What you can't see.....

Behind our home, we have about six acres of woods.  They belong to the local Sons of Italy. 

A friend of ours at the end of our street, has a home at the other end of the six acres of woods.  He set up a camera in his back yard and has captured the following in the last month or so. 

I am careful to lock up my hens each night, with that coyote running wild!  But the fox could be very dangerous also!

Ice Skating

With the brutal cold weather that we here in the Northeast have been having this past week, the local ponds have frozen over.  We decided to take the trips on their first ice skating excursion!

They did wonderful.  Brody was awesome and was able to stand on his feet more than the other two, but for the first time, these five years olds did great!

                                                 My sister, her hubby and the trips!!!

                                                   My niece, Kailee, Brody and me!  

The forgotten post

I forgot to do a blog post when I had my cookie swap the week before Christmas! 

My closest friends all came -

Left to right starting in the front: Christine, Donna, Myself
Standing: Eva, Joanie, Andrea, Cindy, Theresa

Appetizers, wine, lots of COOKIES and friendship - what more is there to a cookie swap? 

Love you guys! 

Three Bean Chicken Chili

I made a pot of chili yesterday.  It was a perfect day for it to cook in the crock pot.  The temperatures were freezing and when it gets this cold, you need something to warm you up!!

I may have posted this recipe a long time ago, but I love it because it is easy and all you do is drop all the ingredients into the crockpot.

2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
Three cans of beans (whatever you have - I used light red kidney beans, regular kidney beans and chick peas)
2 cup of cooked, diced chicken - You should probably use more, but that is what I had
3 cups of chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes. (I used 1/2 of a quart that i had canned this past summer)
Chili Powder
Cumin

Cook on low all day!!  I added some cooked rice, right at the end because this batch was a little thin! 

Guess what's in the box?

It was about 8 degrees over night with wind chills below zero.  I decided to take the chickens in and kept them in the dining room.  Their coop outside is pretty secure from the wind, but my heart goes out to any animal left in that bitter cold!

 I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to make an airport run and it was a brutal 10 degrees, so the chickens went outside early.  We are expecting a high of 17 today!   I have a feeling that my hens will be coming in every night this week!!

The March Project

My attempt at gardening has been half hearted and not very successful.  Although, I am proud of my tomatoes and peas and beans.  The squash and pumpkin have been far less than stellar.

So this year, I am sticking with what works.  Tomatoes, beans, onions and I'm throwing some carrots into the mix!   If these new heirloom seeds do the trick, I will be very happy.

This is the first time that I'll be starting my plants from seeds in March to go in the ground in May.

I am hoping for success.

Karaoke at Danny Buoy's

We had dinner and karaoke night at a place in downtown Grace Bay in T & C.  I wish I had video - it was absolutely hysterical - I was the official picture taker - I do not karaoke!  LOL

Back to life, back to reality

It doesn't take long after a beautiful vacation to get right back into the swing of things.  In some ways that is very sad.  No time to savor the wonderful feelings of friendship, the sun, the sand and the beauty.     But if anything, I'm a realist, and I jumped right back into the fray, after my vacation in the Turks!

The pictures don't do the island justice.  We were on Taylor Bay and we also visited Grace Bay and had dinner downtown there.  I was able to take an excursion with Diane who had a car, and we did a little sight seeing.  The main island is only about 15 miles long (we only went to the main island).  The airport was close by and so was the hospital, that the islanders (the belongers, as they call themselves) were proud of.

These pictures are all taken from the villa of our Taylor Bay Beach and area.

The four pictures above were taken at Grace Bay. 

Although, EVERYTHING is imported onto the island, the food was good.  I don't know how they survive though, because the prices are just so expensive.  I will be happy to go back to Shop Rite and will gladly pay their prices.  

We were fortunate to stay at a villa, with two parts.  One part was a five bedroom, six bathroom Key West style home with gorgeous views of Taylor Bay and one of Dick Clark's homes.  The second part was a separate "boat house" with another two bedrooms, two baths, kitchenette and living room area.  We had our own pool also.

Running in the sun again felt like heaven.  I got in a four mile run, one zumba  class and then a two mile run.  In no humidity, 80 degree weather, it was a pleasure!

Now I am off to work....but it is Friday....I can't complain at all!!

T and C

Turks and caicos is a beautiful area. The villa is gorgeous, the views are gorgeous, the ladies that I have met are wonderful!!

Island life has its charm.  We lounge by the pool, read, walk, eat.  I feel pretty rejuvenated!

Busy, Busy

I haven't had the time to post this week.  I have been so busy and I actually do have a blog or two to post about, but I will have plenty of time this coming week.

I'll be heading to the Caribbean on vacation tomorrow.  A once in a life time trip to Turks & Caicos! 

I'll be taking a lot of pictures and blogging them on my new Ipad mini - once I figure it all out! 

Thank you Diane for this opportunity!  Love you, my friend!

From the Dave Ramsey website....

Life has no remote.  Get up and change it yourself!

Freebies

These are the freebies for December!

IS instant smoothing gel
Tide Pod -1
Dawn Power Cleaner - overnight soaking
Pantene Silky Moisture Whip
Listerine Total Care Mouth Rinse
Aveeno Shampoo & Conditioner