On Saturday we walked through a "greenway" nature reserve for about 4.5 miles. Though it's only 6 miles from the house, I hadn't been there in the 30-some years I've lived here. It was beautiful! A bit like a walk through a primeval forest. Can't wait to visit again when things are greening up. Today we walked along White Bluffs for a couple of hours. We carried along rockhounding supplies as we found some nice (albeit tiny) agates there a couple of years ago. All we found was one small shard of agate. I tossed it back, hoping it would provide incentive for someone else to find something we'd miss.
Cooper, our golden, had his first dip in the river for the year. He really didn't want to come out. Unfortunately he also picked up a bunch of large, nasty burrs which had worked themselves right next to the skin by the time we got home. Darwin, our mini Aussie, is not a water dog, and cannot figure out why Cooper goes in the water. He sniffs it, he watches Cooper galumph through the water, takes a lick, shakes his head (well, you know) and walks away.
IP DIET
Diet is going well. I think I've slowed down a bit on weight loss. Okay, I know I have. The scale says so. I'm only down a couple of pounds since...Thursday. Okay, I guess I shouldn't be complaining after all! Nevermind. Glad I had a bit of a reality check there.
Food Ratings
Maple Oatmeal: 10
I believe it's better than store bought oatmeal (which is always way too sweet for me - even the low-calorie versions). Excellent product. I'm happy to have found something nonliquid to have for breakfast. It will be a nice change.
Cranberry-Pomegranate Bar: 10
Another top-notch product. I can't find any fault with it.
BBQ Ridges: 8
They're okay. I like barbeque, and usually love this kind of snacky goodness. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood, maybe I'm actually getting out of needing this kind of snack. There's really nothing wrong with it at all from a product standpoint.
CRAFTY THINGS
From a craft standpoint, I finished my daughter's hat: Gypsy Hat by Jane Melville, which can be found here: Gypsy Hat It's one of the prettiest hats I've ever done, and definitely a keeper pattern.
Now I need to get this puppy done. The finish line is in sight!
NEW HOME HUNT
I'm always on the hunt for the "retirement home," which will come into play as soon as 5 months, to as late as 5 years from now. If we find the perfect house, David is ready to drop everything and move. So...I hunt. Today's find is this beauty.
Built in 1927, on 60 acres, mountain view, very rural. Raised garden beds, a greenhouse (!), a barn with stalls (!), it pretty much has everything we want. I've written to the realtor to make sure it's still on the market, because some sites say it has been withdrawn. We also want to see documentation on the place because we don't want to spend 5 hours driving somewhere to see a house that has something that we don't like that we could have seen via pictures or paperwork. Crossing fingers. At any rate, that right place will come along eventually.
Let's see. Anything else?
GARDENING
Oh! Starting to go through seed catalogs. It's that time of year again. I'm happy we planted so many things last year as it is helping to winnow out what we want to do this year. So far, heirloom tomatoes, bush beans, red/green/hot peppers, lettuces, spinach, carrots, onions, potatoes, butternut squash, one zucchini, one summer squash, and lots and lots of basil and cilantro. I'm going to freeze tons of pesto. We ran out far too soon. We still have a ton of tomatillos in the freezer and haven't done much with them, so I'm thinking that tomatillos are out for next year.
And lots of zinnias. Such wonderful, hardy flowers, they made us smile for months and months.
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