caught my eye at the grocery store:

There was a cute Middle Eastern young man ahead of me at the grocery checkout.  The cashier asked him if he wanted to buy any plastic bags.  They are about 5c each.  Most regulars bring their own re-usable bags.  He said in his accented voice 'How else am I going to carry all these groceries?', he was confused.  Of course he wanted to buy bags.  Then he asked her if she took air miles cards.  She was confused.  Air miles are points cards used in some other grocery stores.  He was obviously not used to doing his groceries at this store.  Then a lady asked the cashier where she could find tea and sugar.  Then another man in line asked about peanuts which he gathered must have been on sale last week.  I guess being a cashier requires a lot of customer service skills.

I'll be taking a blog break for the upcoming month of May.  It will be a busy month for me with lots of stuff going  on so I thought this would be the best thing to do.  Be back in June, God willing!

Plain Banana Smoothie

I was at my local convenience store getting a coke froster.  The attendants said hello to me and I pointed to one of them and said 'he's in a t-shirt today!'  He said in his accented voice 'what, you want me to wear a blanket?'  I had to laugh.  

Now that the warmer weather is here, I made a simple banana smoothie and enjoyed it.

1 cup of milk
1 banana
1 tbs honey
8 ice cubes

Puree all ingredients in a blender.  I decorated my glass with a slice of banana.

Sausage, peppers and onions

My son K passed all his courses for the winter semester at his college, we are so happy, and he can move on in his program!!!  It's a big deal because as I have mentioned he has an academic learning disability.

I had some Italian sausages and remembered watching Giada De Laurentiis making some on her cooking show. Here is my version and I was very happy with it:



4 tbs olive oil
6 Italian sausages sliced, casings removed
2 red and/or orange bell peppers sliced
2 small onions chopped
1 c cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 c water
1 c white wine

Heat 2 tbs oil, cook sausages 7 - 10 minutes, drain and discard fat, set sausages aside in a separate bowl.
Heat remaining 2 tbs oil, saute peppers, onions, herbs, pepper flakes for 2 minutes, stir in tomatoes for 2 minutes, stir in tomato paste, wine, water and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in sausages, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
Serve with rice or pasta.

Run for Women

Yesterday morning there was a marathon 'Run for Women' in our neighbourhood sponsored by a drug store company. It was an overcast day unfortunately with the threat of rain. Still it was better than the snow they had up north! It was well-organized with roads closed and police supervision. There was a good turnout for the 5 to 10k run. I even saw a participating mom walking with her young child in a stroller. I didn't participate by the way.

Sunday Sketches is on hold for the time being as poor Alexandra was in a car accident and is recovering thankfully.

Twittering and other thoughts

I heard all this twittering and looked up into the trees the other day and noticed these birds up there. If you click on the photo you may get a better view of them.  There are two in one tree and two in another. 

I don't have very nice lighting fixtures in my house, we've lived with what it came with.  However, I've always loved glass chandeliers and seriously considered replacing the fixture hanging over my dining table.  Until I went to a friend's house the other day, she had beautiful crystal chandeliers.  She mentioned they need a lot of cleaning to keep their sparkle.  I realized I would never spend any amount of time keeping all the little crystals clean.  And so if and when I do replace my lighting fixtures it will be something modern and contemporary, I like that too!

Another thought that recently came to me, is that husband M and I both enjoy regular visits to the gym.  I noticed both of our grown children also enjoy going to the gym.  It is so true that kids learn by example.

Paint Party Friday - Joy of Spring

Welcome to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday! This piece is entitled 'Joy of Spring', done on cardstock in watercolour pencils (8 1/2"h x 11"w).

Cat cafe

Have you heard of these cat cafes popping up around the U.S.?  What do you think? It is already popular in Japan and Europe. It is a coffee shop that has cats for you to play with. It is therapeutic.

This one is in NYC.

This one's in San Francisco.

And one is planned to open in Toronto.

What will they think of next?