We Have Basil !!! Crunchwraps and an Ice Storm

Look! I planted my basil indoors on the first day of spring and today I got the first sign of life! This makes me so happy on a very dull Monday. I feel like I'm gardening lol!

We had an ice storm overnight. This kind of weather makes me uneasy because we often lose power when things get very icy and heavy like this. But so far the power lines are holding strong; and the lilac tree is holding its own too. The ice on the little twigs look almost silver.

The bird feeder is frozen solid! I tried to break it up a little for the birds today but I kept slipping on the ice below so I figure I'll wait a day then fill it up again!

Some critter found their way to the feeder though, likely one of the hundreds of feral cats in this area. We saw some prints coming out of our shed too. The shed is a useless structure but we knew that when we signed the lease a few years back. The landlord was honest and said he had no intention of fixing it or replacing it when the times comes. We never use it, though it would come in handy. The door is kind of stuck ajar and the feral cats use it, which I'm thankful for, because I have so much pity for them when the -30 C weather hits. So let's go to my favourite subject: FOOD!

I don't know why but we've been so into Mexican-style food lately. I was watching a video on how to make a homemade version of Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme. It looked rather easy and really delicious so we gave it a try. Alex did most of the cooking and preparing since my energy was still a little low by the time we started to get hungry. Oh my gosh! This meal was SO GOOD. We had fun garnishing them for the pictures too :) Here's the play by play:

These Crunchwraps were really delicious! When I saw the video a few months ago, I noted to myself that I should try to find extra-large tortillas. But I couldn't find them, so we made a few mini ones. I've never been to Taco Bell, we didn't have them here in Quebec until recently I believe, but from what I've seen, the wraps are supposed to be the size of the inside of my dinner plate when they're all bundled up and ready for the frying pan. I'll have to keep an eye out for larger tortillas because we will be making this again! Another thing is that we broke apart some taco shells in lieu of the round corn "tostada" that the original recipe called for. It seems that corn tostadas don't exist around here at all, same concept as the taco shell though, just not as pretty! :)

Look at the innards of this thing! :) And we have plenty of leftovers for a lunch or another dinner. Yum yum yum! Because the crunchwrap was browned and warm to eat, it didn't bother me so much that my "freshly" bought crappy head of $3.49 lettuce was wilted a little...it came that way to begin with, but I pretended it was just due to the cooking. :)

Daily Routines

This is last night's moon. I'm surprised the photo turned out so nice because I used my phone! So far with all of my efforts, I've been anxiety attack-free going on three days. I don't want to start counting, because that will add pressure to me I'm sure, go figure, my mind and body do what they want sometimes! So far my efforts are working! What relaxes me the most is a 20-minute meditation before dinner. I'm developing a good routine and I'm so happy it's helping me!

Speaking of dinner, this is a familiar sight, Chicken Cesar Salad. We love this meal, but sometimes I wish I had better ideas for salads. It's hard to eat salad in the winter what with the produce so expensive and icky-looking, so we only have it a few times a month and it's always the same meal. I downloaded a few salad cookbooks to try to move beyond the Chicken Cesar! It'll be more cost-effective in the summer to eat more fresh lettuce and vegetables so I have time to prepare!

Two more pizzas are in the freezer! I made bacon and cheese pizzas yesterday. So far I've only made basic pizzas for the freezer, but the last time we had them, we both liked them better than fresh. I think it's because the dough ends up cooking crispier. I have a nice fig and prosciutto pizza planned and a four cheese for next week...maybe I'll try freezing them and seeing how they hold up!

The dogs are all eating bones and I'm going to get back to my anti-anxiety routine! Are you a creature of habit like me or do you need to be more spontaneous?

A Walk In The Snowy Woods

Yesterday's snow didn't stop us from taking the dogs out together. We found a solution - hopefully - for being able to walk the dogs (and us!) safely. If we drive maybe 3 minutes to the other side of the river, there is a quiet area with snowmobile trails. There are four houses in that area and one of the streets has no houses and no traffic. We wouldn't go there on weekends, too dangerous with the snowmobiles, but during the week we can go. We just parked the car on the side of the road and went into the woods. Driving to walk kind of feels like defeating the purpose doesn't it? But just a three minute drive helps us avoid the main area of the village where all the problem dogs are, we felt a lot safer and less stressed about having them out with us. Here I am with my little man Jack. It was mild enough that he didn't need his booties. :)

Alex always takes the girls. The trail was so wonderful, it was snowing and quiet, no motors running, no loud tourists yelling...and lots of rabbit tracks for the dogs to sniff and enjoy! Our walk was about half an hour yesterday. This is an area we can go to often. I went in there a lot last summer, so I think we found our spot! I hope!

I'm still trying to find my energy though. Anxiety is debilitating and just that half hour walk in the woods winded me. Thank you frozen pizzas! :) The pizzas I froze a few weeks back were the perfect solution for dinner! I have to make a few more today.

We stopped by the mail boxes on the way home and look! Another cookbook for me! I'm spoiled. :) Alex says, yes he spoils me, but he also benefits so it's a win-win situation lol...This is a great cookbook for little appetizers, I can't wait to try some!

It's Saturday morning and this is the backyard. Freshly fallen snow and the sun is out! I'm starting to feel that hope again that everything will be okay and I can conquer my anxiety!

I had no attacks yesterday so I'm really feeling great today. There is a flower remedy called Rescue Remedy. I took that years ago and it helped with panic a lot. I started using it about 3 weeks ago, and Alex mentioned that it was around that time when the attacks got continually worse. I didn't have any Rescue Remedy yesterday, nor any attacks...coincidence? I'm not going to take it anymore so we'll see. I also added a B-Complex to my mornings and I'm now up to 45 minutes on the mini-trampoline, jogging away each morning. 

The photos look so serene, but the reality is this: It's the weekend. Last night when we took the dogs out before bed, all we could hear was a giggling-gaggle-of-girls partying next door. We're guessing the parents let the kids have the place for the weekend, ick. And until 3am we heard some kind of snowmobile race going on, it's so annoying. But that's just me venting. One more day and then we have our quiet home and village again for another five days! 

Time for some real pet pride:

Blue-Eyed Marlene

Happy Jack

Leo and Charlie - Leo WANTS to be taller!

I love this photo of Leo and Charlie...it's so cute. I'm SO proud of the dogs today. I must sing the praises of the DREMEL for filing doggie nails. I decided on a whim to try filing their nails again this morning. I was a bit worried that Jack might start his aggression and growling again but I was very surprised! FIVE MINUTES later, all three dogs were done!!!!! The huskies laid back on their sides while I filed their nails - I guess the girls enjoyed the pedicure, I would too :)... and Jack is my biggest source of pride today. He let me file his nails with only a little grumbling and NO MUZZLE. I never thought that trimming their nails would be a pleasure, I couldn't stop giving them treats after lol...anyone with dogs who wants to save some money and make the task easier, seriously, try it! I'm very excited about this because I've been trimming dog nails since 1995 and I seriously never looked forward to it...I wish I'd tried the Dremel sooner! I feel like a spokesperson lol...but this has saved me so much stress too. 

Chili Night!

Last night was chili night! I made my Slow Cooker Chili and it was great comfort food with some tortilla chips to dip with!

I woke up to more snow today! Boo hoo hoo hoo...it's such an eye opener how badly my mood is affected by the March weather. I mean, I know I have some form of Seasonal Affective Disorder because I have terrible cabin fever and low moods after January until about April. I'm quite sure that once I can be outdoors most of the day, things will get better. Ever notice that colour seems to disappear during a winter snowstorm?

I won't go into detail, but lately my anxiety disorder has been slightly out of control, so I'm trying something new. I ordered this book today and I hope it offers something to help me. I already know some foods that trigger the anxiety, like processed sugars and processed foods, high sodium and too much caffeine; and I avoid them. But maybe adding some new foods daily will help too, or just changing something up...I'm open to trying new things :)

I'm happy to say that I have Alex's support 100%. He wants to help me feel better too, it feels good to know I can rely on him. I used to go through these hard times alone and now I just have to go to him for all the hugs I want. Jack too :)

I was looking through my summer photos this morning and I CAN'T WAIT to have this hot sunny weather again!

I do love all of our seasons here, but winter always feels too long for me. How do you get through winter? Is it as tough on you as it is on me? I'm trying to find ways to enjoy it more, but I'm stumped right now! Grin and bear it. :)

It's National Puppy Day!

What a great excuse to showcase photos of Jack :) Look at that big mouth lol...I often wonder if he could fit a soccer ball in there...a year ago we would never have been able to get that ball out of his mouth, now he drops it with a little grumble. He's come so far!

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Because of my day-long nap yesterday I got nothing at all done. I guess that's okay once in a while! We had leftover Coq Au Vin last night and watched Moonshiners in bed until midnight when I drifted into my night-long nap lol...But today I have the chili in the slow cooker, the laundry is being done, the dogs had playtime with the balls and I want to paint, but don't feel my creativity, I hope it comes back soon. Hope everyone has a nice day, post about your dogs! :))

Pasta with Blue Cheese Sauce and This and That

The temperatures dropped from 10 C down to -15 C overnight and during the night we got another dusting of snow. With that bone-chilling wind, it was in the -30's C and I couldn't bring myself to walking the dogs today, sigh. We are having issues with the "dog catcher" in this area. We've complained a lot about loose dogs, especially the new weekender-neighbour's dogs. Alex finally wrote a complaint to the town and CC'd the dog catcher on it, who is contracted out by the town. She responded very derogatorily, excuse after excuse. What's the point? It turns me off walking my dogs in my own town, knowing that whoever breaks the law can keep breaking it without any kind of recourse. I can't wait to have my own property, FENCED, away from all this foolishness! I hate complaining, I'm usually quite positive...try to make the best of everything etc...but this whole dog situation has me feeling defeated. I WANT to walk my dogs, but it's become a source of stress for me, wondering if a loose dog is going to pop up out of nowhere and cause trouble. I do take precautions, I have my air horn to scare them away, but I'm no superwoman! If there was a dogfight, I wouldn't know how to react besides getting right in there to protect my fur kids. When Alex is with me, I feel better, but we have slightly different schedules and I love walking the dogs in the morning. Not sure what to do now...

This was last October. I barely got any sleep last night, the wind was howling so badly.  It was the same type of nasty wind last fall and the result was a tree branch coming right through the window. We were lucky our landlord reacted really quickly but it was a scary event! I guess that was on my mind all night. Lack of sleep is playing with my mood today!

Anyway, this is what's important! My family! Marlene and Oscar hung out together today, which doesn't happen often because Marlene is a little scared of the cats. My office is basically the pet room, I think I have 8 different pillows lying everywhere and a cat tree!

I did it! 54 doggie nails trimmed with my new Dremel! The huskies didn't mind whatsoever and were happily lying down while I did their nails (with lots of treats nearby!). Jack, however, growled the entire time and I had to put his muzzle on. I hold nothing against him, he's 11 years old and came to us already with aggression. We worked so hard with him so he would trust us and 99% of the time he's a sweet gentle dog. I don't think any amount of treats will make him enjoy the nail trimming process, so I just got it over with as quickly as I could. Once it was done, I took his muzzle off, his growling stopped and he kissed me incessantly! :) I also trimmed the huskies' feet fur, cleaned the dogs' ears and trimmed the long hairs on Jack's ears too. The Dremel made it all go so fast and all of that grooming only took under 90 minutes! Done for another month!

Meet Sir Dusty Buttons and Tweety Bird. These are my spring and summer mascots! I'll be repainting them this week to freshen them up and then they will be parked out on the porch to guard the garden!! :)

I found a crochet needle for a nickel at one of the thrift stores a while back and tried it for the first time yesterday. I thought maybe it would be easier on my hands than knitting, which I had to stop because I get pain in all of my knuckles. This is as far as I could go without the pain starting again - really! I think that besides using my sewing machine, my needle craft days are over, sadly! :(

Last night was pasta night :) I made a nice creamy Blue Cheese Sauce, penne for Alex and capellini for me. The only pasta that my esophagus allows these days is the thin angel-hair-like capellini. I also made a nice warm garlic bread to go with it. We finished up the Crackerjacks in bed watching a movie. My sleepless night last night had me napping all day, which I'm not a big fan of so I didn't get a thing done! I guess I'll just chalk it up to hiding from the winter again! :)

Coq Au Vin and Lemon Tree Update

Last night's dinner was my Coq Au Vin. This is such an easy meal. I started around noon with the preparations, that took maybe half an hour, then threw it all into the slow cooker for 7 hours. This chicken stew is COMFORT FOOD...it's so good with the homemade bread and butter dipped into that broth!

I took a closeup to show Mama Pea, who posted about her purple carrots turning her food an odd colour! The chicken turns red in this stew. Sometimes if I use a bolder red wine, it turns purple, but it tastes wonderful! :))

To celebrate the first day of spring, I HAD to plant something. I decided to start some basil and it's now sitting next to my chives in the window. The seeds are supposed to start germinating in about 2 weeks, I hope it's not too cold by the window for them. Though our temperatures are warming up nicely it's going to be above zero all week! :) Happy.

My lemon tree is really coming alive! The lemon on the right is the one that's been dark green since last summer...could it be turning yellow finally??? Two more on the left branch! 

I have five fruits growing and a few little buds. The white flower on the top of the bush should turn into a little lemon soon. The fragrance these little buds give off is amazing, like sweet lemonade!

And here's another little bud with Oscar the cat's hair all over it..he's shedding like crazy and loves to shake himself out near my plants, grrr! :)

This poor little fella didn't make it :(  Last summer all but the big one fell like this. They started to grow, turned yellow really fast and dropped. I hope things keep moving along like they are because I have a great recipe for homemade Limoncello liqueur and I'd love to use my own lemons!