G'Day Mates! Just back from Australia!

Surprise!  A new post!  Thought I'd share our latest vacation to Australia.  We left on September 8th and spent 2 weeks visiting three very different locations.  The good news is I didn't break anything but you might see Jeff wearing my old sling.  While mountain biking to increase his endurance for a SCUBA dive trip at the Great Barrier Reef, he did a header and fractured his elbow!  He had to snorkel instead because it was too hard to manage the weighty SCUBA gear but still had a great time while Justin SCUBA'd.  Our first stop was beautiful Hamilton Island- a little piece of tropical paradise with the whitest sand beach on the planet- actually pure silica!  Sarah did all the trip planning and we stayed at the most fabulous places!  Here's a link to our Hamilton Island photos:

We moved up further north to Cairns (pronounced Cans) where it was even more tropical.  While Jeff and Justin dove at the Great Barrier Reef, we were joined by Sarah's sister Amy and her Australian lawyer boyfriend and we toured rainforests.  It was great having an Aussie drives us around with all the driving on what is the wrong side of the street for us and confusing roundabouts!  Here's the link to Cairns.


Finally, it was on to beautiful Sydney.  Sarah arranged a very special outing for us.  As you may remember, Justin has a dog called an American Dingo.  We visited a Dingo Rescue and they had a new litter of puppies!  We got to play with them and we took the older dingos on a walk.  We donated money for the experience and they were able to make improvements on their facilities and sent us photos of the new additions!  Our only disappointment was it rained on our planned day to visit the Blue Mountains so we missed seeing that in all it's glory.  Here are photos from Sydney!

I do miss blogging with my old, longtime friends!  For those living abroad, you'll appreciate that I had a lot of "Trumpslaining" to do as to why America has seemingly gone mad regarding our elections.  It's hugely embarrassing and we all joked we would wear Canadian Maple Leaf caps to avoid the WTH questions!

Photos from our European Vacation

I'm posting Facebook links to our photos and you do not have to be on Facebook to view.  2 weeks into our 3 week trip you will see my arm in a sling.  A funny thing happened on the way to The Forum (literally) in Rome... I was listening to an audio guide of the sights and tripped on an ancient cobblestone.  In a valiant attempt worthy of a gladiator to save my phone, I came down hard on my wrist and fractured it badly!  The ambulance came (wee-woo) and took me to the hospital where only one person I came into contact with spoke English- fortunately the doctor who treated me.  They had to "manipulate" my arm in a manner similar to the rack I had just seen in the Tower of London 2 weeks earlier.  I ended up with a cast from my fingertips to above my elbow which was like carrying a 10 lb baby around for the rest of our trip.  This all happened the day before our cruise and nothing was going to stop me from getting on that ship!  We did have some of the wildest adventures and I'll try and post some stories to go along with the photos soon.  Two days after we got home, I had surgery on my wrist but will be rid of the sling in a week and I start physical therapy.

London

Hampton Court

Paris

Zurich

Bernina Express (Swiss Alps)

Venice

Rome

Allure of the Seas

Barcelona

Palma de Mallorca

Aix-en-Provence and Cassis

Cinque Terre

Adding one story that I posted on Facebook...

So the Bastille Day in Paris story... Yes, high speed Eurostar from London at noon and dinner cruise reservations that evening... What could go wrong? Well how about our Eurostar breaking down and limping into Paris 3 hours late? So now it's after 5 pm and we are trying to walk to our hotel that I know is a 9 minute walk and we get totally lost! Make our way back to train station and Jeff says let's just take a taxi! "Taxi driver" tells us €30 and I say, "It's a 9 minute walk!" And he says, "Ok, 2 euros a minute!" Sorry, I've read my Rick Steves and know a scammer! So off we go walking again and get even more lost! Without anymore detail, let's just say we were introduced to the more dodgy areas of Paris! Finally after an hour or so of wandering the streets and back alleys of Paris with luggage in tow, we find our lovely little hotel at about the time we are supposed to be boarding our boat! We check in, throw on our dressy clothes and have Micael point us in the direction of the Metro. What more could go wrong? Is it even possible to make it to our "prepaid" dinner cruise to see the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower? We hop on the packed number 7 metro (I have my directions- 2 trains and a bus or if no bus a 20 min walk) and within 30 seconds a pickpocket has his hand in Jeff's pants trying to steal his wallet (in our rush, no time to put on the money belt) and Jeff slaps his hand away saying, "Get your hand outta there!!!" Think that"s it? Non! We are on #7 but heading in the wrong direction! Get off first stop and run around and get back on #7 going right way. Transfer to # 8, get off at correct stop but no bus so start speed walking with thousands of Parisians along the riverfront (almost sure boat has left by now) and finally arrive dripping in sweat to our dock... And we are not too late!!! The rest of the night was amazing as you can see from the video of fireworks over the Eiffel Tower! Unforgettable! I have another video to share about a magical moment onboard "The Cristal" and yet another tale about our adventure back to the hotel... arriving at 2 am! (No, we didn't get lost again!)

What was I saying...

It's been so long since I posted here and I don't miss the daily thinking up of things to write about.  For almost 10 years, it came easily and then, all of a sudden, it became a chore.  What I do miss are the blog friends who are not on Facebook.  I haven't found Twitter something I like to use but I do check it to see how friends are doing from time to time.  I was saddened to read this morning about Annie's loss of her beloved cat Garfield and decided it was time to give a little update.  Maybe those who see updates on their blogs will see that I posted.

We also experienced two sad losses since the beginning of 2015.  At the beginning of the year, we lost our sweet calico cat, Hayley Mills.  She died extremely suddenly of kidney failure.  She was Hunter's sister and she was our pet who had epilepsy and was on constant medication for that.

Then in another blow, we lost our 9 year old black lab, Kanan, to cancer which all of you know has plagued our dogs.  Once again, we went to our oncology vet, who knows us all too well, for treatment and chemotherapy which did not prove to be effective in Kanan's case.  So Jeff and I once again made the trek up to our hill to scatter Hayley's and Kanan's ashes where Dylan's and Kali's also remain.  Kanan was an especially tough loss for Jeff as Kanan was so devoted to him.

In good news, Jeff and I are finally getting around to those travel plans!  We have a family trip to Yosemite coming up in June and then in July, we will be in Europe for a little over 3 weeks.  Our first stop is London for 4 days then on to Paris for 3 days.  We will take a train from Paris to Zurich and then board the Bernina Express for a scenic ride through the alps on a narrow gauge train to Italy.  We will spend the night in Milan before boarding another train to Venice where we will stay for another 3 days.  We then leave for Rome and stay 2 nights before embarking on a 7 day Mediterranean cruise about the largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean's  "Allure of the Seas."  Here's a little map of our itinerary at sea.

After we return to Rome, we will board a plane to Prague and stay there 2 nights before returning to London for one last night before our return flight home. 

Any advice anyone has for things to do in any of our stops would be greatly welcomed.  Turns out that we will be arriving in Paris on Bastille Day so should be in for some excitement, partying and fireworks over the Eiffel Tower.  As I said on Facebook, guess I can scratch off a bucket list item that I didn't even know was in my bucket!

Lots of love to you all! <3 <3 <3   

Kitchen Remodel

I just posted some photos to Facebook of our kitchen remodel and there was a link I could use to share with everyone even if you're not on FB.  So here's the link...

Kitchen Remodel Photos

I will try to do an update here soon.

Christmas Cookies Blog Hop

Peppermint Cream Bites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups crushed Oreos (15 cookies)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons shortening
(Optional- crushed peppermint candies or candy canes for topping)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan; set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine crushed cookies and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor, blender or using a mixer combine powdered sugar and softened butter. Cover and process until butter is evenly distributed. With processor running, add milk and peppermint extract through feed tube until a paste forms. Spread peppermint mixture evenly over prepared crust. Freeze for 45 minutes.
• In a medium microwave-safe bowl combine chopped chocolate and shortening. Microwave on high about 1 minute or until chocolate is melted, stirring once. Let chocolate cool for 15 minutes. Pour chocolate over peppermint layer, spreading evenly. 
• Optional:  Top finished bites with crushed peppermint candies while chocolate is still wet.
• Using the edges of the foil, lift uncut bars out of pan. Use a 1-1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut into rounds or use a sharp knife to cut into squares.  Could also use any Christmas shape cookie cutter.  Store in the freezer until serving time.
• Place peppermint bites in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

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Thankful for Thanksgiving

When November rolls around and we think of things we are thankful for, I always think of how thankful I am for America's very special holiday:  Thanksgiving.  It's such a heartwarming feeling to see how so many families come together to enjoy this day.  Over the hills and through the woods to grandmother's house we go.  The airports are crowded with travelers trying to get home sweet home.  It's a holiday without "presents" but rather the gift of togetherness.  When I sit down to dinner with my family, I smile thinking of all the families sharing pretty much the same meal:  turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberries. maybe that green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and all those traditional dishes that we often only have once a year.

Here's one of my favorite photos of a turkey I cooked a couple of years ago.

Pretty proud of how it looks- almost magazine worthy!

This is my "Special Yam Casserole" I make for Thanksgiving.

  Recipe follows along with another family favorite,

Auntie Joy's Zest Carrots:

Click to enlarge

"Auntie Joy's Zesty Carrots"

Let's dig in and be thankful for all we have living in America!

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Autumn in Southern California

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I know people don't think there's a change of seasons in Southern California but there is.  It may not be as dramatic as other areas of the US but there are plenty of changes if you just look for them.  One thing we in the LA area can do to help it feel autumnal is to plant deciduous trees and bushes that change color.  Two very popular boulevard tress are liquidambers (aka sweetgums) and crape myrtles.  In addition to planting those two trees, we also have a mini forest of birch trees in our backyard.  Sycamores are also very popular.  Here's a photo taken out my upstairs windows of our neighborhood showing off it's fall color.

This photo was taken late in the year, probably late November, so our fall is a little delayed from what it is in other areas of the country.

Here's a photo of our backyard birches taken from our living room.

  Crape Myrtles have brilliant pink flowers in summer but beautiful fall color later

The other thing I do once it's fall is to change decor in my house.  One of the easiest changes is to have throw pillow covers that you can change seasonally.  Mine all come from Pottery Barn.  I also change out placemats, dining room table centerpiece, decorate the chandelier, bring out my autumn Longaberger baskets and add an autumn wreath on our front door.

And then of course there's Halloween and I have to bring out my Dept 56

And decorate the front door in my black and white theme!

BOO!

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