A First Ever Long Trip
Monday was my birthday. Somehow I missed mentioning that last week but then realized that it didn’t really count for last week’s blog letter but it does count this week. If you are into numbers it is interesting that my birthday is the 22nd of May and this is the 22nd blog of the year. Don’t know what it might mean but it was interesting to note. For most of my life I have celebrated my birthday, if not for the whole month of May, at least for the week leading up to it. This year was no exception; in fact it exceeded all expectations when I was blessed with a grand-nephew being born on my birthday. My niece, my brother’s daughter, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Pierce on Monday afternoon. So along with all the parties and gatherings with friends almost every day leading up to “the day” and continuing to this weekend when my children arrived bearing gifts, we get to celebrate a new member of our extended family. Katie and the children arrived with a wonderful basket of fun items including an intriguing hand-warmer tea mug. Never heard of one before and obviously had never seen one. I love it and having my tea this morning understand what they mean by hand warmer. Very cool um, no I mean warm!
We left South Carolina early morning on Saturday and for the first time ever I drove 1, 439 miles over three (3) days, by myself, with the dog, all the way to Canada. I was tired but I was also elated. We were lucky with the weather and the roads were pretty free of heavy traffic. I am sure that would not be the same thing if we had travelled on Memorial Day Weekend. I loved the trip and was amazed how many times John and I actually ended up in the same place at the same time without actually planning it. The first night as we pulled into Lexington, VA, I missed a turn and ended up having to go about five miles out of my way to turn around. I came back to where I was supposed to be, took the exit and pulled up to the stop light and who should be in front of me at the light, John. What were the odds? It happened again in New York when I pulled into a rest area that had a covered parking area and as I pulled out my phone to call him and tell him where I was, he pulled in next to me. Both of us laughing. We stopped in Connecticut the second night and by then I was in desperate need of a good long walk and so was Wyke. We got up the next morning which was my birthday, and we went for a good hour long walk up at Reservoir 6, a place I had often walked and really loved. We had enough fresh air and energy to get us back in the car and off on the last leg of the trip. It was a great adventure and we are both so very glad to be back in Canada and on the lake.
Back in the Swing
Moving back into the lake house was not a slow process. We arrived on Monday night and within a couple of hours our good friend Jennifer had shown up with a delicious dinner and wine. We had a big fire going in the fireplace (it was cold and damp which is not untypical of May in Canada) and we caught up on all the news in the town. The next day was a gathering of a group of wonderful ladies who call themselves “The Grace Ladies” and we toured a church in Magog and then went out for lunch. What a fun way to transition into our northern home. Each morning I have walked with Jennifer and her dog Lexie and we are back to doing close to five miles each morning, with HILLS! Oh my it feels good to do those walks. The air is clear and clean and since we talk all the way around we don’t even notice the climb. I was afraid I would find it a challenge to go up the hills but I didn’t and motored up them just like I had never been away. After this week’s trip I plan on beginning my training plan for the fall walks but that is information for another blog. I am just so pleased that I can do this walk and feel really good doing it. There are so many wonderful walking possibilities here and I am ready to go out and reacquaint myself with all of them. Wyke thinks this is just great. We have stopped at the beach at our little club after each walk and he gets to swim. The water is too cold for me but he thinks it is the perfect temperature. His big excitement is the pair of Canada Geese who have teased him each morning when he goes out to chase a stick or a tennis ball. He does not know whether they are friend or foe but he did try to follow them for quite a long time before I panicked and called him back. Those geese are really something.
The dock and the boat are both in the water and we have been out for our inaugural boat ride of the season. This is quite a bit earlier than it has been in the past but the boat is working fine. Wyke will not get in the boat yet. He is such a sissy sometimes and it is just about as scary as the stairs were the first time he tried them out. We have found a couple of friends for him and also the perfect spot for them to run around and be safe. An old tennis court that still has a good fence. We are starting to make play dates. Both his new friends are females and one is a 5 1.2 month old golden named Millie. Don’t worry Abby, you won’t be replaced but Millie is really, really cute.
Karma
Do you believe in Karma? The informal meaning is “destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.” Well, I do. I was not planning to rent our house in South Carolina and had told most of our friends that I was not going to rent. Then out of the blue, a wonderful person shows up who needs a place for three months, and I couldn’t pass it up. She is now happily ensconced in our house at Dataw. We arrived back here and after having many discussions, decided that we would go ahead and rent this house if we could for the full year next year. Our daughter Katie has rented a house for the next two years and she and the children thought the house would be a great place to have Christmas. She could picture it. I said that I thought that was a great idea for a lot of reasons but one of the reasons was that it would allow me to perhaps rent the Canada house for the year which might mean I could find a professor at the University that needed a place for the school year. Lo and behold we go out to a party and one of our friends asked us if we would consider renting our house since we are not here for a good part of the year. We said yes and he said his brother was looking for a place for about 8 months starting in October. The upshot is that they came and saw the house and have rented it from October until May. May I remind you, we had only been back here for three (3) days at this point. Things move fast when Karma is in charge.
Animals are Happy
The puppy who is now nine (9) months old and the kittens who are now six (6) months old, have adapted beautifully to our summer home in Canada. Wyke loves the lake and swimming and he loves the long walks. He really loves the cool Canadian air and is in fact sleeping even better. I suppose it is a combination of both the air and the exercise. The kittens have found their favorite spots to sit and now have a new cat tree that amuses them and us. Watching them play and also watching Wyke try and figure out where they are is very very funny. I took a video of them but it is way to long to share. I honestly thought the kittens would get lost in this house because it is so much bigger than the house they are used to but they have really settled in very well. They do not go outside but they have access to windows and to watching the birds from many vantage points. They are not bored.
Researching Food and a Recipe
Just found a new website UC Davis Integrative Medicine that is full of wonderful recipes and information. I am just at the beginning of this relationship and am feeling my way around their website. There is a connection with Blue Zones and The Mediterranean Diet that keeps coming up in my reading and research. The more I read, the more I like what I ready. However, one thing caught my eye right away and that was a recipe for Avocado Mango Quinoa Salad. Of course I had to try it and the best way to do that is to get my daughter Katie to make it. Somehow, when she cooks, everything tastes better. I am including the recipe here by Rosane Oliveira, DVM, PHD but we did, of course, make a few changes to suit our tastes. It was absolutely delicious even though my grandson thinks Quinoa is a curse that someone has put upon him. Not so, it is wonderful and so heart healthy, so I hope you enjoy it. We certainly did.
[mpprecipe-recipe:92]
