The Pub!

It's Friday!
Every Friday Scott and I are in town we have dinner at a little neighborhood Irish pub. We are very fond of it. I truly look forward to it every week.
The food is good and they have really, really good beer.
Now I don't want you all thinking I am a lush or anything. My days of drinking to the point of falling down, walking into walls or ending up waking the next day with a pounding head are long gone. But I do love a good beer.

I do NOT drink light beer. I would prefer water to that. I like stouts, porters, good wheat beers and a Murphy's Irish Amber will make my heart sing. Scott feels much the same though he prefers a nice bitter IPA.

On top of all that, the owners of the "Pub" have become friends, family. The waitstaff know us by name and even fight over who will wait on us. So flattering! We have also made some very good friends with other "regulars". It's like Cheers, we walk in and people yell Scott! Louise!
We love it.


So its Friday and in a few minutes we will head out to relax and watch the Patriots while we enjoy dinner and a good beer, at our home away from home.

Hmmmm should I have the Fire & Ice steak tips or Bangers and Mash.....



Want to visit? Check their website J P O'Hanlon's and come on down. We'll save you a seat!

Caroga Lake sunset cruise

My friend Judy has a cottage in the Adirondacks on a beautiful lake.
She's a teacher and at the end of each school year she heads up there to rest and regenerate. She graciously invites her friends to join her and it has become an annual girls weekend that kicks off the summer.

The school year was long this year because the winter was loooooooong. Lots of snow days so they didn't get out until June 26th!
We wasted no time, and drove up that evening. There were 6 of us and we had a simply wonderful time. I will probably write more about it but I want to tell you about one of the most special times of the trip for me.

Everyone else had headed back home a day before me so Judy and I spent my last day just the two of us. She has the cutest little pontoon boat we went and picked up from winter storage and she treated me to a fantastic sunset cruise. It gave me an opportunity to practice with my new camera and I am thrilled with the results.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the boat but I didn't, take my word though it is really cute! Small but can seat 4 people and its battery powered so its quiet and so relaxing!

We set out just as the sun was starting to think about setting.
Judy's little dog Maggie gets the seat of honor on her mom's lap.

She was just adorable with the wind in her ears!

I took a lot of pictures that were all pretty spectacular. This new little camera is a gem! Here's a few I really love.

I think this one is my favorite.
We hated to head back to shore but as the light faded we motored back.
It was just a wonderful way to end the trip and such a wonderful memory. I am still going through the pictures so I am sure there will more I want to share with you all.
Hope you enjoyed these.

A weekend at home!

Wow June and July have been challenging and so I am stunned to get up today and have no where to rush off to.
No dog shows, no private lessons to give, no trips to the mountains, just a whole weekend at home! Woohoo!

I do have a whole day of projects to tackle but I actually got a few minutes on the porch all alone. I left the dogs encamped in the bedroom with my snoring husband and stole a few minutes to watch the rain. So peaceful so quiet.

The sun is starting to peak out here and there so the promise of a clear afternoon has made me want to get going but I'm glad to have had a few moments all to myself this morning.
I hope your weekend is great!

Caroga Lake

A couple of the million pics I took on my recent trip to the Adirondacks.
Enjoy!

I'm back

I actually got home from my trip last Tuesday. My sister and I flew the red eye from Phoenix last Monday and then got stuck in Newark (so lovely) for hours while we got to watch thunderstorms out the terminal window. It was impressive and i was just as glad to be inside the airport instead of in a plane.

So since getting home, I have cleaned the house, (Scott does a stellar job taking care of things but I am, well, particular), planned and taught my classes, went to Connecticut to visit my mother-in-law who decided to worry us all and get admitted to the hospital. (She is doing fine and going home today.) Then yesterday decided to wipe my laptop and and re-load it. Still working on that, (aaaaaahhhhhh).

But I wanted to say hi. I have a million pictures to post and much to tell about my trip. I will get to that this week. So HI!
See you later.

No time to blog

With agility competition, getting the veggie garden going and enjoying the lovely spring I've had no time to write. So instead, enjoy a few pics from the new camera.

One of my favorite subjects, my little baby Kindle.



My friend Clee's gorgeous backyard.


Clee's cute little kitty Bell.
Time for Tyler's close up!!

Hope you enjoyed the first from the new camera. Come on back for more.

Catching up

Hello Bloggy friends.
I have been way too busy this last week and so need to say hi. First of all it is weigh in day and alas I am up 2 lbs. Us Weight Watchers say the scale owes me. I really deserved a loss this week so hopefully it will be there next week.

On another note, my camera died. Now I am no great photographer but I really like to see the world through the lens. I also love to see how the pictures come out. So I ordered a new camera and it will arrive tomorrow. Woohoo! Its a Canon Powershot SX10IS with a 20X wide angle lens. My lovely niece Ellyn over at A Little Piece of Heaven got one a few months ago and loves it. Her photos have been just gorgeous too. Of course she does have some of the best subjects in the world. My great nephew Mark and niece Anna. She also has a nice talent for photos. Go visit!

Stay tuned, the camera will be tomorrow and I will try to break it in and get some photos out here.

Weigh in day!

Woohoo! I lost 1.7 lbs this week. All my changes have made a huge difference not only because I lost but because I feel better. Working out more is helping me have more energy. I have also been eating lots more veggies and fruits and feeling better because of that too.

That's it for this week but I will be back later with another post.
Thank you all who have sent encouragement and support. I really appreciate it!

Weigh-in day Grrrr

OK, so I am on a plateau. It happens, can't say I am enjoying the view though.
As frustrating as this is I am going to look at it positively. I just need to change some things and I'm sure I will get myself off here and start losing again. I'm switching my food choices to include lower carb stuff. (I have a great recipe I'll tell you all about tomorrow.)

I am upping my exercise again, puff puff..... the dogs are loving all their extra walks. I have even roped Scott into a few more hikes in the woods.

I'm also giving up those lovely Weight Watcher ice creams for a week in an effort to jump start things and opting for more fruit instead.
Stay tuned, it shouldn't be long with all those changes.

Weigh in day!

Woohoo! I lost 1.6 this week. Go me!
So lets see that leaves me 19.6 pounds more to lose.
Right on track! I still have 2 months until my goal date June 1st.

I am exercising more and though I hate to admit it that is making me feel so much better. Come on back next week and see how I'm doing.
I found these little guys in my one of my flower beds this last weekend.

Almost me again

I am pretty much back among the land of the living. I even managed to get a layer of dog hair out of the house today.
Tomorrow, my Front door Back door meme.

Sick day!

I feel rotten today. I have been nursing a bad cold, cough thing since last Friday and I am not happy about it!
It's nice outside. I could be trimming things and raking or cleaning up the screen porch. But here I am on the couch.

Oh I have stuff to do, lesson plans to write, behavior clients who need their programs tweaked, and I can be productive even feeling like a zombie.

But....its St. Patrick's day and I am going to miss all the fun! We hang out at a little Irish pub in Ayer and of course today is a big day for them. It's called J.P. O'Hanlon's and it is our home away from home. I always joke if we don't show up on Friday night, they call the house to check on us.

No green beer here just good Irish music, food and awesome beers! It's always a fun time and we join our good friends Hal and Irene and pretend we're Irish for the day. Well, actually Hal is Irish, but the rest of us, just wannabes. Here they are last year decked out for the day.

Today they will have to celebrate without me. I am sure they will not appreciate my spewing germs as I hack into my Guinness and really I don't even think I could taste it.

So Happy St. Paddie's day to ye. I wish ye all lots of craic, but not too much since I won't be there.

(Don't know what Craic is. Go look it up, and yes its legal!)

Weigh-in day!

Well folks it was bound to happen. I gained this week, .8 lbs. But not to worry I am back on the wagon. However if you want to encourage me, bring it on!

I have another commitment I am putting up here as of today. I am committing to exercising at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I figure its the best way to speed-up this process. So I will update you all on my exercise progress as well as my weight loss.

Check back for my loss next week.
I'll leave with the cute puppy pic!

Weigh-in day!

I know you have all been on the edge of your seats today just waiting to hear how I fared the last week.
I am happy to say I lost 1.6 lbs. woohoo!!!
So that leaves 20.4 lbs to go!

Tasha is happy for me too!

It's weigh-in day!

Hello Bloggy Friends.
Today I start updating you on my weight loss effort. It has been a big help to me to know you are all out there, on the edge of your seats, just waiting to hear the results of my first week after going public. Can't wait can you?

It was a good week with the exception of some sort of plague I contracted and have been fighting the last 3 days.
In spite of that, I ate well and was able to get in some exercise. I even made it though Valentines Day without a hitch! Of course it helped my hunny brought me gorgeous irises instead of chocolate. Thanks Babe!

The result....I lost 2.8 lbs. Woohoo.
Lets celebrate with a hot fudge sundae!
Oh stop it I am kidding!

Seriously, knowing you are out there reading really helped me so please tell me you were here and how proud you are of me! Only 22.2 lbs to go!

Happy Valentines Day

I like to make a special dinner for us on Valentines day. This year in light of my goal to lose 25 lbs. by June 1st, I needed to be creative. So I lightened up a favorite of ours, Shrimp Alfredo and it was stellar!

In case you want to make it, (sorry I did not take step by step photos like my famous food blogger sister Dlyn) I will give you the lo-fat scrumptious lo-down.
Here is my recipe.

Shrimp Alfredo
1 tbsp of butter (the real thing, what says I care better than butter!)
1 tbsp of flour
2 scallions chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 cup of fat free milk + 1 tbsp half & half
A splash or 2 of white wine
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 cup of peas (fresh is best but I used frozen tonight)
1/2 lb shrimp ( I used cooked frozen so if you use raw be sure to clean and de-vein first.)
6 oz. uncooked pasta

Cook pasta in a separate pan while you assemble the rest of the meal.
Saute the scallions in the butter and add the garlic after a minute or so and saute for about a minute. Add the flour, cooking it about a minute so it loses that raw taste. Then slowly add the milk and half & half stirring to get rid of any lumps. Let this all cook, stirring often until it starts to thicken then add the still frozen peas, (I like them still snapping when I bite them) and the Parmesan.
Splash the wine in and stir it in. Lastly add the shrimp and let it cook just until done. Not too long or it will be tough.
Drain the pasta and add to the shrimp and sauce mixing well to combine everything. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan and a nice crusty warm bread. Woohoo delicious!
This makes 3 servings and if you are a weight watcher it is 7 points a serving. With a slice of bread and bit of butter add another 2 points for a great 9 point dinner. Yum and lo-fat! What could be better. Sorry I should have taken a final picture at least but... we were hungry!

So for my Valentine hunny I made him a nice healthy tasty dinner he moaned over. Is that love or what?!
Hope you enjoyed your day.

Weezee's Amazing Journey

OK maybe not so amazing to most but I a trip I gotta take. I have been considering this for a few days and finally have decided to go public with my weight loss effort.
Now usually I would run from even mentioning that I am a lifetime Weight Watcher member who is NOT at goal but serious times call for serious measures. In this case I need a little more accountability.

My goal is to lose 25 pounds by June 1st. I think its doable. I will not be posting how much I weigh. I was raised to believe ladies never discuss such things in public and I think that is a policy I will cling to forever! But I will post my weigh-ins every week. I attend my meeting and get weighed every Tuesday and today.... well lets just say I will start that business next Tuesday.

Why you may ask have I decided to make this commitment now. Well because I have this new little baby puppy to prepare to compete with. She is awesome and fast and I don't want to hold her back. Plus that whole I'm not getting any younger thing.

So there you have it. I know a few of my regular readers are also Weight Watcher members so I look forward to your encouragement and support and recipes. So come on bloggy friends saddle up. The journey begins.

Fooling with photos

This is a cross-stitch someone gave me. I cropped and blurred the background a bit. Here it is cropped even more and highlights added. I like this effect.

Here is my cutie little baby Kindle as a 6 week pup.
Here is the same picture with a hot wax effect. Pretty cool.
This is a geode we have I cropped down. Pretty huh?

Very interesting!

Happy New Year!

Don't you just love a new year? It just stretches out in front of us with all kinds of potential and possibilities. What will it bring? Will it be good, will it be difficult, hhhmmmm, who knows. But...we a get a new one every 12 months and here is ours all ready for us to get busy using it up. Exciting, isn't it?

So my sister dlyn has made a few resolutions and from the look of them she will be pretty busy! I don't like to go public with my resolutions cause then everybody tells you when you mess up. but this year I am going public. Ready? Here goes.

I think this year I am going to resolve to be more resolute. I think maybe, quite possibly, that is what I just might do. I think so, yup this is probably what I am gonna do. Pretty sure anyway.
I think I will also continue to have really cute dog pics too. Like this one:
You guys have any resolutions?

The new look

So bloggy friends how do you like my new look? I have winterized the blog.

Come on I know you are visiting and not leaving a comment. Comment!
Hal? Sheila? Irene? Nancy? Mom?!

I know you were here! Comment!