Fan Friday - Raptors VS Warriors

Last weekend I ask my daughter who she will be cheering for this 2019 NBA Finals.  And her reply was "I don't care who wins, but I will have to cheer for the Raptors."  When we lived in San Jose (the bay area) my daughter and her hubby visited us and they had a chance to watch the Warriors game at the Oracle Arena.  Apparently they had great seats and it was a great game.  Now that we are back in Canada, I am guessing we will be cheering for the Raptors as well as it's the only Canadian team in the NBA.  Luckily, we were able to watch game 6 between Raptors and Bucks during the last few minutes.  As we were not following basketball a lot but after the Sharks lost, we thought we would check it out.  I was happy to be able to watch that exciting and amazing win by the Raptors.  Jeff does not watch a lot of the sports except NHL (Sharks) and NFL (49ers).  While I watch most the sports (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, Tennis, Golf, Bowling, and even NASCAR).  Anyway, we will definitely be recording all the games and cheer for both teams.  But it will be such a treat for all Canadians to have the Raptors win the NBA Finals since Warriors already has a few trophies.  May the best team wins.  Drake will definitely be there as he is the #1 super fan.

Wooden Wednesday - Great woodwork

Do you remember the post I did about the ladies craft night last March?  It was the one where we got each a wooden star and decorated it however we chose to.  One of our neighbor is very much into wood working.  This is his new hobby and he is doing an amazing job.  He mentioned to me a month after our craft night that he is already planning for next year.  It will be a wooden heart and we will get one heart and paint it, decorate it and take it home.  This past weekend, we had our annual golf tournament for the neighborhood.  There were lots of prizes but the most amazing ones are the wood work that AJ made.  He donated 4 prizes and it was such a treat for those who won it. Luckily, I had a chance to see the finished product.  Now I would like to share them with you.

Candle holder for a table center piece

Fruit shish kabob holder

Trio candle holder

Serving tray or could be a Charcuterie Board

Toasting Tuesday - Not bread but birthday

How does someone celebrate a birthday when you get to a certain age?  Do you only celebrate the big years, like 40, 50, 60 etc?  Or should you celebrate every year after you turn 65 because you don't know when that time will come?  Oh that's not how to look on life.  I think you should celebrate your birthday every year no matter what.  It does not have to be a big party always.  It could be as simple as going for breakfast at Denny's, you get your breakfast for free up to the grand slam amount which is $11.69 or less. The you can  celebrate your birthday lunch with a few friends at Rosters for their wing special.  Apparently this bar and grill will serve you the number of wings based on your age for free.  You can share it with friends but you cannot take it home.  I think that is one great deal.  Now all you need is a place to go for dinner for free.  One of our friends, suggested Kelly O'Brien.  They said, that the birthday celebrant gets a free dinner.  So that covers you 3 meals and then if you want to celebrate more, I am sure there will be a bar that will give you the first drink on the house.  But it might be better to just get a few friends over for TGIT (thank god it's tuesday) or some sort of open house. Just serve appetizers and our neighborhood rule which is BYOB.  Maybe even have just desserts and drinks (TGITDD).  So how will I celebrate my birthday this year. 

• Breakfast at Denny's with Jeff
• A round of golf at Hillview Golf Course
• Lunch at Roster's with friends - wings to share among friends
• Dinner at the Green Pub - their special is Tacos Tuesday with a live band
• Cupcakes with the ladies on Wednesday after golf
• Desserts at home with some of the neighbors.

To all my family and friends, thank you for all your wishes today.  I feel very special and blessed to have an amazing life surrounded by all of you.  This day would have not been complete without the text messages, emails and of course phone calls.

Sweet and Sour Sunday - Trying new recipes

Our house chores are usually divided by outdoor and indoor.  Outdoor is Jeff's section and indoor is mine.  Although we do try and help out each other for what ever job needs to get done. As for day to day stuff, I cook and he cleans.  He vacuums and I mop.  We can both say that it's pretty even when it comes to chores.  I am getting a little side track because this post is about something sweet and something sour or tart.  A few days ago I open a container in the fridge and it had pineapple chunks that Jeff had done.  I guess I completely forgot about it and some of the pieces are getting a little brown.  So I took out what was bad, place the good ones in a pot and added some sugar, juice, jalapeno, red peppers, cinnamon, olive oil, ginger and finally salt and pepper.  The result is what I am calling, Pineapple red pepper chutney.  Shortly after I checked the fridge again and found some tomatillos but one was dead.  I decided to cut them in half, add a little salt and olive oil and baked at 400 F for a few minutes.  Once it was done, I place them in my mini kitchen aid chopper and added jalapeno and a bunch of cilantro.  The result is one jar of chili verde sauce for later.  Last weekend, we were invited to one of the neighbors home as they had a few people over to begin our summer get together.  The host asked if I don't mind making a salad.  Of course I quickly checked my Pinterest pins and sure enough I found the Herb Lemon Orzo Spinach Salad.  It was very simple, very refreshing (basil and mint) and with a lemon and olive oil dressing. 

My Victoria day breakfast last week.  Waffles with strawberries and whip cream plus bacon.

Herb Lemon Orzo Salad

Home made chili verde sauce (tomatillos, jalapenos and cilantro)

Pineapple red peppers chutney

Spiritual Saturday - Inspirational Daybrightener

Last month I had a chance to shop at Hobby Lobby in Morgan Hill, California.  If you have not been to one, check out their website or the store.  It's too bad they do not have one in Canada. It is a huge store filled with arts and crafts and many more.  I bought some fabrics that were on sale, a few packages of gromets for some of the sewing projects, a special lemon drops candy, a couple of cute headband and finally a flip calendar (The Broken Way).  I did not have my glasses so I couldn't read what type it was.  When I got home, I finally got a chance to read it and it was in fact an Inspirational Dayspring "day brightener".  So basically they are inspirational words but some are more religious than others.  I thought of sharing a few that I had just read from the past week.  Did they make my day brighter?  Not really, but it made me think and said, hmmm. Here's a few that I thought was something to think about.

• Before you blink and your one life's a tendril of smoke, a memory, a vapor, gone, know this: you are where you are for such a time as this -- not make an impression but to make a difference.
• We aren't here to one-up one another, but to help one another up.
• No chance in circumstances can change your life like meaning and purpose can.  No certain place can give you an abundant life like a certain purpose can.  Like purpose and meaning and connection can.
• The greatest living always happens through the givenness.
• Empty, poured-out buckets are actually the fullest buckets.

Trailing Thursday - Rail Trail and Kekuli Bay

When we came back from San Jose, Jeff brought back a used expensive bike that his buddy from his former work place.  He was going to try and find a used mountain bike and for some reason, his buddy had an old one that he thought maybe Jeff might want to get back into mountain biking.  And now he is definitely enjoying the beautiful rail trail and other bike trails in our area.  All I can say is that the photos that he has taken looks so peaceful and serene.  It's too bad I am not into biking.  But then again, Jeff is not into golf.  I guess we just have different sports that we prefer.  We still go out and play tennis when we can and during the winter we try to play squash where there's nothing else to do.  So here are some of the photos Jeff shared during some of his escapades.

Majestic Monday - Happy Victoria Day

Victoria Day is celebrated in Canada in honor of Queen Victoria's birthday and it was declared as a Canadian holiday by the Government in 1845.  The Queen's birthday is actually May 24, but the holiday is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of May.  And since today is the 21 of the month, for some it is the sign of the beginning of summer.  Although it is still a month for summer to really kick off, others take advantage of this long weekend to go on a short trip somewhere maybe adding an extra day before and after this weekend.  Some of our friends have already taken their trailer, RV or camper to take advantage of the warm weather of May.  Some smaller cities have organized outdoor activities to celebrate this day.  For us, we have chores inside our home that needs to be finished as well as some weeding in the garden for Jeff.  It has rained for a couple of days and so outdoor chores have been postponed.  While I stay inside to do the chores, I have some sewing project that needs to be completed before the end of the month.  Whatever you plan to do this long weekend, have fun, safe travels and enjoy the time off.