Snapshot Saturday~August 31

Can’t believe I missed Snapshot Saturday last week but somehow I did!  I love being part of this link up and I don’t like to miss out.  Snapshot Saturday is hostessed by Melinda at West Metro Mommy.  Be sure to check out all of the other great photography there when you’re finished here.

You’ve heard me talking about my trip to Maine.  Maine has been a favorite place for me since my friends Gail and Alice and I went there more than 20 years ago.  It is one of the most beautiful places and we kept going back year after year.

It was so exciting when two years ago Gail was able to get her own cabin there.  I spent two wonderful weeks there at the beginning of August.  One of our favorite places for lunch was the Blue Moon Cafe.  This photo is a shot I took with the phone on my camera from the deck behind the Cafe.

I was quite impressed that my phone could take such a great photo.  It’s such a beautiful harbor.  I loved the photo so much that I’ve made it the background on my phone.  I was also impressed that I figured out how to transfer this to my computer so that I could use it here.  I’m getting better at this!

Don’t forget to check out the other Snapshot Saturday linkers at West Metro Mommy.

Happy Snapshot Saturday!! Enjoy your holiday!!

Vamp Till Ready

That’s a theatre term.  Actually I think it’s a musical theatre term.  The orchestra keeps playing until the performer is read to begin.  You’ve probably all seen that on a live broadcast like the Oscars or the Emmys when the performer is not quite ready to being the song.  Didn’t know you knew, did you?

I feel that way at the moment.  A lot of things are about to happen and I’m not quite sure which direction to turn at the moment.

Trying to get ready for our trip is not going forward as I would like because of other things that have taken precedence.  Nothing awful…just stuff…isn’t there always Stuff.

My car’s in the shop to get the air conditioning fixed.  Why do that in August?  Part of the stuff.  It needs it and it will be ready for next year because I don’t expect to be replacing the car any time soon. Should be finished today so I can run some necessary errands.

My dryer broke.  Ok…get it fixed.  Well, I’m up in the air about that.  It is on my PSE&G contract, but to have the man come in would require a great deal of moving around in the basement which I don’t have time to do right now and I’m pretty sure the answer will be “It’s dead.”  For the time being, my friend is graciously allowing me to use her dryer, but I need my car to get there, so hopefully, this afternoon I can accomplish that.  Don’t want to have to do 20 loads of laundry the weekend before we leave for our trip.

I was excited to find a book at Goodwill…yes it is the little things in life…

I’ve been hearing about this book and wanting to read it.  Of course, I was not about to pay full price for it.  I was about to request it from the library when…there it was.  $1.49!! I’m not happy that Goodwill raised their book prices but I’ll take it.  There actually was an audible gasp when I saw this on the shelf.  Luckily, there was no one around me at the time.  I got two others also, but I can’t remember what.  They’re in my car…in the shop…blah, blah, blah… I think I’ll save this to read on the trip.

I am longing for Fall as I do every year at this time.  Actually, I long for Fall year round, but obviously there’s nothing I can do about it.  This time of year, I know it’s coming and I’m basically anxious for it to get here.  Being away will not bother me.  The Fall will find me in New Mexico.  Boy, will you all be sick of me when I’m actually spending Fall in New Mexico for real!

In an effort to move things along…

 

I’ve broken out my big Fall mug and yes the coffee inside is pumpkin-spiced!  Couldn’t help it.  Just had to do it.

I’m going over a lot of things in my head regarding the trip.  Mental lists at the moment, but I really need to get to work on the tangible lists.  Lots to do and although I want the trip to get here, the getting here is going to be sooner than I expect, so I’d better get myself in gear to be ready.

I’m still working on sorting and donating.  I’m trying to sell some things too, but that’s not working as well as I’d like.  I’ve sent out some e-mails to antique shops but haven’t heard back.  I may just decide to shelve that until we get back.

I’d better get myself going…Lots to do and not enough time to do it.

Happy Friday!

WIAW~Eating Maine Part 2

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday again already and of course that means What I Ate Wednesday hostessed by the lovely Jenn at Peas & Crayons.  I love being a part of WIAW, especially when I have a lot to share as I do this week.  Be sure to check out the other food fanciers over at P & C when you’re finished here!

Let’s get started!

Ok, let me see…where did I leave off in our Eating Maine extravaganza?!

Gail and I went for lunch at Sarah’s in Wiscasset.  We had toured around town just looking at all of the wonderful old houses and we needed some sustenance.  Gail had been to Sarah’s previously and we looked forward to a tasty lunch.

I honestly forget now what this was called.  It was a grilled veggie sandwich with goat cheese.  Very tasty and very filling.  I liked it because the veggies were not over cooked which sometimes happens with veggie sandwiches like this. I forgot to ask for no chips, so these went uneaten. Twenty nine months and counting with No Chips.  Why am I still counting?!

We went to Damariscotta several times during my stay.  Lunch one day was at a place called Crissy’s.  It was in a wonderful old house with a big front porch.  Lots of the original interior touches were still there such as the fireplace, although it was not functional.  It was very cleverly decorated and the food…outstanding!

We both ordered black bean tacos which were delicious.  We had the choice of either couscous salad (on the right) or black bean salad (on the left)  We each ordered one and then shared.  I put them both on my plate to show them off.  This was delicious and filling and we really couldn’t believe that it only cost $5.00!  Well worth it and worth a return visit, although there are so many good veggie choices on their menu, it would be hard not to try something new.

There was Ice Cream again from the Down East Ice Cream company.  Gail’s was peach and mine was what I think became my favorite- Java Chip.  I’m drooling as I type this!

On a trip to Bath, we stopped at the Front Street Public House.  I didn’t know where we were going and Gail wasn’t sure.  We walked into one restaurant and Gail realized we were in the wrong one.  I was so proud of her skill at getting out of an awkward situation.  When the hostess came up to us, she said, “I’m sorry we’re supposed to be meeting some people, and I believe we’ve come to the wrong restaurant.”  Great job, Gail!

Lunch was a tomato and feta panini.  Really very good.  We were frustrated because we were trying to do Facetime with Ralph while we had lunch and it didn’t work.  Technology is Such fun!

Time for more ice scream?!

I think this was coffee and rum raisin, but I don’t remember for sure!

One evening, we didn’t want a fancy sit down meal so we decided try Pier 1 Pizza on the harbor.  Gail had never been there but we figured we could find something we liked.  We searched the menu and found a sandwich called The Full Count.  It was black olive, green pepper, mushroom spinach broccoli, provolone cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.  It was supposed to have chicken on it, but we asked for it without.  The whole thing is toasted in the oven.

This was wonderful.  Everything was just lightly cooked and so still a bit crunchy.  So very good!

On my last day, we headed into Portland because I was flying out of there and we decided it would be fun to spend some time looking around the city, which has a lot to offer.

One thing it has is the Bam Bam Bakery.  We needed a pick me up in the middle of the day because we were having a late lunch.

Coffee and a piece-split between us- of cinnamon streussal cake.  So good and just the thing on a drizzly day.

We had searched on-line to find what we thought would be a good place to have lunch before I had to fly away.  We found Silly’s and were we glad that we did!!

I Love their motto. The cool thing about Silly’s is that it’s actually a restaurant and a bar separated by a boardwalk type area as well as 3 outdoor eating areas.  So much bigger than it looks!

Gail seriously contemplating our lunch choices.  Silly’s is another place where we had so many veggie friendly choices that it took us forever to decide and we can’t wait for the opportunity to go back again.

The choice for both of us…

Their standard veggie burger, but hardly standard at all.  It was delicious and possibly the best I’ve ever had.  I tried to negotiate with our lovely waitress to get the recipe, but she said that the servers actually have to sign a waiver that they will not give away any of the recipe secrets.  It is made with black beans, quinoa and sunflower seeds…it says that on the menu, but the combo is incredible!!  Well worth a trip back to Maine!

So that, sadly brings my trip to Maine to an end.  I am still stumped at all of the veggie friendly foods we found while we were there.  Gail is still on the lookout for more, although there are enough good choices among these restaurants that I could easily go back several times and not eat the same thing twice.

That’s it for me today. Be sure to check out the other food fun going on over at Peas & Crayons.  Be sure to leave some comments.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

Week In Review~August 26

Another week…Another Week In Review. I’m feeling that I’m finally getting into the rhythm of this so I don’t like to miss out.  Don’t forget our wonderful hostess Meghan over at Clean Eats, Fast Feets.  Be sure to check out what everyone else has to say when you are finished here.

No exciting vacation stories or photos this week.  Lots of internal angst on my part for various founded and unfounded reasons so…we’ll let that go and get on to the Week!

THE FOOD~

I worked hard at not being sucked into eating out this week.  It worked pretty well. We did go out on Wednesday with Ralph’s family for our semi-bi-monthly lunch.  We had a great time.  I made a wise choice of the Greek salad which is always tasty at this restaurant.  When it came time for birthday cake, I was in the Ladies Room.  I would have asked for a small piece but didn’t have to because I got the tiniest piece possible.  I was satisfied with that!

During the week I tried making some different things for myself.  I’ll be sharing them either on Wednesday or on Friday for Strange But Good.  I’m working hard to stay on track.  It helped too.  When I got to Weight Watchers on Saturday, I had lost 1.4 pounds! I was shocked.  As I’ve said, I’m not really trying lose anymore, it’s just happening.  I’m not going to fight it!

THE BARGAINS~

I’ve been trying very hard since my return to stay away from thrift stores.  I will have to make a trip to one this week for a special project, but the only other visit will be to Donate!  That’s always allowed.  (See “The Projects.”)

THE PROJECTS~

I spent my sister Ele’s most of the day on Monday again.  I’ve done a good job of sorting out things there.  I found a lot of memorabilia that has to be forwarded on to the theatre department at my alma mater.  Long story there.  I just have to figure out who is the right person to be the keeper of the historic documents (If you had seen the movie Galaxy Quest you’d be laughing right now!)  That’s always the hard part, figuring out where things should go.

I decided to bite the bullet and start to weed out books.  I have now officially been through Every box stored there.  I found about 25 books that I pulled out and gave to Ele to take to the town library.  Happy to be contributing to that!

On Friday, I took another important step.  I contacted a different antique store in Mullica Hill, a town that has Lots of antique stores.  This is one of the biggest ones.  I asked if they’d be interested to see if they wanted to buy anything I had to sell.  I suggested sending photos by e-mail and the woman I spoke with thought that was a good idea. Got the photos taken of most of the things I’m trying to sell.  I’ll be working on sending the photos to her today.

I would love it if I could get some of these things out of here before we leave on our trip.  It would be some extra spending money plus the stuff would be Gone!!

I even contacted a local company that buys metal.  I’ve got some old metal chairs and various tables plus boxes of old metal, chains, hinges and things like that.  The man said, “Bring it over!” So I will!!

I’ve got several boxes that need to go to the shop where I’ve been donating everything.  Every box out of here is a step in the right direction.

THE PLANS~

I’m starting to get a little sweaty palmed about the trip.  I’m a big fan of making lists before a trip.  I’m proud to say that I rarely forget anything when I do it this way.  If I don’t, heaven only knows what goes into the car!  I’ve got extra planning to do because some of the things I’m taking will be staying in New Mexico.  I have to be sure not to leave anything I can’t live without for a while.  But I do want to take some things that will end up there anyway that I don’t use all the time.  My plan to take some of my small appliances has been scratched because we’re renting a regular car as opposed to my choice of a minivan.  So there’s lots of rethinking to be done.

I’m going to try to start my lists today also.   Meghan will be So proud of me!

I know that no one will be as excited as me, but I just figured out how to resize the image above!!  How could I do this for almost 3 years without figuring that out?!  Well, now I know!

I’ve got a busy day ahead of me and I need to get it started.  Be sure to visit Clean Eats, Fast Feets and join in the Week In Review fun!!

Happy Monday!

California Dreaming

It’s just over a year ago that Ralph and I made our trek to New Mexico and then on to California.  Hard to believe it’s been that long but the good thing is that we’ll be heading to New Mexico again in September.  I will try Very had to contain my enthusiasm!

I had been to California a number of times before.  My roommate from college moved to the Los Angeles area and I visited several times.  I used to date a guy during my travel agent days (he was also a travel agent) who thought it was a great idea to fly to Los Angeles or San Francisco for the weekend.  Boy I spent a lot of money on those trips but I got to see California.

But our trip last year was something different.  We left from New Mexico, crossed Arizona and headed along the lower part of CA.  We then turned north and headed into a completely different world.  The San Joaquin Valley.  It was like New Jersey with mountains.  I mean that in a good way.  Fields and fields of grapes and corn and tomatoes and orange and lemon trees.  Just incredible.  Views that extended farther than the eye could see.

We continued on to San Francisco and beyond to Sonoma County.  We were heading there for a wedding.  We had the joy of spending a week with my cousin who luckily lived only about 20 minutes from where the wedding would be held.  She graciously offered her home to us.  It was a wonderful time.  When we left we headed through the Sierra Madre mountains and it almost felt like an adventure through the woods.

We then headed South to our next destination which was Lone Pine.  A wonderful step into the past.  Lone Pine is an area adjacent to the Alabama Hills and Mt. Whitney which served as the back drop for hundreds of movies and TV Westerns.  We spent too short a time there and then took the drive through Death Valley.  I think Death Valley is such an interesting place.  Just be sure to get gas before you head in.  The only gas station after you get in there sells gas for more than $2.00 above the regular price.  Hey, if you’re in Death Valley and you need gas…You Need Gas!!

We headed back through Nevada, Arizona and then into New Mexico.  We were able to spend another 10 days in our Happy Place.

What brings all of this to mind?  Actually it’s a book.  Michael Connelly has always been one of my favorite authors.  I’ve read all of his books and just ordered from the library the only other one I haven’t read.  While in Maine I found a copy of his The Black Box at a used book store.  It was out of order for me, there was another book before it but I hadn’t read one of his in a while and I wanted to read it.

In this book the main character Harry Bosch who is based in Los Angeles, travels North into the area of the San Joaquin Valley to solve the mystery and catch the bad guys.  Somehow it’s always been such a treat to me when I’m reading a book and I’m familiar with where it takes place.  That was the case with Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil with Savannah, Ga. and Hannibal with Florence, Italy.  Hearing about these places brings back memories to me of having been there myself.

This time it’s especially clear in my mind because we were just there last year.  I always love a Michael Connolly book but I’m especially enjoying this one.

In fact, I only have about 10 pages to go…I want to know what happens…Gotta Go!!

Happy Friday!

WIAW~Eating Maine~Part 1

I have seriously missed being part of What I Ate Wednesday for the last few weeks.  It is such fun and as you may know if you’ve read BCDC for a while, I’ll join in even if I Don’t have food photos! That is not the case this week.  When you’re finished wishing you had been with me on my trip to Maine, be sure to check out all of the fun started by Jenn at Peas & Crayons!

My Blog Break over the last two weeks was because I spent two weeks in Maine with my best friend, Gail.  She is also vegetarian and had been working at finding restaurants with good veggie-friendly choices.  She had Great success and both of us were really surprised at that.

After she picked me up from the airport in Portland we were both hungry.  She had put the name of a restaurant into the GPS and we headed there.  However, the restaurant we were looking for seemed to have disappeared.  Instead we found The Local Press.  It’s a tiny place and from talking to the owner, newly opened and it was a great find.  We age at a tiny table outside the shop with Lots of traffic going by!

A very tasty panini with pesto, goat cheese, spinach and tomato. I loved it!

Our first dinner there was at McSeagull’s in Boothbay Harbor.  We both decided to splurge and have pasta primavera.  I had it with the white sauce and Gail with the red.  Both were yummy!

There was some eating at home because we were both trying to stay on track for Weight Watchers.

Breakfast…

Bran flakes, Fiber One and frozen blueberries with non fat milk.  My current favorite breakfast at home or away.

Dinner that sort of looks like breakfast…omelette with cottage cheese and broccoli and a veggie burger.  Very good combo and quite filling.  Lots of protein too!

The place we went most often was Blue Moon Cafe. You can sit on the little deck outside and look at the harbor…who doesn’t love that! So many veggie choices there.

This was the Tuscan vegetable sandwich.  So Good!

One of our favorite places to go was Kaler’s Restaurant.  They have easily the best veggie quesadillas I’ve ever had.

Most nights we took at least one section home with us.  It was incredibly filling and delicious.  Can’t wait to have them again!

There was of course, dessert.  The Ice Cream Factory on the harbor in Boothbay Harbor is so delicious.  Home made ice cream in very unique flavors.  My first was a combo of ginger and cinnamon gingersnap.

So, So Good!  I won’t tell how many times we sampled these delights.  Well, it was vacation, right?!

On a trip to Damariscota in the rain we stopped at King Eider’s Pub.  Gail had been telling me how delicious the lentil burger is there.

She was right! When they gave us the option of adding goat cheese, we couldn’t say no.  So Good.  I seem to be saying that a lot!

On another trip to Blue Moon Cafe, I had the grilled Portobello mushroom sandwich.

Looks a lot like the Tuscan but it’s not.  Again…so good!

I think this is where I’ll end this portion of my Maine eating frenzy.  There will be more to come next week…Yes we really did do that much eating and we both lost weight!

Be sure to check out the other foodies over at Peas & Crayons and be sure to leave some comments.  Until next week and Part 2 of Eating Maine…

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!!

Attic or Dungeon…

I always seem to be mired in a musty, dusty place.  As when I’m in the basement (dungeon) the dustiness is my fault.  I spent most of Monday in my sister Ele’s spare room (attic) and it’s pretty dusty up there but mostly as a result of all the STUFF of mine that is packed to the rafters.  Well not Quite to the rafters but you don’t mind when I exaggerate a little do you?!

I have now officially gone through every box or bin there for which I am responsible.  I didn’t go through the bins of pottery that is wrapped or the knickknacks and framed pieces-also wrapped.  They’ll be a nice surprise when I get to New Mexico.  Also didn’t go through my antique clothing boxes.  I do wish I could find a home for the antique clothing.  It will be hard to part with them, but I really have no use for them any more.  As I type this, a thought just came to me of someone who could give me some direction on that.  Good…another project!

I still haven’t found one thing I’ve been looking for-an old silver tea service.  The only thing I can think of is that it went to the auction 4 years ago and I didn’t realize it.  If I ever get around to looking at the paperwork from the auction I can solve the mystery.  Those folks were So organized…every piece of anything that was sold is recorded.  Wish I could be that organized!

I even undertook the painful process of weeding out my book boxes.  I believe I pulled out about 30 books which Ele will be taking to the town library.  I’m happy to have something close to home to which I can contribute.  I did do a bit of “put it in the pile, then think better of it and take it Out of the pile.”  But once it made it to the pile it usually stayed there.  I’m proud of myself for that.

I have a lot of things that I need to see if I can sell and that’s going to take some research so that may be part of today’s project.  I am starting to feel a bit scattered with all of this.  I still have work to do in my basement (and my entire house for that matter) and more to do at Ele’s.  I haven’t even unearthed the two antique trunks I have in another room in her house.  Heaven only knows what might be in those!  I’m pretty sure I’m keeping those, but if there’s stuff in there that I don’t need or could possibly sell, then that needs to be addressed.

So that’s where my head is today.  Better than some places my head has been in the past few years, so I’m basically happy with it.  Controlled confusion.  Sounds good to me!

Happy Tuesday!!

Week In Review~August 19~The Maine Event

This should probably be titled the Two Weeks In Review, but I’m not sure I can remember everything (although I did journal every single day while in Maine and I have it all written down) so I’ll give you what I’ve got, Kids.  I’m going for overall impression here. So let’s get to the Week in Review hostessed by the perky little sprite, Meghan from Clean Eats, Fast Feets.

Because of the fact that I always seem to have trouble figuring out how to approach WIR, I generally just start poking around at it.  I don’t think this edition will be any different.

THE FOOD~

Ok… there was lots of it! But lots of it was eaten at home because Gail and I were both trying to stick to our Weight Watchers program.  Of course there was some deviation but we both survived.  We attended our WW meetings both weeks while I was there.  As a WW member in this area, you really have to make a commitment to get to the meetings. It’s a 35 mile drive to the closest meeting!  We both did pretty well in spite of our “flexibility” with the program during my visit. Gail reached her 60 pounds lost and she’s looking terrific.  I lost about 1 pound total, but I’m not really trying to lose anymore, just maintain.

I think I’ve mentioned before that Gail is also vegetarian and she has been amazed at all of the restaurants with veggie friendly menu items.  She had been saving them all up to share with me during my visit and I was just amazed!  I think I’ve got enough for 2 What I Ate Wednesday posts!

The funny thing is that one of the best places we found on my last day there.  I was flying out of Portland and we searched on-line for a place for a late lunch before my plane left.  We found an amazing place called Silly’s.  I’m not going to talk about the food at the moment (!!!) but I want to share some of the decor.

The old tin ceiling.

Fun photos and unique, home-made lamp shades everywhere..

Even the Bathroom is unique!

And as I said the food was great, but I’ll get to that.

THE SIGHTS~

We saw a lot of things and I think my favorite is the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, just about a 10 minute ride from Gail’s cabin.  It has beautiful gardens, my favorite was the Garden of the Five Senses. I took lots of photos and will share them once I get that whole re-sizing thing worked out with my DSLR.  There are flower gardens and there is a long walk through the woods which is incredible.  I loved it all.

We visited Fort Popham, and Pemaquid Lighthouse. As I type this, I realize that we did SO much that I can’t remember everything at the moment.

THE BARGAINS~

I got so many good deals, that I had to leave quite a bit behind and it will be traveling back to NJ with another friend of ours who will be visiting the cabin next week.  There is a huge Salvation Army near where we went to WW and there are several thrift stores in Boothbay Harbor.  Here are some shots of my treasures.

Pants, fleece vests and pullovers and shirts.  There were actually more shirts and a pair of shorts I found after I took the photos.  The best deal is in this last photo.  We were at the Humane Society thrift store and Gail picked up this pair of shoes.  They are SAS shoes which usually sell for well over $100!  It just happened that they were my size and fit me perfectly.  They were marked $3.oo but there was a 50% off sale for all shoes and bags so I got them for $1.50!!  I couldn’t believe it!  I LOVE thrift store shopping!

THE RETURN~

I was originally scheduled for a flight at 8:19 pm.  I was concerned about Gail’s long ride back to Boothbay Harbor and having to drive those tricky roads in the dark so I had planned for her to drop me off early.  I got to the airport at about 5:30 pm. I walked in and told the agent I was checking in and needed my boarding pass.  She asked me if I’d like to get on an earlier flight because mine was delayed as was the one she wanted to put me on and I’d have time to get to the gate.  I said Yes and I arrived in Philadelphia at 8:00 pm on the nose!  I was happy, Ralph was happy to have me back and I was glad to see him.

THE PROJECTS~

I gave myself two days to get back in the game of just being back in NJ.  Friday I started the next intended project.  I started going through boxes that I have stored in my sister, Ele’s extra room.  What a pile!  I got rid of 3 big bags of trash and pulled out a few things that I may be able to sell.  There’s still another big container I need to go through which I think will have some things I can try to sell.  When that’s done, I need to start on the boxes which contain my books.  That’s going to be tricky.  I had weeded them out when I moved them all out of the storage unit I had.  I could probably still do some more weeding.  That will probably start later in the week.

I guess that’s about it for my review.  I’ll probably share some more Maine stories as they come back to me and all of the food will be showing up on What I Ate Wednesday.   I had an incredible time in Maine.  Thanks, Gail, I can’t wait to visit again!

Be sure to check out Clean Eats, Fast Feets and see what everyone else is sharing!

Happy Monday!

Snapshot Saturday~August 17

I’m probably Way too excited to be back with the chance to participate in Snapshot Saturday hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy.  I really enjoyed my Blog Break, but I’m happy to be back.

My Blog Break occurred because I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 2 weeks with my best friend Gail at her cabin in Maine.  We used to go to Maine with our friend Alice back when we were all much younger.  Gail’s dream was to have a place there.  Through the wonders of the internet, she found a cabin and purchased it almost 2 years ago.  This might sound like I’m going to show you a picture of the cabin, but all of those photos are on my DSLR and I have yet to figure out how to resize those photos.  I Will learn! Then you will all be introduced to the Cabin In The Woods.

Anyway, one of the things that we did while there was to have Ice Cream.  Now please don’t tell any of our friends at Weight Watchers this, but we had it “regularly.”  I thought I’d share one of my favorite photos involving Gail and ice cream.

 

I think this photo says it all!!

Happy Snapshot Saturday!

Strange But Good~August 16

I’m glad to be back and Attempting to get back on schedule.  Intended to get back to my projects on Thursday but forgot that I had scheduled my mammogram for the morning.  Throws my whole schedule off when I don’t get started early so I just poked around the rest of the day, much like what happened to Me when I went for the mammogram.  Someone MUST come up with a better way to administer that test…but let’s get to something more pleasant.

While on my Blog Break, I really missed participating in Strange But Good hostessed by the lovely Laura at Sprint 2 The Table. It’s a great deal of fun and I find so many good suggestions there.  My photos never seem to be as pretty as Laura’s but what the heck…it won’t stop me from trying…or joining in!

In Maine there is a store called Reny’s where you truly can buy everything but the kitchen sink.  Amazing!  One of the things that Gail introduced me to last year was Raye’s Mustard purchased at Reny’s.  She had brought me a jar and I had never opened it.  While on my vacation, I got to experience it.  There are 25 different flavors.  I tried several while with Gail and realized when I came home that the one I had was one I hadn’t tasted!

 

Sounds interesting and it is!!  Sweet and tangy all at the same time.  It’s amazing how good and different mustards can be.  Raye’s certainly has learned the trick.

So…how do we get to strange but good?  Of course with Weight Watchers always on my mind and trying to make the most of my Points, while in Maine we made egg salad with one of the Raye’s mustards, I forget which one at the moment.  Knowing I had my jar in the cupboard here in New Jersey, it was one of my first thoughts when I got home.

I cooked up some eggs, chopped some celery and added some Brown Ginger…

 

So tasty it makes plain rice cakes taste good!

 

As always seems to be the case…Not Pretty, but Very Tasty!  I even have leftovers which I think will be lunch today!  I really wanted to eat it on a wonderful new pita that we also found in Maine but couldn’t find when I went shopping.  I’m on a mission this weekend to find them.  I’ll share that info when I find them.

That’s the Strange But Good portion for today. Be sure to check out the other strange folks over at Sprint 2 The Table.

I’m off to start working on my stash of stuff that’s stored at my sister Ele’s house.  I think there are quite a few treasures there that I can sell.  Or they could be donated.  Or they may just be trash…we’ll see what comes of it.  The really hard part will be when I get to the boxes with the majority of my books.  I am determined to weed them out, but I thought I already did, so this will be a tough one for me.  I know I won’t get to the books today, but that will probably come at some point next week.

Happy Friday!!  Wish me Luck!!