Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.

Mark Twain

Intrigued by my title? I’ll tell you later.

Often when we’ve been out driving we’d pass many thrift shops and say to each other, “Let’s take a day and visit them.”. Yesterday was that day. Off we went in search of hidden treasures. Now why is it when you’re not looking you see them everywhere but today we kept missing them. We only found one. I even had a list, you know me and my lists, and we still missed them. One reason is that not all places have their street number displayed. By the time I found a number posted we were already past the number I wanted. Oh well. We’re going to try another day.

But as it turned out I had a lovely day. No. Make that a GREAT day. We went to Tanger Outlets Mall. https://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley I’ve talked about it before. Always able to find something. Usually it’s Richard who finds clothes but yesterday was my day. Lovely winter white pashmina, sleeveless black accordion pleated top, and white jeans at TJ Max. Sweet little sparkly necklace at Kate Spade. But the absolute best part of the day was finding so many clothes for my five month old grandson at Carter’s Babies and Kids https://www.carters.com/and OshKosh B’gosh https://www.oshkosh.com. So, so many cute outfits on sale. I do love a good sale. Especially when there’s an extra 20% off the clearance price. I had tons of fun looking through all their clothes. My son loooved dinosaurs as a child and I was so fortunate to find some clothes with dinosaurs on them for his son. Score. I made sure to buy larger sizes so he can have them a bit later. He has lots for now.

So now about today’s title.

You’ve all heard the saying ‘third time’s a charm’ right? Richard calls it ‘third time lucky’. Which do you say? In past posts I’d mentioned we tried twice to go to The Safari Club Restaurant https://safariclubgulfshores.com/ (Think I might have mistakenly called it The Zoo Restaurant.)

Both times we were unsuccessful. Guess there was a reason. We should have listened to what the universe was telling us. Third time was definitely not a charm. Oh yes we got in but the food was not up to the quality we had a few years ago. Now to be kind they did have a sign saying they were short staffed. And our server was excellent. Attentive but not too much. I really don’t appreciate a server who constantly comes to the table to see if everything is ok. I find that disruptive to our relaxing meal. How about you? What’s your preference?

First our appetizer.

Delicious. We both loved it. The five crusted goat cheese balls were served warm with yummy fig jam. Thank goodness as Richard wasn’t fussy about ordering it. He caved ‘cause he knew I was keen to try it. We should have ordered two. Read on.

Next our entrees.

Richard’s was the tacos. I commented that there weren’t many fries but he said there were too many for him. Cause they were awful. Not crispy. The tacos were not great either. Nothing you could really put your finger on but just kind of blah.

Mine was the Chicken Salad Salad. To put it simply – tasteless. Too bad. I was looking forward to it. The plus side is they gave me the smaller serving. Thank goodness.

A positive was that as it was Thursday night they had a singer, Delta Donnie. Smooth deep voice.

We’ll be trying some new place soon so I’ll let you know how they go.

Happy Birthday Marie Anne. Have a lovely day tomorrow.

Lovely Day – Bill Withers

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

Dr. Seuss

Great attitude to have. Love it.

Yesterday was a quiet day. Relaxing on the deck while the sun was out. What an unexpected bonus. The weather forecast said it was to rain all day but it only did for a short time.

Then out with friends

Dinner was at a place where we hadn’t previously been. Always fun to try a new spot. GTs on the Bay in Orange Beach. https://gtsonthebay.com/ About a 25 minute drive but took us longer. Oops. We kept missing the turn. But honestly it was very tricky. I mean it really was when you didn’t know what you were doing. Its weird. You drive past your exit road and then do a legal U Turn to approach it from the other direction. Took us a few tries.

What a great place. Very big inside. We arrived in time for Happy Hour but by the time she served our drinks it was one minute past so she charged us full price. A little annoying.

As an appetizer we had GTs Dip. It was tortilla chips served with a dip consisting of cheese, poblano (a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico), corn, and bacon. It was very good.

Our friends had been before and obviously like what they ordered (Chicken Carbonara, and Shrimp ‘n Grits) as they said that’s what they often have. His grits were interesting as they were fried Parmesan grit cakes. I’d never seen them before. And Caroline is so good. Puts me to shame. She eats half and takes the other half home. Smart and sensible. My salmon was delicious. It was fresh Atlantic salmon chargrilled and brushed with sweet bourbon glaze. I usually order blackened salmon but this was yummy. Richard said his club was ok.

As it was Thursday night there was an aging southern R&B band that played mostly 1960’s music. Aging? Perfect for us. Loved it. Wonderful when you can sing along as you remember the lyrics. I tell you as soon as the band started the dance floor was never empty particularly on the slow numbers. I had so much fun watching the dancers. So easy to recognize they had been dancing together forever. Smooth. I had to live vicariously through them as Richard doesn’t dance.

As we were leaving we noticed these on their wall. Very creative. Something to think about making this spring. Look closely to see how they’re made.

A little stop at the cute condo they’re renting and then home. Fun evening. Great to get out with others.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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Days well spent are those with friends.

Albert Schweitzer

Reconnecting has many meanings. It can be joining items that became broken or separated or connecting a piece of equipment to a power supply after it was disconnected. It can have a more personal meaning like connecting with self through meditation, self reflection, or creativity.

One meaning according to Cambridge Dictionary for reconnect is to create a relationship with someone again after a period of time. 

One of the pleasures of returning to our familiar winter spot is reconnecting with friends we made in previous years. That’s what we’ve been doing this past week.

The last time we were here, pre pandemic, we became friends with a fellow yoga enthusiast. (She is amazingly good.) We kept in contact over the Covid years so how wonderful it was to finally see each other again in person and meet her husband. They’re from Minnesota and come down for January and February. On Friday we had lunch at Happy Pappys https://happypappyscoffeehouse.com/ It was especially nice as Friday was her birthday 🎂. Hopefully more lunches or dinners in the future.

In past years we made great friends with a couple from Michigan who rented the beach house next to us. What fabulous times we used to have over afternoon drinks and our once a week dinners, alternating houses. I especially enjoyed deciding the menus and preparing the meals with Richard. But even more fun for me was the presentation. Love the creativity. I may not enjoy cooking but I love entertaining.

Saturday we had dinner with them at their new rental. Although not next door to us 🥲 it’s only about a mile and a half away. They’re on the Little Lagoon side but on the same street as us.

What a fantastic evening. How wonderful to finally get to hug each other again and catch up on everything that’s occurred in our lives over the past two years. Well not everything. Way too much to cover in one night. They’ll be over this coming week for dinner and gradually over the next two months we’ll cover all of our happenings. Other than having so much to talk about it was like we hadn’t been apart. Just slid into our normal, comfortable groove. As always they made a delicious meal and we’re looking forward to having them at our place this week. Hmmmm. Now what will the menu be? Stay tuned to find out next Sunday.

Today was a breakfast out but after I called My Aunt Fran. I call her every Sunday morning-have since Covid. She is my only remaining Aunt and such a caring and giving soul. My mom was her sister and Fran did so much for her. I started this weekly routine when the pandemic hit. Wanted to keep in contact to make sure she was doing ok and have continued doing it. Love our weekly conversations.

So today we tried a new place The Ugly Diner. It was meant to be as this was on the wall.

It was an interesting little spot with just a few people eating when we arrived but many more coming after us. It was very full by the time we left. Our first time here. When we’re down here we like to try new places as well as our favs. Very, very, very reasonable prices. My omelette with toast and panfries was $8. Richard’s biscuits and gravy was $7. Mine was tasty but Richard didn’t enjoy his. Huge, huge servings but that seems to be a theme down here. Richard called it “the breakfast equivalent to Lamberts Cafe”. Not quite but they were large servings.

Pics from The Ugly Diner

Read here for more on Lamberts. https://throwedrolls.com and https://throwedrolls.com/foleymenu/ I don’t think I’ve ever been to a restaurant that served as much food as Lamberts Cafe. We ate there our first year as we were intrigued by the thought of roll throwing but never again. It’s an extremely popular spot but it wasn’t for us. (The roll throwing is unique and fun to watch.) I can understand its popularity as customers can stock up on the sides and take them home with them. People do love a deal.

Friendship – Lucille Ball and Red Skelton

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

Dr. Seuss

Today’s post is brought to you by little things I have seen over the past month but didn’t include in any previous posts.

I saw the above quote last week and how timely it was. My grandson (he’s such a sweetie) received his first Imagination Library book on Tuesday.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write Dolly Parton started her Imagination Library in 1995 for the children within her home county. Today, her program spans five countries and gifts over 1 million free books each month to children around the world.

What an amazing gift.

What an amazing person.

https://imaginationlibrary.com/

https://m.facebook.com/100050432862246/

https://instagram.com/imaginationlibrary?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=

https://twitter.com/dollyslibrary?s=11&t=JvIziKOOTfh31yJtEDO-og

For Christmas a special treat I always make is Nuts and Bolts. Some may call it Bits and Bites. Sacrilege in my family. Haha. This year it just wasn’t the same. I always add Bugles to this mix. None to be found. I looked. My family looked. Nope. None. Later my family discovered that they’re no longer sold in Canada. What? Unbelievable. What will I ever do. The mixture is still good but just not quite the same.

I’ve been looking in the grocery stores down here every week but to no avail. That is until Tuesday. Casually thrown on top of a bin of various crackers was my find of the year. And the only ones in the store. It was meant to be. Home they’ll go with me.

These caught our eye one day in Publix grocery store.

Berry De Blanc (Pineberries).

What is a pineberry?

According to http://www.astinfarms.com/produce/berry-de-blanc/

Contrary to the typical strawberry, a pineberry is the polar opposite in color. Instead of looking for the brightest red berry in the store, you will be looking for a pearly, off-white colored berry, with red seeds. The flavor profile of these berries are similar to a traditional strawberry, however, when you bite into a Berry De Blanc, you may notice a subtle pineapple flavor.

A little side note. I see that they’re from Plant City, Florida. My late husband’s parents had a place in Lakeland, Florida and would go to Plant City for what they said was the best Strawberry Shortcake. Has anyone else tried it?

Bits and Pieces – Dave Clark Five

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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Sometimes sitting and doing nothing is the best something you can do.

Karen Salmansohn

And that’s what today was. Usually we have things to do. Our regular routine. Gym. Groceries. Out for coffee and tea. Today was a do nothing day. Just stay at home. Relax. Enjoy the day.

This wasn’t what I had planned for today’s blog but as it was a do nothing day this is what you got. Stay tuned for what I had originally planned.

What a delightful way to wake up. No alarm. Knowing we’d be home all day with nothing to do. Ahhhh.

Relaxing breakfast. Read the PEI newspaper The Guardian. Did a crossword puzzle. Did Wordle. And was in no rush to get them completed.

And I’m lucky. Richard always does the dishes. So lots of down time. Even better.

Next a little walk to the gated community down the road from us. Just a nice, easy walk while listening to Billie Holiday: Heroin Hounds … on the podcast Disgraceland.

Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Thirty-ish minute episodes that trace the most insane criminal stories surrounding our most interesting and infamous pop stars.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/disgraceland/id1275172907?i=1000592580061

Love. Thanks so much Rachael for recommending it. There are many interesting episodes on Disgraceland. Give them a listen.

Then on the deck with a lime water and a book. I’m currently reading Wicked City by Ace Atkins.

A “noir crime classic” about one of the most notorious towns in American history, Phenix City, Alabama.

When I’m down here I try to follow these reading requirements: read books by authors from the area or about the area. (Ace Atkins was Alabama born and now lives in Mississippi.)

My reading view and sound. How soothing.

A little, light lunch and then back to reading on the deck. My kind of day.

Mid afternoon we went for a long, leisurely stroll on the beach. Picked up shells that called our names, listened to the sound of the lapping water, plus enjoyed splashing our feet in the cool Gulf water. I could see for miles and not a person in sight.

Back to reading on the deck. Super indulgent.

And to top it off Richard made Chili for supper. Spoiled I am.

All good things must come to an end. But what a day. One good thing? I can do it again whenever I want. Cheers to that.

Tomorrow back to the regular routine. But as for today, it was fabulous. And all I can say is everyone should have a do nothing day. When will yours be?

Busy Doing Nothing – from the movie Christopher Robin

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.

Michael Josephson

Great quote. May we all find inspiration in it.

It’s a quiet night for us at the beach house after a sunny afternoon on the deck. On the menu is homemade pizza (the one on the right is gluten free) and Prosecco.

The gluten free pizza dough is made by Duinkerken. I love their products. They’re delicious. Duinkerken Baking Mix Company has been creating their fabulous gluten-free mixes on Prince Edward Island for more than 16 years.

Duinkerken facilities and products are free from gluten, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, casein, soy, egg, lupin, mustard, fish, shellfish and crustaceans.

https://www.duinkerkenfoods.com/

Have a nice night and a great new year.

Let’s Start the New Year Right – Bing Crosby

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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“Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of your life.”

Mark Twain

Gym closed today so off the normal routine. What to do, what to do, what to do. Make a beautiful day. A beautiful day trip to Fairhope, Alabama. Only an hour away from Gulf Shores and we love this spot. If you are ever around this area definitely stop and visit Fairhope. It’s charming and we absolutely enjoy it every time we’re there. We always discover something new.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairhope,_Alabama

Its historic homes on streets lined with live oaks and its charming, walkable downtown with delightful small shops and various restaurants make it a treat to visit. It also has its own little French Quarter.

Richard loves to spend time browsing in their record store Dr. Music Records.

https://drmusic123.com/

Of it’s many thrift/consignment shops one of my favourites is an upscale resale store. Great designer items.

http://www.backontherackgulfport.com/

As these two stores are quite close he went off in search of records and I in search of clothes and purses.

Score! I bought a beautiful Joseph Ribkoff khaki and black colour-blocked tunic top, a long, red, linen sweater, and a LBD. And Richard did ok too. Eight records.

Off to Latte Da for a midmorning treat.

https://www.pageandpalette.com/latte-da

Richard had his usual dark roast coffee and I a Chai Latte. Mmmmm. But the best was this package of gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies.

A wonderful walk around the streets, a bit more shopping, and then lunch at Another Broken Egg Cafe.

https://anotherbrokenegg.com/location/fairhope-al

You know what they say: if the restaurant is full it must be good. Yes to both of those.

Off to The Pier.

https://alabama.travel/places-to-go/fairhope-municipal-pier

On previous visits we’ve had chilly weather but today we were blessed with beautiful, sunny weather 23C. Ahhhh.

Richard got a great shot.

Every time we’ve gone to Fairhope Richard has wanted to stop and buy pecans. Today he finally go to achieve his goal.

And a bonus was Richard got to talk with the original owner, 90 years young who has 27 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren. He was very excited to talk with Richard. Even brought out three books to show him. Two of his 80th and 90th birthdays and one of when he worked with Ronald Reagan for a year. He was so pleased to share these with Richard. Plus we got to find out that pecans grow on trees. We didn’t know.

I couldn’t pass up sharing a little video. Super cute.

And that’s our day. Back home to the beach house and able to have tea on the deck. A beautiful day. I hope you had a beautiful day too.

Beautiful Day – U2

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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“Cooking is a caring and nurturing act. It’s kind of the ultimate gift for someone, to cook for them.”

Curtis Stone

Yes it is. And that’s Richard’s gift to me. He does most of the cooking and boy do I love that.

I arrived back in Gulf Shores the evening of Dec. 26th. A few delays but I got here. Whew! I am exceedingly grateful. The most major delay was due to someone acting inappropriately on the plane as we were leaving Montreal so we returned to the gate to have that person removed. I don’t know what happened but the people at the front applauded when it took place.

My biggest pet peeve is carry on luggage. I travelled with my regulation size carry on and my purse. Why oh why are they allowing people to use medium sized suitcases as carry ons? They do not fit the size specifications. On top of that there was a family of six sitting across from me who had 18 pieces of carry on. And they got on with all of them. Unbelievable. No wonder the airlines are always asking people to volunteer to check their carry on luggage for free at the gate. Maybe they just don’t want the confrontations.

Boudin is a sausage he found at Rouses Market https://www.rouses.com/ here in Gulf Shores. He bought one when I was on PEI and cooked himself this meal. When he tasted it he thought “Deb would like that.” And he was right.

I had never heard of this sausage. (although it looks similar to one Richard used to buy at Sobeys in Montague, PEI). But Wikipedia knows all.

“The term boudin in the Acadiana region of Louisiana is commonly understood to refer only to boudin blanc and not to other variants.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudin

“Acadiana (French and Louisiana French: L’Acadiane), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: Le Pays Cadjin, Spanish: País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained much of the state’s Francophone population. Many inhabitants of the Cajun Country have Acadian ancestry and identify as Cajuns or Creoles.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadiana

And this is it. In the dish, besides the boudin, he included a medley of small tomatoes, an onion, a red pepper, and a tomato basil sauce. No recipe. His take on a gumbo. Creative. Very creative. And it was delicious. The picture shows his over fusilli pasta. Mine was over a gluten free penne pasta. Delicious.

Home Cookin’ – Jr. Walker and the All Stars

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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For Christmas is tradition time—
Traditions that recall
The precious memories down the years,
The sameness of them all.

Helen Lowrie Marshall

In my last post I mentioned that I had no memories of my childhood Christmas Eves. Since that post some memories have returned. I remember decorating the Christmas tree with my mother’s treasured ornaments. And tinsel. Boy how I hated putting on the tinsel. I always wanted to just throw it on in big handfuls but Mom painstakingly put it on one strand at a time. She made it look beautiful. Christmas Eve we’d take four kitchen chairs to the living room, putting them back to back and hanging wool socks over them fastened together with clothes pins. I guess the socks were my father’s.

More vividly I remember Christmas morning waking my parents anytime between 3:00 and 5:00 am to go downstairs, see what Santa brought, and open presents. Mom worked at Strwart and MacKay’s in Charlottetown and every Christmas they were given a big 5 lb box of Ganong Chocolates. Plus we’d have a few treats: ribbon candy, barley candy, chicken bones, satin mix and fudge. These were never out until Christmas morning.

And our socks alway had a huge red delicious apple and a giant orange (or so it seemed to me). One gift stands out in my mind. A soft pink mohair sweater. Loving knit by my mother. I constantly wore that sweater until it was completely worn out. She loved to knit and created many sweaters over the years. Especially the big, zippered, Mary Maxim sweaters. I have saved all the ones she knit for my children. Maybe one day my grandson will want to wear them.

Then we’d drive to Margate to have. Christmas dinner with my grandmother and other family members. Mom had four brothers and four sisters so there was always lots of people there. The adults ate in the dining room while all the cousins ate at card tables set up in the kitchen. You knew you were old when you finally got to eat in the dining room. My favorite treat there was Grammies homemade white fudge. Not divinity like my mother was so skillful at but old fashioned vanilla fudge. I loved it. Wish I had her recipe. Sadly my mother didn’t have it either.

Christmas morning with my kids was a bit different. Nobody up until 7:00. We’d all meet in the kitchen and go down to the rec room together. Well actually David went down first to start the wood fire. Stockings had been laid out in each persons particular spot. All the Santa stuff could be viewed on your own but then we’d all sit in a circle and I would pass out the wrapped presents, one at a time, and we all watched that present being opened. Savoring the moment. Then on to the next person. Round and round we’d go until all we’re opened. Back then it took a long time. This past year it was just James and me so it went quite quickly.

Next the kids would put their gifts under the tree while the adults began cooking breakfast. We would have the traditional Big Breakfast: toast, eggs, potato wedges, bacon, sausages, homemade baked beans (made the previous week), cheese, fruit, juice, tea, and milk. What a feast. How did we ever have room for turkey dinner. But we did.

Then cleanup and get that bird in the oven. Way back we had a lot of family there so we’d have a turkey that was well over 20 lbs. It had to get in that oven to be ready for 6:00. we always made it.

Dinner consisted of turkey and stuffing (then made either by my mother or my mother-in-law but now made by me), mashed potatoes, gravy, turnip, broccoli casserole, carrots, peas, corn and cranberry sauce (I made it). For dessert we had the never ending array of sweets plus Mom’s homemade plum pudding and brown sugar sauce. What a feast. No wonder no one could move afterwards.

Now it’s different. I do miss those busy times. So much work but so much fun. Guess that’s what happens as we get older. Nostalgia. Sigh. It was quieter this year. Just James and I for gift unwrapping and breakfast. But I still made the Big Breakfast. Even though there was just the two of us. Tradition. Then Jared, Katelyn, and baby David came mid afternoon to open baby David’s gifts and for dinner. I really missed my daughter Kathryn and son-in -law Scott as they were in Toronto but it’s time for them. We did FaceTime with them so they could watch David’s gift unwrapping. Time for them to begin their own traditions. I’m sad but happy at the same time, if you know what I mean.

And that’s it.

Merry Christmas.

On Christmas Morning- Kenny Loggins

Take care and stay healthy.

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

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