A Visit to the Vet

We finally transferred Roxy to a new vet here in town at the end of April. It only took us 3 years. After we moved we continued to take her to her old vet. It just seemed to be easier, plus they knew her medical background. I think her medical file is probably as big as Byron and my file combined.  Each year I am reminded why I really dislike taking Roxy to the vet.  Lets just say the amount we spent on her vet bill, we could have gone on a really nice weekend getaway, but she's our baby girl and we want to make sure she is healthy. It's a good thing she only has to go once a year. She is a lucky girl that we love her so much.

After her last visit to the vet we had to give her Benadryl after her appointment to ensure she didn't have any allergic reactions to the shots she had to get. She has had a reaction to a shot in the past and it was not fun. We ended up having to take her to the emergency vet clinic because her face swelled up like a balloon and it was extremely scary and super expensive. I must admit when ever I have to give Roxy any type of pill I DREAD IT!! She refuses to eat it. Usually I mix the pill with her food in her bowl and it always amazes me when she eats all the food and manages to leave the pill in the bowl {seriously how does she do it}. I have tried so many different techniques to try and get her to take the pill but nothing seemed to work. I think I have figured it out though. Roxy just LOVES peanut butter. When we finish a container, I always give it to her as a treat to lick before it gets put into recycling {I think if she could crawl into the container she would}...

 

 

I took the Benadryl pill and covered it with a bit of peanut butter and let me tell you, I have never seen her eat a pill so quickly with no hesitation {I must remember this for next time}. Thus,  I decided to do a post on this just in case I have a senior's moment and forget for next time.

 



 



 

Do you have any special tips or tricks that work for you? I would love to know what they are.



Bacon & Tomato Sandwiches {8 of 10}

Bacon & Tomato Sandwiches for some is a lunch option, but at our house, we enjoy it for dinner. During the summer, when our tomato harvest is at it's peek, these are a top dinner pick for us! 

 

All you need for this quick easy dinner  are tomatoes, bacon, some bread, mayo and pepper.

 

During the winter months when we get a craving for these yummy sandwiches and obviously do not have fresh tomatoes from the garden, I grab vine-ripe tomatoes from the grocery story. Not the same as the ones from the garden (not much flavour), but they are not bad.

 

If you do not have one of these in your kitchen (a tomato knife) I highly recommend investing in one. It works like a charm when you have to slice tomatoes. I find myself using it all the time for a bunch of other stuff too ... so worth the $5.00 we spent on it!

 

During the summer months when I make these, I pan fry the bacon on the BBQ's side element.

 

 

 

During the cold winter months, however, I use the pan that came with our oven (I believe it's called a broiler pan). I add a bit of water at the bottom of the pan which the fat drips into. I find this way is nice to prepare bacon because it does not stink up the house so much. During the summer however, it is way to hot to have the oven going though!



 

 

 

The bacon turns out perfect. Just the right amount of crispiness.



 

 

 

We like Hellmann's.

 

 

All the items ready to be assembled into a delicious sandwich. 

 

 

The finished product ... yummy!!





 

 

 



 



22/52 - Smiles

The smiles from this Lil Man are my sunshine when skies are gray.

Backyard/ Garden Themed Morning Bridal Shower

Over the years I have been to a number of bridal showers, but a year ago today was the first one I attended that was hosted mid morning and it was lovely.  I think this was also the first time I left Hugo in someone else's care.  It was only for a couple hours but it was so weird not having him in sight. The bridal shower was for my dear friend Shan. I find Bridal showers are a wonderful way to shower a couple with gifts they will treasure and use for years to come. I have heard of "Money Showers", which I honestly just feel those people are being plain greedy and completely missing the whole point of a shower. Yes some people who co-habitat before they get married already have almost everything they need for their home (we were in this vote) BUT there are always things needed for the house. We registered for things like a nice pot set and a Kitchen Aid Mixer. The items were a bit pricey, but people went in on the gift together and did a group gift. Every time I use our pots (which is everyday) I am reminded of everyone who gave us that gift. I find gift registries are great because the couple does not end up with 3 toasters, a gazillion bath towels, etc. Not every one chooses to register at a store though, my friend Shan did not register any where and she still received wonderful gifts.

The Bridal party thought it would be great to host a backyard/ garden themed shower, since the couple was planning on building a deck and work on their backyard. Such a practical theme for a couple that did not need any of the usual things (towels, dishes, pots, bedding, etc.). Shan received a lot of different gifts that she will be able to enjoy while spending countless hours in her backyard for years to come.

The bridal shower was held at a cute little hall that use to be a school house. If memory serves me right, I believe her Grandmother attended school in the vary room the party took place in. How neat is that?

As guests arrived, they were reminded of the party theme. On the front porch there were two huge tomato plants. At the entrance of the hall there were two beautiful petunia hanging baskets, some herb planters and a garden gnome for the Bride-to-Be to take home after the party. The flowers smelled so good and were absolutely gorgeous. 

 

 

The details throughout the old school house were impeccable.

 



 

  

Each table seated 4 individuals and were covered in gingham and flowered table coverings.

 

 

To fill our bellies, the bridal party provided an assortment of fruits, muffins, bagels, crescents, Danishes, mini cupcakes, and brownies. 

 

 

There were artificial Gerber daisies everywhere (the Bride-to-be's favourite flowers). I too love Gerber's!





 There was even homemade jam available for the crescents .... yummy.

 

 

As guests drank their tea and ate, the Bride-to-Be opened all of her wonderful gifts. Which included a fire pit, solar lights, bird feeder, a water gun for her little guy, bird bath, party platter, beverage dispenser, outdoor margarita glasses, Red Neck wine glasses, fire pot, variety of flowers, and some gift cards  to name a few of the items she received.

 



 

Once the gifts were all opened cake was served! There was an adorable little cake pop on the cake. So cute!!

  



 

It was a wonderful mid morning Bridal shower. Such a great idea! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Have you been to any bridal showers lately? Did it have a theme?

 



Bitsy in the sun.

So I was finally able to pull out the boler from the workshop in the garage this weekend. She has a nice thick coat of dust so I gave her a quick wash and started to work on the spare tire holder underneath and undercoat it with spray on rock gaurd. Once that is done I can start to work on the inside and get her ready for our trip in 3 weeks. Only 2 more weekends to do the work though........

Glad I had the old brake rotors from my Mazda Tribute, otherwise bitsy would have been stuck in the garage.

TACO Burgers {7 of 10}

For those who had a long weekend this past weekend, we hope it was an enjoyable one for you. At our place we had a really busy but productive long weekend. On Sunday, we had dinner at my parents to celebrate my Dad's Birthday. On Saturday though it was a perfect day to use the BBQ and cook some Taco Burgers -- one of our favourite summer time meals. These guys are completely made from scratch including the taco seasoning.

Here's what we use for our taco seasoning.

 

The finished taco seasoning. You can find the taco seasoning recipe here.

 

 

We added about half the batch to make the burgers.

 

Before starting on the burgers slice up some cheddar cheese if you are planning on stuffing the centre of the burgers. We only do this sometimes as a treat (it is a bit time consuming).

 

 

For this specific dinner we used about two pounds of ground beef. 

 

 We added 1 egg, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce.

Mix everything together well.

 

 

Start to shape your patties. Once done add some sliced cheese like so ...

 

 

 

Then add the other half of the patty on top and pinch the edges together.

 

 

 

Your finished stuffed burger should look like this ...



If you just want to make a plain patty, they taste great to. A couple years ago we bought this Adjust A Burger Patty Press and it works great!

 

 

 

Here they are once they are done. The cheese seeped out a bit with these guys ...

 

 

 

To serve, we just put them on a burger bun, add salsa, hot peppers, cheese (if it is not stuffed in the centre) and that's it.  They are fun to serve to guests because they are often surprised with the melted cheese in the centre when they take their first bite!

Have you had taco burgers before?

Waste of a day

So today I was hoping to deal with the door sag on the boler. I did a bunch of Internet searching and formulated a plan of attack to make the fix useful. I didn't have time to do a full on rebuild like I was hoping to do and tried to do the cut, pull up, and re-glass option. However after doing this I am very unhappy. It's to much weight on the bottom of the door and I feel over time it will just get worse again. So tomorrow I am going to take it all out and just use some cable until I have the time to do a proper fix.

Live and learn I guess.

Victoria Day Weekend = Garden Planting Time!

For a number of years now, Byron and I always prep our garden and plant our veggies on Victoria Day weekend. I guess it has become a tradition. This year was no exception, however, I was on my own dealing with the garden as Byron has been busy working on Bitsy trying to get her ready for our first camping trip -- which is 3 WEEKS away!!

This year it did take a little longer to get everything planted as I had to do it during nap time {sometimes this is not very long}. Since our soil is very clayey here, we decided to add some sand this year to the garden along with our usual  four bags of sheep manure.

On Sunday, I managed to get my seeds planted (carrots, purple beans, snow peas, spinach and potatoes) and that was it. I was not able to return back to the garden until Tuesday. I some how managed to quickly plant the rest of the veggies before the rain came which was perfect because I didn't have to water.

 

 

1. jalapeño peppers. 2. cucumbers (don't think they will do well because I started them to early). 3. long red cayenne hot peppers. 4. tomatoes (next year I need to start these guys and my sweet peppers sooner). 5. pumpkins (need to start these later). 6. butternut squash (started at the beginning of May because I forgot about them. This year we decided to plant the butternut squash and cherry tomatoes in a pot).

 

Each year it is always interesting seeing how much the garden produces. Last year we had an abundance of cucumbers. We shall see how the garden does this year. It's our first year growing some of the plants from seed, so it has been a learning experience.

 

 

When I was out in the yard on Saturday, a little toad hopped over for a visit. When we first moved to our current house there were so many of these guys around. Big ones and so many little ones, but they are slowly disappearing {sad face}.

 

 



When do you plant your veggie garden? What did you plant this year?

21/52 - Say "Cheese" Mr. Blue Eyes

For the past little while as soon as Hugo sees the camera pointing at him he instantly looks straight at the camera, starts to smile, squints his eyes and says "Cheese", showing all his pearly white teeth.  It's funny to see, but it's also a bit frustrating too because I like seeing his big blue eyes when I snap a photo.

 

When I was looking through my pictures from this past weekend I noticed this one of Mr. Blue Eyes, and he wasn't squinting {bonus}. Blue eyes are both on Byron's side of the family (his mother) and mine. When I look into Hugo's eyes though,  I don't think there is a day that goes by that I'm not reminded of my great grandfather on my mother's side (Avô Alvaro). When I was little, I clearly remember as if it was yesterday, my great-grandfather's joy that we shared the same colour of blue eyes. He would tell everyone that I had blue eyes just like him and he was so proud of this. If only he would have been able to see our Lil Man's big blue eyes, just like his, he would probably be so happy and proud once again that this branch of his family tree also has his big blue eyes! 

 

 

 



First Sewing Machine Lesson

Last week I finally unpacked my wonderful birthday gift Byron gave me this year - an amazing new sewing machine. I had never ever used a sewing machine before Thursday nor had I read the manual yet (I still haven't I will have to do that soon).  On Thursday my Mother-in-law (MIL) came over for most of the day. She entertained Hugo in the morning for me so I was able to get some stuff done and in the afternoon after we had lunch, she gave me my first sewing machine lesson. I am so grateful that she took the time out of her busy schedule to do this!! I am one lucky girl to have such a talented and amazing MIL. She showed me the basics of how to even get the machine ready to use (as I was completely clueless). We almost finished two panels but halfway through the second one Hugo woke up from his nap and that was it for my first day of sewing. My MIL was an awesome teacher! I would have to say my first sewing machine experience was a great success thanks to her!!

 

 

 

First panel finished and in the Boler so Byron could see how it looks!

 

On Friday when Hugo went down for a nap I attempted to finish the second panel on my own ...

 

It was a success.

Now I just need to get to all the other panels. This past weekend I tackled the garden and did not have a chance to start. We shall see what this week brings.

I must say I absolutely LOVE my sewing machine. Byron picked up an amazing one with all the bells and whistles I think I will ever need!!