…about nurturing that creative side within. It does a lot of good activating the right side of the brain.

Marie-Anne Roy

The older I get the faster time slips away.

In June I posted a photo of one of my past backyard creations and said I’d soon share my new ones. Oops.

So the summer slipped away and then the fall. Now we’re closing in on the first day of winter and I thought I should get my act together and show you our summer creations.

But I need your help.

I’d love names for these creations.

Comment on this blog and give me your suggestions.

Living with a beach as our backyard inspires us. Strolling along it there are so many amazing discoveries: driftwood, sea glass, shells. So often I look at a piece of driftwood and just see something in it.

This little fellow spoke “whale”.

This is the shape when I found it. No carving involved. All I did was use some paint, create an eye, and voilà. Love it.

In a similar fashion this fellow came from single piece of natural driftwood and I thought “Pelican”. Then I had to figure out how to paint him. Now I’m the first one to say I’m not an artist. I’ve painted him several times and still not happy. He’s now in the basement so I can work on him some more.

Finding flat driftwood and having an abundance of shells from here and Gulf Shores inspired the next two. if you click on them to enlarge you’ll see I also used some large sea glass pieces.

Richard found this fabulous driftwood. It reminded me of something mythical, maybe because previously we’d watched “House of Dragons”. I searched online and found this. A Nargacuga. See any similarities?

Put them all together and what do you get?

Oh there’s more.

Richard’s son and family visited in July. They immediately became avid beachcombers. The oldest boy found a huge driftwood piece and dragged it all the way down the beach and back to the house ‘cause he thought I’d love it. (What a sweet guy to do that.) He was correct. I do. What a fabulous addition to the garden.

Two views for you to choose your fav. First the original look. Second after cutting away the hostas. Which do you prefer? (We are not in agreement.)

Comment and let me know.

On the beach we found some beautiful two-tone rocks which inspired a lovely rock mosaic circling our much loved grasses. Much loved by us and our neighbours.

Last garden addition, at least for this year, a bird bath from Lambe Concrete in Albany, PE. https://lambeconcrete.com/

The fish I made a few years ago.

A few years ago we purchased a concrete heron from them for the front garden. Sorry I only have a picture from their website.

And that’s it. Always fun to be creative.

Indiscipline – King Crimson

https://youtu.be/tH3phKBbVLs?si=CV58JYtMFlJRLiO7

I couldn’t get the video to embed but please find it on YouTube if you want to listen.

Here are the lyrics.

I do remember one thing
It took hours and hours but
By the time I was done with it
I was so involved, I didn’t know what to think
I carried it around with me for days and days
Playing little games
Like not looking at it for a whole day
And then.. Looking at it
To see if I still liked it
I did

I repeat myself when under stress
I repeat myself when under stress
I repeat myself when under stress
I repeat myself when under stress
I repeat
The more I look at it
The more I like it
I do think it’s good
The fact is
No matter how closely I study it
No matter how I take it apart
No matter how I break it down
It remains consistant
I wish you were here to see it

I like it

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Just like sea glass, every person has the potential to become a treasure.

From “Sea Glass” by Anita Shreve

Yes it is Monday. Am I blue? Nope. Not one little bit. I’ve had a great day. A morning sitting and reading on the deck, enjoying the warm sun, the salty sea air, and this view. Love it.

This afternoon held a few adventures.

A visit to a lovely little coffee house, Foxy Fox, in Crapaud, PEI. My choices were a Spicy Chai Latte and a Bliss Bar (homemade chocolate peanut treat). They have many drink and sweets choices. There’s also a area with house decor and one with ladies clothing. They have a cute loo too. A bonus is you can sit inside or outside. Such a beautiful day we sat outside basking in the sun. Great start to the afternoon.

Then off for a bit of Beachcombing. I have an idea in my mind for an additional fence creation so Richard and I were searching for driftwood. Found lots. I’ll post the finished project. My fish is one I did a few years ago.

A great bonus from our Beachcombing adventure was our sea glass/beach glass finds. Many. And you see the reason for my title. Excited for all the blue. It’s quite rare for us to find this much blue at one time.

Here are just a few of today’s treasures. Love that large white piece. And the hearts. Any favourites?

So what started out as a quiet day became a day of adventures. Don’t you love it when that happens?

Blue Monday – Fats Domino

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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When you get into a hotel room, you lock the door, and you know there is a secrecy, there is a luxury, there is fantasy. There is comfort. There is reassurance.

Diane von Furstenberg

Maybe for her and the places she stays. For the rest of us, not always.

Back into cold weather. Brrrrrr

Today we took as a much needed relaxing day.

Lazed around half the morning. Took a drive to Old Orchard Beach

https://oldorchardbeachmaine.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Orchard_Beach,_Maine

and Saco.

https://www.sacomaine.org/community/saco_overview.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saco,_Maine

Ate at IHOP (not great).

Back to Beachmere Inn https://beachmereinn.com/accommodations/and more relaxing.

As this is about my travelling adventures I thought I’d take some time to discuss where we stayed these past few days. Remember these are my thoughts. Others may react quite differently.

Four Days, Three Hotels

Day 1

Quality Inn, Bristol TN

• Not easy to find. But another time we’d go in the proper way, not the back way. Lol
• Reasonably priced
• Clean
• Nice bathroom
• Queen bed but seemed extra large, super
• Comfortable mattress – not too hard – not too soft – just right (like Goldilocks and the Three Bears)
• Soft pillows but they didn’t smuch down too much and lose their shape
• Bed linens were so comfortable I just wanted to wrap myself up in them and snuggle under them forever
• Fantastic night’s sleep
• Complimentary breakfast was the standard fare but certainly enough variety to suit us. Richard got to make a waffle.
• Would stay there again.

Day 2

Quality Inn Arena, Wilkes Barre, PA

• Easy to get to
• Reasonably priced
• Mostly clean. Small pile of gritty dirt in the middle of the floor.
• Clean bathroom: toilet and shower. The sink was in the main room. Weird.
• King bed
• So disappointed in the bed. Very hard.
• Bed linens ok. Not nearly as nice as Day 1’s. Pillows were awful. Flat and hard.
• Not the best sleep.
• Complimentary breakfast. Similar to Day 1’s.
• A plus is that we could walk to Perkins Restaurant as it was right across the hotel’s parking lot. For that reason I’d stay there again. Maybe try a room with a queen size bed to see if it was more comfortable.

Days 3 & 4

Beachmere Inn, Ogunquit, Maine

• Expensive
• Clean
• Had a suite in the Beachmere South building with a fabulous view. Not impressed that the main bedroom was right inside the front door. There was a nice large main room but there were also two single beds in it.
• Bed was comfortable but for me not as comfortable as Day 1’s.
• Bed linens were lovely as were the pillows.
• Disappointingly the restaurant was not open Monday morning. Complimentary breakfast is only available Tuesday and Wednesday but the restaurant doesn’t open until 7:30. Too late for us as we’re out of here at 6:30 tomorrow morning.
• Cold in our suite and couldn’t get the thermostat to increase the temperature. Maintenance came but all he did was move one of the single beds out from the baseboard radiator to let the air circulate and it didn’t help. Dressed warmer and under a blanket.
• We’ve previously stayed at the Beachmere quite a few times but in a different building, The Victorian. That suite was much, much nicer but I did love that our suite this time had an outstanding ocean view from our main room.
• Over the years we’ve found that the service has gradually deteriorated. Sad when that happens. In past years (pre Covid) a complimentary breakfast buffet was offered every morning including the most extraordinary homemade granola. Not any more. The rooms are more run down. They’re showing the wear and tear. The front staff don’t seem to be up to the same standard. Before they were very professional, classy, like you’d see in the movies. They made you feel like you were a valued guest. Now the service is like any other cheaper hotel chain, minimal. C’est la vie.
• Five Star Hotels – Rick Moranis

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.”

Unknown

So today’s title.

Here’s the story.

Yesterday

Yesterday- up at 3:30, on the road at 4:00, great travelling, saw deer on the side of the road. Beautiful.

Yes great travelling.

Until

Oh yes. There’s an until.

Just reaching Knoxville, Tennessee and rattle, rattle, tick tick.

Why? Why? Why? We were not looking for adventure.

Car still drove well so we took a Knoxville exit, pulled into a parking space and started googling auto repair shops. Of course it’s 2:30 pm. This couldn’t have occurred earlier? And why now? We’d driven the car for three months down there and no problems. (Just the one in Bowling Green that I mentioned in an earlier post)

So Richard found a shop and I put the address in the GPS and off we went.

Up and down streets into what most definitely had to be the roughest part of the city. Fantastic. And it kept sending us round and round.

Enough!

Stopped again and I googled Midas. They gave us superb service in Bowling Green so worth a shot. Twenty-one minutes away. We could do that.

Nice service people. They were busy but about an hour later took the car for a spin. Couldn’t figure out the reason for the sound. Into a bay and up on the hoist. ( I think I used the proper terms.) Found the culprit. Parking brake. Was in pieces. They called around but no luck finding new parts. Decision? Removed the broken parts and we’d keep driving back home, just without a parking brake. I mean, how often do we actually use it.

And

No Charge

Just asked us to give them two reviews. No problem.

Unbelievable. Huge shout out to Mike and Chris for treating us so well.

Two hours from start to finish and we were back on the road.

So we were good to go. Made it to Bristol, Tennessee. (We didn’t get to our originally scheduled destination but for some reason when I had written in my journal possible places to stop I had written four places.) Though it could have been confusing as close by there’s Bristol, Virginia. The Midas guys told us there was a new casino in Bristol, VA but we weren’t interested.

That was a very long day. Finally in our hotel at 7:30. In bed at 8:00.

Interesting sights on that drive.

Today

Fantastic.

Had a great send off by our little friends.

Great driving. No problems. Thank goodness.

Arrived in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania at 3:00. Nice salads at Perkins Restaurant (just across the parking lot from our hotel Quality Inn). Then relaxed. Deserved it.

And that’s it until tomorrow.

Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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And just like that it’s the last day. Time passes so quickly. I find this especially true as I get older.

Seems only yesterday we arrived.

And I have conflicting emotions. I’m sad and happy at the same time.

Do you have similar emotions at the end of a holiday?

My sadness crept in last evening (up until then I was fine) while sitting on the deck enjoying the sunset and a glass of wine. Looking out over the water, listening to the waves roar, filled me with a sense of melancholy. Sad to be leaving our winter vacation home. We love our time here. We love this little beach house. Relaxing. We love the friends we’ve met over the years and will miss them.

But I’m also happy. Happy to be returning home and seeing family and friends. Three months is a long time. Miss them when I’m away.

As we were driving back from the gym today I remarked to Richard how the drive seemed so different today. Usually I don’t even notice the houses, mostly because my mind is off in a cloud singing a song, but today I did. That feeling you get when it’s the last time and you want to embrace every sight.

This suits me to a tee.

And who knows if we’ll return. Always hope to. But health always plays a role as there’s always that uncertainty. As a senior one never knows. Rental fees keep rising and that’s another factor. Imagine this. There’s a huge new build next to where we stay and I was told it’s going to rent this summer for $30,000 a week. Outrageous. In addition there’s the whole political climate we’re experiencing right now and who knows what will occur in the following months.

So packing is done.

Car is loaded.

Some light housekeeping finished. I know. I know. That’s what cleaning fees are for but I just can’t leave the house in a dirty mess.

Supper? Whatever odds and ends are in the fridge.

And that’s a wrap.

Hope to see you Two Views again next winter.

To bed early tonight as 4:00 am will seem very early tomorrow.

So long Gulf Shores.

And remember:

So Long Farewell- from The Sound of Music (Rodgers and Hammerstein)

We leave on Friday.

Yesterday and today the weather has been wonderful.

Good or bad?

Is it good because we’re having some warm, sunny beach days before leaving?

Or

Is it bad because it’s warming up right before we leave?

My choice?

I’ll be happy for these last few days.

Now I don’t like posting a photo of myself but to prove I went in the water.

Pictures aren’t great but they are proof.

Cool, but not a polar bear swim like at home.

So happy to have a day like today.A

And to top it off we saw multiple dolphins swimming by.

On a Wonderful Day Like Today (from The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd – Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow or Subscribe to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment here.

Indian food is like a symphony of spices, where every note plays its part.

Unknown

Alas. Last night was our last themed dinner. And by the quote you know what it was. Indian Food.

Richard chose the country, went to the library, looked at recipe books, checked out two Indian recipe books, and chose the menu. He spent a considerable amount of time on this.

What a glorious day yesterday was.

Sunny

Warm

Sat on the deck for hours reading.

How was I able to do that?

Simple.

Richard cooked.

Indian (-ish) Dinner

Appetizer: Roasted Cauliflower with Mango Chutney

Entree: Orange Peel Fish with Indian Baked Potatoes, Basmati Rice and Green Peas

Dessert: Mini Bananas with Cardamom served with Vanilla Ice Cream

All dishes tasted delicious. Guests loved everything. Extra positive comments about the appetizer and the dessert. I especially loved the fish. Great flavours.

Issues:

Timing.

If you have ever watched any of the Baking Competitions on TV you’ll have heard that issue mentioned many, many times. And that was an issue yesterday.

There was a lot to do and when you’re working in a kitchen with limited pans it’s tricky. Tricky getting a dish cooked and then set aside so you can reuse the pan to cook the next dish. Not always easy or fun.

Maybe starting the preparations earlier might have helped. Wink wink. Just saying.

And that was our goodbye to these friends. We’re all ending our winter in Gulf Shores.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Sadly our goodbye lunch with our Minnesota friends had to be cancelled due to her bronchitis. Better to be safe.

Safe travels to all our friends who are travelling this weekend.

Who know what next year will bring. Like most places rents are increasing and becoming harder to justify.

Indian Music

Owing to India’s vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk, rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed over several geo-locations spanning the sub-continent. Music in India began as an integral part of socio-religious life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_India

Nina Burmi | Mishra Bhairavi Thumri | Indian Classical Music

Nina Burmi uses her smooth three-octave vocal range to explore the thumri style – a semi-classical genre intimately connected with dance, poetry, and drama.

Chal Chaiya Chaiya – Sukhwinder Singh & Sapna Awasthi

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“Don’t be afraid to try something new. It might be the best thing you ever do.”

Unknown

With travelling comes new experiences. I see some new things. But mostly Richard sees them first. Unfortunately more often than not I forget to take pictures or write them down. Wish I could say I’ve learned my lesson but I know I haven’t. I’ll still forget.

But in today’s post I noticed two out of the three new things. That’s pretty good for me. And I remembered to take photos. Imagine.

This sign was in a grocery store down here. Love how they list the apples in order from sweet to tart.

Lightbulb moment.

Try each of these apples and then write about them.

Brilliant idea.

So in January we started buying two of the same apples each week. One for me to try and one for Richard. To contrast and compare.

One slight problem. Mmmmm. More than slight.

They don’t sell all of the apples that are in the poster. What? Why?

We discovered that the third week into our project.

Scrapped that idea. What’s the point if they don’t have the apples. They only sold a few of the types in the poster.

Too bad. I was looking forward to it.

Then yesterday at the checkout of another grocery store I spotted these.

Caught me by surprise.

Pickle in a Pouch

Really?

How do people come up with these ideas?

Did I buy them?

No way.

I hate dill pickles.

But they certainly gave me a smile, a little laugh, and a shake of my head just seeing them.

A few weeks ago Richard saw this advertisement in a local paper.

https://foodcraftgsp.com/

Richard has been asking, begging, whining to go ever since he saw it. I may be exaggerating. Just a bit.

I wasn’t that keen.

Oh my.

Hands down the best meal we’ve had in a restaurant this winter.

Totally new to me having a fried green tomato in a BLT. But it didn’t disappoint. It was delicious. The tomato cooked like this added a really nice tangy crunch.

I called it a Southern BLT. Do you think it would catch on up north?

Hard to imagine I’ve reached this ripe old age and have never eaten tomato bisque. Or any type of bisque. One reason could be because I don’t eat shellfish and most traditional bisques are made with seafood or shellfish, including lobster, crab and shrimp.

So what is a bisque?

The first step in understanding the difference between bisque and soup is nailing down a definition of bisque. Bisque is a type of soup with a thick, rich and creamy base. It is much heavier than normal soups and packs a ton of flavor. 

https://www.cozymeal.com/magazine/bisque-vs-soup

Oh my. This tomato bisque fit the above description to a tee. It was so thick and creamy. Loved every slurp. Lol.

Green Tomatoes- Rick Braun

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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A dream without ambition is like a car without gas… you’re not going anywhere.

Sean Hampton

Today we attended the 33rd Annual Orange Beach Seafood Fest and MAAAC Car Show at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Al.

The car show is the major fundraising event for MAAAC.

What is MAAAC? I had no idea. We’ve attended this event every year. About time I found out.

Makos Academics, Arts, and Athletics Club (MAAAC) raises money and then donates money to help support the education of area children in Orange Beach City Schools in Orange Beach, AL.

https://www.obmaaac.org/

Shame on me for not researching this before. Especially being a retired teacher.

The festival featured a full day of delicious food and not just seafood, 100 arts and crafts booths (handmade jewellery, metalwork, mixed media, painting, photography, leather, pottery, sculpture, specialty work, and woodwork. There was also live music, a Kid’s Zone with activities, and a huge car show – featuring antique, classic, and hot rod vehicles all along Main Street.

Strange place for me to be. Don’t eat seafood and not into old cars.

But

We had breakfast at Southern Grind.

https://thesoutherngrind.com/

And later ice cream at Kilwins.

https://www.kilwins.com/pages/about-us

Hey give me a break. I’ve only had one ice cream so far this trip and I only have one more week here so I don’t feel guilty having had another one today.

The cars were nice to look at. I’m not really a car person so the makes, models, years didn’t mean much to me but they were fun to look at and gave us a good walk. Of course I took pictures for my grandson. Thought he might enjoy them as he loves playing with his little cars and trucks.

A few cars. I sent more to him.

My favourite one because of the sign. The one I circled. Not the other one. Lol.

The arts and crafts were not outstanding. Nothing compared to what’s available at the PEI craft fairs. And the metalworks could not hold a candle to Malpeque Fine Iron Works on Prince Edward Island.

https://malpequefineiron.com/

I only took a few pictures.

We learned a lesson from last year. Today we arrived early. At 8:30. (Festival started at 10:00.) Thus the reason for eating our breakfast here. Last year we got here much later due to a soccer game and couldn’t get in. Parking lots were full.

To top off the day the sun came out and I could sit on the deck enjoying the sun plus the sights and sounds of the water from The Gulf of Mexico. It wasn’t especially hot but nice and warm. Even saw a fly.

And that’s our last Saturday here. The countdown is on.

This song, from his cassette Tear Down These Walls (aging myself), was in the car playing rotation years ago when my family travelled, along with Kim Mitchell, Genesis, Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News, etc. Who remembers having to take out the cassette and manually flipping it over and reinserting it to play the other side?

Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car – Billy Ocean

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow or Subscribe to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment here.

He shoots, he scores!

Foster Hewitt

And what a night it was.

Watch the winning goal.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/4nationsfaceoff/article/hockey-is-unbeatable-fans-react-to-thrilling-canada-u-s-4-nations-final/

Great article.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/21/canada-usa-hockey-4-nations-face-off-final

I wish I could tell you I watched the game but I can’t. I’m not a hockey fan. I am immensely proud. Glad that Canada won. Bravo team. “…God keep our land glorious and free…”.

What also made the night wonderful? Our Michigan friends invited us to a Southern Food supper.

They’ve been loving these Themed Suppers as much as we have. Said they even have an idea for next year (if we make it down next year, rental prices are getting outrageous) but wouldn’t even give us a hint to what they’re thinking. Anticipation.

Like us, they enjoyed looking through recipes for the evening meal.

Oh my goodness. I just have to tell you every course was outstanding, from the appetizers to the dessert. Loved every bite. Bravo ladies.

Southern Food

Appetizers: Hillbilly AKA Redneck Caviar in Tortilla Scoops and Pimento Cheese on Rice Crackers

Entrée: BBQ Pulled Chicken, Whipped Sweet Potatoes, Almond Green Beans, Potato Salad, Croissants, Corn Bread, Baked Beans, Sweet Pickles.

Dessert: Banana Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream

FYI

Hillbilly Caviar

“There are many variations of Hillbilly Caviar, called many different things (Texas Caviar, redneck caviar, Carolina caviar, Cowboy Caviar, Kentucky caviar…Bean Salad Dip…etc.)…This corn and bean salad is filled with fresh veggies served cold with tortilla chips…

https://www.tastesoflizzyt.com/hillbilly-caviar/

Pimento Cheese

“Pimento cheese (or pimiento cheese) is a spread typically made of cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos and is typically served on crackers and vegetables or in sandwiches…”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimento_cheese

Banana Pudding

“While today you can make banana pudding easily using bananas and an instant pudding mix, the dessert was initially fashioned after the popular English trifle, which is a dessert of layered custard, fruit, sponge cake, and whipped cream. Banana pudding was traditionally made in the same way, using sliced bananas.

The very first record of a recipe for banana pudding didn’t come from the South, though. According to food historian Robert Moss, writing for Serious Eats, the first known mention of a recipe was found in the “Information Wanted” section of The New York Times in 1878, with an entry reading…

Before the Civil War, bananas were rare commodities in the United States. The few that were available were imported from the West Indies and brought to some ports on the Eastern seaboard. But after the Civil War in the 1860s, new traders and faster steam ships appeared on the scene, meaning that suddenly bananas became accessible and affordable as they arrived from the Caribbean and Central America. And with the simultaneous growth of the railroad system, bananas were being shipped to all parts of the country. With this influx of the fruit, it became a common addition to dishes and desserts.

With that in mind, there’s no other real reason that the South should be so closely associated with banana pudding. However, by the mid-20th century, newspapers were publishing recipes that associated the dessert with the South, with article headlines such as, “Deep South’s Banana Pudding Tasty Treat.” By that point, banana pudding was widely considered to be a southern dish through and through. According to speculation by food writers and historians like Robert Moss for Serious Eats, this may be because banana pudding was an easy, chilly treat that offered a respite from the South’s excruciating heat. It also made a wonderful crowd-pleaser for family reunions and large gatherings that were popular across the South. While we might never truly know how it came to be, at least we can all still enjoy this southern treat.”

https://www.foodrepublic.com/1288704/origin-history-southern-banana-pudding/

We Are The Champions – Queen

The Southern Food Song – MacAl

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click Follow or Subscribe to receive timely updates, Like to show your love and support, Share my post on your social media site, and /or Comment here.