Summer Happenings

We spent a beautiful Saturday morning in June on the river with family and friends.  It was FULL of adventure. We ventured down a familiar off-shoot of the main river for some variety.  The river was swollen from recent rainfall but not moving particularly fast, so we thought the off-shoot would be a nice change of scenery and easy to maneuver with higher water levels.  And it sure was!  The off-shoot has some tight bends, making it just slightly difficult to steer.  With two people in a canoe and four kayaks, we had some exciting moments of direct contact and narrow passages from recently fallen tree limbs.

The adventure didn't stop there, at least not for T.  His phone unfortunately saw the end of its life after B and T took a spill in the water.  Fortunately for T his contract had long expired and all worked out in the end with the phone.  A ton of memories and long-lasting jokes were created on that beautiful morning.

Daisy and I made it into the local paper twice within two weeks, which apparently isn't very hard to do.  We were mentioned for our support of a local ice cream parlor that's under new ownership and has delicious ice cream.  The second occurrence was about our volunteer work with a wonderful organization that arranges a reading program for kids to read to dogs.  Daisy was a star - she was well behaved, tolerated little ones of all dispositions petting/poking her, and was generally interested in the stories, which is one of the requirements to attend (!).  It was a very rewarding experience with many tender moments.  I can't wait to do another reading program in addition to the nursing and rehabilitation facilities we visit.
   

Lovin' Summer

Wow... hello blog and readers.

A lot has happened since my last post all the way back in March.  I need to update this blog with pics and memories from Helga's visit and everything in between.  More to come on that...

Last weekend was beautiful.  We took full advantage of the gorgeous weather all weekend.  Mom, C, T, and I went to St. Peter's Village for some lunch on the deck overlooking the river of rocks and then C and I played on the rocks for a better part of 2 hours.  We had so much fun rock hopping and strategically maneuvering over and through them.  C is quite the strategist, too - I would totally do the Amazing Race with him.

C, T, and I took a hike around the lake at French Creek, where I was told I walked right past a snake and didn't even notice.  Which is funny because I was looking for snakes that whole time!  There was so much low movement in the brush that I knew we were bound to cross paths with one.  Daisy helped herself to a swim in the lake while we looked on sweaty and enviously.  Families and kiddies got a kick out of her love for the water.

Manboy

Dessert for breakfast!

St. Pete's

 

Recital and Smoothies

I attended my friend's faculty recital this weekend.  My friend, Katie, is an amazing musician and instructor.  She's a soprano singer and definitely jolted me out of my sleepy haze when she took the stage and let her voice take over!  Amazing performance AND dress - the girl brought down the house in style!

Katie, lovely in red:

Smoothies: my latest craze.  I've been having fun concocting delicious combinations for refreshing, fruit and protein dense smoothies.  With two of my latest concoctions below.

Oatmeal banana almond smoothie:

Strawberry blueberry banana smoothie:

My Lock&Key Diary from the 90's Never Saw this Coming

My blog came in the mail today.  In print format.  I've been getting my blog printed every year since I've started documenting autobiographical events four years ago.  I think the hybrid being within me - the one that lived without the Internet and a cell phone and the one that can't live without the Internet or a cell phone - needs/wants both mediums.  You know, something to show the grandchildren, right?  And, in a small way, to hold onto the memory and practice of the pre-Internet world.

A few months ago I filled in for an absent coworker and gave a small and very young group of boy scouts a tour of the library, full of instruction and information literacy!  When we ended at the microfilm machines and their final assignment, one young boy exclaimed, "Look!  These are the machines they used 100 years ago!"

Yikes!

  

February Birthdays Celebration

I have a few family members with birthdays in February.  Mum's was the most recent, so we gathered with fam today to celebrate by enjoying homemade soups, fresh bread, and desserts.  Yum!

I made fun-looking and awesome-tasting cream puffs, which I found the recipe for on Pinterest.  The recipe was super simple and a lot of fun to make.  I was a little concerned when the dough the recipe called for looked more like batter, but all was well in the end.  The best part was pipping the cream into the cooled puffs.  I opted to skip the chocolate ganache topping and decided to go with a simple dusting of powdered sugar instead.  Pinterest came through for once... there have been many FAILS before this success.

Trick candles!  

Daisy Turns 3!

Daisy girl is growing up!  She's now 3 years old and is doing better than ever.  She brings us and others  she visits in nursing homes as a therapy dog so much joy.  Slowly but surely her hyper disposition is giving way to a more relaxed, enthusiastic demeanor.  

No birthday wouldn't be complete without a treat.  In celebration we treated her to a bowl of doggie ice cream with a dollop of peanut butter.  And she licked the bowl clean!!

A Glamorous Evening

The invites to fancy dinners, posh galas, and other spectacular events just pour in these days... NOT!!!  So when I was invited to attend a gala in support of the preservation of the Reading Terminal Market, I was SO in!  I had a little over 24 hours to prepare - dress, shoes, accessories, nails, hair do, clutch, etc - OH MY!!

The event was great; Reading Terminal Market was completely transformed for the evening.  The lighting was dim, the usual vibrant colors from vendor stands were muted from the darkness of the night, with the action taking place on the dance floor with tunes flowing from the live band on stage.  The bar was crowded with people huddled around sipping cocktails and mingling.  

The best part of the evening was running into an acquaintance and local artist who was hired to draw people at the gala.  Her work is amazing and I feel so lucky to have been "captured" by her hand in her medium.  

Valentine's Day 2013

Valentine's Day was super fun this year.  I got an idea from a friend for a Valentine's Day card, pictured below.  It was so easy to make and a hit with everyone.

Also a picture of our V-Day breakfast together - love it!

Music to My Ears...

I've seen two great concerts this year that I absolutely loved.  I'm not sure if I'll see any show as good as  The Lumineers or Mumford & Sons for the rest of the year.  "Wow!" is all I can say.  Both shows were amazing in their own way.  I was in shock the entire time I was at the Mumford & Sons concert because I couldn't believe I was actually seeing them live!  The energy of the crowd and passionate performance by M&S was ON FIRE.  I kept pinching myself because it all felt so surreal and an out-of-body experience.  Awesome, awesome, awesome concerts and experiences.

  

January... aka the Month We Spent at the Vet

We spent the majority of January trying to identify Daisy's health troubles and navigating the world of pet healthcare.  Our poor pup became so ill overnight with what we initially determined with the help of the first veterinarian (yes, first... unbeknownst to us there would be many, many more to come) as a canine virus.  We left the emergency vet with meds, instructions, and hope to get Daisy girl on the right track.  The first couple of days seemed promising, but Daisy's health began going down hill again - vomiting up to 6-8 times daily and losing weight expediently.  Needless to say, we took her back to the vet (our home vet and second one in this case) and the second one in this as asked for an ultrasound, which we received a at a different vet clinic (and third one).  The ultrasound detected a string-like material in her stomach and along her intestinal track.  The vet told us she needed surgery immediately to have it removed because there was no other option and they weren't sure how much longer she had before it caused serious damage.  So we rushed her to yet another vet (and the fourth one!) to have emergency surgery.  It was such a dramatic experience for Daisy and us - it was like our heart was teetering on the edge of a cliff knowing there was something very wrong but not exactly sure what it was.  

Daisy survived the surgery like a pro and came home to heal soon after.  She was back to her normal self in about another week.  This experience taught us so much about ourselves in a crisis and reminded us of just how much our fury girl means to us.

The After picture

 At the third vet and very sick

 After the surgery and on lots of meds

 On the mend and being silly

A Spring-like Winter Weekend

These pictures are from a gorgeous weekend we had back in January.  A sunny, but blustery walk in the woods at French Creek and then the weather turned on a dime within a day, which we enjoyed by having our first braai of the year with our neighbors.

BYOB Paint Party

My mum, sister and I spent the first Friday evening of the new year at an art studio painting a winter scene on canvas.  This paint party was awesome because it was BYOB - seriously, what could be better?!  I'm looking forward to going back for round two!

Posing with my painting...

Ivy and I posing after painting