What a Full Week

Following on the departure of the last of our spring guests we began the countdown preparations for our return to Canada.  This means getting things organized and completing tasks that need to be done before we leave.  One of those to do items was to have the kittens spayed.  We have a super veterinarian here and we also have a pet plan that covers spaying and neutering our pets so we wanted to make sure this was done here before we left.  The kittens are now five and half months old so we didn’t want to wait much longer.  We had agreed to wait until they were almost six months old to give them a chance to get a little bigger and stronger before their surgery.  I am a nervous mother when it comes to my fur babies and any medical situation.  I guess I have good reason to feel that way after the past year, but I really hated the thought of them having to undergo this procedure.  As it turns out, it didn’t seem to bother them much at all.  They were not happy with us because we wouldn’t feed them after midnight and took away their food.  The looks they gave us were priceless.  We took them to the vet by 7:30 in the morning and by 3:30 they were home.  Tiny little incisions that almost look like belly buttons and a little sleepy.  They did not appear to be in any pain at all.  The technician said to keep them quiet for 7 to 10 days.  You have got to be kidding!  That wasn’t even possible for 7 to 10 hours let alone days.  I figure if they felt well enough to get around then they were probably just fine.  Animals are pretty good at monitoring themselves.  They ate some, slept a lot and by day two were pretty much back to normal.  All seems to be going well and I am very glad it is done and over with.  We must wait until September for Winchester as he needs to be a year old or more before he can be done.  It is part of the contract and what we agreed to.  Our veterinarian seems fine with this so we will wait until we get back.

Olive Oil, You and Me

We were lucky enough to join a group of friends to attend an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting at a local store called Olive the Above here in Beaufort, SC.  Over the years I have experimented with different types of olive oil and found the variations to be pretty wide.  So far the best that I have found and that I now use almost exclusively, is the olive oil I get from them.  Their supplier is Veronica Foods from California.  I encourage you to go to their website and read up on their olive oils and methodology.  I was impressed.  Carrying on with the tasting: the best type they have for heart health is their Extra Virgin Manzanillo olive oil.  It has the highest polyphenols of all their olive oils and if you taste a tiny bit you will feel it tingle at the back of your throat.  This we did and yes it did tingle.  These are the goodies in olive oil that are helping to fight inflammation in your body.  One of our friends  takes a shot of this olive oil every day and as she exclaimed “I am riding across Kansas this summer”.  She attributes her energy and overall good health to her daily tonic of olive oil.  The higher the polyphenols the better for you and also the better for cooking.  I asked about the stories I have heard about not heating olive oil or cooking anything on a high heat with it and was told that this particular olive oil has a smoke point over 400 degrees so it is pretty safe for all your sautéing.  I was so very happy to hear that.

Some time ago I published a list of olive oils to stay away from.  What I really do want to reinforce is that you should buy the best possible olive oil you can afford.  Do not skimp on this as you are throwing your money away and not to mention your health.  Always make sure it is in a dark bottle; do not store it anywhere near heat or sunlight or in the fridge; and use it up.  Recommendations are to make your salad dressing fresh each time so you are not storing it for days in a cupboard.

We tried three different olive oils, the Manzanillo as I mentioned, then a Blood Orange fused olive oil which means the fruit and the olives were pressed together, and a Tuscan herb infused olive oil which means the herbs were added after the olives were pressed.  The tastes were amazing and the aromas were very strong.  So many suggestions of how to use the olive oils to marinate fish and chicken or to drizzle on a salad I could go on and on and hopefully we experiment and have some recipes to share at some point.  Following the olive oil tasting we moved on to Balsamic vinegar.  The first one was an traditional 18 year old balsamic that could stand quite nicely on its own, the owner of the store said she drizzles it on pizza to improve the taste of the pizza even if it is a frozen one from the grocery story.  We followed this with a Neapolitan Herb and finally a Sicilian Lemon.  What I found especially fascinating was how you could so easily substitute a balsamic or olive oil for so many other flavor enhancing items such as Worchestershire Sauce.  For my friends with gluten sensitivity or celiac who cannot use Worchestershire Sauce, definitely try to substitute with the Neapolitan Herb it is delicious.  The biggest surprise was when dessert came around and we were given a raspberry balsamic to dribble on our ice cream – you would never know it was vinegar and not a sugar laden raspberry coulis.  Yum!  John mixed a chocolate and a coconut balsamic and said it tasted like an Almond Joy.  There are more combinations to try and I plan on trying them when I can.   Stay tuned there will be more on this in the future.  Oh by the way, Happy Birthday Calvin!

Exercise, walking and biking

It was a very warm week with temperatures breaking records and well into the 90’s.  I did my best to get out there early in the morning to get a good walk done before it got too hot.  A couple of mornings we ran into other dog friends and Wyke had a wonderful time romping in the shade with his buddy.  We get to stop at all the rest stops on our walk to fill up on ice water and piles of ice for Wyke.  Keeps everyone well hydrated and a little cooler.  What does happen is the energy level seems to be a little lower when it is that hot so the walks were not fast but they were enjoyable.  When Wyke was visiting with our trainer while we were in Florida, she took him out on bike rides.  He trotted along while she road her bike.  I am not as brave or as skilled as she is but I did try the golf cart with him a couple of days.  He was wonderful.  He trotted along beside the cart at an easy pace, stopped only a couple of times and didn’t pull me out of the cart.  I also took him to an open area to play ChuckIt up near our marina.

There was a tragedy on our island this past week.  A visiting dog ran away from its owners and an alligator in one of the ponds got him.  It was devastating for the owners of the dog as you can imagine, but it was also a real wakeup call for all of us that the gators can be really dangerous and in this case lethal.  I am wary when going by the ponds, but I don’t think until this week was I truly aware that this could actually happen.  It has always been an anecdotal story that I have heard from a friend who heard from a friend.  This time I was playing with Wyke up by our Community Center when security was called to retrieve the dog from the pond.  It was too close for me not to see what was going on.  When not on our property he is on a leash.  However, when we are out on Oak Island or when playing ball as we were up by the center, he is not leashed.  It is just a big reminder that nature can be unpredictable and to be vigilant.  Our pets cannot read.

Recipe Share from Olive The Above

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