ksylvan's Friends

Art of the season - American Impressionist, George Gardner Symons.  Symons was one of the California Impressionists but a lot of his paintings look like Pennsylvania.

The First Snowfall ~ George Gardner Symons, 1920

All's quiet at Trinity House.  Yesterday was a do nothing day.  The visiting nurse was here and I'm almost back to where I was before going in the hospital.  Nearly all the water weight is off and my waistline has shrunk an inch.  Being bloated is no fun. 

Plan for the day:  Make a very early run to the store for milk, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows.  We'll be serving hot chocolate in the community room - a little Trinity House tradition on snowy days.

Menu for today:  breakfast - a low fat blueberry scone, juice.  Lunch - some kind of soup (I'll just throw something together), salad.  Supper - Tuna noodle casserole made my low fat low salt way, with peas and a salad.  Snacks - another scone!  apples.

Of course, everyone is watching the weather report.  The snow is supposed to start this afternoon and continue all day.  We should get at least an inch (2.54 cm).  The weather pattern is what we call a Nor'easter because the wind is coming off the Atlantic and pulling moisture up from the south.  Sometimes these storms can be really bad.  This time it looks like a high will blow in and keep it in check.  Let's hope so.  The grocery store will be crowded with people who act as if they are preparing for a blizzard. 

Today:  Watch the pretty snow from the window. 

Christmas Parade tonight and dear daughter is in it.  The weather is cold and crisp but we can dress for it.

Celebrating daughter's 10 th Birthday on Saturday (her birthday is actually the 6th)

Celebrating son's 17th Birthday on Sunday (his birthday is actually the 8th)

So needless to say - I don't think eating will be very good this weekend. 

Have a great weekend and stay warm!!

Kate, you asked for a review!

I got home from work yesterday, and K had already been to the post office. Sitting on the dining room table was a purple box. 

Within the box was pretty tissue paper, a beautiful card featuring my various woodland friends, and....

and..

and..

SCRUMPTIOUS EDIBLE NOMS OF THE HIGHEST CALIBER.  OH MY DOG.

What was the twisty braidy thing that was sprinkled with sugar? Almond Blankie?  That stuff's a winner, whatever it was.  Wow.  The filling? I could eat it out of a bowl like pudding.

AND THEN, OH FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS.  I unveiled the panettone cake.  IT IS A THING OF BEAUTY.  It is so fragrant.  Tender pastry, not stiff like the store bought kind.  Soft raisins, bits of citron, with a delicate flavor of lemon all through.  And it was even in that wax paper cup thingie that panettones are baked in!  I love the carmelized raisins in the bottom of the cup...mmmm.  So, Kate, you get a huge freakin' A +!!!

(i ate about 1/4 of it last night)

Thank you, Pav!  You really made my week :)

Art of the Season - Early Winter in Paris.  Pissarro painted this exact view in all seasons and at all times of the day and night.  He must have really loved this spot. 

Boulevard Monmartre on an Early Winter Morning ~ Camille Pissarro, 1897

I got a lot done on Thursday.  It was nearly noon before I was up and moving, but I got my weekly blood test, went to the bank and stopped at the supermarket for half a dozen items that were on sale and that I needed.  Maintenance came and fixed the fan in my heater - it was making a lot of noise.  It's working great now. 

I had a hard time falling asleep last night.  It must have been around 1:30 that I finally dropped off.  Then at 5:30 am, there was the familiar shouting voice and slamming door of the Crazy Lady.  I guess I spoke too soon about her being quiet lately.  There was no police car outside, so I don't know who she was yelling at or why.  But why does it always have to be wee hours.  I turned on my computer and dashed off an email to the office, giving them an earful.  Now I can't get back to sleep.

Plan for today:  visiting nurse at 9 am, important phone calls this afternoon.  In between a nap for sure.  I need to find my snow boots and get out the hats, scarves and gloves - skip to the end to find out why.

Menu for today:  breakfast - raisin bran, milk, blueberries.  Lunch - barley pilaf (I have the barley cooked and in the freezer) small beef patty (2.5 oz) salad.  Supper - chicken braised with onions and herbs, carrots, peas.  Snacks - nuts and seeds, milk, apples

The forecast for today is mostly sunny, high temp 51 F, 11 C.  Then it looks like it all goes sour tomorrow with our first frost and mix of rain and snow - 80% probability by evening.  Of course it could change as the day goes on, but it looks pretty certain now.  I'm sorry my daughter will have bad weather for her birthday and I hope it doesn't spoil my son in law's plans to take her out with friends. 

My neighbor across the hall has a new little dog.  It's a chihuahua - jack russell  mix and is cute as can be, small, black & white.  He seems like a nice, calm little fellow, maybe middle aged for a dog.  I'm so glad because she wanted a pet badly. Last year she had to find her yorkie a new home since it yapped non stop from the minute she moved in.  It did get her up and moving to take him for walks. 

Today:  Catch up on sleep then enjoy the sunshine outdoors. 

Art of the Season - Sometimes winter feels just like this

Women Miners ~ Vincent Van Gogh

The tenants effected by the broken pipe and subsequent flood are all settled in other apartments or have gone to stay with relatives while their apartments are fixed.  Our most severely disabled man only got back from visiting relatives in Pittsburgh so it was a shock for him.  He has round the clock nursing care, so his caregiver and maintenance moved his hospital bed into a neighbor's living room and the caregiver slept on the sofa.  The other paraplegic took off in his specially equipped van to stay with his parents.  The more mobile woman is settled into an empty apartment with just some of her furniture.  Apparently she's a pack rat so the crew is having a time getting the carpeting up.

Wednesday was "interesting."  I got my rent reevaluation completed and wondered - if they can subject poor people to that kind of scrutiny every single year, why can't they prosecute wealthy tax chests?  I had to sign over 20 release of records forms to go to everyone from my bank to Social Security, to my doctors to prove I took in what I claimed and spent what I said I did for medical expenses.  When people talk about welfare cheats I wonder how on earth did they do it?

We did have an unexpected pleasure.  A women's singing group called The Notables entertained in the Community room.  The office was so busy with that flood situation and the rent reevaluations that they forgot to put up so much as a flyer in the elevator, never mind the invitation they used to stick under folks doors.  As a result most of us didn't know about it.  If a friend hadn't knocked on my door to tell me, I would have missed it.  They were a lot of fun, not just Christmas carols, but little skits and a lot of humor.  They really put their hearts into it.

Plan for today:  Must get my INR blood test!done

  I need to deposit a check in the bank done

 and stop at the store for a couple of things. done

  I'll try not to turn it into a shopping trip!  I didn't

Menu for today:  breakfast:  oat bran flakes, milk, blueberries.  Lunch - soup, salad.  Supper - chicken, broccoli & cauliflower, baked sweet potato.  Snacks - apples, leftover cucumber & tomato salad from yesterday.  I know it sounds a bit low in calories, but I'll make it up with larger serving sizes and maybe some bread.

More rain today and the wind really kicked up during the night.  I hope it clears up and we see some sun.   I seem to always be complaining about the weather and my mood.  It does affect me deeply. 

For those who have asked about the Crazy Lady - she did have a major tantrum involving police and EMTs.  One woman really went off on her - a very LOUD woman.  She gave her what for, which is not a good idea.  I've noticed a pattern of a big blow up a couple of days before the full moon, so it's quiet right now.  I hope her case manager is trying to find her alternative housing. 

I did decorate my door a little, and got out the garland I put on the window sill.  It needs to be straightened out.  Maybe a trip to the dollar store will give me some inexpensive ideas.  I hear they have nice stuff.

Today:  Try to lift the gloom and see the bright side. 

Long time since I have visited Calorie Count (aka CC). The site conversion came at a time in my life when I was dealing with A LOT of personal life changes and it was just one more thing. I finally have accepted the old Calorie Count is gone. I"m sort of stubborn that way sometimes. Am I the last to accept the shiny new sparkle?

Life has taken some interesting, unexpected twists. It's been a long road of recovery and healing. Lots of learning. Lots of good things. Time moves so quickly, sometimes.

I've been thinking about where I've been and where I am at. I miss having a journal outside my normal circle of friends that I see day to day or that know me in real life, something definitely outside of any link to business or can be traced to my business, something private - but where I have different friends, with good advice and good feedback.

New Calorie Count (sorry, still new for me) will be a learning curve and a bit of a technical challenge (text bodies no workie with Crackberry, my only internet). So I am on family and library internet access only. It's ok, I'm used to it. 2 years I've learned to live without home internet service and it has been a healthy change.

I thought a lot about making an effort to be involved in CC again and how. I've decided, primarily journal - because it really is a selfish indulgence. Secondary, with sharing whatever positive feedback or experiences I can. 

I hate that the world can be such a negative environment. I can't change the world, but I can control the bubble around me. I accept this limitation. :)

PS - I updated my profile. I'll see what I can do about updating and dusting off some of the cobwebs around here.

 ♥ CLICK HERE to leave a comment! ♥
 

Went to pick up the doggies this morning, and instead of happily trotting out to the van, we left them there.

This morning, the bigger of the 2 started drooling and stiffened briefly. They thought maybe she has epilepsy or something. So they did bloodwork on her, and turns out her white blood cell count is low.

They are doing more bloodwork, this time sending it off to a vet college, and they won't know the results until early next week. I really really really hope she's ok :(

I'm getting attached to them (and so is kinky, although he tries not to admit it!), and feel awful just thinking that she might have epilepsy or worse. They mentioned that it could be a liver disease, untreatable and would shorten her life expectancy. I can't imagine they would mention it unless it were a good possibility.

Which leaves me feeling torn...we still want them, but I'm not sure about the wisdom of bringing home a sick doggy. Yes, every doggy deserves a loving home, but oh jeepers...to bring one home that might not live long?... :(

I talked to kinky about it, about the fact that if it's epilepsy or worse, we may be looking at considerable vet bills, for visits and medicine. Jeepers :( :(

He said to just wait and see, we'll take it as it comes and if there are special needs, we'll get educated about them first.

*sad*

*and worried*

*and attached*

UPDATE:  We're dealing with a disaster here at Trinity House.  A hot water heater sprung a major leak on the 3rd floor during the night and saturated the apartments downstairs from it.  Three tenants in wheelchairs have to relocate while they take up all the carpet and dry wall and dry it all out.  What a mess!  On top of it all, there's someone moving in today.  What a horrible first impression.  I just got back after we made coffee in the comunity room for the workmen.  More later...

Art of the Season - Dressed for the weather

Cafferty ~ Robert Henri, 1922

I actually can't remember much of what I did yesterday.  Lesley was here and helped me a lot, then I spent the rest of the day dozing in my chair.  The problem was then I couldn't go to sleep last night.  Can't win I guess.

Plan for today - Lease renewal meeting this morning in the office.  Some phone calls.  I really should go get my blood test today.  I absolutely must finish cleaning out the refrigerator. 

Menu for Today:  Breakfast - low fat biscuit, jam, milk, decaf coffee.  Lunch - Waldorf salad.  Supper - salmon, carrots, green beans.  Snacks - hard boiled egg, apples, fruit juice.

I suppose we should be grateful that we had one sunny day this week.  Now it's back to dreary rain for the rest of it.  At least it won't be too cold at
57 F, 14 C with almost no wind.  I think I'll pull out the rest of the Christmas decorations and cheer the place up.

Today:  Find the cheer amidst the gloom. 

'Tis the season for celebration.  With it comes perpetual temptation to eat the things we shouldn't, and with that, inevitable weight gain. After that comes the New Year's resolution to lose those excess pounds.  If we are to avoid this cycle, we need a strategy and some planning.  Whether you are attending a holiday party or entertaining friends and family in your home, the foods of the season are all part of the fun.  By now we've collected recipes for healthier sweets, so let's look at the savory side of party food. 

With a little creative energy we can plan to substitute healthier choices that won't be noticed by our guests.  For instance, serving fat free dips and low calorie appetizers. 

The tray of raw vegetables with a dip have become standard fare, so we'll put our efforts into what goes with it.  Bottled low fat salad dressings make good dips but tend to be high in sodium.  Make your own and you will have a healthy, fresh alternative. 

A nice addition to a vegetable tray is soft goat cheese mixed with fresh herbs and served as a spread.  Next to the vegetables serve a festive Italian style antipasto tray using low fat, low sodium deli sliced meats and cheeses instead of salami and over-salted cheese.  Make rows of rolled meat and cheese slices alternated with olives, small pickled hot peppers and roast peppers.

Another good choice is the one featured in the picture.  It's an attractively arranged tray of flat bread, hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and almonds.

There are a number of hot appetizers that lend themselves to serving buffet style.  A mini muffin tin makes it easy to have a uniform, attractive serving size.  Try mini crust-less quiche using any quiche recipe.  Spray the cups with non-stick baking spray and pour in the filling without any crust.  They bake up firm and the outside will brown a bit so they're easy to pick up.  Or bake your crust-less quiche in a baking pan and cut into neat squares.  Baked stuffed mushrooms and hot baked dips can be healthy if we use low fat ingredients. 

There are many possibilities for cold appetizers too.  Hollow out cherry tomatoes and fill with hummus or a low fat cheddar or other soft cheese mixture using a pastry bag.  This can also be done with small hot peppers.  Roasted red peppers are delicious and can be bought in a jar.  Cut them into inch-wide strips and sprinkle with fresh chopped basil and garlic.  Serve these with thin rounds of toasted baguette.  Make tabbouleh or a roasted eggplant dip and serve it with small, crunchy, whole leaves of hearts of romaine lettuce.  Nobody will miss the pita. 

We hope this insprires you to be a creative host.  Today's recipes, by Calorie Count members, are a small selection of appetizers and dips, and even a shrimp entree.  Use the Recipe Browser to search by occassion and choose Cocktail Party to find more good recipes.  Or use the main Calorie Count search engine (select Recipes from the pull down menu and search by item).  Above all, have fun this happy season!

• Low Fat Ranch Dip
• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Surprise Garlic Dip
• Light Shrimp Scampi
• Mini Florentine Cups