Author: Debi

With retirement comes the opportunity for new experiences. Debi has a passion for music, singing, theatre, and travel. With her BMEd and MEd she had an extensive career which included elementary music education, performing, vocal instruction, choral conducting, musical theatre directing, and clinician work. She has, for the most part, retired from this very successful music career. But really, does one ever retire from music? I think not. So now the stage is set for the next act: interweaving her love for music, travel, and whatever else comes her way. Wherever her travels take her Debi shares her exploits: musical adventures, local interests, historical sites, local cuisine, the journey there and back, plus whatever life sends her. She'll share the hits and the misses, the successes and the failures, as well as any helpful hints she discovers along the way.

SHELLS

(Pearly Shells – Burl Ives)

A better day today. There is light at the end of the tunnel. My cold is getting better so back to a more normal routine: yoga, treadmill, groceries and back home.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. Although it only hit a high of 17 degrees Celsius it seemed much hotter.☀️ Late in the morning we sat on the deck reading. and then early in the afternoon we went for a long beach walk.

Divine.

The beach walk precipitated my photo of the day. There are so many shells on our beach. (Sadly no sea glass, but I keep looking.) We collected a small sample of the available shells.

Since Richard is an “idea man” he thinks we should be making crafts with them. So I’m throwing this out to all of you for your creative suggestions for crafts/jewellery etc. we could make. I know you’ll have many more marvellous ideas than me as I’m not that crafty. I’m open to all ideas. Please comment with your thoughts or even send photo examples. I’d love to see all of them. Thanks.

Can’t wait to hear from you.

Nite y’all 😴

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

(The Three R’s – Jack Johnson)

Day 4 of being sick.

Since the most activity I’ve done today is walk from the couch to the kitchen I decided to write about something that’s been bothering me since we arrived.

Trash. Garbage. Waste. Whatever you want to call it.

At home in PEI, Canada we have quite a detailed waste management program.

https://www.iwmc.pe.ca/

As you can see it is quite extensive. I have to admit there are times when I grumble and complain about having to sort, cut and bundle corrugated cardboard, or take specific items to the depots. But I realize that this is a necessity. What we all need to do.

Were my eyes ever opened when we arrived here for the winter. There is no sorting! None! Everything goes in the garbage can and it is collected twice a week.

I couldn’t believe it.

So PEI here’s to you.

Bravo on the wonderful job you’re doing to help our planet.

Nite y’all 😴

FOOD ON THE TABLE #3

(Food on the Table-Alabama)

Southern Meal #3

Red Beans and Rice, Sautéd greens, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Boiled Peanuts.

I decided to try a few easy southern recipes today. The boiled peanuts weren’t difficult to make but they take a long time. Boiled for over five hours. They were good but I’d never bother making them again. The rest of the meal was easy to make and we enjoyed it. We’d had fried green tomatoes already in a restaurant but I really wanted to try making them. It went well. Tasty meal.

Day three of being sick. I don’t like it. And I don’t understand it. I haven’t been sick in years. Can’t remember the last time I had a cold/sore throat it’s been that long.

After missing going to the gym the past two days I finally hauled my butt there this morning. Did my treadmill and then a 60 min. Pilates class. Apparently being sick makes me sweat when I exercise. (I don’t normally sweat.) Guess that’s a good thing. Trying to look at the glass as half full.

When I got home Richard had found a hair salon online that looked good. KM Hair Studio. I messaged them and low and behold they use Redkin products. Hallelujah. Every other salon I had contacted didn’t use them. He made an appt for next week and I made one for the following week. I’ll update you on how it goes.

This afternoon was delightfully sunny so read on the deck.

Fingers crossed 🤞🏻that I feel better tomorrow.

Nite y’all 😴

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

(Happy Birthday-Lenny Kravitz)

Happy Birthday to me. I’m sick. Sore throat and sinuses. Super. Why today of all days. BUT I send huge thanks to all my fantastic family and friends for their lovely birthday wishes. Feeling the love.

I made the decision that I still wanted to do make the most of the day sick or not.

To start it off Richard and I went to Hazel’s Nook for their breakfast buffet.

https://www.hazelsnook.com/

It’s a small, quaint little place that appeared to be a place frequented by locals and it was good. We especially liked that it had an omelet bar. And it was a reasonable price $11.99 per person.

Back home for a little R&R&R (Reading, Rest, and Relaxation).

Around 1:30 we decided to go on a little exploration drive so we headed down the Beach Blvd with our first stop to be Starbucks. You know. Had to get my free birthday drink. Couldn’t miss out on that. After taking a few wrong exits oopsy, we arrived at Starbucks. Richard had his tall bold with a shot of espresso and I got my drink. Delish.

Now off to explore Canal Road. It’s a beautiful drive and partway down it we stopped at The Wharf.

https://www.alwharf.com/

It’s a charming shopping area with a nicely treed avenue separating the two rows of shops. A delightful waterfall welcomes you into the shopping area and how cool to also have a Ferris Wheel right there.

I tried on a few dresses and tops and ended up buying two dresses – one long sleeved and one sleeveless for $100 total so I was happy.

Our last stop was Cosmos for supper.

https://www.cosmosrestaurantandbar.com/

As we’d both been feeling under the weather we opted for burgers and fries. Nothing like good old comfort food when you’re sick (Richard also had mini crab cakes as an appetizer- he loved them). Burgers and fries were delicious. Exactly what was needed and the burgers were homemade. Fantastic.

Even though I was sick I had a smashing birthday.

Nite y’all 😴

DINNER SONG

(Dinner Song-Small Reactions)

Normal start to the day: gym, yoga, groceries, and then back home for breakfast. After tea and reading we did a major cleanup of the house as our next door neighbours are coming to dinner tonight. Always feels good to have things cleaned.

Even though the weather forecast for today was 9 degrees Celsius it turned out to be 13 and bright sun this afternoon. We were able to sit and read on the deck and were very warm. Yay. Good day.

Then a bit of a change in our dinner plans.

Joanne came by (brought Key Lime Pie) to say Jean had a fall and is at emergency waiting to see if she’s ok. She’s sure she is but wants to make sure. We told them if they’re back and still feel like dinner to come on over. Joanne has Richard’s phone number so it’s a wait and see scenario. Either way we’ll have Richard’s Mango Chicken Cashew Curry, Naan Bread, and Key Lime Pie. Hopefully everything is ok with a Jean and they’ll be here. But if they can’t make it tonight we’ll certainly have them over another evening.

Nite y’all 😴

HEALTHY BODY

(Healthy Body-Operation Ivy)

Today our fitness centre had a FitFair. There were numerous booths from various health professionals (with free stuff like toothbrushes, contact solution, eye glass cleaner, travel case of bandaids, can/glass holders etc.-yes I took some), health food and cold pressed juice suppliers, and a healthy food court. I think a lot of people were there for the food. Lol. There was veggie lasagna, chicken and kale soup, a fruit bar, juice and water, and several kinds of fruit and nut bars. I tried the soup. It was delicious. Richard had the lasagna but wasn’t a fan. They supplied the recipes and I’ll definitely be making the soup.

They had two massage stations but they were so popular I couldn’t get to one. Shoot. I could use a massage. 😢

In addition to all the normal Friday classes there were group classes in the gym. The Zumba Toning Class and the Barre Class were what I wanted. I enjoyed them both although the Barre wasn’t like other Barre classes I’ve tried in Canada. But doing these two classes made for a great 90 minute workout. While I was at those classes Richard worked out in the gym and then went to our regular Vinyasa Yoga class. I’ll have to get back there on Monday. I missed two vinyasa classes this week as I wanted to try other classes.

The rest was a normal day: groceries, reading on the deck, and eating. Oh what a life.

Nite y’all😴

FOOD ON THE TABLE #2

(Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band)

Southern Meal #2

Chicken Fried Steak with Country Gravy, Fried Okra, and Sautéed Greens.

Why is it called chicken fried steak when it’s not chicken?

Sounded crazy to me. Of course I googled it and found this online. “The recipe doesn’t contain any chicken, but it is so-named because the cooking method is similar to that of pan-fried chicken breast cutlets.”

My recipe said to use cube steak. Cube steak is a cut of beef, usually top round or top sirloin, tenderized and flattened by pounding with a meat tenderizer. The name refers to the shape of the indentations left by that process.

Okra or okro known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods.

Okra presents a host of benefits.

  • Okra aids in digestion
  • Okra is high in vitamin C that can boost immune system strength
  • Okra can help strengthen vision and protect against cataracts
  • Okra is a great source of fibre

Ok then. Off to prepare tonight’s meal.

After searching Pinterest (my go-to place for online recipes) a few days ago and purchasing the ingredients, I was ready. Have I mentioned how expensive groceries are here? The same price or more than at home plus then there’s the exchange rate. Oh well, what can you do.

Let me state,”I am not a relaxed cook.” And trying new recipes does not help. I do my best.

The meal tasted good. Neither of us had ever had okra before and we both enjoyed it. The steak was tasty and tender. Of course my presentation did not look like the recipe pictures but then that’s usually the way. That could also be related to the fact that I could not, in good health conscience, use the amount of required oil. The okra recipe called for cooking it in 6 cups of oil. Really? Good lord. I felt guilty using 1cup. I’m sceptical as to whether the benefits of okra apply when it’s deep fried. Thoughts?

Even though the meal tasted good I couldn’t eat this often, maybe only once a year. A lot of fried food and we don’t eat gravy. Can my arteries clog from one fried meal? Hope not. (Thank goodness I went on a bike ride this morning.)

Nite y’all😴