More Weekend Fun

Hello!!

 Today I am in the car on my way to Niagara Falls Ontario the first leg of our trip to Massachusetts. I  hope you all had a lovely weekend!! We had a good weekend - for the most part. Friday night we went into Indy to have dinner. We went to a restaurant we have never been to - and it's not even on DDD!!!

house made sausage,  brisket, mac and cheese and corn

prime rib, garlic mashed potato

blue cheese pecan Cole slaw

I have mixed reviews on the place. First I got an amaretto sour which was more sour than amaretto - Scott had to drink it because it was just too sour. He had a bloody Mary that was really good!! They bring you warm pretzel rolls - with cheddar butter and regular butter - divine!! The sausage was fabulous and so was the brisket. Cornbread was dry and flavorless. Mac and cheese was good - like Velveeta. The corn was fall off the cob because they boiled it before they grilled it - I think they should skip the boil part - Scott ate it because I thought it was too mushy. Scott's prime rib was awesome and so are the potatoes - I'm not a big fan of Cole slaw but he liked it. Overall the price was high for the hit and miss on the food. I would go again for the rolls though - wonder if I can order just that.... We loved our waiter - he was adorable!!
The next day we looked at 8 houses - the first one we saw we both loved. We went ahead and looked at the rest though. We decided we had a 1, 2 and 3!! We put an offer on #1only to find out it was already sold - how does that happen you say? Well, it's starts with a lazy realtor. These people had a contract on the house - but the sale of their own house fell through so they had to back out. That morning they said they had it all back together and the house was back under contact - well the realtor failed to call our realtor to tell her the house was no longer available. They still showed it to us - the home owner was having a garage sale and so they were there and didn't know how to tell us so they just let us wander around - even unlocked doors for us.  All day we compared each house to the first house and they all fell short. We see 7 more houses and decide we want house #1. We put in the offer and go to celebrate (more on that later) - their realtor leaves a message for ours - "sorry house is sold"  Our realtor couldn't get her back on the phone for hours to explain how a house we just looked at is already sold! We were very disappointed. We decided house #2 was more money than we really wanted to spend and house #3 was in a suburb so we decided that was right out. Sunday we drove around trying to find a house in the same area as house #1. We went and looked at house #3 again and decided that even though it was a perfect house in every way it was still in a suburb and that is not what we want. We went home and started looking online again - this time Scott put in Indianapolis and our price range - 33 pages!! We had been looking in Plainfield, Monrovia, Mooresville, Avon - small towns in the same area because we thought "Indianapolis" would be city living - unlike Denver the area around Indy is still called Indy - and it's a huge area. There are houses on wooded lots in "Indy" We found three houses that we really liked - Sunday night with only an hour before the sun went down we went and looked at these without our realtor - unsure of the area of town since we are new here! I fell in love with the first one, which was empty so we could look around! The second one was awesome too - built in 1906  - updated on an amazing lot with a pond and a little out building - amazing for the edge of a city!! The third one was occupied so we couldn't get out and look around - and it's location was a little scary. Turns out our realtor was busy (the nerve right? sheesh) and we are leaving town soon so we only got to look at one house - the first one. Yep, I love it. Scott loves it. We put an offer in it - you put a time limit for them to get back with you - ours was 8pm - they countered at 7:54 pm - really? They told us that taxes are $6000 a year - which makes our house payment 500 more a month.FIVE HUNDRED!!!! OUT- F-ING RAGEOUS!! All the other houses we have looked at are $1500 a year taxes. So another house down. We are both done with looking. I'm sad - this arts and crafts house was perfect.
About our celebration dinner that turned out to just be a good dinner out - no celebration. We went to Zydeco's - FABULOUS as usual!! I wont show many pictures because I got all the same stuff I usually get - Scott did get a garlic soup - different.

 

garlic soup - yes Scott is wearing beads!!

I can not remember the name of this heavenly beverage - has alcohol in it!! Gator something

I got BBQ shrimps boutte - Scott got fried oysters, he offered me a bite and guess what I found.......

Yep - that's a pearl!!! Owner wanted a picture because there hasn't been a pearl found in years!! Cool huh!!
Sunday we went to Long's Bakery - guess it's quite popular here - very good!!

cream horn

mmmmm dooooonuts!!!
Friday night I took some pictures of the buildings in downtown - beautiful!!!

So, I boarded the cat - the move, drive to Indiana, and apartment living wasn't enough torture - I had to take him to the vet for three shots. So then he was sick and sore - had to take him back so they could give him another shot - something like kitty advil. Then I took him to the boarding place. He may never recover. I feel terrible because he has been so unhappy and the next 6 days will be terrible for him.
Well, that's it folks - have a good week!! I wont post again until we are back from our trip!!

Patience

Patience

taaa daaaa - courage and wisdom and I am caught up!!! I am halfway done now!

Good morning!!

Hello!!
I have a new follower..... that makes SIX!! Woo hoo - PJ From Porcupine Needle  She has a lovely blog!!

I am on the computer today to plan our trip to Live and Breathe - THE letterboxing event!! We will be at a huge campground from Friday night until Monday morning - over labor day  There will be 209 overnighters and, I think, 90 day trippers. That is a lot of people!! I'm most excited for night boxing - never done that before!! I have heard they put light strips up and you have to follow them with your flashlight - fun!! There is a masquerade party and a talent show. On our way up we will be staying in Canada by Niagara Falls - never been!! As I said before it will be our first box in another country and our first stamp on our passports!! On our way back we are going to go see the ocean - he may not be able to get me back in the car because I belong at the ocean. We will be taking a different way back - to get other boxes in other states of course!! Plus we plan on stopping at some of the DDD along the way!
I better get to planning.....

** I'm adding to this post - I make a travel book every time we go somewhere. It has directions to all our hotels - confirmation numbers - letterboxes we must get (we get at least one in each state we pass through) - local diners with their phone numbers and hours - directions to any Roadside America places we want to stop  - all the fun stuff!! This one also has all the information on other letterboxers we need (special stamps they carry and their signature stamps)

The Travel Book 

 

 

first page!!

From Wikipedia -  Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp.Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting other letterboxers know who has visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count". A good site is Atlas Quest. This hobby takes you to fun places! I'm going to Massachusetts!!

Weekend stuff

Hello!
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I did! We went looking at houses. I get irritated with this process. I love one house but it needs too much work - way too much. I love another house but the kitchen is awful. This house is right next to another house. This house is weird. This house doesn't have enough rooms....This house.... I thought the things I wanted were pretty common - nope. We do not want a pool - may end up with one anyway because they are so common - and cheap. Who knew? So, we keep looking.
We went to the Indianapolis library - WOW!!  What a lovely place that is!!

from the front steps of the library

even the ceilings are pretty

first set of rooms

middle part

kids section has these in the ground with information in them

on the shelves are light up symbols

Next we went to the Indiana Museum of Art  It sits next to the Eli Lilly house - he was the guy who started Lilly Pharmaceutical. He donated the house and land to the city for art. We got there late so we didn't get to spend much time. We will be going back!! I love African art - they have an amazing display. I tell Scott it's because I am shaped like a lot of the figures they carved.....it's true.

I told Scott I look like this in the  morning - he says my hair is more messed up HA!

mask with 13 people on it - wow!!

on the grounds of the museum

my love

see the hummingbird blur?

one on the feeder with its back to us

see it coming in from the left?

We walked through the museum and then on part of the grounds - place is huge. You can read more about the history on the link above.

I have to figure out how to make this bracelet they are selling in the gift shop - fun!

On Sunday we went to Lafayette IN - an hour or so away - to go to a diner! The Triple XXX

cramped - we all sat next to each other!

Boilermaker Pete. Plus our first ever photo bomb - the guy Scott sat next to! HA!

Bernie Flowers All Pro with onion rings

The root beer is really good - I had a frost with is blended with ice cream. Delicious!! The had this jalapeno ketchup that was wonderful - I will be buying it!!
We went to a few cemeteries -

bridge at Spring Vale

weirdest tombstone - ever

Indiana State Soldiers Home

lead singer  from Blind Melon

perfect nest!

I did end up making the baked eggplant Parmesan boats with sausage   Mine were not pretty.

She used white eggplant but I could not find any. It was just ok. This is weird but I don't like eggplant but eggplant parm is one of my favorite dishes - the healthy version or the unhealthy version. I have a great healthy recipe for it. No big deal - out of the Skinny Taste recipes I maybe don't like one in 30 so the odds are great! I love that site!! Right now she has a salad posted - grilled stone fruit salad with honey goat cheese dressing - sounds like something I might like!!
We have been letterboxing quite a bit. I don't like boxing here - most of the boxes are wet and buggy or missing. I hope some of the ones downtown Indy are better - I will keep trying!! Speaking of letterboxing - 10 days until our letterboxing trip to Massachusetts for the BIG event!! Over 180 people staying at a huge camp for three days. I am looking forward to night boxing!!! We will be staying in Canada at Niagara the first night! It will be our first box from another country and the first time we use our passports (we were in Canada before you needed a passport to drive to and from Alaska and before we knew about boxing!!) SOOO EXCITED!!!!!
Hope you all have a lovely day!! 

A simple finish

I finished my simplicity sheep this afternoon - yay!

The next one is Patience.When I finish two of patience then I am officially half way done - but not with assembly ack!
Hope you are having a good day!

scaredy cat

Were do you keep your scaredy cat? 

We keep ours in the bathroom cabinet

That is a 20lb cat - I'm not sure how he got himself curled so tight!

salad days

Hello!
I almost forgot to do a salad post! I decided to do this post because I think we forget how many great salads there are - that are not fattening. So many times people eat salad and think they are doing good but the fat in dressing is astronomical.  It all started when I went to Grand Junction to visit my Aunt Deb. She made a spinach and strawberry salad. I don't like salad with fruit in it so I only had a little to be polite. Well, whoda thunk it - I do like them, I was probably rude and ate the rest! When Ryder and I went to Santa Fe I had that fantastic beet salad - I emailed them about sharing the recipe. No answer, so I looked online and found a recipe that is perfect - I will share. When we were on our way to Indiana we ordered take out from a chain - I got the Southwest chicken salad. So very good.  So, I have been making a lot of salads. These are not all exact recipes of course. Don't forget - watch your portions or these recipes can get fattening pretty quick!!

Southwest Salad -
 lettuce you like 
roasted chicken 
chipotle ranch (Walmart)

can of black beans
can of corn 
cucumber
avocado
green onion
grated cheese

That's it - quick nutritious salad!.No picture of the salad - didn't think of it until it was too late

Strawberry Spinach
Baby spinach
strawberries - sliced
feta
Girard's champagne dressing
Pumpkin seeds

** Again - watch your serving sizes and all of these can be within calories or points or whatever you are doing to eat right! **

Spinach and Strawberry

Salmon salad
I was getting salmon burgers from a friend who shops at Costco - but I moved away so I'm not sure what I will do when this bag is empty, You have to be careful because they put partially hydrogenated oil in some salmon burgers - grrrrr

One burger per person
lettuce you like
cucumber
carrot
green onion
Thai peanut dressing - not made with peanuts!! Very good!! Oddly not that good with chicken - weird. I have only found it at Target

 and my favorite....

Beet salad
beets - I used fresh - boiled, peeled and diced. I used 6 beets and it made enough for 4 salads!
baby greens
pumpkin seeds
feta

The dressing is this dill vinaigrette which is lovely. You almost didn't get to see a picture of this salad because I went after it like it was made of ham.... haha
If you have not tried the new zucchini recipe from Skinny Taste - you gotta! It is super fantastic awesome good!! Scott grew jalapenos last year - we roasted them and then froze them to use all year. Daaaammn they are spicy - that is what I used instead of pickled jalapeno.  I will be making the baked eggplant Parmesan boats with sausage later this week - I will tell you if they are good. I'm sure they are - she is awesome!
I'm off to make dinner - have a nice evening.